AN: Okay here's the third chapter. I was going to post this when I was at school but the stupid fliter system there doesn't let me access this site.
Anyways here it is hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any its characters used in this story.

SOMETHING LIKE REAL LOVE

Chapter III
Love?

The next morning Axel woke up early to get some fresh air, being as quiet as he could so as not to wake the young boy sleeping on his couch. After getting dressed he walked into his bathroom and began doing his hair when he heard the sound of Roxas stirring outside and then the soft sound of bear feet slapping against the stone floor.
Axel turned to the doorway of the restroom and saw the young blonde standing there rubbing the sleep form his eyes and yawning. Axel just smiled and turned back to the mirror.

"Good morning" the redhead muttered.

"Hmm" The blonde grunted and yawned again. "What time is it?"

The redhead shrugged.
"Hey I'm going for a walk you wanna come?"
Roxas cocked his head to one side and then shrugged

"Sure I guess."

"Alright, get dressed then. Oh yeah" the redhead said putting down his hair brush and taking off back into his room walking over to his dresser he grabbed up a bundle of black clothing and a pair of black boots. Turning back to the blonde he handed them over to him. "Xigbar came by earlier and dropped these off for you."
The blonde looked down at the bundle.

"You get dressed I'll be waiting out here." Axel said gently nudging Roxas toward the restroom and closing the door behind him. The redhead sighed and grabbed his black coat off its hook by the dresser and shrugged it on. A few minutes later the blonde emerged from the bathroom clad in the uniform attire of the Organization. Axel looked up when he saw Roxas at his side,

"Lookin' sharp kid. Now come on let's get going" he said picking himself up from his bed.
Once out in the hall the two walked side by side in a somewhat uncomfortable silence until Roxas piped up,

"So who are the other people in the Organization?"

"Hmm. Oh, well let's see, there's Number I; Xemnas the Superior, you met him, oh and don't buy into the things he tells you the guy's full of nothing buy hot air.
Then there's Number II; Xigbar: The Free Shooter. You met him as well; don't let him scare you he's a pretty good guy. Number III; is Xaldin: the Whirlwind Lancer; I don't really know much about the guy other than he prefers to be left alone and that he's friends with Xigbar.
Number IV; Vexen: the Chilly Academic; he's our little mad scientist of the group, and believe you me he's not one to be trusted. Number V; is Lexaeus: the Silent Hero; I don't know much about him other than he's big and quiet…and big. There's Number VI; Zexion: the Cloaked Schemer; another quiet one that I don't know much about, but he can be trusted, or at least I trust him anyway.
Number VII; is Saïx: the Luna Diviner; he's as crazy as Xemnas and personally I don't like the guy. He's too close with Xem and the asshole always brags about how he remembers how it felt like to have a heart. Number VIII is me, they call me the Flurry of Dancing Flames and like I've told you I'm a good guy…well when I wanna be.
Number IX; is Demyx: the Melodious Nocturne, he's a good friend of mine and is actually one of the friendlier and laid back people here.
Number X; Luxord: the Gambler of Fate; he's a master at card games and will do anything for your munny or sometimes your life. Next is Number XI; Marluxia: the Graceful Assassin; he's a piece of work that one, I don't trust him even though he trusts me. Number XII; is Larxene: the Savage Nymph; I told you about her already, I don't like her."

"And then there's me." Roxas cut it.

"Yeah, and then there's you, Number XIII. The only member I know absolutely nothing about. Do you know anything about you?" Axel asked looking down at the blonde.
He shrugged,

"Other than my name not much, just that when you brought me to Xemnas he looked at me like…like something valuable." Roxas said choosing his words carefully as he spoke.

"Hmm, I wonder." The redhead said more to himself than to the teen.


As the two made their way down the hall Axel heard someone call out his name from behind them. Turning around the redhead spotted Demyx at the other end of the hall and waved. The older blonde ran over and threw an arm around the redhead's shoulders.

"Hey, hey guess what" Demyx said happily.

