Part Three

"The fight's not over yet." Another voice chimed in, Riku stepping in, placing his own hand on Roxas's shoulder as Aqua continued to hug him. "So long as he draws breath, we'll do everything we can to save him. I actually came in to let you know that Ienzo seems to have had a breakthrough. He'll be coming in soon to explain."

Roxas looked up at Riku, a new hope rising within him. A long moment passed before Roxas pulled Riku into the hug, unable to find any other way to express how he felt as more tears slipped down his cheeks.

The moment was interrupted as Ienzo entered the room. Roxas immediately looked up at him.

"Well?" he asked desperately.

"Well indeed." Ienzo said with an understanding smile, stepping into the room. "Ever since Radiant Garden has returned to its former glory and its chief scientists restored, Ansem the Wise has spread out our tasks to many different fields, including medical advances. Combining conventional medical technology with combat-ready potions, we've developed a means to inject a specific potion into the bloodstream to slowly cure patients without overwhelming their bodies. That being said, we have only recently finished the project, and it's still in its testing phase. Given the circumstances, I thought it prudent if you would have any objection to having Axel be one of the first to take place in a clinical trial of this experimental medicine. You have my assurance that it won't overwhelm his body, but there's a chance that it might not be as potent as we would like it to be for the purpose of healing patients. I wouldn't be offering this if this were to place him in any further danger."

Roxas felt a pang of dread at that bit of information. There was a chance of the medicine not speeding the healing process as quickly as he wanted it to, but using a medicine to possibly increase the chance of Axel waking up and being back to his old self was better than not using it at all.

Roxas spoke up.

"I'll do whatever it takes to help him.." Roxas turned back to Axel as he continued. "He's.. He's like family to me."

Ienzo nodded, pulling out an IV bag that glowed in the same way that a potion did, setting it aside before removing Axel's standard bag from the hook and pulling out the spike, placing the old bag down before grabbing the potion IV bag and plugging it into the spike and placing it on the hook.

"There. Now it's just a matter of time before we see if the medicine works." Ienzo said, the glowing liquid slowly seeping down the line and into Axel's veins. "I'll be remaining by to document the results."

"He's in your hands, Ienzo." Riku said with a nod, looking to Roxas as he said, "I need to head out. Do you need anything? Something to eat or drink?"

Roxas shook his head as he took a seat beside Axel's bed.

"I'm staying here.. I want to be here if-.. W-when he wakes up."

He turned to Axel soon taking his hand again.

"We've been through a lot a-already.. I don't want to leave u-until I know he's okay.."

It was at that moment that the door to the room opened to reveal Terra and Ventus. While Terra walked inside, Ven found he was unable to go any further, his insides compressing in on themselves as his gaze locked on Axel's still form.

He was soon snapped out of his thoughts as Terra spoke up.

"Any news on his condition?" Terra asked.

"Currently in a coma, but he's stable." Ienzo said. "Roxas has agreed to have Axel undergo experimental IV potion medicine in an attempt to steadily heal his body and hopefully restore his brain functions."

Roxas who was still at Axel's side, clenched his eyes shut as fresh tears slipped down his cheeks. Ventus felt a sudden pain in his chest as tears of his own filled his eyes.

"So there's n-nothing you can do to wake him up? Magic or something?" he asked.

"Magic can only do so much when the brain is in the state that Axel's is in." Ienzo replied, continuing to take notes. "Speaking of which, I do believe Even will be coming in soon. He's been monitoring Axel's brain waves, so what we'll do from here will depend on what news he provides."

Just then, there was a knock on the door, Xion standing at the edge looking rather forlorn. Isa stood close behind her, his throat growing tight as he took in the sight of his childhood friend as Xion spoke up.

"Uh...hey, everyone. I just...wanted to check on Axel and...and Roxas. I hope I'm not intruding."

Roxas looked up at hearing her voice, tears slipping down his cheeks.

"X..Xion.. Y-you made it b-back.." Roxas choked out.

He reluctantly left Axel's side and crossed the room to pull Xion into a tight hug.

"T-they said he's stable b-but.. But he w-won't w-wake up.." Roxas informed her.

She returned the hug in kind, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry. I wish I could have been there to help you." She cried, sniffling as she held her friend in her arms.

Roxas tightened his grip on her a bit more as he clenched his eyes shut.

"It.. I-it wasn't y-your fault.." he choked out.

He gently rubbed her back, the pain in his chest becoming more intense as he held her close. There was another knock on the door before it opened to reveal Even walking in carrying a clipboard.

"W-well? W-what does it say?" Roxas desperately asked, looking up at him.

