Why hello! I do feel bad that I haven't updated this in quite some time, but on the same time I haven't been idle either, so I have something to show for it! XD On that side note, if you feel so inclined please check out my new (and one of the longest on record) AkuRoku oneshot (lemon) called That Noise OR If you've seen the movie Rise of the Guardians, my new (multi-chaptered!) story Of Soft Breezes and Wintry Nights that I am most proud of.

So I've been productive, but now it's time to update my favorite :D

Important: This chapter is directly related to a certain character from Chapter 60:Abroad, so you might want to peek at that to refresh your memory…

What If…

Shane returned?

((as suggested by the creative DearJamie))

Roxas sighed, falling back onto his bed in pure dejection. Damn him, he thought as he stared up at the ceiling, If I didn't know better I'd say he left out of sheer revenge, but that's not true. He sighed again, rolling fully onto his bed to curl into a ball. Earlier that day at breakfast, the Superior had announced an unexpected need for another two members of the Organization to go on a long term mission. Immediately. However, this time he selected Axel and Marluxia, leaving no room for argument…

-((obvious flashbacking))-

"Why did he have to choose you?" Roxas said malevolently as he sat on Axel's bed, watching him hurriedly pack his backpack with essentials.

Axel flashed him a wry look. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Rox," he said, his voice guarded. "It's not like I volunteered or anything like some other Nobodies I know."

Roxas winced. "I'm sorry, alright? It's just…I've only been home for a few months, and this is so sudden…" He suddenly rolled onto his knees to pull Axel to the edge of the bed, locking him in a fierce embrace. "I know you're more than capable Axel. I just wish you weren't so maybe the Superior would have chosen someone else," he said softly.

Axel's gaze softened. "I know," he said, squeezing the smaller Nobody tightly. "I guess that's my punishment for being one of the best in the Organization," he said with a melodramatic sigh. Roxas smacked him. Axel smirked before sobering. "Look on the bright side; this time it's only one year instead of two! And then you'll have my sexiness all to yourself…" he tilted his head and placed a quick line of kisses down Roxas' neck.

A sharp knock on Axel's door startled the two. "Come on VIII," said a voice, "let's get this show on the road!"

Axel rolled his eyes. "How's this for a bright side; you don't have to spend the next year alone with Marluxia."

Roxas laughed and kissed his lips tenderly. "If he comes back with a few burns, I'm sure no one will ask questions."

Axel laughed and pulled Roxas off the bed, swinging his backpack on his shoulder and pulling the younger Nobody out the door with him.

-((end obvious flashback))-

What am I going to do for a year? Roxas thought, still curled on the bed. It was so much easier when I was the one leaving, when I was the one who had the important mission to accomplish…

Roxas' dark line of thinking was interrupted by a knock on his door. "Roxas? You in there?"

Roxas bit back another sigh and moved to open the door. "Hey Demyx," he said with a small smile, letting the Melodious Nocturne into his room. "What's up?"

Demyx got right to the point. "Are you gonna be okay?" he asked, putting a hand on Roxas' shoulder in concern. "That was rather….sudden," he finished lamely.

Roxas sat back down on his bed, his head in his hands. "How did you do it, Demyx? Zexion and I were gone for two years. They've only been gone twenty minutes, and I already feel like I can't take it anymore."

Demyx sat next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders. "I got through it one day at a time. One day closer to seeing him again," he said, "It's not very comforting, but the only way to get through it is to simply get through it." He squeezed Roxas' shoulders. "Think of it this way; you can spend a lot of time with Zexion and me! We'll have a lot of fun," he said with a smile.

Roxas tried not to make a face. "I don't know if that would work," he said slowly, trying not to offend Demyx. "Seeing you two…." he hesitated, "together might not be the best idea…"

Demyx nodded in understanding. "Still," he persisted, "that doesn't mean I'm going to let you waste away alone for a whole year!" He squeezed his shoulders one more time before he stood up. "I promised Axel that I would watch over you, and I always keep my promises." He winked at him, and stopped just before going out the door.

"It's gonna be fine, okay Roxas?" he said reassuringly, "speaking from experience."

Roxas nodded before Demyx walked out the door. Maybe this won't be that bad.

-((the next day))-

This sucks, Roxas said angrily as he kicked a pebble on the path in Twilight Town. He aimlessly walked the streets, ignoring anyone and everyone who dared to look at him. Twilight Town Patrol totally sucks without Axel. Stupid Superior, stupid mission, stupid Axel… He continued his angry walking in aimless directions, until he accidentally found himself in front of the forest that led to the Old Mansion.

