A/N: Remember those long chapters I talked about? Well, here's one, sorta. It felt long writing the thing. For everyone who reviewed: I fucking love you guys. My reviews are slowly (but surely) going up and I'm ecstatic. I hope everyone will continue to read this, and for everyone who hasn't reviewed yet, I ask you: why the hell not?

I don't know, I'm really starting to like this story (what? I like something I wrote?! Apocalypse?!).

Plot: Ok so, whoo! Back to Axel and Roxas! Now we get to bring in some of the other KH and FF characters.

Disclaimer: The story is mine. Kingdom Hearts (and Final Fantasy)…are not.

Axel had lied.

Axel had lied through his stupid fucking teeth. 'I don't know'. Hah! Ridiculous, of course he knew! But in a fit of panic and self-preservation he'd told Roxas he wasn't sure if he still felt the same. Because, in the back of his mind he thought: what if Roxas is too different now?

But in the short time he'd come to know this 'new' Roxas it was already abundantly clear that little had changed. Roxas still scowled when Axel referred to her as 'Roxie', still rolled her eyes at his catchphrase, still walked purposefully, with a bit of a strut, even when she wasn't heading anywhere in particular…

Yeah, he still loved Roxas. Roxas could be a boy, a girl, hell, Roxas could turn into the damn Loch Ness monster and Axel would still love the kid, (it'd be hard, but they'd make it work somehow).

The rest of their walk had Axel explaining his life up until now. He'd moved to Destiny Islands at the tender age of 4, just before starting Kindergarten, with his parents and older brother Reno. From then, he'd spent most of his high school career searching for Roxas. Unfortunately, when looking through directories and such, he'd been searching for a boy, and because Axel hadn't known Roxas's last name, his search was hindered. He'd finally found a kid named 'Sora' living in Twilight Town, and, after graduating Destiny Islands High, set out to find him, believing he must know Roxas's whereabouts. When he arrived, Axel had passed the bar and seen Demyx's name on the sign, looking up his address, Axel found Demyx and through him, finally found Roxas.

Axel had been really nervous, to put it lightly. He'd spent his life longing for the day when he could be reunited with the only person he'd ever really cared about. It was quite a journey between Destiny Islands and Twilight Town, and with all of the travel time Axel had (he was way too broke to afford plane tickets) his paranoid mind had plenty of time to panic over every little "what if?": What if Roxas didn't remember him? (It'd happened before). What if Roxas didn't love him? What if Roxas was already in love with someone else? What if Roxas was straight? (Though Axel supposed in this case, it'd be a good thing). What if Roxas was 

eighty? What if he was eight? What if he was dead? Never existed? What if he came in contact with toxic chemicals that turned him into some kind of radioactive, flesh-eating zombie?...But with all the worst-case-scenarios he'd considered, Roxas being a girl hadn't really occurred to him.

And, honestly, Axel didn't care. What difference did it make? He'd already acknowledge the fact that Roxas was still Roxas. He-She didn't even look all that different. Not to mention Roxas was the same angsty, get-in-my-face-and-I'll-beat-the-shit-out-of-you kind of kid that he'd known in the Organization.

And dammit Axel loved her.

God, Axel felt stupid. But he'd panicked. Why? Even he wasn't sure. Why, all of a sudden, did he feel so awkward in Roxas's presence? Before, in the Organization, he had no trouble telling Roxas how he 'felt'. There was no clumsiness, no second guessing himself, no…fear? But now he felt himself shying away from her gaze, fidgeting when they got too close, and he couldn't shake this dual feeling of desperation and contentment when Roxas smiled at him.

Perhaps, this is how it feels? Having a heart…

So why couldn't he say it? Why couldn't he look Roxas in the eyes and tell her that, yes, he did love her, and that he'd still love her in the next life and the one after that, and the one after that…

But, alas, before he could muster up the fortitude to confess his perpetual love for her, (or at least ravish her against the nearest brick wall), they'd arrived at the same club where Axel had seen Demyx's name only a few hours before.

Roxas stopped at the door and wrung her hands together, bouncing slightly on her feat. "Fuck." Her tone was a little frustrated, as if her own nervousness made her angry.

Axel chuckled. That's his Roxas for you. (Axel mentally cringed at the fact he was already referring to Roxas as 'his').

Axel turned to her and grinned. "Nervous?"

She laughed a little desperately. God, even her laugh was the same. Though obviously Roxas's voice wasn't as deep, she still had that strong, throaty laugh that seemed to seep into Axel's skin and warm him from the inside.

Yep, he was whipped.

