Be awed by my presence my dear Minions, the King has returned!

x)

Sorry for not uploading sooner but school delays more than I thought it would xp

Well, I hope you'll enjoy and don't come after me with the pitchforks, if it's not satisfactory I'll see what I can do.

Roxas' pov

Axel was sitting crossed legged in front of me on the bed, waiting for me to speak. We had changed into our sleeping wear. I wore pyjama bottoms and an oversized t-shirt and Axel borrowed a t-shirt that actually was quite big on him; he chose to stay in his boxer instead of using normal pyjamas (it kept my mind slightly out of focus). The only light was the lamp on the bedside table. I would not tell him everything because I didn't want him too much involved.

"My parents died in a car accident a few years ago." I took a deep breath before continuing. "I was in the car when it happened and lost my memories. But recently I have begun to remember and I talked with Riku's uncle who I knew before the 'accident'" Axel took my hands and squeezed them as comfort. "Sephiroth looked into it and found out that my parents were murdered. Then he did some talking with Rufus Shinra and as I was a witness, Leon and your brother Reno were told to keep an eye on me." I fell silent contemplating whether or not I should tell him the rest. I looked down at our intertwined hands. "There is some more, but it wouldn't be safe telling you."

"I know and I won't force you. What Reno deals with on a daily basis isn't something I should know about, but I'll be here to listen."

"Thank you," I smiled softly. "And you really don't have to worry because I won't do anything stupid like trying to find things out because I know it will only bring trouble to those around me."

"Good."

I knew that what I told him would be of no consequence if he ever betrayed me, or if something else came in the way. You cannot really trust anyone, but with Axel I'm willing to try.

"Now I want to snuggle with you." Axel declared and grabbed me around the waist and laid us down on the bed.

I couldn't help but laugh at this, but I felt relieved as he tucked me close to his chest. It was a nice feeling and I could leave all my concerns behind for now. Axel treaded his fingers through my hair, slowly lulling me to sleep.

"You know," I said tiredly. "I never thought I'd let you this close so soon."

"…Me neither." Axel said and tightened his hold. "Go to sleep." He kissed me atop of my head and I let my eyes close and fell asleep in his arms.

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I woke up to someone touching my hair. I opened my eyes and looked up coming face to face with a pair of stunning green eyes.

"Your eyes are beautiful." I murmured.

Axel's eyes widened and a blush spread across his cheeks. He coughed slightly and avoided my eyes. He mumbled something that sounded like "thanks". I smiled at his embarrassment and drew him down and pecked him on the cheek. Axel had listened to me and accepted it, not questioning me once or demanded for more, it made me feel… light, happy and worse giddy. I don't feel giddy, but hey, it is Axel, and sometime has to be the first.

"If you want to shower you can use mine, it's through that door," I said pointing at the door to my bathroom. "After I've freshened up I'll make us breakfast." Axel nodded and picked up his clothes, which he had just thrown on the floor.

I went down the hall and took a quick shower before walking back to my room. When I stepped inside I saw Axel in only his jeans with no shirt on. Why he had not changed in the bathroom I have no idea. His hair was still slightly wet and dripped down his shoulders and back. Despite how thin he looked with his clothes on, it was mostly muscles. He had a defined six-pack and frankly I think I was drooling. My face was beginning to burn and my heart was throbbing in my chest plus those damn butterflies in my stomach. I have no idea how long I was staring when I heard someone behind me.

"Nice abs Axel," Cloud said "it seems like Rox has left the building so you might wanna put on your shirt so he can return." Axel looked up and flashed me his typical sexy smirk that almost, almost made my legs give in. "Such a pity you're too young…"

"You keep your paws of my man!" I snapped at Cloud and closed the door on his face. Cloud's laughter rang throughout the house and I felt slightly mortified.

I stood, still facing the door not daring to turn around. I could feel the blush still on my cheeks and my heart thundering in my chest. I heard Axel walking towards me but I couldn't move an inch. I felt more than saw his arm wrap around my waist; his chest touching my back.

"Your man, huh?" He said, breathing in my ear the smirk clear in his voice.

"…Um, t-that was, I mean, eh…" His breath was trailing down my neck and his hand was moving in a circular caress by my hipbone, causing the butterflies to erupt full force. It's not really fair that he is able to render me speechless, and what the hell has happened to me, I'm soon becoming as mushy as Sora.