"What?"

"I have a free day today, no work for me and Mr. Xem hasn't announced any meetings today so I'm going to go somewhere. Hey you wanna come with…hey who's he?" the nocturne blurted out pointing at Roxas.

"Oh" Axel smiled and pushed Roxas in front of him. "Dem, meet Roxas our newest member, Roxas meet Demyx."
Demyx extended a hand to Roxas,

"Hey there Roxas nice to meet ya" The younger blonde took his hand and gave it a shake.

"Nice to meet you too" Roxas said.

"So are you watching him?" Demyx asked looking up at Axel. The redhead nodded.

"Yeah, Xem said it was part of my punishment can you believe that?"

"Aw, what the hell Axel, no fair, I'm really starting to think that you're turning into Mr. Xem's favorite or something man."
Axel gave a little laugh at the expression on Demyx's face.

"Hardly Dem, to tell you the truth I can't tell you why he's being so nice." Axel shrugged, "I guess I should be a little more grateful though."

The older blonde waved a hand dismissively in the air,
"Yeah whatever. So where were you guys headed?"

"Oh I was going to Memory's Skyscraper, you wanna come?" the redhead offered.
Demyx shook his head,

"Nah, I'm going somewhere, but I'll catch ya later."

Axel lifted an eyebrow.
"Where are you going?"

"Oh I don't know somewhere that's not here that's for sure."

"Alright, just watch yourself."

The older blonde scowled at the redhead.
"Yeah, yeah I will. You people expect so little out of me I swear." He said making vague circles with his hand as he walked away from the two.

Axel and Roxas headed out of the headquarters building and out into the surrounding empty city streets. Axel would often come to the skyscraper to clear his mind and to just get away from the others if they were causing him any trouble. He had never taken anyone else with him before.
Axel climbed the few steps to the top landing and took a seat, Roxas following suite and sitting beside the redhead.
Axel watched the teen out of the corner of his eye as he ran his hand through his mess of blonde hair and turned toward Axel. He quickly averted his gaze.

"Axel"

"Yeah"

"How did you find out who you really were? I mean like did you get your name from Xemnas too?"
The redhead cocked his head to one side in thought.

"You know I don't really remember how I got my name."
Roxas nodded.
The two just sat on the cold steps in silence, neither one knowing what to say to the other.
The entire while Axel couldn't help notice the odd yet somehow familiar aching in his chest had returned. Placing a hand over the site of the pain he groaned softly as he leaned forward.
Roxas raised an eyebrow at the older man and leaned in towards him.

"Axel what's wrong?" the blonde said.
Axel looked at the teen and smiled, sitting back up he exhaled a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He nodded.

"Yeah I'm fine" the redhead said as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Are you sure?" the blond inquired.
The redhead looked at Roxas with a convincing smile, noting the worried gaze the teen held upon him. Axel was about to say something when the pair noticed a portal of darkness open before them. A somewhat large tall man stepped out lowering his hood revealing long thick braids of black hair. Axel's eyes narrowed at the sight of the man.

"What do you want Xaldin?" the redhead demanded.
Walking over to the pair he just smiled.

"Calm down, I'm just here for Roxas." He explained, reaching into his pocket he pulled put a slip of paper and held it out to the teen, "your first assignment from Xemnas."
Roxas hesitated at first but then reached out taking the slip and unfolded it. As the blonde scanned over its contents Xaldin pointed at Axel who was staring at his superior coldly.

"And you have to go with him."

"Why?"

"Xemnas did make you his guardian didn't he?"

"Guardian huh" Axel said turning his gaze away from the lancer looking over at the teen who looked like he was thinking over what he just read.

"You best keep your eye on him Axel unless you want Xemnas on your ass again." Xaldin said before giving the redhead a half hearted laugh as he turned on his heel and disappeared into darkness, leaving the two yet again in dark cold silence.
Axel just heaved a sigh and racked his hand through his hair.

