Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Many years ago, something happened that almost splintered your heart to pieces. It was winter then, too. That day, you locked away the part of you that didn’t understand the pain—that couldn’t take the burden of what happened.

You hid it deep within yourself so that your heart’s light could survive. You did not know that hiding your light meant stumbling blindly into darkness.

For years you grew, keeping yourself safe, refusing to build the connections your heart desperately craved for fear they would one day cripple you. You were not happy, but you were content, living a life of emotional isolation.

You only let your true self shine when you were alone. It was in those moments that you felt whole. When no one was around to harm or hurt you, you unlocked that part of you—the innocent light that had almost perished—and you felt like you truly existed. But the light was fragile. It spent so long locked away that it never had chance to grow -- to heal.

Hearts shine brightest when they connect with others’ but you were too afraid to let that happen. So it stayed shy, and young, and meek. It was not worth the risk. It was not worth pain. A frail, light heart encased in overbearing shadows was better than no heart at all.

Unfortunately, the price of protecting your heart’s light was heavy. Strange, phantom-like creatures were drawn to you like moths to a flame. They were called the heartless. Then there were Dusks—creatures that could almost be mistaken for humans from afar, with lightning-quick speed and terrifying, disjointed and twitching bodies.

Nothing could stop them. Not rocks. Not sticks. Not weapons. The heartless at least were slow. They were easy—too easy—to outrun. The Dusks, however, were tricky. They had wits. They were fast. But they weren’t relentless. As long as you could keep away from them for long enough, they turned away in the end. It was always sudden, like a dog hearing a whistle, then they would disappear through a large, dark gateway as if beckoned home. You often stopped to watch them go, knowing you were out of danger. You wondered where the gateway led to—where it was, that the monsters called home. You wondered if anyone was waiting for them on the other side.

Then one day, you found out.

Running through the frosted streets just as the lamps began to flicker, you charged on, nearly out of breath. They were chasing you again. Dusks were difficult to avoid when they worked as a pack. You slid into an alley and clung to the wall, hoping they would miss you and carry on along the street. Even so, you backed away, keeping to the shadows to avoid detection. You watched them fly past; one, two, three. You sighed in relief. But wait. Only three? 

The sting of a Dusk’s pincer scratching your shoulder made your breath catch. Your blood ran cold. Colder than the winter night's air against your skin. You didn’t have time to look around before the other three creatures swarmed the head of the alleyway, boxing you in.

Whatever the Dusks intended to do, though, was cut short. You dared to hope you were safe, hearing the familiar sound of the dark gateway opening just down the alleyway to beckon the creatures back. Only, they did not move. You waited, hoping they would suddenly disperse, called away into the darkness again like they always, always were. But they stayed on you, closing in around you.

Then you saw them.

From the gateway, a hooded figured appeared. They were dressed in black, merely a shadow against the looming darkness of the alley. Your heart clenched. Though it was dark, it was unmistakable. It was a human. You never expected to see a human emerging from the gateway, not after years of countless heartless. They came towards you, knocking aside the Dusk that had scratched you. It hissed in protest but hung back, twitching grotesquely.

“Well, now.” You jumped, hearing a man’s voice. Some part of you had expected him to be a mute, hooded spectre. He disregarded the Dusks, stopping when he was next to you so that he could lean down to look at your face. In what little light there was, from beneath the hood you caught sight of a bright green eye. “So you’re the one who keeps stealing my Dusks.”

“S-stealing?” You asked, frightfully aware of the way the creatures twitched at their name. You had no intention of correcting him. If such horrifying things belonged to him, you could only imagine he was just as terrifying.

“Why though?” He asked aloud. You knew he was asking it to himself and not to you. He stood up straight, a thoughtful hand to his chin. “You can’t harness the darkness, can you?”

You only realised he had addressed that one to you after an uncomfortably long pause.

“Darkness?  N-no. I don’t know what that is.”

“Strange…” He sounded a little lost. He paced back and forth, debating such an odd predicament. You hoped he would figure something out soon. The air was turning crisper as the night came in. Your fingers prickled under the cold. Yet, you could not stop to worry about that when four Dusks and a hooded figure loomed in front of you. He did not seem intent on hurting you…for now. You wanted him to leave, and take his monsters with him. With any luck, they would be gone from your life forever.

Instead of leaving, he came in close again—not to your face, but to your chest. You panicked, moving your hand to slap him away on reflex, but he caught your hand and pushed it away, against the wall. He pulled down his hood and you saw the shock of red hair before he pushed his ear to your chest. Your heart hammered in your ribs two hundred beats a minute with the man’s impossibly warm face pressing against you. You stammered, too shocked to move. He didn’t make any other attempt to touch you, or do anything inappropriate, but his leather gloved hand kept hold of your wrist, preventing you from running. Not that you could outrun four Dusks and a human—if that’s really what he was.

“Wait, so how are…” He seemed half way through a thought, confused by whatever he could hear in your chest. He lifted his head to look at your face, bewildered. Then your eyes met. You were glad he had pulled away from your chest. However fast your heart had been before, it doubled. Though it was dark, the vague light from the street lamps and the stars above framed his face; the straight lines of his jaw and the powder complexion of his skin. He was terrifyingly handsome. His green eyes shined like a cats and as soon as they had you in their sights you couldn’t look away.

Lucky, then, that he looked away nearly as fast. He pulled back entirely. When he spoke, he sounded flustered and would not meet your gaze a second time. The Dusks made a strange, elongated hissing sound. If you didn’t know any better, it almost sounded as though they were laughing.

“Your heart. That’s what’s calling the Dusks to you. I think.” He passed you a fleeting glance. “You’ve got a messed up ticker in there.”

“My—” you pressed your hand to your chest in alarm. If your heart was attracting the monsters, surely there was nothing you could do about it. “What am I supposed to do?”

The man cocked an eyebrow, daring to look at you longer to take in your alarmed expression. “Do?” He pondered the question. “Most human hearts are balanced – they hold enough light and darkness in them to work harmoniously.

“But you… yours is like a toffee with a soft centre. These guys,” he pointed to the Dusks, “come to you because of the dark exterior of your heart. They’re good like that. Little lap dogs ready to do the darkness’s bidding.

“But as soon as they get close, they sniff out that gooey centre – the light in you that’s just too much to handle. They want at it.”

This news alarmed you. “B-but if I’ve got both in my heart, that’s the same as everyone else! Why are they targeting me?”

“Because it’s not the same as everyone else. Weren’t you listening?” The man flicked you in the forehead. “At first, your heart looks totally consumed in darkness. That attracts the Dusks. But you’ve got a bright light trapped in the middle, completely separated from the dark. Most human hearts are like marble cake. The light and dark are interspersed. But you’re a surprise-centre toffee.”

Somehow, that thought was unbearable. Though it was rarely a conscious decision, you knew what he was talking about. That part of you that you had tried to protect and the very means by which you had shut it away were what attracted the monsters to you. Then, surely that meant they would always come after you. You could not redefine your heart—not now, not after so many years. Anywhere in public, anywhere away from your home, it was impossible to let your heart’s light shine, let alone have it mingle with the darkness inside you.

You could not—would not—let the light in your heart be tainted by the overbearing horrors of the darkness.

“What do I do?” you asked again, your voice notably softer as the impossibility of the situation plagued on you. The man shrugged, unhelpfully laidback given your inner turmoil.

“That’s not my problem.”

“But you can control them.” You referred to the Dusks that were waiting uncharacteristically patiently as the redhead spoke with you. You were almost certain that if he left, the Dusks would resume their hunt. Now that you knew you were like candy to them, the reality of their intentions loomed over you.

The man shrugged dramatically.

“Still not my problem.”

With that, he turned to leave. Your heart dropped, fearing the wrath of the too-close-for-comfort Dusks. Perhaps in a wave of sympathy, feeling your fear, the man flicked his wrist.

“Come on, you nitwits. Let’s go.”

He was calling the Dusks away. You waited for them to follow, but they didn’t. The man noticed. He turned and stared them down. “I said move.”

The Dusks did not leave, but they did not move towards you. You looked hesitantly between the monsters and the man, hoping he had only forgotten some sort of special trick to make them leave.

He gave a dejected sigh, clutching his hand to his forehead.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

You wondered what he meant, until he marched back towards them. You expected him to drag the creatures away by the slithery white tentacles. What you did not expect was for him to pull you away by the arm.

“What are you doing?” You stammered, trying to dig your heels into the ground.

“I’m doing you a favour.” He said, staring ahead as he made his way to the dark gateway, completely unfazed by your attempts to resist his pull. “…probably.”

Without looking back to aim it, he shot something over his shoulder. It flew past you and landed between the Dusks, then the ground beneath them burst into flames. Their screeches filled the alleyway, distracting you long enough for the man to pull you through the gateway without any resistance. You only noticed you were inside the dark corridor when the view of the alley disappeared, replaced by an ominous blue haze.

You were given very little time to take in your new surroundings. Your shock alone was enough to stop any sensory information from processing, then the sound of the man’s voice telling you to keep quiet and stay with him took over any other thoughts. The very real fear of walking into a world of Dusks and heartless stopped you responding. Surely, if you attracted those creatures, he wouldn’t take you to where they lived?

At the other end of the dark corridor, you reappeared in another corridor. This one, however, was tangible. It was tall, with heavy metal walls and other corridors leading off it in different directions.

The man looked around quickly before yanking you forwards, dashing through the hallways. Suddenly, you realised you weren’t supposed to be here. Wherever this place was, it was not the land of heartless. Even so, the way the man looked this way and that at every turn had you fearing for your safety just as equally.

Finally, you arrived at a door. You had passed many on the way, but this one looked different—almost homely. It was white metal, just like everything else in the vast building, but there was a pane of red glass near the top, with a strange kind of insignia below it. It almost looked like the wheel of a ship. The man pushed it open, taking you inside. Once you were in, he shut the door and locked it.

“What a mess,” he said under his breath, running a hand through his hair. Then he looked at you. You were already sat on his bed. “Please,” he said sarcastically, “make yourself at home.”

You blushed awkwardly, only realising then that it was his bed. Some part of you thought this was a kind of safe house for you to stay in.

“So, if this wasn’t your plan to help me,” you asked, crossing your legs on top of his black bed sheets, “what’s the plan?”

You seemed to be in a Dusk-free zone, but you couldn’t imagine staying here forever. The man passed you a look.

“What? Plan...? Oh!” He seemed to catch what you were getting at. “There’s no plan. I just thought you were interesting. Thought you’d put up a fight if I said I was gonna steal you away. Then again,” he offered, taking residence on the chair beside his bed, “this does actually get you away from the heartless, so really it’s a win-win.”

“Steal me away…?” You pondered his words for a moment, then the shock of it hit you. “This was a kidnapping?”

“I mean you can call it that if you want. But I like to think of it as keeping you out of harm’s way, and keeping you where I know you can’t bother the Dusks when they’re on duty.”

It was hard for you to take in the grandeur of his actions when he said it in such a laidback manner. He caught the look of panic in your eyes.

“Look,” he offered, “You asked for help. The only way I can help you is if I redirect the heartless that come sniffing around. The only way I can do that is if you stay with me.”

