Chapter 2: All Things Set In Motion
Disclaimer: same as last chapter's really. I own nothing blah blah yaoi blah ect.. Donald and Goofy belong to Disney.
Author's Notes: Last chapter was really just an introductory chapter. (first chapters usually are) As more elements are introduced to the story, the chapters will get longer, so no worries right? Right?
The corridor swirled ominously within Axel's room. It was not a very personal space as it was rarely even
used. It could have been anyone's room. This normally wouldn't have bothered Axel, but with Sora still pressed against his hollowed chest, it scared him. "This could be anyone's room."

Sora moved slightly. Axel was counting on all of Namine's premature work to have left him mostly a blank
page. Then he could have a close companion within the organization again. Again, as it had been before."DiZ is probably the complete bane of my existence." Axel shrugged and gently poured Sora onto his bed, and left the room.

Sora's dreams crackled with warmth. In his delirium he felt like he was trapped in a fog of dream, and he wasn't
ready to dare surfacing through the layers of consciousness. He relished the dream. It was not a dream of events or people. It had no place, time, or space. He just was, and it was good.

Demyx meekly crept down the hallway towards the confident stride of Axel. "So. Er. Axel. Are you ready to
tell us what happened in the castle?"

Axel raised his eyebrow. He could feel a more sinister superior behind the question. "I've already told Xemnas everything
there was to tell. If he didn't pass the information down to the rest of you, then he doesn't feel you need to know."Demyx shrank back. "I just.."

"You know, I thought this power struggle might have dissipated considering all of the inquisitive little philosophers are out of the picture now." He was of course referring to the demise of Zexion, and more importantly, Vexen. "Marluxia was a victim of arrogance, and probably irony. Xemnas would have killed him had he survived Sora. He had it coming. And Vexen would have been begrudging enough to reveal Roxas to Sora. They both failed the organization. That is why they are both dead. Larxene showed where she stood, and her betrayal killed her, not to mention her overconfidence." Demyx forced courage. "And what about Zexion and Lexaeus?"

"They got wound up in Vexen's plans. What Vexen may have attempted was noble, but it did not come to fruition. He
screwed up, and Zexion and Lexaeus are victims of that. All five of them tried to harness powers, and manipulate people they could not keep a handle on. The plan was a mistake to begin with."

"It's just.. the others think it's a little suspicious that you survived. What were your plans, Axel?"

Axel chuckled darkly. "C'mere. It should all be clear."

He lead Demyx to his bedroom. "Erm..?" Demyx looked a little scandalized.

Axel coughed disapprovingly, and opened the door.

Demyx gawked. "Holy shit! Axel, you brought the kid that wasted Marluxia HERE?!"

"At Xemnas' orders. We cooked this all up together. He's our weapon now. The weapon Marluxia's wasn't bright enough to
tame."

"D-did.. Namine scramble his brains? He doesn't remember you, or the others?"

"No, unlike Marluxia, Xemnas wouldn't take a chance like that. That's why Xemnas is successful, and traitors fail."

Demyx smirked, still staring at Sora. "Yeah, you're right. There's a reason he's our leader. Hey-" Axel grabbed Demyx's hand.

"You want to remember what it feels like?"

Demyx was suddenly difficult to read. His face was plain and heavy with understanding. "Yeah, I would."

Axel lead Demyx solemnly over to where Sora lay. Sora was still swimming in irrational dreams of comfort.

His mind was soft from the process of remembering, and it was softer from forgetting. Axel urged Demyx to lift Sora up off of the bed. Demyx lifted him up under his arms, and then he froze. He was barraged by sensations he had forgotten. His fingers were electrified. He dropped Sora. Sora made a faint sound in his throat, disturbed. "I.. I've forgotten what exactly we've been fighting for. I've forgotten.. a lot I guess. It just makes me want to finish our mission quicker.He's.. what is he? How can he do that? It's like I've adopted his heart." The feelings all faded.

"He's remarkable, that's what he is."

Demyx nodded rapidly, leaving the room in shock. He was apparently satisfied with Axel's explanations. Axel wondered how much he would really report back to the others. He probably would leave out the latter experiences.

"Hopefully he'll convince them not to bother me." Axel stared dreamily at Sora. The lines that folded around his eyes vanished, and it was like trying to see. Axel was trying to see as he hadn't before. His vision was impeded by his face. It was always trying to disguise his functionality with character. It was always squinting, or raising an eyebrow, or drawing tighter in a malicious leer. Smirking, grinning, and once despairing. Now it was doing none of that. "Since being what I am, I have only ever felt twice. You make this the second time."

