"I'll watch you tonight," he persuaded quietly.

"You don't need to do that, Axel."

"No, really," Axel pleaded. "You can go to sleep. You need it." He watched as she made her way under her bedsheets, curling into a tight ball; Axel wondered if she had any thicker covers, but resisted in asking.

Her eyes flashed as she looked at him. What did he see? Fear? Distrust? Alertness? Whatever it was, it disappeared instantly, to be replaced with something else. "Please, Axel," she murmured. "I need to be able to...to...," she trailed off wispily, unable to finish. I need to be able to trust you again. But she did not know the reason for this need, and that puzzled her.

It was as if the pyro had picked up on her thoughts. Nodding solemnly, he soothed, "I'll show you."


Axel leaned against the wall and next to her bedside dresser, his hip pressing into the sharp corner. He wanted to be as close to her as possible, but didn't want her to think he was trying to get too close. He watched her steadily sleeping form, an air of uneasiness about the woman. He noticed a sudden twitch now and then from her, and now a strangled whimper that sent chills of worry down Axel's spine.

Leaning over to her, he noticed that she began shivering faintly; he bit his bottom lip, wondering what to do. Axel yearned to crawl into bed with her and keep her warm, but he knew Larxene would not take kindly to the innocuous act. Not one bit. An idea came, in which he settled to heating his hand with warmth. He gently ran his hand along her slim body, noticing that this action was a stimulant, for Larxene exhaled, soft and audible, in her sleep while her shivering ceased. The Flurry Of Dancing Flames smiled to himself as he traced the length of her body up and down, heating her body.

What he failed to realize was that one with insecurity issues as big as Larxene's usually turned out to be a light sleeper...

A clawed hand whipped out in a flash like lightning and sent Axel reeling backwards, the pyro crying out in pain. He stared through one eye at the paranoid Nymph, whose eyes were wide and alight with a sort of distress. "Axel?!" she yelped. "What were you doing to me?!"

"When you say it like that," Axel muttered, "it sounds like I tried to rape you or something." When her eyes glittered, he explained, "I wasn't trying to do anything to harm you! You were cold! So I...wanted to... keep you...warm..."

Larxene's anger was still bubbling, but Axel's defense seemed credible to her for some reason; she was feeling strange at the fact that she actually believed him. "Right," she breathed, her shoulders descending from their hostile height. Somehow she could not bring herself to apologize, though.

"Don't apologize," Axel cut in, startling Larxene in more ways than one. "I don't deserve those yet," he said, looking away from her.

"Axel," Larxene began, "even you deserve to be apologized to if you need to be. It's what's right." She looked at his face, knowing her eyes were piercing him enough to eventually make him look at her again. When he did, she was amazed at the amount of bitter self-loathing in them. "Tell me," Larxene's voice was uncharacteristically soft, "why are you so angry with yourself?"

Axel's eyes still swam as his lips parted to give her, "It's not just this. It's all I've done. I've never truly established my loyalties and trust. And when you put your trust in me, I destroy it, probably because I didn't do the same to you or anyone else. And then there's Roxas..." He trailed off, images of the young boy flashing through his mind. "I felt this strong need to protect him, to shield him from harm's way."

Larxene could barely grasp where he was headed with this, but nonetheless her ears strained to catch his voice and possibly his meaning.

"I could never figure out why, though," Axel breathed, looking at Larxene's slender hands and her delicate fingers. "But maybe, in a sick way, it was secretly because I wanted to make up for what I did to you in Castle Oblivion. To protect the one who also placed his trust in me as well. I don't know..." Axel craned his head back now, exposing his neck to the Savage Nymph. "But I do know this: that by befriending Roxas the way I did, I learned the true meaning of loyalty and friendship." Axel grew bold at that moment, for he sat down across from her, and gingerly lifted Larxene's hand and made it cup his cheek. Raising his star-bright emerald eyes to Larxene's ocean-deep blue orbs, he murmured, "I want to show you what I've learned. I want to be your friend again." He slid his hand down, and to his amazement and secret jubilations, Larxene did not pull her hand away; her warm, gloveless hand rested on Axel's cheek, her thumb tracing the black, diamond-like marking below his eye.

"You really miss him, don't you?" Larxene questioned.

Axel nodded without much hesitation.