“Stay… with you?” You weren’t sure if he meant anything by it, but the insinuation of his otherwise innocent words made your cheeks flair up. “No. I can’t. I mean, I don’t know you. You could be anyone—”

He pushed his hand out towards you, a smile on his lips as his eyes regarded you with a sudden sort of interest.

“The name’s Axel.” He waited patiently. Taking his cue after a little too long, you hesitantly shook his hand. “Get it memorised.”

With such a strange name, it was hard for you to forget it.

“I’m ____.”

“____, hmm?” He repeated your name, testing how it felt. After a moment, he smiled. “Well, ____, before we get all chummy, how about you tell me what you’re hiding in that heart of yours?”

Your hands were still clasped from the handshake, and you noticed the way Axel’s hand tightened around yours just slightly.

“I can’t.” You admitted. “It’s not safe.”

Axel looked around, expecting to see a sudden cluster of Dusks. “Not safe? The heartless won’t get you if I’m here. I promise.”

It was too early for you to appreciate the weight of Axel’s promises. If there was one thing he stuck to, the one thing that made him feel human again, it was that he never, never broke a promise.

“No… not them. You. You’re not safe.”

Axel had to laugh. “You don’t know that. I just rescued you. I’m the safest thing in this building.”

That thought worried you. It was all well and fine if he really was a good person, but if he wasn’t and he was still the safest thing in the building, you didn’t want to meet the other residents.

“Still.” You were hesitant to tell him. Just because he had rescued you—if that’s what the two of you were going to call it—that didn’t mean you could readily release that which you had kept secure for years. “I’m sorry.”

Axel let go of your hand. He did not seem annoyed, like you had expected, but contemplative.

“Fine,” he agreed after a moment. “Don’t show me what it is. Just tell me why it’s hidden. What made you lock it away?”

You couldn’t do that either. The entire reason you had locked it away was to protect it from the past, so that you didn’t have to process what happened.

“All I can say,” you said softly, keeping to the outskirts of your memories for fear of remembering too much, “is something happened when I was little. Something no child should ever have to face. My heart cracked from it. The only way to protect it was to hide it away.”

You kept your gaze to the floor, refusing to meet Axel’s eyes as you confessed as much as you could. You felt the clench in your heart as your consciousness drifted closer to the memory.

The pain must have shown on your face. Axel pulled you back into the room, out of your head, placing a firm hand over your quivering one.

“You’re okay. Relax.” He waited until you looked up from the floor, at him. “That’s all I needed to know. I won’t ask again. So don’t worry.”

You scolded yourself for feeling so helpless, for letting yourself get vulnerable. Axel let go of your hand, shifting from the chair to sit beside you on the bed. You weren’t sure you could remember the last time anyone had given you a hug--so used to keeping yourself closed off to the world--but Axel gave you no time to back away. Seeing your worries, he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you against his chest, his legs wrapping loosely around you once you were snug.

In all honesty, the one thing you craved more than anything was a connection. You wanted the bonds that everyone else had. You wanted to feel loved. Axel’s warm touch reminded you of that. You wondered how long it had been since anyone had held you like this. Though he was a total stranger, you relaxed into him, his one display of compassion enough to stop you fighting your heart, just for now.

You were a funny little thing, Axel thought, enjoying the feeling of you in his arms. He knew you were damaged. Something had happened that probably should have killed you--pushed you into the darkness forever. But even as he held you, listening to you breathing slow, relaxed breaths, he could feel the glimmer of light within you.

He wanted to see that light shining bright. It was just a feeling, but something in him told him that you could be the light that would make him whole again.

Chapter Text

It was weeks after your arrival into The World that Never Was when Axel decided that perhaps enough was enough. Though he was enjoying getting to know you—learning how to draw out the frail light inside heart—even he could recognise cabin fever.

Ever since arriving here, you had been confined to Axel’s room. It wasn’t very big, and although at first you had enjoyed relaxing without worry of heartless chasing you, Axel only had limited books to read or things to do, and the novelty was wearing off.

“Axel,” you whined when he came through the door, returning from another mission. Currently, you were upside down on his bed, your feet resting high up the wall. Seeing your position, he smirked, resting one hand on his hip.

“Funny,” he gloated, watching as you flipped onto your stomach to look at him properly, “I seem to remember a conversation where you said you didn’t feel safe around me. That still the case?”

“Yes, that’s still the case.” You said with an indignant pout, though you had to admit it felt forced. If anything, Axel had acted nothing but a gentleman to you these past few weeks. He slept on the floor so you could have the bed, he listened to you when you felt low, and sometimes he even brought ice creams back after a mission.

What you had learned about Axel so far was that he belonged to some organization. However many there were, he was number eight. Confined to his room, you had not met the other members, but Axel said it was for your own good. Apparently, you were different. So different, in fact, that if the other members ever found you they would never let you leave—or so Axel said. A lot. Every time you asked to leave his room.

The thing was, though he would never tell you, Axel had a soft spot for you. His initial spark of curiosity had grown into something he couldn’t quite name, but when he looked at you—in those rare moments where you truly let your guard down—he felt whole again. He felt human. He was a Nobody and had no heart, no emotions. Yet, somehow he felt the tiniest flicker in his chest when the cracks in your armour showed.

The nagging feeling that your armour would never truly break away if you stayed here gnawed at him. He felt bored whenever he had to stick around the castle for a few days, let alone in one room and for multiple weeks. He decided, then, that enough was enough.

“Let’s get you out of here.”

“Wait, what?” You sounded surprised. Axel smirked. You weren’t all that good at hiding your excitement. “Hang on, you’re not putting me back where you found me, are you?”

The thought of your heartless-free holiday ending so abruptly made you quiver.

Axel had already made arrangements, but he liked watching your emotions, the way you didn’t hold back for the sake of politeness.

“You’ll see.”

That was not enough of an answer for you. You whined, but got up off the bed never the less. Axel held open his bedroom door for you, but as you passed by him, he pressed his finger to his lips to keep you quiet.

You weren’t sure you believed his spiel about the other organization members being dangerous and willing to commit a kidnapping, but then again Axel had technically kidnapped you—the only reason you could claim it wasn’t kidnap was because you were a willing participant. If they truly intended to kidnap you if they found you, you decided it was best to follow Axel’s instructions to be as quiet as possible.

He took you through the labyrinth of metal corridors at a brisk pace, his hand wrapped around your wrist to help you keep up.

You might have protested at the way he suddenly latched on to you without warning but now that you were on the move, if he were to let go of you for even a moment you were sure you would get lost. You were amazed Axel could tell the corridors apart.

He stopped abruptly midway along a hall, checking back and forth over his shoulder.

“This’ll do.” He said, letting go of your wrist.

“It will?” You wondered aloud. This corridor looked just like the last and probably just like the next. Axel nodded, grinning at you.

“There’s no one in this part of the castle. It’s Nobody free—present company excluded, of course.” He looked like he was telling a joke. You weren’t really sure what he meant.

“Nobody? What’s a Nobody?” You asked, hoping to join in on his amusement. Instead of explaining, Axel seemed to catch himself, like he realised he had said something he shouldn’t have.

“Hmm? Never mind. Long story.”

The fact he didn’t want to tell you made you want to know more. In the few weeks of being unofficial roommates he had answered every one of your questions so far. That’s how you knew where you were—although when Axel had first said the World The Never Was, you thought he had been telling you a riddle instead of responding. You also knew more about the Dusks and the heartless now, as well as other creatures like Berserkers and Snipers. The moment he told you that Dusks were the weakest, your heart almost stopped.

After arming you with all that information, why would he bottle up about Nobodies?

“Come on,” you asked in a drawn-out, pleading sort of way. “What’s a Nobody? Why is it a long story?”

“Telling you why it’s a long story is just as long as story and really, we don’t have time, so some other time, yeah?” You sensed he was starting to rush.

“Is someone coming?” You weren’t exactly worried, but Axel was a very laid back sort of guy. If he seemed urgent, you had to believe it was urgent.

Axel summoned a corridor of darkness—he had taught you about those, too. Seeing the gateway appear from nothing, your stomach gave a happy, giddy sort of twist.

“Where are we going?” You asked excitedly. Axel smirked.

“You catch on fast.” He extended his hand out to you, the gate glowing and humming behind him. “Shall we?”

Axel liked to be a little touchy-feely with you—not in a gropey, creepy way. You couldn’t stress enough that he was very gentlemanly in that sense. But he often brushed your hand or squeezed your side to comfort you, to remind you that you were safe, where nothing could harm you. At first, you thought he had been referring to the Dusks, but after a week of your stay he had asked about your past again. When he asked, he had rubbed his thumb over your knuckles, giving you that same reassuring it’ll be okay expression.

You didn’t open up to him. In fact you scolded him for bringing it up when he said he wouldn’t, but he had laughed and accepted your wrath, quickly diverting the subject to something totally off-topic.

In all honesty, you had grown to like Axel’s gentle touches. They were little and not all that often, but they made you realise just how long you had gone without real human connection. He was not intrusive enough to be suffocating. Though you refused to tell him about your past, you felt he had an inkling of an idea. He was more than happy to be patient, to ease you back into the world of bonding and forming connections. You had noticed the way your heart felt just a bit swollen—like the light was getting just a bit too big for its thick, dark container.

You held Axel’s hand. Feeling your fingers lacing with his, he gave them a squeeze then urged you into the corridor of darkness.

You were almost too giddy to see what awaited you. Axel had told you about many of the worlds he had visited on missions. Worlds that made your hometown sound pale and dull in comparison.

Stepping out of the corridor, Axel had to yank you forwards so he could close it behind you. Seeing the world, you had stopped dead.

“Where… are we?” You asked in amazed wonder. After successfully sealing off the corridor, Axel turned his full attention on you. He caught the glint in your eye. For a fraction of a second, he felt the darkness leave your heart entirely. He knew it. It was possible, then. In that second, he took in every detail of you, from the wistful, gentle look in your eyes to the way the tendrils of your hair lifted in the breeze, and the way your lips were ever so slightly parted as you struggled to take in the scenery.

He playfully bumped his side to yours to knock you from your daze. “Guess the stunned silence means you approve?”

Of course you approved. He definitely knew that. You could hear the smugness in his voice. You were standing amongst a cluster of trees at the base of a mountain, surrounded by a foot of pure white, untouched snow. The cold in the air had a bite to it, but you could bear it for the sake of the view. Behind you, the mountains stretched up for miles, white peaks set against a pure blue sky. Ahead of you was a vast frozen lake—so vast, in fact, that perhaps it was the sea—then there in the distance was a large town, nestled against the frozen water’s edge.

“This,” Axel announced, trudging through the snow a few paces as his boots crunched against the soft terrain, “Is the Kingdom of Arendelle. Known for its particularly striking winter festivals.” He raised a red eyebrow. “Want to take a look?”

He was acting as though the two of you had wandered from his house to his back garden. Could he not see what you were seeing? Did the sheer difference between the repetitive metal walls of his home and Arendelle not register for him?

