STOP! This is a kingdom hearts fanfic, complete with yaoi, angst, and spoilers!! This is the continuation of New Kid, a fanfictious prologue to kingdom hearts. You do not have to read New Kid to understand this!  This takes place after everything has occurred, however, as opposed to New Kid. I’m trying to be a bit more upbeat, so please enjoy, fans and newcomers! ^ ^ NO CHARACTERS BELONG TO ME IN ANY WAY!!!!!!!!

It was over. Roxas could feel it. No longer could he feel the sun on his face, no longer could he taste the sweet and tart sea salt ice cream drip down his lips. No longer could he feel Axel. It was only him inside his head. No, not even his head. Someone else’s. He was a part of Sora now. He tried to sigh, but he wasn’t even allowed that anymore.

Roxas, don’t think like that! said a bubbly voice in Sora’s consciousness.

Fuck off Roxas grumbled, not amused with his twins contact.

But Roxas… Sora whined. Riku and Kairi want you to cheer up!

And you’re still allowed to see them. He pointed out.

Want to see Namine? Sora asked, trying to comfort the blonde in his head.

No. I want… The image of a smiling redhead came to mind, grinning and cocking his head to the side.

Axel…

“Yo, Sora, you in there?” asked Riku, tapping on his friend’s forehead. “Looks like your head is even more empty than usual…”

“Sorry Riku,” Sora responded, shaking his head to clear it of Roxas’ thoughts. “It’s a little problem with R-o-x-a-s…”

I can spell you know…

“How is he doing?”

“He’s adjusting.”

Like fun I am.

Shut up Sora responded, frowning.

“Well Sora, you know I got concert tickets…”

“Ohmigawdforwhat?”

“The Crossdressers. They’re coming to Destiny Islands on tour. Sound good?”

There was a pause during which Sora’s eyes doubled in size at the mention of his favorite band.

“Oh Riku, I love you! Lemme kiss you!”

Riku laughed with an open grin, leaning away quickly and gracefully away from Sora’s outstretched arms.

That’s not all you wanna do.

Sora ignored Roxas’ last comment, still bursting with joy and excitement. Roxas sighed to himself and instead thought of the unfairness of the situation. He had had everything taken away from him, including himself, but for his twin, life went on.

Life wasn’t fair.
~*~
The first thing he felt was a heartbeat. The steady pounding of pumping blood. It was amazing how much people took for granted when they had a heart. It was such an alive feeling, so special and miraculous that he nearly cried. His heart was beating. That wasn’t right.

The second thing he felt was his magic, ebbed so much that it almost ceased to exist. His flame had died down to almost nothing. He reached inside himself, trying to call some sign of heat, of fire to life in his hands. Nothing happened.

He felt so refreshed, renewed, unable to place the specific emotion. Then it came to him. Alive. He felt alive, rather than present.

There was a groan, a sound, from nearby in the dark. It sounded familiar.

“Demyx?”

“Axel? Is that you? What’s happening?”

“It’s me,” he replied, rubbing his head. Did a heartbeat really pound in your ears like the crashing surf?

Axel surveyed the surrounding area. He had barely lifted his head to a sitting position then it throbbed, and sparks cascaded over his vision.

“I don’t know what’s happening.” He felt his face. Still the same, for all that he could tell.

“I don’t know.”
~*~
Sora would not shut up. Roxas was annoyed. Riku enjoyed lapping up the attention. All in all, they did not make for a happy party. Well, at the very least,

Roxas was not amused. He hated Sora for having Riku when he had cost him Axel.

“Oh my gawd, what should I wear Riku?”

“Chill, Sora. It’s a week away.”

“But it’s the Crossdressers Riku! I gotta look good!”

“Would you rather go shopping then?”

At this simple mention of a lively pastime, Kairi’s head perked up from the book that she had cracked open on her lap. Her eyes shot over to Riku and Sora and a grin crept across her face that Riku could only describe as evil and malicious. He could tell she was plotting.

“I can take you shopping, Sora!”