"I'm happy to be yours as long as you're mine." He breathed against my neck making me shiver (scheiße, something must be wrong with my brain… or because of that dream my hormones have finally caught up with me).

"Of course…" I breathed in a daze as he kissed my neck and caressed my stomach.

"Good, now let me grab my shirt and get some breakfast." He released me and put on his shirt then moved me back from the door and opened it. "Are you coming?" He asked smirking.

"…" I stared at him dumbfounded as he moved backwards towards the stairs. "You…" the haze had disappeared and frustration took its place. "Get back here you… you fiend!" Axel laughed and ran. I guess… I shouldn't worry too much. It's nice having someone who cares for you.

"I thought you said that you would make us breakfast after you were done?" He grinned and sped into the kitchen.

"Can you two keep your voices down?"

Axel and I turned to Cloud who was sitting at the table with Leon, both holding a cup of tea and reading the paper.

"Well, isn't this is a cute scene." Axel smirked looking at Leon.

"Cloud was kind enough to let me stay over night." Leon replied without lifting his gaze from the paper.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say." Axel grinned.

"Oh, yes, by the way, Axel?" Cloud said removing his gaze from the paper to stare at him. "Next time you stay over, you're sleeping on the floor." There was an underlying threat in that sentence causing Axel to swallow nervously.

"Of course, sir."

I rolled my eyes and began preparing breakfast. Riku and Sora arrived slightly later and joined us. The whole affair passed without incident and Cloud and Leon left while Sora and Riku went up to his room to do who knows what (at least I don't want to know). Axel had gotten a call from Demyx telling him that he was bored because Zexion was away so we promised to go see him at the house. I asked him about it and Axel explained that he was sort of involved in a gang, but they were not bad. Apparently they call themselves Organization XIII, though they are only twelve members (I wonder who counted?). Axel told me that he and his brother, Reno, had been orphans and that they had become separated. Axel had run away from the orphanage and been living on the streets and then been found by a man called Xemnas, who took him in and Axel lived at his house together with others and so formed Organization XIII. I felt for him when he told me about his parents but he said not to worry, they were not the best sorts of parents, Reno was the one that had taken care of him. Reno had searched for him while also going into training to become a Turk. When he finished he was employed by Shinra and acquired help from him to find Axel. As soon as he found him he called and then met up with him. Since then Axel has been living with Reno but still has his own room at the house for when the situation calls for it. It actually gave me a new view on Axel, and I gave into my Sora-mushiness and hugged him. I have never been good at comforting others but with Axel I'll try, though I think he's embarrassed by it so one point to me.

"No need to be embarrassed, it's only me," I took his hand and began dragging him to the door. "Now, let's go I want to see that house you lived in." Axel only sighed, but I knew that he was smiling.

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"You call this castle a house?!" I said incredulously as I stared at the unnecessarily huge castle (well, at least now I understand how they all fit in it). Even the garden looked huge, from what I could see there was also a fence surrounding the estate.

"Hello, Xaldin, could ya open the gate?" Axel asked into thin air, but apparently there was a communicator thingy somewhere because the gate opened. The garden was beautiful with rose trees and sakura trees, sort of not what you were expecting in a garden of a gang. Axel took me inside and showed me most of the places. I met some of his… friends. I met Xaldin; a huge guy with black hair and he seemed quite fond of lances, if his collection was anything to go by. Axel showed me his room, which was quite colourless. The walls were white and so were the bed, the wardrobe, the desk, and the shelf. The shelf was, luckily, filled with books and gave some colour to the room. What really got my attention were two weapon-looking circular objects in silverish and red and the 'plus' handle in the middle was blackish.

"I thought you would have more colour in your room."

"There was, but I moved some of it to Reno's and now my Chakrams are more eye-catching, don't ya agree." He said gesturing to the circular, spikey things on the wall with practically stars twinkling in his eyes.

"They are noticeable." I agreed smiling slightly.

I did not think it was possible but the twinkling stars in Axel's eyes turned into blinding suns and I almost had to shield my own eyes, luckily I did not. We went to Demyx's room but he was not there so we went to Zexion's room and knocked. Demyx was the one who opened and as soon as he saw us he tackled us and shouted:

"AXEL, ROXAS, YOU CAME!" I think I actually went deaf for a moment.

