Part Two

"Roxas...stay close to me. I'm gonna summon my chakram...and this might get a little dicey." Axel warned, readying his hands to summon his fiery weapons.

Roxas nodded and did as he was told. As he began to move however, the cougar let out another angry yowl as it leapt at Axel.

"NO!" Roxas screamed.

He leapt in the way of the cougar and was knocked to the ground on his back, holding the Keyblade out as the cougar gnashed at him with its massive teeth. Roxas cried out in agony as cougar managed to sink its massive fangs into his bad shoulder. Images of his friends soon flashed within his mind as he was overtaken by a surge of adrenaline and with all his strength, he kicked his foot outward, kicking harder than he thought would be possible. There was a deafening crack as Roxas's foot made contact with the cougar's chest, causing the wildcat to let out a yowl of agony as it staggered backwards. Roxas painfully rolled over onto his belly, the snow beneath him having already become a deep crimson red. Roxas gritted his teeth in agony, trying his best to get back to his feet.

"I'm coming!" Axel yelled, rushing over to Roxas.

Axel stayed by his side as he summoned his chakram, raising his hands in the air as his chakram began to spin around in a circle, a ring of fire surrounding them. The cougar tried to get through but snarled in pain as the flames singed its fur. The wildcat continued to pace back and forth as it tries to find a way past the fire. It leapt back as the flames swirled around them in the fashion of a tornado, the whirling vortex of fire surrounding them as it jutted into the sky. The cougar let out and angry yowl before turning and fleeing back into the forest. Roxas felt a wave of relief wash over him and he collapsed into the snow, utterly exhausted.

"Yeah.. Yeah, that took a lot out of me too.." Axel stated, breathing heavily as he collapsed beside Roxas, staring up into the sky.

"Hey.. Roxas.. You reckon when we get back, we could tell Scrooge about this snow planet and get a cut of the profits off all the sea salt ice cream he'd make?" Axel asked weakly, chuckling at his own joke before coughing as he stared up at the grey sky as snow continued to drift down. "For real though.. How's your shoulder?"

Roxas tried to smile only for it look more like a grimace. His vision began to go out of focus as he tried to stem the bleeding with his hand. He let out a cough and cringed as he could taste something metallic in his mouth.

"A..Axel.. I.. I d-don't f..feel s-so good…."

It was all he managed to say as he collapsed in the snow, his eyes drifting shut.

"Oh, no..." Axel groaned to himself, summoning his Keyblade while moving up onto his knees, pointing his Keyblade at Roxas as he said, "H-Heal.."

As he felt Mana leave his body, he felt his body become more exhausted.. but he had to stay awake. He couldn't pass out.. Not here.

After a few long moments, Roxas began to stir. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he looked up at his best friend.

"Axel.. Y-you.. O-oh my God.."

He slowly managed to sit up, wincing as his body felt really stiff. Though he was still in pain, Roxas carefully put Axel's arm around his shoulder and stood up, nearly stumbling as he started to feel really dizzy. He shook his head to clear it, soon catching a glimpse of the bits of plant life now peeking out of the snow where the fire had burned away the snow as well as bits of the Gummi Ship. He turned back to Axel.

"It's okay, we're going to get through this.. It's my turn to help you."

Very carefully, Roxas began to navigate his way back to the icy shelter, allowing Axel to lean against him for support. He was thankful that the snow hadn't covered the entryway as he began to pull Axel inside. They soon made it inside and Roxas carefully leaned Axel against the wall of the shelter.

"Th...thanks, buddy. Really appreciate it." Axel said, managing to let Roxas lead him back to the shelter, eventually making it back inside and leaning against the snowy wall with a slight hiss. "Man.. What a day, huh?"

Roxas was overtaken by a wave of dread at the condition his friend was in.

"Axel.. Y-you don't look so good.. H-here let me help."

Roxas summoned his Keyblade to heal Axel; or rather, he tried to. He felt a wave of dizziness as he tried to call upon the Keyblade. Giving up, he searched through his jacket, finding the inside of the pocket was sticky yet slippery at the same time. He reached around until he found what he was looking for. The bottle that held the potion had cracked, leaving only half of it left. He nonetheless uncorked it and held it out for Axel take.

"Here.. I-it's.. It's all I've got but y-you need it more t-than me."

