Entry tags:

[FIC] Kingdom Hearts
Title: N/A
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Pairing: implied Axel/Roxas
Rating: G
Word Count: 346 words

"I kind of like them, you know?"

Roxas stared at Axel as though he'd grown a second head. "You what?"

Axel shrugged, scritching the top of the head of the Shadow loosely held in his arms. It antennae wobbled in what might be considered an encouraging way. "They're sort of cute."

"No, it's not!" Roxas watched with disgust as Axel continued petting the Heartless, taking a step back when it started emitting a strange noise. "Uh, Axel... you should probably put it down."

"Nah. I think..." He titled his head, bringing his ear down to the Shadow. "...hah! Yeah, it's purring!"

"Axel, put the Heartless down. You don't know where it's been." The Shadow turned round yellow eyes at him and blinked. Roxas refused to be swayed.

"Aw, but it followed me home! Can't I keep it?" When obviously-fake puppy-dog eyes didn't work, Axel tried a different tactic. "Come on, it'll be fun. We can put it in Larxene's chair and see if anyone notices the difference."

Roxas paused. "What are you--oh." Now that he thought about it, the thing's antennae did look a lot like Larxene's hair. He sighed, trying to keep his voice patient. "I'm not rescuing you this time if she decides to come after you with her knives again."

There was a long silence where Axel seemed to be weighing the pros and cons of pissing of Larxene yet again. Finally, with a long-suffering sigh, he bent to put the Heartless back on the ground. "Down you go, little guy. Vexen would probably try to eat you anyway, or whatever he does with his test subjects." The Shadow seemed to shrug, and wandered off into the shadows of a nearby building, where it disappeared. Axel came up behind Roxas, slinging his arms around him instead. "'S probably for the best," he said casually. "I've already got a pet." He paused long enough to totally mess up Roxas's hair, then darted off.

"Huh? You don't--HEY! I don't count!" As he ran after him, the other Nobody's laughter was his only response.

---

Title: N/A
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Pairing: N/A (Axel and Roxas)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 322 words

The sugary-sweet smell of burning flesh filled the air, accompanied by a symphony of crackle-crackle-pops as the flames burned brighter. Axel leaned against the nearby wall, watching the still-writhing figure on the ground impassively and wondering when it'd stop moving already. At least the screams were dying out, replaced by hoarse cries and gurgling whimpers. "Oh, come on," he groaned when a charred hand shot out from the fire, groping madly. Cool green eyes regarded it disdainfully as he raised his foot, bringing the heel down hard on the back of the hand and grinding. Flakes of ash and burnt skin flaked off, scattering over the ground like a dark snowfall. "Can't you just die already?" He nudged the hand back into the main body of the fire, feeling satisfied when it failed to reemerge.

"Hey, Axel, what's taking so--oh."

Axel turned, boredom vanishing in an instant. He grinned broadly, raising a hand in greeting. "Yo! Almost done, Roxas. Think this guy's finally kicked it. Man, I was beginning to think he was flame-retardant or something."

Roxas's face was pale. When his eyes flicked down to the now gently-smoldering corpse, he swallowed hard. "...he was still alive through all that?"

"Well, yeah." Axel shrugged. "Seriously, though, that took forever. I should have brought marshmallows or something. At least we would've gotten smores out of it then." He fixed Roxas with the bright smile reserved for the boy. "So, we still going to see if we can get away with going somewhere fun before Saix notices we've been gone longer than we should be?"

"Uh. Yeah. Sure." Roxas shook his head as though to clear it, finally tearing his eyes away from the burnt form.

"What's up with you?" He frowned faintly, stepping over the corpse to rest a gloved hand on Roxas's shoulder. "You're looking all weirded out."

Roxas gave him a disbelieving look in return.

---

Title: N/A
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Pairing: Axel/Roxas
Rating: G
Word Count: 254 words
Notes: Novel canon.

The sand was wet and chilly in the cooling air of twilight, and for once Axel was glad of full-body leather of the Organization's uniform. With a sigh, he wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his chin on his knees, wondering why he couldn't seem to get warm. The fight probably had something to do with it--he felt like he was made of bruises. If he needed to breathe, he was pretty sure he'd be doubled over in pain from what felt like a broken rib. But that was nothing compared to the constant, usual ache of nothingness in his chest that came with being a Nobody.

That ache, situated right where his heart would be if he had one, was worse than usual. It felt like it was consuming him--tendrils of nothing worming his way through his veins, stealing everything that made him up and leaving nothing but a cold, painful void in its wake. Maybe, if he just sat here and didn't move, he'd disappear. It didn't seem like such a bad option anymore.

But that would mean giving up and admitting that he'd lost Roxas for good, and Axel wasn't even remotely ready to do that yet. "Right," he muttered, staggering to his feet with a wince and ignoring the stabbing pain in his side as he did. "Not giving up on you yet, kid." The sun was nearly down over the horizon, casting reddish-orange light over the water as though it were aflame. "Got it memorized?"

---

Title: N/A
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Pairing: N/A (Riku and Namine)
Rating: G
Word Count: 333 words

He didn't look too close at the glass of the pod for fear of his own reflection.

Sora's eyes were closed, dark lashes flickering over his cheeks as he dreamed, his lips parted ever so slightly. It wasn't right and Riku hated it--Sora never slept this calmly. There were snores and kicking and blanket-stealing, but never this horrible, artificial stillness. The tips of his fingers ghosted over the thick glass separating him from the other boy, following the curve of his cheekbone.

"He'll be awake soon, I think."

Startled, he drew his hand back and spun around. Clear blue eyes, lighter than Sora's, smiled up at him. "...Namine."

The slender girl nodded, clasping her hands in front of her. "It's been a while, Riku." She nodded at the pod. "I've been keeping my promise."

"I know," he said, and fought back a wince at the sound of his own voice, low and growling.

Namine frowned, pale brows drawing together. She carefully lifted herself onto one of the pod's petals to stand next to him. Before he could react, she was on tip-toes, drawing back the hood from his face. The startled gasp and look of horror and pity he was expecting never came. Instead, something like sadness crossed her face. "Oh, Riku," she breathed. "What have you done to yourself?"

He turned away, unable to face the understanding in her gaze. "I had to. For Sora," he added, unnecessarily.

"To defeat Roxas."

"Is that his name?" Riku hadn't wanted to know it. It was harder, thinking of the Nobody as a person in its own right.

Two thin arms twined around his waist from behind. "That's his name," she whispered against his back. "I thought you should know. I'm not going to let him disappear."

He sighed, staring off into the white nothingness of the room. "Because he's a Nobody, too?"

"No." Namine laughed softly. "Because he's Sora. And I promised."

Riku couldn't think of anything to say in response to that.