A/N: This is just a little suggestion… You'll probably see the scenery better if you reread the first part of fireworks before moving onto this one, but I'm not sure how much of a difference it'll make haha. But, anyway, here you go:) this is completely Akuroku chapter, so if you don't like this pairing… don't even read it lol.
~Fireworks~ Pt.2
This is both Axel and Roxas's first time going to the Fireworks Festival on Destiny Islands. As usual, they mostly follow the others, somewhat excited to learn more about the island that just recently became their home, saying the whole 'making things explode into colors' really appeals to the witty red-head, and Roxas of course is 'just going along for the ride', enjoying everything in general while refusing to act like his bubbly Other, Sora. This is how they always are, inseparable yet 'go-with-the-flow' kind of people and everyone has just accepted it (not that they really minded in the first place). Axel, 'the newest hot player', joined at the hip with Roxas, the quiet, sarcastic-almost-cynical short blonde kid with a bed-head hair-do. Tonight is no exception; the two best friends stick together like glue, feeling out of place without the other, following the crowd of their newly made friends over the bridge.
Girls can't help but stare at the red-head as he makes his way over the bridge. Although Roxas is more of the punk child, Axel dressed in a way that make the girls' hearts swoon, desperately longing for a bad-boy of their own. He decided to wear black-faded-white skinny jeans and a white v-neck shirt with a red, black, and silver dragon on the front, of course breathing fire. To make matters worse, he put his hair back, making his spiky fringe go just a bit crazier around his face, and a silver chained necklace hung around his neck, hanging from it the Nobodies symbol, the only reminder of his past he cared to keep. You would think it's rather awkward that he would dress so extravagantly just for a festival, but alas, he dresses this way almost every day. What can he say? He loves flames and showing off his body, and he won't deny it.
Roxas scowls at the turning heads, making the girls' eyes widen and finally pivot away. The blonde wishes Axel would tone it down a bit, but Axel loves 'the heat' and Roxas can't deny that he's starting to enjoy the view. He, however, dressed a bit more conservatively, not wishing to draw attention to himself. He wore a short-sleeved white-and-navy-blue hoodie, the hood, draw strings, and pouch pocket being navy blue while the rest remained white. His pants were a pair of beige cargo shorts, ending right under the knee, completing his laid back look. As usual, he did nothing with his hair, but he did wear a necklace exactly like Axel's, shimmering brightly from the oncoming city lights.
When a whole group of cheerleaders turn to look at Axel, giggling, Roxas finally sighs, grabbing Axels arm and mutters, "Let's just get out of here already."
"Whaddya mean, Roxy? We just got here," replies Axel, stopping and turning around to the azure-eyed teen.
"No, I mean… can we just get away from the crowd? I'm tired of girls gawking at you," the frustrated teen explains, a light blush painting his cheeks. Axel would tease him for it, but unfortunately he can't see his companion's embarrassment due to the darkness of the night.
But, Axel's a clever guy and finds a way to tease him anyway. "I sense jealousy, Roxy! Don't worry, you look gorgeous too," he says with a Cheshire grin.
Roxas scowls, but doesn't reply because Axel already turned away, calling to their group (Kairi, Namine, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Riku, and Sora) that somehow managed to stay behind them for the most part. "Hey," Axel says from the front of the line they seemed to be going in, "Roxas and I will catch up with you guys later, k?"
"Mk, Axel, but where will we meet up?" asks Kairi, who nudges Namine from her sketch book as if to ask, 'Is it ok for Roxas to go?' The blonde girl shrugs lightly, continuing to sketch away. The red-head takes notice of this, and decides to ask Roxas about it later, but for now he's simply going with the demand the blonde said earlier. If he misses the sketch-book girl, he can always come back later, figures the pyromaniac. Really though, he just wants Roxas all to himself.
"Ah, well, uh… we'll meet up at the car at about midnight, got it memorized?" Axel proposes, closing with his favorite line. Kairi giggles and nods, waving them off as Axel's hand snaps to Roxas wrist and pulls him away through the crowd. Ah, well… Axel thinks, Roxy will have to catch up with Namine after midnight if he really wants to then. Oh well, better for me, as long as he doesn't get pissed. But Roxas doesn't seem to be complaining about being pulled through the crowd. That's a plus.
"A-Axel! Slow down!" the blonde exclaims, tripping through the random chattering people.
"Geez, Roxy, if you get any more clumsy, I'll have to carry you off the bridge," the red-head teases, loving the deep-red blush he receives from Roxas after looking over his shoulder.
