Watching the Sunset {Open}

[Axel]

Axel snorted. "Kid, teen, tomayto tomahto." He drew his lips up the popsicle stick, leaving it bare, and let it burst into flames, dangling it idly and occasionally twirling it between his fingers.

“Sora has our eyes, doesn’t he?”

The question caught him off guard, again, and he stopped, shooting Xion a searching look. The more accurate form would probably be to say that Xion and Roxas had Sora's eyes, but he didn't correct her. It sounded like she was going somewhere with this.

“Axel. You guys…”

He waited, shifting his eyes back to the burning stick. He could already tell by the tone in her voice that whatever she had to say couldn't be good. But he wasn't going to rush her, and if she dropped the matter now he'd pursue it--because Xion and Roxas both tended to drop the important things when they got too hard to say.

“...forgot about me, didn’t you?”

Everything in the world jolted a little, and Axel pretty much tuned out everything else she said. Something about that made sense, explained some things...but he couldn't remember forgetting, if he'd even ever done it.

“I know I’m not supposed to exist.”

"C'mon, don't start up with that. None of us are supposed to exist, but we're gonna. We will. As far as forgetting..." He sighed. "I dunno what to tell you. I can't really figure out what went down for myself, but...if we did, and I forgot, I'm sorry I did. I'm supposed to have you memorized, y'know?" He eyed Xion's ice cream-spattered hand. "And you're makin' a mess over there, don't make me evaporate that stuff," he added with a lighter tone to his voice, more or less trying to change the subject.

[Xion]

“You’re not that much older than me, Ax.” Xion said sticking her tongue out at him, playfully, before using it to lick her popsicle. She was almost done, actually. Just a couple more bites, maybe two or three, and then she would be done and be able to throw her stick away, or have Axel burn it like he was currently doing to his. She brushed her hair back, then looked at her hand. It was blue, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the popsicle coloring, or if it were from the fact that her hand was really cold. Assuming that it was the latter, she slid it into a pocket.

She bit off the end of her popsicle, then tilted it to the side so it wouldn’t fall on the head of some unsuspecting person below them. While it would be humorous, it would be mean and it would make her feel--to the extend that she could feel--bad. She also thought she felt bad now. She had accused her best friends, although one of them wasn’t here, of forgetting all about her, but she didn’t really blame them. She had died, and they had had to move on and try to forget about her as best they could, which, obviously, had been pretty dang good. She shook her head, oblivious to how weird she would look to say Axel or someone below, and bit her lip.

She smiled at him and shook her head. That was not what she had meant, but, hearing that he was sorry--whether he meant it or not--made her feel better. She laughed slightly and leaned backwards. “It’s okay, Axel. I know you and Roxas, you especially, had a hard time. What with you losing me, and then him.” She scratched the back of her head nervously and giggled. “You’re so lame, Axel. All this time and you still haven’t thought of a new catchphrase? Everyone remembers you saying that, and, will use it against you whenever they want.” She shrugged and laughed. “Please do? I don’t think I can finish this…even if I’m almost done with it. You know it takes me forever to finish compared to you!” She poked his cheek and then winked. “My stomach isn’t nearly as big as yours.”

[Axel]

Axel grinned at the comment about his catchphrase, making a dismissive noise. "Old habits die hard, right? Plus we're not supposed to change." He considered it anyway, letting his leg back down to dangle beside its brother. "I'm probably clever enough to make it bounce back on them." He had to bite down on his own lips a little just to keep from taking "You know it takes me forever to finish compared to you" out of context and making her blush, but succeeded and turned his attention to the ice cream. Even so, he was just in time to notice something when she poked his cheek, and caught her by the wrist as she started to move away. "Hey, y...damn, you're freezing." Taking her hand in both of his, he concentrated, spreading a gentle warmth from her fingertips outward. It didn't really occur to him until after he was done that he was being kind of forward, and he let go with a little haste, trying not to send any mixed messages. "Gotta let me know about this stuff, remember? I'm the resident oven." As if to demonstrate, he seized up the ice cream and twirled it, and by the time it finished the first rotation it had completely evaporated into a sweet-smelling, faintly blue cloud that the burning popsicle stick completely obliterated a minute later.

