Hello friends, and welcome to what is roughly the half way point on this story. Crazy, huh? This is what I am going to refer to as the end of the first 'arc'. It seems so strange to me, for how many times I've started and deleted this story on my own laptop, that we've gotten this far! Like the first arc contained events from Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories, arc two will contain events from 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts 2. I am announcing NOW that there will be a sequel, and a prequel. The prequel will be a series of drabbles and the sequel will contain events from Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts 3 (how crazy that the release is less than two months away? I know!). It is my ultimate goal to have this story finished or at least close to, by the release of Kingdom Hearts 3, and that we will end up with somewhere around 50 chapters for this.

Anyhow, to do something a little special for you guys, I have cultivated a playlist for the end of this first arc, which will be at the end of the chapter, in the notes. Enjoy, read, review and a special thank you to everyone who has made it this far into this story. It is very special to me, and I hope you enjoy the many more adventures Rueki will take us on in the arc that begins after this chapter.

XXII.

Zexion twists a knife in my stomach. I wake up screaming.

My eyes fly open wide as I gasp desperately for breath, taking in the sight around me. The white bedroom, white sheets. Castle Oblivion. For a moment, panic sinks in deeper, but only a moment. Axel lurches awake as though he is on fire, green eyes wide as he looks to me. He turns fully toward me, instinctively wrapping his arms around me, like this is the only thing he know. The only way he is certain he can comfort me.

"Rueki, what's wrong?" He crushes me to his chest as I catch my breath, easing into the warmth of his arms.

"It's fine, it's fine." I push myself away from him, pinching my eyes shut. "I'm fine."

I open my eyes.

"You wanna explain then why you woke up screaming bloody murder?" Axel rubs his eyes, and leans into the pillow.

"Shit dream." I reply, climbing out of bed. I'm naked, but that's more by necessity than for sexiness. We hit the bed without even touching each other last night, exhaustion and stress getting the best of us, but I decided quickly that my new, trendy outfit wouldn't make for good pajamas. "I'm gonna go shower."

"You wanna elaborate on this dream, sweetheart?" He asks.

"You wanna know a surefire way to kill a relationship, hun? Talking about dreams. It means the romance is dead and you've run out of real life topics to talk about." I say with the wave of my hand.

"Oh don't be such a bitch." He sighs. "I know you're upset, baby, I'm trying to help."

And he's right, I know he is. Also, I really am a sucker for him calling me 'baby'.

"I don't want to elaborate on the dream. I don't want to think about it." I say, finally, but I know Axel and I know he's not going to let it die. So I pull out the big guns. "You still have secrets that I don't know, I'm allowed to keep this one."

Axel grabs my arm and quite literally yanks me back down into bed with him. I crash with an 'oof' and once his hand is off of me, I sit up, brushing myself off. Again, he starts to manhandle me and spins me around so that we're sitting with our knees touching. With a sigh, I wrap my legs around his waist and set my hands on his chest.

"I guess you're right." He tells me, his eyes roaming my body as he brushes his fingertips across the new scar on my ribs. Those eyes grow sadder as his hands stray further down my body, finding purchase in the spot where he previously scarred me. An imprint of his fingertips lingers on my skin, branding me forever. I chew my lower lip. "Rueki, I'm just trying to…"

"I'm sorry. Thanks for calling me out on my attitude." I cut him off quickly. His eyes come up to mine though his hand stays on my hip.

"Is this…better?" He asks and I smile, leaning in and brushing my lips across his.

"It is. Babe." I reply, nose still touching his. He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.

"The dream wasn't about anything I…" Axel sighs.

"No." I shake my head. "It was about Zexion."

Axel is silent for a long moment before he sets his hands on either side of my face and kisses the top of my head.

"I'm sorry, Rueks." He murmurs against my hair.

"Let's talk about something else." I shake my head. "How much more of this castle do we have to search for that super secret room?"

"What, you mean the chamber?" Axel asks, still so delightfully close to me. I feel like my heart has thoroughly thawed. "I searched right after I let Naminé go, figured it was a damn good way to not get found by Larxene and Marluxia."