"Axel I can go by myself you know" the teen offered.
Axel shook his head,

"Nah, I have to go whether or not you or I want me to, it's part of my punishment."

"Punishment?"

"Yep, watching you is what I get for not feeling well." The redhead said as he stood up from the steps.

"So, what does the paper say?" Axel asked turning his gaze back to Roxas.
The blonde stared back down at the slip before him and read;

"To Number XIII; Roxas: the Key of Destiny,
you are to go to the ruins of Hollow Bastion and eliminate the hoards of Heartless that are gathered there." The teen paused, "What are Heartless?"

"You'll find out soon enough, just keep reading" Axel said.
Roxas went back to reading;

"you will be accompanied by Number VIII on this mission for your safety. Please note that if the Heartless become too much for you to handle withdraw at anytime." Roxas paused and looked up at Axel, "that's all it says."

"Huh, he gave you a title." The redhead whispered to himself.

"What?" Roxas asked.

"Nothing" Axel smiled down at the teen and held out a hand to him, "come on let's get going."
Roxas nodded and took the redhead's hand and allowed Axel to help him up. Opening up a portal of darkness the two walked through and within moments appeared in The Dark Depths in front of the castle of Hollow Bastion.

"Welcome to Hollow Bastion my friend, the most beautiful piece of nothing if I ever did see one." Axel said as he walked over to the edge of the cliff that over looked the ruins of the once mighty castle.
Roxas who was still behind Axel, looked around with a look of pure awe on his face.

"H-how'd you do that?" the blonde asked the redhead as he met up with him at the edge of the cliff.

"You'll learn. Look there." Axel said pointing down to the ground that surrounded the ruins. The blonde followed the path of Axel's finger. There he saw what looked to be just an endless pit of darkness but once looking closer the teen realized that the ground itself was moving.

"What the"

"Those are Heartless; begins without hearts." Axel explained
Roxas looked back up at the redhead, horror etched into his features.

"Xemnas wants me to takeout all those things by myself?"
Axel shook his head.

"I'm here to help."

"But there's just so many"

"True, but they're nothing but weak little Shadows, nothing to worry about. Now come on, I'd like to get his done with before nightfall." Axel said as he jumped down from the cliff and into the mass of blackness below.

"Hey wait!" Roxas called after Axel. He backed away from the edge of the cliff for a brief second and decided that there was probably no harm in jumping seeing as the redhead had done it without the slightest trace of fear or anything in his features.


The blonde swallowed thickly as he neared the edge of the cliff without looking down he stepped off and let himself fall, the bitter air rushing past him roaring in his ears. Before he could register anything else happing around him he realized that his feet were planted firmly on the ground. Opening his eyes he saw Axel before with a smile on his face.

"It took you long enough." He said in between attacks on the small bug like Heartless that surrounded them. "I could use a little hand here" the redhead called doing his best at this point to keep the Heartless back.

"Right" Axel heard Roxas say from himself and saw a brief flash of light and the sound of metal on metal like that of swords clashing. Throwing back some Heartless Axel turned to look at the blonde, his emerald eyes growing wide at the sight that befell them. Held in both of the teen's hands were Keyblades. The one in his right hand was dark, rough, and almost demonic in appearance were as the one in his left seemed to be crafted of the finest of silver and held a more elegant and delicate form.
Axel pushed some Heartless away and jumped back towards Roxas the two back to back staring around at the mass of black before them.

"We're supposed to get rid of all of them?" called the blonde over his shoulder.

"Nah, but it sure would be fun to try." Axel said as he lunged forward cutting down a few Shadows in his path. Roxas followed suite and jumped into the fray, cutting a path through the Heartless with little effort. Axel observed this feat from just a few meters away taking in the moves of the young boy, he fought like a pro. Turning back into battle the two eventually met up again an hour later, both equally worn.

"Call it day?" the redhead called.

