Author's Note: I'm sorry this chapter is so late (I'm double sorry for saying that I'd have it out like, two weeks ago, but didn't, exams are stupid). I blame it on exams and sudden lack of interest. I have a very short attention span, and I'm surprised I even made it to the fifth chapter without losing interest. Anyway, this is the last chapter :) I might write an epilogue. Actually, I probably will, because after forcing myself to write this chapter, I'm feeling more inspired about this plot. Hmm... yes, we shall see.

Thank you so much for reading this fanfiction! Special thanks to FinalFallenFantasy, XxZilyxX, Insanecat6, niukyu, SarahXxUnlovedxX, xAkuroku., Rei-chan94, the mental patient, Naive-Symphony and Capeircorn, for sticking with this fanfiction from it's early stages.

Also my beta, Wrath's Essence, for putting up with me, and being awesome at what she does.

Enjoy, R & R.

---

Chapter 12 – Call it Revenge

"Roxas…"Axel frowned and scrunched his nose a little,"…What the fuck are you doing…?"

"Uh…" Roxas stood slowly and jerked a thumb at the door nervously,"…I was… just leaving."

"Crawling?"Axel raised an eyebrow. His mother stifled a laugh.

"…Yep. So… yeah, I'm just gunna leave, now. See you, Axel." Roxas quickly started moving towards the door. His face was flushed a dark red, nothing could possibly be more embarrassing.

"Roxas." His shoulders stiffened at the sound of Axel's mum's voice. He stopped his quick escape reluctantly; he was only a couple of steps from the door!

"Yes…?"

"Didn't you want to talk to Axel?" Roxas let out a shaky sigh, and turned back to face them.

"Yes, I did…" Roxas paused hesitantly, his eyes looked up into Axel's slowly, "… and I guess if you're willing to listen th-then…"

"I'm no—"

"He's definitely willing to listen." Axel's mum cut in. Axel whipped his head around to glare at his mother. She just smirked lightly.

"Ah, well, I told you last time that I wasn't going to give up… not until you at least heard what I had to say so… uhm…"Roxas raked a hand through his hair; this had been a lot easier in his dreams. In his dream, everything had just spilled out of his mouth. In reality, his throat was caught and dry, and his hands were fidgeting. How had this been so easy in his dream? A strange uneasy silence fell over the room. Why couldn't the words come out? What was he so scared of?

"Roxas…? Are you okay?"

"H-huh?" Roxas looked up, gasping as heavy tears slid down his face. He wiped his left eyes with the heel of his palm, and chuckled a little to hide his shame.

"Fuck. I don't know… why I bothered coming here. I can't remember what I was trying to achieve in the first place. I don't… think I ever knew what I was trying to achieve to begin with. Forgiveness? Peace of mind?" Roxas looked down, now wiping his right eye with the heel of his palm, "…Love? I don't know. But i-it's obvious that Axel doesn't want to listen. And I'm not getting anywhere. I'm not forcing you to see this my way, or forgive me. Why can't you just listen willingly?"

"Because I'm sick of being forgiving to a person who thinks that they can just trample over my feelings, and then show up and expect me to listen."Axel said bluntly. Roxas took in a sharp breath. The bridge of his nose stung. Axel was right. Every word Axel'd just said stabbed his heart painfully to a point where it became unbearable and he wondered if he should admit himself into the hospital. But instead of showing his pain, he just kept his flimsy façade up.

"Fair enough." He smiled hollowly. Roxas turned to leave. He couldn't take this anymore.

"Roxas?" Axel's mum called. Roxas took in a deep breath and turned to face them again. He rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled again, keeping his eyes trained on the ground.

"Sorry. Looks like I failed again today." He looked up at Axel briefly, "…see you tomorrow."

"Not if I see you first."Axel muttered. Roxas snorted and stumbled out of the room.

---

Roxas was in the circular room again, but he wasn't sitting at the table. Instead, he was standing about two meters from it watching the two people at the table. At the table sat two Axels. One, dressed in a dress shirt and black vest, and chains hanging from his belt loops. The other dressed in black pullover hoodie with '1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a Dance War' (1) over his chest in gold and tight red jeans.

"What are you doing, Axel." The casual Axel sighed, propping his head on his hand on the table. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Being stubborn."The other replied with a huff.

"You're not getting anywhere."

"Maybe I don't want to get anywhere."

"Maybe, but I'm guessing you do want to get somewhere."

"How would you know?"

"I'm you."

"…Touché."

Roxas frowned. This was weird. It was like he was seeing two facets in Axel's mind. One wanted to listen, and the other was strictly against it.

"He's going to come again tomorrow. He said so himself."