[Xion]

Xion shook her head and laughed slightly. “Tell me about it. I still brush my hair back and always place my hand up where my heart should be. But, eh, I’ve come to love the habits.” She finished her sentence with a semi-dramatic sigh. She then proceeded to snort. “Uh-huh. Of course you would. Cause you’re oh-so clever, Axel. The smartest person in the world.” She was teasing him. Although he was starting to liven up from the half depressed Axel that had been next to her a second ago, she wasn’t ready to quit kidding him. She’d never noticed how much fun being a clown actually was.

She blinked twice then blushed. For a second, she wondered why everyone grabbed her wrist when she tried to poke them. Was that what she should do when people poked her? Probably, but she wasn’t going to. “Yeah. I know. Why do you think I wear this massive cloak and gloves? Because they’re fashionable? Nope. Cause they keep me warm.” Her eyes widened, ever so slightly, and her face because three times the shade of red it had been a few minutes ago. What was he doing besides warming her up? She allowed her hand to drop and hit the space between them with a quiet thud before raising it up to be massaged by the other. Even though it didn’t hurt that much, she wished he would have given her a small warning or something that he was going to just let her hand drop like that, or, at least, let it fall slowly.

“Oven? Yeah right. You’re more like a wild fire than anything. Ready to burn anything or one that gets in your way.” She reached up and poked him again, then snatched her hand back before he could grab onto it again. While doing so, she managed to smack face. “Man, I need to work on my reflexes.”

(OOC: Sorry for the color change. I've just developed a liking for Navy recently

[Axel]

"'Cause you're oh-so clever, Axel. The smartest person in the world."

Axel smirked with a wink. "You know it."

He definitely felt a little bad when his quicker actions ended up making Xion's hand hit the railing, and he thought about apologizing for it, but she was poking him again a minute later so he figured it was fine. Even so, he couldn't help chuckling a little bit when she smacked herself in the face--if only because the startled look in her eyes was cute. "Clumsy nutter. How're you such a whirlwind on the battlefield and such a klutz up here?" he asked lightly, teasing a little roughly because he knew she could handle it. Unlike Naminé or Kairi, Xion had always seemed made of sterner stuff.

Linking his fingers behind his head, he flopped backwards onto the walkway with a slight grunt from impact, letting his legs rest over the railing. "Burn everything, huh?" he repeated, quieter. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that either Xion or Roxas had run away on his account. They both had their reasons, and he'd always thought he was a reason to stay...just not enough of a reason. Even so, when she said stuff like that, it made him doubt. Had he hurt her back then? Had it been enough to drive her to flee the Organization? Had he done the same thing to Roxas? Was it really his fault, in the end, and he'd brought this upon himself?

Thoughts like that aren't gonna get me anywhere.

He shifted to look at Xion again and crossed his legs, twirling the foot at the end of his ankle idly. "...So. We haven't seen any of the other Organization members around, and as far as I know they're all dead, except for Roxas. Guess that leaves just us, until we find him." No more running, he was thinking, but there was still a feeling like he should be--like they should be seeking shelter right now from an Organization that would bring its full force down upon them at the slightest hint of their existence...or lack thereof.

[OOC: No problem, I change colors all the time depending on if my color conflicts with someone else's in the thread.]

[Roxas]

(Hope you guys don't mind me pushing little ol' Roxas into the thread, figured it was fitting as it has his two best friends in it. If you don't want him, say so and the post shall be deleted.)


Memories. That would be what rushed through Roxas' head as he stood on the clock tower, oblivious at the current time to the two others. He remebered the days he spent sitting on the ledge with Xion and Axel. Sighing, he thought of how he lost Xion, who faded away in his arms. Axel, he hadn't seen him in Ansem knows how long. The Key of Destiny felt sad as he remembered how he was enraged after Xion's disappearance, so enraged that he felt he could deal with Xemnas himself, only to be proven wrong. Though, he wondered, if he wasn't supposed to exist in the first place, then why did he? Nothing made sense anymore. He was absoultey sure of that.