Roxas shook his head and smiled,
"Nope, I'm just getting started!" The teen cried as he hurled his black Keyblade into the air at a larger Shadow that had leaped into the air. Jumping up Roxas retrieved his blade from the air with ease and upon coming back down slashed outward with both blades cutting down several in one sweep before standing back up fully and throwing Axel an arrogant smile.
Seeing this as a challenge the redhead smiled back.

"Oh yeah, well check this out!" he called jumping back both chakrams held at his sides burst into flame before he hurled the two blazing weapons into a wall of Heartless. Roxas watched and saw that the redhead was controlling the wheels of fire through some unseen force causing them rip and tear their ways through the throng of blackness in front of them before returning to Axel's hands.

"So what do ya think about that?" the redhead said heaving one of the large wheels over his shoulder and returning Roxas' smile.
Having had taken out quite a few with just a single attack Roxas looked beat but the younger Nobody wasn't about to let that that be the case.

"That was cool but I think I have something better." The blonde said before Axel watches him rush forward, dragging both Keyblades just behind him before he lifts them begins to twirl them in his hands, cutting down a considerable amount of Heartless. Axel notices that Roxas eventually loosens his grip almost letting go of the blades and watches as they begin to float alongside the teen.

Roxas turns back around to face Axel and gives him a cocky smile, before jumping into the air almost appearing to float, the Keyblades at his sides. He holds out his arms and the blades rise above him and begin to circle around him as he slowly descends from the air. Reaching a certain point in the air the blonde flips and dives head first into the mass of Heartless below, plowing through them with ease. Zipping along the ground, his Keyblades hacking and slashing this way and that, he soon regains his ground after he cannot see any more Heartless within his path.
Righting himself and dusting off his coat, he grabs his Keyblades from above him before turning around and looking back at Axel, who to his surprise has a blank expression on his face.

Axel just stood watching the fair-haired boy from afar who was giving him that stupid grin. He couldn't make any sense of what he had just witnessed. This kid that he found in some little town was a Keyblade wielder, and not only that, oh no. It was the fact that the kid had such control and skill over such a weapon that bewildered the redhead the most.
Pulling himself from his thoughts he looked back up at Roxas. He suddenly looked very tired and dazed.

"Roxas?" Axel asked looking worryingly at the blonde. Roxas gave a nervous laugh before the Keyblades abruptly disappeared and he fell to his knees. Axel rushed forward to the blonde's side just before the rest of the boy's body hit the ground and caught him in his arms. At this moment that strange yet familiar pain sprung up in his chest again.

"Roxas" the redhead said his voice trenched in worry. The teen stirred slightly and tried to open his eyes but failed. The redhead looked around him and notices that Heartless were closing in around them. Lifting the boy he tears open a doorway of darkness and steps through quickly.
Within moments he appears in his bedroom and placed the blonde on his bed. He was in deep shit if anyone knew he let the kid do this to himself. Racking his hand through his hair and pacing back and forth the length of his bed thinking over things in his head when suddenly he heard the teen cough softly, looking over at Roxas who drew his eyes tightly together.

"Roxas?" Axel breathed as he watched the blonde slowly wake. Roxas finally opened his eyes staring up at the ceiling.
Axel sat down on the edge of the bed and stared down at the teen with a relieved expression.
"You had me worried kid" the redhead said reaching out and ruffling the blonde's hair. Roxas sat up, rubbing at the back of his head.

"What happened?" Roxas asked.

"You passed out"

"Oh yeah" Roxas let out a soft laugh and looked up at Axel with the slightest trace of a smirk on his lips. "I guess I did it huh?"
The redhead just smiled back.

"You feeling okay now?"

"Yeah I guess"

"Well then you lie down and get some rest alright. I'm going to go up to Xemnas and tell him how the mission went."

Axel said. As he turned to leave he heard the blonde whisper,
"Axel"

The redhead turned and faced the youth.
"Yeah?"

"Don't you think I should do that? I mean it was my assignment." Roxas explained. Axel just stared at the boy.

"Yeah I guess, I mean if you really want to that is."