“How can you be so relaxed?” You demanded, hardly able to believe you had been stuck in a bland box of a bedroom fifteen minutes ago.

Incredibly, Axel shrugged. “It’s not my first time.”

You had to be in awe of him a little. Just a little. For him to be so blasé, he must have seen endless wonders on his travels. You were jealous. You had spent most of your life running in circles, escaping heartless. You wondered what he must have accomplished in the same amount of time.

Axel liked watching your expressions. They were so genuine once your guard was down. It made that same tingle in his chest stir.

Giving you no more time to gaze and get frostbite, Axel headed away from the mountains, towards the gates of Arendelle castle. You were quick to follow. It was one thing to be alone in your hometown or even Axel’s room, but you didn’t fancy your chances in somewhere new and so vast.

As you approached the castle, the clamour of busy people greeted your ears. You wondered about the noise until you got a glance at the castle courtyard.

“Oh!” You gasped in excitement, dashing ahead when you saw the crowds of merry, brightly clothed people and the buzz of a festival. “Is this why we’re here?”

You looked back at Axel who was ambling along at a leisurely pace with his hands behind his head.

“Well, beats being stuck in my room, right? Go on,” he said, shooing you away with a lazy hand. “Go explore. I’ll catch up.”

If he wasn’t coming with you, you were sure that meant he had business of his own. So you weren’t here for the festival. You were ready to wager he had something to do for his organization. Still, it was nice to be out in the fresh, biting air, and it wasn’t like he was forcing you to go on his errand.

You weren’t sure how long he planned to stay in Arendelle so you wanted to make the most of it before you were stuffed back in his room.

You waved good bye to Axel. It was actually strange to leave him. You had been together for almost a month with no other human interaction. You felt like a chick leaving the nest for the first time. The worry of heartless appearing crossed your mind, but knowing Axel was still in the area put you at ease. He gave you the courage to stray, believing he was there to help if you needed it.

The winter festival was beautiful. You had something similar back home, pop up stalls and the like around the holidays, but nothing quite like this. The castle courtyard was full of shops and cafes, an ice rink and ornate, detailed frozen sculptures. The most important feature, though, was the constant, gentle fall of snow. It fell from seemingly nowhere and never touched the ground. It was all the beauty of a flurry with none of the toe-numbing cold of having to walk through it.

You never wanted to go home. You didn’t want to go back to Axel’s cramped bedroom, either. You made up your mind then and there. You wanted to travel. If this one world could be so different, you wanted to see them all.

It was a long while later when Axel returned to you. You had spent a fair portion of time trying the free food samples, a short while watching an ice sculpting contest, a few minutes running away from an overly-friendly walking, talking snowman, and were trying to figure out how to transport a tiny ice swan away from Arendelle without it melting when Axel showed up. There was a sign above the stall that read: Warning: Sculptures will melt outside the Kingdom. Surely, that had to be magic, then. It made you wonder about the kind of person who could sustain powerful ice magic for an entire kingdom.

“Look,” you said, pointing to the tiny sculpture. “Isn’t it sweet?”

Axel smiled, but wasn’t looking at the swan. Your light was shining brightly again.

“Cute,” he said absentmindedly. You passed him a glance, hearing his less than enthusiastic response.

“Maybe if you actually looked at it?” The indignation in your voice caused him to pay attention. He raised his hands in defence.

“Hey. That thing will melt if I get anywhere near it.”

“But it’s charmed to—”

“Trust me.” He chuckled, noticing the beginnings of a pout on your lips.

For the next hour, Axel followed you around the festival. At first he kept his distance to give you space, but you kept calling him over to show him something or to talk to him. Actually, it felt nice that you kept wanting his attention. He had worried at first that you would stay closed off to him, from what you had told him about preferring to be alone. The more time he spent with you, though, the more he realised that wasn’t the case. You didn’t want to be alone. You wanted to be safe. Protecting the light—the sweet, gentleness—in your heart was proof of that.

He wanted to witness that light. He wanted to see it grow and flourish. The stronger your heart shined, the more human he felt. He felt it more and more—that something in his chest was starting to grow.

Once you had seen all there was to see at the festival, Axel said he had something else to show you. Steering you through the crowds, he managed to get you back to the castle gates then took you outside.

Away from the castle and away from the surrounding built up areas, the landscape was very still. The sounds of the festival could not drift all the way out here, at the foot of the mountain.

“It’s up there.” Axel said, pointing way up into the distance. “Up for the walk?”

“Absolutely!” You said without looking. Years of outrunning heartless had kept you in shape. No mountain was too high.

… Or so you had thought. In all your confidence, you had failed to take into account the snow and ice, along with your less than suitable footwear. Your teeth chattered as you marched on, staying just behind Axel as he led the way. The climb was steep and the air was bitter—more so as you climbed higher.

You started to lag so Axel took you by the hand, pulling you along. He helped you navigate the rock faces, amused by your determination and the way you ignored the red, stinging flush of your cold face.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the climb levelled off. At the same time, the frosty breeze disappeared.

“Almost there,” Axel reassured you, squeezing your hand. You did not respond so he glanced over his shoulder. Catching his semi-concerned-semi-amused expression, you squeezed back to let him know the trek had not killed you off just yet, even though you could barely feel your cold fingers to do so.

In all honesty, you didn’t care where Axel was taking you. The walk was long but the stretch it gave your legs was soothing. You were pretty sure Axel understood how bad it was for you, being cooped up in his room all the time. You got the oddest impression he was trying to make up for it, since the whole situation was really his fault.

As you carried on through the snow, Axel suddenly told you to close your eyes.

“What?” You asked in disbelief, taking a quick glance around at the uneven, snow covered ground.

“Do you trust me?” He seemed relaxed on the matter, yet the question still seemed a little loaded. It felt like a leap of faith. Wordlessly, you shut your eyes, holding Axel’s hand tighter so he couldn’t run off and abandon you in the cold.

With your eyes closed, you did not see Axel gaze at you for a moment, pleasantly amazed by your answer. You did not see him raise his hand to your face, only to stop himself dead before he could touch you. If you did truly trust him, he didn’t want to accidentally besmirch that by giving in to his innocent-but-could-totally-be-taken-inappropriately-with-your-eyes-closed urges by stroking your cheek, your hair, your soft lower lip. Crap. Maybe some of his urges weren’t that innocent.

He pulled you along, mindful that you were blind to the surroundings. The ground wasn’t such a problem--- the snow was thick enough to hide the uneven dips and tree roots, but the last stretch of the journey cut through a narrow passage of rocks. He held protruding branches aside so they did not tickle you, and when he could not move the obstructions, he warned you what they were so you did not have to panic when you felt them.

Honestly, the path was such a winding, wobbly route, he hoped the endgame was enough to justify you having to close your eyes. He didn’t know how you felt about surprises but you hadn’t complained so far. You might have yelped once or twice but that was from a twig brushing your cheek and from the sound of a large bird taking off close by.

Escaping the crevice, it only took a couple moments more before Axel arrived at his destination. It was a hidden gem, if he said so himself. He took you to stand in front of a lake, frozen solid from the cold. Spectacularly, the waterfall that supplied the water had also turned to ice, the spray at its base transformed into thousands of tiny, delicate crystals. Even the droplets on the trees had frozen, refracting the sun so they looked like fairy lights.

Bringing you to stand at the very edge of the lake, he let go of your hand at last.

You thought the fact you hadn’t opened your eyes once the entire journey was nothing short of a miracle. You were dying to know what all the fuss was about. Under any normal circumstances you definitely would have peeked, but something had stopped you this time. Trust him, you thought. His words hung in your ears. What amazed you most was that you did trust him, even when you thought such a thing was impossible for you now.

“Take a look.”

Axel watched you open your eyes. He saw the way your expression changed from confusion as your eyes readjusted, to curiosity, to mesmerisation. He bit back the question, to ask if you were impressed. He knew you were and didn’t want to spoil the moment with his blatant smugness.

What shocked him out of that smugness was the moment you took a step forwards, onto the ice.

“Uhh… ____.” He watched you wobble as you found your balance, then your other foot left the safety of the snow covered bank. Keeping your arms wide to steady yourself, you waddled out onto the lake. You looked very proud of yourself. With a shaky turn, you faced Axel with a grin. There it was, he thought, your darkness was gone.

“This is awesome!” You shouted in delight. You braced yourself on one foot, propelling yourself around in wobbly circles with the other.

You looked like a complete nutter, but Axel could tell you were having fun. Before you made yourself too dizzy, he waded out towards you, finding it much easier to move on the ice than you.

He caught you mid-spin, catching you by the shoulders so you couldn’t stumble.

“Keep spinning like that and you’ll fall over.”

You looked up at him with a grin, but suddenly he noticed the twinkle in your eyes had suddenly faded, the darkness winding itself around your heart like bubble wrap.

“You’re right.” You admitted. “I got carried away.”

He meant it as a joke but the damage was done. You looked no less happy, but he inwardly kicked himself for getting your defences up. He wasn’t sure if it had been what he said or because he had touched you; either way, your spark was gone again. He just had to try harder to bring it back, and you were worth the effort.

Suddenly, you shivered. Axel’s hands were uncharacteristically warm for a human’s, even with his leather gloves on. They only served to remind you how cold the air was. You weren’t going to let it stop you, though. You were determined to shove a snowball down the back of Axel’s coat, no matter how tall he was or how cold you were.

“If you’ve had enough,” Axel seemed to have other ideas. You had not had enough. “We can head off?”

“Head off?” you looked at the picturesque scenery, wary Axel had the power to whisk you back to the World that Never Was in a heartbeat. “Don’t take me back yet. Just a little longer?”

“You’ll freeze.”

“Yeah, but…” The sun. The fresh air. The sounds of birds. Snow. The freedom to move around. They were all things you were sure to miss if he took you back. Suddenly, his kidnapping seemed a bit more like a real kidnapping. You almost wanted to ask him to leave you here, but you weren’t sure he would agree and even if he did, the heartless would be after you in no time. He had you trapped. “Axel, I—”

“Didn’t mean head off home, ya know?” He cut you off, a look of realisation dawning on him when he figured out what your problem was.

“Wait, what?” He wasn’t taking you back to his room? Then where on earth did he intend to go? Axel thumbed over his shoulder, back towards the crevice.

“There’s a cabin part way down the mountain. A bit off the beaten path but that means more privacy.”

Two things struck you at once. One, Axel had access to a hidden house in an obscure world. You knew Axel had been here before, but just how often? Then two, privacy seemed to be important enough for him to mention it. It made you wonder why.

Axel added, rubbing your shoulders to stave off your chill. “You can warm up in the hot tub. I bought you some clothes from—”

You knocked his hands away from you before he could finish. He stopped talking, taken aback. “____?”

The smile slipped from your face. He wasn’t sure why. Hot tubs and warmth sounded like the perfect idea to him. Yet your eyes told him something was wrong. You seemed almost hostile. You backed off, wobbling over the ice. Your wary gaze said everything but told him absolutely nothing, and it puzzled him greatly.