"T-that's… Where are we going anyway?" 'Roxy' huffs, glaring at the back of Axel's head.
"Uh… good question. I'm just trying to find a way out of these people, like you wanted," Axel replies seriously, looking contemplatively around him.
"Idiot," Roxas mutters but then suggests louder, "Let's just get off the bridge. The fireworks will probably be big enough for us to see anywhere as long as there aren't trees in the way."
Axel nods, agreeing with his logic, and plows through the crowd even faster, determined to get out quickly. No words are said until they finally rid themselves of the horde of people, stopping a little ways away from the bridge at a park-like cement bench resting on the right side of the road those branches off of the said bridge. Axel sits down on it, watching in amusement as Roxas rests his hands on his knees, hunched over, trying to catch his breath.
"You're really out of shape," the red-head comments, grinning widely when Roxas glares at him in reply, his cheeks blushing either from embarrassment, anger, or just the exercise. Probably all three.
"Shut up," the blonde retorts smartly, "It's your fault; I told you to slow down."
"Hmph," grunts Axel in reply with a soft smirk on his face. If Roxas had really been paying attention, he would've noticed that Axel does everything the blonde asks, and then does things to annoy him just to cover up his constant compliance. But, like Sora, being observant isn't one of his dominant traits. You would think this would be a bad thing but Axel just sees it as a part of his chase.
When Roxas has acquired a some-what stable heartbeat, he sits down next to Axel, idly noting that the red-head actually picked a good spot. The bench is cool because of the trees behind them that shaded their spot during the day, and thus was cooler over all. Not only that, looking forward you got a nice, open view of the sky, below that being some city life surrounding the river (that they couldn't see due to the slope down to it) with trees on either side of the whole scenery. Being a future-professional photographer, Roxas gets the urge to take a picture of it, thinking its perfect enough for family photo backgrounds, and he would, if only it was light outside.
"Sorry about Namine," Axel apologizes, looking off to the side to hide his glare, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
Roxas looks abruptly toward the red-head, snapped out of his general observation of his surroundings, suddenly caught off guard by the tone of his best friend's voice. The red-head has never been able to keep his emotions out of his voice, albeit he can hide his true intentions eerily well. It took Roxas a long time to be able to tell the tones of his voice, but because the pyromaniac hardly ever did anything alone (or even more specific, without Roxas) after receiving a heart, he was able to pick up on it.
Now if only Axel had done the same for him.
"What about her?" Roxas replies, a bit confused. Did the red-head do something to her? And why is he apologizing to him for it while sounding so bitter?
"You probably wanted to watch the fireworks with her, right?" he continues, hands clenching slightly to relieve some frustration.
"Uh… sure, I guess. Her and the rest of the group, but I'm just glad to be out of the crowd," Roxas replies, eyebrows furrowed. What does this have to do with anything? Why her?
"No, I mean… Never mind," Axel replies gruffly, leaning his back against the back of the bench, looking up to the stars.
"No, don't be like that, Axel. Come on, what did you mean?" The blonde turns to Axel, blue eyes bright. Axel knew he shouldn't turn his head to meet his eyes, but he did, and his breath is taken away, as usual. His eyes are always so honest and deep; it always catches the collected red-head off-guard every time. It reminds him of every reason why for once in his life he resists taking the thing he wants most without hesitation. What other kid would actually fight Axel back when he taunts or does something annoying to him? What other kid would lead him to believe that he was just a nuisance yet would always be there for him when he needed someone, or would always come back no matter what? No one other than Roxas. Loyalty has always been a trait he admires. If anything, the Organization taught Roxas to never let someone else step all over him, and Axel is amazed by his talent to be strong over and over again, despite how intimidating the 'user' might be. So innocent and determined is his best friend Roxas, yet so easy to tease. When did the red-head get himself into this mess of emotions?
"Uh-uhm…" Not only that, only Roxas can make Axel stutter nervously, not that Axel appreciates this bit, "Well, don't you… like her?"
"What?" This is what all this is about? "No! W-what would make you think that?!"
"I heard that you were really relieved that she came to the island so I thought…"
"That I liked her." Roxas supposes that makes sense…
"Yeah," Axel finishes awkwardly, ruffling the shorter red hairs at the nape of his neck.
Roxas sighs; he doesn't really like revealing much of his feelings, but he guesses there isn't much he can do to avoid it at the moment. "Look, I was relieved she came to the island because she was the only one I knew from my past, and because she knew you." he explains a bit sheepishly, feeling that recurring blush come to his cheeks again.
Axel has never had a bigger urge to kiss him. "What does it matter that she knew me?" Axel asks laughingly, feeling much better than he did about ten seconds ago.
