Bound by Fire, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic series by Raberba girl
Part 5 of 6 - Axel and Xion: Pastoral Mission (rough draft)
For my dearest Taliax. X3 You've been such a joy to talk to, my love, and we connect so delightfully in so many ways. (We also seem to have a bad habit of squicking each other out. XD We really ought to stop that...) Thank you for your sweetness and optimism, it means a lot to me! ^^
Summary: Axel & Xion have a shared mission in a musical world.
A/N: Random canon, I guess. Ignores Dream Drop Distance. Makes reference to other fics like Fire & Moonlight and CatC, but doesn't necessarily take place in those universes.
o.o.o
Shared missions were the best, at least when her partner was either Axel or Roxas. She didn't care where they were assigned in those cases, but of course some worlds were always better than others. "Do you like it when we get to see new worlds, Axel?" she asked curiously as they traversed the dark corridor.
He shrugged. "Dunno. Places like Neverland were cool the first time, but I kinda had my fill of Wonderland before we'd even been there ten minutes."
"I don't blame you," she giggled. "I think getting to fly is one of the best things there is, but Wonderland...um...is hard."
"You can say that again. I remember the first time me and S- The first time I was assigned there. We got stuck wandering around for hours, didn't get back 'til nearly midnight...I'd fallen from inside an upside-down house into random trees about fifty times by then, and my partner'd lost his patience and gone berserk...multiple times..."
"How can we lose our patience if we don't have any emotions to get frustrated with?" Xion wondered teasingly.
"Right," Axel laughed. Then added more seriously, under his breath so that she thought she might not have been supposed to hear, "Though sometimes I wonder..."
The corridor ended atop a gorgeously green, grassy hill, overlooking a colorful rolling landscape.
"Ohhhh," Xion breathed, awestruck, "it's so beautiful here."
"This is a pretty world," Axel said thoughtfully. "I figured you'd like it, Xi."
She glanced over at him curiously. "You make it sound like you brought me here on purpose."
He winked. "Well, I did pull a few strings."
"Really?!"
"Yep. Saïx was gonna pair me with Xaldin instead, but I convinced him you'd be better for the job."
She gulped. "I'd better work hard, then..."
"Relax, Xi, it's just recon. You'll do fine."
Xion yelped as something snuffled in her ear. She spun around in a panic, pressing her hands protectively against her head.
The - CUTEST - little - tiny - flying - horsie - was hovering there in the air, looking at her curiously. So were several chubby naked winged babies, but they were far less interesting than the adorable horsiiiieeeee!
"What is that!?" Xion screamed in delight.
"A baby pegasus."
"Aaaahhhhh!" Xion glomped the creature, which brayed in alarm, struggled free of her arms, dashed higher, gazed down at her uncertainly, then suddenly swooped back and licked her cheek before flying away. "Axeeeellllll!"
"Yeah, I saw it," he said in amusement, pulling out a bent and battered notebook. "Observed one pegasus foal and four cupids of assorted hair colors. There, easy."
"And they expect me to aaaanalyze that?!" Xion said in rapture, smiling broadly as the cupids started plaiting her hair. "It's too cute to analyze!"
"Hm," Axel mused. "Inhabitants appear to transport themselves via natural aviation. Possibly the terrain is unstable and therefore less suitable for ambulatory transportation."
Xion snorted and tapped one foot against the ground. "Feels stable enough to me."
"You wanna give the analysis a shot, then?" Axel challenged.
"No!"
"Thought so. Ahem." Axel pretended to scribble more notes. "The outrageous hair colors leads one to believe that either the locals contain anime chromosomes in their genetic structures, or else they use hair products similar to those endorsed by our Organization-"
"I think you're just making all that up."
"Of course I am. What's the fun of doing recon in a world like this if you have to do it properly?" Axel shoved the notebook back in his seemingly bottomless pocket and then flung himself down the hill. "Wheeee!"