He jammed his hands into his pockets and proceeded to walk around the tower as the twin bells rang out the hour of the day. The sound calmed him, made him think of yesterday. The sea-salt ice cream that Xion, Axel and himself devoured over the short time he was with them. As he walked around he heard someone talking, and almost sure he heard his own name. He catiously proceeded forward, hoping not to run in to someone he didn't feel like talking to. Instead he was greeted by none other than his two best friends who were curretnly in a sort of poking war, which made Roxas chuckle as Xion accidentally smacked herself in the face. He never understood why she was so clumsy.

"Hey, guys. Remember me?" Roxas interjected, a genuine smile appearing on his face.

[Xion]

Xion stuck her tongue out at him and rolled her eyes. “You’re so…stupid sometimes.” She grinned at him to let him know she was teasing him. “But funny at the same time. So it’s all good.” She smirked at him and then lifted her hand to shop him the small bruise that was forming. “Look at what you called. You should be ashamed of yourself, Ax. You gave a giant ol’ bruise. I mean. Look at this.” she waved it around in his face, but the smile on her face grew larger. “It’s like a battle wound or something.” She blinked and then wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “No way. I am not a good fighter at all. I suck I mean…I lost to you of all people!” she winked back at him and flicked his nose. “And I’m not that bad of a klutz, jerk face extraordinaire.”

She brushed her hair back again. Frankly, this was getting annoying. She almost considered growing it out just so she would have to push it back time and time again, but then she’d have to spend hours combing it so that it wouldn’t appear all messy. She held in a laugh and tried to hold in the comment, “Because you’re feet are so incredible to look at.” But she couldn’t. So, after she said it, she clamped her hands on her mouth and released a bunch of giggles, resulting in her falling down beside him. She blinked twice and then shook her head. “Don’t do that, Axel. If you’re happy, everyone’s happy. If you’re sad…you just suck all the happiness away. So…lighten up, kid. Until we’re forced to fight or kill stuff, why can’t we just have fun and enjoy everything while it lasts…?”

She blinked a couple of times then tilted her head toward his. “Until we find everyone we want to find.” She corrected. “Whether you like it or not, we’re finding Demy too. I miss hearing his songs…I think.” She shrugged. “Although I would never admit it to her face, I sort of miss Larxene too. I mean, she threatened to beat me up all the time and I’m pretty sure she hates me, but we had our moments. Not that I’m saying we should go look for her because we shouldn’t, but still.” She paused and shuddered slightly. “We’re not looking for Sai’x or Xaldin or Xigbar or Zexion or Vexen cause they all scare me…” she giggled lightly. “Scare? Haha. Did that come from my mouth?”

She winked at him once more to let him know she was still joking around before jumping up at the new voice. She whirled around and let her mouth drop slightly when her eyes met the blue ones that matched hers. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. She felt her lips move, she knew they had said “Roxas” but she also knew no sound had escaped.

[Vexen]

Dying sucked.

Fading into nothingness sucked worse. Coming back sucked the most, because he'd hoped that at the very least he'd come back with some sort of feelings, some emotion, either through being reunited with his heart or reincarnated or something. He'd hoped to find some sort of elation, despair, anything that indicated he wasn't the same Vexen that he died as...

Ah, but destiny hated Vexen.

And so it was that his first hours of reawakening were spent running through his memories, remembering all of the emotions he should have been feeling -- despair, elation, hatred, anger, remorse, sadness, sorrow, happiness, joy, excitement, loneliness -- and generally making sure he was in tact mentally before figuring out where to go from there. A cursory lap through Castle Oblivion's empty halls told him all he needed to know to take action: the Castle was abandoned, and the Organization XIII members stationed there were either dead or returned to Never Was.

Returning to Never Was put most of his doubts to rest. He was hoping he was wrong -- hoping that he wasn't alone, that there were others out there, separated from the rest of the Organization like him -- others that would be willing to band with him. Somehow, he felt so very lost without a rank; the Organization's plans could not be carried out by a single individual, no matter how gifted he was intelligence-wise. He had to find others.

Twilight Town was the best place to look, he reasoned, since he wasn't going to be setting foot in Hollow Bastion anytime soon. He kept his hood up, mostly hoping someone would recognize him first, but it was to no avail. He felt he was already wearing out his welcome -- it wasn't as if the cloak exactly allowed him to blend in, and at this rate, rumors were probably spreading...

