Chapter 2: Operation: Match-up
A/N: This is where the humor begins. What would happen if Demyx, Xigbar, and Zexion (against his wishes) try to pair Axel and his girl up? Pure chaos!
Axel was walking down the hall, thinking of those beautiful brown eyes that haunted him all night. As he walked down the hall, he nearly collided with Xigbar, who was looking through a swimsuit magazine. Xigbar looked up and his gaze followed the drunken strides of Axel. Flamesilocks seemed to be troubled by something, if it were possible for a Nobody. The one-eyed man studied Axel's drunken strides and decided to gossip with Demyx, his partner-in-crime.
"Hey, Dem," said Xigbar, sitting down on the couch where the sitar-playing man was. "Have you noticed Axel has been acting strange-r? He nearly collided with me in the hall and didn't even look at me."
"Maybe he's tired," suggested Demyx, ceasing his sitar-playing. "I mean, he didn't pay attention to the meeting this morning. I think you know what this means."
"It's recon time," said Xigbar, nodding in agreement. "Today Axel has a mission to Agrabah. While he's out, we'll look around in his room."
The two impatiently waited until Axel finally left without saying a word to Saix. When Saix's back was turned, Xigbar and Demyx scrambled out of the room to get up to ole Number Eight's room. Demyx knew where it was because he shared the floor with Axel and Saix. When they got into Axel's room, they slid the door open and saw that nothing was out of the ordinary. His bed was made neatly, his floor was clean, and nothing looked suspicious. The two began looking around until Xigbar found a red hard-backed book in the desk drawer. He pulled it out and began reading. The recent entry was from yesterday.
"Today I met the most beautiful human in existence. Her hair was intoxicating with its smell and how it ruffled in the warm breeze of Twilight Town. Her brown soul-shattering eyes have been in my mind for hours now. I don't think I'll sleep tonight without seeing them. Even though we are apart now, I can still hear the musical note in her lovely voice. I even wrote a song to express my feelings for her, if it's possible for a Nobody."
Xigbar read the lyrics of the song and realization hit him. Axel was in love with a human girl and he wrote a song dedicated to her.
"Dem, get over here," he whispered loudly. "I found Axel's dirty little secret. He's in love with a human."
"Oh, baby," said Demyx, running over to look at the page. As he read it, a mischievous glow entered his eyes. "It's time for us to unite and become the E-Harmony experts we are. This is our new mission: Get Axel together with Shelby. Failure is not an option."
"Guys," they heard Zexion's voice and turned to see him carrying a laundry basket, "what are you two doing? Is that Axel's journal?" Fear was in his tone and his visible eye widened warily like he was expecting a bomb to blow.
"Zex," said Demyx, going up to him, "Axel is in love with a human girl named Shelby. Read." He shoved the book under Zexion's chin and he began reading.
"'She makes me feel like I have a heart,'" he read the last line aloud. "Wow, Axel." He sounded more surprised than impressed. "I never thought someone as private as Axel would fall in love and this isn't one of his perverted crushes. This is true love."
"We should do something about it," said Xigbar, grinning menacingly.
"'We,'" repeated Zexion warily. "As in, you, me, and Demyx?"
"Exactly," replied Xigbar, grinning like the Cheshire cat in WonderLand. "We will unite to become the SAT FAST."
"The what?" demanded Zexion, looking absolutely appalled.
"The Super-Awesome-Trio-Forming-Axel-and-Shelby-Together," interpreted Xigbar proudly. "Now, men, let's go forth for love, passion, and gossip." Proudly, the trio went out of the room—well, Zexion wasn't proud, mostly annoyed—and began formulating plans to get the two unsuspecting people together.
Zexion knew this would not end well.
…..
After the mission, Axel went to Twilight Town to find Shelby. He stealthily went through the city and found her at the beach among all of the colorful umbrellas. In the sand bank, he saw a brown-haired beauty in a pink-and-white bikini. She sat on a white beach towel feeling the ocean air on her face. He crept up behind her and tapped on her shoulder. She jumped at the touch and turned to look up at him.
"Axel," she said in a tone of mingled surprise and relief, "what are you doing here? I thought you were busy." Her eyes bored into his inquisitively and he almost melted at the intensity.
"Well," said Axel, for once losing his cool, "I-I wanted to see you again. I finished my mission so I figured I'd visit you."
"Oh, that's thoughtful," said Shelby, scooting over to make room for him to sit down, which he did. "What are your missions for?"
"Well," Axel hesitated then looked into her eyes; they looked trustful. "I am a Nobody."
"But you're like everyone else," she said, shaking her head. "You look and act like other people."
"No," said Axel quietly, "I don't have a heart. Feel right here." He grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest. A blush flooded her face because of the intense stare he gave her and how his hand was pressing to hers. He wanted to feel her fingertips on his skin but he dismissed that thought.
"I can't feel anything," said Shelby in shock. "Why don't you have a heart?"
He hesitated then looked at how she sat patiently on the towel in her bikini and he sighed. "The darkness overtook my body and released my heart. The only thing that remains is the shell of my body."
"So you're a vampire?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.
He laughed out loud at that notion. It took him a while to recover himself because of how funny her question sounded and how no one ever asked him that. "A vampire?" he asked once he was done. "Really? No, I'm not. I'm a Nobody. We can get injured and tired, unlike vampires, and we don't drink blood. We can't feel emotions though like anger, sadness, or joy. Most of the time, we fake it to fool people."
"But you do look happy," said Shelby innocently. "Are you faking with me?"
