Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all affiliated materials are property of Square Enix and Disney. The song Sapphire Night belongs to Alexa Ray Joel.

Sapphire Night
By: Nanaki BH

Night came quickly and Axel found himself on the beach once again. What was going on anymore? Nothing was happening the way he'd hoped it would. In his hands he held a Keyblade he'd never seen, one that undoubtedly held more in its blade than the average Keyblade. The more he looked at it, the more he ran his fingers over it, the more he felt a connection with Roxas. He didn't want to believe it but he was sure that Roxas dwelled somewhere deep inside of it. Frustration was beginning to build within him, unsure of himself and the situation.

Sensing his frustration, a voice, seeming to come from the Keyblade itself, called out to Axel. It didn't matter what it said to him, Axel was immediately on his feet, the Keyblade flung far away from him.

"Goddamn ghosts!" he yelled at it.

"No, Axel, it's me," the voice desperately tried to explain. It sounded sad, almost as if the speaker had been crying. Axel's heart broke instantly, knowing who it was. He dragged his feet across the beach and collapsed beside the Keyblade, gathering it into his arms. There was nothing quite like its cold steel. Axel wasn't sure whether it was real or whether it was his mind playing tricks on him but he could have sworn that he felt a little warmth in it that wasn't his own. It had a pulse and a life and Roxas had no way of escaping it without his help.

"Where are you?" Axel asked weakly, fingers trailing over the blade delicately.

"I'm sure you don't want to hear it, but I'm in the Keyblade; I'm in Desert Peace," he said, careful not to hurt Axel any more.

"This is what happens when you separate a heart, I guess. This is what we get for existing, Roxas."

"But we must exist for a reason. Who was it who first decided that we had no hearts? Even if we've been separated from the ones we came from, the ones with the true hearts, don't you think they'd have at least left some sort of impact on us? Don't you think we should feel the way they'd have felt?"

Axel was stuck on feeling bad for himself. They all must've been. There was certainly more to being a Nobody than they would've admitted to themselves. They'd been stamped by everybody as having no hearts but there was more to them than met the eye and the textbook definition of a Nobody. They weren't like the normal, average Dusks. They had thoughts, feelings, and desires. They dreamed just as much as everybody else. They hurt just as much as everybody else.

"So what happened then? I saw you, you know. I was inside of Sora," Roxas said, breaking the silence between them.

"You were?" Axel said, laughing softly. "I had a feeling you were there." He could never forget the look on Sora's face just before he left. Somewhere in his eyes, he could see Roxas. It made him happy to know that he'd been saved but at the same time, Sora had made himself Axel's motivation. He wanted to get him back no matter what; especially considering that he'd been left in the body of a Nobody.

Taking in a deep, calming breath, Axel pushed himself up to sit in the sand. "Well, it's hard to explain," he said but Roxas almost instantly urged him to try to tell him the whole story. "Fine, I'll try," he muttered, running a hand through his spiked up hair. "I'm sure you saw me going down, right? At least, that's what Sora thought was going on. I slipped through a warp hole, cleverly disguising it, making it look like I was dying the way the others had. I got some practice time in for something like that since so many of them had died before Sora and I met there."

"So you were just fooling me and Sora?" Roxas asked, seeming a little confused.

Axel flopped back onto his back into the sand again and threw a glance at the Desert Peace. "Well, yeah. I had to if I wanted to live."

Roxas allowed him a little more silence. Lying there like that, side by side, with his eyes closed, Axel could have sworn Roxas was truly lying there beside him. It was a strange sort of feeling; he felt happy, having Roxas there but he couldn't entirely keep himself from feeling sad. There had to be something he could do to help him. What more could there be that Roxas hadn't probably already tried, though? With the intonation in his voice earlier, he was sure that was what he'd been trying to do. A question arose in his mind that he just had to ask.

"Roxas," he muttered softly, closing his eyes, only wanting to hear his voice.

"Yeah, Axel?" he asked.

Axel sighed and brought up his arms to fold behind his head. He didn't feel right asking it but he had to. If he were to ever hope to have Roxas back in his arms, he had to know. "Roxas," he asked, "did you enjoy being with Sora?"

Silence, then a small sigh. With his eyes closed, Axel could picture the way he would have look; shoulders sagging, head lowered. "I don't know," he said, taking some time to consider the question. "I thought I would feel complete. I think he did but he has other reasons to feel complete now, too. All I had was him and that didn't make me feel as complete as I thought it would. I…" Some silence. "When I connected with him for the first time, everything came back to me through his memories. And I realized why I should miss you.And I did."

"I'm so sorry," Axel whispered, putting an arm over his eyes to hide his tears. There was no one to hide them from but himself. He was ashamed; so ashamed that he couldn't have done anything to keep them together.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for," Roxas said, trying to settle him a little, sure that he was crying on the outside. "I wish I could just…" His voice cracked and he gasped, surprised in himself and instantly felt embarrassed. What he meant to say, what he wished he could do was just wrap his arms around him, return his embrace. They say that loneliness doesn't make a sound. Then what were tears? What was the sound of anguished cries? That was loneliness and it was crying loud in his ears.

Roxas never thought he would ever wish he could cry.

