Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts II or anything affiliated with it.

Chapter 5 Just Marly

"Axel...?" Roxas saw the lump of black and vibrant red spikes crumpled on the sterile white floor just down the hall. He knew it was Axel and he needed to help him.

"Axel!" Roxas ran to the older boy, yelling his name in hopes of getting a response, but none came, "Axel!"

"No...Please..." Roxas dropped to his when he reached the redhead, fearing the worst, "Axel, wake up! Axel, please!"

"What...?" Axel finally managed to shisper, his eyes still closed from bruising. Roxas, almost in tears, threw himself over the other in a bear hug.

"Don't scare me like that!" Roxas cried into Axel's shoulder, emitting grunts of discomfort from the older boy who, due to his injuries, was feeling a bit tender.

"Damnit, Roxas!" Axel yelped, "That hurts!"

"Sorry..." Roxas whispered, sitting up and letting go of Axel while rubbing the tears from his cheeks. Axel sat up, his movements lethargic, and leaned his back against the wall, groaning slightly.

"'Salright...Could be worse," Axel said slowly, trying to open his eyes without much success.

"...What happened?" Roxas asked as he looked over the redhead's injuries. The assortment of bruises on his face and arms looked fairly painful, but nothing he couldn't survive. In any case, Roxas wanted to know who had done this. He decided that it was his job to "discuss" the penalties for hurting his best friend with the creep who had done it.

"Just..." Axel wanted to lie, but he couldn't. There was no tale he could spin in a situation like this, "It was just Marly..."

"Just Marly?!" Roxas' face suddenly contorted in anger, "How can you say that?!" You're beaten up like this and it's 'Just Marly'?!"

"It just got out of hand, okay?!" Axel eylled, straining his abused vocal chords, "He's usually like that! It just...Didn't stop this time..."

Roxas didn't say anything for a few minutes, his mind wrought with hateful thoughts towards Marluxia and Axel's stupidity. Without any way to know otherwise, Axel had thought that Roxas left him.

"Fine, just walk off..." The redhead whispered, tears welling behind his swollen eyelids eyes, "It's not like I care if you care. I don't like you...I don't care..."

"I haven't gone anywhwere, Axel," Roxas said, his voice a quiet cry, "I'm not going to go anywhere..."

Axel froze upon hearing those words. They chilled his emotions while melting his nonexistant heart. He was being flooded with a heatedlonging that somehow left him feeling alone. He wasn't sure what to call this new feeling, but it was amazing. It made him think again.

"Maybe Nobodies do have hearts..." Axel whispered, mostly to himself, as his tears found ways out of his eyes and down his cheeks.

"C'mon," Roxas choked out, pulling the redheads arm up as he stood. The older boy nodded, standing slowly with the other's help and hobbling down the hall towards a portal of darkness that Roxas had opened.

"Let's get you fixed up, okay?"

"...Okay."

-------------------------------

A/N: And the verdict is...? Well, tell me in a review, people!