Several weeks later, Axel and Roxas were rudely awoken by the sound of a helicopter landing.
"Oh gods. Roxas." Roxas blinked at the pleading tone in Axel's voice, then gasped as the redhead suddenly hugged him, looking into his face desperately. Then as sleep vanished and he got his mind in gear, Roxas realized what was happening. Someone was coming and there hadn't been any warning. Was it the police? Or someone else? But either way, with no warning there was nothing Axel could do to stop him from escaping. He could try to tie Roxas up and gag him, but if Roxas struggled it would take too much time. It didn't take long to land a helicopter, not long at all.
"It's okay Axel." Roxas stared into those brilliant green eyes and made a decision. It was the same decision he'd made with the icing months ago. "I'll stay out of sight." Axel's eyes brightened with held back tears, and he smiled, nuzzling Roxas' throat for a moment.
"I don't deserve you." He murmured softly, then got out of bed to quickly get dressed. Roxas followed suit. He would stay out of sight, but he still wanted to listen in. And if it was the police, he might need to intervene.
It wasn't the police. Axel answered the door to a hard knock as Roxas peeked through a cracked door curiously. It was a stranger with bright gold hair, blue eyes and a rather neat beard, and Roxas stared as he realized he recognized him.
"Senator Luxord, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Axel said sardonically, and the stranger snorted.
"That's Uncle to you, brat." Luxord glanced around and Roxas quickly moved so he couldn't be seen. "I see you've been keeping the place up."
"Got to. Want some coffee, Uncle?" Axel said with a faint edge to his voice. "You could have sent me an e-mail or something that you were coming."
"Why? You have pressing engagements?" Axel snorted as Luxord laughed, and Roxas wished he could see them. Hesitantly, he peeked out again, watching them going to the kitchen. "I figured if I missed you somehow, I could just let myself in and wait for you to get back." It was a bit harder for Roxas to hear them from the kitchen, but he could still make them out. But his thoughts were adrift as he came to grips with the new revelation.
Axel was nephew to Senator Luxord Beaumarch? That had to mean he was rich, technically. The Beaumarch family was old money. Was that Axel's last name? Although Roxas supposed it didn't really count as being rich when you could only take out three thousand dollars a month and had to live in a cabin in the woods just for that. Wait, that meant that the Senator's brother had been a serial killer? Roxas wondered what the press would do with that. Did the Senator know?
"There's some things you need to sign." Roxas heard a click and realized the Senator had been carrying a briefcase. There was a shuffling of papers before he heard Axel's voice again.
"Should I bother trying to read them?" Axel sounded amused, and Luxord laughed.
"Not unless you want to bore yourself to death. I can give you the high points." Roxas quickly became lost as Luxord gave Axel the details of several business transactions. Axel seemed to understand most of it and even asked a few questions. Then suddenly things took a personal turn.
"Axel, you're wasting your life out here." Luxord said, his voice serious. There was a brief pause before Axel replied, and Roxas desperately wished he could see them. But there was no safe way to watch them in the kitchen.
"I don't have much choice, now do I?" Axel sounded almost angry.
"Pfah! My brother had no right to make his will like that. These kinds of trusts are meant for adult children. I've gotten to know you better since he died, and you're not mentally deficient. You even seem normal, considering. Do you really think I wouldn't take care of you?" Luxord demanded and Axel sighed.
"Uncle… I'm sorry, but I just don't trust you that far. Astrid is too important to me. And you knew." Roxas swallowed, wondering exactly what Luxord had known. Surely not everything.
"You know why I didn't say anything." Luxord sounded pained, and Axel sighed.
"I know, and I don't really blame you for it." Axel sounded drained, now, as if it was just too much to talk about. "But I don't give you any credit for it either. Don't worry, this can't last much longer. As soon as Astrid is gone, I'll go my own way."
"I suppose that will have to do." Luxord didn't give Axel any false reassurances that Astrid was going to be fine. He knew better. "But don't just vanish on me, please, or do anything rash. I'll be here for you."
