Me: Hey, I just beat Kh2 yesterday so I know all the spoilers. Just a warning.

Warnings: Um, I'm thinking some language and violence (as usual) and perhaps some AxelZexion stuff. I'm still on the verge of deciding. Also, I know that I won't be able to get the dialogue right for the part where Axel meets Sora for the first time in Chain of Memories. So you can flame me if you want. I don't care.

Disclaimer: Everything Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, and Final Fantasy related isn't mine.

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Chapter 6: Zexion's Favor

Axel sat on Zexion's bed, feeling extremely guilty for ignoring Zexion all this time. Even if he didn't know they were friends in the previous life, he still felt guilty for not being there when Zexion needed him. The redhead looked down at the smaller blue-haired man, who had stopped crying and had his face buried in his neck. Axel patted Zexion's back and rested his head on the top of his.

"I'm sorry," he said to Zexion with a slightly muffled voice. "I wish I could've known. Now we're all going to die."

"I didn't believe it at first," answered Zexion. "But I have found proof that my hypothesis is true. Can I show you something?"

"What is it?"

"You'll see. I'm sure you have one too."

Zexion unwrapped his arms from around Axel and lifted his left leg up so it was resting on his bed. He then unzipped the boot on his foot and took his sock off. Axel didn't know what the heck was going on.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Look closely at the bottom of my heel. There's something tattooed onto it."

Axel lifted Zex's foot up and glanced at his heel. At first, he couldn't quite make out what it said there, but soon he could see it clearly. In extremely tiny letters, he could see one word: Lea.

"Lea?" Axel asked, directing his attention to Zexion's navy blue eye. "That was my old name, according to you. Why is that still there? Didn't everything from our previous lives disappear because we weren't supposed to remember?"

"Apparently not," said Zexion. "Do you see the bottom of your foot every so often?"

"No. I'm too busy to care."

"Can I see?"

"Yes."

Axel was about to take his shoe off when Zexion sprang forward and reached it before he did. Zexion took it off and grabbed his foot. He lifted it up ever-so-delicately and examined it.

"Would you look at that," he said. "That's amazing."

"What is it?" asked Axel.

Zexion laughed quietly. "You can see for yourself."

Zexion let go of Axel's foot and Axel moved his leg towards his face. At the bottom of his heel, in tiny letters, said one thing: Ienzo.

"I wonder why that didn't disappear when I became an unknown," he said. "After all, we can't look too much like our old selves, right?"

"You might recognize yourself," said Zexion. "All that's really different is the hair."

They both sat in silence for a while and Axel put his boot back on.

"Have I always had these marks under my eyes?" asked Axel, breaking the silence.

"No. I don't know why you got them."

"Oh. So what did I look like?"

"Well, you had the same facial features-except for your tattoos under your eyes-and your hair was straight, black and long. You were skinny like you are now and you still were obsessed with fire. When I first saw you, I thought you were some kind of vampire."

Axel actually laughed.

"So if I looked scary, then you've had to be a monster," he said.

"Nope. I looked almost exactly like you," said Zexion. "I had the same facial features and my hair was straight, black, and kind of like it is now. Instead of it all being shoved over to one side of my face, it was just covering my eyes slightly."

"And our eyes were the same?"

"Yes, sadly."

"Why do you say that?" asked Axel.

"Because one of my eyes looks weird. I think that's one of the reasons we became friends in the previous life."

"Because your eye looked weird?"

"No, because you didn't care what my eye looked like. You liked me for who I was."

"Well, that was nice of me. Would I care what it looked like now?"

"I dunno. Would you like to find out?"

"Yes, I guess."

Zexion crawled over towards Axel and moved his face toward his, only about two inches away.

"Um, Zex? There's really no need to be so close," said Axel.

"For this, it is a need," he said. "Push my hair back out of my eye."

Axel did as he was told and pushed Zexion's hair back, making it fall down and hang limply around his shoulders. To his surprise, Zexion's eye looked exactly like a fireball. It was orange in the middle and was almost neon red that danced around the outside like a flame. There were small golden speckles in the center, which shone brightly as light passed through them. Axel sat there with his eyes wide open, not knowing what to believe.

