Author's Comments: Happy new year! I swear, I am still working on The Captive Heart Show, but I felt the need to update this as well. I don't know how many more chapters I want to add to this, but I'm still having fun writing for this side project. I hope you still enjoy reading this and that you enjoy this new chapter! Thank you for your time!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or the story of Cinderella.

He watched Demyx bury his hands into his hair and groaned loudly. "You're kidding me…"

Zexion rolled his eyes and sank further into his seat. His stomach sank with the familiar weight of dread. Of course Demyx would get a flat tire and leave them stranded on the freeway in the middle of the night.

He glanced into the rear view mirror and met the other pairs of eyes left in the car. Sora and Kairi shared the same anxiousness and uncertainty as they fidgeted in their seats. "Are we stuck here?" Sora asked.

He returned his gaze to Demyx and Riku as they inspected the damage outside the car. "Looks like it."

They watched Demyx pull out his cell phone and dial a number. Zexion barely picked up the quiet conversation between Sora and Kairi behind him about their phones running low on battery and their parents killing them for staying out so late on a school night. He himself pulled out his phone and began browsing his schedule for the next week. Thankfully he had a full battery.

The car doors opened and Riku and Demyx climbed back inside. "Sorry, guys." Demyx sighed. "It's gonna take at least an hour for the tow truck to get here."

Sora and Kairi groaned and began complaining about being tired and still having homework to do. Riku crossed his arms and cursed under his breath. Apparently his phone had died already.

Zexion opened his favorite word game on his phone. Homework? Dead phones? Sucked for them.

"Hey Zexion?"

"Yes?"

"I heard that you're good at telling stories…"

His head snapped up. Oh hell no. "From whom did you hear that?" he nearly growled.

Sora shrank away, his eyes wide. "Demyx might have mentioned it while talking about his little cousins…"

Zexion shot a glare at Demyx out of the corner of his eyes. Damn him.

Demyx pointedly ignored him, looking the other way out the window…but Zexion could hear him gulp nervously.

"S-Since our phones are about to die and we have nothing better to do," Kairi squeaked, "do you think you could tell us a story to pass the time?"

He grunted dismissively, returning to his word game. No way.

"Please, Zexion?"

He was done with storytelling. Done. He'd had enough from dealing with Demyx's little cousins. As of that outing last week, he'd retired as a sorry excuse for a storyteller.

"C'mon, Zex," Riku insisted. "It's not like you have anything better to do right now."

He lifted his phone for them to see. "Actually, I do."

"What are we supposed to do for the next hour?" Sora wanted to know. "Can't you just tell us one little story? We're going to get bored just sitting here and we had all that coffee so we could stay awake to do our homework later."

"I don't think you understand the nature of the stories I've been telling Demyx's younger cousins."

"What do you mean? They're basically fairytales you've jazzed up, right?"

They just weren't going to give him peace, were they? Zexion glared at Demyx again, but saw that Demyx was watching him expectantly. His best friend shrugged and offered a small grin. "They'd really enjoy a story," he told Zexion, "and their reactions would be fun to see, right?"

His glare softened as he dwelled on Demyx's point. Their reactions…hmm. He supposed that might amuse him.

He conceded, closing his word game and pocketing his phone. "One story only."

"Yay!"

"I'm excited!"

He quickly searched his mind for a simple fairytale and for the actors to play the roles…then began. "Once upon a time…"

…in a faraway kingdom, there was a young boy and his father. The father, a widower, loved his son dearly, but he felt his son needed a mother. Thus, he remarried to a woman with a good family background and two children about the same age as his son. By name, they were Marluxia and Larxene.

"Wait a minute."

He locked gazes with Riku in the rear view mirror while suppressing a sigh. It didn't seem to matter how old his audience was. The interruptions were inevitable, weren't they?

"You tell stories about real people?" Riku questioned, his eyebrow arching beneath his long bangs.

Zexion matched his stare and arched his own eyebrow. "It makes the story interesting, does it not?"

Riku exchanged uncertain glances with Sora and Kairi before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess so."

"May I continue?"

"Yeah."

The boy's father passed away suddenly, and soon after, his stepmother's true nature was revealed: cold, demanding, and heartless. She recognized the boy's charm and good looks, even at his young age, and was bitterly jealous for her son and daughter. After the father's passing, she became dedicated to furthering the interests of her own children.

