Chapter Two: My Hero

Nightshroud: Yay, next chapter! I tried to add some humor in here, so I hope you like.

Zexion: Just get on with it.

Nightshroud: Where did you- oh yeah, you're in this one!

Zexion: Anyway, here we go.

Larxene yawned as she woke up and went over to her closet. Hmmm tough choice of wardrobe. Black coat, black coat, and- hey, there's a- oh, no, it's a black coat. She zipped it up and walked down to the kitchen. She could have teleported, but then she wouldn't have met anyone on the way. Not that she wanted to meet any of the other filth in this dump, or well, that wasn't entirely true. Regardless, she made it down to the kitchen with no meetings. Zexion was there, cleaning up from breakfast. She figured she must have gotten up late. She pondered Zexion for a moment. She never really talked to him much, but he was one of the more tolerable members. Besides, he always made her favorite strawberry waffles for breakfast since she always short-circuited the toaster. Anyway, she waved to him and sat down to her plate. Oh joy!

"Whatcha doin', anyway?" she asked. He put down his cookbook and looked at her.

"Starting dinner. I'm trying a new recipe."

"Couldn't you just use your powers to make what was on the page appear?" she asked.

He turned back to his work and shrugged. "Eh, it's a hobby."

She turned back and began feasting on her waffles. She was about to ask him to make her more when she felt someone grab her from behind. One held her left arm firmly against her side while the other was clamped against her mouth. She tried to scream out to Zexion, but he didn't seem to notice and continued to chop up vegetables. The assailant dragged her into the portal behind, and for a moment she was lost in the darkness. Next thing she realized, she was in a room she knew all to well. Her assailant let go of her and flung her onto the bed.

"You know, Marluxia, you could have just asked."

He smirked as he eyed her hungrily. "I figured you might object."

It's not like she wasn't used to this already. Marluxia always came to her to sastisfy his cravings, and she would just go along with it. But today she didn't feel like it.

"Look, Marluxia, I don't really feel like it. So just move out of the way and-"

He forced her down on the bed and unzipped her jacket, throwing it to the floor. She punched against him furiously, earning her a backhand from him.

"Marluxia, stop! Please!"

He tore at her white tanktop and black shorts, desiring her more and more. She felt tears in her eyes as she lost the strength to fight back. Suddenly the door burst open.

"Axel," she whispered in relief.

Marluxia eyed him angrily. He was about to summon his scythe when he felt Axel's boot against his chest and a second later the wall against his back. Axel summoned his chakrams, and Larxene could feel the heat rising off him in response to his anger.

"Leave. Her. Alone. Now get out."

Marluxia glared at him a moment longer, then teleported from the room. Axel stood a moment later, still gazing at the spot where Marluxia had been. Then he turned his head to Larxene. He quietly picked her cloak up from the floor and handed it to her.

"Here. I...uh-"

"Why...did you help me?" she said quietly.

He sat next to her and stared at the floor. "Well, I wasn't going to let flower pansy get away wwith bullying someone that couldn't defend themselves."

He looked up at her and then his eyes widened with surprise. Was she...crying?

She threw her arms around him and began sobbing into his shoulder. Axel, still slightly shocked, stood stock-still before wrapping his arms comfortingly around her. The warmth of his body helped to calm her, and soon she stopped crying. She pulled away from him and looked down.

"Thank you, Axel. I really appreciate what you did for me."

Axel was shocked, yet again. Did she say thank you? And not as part of their playful banter? She whiped her eyes as he stood to go.

"I...guess I'll see you around, Larxene."

He teleported out of the room, leaving her alone. And suddenly she felt scared to be alone. She also felt a strange feeling. She missed him.

As night settled over the castle, Axel threw his cloak over his chair and slid into bed, wearing a black t-shirt and red shorts. He yawned and switched off the lights, settling into the covers. He was suddenly disturbed by a knock at the door.

"Demyx, for the last time I won't play Little Mermaid karaoke with you."

"Axel?"

Axel sat straight up. Wait, that wasn't Demyx's voice (you can't mistake that for anything). He opened the door and his mouth opened a little in surprise.

"Oh, Larxene. Umm, what's up?"

She shuffled her feet and tugged at her antennae. "I was...umm...wondering if...I could stay with you tonight. I'm (and here she seemd to struggled hard with saying it) scared to be alone."

He surprised (again, how many times does this make in one day...) and opened the door wider. "Yeah, sure."

She walked in and took off her cloak and put it next to his. He paused, then said, "Well, you can have my bed, and I'll sleep on the floor."

"That's okay, we can...share...if you don't mind."

"Uh, no," he said, feeling a little flustered. She slid into bed after him and put her back to him. He noticed she seemed to be holding her breath before finally saying, "Would you mind...putting your arms around me? I don't want Marluxia coming in the middle of the night and grabbing me."

He fought hard to keep the blush down the threatened to cover his face (though she probably wouldn't have noticed in the dark anyway and said, "Yeah, sure."

She felt his arms wrap around her waist and she scooted back to rest her back against his chest. His warm feeling, and just his presence made her feel better. Suddenly on impulse, she twisted around slightly and nudged her head under his so that his chin rested in top of her head. He was surprised (geez...) by her bold move, but suddenly found himself rubbing his chin slightly on her hair. Before long, he felt her steady breathing and realized that she had fallen asleep. A smile crept onto his face, as he soon closed his eyes.