Axel didn't wake up until nearly ten in the morning the next day. Sunlight was filtering in through the windows, warming him slowly from the chill of sleep. He yawned and stretched in a cat-like motion, and then slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.

Where am I?

Oh, yeah. I died. Then…Demyx…

He stood up and stepped around the bed, and then spotted a piece of paper lying on the counter. Fittingly, it was a light blue paper with dark music notes along the top.

Axel,

My work address and directions to it are at the bottom of this paper. If you need me, that's where I'll be until four o'clock. Your breakfast is on the red plate in the refrigerator, just heat it up in the microwave. It's not poisoned, I promise. Take Sam out for a walk when you get the chance. I left some clothes sitting out for you on my bed, they should fit you.

Demyx

P.S. You talk in your sleep, by the way. I had no idea you were that infatuated with cupcakes, but I'll pick some up on the way home if it means that much to you.

Axel rolled his eyes and tossed the note back onto the counter. I don't talk in my sleep, and like hell am I touching that mutt, he thought. He slipped into the kitchen and opened the fridge, surprised to see that Demyx really had left him breakfast- bacon, eggs, and pancakes. He was impressed, to say the least.

He sighed and closed the fridge, instead deciding that he desperately needed a shower. Food could wait. He walked around the counter and into the back hallway, and almost ran right into Sam. The dog stared up at him, a murderous glint in its eyes.

"Hey, relax. I'm just going to take a shower. Stupid dog," Axel muttered, edging past the dog to the bathroom. He closed the door quickly, and wouldn't have been surprised to hear the dog attack the door from the outside.

After everything that had happened, relaxing in a long shower seemed like a dream. He took his time with it, staying under the hot water for nearly an hour before he decided that he really didn't want to drown in Demyx's shower. He towel-dried his hair and wrapped another towel around his waist, and then left the bathroom to get those clothes Demyx had left out for him.

He didn't quite get to Demyx's room, though, before he heard a knock at the door. He sighed with frustration, stepping around the now-sleeping dog once again to get to the front door. He opened it partway, and standing outside it was an older man in a brown suit clutching a book to his chest tightly. The man looked taken aback by Axel's state of undress, but he spoke anyway.

"Hello there, young man. Have you found Jesus?"

Jesus…I've heard that name before...oh, yeah, Demyx said it.

"Um…no, but Demyx might've…how long has he been missing?"

The man blinked. "Son, Jesus left this world a long while ago, but he is always here for you."

"So…he's here for me…but you can't find him? You're nuts."

The man sputtered and gaped, and Axel raised an eyebrow. "What do you want, anyway? If you think we've got this Jesus guy tied up in the closet, you'll be pretty disappointed. Call the cops or somethin', I'm not for hire as a search party."

Axel closed the door, shaking his head. People sure were weird around here, walking up to strangers doors and asking them to find a missing person.

He got changed into the clothes Demyx set out for him- black drawstring pants and a black t-shirt with flames around the bottom edge. How fitting, he thought with a smirk, eyeing the flames on the shirt.

He ate breakfast, but after that, quickly became bored. He felt like he shouldn't just be sitting around, like he should be doing something more important. After all, he had a heart now, didn't he? So far what he'd worked so hard to get had only become a bit of an annoyance, flooding him with emotions he wasn't used to feeling so strong.

Eventually he decided his best bet was to go down to the school and ask Demyx some more questions. Maybe they could go to this New York place tonight and see Larxene. Maybe she knew something they didn't.

The school wasn't exactly what Axel had been expecting. At first he thought he was in the wrong place- this building was huge, with hallways branching off in every direction. But the number of kids scrambling around made it pretty clear what this place was for. Axel couldn't imagine spending every day working here, trying to round up all these little balls of pure energy.

An older-looking kid walked by, and Axel grabbed him by the arm. The kid looked up at him wide-eyed.

"Hey, kid, lookin' for one of your teachers. He's got weird blonde hair, name's Demyx."

"Mr. Davenport?"

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Um…I guess."

"Are you gonna murder him?"

"Why would I do that?"

The kid crossed his arms. "You look like a murderer."

"Well then, you'd better tell me quick, hadn't you? Before I get impatient."

That did it; the kid looked downright terrified. He stuttered for a few moments before pointing down a hallway. "He's with Miss Velpeau today. The red door."

"Smart kid. Go on, get," Axel said, and the kid took off, his shoes squeaking on the smooth flooring.

The red door was hard to miss. It was, quite literally, a bright red door. Axel stopped by the windows to the classroom, able to see what was going on inside, but not hear anything. The kids were working on some kind of art project, cutting out shapes in colored paper. As Axel watched, a girl slipped with her scissors, and tears welled up in her eyes as a drop of blood appeared on her finger.

In moments, Demyx was at her side with a small box; Axel was startled yet again, this time seeing Demyx in neatly pressed khakis and a light blue button up shirt. Demyx knelt down by the girl's chair, smiling and talking to her as he used a cloth to wipe the blood away. It wasn't long before the girl was smiling and giggling as Demyx cleaned and bandaged up her finger.

He looks…happy, Axel thought, crossing his arms as he watched the silent scene play out. He acts like he doesn't even miss our world. He probably misses his sitar more than he missed anything from our home world.

Another kid walked up to Demyx and tugged on his sleeve, then pointed out the window to Axel. Axel smirked and waved as Demyx looked up in surprise. Demyx gestured for Axel to come inside the classroom, and at first Axel shook his head- but then Demyx gave him that look.

Damn heart, Axel thought, opening the door and stepping inside the classroom. The kids all stared as he stepped past the miniature tables and chairs to where Demyx stood.