Even audibly breathed out as he looked up from the clipboard.

"While Axel's condition is stable, there has been no significant change in his mental awareness.. After running a few tests, it would seems that his mental state has remained unresponsive.. Even the slightest change in wakefulness would increase his chances of regaining consciousness.. But so far, his mental state has remained unchanged.."

Roxas's hope sank and he turned to look forlornly back at Axel in the bed. Even continued.

"While his mental state is less than ideal, that's not to say that he won't wake up.. As I had mentioned, any change in his mental awareness would significantly raise his chances of recovery."

"Can.. C-can he hear us?" Roxas croaked out.

"It is a highly possible," replied Even. "There have been studies of coma patients benefiting from hearing the familiar voices of people they care about. So, by all means. Talk to him. Doing so may significantly improve the possibility of him waking from his unconscious state."

Hearing this, Xion wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffles, walking to Axel's side and taking his hand in hers.

"Hey, Axel. It's Xion. I hope you come back to us soon. We all miss you." She said, not caring about how silly she probably looked right now. Aqua simply placed her hand on Xion's shoulder in support.

Roxas soon joined Xion at Axel's side, placing a hand on his shoulder gently.

"Axel, remember when we were back in the organization? You always wanted to meet up on the tower after each mission and have ice cream. We would go up almost every day after our missions fighting the Heartless and watch the sunset. How about once this is over, we can all go up and get ice cream like we always did? We can watch the sunset like old times."

It was then at that moment that Axel's eyes fluttered open, the injured Keyblade wielder looking around and wearily asking, "Oh, hey, guys. Wh...what's going on? Where am I?"

Roxas's eyes widened before his face broke out into a huge smile and he jumped up, throwing his arms around his best friend's neck.

"AXEL! I thought I was going to lose you! We ALL did!" Roxas cried, eyes filling up with tears again. "Y-you were so still and y-you wouldn't wake up.."

Roxas continued to hug him, sobbing happily. Terra made his way over to Axel and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Welcome back to world of the living, Axel."

"Axel!" Xion cried out, joining Roxas in giving him a hug, Axel groaning but chuckling at the exuberant response he was given.

"Heh...thanks, everyone. It's good to be back." he said with a light smile.

Ven walked over to Axel and joined in the hug. Isa made his way closer, hesitating before hugging him tight as well.

"We're glad you're okay, Lea.." Ven said softly. "Y-you really scared us.."

"You were very fortunate, Axel," said Even. "If Terra and Riku had not found the beacon when they had.. There would have been a much slimmer chance that it would be a rescue for the both of you.. Not to mention.. Roxas informed us that you had not taken any of the potions to heal yourself.. But instead insisted Roxas had them instead to ensure Roxas's survival.. Which shows how dedicated you are to keeping those closest to you safe.. Even with how reckless it had been."

"All that matters now is that Axel's okay," Roxas replied. He soon turned to Axel and smiled tearfully before once again hugging him tight, his voice dropping down to a whisper. "I'm just so glad you're okay.."

Axel smiled as he managed to return the hug.

"I'm glad to be back, buddy.."

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

Some time had passed before Axel was released from the hospital, confined to crutches until he was fully recovered. Regardless, he could still enjoy his pastime of hanging out with his buddies while eating sea salt ice cream, although confined to a ground-set bench since he was still healing.

"Ugh, I cannot wait until I heal up and can get back to the clock tower. It's too crowded down here." The redhead grumbled, taking a bite out of his ice cream.

Roxas looked down at his own ice cream, still untouched. He was lost in his thoughts. Everything had been an emotional rollercoaster and he couldn't stop thinking of how Axel nearly-..

He shook his head before turning to Axel, smiling a little.

"I'm j-just glad it's finally over."

"Hey guys!"

The blonde snapped his head in the direction of the voice to see Hayner hurrying over with Pence and Olette in tow.

"Oh, h-hey." said Roxas, turning back to his untouched ice cream.

"We just heard what happened." Pence said.

"Yeah, it must've been really crazy." added Hayner.

"Heh, you have no idea," Axel replied.

Roxas didn't look up. His mind was going back to everything that had happened. It was then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Roxas, everything okay buddy?"

The blonde turned to look at Axel.

"I.. Y-yeah.."

"C'mon, what happened, happened," Axel said with an assuring smile. "It's gonna take more than cold and a broken leg to take me out. Got it memorized?"

Axel tapped his temple as he said the last line, causing Roxas to chuckle a little.

"Don't forget what I said before," Axel continued. "We really should tell Scrooge about that place."