"I'll try." Roxas frowned, wondering what Luxord thought Axel might do. They talked for a while longer about the Senator's family. From a few things they mentioned, Roxas gathered that the Senator had taken his wife and children to visit Axel for a few weeks in the summer and Axel seemed to remember the visit fondly. Eventually Luxord said his goodbyes. When he heard the helicopter lifting off, Roxas came back out of the bedroom.
"Your uncle is the Senator?" Roxas couldn't help but sound shocked. Axel grinned sadly, leaning against a wall.
"Yeah. Axel Beaumarch, at your service." Axel shrugged. "I guess I'm graphic proof that money does not buy happiness." Roxas frowned at the redhead.
"What did you mean when you said he knew?" Roxas said in as neutral a tone as he could manage, and Axel hesitated a moment before letting out a sigh.
"Okay. This is pretty much the last skeleton in the closet. C'mon, lets get some tea." Axel led him back to the kitchen and started brewing the tea as he talked. "Want chamomile?"
"Please." That was Roxas' favorite flavor. Axel made some earl grey for himself, bringing out the two mugs and sitting down, taking a sip of his tea before speaking.
"It's like this… Luxord is actually a really nice guy, for a politician." Axel sighed, looking into his tea. "I wish I'd been his kid. He's got a great family. But my dad could fuck anything up. Basically, dad wanted something from Luxord. I don't know what, I was just fourteen at the time, but whatever it was Luxord wasn't going to give it to him. So dad found a way to make him." Roxas blinked at that and frowned, sipping his tea. "He brought me and Astrid out of the cabin and tricked Lux into coming to a party to meet us. He…" Axel swallowed before taking another sip of his tea. "Drugged Luxord and gave us both instructions on what to do. And then he videotaped it."
"Ewwww." Roxas winced at the thought. "And then he blackmailed your uncle?" He could imagine what a video like that would do to any politician. Not only that, but Luxord had probably been married then. The personal results would have been devastating.
"Exactly. So Luxord knew we were being molested but he couldn't do anything about it. He didn't know anything about the rest of what dad was doing." Axel sighed. "I don't blame him. The way dad had us act and the way he edited the video looked really bad. I burned that thing right after he died, but that doesn't mean I trust my uncle. Astrid is just too important."
"I see." And Roxas did see. It was sad, though. Just from the brief moments he'd observed, Luxord looked like a decent man. "So that's definitely the last skeleton in the closet?" Axel smiled sadly.
"Yeah, that's it. Oh, there is one thing." Roxas looked at him expectantly and Axel grinned. "Did you know Christmas is next week?"
"What? It's been that long?" Roxas was started, then scowled. "I can't get you anything." That was annoying. He'd really like to get Axel something, but Axel did all the online ordering and buying, so there was no way for him to surprise the redhead. Axel laughed.
"Don't worry about it! But I was thinking that we could go out together, chop down a tree and bring it back to decorate. There's a whole box of decorations in one of the extra rooms." Axel wasn't sure which one, it had been years since he'd used them. But they wouldn't be hard to find. Roxas brightened at the thought.
"That would be great! Sora and I would decorate a tree every year." That suddenly made him feel homesick, and he suddenly wished he had spoken up to Luxord. Had he made a mistake? But looking at Axel, he couldn't believe that. Axel was smiling at him so happily as he drank his tea, and Roxas felt his worries slipping away. He missed Sora, but he couldn't regret being here with Axel.
"Neat. We can make some decorations, too. We can do the popcorn cranberry thing." Roxas blinked, wondering what he was talking about, and Axel cheerfully explained. "You take a needle and thread and string along popcorn and cranberries. Dad wasn't into Christmas but he let Astrid and me set up a tree, so we used those as garlands. Want to go find the ornaments when we're done our tea?"
"Sure." Soon they were rooting through old boxes, looking for the right one. The boxes in the storage room had an odd variety of stuff, ranging from a hand crank radio to old Ghost Rider comics. "I think this is it?" Roxas had found a box that tinkled a bit when he opened it. Axel peered over his shoulder and grinned.
