"Axel…Axel!"

Axel groaned and rolled over, blinking a few times. It was bright, too bright. He closed his eyes again, the recollections of what had happened slowly becoming clear again.

"Demyx?"

"I'm here."

Axel opened his eyes again, this time focusing on his surroundings. A white room, small, with no windows or doors. Demyx stood beside him, his clothing stained with blood.

"Are you hurt?"

"No. It's all…"

Sam's.

"Where are we?" Axel asked, getting to his feet and walking to the wall. "Who brought us here?"

"That would be me."

Axel and Demyx spun around, and standing on the other side of the room was a figure. A three foot tall figure with very large ears. A mouse, to be exact.

"Hey…you're that guy, aren't you?" Demyx asked slowly, brilliantly deductive, as usual.

"King Mickey," Axel said with a frown, his hands twitching with the urge to summon his chakrams.

"I'm glad you remember," Mickey said with a smile. "We'll have to make this fast, I'm afraid."

"You opened a portal to our world," Axel said. "That means…"

"No, Axel, you can't go back," Mickey said sympathetically. "This is a place in between worlds. Because you're dead to our world, if you tried to come back you would cease to exist."

"That would really suck," Demyx said, crossing his arms. "What's this about?"

"The Heartless are slowly invading your world."

Axel snorted. "No, really? Hadn't noticed."

"You need a keyblade master or you'll be overrun," Mickey continued. "Only the keyblade can save you."

"Are you sending Sora or something?" Demyx asked.

"No. This world isn't Sora's to save. The world of the dead needs a savior of its own," Mickey said. "That's where you two come in. You need to take the keyblade and find the boy who can use it."

"We don't need to do anything. We can handle this without some scrawny little kid waving around a key," Axel said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"You only delay them. The invasion will continue until you find and activate the keyblade master."

Axel sneered. "Why should we help you?"

"Because you have hearts now. You're in the same peril as everyone else in your world."

Demyx raised an eyebrow. "No kid in this world is going to believe he's the master of anything but how many marshmallows he can fit in his mouth all at once."

Mickey smiled. "Then you'll have to convince him."

Axel and Demyx both fell silent. Neither seemed convinced.

"Alright, how about this," Mickey said, and a simple keyblade formed in his hands. "This keyblade will be waiting at your home, along with all I know about the boy and his whereabouts. Should you decide to do this, all the information you need will be there and waiting. You should have a few days before the Heartless attack again."

"But-"

"You have to go now!"

Everything went black.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The entire city was shut down.

Police were everywhere, along with the scientists and government workers trying to figure out what had happened. People were roaming the city looking for lost loved ones, even though authorities had advised staying at home.

The attack had been worldwide. Thousands had been lost.

Axel was walking the streets too, but not to look for anyone- just to make sure Mickey had been right about the Heartless not returning immediately. He'd been out since sunrise, and so far, he'd seen no sign of them.

He went back to the apartment and walked in the door to find Demyx sitting on the couch, Sam's collar clutched in his hands. He winced; Demyx had been like this all day. Not doing anything, not talking, not eating, just sitting.

"Demyx? You okay?"

"Yeah."

Demyx didn't even look at him. Axel slowly walked over and sat next to him on the couch, cuddling up against him.

"I'm sorry."

Demyx sighed. "It's not your fault."

"Anything I can do?"

Demyx shook his head, then fell silent once again. Axel had been planning to talk to Demyx about the keyblade and Mickey's words, and what he wanted to do, but he had the feeling it wouldn't do much good right now. Not with the state that Demyx was presently in.

Axel hated seeing him like this. He had to do something. He kissed Demyx's neck and stood up.

"I'm going out again."

Demyx nodded. Axel grabbed the newspaper off the coffee table and walked out the door.

"Classifieds…" he muttered, flipping to the back of the paper. He ran his finger down the columns until he found the one titled 'dogs'. Most of the ads were for 300 and 400 dollar puppies, shelters…there. Axel stopped at a small ad near the middle.

Doberman/collie mix puppies, free to good home.

He read the address; it wasn't far from the elementary school. He set off, determined to cheer up Demyx. And what better to cheer him up with than another dog?

He arrived at the small blue house and knocked on the door, shifting his weight nervously. It was a few moments before he heard footsteps, and the door opened a crack. An older woman with reddish-brown hair peered out at him.

"Can I help you?"

"Um…yeah. I know it's odd timing, but…I need a puppy."

The woman blinked in surprise, then opened the door wider, gesturing for him to come inside. "Did you lose a pet yesterday?" she asked gently, leading the way through to the back of the house.

"No. My…" Boyfriend? Lover? Roommate? "My boyfriend lost his dog."

"Boyfriend?"

Axel quirked an eyebrow, as if daring her to say something about it. "Yeah."

"That's sweet of you," she said quietly, stopping in front of a door. "They're right in here. Pick out whichever one you like."

Axel nodded, stepping inside the room, which container just a washer, dryer- and six rambunctious puppies. The moment he was in the room his feet were attacked by six little puffballs of black and tan fur.

"Whoa. Calm down, kids," Axel said, kneeling down to get a closer look. They all tackled him, chewing on his shoes and pants. This isn't working, Axel thought. I can't tell where one puppy ends and the next one begins.

