Disclaimer- I doth not owneth kingdom Hearts :)
Warnings- Attempted violence, language and the much loved Akuroku!
A/N- So my new years resolution is to write for at least an hour a day. Whether that be in school while I'm not paying an ounce of attention or at home. It has to add up to an hour. Of course I had to start this resolution AFTER midterms or else I would fail... So here goes. I wrote it pretty quickly actually.
Protecting Me
Chapter 14 : WHAT!
Whenever, where ever baby
I'll protect you
No matter what
The next morning proved to be exceedingly difficult for both Axel and Roxas. The fire wielder woke up to bloodshot heavy eyes and a horrible sensation of vertigo every time he attempted to stand up. On the other hand, his blond partner in crime didn't even bother with such a needless task. Not like Axel blamed him at all. In fact, he pretty much wished he could crawl right back under the covers and pretend it was his day off. Yesterday was a brutal physical strain on both of their bodies.
He sighed over at Roxas, dead asleep somewhere in dreamland. His blond locks covered one half of his face. His thumb of course clenched between his teeth for security as always.
"Lucky you." Axel smirked into Roxas's closed eyes. Half of him waited for Roxas to leap happily out of his sleep and wrap his arms around his neck.
The redhead pushed himself up and out of bed for what must have been the fourth time. The vertigo kicked in again causing his whole world to shift slightly to the left. He let his dizzy spell pass as he went about getting ready. Not like he was in a big rush or anything. Chances were that the whole Organization was furious at him for not keeping an eye on Roxas anyway.
It was undeniable that their anger at him was not a rare occurrence... but that anger normally came with a punishment. That was the part he hated more then anything.
He dressed slowly since he had risen a bit before the bell. When he was finished with that daunting task he scooped Roxas into his arms just as the bell rang. The toddler, on instinct, wrapped his arms securely around Axel's neck and nuzzled his face into his caretakers un-tamable hair. Not once did he wake up, no matter how jostled around he was.
Axel was willing to bet Roxas wouldn't be awake for at least another hour or so after how the other day had panned out.
As far as damage reports went...
Exactly eighteen candy bars consumed, ten angry organization members and approximately 10,000 munny's worth of damaged goods to replace. Not to mention the one time during the night in which Roxas decided to wake up and rid himself of his chocolate overload all over Axel's bed, resulting of course, in him needing new sheets.
The dining hall was exceptionally noisy that morning. Of course it was usually noisy before Xemnas made his appearance. Not much of a difference there. Although the difference with today was that the idle chitchat sounded like mere static in Axel's ears.
Demyx sat slouched over in his chair with a piece of paper in front of him. He was silent due to his tired state as he struggled to work on coming up with the perfect song lyrics. Larxene sent subtle warning signals with her eyes in Axel's direction as she talked with Marluxia. Xigbar looked pleased when he noticed Roxas sleeping soundly and started going on about the toy gun he had picked up for him the other day while out on a mission. Lexaeus followed up by preaching about the violence Xigbar was passing off to Roxas. Right next to Xigbar, Zexion held an unreadable look as he shot glances at Vexen, who also had a very static look about him.
Axel sat down with a soft sigh, triggering Demyx to give a quick welcoming smile in his direction.
The opportunity came when the room grew quiet. The type of quiet that came when someone was switching a conversation subject and there was that split second of awkward stillness. Axel used that moment to clear his throat to draw attention to himself.
"Uh, everyone," Eyes suddenly snapped to Axel. "I just wanted to apologize for Roxas yesterday. As far as anything he damaged goes, I'll replace it... eventually..."
"Apology accepted," Zexion, with his eyes still tilted towards Vexen, was the first to speak. "But in all honesty, you shouldn't be the one apologizing." The teen's dark eyes shifted back and forth between Axel and Vexen. Everyone watched Zexion curiously for a moment until someone else directed their attention away from him.
"My apologies." Vexen begrudgingly stood from his seat, the apology said through clenched teeth as if the whole thing was strained. He gave Axel an insincere look.
Axel held tighter to Roxas involuntarily, his eyebrow slightly rose in suspicion. The day Vexen apologized to a lesser was the day the castle was most likely to explode. "Why are you apologizing?"
Vexen appeared as though he were glaring down at Axel. To him the hotheaded, trouble-making egomaniac deserved all the punishment Roxas was dishing out. Telling Axel he could go get himself eaten by Hades dog for all he cared probably wasn't the best idea though. He knew that Zexion was smart enough to have the potion and notebook with him, ready to show to Xemnas should he break the agreement they made.