"Nope, not at all…shit." Roxas sighed and composed herself before turning a calm gaze on Axel. "What about you?"

Axel was a little surprised by this question. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged and turned back to stare at the door, but not yet making a move to go inside. "Well, I dunno, it's just…everyone's in there." She cast a sidelong glance at him. "And half of the people you betrayed, or killed, or…whatever."

Axel paled a little. He hadn't realized that it might not just be Demyx and Roxas, (and Xemnas, apparently) that'd he'd have to face. "Oh…yeah." He shuddered, but took a small amount of comfort in the fact that he'd already had to deal with the Superior, and escaped with his life, so the rest couldn't be too bad…right? "Well, you abandoned them, though, right? And there not mad at you…"

Roxas rolled her eyes. " No. Some of them were a little… aggravated at first, but they got over it pretty quickly." She grinned. "Then again, it I didn't technically kill any of them, Sora did. And betraying them…well, we all wanted hearts right? I just went to mine. They couldn't really blame me, could they?"

Axel cringed. "Should I be scared?"

Roxas laughed again. Oh, how Axel loved that sound. "Maybe. Larxene's in there, and she and Luxord probably brought Marluxia with them. You did kind of screw them over."

Axel groaned then stopped. "Wait, Larx and Luxord brought Marluxia?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, they're married."

Axel just stared, not really processing the logic behind Roxas's words.

Roxas smiled at Axel's expression. "Yeah, I know. But, they really work together, you know?"

Axel shook his head. No, he didn't know, but he accepted it anyway. "And Marluxia is…?"

"Their gardener. He lives in a flat above their garage." Roxas rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Honestly I think the guy's asexual. All he does is play with his flowers all day. He's obsessed."

Before Axel had time to process his new discoveries, Roxas sighed loudly and grabbed Axel's arm, pulling him forcefully through the door. "Let's do this."

The two barely made it through the door before someone cried out and flung themselves at Roxas. Axel had time to be mildly surprised at Roxas's ability to stay standing after being tackled with such force, before he too was brought into a rough hug by an all too familiar Mohawked teen.

Demyx pulled back and gave Roxas another, slightly more controlled, embrace. "Oh my God you guys made it!"

Roxas smiled at Demyx. "Duh, Demyx. This is so important, not even Axel would miss it."

Demyx turned a grinning face to Axel and hugged him again. "Axel! We've missed you." His tone was serious, and Axel got the impression he was speaking for Roxas as much as himself.

Axel had to hold back tears. The presence of Demyx and Roxas really brought him back to the more carefree days in Organization XIII, and he was reminded of how much he'd missed them. "Yeah, Dem, I missed you guys too."

The Demyx pulled back abruptly, the most genuine grin still plastered on his face. "Everyone's here already! Well, almost everyone. Come on!"

As Demyx turned and began dragging both Roxas and Axel towards the stage he noticed that, indeed, it did seem like everyone was here.

But before they reached the group Demyx stopped abruptly, looking down at a figure who was sitting alone in a chair at one of the tables, reading. When he looked up, Axel wasn't surprised at the familiar face.

Or, half a familiar face.

"Zexy!" Demyx cried and proceeded to fling himself on the man's lap, kissing him lightly on his exposed cheek. "Look who Roxie and me found!"

Roxas scoffed. "Dammit, Demyx! Don't call me 'Roxie'…" She paused before mumbling: "And it's 'Roxie and I'."

Demyx grinned and reached out to pat Roxas affectionately on the head. He yelped in surprise, however, when Zexion stood, gently detaching Demyx from his lap, and moved in front of Axel.

Zexion was only a few inches taller than Roxas, so he was naturally much shorter than the redheaded pyro, but he showed no sign of being intimidated as he stared up into Axel's face with a neutral expression.

Roxas and Demyx watched silently.

"Uh, heh. Hey, Zex." Axel brought a hand up to scratch uncertainly at the back of his head.

Zexion nodded in greeting, and then said, rather bluntly, "you betrayed us. And your betrayal got me, and several other members, killed." His tone was even, but that only made Axel more nervous. "Although…" Zexion glanced briefly at Roxas before continuing, "I understand why you did it…Still…"

And before Axel had time to react, Zexion's fist shot up and collided with his jaw. Axel couldn't say this was the first time he'd been hit, nor would it be the last, and it defiantly wasn't 

the hardest punch he'd ever received, but it still managed to make him hiss in pain and stumble back a few steps.

Axel vaguely heard Roxas and Demyx shout in surprise. When he'd finally turned back to Zexion with wide eyes the slate-haired boy shrugged, "I guess we'll call it even." And with that he sat back down and opened his book, as if nothing had happened.