"Demyx, what have I told you?" Zexion appeared in the doorway and looked down at us with one eyebrow raised.

"…Not to shout." Demyx replied with a small pout.

"But tackling us is totally fine." I think that the sarcasm went over their heads.

"Of course it is." Zexion smirked as Demyx smiled brilliantly.

"Thanks Rox!" I could only sigh and decided to just ignore it.

"So what's new Dem?" Axel asked.

"Well, Luxord is gone, Vexen is in his lab and, oh! Marly is in the garden!"

"Is he now?" Axel smirked. "Well, Roxas then I'll take you to meet a very dear friend of mine." The smirk and his eyes told me that 'dear friend' was not what this Marly was.

Axel and Demyx were walking ahead of Zexion and I. Zexion because he wasn't that interested in what they were up to, or he was used to it, and I because I didn't know the way. It felt like hours before we actually reached the door to the garden, I hadn't realised that the corridors were that long. What struck me the most with the garden were all the roses and the beauty of it. I did not really picture the headquarters of a gang full with pretty flowers, and the castle did not give off the pretty flowery garden aura. We moved towards a maze of roses, at least that is what it looked like, and different flower bushes formed into different shapes. Axel and Demyx had fetched paint, matches and other stuff I had no idea of what it was. Madly cackling they sprinted towards the bushes, Zexion continued reading his book, while I could actually only stare after them. They had almost reached the bushes when they suddenly tripped and they dropped the things they were carrying. The paint went flying and spilled over their heads, dripping yellow, blue, and green. They were lying still on the ground, not comprehending what had happened.

"Demyx, Axel, I should have guessed that it was you two." A familiar voice came from behind us.

"You set this trap!" Axel exclaimed as he sat back up and tried to remove the paint.

"It wasn't really a trap, more of a delaying device, which actually worked quite well." He smirked. "And hello there Roxas, wasn't expecting you."

"Marluxia, I wasn't expecting you either. How are you?"

"I'm fine, though I am surprised at seeing you but I will take a wild guess and say that bastard number one is your… boyfriend? Since that would also explain his moody behaviour around the time you texted me." Marluxia said while motioning to Axel.

"Yup, got it in one."

"Good luck with that one."

"Hey, how do you two know each other?" Axel said pointing at us with colour still dripping down his face.

"I met sweet little Roxas here," Marluxia began and put his arm around my shoulders, "when he came to my university to visit his brother I believe it was."

"Yes, and then we began talking and exchanged numbers. How did it go by the way?" I asked looking at him.

"Urgh, he still doesn't get it, he's like the most oblivious person ever. I just want to hit him until he gets it." He sighed and dropped his arm.

"Have you tried just telling him?"

"Yes, and he didn't even react!" Marluxia flailed his arms in frustration.

"Have you said 'I love you' and 'I want to do… things with you' but a bit more elaborate?" I asked while looking at Axel and Demyx who tried to brush away the paint.

"Yes, at least sort of and I even gave him the red chrysanthemum and he said nothing." He looked downright depressed.

"Does he know about flower language?"

"… Perhaps… I have never asked but I have talked about my flowers with him so he should know."

"Okay," I rubbed my face, at this moment I felt like the wise man in the tower. "When you see him next, just tell him clearly and if he doesn't get it, kiss him."

"… I think I'll do that." He said and with determination went back to the castle. "Axel Demyx, make sure to clean up after you!"

"Well, what should we do now?" I asked the others. Zexion smiled in amusement while Axel glowered at me and Demyx fought the paint in desperation. "So far I've actually enjoyed this day." I smirked. It felt like nothing would go wrong.

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Normal pov

There was a knocking on the door to Rufus Shinra's office and Sephiroth stepped inside then closed the door. Rufus' face was set in an unreadable expression as he motioned for Sephiroth to take a seat.

"Have you found anything?" He asked, which also meant that he wanted to know everything Sephiroth might have fount out.

"I have searched all the names the Strifes were working with throughout the years. Most of them were not working on the field with the Symbols and further investigation gave no result on them. Most of those who did work with the Symbols have either passed away or are not traceable. Furthermore, the deaths began even before the Strifes' murder," Rufus leaned forward, his expression turning into a concerned frown. "The first who died were old and it was diagnosed as a heart attack. Those who followed were either deemed as accidents much like the Strifes' or natural causes."