"Roxas is in this state due to a potion of mine that you destroyed. An extra ingredient was added to my stamina-boosting potion when you knocked so carelessly into me. I was curious as to what affect this ruined potion would have on a nobody and more or less out for revenge, so I set up a test. If you never switched cups with Roxas the night I set up the test it would be you in his position right now."
Vexen smirked in accomplishment. Even though it wasn't Axel as a toddler, looking after Roxas was quite the punishment in itself. "For the past seven days Roxas has been my experiment."
The room was silent for another moment and Zexion had finally looked away from Vexen, obviously satisfied. The others were in pure shock. Half wondering why they didn't consider the possibility that this was Vexen's experimentation's doing in the first place, and the other half outraged that this would be carried on this long without the scientist confessing.
The redhead blinked slowly, letting his mind shift around all the information he had just received. He stood from his seat just as slowly. He was already able to feel his body temperature rising with on coming anger. He knew at this point that it was best to get Roxas out of his own hands for the kid's safety.
He shoved Roxas into the nearest nobody's arms without even caring as to who it was. Unfortunately that nobody just happened to be Larxene.
"I don't want this brat! He's making me loose munny!" With a disgusted look she shoved the still sleeping blond into the Melodious Nocturnes arms.
Axel just faintly heard Larxene's comment, yet he was too busy to handle that just yet. Oh no, Larxene could wait, he had to attack the source.
"You had no clue what that potion would do, correct?" Axel slowly made his way around the table towards Vexen.
"That's correct Number Eight."
"So let me get this all straight," Axel stood before the older man. "You had no clue as to what this potion could have done, could have killed him for all you knew, and you have been using my best friend as your guinea pig from day one?"
"For the sake of science." Was his simple reply.
"For the sake of science!" Axel's eyes narrowed into thin slits, his fist tightening and his teeth clenching.
The sense of anger welling up inside Axel came out as a ring of fire that enclosed around the table, trapping the nobodies sitting at it inside the raging flames. Lexaeus, foreseeing what was to come next, ran to restrain Axel. He managed to grab the redhead just before he could lunge. Xaldin too moved in before any harm was done.
"Call off your fire Axel!"
"You'll pay for this Vexen!" The redhead fought against his superiors strong arms that kept him tied in one place. His face heated up causing his complexion to turn slightly red.
Larxene let out an amused laugh. "If I may add my opinion, you deserved this punishment Axel."
"Shut up!" Axel snapped back at Larxene, a fire glowing in his eyes. "I could beat the shit out of you too right now for whatever little bet you have going on!"
Larxene gave a 'humph', knowing that Lexaeus wasn't about to let Axel go anytime soon. She just watched as Axel only seemed to be getting angrier with each struggle. Needless to say it was feeding her sadistic nature all the more.
A three-way competition began to break out among the nobodies. Axel yelling, Larxene laughing, and Vexen defending science. It wasn't long before Luxord, Xigbar, and Zexion jumped in and took sides with someone. All it seemed to be was a screaming contest from that point on...
"This should have ended a long time ago Vexen!"
"Number Eight is an ungrateful disrespectful being who deserved this!"
"Roxas could have gotten hurt!"
"All Axel ever cares about is himself! Any facaded emotions are towards himself only!"
"I told you to shut the fuck up!"
"All of you need to bring it down!"
The noise in the dining room hall was probably more then enough to wake the dead, but, fortunately enough, it only woke Roxas.
Roxas groaned as he came out of his slumber. His tiny fist rubbed the blurry white spots blocking his vision. He cuddled up to whomever was holding him, someone he immediately noticed wasn't his Axel. He knew Axel's burning scent and heated feeling enough to know by now that it wasn't him.
"Axel?" Roxas tugged on Demyx's shirt to alert him that he was awake. The musician cradled Roxas closer, scooting closer to the middle to avoid the flame surrounding them.
"Roxas, I don't want you to be scared ok?"
"Scawed? Whewe's he!" Roxas looked up with watery eyes.
"You and your fucking experiment Vexen!" The redhead shouted as Lexaeus continued his efforts of calming the outraged fire wielder. The toddler flinched as Larxene attempted to go after Axel, only to be stopped by Xaldin. Everyone was shouting way too loud for Roxas's tiny ears to handle.
"I gotsa go ta Axel..." He said in a weakened voice, almost hesitant. Roxas wiggled in Demyx's arms, attempting to run to his friend.
"Roxas no! This is dangerous! Axel will be fine. This is a grown up thing."
"Axel! Axel!" Demyx held tightly to Roxas for as long as he could before he lost the battle. Roxas squirmed from his arms and ran into the mess of screaming nobodies to Axel's aid.
