Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Burn ❯ Chapter 11 Axel ( Chapter 11 )

Burn

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters associated with Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom Hearts II. All unrecognizable characters are mine though. Please don't take them, at least not without my permission. Thank you.

 

Chapter 11 Axel

Oh my god.

I kissed Roxas.

What the hell is wrong with me?!

It's not like I really planned to kiss him. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. But I don't regret it. At least I don't think I do. I wasn't lying when I said he tasted good. But that's just my opinion and I'm probably biased. Maybe I was trying to make Zexion jealous because he was standing right there. I have no idea. Like I said, I don't regret it. He didn't react like I thought he would. And by that, I mean punch me in the face. He just flushed like a schoolgirl. Yes I'm comparing Roxas to a schoolgirl. Deal with it.

Nothing happened after dinner. Not that I was really expecting anything to happen. The next morning was a day I had to go to see Marluxia for another session of Physical Therapy.

“From what I hear from your day nurse, you started walking on your own,” was the first thing Marluxia told me when I was wheeled through the door.

“Yeah, though I wasn't very good. I almost fell on my ass and my friend Zexion had to help me,” I answered.

“Well it's a very good sign. Your leg muscles are developing well. Can I take a look?”

“Sure.” I shrugged.

Marluxia kneeled down and rolled up my pant legs. He gently touched my legs, feeling the muscles.

“This is good. This is very good. Your legs are doing very nicely. Your recovery rate is phenomenal.”

I shrugged. “I'm a quick healer.”
“I can see that.” Marluxia stared at me for a couple minutes before clearing his throat nervously and rolling my pant legs back down. “Okay, let's get working. Today's going to be a bit different. I'm going to have you try and walk on your own, with crutches as support, of course. Do you think you'll be up for the challenge?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. I could do this, right?

Marluxia wheeled me into the main Physical Therapy room. There were all sorts of things there to help people get back on their feet, figuratively or literally, take your pick. He wheeled me over to a stretch of wood floor that was used for practicing walking.

“Stay here okay?” Marluxia asked, putting the wheelchair brakes on.

“Sure,” I replied. It's not like I could go anywhere anyways.

Marluxia returned a short time later with a pair of crutches. Oh. Right. I was supposed to be trying to walk on my own.

“I think they're the right height,” Marluxia told me, handing me the crutches. I had never used crutches before, but I got the gist right away. Each of them went under my arms. Marluxia helped me point them in the right direction. “Put all your weight on the crutches and they'll support you. Use them to push yourself up out of the chair.”

I gritted my teeth and did what he told me. After a couple of tries, I was standing up.

“Now, try and walk forward. Only use the crutches for support,” Marluxia instructed.

It was easier said than done. Finally, though, I managed to hobble forward. I probably looked totally retarded, but Marluxia didn't care. He was just happy that I was getting the hang of walking on my own. Well, I wasn't exactly on my own; I still had the crutches. But whatever. According to him, it was a huge improvement. All in all, it was a good session.

Unfortunately, that good mood the session put me was spoiled when I got back to my room. Why? Well there was this guy there. An older fellow with short blond hair. He was in his thirties, I guessed. Maybe a bit older. He smiled when he saw me and introduced himself as Ansem.

“I'm going to be your therapist when you come up to the Psychiatric Ward,” he said.

“Oh.” It was the only thing I could say.

I had completely forgotten about that. In my excitement over Roxas, I had failed to notice that I was getting better. I hadn't snapped since Roxas had arrived. Of course, the nurses had been careful to not grab me by the arm, but the truth was, I was a lot calmer than when I was brought in. I didn't mind being around people as much. As long as I had Roxas. I hadn't even noticed the change. But the stupid doctors had and now they were going to move me away, take me away from Roxas. It just wasn't fair.

“Axel? Are you listening to a word I'm saying?” Ansem asked.

I blinked. “Uh…I don't think you really wanna know the answer to that one.”

“That's what I surmised.” Ansem chuckled softly. “I was merely stating that your physical therapist thinks that you'll be well enough to walk on your own by the end of the week. I think that by Saturday evening, we'll be able to admit you into the Psychiatric Ward.”

“Oh.” My voice cracked. All of a sudden, my throat felt incredibly rough. “Becky, can…can you get me a glass of water?”

“Sure Axel.” Becky nodded.

She brought me a cup of water. I drank it fast, grateful for the temporary distraction. When I lowered the glass, Ansem was studying me.

“What?” I choked out.

“You're upset,” Ansem stated in his calm voice.

“Yeah. So?” I retorted.

“So, I am wondering the cause of this anger.”
“Hell if I know,” I snapped.

“I think you know perfectly well what it is that is causing your anger. You just don't want to admit it. There's something here that makes you want to stay, makes you not want to let go and move on.”

I closed my mouth. It was like he knew about my feelings for Roxas. I didn't trust myself to say anything because I would probably give it away and I couldn't do that. My silence seemed to give Ansem the answer he was looking for.

Ansem smiled. “I will see you on Saturday.”

“F…fine,” I stuttered. God, I sounded like an idiot.