Riku sighed and turned his aquamarine eyes towards the grinning redhead. He gave her a dark glare and her smile got wider.

“For clothes to wear to a Crossdressers concert?”

“Ooh, you’re right. You’d better handle that one Riku."

Roxas watched through Sora’s eyes as Riku chased Kairi into the kitchenette with a spoon.

“One more crack like that and I’ll kick you out of my house!”

“Oh, sorry to offend you, homeowner Riku.”

Sora decided to separate his best friends by butting in gently.

“I’ll go shopping with Riku.”

“Oh Sora, you don’t want to spend hours undressing in front of Riku.”

Kairi received a whack to the back of the head for her comment.

I wouldn’t mind that… thought Roxas.

Roxas!

Shoot. Now not even his thoughts were private anymore. Sora spoiled everything.

“So Sora, where do you want to go?”

“Ooh, ooh, the mall!”

From Sora’s memories, Roxas could tell that the “mall” wasn’t a strip mall like the one in twilight town, but a small collection of stores on the center island in the main town. It was hard and confusing to sort through Sora’s memory all the time, but did he have a choice? Besides, there were some cute ones of kiddy Riku. Like “in the tub” cute. And Roxas had to get his kicks somewhere.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

“Don’t forget your man purse!” Kairi called out as she cracked open Marquis de Sade again. Riku flipped her the bird as he snatched his backpack from the hook by the door.

“If you burn down my house while I’m gone you can start paying mortgage and see how you like it.”

Kairi just smiled as the boys left.
~*~
“Do you agree to all these terms and requirements?”

Xemnas looked down at the contract, amber eyes wracked with worry and desperation. It was the only way to see Saix again, he knew. The only way that they could ever exist in the world of the light again. He wanted to see the moon with Saix. Wanted the berserker to feel human again. Or for the first time. All Xemnas could do was give Saix a chance for a better future. Give the whole organization a second chance. He truly wanted to make things better for his sons and daughter.

Xemnas shifted his head into his left hand for support, tossing his silver locks and biting his lip as he reread the contract.

Surely the terms were fair. Surely he was doing the right thing. The thing that would benefit his interests the most.

But if he signed something like this and the mission failed, the consequences would be dire. He had the responsibility to choose the best choice for his family.
Family. That was laughable. Only days ago had he considered them slaves, something lower than himself. He had denied them love, denied them a life for themselves. But no longer. Why?

Ah, yes. He had seen them die. Before his eyes, they had carried out his orders to their death. Unwillingly. Without a cause they believed in. All to satisfy himself. Worst of all was Saix. He had actually believed in him. Worshipped him. He had called out to him as he died. Xemnas had tried to convince himself otherwise, but he knew in his heart it was so. His heart…

No longer did he wish anything on his followers but another chance. One that would make things right instead of ending them. He now cared, felt, wanted and longed for this. All because of one simple emotion. How did he ever live without it?

The contract blurred before his face as he lost his concentration to hot, salty tears that threatened to roll down his face if he let his beloved cease to exist. But this was no time to cry. Now was time for action.

If only he could choose the right action to save them.

The hooded figure across the table tapped the contract impatiently, pointing at him to sign. He still could not believe that he would barter with the “angel of death”, but desperate times called for desperate measures. And it was his fault that he had gotten the thirteen into the situation they shared in the first place. It was his duty to serve them appropriately.

Xemnas still felt the ebb of Kingdom Hearts calling out to him, but stronger now was the will of organization XIII. Their strength of survival.

What would Xehanort do?

He glanced at the lips of the figure, curved up into a half smile. There was something foreboding about seeing the crooked grin above an unsigned contract.

His one chance.

What would Xehanort do?

He pulled the contract closer, penning his name on the X.
~*~
Alive? Could one be truly alive after so long of being nonexistent? Could one truly adjust to feeling again?

“Axel? I’m scared. Where are you?”

Axel looked around, pain in the head subsiding. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dark of the surrounding area. All he could see was the blonde sitarist meters away from where he was sitting up. He looked scared, the little light there was, which was an eerie velvet blue, reflecting in his cerulean eyes. His eyes, axel knew, were blue when his emotions reached a peak, like a crashing wave. He must have built up a nervous sensation from being in this strange place.