Passing beneath the clocktower, Vexen paused mid-step when he heard familiar voices above; that ever-so-charming giggle he had heard somewhere, he reckoned, but he couldn't quite make out who it was from below. The darkness nearby shifted just then, and it suddenly became very clear that those presences were not presences but absences.

Nobodies.

A step through the darkness, and he was confronted with a sight he was not at all expecting.

"...Xigbar or Zexion or Vexen cause they all scare me…Scare? Haha. Did that come from my mouth?”

Xion.

"So I scare you, do I?"

His tone of voice was meant to be somewhat cordial at that moment, perhaps peppered with a bit of admonishment at the (assumedly) lighthearted quip, but any and all warmth disappeared from both voice and expression once he laid eyes on those red spikes. Roxas and Xion disappeared from his awareness then as logic was overridden by what would normally have been cold rage; Vexen tensed, hands curling into fists, and his eyes narrowed into an acidic glare.

"...Axel."

[Axel]

[OOC: -murders Vexen with a pitchfork- I'd already claimed aqua you fjkgjsdlfksdlfjsdlkfj! >(]

Axel rolled his eyes to disguise a wince. "Man you bruise easy. If I did that just from grabbing you like that, I don't even wanna think about the shiners I left on you before." Correction. He didn't even want to think about before, and regretted letting the memories outlive their welcome.

"Pfff. You're just saying that 'cuz you have a foot fetish." It's a good thing he got that out first because after that Xion flopped down beside him, almost close enough to touch, and stole his words for a second. He'd never think of her in that way, in part because he was missing the equipment, but also because he'd always figured she and Roxas had a thing. But with her right beside him like that and his arms up high enough that he could put one around her if he wanted, pull her close, know that this was real and she was back, the thought made him tighten the grip both hands had on one another.

He scoffed. "Larxene? Are you kidding? She'd turn us all into chew toys for that kunai of hers." Especially me, he almost added, but didn't feel like he needed to go into the reasons why everyone at Castle Oblivion would hate him if they could.

"Hey, guys. Remember me?"

That closeness with Xion was gone in a second.

"So I scare you, do I?"

And just like that, Axel was flanked by not one but two very important blonds from his past. Two sets of conflicting memories hit him like a pair of trains crashing head-on--Roxas, his laugh, his sheepish grin, sea-salt sunset where red travels the fastest, the Keyblade cleaving through Heartless in front of him, long talks on the clocktower, don't leave me I need you you're all I have left--and Vexen, cold science, rumpled sheets, pointed implements hurting to heal, green-hard-searching-stupid-idiot-how-dare-you eyes, deep regret, no escape.

"...Axel."

The urge to move towards both of them and away from both of them at the same time was excruciating. Roxas he wanted to greet, hug, ruffle his hair, smother him in affection--but he knew Roxas kept his distance, and it was Xion's turn. To Vexen he wanted to do several things he no longer had any right to, and knew there wasn't any chance of getting close without an icicle to the face. Both presences were answers to long-ago aches, and Axel was just plain too overwhelmed, propped up on his elbows and looking from the one to the other--past and present, youth and maturity, burning ice and dark light. It didn't feel like he had the strength to rise--his body was still broken, even if he didn't feel it as much anymore--but he managed. Nonexistent emotion, despite the memories that had him boggled, gave way to pure instinct and he shielded Xion out of habit, homing in on Vexen as the only variable here. "...Vexen," he got out, sounding weaker than he really meant to. It felt like Vexen could obliterate him with a snowflake in his state, but maybe he should. Eye for an eye.

[Roxas]

He smiled softly as he was greeted by Xion mouthing his name, a smile upon her face as well. Memories of all the times they had spent together flooded his mind, and it was all he could think about. He, Xion and Axel were really close not long ago. However, Xion's fading and Roxas' departure strained them greatly. Roxas missed those times, all those long afternoons of eating ice cream and talking. Why couldn't he just hit the "reset" button? If only life were that simple. But no, he had to live with everything that happened whether he liked it or not. Beggars could not be choosers, after all.