"I'm not sure," said Axel mostly to himself. "My head is whirling, my hands are tingling, and my breath is short. Is this anxiety, anticipation, or joy? I don't know." He gazed at Shelby, who stared at him unblinkingly. "When I'm around you, I feel…different, like I can feel a heart in me pounding away." Without thinking, Axel lifted his gloved hand and let his fingers brush her reddened cheek.
"Axel…" she murmured softly. Her eyes closed shut and her heart raced a thousand miles an hour. Axel could tell she was nervous and happy. To make it better, he bent in close and pressed his forehead to hers. He loved the feel of her soft breath on his face and he began to feel tingles down below.
"Ai shi teru, shan mitsukai," he whispered intensely to her, causing her to shudder then blush even more. He removed his gloves and let his bare hands caress her face. Her skin was even more softer than he imagined. "Mitsukai." He felt her shudder again and her heart tripled in speed. "Your heart is so pure," he said huskily, which sounded like music to her ears. "The darkness is nothing to the light in your pure heart."
"Oh, Axel…" she sighed, feeling her body go limp because of the intensity. His mesmerizing green eyes bore into hers in a hot, lustful way and it got her suit damp. No, you don't even know him that well, she chastised herself. With all of the dignity she had left, she said, "Axel, can you love?"
"I don't know," he said honestly. "When I'm around you, I feel whole like I don't need Kingdom Hearts to fulfill me."
"What's Kingdom Hearts?" she asked quietly.
"The almighty heart," he answered. "It has the power to give hearts. If I had to choose between a heart and you I'd choose you." His eyes and tone filled with seriousness.
"Axel," a sharp voice called from behind them and Axel turned to see Saix glaring at him. "You were supposed to RTC thirty minutes ago. Who's your little friend?" That came out in sarcasm.
"I'm Shelby," she answered for herself.
"Whatever," said Saix, turning to Axel. "Axel, come to the castle now. Say good-bye to your little girlfriend."
"Bye," said Axel in a stoic tone and he kissed her on the cheek. He stood up, back to her, and followed Saix into the dark corridor, feeling a sharp sting in his chest. He didn't want to go back to the castle. He wanted to be with her and live a normal life again. Judging by the way Saix looked he was going to get the lecture of his life.
…..
Even when they got back, Axel and Saix's argument didn't stop. In fact, they went all the way to the library to yell at each other. Some offensive things were said like insults and curse words but that did not soothe Axel's anger; it only inflamed it even more. The people who thought red-heads were easily-angered were right when it came to him. Every time Saix spoke it pissed Axel off. Saix always treated Axel, his old friend, like a stranger or an unwanted visitor and it crushed Axel. As much as he loved to hang around with Roxas and Xion, he still wanted to confide in people his own age.
"God, Saix," shouted Axel thunderously. "You ruined a perfect day! If you didn't show up, I would have kissed her! Well, say something!" His whole body felt like it was on fire because how angry he was. His eyes were blazing with the element he perfected—fire.
"Axel," shouted Saix, for once losing his cool, "you feel nothing! It is only a memory of an emotion! You are living a lie!"
"As far as I'm concerned," said Axel in his most low and coldest tone, "you're the one living a lie. Why can't you consider the thoughts that Nobodies can feel and express? Our emotions come from the brain, not the heart! I love her and there is nothing you can do about it! I love her, Nobody or not! This discussion is over!" With that, before Saix could speak, Axel stormed out of the library, angry enough to kill someone.
Once he got up to his room, he sat down and began writing in his journal. The pen he used almost poked a hole in the page because how mad he was. What he wrote was:
I hate Saix if it's possible for a Nobody. Who gives him the right to say if we can or can't love? The feelings I feel for Shelby are as real as the sunset in Twilight Town. I almost kissed her and then cock-block Saix arrived and forced me to leave. I would give anything to be near her again. I know now that I love her with all of my non-existence. Her bikini was so hot and sexy that I wanted to rip it off and just take her right there. Well, nothing else to report for now.
With that, Axel set his pen down and lay down on his bed to go to sleep. He didn't feel hungry for dinner, only tired. He was mentally and physically exhausted from his arguing with Saix. It wasn't always like that, Axel thought, thinking back to the times when they were friends. A single, lone tear trickled down his cheek at what he was missing.
…..
A little later, Xigbar, Demyx, and Zexion slipped into Axel's room to see him sleeping soundly and decided to read his journal again to see if there were any updates. Zexion was to stand guard just in case he woke up while Xigbar and Demyx did the peeping. Xigbar found the journal in the place it was left at that morning and opened the page after the old entry. He read the new one carefully and smiled menacingly.
"Hey, Dem," he whispered, "read this." He handed the journal to Demyx and he began reading it. About five minutes into it, he snorted a laugh.
"So, Axel is truly in love with her," he said, "and he wants to lay her. Awesome." Cringing at how loud his voice was, he saw Axel stir and then wake up.
"Demyx, Xigbar, Zexion," he said sleepily as he sat up, "what are you guys doing here? Is that my journal you're reading?" He was wide awake now as he summoned his chakrams. "Get out!" Flames shot out at them and the three dropped the journal, running for their lives.
So far, thought Zexion as he ran, this plan will end up in the toilet faster than those beans Vexen ate yesterday.
...
Axel lied back down and fell asleep thinking of the brown-haired goddess he loved more than his existence. She meant everything to him now. No one could break them apart, not even the Organization. As for Xigbar, Demyx, and Zexion, he might have to hurt them tomorrow for snooping in his affairs. Just the thought of that made a smile spread on Axel's face. Good night, Shelby, my angel. As he snuggled into his pillow, he was out like a light.
A/N: Read and Review please! Let me know if you liked it or not. No flames please (although Axel might like that).