With many angry adults shooting off their mouths and a raging fire surrounding them, the only thing Roxas could do was hold tightly to the back of Axel's cloak. The frightened toddler buried his face into the familiarity of Axel's clothes with tears beginning to fall from his eyes. Demyx himself was opposed to running into such mess. That itself could have caused a problem.
"Hey, everyone!" Demyx attempted to raise his voice over the fighting. "You're scaring Roxas!" Still no one stopped. Not only was Roxas frightened but also with Axel putting up such a struggle the risk of Roxas accidentally being kicked was extremely high.
"And if you think you're going to get away with this shit without me telling Xemnas-"
Roxas only looked all the more frightened, and was damn near kicked in the face when Axel tried to jab his holder in the ribs.
Demyx knew that if he didn't do something quick Roxas really was going to get hurt.
"Everyone STOP!" He ran into the middle of the fighting, yelling at the top of his lungs. Xaldin and Lexaeus pulled their captives back so that their anger wasn't directed towards Demyx. The others who had joined in the argument retracted as well.
"What?" Axel turned harshly on Demyx, once again nearly kicking Roxas off his feet. "Can't you see I'm telling this asshole off?"
"Well you do that, but your scaring Roxas." He pointed down to the toddler who was hanging on to Axel for dear life.
Axel looked back at Lexaeus, asking him with his eyes to loosen up. The man nodded, loosening his hold so Axel could lean down and pick Roxas up to comfort him. The fire around them slowly died down to nothing but a few dull sparks now and then once Axel had calmed himself for his friends sake. Roxas sniffled, wiping his nose off on the cuff of his sleeve. He pulled away from Axel's warmth, looking back at Vexen who seemed like he just wanted whatever fight was going on to resume.
"Axey?"
"Yeah?"
"What'sa... a... umm... a asshole?"
Axel blinked and Demyx bit his lip nervously. The day a kid learns their first curse word was never a pleasant day for the adults responsible for them. Across from the scene Larxene burst into hysterical laughter.
"You may only think of yourself more than half the time, but you are truly the worlds best influence on that kid."
"You'we a asshole..." Roxas mumbled in the same bitter tone Axel had used and buried his head into the nape of said nobodies neck. The event left Larxene with her jaw hanging on the floor.
Axel growled, shoving Roxas into Demyx's arms.
"Could you please take him into the hallway before he learns any new words?" A glare directed towards Larxene.
Demyx promptly got to his task, leaving Axel to showcase his colorful language behind closed doors.
xXx
The memory gap that ailed Roxas since the beginning of the experiment did wipe away more than half his memory, but there was one thing that he remembered. One thing, 100 percent.
And that was Axel.
So it was only natural for him to admire Axel to the highest degree. If a certain someone was all you truly remembered then attachment to them was a given. Every move Axel made had to be right, every wrong Axel did was forgivable, and every word he said was speakable.
"Roxas, no, you can't say that word anymore." So there Demyx was, crouching beside Roxas in the pathway outside the dining hall, trying to explain the concept 'not everything Axel says is right' to the redheads very own miniature fan club for the hundredth time.
"No," Roxas stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "if Axel said it then it's good..."
The older blond shook his head, realizing the hopeless case this argument probably was, "But that's a BAD word Rox!"
When the toddler's eyes opened a bit wider Demyx actually thought he might have had something, "Yes, BAD! Very VERY bad!"
Roxas covered his mouth in shock, his voice growing into a small whisper, "Bad wowd?"
"Which is why you should forget Axel even said it."
The smaller blond leaned towards Demyx with the side of his hand against his mouth as if he were about to tell a secret, "Does Axel know it'sa bad wowd?"
"Umm," Demyx bit his lip, hand on Roxas's shoulder, "Yeah, well, actually Axel does know it's a bad word. He made a mistake when he said it."
"But Axel doesn't make missacks!"
The door to the dining hall suddenly swung open after what seemed like the two were waiting for a half an hour. Strangely enough there was no more shouting or yelling to be heard beyond the doors. That could have either meant something good or it could have meant that Axel just killed someone. Either one was a realistic possibility.
"Number Nine."
Demyx frowned in disappointment when he heard the voice of Zexion addressing him by his formal name.
"I know you still hate me and everything, but you can at least still call me Demyx you know." The blond stood from his crouched position on the ground to stand up to Zexion, hovering a good inch higher.
"That's not very important now is it?" Zexion crossed his arms, seeming to look everywhere in the hall except into Demyx's eyes. "Axel and Vexen are both much calmer now. Axel a bit against his will I admit... They are discussing negotiations as we speak."