Really, from the way you felt inside, a steady glare was the calmest reaction you could muster. A hot tub. A hot tub. Suddenly, the rest of Axel’s actions took on an entirely new perspective. Luring you away from your home with the promise of protection. The way he touched you so care-freely. Locking you away in his room so that when he took you out you would be more than grateful. You realised it had all been leading somewhere. Somewhere you had no intention of ever going. You wanted Axel to be different—to be trustworthy—but clearly he wasn’t, and a private cabin with a hot tub was proof enough for you.

“Screw your hot tub,” you spat at him, your wariness slipping into anger as you changed tactics. Instead of shuffling away from him, you slid past him, over to the snow. “Leave me alone. Find someone else to Stockholm, you evil, nasty, manipulative, perverted,” you listed as many adjectives as you could think of to describe the first person to have snuck past your barrier, only to break you from the inside. You wouldn’t let it happen again. You were safer alone. Bring on the heartless. You could outrun them forever.

The last words you uttered to Axel came out somewhere between an aggressive shout and a pained whimper. “Follow me and I’ll scream loud enough to start an avalanche.”

You doubted you could, but you had no leverage over him. If he wanted to take you, he could. You were no match for someone who could wield magic and heartless. You hated that your heart ached the further from him you walked. You hated how you could imagine his handsome, amused face as you sat together in his room somewhere in your memories. You hated that you knew you would miss him.

Axel let you go. He was too shocked by what you thought of him to chase you.

An hour later and Axel was in the cabin, sitting in an armchair with his legs stretched out, the palm of his hand resting on his forehead as he stared contemplatively at the ceiling. He sighed deeply, wondering what he had done wrong.

A small cluster of shopping bags lay forgotten by the front door—the clothes Axel had bought you after leaving you at the festival. He had bought you thermals and woolly jumpers, bobble hats, pyjamas and the thickest, fluffiest dressing gown he could get his hands on. If Arendelle had one thing going for it, it was that the shops stocked heavy duty winter clothes. That, and plenty of home grown food. The ports were a nightmare during the winter months so the townspeople grew their own.

Axel wanted you to live here, away from the World that Never Was, and away from the threat of the heartless and the Organization. He had food for you, clothes, the cabin itself was made from a Moment’s Reprise card so it was impossible for heartless and the lesser Nobodies to get in. He didn’t plan to stay with you—he couldn’t, even though part of him wanted to. This cabin was meant to be your safe-haven.

Not that it mattered now. You had called him every name under the sun, all because of a misunderstanding. Wherever you were in this world, at least he knew you were safe. He could sense the heartless and Nobodies for miles around. They could sense him, too. They knew not to attack you.

“That girl…” Axel muttered through a sigh. You were definitely something. No matter how considerate he was with you—and it took a lot for a Nobody to be considerate—he wasn’t sure you would ever trust him fully. Your outburst told him that much.

He got up from the chair and stretched, groaning as he did. Then he set about hanging your would-be new clothes in the bedroom. He wasn’t giving up on you yet. Maybe you would never fully trust him. He could live with that. You weren’t the first, and certainly would not be the last to distrust him. Yet unlike everyone else, he wanted you to know that he would be there for you like clearly no one in your life ever was. The pleasant sensation in his chest was growing just a little each day, and it was starting to pine for you.

A wolf’s howl caught Axel’s attention. The sound of it made him drop a cluster of coat hangers.

“Of course,” he said, laughing to himself. “If not heartless, wolves.” Attracting danger was a fine art you seemed to have mastered.

Axel left the cabin, shuffling a few metres away through the snow. When he was far enough out, he snapped his fingers. Three Dusks obediently appeared from a dark corridor.

“Find ____.” Axel instructed. “Find her. Bring her here. Don’t want her ending up dead in a ditch somewhere.”

With a twitch and a click, the Dusks dispersed. Axel watched them go, hoping he wasn’t too late. He waited in the snow, aware the Dusks wouldn’t be able to get in the cabin if they needed to report something. The cold wasn’t a problem for him. His internal temperature was high enough to keep him warm in the middle of an arctic blizzard—maybe even pleasantly toasty. This was nothing.

The Dusks took their time returning. He wouldn’t have minded their delay at all had they actually brought you with them.

“There better be a good explanation.” He sounded pleasant enough, but the Dusks twitched in primordial fear. Their responses came as a long string of twitches, wiggles and wobbles, which loosely translated to:

“We found the girl up in the mountains. She would not come with us and ran away screaming.”

Really, he should have seen that coming. You had spent your whole life running from Dusks. He ran a hand through his red hair, lamenting his lack of thought. At least he knew you hadn’t been mauled by the wolves yet.

“Show me where you saw her last.” Now that they had a location, Axel used the dark corridors to travel more quickly. Using the Dusks for navigation, he stepped from in front of the cabin to somewhere high in the mountains. The wind was colder up there. He had to wonder why you hadn’t gone back down to the castle instead.

“Which way did she go?” The Dusks pointed him in the right direction then he sent them away, aware you would run if you saw them first.

“____,” He called, trudging through the thick snow. “____!” He wandered the path for a while, cursing the wind for hiding your footprints.

Though, quite quickly, he found you. And when he did, the tension left him, replaced by the urge to laugh.

“____...” he cooed, unaware of the relief in his voice. “Why are you up there?”

You were wrapped around a thick tree branch, dangling high up in the air. Seeing Axel, relief took over you and you sniffed—you would swear later that it was because of the cold weather, but your watery eyes betrayed you.

“Wolves…” you answered pathetically. “And Dusks. And I got lost. And I’m cold. And scared. And cold.” It looked like you wanted to reach down to him but were either worried you would fall, or were too frozen to move. “Please get me down.”

Whatever strife there was between the two of you, it melted away when Axel opened his arms towards you.

“Do you trust me?” His warm smile melted the stiffness in your limbs. You answered him by letting go of the branch. The air whooshed past you as you fell, but Axel caught you, cradling you to his chest for warmth as soon as he had hold of you.

Now that he had you, he had to laugh. You really did have a knack for getting into trouble. It seemed he had his work cut out for him.

You noticed his chuckling. “What?”

“Nothing…” he brushed it off. “Just… sorry.”

“Don’t be.” You reassured him softly, tucking your face into his chest to stave off the cold. “Thank you for coming to get me.”

He squeezed your body closer to him, your legs dangling over one arm. “I said I’d be there. I’ll always bring you home.”

Fortunately, your face was already flushed from the cold and against his warm chest so he couldn’t see your smile.

“Please take me home.”

“You got it.”

Axel opened the dark corridor. It whirred and hummed over the noise of the wind. Just as he turned, shielding you from the breeze, the sounds around you disappeared. You could only hear the corridor, humming loudly as it beckoned you. There was one distinct sound missing. This close to Axel’s chest, it should have been deafening. Why couldn’t you hear his heart?

The transition between the mountain tops and the calm, snowy area surrounding the cabin was seamless. You were that surprised that you passed off Axel’s lack of a heartbeat as nothing more than you not listening hard enough.

“Aren’t we going home?” You asked, pulling your face away from his chest. He let your legs drop to the floor so you could untangle from him, then when you had let go he stretched his hand towards you in invitation.

“You’re home. If you want it to be?”

You tried to walk towards him but your body was too cold to listen to you. You stumbled, but he caught you, wasting no time before taking you inside the cabin. Your answer could wait. He needed to get you warm.

Inside, Axel put you in the armchair in front of the hearth then lit the fire with his magic. You continued to shiver so he produced the dressing gown from amongst his discarded shopping and bundled you up inside it. You had to ask where it came from, and Axel explained about the clothes and the food, and suddenly you felt very small for thinking such terrible things about him earlier.

Axel waited until he was certain you had warmed up, then he made you something to eat, got you a drink then when you were done he said it would be best for you to get a good night’s sleep. You wanted to stay up longer. You felt there was a lot left unsaid. Axel hadn’t mentioned your outburst once and he was taking care of you like a sick child, like he was happy to accept your anger and your distrust, and still wanted to be part of your life all the same.

The tiredness took over you pretty quickly. Getting so much fresh air after three weeks cold turkey had exhausted you. You were snug and warm, and the crackle of the fire and Axel’s cheerful voice as he washed the dishes lulled you.

You finally caved. Axel showed you to the bedroom, explaining it was the only bedroom in the cabin, then smiled and said not to worry—he was sleeping on the couch.

The most part of you was thankful for the gesture, and the fact he had offered instead of you having to demand he sleep someplace else, but a little bit of you felt guilty. It was a king sized bed, after all. You might have been able to sleep in the bed together without touching. Then again, an even smaller part of you felt disappointed that he had not put up a fight to sleep next to you. Somewhere deep down, slowly beginning to form cracks in your heart’s protection, a part of you thought it might be nice to sleep beside Axel; to have more contact from him than just a squeeze or the brush of a hand. You bet it was comfortable, lying between his arms as you slept, safe and warm.

You could hardly admit that notion to yourself, let alone Axel, so in the end you slept alone. Axel took a pillow and the spare blanket and dutifully slept on the sofa, leaving you to sleep in peace. It didn’t take long at all to drift asleep. It was such a comfortable bed—so much softer than Axel’s—so much softer than your bed back home. If this really was your new place, you were certain you would be happy here.

oOo

You woke many hours later, expecting it to be midmorning from how rested you felt, only when you peeped an eye towards the curtains you noticed it was still dark outside.

Feeling your muscles aching from lying down for too long, you decided to get up. You had fallen asleep in your dressing gown, so after a quick shower you changed into a comfortable pair of fleece pants and a loose top. The inside of the cabin was strangely warm for being part way up a snowy mountain. You had to wonder if it was Axel’s doing. He had rigged the cabin to keep heartless out, so perhaps he had also found a way to keep the heat in.

Wondering if Axel was awake, as he was normally a fairly early riser, you peeped open the bedroom door. The room outside was dark with the curtains closed. Listening for sounds, you heard the steady, deep breathing from the couch. At first you thought it was better to let him sleep, only you decided, shyly, that it might be nice to see Axel’s face without all that sarcasm, without all the joking. Without him catching you staring.

You shuffled round until you were in front of the sofa, then sat down on the low, granite coffee table for a perch. You had to put your knuckle to your mouth to halt the snort of laughter when you looked at him.

Sleeping Beauty, or what? As his legs were too long for the couch, one dangled over the side and the other was bent upwards against the back cushions. It didn’t look the least bit comfortable. One arm was covering his face and the other was dangling towards the coffee table—a truly odd angle—like a limp puppet. His hair was in disarray and the trail of drool from his open mouth was noticeable even in what dim light there was.

Yet, strangely, you still thought he was just a little bit endearing—not in spite of his sprawled sleeping form. In fact, you thought it helped. It was almost charming, like you were witnessing the most human side of him. You would never have thought it if Axel was a stranger, but these past few weeks, these past twenty four hours, had made you think twice about your predisposition of hating any and all human connections.

You don’t know what made you do it, but you reached for Axel’s hand. The thought that he could wake up didn’t occur to you. For all intents and purposes he seemed dead to the world. He had kept his gloves on, but you didn’t mind to touch his skin—you just wanted to touch him, like he did so freely with you.