"If he does, then he does. He's not going to succeed. I don't even care if mum yells at me again. Figured that she'd be on Roxas' side if she found out anyway."

"If you were part of the third person party, you'd be on his side too."

"That's not the point. I'm not in the third person party. I'm not just a bystander, not just a viewer looking in through a window. What happens affects me."

"You're a stupid, sadistic jerk and I hate you."

"Ah, but you're me."

"…Just listen to him."

"No."

The two of them fell into silence. Casual Axel sighed. Roxas willed him to try harder.

"I'm trying, Rox." Casual Axel muttered. Roxas blinked, confused. He could hear him? His dream was getting more and more confusing.

"Should I summon Roxas here?"Casual Axel teased.

"Don't!" Formal Axel hissed, "I have nothing to say to him."

"You don't have to say anything to him. What harm could come out of it? He just wants to explain."

"There is no excuse for what he did."

"There is. And his excuse could turn that frown upside down!"

"Don't you dare go all Demyx on me!" He glared.

"Look, you're being immature. You're acting just like Riku. Never hearing anyone else's opinion. Stop being so stubborn. You know that acting like Riku is anything but flattering, best friend or not. I'm embarrassed to even be a part of you. Man, if I weren't a part of you, you'd be the stupidest person in the world. You know what I think? I think you're just scared of confrontation, you're scared Roxas will be harsh like he was when you confessed. But that's the thing. He won't be, he's being more sincere than he's ever been in his whole life. You're being a wimp."

Formal Axel glared down at the table, sulking, and his alter ego's words seemed to have gone straight to the heart. Roxas vaguely wondered if this turmoil actually happened in Axel's mind, sans the costumes and old inescapable rooms…

"Roxas just wants to explain. All you have to do is listen. And afterwards, the cards are in your hands, do what you want. He just wants you to know, and you know that." There was another short silence before Formal Axel spoke up quietly.

"What would…Roxas say to me…" He asked hesitantly, licking his lips anxiously, "If I…decided to maybe listen…?" Casual Axel smirked victoriously.

"You'll just have to find out yourself." Casual Axel stood, and walked over to Roxas, patting him on the head affectionately.

"Don't cry anymore, okay?"

Roxas smiled genuinely and nodded as his mind began to drift back to reality.

---

Roxas sat up in his bed, a new hope in his heart after his dream, nothing was going to squash his new found confidence. Today it was going to work; today he was definitely going to tell Axel everything. And if Axel didn't forgive him, at least he'd know Roxas' side of the story, right? He didn't even know why he was so nervous to begin with. It didn't matter what happened after Axel knew everything, all that mattered was that Axel knew, just like Axel had said in his dream.

He smiled to himself. Having this confident mindset was half the battle won already. He quickly got dressed and headed to the hospital again.

His phone rang during the car ride to the hospital. Roxas checked the caller ID before smiling and answering it.

"Hi Demyx."

"Heya! Are you and Axel dating yet?"

"Wha—? Err, no…"

"You mean, 'err, no, not yet'?" Demyx teased, but there was a hint of forcefulness behind his tone of voice.

"Yes, that's exactly what I meant." Roxas said a little sarcastically.

"Good, 'cause if you back out now, I'ma dropkick your—" He was cut off by a voice in the background that definitely sounded like Sora.

"Demyx!"

"…I am… going to… give you a firm non-violent talking to. Yes." Demyx said slowly off the top of his head, and Roxas chuckled a little.

"So, what's up?"

"Sora wants to tell you that him 'n' Riku are just peachy again, you should see them, it's sweet but sort of disgusting after a while, anyway so now everyone's sitting around waiting for you and Axel to hurry the hell up."

"Oh." Roxas scrunched his nose for a second. He laughed when he heard Sora say 'What do you mean disgusting?! And don't reword what I say! I should have done the talking!' Demyx ignored him.

"Yeah, so hurry the hell up, ya sloth!" Roxas snorted. Sloth…? Only Demyx…

'Demyx Mélomane (2)! Stop being so rude to Roxas!' Sora growled.

"Wow, you can pronounce my last name pretty well. I'm so proud of— Woah, shit! Chill, Sor! Gotta go, Rox, see ya!" And with that, Demyx hung up just as the taxi pulled up outside the hospital.

---

Some of the people in the lobby recognised him from yesterday. Roxas mused over what they must be thinking. 'There's that crying boy again… better not go near him, he might have another emotional breakdown'. Yup, 'cause Roxas was just a crazy loose cannon, a roller coaster of emotion. Roxas snorted as he stepped into the elevator.

