02. Love

    Roxas followed his partner down the hall, until they stopped at a door. Xaldin opened it, very slowly, quietly, until it was barely enough for the Whirlwind Lancer to peek though. The candelabra paced back and forth, seeming to be under stress, talking to a clock.

            The boy was barely able to see anything, but heard a little bit of the conversation. "I hope Mistress Belle will fall in love with the Master soon. Almost all of the rose petals have fallen!" one voice said. Roxas assumed it was the candelabra.

            The other voice, which Roxas figured was the clock, replied, "If only Master wouldn't be so stubborn and hard." The voice sighed.

            Xaldin closed the door and opened a Dark Corridor. The blonde turned to him before leaving, and asked, "Xaldin, that thing they were talking about…love. What is it, exactly?"

            "Something that we can't feel. Don't think about such useless things, Roxas; let's get back to the Castle," he scoffed, rolling his eyes before leaving.

            "Something we can't feel… how can you be so sure?" he asked himself before heading back to the Castle that Never Was.

            The blonde Nobody was curious, this new word so unfamiliar to him struck his interest. Of course, it would be hard to ask anyone, for the fact that they would respond the same way Xaldin did, or possibly worse. It seemed like that every time the ignorant boy wanted to know something. They either told him he was thinking about unnecessary things, or freak out beyond what is necessary (Saix), and in the end, still leave him with the same question he was never answered with. But, when in doubt, ask Axel.

            Axel, of course, being his best friend and all, always tried to find the answer for Roxas. He felt it would be rude to leave the boy wandering in ignorance. When asked this question, the flaming red haired man simply replied, "Scuse me?"

            Roxas looked down at his ice cream, ashamed he asked something so sticky, not even Axel would answer. Noticing the embarrassment of the young Nobody, Axel cleared his throat, and with that, tried to answer in terms understandable to him. "Um… well, it's a feeling you have. If you had a heart you would know."

            Roxas looked up, "That doesn't answer anything."

            Axel sighed, "Figured. Anyway, well… it's kind of when you like someone… a lot. You want to be around them all the time, and to see them happy means the world to you. Does that help any?"

            "Yeah. Well, Axel, I like you. You're my friend," he smiled.

            Axel's eyes widened and he almost choked on his ice cream, "No, Roxas. You have it all wrong! Love isn't really what friends have. Definitely not what we have," he grimaced at the thought, "What I was trying to explain is the sort of romantic kind of love. It's where you want to hold hands, and hug and kiss and all that mushy stuff. Normally, a guy would feel this way towards a girl, but of course, I wouldn't hate you if it was towards a guy," Axel said. He really wouldn't mind, but of course, as long as it wasn't him.

            "A girl, huh?" he wondered, thinking of the only girl he knew: Xion. Well, he's encountered other girls, and there was Larxene, but he didn't actually know them. Xion was always there, always wanted him to be happy, because it made her happy. She was pretty, too.

            "Hey Roxas, Axel," Xion called as she climbed the steps of the Station Heights Clock Tower with an ice cream in hand. She took a seat next to Roxas. "What's up?"

            Roxas blushed when she smiled at him. Axel nudged him teasingly, "Oh, just discussing about our days."

            "I see," she smiled, taking a bite out of her ice cream.
----

            "Xion, I want to tell you something", Roxas said one day, out of the blue. It was after a mission, and Axel had left already, leaving Roxas alone with Xion. This time, it was completely different than what he had felt before. This time, something was making his stomach feel funny, and a tingly feeling ran up his spine. And Xion's hand… why did he desperately want to hold it?

            "Yes, Roxas?" she smiled, making him melt inside. Was this what love was?

            "I l-love ice cream," he stuttered, then mentally slapped himself as he caught what just came out of his mouth. I love ice cream? You've got to be kidding me, Roxas! Why would you say something that stupid?

            She stared at him blankly, "Okay? Well, I love ice cream, too. I think it's always delicious."

            "Yeah…" his voice trailed off, and for awhile there was a dead silence between the two teenaged Nobodies.