“I don’t know, Demmy-chan.”

Demyx didn’t object to his pet name, scanning the place with such furtive glances that his chest heaved with effort. A vein pulsated gently in his neck, intriguing Axel greatly.

Without thinking, Axel crawled over to his friend and lay on his bare chest, listening.

“Axel, wha-“

The redhead shushed his partner, pressing close to him in the dark. A steady pounding resounded through the musician’s ribcage.

It was foreign and alien. Axel would not have been able to place the sound had he not heard the strange half-beat of Roxas and his keyblader nobody heart. The sound of a heartbeat almost made him cry out with delight.

“Demyx, do you know what this means?” he asked excitedly, placing a hand firmly on the blonde’s stomach. He was so animated that even Demyx had to look at him twice. But Axel was past the point of caring.

“This is great!!!! I have to find Roxas!!!!! He’ll know what to do! How will he react? Where are the others? They’ll love this too!!!!!”

“Axel, slow down. What are you talking about?”
Axel slowed down, taking a deep breath. Ah, to feel his lungs help pump the heart’s blood! He looked into Demyx’s eyes, emerald catching blue as deep as the ocean.

“We have hearts.”

This simple sentence, with three words and the same amount of syllables, rocked them both to their cores. To say it out loud was to admit it, to prove it in the silence of the air. To hear it was to judge it.

Demyx’s eyes furrowed under his eyebrows, then widened slightly, then doubled in size. He let his jaw drop and set in an “o” of surprise. His hand trailed to his chest as though in dream, or underwater. Whatever he felt, it caused him to turn to face the redheaded pyro.

“We have hearts” he mouthed, as though Axel had not just said it. Axel understood; saying it made it ten times more real. He let Demyx sit in shocked silence for about a minute more. Then he spoke.

“We have to find the others.”

Demyx nodded without hearing the words, moving as though he was in a trance. He rubbed his chest like he had never seen anything quite like it. Which, of course, he hadn’t.

“We have to find the others,” Axel repeated, shaking Demyx lightly by the shoulders. The nocturne blinked, and then seemed to snap out of it.

“Axel! If we have hearts…”

Axel nodded inquiringly, hoping that Demyx would not voice his worst fear aloud for him to face.

“…then we must be dead.”

The pyro’s shoulders stiffened and his brows set in an irked position. He looked away with a pained look in his eyes.

“Face it Axel… we don’t have hearts. Not in the world of the light, anyway…”

“Shut it! You can’t give up! You can’t! Don’t you see?! If we have hearts, then everything will be okay!”

“But we’re dead…”

Axel had never wanted to slug Demyx one more than he did at that very moment. Didn’t he see? This was his chance to be with Roxas! Was he going to ruin it for him?!

Before he could yell at his best friend, a blinding white light hit his eyes. In reality, it was very little, just a sliver. But in the dark, even a little light can hurt. And there was a whole door full before them.

Axel covered his eyes, crying out in surprise. Demyx started to cry in pain, being the one facing the door head on. A figure stood in the doorway. It was hooded and standing tall, towering over Axel easily. A smile crossed the figure’s lips. A familiar voice came from beneath the hood. Slow and powerful, it washed over them like the tide.

“Ready to live again?”

“Superior!” Demyx tried to dry his tears and Axel braved the light to glimpse his boss’ face.

The familiar tan skin and silver hair resonated within Axel’s new heart, and the sensation was altogether unpleasant. He doubled over and gasped for breath.

Xemnas smiled.

“Let me give you your next assignment.”
~*~

Roxas still didn’t like Sora’s attitude. And when Roxas didn’t like something, he made it known.

“What store do you want to try first?”

“What kind of store stocks that kind of attire?”

“I dunno. I’ve never been to a concert before, actually…” Sora admitted sheepishly, scratching his head. “I just own all the CDs…”

Oh goodie, first you buy their merchandise, now their concert tickets.