You slipped your hand into his, lolling off the side of the couch, and held it. You applauded yourself internally for doing it. Then you dared to look at his face. He really was something. Nothing like the nightmarish figures of your past—those who had caused you to shut off your heart and refuse all attempts at bonding with you. You had spent so long hating everyone, you weren’t sure you knew how to let your guard down any more. But something about Axel made you want to try. Part of you was still scared that he would turn out to be just like everyone else, but he was already challenging your preconceptions.

You still felt guilty for calling him such terrible things back in the mountains, after he had shown you such a beautiful place, and after he had found you somewhere to live away from the World that Never Was. That was your fault, not his. You couldn’t believe anyone would do something nice without expecting something in return.

As the guilt weighed in on you, you decided to try and make it up to him. Letting go of Axel’s hand, you left him in favour of going into the kitchen. Axel had told you he had bought food for you while you stayed here. The least you could do was make him breakfast.

Though your intentions were good, one crucial factor was missing from your plan. You couldn’t cook. Axel woke to the sound of a fire alarm blaring from the kitchen, and the sound of your panicked yelping. He got up from the couch, barely conscious, and wandered through to see what kind of danger you had put yourself in this time.

There you were, brandishing a towel like a shield as you advanced towards an on-fire frying pan. If there was food in the pan, it had already turned to charcoal. You didn’t look like you knew what you were doing with the towel, squinting and flinching as you held it closer and closer to the flames.

A-star for effort. D for cooking skills and fire safety.

“Step back,” Axel said, waking himself up properly so he could tend to your mess. You squeaked when you saw him, feeling embarrassed for causing such chaos, but a little happy that you no longer had to deal with the mess on your own.

When he was next to you, he held out his hand. Obediently you gave him the towel. Realising that it wasn’t wet, he passed you a disbelieving stare, like he was surprised you had made it this far in life without dying yet, then rinsed the towel under the tap before throwing it over the flames. They disappeared in an instant.

You hung your head when he looked at you. You expected him to say something sarcastic or insulting, and really when you had been trying to make him an apology breakfast that was the last thing you wanted to hear. What you didn’t expect was the soft, babying tone of his voice when he said,

“Did you hurt yourself?”

The shock of his words and the way he said them made you jolt your gaze from the floor to look at him. Your face turned unexpectedly red as nervous, happy shivers rippled through you. What was worse, you had no idea why. He wasn’t being sarcastic—you could see that just from looking at him. He seemed concerned, but the coddling way he said it, and the warm, stern way he was staring at you made you a bit tingly.

“I-I—I—” you couldn’t force the words out. Somewhere along the line during your battle with the pan, you had scalded yourself with hot cooking oil. Not seriously. It had spat and speckled your wrist with hot grease, but you hadn’t wanted to make a fuss about it. The patches of skin looked like little red freckles.

“Let me see.” Axel lifted a hand towards you, waiting for you to show him what was wrong. Your heart thumped heavily in your chest. This was Axel. Was this Axel? Had he always spoken like that? Had he always sounded so caring and strong? Your body rippled with tingles again. You hadn’t wanted to make a fuss about your hand, but suddenly you found yourself wanting to show him, and for him to make a fuss about it, and for him to tell you to be more careful with that same look on his face like you were precious to him—like your safety was his greatest concern.

To your delight, when you showed him your arm he did make a fuss. He took off his gloves—which you had never seen him do—and took you over to the sink, holding your wrist under the cold water as he rubbed gentle circles on your skin to wipe away the oil. You couldn’t look at him as he did it. You couldn’t bear for him to see your blush. You had no idea why you were enjoying this so much.

After quite some time, he turned off the tap and dabbed your wrist with a towel to dry it. You tried to keep your gaze averted, but you were enjoying his mollycoddling too much.

“Axel, I…” You began, finally meeting his gaze. His expression was caught somewhere between his usual playful, relaxed look and careful adoration. A single second. That was how long you managed to hold his gaze before your insides went wobbly and you had to look away. He chuckled, and damn it that only made you feel wobblier. You didn’t know it consciously, but the light in your heart was forming bigger and bigger cracks in its dark outer barrier.

After Axel helped you clean up the mess, saying he would find simpler food for you to cook before he left—although he was having doubts about leaving you, now that he knew you could only manage microwave food and raw vegetables—you felt far better than you had done in…well… years.

Leaving Axel to throw the frying pan away, you slipped out through the back of the cabin, onto the decking area. You needed a little time away from him. Your thoughts were becoming too muddled. The sun had just started to rise. You stared, squinting into the near-darkness at the view. The front side of the cabin faced the woods, with trees as far as the eye could see, but this side seemed to have a different view. You were near the edge of the mountain, here, and through the murky darkness you could see the horizon, with valleys and miles upon miles of wilderness.

Staring off into the distance, a sound suddenly registered in your ears. Somewhere close by you could hear a gentle humming sound. Looking around, you couldn’t spot the source, at first. You shuffled across the decking, hopping from bare foot to bare foot as the frost tickled your toes. You followed the decking around to the side of the cabin, then finally spotted the hot tub. It was covered by a thick thermal insulator, humming to tell you it was ready for use.

If you really intended to stay here, particularly in the winter months, a hot tub seemed like such a perfect idea. Your very own escape from reality; from heartless—and those god awful Dusks—from people, from the world. You really weren’t that much of a people person. For all intents and purposes you classed yourself as an introvert. The cabin seemed like such a wonderful place. And it was thanks to Axel you had it.

You felt like such an arse for how you had reacted, hearing the cabin had a hot tub. It only showed how little you trusted anyone. Your first thought had been that Axel used this cabin to pick up women; that suddenly you were one of many. It only occurred to you now that perhaps your anger had also come from a kind of jealousy. When on earth had you started to see Axel that way? You weren’t supposed to care at all how many conquests someone had. The idea of romance or anything close sounded downright hideous to you.

Yet, finding out that the cabin was yours and yours alone relieved you. Axel had created a one-of-a-kind safe space for you to relax—somewhere you had never had before in your entire life. And it came with a freaking hot tub.

Your giddiness took over you before you could stop it. You dashed back inside the cabin, riding on the waves of your happiness, and asked Axel where he had put your new clothes. Enjoying your enthusiasm, he pointed you in the direction of your bedroom wardrobes, then asked what you were up to. You told him it didn’t matter, fearing you would bottle it if you asked too early. You waited until you had swapped out of your comfortable clothes, choosing between the assortments of swim wear Axel had bought—ranging from bikinis to modest one pieces. You chose a tankini in the end; a two piece that covered your stomach. Then once you were changed you threw on your indulgingly comfortably dressing gown then returned to where Axel was. He noticed the glint in your eyes.

“What?”

You didn’t give yourself time to doubt. Maybe it was okay to ask. Maybe it was okay to feel safe. Maybe now was the right time for your life to really begin.

“I was thinking, since it’s nearly sunrise, and since you said you can’t stay here, maybe you might want to… I mean if you want to…” It was strange how the words could get so easily jumbled up in your head. “I’m not saying you have to but if you want then maybe… maybe we could watch the sunrise from the hot tub?”

The harsh sound of a dish shattering as Axel dropped it was totally eclipsed by the expression on his face. At first he looked shocked—shocked in a way no man had been shocked before. Then, quicker than a flash, his eyes, his lips, his distractingly handsome face rose into a smile, like he had just won an award.

And so, from the warm waters of the hot tub the two of you watched the morning break. You sat with your elbows over the side of the tub, staring out into the vast landscape of the mountains. Axel stayed back, resting comfortably with his arms splayed out, enjoying the jets as they massaged his naked back muscles.

It was so peaceful. You were right, too. On this side of the cabin, the view stretched for miles. It was a landscape of valleys, frozen streams, fir trees, and far off in the distance was the ocean, with the sun rising above it. It was something else.

“Hey, Axel,” you said after a while. It caught his attention. He loved when you said his name.

“Yeah?” You didn’t say anything more. Axel took it as an invitation, wading over to your side of the hot tub. You didn’t look back at him—choosing to stare ahead into the morning. He came up alongside you, peering forward to catch your eye. It took all your effort not to meet his gaze. You were nervous, now that he was next to you. They weren’t the nerves that came with worry. They felt a lot more like butterflies.

Axel waited a while longer for you to speak, or to look at him, but you didn’t. He smiled, but stayed quiet. He looked out at the view with you, embracing the heat of the sun on his face as the cool morning breeze tickled any part of him above water. He wondered how much effort it was taking you, to have him this close. It was probably much harder than normal, considering he was in nothing but a pair of swim shorts. But you seemed content, despite that you were obviously avoiding his gaze.

He moved towards you slowly—so slowly—to give you chance to move away, to tell him to back off. But you didn’t. You stayed still, staring off into the sunrise. You started to smile gently as he closed the final distance. His arms wrapped around you like a blanket, a warm embrace that was almost too afraid to break you. For some reason you let out a sigh, like you had been holding your breath, too scared to dare to hope he would come to you. His hold stayed gentle, pulling you into him, his face a breadth away from yours. You looked out into the world, trusting Axel’s actions, enjoying the long lost feeling of protective arms around you. He held you a slightly tighter, and you brought a hand up to touch his arm, to tell him it was alright.

Your action was enough for him. He too, let out a little sigh of relief. He was so close to you, all he had to do was tilt your face and he could kiss you. In this moment, God he wanted to. You were so beautiful. He could feel your heart alive in a way he hadn’t felt before. This was more than light. He wanted to stroke your hair and tell you that you made him feel human—that when he was with you, he was a Somebody with a heart.

Instead of giving in to his urge, he pushed his forehead into the side of your face, squeezing you in his arms. For now, it was enough. You needed to know you could trust him. You needed to know he would respect your boundaries. He knew he had to wait. But you were worth that wait, and if he could have more moments like this, away from the Organization, away from duties, spending time with you in peace, then he was happy to wait.

It was such a beautiful morning. Neither of you could think of a morning that had been better.

Chapter Text

You loved your cabin, hidden in the mountains of Arendelle. For the first time in your life you felt truly safe—safe from people, safe from the heartless, and even safe from wolves. A lucky bonus of your seclusion was that the path leading to the cabin was too tricky for wolves to navigate.

It felt like finally, after years of heartache and worry, that you had the chance to relax and get on with life. You had the time to think about your hopes and dreams without worrying that creatures could pop out of nowhere and chase you. You had never had that before.

One morning, like most mornings, you stirred from your sleep, comfortable in the folds of your bed as a gentle breeze blew through the window of your bedroom. Spring was here. It was not hot yet, but the warmer air was enough to be refreshing first thing in the morning.

You rolled onto your back and sat up, stretching your arms high up over your head as you groaned, working out the kinks from a night well rested. It took a moment to blink away the sleep but once you were certain you weren’t going to drift back unconscious, you pulled yourself out of bed and got dressed for the day.

After finally running a comb through your hair you opened the door to the living room where—as always—Axel was already up and busying himself with making breakfast. When he spotted you in the doorway he passed you a wink.

“Morning, cutie.”