Roxas just shrugged,
"I'll do it later" he said and let himself fall back into Axel's bed. Axel just smiled and walked over to the bed and lied down next to the blonde.

"I can do it for you it's no big deal." Axel offered.
Roxas turned his head to look at the redhead who was smiling at him.

"You're lying"

Axel raised an eyebrow,
"How can you tell?"
Roxas was still staring at Axel, his brilliant blue eyes burning holes into him.

"'Cause you always smile when you lie" the teen said.
The kid was right he did. Roxas had noticed something about him that only he himself knew.
"Am I right?"

"No" but despite himself a smile tugged at his lips.

"Yeah I am" Roxas said and gave a little laugh at the look on the redhead's face.
Axel laughed with him, but then he noticed just how close the two of them were. Their faces were only inches apart. Axel suddenly stopped laughing when a twinge of pain shot through his body. He didn't bring any attention to it because he didn't want to worry the boy.
"You figured that out from only being with me for two days?"
Blonde nodded.

"It's this weird habit I have. I watch people."

"I can tell"
Roxas just smiled. The two lied there in silence for a moment, staring into each other's eyes. Emerald seas reflecting sky blue orbs.
That when the strangest thought ran through Axel's mind. What would happen if he tried to kiss the blonde? He didn't know why this thought had occurred to him so suddenly but it had and he didn't know how exactly to respond to it.
Suddenly the redhead was shaken from his thought when he felt something pressing up against his chest. Looking down he saw Roxas' hand and then looked back up at Roxas.

"Can I help you?" Axel said with a small laugh. Roxas shook his head.
After a moment the teen pulled his hand away and looked into the redhead's eyes.

"There's nothing there is there."

Axel shook his head,
"Nope, nothing at all."
Upon hearing this Roxas grabbed hold of redhead's hand and placed it over his own chest. At first Axel felt nothing just like his should but then strange warmth worked its way through his gloved hand.
Axel said nothing.

"Can you feel it?"

"The warmth?"

"It only happens when I'm around you. Other than that it's never happened ever before."
Axel didn't know to say, but them he figured that it couldn't hurt to tell Roxas what had been going on with him since he showed up.

"Actually it's not that weird."

"Why?"

"'Cause the same thing has been going on with me, it only happens when I see you though, or when you say or do certain things."

"Like what?"

"Like when you say my name…and whenever you smile."

"What happens?"

"I get this really bad aching pain in my chest" he placed a hand on his chest, "right here, where my heart should be."
Roxas just looked at the older man with sad eyes.

"Roxas…don't worry about it's no big deal" the redhead said. Roxas just lowered his gaze and rested his head into the crook of Axel's neck. At first Axel didn't know what to make of the closeness but then just wrapped his arms around the teen.

"Look at me Roxas" he ordered. The blonde looked up, his blue eyes filled with tears. He wasn't expecting that, in fact he didn't even know that Nobodies could cry.

"Roxas…do-don't cry. I told you it's not that big a deal, don't worry 'bout it."
Roxas nodded. Axel brought a hand to the teen's face and wiped a few stray tears away with his thumb and without really thinking in the slightest placed a soft kiss on the blonde's lips. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
Roxas opened his eyes and looked at his friend.
Axel just smiled back, he was still unsure as to what he had just done.
Roxas smiled back and returned the kiss. The redhead tensed up at the touch but soon relaxed into it and kissed back, causing the kiss to become slightly more intimate.

Closed lipped but soon open mouthed, tongues fighting a war of dominance, either giving into the other. A hand tugging at strands of fire while another searches its way through tresses of gold.
The two parted for a moment only because they realized that they needed to take a breath.
Looks were exchanged for the briefest of moments before small smiles were shared. Roxas lowered his head to rest into the crook of the redhead's neck. Axel just rested his chin atop the teen's head taking in the scent of his hair.

"I don't know…what just happened." Axel whispered.
Roxas didn't say anything he just smiled. Looking back up into Axel's eyes he said,

"Either do I."

AN: Reviews as always, and I hoped you enjoyed this.