"Finally huh?" Demyx said in a light ethereal voice as he leaned down to try to catch Zexion's eye. However, the other teen just wasn't about to have that sort of contact. "So, uh, what happened?"
At that, Zexion looked up, still not at Demyx, but it was a start. "Those half wits finally realized yelling would get them know where, after I mediated of course, and actually began talking like civilized beings about a way to fix this mess. The terms of course are that none of this gets out to Xemnas so I hope you can follow that as well."
"And about Roxas?"
"Vexen has been searching for a cure since day one. It's unfortunate, but nothing is promised."
"Oh," Demyx watched Zexion's feet shuffle past him without even a goodbye. The teen probably had a huge workload as usual. "Hey wait! What about-"
"They're all down in Vexen's lab. You're permitted down there for the time being." And Zexion was gone just as fast as he came. Traveling far away from his leech via portal. His part of the deal was done. He saw no more need to get any more involved in this Roxas case.
"We can go see Axey now wight?" Roxas tugged at the bottom of Demyx's cloak.
"Uh-huh." Demyx remained fixated on the spot where Zexion created the portal for a bit before leading Roxas down to Vexen's lab.
xXx
"So what's the bet about?"
"I'm not telling you."
"Tell me what the fuck the bet is about!"
"Get away from me!"
"I told you all to keep quiet!"
The laboratory was dim that morning to hide the fact that it was filled with an unusual amount of voices. When Demyx pushed the door open the light from the hallway bounced down the stairs like a slinky and hit the back wall alerting the others that someone was entering. They all grew silent, fearing for a second that it was their Superior coming to investigate the fact that some members were missing from breakfast, until suddenly;
"Axeeeel!" The toddler flew straight into the already prepared Axel's arms, giggling as usual. The newly added noise to the room caused Vexen to hiss another 'quiet!' to the younger nobodies occupying his lab.
"False alarm. It's just Demyx," Larxene sneered.
In the back of the lab, Vexen sat at a large desk, looking over the papers which contained the 'Roxas reports' as he came to call them. The whole time he seemed to be muttering obscenities towards the neophytes forced into invading his sanctuary. Larxene sat furthest away from Axel, leaning back in a swivel chair with her feet propped up on a lab table. Dirt from her boot fell off in clumps. Something sure to anger Vexen when he would need said table. Marluxia sat with folded arms as a dividing line between Axel and Larxene.
As far as Luxord goes, he stood curiously examining the experiment specimens in the glass jars along the walls. This was his first time in the lab. Not like the lab was a particular place anyone would want to be, especially when the lights were so dim. The cabinet spotlights illuminated the shelves containing the experiments in an eerie green light. Various grotesque figures had been stuffed into jars much to small for them. Some twitched and spazzed unnaturally under the influence of various potions gone horribly wrong.
Demyx pulled up a rolling chair of his own on the other side of Axel, who was too busy watching mini Roxas playing in his hair to notice much.
"So, Zexion just told me you might not be able to c-u-r-e Roxas?" Demyx looked wearily over at Roxas, doubting the kid would ever figure out what they were talking about anyway. He looked pretty oblivious at the moment.
"That is correct." Vexen looked up from his work. At that, Axel suddenly looked downcast, pulling the toddler closer.
"Well I for one feel good about this." Luxord set a jar containing a small creature thrashing around back where it belonged. "This wouldn't be the first time Vexen has tested an experiment on one of us if you all recall. Those he did experiment on have been cured."
"Those were indeed priceless moments in the Organization's history!" Larxene laughed.
"Oh... like the experiments he did on Marly and Saix?" Demyx mused.
"That experiment was unsuccessful!" Marluxia demanded as he stood up in anger, knocking his chair backwards. It was extremely out of character for such a strong member, but a light blush did wipe across his face.
"What are you talking about? You were a girl for a whole week Marly!"
"You can't deny it! Your hair even turned pink for Kingdom Hearts sakes!"
"It never did turn its normal color again!"
"SHUT UP!"
At this point Demyx and Larxene where both in hysterics over the pure memory of that week, ignoring both Marluxia and Vexen's cues to shut them up.
Axel held tighter to Roxas so that he didn't slip away and try to play with anything. He was already eying a bright blue liquid with curiosity.
"Luckily Saix was a dog for only two days or I'm pretty sure Xemnas would have gone insane," Axel added in quickly.
"And something still happens to that man when there's a full moon, I swear." Larxene was finally calming down on her laughing enough to speak.
"And of course Marly never really recovered either!" Demyx jokingly leaned over to Marluxia. The now angered man, not in the mood for the joke at all, shoved Demyx back into his seat. The mullet haired boy retracted back into his nervous shell with wide eyes.
