Beta done 10/16/07…

Hey everyone. Sorry it took a while to update but I was away from my comp for a while and all my documents are there. I wasn't doing it on purpose despite what some of you may think and trust me, I was dying, I mean DYING to write a new chapter and update ASAP. I was writing story outlines, writing a chap on paper, anything to cure my writing burn but nothing worked so I couldn't wait to get home today and see my precious computer. ::hugs her computer::

Also as for what I said in the last chapter, I really didn't mean it all that seriously. I wasn't throwing myself off cliffs or stomping around the house because of a lack of reviews but hey, I guess some ppl took it to the heart. I apologize if I offended you. It was a cruel joke I guess. Gomen ::bows::

Also a reviewer said something about me overusing the word "she" too much but besides "she" and "Tifa" what else is there? Well that seemed to be the only paragraph I did that in but I'll try not to do it so much if it bothers.

However I'm glad that I enticed so much emotion from my readers (even if it was bad emotion, maybe even a bit flamish) and I'm really glad for all the support and encouragement left in all of your reviews. I tried to respond to all of 'em. Either way time to shut up and get on with the story.

The Chakram is a throwing weapon that was used by the ancient Indians; it is a flat metal ring with a sharp outer edge from 5 to 12 inches in diameter. (This is Axel's weapon name from what I discovered)

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Chapter 3

Cool gusts of wind breathed against the trickling sweat sticking inside Tifa's black uniform. Her chest heaved heavily as she stood with her fists up in offensive position. Long hair blew against the curves of her confident, smiling lips.

Across from her, the fiery haired man stood gazing at her intensely. His emerald eyes focused on her, awaiting her next move. Firm, slim arms spread out, clenching his Chakram. His sly smile mirrored her own.

"What happened? I thought you were gonna be a challenge?" Tifa cracked the knuckles on her raised fists with her thumbs.

"Oh, trust me, I'm going easy on you. If anything, you're the one who's out of breath," Axel spun the weapons along his fingers, causing a light orange flame to go ablaze around its edges. "Looks like I made you sweat".

"Hah! We'll see about that," Tifa lashed forward, her long slender leg headed straight for his chest. Axel crossed his arms in front of him with his weapons to block her strike. Her body dropped to the floor as she swung another kick beneath him. The redhead jumped over her while twisting his body to swing his weapons to her head. Her head flew back from his blazing swings as she jumped away from his continuous slashes.

She dodged each of his flaming swings, her neck bending, her body twisting fiercely. Axel's arms cut through the wind as he tried to hit her. Finally he criss-crossed both of his Chakram at the same time. As Tifa's body bent in half towards him, a few strands were cut from her long flowing hair, thanks to his slashing. She uppercut him in the stomach and a small groan escaped his lips.

Just as she was about to release an arrogant laugh, Axel unexpectedly threw his weapons to the floor and they vanished. His arms wrapped around her bent over body as he lifted her with his strength. He sent her body flinging over him as he carried her into the air, over his own body, suplexing her.

Before her body crashed to the concrete, her heavy boots stomped on the ground, stopping her from hitting the floor at full impact. Finally, their bodies fell from exhaustion, lying on their backs with the tops of their heads rubbing against one another's. They both breathed heavily from the exercise.

"I win," Axel tried to laugh through his heavy breaths.

"No, I made you release your weapons," Tifa protested, enjoying the playful competition between them.

"Ahh, but I did the finishing move and if that was all my strength than you'd have a broken spine by now," Axel raised an informative finger at her with a tease. He found that in the last two weeks of them meeting in the Bailey, he enjoyed toying with her. He could tell without looking that her lips were pouting or her cheeks were turning shades of red.

After a few moments of catching their breath, Tifa slowly sat up. Axel sat up with her as she turned her body to sit beside him. They rested their elbows on their knees, letting the clinging sweat on their bodies cool with the breeze.

"So, what was that for?" Axel asked out of curiosity. After all, it was her that had started the friendly sparring without so much as a greeting when she had found him sitting on the ledge.

"Nothing really. Sometimes when we're not talking, we just sit here in silence so I guess I wanted to try something different and liven it up a bit. I also wanted to see how strong you were".

"And?" Axel raised his brow at her with a sly grin. As his expression widened, her cheeks flared red. She turned away from him, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"You're alright," she mumbled, still trying to hide her heated cheeks.