"You hate it, don't you?"

Axel looked away from his eye.

"You're kidding, right? How could I? It reminds me so much of…fire. Personally, I think it's beautiful."

Zexion turned a little pink in the face.

"Thanks," he said. "I'm sure anybody else I might show it to wouldn't say that."

"It's only because I love fire. I do find it very interesting."

All of a sudden Zexion sprang forward and pecked him on the lips. For some reason, it made him feel warm.

"Sorry," he said, turning his face away from the redhead's.

"For what?" he asked.

Zexion turned his head back towards Axel.

"For kissing you like that. I don't know why I did it."

Axel scooted closer to Zexion.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Why would you think that?" asked Zexion.

"Because the Zexion I know would never even dream of doing that. Are you okay?"

Zexion paused and looked away for a moment.

"No…I'm not. I've been having these weird thoughts lately. I get so cold at night and I hardly ever catch even an hour's worth of sleep. There's something weird going on with me, I know it. Most of the dreams I have are during the day."

"So what so you think is wrong?"

Zexion leaned over onto Axel.

"I…I think I'm remembering what it used to be like. You know, in the previous life. But all I remember is our friendship, nothing else. And whenever I am around you, I get this weird warm feeling."

Axel stroked Zexion's head that was resting on his shoulder.

"What do you see that is about me?" asked Axel.

Zexion moved his head slightly and brought it closer to the crook of Axel's neck.

"Well, no matter what…we were always together. We ate together, played together, slept together, and even lived together. I don't know what it is."

He lifted his head up and looked deep into Axel's neon green eyes.

"I'm starting to like you, I think," he said. "Or maybe, I'm starting to like you again, according to what I'm seeing."

Axel was almost dumbfounded. Zexion never acted like this. This was probably some great setup that Zexion had planned for him, hoping to trick him like this.

"I don't believe you, Zexion. I know you, and this is not the you that I know. This is a setup of yours, so you can come out of hiding and ridicule me all you want. I bet you even expected to have me read that diary entry of yours."

Zexion looked at Axel and ran his hand along the skinny man's neck.

"I'm not lying," he said. "This is real. I wouldn't ever have hurt you like this, even if I were trying to set you up. But I'm not."

Axel swatted Zexion's hand off of his neck.

"Just shut up. You know I hate you."

Zexion put his head down and turned away from Axel.

"I thought you said you didn't hate me when you hurt me that second time," he said quietly.

"Well, I lied."

Zexion brought his head up and kissed him, this time more than a peck. It made Axel feel weird in a way. Not like it was wrong, but maybe it was a feeling of deja vu.

"In case you wanted to know, I don't hate you at all," he said, pulling away. Axel could see some of the tears forming in his eyes. "The only thing I hate about you is that you hate me."

His watery eyes overfilled and a straight line of salty water slid down his cheek. He remained silent, looking into the redhead's eyes. It almost seemed like he wanted some kind of response from Axel. Axel sat there and looked at him, not knowing what to say.

"I-I think I have to go now," said Axel, standing up from the bed. "Sora awaits."

Zexion turned his head down once more.

"Will you come back once you're done?" asked Zexion almost inaudibly. "I need to ask you something that is very important."

Axel hesitated a moment as he walked toward the door.

"Um…yeah. I will."

And with that said, he walked out of Zexion's room, leaving an even more depressed Zexion on the bed with his face buried in his favorite pillow.

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Axel walked through the halls of Castle Oblivion, almost tasting the sensation of seeing his friend again. Or at least, part of his friend. Right now Xemnas was probably screwing the poor kid's head up with his constant monologues on darkness and the foolishness of such a young Keyblade Master. He figured he should teleport there instead of walk, so he did. As predicted, Xemnas was standing in front of Sora with his hood down, obviously rambling on about losing memories and such.

"Boo," said Axel, appearing all smart-alecky.