The young Nobody couldn't help but notice that Axel's face dimmed a bit and seemed to move slightly away from Xion upon seeing him. Was he interrupting something...? No, Axel would never think of Xion in that way. Right? They always bickered like a brother and sister. He highly doubted they could ever work out without someone getting hurt, probably her. Another thing he couldn't help noticing was the feeling he got when he saw Xion. He felt... Happy. Yet, that couldn't be right. He didn't have a heart.

Roxas shrugged off the thought and was about to speak when Vexen interrupted them. The cold air that suddenly invaded this warm reunion made Roxas cringe. He never really liked Vexen, he was so strange. Definately the strangest of the senior members, hands down. His question, though, was why was Vexen here? Didn't Axel kill him? Better yet, why were any of them here. The only one he could justify was himself, though he wasn't even sure why he was able to seperate himself from Sora. Nothing made sense anymore.

"Who's next? Marluxia?" Roxas faked a chuckle at his own joke, hoping to hide the disappointment that was currently plauging him.

[Xion]

“I know I do, Axel. So, shut up.” She wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him. Her face slid into a slightly saddened look, and she dropped her gaze from the conversation, biting her bottom lip in the process. She had almost forgotten that they had fought several times before her death. Wanting to forget about it, she shook her head. “They weren’t that bad. They aren’t anywhere on me now, y’know.” She shrugged.

“Nah. I have a hair fetish. It has to be spiky.” She winked at him. Her thoughts drifted away. How could she have said that? It was too late to take it back. Could she think of Axel that way if she had a heart? Perhaps she could. She felt her face burn slightly at the thought. But, at the same time, she couldn’t. While she liked Axel…she wasn’t sure if she liked him in that way. After all, they fought, rather childishly, all the time. Still, she couldn’t help but turn her head to stare at him. She bit her bottom lip. Half of her wanted to go and lay her head on his shoulder, but the other half kept her from doing so. She also figured that would be an awkward thing to do, especially since she didn’t know where she stood with him. She giggled, once more. “Which is why, in the end, I said we shouldn’t. I don’t want you to die when I just found you.”

As close as she had felt to Axel, as much as she had laughed and giggled, blushed and winked. All the feelings she had felt previously had completely left her. She was numb now. Axel. Roxas. Vexen. She didn’t think she could handle this all. She was starting to get dizzy. Slowly, and with the help of the clock tower, she stood up. After she had allowed her hand to drop, she started to sway slightly, but thought nothing of it. “Wha? N-No. Not at all.” She shook her head several times, almost trying to reassure herself. In reality, she was deathly afraid of Vexen. She didn’t trust him, not since she had found out that it was he…no. She didn’t want to think about it.

Xion lifted her hand to hold her head. Everyone was tilting slightly. She felt as if she was gonna fall over. She couldn’t handle this. She couldn’t handle the happiness she thought she felt seeing Roxas and Axel on the same day. Yet, at the same time, she had seen Vexen too and the feeling in the pit of her stomach had turned sour and she had gotten dizzy. She opened her mouth to say something else, but, like before, nothing came out. She looked down and blinked slightly. Had she not stood up, Axel would have shielded her from them. Roxas and Vexen. He probably wasn’t hiding her from the first one, but she couldn’t be so sure. Her eyes widened even more when Roxas, hopefully kidding, joked that Marluxia was probably next to come. She gulped and shook her head, feeling her knees buckle. “Oh God no.” She mumbled turning and sliding down the wall of the clock tower, closing her eyes and just passing out slightly. This was just too much for her to take in one day.

[Vexen]

Well, this wasn't the most pleasant of reunions.

Perhaps it was merely a matter of timing, but it was just the oddest thing when Axel greeted him before he did Roxas. Vexen had expected him to get defensive, to don a mask of ire and make a fuss over his intrusion -- some how dare you interrupt sort of reaction to his stealing Axel's moment with his 'friends.' But Axel fell short of his expectations -- too short, he thought, and as suspicious as that might've made him, the way Axel had said his name was completely disarming.

"Who's next? Marluxia?"

Vexen was not prepared for this.

"Oh God no."

