Chapter 12: With the boys... (doubleux3 . youtube . com/watch?v=VmCroYAolEw)

Memo: 3 YES! Been waiting for this. Wish I could draw this as a manga...actually, I might. XD

*~*~*

"Axel!"

Axel whipped his head around to see Demyx standing over him with an unusually mischievious grin on his face. Normally Demyx tended to display a goofy, naive smile, but it was a bit different this time.

"Hey, Demyx," Roxas said with a kind smile, looking around Axel to see his friend.

But surprisingly, Demyx didn't bother to return the greeting.

"Axel, you're never going to guess what my surprise is for you!" he instead cheered.

"Do I really wanna know?" Axel asked, grimacing slightly.

"I'll give you a hint!" Demyx threw his arms out from his sides, his eyes growing wide. "CRAAAA-ZY!"

"I know too many crazy people, so that doesn't help."

"Oh, I concur."

Before Axel or anyone else could respond, Nexus stepped out from behind the corner of the clock tower.

"Hey," she said calmly, waving once. Inside, her heart was pounding along with her head at the mere sight of him. She prayed this wouldn't be their last meeting.

Axel jumped up.

"Nexus!" he cried. "What are you doing here?!"

Frowning, Nexus stared down Axel, disgruntled by his tone.

He didn't even call me "Nex"... she thought before answering.

"I came to see you," she replied matter-of-factly, walking over to Axel. "Why else would I be here?"

Settling down, Axel slowly sat in between Nexus and Roxas without another word. Demyx plopped down on the other side of Nexus and grinned.

"Tada!" he shouted, holding out four bars of ice cream. "My treat."

"Thanks," Roxas said, taking one.

"Yeah, you didn't have to do this," Axel said, still taking one anyway.

"Wow!" Nexus took one also, gazing at it in wonder. "I've never even had one of these kind before. Are they really that good?"

When the three boys nodded, she smiled eagerly at them. Demyx and Axel returned the smile without a second thought; Roxas, however, became reserved. Honestly, he was afraid of Nexus, but it was his own fault. After all, he had been reading her story.

Suddenly Nexus snickered to herself; everyone else shot her a glance.

"Oh no," she said, her face instantly becoming stony serious as she peered into her friends' faces. "Is this going to be like one of those stories where the girl gets abducted by her guys friends and they drug her and she passes out and then they take turns raping her and beating her up until she dies and then they throw her dead body off a cliff never to be found again?"

The silence that followed was short-lived. Laughter erupted through the air from everyone but Roxas, who stared at his ice cream bar with wide, innocent eyes.

"I've never heard of anything like that before..." he murmured, horrified, but no one heard him through the guffawing.

"Ah, hey," Demyx said, pointing at Nexus' ice cream after the laughter began to subside. "Your drugged-up ice cream is melting. Wouldn't want to lose that!"

With a smirk, Nexus looked down at her frozen treat, which was slowly melting and dripping down her bare forearm. Shrugging, Nexus licked the salty-sweet syrup off her arm, following the trail all the way up to the stick. There wasn't a single distracted eye then, even from Roxas.

.........

Nexus' PoV

It got kind of quiet after that, but the silence was rough at all. It was a peaceful kind of quietness, with a breeze passing by us every now and then. In fact, after a while, it got kind of cold. My ice cream even slowed in its melting; I had kind of stopped eating it as I had gotten lost in the scenery. But it was really refreshing, and the view was incredible.

"I've never been up here like this before anywhere," I admitted, staring out over the quiet town.

"Isn't it pretty?" Demyx agreed, grinning. I nodded, smiling.

"I guess I didn't realize that this town is always in twilight, except at night." Roxas nodded.

"It's been that way since I can remember," he said. "Must be how it got its name."

"One would assume," I agreed.

Axel didn't say anything in response, but instead he chewed on the end of his stick impatiently. I could tell he wanted to say something, and I wondered if me being there was an issue.

Suddenly Demyx stood up, twirling his ice cream stick around his index finger. I was shocked he could even manage to do that; he didn't seem all that coordinated to me. Maybe I was wrong. I don't know, but I never will.

Anyway, he sighed, leaning against the back of the tower.