"No more than you recovered from the experiments Vexen performed on you!"
Demyx gripped the side of his chair in fear muttering something incomprehensible before leaping up in panic. "W-What? When did he do an experiment on me!"
"Yeah, you don't remember? Those experiments he did on your head." Larxene's lip curled up with her snarky comment.
"Alright, knock it off!" Axel yelled to the two when he noticed Demyx actually looked scared, like he believed the crap they were telling him. "They're lying. No one ever did any experiments on you Demyx."
The air of tension in the room relaxed for a moment. Demyx settled back into his chair at ease and the pair of interrogators took to talking their schemes in a whisper together. Luxord finished up his inspection of the lab, placing some beakers back in their wooden holders. The gambler slid a chair up behind Axel, resting his elbows on the table. The toddler had slipped between Axel's legs so that he was sitting beside his boot clad foot. The chubby hand reached out to the zippers holding the leather up, zipping and unzipping for enjoyment.
"So," Luxord nudged Axel, who seemed to be wrapped up with thought of his own at the moment. His head tilted off to the side, still not showing much attention to the others. Mentioning that, Axel seemed a little off ever since they left the dining hall.
"Worried at all?" Luxord nudged Axel again to try to snap him out of his haze.
Before Axel could answer his own question Demyx jumped in. "Why would he be worried?"
"Well, Vexen still hasn't found a cure. Not only that but if this cure is found then we don't know what the repercussions are going to be. He could remember everything prior to the cure like Marluxia did, or he could remember nothing, like Saix. In both experiments Marluxia and Saix both never really fully recovered to their normal state. We can all still see traces of their opposing personas left behind with the experiments. Roxas could very well never quite be himself ever again."
"I didn't even think of that..." Demyx's eyebrows furrowed in concern, mainly for Axel. He titled his head towards the fire wielder.
Halfway through Luxord's speech Axel's eyes drifted down to the toddler playing beneath him, paying not much attention to the others surrounding him. The dimness of the room clouding his immediate vision until all he could see was the current Roxas. The weight put upon the child from Axel's eyes bore down until he took notice. He looked up with his sparkling cerulean eyes, a bright smile with a hint of the infamous Roxas pout lurking behind it. Axel gave a fabricated smile as to eliminate any worry Roxas might have.
But all the features, the eyes, the smile... All of it belonged to the old Roxas. The Organization's Roxas. HIS Roxas.
He just wanted his best friend back...
xXx
A filtering of orange sunlight highlighted the Twilight Town tram commons. The overshadowing of late afternoon clouds caused the sky to have an autumn-like mix of colors filling overhead. The last tram run of the day was just letting off. Mostly it carried the teenagers who were coming back from their daily odd jobs around town. The commons soon became crowded and filled with daily chatter. Shops opened up their windows so the kids could have a place to spend their well earned munny. It was just like clockwork. Nothing ever changed in Twilight Town.
Demyx slipped through the crowd practically unnoticed. Heck, some people even gave him an oblivious friendly hello as if he lived there. He blended in perfectly with the other local kids sporting a blue T-shirt with a logo representing a popular Twilight Town rock band, Khaki shorts and beach style sandals.
An obese man working an ice cream concession reached into the icy depths of the freezer, pulling out three salty blue ice cream bars.
"Three sea salts. That'll be thirty munny."
Demyx reached into his munny pouch, handing the man his earnings in exchange for food.
"Thank you, have a nice day sir."
"You too." Demyx smiled back cheerfully before returning to where he had left his friends.
At the edge of the commons Axel sat waiting for Demyx's return. He still looked as sullen as he had back at the castle in his black jeans and the same red shirt he loaned Roxas his first day as a toddler. Speaking of whom, Roxas sat beside him, swinging his legs under the bench out of boredom and holding his stuffed heartless tightly.
Demyx handed them both their ice creams, taking note of the awkward silence and obvious distress Axel seemed to be harboring.
"Wanna go someplace quieter?"
Axel nodded in a weak manner. Roxas followed behind obediently with the ice cream bar sticking out of his mouth. The older blond led his friends down a back alley away from the noise of the main street and towards privacy.
The abandoned pathway took the nobodies to a small backwoods park, a wooden playground as its main attraction. Of course the older kids of Twilight Town had long forgot such a thing with age. So Roxas at the time was the sole ruler of this wooden play castle.
Demyx and Axel found a resting place on a grassy hill not too far away from the play set. The setting sun hid behind the wooden swing post, making the play set appear as a silhouette against the sky. Slowly the lights along the brick path flickered on at their usual time.
