A/N: Hey, everyone! Thanks so much for reviewing, favoriting, and alerting the last chapter! It made me so happy, it really did, and so I wanted to write more, and so I did. Funny how that works out, eh? -wink wink nudge nudge- Anyway, this chapter's kind of short, because I had to end it where I did, and I had 'one of those days' today, which was bad. Roight, here's chapter two, from Roxas's POV, because I'm switching every chapter. Something I forgot to add in the last chapter, and will do so now, is that 'hajime' means begin (I think) and 'owari' means end. A lot of people do that, I know DX but until I find something cooler and suavier and originaler I'll have to make due XD Also, this chapter is dedicated to The Mad Empty Shell for being my first reviewer ever, and to.my.melancholy.angel. for being my second reviewer ever. I'll treasure them, I really will :P

Reviewers:

The Mad Empty Shell: Ohhh! Thank you so much! It means the world to me, it really does. And guess what! You are my first reviewer in the history of, well ever, so you are completely awesome and full of win. This chapter is dedicated to you, in case you don't read authors notes just like I don't XD

.my.melancholy.angel.: Thank you ever so much for reviewing! I'll continue it, heh, look! I'm continuing it right now P And it's reviews like your that make me do it Food for the writer's soul, they are. Thanks again for reviewing, I hope you enjoy it!

Favorites:

.my.melancholy.angel.

Alerts:

The Mad Empty Shell

orange.tictacs

paupu fruits rox

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Axel, Roxas, and other Kingdom Hearts related characters belong to their respective owners, Disney and Square Enix, of which I am neither.

Roight, let the chapter begin!!!

And then, the unthinkable happened...

Chapter Two: Noncommittal Truths

The wind fluttered through an open window, dancing through waving curtains and blowing cool air gently across two sleeping faces. One of the figures shifted in their sleep, tossing in turning in the breaking dawn's light. He shuddered, but not from cold as one would expect. His fear was from something else entirely, something in his own mind, a dark seed in his dreams that caused him to relive his pain again and again, never letting him escape his own prison cell of past memories.

R . o . x a . s

The first thing I noticed when I came to the painful world of reality was warmth. Lots and lots of warmth. This, in turn, made me wonder if I was dead, which wasn't all that unlikely all things considered. I winced as I moved my stiff joints, the light pain telling me I was not, in fact, dead. Too bad. Without opening my eyes, I tried to roll over on the hard surface I was laying on, only to find my way blocked by a familiar body, er, person. Said person slowly opened their eyes and looked at me with confusion. Clouded green orbs locked with my own sapphire ones.

"Rox? What're you doing here?" Inside, I smiled. Axel was the only one I ever let call me Rox. I looked back up at Axel's face, noticing for the first time the dark circles under his eyes, and the gaunt look to his features. Guilt racked me instantly—he had enough of his own problems to worry about, who was I to burden him with mine? I smiled slightly at him, one of the few people who could actually make me do so, and marveled at how he always seemed to put others before himself. Maybe I could try doing that. Now's as good a time to start as any.

"Hey, Ax. Go back to sleep," I told him gently. "You need it."

The stubborn idiot frowned and struggled to get up, propping his head on his hand when he couldn't get that far. "Well duh, but not everyone can get what they need."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Isn't it that not everyone can get what they want?"

He smirked slightly. "Of course not. This is the twenty first century, where every want is a need. Besides, I have my internship to go to, remember?"

"That can wait," I told him sternly. "Besides, you won't be able to become a great psychologist—"

"Neurological researcher." I couldn't believe he still had the energy to correct me.

"—if you're half dead all the time! You said yourself you weren't doing anything important! Sleep for a day, you should recover for now," I commanded, giving him my best do-it-or-die glare.

"But, you, and your—" The poor boy, he tried, he really did. No matter.

"Worry about me later, worry about yourself now."

I didn't give him any time to argue, just swung my legs off the bed and stood up, wobbling a little from my sore muscles. I turned back around and waited as he gave up and fell back asleep. Well, that's one good deed for the day, score one for Roxas!

Walking back to the kitchen/dining/whatever-Axel-wants-it-to-be room, I saw my old suitcase and blanket still lying on the floor near the door. I must've dropped them when I, er, grabbed Axel.

I put my suitcase near the bedroom, closing the door so I wouldn't wake up my best friend as he slept. Suddenly with a lack of things to do, I glanced around, looking for something productive. I saw the fridge, and an idea sparked within me. I wonder…how long has it been since Axel's had an actual breakfast?

xXx

I stirred the eggs in a 100-year old pan I had found at the bottom of a dusty stack of cooking ware. I mean, seriously, this guy must like live off microwave dinners. I'm surprised he even had a spatula, quite frankly. I danced around a little bit as I scrambled the now yellow food, hips moving to a rhythm that only existed in my head. Flipping the eggs, I put them on a plate and turned around just in time to catch the toast in midair. Cue applause, please. If only someone had seen that…

"Very nicely done, Rox. I didn't know you had such mad cooking skills."

