Disclaimer: Still don't any of these characters.

AN: After this is the Epilogue...Well, its been a fun run with this fanfiction even though its precusor was something that was written out of angst and a form of therapy to kill that and depression over Anime Expo 2008 which I eventually went to for a Day last year. Hopefully you guys have enjoyed it. ^^

Chapter 16

"Zackary Matthias Fair. What. Did. You. Do?" Aerith glowered behind the man as she snatched the remote out of his hands and turned the television off, "I just got off the phone with my Nephew…our "adopted" son's boyfriend, or so he was until you did something to ruin it, didn't you?!"

Zack felt the bombardment of his wife's hands on him as she started pulling him out of his chair and nearly throwing him across the room, "It was for the best! I don't want my son marrying another man! I let the happen once! ONCE! AND I'M NOT GOING TO LET THAT MISTAKE HAPPEN AGAIN!"

"THIS IS ABOUT YOUR EX FROM THAT ONE TIME, ISN'T IT?! YOU'RE AFRAID THAT YOUR SON'S BOYFRIEND IS GOING TO TURN INTO SOME PSYCHOTIC MONSTER THAT IS GOING TO TRACK YOU DOWN TILL HE'S PLACED IN AN INSANE ASYLUM TO AVOID GETTING TO YOU! ISN'T IT?! HE'S NOT LIKE SEPHIROTH!"

A resounding smack came out amongst the fighting as Aerith reeled her hand back as she stared angrily at her husband, "That's it…isn't it? You just want to protect Axel forever…don't you?" her glare was anything but grateful or caring at this moment, "Well, congratulations Zack…you did it."

"…Aerith…please don't do this," Zack winced through the sting on his face as he watched her heading for the front door, "Where are you going?"

"To fix what you started to end the only thing that made our son happy…" the woman headed to the door as she stood in it, turning back to him, soft tears were starting to come to her face, "…Why can't you be happy for him? You seemed more then happy for Reno when he told you he was with Vincent and even happier when he said he was going to propose to Vincent…why is Axel any different?"

Her husband's face seemed to soften as he watched his wife's brunette hair bob out of the room to hide the tears coming to her face, "…Because I don't want him ending up the same way I did after the first person I came to think could love me left me for another…"

Cloud had not only be the only one who had been subjected to the relationship that Sephiroth had wanted out of him, Zack Fair, husband to Aerith Gainsborough and father to Axel Fair; he had himself had been a prisoner to the silver haired man's charms. At first he thought it was all too good to be true, but the man's charm was too overpowering to not resist, each touch, every word he spoke; it was almost as if the man was lulling a deadly viper into a deep comatose state. It was then, that the deadly viper that had charmed the naïve viper into a trap that he couldn't escape and the marks that were left after the deadly encounter always remained. It wasn't that he didn't want his son to be happy; he just didn't want his son to fall into the same pattern he had fallen into and from how he seen how he could charm the boy in his life, he saw Sephiroth there.

"I just don't want the mistakes I did to be repeated…"

A card was placed near Cloud's fingertips as Leon watched him trying to find it, decipher it, but his heart began to cry as he saw the man's lower lip quivering as he worked to whisper what it had been on the card. Leon knew what the man wanted to say as he softly captured the man's lips in his own, brushing his fingers through the man's soft blond lock's; unaware of the blonde's fingers shakily finding their way through the man's brunet lock's. It had been far too long since he had felt the man touch him, if only to know the feel of every part of his face and the soft touch of his soft hair under his fingertips; soft tears began to fall down Leon's face as he held Cloud close to him.

"And that…is what we call a breakthrough," the therapist softly applaud their efforts as she wrote on her notepad, 'Patient has increased tenfold since the start and has made a great leap today…Patient managed to know the feel of his lover's face again and for the first time, signs of tears were apparent in this session. Mr. Strife has made great strides."

Leon softly pulled away from Cloud's face as he held it in his hands as he wiped away the happy tears away from the man's face, "I never thought I hear you say that again…you don't know how happy you've just made me…"

His lips pressed in against Cloud's again as he thought he heard Cloud mumble through his lips, "What?"

"…If you would stop long enough," Cloud pulled away as he steadied himself to find his way onto the floor, getting on one knee as he fumbled through his pockets, "Leon...Squall Leonhart…"

"Oh my god…" He hadn't heard that name in the longest time and as he stared at Cloud; he couldn't feel but feel as if he knew what the man was doing.