Ansem left. I took a deep breath, followed by another one. Believe it or not, this actually works. After a few minutes, I had calmed myself down. Roxas was watching me. I couldn't read the expression in his eyes. Sad? Upset? Pained? I have no idea. I turned away, unable to look at him any longer.

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The last week went by way too fast. On Wednesday, Marluxia had me try to walk without the crutches. It was really difficult, but by the end of the session, I was able to walk at least a short distance by myself. Thursday passed without incident. Roxas ignored me, which really hurt, but I knew that I was going to have to start distancing myself from him. I didn't want to, but it was the only way I was going to be able to retain my sanity. Or what was left of it.

On Friday morning, I woke up with a sick feeling in my stomach. It was my last day before being moved to the Psych Ward. I was probably never going to see Roxas again. I silently ate breakfast and waited for Becky to come in with a wheelchair to take me to my last Physical Therapy session. She noticed that I was unusually quiet, but didn't say anything. My Physical Therapy session went as it usually did, though Marluxia did end it earlier than usual so he could get my paperwork in order. We went back to his office. He made me walk there on my own, saying that I needed the practice and that I needed to get used to not having a wheelchair. It was really tiring, but I did it. Marluxia didn't speak as he did something that had to do with my paperwork I guess.

Finally, my last session was finished and Marluxia shook my hand before he left. Rose took me out one last time to where Becky was waiting. We silently went back to my room. She stopped the wheelchair at the door and told me that I had to walk by myself. I glared at her but heaved myself out of the chair and slowly walked across the room. My parents came and dropped off a duffel bag of my clothes for me to wear so I wouldn't have to wear the same thing over and over again. Shouldn't they have done that originally? They weren't going to be able visit me for a while; visiting hours were very strict in the Psych Ward, according to Becky. That meant Zexion couldn't visit me either. Damn it. Could this day get any worse?

My second (and only other) visitor was Zexion. His expression was unreadable as usual, but I knew that he was at least a little bit sad about me leaving. He stayed until lunch. The rest of my afternoon was spent staring at the ceiling. Sara came in for her shift at eight, as usual. She was very glad to be getting rid of me even though she didn't act like it. Roxas hadn't said a word all day, not even when Sora and some others came to visit him. After Sara left for the rest of her rounds, I got out of bed and walked over to Roxas's side of the room. He stared at me, but didn't say anything.

“Hi, Roxas,” I said rather nervously. No response. This could get really bad real fast. I cleared my throat. “As you know, I'm leaving for the Psych Ward tomorrow. I'm probably never going to see you again so um…” I hesitated, unsure of how I wanted to word my thoughts. “I'm going to miss you. A lot. So…um…yeah.” I hastily turned away so Roxas wouldn't see my crying. I started walking back to my own side.

“Axel wait,” Roxas unexpectedly said.

Surprised, I stopped walking and turned around. Roxas was struggling to get out of bed. When he had managed to get up, he closed the distance between us.

“Roxas?” I whispered.

Roxas stared at me for a few moments, uncertainty reflecting in his blue eyes. Then, he stepped forward and pressed his lips to mine. I blinked, completely not expecting it, but when Roxas didn't pull away, I closed my eyes. We parted briefly for air, then came back together. He stood on his tiptoes because he was so short, or I was so tall, take your pick. The point is that he had to stand up as tall as he could because of our height difference. I put my arms around his waist and pulled him even closer to me, making sure I didn't hurt his broken arm.

“If you want me to stop…” I murmured.

“No.” Roxas quickly shook his head. “I'm fine.” As if to demonstrate his point, he pressed his lips to mine again.

“How far do you want to take this?” I asked.

Roxas shrugged. “Let's just see where this goes.”
“Fine with me.” I grinned.

I started the kiss this time. The longer we kissed, the shorter our breaths seemed to get. Which for me wasn't a good thing. Asthma, remember?

“Roxas wait,” I panted, breaking off the kiss.

“What's wrong?” Roxas asked.

“Asthma. Can I just…rest a minute.”

Roxas nodded and let go of me. I sat down on his bed, him next to me. We were silent.

“I'm sorry,” Roxas finally whispered. I stared at him. “If I hadn't started kissing you…”

“Roxie,” I murmured, gently cupping his cheek. “It's not your fault I have asthma. It's my own damn fault for playing with fire so much. Don't you ever blame yourself, okay?”

Roxas nodded. I lowered my hand and we sat there.

To be continued…

 

A/N: Just so everyone on which Ansem I'm referring to (because there was that whole thing with Ansem getting his name stolen by Xenahort in the game), I'm talking about Ansem the Wise, who called himself DiZ in Kingdom Hearts II. That Ansem.

What is it with me and random make-out scenes between Axel and Roxas?! I was totally not expecting to have them make out, just like what happened in To Save a Life. Sigh.

I'm not really sure how fast I'm going to be able to update because I'm starting classes tomorrow and I have two really hard classes; Physiology and Human Nutrition. I'm probably going to have to spend a lot of time studying, but I'm going to try and balance my schoolwork with my writing. Please just be patient with me.