"I should probably get going," he stated after a moment's hesitation. "Xemnas will rip me apart anyway for not getting after Sora in the Coliseum." He grinned. "Hey, what can I say? I told him not to send me!"

He seemed pretty satisfied with himself.

"So, Axel, you can take Nexus back to her ship, can't you?"

Axel glanced up at Demyx and nodded slightly. His eyes looked distant but cold and irritated. I wanted to be able to read his mind. I didn't want to make him angry by my being there; I had assumed originally Axel was going to use the opportunity to talk to Roxas.

"Cool beans!" Stretching his arms, Demyx shot me a cat-like wink. "I'll see you around, Nexus. It was good to see you again, even if you don't remember me from before."

I grinned. "Yeah, well, I promise I'll remember you next time," I assured him.

He nodded, still smiling dumbly. "Let's hope so. See you guys later."

"Bye," Roxas said politely as Demyx ducked into a portal.

Again, Axel stayed silent.

*~*~*

Roxas glanced at his two friends. They weren't saying anything, but they were both looking out into the distance, both of them lost in thought, both of them torn as to whether or not they should speak or wait to be spoken to.

They're a lot alike, the blonde decided, slowly rotating the popsicle stick in his fingers. But I don't think they realize how much they're alike.

Roxas glanced at them again to see Nexus glance at Axel quickly, then sigh quietly and look away.

Well, maybe she does.

Sighing heavily, Roxas pushed himself to his feet. Axel and Nexus snapped out of it and whipped their heads around to look at him.

"You too?" Nexus asked, sounding disappointed. "You've hardly talked to us this whole time."

I'm not the only one, he thought about saying, but instead replied, "Yeah, I know, but I have something I need to get done. I've been procrastinating."

He tried to look embarrassed, and Nexus seemed to buy it.

"It was good to see you, either way," she said, smiling.

"Yeah, same."

"Take care of yourself," Axel said quietly, only giving Roxas a slight nod of the head.

"I will. See you guys later."

The two murmured a quiet goodbye, then faced the twilight sky again.

Roxas slowly walked around the corner and started to summon a portal. But then he thought twice.

He'd just left to set them up. There was no point in leaving now if he could eavesdrop this easily.

The portal closed, and Roxas silently leaned against the clock tower, out of view of his friends.

Nexus' PoV

Before, when it was quiet, it was a comforting silence.

But after Roxas left, the silence was painful.

There was a list of things I wanted to say to him, some things nicer than others, but I didn't want to instigate conversation if he wasn't going to participate, because I knew he had something to say, too. He was still adamently gnawing on the end of his ice cream stick. (I had barely touched mine, and it was now a blob on the end of a brown stick.)

"Are you...mad at me?"

I glanced up at Axel, making sure I had actually heard him say that, and not my imagination. But he made eye contact back, and I quickly looked away. I couldn't answer him. I didn't know how to.

Yes, I was mad at him. And...no, I wasn't. I certainly wasn't angry without reason.

I was definitely pissed at how he had acted while we all were hanging out on the tower. He was being so rude and totally inconsiderate--but I did know he had something on his mind. So I was kind of angry, but kind of not.

"I..." He sighed, sounding frustrated. Who was he frustrated with? Me or himself? "I just need time. You should know that by now."

I didn't say anything; I didn't want to be rude and interrupt. So Axel continued, and I listened.

"This whole thing with Roxas is just messed up, and not because of you. Xemnas and the Organization are totally involved now, and DiZ, and Namine. People are just being stupid and only thinking of their own wants." Um, hypocrite much? Wasn't he trying to protect Roxas for his own wants, to be his best friend, his big brother?

"Anyway, it doesn't concern you," he declared, not looking at me. So I didn't look at him. But this DID concern me--a lot. His existance and well-being definitely were concerns of mine. But his mind was totally clouded with his goal of rescuing Roxas, the pathetic younger brother. "The only thing you need to worry about right now is protecting Sora. But hey, I'm worried about you doing that. After all, shouldn't that be where you are now?" He didn't give me a chance to reply. "I mean, I understand why you came, but I need you to stay with him. It's the only chance I've got at getting Roxas back to his old self. And I--"

I had managed to stay quiet for most of his speech, but at this point, I snapped.