Axel rubbed at his jaw and glanced over at Roxas to see an amused smirk on her face. Before he could comment however, he heard shrill laughter erupt from behind him. Very familiar laughter. Axel spun around to see Larxene, her arm draped casually over Luxord's shoulders, standing a few feet behind him, apparently very amused.

"Oh, Axel," she said between breaths, "that little Emo kid just pwned you."

From somewhere behind him Axel heard Zexion say, "I'm not Emo."

Larxene just cackled and leaned against Luxord, surveying Axel. "You haven't changed a bit have you, pyro?"

Axel nodded. He'd noticed little had changed, physically at least, as far as the Organization members were concerned. Larxene still had that slicked back, blond hair, a few strands separate and pulled back, (Axel always thought they looked like antenna). Luxord looked the same as well, short blond hair, goatee. Axel even thought he saw a deck of cards tucked into Luxord's shirt pocket.

"Hey, kid!" Larxene shouted over Axel's shoulder. Axel turned to see Roxas looking over at them.

"What?"

"Where's your father at? Isn't he supposed to be here?"

Roxas rolled her eyes. "He's working late tonight, but he said with how often Demyx practices in our garage, he's probably heard everything anyway." She paused before adding: "And don't end sentences with prepositions!"

Larxene just laughed, and Luxord grinned. She slid her arm off her husband's shoulders and leaned in close to Axel to whisper, "our little Roxie must be nervous; she only becomes a Grammar Nazi when she's tense."

The three of them exchanged stories. Axel recounting his life as he did for Roxas, Larxene and Luxord discussing how they met, married, and eventually allowed Marluxia to move in with them as their gardener. Apparently he had his own business and was doing quite well for himself.

Throughout the conversation, whenever Roxas walked within hearing distance of the trio, Larxene, and occasionally Luxord, would make a point to raise their voice and make frequent grammatical errors. After awhile, Roxas got so frustrated she avoided their group all together. Axel found this rather amusing, and the friendly teasing made him feel somewhat nostalgic.

Axel's return seemed to be the talk of the night. Demyx came up, determined to give Axel his whole life's story in under two minutes, before he had to scurry off and continue setting up. Zexion hadn't said much. He and Demyx were dating now, finally, and Axel was glad to see that there didn't seem to be any tension between him and the slate-haired man. Namine had come to greet Axel as well, hugging him tightly and telling him to take good care of her Roxas. Even Sora came up at one point, apologizing vehemently for interrupting them earlier. Axel noticed that the silver haired boy he'd seen earlier, Riku, determinedly kept his distance from both Axel and Roxas.

Axel was surprised that the subject of his "betrayal" was rarely brought up. Marluxia gave him hell about getting him killed, but Axel got the impression that everyone had learned to 'forgive and forget', as they say. Larxene teased him a little about it too, but mostly because he'd done it for Roxas. "I always said you were his," she paused to laugh, "well, her bitch, Axie-poo."

As time passed, people slowly bled into the building. The regular guests, combined with Demyx's sizable entourage, made the room a little more than crowded.

When Larxene and Luxord left for the bar, Axel sighed at the freedom and glanced around for Roxas.

Spotting her in the corner talking to a dark haired man he'd never met, Axel immediately felt the jealousy well up in the pit of his stomach. The man looked…a lot like Axel, actually. He had the long, spiked back hair, only this man's was black. And he wasn't quite as skinny as Axel, but just as tall.

But just as Axel started walking over to the two, fully prepared to rip out the other man's throat if need be, he was pulled in to a brutal one armed hug.

"Dude! Where the hell you been, man?"

Axel recognized the voice immediately. He turned, pulling himself from the embrace, and looked into the familiar face of Xigbar.

Once again, little had changed. Xigbar had the same eye patch covering his right eye. His hair was ridiculously straight and pulled back into a long ponytail. The white streaks in it, however, didn't seem to be natural, especially since Xigbar looked fairly young, perhaps mid- to late-twenties. His face wasn't as badly scarred either.

"Hey, Xigbar." Axel turned and glanced back at Roxas to see another blond man, who actually resembled Roxas a little, in the hair department at least, had joined the conversation. "Who's that talking to Roxas?"

Xigbar laughed. "Nice to see ya too." He glanced over Axel's shoulder and grinned. "The dark haired dude is Zack. He's head of the police force around here. My boss."

Axel raised a brow incredulously. "That guy?" He pointed over at Zack. "He's got to be younger than you!"

Xigbar chuckled. "Yep, kids only twenty-something, but he's already been promoted to chief." He shrugged.