But Sora was doing a better job of ignoring his counterpart. Either that or he couldn’t bother to come up with a good retort. Stupid Sora.

“I might know a store. I’ve been there before…”

Was Riku blushing? He was! What was the normal garb for a Crossdressers concert?

Cross dressing! Duh.

So Sora had been paying attention.

Makes sense for Riku to know about it then.

Silence. Apparently talking time was over. Not that Roxas really cared. Being in someone else’s head was annoying enough without excess comments. Roxas instead entertained himself with thoughts about what a cross dressing Riku might look like. Sora blushed a deep red, and Roxas secretly enjoyed the thought that he had such control over his somebody’s thoughts.

They ended up in the store Riku suggested, and Roxas noticed the blush that crept across his face when the cashier addressed him by name. Sora was oblivious as always, but he seemed happy with the store selection, scanning the racks eagerly. Which gave Roxas a pretty good idea of what a Crossdressers concert was like.

Lace, frills, bows, straps; and not the kind your grandma might wear. If Roxas had his own body, he would be red and running right then. To top it all off, most of the other customers were men. It was no surprise that Riku was embarrassed. Sora was going to be all over his case.

It was a total shock, therefore, when Sora burst out in a grin as wide as Destiny Islands themselves.

“Oh my gosh, Riku, this is perfect!”

Riku flushed a deeper red and mumbled something about wrong directions as Sora flung himself on the clothes. The innocent hero looked through the dresses energetically, urging Riku to do the same. His best friend complied with hesitancy.
It was horrible. Roxas sat through twenty three dresses and skirts before Sora narrowed down his selections. He had to watch as his alter-ego pored over the awfully frilly cloth. Riku wasn’t much better, offering seven other dresses for Sora to look at.

When the dresses were finally chosen, Roxas wanted to get home as fast as possible. Sora had chosen a red, black and blue thigh high stuffed skirt dress. It had bell sleeves with lace and red and blue straps criss-crossed the black bodice. The skirt was blue on yellow on red on black in a descending pattern of shapes.
Riku preferred a long, old fashioned periwinkle gown with white lace on the sleeves and laced into the bodice draped around his slim figure down to the floor. It came with a headpiece, a blue strip to match the dress surrounded with the white lace, which perched on Riku’s hair in an offhanded manner.
They, of course had changed to normal clothing to get home. Roxas didn’t bother asking for his own dress; what’s the point when you don’t have a body to wear it on? Not that he’d want one.

“Wow Riku, we’ll look awesome!!”

“Glad you enjoyed it…” Riku was still in embarrassed mode, and Roxas hoped Sora was enjoying this softer side to the moody teen as much as he was.

By the time they caught the ferry back to Riku’s house, the ocean sky was tinged with purple and orange and a chill had already set. Riku and Sora talked the whole journey in a satisfying way.

Riku is so amazing!

Good for him… Roxas responded with a pout. He was ready to stop this puke fest.

“How are you, Kairi? Looks like the house hasn’t burned down. You got lucky.”

Kairi made a face and put down her book.

“Glad you’re back. This is just weird. I’m heading out! See ya’ guys.”

The boys said their goodbyes to Kairi and Riku turned to Sora once they had left.

“Would you like to sleep here tonight?”

Sora blushed and nodded, grabbing the phone to call his parents.

“You’re lucky to live on your own Riku…”

“Yeah, but I’m still scared of the dark.” Riku smiled at his own ironic joke as he opened the fridge.

“How’s pasta for dinner? I don’t have much else.”

“As long as you cook it, Riku. You should be a chef!”

The platinum haired teen smiled, grabbing the ingredients from various cupboards.

“Hey, I just learn from necessity.”

Roxas noticed the twos same expressions. They each had that smile you get when something really good happens to you and your loved ones, each meant for the other. It made Roxas’ non-existent heart throb and break. Would he have been like that with Axel? With Namine? With anyone? He tried to look away, but Sora had only eyes for Riku and that just made things worse. Even when their backs were facing they could see each other.

Hey, Sora…

Yeah, Roxas?