"It's not all about you, y'know!" I screamed into the fading daylight. Even though I wasn't looking directly at him or anything, I must've really startled him, because he instantly went silent. I thought it might be a good idea to explain myself.

"I took a risk, coming here today," I said, my voice shaking with anger. "I took a risk for you. I came here to see you."

*~*~*

Nexus sighed, shaking her head.

"I didn't know when I'd ever get to see you again, you know?" she continued, refusing to make eye contact. "I knew that if I came with Demyx, that I'd be leaving Sora alone for however long this took, but I was willing to take the risk. I really wanted to see you, but not just because of me. I thought, you know, maybe you'd be as happy as me to get together again. I thought me coming here would make you happy, too. I was just trying to give you something to be happy about. But...I guess... I guess it doesn't matter, does it? Because...because--you can't FEEL!!"

At that last word, Nexus chucked her ice cream bar as far as it would go, and it landed somewhere beyond their sight, probably on someone's roof.

"It's not just you here!" she cried, burying her face in her hands. "I'm trying so hard--!" She said no more, but instead began to sob uncontrollably.

Axel, who was completely taken aback, didn't say anything. He had no clue WHAT to say. ...Or if he should say anything at all.

As Nexus bawled and curled up into a ball, hugging her knees to her chest, Axel watched her in silence.

I am a terrible friend, he realized. I can't do anything right for her.

Axel pushed himself to his feet, and as slowly and gently as possible, lifted Nexus to him. She nearly collapsed into him, but he was stronger and managed to hold her upright.

"I'm sorry, Nex," he whispered over and over. He really, genuinely was.

.........

I wish I could be stronger, Nexus thought as she stood there, drained of all energy. The only thing keeping her from falling was Axel. How long have we been here?

Hours...they had been sitting and standing on this clock tower for hours. Roxas had been listening to her sobs for hours. Even after reading part of her story, he hadn't realized just how painful this whole thing really was, and how...he was part of it.

But he didn't want Axel's help...he didn't need it.

"I'm sorry," Axel repeated one more time. Nexus finally (albeit cautiously) lifted her gaze to meet his. "I really am. I'm a terrible friend."

"No you're not," she insisted weakly. "A terrible friend wouldn't have held me up for this long."

She shot Axel a curled-at-the-ends smile, and he knew this all was water under the bridge now.

"I should probably be getting back. It's getting really late."

Sure enough, the orange sky had gotten pretty dark. Stars were easily visible through the clouds. It was a beautiful, almost magical night.

"Then I'll take you back to your ship," Axel said, opening a portal with one hand while still holding Nexus with the other. Together they walked through, and soon they had disappeared, leaving Roxas alone.

The blonde sighed heavily.

I'm lucky, and I shouldn't be, he thought, gazing up at the stars, because I've got somewhere to go.

Nexus' PoV

"Are you sure you'll be okay here by yourself?" Axel asked me as I collapsed onto the window seat. I nodded.

"Sora will probably be back soon," I replied, glancing out the window. It was a deserted port, and not a soul was going to make it out onto the ocean where we were bobbing without getting exhausted. "Besides, I'd love to see someone make it out here."

Axel smirked, but I didn't respond. I simply didn't have the energy.

"Nex...I'll see you later," he said. My head clunked against the window, but I made sure my eyes met his.

"Are you sure?" I asked him, not feeling too confident in his goodbye.

"I promise."

I paused for a long moment, then nodded, returning my gaze to the window.

"Okay, I'll hold you to that, then," I finally declared. "See you later."

"Bye, Nex."

As he disappeared through a portal, I managed to mouth "I love you" without being seen.

The next thing I knew, Sora was back with his band of clowns.

"How long have you been here?" he asked. I blinked. Goooood question.

"I dunno. I must've dozed off," I replied, stifling a yawn. "I feel sleepy."

"You don't look well."

He knelt down next to me, placing a hand on my forehead. ...I think he had grown again while I was gone.

"I'm not sick," I insisted, knocking his hand away.

"Yes, you are," he argued. "You have a fever."

"It's just from exhaustion."

"You need to rest."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

Sora stared me down, but I was way too tired to keep it up, so I finally sighed, giving in.

"Rest during Agrabah," he commanded me.

"Whatever." I closed my eyes and stretched out over the window seat. I wouldn't have any problem with that order.