Cloud's fingers fumbled across a box in his pocket as he worked his fingers around to find the way to open it, "You've made my life filled with so many life experiences that I have never experienced…and I hope…you will continue to do that for me…"

As much as Leon wanted to stay composed and not becoming a broken down crying female; it wasn't working, "Cloud…"

The box opened to reveal a simple and not too fancy for a man's engagement ring as Cloud worked his other hand out to take Leon's in his own as he worked it against Leon's hand, hoping it was the right finger, "…Would you marry me?"

"Y-Yes!" Leon took no time on deciding on his answer as he pulled the man up to him as he kissed him harder then he had in months as their tears came back, but this time, they were tears of joy.

Roxas had taken to burying himself in his studies; he wasn't under the threat of being punished by his Mom for less then grades she wanted for him, only the fear of failing a class which would look terrible on his College transcripts as well as any resume for working. Without Axel in his life, he knew he could only bury himself in school work and only school work; even if it was an attempt to get over Axel and the realization he was with Larxene now, and nothing was going to change that. Pages flipped through the quiet library, the occasional passing footsteps would pass behind him and every time he thought someone was behind him that he may have known; he would always look. Each and every time, it wasn't someone for him; it was merely another patron of the library walking pass him with books in their arms to cram for Finals, Finals was something that Roxas had all but forgotten about.

"History of Business and Its Workings, sounds like it would be tons of fun to read," a voice spoke up as the owner of it sat down beside him, a guitar case hiding his face as he buried his nose in a book entitled, "Sitar for Dummies", "Why don't you read this?"

The visitor slipped a book towards Roxas without looking up from his own book; Roxas' eyes crossed over it and scoffed at the cheesy title, "Making up with Boyfriends and Girlfriends for Dummies? Are you trying to say I've got problems with a girlfriend?" Roxas pushed the book back towards the figure, "Thanks…but that ship has sailed…actually, that one sailed years ago…and the other love ship in my life is off with another ship entirely…what good does this book hold for me?"

"Because Axel is miserable without you and if you don't get your ass over to the City Courthouse, you're going to lose him forever to that nymphomaniac," the guitar case moved aside as Demyx's mullet appeared over the top of the book while his newly freed lover sat across from him writing up his lesson plan, "Do you really plan to give up on him that easily?"

Zexion cleared his throat, "If he's made his choice, let him live with it; he already made it clear ages ago that he was done with Axel because I'm sure he prefers doing it with a girl…" he closed his book as he let the glasses on his face slip down slightly on his face, "There is always more things that can be done with a girl then you can do with a guy. More then one entrance to attack to make them squirm and scream through the night."

"Zexion…" Demyx growled out as he saw Roxas pale at that image, the image of finding Larxene half nude atop his boyfriend months prior had still been on his mind as he pushed his chair out, and headed for the front door of the library; his steps ever picking up.

"You were about to say something Demyx?" Zexion's face never broke character as he pushed his glass back up on his face, but they were found hanging down around his neck as Demyx's hands wrapped around the man's collar as he brought him in close.

Demyx let him go as a devilish smirk crossed his face, "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

Zexion lightly smiled as he twirled his fingers around the sky blue tie hanging off his boyfriend's neck as he pulled it upwards, nipping at the man's pulse point without regard for pain except for the soft moaning purr that left Demyx's lips, "…I'm sure you'll tell me about it later…this evening…in bed…under me…"

The two were lost in one another as they found themselves crawling under the table where they lost themselves in one another's fighting, smothering kisses and the soft mewling, moaning and gasping, especially the gasping of the patrons that were unfortunate enough to see the scene that was unveiling under the table. Roxas wasted no time in running for all he was worth as he raced through the streets looking for any sign to tell him the way to the Courthouse; he knew he had been selfish, he knew he had hurt Axel; he had pushed the man out of his life, but now, by doing that…

"God…please stop time for me…just this once…just…just…just let me get to him in time…please help me get to him before he makes a mistake that he'll regret forever…"

Axel was sitting, waiting for the ceremony, as much as he would have rather it had been Roxas and he standing at an altar with all their friends and family watching them, soft candles flickering around them while Axel stood in amazement at how beautiful Roxas looked dressed up in the dress. A dress he would have made sure to have some say staring in awe, but even as the Minister's words spoke to them and Demyx's voice would be clearing the dream out of his head; it would bring him back to reality where he stood staring at Roxas; they would take one another's hands, say their vows then share in…

"Axel, it's time," Reno poked his head in as he gave his brother a soft smile, "…Congratulations."

Axel softly scoffed as he stood up, walking to the door, "I should be saying that you to Reno, you got who you wanted to share your life with, I didn't get that option with Dad…I had my world until…" he just stopped speaking completely as he patted his brother's shoulder making his way to the room where the Wedding would be taking place.

"You aren't going to stop him, Reno?" Vincent stood behind Reno as he watched what could only be described as a dead man walking, "Are you really going to let him go through with all of this?"