"I suppose you would like to deal with him, then?" asked the hooded Xemnas.

"I got bored with you, hogging the hero," said Axel, catching the card Xemnas threw at him. Personally, he thought these cards were a waste of everything. They defeated the whole purpose of actually thinking what attack you wanted to use and were only used in battle for such lunatics as Luxord. He paid attention to his current situation, noticing that Sora was eyeing him very suspiciously. Ah yes, he remembered that look from Roxas when he stole his Oblivion Keychain. Those were the good old days.

"Who are you?" asked Sora.

"The name's Axel. Commit it to memory."

Sora stood there and looked like he was thinking about something.

"Are there more of you?" he asked.

"Maybe," said Axel. "Or maybe not."

"That's not a very good answer."

Well duh, thought Axel. At least Roxas didn't inherit this kid's talent for stating the obvious.

"You know, you are probably the worst Keyblade Master I have seen in all my years," said Axel. "I think that stupid key picked a dud this time. You're not half as great as your beloved King Mickey."

"You know where he is?" asked Donald.

"Yes, but I'm not telling. That would just make it too easy for you to find him."

Sora summoned his Keyblade.

"Tell us where he is!" he yelled.

"Well aren't we grumpy today?" asked Axel.

He held his arms out to the side and summoned his totally cool chakrams. If this kid wanted a fight, he would get one. Of course, Axel wasn't aiming to kill him, but he guessed this would just be a test. After all, if he died, Roxas would too. He found it unfair that if Roxas died, Sora wouldn't. But whatever. Now it was time to focus on the battle.

Sora put up a good fight. Axel could've beaten him easily, but under the circumstances, he wouldn't have wanted to. Roxas's life was too much of a cost.

"You're pretty good," said Axel. "I wouldn't mind sparring again sometime."

"Now that I've beaten you, will you tell me where King Mickey is?" asked Sora.

"Nah. You can figure it out on your own."

And with that said, he teleported outta there. Sora stood there dumbfounded (as usual) and tried to figure everything out.

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Sora and co. walked up the white stairs to the next floor of Castle Oblivion. Donald had reassured Sora that if anybody like Axel ever showed up again, he would deal with them. And as if on cue, Axel popped out of nowhere at the top of the stairs. Sora drew the Keyblade.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Axel, putting his hand up in protest. "I just came here to tell you guys something, but if you don't want to listen…"

Sora dismissed his weapon.

"What is it?" he asked, still unsure if Donald would jump out from behind him and attack this guy.

"The further you go into this castle, the more you forget. And when you wake up, you may no longer be you," said Axel in a serious tone.

"What does that mean?" asked Goofy.

"Figure it yourself," said Axel, poofing away.

"That guy is really annoying," said Donald. "C'mon. We'd better go."

Donald and Goofy walked up the flight of stairs while Sora stood pondering at the bottom. There was something weird about Axel that he didn't quite understand. It felt as if he had met him before…somewhere. After noticing that Donald was tapping his foot impatiently, he dismissed the idea and walked on up the flight of stairs.

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Well that was amusing. It almost felt as if his good friend Roxas was back. But he knew that would take a while before that would actually happen. He had teleported back into his room and was laying down on his bed, staring at the ceiling in obvious bliss. It felt like he was back in Deep Dive City, playing games with Roxas. Just being so close to his counterpart made him feel fully alive again. But he knew that wouldn't last long. He'd probably do something incredibly stupid and wind up getting himself killed before Roxas would ever think of coming back to him. And yet, all of this felt real.

He sat up and yawned, feeling strangely tired. Was it because Sora took all of it out of him when he fought him? Oh well. It only mattered to be close to him. He looked lazily around the room, noticing that his clock said 5:46. This day had gone by way too fast. He stood up and walked out of his room, remembering that he promised Zexion that he would return to his room after he got done with Sora.