"A lot more peaceful huh?" Demyx lapped up some of the ice cream that was melting onto his hand. He at least hoped Axel would have responded with a smile or something. That was the whole reason he invited Axel out of the castle in the first place. Axel hadn't seemed right all day. The last place he needed to be was in that castle filled with fighting and rude beings shooting off their mouths. Some ice cream, peace, and fresh air. That's all anyone needed to relax in Demyx's opinion.
"Mmhm." Axel listlessly licked at his ice cream, his eyes following Roxas's figure. The kid held onto the railings of a hanging bridge, swaying to make it shift back and forth under him.
Demyx sighed. "Listen Axel, I've been thinking-"
"Well you shouldn't..."
The blond huffed in annoyance before continuing, "I've been thinking about you and Roxas lately."
At that Axel actually seemed to show a mild interest, "Which Roxas?" He snorted in disgust over the whole situation.
"Our old Roxas," He stopped momentarily to see if he noticed any changes in Axel's outward appearance. The hot-head remained static on the outside, although the thoughts in his head would have probably given Demyx the changes he wanted to see. "So, Axel, do you ever think that maybe you and Roxas-"
"Stop!" Axel interrupted with sharp eyes like daggers. He knew Demyx. He knew exactly what he was going to say next, "Don't even say it!"
"And why not!" Demyx challenged his look. He had to admit he was actually quite happy. Axel was thinking exactly what he was thinking before it was even said! That must have meant it was on Axel's mind! It had to be...
"It's none of your damn business!"
"How can I possibly stay out of this? You have feelings for Roxas and I want you to admit it right now!"
At that statement Axel actually stood down to Demyx for once. That's exactly what he knew Demyx was going to say, but for some reason the actual spoken words had more of an impact than he thought they would. He composed himself, refusing to show much of a change to Demyx.
"What you just said was completely ridiculous for so many reasons!"
"No it's not Axel! I see the way you used to look at him sometimes, and the way you acted today when you heard he might not be the same ever again! That's not the way so called 'best friends' look at each other. It's something more."
"He's three!"
"I never said how he is now half wit! Besides, you see him for what he WAS not what he IS. I know you do." Demyx bit off a large chunk of his Popsicle, talking through the slush in his mouth. "And just so you know, sometimes Roxas would return those looks you gave him. I saw it."
"He didn't."
Demyx smirked, " You admit that you look at him then."
"I didn't!"
"Calm down! Either way Roxas is oblivious. Three right now or not, his old self if sort of like a child as well. He came to use with no memories of his past. He was a blank slate. He feels something towards you, yet he doesn't know what it is or how to act on it. He's scared. Just like you."
Axel shifted uncomfortably. There were no feelings towards Roxas. Not here, not now, not ever! Not even when Roxas would be the first person to notice whenever he was in a bad mood when he didn't even know it himself. Or when the blond would accidentally fall asleep on his shoulder when they spent late nights talking together on the castle roof.
Those things certainly don't spark feelings... Whatever feelings Demyx spoke of didn't even exist for them to have so it was best to forget all about that garbage. Him and Roxas were only as close as friends could get. Sure, Axel remembered love. All nobodies remembered emotions. He remembered what it used to feel like to be passionate with someone. Roxas was the only one in the castle he cared about. There was nothing passionate about that.
No matter how nice it felt to be around Roxas, passion could never be achieved without a heart.
Besides, Roxas was a guy! Two guys being together? That meant gay!
"So since you seem to be done harassing me, I have a question for you."
Demyx nodded to let Axel know he was listening.
"You really are gay aren't you?"
The teen next to him let out an airy laugh, a gleam present in his eye as he lay back on the grass.
"Weeeeeell," He stretched his word like a rubber band. "I don't remember much about my somebody since its been so long, but from what I can remember he didn't like girls much either. Guess it rubbed off on me huh?"
Axel shook his head, but he couldn't help but laugh to himself. "And here I was thinking you were just going through some teenaged hormone thing."
"What?" Demyx sat up fast, looking slightly offended. "I'm not a little kid you know! I'm nineteen! I'm legal and everything!"
"Yeah, nineTEEN. You're still a teenager, and a year younger than me at that little man."
Demyx still held an offended pout, "That doesn't matter much to me anyway. What matters is that Zexion is a whole year younger than me. It's perfect!"
Axel shook his head. It was quite obvious that Demyx was going to remain a lost cause. He went back to watching Roxas, who was trying to get a seesaw to work with only himself and a stuffed animal. It would have been pretty amusing to watch if only that kid wasn't once his best friend
...Yes, just best friend.
"Like I was saying," Demyx brought him from his thoughts, finishing his ice cream with a loud slurp, "It's ok if you have a little fruit in your salad."