When he got to Axel's mum's room, he was surprised to see Axel sitting on the ground next to the door in the hallway. His head was folded into his arms on his knees as if he were secretly crying or something. Hey, maybe if he was crying, then Roxas could act like a kind soothing friend, and then Axel would listen to him and life would be just peachy again! He smiled to himself and approached Axel carefully.

"Axel…?" Axel's head instantly looked up at Roxas, his eyes were dry. Roxas blinked in surprise. Well, there goes my battle plan. Roxas felt his nervousness pulling at him again. As soon as he saw those emerald eyes, his confidence keeled over. But Roxas was definitely not going to give in to his nerves; yesterday was way too humiliating, and was never going to let something like that happen again.

"What?" Axel asked rudely. Roxas felt his throat get caught, but he just cleared his throat and said,

"Err, well, you're sitting out in the hallway, and you looked like you were crying, so I was worried." Roxas explained a little too quickly, his voice a little hoarse. The corner of Axel's mouth smirked briefly, almost like a twitch, but it didn't seem smug at all…

"What happened to the sobbing emo Roxas from yesterday? You're the reason my mum's pissed at me at the moment." Axel said casually. Roxas couldn't help but smile a little. Their banter reminded him of a few weeks ago, when there was no awkwardness.

"I'm sure she's not that angry, she's a nice woman. As for 'sobbing emo Roxas', he got therapy from… spiritual guidance." Roxas blew off Axel's comment. Axel raised a brow.

"Spiritual… guidance…?" Roxas suppressed a little snort when he saw Axel's face. It was obvious that he was thinking of something like therapy, dream catchers, scented candles and hippies…

"Don't worry you're naïve li… little mind over it. Why are you out in the hallway?" Roxas' voice faltered through mid-sentence. Perhaps having a go at Axel wasn't the best idea at the moment. Axel glared at the naïve comment.

"I already told you, my mum is pissed at me, she won't let me into her room," Axel sighed, stretching out a little from his previously curled up position. Roxas' eye twitched when he noticed that Axel was wearing the same black hoodie as the one in his dream. "Yesterday she made me stand in the 'naughty corner' and reflect on my actions." Roxas snorted.

"God, I love your mum." He commented with a slightly weak smirk, amused. He felt his confidence slowly trickling back into him. It was hard to stay confident at first, but it was like momentum, everything seemed to run from his mouth easily now. The fact that Axel didn't seem to be in that bad a mood definitely helped too. His mum must have beaten all the ego out of him…

"You better not, I'll beat you up. Anyway, I'm guessing she's not the reason you're here, talking down at me like you're all high and mighty." A new sharp edge was added into Axel's tone of voice, as if he'd just remembered that he was meant to be angry with Roxas.

"Nope. You're the reason. Aren't you special?" Roxas said sarcastically, smirking. He'd never really realised how fun it was to tease Axel.

"I don't know if I like this new confident Roxas. You should go back to sobbing, it's much more entertaining."

"Tough luck. Are you gunna stand up?"

"Nope." Roxas sighed and sat down next to Axel against the wall. He didn't remember Axel being so stubborn, but then again, he should have known after the dream he'd had last night.

"On second thoughts, maybe I will stand up." Axel muttered scathingly. But he could tell that his resolve was fading. Roxas made a mental note to thank Axel's mother. The two of them sat in the hallway, ignoring the stares they got from visitors and patients, and the confused and pitying looks from the nurses. Somehow, nurses always seemed to think that the reason people acted strangely was because their loved one was dying or something. Roxas watched as a nurse passed by, with a face that clearly said, 'Oh you poor things, you know there's a perfectly good bench over there...'

"So…" Roxas broke their silence, he saw Axel's shoulders tense a little, "I figured that if I just talked to you without asking you to listen, you'd just listen anyway."

"I guess," Axel replied, then sighed, giving up, "and I guess I could listen to you… if it means no more lectures from my mum." Axel paled at the thought. Roxas laughed, surprising the both of them.

"Good," Roxas said before launching into the things that had been going through his head for the last few days, "I'm sorry for what happened on the station tower."

"Sorry doesn't cut it." Axel said frankly. Roxas sighed, he had to be very patient if he wanted to get through to Axel.

"I know it doesn't cut it, but it's better than not saying sorry, right? On the station tower, I was completely caught off guard. I wasn't prepared for what you said."

"So you're blaming this on me?"

"No, I'm not, stop putting words in my mouth." Roxas snapped, before quickly scolding himself in his mind and changing his tone of voice, "Honestly, you could have said what you said at the absolute perfect moment, and I would have still been unprepared. And just as honestly, when I'm freaking out about my cousin is not a good time." Roxas paused, thinking about what to say next, "Because I was unprepared, I guess I put up my defence walls immediately. My defence walls being letting my mouth do the talking, and shutting my brain down."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I didn't mean what I said on the station tower." Axel snorted angrily, clenching his jaw.