Axel, reluctantly impressed, but still ready to maul the guy, turned back to Xigbar. "And he's your boss?"

Xigbar nodded. "Yep, I'm part of Twilight Town's elite gun squadron. Naturally."

Axel rolled his eyes and grinned. "Naturally." He looked back over at the three. "What's he doing talking to Roxas though?"

Xigbar grinned and raised a brow. "Protective are we?" When Axel said nothing Xigbar continued. "Zack's engaged to the kid's older brother." He pointed at the blond man who was now ruffling the hair of a very angry looking Roxas. Zack was laughing. "That guy's Cloud, they're getting married in a couple of months."

Axel was slightly surprised by this. "So," he suddenly felt the need to ask, "Roxas isn't…dating anyone, is she?"

Xigbar laughed rather loudly at this. "As if! I doubt the girl's ever been on a date in her life." He suddenly leaned in close and nudged Axel with his elbow. "But, ya know, it's not like she hasn't been asked." He winked, (or at least, Axel thought it was a wink, he couldn't tell), before heading off without another word to sit down at Larxene's table.

When Axel turned back to Roxas, he saw Zack and Cloud had already left, leaving Roxas – finally – alone. Axel sauntered over to find a her looking very irritated. One of her signature pouts gracing her lips.

"Hey, what's up with you?"

Roxas turned her head to look at Axel, and he was delighted to notice the blond's expression soften a little. "Zack was just talking to me about the wedding. He and my brother are getting married this summer."

Axel raised a brow. This didn't seem to be any reason for Roxas to be angry. Could she be jealous? "Yeah, Xigbar told me. But…I don't see why this should make you angry."

"Ugh," Roxas messaged the bridge of her nose. "It's really not a big deal, I guess. I don't wanna talk about it." She looked up at Axel, giving him a small smile. "So you talked to Xigbar?"

Axel was still curious about Roxas's mood, but decided to let it go for now. "Yeah. He told me Zack was his boss."

Roxas's smile grew a little. She looked almost…proud? Axel made a mental note to kick this guy Zack's ass. "Yeah. He got Cloud a job on the force. He's supposed to be some kind of prodigy or something. He's very good at what he does. Cloud…really looks up to him, I think."

Axel nodded, deciding to change the subject. He didn't like the way Roxas smiled when she talked about this Zack guy. "So where's Vexen? And Xaldin? Shouldn't they be here too?" He glanced around, "I don't see Lexeaus or Saïx either."

Roxas shrugged. "Xaldin lives out in Traverse Town. He's head chef and some restaurant he runs. Dad talked to him this morning; apparently he couldn't get anyone to cover his shift. And Vexen," she snorted, "well, you try tearing that man away from his chemistry set, really." She glanced around. "Saïx should be here soon. Zexion said his last class ended about an hour ago, he goes to the Twilight Town Technical College." Roxas explained. "Lexeaus is probably picking up his girlfriend from work, before he heads over."

Axel's eyes widened. "Lexeaus? Has a girlfriend?"

Roxas let out that beautiful laugh that made Axel shiver. "Yeah, some girl named Yuffie. They're really good together though." Roxas grinned. "He never talks, and she never shuts up."

Axel tilted his head. It was hard to imagine Lexeaus dating someone. He was always rather introverted, and Axel couldn't say he'd gotten to know the man too well while they were in the Organization.

Before Axel could contemplate this further, however, Roxas reached out and grabbed his arm, he looked down to see her pointing toward the door. Turning, Axel saw Lexeaus, once again looking exactly as Axel remembered – though maybe a bit shorter – talking to a much smaller girl with short black hair and a jittery attitude. They seemed to be discussing something important. Lexeaus had leaned down and was clearly speaking in hushed tones to the girl, who Axel assumed must be Yuffie. Both looked concerned.

Roxas furrowed her brow. "I wonder what their talking about."

Before she or Axel could even consider approaching them, however, Zexion came and grabbed Roxas's arm, who in turn grabbed Axel's, and started pulling her towards the table near the front that he'd previously been occupying.

"It's starting."

...

A/N: ok I'm really uncertain about this chapter. It's kinda different from the first ones. What do you think? Too wordy? Too much dialogue? Boring? Sucks? …fantastic? No? Seriously people, reviews are important to me! I like to know how I'm doing, and how I should improve. Personally, I think I've done well with Roxas's character. I like Larxene in this too. Xigbar…I really didn't know how to write his lines. I don't feel I captured his character very well…hm. I'm going to work more with the side pairings in future chapters, after we get Demyx's concert thing over with.

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