"No reason," Roxas responds quickly, looking pointedly to the side. Roxas doesn't have many secrets, but Axel just asked a question he can't answer honestly. Being a mostly normal guy, explaining how much he cares about and relies on his red-head companion is rather scary, and not to mention 'illegal' in his book, considering he's still trying to find the reason why he only gets turned on when Axel is there and when you add that to his feelings toward the pyromaniac, you get some interesting answers.
This is a bad time to be thinking about these things.
Ooh… he's hiding something, Axel immediately thought after Roxas' reaction. "Didya misssss me?" he teases.
"No!" the blonde lies, feeling his cheeks get hotter.
"I'm wounded, Roxy," Axel feigned hurt (because he knows Roxas is lying), putting his hand over his heart dramatically. Deciding to take things up a notch, he drapes his arm around Roxas' shoulders, making him support some of his weight. "I'm so hurt I can't even support myself. Look what you did, Roxas."
"Idiot," Roxas mutters for the second time that night. He turns his head toward the playful red-head resting on his shoulder, intending to glare. But he never gets to- he miscalculated how close that would make them. Blue eyes meets green for the second time that night and they stare at each other frozen, unable to move away, yet unable to get any closer.
The truth is, Roxas did miss Axel; so much that he didn't know what to do with himself without his red-head companion. He got so used to Axel teasing him, randomly glomping him for attention, and just being there for him that when he 'died' Roxas felt drained, empty inside. Just when he got a heart and body of his own, his whole purpose for living- that he didn't even know was his purpose till then- was gone. He thought fate was trying to tell him he really was never supposed to exist.
But that didn't stop him from having those crazy, horrible nightmares of Axel's death over and over every night. That didn't stop his testosterone levels from constantly rising and requesting thoughts about Axel, bothering and disturbing him to no end during the day, though sparked to life at night when he was tired and alone. That didn't stop his random slip-ups, mentioning Axel with the biggest smile on his face even though moments later it was replaced with a defeated look. And that didn't stop Roxas' constant thoughts about the fiery red-head, or his somewhat unhealthy obsession with fire ('because the flames are comforting and warm,' he told Kairi when she wouldn't leave him alone about his incessant on-and-off flickering of his red lighter, that he carried with him everywhere despite the fact that he never has and doesn't ever plan to smoke).
But then of course, one day, Roxas was just sitting in Sora's living room armchair, reading some pointless book (he wasn't really paying attention to the words he was reading) and suddenly the front door opened and slammed shut. 'Hey, home early, Sora?' he had said. Then, a familiar pair of arms knocked the book out of his hands and a familiar chest crashed onto his. An eerily familiar voice cried out, "ROXYYYYYYYY~"
Although he was thoroughly shocked and he thought he was hallucinating, he can't deny he never felt happier than he did right then. The relief of seeing Namine could never compare.
Axel is the first to snap out of the moment when he realized he was about to kiss his best friend, and said best friend was staring at him almost like a deer in the head lights. Blushing a light pink, he sat up and looked straight forward, clearing his throat nervously. That's when Roxas blinked and shook his head slightly, looking straight ahead as well.
"So wait… if you don't like Namine," Axel asks bravely, "then who do you like?" The red head regrets asking the question as soon as the words leave his mouth because he dreads the answer, but he glances tentatively toward the blonde anyway, in spite of himself eager to hear the answer.
"Craaaaap, "Uhm- uh, that is-" Roxas stutters, "heh… no one?"
The red-head raises his thin eyebrow. "Uh-huh. You are a horrible liar, Roxas. Just tell me," he assures the blonde despite the sinking feeling in his stomach.
"I can't," Roxas replies finally, avoiding eye contact for about the millionth time tonight.
"Why not?" Axel replies, feeling offended, "Come on, we're best friends. We have to tell each other these things."
"I-I know, but…" There's a pause as Roxas tries to frantically think of a way to get himself out of this mess. The dread and agony he feels when he thinks about admitting his feelings to Axel make him slightly nauseous, but Axel is looking so concerned for him, it almost makes him want to laugh.
"Axel, if it were any other question, I could tell you," the blonde says finally, putting his head in his hands while his elbows rest on his knees, portraying perfectly of how stressing his current situation is.
"Well alright, Roxy, I get it," Axel replies contemplatively, "Can you give me hints then? I'll give you hints about who I like if you'd like some fair play." Once again, the red-head inwardly smacks himself as soon as the words leave his mouth, wondering how could he make such a stupid offer, realizing with horror how vulnerable that would make him in the future.