"Don't mess with me. How can you say 'I'll never ever love you, piss the hell off', and then turn around and say, 'sorry, didn't mean it', huh? My feelings are not toys for you to rip apart. I know it's shocking, but I'm not some kind of invincible superhuman, I do get hurt."

"I understand that. And I know that just words won't heal what I've done. I know how hurt you were. I know how you feel."

"How could you possibly know how I feel?"

"I saw it in a dreaa… I mean, I just…" Roxas trailed off. This would be hard to explain…

"Err, anyway, that's not important." Roxas pushed the entire conversation aside.

"No, I want to know. How do you know how I feel? And please, spare me the spiritual guidance bullshit."

"Well…" Roxas' eyes wandered, his mind struggling to find an excuse. Axel looked at him expectantly.

"Okay, believe me or not… you told me… in a dream," Roxas laughed awkwardly, "It probably sounds like I don't really know how you feel, but trust me, I do. It was a really vivid dream. A really vivid nightmare."

"…Right…" Axel said sceptically.

"Do you still hate me?" Roxas asked hesitantly.

"Most definitely."

"Oh." Roxas' nose scrunched, he didn't have to be so blunt…

"I'm just jerking your chain, I guess I don't really hate you, perse." Axel smirked widely. Roxas' eye twitched.

"You jerk." He muttered darkly.

"Call it revenge." Axel said, not caring at all.

"So… if you 'don't really hate me, perse', then what?" Roxas asked curiously. Axel's smirk dropped. He thought for a couple moments before smirking again devilishly. For a second, Roxas feared for his life. Axel leaned back again the wall nonchalantly, propping his hands behind his head.

"Well, you can't truly hate the person you love." Axel put a ridiculously strong emphasise on the last three words. Roxas' eyes widened and he sucked in a deep breath, his cheeks going an embarrassing shade of red; Axel's words hit him just as hard as they had on the station tower. But he refused to freak out like he had on the tower. The two of them fell into silence. Axel seemed very satisfied with his reaction, but his guarded eyes were still analysing him. Roxas considered confessing back; just to get back at Axel. He felt his throat go dry again just at the thought of confessing, damn Axel for destroying what little confidence he'd had to begin with!

"I— see." Roxas squeaked involuntarily, before clearing his throat and trying to gain back his confidence. Axel snorted at Roxas' high raspy voice, but his eyes were still watching him. Almost waiting for Roxas to freak out again. Was this Axel's little plan to see if Roxas could deal with confessions? Because that was just low, he knew that he wasn't good at handling things like love…

"Yep. I guess I can't start hating you until I've stopped loving you."

Roxas felt more heat rise up to his cheeks. Axel laughed.

"Stop it, Axel." Roxas could feel his defensive reaction surfacing. He suppressed it quickly; there was no way he was going to be harsh again, not when Axel was so… normal and… well, not upset at the moment. But that didn't mean that he was just gonna take Axel's teasing and do nothing about it. No way. It's too bad Roxas couldn't get his tongue around those three little words yet, that would definitely shut Axel up.

Maybe… if he worked up the courage… he could maybe… kiss…?

Argh, but that'd be just as hard, he may well say he l… lov… loved… him. But then again, he couldn't even say it in his head. It'd be impossible to say aloud. Screw this, why am I thinking about it anyway?

"H-hey Axel, so have you forgiven me? At least a little?"

"I suppose," Axel replied, "if it's not obvious from the fact that I'm laughing at you instead of glaring…"

"Hmm… that's great. T-then I guess you deserve this." Roxas quickly leaned in, his heart pounding, and shut his eyes, pecking Axel on the cheek briefly. He quickly pulled away again, shuffling away from Axel on his butt, trying not to look to embarrassed. That was the most he could do. Roxas watched Axel's face, which had blushed bright red, his eyes wide. Roxas snorted. Axel's reaction was definitely worth the embarrassment.

"T-that…?" Axel stuttered, "you…" Roxas laughed, hoping his laugh would hide his embarrassment as well. It felt good to make Axel embarrassed.

Roxas stood and smiled down at Axel's shocked red face genuinely. He was so glad that there was no longer a look of anger or contempt on Axel's face. It looked like everything was going to be okay again.

"Call it revenge."

---

(1) '1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a Dance War' is a line from Dance or Die – Family Force 5. They're my favourite band.

(2) Mélomane is French for 'music lover'. I slaved over Demyx's last name for a long, long time.

Thank You So Much for every Review, Favourite, Alert, Hit, Visit, etc etc. through this whole fanfiction. You guys really make my day!

Expect an epilogue. Soon.

xx V. Plum.