"This story sounds familiar…"

"It's Cinderella, Sora."

"Ohhhhh! So Marluxia and Larxene are the evil stepsisters! That's smart."

"But who's Cinderella…?"

"Zex's doing a gender-bender on us, so it has to be a guy we know…"

"Ahem."

He watched the three teens freeze in their seats and pull away from their huddled meeting. Sora shot him a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

"May I continue?"

"Y-Yeah."

The years passed and their house fell into disrepair. The family's wealth was squandered on Marluxia and Larxene while the young boy was abused, humiliated, and forced to become a servant in his own home. Yet, to the stepmother's—

"I wonder who the stepmot—"

"Shhhhh! Let him tell the story!"

He stifled the urge to roll his eyes, pausing for a few moments to make sure the three of them were really willing to be quiet while he spoke.

To the stepmother's dissatisfaction, the boy grew into a handsome young man: tall, well-built, and piercing green eyes and fiery red hair—

"Holy crap! Axel is Cinderella?"

"Why Axel? He's like the last person to let someone step all over him—"

"Shut up! He won't finish the story if everyone keeps interrupting!"

"Sorry…I'm just mindblown."

Zexion shook his head, a slight grin growing on his face. He had to admit that their reactions were quite amusing…despite how frequently they interrupted him.

Axel grew into a handsome young man. Through it all, he remained charming and goodhearted, doing his best to live peacefully with his family for the sake of his late father.

"Really?"

"You'd be surprised how much of a softie Axel can be."

"Whatever you say."

One day as they were out shopping in town, a messenger from the kingdom made an announcement in the square: the princess would be throwing a ball and all eligible young men in the kingdom were invited to attend. She was to choose a suitor for her hand in marriage. Immediately, the stepmother began preparing to send Marluxia (and Larxene since she would not stop insisting on attending, despite her ineligibility for the princess' hand in marriage) to the ball the following night.

"Larxene's such a rebel."

"Maybe she's really…you know…"

"No she's not."

"Oh, okay."

Axel, knowing well that he was eligible to attend, thought it would not hurt to ask his stepmother for permission to go as well. However, before even getting to ask, his stepmother made it very clear that he was not to attend the ball by openly forbidding him from even entertaining the notion. Though frustrated, Axel assisted his stepsiblings and stepmother in getting dressed in their evening attire and watched the three of them ride off towards the castle.

After they'd left, Axel retreated to the garden at the back of their chateau, burying his head in his hands and collapsing to the ground. He really, really wanted to go to the ball and see the princess. Ever since hearing the announcement of the ball in the square, he'd felt a sense of desperation in his heart…that no matter what, he had to be at the ball.

"What am I going to do?" he thought to himself in despair.

Suddenly, a glow caught his eye. Before him a blond man in dark robes and piercings appeared in a flurry of smoke and dust. "Chin up, child," the man bid him calmly. "I can help you get to the ball."

"Who are you?" Axel asked him with wide eyes.

The man offered him a smile. "I am your fairy godfather, Luxord."

"LUXORD?" everyone—including Demyx—exclaimed.

"Shhhhhhhh!" Kairi hissed.

"Do you wish to go to the ball, Axel?" the man asked.

"More than anything," Axel admitted, shaking his head, "but I don't have any way of getting there."

Rolling his eyes, Luxord bid Axel to stand and assured him that he would be able to get to the ball. With a wave of his hand, he easily transformed a nearby pumpkin into a carriage, a few scurrying rats into horses and carriage attendants, and Axel's rags into a pristine suit. Axel marveled at it all, particularly the silk gloves on his hands. He could not remember wearing anything so smooth or weightless before.

Luxord urged Axel to hurry to the ball but left him with a warning: "You must get out of there by midnight," he said. "The magic will wear off at the strike of twelve."

Axel dismissed the warning and rushed to the castle. Upon arriving, he dashed up the stairs and burst into the ballroom with a loud crash. Everyone stopped dancing, gazing at him in surprise. After shaking off the initial embarrassment of causing such a scene, Axel found himself locking gazes with a beautiful girl standing in the middle of the dance floor. Her short dark hair framed her face gently and her dark eyes seemed to pierce his soul. She took his breath away.

"Short dark hair? Dark eyes?" Sora glanced at Riku and Kairi questioningly. "Who do we know with that description…?"

