Moth To The Flame

This Chapter is extremely long so I split it up into 2 parts. I had a hard time with this one so I hope it's enjoyable anyways. Please R & R.

I know I know...I don't own Kingdom Hearts, The characters OR the quotes used directly from the game!

KH2 Spoilers! []= Inner thoughts/Unspoken Conversation

Chapter 9

Thud Thud Thud Thud

It has always been a mystery as to why a nobody, a heartless shell of a person can have a heartbeat. Is it the body's compensation for the overwhelming emotion that is occurring at the sudden feeling of the heartbeat? Do nobodies really have hearts or maybe just a shell of one, containing a beat that pumps the nothingness through them? Expressions of love, anger, confusion, sadness...and defeat...are they real?

Axel stood at the center of the darkened room, clutching his chest.

The wall of flames surrounding him diminished into the floor and smoke lurked throughout the air. Ordered to destroy Roxas, he traveled back to Twilight Town one last time in hopes of rekindling his love. Roxas finally remembered but not enough to recall events in his nobody life. He had no memory of Axel except a simple drawing hanging from the wall of an empty white room and sporadic dreams that had no connection to each other.

Roxas was called out by the man who encountered him and Axel at the struggle tournament. He found a computer room in the haunted mansion and he found Axel. Roxas could tell the redhead was angry and frustrated with him, failing to surface any memories of a love he claimed they had.

[Axel...] His name escaped Roxas' lips and rang through Axel's ears.

[You really do remember me this time?]

[I'm SO FLATTERED!...But you're too late!]

Thud Thud Thud Thud

Axel yelled and a desperate battle ensued between them. Words were thrown amidst the flames, cries of pain echoed throughout the room and in the end, Roxas stood, staring at his former lover, experiencing a pang of regret and sadness as the nobody before him panted in defeat.

"Axel..." Roxas whispered and he approached him slowly. Axel stared down at the floor, clutching his chest, feeling the erratic pounding. It felt as if his non-existent heart was shattering beneath his hand, desperately beating to compensate for the broken pieces.

Emerald eyes gazed up at Roxas and caught him in their stare. He wanted to memorize every inch of him, knowing this was the last he would ever see of Roxas again.

Roxas moved dangerously close to Axel, trying to remember. He wanted to remember, he wanted to feel what Axel felt but he could not. Axel then leaned forward and captured Roxas' lips with his own. He didn't care at this point of the consequences. He just wanted to feel him one last time. Every muscle in Roxas' body tensed and a knot formed in the pit of his stomach. Axel tasted Roxas' sweetness for an instant and regressed, gazing sadly into those endless blue oceans.

He sighed. "Let's meet again in the next life..."

Roxas swallowed hard as a dark hole formed around Axel, slowly consuming his figure.

"Yeah...I'll be waiting..." The blonde whispered, hoping that someday...he could remember and make it up to Axel.

Axel shook his head, knowing the truth, accepting the truth...

"I...love you Roxas..." he whispered as he stepped back into the swirling darkness and disappeared from sight.

Roxas stood in silence, hoping the deep pounding in his chest would sooth his sudden sadness.

A door in the corner of the room suddenly opened and Roxas stepped through. His summer vacation and life as a nobody...was coming to an end.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thud Thud Thud Thud

"He's gone..." Axel stated flatly.

Demyx stood next to Axel beneath the bright glow of kingdom hearts, gazing sadly at the redhead.

"I failed Demyx...but now he is whole again...You know, he always told me that the Organization would never give him or us the chance to be whole again...I guess he was right..."

"Axel, Xemnas knows that Sora is back and is going to use him to unlock kingdom hearts...he wants the key blade..." Demyx looked nervously at Axel as a small smile played across his lips.

"I'm not going to let that happen...All Xemnas wanted was to use Roxas from the very beginning. He craves power, no desire to help us in any way! He did nothing to save Roxas! He sent me and I failed and I will not fail Roxas again..."

Demyx nodded, knowing that Axel was turning his back on the Organization. What he would do, he was unsure of but he knew it was probably the right thing.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Demyx's opportunity to help came to him shortly after his most recent mission to the underworld. He encountered Sora for the first time and pleaded with Roxas through Sora's eyes. His first attempt failed but he was not about to give up...for Axel's sake.

...

"Hey...you're looking lively!" Demyx exclaimed after being startled by the sudden re-appearance of Sora outside Hollow Bastion, the world that originally created the heartless creatures.

"Didn't we catch you in the underworld a while back?" Sora questioned, obviously doubting Demyx's ability to defend himself, a doubt that most everyone that met Demyx had. "How did a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?"

Demyx fought with himself, knowing that this battle was already lost. The thudding in his chest rang in his ears as he gawked at the key blade wielder continuing to threaten his fighting abilities. [I wonder if Roxas doubted me like this...] He turned away from Sora, avoiding Roxas' inner gaze and thought of Axel. His determination, his eternal sadness and his defiance to the Organization they were part of. He had to try and bring Roxas back...to bring Axel back.