            Finally, after awhile, Xion broke the silence. "Well… it's getting late, isn't it? And after a long mission, I think it's good that we get some shut-eye. So shall we head back, Roxas?" She stood up, her hair gently blowing in the breeze. The girl lent out her hand for him to take. He took it, got up, and with her hand still in his, Roxas said, "Shall we get going, then?"

            She looked at their hands, noticing it was awhile since the boy stood up, "Uh, Roxas… my hand. I kind of need it."

            He immediately let go of it, feeling a wave of heat and shame wash over him, "Yeah… sorry about that."

            The next day, Roxas promised himself he would confess to the black-haired beauty. He got lucky, too, for she and he were assigned to work together. Into Wonderland they went, and after they completed their mission, Roxas knew it was the perfect time to confess. "Close your eyes and wait here," he told her as she was standing outside the Hatter and the Hare's makeshift house.

            "Roxas, what are you up to?" she asked, rather perplexed.

            "You'll see!" he replied, running off to the Queen of Heart's garden. So what if I don't have a heart? I can love her without one, whether Xaldin or Xemnas say it is possible or not! Roxas thought to himself.

            He approached a group of card soldiers splattered red, holding paintbrushes. "We're painting the roses red!" they sang, circling a bush of white roses. Quickly, he shimmied through the crowd and stole a pair of hedge trimmers from one, clipping himself a bouquet of red-splattered white roses. "Hey! We need those roses! The queen will have your head (not to mention ours!) when she discovers this! Hey! Come back immediately!" the raised their fists, and some chased after the young Organization member, but it was no use. Roxas was already halfway back to where he left Xion.

            When he came back, she was sighing, as if he was gone for ages - he probably was. "You can open your eyes now, Xion."

            "Roxas, what took you so long? And what's behind your back?" She questioned him, raising an eyebrow.

            He revealed the roses from behind his back and gave them to Xion. "I honestly don't know if you like roses, but they're really pretty, aren't they?"

            "They look like they've been painted," she pointed out bluntly.

            "Yeah… they were. But aside from that, they're pretty right?" he threw out again, desperate for her approval, so then, he could tell her.

            "Sure, if you say so. Why did you do this in the first place?"

            "Umm… well…"he hesitated. No, I have to tell her, he thought. It's now or never. "These roses, they're beautiful, like you, except you're more beautiful. A-and you are so kind, and caring, and wanted to return the favor. Xion, I tried to tell you this yesterday, but I got scared and avoided it. But now I'll tell you. Xion, I love you," he said, red-faced, palms sweating.

            "Roxas… I don't know what to say…" she said, her voice trailing off.

            "I'll give you time to think about it, but I wanted you to know," he said, leaving her to think by herself.

----

            It had been nearly a month, and she still wasn't talking to him. It nearly drove him insane; he wanted to know the answer she would have to his confession. He even went to Axel for advice, but the man had no clue what to tell him. "Never really fell in love before. It was just me and me only back in my Somebody days," he'd tell Roxas.

            One day, Axel had been kept late, with the long string of missions he had to complete, leaving the clock tower in the hands of Roxas and Xion. For the longest amount of time, the only sound you could hear was of the two taking bites out of the ice cream. It was then when Roxas decided to break the silence. "So… have you thought about what I said?"

            "I need to tell you something," Xion began, "I had no clue what in the world love was, so I went to Axel. He told me that you asked me the same thing the other day, actually. So after he explained to me what it was, I was overwhelmed by everything, that you actually felt like that towards me. And honestly, I had to think about whether it was possible to even feel that, without hearts. Then, the more I thought about it, about you, the more I wanted to tell you how I felt, but it was too hard for me, and you seemed so distant, but I guess I wasn't doing anything to help that, was I? Basically, what I'm saying is that Roxas, I love you as well."

            He was surprised by the lengthy description, but he knew she meant every word, so he listened to her every syllable, and when she said the last sentence, he couldn't be any happier. "R-really?"

            "Absolutely," she smiled. Roxas reached over for her hand and interlaced his fingers with hers, and this time, she didn't let go.