"Speaking of everyone and everything that happened here…What about Sora, Donald and Goofy? What happened to them?" It's not a question I want to ask or even want the answer to, necessarily. But I know that it will eat me up inside if I don't know.

"They're resting. Naminé's got a conscience, despite it all. She's probably restoring their memories as we speak." He says.

"But how?" I ask, because that doesn't seem easy.

"Beats me." He shrugs.

"So you just don't give a shit?" I ask.

"Rueki, come on." He sighs.

"He was my friend, Axel, I want him to be okay!" I remind him.

"And he will be, Rueki. Naminé is gonna do what she can. She made that much clear when I set her free. And, regardless, she got Sora out of this castle, which means he's away from the Organization. Your friend will be fine." He assures me, but I still have my doubts. And I still wonder how much of his fate is entirely my fault.

"So then why are we back here?" I ask. Axel pulls away ever so slightly so that I can see him shrug.

"Well here I was, trying to be romantic. Figured you might want to take some time away from the Organization together. You know, as an actual couple." He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively but the kindness of the gesture is not lost on me. I do my best to repress my anxieties surrounding the Keyblade master. I cannot dwell on this, not when Axel comes first and I am finally getting a chance to enjoy my life with him.

"Are you putting me above your job?" I ask.

"I'm a great guy, Rueki. Don't act so surprised." He says. It dawns on me that we are completely alone in this castle and that it has been over a week since he has been inside of me, and that is completely unacceptable. Much as I want to talk to him, want to spend the morning laying in his arms and sharing stupid things with each other, there is a certain level of physical intimacy that I am absolutely burning for.

"So we're supposed to be spending some time as a couple then?" I ask, grinning wickedly at him.

"That we are, sweetheart. Looks like you're already dressed for the occasion." He leans in to kiss my neck and I quickly freeze. Sure, we've definitely had early morning quickies with both of us not showered, me with prickly legs, both of us with unbrushed teeth. But being that it's been a decent gap of time since our last romp, and things are now more official than they have everyone before…

It just feels like…

"Can I take a moment to shower first?" I ask. He pulls up and looks at me. I half expect him to insist that it doesn't matter, but he seems to understand, somewhere in his mind, why this is so important.

This is our rebirth.

"That's not a bad idea." He gets up out of bed. "Meet back here in a half hour?" He asks. I snort.

"Um, twenty minutes. Don't keep me waiting, asshat." I reply, climbing out of bed. He throws his head back, laughing and comes over to kiss my forehead once again.

"You're fucking perfect, Rueks."

"And don't ever forget it." I sprint off to my room and as quickly as possible, I shower and shave, trying to wash my hair and body as fast as humanly possible. When everything on me is sufficiently clean and smooth, I wrap a towel around myself, trying to brush out my hair with one hand while I brush my teeth with the other. I contemplate putting my hair up but, then I remember Axel saying something about me never wearing my hair down. My stubbornness wins out and I vow to refrain from ponytails for as long as possible. Still in my towel, I sprint back to Axel's room, just in time to see him standing, stark naked, wiping hair gel off of his hands. "Did you seriously do your hair for this occasion?"

"Are you complaining?" He asks.

"Just fuck me." I sprint across the room and throw myself into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. He grasps my ass, fingers pressing into my skin as he pushes me into the wall.

Axel's lips sear into mine, crashing, clashing, taking in as much of me as he possibly can, desperate not to miss a thing. I grab a handful of his hair, I have missed this. He takes my lower lip between his teeth and I moan wantonly, tossing my head back, allowing him full access to my mouth. With his tongue sliding against mine, I realize that he has not kissed me like this since we were last in Castle Oblivion. If I thought that the chaste pecks melted me, I was wrong. I am a puddle in his warm hands.

He lifts his knee to support me, pressing me impossibly further into the wall as he grabs my towel and unwraps it. It falls from my body carelessly, with utter abandon. My breath hitches as I feel that same knee supporting me start to grind into my cunt.

"What was that?" He teases, his lips grazing mine ever so slightly. I quiver against him.

"Fuck you." I breathe.