“Morning, Axel.” You replied, totally ignoring his flirty gesture. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

You wiped at your cheeks as you strode across to the sofa then nestled yourself within the duvet, still warm from when Axel had been sleeping under it not too long ago. Axel tutted, jabbing at a sausage as it fried on the stove. There was that dark-shrouded heart of yours again. You refused to accept a compliment.

“Wasn’t being sarcastic.” He looked at you playfully then caught you on the verge of falling back to sleep in his makeshift couch-bed. It wasn’t enough that you had your own giant, comfortable bed in the other room. You had to take up his bit of space too. He opened his mouth to ask if you wanted anything else, as he had clearly become your servant and footman, but managed to suppress his witty jab when a thought came to him. Being in this cabin was definitely your first chance in a long, long time to relax. He supposed you could have some slack.

Admittedly, you weren’t using your free time very productively but he expected that. You were finally free. You wanted to do nothing. Axel wanted you to do nothing. Only, he was very aware that if he had to go away for a mission you couldn’t really leave the cabin. There was a perimeter around the cabin that the heartless could not pass through, but it was only a metre or so from the decking. Beyond that, your safety was not guaranteed.

Really, he wanted to tell you to stay indoors every time he left for a mission so he knew you were safe. But he didn’t have that right. It was your choice to make. He knew you weren’t stupid. When he was away, he knew you left from time to time but never ventured that far from the cabin, and not as often as you wanted to.

Axel had to go away again but you didn't know that yet. He didn’t know how long he would be away. He didn’t know how long you would be trapped here. The cupboards were stocked with enough food to last a month. He had never been gone longer than that yet so he was sure you would be fine in that regard, but now that the weather was getting better he knew you wanted to explore. During his time with you—whether it was the odd afternoon, a few days or a week—he had shown you as many wonders in Arendelle as he knew existed. After he ran out, he had stayed in the cabin and let you roam up in the mountains or down in the valleys by yourself. His presence in the world was enough to ward off the heartless, and he never had to fear you getting too lost because of the Dusks in his command. After the fiasco of your first day in Arendelle, Axel had made it clear that you did not need to fear Dusks that approached. They were only ever there to bring you back to the cabin or to let Axel know you were in one piece. He didn’t want you getting stuck up any more trees, running away from them.

When Axel was done cooking breakfast, he plated it up and threw the greasy frying pan in the sink. You eagerly accepted your food when he handed it to you, and he couldn’t help but smile that wonky grin of his, seeing your eyes light up as you tucked in.

“You seriously get this excited over food?”

"Yeah.” You said with a mouth full. “It’s a cooked breakfast. I’m not allowed to cook my own breakfasts,” your tone was decidedly pointed, but Axel could live with that if it meant you wouldn't burn down the cabin. “So I look forward to the ones you cook.”

“Duly noted.” He sounded smug. You threw him a side-glare, hoping it would dampen his arrogance—it didn't—then carried on eating in silence. When you were done, you carried the empty dishes over to the sink and started washing them. Axel was amazed. You normally put up a fight when it came to housework.

“What’s the occasion?” He asked, leaning against the back of the couch to stretch the knots out along his spine. Sleeping on the sofa was doing him absolutely no favours.

“Excuse me, but I’m always this helpful.” You said with a haughty puff of the cheeks. It was kind of cute when you acted stroppy like that. Axel liked that you were getting better at opening up and being playful. Your comebacks never had any bite to them. His droll personality was rubbing off on you, it seemed.

“Sure, sure,” he said, then noticed how you turned away from him to hide a shy smile. There was a large clock just beside you on the wall. Axel couldn’t help but notice the time. It reminded him that he had to leave. At the very latest, it had to be tonight. The mission started tomorrow and he had a lot of preparations to get through.

For now, though, the mission could wait. He wanted to make the most of the time he had left with you.

“Right,” he said, pulling himself up from the couch with a sudden air of determination. “Leave the dishes.”

You glanced at your soap- and water-soaked hands. You did not offer to clean the pots after a meal often but that didn't mean you were going to reject an offer to stop. You pulled your hands from the sink and flicked them semi-dry before Axel ran at you with a hand towel, telling you to stop getting water absolutely everywhere.

“What are we doing?” You asked, assuming he had a plan by the way his eyes glinted. He did indeed.

“Get changed. Winter’s gone. We’re going for a walk.”

Winter was over, sure, but that didn’t mean it was warm enough for a casual walk. Heavy snow still covered the mountains and the air was bitter when the wind blew. Yes, you had your thermals to wear but Axel seemed to think it was warm and sunny outside by the way he was acting.

You humoured him and changed into your thermals. Only, when you reappeared in the living room and Axel saw you in them he laughed. “What's with the getup?”

You looked at yourself, wrapped up in thick, padded pants, a hat, scarf, gloves, ear muffs, fluffy socks, jacket, shirt, and insulated vest.

“You may think it’s warmer out there,” you accused, beginning to overheat already in the warmth of the insulated cabin, “but I don’t have your furnace of an internal body temperature.”

Axel chuckled again, plucking the hat and earmuffs off your head.

“Hate to break it to ya but we’re not going for a walk in the mountains.”

You gave him a soft glare.

“Where did you have in mind?”

“Arendelle isn’t quite gonna cut it for this walk.” He said, withholding the part about how it might be the last long walk you would have for a while, meaning he wanted to make it a good one. “I was thinking we go off-site.”

“Off-site?”

“Yeah. Try a different world.”

The excited shriek that came out of you made Axel want to stuff your hat in your mouth to shut you up. But you caught yourself before he could jam anything anywhere.

“Really?” You asked in giddy disbelief. The cabin had been your home for two months. Axel had come and gone plenty during that time, and had always returned with plenty of stories about the worlds he visited. It made you long to see more. Arendelle was beautiful and vast but there was only so much you could explore this time of year. It was a kingdom that endured six months of winter-- six months of snow and ice. The paths were treacherous and the scenery did not change much during that time.

Axel rubbed his arm, quietly pleased by your enthusiasm. “There’s a world I found that’s really peaceful. No heartless at all. Thought you might like to see it. Oh, and it’s warmer there, too.”

“No heartless?” you wondered aloud. If there was an entire world that had no monsters, it sounded miles better than a single cabin. You could go wherever you wanted whenever you wanted and never have to worry. “Wait, so what if I moved there? Could I?”

“Whoa,” Axel said, holding up his hands to curb your eagerness. “Hold your horses. It’s not that simple. We can go there but it’s not all that easy to get in and out of. Plus, it’s a peaceful place.  Guarantee you’d be bored in a week.”

You wanted to be the judge of that. A heartless-free world sounded pretty great to you.

“Alright, alright, fine.” You conceded. “But if we’re going somewhere warmer then let's take a picnic and make a day of it.”

“Oh,” Axel raised his eyebrows as you began peeling layers of thermals off. Your enthusiasm was a good sign. “Sure. I’ll pack while you change. Again.”

He dodged to the side when you threw a glove at him.

oOo

What a world. What a warm breeze. What a change of pace. You had to admit, Axel was right. If there was one word to describe the 100-Acre Wood, it was peaceful.

The two of you had appeared in the middle of a great woodland then walked for an hour in no particular direction. It was so quiet. There were no vehicles, no people, and no ravenous carnivores. Birds sang merrily up in the tree tops, and somewhere close by you could hear a river running free. This world was impossibly different from Arendelle. You were only glad Axel had told you to change out of your thermals, into a cardigan. Compared to the icy mountain tops, you felt like you were in a summer's day.

Axel walked beside you, listening to the way you giddily chattered about the scenery, the warm hue of the world, and how at ease you felt. He carried a hamper at his side, filled with scores of food and drink for your picnic. Ask him three months ago if he would be on a picnic today and he would have keeled over laughing. But he was enjoying himself and had you to blame for it.

After a while, your stomach growled. You paused, feeling your face flush in embarrassment. Axel carried on, calling back,

“Heard that.” You puffed your cheeks out with a frown, hoping to hide your embarrassment in a veil of anger. It wasn’t fooling anyone. “You can’t be hungry. We just had breakfast.”

“That was ages ago.” You held your stomach, trying to suppress a second growl. “What time is it?”

Axel stopped, now a fair distance away, to check his watch. “Just after noon.”

He was too far away to see you rolling your eyes so you threw your hands dramatically into the air instead. “Breakfast was ages ago!”

“It really wasn’t.” Axel made his way back to you. The closer he got, the more you noticed his stupid, wonky, annoyingly attractive grin. “It’s probably all this walking. You’re not used to it.”

When he was right next to you, he winked.

“Are you tired too? Want me to give you a piggyback?” He turned and crouched down, holding his arms out behind him as if to let you onto his back.

“Absolutely bloody not,” you assured him, brushing past him at a fast pace. You weren’t going to let him see how pink your face had just turned, thinking about being pressed against Axel’s back with his hands tucked under your butt to hold you in place.

Axel smirked as he watched you storm off. He could see the pink tinge to the tops of your ears. He had only been joking about the piggyback. He knew you weren’t tired—there was no way a casual walk like this could exhaust a seasoned heartless-evader like you. Then again, having you snuggled against him was a nice thought. It might take a while for you to do it willingly, but it never hurt to throw a flirty, jokey suggestion out there once in a while.

As fast as you stomped away, your legs were no match for Axel’s longer ones. He caught up to you in no time. Mercifully, he held back long enough to let your blush disappear before coming up along side you. You gave him a side eye, expecting him to slip another joke in, but he asked if you wanted to stop to eat instead.

O

Some while later, the two of you set up your picnic along the edge of a wide stream. Axel had chosen the spot, making a beeline for it once it was time to eat. You had to wonder how many times he had been here before. Perhaps he got tired of seeing Dusks and heartless, too, and used the Acre Wood as a hiding place.

You sprawled out along one side of a large checked blanket with an assortment of food on it, and Axel sprawled out opposite you, mirroring your lazy appearance. His plan had been to walk around as much as possible to give you some freedom before he had to leave for the mission, but this worked just as well. Being lazy outside was much better than being lazy inside, and now that you were here and you were relaxed he could feel your heart’s frail, innocent light peeping through the cracks of its dark shield. He often noticed the same thing happening in the cabin when you were eating, just like now, but the added bonus of a warm, heartless-and-lesser-Nobody-free world made your heart's light extra clear. It gave you such a relaxed, carefree aura.

You caught Axel staring, a strawberry held to your lips. 

“What?”

You refrained from eating, noting a distinctly softer expression in his eyes than his usually playful, albeit sarcastic stare. It sent a tingle from your heart, up your spine, like your heart was trying to tell you something. You ignored its plea, refusing to acknowledge the way the darkness in you was warping. For years it had stayed solid and protective. There was no way one fiery redhead could crack it so easily.

Right?

You threw the strawberry at Axel. His expression slipped back into its usual, amused state once he realised he had weirded you out. The strawberry hit him on the shoulder then bounced onto the picnic blanket. Without a second thought, he picked it up and ate it, giving you a triumphant smirk.

“Thanks.” He picked up a handful of crisps, eating them while you chose something to replace the strawberry he had stolen. There was plenty to choose from. You were shocked everything had come from the cabin cupboards. You were sure Axel must have hidden some of the nicer treats under the floorboards.