Axel shook his head at her. She sure had pride despite how Cloud had made her feel at times. It was good that she had at least that, even if Cloud wasn't going to make her feel strong, she kept herself strong at heart. She had been doing better at it since she vented out to him that night in the Bailey when they ate ice cream. Axel felt the darkness of her sorrows lift a bit whenever she was around him. He knew that if he had a heart, this would bring him joy. Either way, he was glad he was having such an effect on someone.

It seemed she brought a somewhat similar effect on him. His mind was put to ease when they were together. It was as if, instead of drowning in their losses, they were finally learning to float and swim. Maybe someday they'd swim away from it completely.

Axel stood up in front of Tifa and held out his hand. She looked up in surprise, wondering what his intentions were.

"You're right, the bailey is getting kinda old. So whaddaya say I take you somewhere you've never been before?"

"What do you mean?" Tifa seemed a bit hesitant. She had been through the realm of darkness before when she jumped in after Cloud. It was brief, but enough for her to feel the heaviness of the darkness within it. She didn't know how they got out of it. She was just following Cloud who was following his own darkness before they were separated. If she was alone, who knows if she would've made it out of the endless realm.

Axel's expression turned solemn. His bright eyes showed sincerity and he continued to offer his open hand for her. "Trust me, Tifa. You'll be going through the realm with me. I won't let anything happen to you in there".

"But what if it gets too dark for me?"

"That's why I'm here. Fire helps you see in the dark".

Her large brown eyes locked with his. Somehow her body seemed to relax and her worries were calmed. She put her hand in his and allowed him to help her up. He lifted his other palm to the air where a black hole appeared, growing large enough for them to enter. He stepped in with one foot and looked back at her, squeezing her hand with reassurance. "I don't know how you made it out before, but don't let go of my hand and get lost. You might not be as lucky as last time".

This just made her worry more, "Oh great, thanks for the tip".

Axel smiled, "Don't worry, I gotcha".

Suddenly he pulled her in. She watched as the opening closed behind them and her fingers clenched his tighter. He seemed to run into no particular direction as he led her by the hand. She kept her eyes on him the entire time.

She looked around briefly to see the bright colors and symbols floating around them and just as the air seemed to weigh heavier and grow dimmer, another opening appeared in front of them. He quickly pulled her out from that opening and it closed behind them.

Her knees hit the sandy floor as she released his hand, catching her breath again. He stood standing next to her, waiting. It took a moment for her to realize her surroundings. It was a world she had never been to.

Her fingers grabbed the cool grains of sand that slipped from her palms as she tried to lift it. She lifted her head to see the vast ocean spread out in front of her, glistening against the pale moonlight. Her eyes widened with surprise and a child-like grin grew across her lips. The sky was clear and dark, stars speckled across it freely. Tall palm trees waved lightly in the night's wind. It was quiet and so calming.

"It's- it's beautiful," Tifa admired as she took in all of her surroundings. "Where are we?"

Axel looked down at her, his arms crossed in front of him comfortably. "This is the world I found Kairi in, before Saix took her of course".

"So, this is where Sora comes from? Wow, this is beautiful. I wish my world looked this way, but because of all the Mako that sucked up the life of the planet, it doesn't look it's best anymore".

Axel finally settled beside her. She continued to lift the grains of sand in her hands, marveled by its beauty and feel. Axel smiled at her child-like features. He couldn't understand how a human with a heart could not appreciate the small things in this woman, these small things that made her what she was. As usual, humans were ungrateful and Cloud was one of them.

Tifa made him wish he had a heart just so he could experience the warmth she'd give off from the look on her face at that moment. Either way, he enjoyed watching her, with or without a heart. He didn't need to have one to know she was different from many of the other women he had observed.

"Still haven't found him huh?" Axel broke the silence.

Tifa shook her head as she sighed, "Nope. Not yet. I just hope he hasn't gotten himself into too much trouble".

"Mmm…" Axel looked ahead at the ocean. After Kairi had been taken, this was a world he'd visit often. He admired its beauty and it was a great place to dwell in his thoughts without interruptions. Somehow, he knew Tifa would like it just as much. After all, they were alike in so many ways.

Suddenly, Tifa jumped up with a new burst of energy pumped into her. She pointed down at him, her other fist perched on her waist. "I challenge you to a rematch".