He held out his hand palm-up and summoned a small flame, and all the puppies ran away- except for one. The one left, a shaggy black puppy with a tan streak on top of its head, tried to bite the fire, and Axel barely closed his fist over the flame in time to keep the dog from getting a burned tongue.

He picked up the puppy and stood up, holding the furry creature at eye level. It wagged its long tail and licked his nose.

"Okay…you're stupid, you're cut…Demyx'll love you. Come on," he said, tucking the critter under his arm and leaving the puppy room. The woman was waiting outside with a tiny collar and leash in hand.

"Here. You can take these too," she said, and Axel took the collar and leash, which the puppy promptly tried to attack. It settled for gnawing on Axel's hand when it couldn't reach the leash. "That one's a boy. He has some…issues, but he'll make a fine pet!" the woman continued.

"I'll bet," Axel said, heading for the front door. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Not a problem. Good luck!"

The walk home was interesting, to say the least. The puppy tried to attack anything that moved- Axel's clothing, Axel's hands, Axel's hair, the newspaper and leash Axel was still carrying- and he crawled all over Axel to do so. Axel made it home with the puppy still in hand, though, and he wasn't surprised to walk in and see that Demyx hadn't moved.

"Demyx," Axel said, stepping over in front of the Melodious Nocturne, and then holding up the squirming puppy. Demyx looked up, and his eyes widened at the little piranha puppy in Axel's hands.

"Um…what…"

"It's a puppy," Axel said brightly. "I got it for you, cause…well, because."

Demyx stared at the puppy for a few moments, but instead of an expression of glee, he looked even more upset. He stood up, stepping away from the puppy.

"I don't want another dog!" he snapped, backing away from Axel. "I never want another dog again!"

Axel's mouth dropped open, but Demyx was already gone. The bedroom door slammed, and Axel and the puppy looked at each other with similar frightened expressions.

"Sorry, kiddo. He isn't usually like this," Axel said, putting the puppy down on the floor. All fear forgotten, the puppy practically danced over to the fireplace, jumped in, settled down, and began gnawing on a log. "Good dog. Stay," Axel said, leaving the puppy with its oversized chew toy and walking down to the bedroom. He knocked lightly. "Demyx?"

No answer. He turned the knob and pushed the door open a bit, peering inside. Demyx was standing by the window, staring outside, his arms crossed over his chest. Sam's collar lay on the bedside table, right next to the keyblade and envelope Mickey had left.

Axel stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, and then he fell silent for a few moments, unsure of what to say. Unsure of what he could say.

"Demyx…I'm sorry," he finally said with a helpless shrug. "I just wanted to help."

Demyx looked down, but didn't answer.

"Look, do you want me to take the dog back? I'll take him back. Stupid bastard bit me anyway. Reminds me of So-"

"No."

"No?"

"I just…I need…"

Time, Axel thought with a soft sigh. I pushed him too far too soon.

Axel stepped up behind Demyx and wrapped his arms around the musician's waist, pulling him close. Demyx sighed shakily and leaned back against him.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," he murmured, and Axel smirked.

"I'll let it slide this time, but next time I'll set your hair on fire."

Demyx chuckled. "Don't make me drench you."

Axel pulled Demyx away from the window and pulled him down on the bed, kissing him lightly.

"Try to relax," he said, and Demyx nodded, though Axel knew he wouldn't come out of this funk anytime soon. Axel laid back on the pillow, pulling Demyx down with him. The blonde cuddled up against Axel's side, laying his head on the redhead's chest.

Axel knew they had important things to discuss, and not very long to make the decisions set to them. But none of that really mattered right now, not when Demyx needed to recover from the blow. How someone could get so attached to a dog was beyond Axel, but who was he to question it? He'd only been dealing with this 'having a heart' thing for about a week. It felt a bit overwhelming.

Not that I mind, he thought, absent-mindedly stroking Demyx's hair. He glanced down a few minutes later to find that Demyx was fast asleep.

He decided to follow suit.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

When Axel woke up, he was cold again. Demyx was gone. A glance at the clock told him it had only been a few hours.

He stood up a bit stiffly and went out into the hallway, being as quiet as possible. In the living room he found Demyx sitting cross-legged on the floor, the puppy lying in his lap, content with the thorough petting he was getting.

Axel smiled, leaning against the wall. "Don't want another dog, right?"

Demyx looked up and smiled weakly. "He was crying."

"He's a puppy, that's what puppies do. They take advantage of you at every turn."

"Well, give the thing some food and come back to bed. I'm cold."

"Sora."

"What? I don't want that brat in bed with me…"

"No, the puppy. I named him Sora. He reminds me of Sora."

"…You didn't."

"It fits him."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud…"

Demyx's expression suddenly became more serious, more somber. "I want to go find this keyblade kid. I want all the Heartless gone."

Axel hesitated, then nodded. "If that's what you want…you know you'll probably have to drop everything here, right? The job, the lessons…everything."

Demyx gave Axel a sheepish smile. "We weren't really meant for that kind of life in the first place, I think."

"Well…whatever you decide, I'll be right there with ya. Us Nobodies have to stick together now, right?"

The puppy barked, and Demyx chuckled. "Right."