"You're going against the Organization! You'll be KILLED!"

"It doesn't matter! No one will miss me when I'm gone."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

He turned to face me.

I feel something.

It's in my chest. Racing.

"I-I'D MISS YOU!"

I grasped his hand. I held it tight. I never wanted to let go. He looked at me, shocked. What did I say wrong? I would miss him. I would miss him with all my being. He meant the world to me; he was the light to my dark. The somebody to my nobody.

He turned away heartlessly, and freed his hand from my grasp.

"Prove it."

"Prove wha-?"

"Prove it to me... that you would miss me."

"W-What? How could I do that?"

"I can't believe you; all you have are empty words to back you up. Prove it."

He walked away. He actually left me.

It was racing. Faster. And it hurt.

What I said to Roxas. It was on my mind all day. All night. That... thing in my chest was still racing. My face was still hot. I couldn't get him off my mind.

"Prove it."

"Prove it to me... that you would miss me."

Roxas... couldn't he realize just how much he meant to me? I couldn't believe how oblivious he was; how much I cared about him... the lengths I'd go to just for him

Days past and Roxas wasn't anywhere to be found.

Could he have gone...

...there?

No. Not the Roxas I knew. He wouldn't. But... that would explain his absence. I have to find him, no matter the cost.

"Prove it."

I couldn't find him. No one else in the Organization knew. I refused to ask Xemnas, that son of a bitch. I hated him. Just because he was the fucking leader did not give him any more rights than the rest of us. Just because he founded our group does not make him more "special" than any of us! Actually, this whole Organization was a piece of shit. I stayed for Roxas. To stand by him. To be with him for all of time. After he left, I stayed to find him again. It was easier to do it with the Organization than alone with no leads.

"Axel."

"Eh... yeah?"

"Where is Roxas?"

I could never look that bastard Xemnas in the face, but I never had a reason to do that. This time, I could not have looked at him if I tried.

"I asked you. Where is Roxas?"

I couldn't answer him. My lips were frozen.

"Where is he?"

"I... don't know."

"Tch."

"I DON'T KNOW. I'm not so stupid that I wouldn't tell you."

"At least you have some common sense. Axel."

"Yes."

"Go to Twilight Town."

"What? That dump? Why?"

A long pause.

"...I have a feeling... Roxas will be there."

"Roxas...?" I paused. Roxas? In Twilight Town? That place is not his style. Why would he be there?

"Alright. I'll find him."

I left.

"This place gets more putrid every time I come..." I hate Twilight Town. It's too quiet. No burning buildings, no screaming, no darkness, no chaos. I'll fix that later. But Roxas is my priority. I have to find him. Not for Xemnas, not for me. For him."

"Prove it."

"Roxas?"

"...Who are you?"

"What! You don't remember me?"

"We've never met."

"What are you talking about? We were best friends!"

"...Who are you!"

"Argh. So you don't remember..."

I was hurt. He didn't remember me at all. What was there to believe in anymore? He shattered my world for the second time. It won't happen again.

"C'mon, let's put you to the test. I know you remember!"

I drew my weapons. Fire spawned.

The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him, but this was the only way to get him back.

He drew his weapon.

It ended.

I went back to our headquarters, reported to Xemnas. "Go back," he said. "Bring Roxas back."

So I went back.

"Hey Rocks ass!"

"Who... who are you! Why do you haunt me...!"

He collapsed. The stress was too much. The strength of his... heart, you could say, got him up quickly. There, that was the Roxas I knew.

"Ax...el?"

"Right. I'm Axel, got it memorized?"

"We were... best friends."

"You're starting to remember! Er... quick, what's our boss's name?"

"..."

"So... you don't remember? Well, if you're not coming back with me willingly, I'll make you come back!"

We fought. Not a fierce battle, but it was too much for him. Why? This was not the Roxas I knew, the Roxas I loved. This was a weak, helpless Roxas. Not the same.

Xemnas ordered I come back again, yadda yadda, I went back the next day. So many days in Twilight Town... I thought I was gonna puke. But for Roxas, it's worth it.

"Hey there."

Larxene walked up to me, unusually kind.

"What do you want?"

"Miss Roxas?"

"..."

"Well, get over it. Your betrayal to our group is leading to our destruction. Quit moping and help us overthrow Xemnas!"

"I don't care about that anymore."

"...You bastard."

So that was it. I wasn't anybody... I was really a... nobody. When you are nobody to a Nobody, that is a bad sign.

"I'm on no one's side but my own."

"Fucking traitorous bastard."

She got up and left, but not before she could shoot the most venomous look I've ever seen her shoot. And this Larxene we're talking about. That is one hell of a nasty look.

Roxas' departure of the Organization turned us against each other and turned everyone upside down. But, everyone's concerned about themselves and their "group." Zexion, Demyx and I were the only ones not in our own little posses. Heh, maybe we should've started our own. But Demyx? Zexion? Cooperating? I shuddered just at the thought.

I didn't need them though. I'm not so weak that I need to rely on them. All I needed was a lead... And that's what I got.

It was worth it staying with the catastrophe I dared to call the "Organization." I was closer to finding Roxas with them than I was off alone. I had to find him... I promised myself.

I promised him.

"Prove it."

I found Roxas.

But he was less of himself than he was before.

