I was doing dishes when I was suddenly slapped in the face by the muses... Un-beta'd, but run through spell check, as per usual.

Identical

By Kayu Silver or an alias thereof.

As much as it hurt to admit, Riku could no longer deny one simple fact. Sora did not, had not and would not love him in any way shape or form past the, admittedly strong, friendship they currently shared. Hand in hand with this fact was the less painful but still entirely too cruel note that Kairi would be sharing Sora's point of view on him for 'as long as they both shall live'. At least, if the minister between them was any sort of guideline. And, considering their history, that was very likely to be true.

It was a depressing prospect, being alone like this. After all, he was never going to see anyone on the islands in the same way he saw the newlyweds, and after the events with Organization XIII, travelling between the worlds was almost impossible, even for one of the universe's saviours. Ironically, it was no where near as problematic for expierienced Gummi technicians, but there were none to be found in his home.

So, here he was 'forever holding his peace' and being their best man while watching Selphie practically dancing with nerves across the aisle as the Maid of Honor. If it wouldn't have been entirely out of character and unbefitting the event at hand, namely the wedding of his two dearest friends, he would have been more than happy to slip into a familiar hateful glare, hoping to set anyone who looked at him on fire in a blaze of anger manifested.

Instead he tried focusing on anything at all but the happy couple as they began bantering with their guests and families while still looking as if he was being joyful and embracing this change happily.

When his eyes fell on a shock of too-bright red hair, it was all he could do to avoid staring. He'd met every single Islander in the entire chain, as well as all of the people Sora and Kairi knew and probably more of their extended family members then either of the newlyweds had as well. Riku was certain that if he'd ever in his life seen someone with hair that loud and tattoos that oddly placed, he'd have remembered them.

Unless, of course, he hadn't been focusing on the bright hair and strange triangles so much as on not dying.

The lack of all-encompassing black coat wasn't helping either.

Axel... What the hell? Didn't he... Riku hadn't witnessed the Nobody's death, but he'd heard often enough from Sora, and from Roxas after the second separation, of how the firey Nobody had disappeared in to nothingness just like all the others. So, the silver haired man had each and every right to be surprised that the redhead was sitting there, in the pews, fiddling with a lighter and looking very much alive.

"You do realise that I don't like it when people stare like that, right?" Riku's breath jumped when he heard a familiar prideful drawl, this time without the threatening undertones he'd unconsciously been expecting. As if daring the man to out do him, the Islander's reply was just as cocky and sarcastic.

"You do realise that with that hair and those things under your eyes, you're always going to be stared at, right?"

The redhead shrugged one shoulder. "Hey, so far, you're the only one to notice me. Even Rox and Nam haven't bothered." He jerked his head in the direction of two blonds chatting with Sora and Kairi and presenting a gift to them. Roxas and Naminè had forced their respective ways out of their others' bodies some years ago, and though the details were sketchy to all involved, as far as anyone could tell Kairi's overly pure heart was capable of creating two synthetic hearts for the Nobodies, so technically they were no longer Nobodies at all.

"I'm sure they'll get to you soon enough." Riku replied after a moment's pause. But then again, you're probably in the same boat as me... Roxas' many recounts of Axel's life and apparently false death had informed the Islander of two facts. One, Roxas was as entirely emotionally blind about Axel as Sora and Kairi were about him, and two, Axel had obviously been as close to in love with the younger Nobody as was physically possible at the time. "But that doesn't explain how you..." Riku trailed off for a moment, uncharacteristically stumbling for words. "Got here. Let's go with that. It doesn't explain how you got here."

"Ever asked Roxas and Naminè if they can still conjure up pathways through the darkness?" Axel replied by way of an answer, and Riku stared flatly at him.

"As much as I'd love to call you an idiot, we both know you aren't, and we both know that wasn't what I meant. Why aren't you dead?"

"Oh please. You really believe you can kill yourself by funneling to much energy into an attack? No, don't answer that. You little wimpy humans probably could. We're made of stronger stuff. You can't knock off a Nobody unless you shove a Keyblade clear through them."

