"Axel? Can I come in?"
Axel stood up fairly quickly and wiped his face with the back of his hand for any remaining tears.
"Axel?"
"Coming!" he shouted from the back of the room. He couldn't be seen in this state. The others only suspected of his emotional situation, they hadn't actually confirmed it.
After checking every red spike was in place, he put his gloves back on and walked towards the door.
"Superior!" he said as he opened the door. His tone was somewhat surprised, he hadn't thought on the possibility that Xemnas would be informed of what was going on.
"Hi Axel, how are you feeling?"
Axel rolled his eyes, but stepped back to let Number I inside, who closed the door behind him to prevent Axel from escaping again.
"Axel," said Xemnas without waiting for Axel to say anything else, "You've been avoiding us. You have to get yourself together, you can let everything beat you down, we are, after all, the Organization XIII. We are a powerful group with strong ideals, and we can't afford to lose any members who are still inside the castle, not to some⦠nobody. The Organization XIII-"
"Give it a break Xemnas! Get to the point already, you do this every time."
Xemnas frowned. He had a great speech prepared. He supposed it was true, he did give a lot of long talks, but it wasn't his fault he was so gifted with words.
He turned to look at Axel. His big green eyes were swollen and bloodshot, and his gloves were misplaced into an awkward position. He immediately forgot the anger he was feeling towards number VIII.
"Were you crying?" he said with concern.
Axel quickly blushed. "What? Don't be ridiculous, why would I cry? I don't cry, I do fire and things, remember?"
"Sit." Xemnas said pointing to the bed. He sounded so authoritative in his tone that Axel didn't think twice in obeying. Xemnas sat beside him; he unzipped his jacket and took off his gloves. He placed them on the bed beside him, folded looked at him suspiciously, as the Superior, Xemnas had always encouraged everyone to dress properly at all times.
Xemnas smiled at Axel's reaction. "Relax; I too get hot in these garments." When Axel didn't smile back, he continued on a more serious tone. "Axel listen," he said, his hazel eyes boring into Axel's. "This-mask you got yourself covered in isn't fooling anyone, not even yourself. And if you don't let anyone in it's going to weigh you down. I don't say it only because you're a valuable member of the organization, you-you mean a lot to me Axel, you really do, you're different from anyone else here. I don't want to lose you, not to some memory. He's gone Axel, gone and he's not coming back. The time will come when you will have to choose, even though we are still undecided to what to do about it, it'll happen eventually. So please Axel, talk to me, let me help you. You don't have to deal with this alone."
Axel didn't respond, but looked away. He could still feel his cheeks burning and despised it. Had he been so obvious that everyone had sent Xemnas to talk to him?
"What- did you have this speech prepared as well?" Axel said finally. He got up from the bed and walked to the door. Xemnas quickly followed, grabbing his gloves from the bed.
"Don't mock me." he said angrily. "How dare you, after I came to see you? Actually worried about you?"
Axel growled. "Nobody asked you to." He placed his hand on the knob but didn't move.
"Like hell nobody asked me to, what would you have done if I hadn't come to see you?"
"Leave me alone Xemnas, I don't need your pity."
Xemnas eyes flashed, he looked hurt.
"Fine, do what you will."
Axel stepped away from the doorway, relieved. He opened the door for Xemnas who walked outside. "I'll set your place on the table; the usual time. We'll be waiting." He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Axel stayed where he was. He hated Xemnas coming and telling him how to feel, what to do, to go on as if nothing had ever happened, they were supposed to be heartless anyway. Emotions were just a caprice, a mere recollection of past lives that just got in the way. Well, he wasn't just going to forget. In fact, Xemnas coming to see him made him realize it the more. After all, being told not to do or feel something, makes you want more and more to do and feel those things you aren't supposed to.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. After meditating it for a while, he decided to go for dinner with the rest of the Organization. He knew that if he didn't they would continue to nag him. He opened the door for the third time that night, and locking it behind him so Vexen wouldn't steal any of his clothes for DNA testing, he made his way to the dining room.
