A/N: Heh, this story is so much fun to write! I cant believe how man people have reviewed and added this to their favorites list! I was totally not expecting so many people to like this story so much! Thanks to all of you that have done the following above! Your reviews are what keep me motivated to continue writing! Ok, so I promise that there will be plenty of Axel in this chapter. So, read, enjoy, and leave a review! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, for if I did, Axel would not have died, and Hope would've been in the games! I only own Hope and anything related to her (excluding KH characters!)

He couldn't believe she had said yes to joining the organization. Well, technically, she had said she would think about it, but still, that was as good as yes for Xemnas. Axel had hoped she would've just said no and ran, but then she probably would've been killed. Either way, yes or no, Xemnas would keep her here and watch her and see how her heart is so pure. Currently, Hope was in Axel's room, staring out the window she had tried to escape out of earlier. Axel was sitting on the bed, staring at her back. Ever since the meeting, she had stayed quiet. She had changed a lot over the course of four years. Only, it was her appearance that looked…sickly to him.

She hadn't given anyone a genuine smile at all the entire time she had been here. It was as if someone had erased that smiled she always wore. She had gotten thinner, and her skin was a little paler since the last time he had seen her. Her eyes…Those eyes looked empty and sad, void of any happiness. And…she looked tired and weak. If he could still feel, Axel would say that it scared and worried him a bit.

"Hope, how come you haven't said anything?" He stood up and walked to stand behind her.

She sighed, turning around and grabbing onto him, hugging him as tight as she could, and laying her head on his chest. She kept it there, as if she were searching for something. He knew what she was doing, and if he could truly feel, he would feel sad for her.

Hope listened for the 'Ba-bump' of his heartbeat in his chest, but she couldn't hear or feel anything. It wasn't there. It was just a hollow, and empty space. She couldn't hear the heartbeat that had helped her fall asleep before her mother had died. It was a sound that she had always found soothing. The only thing she could feel was the warmth radiating off of him. That heartbeat was gone.

"No matter how hard you try to listen, you wont hear anything." Axel said, his tone bitter.

"Why are you so warm?" She asks, pulling away to sit on his bed.

"When someone becomes a Nobody, they sometimes get a special power. I have the ability to control fire, and everyone else has the ability to control a different element. Once everyone joined, our names were changed around, and added with an 'X'. My name's Axel."

"Axel, huh?" She repeated, testing it out. "I think it suits you. It sounds a bit cooler than Lea."

She didn't smile when she said it, and it truly bothered him. It was then that he noticed that she had bags under her eyes, showings signs that she hadn't had any good sleep for quite sometime.

"You never finished telling me what happened that day, four years ago." She reminded, leaning back on the headboard of the bed.

He sighed, sitting down next to her. "In all honesty, I dunno. I went looking for you. I wanted to make sure you were alright. But, before I could reach the castle, I ran into Saix, well when he was still Isa. I saw the darkness surrounding him, and tried to tell him to come with me to get you. He said you were dead…and I believed him." Axel looked to see that her face was full of shock.

"You mean…he lied to you?" She should've known that Isa's cold and bitter behavior would somehow effect him, but she had no idea that it would do something like that.

"Yeah… He told me, there wasn't anyway to get out of there alive, unless we both gave into the darkness. He said, that it would bring you back too. When I realized he'd lied to me, I stopped talking to him. He wasn't our friend that we grew up with. Just a monster."

Hope frowned sadly, looking up at Lea with sad lilac eyes. "I tried to help you. I saw what was happening, so I ran. Except, when I tried to grab you, you were already gone. I let you die in a sense."

He didn't say anything about that, but asked about her sleep. "When was the last time you slept?"

"Three days ago." No wonder she looked so exhausted. "I'm not tired though."

"How come you haven't slept in so long?"

"The nightmares…they wake me up, and…it scares me to go back to sleep, knowing that I'll just see the same thing again." She looked down at her hands.

"What nightmares?" Axel asked, looking at her with a concerned face, though he really cant feel concerned.

"…Ones about the destruction of our home, and you getting taken away. I have them almost every night. I hate having to see the same thing happen over and over again. It's like reliving the whole thing again. It's just like that day, except, I'm about to grab your hand, and you disappear, along with everything else. And then…" Tears begin to fall from her eyes. "You come back, and you ask me why I let you die. Why I didn't save you."

Axel finally realizes the reason she looks so sickly. She blames herself for him being like this. For four years, she's been this way, sleep deprived and depressed. When was the last time she laughed and smiled?

"It's not your fault. If your gonna blame someone or something, blame the darkness." Axel said, patting her on the shoulder.

"But-"

"Don't. I'm here now, aren't I? So stop being so sad and depressed, and try to be happy again." He took a hold of one of her hands. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?"

He smiled. "Yeah. I promise. Now," He smirked at her, "I think it's time for you to have a good laugh!"

Before Hope could ask what he had meant by that, he lunged at her, and began tickling her sides. "N-no! St-stop!" she tried to roll away, but he held her in place. For the first time in four years, Hope laughed and smiled. Her laughter was music to Axel's ears, and her smile was like the sunrise. If he had a heart, he would say that it was those two things he had missed so much. "Axel, have mercy!"

He laughed, stopping his ministrations of tickling, letting her breath. After a few minutes of panting, she looked up at him smiled her genuine smile. "I missed you."

He smiled at her, before lifting her up and pulling her into a hug. "I know. I missed you too."

Dear Diary,

I haven't written an entry for four years. Anyway, I will be writing in you again from now on. I found Lea, well, he's Axel now, but I found him, and I found Ienzo, who I have yet to speak to. I will write everything down later.

A/N: Hope you guys liked it! LATER TATERS!