Xion burst into laughter. "You are ridiculous!" she called down to him. Then lay down and rolled in his wake, yelling "Wheeeee!" This was incredibly stupid. And also super-fun.
At the bottom of the hill flowed a stream, along which flower petals steadily floated by. Xion and Axel were drawing the attention of more and more cupids, who circled them with great interest before darting off to whisper eagerly to each other.
"You think they're planning something?" Axel wondered idly.
"I don't know. You're the expert on this world, right?"
Axel snorted. "I wish. This place can be weirder than Wonderland in its own way."
"Really?"
"Yeah." He winked. "WAY more fun, though."
That's when the flutes started up. The Nobodies looked over to find several of the small humanoid creatures playing an inviting tune, obviously wishing to draw them farther along.
"Where are they taking us?" Xion murmured, following the call with some hesitation.
"Probably somewhere involving fermented fruit juice and blatant matchmaking, but don't worry, I'll keep an eye on you."
o.o.o.o.o
MORE HORSIES. AAAAHHHHHH. Big ones and tiny ones and flying ones and ones that were half human, and XION WANTED TO FETCH ROXAS AND LIVE HERE WITH HIM AND AXEL FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER. "This is my favorite world," she declared, cuddling two happily nickering foals in her arms.
"I admit the pros outweigh the cons," Axel said distractedly, backing away from yet another group of centaurs eagerly brandishing goblets of wine at him. "No thanks, ladies, please! I swear that was just a one-time thing back then, really, I'm not interested, Xi's underage and we're on the clock and Sai'll kill me if he finds out I've been drinking..."
"What's wrong with drinking?" Xion wondered in confusion.
"...Number XIV, do NOT touch anything here that's not water. Orders from your sempai."
"Um, okay," she said uncertainly. Then squealed as a centaur seized her around the waist, cuddled her almost exactly like she'd been cuddling the foals, and passed her off to someone else.
It turned out to be some sort of dance, which got wilder and more fun as the music gradually reached a crescendo. Xion whirled amongst flowers and arms and hooves and colorful long hair, feeling breathless and elated, awestruck at the skill with which the dancers moved and avoided injuring anyone. There seemed to be patterns, too; shifting and subtle at first, but more and more noticeable as the music flowed on.
At one point, Xion thought they were dancing in a large circle, but then everyone suddenly broke off into partners, except that all the partners were constantly changing hands. Then the brawny blue-skinned centaur into whose arms she had landed spun her around and down, and suddenly Axel was holding her. He looked flushed and just as breathless as she felt, his hair in wild disarray, but his green eyes were shining in a way she wasn't used to seeing on him - full of joy and lacking in his usual burdensome cares, more sincere and passionate than any Nobody's eyes should look like.
"You're beautiful," he whispered to her unexpectedly.
She stared. "What?"
For a moment, he looked startled, then smiled a little sheepishly and let her regain her feet, though his hands rested affectionately on her shoulders. "It's hard to describe... Your eyes are sparkling right now." He raised a hand, hesitated, then pulled off his glove so he could trail his fingertips down her cheek unhindered. "I wish...that smile of yours could somehow last forever."
She rested her palm against the front of his coat. "You know...I was just thinking that about you, too. You look nicer than you ever did before."
"Oh, thanks," he snorted.
She shook her head, grinning. "No. Come on, Axel. Your eyes are sparkling too, you know?"
He studied her thoughtfully. "This really is a great world, isn't it."
"I told you it was my favorite," she reminded him with a smile.
He grinned back. "Even better than Twilight Town?"
"Well..."
"We should bring Roxas here next time."
"Yeah." If she could have both her friends here, seeing them so happy, being so happy together with them... That was all she wanted. She knew that was all Roxas wanted, too. Axel was more complicated, harder to understand, but that clarity in his eyes now, so much easier to grasp than his usual guarded expressions...