"Maybe if you're lucky, sweetheart." His licks my lips before his teeth find and nip at my earlobe. My nails rake down his scalp, his neck, his back. I feel the muscles in his shoulder blades rippling beneath my touch. He growls against my neck.

Suddenly we're on the bed, my legs still around his waist, him leaning over me. I'm disoriented, my stomach lurches, but he doesn't skip a beat. His teeth drag across my neck and I gasp.

"You teleported us." I sputter and he grins against my skin.

"Very observant." He chuckles, his hands sliding down the sides of my waist as his mouth moves in tandem. His tongue dips into the hollow of my collar bone, his lips graze the skin of my chest. He flicks his tongue against my nipple, circling slowly before he bites the tip. My back arches into his weight. With this new leverage, he grasps the small of my back and pulls me up further against him. I bend my knees, trying to find footing, but before I can, he grabs my calf and slides me down closer to him. Slowly, sensually, his thumb runs up the inside of my calf. Eyes locked onto mine, his teeth graze the bone on the inside of my ankle.

That should not be as sexy as it is.

But I watch with baited breath, as his teeth, his lips, his tongue trail up the inside of my calf, my knee, my thigh. His mouth gets dangerously close to my pussy, and just when I think I might find some relief, his tongue laps at my lips before he starts kissing the inside of my other thigh.

"Axel!" I whine, my hips bucking and twitching. His hands circle from my leg and back to my hips and he presses me into the mattress. "You're such a dick."

He snickers as he licks at the lips of my cunt again, hand still wrapped firmly around my ankle. With another quick tug, he moves me so now my legs are wrapped around his shoulders. Every single muscle in my body tenses. He parts my lips to lick my clit, and a shiver shakes my body from head to toe.

I want to tell him that I'm content, I'm turned on enough, I just want to feel him inside of me. I want to tell him that there's not another minute to waste, that I need to fuck him. I want to blush and act cute and embarrassed and tell him he doesn't need to do this. But all cognitive thoughts fly out the window the second he starts to suck my clit. I become a puddle beneath him. Everything about his mouth is warm, wet, inviting and each and every touch is knowing. With every spasm of my belly or twitch in my hips, he knows exactly how to respond, how to flick his tongue, just the right amount of suction to apply. He looks up at me, assessing my expression, which is unabashed lust. I seriously forgot how good at this he is.

Teasingly, I feel his hand trail up my leg. With agonizing slowness, he dips two fingers into my pussy. I whine, swallowing hard as I clench the sheets. His lips are soft and his fingers are so teasing as they scissor and stretch inside of me. He draws ever so slightly away to brush his plush, lower lip across my overheated clit.

"Look at you." His breath is hot and tantalizing as it ghosts across my skin. "So beautiful." My shoulders shake with the effort to bite back a moan, to not just clench around him right there. With soft, deliberate movements, he licks lazily into me, the movement of his fingers never stopping, not even when I scream his name as my orgasm rips through my body.

I go limp, sweating and shaking, my face hot and flushed. Without allowing me a second to breathe, he has crawled up the bed and his hands catch my head as it falls, his nose pressed to mine.

"You are so perfect." I whimper as he presses his lips down against mine. He draws my body close to his, the warmth and sweat of our bodies burning me up in the most delectable way possible.

"You are everything, Rueki." The way he breathes my name could quite literally cause me to combust. I dig my nails into his shoulders and I pull him in, unsatisfied that I cannot feel him inside of me. Our bodies flush against one another, I grind my hips into his, feeling his erection pressing into my stomach.

"I can't imagine a life without you." We trade praises with ease, because these are safe words to say. I can tell him he means the world to me, I can tell him I'd die without him, I can speak everything short of…

I love you.

I silence the thoughts in my head by pressing my lips to his. With the leverage of my hands on his shoulders, I rock myself, angling my hips upward to brush the wetness of my cunt against his cock. He sighs and I watch a very satisfied smile spread across his lips. My heart swells with pride as I continue rubbing myself into him. He grins back in tandem, desperate to match my movements. The sweat on our bodies causes us to stick together, but we're both so driven by need that we can't stop. The head of his cock brushes my clit and we both clutch each other for dear life.