"That would be too much of a coincident," Rufus stated and his frown deepened. "Have you found any suspects?" he asked and looked at Sephiroth.

"There was a man whom they worked with in the beginning of searching for the answers regarding the Symbols, but from what I gathered he is supposed to have died, though no body was ever found. Those who are still alive were assistants not really part of the research team, but they remember the man. They described him as sinister and he did not get along with the Strifes. They mentioned something about different opinions. He disappeared on an expedition and declared deceased. His name was Xehanort."

Rufus was surprised and very concerned. He was familiar with that name but not for good reasons. Xehanort was an evil and twisted man. In his youth he had been different but something had poisoned his mind turning him into a cruel man before he disappeared. Rufus had not believed him to be dead and bided his time waiting for him to turn up again.

"One of he assistance said that he had overheard Mr Strife saying that Xehanort had become obsessed with the Symbols and the knowledge they hold. It consumed him and that if not stopped something bad would happen." Sephiroth finished, his face grave.

"I knew Xehanort from before and after his disappearance I kept an eye on his estranged son, on the possibility that he would seek him out. If Xehanort is alive and the one searching for the journal we will have to…" a sudden noise came from downstairs and then the sound shouting and footsteps. The door opened and Reno, a woman named Elena, Leon and then the man named Rude came in.

"Sir, an unknown number of armed assailants have infiltrated the mansion, we will escort you and Mr Jenova to a safer location." Elena said as a gunfight had broken out downstairs.

"So, he has made his move at last," Rufus said and rose from his seat. "Leon you will take the journal, hopefully it will be suspected that I am in possession of it. Reno, Rude make sure to protect Mr Jenova, he is quite capable himself but I do not want to take any chances. Tseng open the passage and then call for reinforcement."

The man Tseng had been standing hidden in the shadows, unseen by the others. He nodded and pushed at the wall and a hidden door opened. They moved swiftly through the narrow corridor and down the steep stairs that lead underground. They separated and moved to different exits and sneaked out. Leon took his bike while the others moved into the cars. He waited until he was sure that the others had left before he drove out. The sky was dark and the wind sharp. As he sped down the road he heard the engines of cars. He sped up but they were still closing in. The rain began falling in small drips until it soon poured down heavily on Leon making him chilled to the bones. The road became drenched in water and on top of it all, the people following him decided to fire at him. The road had turned slippery and steering proved difficult. A sudden flash of lightning and a bullet hitting the tires caused Leon to lose control and drive off the road before crashing. The two cars stopped by the road and two men got out. They jogged over to where Leon was lying completely still, blood trailing down his neck. The biggest of the men kicked him lightly to see if he was alive.

"Search his body, maybe he has it." The smaller one nodded and began checking Leon's pockets and clothes. Eventually he found the journal and showed it to the first one.

"It's the one, let's go back." He said and turned back to the cars.

"What about him?" The smaller gestured towards Leon.

"If he isn't already dead, he soon will be."

They went back to the cars and soon drove off. Leon was slowly regaining consciousness. He checked for his phone and activated the distress signal. Before he fell back into the black void. He thought about Cloud who was waiting for him to return so they could go out and eat. Cloud had finally managed to secure an evening off and didn't have to worry about homework and the like. Hopefully he would be able to make it up to him. The darkness closed in and he fell unconscious again.

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"The only thing positive about rain is that we don't have to clean up in the garden." Axel grumbled while shaking his dripping hair.

"If you had not participated in such a juvenile prank, you had not been wet from the rain in the first place." Zexion pointed out correcting his fringe and checking his book.

"Ah, I heard you were here for a visit, Axel." A baritone voice spoke up.

"Hello to you too, Mansex." Axel smirked.

Roxas turned around and saw a flash of silver and then zoomed in on the yellow eyes. The same eyes he looked at every time he thought of the 'accident'.

"Hello, Roxas Strife, I would never have imagined meeting you here of all places. Though, it has made things considerably easier." The man smiled staring back into Roxas eyes. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Lord Xemnas Nobody, the son of the late Dr Xehanort Darkness. I am happy to have you here in my humble home."

Roxas stood frozen his very being filling with dread as Xemnas approached.

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