"I didn't think you'd actually come," Demyx said with a smile.

"I got bored. Your apartment is boring."

Demyx laughed. "Well, as soon as Tracey gets back, I can take a break. There's an ice cream place next door we can go to."

Axel suddenly got an odd feeling. They were being watched- he knew it. He looked at the windows to the outside, but there were just a few houses, trees, bushes…nothing out of the ordinary.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling.

"Demyx! Who's your friend?"

Axel's attention to his unease was broken by the high pitched, airy voice coming from the doorway. He turned and saw a woman walking toward them, her unruly blond curls in bushy pigtails and a smile plastered on her face that reminded Axel of…well, no one he'd seen before. A smile like that was unnatural, and quite frightening.

"Tracey, this is Axel. He's a friend of mine from back home," Demyx said with a smile. "Axel, this is Tracey."

Tracey extended her hand for a handshake. Axel simply gave her an incredulous look, and then looked at Demyx as if to say, you expect me to touch that?

"He's not the most social of creatures," Demyx explained without missing a beat. "Can you handle things here? I think I'm gonna take a break."

Tracey shrugged. "Oh, sure. Go on, take all the time you need."

Minutes later, Axel found himself sitting in a small ice cream shop beside the school, with a bowl of chocolate ice cream sitting in front of him. Demyx had unbuttoned the top few buttons on his shirt, and was now leaning back in his chair with a small bowl of strawberry ice cream, obviously grateful for the break from work.

"I've…noticed something, Axel. And I'm not sure what to make of it," Demyx said, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled in. Axel looked up at him, but didn't say a word. Demyx set down the ice cream, then continued.

"When I saw Larxene…she'd been here a lot longer than me, you know? And she didn't look any different."

"So?"

"So…with the way time speeds up here…I mean, you showed up, and you said it had been days. It had been a year here. So…Larxene, she should've…"

"Aged."

"Yeah."

Axel pondered this, setting his spoon down in the bowl. "You're saying we don't age here?"

"It's just a thought I had," Demyx said with an uncomfortable shrug. "I could be wrong. Maybe it's just something weird about her, maybe we'll find one of the others and they'll be using a cane. Or be on Viagra."

"Viagra?"

Demyx practically choked on his ice cream. "Nevermind. Just, uh…watch some TV commercials sometime, you'll figure it out."

Axel sighed, deciding to let that one go for now. "Well, it figures. We're technically dead, why should we age?"

"It just seems weird."

"Nothing feels normal about this in the first place."

Another silence fell. Axel didn't want to believe he was stuck here for all eternity; it seemed like a punishment he couldn't bear. This place didn't feel right.

"Can I talk to her?"

"Larxene?"

Axel nodded. Demyx shrugged, pulling a small black object out of his pocket and flipping it open. Axel watched as Demyx pressed some buttons on it, then held it out to him.

"She might not want to talk to you. Don't be surprised if she hangs up on you, she did it to me three times."

Axel stared blankly.

"Oh…oh, yeah," Demyx said, and then he pushed the object into Axel's hand. "That end goes by your ear. Talk into this end. It's a cell phone."

Axel did as instructed, and was greeted with a ringing sound from the small machine. A few moments later, the ringing stopped and a familiar voice came from the phone.

"Larxene LaVielle."

"Never thought I'd hear that voice again."

"…Axel? How'd you get my number!"

"Whoa, whoa, water boy gave it to me. Be nice, I'm recently deceased."

"Shame I didn't get the privilege."

"I just called to ask you a couple questions. Can you stand me for five minutes?"

"It's my job to sit around listening to murderers and con-men lie through their teeth. You should only be slightly more grating on the nerves."

Axel chuckled. "Some things just don't change. Have you found a way back yet?"

"Back? Axel, we're dead. D-E-A-D, got it memorized? There's no going back."

"…Did you even get a heart, or did you miss that stop on the assembly line to here?"

Larxene sighed heavily. "Look, Axel, I did look into it. But the truth is, people here are so much easier to manipulate and steal money from. I wouldn't go back if I could. I'm living the good life, and I won't let your freakish obsessions stall me. I have a client to meet with now, if you don't mind."

There was a click, and then a steady tone. Axel looked at the phone curiously, and Demyx laughed.

"Told you she'd hang up on you," he said, taking the phone back and hooking it on his belt. "Let me guess…she didn't know anything, but even if she did, she wouldn't tell you?"

"That's about it."

"Figured."

Axel sighed, folding his arms on the table and setting his chin on them. "I don't like this place."

"You're just going to have to get used to it, Axel. Besides, what other world have you been to where they have over ten thousand flavors of ice cream to try out?" Demyx asked, an optimistic tone in his voice.

"I don't want ice cream. I want to go home."

"Well, if you're gonna just mope, then…"

Demyx trailed off. Axel looked up at him, and his expression shifted to one of concern. The blonde's eyes had glazed over, and he was swaying slightly, like he couldn't keep balanced even sitting down.

"Demyx?" Axel said, and then it hit him too. Dizziness. A ringing in his ears that drowned out all his thoughts.

Within moments, Demyx hit the floor, and Axel followed mere seconds later.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The figure outside lowered his hand. He watched from his hiding spot as both former Nobodies collapsed, and other customers in the shop rushed to their aid.

This should give them time, if there are no other setbacks, he thought, his energy completely concentrated on the two unconscious figures. In their weakened state, it didn't take much to unlock what had previously been locked.

Now all he could do was hope that they managed to figure things out on their own. He couldn't guide them as he could the others, not in this world.