As if on cue, a horde of Heartless and Shadows ambushed him. Roxas rolled his eyes. "Wonderful," he spat out, summoning his weapon. "The perfect end to this shitty afternoon," he muttered to himself as he sprang into action. He worked almost automatically, spinning and ducking under attacks with a mechanical air. He slashed through the air, making short work of the Heartless that were nothing in comparison to his anger and frustration. He was so angry, however, that he failed to notice one lone Shadow sneaking behind him…

Roxas cried out as he felt a stab of pain in his right shoulder. Seeing red, he turned to his attacker, Keyblade flying through the air. The Shadow quickly leapt out of range, and Roxas dove at it, driving his weapon through the Heartless before he used his momentum and rolled. He landed on his back by the path, panting hard.

"You alright there?" a man nearby on the path jogged over to Roxas, hazel eyes full of concern.

Roxas stood up quickly, hiding a wince as he jostled his injured shoulder. "I'm fine," he said hastily, trying to diffuse the man's concern. Shit, if he saw me fighting, I am so screwed…

"Are you sure?" the man persisted. "I saw you take a nasty roll there…"

Roxas inwardly sighed in relief. Good. He didn't see anything. "Yeah…I fell," Roxas said lamely, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

The man raised a thin black eyebrow. "That was quite a fall," he continued, coming closer to look Roxas over. "Are you sure you're okay? I live nearby; I've got a full first aid kit…"

"No that's okay," Roxas backtracked, slowly stepping away from the man, "thank you though, er…" he realized he had no idea what the man's name was.

"I'm Shane," the man said, holding out a hand. Roxas automatically reached out to shake it, but winced when he moved his injured shoulder. Shane narrowed his eyes.

"I knew you hurt something," Shane continued, grabbing Roxas' extended hand to inspect his shoulder. "It looks like you might have dislocated it…"

"I'm sure it's just jammed is all," Roxas said, gently pulling his hand away. "Thank you for your concern, but I really must be getting home now." When Shane looked like he was going to protest, Roxas said, "I also live very close," he fibbed slightly, "I'll be home quite quickly and my…roommate will be able to fix me right up," he assured, only bending the truth so it sounded more real to the man.

Shane nodded, placated. "Well it was nice meeting you. Be careful!" He said before continuing on his walk.

Roxas stared after the man as he walked down the path as if nothing happened. Strange man, Roxas concluded before stepping into the woods to summon a portal straight to the Castle.

-((a few months later))-

Roxas stared up at the ceiling above his bed, bored. Demyx had tried to get him to go to the park with him and Zexion, but he had refused, claiming a headache. For the 500th time that day, he cursed the Superior and the stupid mission that took his stupid Axel away from him.

Hmmmmm….what to do…he wondered, staring absently. I don't really feel like doing anything, so I might as well watch a movie or something…He rolled over to look at his sad collection of movies. He sighed. Axel is the avid movie watcher; not me… I reaaaally don't want to go to his room, he resolved, getting to his feet. I can just go rent one in Twilight Town; no harm done. Roxas quickly summoned a portal and appeared in an alleyway near the movie store in Twilight Town. He walked in, scanning the titles. He decided to pick a cheery one, and he walked up to the counter to make his purchase. However, the man behind the counter looked slightly familiar…

"Hey!" The black haired man said as Roxas put his movie on the counter. "How's your shoulder?"

Roxas blinked. "Have we…met?"

"I'm Shane," the man explained, "I saw you on the edge of town a few months ago when you injured your shoulder. Are you feeling better?" Shane spoke as if they were already close friends; it unnerved Roxas slightly.

"Yes thank you," Roxas replied a little hesitantly as he gave his munny to him. "…You have a remarkable memory," unable to refrain from commenting on his uncanny ability to remember the most random events.

"I know," Shane agreed, "I get that a lot. I remember the most obscure people and facts. Really freaks out a lot of people," he explained with a wry quirk of his lips. He handed him his change with a smile. "I'm glad you're feeling better; try not to fall anymore, alright?"

Roxas nodded in thanks and left the store with his movie. He's not bad, Roxas decided as he summoned another portal, a little strange, but definitely not bad.

-((three weeks later))-

Over the next few weeks, Roxas found himself getting a couple movies a week and frequenting the movie store in Twilight Town. I can see why Axel watched so many movies while I was gone, Roxas thought as he pulled another movie out of his DVD player. It's a great way to spend a lot of hours. Roxas even watched a couple movies with Demyx and Zexion, who insisted on teasing him and making him laugh the whole time, which considerably brightened up his day. Roxas also found that he enjoyed his brief conversations he had with Shane when he went to get and return his movies. Although he was a little bit quirky, the man was smart, humorous, and had great insights. Roxas decided he could be a very good friend.

As he approached the rental counter one afternoon, Roxas decided that he would tell Shane his conclusion. As Shane was ringing up his movie, Roxas blurted out "Would you like to go to lunch sometime?"