…
Your fly’s unzipped
~*~
“It’s that simple?” Axel asked with incredulity. “All I have to do is that?”

Xemnas sighed. Always the simple solution, that one. Axel had a habit of turning the most complicated orders from something to groan at into a game suited to his own liking. And when that was impossible, he let the orders go on the spot and did what he pleased.

“Simple is one word I would not use to describe it.”

“Then what would you say?” Axel asked, raising a short eyebrow and cocking his head to the side, grinning with his smug attitude of always.
Demyx was less pleased with his instructions and kept looking down at his hands, thinking out loud.

“But then again that wouldn’t be likely, though more likely than…”

Xemnas ignored him, pausing to think. He liked the face to face conversation, secretly, he thought it friendly.

“I would say important.”

“Duh.”

The superior shot Axel a dirty look, and then continued.

“If one of us fails, then we will all cease to exist for all time.”

“Boooo-ring. It’s not even a challenge!”

Xemnas was beginning to remember all the reasons that he was not very fond of number eight.

“Then how about we make it a challenge. I’m willing to place a bet. If you complete your task before I finish mine-“

“What, telling other people their tasks?”

Xemnas took a deep breath, counting slowly to ten. In the background Demyx prattled on.

“But if that’s not right, then I wouldn’t have heard that…”

“I have a very similar task to yours and number nine’s, however with my personal goal. If you can finish first, I will give Roxas a full heart and a body.”

This stopped Axel’s snide remark dead in its well meaning tracks. He stared at his master with a new level of reverence. Xemnas was immediately reminded of Saix, and he looked away with a hollow pang in his chest. But Axel’s respect was not to last.

“What do you mean? Can you really bring back Roxas?!”

Xemnas smiled hollowly and nodded.

“It’s not that hard. This I can do with my own magic. He’s not in the World Beyond, so there’s no tribute or necromancy involved.”

Axel burst into a true radiant smile. He embraced Xemnas with the strength he displayed in affection for Roxas. His words were barely audible over his happy tears.

“Thank you.”

Xemnas twisted into a more comfortable position for himself. He smiled in spite of himself.

“You still have to win the bet, number eight.”

When Axel pulled away, his former radiance was shining in every fiber of his being. Flame burned once again behind his emerald eyes. He clenched a fist and had there been roaring flames the message would not have been any clearer.

“I will win!”
~*~
Roxas watched Riku’s chest rise and fall with his platinum hair as the moonlight graced his features and cast him into a pastel light. Not because he wanted to. But because Sora couldn’t stop. His counterpart sighed and reached out a finger, then pulled it back. He looked away, embarrassed. Roxas couldn’t take any more.

At least you’re not in a love that’s lost forever!!!!! he wanted to scream.
He’s still by your side!!!!

Sora looked so pained. He had some sort of inner turmoil. It was obvious. Well Roxas had no time for whiners! He would have to deal with it!

Roxas reached out a hand, with every fiber of his being. Without regard to it being Sora’s body, or Sora’s world. Without thinking, just doing. He reached out for Axel, for Riku, for anyone who was being called to from across the universe. He reached out in the name of love, of the heart. His own call to Kingdom Hearts.

He could see something. A ghostly shadow of a hand. With a checker patterned ring and short awkward fingers. Whose hand was it? It was his!

He barely had time to stare in disbelief before something even stranger happened. Sora reached with him. His hand stretched towards Riku on the other side of the bed, and Roxas could feel his surprise that he had move.

Roxas sat stunned, then tried to capture the exact moment he had moved. He reached again, this time to hold, to cherish. He tried desperately to hold onto anything; it wasn’t hard to get motivated.

Sora’s fingers clasped Riku’s hand and refused to let go. The silver haired teen twitched in his sleep and then squeezed back, the smile of a good dream lighting his features. Sora stared with disbelief, knowing that he had not moved. Then he, too, smiled. He cradled Riku’s hand in his, still watching in the moonlight. This time, he sighed in contentedness.

Roxas was pleased as well.

Now we can finally get some sleep!