I whirled around and saw Axel watching me with a familiar wicked smirk on his face, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. My eyes widened as I wondered how much he had seen (a.k.a. my horrible dancing) and I turned my head so he couldn't see my blush.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," I retorted, going back to my breakfast of champions.

"Now eat, mister, or I will, and I mean it, do the whole choo-choo train and tunnel deal, maybe even the air plane if you annoy me enough."

He just laughed, as per usual, saying, "Oh no! Not the airplane," as he sat down, looking at me with gratitude shining in his eyes even through the joking exterior.

There were a few minutes of comfortable silence as we both ate our way through my cooking, which was pretty good, if I do say so myself. Finally, Axel sat back, hands interlaced across his stomach.

"That was…There are no words to describe how splendidly wonderful that was, Rox. I had thought that breakfast no longer existed, really. You have proven me wrong. Congratulations."

"It's just great because you had someone else cook it for you, as in, it wasn't burnt to a crisp," I reprimanded, but I still gave him my little half smile, my eyes crinkling at the edges. It slowly disappeared as I saw his face grow solemn, and I knew what was coming next.

"Rox…" he started, and he looked at me to see if I was going to say anything without a prompt. Seeing he wasn't getting one, he continued in a less passive manner. "What the hell happened to you yesterday? You show up at my house completely out of the blue—"

"I told you I was coming! Sort of…" I was making excuses for myself, I knew. I just…I just didn't want him to know. Not yet. Not now. I didn't want to lose him…

His glare silenced any other interruptions. "You arrive at my door in tears with scrapes and bruises all over, a suitcase, and this look on your face like the world had ended. Then you latch onto me, still sobbing, and then cry yourself to sleep on my couch. I had to carry you to my bed, and even when I tried to leave, you wouldn't let me go. Now, I'm not heartless, and I'm going to be a good friend, so excuse me when I say what the hell happened to you?"

I hung my head. It was too early, I wasn't sure what would happen if I told him… all the others had been scared, had run away. A scant few had tried to get something done, but I couldn't let that happen, so I distanced myself from them. I knew this would happen if I came here, but…I was so scared last night. So scared it might be the end…I knew I needed Axel right then.

I shifted my head slightly so that blonde hair fell across my face, covering up my moment of indecision. "It's…ah, I'll…no, listen, please, please don't worry about it, okay?" Seeing he was about to explode, I hurried on. "Ax, this is something…I'll tell you about it soon, okay? Just not, just not now." There, at least I could stall for a bit, prolong it just a little loner.

"Rox…," he began threateningly, but sighed when he saw my resolute expression. "Well, okay. I'll just have to accept that for now." I smiled a genuine smile at him, glad he understood the why behind my request, if not the what. "But what are you going to do now? Do you need to stay here again, or…?"

Wasn't that just like Axel, so fiercely loyal to the ones he cares about. He had a short fuse and a shorter temper, so easily angered and yet easily calmed again. He was a good friend, and I… I was glad he was one of mine. He deserves more than what they give him at that facility of his. He did bring up a good point, though. I knew I had to go back. I went back every time.

"No, thank you. Thank you, so much, Ax, for everything. For putting up with, me, for being there. Thanks." Wow, was that a heartfelt speech or what? I think that was pretty good, considering I really meant it.

"Don't worry about it, Rox; I'm just trying to help." He stood as I got up to leave, and held my suitcase out for me.

"Axel…" I began, but stopped as I was pulled into a gentle hug.

"You know you can come over whenever you need help. Whenever you need anything, Rox, I'll always be there for you. Just come by any time." Okay, so he totally owned me at the whole heartfelt speech thing, and it touched me, it really did. He never acted this way with anyone else, saved a suave, arrogant façade for the others, but he broke it just for me. I smiled a sad smile, and walked out the door.

"Thanks again, Axel."

xXx

He never came back

And then, no one guessed it, but...

End Note: Ha, hoped you enjoyed it! Fun little cliffy there, and you start to see that not all is as it seems . I'm still swishing around for Roxas's character. (Spoiler alert right here) I saw him walk away from Axel with the coldest look on his face, then I saw him on the clock tower smiling happily and calmly eating sea salt ice-cream. I'm not exactly sure where the medium is, (maybe he's bipolar? XD) but it seemed like he was putting up a mask when he was walking away to hide his true (coughfeelingscough) so I figure he does that a lot. Maybe it's just me XD Anyway, up next is Axel's work place (ha, yes, I made him study the brain. It was going to be the heart, but then a few things wouldn't work out, and that'd be a tad cliché, don't you think?) And Xigbar, (the surfer pirate wannabe dude, who rocks socks), Zexion, Demyx (I am a Zemyx supporter, so there'll be slight mentions), and Vexen make an appearance!