Shane raised an eyebrow. Roxas quickly realized how that sounded and hurriedly corrected himself. "I don't mean it like that; I have a boyfriend," he sputtered, "I mean I want to hang out with you outside of the store so I figured lunch would be a good option-"

"I understand," Shane said with a smile, "Lunch sounds great!" he said and clocked out for his lunch break. He grinned and led the way out of the store.

-((at lunch))-

"So tell me about your boyfriend," Shane said as the two sat a table in a coffee shop near the movie store. Roxas swallowed a bite of his sandwich and said "Well…he's tall with red hair and green eyes…he was pulled away on a business trip, and won't be back for another six months…" he said, trailing off.

Shane made a pitying sound. "That sounds harsh. Red hair though? I've always been a sucker for redheads," he continued, "about a year ago I met this one very tall, very thin redhead at work. I had such a huge crush on him," Shane said with a slight blush, "too much of one actually. He was in a relationship, and I kinda threw myself at him and he got really pissed at me…I still feel bad for doing that," he admitted.

"Well now you know who you have to be careful around," Roxas said, pretending to look around the coffee shop. "There aren't any redheads around right? I might have to restrain you."

Shane threw back his head in laughter. Roxas smirked, chuckling as he sipped his coffee.

-((more months))-

"So why haven't I met Shane?" Demyx asked, spinning in Roxas' computer chair. "Axel's coming home next month, and he'll kill me if I let you hang out with someone unsavory…"

Roxas snorted. "He isn't unsavory. He's a good friend, and he hasn't tried to come on to me once. He told me he likes redheads, so I'd prefer to keep Axel away from him actually," he supplied. "As to why you haven't met him, I just didn't want him to get suspicious about the Organization, what with all of us in creepy cloaks and stuff. He's really smart, and when he starts to realize that all of my friends wear the same clothing he'll get suspicious."

"But you don't even wear your cloak when you visit him anymore," Demyx argued, "I won't wear mine either! I want to meet him," Demyx said vehemently, "for the sake of your 'Roxy Honor' as Axel would put it."

Roxas rolled his eyes and sighed. "If you insist," he said with a melodramatic sigh. "We're gonna go watch the trains come in and out of the station; you are welcome to come with us."

Demyx smiled. "Sounds fun!"

-((Trains!))-

"Why is this fun?" Demyx asked as they sat on a bench by the train station, watching the trains come in and leave.

Shane smiled, watching the trains. "I don't really know actually," he admitted with a laugh, "I just always found the trains comforting, being so predictable and stable. I like watching them."

Demyx nodded, leaning back on the bench. "That makes sense," he said. "They have that sort of effect. Sea salt ice cream also weighs in their favor," he said, gesturing to the ice cream he held in his hand.

Shane laughed, eating his own ice cream. "That makes it even better," he said with a wink. "I'm glad to meet one of your friends Roxas," Shane said, looking to the shorter Nobody who sat between them, "I hope I get to meet more in the future?"

"Sure," Roxas said, distracted by his ice cream. "But I may have to beat you back with a hose when you meet Axel though…"

"Axel?" Shane said, sitting up slightly. "Who's that?"

"My tall, redheaded boyfriend that you'll probably be attracted to," Roxas said absently, finishing up his ice cream, "so you better not touch him or I'll have to kill you."

Shane paused for a moment, lost in thought. "Axel…" he muttered to himself before letting out a bark of laughter. Roxas raised an eyebrow, and Shane just shook his head. "I just realized something is all; nothing to worry about!"

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "Fine, crazy, keep your secrets. Just don't go laughing like that randomly in public too often, people will get suspicious…"

-((Here we go!))-

Roxas paced the floor in Axel's room, waiting for said Nobody to walk through the door. Today's the day, Roxas thought impatiently, so why the hell isn't he here yet? He looked at the clock on the desk again, glaring at it. He should be here by now, why—

His thoughts were interrupted by the opening door. He broke into a huge smile as he saw the Flurry of Dancing flames walk through the doorway, a grin on his face. "I figured you'd be in here," Axel said as he dropped his bag to the floor, "if you weren't waiting at the front door this was really the only other-mmf!" Axel's monologue was cut off as Roxas leapt at him, wrapping his legs around his hips and harshly kissing his lips. Axel groaned, automatically bringing his arms under Roxas to hold him up as Roxas' momentum slammed them into the closed door. Roxas' hands were everywhere; wrapped in Axel's hair, unzipping his cloak, reaching under his shirt to stroke his chest. Axel could barely get his brain to process the command of 'walk to the bed;' he lay Roxas on his bed before laying over him, pulling back to breathe.