"Heh.. Thanks." Axel chuckled, raising the broken bottle up to his lips and drinking what remained inside before unceremoniously dropping it onto the snowy floor.

"And don't sweat it.. I've gone through worse. Just...don't try to over exert yourself on my part, okay? We're getting out of this...together...got it memorized?" He asked, weakly pointing to his temple for emphasis.

Roxas nodded and tried to smile but let out a soft whimper before hugging him tight.

"I-I'm sorry.. I just.. So much happened and I just.. I'm just so worried something might happen.. You're my best friend.. More than that.. Y-you're like an older brother to me.."

"Heh, of course.. And family's gotta look out for each other right?" Axel asked, returning Roxas's hug with one of his own despite his shaky hands.

Roxas could sense something was wrong as he noticed Axel's body shaking horribly and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked him in the eyes as he spoke, his expression filled with concern and anxiety.

"Axel? Please be honest w-with me.. A-are you sure you're okay?"

"Eh.. I-I've b..b-been better." Axel stated through a quivering jaw. "All the f-fighting and surviving's k-kinda taken it out of m-me a bit."

Roxas immediately became even more concerned, removing his jacket and carefully draping it over him to add another layer to try and keep him warm. As he did so, he noticed how swollen his leg had become.

"Y-your leg.. It's getting worse.."

He turned back to Axel before placing both hands on his shoulders, gripping them gently as he looked him in the eyes once more.

"I'm going to go out and see if I can make something to help them find us. I'll try to get back soon."

Roxas then pulled him into a tight hug, tears threatening to form as he finally spoke.

"I.. I n-need you to be strong right now.. A-alright?"

"Oh, yeah, s-sure thing. Not like I'm g-going anywhere, yeah?" Axel said with a shiver and a shrug, raising a shaky hand to give a thumbs up.

Roxas tried to smiled but could already feel his tears dribbling down his cheeks. He fought back the whimper threatening to come out as he slowly hit to his feet. He slowly began to head out of the shelter, stopping to give him one more look of concern before heading outside.

Once outside, Roxas allowed his tears to flow freely down his cheeks, weeping quietly as he allowed all of his fear and anxiety out into the open air. After a bit of time he sniffed and scrubbed at his face to clear the tears away and began his work on getting a beacon set up for the others to find them.

Hours passed by slowly for Roxas as he dug through the heavy wet snow to uncover the pieces of the destroyed Gummi Ship. As night began to fall once more, Roxas finished setting up the beacon. His hands were numb from the freezing cold, his hair plastered to his head and neck from the snow. Completely soaked through from the snowmelt, Roxas shivered and let out an agonized cough as he staggered painfully to his feet and made his way back to the shelter of ice.

He made his way inside and went up to Axel who was curled up near the wall. Roxas inched closer toward him.

"Axel?"

Roxas coughed, shivering a bit as the snowmelt continued to soak his skin.

"Mmn, wha-?" Axel replied weakly, his eyes fluttering open and looking around in a confused manner before seeing Roxas, a weak smile forming on his face as he said, "Oh, hey. Did you...y'know...do the thing?"

Roxas nodded.

"I was able to set Blaze Shards around it to try and keep the snow off.."

Roxas made his way closer, now becoming more concerned at Axel's condition. Hesitating for a moment, Roxas reached up and placed a hand against Axel's forehead.

"Axel..! Y-you're burning UP!" he gasped in shock.

While he didn't feel so great himself, his main concern was for Axel's well-being. Roxas searched around the shelter and gathered up a bit of the snow before going back to his side. Very carefully, he placed the snow against Axel's forehead to try and bring down the fever.

"Yeah...kinda figured that. Turns out being in a frozen tundra for too long makes you sick, who knew?" Axel joked before descending into a coughing fit.

Roxas bit his lip, his concern deepening further as he realized Axel's condition becoming worse. He gently rubbed Axel's shoulder, wanting more than anything to help his friend feel better. He soon glanced outside, to see the sun had completely set.

"We'll have to wait out the night again.."

He turned back to look at Axel, taking a seat beside him.

"Axel.. I'm.. I'm s-so sorry.."

"For what? You got the beacon up. That's a win, in my book." Axel said, briefly getting a smile before closing his eyes.