Axel's ice cream damn near flew out of his mouth. "WHAT?"
Demyx fell backwards laughing. "It means- ha ha- if you really do feel something towards Roxas then gender should mean nothing. Love IS blind after all. Let's just hope that now Vexen can fix this or you'll never get a chance to tell him."
The two remained quiet for a moment. Axel's mind went back to what had taken place that morning when Vexen was mentioned.
"I wonder about Roxas," It was quiet, until Demyx decided to speak again, "He really doesn't know about love. Even as a teenager he was clueless because he doesn't have any memories about his past like we do. He wouldn't even know if it was wrong or right to be with another guy. He'd listen to anything you tell him..."
Axel only shrugged, his eyes focused on the orange horizon.
Demyx leaned back on the grass again to gaze up at the darkening sky.
The day was a very quiet one for Axel. He hadn't remembered being that quiet in a long time. All he could think about was Roxas . The boy who clung to him as both a child and a teenager, the boy who hung on his words, believing everything he said, even if he was wrong, and the boy who came to him for every drop of advice he ever needed. He hated to admit that Demyx was right, but Roxas would have believed him if he said relationships between two men were common place. That is of course, if Roxas ever was put back to normal, or if he was even himself when the switch took place.
"We should probably head back..." Axel stood from the hill. The sun had already disappeared behind the town skyline, leaving only golden flakes glittering across the sky in its wake.
Demyx nodded, following Axel down the hill to fetch Roxas, "I think it'd be kind of cute, you two together I mean?"
"Is this necessary?" Axel shot a glare back at him.
"Come on! I can call you something cute, like Axxas."
"Stop..."
"Roxel!... Still not right."
"If you don't shut your mouth..."
"AKUROKU!"
"I'm going to beat the shit out of you when we get home!" Axel could feel his face heating up. This didn't go at all unnoticed by Demyx
"Lookit that blush! You do like Roxas!"
"I said shut it!"
"Axel and Roxas sittin' in a tree, F-U-C-K-I-N-G!"
"... You just better learn to sleep with your eyes open."
"You're no fun…"
xXx
"Hey Rox,"
It was that dream again. The one where they were both sitting on the dock of Destiny Islands together. Both feeling a bit awkward, yet comfortable. It was an oxymoron, but it was the only way to explain the circumstances. Roxas lifted his head from gazing into the water below.
"remember the way we met?"
"Course I do," Roxas leaned back closer to Axel, his elbows behind him to hold his weight up.
xxx
One horrible thing about the whole portalling deal was that they could never do it to get to the bathroom. Portalling directly into the bathroom meant running the risk of portalling in on someone actually using it. So despite the useful power all nobodies possessed, for that purpose it became quite useless.
It became especially risky since they finally gained a female member. Accidentally running in on her using the bathroom could only be comparable to death itself. This new girl, Larxene as she came to be called, had only joined up with the Organization a month prior and already she seemed to have something personal against Axel. She wasn't like a regular girl either. In no way whatsoever was she sugar, spice and everything nice. Far from that!
She was actually the exact opposite...
Getting off of that topic, Axel sat up in his bed, scratching the back of his head dully. Damn bladder, having the nerve to wake him up at 3am in the middle of the night. It was bad enough he had an exhausting mission that morning that just happened to last well into the night; also meaning he completely missed Xemnas introducing them to their Thirteenth and final member. Hopefully this one proved better than Larxene...
Whatever. He would run into the new guy at breakfast or something. Axel stood, shuffling across the floor to his door. His mouth opened wide in a loud yawn as he pushed the door open. Instead of swinging out like a normal door should, it stopped mid-way. A loud clunk sounded down the hall as if it had hit something- or someone in this case.
"Ow! Gah!"
Axel poked his head out the door at whatever blocked his path. On the floor, just behind his door lay a person. His small frame was wrapped in the Organization's mandatory uniform, although he looked as if he had yet to find his clothes to put under his cloak seeing as his bare skin was visible through the half done up zipper. His face was almost perfectly round with thicker pout worthy cheeks bigger then anything else on his face. His golden hair was windswept off to one side. He gazed up at Axel with his most striking feature. His electric blue eyes with eyelids looking like they were ready to drop right over them.
"You alright kid?" Axel pushed the door open further when he noticed the kid holding his head in his hand. This time he was careful enough not to hit him.
"You hit me kinda hard." He rubbed his bruised area.
Axel leaned down to eye level with the kid. He looked really young. Possibly a few years younger than Zexion, their youngest member, "I take it you're the new guy right?" A weak nod and a yawn from the newcomer. "Xemnas told me about you... umm, Rocks-ass right? You're the keyblade wielder."