Axel let out a long sigh, then dutifully dug out the notebook again. "Inhabitants seem to engage in a ritualistic dance, the purpose of which I theorize might relate to-"
Mischievously, Xion yanked the notebook out of his hands and tossed it into the air. It never reached the ground, since a couple of overeager pegasi foals got to it first.
"Hi, Saïx," Axel mused idly as he watched, "sorry I don't have a mission report for ya this time, but see, these baby rainbow-colored flying ponies ate my notes, I hope you don't mind."
Xion giggled. "Saïx isn't as mean to you as he is to everyone else, I'm sure you'll be fine."
"True. He'll still be ticked, though."
"Axel?"
"Yeah?"
"Why is Saïx not as mean to you as he is to everyone else?"
"Probably because I have insane amounts of blackmail on him. C'mon, let's go see what's going on over- Whoa!"
Xion shrieked in surprise as something huge and black came flapping out of nowhere right behind her. "A-Axel! I-It's a...! It's a...!" Not another foal, definitely. The foals actually came cavorting joyfully all around the large black pegasus, which towered over Xion and gazed down her with frightening crimson eyes. "I wasn't hurting your babies, I promise," Xion whispered.
"Hey," Axel started to say in alarm, summoning his chakrams.
The pegasus lord suddenly seized the shoulder of Xion's coat in his teeth and tossed her onto his back as if she weighed no more than a sash. Then he took flight.
"XI!" Axel yelled. Then emitted a decidedly less impressive sound as another adult pegasus - this one female and white as a cloud - head-butted him in the back and then caught him with one powerful wing as he lost his balance. "Urgh, wait a sec," he gasped, trying to get his breath back. She nuzzled his face affectionately, nearly knocking him over again, then knelt. Unsteady from her playful aggression, he sprawled half across her back; she effortlessly adjusted his weight distribution with her wings, then took off after her mate. "WAIT!" Axel shrieked, clinging on for dear life. "Argh, flying is so not my thing!"
After a while, though, he got used to it. Flying on pegasusback was decidedly different from gliding on pixie-dust, but...once one became accustomed...it was quite enjoyable in its own way. Didn't have to expend all that concentration on the mechanics, though the nervousness of being so high aloft was exacerbated by having to trust a non-human creature he'd only just met. "Hey...Snowball...be nice to me, okay?"
She wasn't.
To his relief, Axel could see Xion in the lake below, looking perfectly fine still astride the black pegasus. Axel's own mount began to descend as well. "Whoa now, Snowball, we're going kinda fast. I think, um, hey, whoa, whoa whoa HEY-!"
Then at the last second, she flapped mightily to slow down and entered the water with barely a ripple. Axel, however, couldn't keep his hold, and tumbled headfirst into the lake.
He surfaced in a flail of limbs and splashing water. "Gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! Cold and wet and cold and waaahhhh, Flurry of Dancing Flames is not happy!"
Snowball nickered smugly.
"I totally saw that!" Axel tried lobbing a wave at her, but then just stood there with his arms wrapped tightly around himself, shivering. He felt sick.
"Axel!" Xion was craning anxiously over the black stallion's shoulder as the pegasus leisurely waded over to the red-haired Nobody.
"X-X-Xion-n-n..."
She hastily dismounted and swam over to him, shoving him toward the pegasus as best she could. "Are you okay?"
"N-N-No..."
Somehow, she got him up on the black pegasus's back, then swam around to the other side and gently pushed Axel's waterlogged spiky locks out of his face. "Will a Potion help?"
"C-Couldn't h-hurt," he said through chattering teeth, too miserable to care how ridiculous he must look, flopped over the horse's back like so much luggage.
"Hey, his element is fire," Xion lectured the lady pegasus. "Don't go dumping him in water like that again, okay?"
Once the black pegasus had reached land, Axel tumbled off onto the shore, then grinned weakly as the female came up and nuzzled him apologetically, her warm nose comforting the damp flesh of his cheek. "'S okay, Snowball," he murmured with a small smile.
"Her name is Snowball?" Xion wondered.