"Axel…" I beg his name, all desperation and encouragement. He wastes no further time before he plunges in, fully sheathing himself inside of me. I cry out and his eyes roll back. I feel the muscles in his back clench with pleasure as he stills for just a moment. We pant, staring at one another. I touch his face with my hand, fingertips brushing along his cheek, his jaw. I lean up, my lips finding his. But that tenderness only lasts a moment, before his hips snap back and then slam against me. The breath is ripped straight from my lungs. A strangled noise spills from my lips as my entire body clenches I blissful anticipation.

"Fuck." He groans, rolling his shoulder back before his lips crash down onto mine. Axel is hungry, he devours me. Each and everyone of his thrusts is without hesitation, without caution. He throws any semblance of patience to the wind as he buries himself in me.

We are dangerous, all teeth and nails, ragged breathing, dripping sweat. He scoops me up underneath him, pressing me so tight against him that I think, with all the eagerness of a virgin, that I can disappear into his touch.

This isn't fucking, this isn't friends with benefits. This isn't going at it because we hate each other and want to shut one another up.

This is making love.

My toes curl, my breath catches in my throat and I dissolve beneath him. I moan, jaggedly, as the utter beauty of this moment, coupled with the depraved pounding of him inside me, sends me over the edge.

Axel follows quickly behind me, his entire body stilling before sputtering, hips jerking and spasming as he comes inside me.

"Dammit Rueki." He breathes, lowering me completely to the bed, where he sets his head down on my chest.

"That was fantastic." I admit, the muscles in my body uncurling. "Can we just stay here forever?"

"Now there's an idea." He chuckles against my skin.

"It would be nice though. No missions, no meetings." I toy with his hair, absently.

"Are you trying to say that you low key don't want to see any other members of the Organization?" I can see the grin lingering at the corner of his lip.

"Guilty as charged." I confess.

"Oh come on, you're not missing Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum?" Axel laughs. I furrow my brow and he heaves a sigh, coming up off of me to shake his head. "Luxord and Demyx."

"Yeah, they're okay." I wave my hand, but truly, I do miss them. My allies. I doubt they feel the same nostalgia, but at this point, that doesn't really matter to me. It doesn't matter what's in their heart, any of their hearts, or lack thereof. It matters what is in mine. "But you know what would be better than going back and seeing them? Defiling every damn room in this Castle like we should've in the first place."

Axel wastes no time, wrapping his arms around me. I feel the same gut wrenching sensation as before. He teleports us to the library floor.

"I think you might just have one hell of an idea there." He grins.

By the time we make it into Twilight Town, every ounce of my body is sore and it hurts to walk. Yet, somehow, I feel empty without Axel inside of me, though, as he leans into me, I am quite aware that this time is not another 'one last time'.

This time is a very beautiful new beginning.

It is there, standing in the middle of an orange, brick street, that I see a black trench coat with a tuft of spikey blonde hair. Even from the back, I know who it is.

"Hey!" I call, taking a few steps forward. The kid snaps around. "Roxas!" His big blue eyes go wide. Axel swoops in beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist

"It's been a while." Axel grins at the boy as we walk over. Roxas closes the distance between us taking off into a sprint, a smile lighting up his face like stars in the sky. He looks over us, raising a hand as though he wants to reach out and grab each of us, to make sure that we are real. "What's the matter, you look like you've seen a ghost."

The teasing seems to throw Roxas back because he blinks at us, confused, like a cartoon character. I almost forgot how much like a zombie he was.

"Axel…Rueki… I heard everyone at Castle Oblivion was annihilated." He breathes.

"Not me, I'm tough." Axel shrugs. I squirm out from under him and punch his arm.

"Tough my ass. You wouldn't have made it if I wasn't babysitting you half the damn time." I say, with the wave of my hand.

"You guys had me worried." Roxas admonishes and suddenly, I freeze. A smile creeps across my face as I turn to stare into his blue eyes. For the first time, he doesn't just look like Sora, he reminds me of Sora. Everything from the set of his jaw to the furrow in his brow.