"That's it! Now all we need to do is get a tree." They hauled the box out to the living room, and Roxas looked through the ornaments curiously for a moment. They were a mixture of fragile and beautiful and homemade. There were a lot of play-doh ornaments that looked ancient and sloppy, as though they had been made by children. Roxas blinked as he realized they probably had been. There were also some carved wooden ornaments that had been painted, and Roxas thought they looked like something Axel might have done. He knew Axel could carve, although he claimed his efforts weren't very good. There were also some newer ornaments, including a box that had the Swarovski label on it. Roxas opened it to reveal a beautiful crystal star and Axel smiled. "That one's my favorite. Astrid got it for me, our first Christmas after dad died."
"Ah." That made sense. The older ornaments were from their childhood, and the newer ones were what they had bought since their father's death had freed them. Roxas closed the box. "Well, lets get that tree." Axel had found a saw, so they were ready to go.
They spent a fair amount of time in the woods, picking out just the right tree to take back. Finally they went for an adorably misshapen specimen that brought back memories for Roxas. One year his family had been very short on money, so they'd deliberately found the ugliest tree on the lot and bargained the place into giving them half off. It had looked a lot like this tree, and Roxas smiled as he helped decorate the tree. They spent the evening getting it ready and making the popcorn and cranberry garlands, although at least half the popcorn ended up getting eaten instead. Then they put on an old movie, Miracle on 34'th Street, and cuddled up as they watched.
It was a very good night.
Merry Christmas Sora! Merry Christmas Mom! And a happy New Year!
I know you'll be getting this a little late, but he couldn't send a letter until after New Years. I had a great time this year, although I wish you both had been there. It started with a massive snowball fight. There were snowballs everywhere! Finally he tackled me into a tree and all the snow in the branches landed on us! It was great. Then we went inside and had some drinking chocolate. It's amazing stuff, it's like hot chocolate only real chocolate bits and it's delicious. It's not even that expensive either if you buy it off eBay, although the shipping is a bitch. We need to get some when I get home. The dulce de leche flavor is amazing.
Uh, where was I? Oh right! We had hot chocolate and played rummy for a while, then watched a Christmas movie marathon. I wish I could have gotten him something, but he says it doesn't matter, my being there was the best gift he could have. Kinda sweet, huh? He got me a necklace. I don't know what it's made out of and he won't say, he just looks embarrassed, but I have a sneaking suspicion its platinum. It looks like silver but I'm sure it's not. He's reading over my shoulder again and blushing. Hah! I'm sure I'm right.
Oh, supper was amazing too. Turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, the works. We're going to have leftovers for a week but that's cool. I wish you guys could write me back to tell me how Christmas has been for you. Gosh, I miss you Sora. I miss you too Mom. Tell Riku hi from me.
Loves and kisses,
-Roxas
"Hey Roxas, check this out." Roxas looked over from where he was writing down the score. He was teaching Axel to play pool, and Axel was already starting to get good at it although he cheerfully admitted to not understanding how the scoring worked.
WHAM! Roxas flinched as Axel hit the ball far, far too hard. It sailed through the air and embedded itself in the wall.
"Woo hoo! Spider is toast! How many points do I get for nailing a spider? I have to get something for that!" Roxas laughed as Axel tried to poke the ball out of the wall with the tip of the pool cue.
"I think you lose points for killing the ball." Axel managed to get it off, examining the smashed spider on one side. "Eww, well, gross. You get to clean that off."
"Sure thing." Axel went to the bathroom to wash the ball off and came back a moment later. "So, who's winning?"
"I am." Roxas was winning handily, in fact. Axel looked a bit confused, but shrugged good-naturedly. He didn't understand the game but he didn't really care either. It was fun just playing with Roxas. It was like the blonde was all he needed to be happy, and Axel vaguely wondered what he would do when Roxas was gone. But he suppressed the thought firmly, concentrating on living in the moment.
The future would have to take care of itself.