You went to pick up a bowl of gummi sweets but Axel pulled them out of reach. Pilfering them, he sat up and faced you with his legs crossed. He had a glint in his eyes.

“You’re hilarious,” you said dryly, wondering if he planned to pinch everything you wanted to eat.

“Thank you.” He plucked a sweet from the bowl, squidging it between his gloved fingers. You watched with mild curiosity until he pulled his arm back to throw it at you. You flinched, lifting your arms up to shield yourself.

“Don’t you dare,” you warned. You heard Axel chuckle before he threw the sweet into the air above him. You watched it rise then fall, then Axel caught it in his mouth with minimal effort. You would have believed he was a pro until you saw the way his eyes bulged in surprise before he passed you a triumphant smirk.

“I win then,” he announced flatly. He roused the competitor in you. Damn it.

“We both know that was sheer luck.”

“Wanna bet?” Axel enjoyed the chance to goad you. He threw a second sweet into the air and caught it in his mouth like it was nothing. “Beat that,” he said, chewing.

You cursed yourself for getting pulled in. You had to wonder if Axel had faked being surprised at catching the first gummi. Either way, it was too late for you. You sat up with your legs crossed, opening your mouth wide.

You looked an absolute state, and Axel had to suppress his laughter and the many, many sarcastic comments rattling through his head. He was just happy you were relaxed enough to play along.

Armed with a sweet, he flicked his wrist, sending it up above your head. You could hardly see it in the glare of the sun but you weren't going to let Axel beat you. Spotting it at the last second, you lurched to the left and caught it in your mouth, unperturbed when your hand landed in a pork pie. The victory was too great for you to care.

“Beat that!” You retorted smugly. If it sounded like a challenge that’s because it most definitely was.

The two of you took it in turns, tossing sweets to one another at first, then larger or harder food to rack up more points. You hit him in the eye with a grape; you nearly choked to death on a square of chocolate when Axel tossed it too hard, thwacking you in the back of the throat, but all in all it was great fun. That was, until you missed one too many times and decided to retaliate in the most mature was possible—by throwing a slice of chocolate cake at him.

Seeing what you were about to do, Axel scrambled to stand up and backed off, heading towards the stream.

“Don’t you dare.” His demand was far too light-hearted for you to pay any attention to. You pulled yourself up to your feet, brandishing the cake. Axel’s laughter tugged a grin onto his lips. “No.”

The ‘no’ was far sterner than his initial warning, like he was ready to scold you if you followed through on your plan. It caught you off-guard. The question of what he might do flittered through your mind. From his expression you knew it would be harmless, but there was definitely a hint that he would retaliate.

You wanted to know what he planned to do. You liked the tone of his voice when he gave you a warning.

You threw the cake. You only noticed that the dark armour around your heart had slipped off once the dessert had made a direct hit on Axel’s shoulder. He grinned, but you scrambled to fix your defences back in place, aware just how vulnerable you had left yourself for a moment.

Axel flicked the cake off, one eyebrow raised in amusement. He made eye contact with you.

“Come here,” he commanded. Only, you were done playing. You felt the light inside you fighting to break out, but you couldn’t let it. The more you supressed it, the more you felt the darkness shielding it cracking in an irreparable way. You wanted to go to him. You wanted to play. You wanted to trust. Holding in your feelings like this hurt your chest but you were still too scared to get hurt. If you let the weak light of your heart have its way, only for it to be damaged, you were certain you wouldn’t be able to save yourself a second time.

“Stop it,” you said, colder than you had intended. It clearly took Axel aback, but he didn’t let it sit on his features for too long. Still, you felt guilty. It wasn't his fault. It was your insecurities getting the better of you. Again.

“Sorry, Axel. No, it’s just—” You weren’t sure if you had planned an ending to that sentence, but it became obsolete. At that moment, you spotted something behind Axel, floating in the river. “Oh!”

You dashed forwards, panic in your eyes. There was a small, chubby donkey tipped on its back, stuck in the water as it floated down stream. If tipping a donkey was someone’s idea of a joke, what a terrible joke it was to play. You dashed past Axel, shedding your cardigan as you went, then your shoes, only Axel’s stern voice halted you in your tracks.

“Stay there.”

You wobbled to stop yourself. Unlike last time, Axel’s tone was serious. If he meant it, it would have been far easier for him to grab you when you had shot past him. He knew you didn’t like being grabbed out of nowhere, though. You wondered if he had purposefully kept his hands to himself. Still, he had rooted you all the same.

You looked back at him, expecting him to be mad from your outburst, but as soon as your eyes met, you saw he only had your best interests at heart.

“I’ll get it,” Axel assured you, striding forwards as he unzipped his cloak. Your heartbeat sped up exponentially. You very rarely saw him take it off, and never made a point to stare at him when he was half-naked in the hot tub. He shrugged the cloak off, revealing lean muscles under a tight black vest top before he dropped the weighted cloak over your head as he walked past. You were glad. You were blushing terribly, even more so now that you could smell the earthy, botanical scent off his clothes. “Don’t want you getting your clothes wet and catching a cold.”

Axel waded into the stream up to his calves, aware how hypocritical he was being. He didn’t want you getting sick while he was away, that was all. He didn’t like the idea of you isolated, ill, lonely and unable to cook. You pulled Axel’s cloak away from your face. He saw how red you were, and couldn’t help but think you looked just a little cute.

“But you’ll catch a cold instead!” You demanded. He appreciated the concern, but he had nothing to worry about. His fire magic would dry him off in no time.

“Please,” he scoffed, approaching the sad-looking, upturned donkey.  “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

You could only tut, hearing the confidence in his voice. Only Axel could think he was special enough to be immune to the common cold.

The stream tugged at Axel’s legs the deeper he waded, though it was nothing strong enough to bowl him over. When he was next to the donkey-- a tired, grey thing with little to no interest in righting itself, like it had given up entirely, he noticed that it wasn’t a donkey at all. It was alive, there was no doubt about that, but it was a stuffed toy—a huge, stumpy donkey plushie. Axel was so surprised that he let the thing drift by him, carrying on its way down stream. It was only you calling out to him, asking what he was doing, that put him back on task.

Axel waded after the toy then grabbed it by the back legs to halt it. Its tail swished in the water.

“____!” Axel called, amazed. You weren’t going to believe this. Only, he never had chance to tell you about the toy, because the toy decided to speak, making Axel jolt in surprise.

“Actually,” the creature said in a deep, slow voice, “My name’s Eeyore. But I suppose I should be happy to be called any name at all. People often forget about little old Eeyore.”

“Wha—” Axel couldn’t find the words. He pulled the toy over to the edge of the stream, hardly able to believe it could talk. He had been to many worlds and seen many things, but huge, talking toys were not things he saw often.

Once he was at the shoreline you came hurrying over, asking if the creature was alright. Before Axel could talk, the donkey spoke. Unlike Axel, you found the toy’s ability to speak delightful.

“Nobody’s asked me how I am in such a long time. If I’m honest, I’m a little bit sad. But I’m always a little bit sad. But other than sad I should say that, now that I’m being rescued, I’m a little bit better than I was before.”

“What’s your name?” you asked, hoping to listen to the droll donkey longer. He had such a charming voice and way of speaking for such a melancholy creature.

“Eeyore,” the donkey said as Axel tried to pull him onto the shore. Unfortunately, his plush body was extremely heavy from soaked-up water. Axel had to wrap his arms around the donkey’s middle and tug as hard as he could. You might have offered to help, but from where you were standing it looked like Axel was hugging the gloomy toy. You didn’t dare interrupt the adorable scene. It was all you could do to try and commit it to memory.

“Thanks-… for the-… help.” Axel wheezed, then with one final heave he managed to pull Eeyore onto the grass, then rolled him to get him onto his feet. The donkey wobbled, and dripped, but he said thank you and shook himself off once he was upright.

As Axel collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, you crouched down beside the donkey and stroked him down his wet mane in comfort.

“How did you end up in the stream? Did you fall in?”

Slowly, Eeyore shook his head. “I was pushed.”

“Pushed?”

“Pushed.” He agreed. “I was minding my own business, drinking from the steam by my house, when all of a sudden someone bounced up behind me and pushed me in.”

“That’s terrible.” You couldn’t believe someone would do that to such a cute little guy. The donkey swished his tail, looking as gloomy as ever.

“No bother. It’s not the first time. Won’t be the last.”

His fatalism rubbed you up the wrong way. He didn’t have to stand for bullying, but it felt like he had given up. You opened your mouth, ready to give him a great and valent speech about standing up for what’s right, only Axel intervened, raising a lazy arm into the air. He was sprawled on his back in the grass, gazing at you.

“How long were you in the stream? You must be a fair way from home.”

His question took the wind from your speech, replacing it with the urge to help Eeyore get home. The donkey regarded Axel, tilting his head to shake the water from his ears.

“Oh, a while. But if I follow the stream I’ll get home eventually.”

“Can we come with you?” You asked before Axel could say anything. You wanted to make sure he got home without anyone pushing him in the water again. The donkey nodded, turning to head back down the stream, plodding along at a slow, soggy pace.

“I should like that,” he said. “Company might be nice. I don’t have company often.”

Your heart went out to Eeyore. He was just so gloomy.

“Do you live by yourself?” You set off after Eeyore, hoping to give him as much company as physically possible. Axel watched you go. He rolled his eyes, chuckling at you. You were such a softie. He picked himself up, realising the picnic was over, collected everything up in the hamper, used the blanket to dry off his trousers as best he could, then threw his coat back on. You hadn’t made it very far when he caught up. Eeyore walked at a slow pace, and you were matching him by taking long, leisurely strides.

Not that Axel didn’t love a talking, walking, clearly clinically depressed stuffed donkey, but he couldn’t help but think about the time. The sun had passed its peak long ago. He checked his watch to be sure. He had to leave tonight. He still hadn’t breeched the subject to you, and he really wanted to spend as much time as possible with you before he left. He wasn’t sure, but having you distracted by Eeyore was making him feel… frustrated?

He had hoped today would be just the two of you, experiencing a new world together. But at the pace you were walking, with no donkey-home in sight, it might be a while before he had your full attention again. It was odd. You were in the fresh air, you were walking, just like he had planned for today. Yet he wasn’t satisfied that you were paying more attention to a stuffed toy than him. He was fairly certain he was feeling jealous, but he hadn’t felt much of anything in such a long time that he couldn’t be sure.

Then again, the sparks of light inside you were showing through. They had been out in full force earlier, but for some reason you had shut your heart off midway through the food fight. You often did that. You would let your guard relax, enjoying yourself, then all of a sudden you would tense up. It was difficult for Axel. He always thought he was close to a breakthrough with you, feeling like you finally trusted him enough to show him your true self.

It had only been a few months, though. He was hoping for a miracle in thinking he could reverse your trust issues in such a limited amount of time. He had definitely made progress. But it was going to take more time. The one thing that was certain, though, that stopped him from giving up, was the feeling in his chest. It was having feelings, period. There was no denying it now. He was beginning to grow a heart.

You spoke with Eeyore, asking him all about his life in the woods. You loved listening to him, even though he sounded perpetually gloomy.