"Huh?" said Roxas.

"Like I said," Axel replied. "We could get a cut of the profits from the sea salt ice cream Scrooge would make."

"What're you guys talking about?" asked Hayner.

Axel turned to look at him.

"Oh, nothing." he replied.

"C'mon, you're not gonna tell us?"

"Nope, it's a secret for me and Roxas. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah, I'd rather focus on the here and now," Roxas suddenly cut in. "Thinking about what happened-."

"Hey, it's no big, Roxas." Axel assured. "Like I said, it'll take a lot more to-"

The buzzing of his Gummi Phone cut Axel off and he reached into his pocket to answer, turning on the face-cam as he answered the phone.

"Lea? I'm so glad I reached you," Isa said from the other end.

"Well, it's not like I can go very far, having crutches and all that.." replied Axel.

Isa was silent for a moment but soon spoke up, his voice noticeably cracking slightly.

"You.. You don't know h-how afraid I was when.. When we had seen you in that state."

"Well, there's nothing to worry about now that I'm awake and mostly fine. Besides, I've been through much worse so a broken leg and extreme cold won't keep me down."

"Yes.. Y-you are right.."

"Of course I'm right," Axel replied, trying to lighten the mood. "It's gonna take a lot more to-"

"Is there a reason you called, or did you just call to bring up what happened?" Roxas asked Isa, getting rather impatient.

Isa was taken aback by Roxas's words, the others chuckling a bit.

"Yes, well.." Isa began, recovering from his shock. "I called to tell you all that there has been sighting of more Heartless in the world where we found you as well as others. I know it may be too sudden to ask for you to return but, we may need assistance in defeating them."

Roxas and Axel both felt a shudder go through them. Taking notice of this, Xion soon spoke up.

"I'll go."

"What!?" said Axel and Roxas in shocked unison.

The raven haired girl smiled at them.

"You two have been through enough already.. You both still need your rest." She turned back to the screen as she spoke again. "I will go with Riku."

Isa thought for a moment before letting out a breath and he nodded.

"Very well," he replied. "I will inform Ienzo and Even."

"Okay, we'll meet with them later." Xion replied.

Isa nodded before hanging up.

"Xion, you sure about this?" asked Roxas.

"Yeah, not saying you can't handle yourself," Axel agreed. "But that place has got more than just Heartless."

Xion gave them both an assuring smile.

"I'll be okay," Xion replied. "Riku and I will handle it."

Roxas had an uneasy feeling but soon returned her smile.

"Y-yeah," he managed to say.

He wanted to say more but found he couldn't find the words to continue. Xion smiled and gave him a hug, catching Roxas by surprise, but he returned it nonetheless. Xion soon turned to Axel and gave him a hug as well, this hug being a bit tighter as she felt tears in her eyes.

"I-I'm so glad you're okay.."

"It's okay, Xion," Axel replied, returning her hug with one of his own. "We've been through worse."

Xion pulled looked up at him and smiled tearfully. Axel returned the smile with one of his own.

"Now, you should probably head off to meet with Ienzo and Riku.. A Keyblader's work is never done after all.. Got it memorized?" he asked, tapping the side of his head for emphasis.

Xion smiled and nodded. Xion released her hug and stood up.

"We'll be back soon." she assured them.

With those words, Xion made her way back to meet with Ienzo and Riku in Radiant Garden.

"We better get going too," said Hayner. "The boss wants us to set up new fliers for the Twilight Town Bistro."

As he said this, Hayner soon wrote his name on the cast Axel now wore, which was adorned with many other signatures. Pence followed suit as he added, "We'll see you guys around okay?"

"Hope you get well soon." Olette added, soon adding her name as well.

"Sure, see ya guys soon." Axel added.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette nodded in response before they too left the scene, leaving Axel and Roxas alone. Axel turned to Roxas and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Roxas, I wanna be honest with you.." he began. "I'm glad to have had you there when we were stuck on that frozen world. After all, family's gotta look out for each other right?"

Roxas looked up at him as tears began to form and he gave Axel a tight hug.

Axel turned to Roxas and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Roxas, I wanna be honest with you.." he began. "I'm glad to have had you there when we were stuck on that frozen world. After all, family's gotta look out for each other right?"

Roxas looked up at him as tears began to form and he gave Axel a tight hug.

"Yeah," Roxas replied. "You can count on that."

The End

A/N: And so ends another story.. I want to apologize for all the changing and editing I had done.. I wanted the chapters to be a consistent number of words because otherwise the ending would have been too long or too short.. In any case, I hope you all enjoyed the story and have a great day