"Axel was always one for keeping his pride intact and besides," he softly shrugged as he gave his boyfriend a soft peck on the cheek, "Things have been known to happen to change things for the better."

Vincent blinked as he saw his boyfriend's playful grin play across his face as he went off to be his brother's best man; it didn't don on him until it caught up to him as he followed after Reno, "I guess things could change for the better…or at least we can all hope for Axel's sake."

Roxas ran through the streets hoping against all hope that he could get to the Courthouse before it was too late to save Axel from swallowing his pride completely and marrying someone he knew he was not in love with. Everything seemed to look the same to him as he could hear his heart pounding in his ears, telling him that time was running out even as he looked up and saw the Town Clock Tower striking close to high noon. Traffic was heavy throughout the streets as he raced through cars and other forms of transportation, but what he didn't expect was for someone to clip him as he stumbled to the sidewalk.

"SON OF A! GAH! FU---" he held his side as he sat on the sidewalk in pain; was this to be the end of it all, would he lose Axel all together over his own stupid actions of trying to stop him from doing something so stupid?

The car that had hit Roxas stopped as the driver stepped out as the figure walked up to Roxas in a slight panic, "You okay?"

Roxas froze at the sound of the man's voice as he slowly looked up until he came upon the soft emerald green hued eyes of the only person he could think of that that had those eyes, Axel's dad. When Roxas made no attempts to speak the man knelt down as he saw who he had hit; he was hit with the same temporary lack of the ability to form words as he just stared at the boy. Everything he had worked for to stop his son and him from being together, and yet, he was still trying to ruin it all, but the silence was interrupted as wife came from the car.

"OH MY GOD! ROXAS! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?" Aerith screeched as she came upon the scene, lightly glaring at her husband.

Roxas started to stand up as he wobbly started down the sidewalk, "HE is what happened…HE is the reason why Axel and I are apart and the reason why I'm trying to stop Axel from making the biggest mistake of his life…"

"Roxas…"

Zack held up his hand as he grabbed at the boy's wrist pulling him back towards him, "Just you listen right now, I wanted to save him from the mistakes I made…this world is filled with people that will destroy you and destroy what you have…leaving scars on your heart and other places that people can not see…" his hand softly let go of the boy as he looked up at the Clock Tower, "…I know that anything I say isn't going to change the mistakes I've created for you two…but I don't want to make a mistake in my son's life by forcing him to go through with something that will make the rest of his life miserable."

Roxas didn't know whether or not to believe the man any further, but the sounds of the Clock Tower clicking away was making him realize his chance of happiness that he had had his grip on for so long was slipping away, "…Why don't you start on fixing those mistakes by giving me a ride to stop your son from making a fool of himself?"

"Zack," Aerith called out to the man as she started to worry about not making it in time, "We can dwell on the past later, but right now, your son's future is at stake…"

"Everyone, get in the car, we've got a wedding to stop," Zack climbed into the driver's seat as Roxas climbed in behind Aerith as they took off for the Courthouse.

Axel stood before the County Clerk as he waited for Larxene to make her entrance into the room; he wasn't ready for any of this and the feelings he had were starting to show on his face. Reno stood off to the side as he saw his brother was regretting all of this; he just wanted to walk up to him and tell him to just walk away now to go and find Roxas again, seeing him miserable was killing him inside. Walking out now was not an option as the Wedding March began as the sight of Larxene walking towards the County Clerk and Axel.

"…I guess…there is no turning back now…" Axel muttered under his breath as he saw Larxene's devious smile coming out through the veil around her face.

Reno just stared at his brother ready to kill him for not giving up his pride, "You had your chance, but…" he couldn't bring himself to say it as he brushed past Larxene harshly as he left from the room, "…I give up. Go ahead and ruin your life, Axel…I'm hope you're happy."

"Reno," Vincent took after Reno as the County Clerk began the typical speech of marrying off the couple standing ahead of him.

"Dearly beloved, we're gathered here today to join this man and this woman together in holy matrimony," the man began as Larxene worked her fingers through Axel's fingers, "Here in the sight of God, family and friends who shall be the witnesses to assure that this wedding is legally binding."

Vincent chased Reno down as he found the man running for the bus stop or something to escape from being anywhere near where his brother was making the biggest mistake of his life, "RENO!"

Reno stopped momentarily as he slowly turned around, "You've got some nerve just running out on him…you're suppose to be his brother and all you can do is just run and not do a damn thing about the mistake he is making."