Sora stirred.

"Uh..um." Axel watched nervously as his sleeping treasure came to life.

He began the bittersweet action of putting the organization's plans in motion. "Sora, thank god you're awake!"

"Huhermmm.. wuzz.. where am?" Sora's eyes opened as dreamily as Axel's had watched him. "Don't worry. We're
back. I'm okay, too. It was just you. You.."

Sora's body became rigid with reality. "Kairi! Riku! What happened to my home?!" Axel had taken Sora by the shoulders.

Sora's power made Axel's job even easier. He could feel real emotions returning to him. "Sora.. you don't remember anything do you? We rescued you from your island. We were helping you find your friends. You were fighting the heartless with us.." This hardly calmed Sora down, but the man before him looked friendly.. in a wild way. "The island was destroyed wasn't it."

Axel nodded gravely. At least that one wasn't a lie.

"And.. those things that attacked me.. they were-"

"Heartless. Those who lack hearts. They live to steal the hearts of all living things, and the hearts of worlds."

"You rescued me?" Sora found comfort in thinking someone had cared enough about him to rescue him.

"Yes. You were helping our organizations destroy all heartless, and return the hearts of all worlds, including your island.
You were also helping us recover our hearts."

This was all so overwhelming. His circuitry was clogged with questions desperate to all be asked at the same time. They recited themselves in his head, and Sora clamped his hands over his ears. Axel was suddenly worried. Sora had to prioritize the questions he would ask. "I was helping you restore your hearts... were your hearts stolen?"

Axel nodded. His worry subsided discreetly. "When your heart is stolen.. you are reborn as a new being.. half of a person. We need our hearts to become whole again."

Sora thought that sounded like something he would gladly help accomplish. "But.. so you were helping me find Kairi and
Riku?"

Axel nodded again. "We found Riku, but he's become an ally to the heartless. His heart is tainted, but not missing. And we
think that he is hiding Kairi somewhere in the worlds controlled by heartless."

Sora felt sick. Axel felt sympathetic. He bundled Sora up in his arms. Sora trustingly let Axel support him. Sora had friends it
seemed. Even if he could not remember them. This man was nice to him at least.

Axel knew this was one of the first steps in establishing a bond like he had formed with.. the other half of Sora. Sora was so incredibly trusting. Had this been how Marluxia, Larxene, and especially Namine had nearly won the right to use him? Axel didn't for a moment compare himself to those fools. Still, he was mystified by the fact that Xemnas had told him the exact time at which to interfere with the memory pod. He was astonished that it could be a coincidence. Sora had recovered all of his life before ending up in Traverse Town, but nothing afterwards. He was a blank book. He was a desperate boy.

Axel was muscular and slender. Sora's head rested comfortably on Axel's abdomen. Sora sprang up embarrassed.

Axel knew not to push it. "Do you remember anything else? Any other questions you'd like to ask me?"

Sora face relaxed in a feeling of relief. This was a question that had been washing through his brain."Yeah.. it's a question I've wanted to ask you since I woke up... well.. almost since I woke up." Sora held up a sacred weapon. "What's this?"

In the meantime. Namine was just recently revived. "Namine, Namine! You must tell me who has done this."

Namine's eyes fluttered open, and her breathing was heavy. "I... it was Axel. He.. I tried to stop him. I thought that I was good
enough to stop him. The sketchbook was knocked out of my hands.. and I tried to turn the room upside down, but he..set me on fire?" Namine struggled against her pains to recall what she could. "He got him."

DiZ scowled menacingly. "Damn him. I will not let him ruin my plans. I will not let those fiends manipulate the hero." DiZ paused. "Where are you keeping Donald and Goofy?" Namine pointed weakly towards a door beneath her bedding. DiZ slid the bed aside, and opened the door in the floor. "Let's move them to safety. They can help us in our search for Sora.I think I'm close to knowing where they are hiding. Riku has been a great help to me. Hopefully this means they will not continue in pursuing Roxas." DiZ went to work in transporting the three of them to safety in his manor.

Namine was ashamed, and her brain was buzzing with a need to figure out how she could help in rescuing Sora.

(Author's notes: There you have it. Another somewhat introductory chapter. The story will from here out become a much more Axel Sora based story.. it just needed a realistic entrance. Also, I know these chapters are short.. but it felt unnatural to pack much more into them. Oh.. and um.. reviews make for inspired writers. WINKWINKWINKWINKWINKWINKWINKWINK..)