Chapter 13:

Roxas's POV

The Castle That Never Was-unknown time and date

I slept for the longest time after my fight. I would wake up every now and then, not knowing what was going on or anything. When I woke up the first time, I had no clue where I was. My whole body ached with pain and my head was fuzzy. I saw two figures talking above me, but I couldn't tell who they were. I could make out a little bit of they're conversation, but I couldn't understand it.

"The hollow took that much out of him?" One voice asked.

"Yes, but the hollow…so it's possible his condition might get even worse than it is already," The second voice explained, a girl I think.

"Is Roxas…gonna be okay?" I didn't hear the answer. I fell asleep again after that.

I had some pretty strange dreams after that. I dreamt of me, Axel, Ichigo and Rukia getting attacked by mutant bunnies. Some wanted to kill us, three wanted our swords, and the rest were begging to us to adopt them. I ignored most of them, until one jumped up on my shoulder and bit my ear.

I woke up again, who knows how much later, feeling worse than before. I felt something really cold on my buring forehead and I had an odd taste in my mouth. I saw another human shape with a blur of red on his head (hey that rhymes), Axel. He's shaking his head and muttering to himself, about me I guess. I start shivering as I begin to black out again. Axel puts a hand on my chest and warmth begins to spread through my body, ceaseing my shivers. I fall back asleep, literally, warmed by Axel's presence.

The third time I woke up for good. I was alone in a white-grey room, still feeling like a piece of cold chicken that's been rotting in the freezer for weeks on end. Everything was still blurry and my head hurts. I didn't know how long I was asleep; could've been a few days or a few weeks. Time flies when you're unconscious. I groan as I hear the door creak open. A wave a pain rushes through my head as the annoying noise fills the air. Everything seems to clear when I see Axel walk into the room.

He's dressed in an over-sized red t-shirt and baggy black pants. His hair isn't spiked up like it normally is and it's tangled, making him look like Jareth, as Demyx would say.

"Rise and shine sleepyhead," He jokes as he takes and seat next to me.

"What happened?" I croaked, my throat begging for water.

"You passed out after you kicked that hollow's butt. We took you back here and patched you up. After being in that place for so long, the spiritual pressure mixed in with your magic and you developed a fever," Axel explained putting his hand on my forehead. "You should've seen yourself, you had a one hundred and two fever yesterday. But you feel pretty cool now,"

"Where are…Ichigo and everyone? How long have I been out?" I wondered.

"Whoa! Stop throwing questions at me like that!" Axel held his hands up. "Ichigo and his gang are still here, they wanted to make sure you were alright before they left. You've also been out for…nearly a week," He finished explaining. "And dang, you broke my sleeping record," He added with a mumble.

I slowly sat up, my body aching. I was no longer dressed in my Arrancar clothes; I was dressed in my baggy black pants and black sleeveless shirt. My shoulder was tightly wrapped up in bandages and I was shivering. Axel tossed me an over-sized sweatshirt and I threw over my clothes. Oh and just to tell you, the longest time Axel slept was from 11:00 pm to 4:00 pm the next day. Oh yeah, I just SHREDDED his record effortlessly.

"You think you can walk?" Axel wondered as he stood up.

I slowly climbed out of bed and let my feet touch the floor. I stood up and my head immediately began to spin. I almost fell over, but Axel caught me and I regained my balance. I tried to walk a few more steps, but my head spun once more. I leaned against the door frame to keep myself from falling.

"Don't push yourself," Axel urged. "If you don't feel like walking, you can just stay in bed all day,"

"No, I'm fine," I insisted.

Axel shook his head and I dragged myself a couple more steps. Axel let me lean against him for support as we walked towards the grey room, where Ichigo and his friends were asleep on the couches and chairs, and Renji was snoring loudly. Well, except for Rukia, she was in a deep conversation with Zexion. Zexion looked almost like a trouble teen with his unnaturally messy hair and baggy sleepwear on.

"Hey Roxas, sleep well?" Rukia joked.

"My head feels like it was taken off my shoulders, filled with pudding, thrown in the dryer, and rolled down a hill," I replied getting a headache just from saying it.

Zexion gave me a strange look. "Not the response I was excepting…but okay," He muttered.

The room spun again and I held onto Axel for support. Ichigo began to stir and growled in annoyance at Renji's snoring.

"Shut up!" He yelled, throwing his pillow at him. "Ever heard of anti-snoring pills?"

Renji chucked Ichigo's pillow back. Renji sat up and ran his fingers through his long unbrushed red hair and there was drool on the corner of his mouth.

"If you want me to stop snoring than you stop yelling at me every d*mn morning!" Renji screamed back.

Axel walks away from the commotion, much to my relief. As we walk away from the Grey Area, I realize that Ichigo'sgoal is complete. I look at the ground sadly, I knew he has to leave sooner of later. I didn't really know him but he saved me from what's-his-face, being unconscious is also being on amnesia: you can't remember a thing. He went through all of that trouble to save me, and he barely knew me. I sign and look at the ground, my non-existent heart filling with sadness.

"You alright, Rox?" Axel wondered.

"When does Ichigo have to leave? I need to do something for him," I replied.

"Kisuke wants him back later today at the latest. Sorry bud," Axel shared our 'sadness'

I heard footsteps scurrying after us. I turned and saw Rukia, already fully dressed in her black kimono, hurrying towards us. She stopped, took a couple seconds to catch her breath, and looked up to meet Axel's eyes. Dang, she was shirt. Well, pretty much everyone is short compared to Axel, aside from the taller members.

"I'm sorry, but we have to leave immediantly. We've already closed the portal and we have to get back to Karakura town," Rukia explained, her violent eyes filled with sadness. Much to my surprise, Axel smirked.

"Did you re-open to portal to your world yet?" He asked.

"No, why?" Rukia gave Axel a puzzled look.

"I want to have a match-you and Ichigo vs Roxas and I," Axel smirked. "I want to have some fun before you leave,"

Author: Almost a month, huh? Well, I would've gotten this up sooner but #1, my motivation ditched me and went to Bermuda. #2, I had a couple parties to go to, I went away for four days...and a bunch of other stuff came up.

I'm REALLY sorry for the short chapter, I've been trying to think of how this should end for WEEKS. I'm terrible at endings, plus I need to type the last chapter to Ansem's Revenge and Guardian Angel. But, I promise the next chapter will be longer and more exciting...and maybe sooner ^_^' Thanks for all your reviews and favs...yadda, yadda, yadda, make sure Gin doesn't get you on the way out...annnnd check out some of my other stories, and if you haven't seen 'How to Train Your Dragon' GO. SEE. IT. NOW. Hope you enjoyed :D

~yukihikari99