"... I guess." Roxas mumbled weakly while rubbing at his tired eyes.
"I see. The name's Axel, Number Eight. Commit it to memory." To his introduction Roxas let out a sleepy laugh to which Axel smiled. "So what in Kingdom Hearts name are you doing sleeping in front of my door anyway?"
Roxas rubbed the back of his neck, a light blush gracing his amazing face. "See... I'm kinda, sorta, a little bit, really lost." He let out another big yawn, though trying to talk through this one. "Umone was upposed ta show me to my room..." He shook his head to try to wake himself up. "Number twelve, I think? I was waiting for them to show up for forever but they never came. I got so tired I just had to lay down somewhere for at least a second or I would have passed out."
Axel shook his head with a laugh. "Looks like you got stood-up kid. I can guarantee you that Larxene had no intentions of coming to get you." He stood from his crouched position on the ground and offered a hand to the poor kid. "I take it you don't know how to use a portal, so I'll just take you to your room."
Axel and Roxas made their way down the hall as Axel explained the room order to Roxas. Something about the rooms going in numerical order and Larxene having a room across from him. That bitch this, I hate her that... He was only half listening to the redhead. He was much too tired for all that nonsense. Initiation, training, meeting after meeting, a lot of information. It was all too much for one day... He just needed some sleep.
"One person you really want to look out for is Saix though-"
His feet felt so heavy he could barely pick them up anymore. The tip of his foot slid on the floor causing him to stumble forward. Luckily Axel had been keeping an eye on him the whole time and was able to catch him before he hit the ground.
"I thought you said you were alright?"
"'M sorry. Just so tired..." He mumbled with his eyes closed. His face buried into the front of Axel's nightshirt.
"Amazing." Axel sighed. He couldn't possibly wake the poor kid up and force him to walk up a whole flight of stairs under such conditions. It wasn't too hard to lift Roxas up into his arms, he was so light at first. Without realizing it, the kid laced his arms around Axel and buried his head into the nape of his neck.
" 'm sorry..." Roxas slurred before his breathing evened out. A sure sign that he was dead asleep.
Stairs weren't as easy as they looked when Axel has to carry a hundred pound boy up them, but Axel finally reached Roxas's room. A door with a large XIII engraved into it. He pushed the door open with his foot and right away a wave of nostalgia hit him.
The whole room was pure white, from the marble floor to the walls. A single bed rested against the back wall with a single curtain-less window hovering over it. Aside from the closet to the right of the bed, the room was pretty much empty. Just like every new members room though. This was the kind of thing that brought Axel back to the day when he was the new guy.
Of course he was willing to bet that after a few paydays Roxas would have his room looking exactly as he wanted it to.
He set Roxas down on his new bed. Poor kid, left in a huge castle with no clue where he was. He was so young too. Axel made a mental note to give Larxene hell in the morning for this one. Axel slid Roxas's boots off and pulled the blankets up to his chin.
Roxas mumbled in his sleep, his eyes blinking open momentarily. Axel and Roxas's eyes snapped together for about a minute before a slow smile crept onto Roxas's face.
"Thanks Axel, see you at breakfast, right?"
"Yeah. See you kid."
Roxas rolled over in his bed, his body curling into a ball.
Axel stood up to leave Roxas to his sleep since he needed it so badly. He looked back before turning out the lights. This kid was something else, he could tell already. He could tell that they were going to get along just fine.
Axel portalled back to his own room after that. Forgetting that he needed to go to the bathroom altogether. Roxas's eyes had that power sometimes. They made Axel forget what he was going to do completely.
That night when Axel looked directly into Roxas's eyes for the first time was the night that Axel didn't get a wink of sleep.
xxx
"Hey Roxas?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think Demyx was right?"
A/N - Oh gosh... Every since I started watching the English version of Death Note I imagine Zexion with the voice of L...
Which I don't mind and if anyone else has seen it I'm sure they don't either. We all know how Sexy L's English voice is!
Or maybe that's only me that thinks that. Ha, I'm weird.
And Age is established! (or at least the age I guess they look about). In case anyones keeping track: Axel is 20, Demyx is 19 and Zexion is 18. Roxas is 15 in the game so we already got that.
I also think Larxene's about 20, Marluxia is about 24, and Luxord around 25, but they're not important.
Ugh, speaking of which you know what I hated? How old they made Zexion look in the Chain of memories PS2 version. I mean, go read the manga, he looks like a high schooler. Same for in the Game boy version and in the promotional poster. But then in the damn PS2 version he looks so much older then intended. I like the manga version of him better. I roll with that version...