"Anyway, let's get some sleep. Maybe we'll feel...better...in the morning..."

Roxas watched Axel's body relax against the icy wall and could feel his sense of dread washing over him. He took a breath before letting it out shakily. Being careful not to disturb him, Roxas inched closer and rest his head against Axel's shoulder as his exhaustion took him over.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Roxas awoke feverishly a few hours later. He staggered up onto his hands and knees, but could go no further. His entire body seemed extremely stiff and it hurt too much to move. Roxas turned to look at Axel who was still asleep. He hesitated before reaching up to feel his forehead and let out a whimper as Axel had gotten much worse during the night.

Suddenly, he became aware of the unmistakably loud roar of ship engines. Roxas turned and dragged himself through the tunnel leading out of the shelter. Looking out, he heard the loud roar of a Gummi Ship engine overhead Roxas was overtaken by adrenaline and scrambled out into the driving snow, relief washing over him as he saw the ship land a few feet away.

"GUYS! Over HERE!" Roxas cried out.

A growing sense of hope rose within him as he made out the forms of Riku, Terra, Isa, and Ventus hurrying over toward him. Before any of them could ask where Axel was, Roxas turned around and led them back to the shelter.

"Axel..! Axel, they FOUND us!" Roxas smiled, gently shaking him "We're going back HOME!"

Unfortunately, Axel didn't reply to Roxas's shouting as he continued to lie there unconscious, still alive but fading away little by little as their friends rushed to their aid.

Roxas felt the hope within him suddenly plunge into the pit of his stomach.

"A-Axel..?"

Isa instantly made his way over to the fiery redhead, a growing concern washing over him as carefully hoisted him up, holding him bridal style. He turned to look at the others.

"Lea is in critical condition.. We need to hurry!"

The trip back to Radiant Garden was all a blur to Roxas. All he could think about was how Axel's condition was continuing to get worse. Roxas informed Ienzo and Even about what happened and how everything had gone wrong.

As he sat vigilant at Axel's bedside; his arm in a sling and covered in bandages, Roxas went through the countless ways that he could've stopped it from happening. He looked up at Axel in the bed, taking in the sight; surrounded by beeping machines and stuck all over with wires and tubes, his skin slightly raised where needles poked in. A large swathe of bandages encompassed the entirety of Axel's right leg and the lower half of his face was obscured by a breathing mask.

Roxas clenched his eyes shut and could already feel his tears slipping down his cheeks as he took hold of Axel's hand.

"Axel.. Y-you promised we'd b-both make it home.. You PROMISED me.."

Roxas trailed off as he broke into mournful sobs, burying his face into his friend's shoulder.

Aqua walked into the hospital room with a forlorn expression, hugging her arms to herself as she asked, "So.. How is he?"

Roxas snapped his head up to look at her, his tears of anguish and guilt spilling down his cheeks. He swallowed thickly.

"H-he promised we'd b-both make it.."

He let out a choked sob as he turned back to Axel, his grip on his hand tightening a bit more.

"If I-I had just REFUSED those potions when he gave them to me.. If I told him to take them INSTEAD.."

Roxas felt his throat going tight again as fresh tears spilled down his cheeks.

"I can't lose him!" Roxas couldn't take it anymore and once again started to sob quietly, clenching his eyes shut. "He can't die on me! I need him!"

"You can't blame yourself for what happened." Aqua stated, placing a hand on the grieving boy's shoulder. "And I certainly know that he wouldn't want that either. He might not be in the best shape right now, but he's still in this fight, even if he isn't awake."

Roxas looked up, his eyes puffy and red. He slowly got up and buried his face into her shoulder as anguished sobs wracked his body.

When Roxas was finally able to speak, his voice kept hitching.

"W..w-what if.. He n-never wakes up?"

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.. But while there's life, there's hope.. And we'll support each other as we get through this." Aqua replied, wrapping Roxas in a hug.

Roxas found himself clinging to Aqua as fresh tears dribbled down his cheeks. Roxas sobbed harder than he could ever remember doing in his life. His shoulders shook violently, as all his anxiety, fear, pain, and anguish broke free.

"He.. He p-promised w-we'd both make it home.." Roxas choked. "H-he promised he'd b-be here.."

A/N: I'll try to get more soon..