"I missed you too," Axel said sincerely, kissing his lips again. As Roxas moved to pull Axel down to him again, he resisted slightly. "As anxious as I am to let the fun begin, I am really curious about what you did all year," he said, although he was unable to prevent one of his hands from reaching up to unzip Roxas' jacket. "A whole year is a long time," he said, curious to hear what Roxas had done with himself in that time.

Despite his growing ardor (literally), Roxas tried his very best to think to answer Axel's question. "Well," he said, drawing out the 'well' as he drew patterns down Axel's back. "I hung out with Demyx and sometimes Zexion, I took a leaf out of your book and watched a lot of movies, and I made a new friend in Twilight Town and we hung out together sometimes." Proud of his answer, he moved to pull Axel's lips back down to his. Axel resisted, however.

"New friend?" he questioned, automatically wary of new friends made when others were out of town because of personal experience. "He didn't hit on you, did he? Because if he did, I'll—"

"He did nothing of the sort!" Roxas defended, "he's never hit on me once. Actually," he said with a grin, "I'll have to protect you from him since he told me he was into redheads…"

"Very interesting," Axel said, now back to focusing on the matter at hand. He leaned closer, lips ghosting over Roxas' as he said, "Well I'll be very pleased to make the acquaintance of this…this…what's his name?"

"Shane," Roxas said absently as he reached up to close the slight distance between them. However, at the mention of that name, Axel abruptly pulled away from Roxas, leaping off the bed and standing in the middle of the room.

"Shane?" he said, incredulous. "As in, a Shane that lives in Twilight Town? Where did you meet him?" Axel pressed, the coincidence too uncanny.

"The movie store," Roxas supplied. "Well I saw him before that once, but really—"

Axel made a noise of amazement. "Does he have black hair? Hazel eyes?" Roxas nodded, confused as Axel's eyes turned to green steel.

"I'll kill him," Axel said, summoning a portal. Roxas shot up from the bed to grab Axel's arm, trying to pull him back to sit on the bed. He tried to calm him, saying "He didn't do anything, Axel! He's fine, Demyx even agreed—"

"Demyx said this guy was okay?" Axel said, anger renewed. "When he promised to protect you? Dammit, this is—"

"Axel!" Roxas finally yelled, finally getting Axel to sit on the bed as he moved to stand over him. "What are you not telling me that is making you so angry?"

"…He's the guy that kissed me when you were gone for those two years," Axel finally said, deflated. "He practically did nothing but hit on me, so I thought-"

"You thought wrong," Roxas said, sitting next to him and taking his hand. "I'm safe because I'm not a tall sexy redhead," he continued, bumping his shoulder with Axel's. His brows furrowed in thought. "Actually, I think he inadvertently mentioned you once. He said that he had a huge crush on you, and felt really bad that he practically threw himself at you…"

Axel snorted. "Serves him right." He noticed Roxas glaring at him. "What? He kissed me! He tried to top me—"

"I know," Roxas said, squeezing his hand. "I'm just saying….maybe you could give him another chance?"

Axel's eyes narrowed. "I'll think about it. Now," he said, turning to Roxas with a leer. "Where were we…?"

Roxas smiled and opened his arms, meeting Axel's lips in a fiery kiss.

-((the next day))-

Roxas dragged Axel to the front of the train station, where Shane was sitting by himself, reading the newspaper and watching the trains come in and out of the station. When he saw Roxas, he started to smile, but seeing an angry looking Axel next to him, his smile disappeared. He stood and set down his newspaper.

"I knew it was you," Shane said as the two came up to him.

Axel raised an eyebrow. "You knew?"

Shane nodded. "As soon as he mentioned your name I figured it out."

Axel nodded. "Then you'll understand why I want to tell you to leave Roxas the fuck alone," Axel said. Roxas stepped on his foot.

"I understand why you hate me, and I want to apologize," Shane said, looking away. "I was totally out of line, and I always regretted coming onto you like that." He held out a hand. "Friends?"

Axel stared at his hand. Roxas stepped on his foot again. He tentatively shook it, saying, "I guess I can try."

Shane smiled. "Good. You can start by joining me on this bench and watching the trains." Axel raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Roxas as the two sat on the bench.

"Trains?"

Roxas shrugged. "It's a thing. Like the clock tower," he explained.

"Ah."

At this, Shane raised an eyebrow. "Clock tower?"

"That's our thing," Axel explained, "We'll have to take you up there sometime."

Shane smiled, opening his newspaper. "Sounds great."

-((The End!))-

Ta da! A long one! Not very sexy, but things were still happening. I like how I could talk more about Shane; I always felt bad for painting him out to be an asshole.

Anyway, let me know what you think! I have a couple ideas for some chapters, but I really need more!

R&R!

Last one: DDR! Chapter 10, wow I had no idea that one either…

"You want me to…regularly…buy you your…KY?" Riku asked.

~freaky-hanyou