"Worry?" Axel asks. "We Nobodies don't have the hearts to worry." He insists, but I don't give a quarter of a shit. I turn to Roxas and throw my arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. I draw the kid close to me, trying to bury the worries I have for Sora's future inside this boy. It's not fair, but at the very least Roxas doesn't have the heart to wonder about my affections.

When I pull away, he is looking at me with saucers as eyes, and even Axel has his head tilted in utter confusion. I ruffle Roxas' hair.

"How about you go and grab some ice cream, the three of us can meet at the Clock Tower." I smile. Roxas nods and matches my smile before he takes off toward the Ice Cream Shop. I go to take Axel's hand and lead him out toward the Clock Tower, but he remains stationary, and instead of dragging him along, I lose my balance and tumble back into him. "Dude." I say.

"Any reason you attempted to molest Roxas?" Axel raises an eyebrow.

"Are you jealous?" Is the reply I offer, a smirk curling on my lips.

"Why the hell would I be jealous of some teenager when I can still taste you on my tongue?" Axel breathes, lips brushing the shell of my ear. A shiver ripples across my body and I tighten my hand around his.

"It's Sora." I confess. "I…I can't help him anymore so…" Oh damn, I was not prepared for being this choked up, but I am. My throat constricts and feels damp, I chomp the inside of my cheek to keep from whining. Fuck me, when did I become such a damn crybaby?

Axel's brown knits together and he sighs, wrapping his arms around me. Here, pressed against his chest, I feel safe, I feel at home.

"I haven't…I haven't ruined you, have I?" He chokes out and I can genuinely tell that if he had the heart he would be worried.

It's a fair question, one I don't even know the answer to. To be honest, I don't even want to think about the answer. Instead, I lean up on my toes and blow a raspberry on his cheek before taking off toward the clock tower in a full sprint.

Roxas does meet us up there, but not before Axel has lifted me into his arms and has pressed me into the Clock Tower, his lips on my neck. My boyfriend all but drops me on my ass at the teenager's arrival, but I land on my feet pretty decently, and in no time, it feels like old times. The three of us sitting there, eating ice cream. The warmth of Axel's presence puts me at ease, and whether he speaks or not, there's something about Roxas that is infinitely more alive, more human. I wonder if that means he's starting to get memories back from when he had a heart and then wonder again, with a twist in my stomach what that might mean for Sora.

"After this I'll have to check in with the boss, or he's gonna let me have it." Axel sighs. And I hear the implications behind that: he is checking in with Xemnas, not me.

"You haven't reported back yet?" Roxas asks.

"Hm? No." Axel shrugs, all nonchalance.

"You should consider yourself lucky, kid. You're top priority." I remind Roxas, who just smiles, as though he doesn't completely get the joke, but he's now sentient enough to appreciate the sentiment.

"Why'd you guys come here then?" Roxas asks.

"I guess just to talk, to spend time together." Axel puts an arm around my shoulder which still makes my stomach backflip.

"Don't be nauseating." I tease him.

"Oh, you love it." He kisses my cheek and I laugh.

"Yeah, but this isn't going to make anyone think you're tough." I remind him.

"You two are smiling a lot more than normal." Roxas observes. "Usually you just yell at each other." And he's not totally wrong, I guess I wouldn't expect someone who doesn't have a heart or emotions to process the finer details of a relationship.

"Well, we're together now." Axel says.

"Together?" Roxas asks, and I can tell his is not comprehending what that means.

"It's…we're…" Axel rubs the back of his neck. Oh my poor, precious man. He's hopeless.

"We're dating. We're in a relationship. It's like being friends, only I get to harass him more." I grin.

"Oh please, she's only in this because she wants to kiss me." And fuck him senseless.

"Why would you want to do that?" Roxas wrinkles his nose.

"Even I don't know the answer to that one, kid." I grin.

"Is anyone else in the Organization 'in a relationship'?" He asks, Axel snorts.

"I can promise you that they're not. This whole thing is complicated enough. Usually it takes both parties having a heart. But you know Rueki, she's emotional enough for both of us." Axel says with the wave of his hand. I roll my eyes.

"You two boys better stop asking dumb questions and saying dumb shit. Your ice cream is melting." I remind them. Roxas takes a bite of his ice cream and then his eyes light up.