"How do you know anything about what I am doing…I can't just stand there and watch him do this if he's not willing to admit that he his ruin his life…" Reno was trying to not break down in front of the man, "…It's all up to him now or some twist of fate to change all of this…"

"Reno…" Vincent reached out to bring the man close to him as his eyes looked up to see Reno's families car racing towards the Courthouse, "…I think someone heard your hopes…"

"What are you talking about?"

Reno looked up as he saw the sight of his dad and mom racing for the Courthouse with a traffic cop tailing them as well, "Come on, we've got to get back to the Courthouse, I am NOT missing this for the World. Come on!"

"Larxene, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, through sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?" the Clerk eyed Larxene as he waited for an answer.

Larxene made eyes at Axel as she made to say it, "I do…"

Axel's heart sunk into his stomach as he saw her face became a look of devious accomplishment, she had gotten her way, and as far as he knew; he was on a one way track to a life of a love that he didn't want.

"Now ask him," Larxene pointed at Axel as she stepped on Axel's foot to make him more alert.

He softly winced at her heel stepping into his foot as the Clerk took some sympathy on Axel as he tried to buy time, "Of course, um, Axel, do you…"

"Aerith, get him in there! I'll try and explain to the police why we were speeding! GO!" Zack unlocked the doors as Roxas and Aerith scrambled out of the car as the police officer started after them.

"HEY! STOP!" the officer shouted at them as Zack stepped out of the car as he stopped the Officer in his tracks.

Aerith dragged Roxas along towards the Courthouse, but the boy was slightly limping from getting struck as he tried to fight off the pain; he couldn't let it stop him as he fought through the pain to get into the Courthouse. He could hear the Clerk giving Axel the vows which was breaking his heart as he broke away from his Aunt as he ran through his pain as he broke the door.

"I OBJECT TO THIS!" Roxas screamed in the doorway as he saw Larxene and the Clerk stare at Roxas in disbelief, "HE CAN'T MARRY THIS WOMAN BECAUSE HE IS NOT IN LOVE WITH HER! HE NEVER WAS…He's not even straight…"

Larxene stared at Roxas with what could only be considered daggers, "Who said you any say in the matters of his life, he is madly in love with me and you're just jealous that I have him…and you don't."

Aerith feared the worst as she came up as she saw Roxas making the move to walk into the room as he limped up to her, pushing Larxene aside, "I may be jealous…but it's only because you entered his life and forced him into something he didn't want…I know everything about him that makes him who he is…I know how you worked with Demyx to trick him into finding out that Axel was gay…"

"What a bitch…" the Clerk remarked as he closed his book and started to put it away.

Aerith happily watched her nephew reclaiming the love he had nearly lost; it may seem odd that he would be in love with someone that could be considered a relative, but in a way, Axel wasn't related through blood. Aerith and Zack had found that after having Reno that Aerith was incapable of bearing children by a strange coincidence and when they wished to have another child, they had adopted.

"You…You…YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" Larxene began to lunge at Roxas, but Axel's hand came upon her as he stopped her from attacking the boy.

"You touch him, and I swear, I will lay you out dead in front of all of these people," Axel growled out as he wrenched her back, "You never changed…and this…all of this…is over."

Roxas had never seen Axel act like he had in this moment; he felt he could be happy to know that Axel would do anything for him if he could see him, but the feeling of dizziness overcoming him as well as the pain in his side taking the front seat to all of this. He felt that he was falling, but how could it be when he was standing on his two feet? The room was spinning as all the voices around him began to echo around him as he found himself falling against the floor, if anyone was touching him; he was unaware of the feeling of anyone near him.

"Roxas…Roxas…Roxas…" a voice seemed to be calling to him as his eyes hazily opened as the sound of a machine beeping near him beeped in his ears; his vision was starting to clear up as he started to make out a face.

Roxas groggily started to speak as he reached out a hand to the person speaking to him, "M-Mom…?"

A hand took Roxas' hand in his own as he heard a soft familiar chuckle fill his ears as the figure's lips brushed against his knuckles, "I think you hit more then your side against my Dad's car…"

"Axel…" Roxas softly groaned as he seemed to finally open his eyes as he saw that everyone he knew was standing in the room watching him, "…W-What happened?"

Zack moved forward as he stood at the foot of Roxas' bed, "Remember, you got hit by my car while running to stop my son from making a big mistake; it seems, that it did some internal damage and you had some slight internal bleeding which kind of caused you black out at the Courthouse."

"Bu now…" Axel softly kissed Roxas against the lips as he traced his face with his fingers, "…You're safe, and let's just say, Larxene won't be bothering us anymore."

"But…how?"
"She ended up marrying the County Clerk, it seems he likes women that are control freaks," Aerith lightly shrugged as the visitors seemed to laugh.