Retreating from its comfortable spot, Larxene's hand came to her thigh. She rose silently, striding forward a few steps before murmuring quietly to Axel, "Meet me by the meeting chamber in one hour." With that parting instruction, Larxene dismissed Axel with a commanding look the Flurry Of Dancing Flames instantly understood.


"Are you ready?" she prompted as Axel came up to her, perplexed at what Larxene was planning to do. He decided that now was a good time for deductive reasoning; well, Larxene had asked if he missed Roxas, and when he confirmed that he did, she told him suddenly to meet her here. His heart leaped: was Roxas here somehow? Did Larxene plan on taking Axel to the boy?

"I'm ready," he concurred humbly, though inside he was quivering with anticipation at the though of seeing his best friend again.

A swirling vortex tore open in front of Larxene with such unexpectedness that it almost startled Axel. She motioned for him to follow; when he nodded, she walked through, knowing he was close behind.

Axel came through the other side, emerging into a glowing yet pitch-black zone that resembled Betwixt and Between, but far more shadier and with one other major difference: in what would be the center, there lay a sandy oasis with a sort of silvery pool in the middle of the dark sand. Larxene beckoned for him to follow her as she made her way toward the place. Kneeling beside the edge now, Axel beside her, she explained, "This is the Pool Of Sight. It allows us to look in on the realm of the living. But that is all we can do: watch. All you have to do is specify the one you wish to see, and the Pool will show you the person. Simply place your finger into the pool, and say the name, and the Pool will pick up on your being and automatically know who you're talking about."

Axel absorbed the knowledge hungrily; he was grateful at a chance of at least seeing Roxas, even if there was no way for him to communicate to him. Gently sliding his finger into the icy water, ripples rolling into all directions, he closed his eyes and uttered: "Roxas."

He opened his eyes and retracted his wet finger, and Axel saw the pool shudder and shimmer before he noticed an image forming. The milky image cleared to reveal a scene, clear as crystal, of glittering sands and a sparkling ocean, skies as blue as a Paradise. His eyes ravenously roved over the display of Destiny Islands, stopping dead when Axel caught a group of five all sprawled out on the sand. His heart leaped with joy when he easily spotted Roxas, lying between Sora and Namine, hands clasped in both friends. Even though a Nobody can become one with its Somebody, it can still roam about freely without its other, the only difference being that it can now feel.

"Roxas," Axel murmured, instinctively reaching out into the Pool.

"No, don't!"

Larxene's warning came a millisecond too late as Axel's hand came in contact with the image-displaying anomaly. Instantly the Pool shimmered once more, this time reverting back to a silver puddle. Axel cocked his head to the side in confusion, anxiety clawing at his heart. He tried to summon the image again, but the Pool refused to conjure.

"If you touch the Pool again while it's conjuring," Larxene explained patiently, "it'll disrupt the image, and the Pool will be out of commission for a little bit. For how long depends on how it was touched. Since your touch wasn't with violent intention, it should be able to conjure an image soon. Give it a day or two. But from now on, simply dab it with your finger, and it'll take more kindly to that, so to speak."

Axel sighed. "At least I know he's happy. And now he's whole."

"No, he isn't."

Axel's head snapped to the direction of the Savage Nymph. "What do you mean...?"

"Almost everyone is born incomplete," Larxene explained. "Even though they have a mind, soul, and heart, they are still incomplete. But, over time, they usually find a phenomenon that will make them complete, make them whole."

"What's that?" Axel inquired, mesmerized.

"It's a thing called true love." Larxene's eyes drooped closed for a second before reopening them again to continue. "Haven't you seen how Sora strived so hard to regain his friend Kairi? That girl was destined to be his true love; they made each other feel complete. Their hearts knew they would not feel right until they were reunited. But I guess Roxas is whole: he has Namine.

True love is when two incomplete beings become one," Larxene finished.

Something inside Axel fluttered open and took flight at that moment. "Larxene...," he began uncertainly. When her eyes flicked to meet his, he found himself unable to speak. "...Nothing..."

Larxene rose then, motioning with her fingers for Axel to stand up as well. "We should be getting back now," she suggested quietly, feeling somewhat uncomfortable at her explanation on true love. Really, she did not know where this had come from, all she knew was that what she said was true...


A/N: In a realm like there's, it is possible to be able to look in on the living the way Axel and Larxene did. It has to do with the laws of physics in a realm, though.