"Idiot, I don't care who you like," Roxas lies quickly, defensively, feeling flustered. But in spite of himself, he can't refuse the offer so he continues hesitantly, "But a-alright, fine. I'm game."
Axel laughs, knowing exactly what Roxas just did- he's so easy to fluster. Feeling somewhat less tense and somewhat bold (as in his nature) he says, "Alright Roxy, and to make you feel better, I'll even go first, that good with you?"
"Sure, I don't care," Roxas replies nervously, anxiously turning his gaze upon his friend who's looking ahead with a slight smirk on his face with his eyes softly lidded, resulting in an unreadable expression.
"You better get these hints memorized 'cause I'm only saying them once, got it?"
"If I memorized everything you told me to, I'd be a walking encyclopedia, Axel."
"Hey, do you want to hear them or not, smartass?" the red-head retorts tauntingly.
"Y-yeah, yeah, sorry. Go already," the blonde mutters, cheeks flushing a little.
"Heh, mk… Well, let me get one thing straight. I don't like- this person," he only stutters a little bit when he almost says 'him' but then plows on, "I love them. They just don't know it, though I make it pretty obvious."
"O-ok…" Roxas comments lightly, silently urging him to continue while he addles his brain; what girls are he friends with? When have I seen him flirt with any of them? Shit, I don't know…
"And," Axel continues, "they're really defensive and clumsy. You can tease them and they'll blush like I just walked in on them having sex or something. They're always tripping over air too, it's so adorable and-"
"Ok, ok, I get it. You are such a sap," Roxas mutters, blushing even though he knows it's not about him. For the first time in his life, he feels insanely jealous of this person. How can this person Axel 'loves' be so much of an idiot (or from what it sound like, they are) and yet Axel can fall for them, but not him? It hardly makes sense…
But then, he looks up and Axel's beaming face is right there, smirking. "Your turn, Roxy," he says arrogantly, smirking wider when Roxas' cheeks redden deeper yet again.
"Ah, well… uhm…" Roxas stutters, trying to think of what to say about Axel without making it obvious it is Axel to Axel and ohmygod he can't do this, how did he get himself into this situation? "H-he's… tall?"
"He, eh?" Axel immediately pounces, catching the blonde off-guard. Oh shit, I already said too much!
"What? I didn't say that! That- that was…" Roxas lies frantically, berating himself vigorously for his slip-up.
"Hey, calm down, man. I'm just messing with you," Axel says worriedly, looking at the fidgeting blonde with concern.
The said blonde sighs exasperatedly, leaning back as far as he can with his hands over his eyes as if trying to hide. "Forget it already. I don't want to talk about it," he says, still inwardly committing suicide in numerous ways.
Axel looks over the distressed blonde contemplatively. Well, Axel is tall, isn't he? Roxas wouldn't like a girl taller than him, which has got to mean he was serious about the 'he' thing, right? There's always the chance. But there's also the chance that the red-head's judgments are completely off, and if he does what he thinks he's about to do, it could lead to disastrous things, like ending their friendship and the start of a life-long addiction to self-inflicted burns and suicidal intentions. But maybe that's a bit exaggerated; losing Roxas would only be the worst thing to ever happen to him.
But even those stakes can't overcome his impulsive personality, and so before he knows it, he's leaning over his blonde best friend, stealing his lips with his own. For a moment, Roxas is of course too shocked to do anything but think 'hey, is there something on my lips? Is that Axel? That smells like Axel…' but after that initial astonishment, his thoughts turn into ricocheting sentences of chaos, saying things like, 'Axel is kissing me. Why is he kissing me? What do I do? How am I supposed to get over him and find some random chick to love if he's kissing me? Do I kiss him back? What if he's just teasing me? Why are my lips tingling? I think something's wrong with me. Fuck, what do I DO?'
Somehow, the confusion leads to his somewhat-new heart to take over, forcing the frantic ex-Nobody to kiss back eagerly, hands almost instantly attacking the long red strands spiking out from Axel's pony tail like his fingers had been waiting for this moment for forever (they really have). At the reciprocation and new touch, Axel grabs Roxas' forearm, shocked, and pulls back slightly, looking bewilderedly into the blue eyes he meets when they open.
The eyes look chaotic, with a hint of angry and determined, and it only confuses the red-head more. "What?" Roxas asks, glaring slightly at his best friend, not appreciating the slack, jaw-dropped expression he's receiving from him.
"Y-you kissed back," Axel states the obvious, not moving from his two-inch distance from the annoyed blonde, nor releasing his grip on the aforementioned's arm.