Too busy feeling bad for the two of them, Axel didn't even notice when Roxas' desperate desire became real. Only when Roxas' arms were around him did he come to realize that for once, something was real again; for once, things were the way they wanted them to be. "I should've learned," Axel laughed sadly. "Things tend to happen around here if you're sad enough."

"Nah, Axel. Good things happen to those who wait. That's how it works, you know. I don't think it has anything to do with people who sit around feeling bad for themselves. Good things happen for people who want to do good things for others." He pushed himself up onto his palms and looked down at Axel, the moon surrounding his face; a halo of golden light. "I love you so much."

It was unbelievable. All day, every day, ever since the two of them were separated from each other, Axel had longed to be reunited with him and could only imagine Roxas' adorable, familiar face. Seeing him there above him was just something unbelievable and unreal. He wanted to hold him and kiss him and everything all at once. A wave of elation swept over Axel's heart as he realized that Roxas was truly all he needed to survive. So long as he loved him and so long as he knew that somewhere, Roxas loved him too, then he could easily continue on his life no matter the consequences. The worlds could collide and so long as Roxas would be there in the end waiting for him, ready to hold his hand and take him back to his side, he knew that things would be alright.

"I love this. I love seeing you and being here with you… but… I get the feeling like this just can't last forever," Axel muttered, averting his eyes to the side to stare out across the moonlit waters. "You know what I mean? Our happiness is so fragile. It's like it's always depending on Sora. Do you think it's possible that we can only exist so long as he's happy?"

Roxas rose an eyebrow cutely and, taking Axel's chin in his hand, connected their gazes. "I think you're speculating too much, Axel. So what if Sora's going to want to take me back? What about you? Don't you think it's time to go back to where you came from, too? It may seem odd but you know that Naminé and I are never apart. She's always there in Kairi and I get to see her all the time."

Axel couldn't help himself from appearing crestfallen. "That sounds nice, Roxas. But I have nowhere to go to. I've already reached the end of my line."

"That's right," a commanding voice called from across the beach. Standing a distance away from them stood the illuminated silhouettes of the three people they wanted to see the least; Sora, Riku, and Kairi. In the forefront stood Riku, brandishing his Keyblade; Way to the Dawn. Axel and Roxas instantly separated, scrambling away from each other to assume more dignified battle-ready positions. Axel's flaming chakram appeared from his palms, the fire casting a brilliant red glow, the tongues of fire lapping harmlessly around his wrists.

"Here to ruin our party, are you?" Axel asked sarcastically.

Kairi stepped forward, a light frown the only blemish on her moonlit face. "We only want Roxas back." Roxas this, Roxas that. Axel had heard it all before. In the end, he finally got Roxas back and there they were, oblivious to his struggles and pain, concerned only with their own agendas. Was he destined to never be happy as a Nobody? Was his time doing Xehanort's experiment all a waste?

No. Losing his humanity had been only an affirmation of its existence.

"I may not be human like you. I may have lost so much. But I would have never felt so alive had I never known Roxas."

Roxas instantly eased up from his tense position when he heard the works Axel had spoken. He was really that important to him? His heart swelled with love but he was still uneasy inside. Roxas had, after all, suggested only moments before merging with Sora again. Seeing him there, he couldn't have felt so threatened, though.

"You can't!" Roxas cried, rushing in front of Axel, throwing out his arms. "You can't take him away from me!"

Although Sora and Kairi looked shocked, Riku remained unfazed. He took only a second to glance back at Sora. Upon seeing his worried expression, he did a double-take. He didn't have to ask him what was wrong.

"But we have to," Sora said.

Roxas hung his head. "I know."

Riku twirled the blade in his palm and began to run forward, the Keyblade's winged edge pointed directly at Axel and Roxas. If a key could contain them, then a key could undo them.

"Roxas, move! Let me go!"

Roxas remained still. "I can't. I love you."

Axel hadn't the chance to move him himself. He had no way of jumping aside. Way to the Dawn pierced easily through them both; sinking evenly into their middles. Roxas' shoulders slumped and he wrapped his fingers around the Keyblade. Axel vanished behind him in a flurry of black smoke, a ghosted "I love you" left lingering in the midnight air. Roxas followed soon after, a faint smile on his pale lips.

Sighing, Riku hoisted his Keyblade up over his shoulder; a dissatisfied sort of grimace graced his lips. "I sure hope that worked." Kairi was relieved at least to know that it was all over. Their recent events had been a little more than stressful for her. Sora, on the other hand, wasn't looking too good. His eyes slipped closed and he fell face-forward into the sand.

"Sora…?" Kairi wheeled around and gasped, drawing Riku's attention.

Riku ran over to where he knelt beside him and, after checking him out, decided that he'd simply passed out from the reconnection.

Gently, Riku ran his fingers through Sora's hair. "You'll be just fine, hmm, Sora?"

Author's Notes: Sorry, I know it took me quite a while to finally get around to writing this chapter. I bet that some of you will have mixed feelings on that as an ending. Here's my consolation to you: there's going to be an epilogue. So don't worry. I'll be leaving you with another entertaining twist. Thanks to all who've been reading!