"No clue. Not like she can tell me or anything."
"I thought it was an odd name! She's beautiful, Axel, you can't go calling her after that little yappy dog in Twilight Town!"
"What would y-you name her, th-then?" Axel challenged, still huddled and shivering.
"I dunno. Something graceful and elegant. Like...Rumalia, or something."
Axel snorted in amusement.
"What's wrong with that?!"
"Oh, nothing. Just that 'Rumalia' happens to be a certain Somebody's name...heh, though he's such a fruit, he probably wouldn't care if he's got a girl pegasus named after him."
"Rumalia," Xion mused, "Rumalia...oh! I get it." Axel didn't answer, and she frowned, looking at him more closely. "Are you really okay, Axel?"
"I'm fine..."
Xion thought a moment, then crawled closer and draped her arms around his shoulders.
He laughed. "Trying to warm me up?"
"Yes."
"I appreciate the thought, Xi, but you're soaking wet yourself."
It was true. She could still feel tremors going through his body as she held him. "Hm." She herself was quite comfortable, though. It was a beautiful day, and the sun was warm. "I wonder..."
She closed her eyes. She could feel the sun's rays on her cheek, almost see them if she concentrated. Like waves, almost. Sort of. If she could...sort of guide the light...gather it up from around them and focus it all on Axel...maybe the light's warmth that it carried could...
After a long time, Xion, who felt like she'd fallen into a doze, was startled awake when Axel cleared his throat. "I was gonna go squawking 'How'd you do that!?' like an idiot, but...heh, guess those light powers of yours aren't completely useless."
"Me and Roxas helped during that power outage," Xion grumbled, settling down beside Axel again. She smiled a little, mollified, as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"I know, I was joking. It's just that when the chick ahead of you two can blast everything with lightning - after she rips it apart with daggers, that is, - and the guy before her slings around a giant honking scythe, and the guy before him can play with the space/time continuum like it's Play-Doh, and on down the line - hearing you two going 'We wield the power of light!' sounds kind of lame."
"It is not so lame," she pouted.
"It is lame. Adorably lame. Then when the bad guys are standing there laughing their heads off at you two doofs, you can take 'em by surprise with your magical powers of coat-drying."
Xion smiled, pulling off her glove to touch the fabric of Axel's coat. Sure enough, it wasn't even damp anymore. "You feeling better?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Xi." Axel flopped back onto the grass, smiling idly up at the sky as he crossed his arms behind his head. "This really is a great world..."
"I'm glad you brought me here," she said, wishing she could take off her heavy boots.
Strangely, a gentle shower of pink petals began drifting down around them. Shielding her eyes, Xion frowned up at the tree boughs over their heads, where a group of dreamy-eyed cupids were watching them, shaking blossom-laden branches. "Um, what are you guys doing?"
"Oi," Axel called up, "she's only fourteen - fourteen WEEKS, not years - so you better not be getting any funny ideas."
Xion stared. "What does my age have to do with falling flower petals?"
"You don't watch enough movies...which in this case is a good thing." Axel climbed to his feet and grinned, holding out a hand to help her up. "C'mon, Xi, let's go find some unicorns for you."
Xion gasped and scrambled to her feet as well, realizing too late that she'd completely forgotten to accept the help. "There are unicorns here, too?" she asked eagerly.
"Yep. Little baby ones, all sorts of colors-"
"Squeeeeee!"
"Heh, I knew you'd like that."
o.o.o
Author's Notes: "Snowball" was...rather OOC, I think. *sweatdrop* Maybe she's only maternal and decorous with her own family.
"Rumalia" is Infamousplot's theory on Marluxia's real name. I rather like that one.
Lol, the manga has given me the impression that flying is not exactly Axel's forte. XD
The power outage thing was a reference to my fic When The Lights Go Out.
Thanks to Stepsiblings, apparently my headcanonXion is now a pony lover in addition to being a dog lover. *sweatdrop*