"Yeah, and?" Somehow the sparkling of the determined eyes Roxas possess wake Axel up from his stupor, and he blinks, contorting his face back to normal.
"Well, did you mean it, or what?" the red-head says plainly, returning the determined stare he's been receiving.
Finally, Axel seems to achieve the upper hand; Roxas suddenly recoils, blushing unsurprisingly and stuttering unintelligently yet defensively. The red-head smirks softly, giving a small chuckle before closing in on Roxas's lips again, knowing the blonde's answer without him saying another incoherent stutter.
Once again, Roxas' body acts on its own, kissing back while the beating thing inside his chest inflates warmly. He wonders fleetingly if Axel can hear the frantic thumping because he's so close, but alas, he can't; he's too worried about his own, wondering if Roxas can tell how fast his fiery blood is rushing through him. They stay like that for the longest moment, inwardly basking in the glow of the heat of each other, the softness of the other's lips and how well they seem to fit together like they have been meant to fuse together all along. Although Roxas would never admit it, just like the moment Axel came back into his life, the world becomes brighter for him just by this simple kiss. It's only in moments like these does he realize that he really is Sora's Other, because only someone like the spiky-haired brunette could feel this happy, just because of something so simply given from something else. If he weren't so wrapped up in the moment, he would scowl.
Have you ever felt so suddenly complete that you feel as if you could catch of fire from all the sparks coming off your skin and the skin touching yours? Axel felt this way, kissing Roxas, the only one who could make him react so differently, the only one who can bring out the best and worst out of him- the only one he'd be willing to get so close to it'd be possible to be burned, too addicted to the blonde's heart and heat to care.
And then suddenly, a loud crack soars through the night sky, and from a ways away the best-friends-turned-lovers hear a crowd of people cheer, signifying the start of the long awaited fireworks. After the second loud pop the pair part, looking at each other is awe before silently turning to watch the bright lights in the sky, thoughts racing as they barely absorb the quickly ascending and burning out sparks.
To them, it has always been obvious that if they were ever to be together, their relationship wouldn't be easy as breathing air, and would be more likely to burn like paper due to their almost opposite personalities, but at the same time, both of them thought they definitely had gone through worse. Both of them thought it would be worth the fight if they were able to take the first step-or leap, in Roxas' opinion- and in the end, they always have each other. Knowing what it's like without the other makes it that much more important, though they'd probably never divulge that part of themselves to the open. For all that Axel had done for him, Roxas is willing to compromise with the fiery red-head, and just for the blonde's hand Axel would walk the earth, so how hard could it be? Somehow the experience of being heartless made them more determined to hold onto any emotion they achieved now, and love being the strongest anyone can have, they are determined to make it last and never let it go.
Silent communication isn't one of their natural qualities together, but for once nothing needs to be said for them to understand. With fireworks exploding overhead, Roxas lets himself fall onto the red-heads shoulder, not daring to look over to his side, but breathes out quietly in relief with an arm accommodates him, resting on the back of the park bench.
Only Kairi and Namine seemed to be able to tell the difference between before the two left and after, but neither of them said anything when Roxas and Axel came back, slightly awkward with each other, yet softer, slower to annoy and yell at each other. "It's a step," the blonde girl had said way before they got back, showing her red-head companion the sketch she had been working on all night under the exploding lights in the sky.
"You knew all along, didn't you?" the Princess of Heart responded, analyzing the picture of a pyromaniac kissing a blonde former-keyblade bearer with a small knowing smile on her face.
Namine nodded, returning a small smile of her own. Then both girls turned their attention back to the fireworks with small smiles, taking comfort in each other's hand and the knowledge that finally everything is working out the way it should be.
A/N: No, that last bit isn't meant to imply a Kairi/Namine pairing, though it can be if you want it to be XD. Aaanyway, it was extremely hard to write this, and I'm on vacation, so I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm not sure if it's as good as the soriku fireworks, but give me your opinion :) Sorry I haven't updated in like… what feels like forever D: It's heartbreaking for me, seriously… I'm also sorry if there are any mistakes, I didn't really proof-read this because I really wanted to post it before tomorrow because I don't know when I'll get onto the computer again, you know?
So, shout of for those who have stuck with me :') To: Tori Sohma, AnimeFreak4261, Amerz, Digimagic, Chasyn, MsSupreme, prince2345, Reihu, Maxx, RuikinIsBomb, Kriegsmachine, Cheshire Kitty XD, nobody, XxLittlexDevilx, phantombullets240, and Skypiratelove