He gathered up every bit of his inner strength, focusing it around Axel and he turned to face Sora.

"Silence traitor!"

Clear droplets of water wound their way around the nobody as he raised his arm into the air, capturing his sitar from the materializing element.

"Dance Water Dance!" Demyx called out as clones surrounded Sora, closing in around him. His eyes widened as he watched the key blade wielder destroy every droplet of water thrown at him. The nobody's frustration grew, defeat pounding in his chest.

The two men battled on as Sora tore through the leather of Demyx's coat, eliciting cries of pain from his opponent. Walls of water covered the ground and pillars shot up from the concrete as if to cry out with Demyx.

"Roxas!" Demyx yelled as Sora knocked him against a nearby wall, water mixing with the small amount of blood on the nobody's coat. The dancing swirls trickled down the wall as Demyx lunged towards the key blade wielder.

Sora flung the key blade at Demyx, causing him to hit the ground with a painful thud. The nobody came down on one knee, staring down at his feet as his vision came in and out of focus. His breathing hitched in his throat as he gasped for air, feeling his body suddenly become lighter. Demyx turned his gaze towards his arm, now fading away as pieces of himself fluttered up into the air. His eyes widened as he felt the pounding in his chest become slower and more erratic.

"Roxas..." Demyx looked up at Sora standing above him, a great sadness and panic washing over his body at the same time.

"My name is Sora!...and don't look at me like that...you.re a nobody...no feelings...no heart!"

Sora's words cut through Demyx like fatal wounds from the key blade as he shook his head.

"He would have hated to hear you say that Roxas...he...loved you..." Demyx whispered as he collapsed, submitting to his death.

"What?" Sora questioned angrily but could not be answered as Demyx cried out one last time and disappeared, leaving a glistening puddle of water, spread out like tears in his place.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The wind danced and caressed its way through violent spikes of red hair as Axel emerged from darkness into the world of Hollow Bastion. He sensed Roxas and searched desperately for him while eluding the Organization at every turn. They were out to destroy him now and he was not about to let them get in his way.

He looked around and knew he had barely missed Sora. Walking through the clearing, he noticed the ground was bathed in of water, despite the fact there was not a cloud in the sky and no rain had fallen elsewhere.

Thud Thud Thud Thud

Axel swallowed hard and a painful knot formed in his stomach as he bent down and picked up a piece of cloth floating amidst the puddles of water. It was a piece of leather. Axel held it up to the sleeve of his coat and as he noticed the material matched perfectly, he squeezed his eyes shut, knowing what had transpired here.

Demyx was dead...

Axel shook his head and tucked the piece of fabric in his coat. He had to find Sora. He had to draw him out somehow if he ever hoped to see Roxas again. His determination grew as the reality hit him.

He was truly alone now...

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sora had taken something very dear to Axel. It was time Axel returned the favor...

"Maybe waiting isn't good enough..." Sora's dear friend Kairi stood, gazing out at the dying sunset, trying to keep her promise of waiting for Sora to return to her after so long.

"My thoughts exactly!" Axel laughed as he stepped onto the beach. "If you have a dream...don't wait...Act"

Kairi reeled around to face the tall nobody and gasped. He smiled calmly at her. "One of life's little rules...Got it memorized?"

"Who...are you?" the girl stared in awe and fear, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Axel...I happen to be an acquaintance of Sora's..." He laughs softly to himself. "...Why don't we go see him?"

Holding his hand out to her as dusk nobodies surround her, he opens a portal nearby, planning to take her away into the darkness, as Sora did to his loved ones.

"We've got something in common Kairi...we both miss someone we care about..hey, I feel like we're friends already" His voice smooth and manipulating as he pushes her on, coaxing her into his clutches.

Kairi feels his darkness wrapping its arms around her shoulders, whispering words into her ear that send uncomfortable chills up her spine.

She shudders violently. "You're not acting very friendly!" she calls out as she begins to run away from him, into the darkness of the portal.

He smiles slyly and steps in after her...unknowing that somebody was waiting on the other side.

Darkness enveloped the nobody and a presence overcame him. He halted in the middle lands, stopping to stare at the nothingness in between worlds. Swirling colors and emptiness surrounded Axel as he searched for Kairi.

"Looking for something number VIII?"

Axel's eyes widened as he turned to face the source of the voice. Saix leered at Axel as he clasped his gloved hand over Kairi's mouth.

"Saix!" Axel hissed as he summoned his chakrams to his sides, determined to reclaim his bait.

"I do not think that would be wise of you number VIII, you will be destroyed" Saix's face remained calm as he watched Axel lower his weapons. "Normally I would eliminate you where you stand but I believe this is an even trade for your life...for now..." His voice faded away as he disappeared into darkness, taking a struggling and fearful Kairi with him.

Axel cried out in anger and a burst of flames flew out into the nothingness, disappearing into the swirling oblivion. "Damnit!"

A/N: Thud Thud Thud= Heartbeat in case anyone was wondering.