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(Zexion's PoV)

For the past three hours he had been reading and staring up at the white ceiling. Like it really took three hours to deal with a stupid kid. Axel was probably stalling or something to avoid talking to him. He knew Axel was like that. And he smelled fear when he last talked to him. But what he had to ask Axel now was important. He wouldn't allow the red haired man to duck out on this one. For him, this was a matter of life or death. He put down his book that he had been reading and went to the door, going to walk to Axel's room. But as soon as he touched the handle, the door opened and whacked him in the face. He felt the marble break his nose and blood trickled down his cheek.

"Do you enjoy hurting me?" he asked, giving Axel an evil glare.

"I'm sorry!" said Axel, wiping some of the blood off of Zexion's face with his glove. "I just didn't expect you to be there. I'll get you some ice."

"No, don't. I'll be just fine. And anyways, I want to talk to you about something."

"Um, okay. But there's lots of blood pouring out your nose. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Yes. I'm sure. All I really need to do is get a Kleenex and soak it all up."

"Alright. Whatever you say."

Axel closed the door and licked the blood off of his glove. Zexion went over and sat on his bed while Axel took some Kleenexes and handed them to Zexion.

"It's the least I could do," he said, handing them over to Zexion.

"Thanks," said Zexion, pressing one of them onto the middle of his nose where the blood was pouring out.

Axel sat down on his bed and faced Zexion.

"So what did you want to tell me?" he asked.

Zexion looked at him.

"Actually, I want to ask you something."

"What?"

"Well…I want you to kill me."

Axel glared at Zexion.

"Have you lost your mind!" he asked. "Why on earth would you want me to do that?"

"Because if you don't, I will live on after all of you without a purpose. I would have nobody to talk to, I would never see anybody again, and I would much prefer to die now than any other time. After all, we are going to die within a matter of half a year."

"Yeah, but you know I wouldn't be able to do that to you. I'm just starting to know you. And why can't you just commit suicide or something?"

"Because I'm too weak to do anything like that. And it would be impossible for me to kill myself. I am not suicidal, I'm just depressed. Please, Axel. I'm asking you this as a friend, not as some random person in the castle."

Axel locked his eyes with Zexion's.

"I don't think I'll be able to do that," he said. "I'm sorry."

He turned and got up to leave, but just as he stood up, Zexion grabbed his wrist. He turned around and saw the blue haired man looking up at him innocently.

"Could you at least stay with me tonight?" he asked. "I get so alone and cold."

"Um, I don't know," said Axel. "I guess. Where would I sleep?"

"In my bed."

"Then where would you sleep?"

"In my bed."

"But that's…"

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I was just asking you. It's the least you could do for me."

"Yeah. Okay, fine."

Axel went over to the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Zexion.

"I'm getting my stuff that I need. You know, like pajamas."

"Okay," said Zexion, lying down on the bed. "Just don't take too long."

"Alright."

Axel walked out of Zexion's room and down the hall to his room.

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Hello. I have inserted this temporary break in the story to say that I am sorry for not sticking to the whole plot here, but now everybody knows what happens to Roxas and Axel, so I'm just writing what happens in between. So yes, fatalfeline, there is plot progression here, even though the story is originally about Axel and Roxas. That is all I have to say. Now on with the story.

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Axel searched in his chest of drawers, looking for a good pair of pajamas. Usually, he just slept in a pair of boxers, but tonight he had to find something that wouldn't show too much of his skin. He finally found what he was looking for and went into his bathroom and started brushing his teeth. He started thinking that this wasn't such a good idea, judging that Zexion had kissed him the last time they talked. But it was a better alternative that killing him. Axel spit out the minty fresh toothpaste and rinsed his mouth out with water. He then put his PJ's on and teleported into Zexion's room.

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(Zexion's PoV)

Zexion was lying down on his bed, counting the little speckles on the ceiling (which is what he did most of the time when he had nothing to do). It had only been ten minutes since Axel had left to go get his PJ's. Zexion was hoping that he could convince Axel to do the favor he asked while he slept with him. After all, he didn't want to live on forever with no heart. He wanted to feel again, like he did in the previous life. But he knew that would never happen. He had seen visions of everybody dying and Kingdom Hearts exploding, which Xemnas had tried so hard to obtain. And he knew it was all hopeless from the beginning. The plan would've easily failed, and there was no guarantee that thirteen among those thousands of hearts would've belonged to them. The only people that really believed that it would work were Xemnas and Saïx.