Axel nodded, "Keep it up and I'll have to use my trump card on you…but then again I'd fade away if I did".

"Fade away? Does it really use up that much of your strength?" Tifa seemed suddenly concerned.

"Yeah, it's pack a punch, but I don't plan to use it unless it's worth sacrificing my life for it. I can knock out maybe a thousand Nobodies with it"

Tifa went on her knees next to him again, "So does that mean that I'm so strong you're afraid you'll have to use that on me?" She giggled. The tables had turned and now she was teasing him.

"Please. I could beat you without weapons with one hand probably," Tifa shoved his shoulder playfully in response. "So…ya wanna see what it's like?"

"What do you mean?" Once again Tifa grew a little worried.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna do it. Just show you the opening position to execute it that's all".

Tifa's eyes grew wide again as she nodded. Axel stood up, "Ok I'll show you, but that, you'd better not memorize," and he gave her a wink.

Hours had passed before they stepped out from the realm of darkness, returning to their usual spot on the Bailey. Once again, Axel had led her by the hand just in case. The opening closed behind them. It was dawn already.

Tifa yawned and brought her free hand to cup over her stretching mouth. She realized her hand was still intertwined in Axel's and quickly released herself. She spun around to look at him.

"That was fun".

"Glad you liked it".

Tifa held her hands innocently behind her back. She hesitated for a bit as she focused on her feet, "Can you promise me something?" Axel nodded in response and she continued, "Can you try not to use that move that you showed me?"

Axel's eyes widened. He didn't expect such a request from her. "Why?" He drew closer to her without realizing it. He couldn't explain why and he didn't resist it. It was as if his body was responding to her in some way and had an urge to be closer. He looked down at her, inches from her face, awaiting an answer from the suddenly timid woman in front of him.

"Well…it's just that, when you said that you'd fade away if you used it, it kind of made me sad. I mean, I know you can't understand because you can't express emotions but it's just that…"

Axel couldn't resist his body's pleadings anymore. He allowed his hand to lift her chin on instinct. He had no idea why he wanted to be close to her, wanted to be near her, why he wanted to look at her.

Her trembling eyes lifted and within a split second, without warning, her lips shot up to meet his. His body grew stiff and he released her chin. His hands floated in the air, not knowing what to do, not being able to comprehend the warmness spreading through his body and the bumps growing along his skin. Heat spread to his face as he stood there, motionless. It was brief and broken within seconds.

Tifa backed away, cupping her hand over her mouth in embarrassment, "Oh my God, I'm sorry. Forget I ever did that".

She quickly turned away from him and jumped onto the steps of the Bailey. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. He did know, however, that he didn't want her to leave without saying anything first.

Just as he was about to call her name out, she turned back around to look up at him, still standing on the ledge. He was stunned as he looked down at her, baffled and dumbfounded. She smiled as if nothing had happened.

"See you next time," she gave him a quick wave before disappearing toward the town.

Axel stood standing on that ledge for a few silent moments. What were all these things that his body was experiencing right now? He could not understand it. He had seen couples kiss as he observed throughout the worlds, but could not understand it. He could not remember what it was like to love and he didn't even know if he ever even experienced the emotion in his past life. Yet, now here he was, a victim of this woman's kiss and unable to comprehend it.

He raised his fingers to touch his lips, still slightly warm from hers. He was full of questions and yet, he had to admit, although he could not comprehend what was happening, he liked it. He enjoyed the way she made him feel. He enjoyed the fact that she made him want to feel. She had a mysterious way about her that made all his worries disappear and he looked forward to being near her. It was almost as if he was addicted to her presence.

He smiled to himself. Although he could not understand her actions or the things growing inside of him, he knew that this was an experience he'd like to try again. Even though he had no emotions, with her, he was willing to try and find them. He wanted to find his heart and hopefully some day she'd accept him when her heart was no longer dragged down by Cloud. After all, he was a Nobody. He had nothing to offer her, but his presence beside her and his very best.

For now, however, he was satisfied with their nightly visits and their one kiss. He had finally found something interesting that made him want to exist just a little longer…

"Don't worry, Tifa, I promise".

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Told you it was going to start heating up. You think I'm moving them too fast? Well I didn't expect this to be so long but oh well. Tell me what you think. Just cause it's been so long I'm updating with two chaps so onto the next one Hooray!