The next day was overcast and cool. Riku sat in his usual spot on the deformed Papou Tree, Sora was challenging Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie all at one time, and Kairi sat near the water letting it hit her legs slightly. Axel watched them from the Secret Place thinking about how he might go out among them.

He sweated profoundly as he thought about all the bad things that could happen. He calmed himself down as he thought about the good that might come out of this. "Okay, Axel," he thought to himself, "You're strong. You can handle yourself."

He took in a deep breath as he slowly began to walk out of the Secret Place. He looked around when he got out of the Secret Place and saw that everyone was still doing the same thing that they had been doing before.

He took in a deep breath once again and continued on out. "Huh? Who's that?" Wakka asked as he was about to raise his ball to strike Sora but stopped. Wakka, Tidus, Selphie, and Sora turned to see Axel who stopped in his tracks when he noticed them looking dead at him.

Sora squinted for a second trying to make out who he was. Then it clicked, "Axel?" Axel grinned slightly, "So you remember me." He began to head over towards Sora as Sora watched him in disbelief. "But, I thought you-." "Yeah, I thought so, too." Axel interrupted Sora.

Sora grinned his wide grin, "I'm glad to see you're still alive." Axel chuckled slightly. "Who is this guy?" Tidus asked. "The name's Axel, A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" Axel introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, Axel," Selphie said in her kind voice and held out a hand, which Axel shook.

Kairi overheard them talking and looked over. She noticed Axel and jumped to her feet quickly. Riku noticed her quick movements out the corner of his eye and turned his head to see everyone but him crowded around Axel. He slowly stood and began to walk over.

Kairi had moved everyone out of the way as she came and stood in front of Axel. She frowned as she looked up at him and he swallowed nervously hoping that she wouldn't remember but knowing that she would. "You're the guy who kidnapped me!" Kairi yelled. "I'm surprised you remembered that," Axel lied with a chuckle.

Kairi didn't laugh. "Um... Can we put the past behind us?" Axel asked with a sheepish smile. "Yeah, Kairi," Sora jumped in, "He's the one that saved me." "Saved you," Kairi asked as she turned and looked at Sora then back at Axel, "You did?"

Axel nodded. Kairi frowned for a second thinking about what she should do then she smiled, "Okay, Axel, I forgive you." Axel smiled relieved. "But," Kairi continued, "Only because you saved Sora. I didn't appreciate being cooped up in that dungeon."

Riku walked up beside Sora, "Hey, Sora," he then looked at Axel, who seemed a bit more nervous than he was before, "Who this guy?" He asked as he looked back at Sora. "Oh... Um, this is Axel." Sora said as he looked at Riku then at Axel, "Axel, this is Riku."

"Hiya, Riku." Axel said and stuck out his hand for a shake. Riku looked at Axel for a second, examining him then shook his hand, "Nice to meet you." "So when did you get to the island?" Riku asked as they stopped shaking hands.

"Well, it's a long story." Axel said as he scratched the back of his head slightly. Riku crossed his arms, "I'm willing to listen." Axel, surprised, looked at Riku questionably. He seemed too interested in how he had got there.

Sure, it was a reasonable question but the way Riku had asked it, it seemed as if he were on to Axel. As if he thought he was a killer or something. "Well...," Axel began as he looked up at the sky as if it was going to tell the story for him.

He slowly looked back at Riku, "I helped Sora fight off a few Dusk and then about 100 more came so, to save time, I decided to give them a little blast of my power... and... I ended up using all of it..." Axel chuckled at his stupidity then continued, "I couldn't hang on anymore and I found myself lying on the ground slowly fading away until- Poof! - I faded away, blacked out, and woke up here. Wow... That wasn't long after all."

"Hm..." Riku said as he uncrossed his arms, "So what made you save Sora?" Axel raised an eyebrow at Riku wondering why he was asking him these questions, "I guess he reminded me of Roxas..." Axel answered in a quiet voice.

There was an awkward silence as Riku looked at Axel. "Welcome to Destiny Island," Riku said and started back to his spot on the tree.

Axel: (Glares at Me)

Me: What did I do.

Axel: I'm not even gonna talk about it...

Me... Review!