Zexion had stopped counting the speckles now and was looking towards the door of his room, expecting it to open any second now. He all of a sudden remembered his nose that Axel had broken while opening the door, and realized that it hurt more than he thought it would. He touched the tip of it lightly, and even though it was only a soft touch, it sent a huge jolt of pain throughout him. His nose was probably his most important part of his body, judging that he could smell when people were coming or their emotions. Now he couldn't smell anything. He would have to see Vexen the next morning and have him take a look at it. Just then Axel appeared in front of his bed with a pair of black pajamas on. Both the top and bottom were long sleeved.

"Hey there," said Zexion, accidentally scratching his nose, cringing afterwards.

"Hey there," said Axel. "Are you sure your nose is okay? Because I can go down to the kitchen right now and get an ice pack out of the freezer for you."

"No, I'll be just fine. I'm just going to go to Vexen tomorrow and have him fix it."

"Okay."

Axel walked over to Zexion's bed and plopped down onto it. Zexion turned his head and glared at him.

"What?" asked Axel, quirking an eyebrow.

"I don't appreciate people just jumping onto my bed like that," said Zexion rather simply.

"I didn't jump. I plopped."

"Mmmhmm. Same difference."

"Well don't blame me. I had a very long day today and I'm very tired."

"So did I. Do you see me plopping down on my bed?"

"No. But you were already on it, so you wouldn't need to. And what did you do today that made you so tired?"

"I laid around and did nothing."

"Yeah, really tiring."

"Well it is. Having nothing to do all day long makes you think a lot, which tires out your brain."

"That's great, Zexion. So tell me why I'm here again?"

Zexion scooted over to where Axel was laying down.

"Because I get cold at night and I need someone to warm me up," he answered.

Axel turned his head around and looked at Zexion.

"You know, I think you're just going to try and convince me to do that favor you asked me to do earlier," he said.

"Maybe," said Zexion. "I might just want to be warm for one night of my useless life."

"Ah. Have you noticed that we're rambling on about random stuff that doesn't even really matter?"

"Yeah, I kinda have. I think I'll go get my jammies on now."

Axel quirked an eyebrow once again.

"You're what?"

"My jammies," said Zexion. "It's another word for pajamas."

"I know that. But what I don't get is that someone as sophisticated as you would use the word 'jammies' instead of pajamas."

"This conversation is going nowhere, you know that, right?"

"Yep."

Axel kicked off his boots and got under the covers.

"All the more reason for me to go to sleep," he said with a yawn. "Goodnight, Zexion."

Zexion got up off of his bed and went into the bathroom, pajamas in hand.

"I'm coming back, you know," he said. "You don't have to say goodnight yet."

"I know. But I'm just saying it just in case I fall asleep before you come out."

"Gotcha."

He walked into his bathroom and closed the door. Axel looked up at the ceiling, closing his eyes and letting his head sink into the pillow. It was totally obvious to any onlooker that he was in complete bliss. Maybe this is better than I thought it would be, he thought. He closed his eyes and within a short amount of time Zexion was out of his bathroom, wearing the same pajamas as Axel. He crawled into bed and cuddled up next to the red haired man and buried his face into his neck.

"You really are cold," said Axel.

"I know. And you really are warm."

Axel chuckled to himself and all of a sudden kissed the lilac haired man, without even thinking about it.

"Oops. I'm sorry," he said almost as quickly as he had done it.

Zexion stared at Axel for a moment and kissed him back.

"No big deal," he said, eyeing Axel in a weird way.

It was going to be a long night.

Almost eternal.

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Well, that's chapter six. Sorry if it's not on the original plotline or whatever, but I don't care. I hope you liked it.

Review if you like it, flame if you don't.

That's pretty much it.

Yeah.