"Is that so?"

"Mmhmm."

The two stood side by side and lapsed into a complete silence, watching the various events of the reception go off flawlessly, which, Riku had to admit, was the least Sora and Kairi deserved after their lives. The silence itself was not particularly tense, not like the silences both were used to. It was almost companionable, except that was a positive word, and being made to watch the events of the wedding had certainly knocked Riku's mood far from positive. As for Axel, through the entire night no one but Riku spoke to him, except for when Selphie had spent ten minutes babbling about something that neither man could grasp the point of through her sugar-high voice. Both blamed the wedding cake, which was far too sweet for either of them to consider touching. Not to mention the icing was unusually stiff.

By two that morning, the guests finally started leaving the brightly lit outdoor chapel, Sora and Kairi having excused themselves to the Newlywed Suite that had been paid for that night by an 'anonymous benefactor'. They had intended to just go back to their shared apartment, but at the stroke of two a courier had delivered the key to the room. No one answered when they asked who'd paid for the room, but the couple's eyes stayed on Riku for the longest time, though truly only ten or fifteen seconds, until he carefully nodded just once.

Axel, who had been watching the scene with slightly less disinterest than usual, thought that it was very, very odd. He voiced his opinion after following Riku out to the sidewalk and half the way to the other man's home.

"You're insane, you know." Riku stared blankly that the redhead, who in turn shook his head and continued. "If you loved one of them, sure, I could see you letting this whole wedding business slide, but you weren't staring all night at one of them. You were watching 'em both. Keyblader and Princess alike. You're completely transparent."

"Not really. I've got an entire universe fooled. Except for you, it seems." He was too tired to bother denying anything. Besides, he had a feeling the Nobody wouldn't care if he did.

"Hey, 's not my fault you're just as bullheaded as Alex was." Riku didn't bother asking who the Alex person was or what he had to do with the situation, but Axel took the time to fill him in anyway. As far as he could tell, there was probably a decent walk left until the residential district came up anyway. "Alex was the man I used to be before I gave up my heart. He was just like you. Which would, I suppose, make me just like you. But then again, I'm not him any more than Sora is Roxas. The point is, however, that I know every thought running through your head right now. Like the one about how you'd love it if I just shut up and left, and the one about how pathetic it is that I'm right, and the one about how you've just realised that the only reason I know what you're thinking is because I'm thinking the same damned things about someone else."

Riku didn't answer, and Axel didn't continue, because he knew that he'd have shot himself in the face for continuing, and he really didn't want to know what Riku would do to him, even if he could probably take it.

So, when Riku turned down a random alleyway, the sort that really didn't fit in with the bright and cheery nature Destiny Islands retained, even in the dead of night, Axel seriously considered leaving the silver haired man alone with his thoughts and going back to world hopping. But he decided to follow anyway, because he'd turned down a number of dark alleys in his life, and as far as he could tell, it had never been to run away from someone like himself.

That was why, when his head hit the wall of the building towering above him, the redhead didn't even wince. That was why when chapped lips were crushed needily against his own, the Nobody didn't kick and fight, but buried his hands in silver locks and deftly switched places with his assailant. That was why he spent the night in an alley trying to draw out every possible groan, moan, grunt and scream from the other man, and succeeding easily enough.

Riku needed a replacement for Sora and Kairi.

Axel needed a substitute for Roxas.

Between the two of them, they could almost feel like they belonged again, even if they knew they didn't and wouldn't.

At some point they'd collapsed during that night- or was it morning? Both could vaguely remember the grey light of pre-dawn creeping up on them. They both woke up at nearly the same moment, their bodies as well matched as their minds, and stared silently at eachother for a few of the longest minutes of their respective lives.

Both of them left, Axel to another world and Riku to finally go home and take a shower, and neither, for even a second, looked back, because looking back would mean admitting their mistakes and admitting they might not have been mistakes and realising that they might want it to happen again and realising that they might have found something that would never be as good as the ones they wanted but might make a decent exchange nonetheless.

Neither wanted to do that, and even in that respect, they were aboslutely identical.