He ground his teeth, gaze drifting away from Axel's form and towards the sunset. Their little issues were ones to be worked out in private -- Roxas and Xion had absolutely no right to know about that sort of thing, and...well. All considered, this wasn't the time for it. And so it was with a little bit of effort that Vexen suppressed his inclination towards pretending, summoning an air of professionalism instead and crossing his arms.

"Yes, it's a pleasure to see you all as well." He saw Xion slump in his peripheral vision and cast a glance her way, quirking a brow at her dramatic reaction. Strange how easily she made it seem like she could feel the emotions involved with that -- was she really passed out? Now that was impressive. Any thoughts of caring for her good health immediately went to self-praise, as any creation that could so accurately mimic fainting from overwhelming emotions was a credit to his own genius.

Still, he frowned disapprovingly.

"Would anyone care to tell me exactly what's going on?"

[Axel]

Thrown not only into a position where Roxas and Xion were around again, but one that was potentially dangerous, Axel snapped right back into Mentor Mode. Upon noting Xion's collapse, he looked to Roxas with the message Tend to her in his eyes, and turned his attention back to Vexen.

"Would anyone care to tell me exactly what's going on?"

Axel spread his hands, a little more at ease now that Vexen at least wasn't going to take the plunge and attack him right there. Not that Roxas or Xion knew why he might be that aggressive, necessarily. "Your guess is as good as ours, as far as I know. Sora wiped us out and so far some of us are coming back. At this rate, we'll be one big happy family again before we know it." Not that Axel in particular wanted to see any of the other members back. Xigbar had been fun and dangerous, but also loyal, along with most everyone else aside from Marluxia and Larxene (who had also died at his hands and who he definitely didn't want to see back anytime soon). For that matter, Zexion's death was also his fault (to a degree, if one wanted to get technical), and Lexaeus wouldn't like that. No, there was no one in the Organization benign enough that Axel might want to see them again aside from the Roxas and Xion at his back. Vexen was already one too many enemies back from the dead.

"Don't guess you've seen anyone else from the old days around," he prodded, not exactly being subtle, but it was the kind of thing anyone in his circumstances would wonder about.

[Roxas]

Roxas hesitated at first, seeing Xion collapse like that hit him. But he wasn't sure whether to tend to her or if Axel had it under control. Though, as if he read his mind, Axel gave him a look that told him to do so. This time the young Nobody rushed over to Xion sans hesitation. He picked up her head and torso and leaned them against his body, checking to make sure she was okay. Thankfully, she was, only passed out. Regardless, Roxas spoke to her quietly, hoping to wake her from her current slumbering state.

"Hey, Xion. You okay? Wake up!"

He was almost pleading with whatever "all powerful" being that may watch over them. He had just reunited with Xion, there was no reason for it to be cut short.

As he sat there with Xion propped up against him, he listened as Axel answered Vexen's question. He, too, didn't want to meet anyone else from the Organization. He already had who he wanted before Vexen arrived, the killjoy.

[Xion]

She wasn’t exactly sure where she was. All she knew was that it was very dark. Not as dark as it had been when she left the world for what she had thought permanently, but it was still darker than when she went to sleep. Besides that, she wasn’t having any dreams either. All she knew was that one moment, she was getting dizzy over seeing Axel, Roxas, and then finally Vexen. Vexen. If she could move her mouth in any possible way, she was sure it would be pulled up into a curl. She didn’t want him there. Not that she had anything against him, personally…or so she was trying to convince herself of that lie, but he had ruined their moment. He had no reason to be there. It should have been Axel, Roxas, and herself, if not just two of them alone.

"Hey, Xion. You okay? Wake up!"

Slowly, almost painfully, she opened one eye, and nearly shut them again. Where, exactly, was she? In the arms of one of her best friend’s. Roxas. Why was she in his arms? Was she not leaning against the clock tower moments ago? That was what she had thought. She opened her mouth slightly. “Roxas?” She looked down, refusing to meet his eyes. She made a movement to be let up. This was a very uncomfortable position to her, yet, at the same time, she…enjoyed it. She blinked and stared at Axel and Vexen. Although she didn’t hear anything they had said, if they had, she felt-or thought she felt-some tension going between them.