He wasn't even Roxas. He was Sora.

Sora was being ambushed by Nobodies; he needed some help. And I wanted to help him; I wanted to help Roxas.

Despite the fact that I was fighting alongside Sora, I felt that I was fighting alongside Roxas; like the good old days.

I couldn't even see Sora; his swift movements and his endless thrusts into his opponents were his, his voice was his, but all I could see was Roxas.

Roxas...

I was so obsessed with him. I hadn't seen him in ages; I couldn't help but long for him. Lust for him. Love him.

"Ugh!" I fell to the ground. Panting heavily, I forced myself to get up. These Nobodies weren't about to bring me down. Crimson blood spewed from my mouth and fell to the ground. I cringed.

Suddenly Sora changed. He wasn't Sora. His voice, his movements, they were Roxas.

Had he been sleeping all this time?

"AXEL!"

"Hey, kid."

He panicked. Roxas was never good with blood, but it was more than that. Was he this unhappy that I was hurt?

"A-Axel..."

"Don't worry. I won't leave you."

"I...am glad..."

"..."

"...To see you, one last time."

"I finally... found you."

It was racing again. It raced harder and faster than it did that time before.

Something fell from his face onto my flesh.

"Roxas, you're –" Another tear fell onto me.

"I'm just so happy... to see you."

A weak smile managed to form across my face. I felt something forming in the corners of my eyes.

"It's been too long."

"Yes... but what matters now is that we're together."

"I wish... that I could freeze time. Just a moment like this..."

"Ye- AXEL! Look out!"

Countless amounts of Nobodies were closing us in. Not just Dusks – higher ranking ones. Xemnas and Saïx must be furious as a good majority of what was attacking us were Berserkers and Sorcerers .Roxas was a mess; tears still streaming and his frail skin trembling.

"We don't want you anymore."

I turned my head every which way. I could not see anyone, Roxas aside.

"Look up, you dolt."

Xemnas, that bitch. He knew what was going on. He knew I wasn't obeying his orders.

"Your orders were to bring Roxas back, not fight."

"Your point being!"

Saïx was right up next to Xemnas. He was about to go berserk any minute.

"We have no further use for either of you." He turned his back to us. After a quick thought, he turned back to us, muttering "dispose of them."

Even for such a team as Roxas and myself, this was too much. Unless...

"Roxas, remember I told you I could whoop about a trillion nobodies' asses with one foul swoop?"

"Yeah... why?"

"Remember the side effects?"

"Axel..."

"No. You have to live on for me."

A plead.

A scream.

A tear.

A wall of fire.

Another scream.

Another tear.

And then it was over.

Laying on the ground, I could hear Roxas rushing towards me. A shower of his sweet tears fell onto my face.

"Prove it."

"Axel..."

"If I were to leave this world... this is the only way..."

"No..."

"...the only way I could ever leave peacefully."

"You can't!"

"..."

"I won't let you!"

"Roxas..."

With the last of my strength, I clasped his shivering hand into my own.

"Your hands are so cold..." he murmured.

"Heh, I know."

"Axel. You can't leave me..."

"You were the only one of them I really liked, Roxas. You made me feel different. You made me feel like I had a heart."

"But you... you do have one."

I chuckled feebly.

"That's impossible. I'm Nobody, right?"

"No! It doesn't matter what your heart looks like, or who it belongs to. What matters is it's yours and it's in the right place."

"...Your heart. It's right here."

He gently touched me; where something was pounding against my flesh.

"That's..."

"A heart."

I chuckled meekly again.

"You're... fading."

"I know. I'm not coming back."

"No..."

"How about a little dèja vú. No one would miss me."

"That's... not true. I'd miss you...!"

"Well... I proved it to you, didn't I?"

"Proved...what?"

"That I would miss you."

"It's all coming back now..."

"So you remember?"

"Prove it."

"It looks like my time is up, Roxas."

"No! You can't..."

His tears fell in greater masses then before.

"Don't leave!"

Everything faded.

Like I

"Axel!"

Had a

"Don't!"

Heart.

Another scream.

Another tear.

Another kiss I could never feel.

---EPILOUGE---

Here I am now. Up here in my eternal prison. I miss him. I miss Roxas more than words can say. I miss him more than this bittersweet life itself. I can see him; I watch him, his every movements. But they're not his anymore. They're Sora's again. Sora has someone to say he loves. That makes me wonder: Could Roxas say he loved me? Or does he love that girl, Naminé?

I'm no fool. I know they made a promise to meet again. I knew she loved him. The real question is: how did Roxas feel? Did he return her feelings? Did he ever return mine?

Roxas and Naminé have reunited. They finally found each other. He looks at her in a way he never looked at me. She was on the verge of tears. Their gazes met, and locked. They held each other and their world was complete. They were complete.

They were somebodies.

I admit, I'm envious. I'm happy for them; to find someone that they loved and were loved by in return. Makes me feel...

...like my love for Roxas is – and always was – one-sided.

Roxas is looking away from Naminé. Up where I am.

Looking at me?

A bit confused at first, he showed me his goofy grin one last time.

"I've always felt the same way."

Did... he really say that?

My heart – ahh, the joys of saying that word – was racing yet again.

Looks like my story ends with a happy ending, after all.