Zexion caught Demyx's smile growing and took a moment to smirk smugly before continuing. Clearly, Demyx knew.

Axel descended the stairs to meet the girl—the princess, he realized upon noticing the sparkling tiara upon her head. "Y-Your Highness," he stammered, bowing as gracefully as he could.

"Good sir," he heard her say quietly, "won't you dance with me?"

The world around them disappeared. They danced and talked…and Axel found himself falling quickly for her. He now realized why he had to attend the ball: to meet his one true love, the princess. So great was his love for her that he could not resist the urge to lean in and press his lips to hers…

But the clock began to strike.

Axel leapt up, Luxord's warning ringing in his ears louder than the bells. "I have to go," he blurted, sprinting as fast as he could to his carriage. "I'm so sorry!"

"Wait!" the princess begged. "Please come back! I don't even know your name!" She reached out to grab his hand, but he slipped away, leaving behind a silk glove in her grasp.

"What? No glass slipper action?"

"Axel wouldn't wear glass slippers."

Axel escaped into the night, his fine clothes fading into rags and his carriage now nothing but a crushed pumpkin. With a heavy heart, he jogged back home and prayed that his stepmother or stepsiblings did not see him at the ball.

Meanwhile, the princess could not sleep that night. That man had stolen off with her heart, leaving behind only a glove as a clue to his identity. Unable to bear the thought of never seeing the mysterious man again, she determined to search the entire kingdom for him the next morning.

The princess and a few attendants went door to door in search of him. However, not one man fit the glove perfectly as she remembered, and not one of their hands could replicate the same warmth she felt when she held the hand of the man she fell for the night before.

"How could she not remember that Axel has bright red hair and just get all the redheads to try on the glove?" Riku deadpanned.

Zexion sighed. "The story wouldn't be as interesting that way."

"And what if Axel wasn't the only redhead in the kingdom?" Kairi reasoned.

Both Axel and his stepmother had heard that the princess was searching the kingdom for the man she fell for. Though Axel would not admit it to her, the stepmother knew Axel had somehow snuck out of the chateau and gone to the ball. Even if Axel was not the man the princess was searching for, the stepmother knew she had to smoke out any possibility of the princess seeing him, just in case. Hence, she crept to Axel's tiny chamber and locked him inside.

"What a jealous bitch."

"Riku!"

"Hey, don't pretend you weren't thinking the same thing."

When the princess arrived at the chateau, the stepmother brought out Marluxia to try the glove on…but his hand was too broad to fit it, no matter how hard they tried to slide it on. The stepmother insisted to the princess that the glove somehow shrank—a poor lie the princess saw through easily. Though the stepmother tried to convince the princess to court Marluxia, the princess stoutly refused, getting up to leave…

Then, Axel burst through the door of his chamber and dashed into the foyer. "Wait!" he cried. "Let me try the glove on."

The princess halted and the stepmother fumed. Axel stepped forward, kneeling before the princess and holding out his hand. Their hearts pounded in anticipation as the princess slipped the glove onto his hand. She placed her hand in his…and instantly recognized his warmth. She had found her love and he had revealed himself to her.

"Please tell me your name," she said.

He smiled and said, "Axel. A-X-E-L. Commit it to memory…Your Highness."

"I knew you were going to put that in somewhere," Demyx cackled gleefully.

Zexion shrugged with a smirk. "And they lived happily ever after."

"That was pretty good," Sora told him, smiling brightly. "I would never have thought Axel could fit the Cinderella role."

"But you never said who the princess was!" Kairi moaned. "It's killing me!"

"Yeah, who is she?" Riku asked.

Zexion shared a knowing look with Demyx before saying, "Perhaps you should get your eyes checked if you cannot guess who Axel's princess is."

"Aw, c'mon Zexion!"

"Give us a hint! It's someone we know, right?"

"Hey." Demyx sat up in his seat, his eyes brightening at the flashing lights approaching from behind. "The tow truck's here."

Zexion settled into his seat and pulled out his phone once more, tuning out the questions and wailing of the three teens. They got their story and now the tow truck would get them out of here. His work was done.

Author's Afterthought: Do you know who the princess is? If you've read my other pieces, you probably do, don't you? I decided to leave the question unanswered just in case there was someone else you enjoy picturing as Axel's romantic interest. Please leave a review! Thank you for reading!