"You know, while you guys were gone, I started inviting Xion up here!" He informs us, with all the excitement of a young child. I have sufficiently forgotten who the real life fuck Xion is, but his enthusiasm has me smiling, stupidly.

"Xion?" Axel raises an eyebrow and then it dawns on me. Xion. The girl, the one who always has her face hidden beneath her hood, the other one with the Keyblade. Huh. Birds of a feather, I suppose.

"Yeah, I made her a promise the four of us could get ice cream when you got back. Xion…she's my friend too." I don't know where Roxas even learned what friends are, but I don't care. In this moment, this is enough.

The moment doesn't last forever though, before I know it, the ice cream is gone and Axel and I are standing in front of the way too big double doors to the meeting room in The Castle That Never Was.

"I'll meet you in my room." Axel says and I wrinkle my nose.

"Are you seriously trying to hide stuff from me?" I ask.

"Rueki…" Axel sighs. "I'm going to get reamed out, is that really something you want to be there for?"

"Not particularly." I mutter.

"And don't you think it might be better for me to break the news to them that you're alive while you're safely out of the picture? I doubt they'll take too kindly to me saying that I didn't kill you. Give me a chance to change their minds first, alright?" He is so delightfully persuasive, if I wasn't such a pain in the ass, he'd be able to get away with anything.

"I hate when you're right." I sigh. "Are you sure there's no other reason you don't want me in there with you?"

"There's a question I need answers to." He mutters. "And yeah, you're right, I don't want you in there when I find out what information Saix and Lord Xemnas have."

"Does this have something to do with the secret you found out about me in Shibuya?" I ask. Axel heaves the mightiest of sighs.

"Dammit. Yes." And I want to pry. I want to stomp on his foot and shout at him and tell him that if he doesn't tell me this secret that we're done. But I see the strain on his face, the furrow of his brow, and I know how much he is giving me. He clearly didn't even want to give me what little information that he has, but he also didn't lie. Because he cares. Because he wants to be with me, because this is worth it. I sigh and close the distance between us, setting my hands on his waist and leaning up to kiss him.

Maybe I can compromise too.

"Okay. Don't keep me waiting long." And with that, I leave him, striding off down the hall, though I have no intentions of waiting at all. Instead, I make my way to the lounge type area and instantly breathe a sigh of relief when I see Demyx and Luxord, alone, locked in a game of what appears to be Poker. "Miss me, boys?"

They both look up and to me, at the very least half interested.

"Oh hey." Demyx says, though without the excitement I was hoping for.

"I must say, love, no one expected you to make it out of Oblivion alive, let alone looking absolutely fantastic." The way Luxord's eyes roam me make me shift with equal parts discomfort and pride.

"Yeah, Lord Xemnas told us everyone died." Demyx nods.

"Welp, not Axel and I." I say, striding into the room.

"The two of you made it out together?" Luxord asks. "Even I bet on the two of you killing each other."

"Thanks." I roll my eyes. "We're back together, actually. And like, officially this time."

"Well that is quite backward." Luxord mutters, returning to his hand of cards. "You are aware that he still does not have a heart, correct?"

"I mean, how does that even work? You can't be in a real relationship if he doesn't have a heart. You guys are just having sex with titles." Demyx waves his hand.

"Yeah, I definitely called him my boyfriend when he bent me over your bed fifteen minutes ago." I offer up the bitchiest smile I can manage. Shiki reacted to this news a lot more satisfactorily.

"It appears we've struck a nerve. Forgive us, doll, for forgetting how to handle someone with a heart." Luxord grins. "Though I do take pleasure in such a savage burn, as the kids these days are saying."

"Oh come on." Demyx sighs. "I thought all of the bullies in this Organization were finally gone."

"I think what dear Rueki wants to hear is that it's quite lovely to see her and that we are glad to have her and VIII back." Luxord says.

"You know, it sound a lot more sincere when you actually pretend that you give a shit." I remind him.

"The best bluff is a believable one." Is his simple reply. I sit down on the couch beside them.

"So tell us about Oblivion. What was it like?" Demyx asks.

"Boring. Annoying. It's so damn big and built like a maze, I couldn't find the same room twice so I got to visit the shoebox of a library all of once. Vexen tried showboating so Marluxia put him in his place. Which pissed Vexen off so he pissed Marluxia off in turn by revealing secrets about the Organization to Sora and had to be eliminated." No need to tell them it was Axel who ended IV in the end.

"That Vexen was always a prideful one." Luxord nods. "Unsurprising that he wanted to get a leg up on his inferior, so to speak."

"Not that Marluxia is much better. He underestimated everyone around him. Turns out he and Larxene wanted to overthrow the Organization, and their heads got too big. They wanted to use Sora and by underestimating him, they pissed him off enough to meet their demise." I sigh. "I've never seen a kid look so pissed off."

"Hey, I'd say we're better off without them." Demyx shrugs.

"Axel and I faked our death to get away from his wrath. And Lexaeus managed to piss Riku off in some type of way, I don't really know, but he didn't make it." I shrug.

"And what of Zexion?" Luxord asks. My stomach feels like it has fallen out of my ass. I bite the inside of my cheek.

"I don't know. The same thing as Lexaeus, probably." And then quickly, because I know it will cause a scene and distract them "I called Larxene a cunt."

Demyx looks at me as though the sun rises and sets with my very presence.

"Like, to her face?" He asks. I nod.

"Quite brave. And foolish. How many new injuries did you sustain?" Luxord asks.

"Eh, nothing a potion couldn't heal." I say. Demyx is still looking at me like I am some type of goddess.

"Are you currently accepting marriage proposals?" He asks.

"Not at the moment, she isn't." I hear Axel's voice behind me and turn to see him and Roxas standing behind the couch.

"Oh, hey." I grin. "Weren't you supposed to be 'in a meeting'?"

"There's always tomorrow. Roxas over here intercepted me, wanted to see what you were up to. You know, you're not great at listening to directions." He tells me. "Didn't I ask you to meet me in my room?"

"Yeah, you did. But you're right, I'm shit at taking direction." I agree. He sighs, scooping me up into his arms, bridal style. I throw my head back, laughing. "You wouldn't have me any other way." I insist.

"Ahh yes, you must feel delightfully whipped now." Luxord leers at him.

"Say what you want, Luxy. I'm getting laid, which is more than either of you can say." Axel grins, seeming to forget that Roxas is even in the room. The kid doesn't take his time though in reminding Axel that he exists.

"What is getting laid?"

This time, Axel does drop me on my ass, coughing so hard, like he inhaled water. But I don't give a shit. I landed roughly on the marble floor.

"What the fuck, man?" I cry out. "I literally just died like four days ago!"

"You came back to life!" He reminds me, tapping on his chest with a closed fist, trying to clear his throat.

"Wait, what?" Demyx asks.

"It's a long story." I shake my head. "It's pretty boring actually."

"Somehow I doubt that." Luxord replies.

"It's the story of how we decided to become a couple, would you like to hear all about it?" Axel asks, when he finally catches his breath.

"I suppose I stand corrected." Luxord grins. Roxas shakes his head.

"I have no idea what's happening anymore.

"Me either, kid." Demyx says. "Me either."

It's there, sitting on the floor, laughing my ass off, that I start to realize how right this feels. All things considered, despite no one here having a heart. I remember lying to Sora in Castle Oblivion, trying to play the bad guy, telling him that I found somewhere that I belonged, people I belonged with. It had been a crock of shit at the time, but now?

I don't care what it says about me.

I belong here.

This is my home.

Playlist for arc one (songs marked as (A) are from Axel's point of view, (R) from Rueki's and if they are unmarked, they work for both or either)

1. Here Is Gone- The Goo Goo Dolls
2. Youngblood- 5 Seconds of Summer (A)
3. Hundred- The Fray (R)
4. Fall For You- Secondhand Serenade
5. E.T.- Katy Perry ft. Kanye West (R)
6. First- Cold War Kids (R)
7. All These Things That I've Done- The Killers (A)
8. Alone Together- Fallout Boy (R)
9. The Chain- Fleetwood Mac (R)
10. Simple and Clean- Utada Hikaru