“Have you always lived here?” You asked, gazing along the river to check for Eeyore’s home. The donkey nodded, flicking more water from his mane. As you walked, the water slowly but steadily drained out the bottoms of his paws and his belly. He felt considerably lighter now, but he walked just as sluggishly.

“I have. It’s a quiet place, but it’s home. It would be nice to have visitors more often, but I suppose everyone has busy lives. No one has time to spend on me.”

The worst part was that he didn’t sound annoyed by the fact, only gloomy, like it was a given that he had to be lonely; that he couldn’t change his fate. You listened a while longer, trekking into the woodiest part of the forest as the stream carried on, feeling sadder and sadder for the lonely little donkey. You wanted to demand that Axel let you move here so you could live next to Eeyore permanently, but you knew he wouldn’t let you. You often made choices from the heart—much to your own annoyance—but at least Axel had the sense to steer you rationally.

All of a sudden, whilst listening to Eeyore talk, you heard a sound. It was someone shouting. Axel stepped ahead, holding his arm out. You were under the impression the Acre Wood was a peaceful place, but it seemed he didn’t want to take any chances.

“Hang on,” he said, waiting to hear the noise again. You stopped, but the donkey plodded on. Clearly, there was no real danger in this world. You doubted Eeyore knew how to be scared.

“Eeyore,” you whispered loudly, trying to call him back. He looked over his shoulder but carried on. Then you heard it again. You realised, finally, that someone was calling Eeyore’s name. Axel noticed too.

“I think,” he said to you with a grin, “Eeyore isn’t as alone as he thinks he is.”

“Hmm?” You wondered what Axel meant, walking forwards in hopes of catching up to the toy, only Axel caught you by the hand and tugged you back. You yelped in surprise at his sudden action, but Axel put his finger to his lips, his eyes once more alive with amusement.

“Come on,” he said, tugging you off to the side to hide amongst the trees. You could still see Eeyore from where you perched, and you wondered why Axel wouldn’t let you return to him. Then, after hearing someone calling for the donkey again, you finally saw something small running along the forest floor. It was pink, and green, and looked very anxious.

“E-E-E-Eeyore! Wh-where are you?”

“Oh, Piglet. I do hope Eeyore is okay. I should hate for something to have happened to him.” Behind the pink and green thing, a much larger—and far easier to recognise for what it was—yellow teddy bear appeared from amongst the trees, following the stream with his nose pointed towards the ground.

“See?” Axel said quietly, pointing as the two newcomers finally spotted Eeyore ambling his way towards them. At once, the two small creatures leapt up in excitement, then dashed towards the donkey. Your heart felt warm, watching the two embrace the tired, plodding Eeyore. You were glad. You were happy he had friends who worried for him. You were happy he had people who cared, even though he thought he didn’t.

You knew all too well what it felt like to feel alone. You were only happy he was wrong, and that he wasn’t alone at all.

“Come on,” Axel said, tugging you away. You couldn’t understand why he wanted to leave right now. You wanted to meet Eeyore’s friends. You were revelling in the knowledge that the donkey really did have those who cared about him.

“Can’t we stay and say hello?”

To his credit, Axel did stop to debate it, but in the end he still shook his head.

“Better the fewer people know we’re here.”

“Why?” you didn’t think there was much harm in it. “Is it to do with your organization?”

The terrible thought dawned on you that although the Acre Wood was peaceful, your being here might attract the wrong crowd.

“Kinda,” Axel admitted, “But there’s certain people who come here who can’t know we’ve been.”

It was too confusing. There was someone worse than the organization, yet they visited an adorable, peaceful world like this?

“Who?” You wondered.

“Call him the organization’s arch nemesis. Prime target?” Axel seemed at a loss of how to describe him. “I dunno. He likes to get in the way of plans.”

It still made very little sense to you, but you realised if word got back to this arch nemesis that Axel had been here, it might get tough for Axel. You agreed to leave, stealing one last glance at Eeyore and his companions with your heart aglow with happiness.

oOo

That night, back in the cabin in Arendelle, you were wrapped in a blanket, in your dressing gown, in your fluffiest pyjamas, sat in the armchair beside the hearth.

“It’s not that cold,” Axel mused, crouched down beside you as he prepped the fire.

“It is,” you demanded, missing the warmth of the Acre Wood. “I won’t be able to sleep.”

Axel chuckled at your melodrama then used his magic to light the logs in the hearth. “I’ll tuck you in with a few extra blankets. How’s that?”

The idea of him tucking you in at all made your breath catch. You were willing to bet it would feel lovely—all safe and snug—but you weren’t willing to admit that to yourself.

“No thanks,” you stated flatly. Axel laughed again, used to your stubborn and standoffish behaviour, then his eyes wandered to the clock on the mantelpiece. He still hadn’t managed to breech the topic that he had to leave tonight, and soon. Part of him had worried that he would ruin your good mood. Part of him wondered if you would care at all.

“____,” he said finally, knowing he couldn’t hold it off any longer. He had to pack. He had no time left, really. You looked up from within your mounds of fluffy layers. The small, growing heart in his chest gave an affection twang. “I’ve got another mission.”

“When?” You pulled the layers away from your upper body so you could interact with him properly. Fluff had been getting up your nose, and it was distracting. Axel looked at the clock inadvertently.

“Tomorrow, but I’ll have to head out tonight.”

“Oh…” You were quiet. Axel couldn’t tell what you were feeling from that single sound. Then you asked more brightly, “How long for, this time?”

“I dunno.” He ruffled a hand through his long, spiked hair. “Could be a couple of weeks. It’s a big one.”

“Oh, okay.” You sounded happy enough, but you pulled yourself out from amongst the blankets, then once you were untangled you busied yourself in the kitchen area, making yourself a hot drink. That was odd. He hadn’t known what to expect, but your reaction was underwhelming. Axel felt silly for expecting a grander gesture, like you might actually miss him.

The truth was, you were going to miss him, and you had no way to deny the fact from yourself. The moment he had said he might be gone for two weeks, your heart had clenched in an uncomfortable, restricting way. To distract yourself, you had got up to make a drink, but try as you might the tension inside you wasn’t fading. Two weeks was a long time. You hadn’t been separated from him that long before. You didn’t know what he would be up to on his mission. It could be dangerous. It might take longer than two weeks. He might get hurt. He might not come back.

Suddenly, the frivolity of denying your feelings was too great to ignore.

“Axel, I—” you turned to face him, cup of tea in hand. He looked curiously at you, but you stopped dead, unable to say the next part. Your heart clenched in a different way, like the light was forcing its way out of you, but the darkness was trying hard to contain it. It was a conflict you found yourself in a lot, these days. It only happened when you thought about Axel, and how happy you were when you were with him, and how safe you felt, and how you had once told yourself you would never dare to feel this way again.

Axel could feel the conflict inside you. He knew you were struggling, but it wasn’t something he could help with. In fact, he knew he could make it much worse if he tried to intervene so he had to watch you suffer inside your own head, inside your own heart, watching with a smile on his face as he waited for you to speak again like nothing was wrong.

Then, suddenly, you did. You spoke your words slowly, as if carefully deciding on each one before it left your mouth, and your cheeks were stained pink with the flush of embarrassment and uncertainty.

“I’ll miss you.”

Axel felt his heart double in size, with the wind knocked out of him. He had seen you truly happy before, but this was the first time ever, ever, he had seen you vulnerable. You were more nervous than he thought was possible for you. He could feel you bearing your delicate, fragile heart to him. There was no darkness holding it. No armour to protect it. If he wanted to, he could kill you. For the first time, he felt how weak your light was. One hit, one more heartbreak, and it would end you.

You had dared to trust him with your most vulnerable part, and his response had the potential to kill you. His throat clogged. That was a lot of responsibility. One word or action in the wrong manner and he might have a heartless on his hands, and ____ gone forever. Well, he had been disappointed by your lack of a grand gesture earlier. He wasn’t disappointed now.

Pulling himself up from the hearth, he pushed the mound of blankets off the armchair then sat in it. Then he looked at you.

“Come here.” His tone was soft, and welcoming. He held his arms out, inviting you towards him. It was a gamble that he was ready to make. You hesitated. This felt like a big risk. The closer you felt to him, the harder it would be to protect yourself if he hurt you in the end.

Yet, somehow, you still felt safe, even knowing the risks.

With your cheeks stained pink, you put your drink down then shuffled towards Axel in your pyjamas and dressing gown. The fire was lit and the room was undeniably warmer, so you shed the dressing gown, leaving it draped over the couch. Axel would be enough to warm you, anyway.

Neither of you spoke as you gingerly walked between his arms, then settled down into lap, your legs over his thighs with your head just shy of leaning against Axel’s neck. Your cheeks felt hot, but they felt even hotter when Axel wrapped his arms around you, one around your back, his gloved hand holding your waist, and the other against your thighs to hold you in place.

He waited until you were comfortable. You were pretty rigid at first, but after a little while of resting against him, you finally relaxed, daring to snuggle in closer to him. In turn, he smiled, holding you tighter. Then, he offered you the assurance you were desperate to hear.

“I’ll miss you too.” When he turned his head to look at you, he noticed just how close you were. He had never seen your eyes this closely before. They were large, and nervous, but so beautiful. He held in his impulse to bridge the gap and kiss you, knowing he would overstep a boundary, so instead he rested his forehead to the side of yours, drawing circles on your thigh, even though you couldn’t feel it for the mounds of thick pyjama fluff in the way. “I’ll be back A-sap. I know it’s gotta be hard for you, being cooped up in here. I’ll bring back some stuff to keep you entertained the next time I have to go away, kay?”

“Kay.” You said softly, enjoying the warmth of Axel’s body as he held you tight. You weren’t afraid. You didn’t feel in danger. You were truly, genuinely happy in this moment. You knew Axel had to leave, but for now you were content. Somewhere down the line, you had let your feelings for Axel grow too much for you to stop them. Until this moment, you had feared he would hurt you, someday. But right now, those worries felt trivial. You had never felt more loved.

You spent a long time together, comfortable in each other’s company, until finally you started to nod off. It was late, and Axel had spent too much time here already. He had to head off to headquarters. He regretted having to leave you, what with this monumental discovery that you were happy to be close to him, and comfortable enough to actually fall asleep on him, but he couldn’t deny he had a job to do.

“____,” he said softly, trying to stir you, “____.” You roused yourself, blinking slowly as the night weighed heavily on your eyelids. “I know you’re comfortable, but I’ve got to get going. Sorry.” He sounded genuinely apologetic, which was rare for the sarcastic redhead.

“Mnnhh…” you made a disapproving sound, but then you noticed what you were doing, too caught in the trance of sleep and comfort, and woke yourself up as best you could, mumbling, “fine.”

You didn’t sound particularly convincing. Axel felt guilty, having to leave you. There was nothing he could do about it. Making the most of the few moments more he had with you, he picked you up in his arms then got up from the armchair, holding you close as he walked through to your bedroom.

“Try getting some sleep,” he said softly, before lowering you onto the bed. He pulled the covers up to your chin, and tucked you in, pushing the duvet just under your body on either side so you felt like you were wrapped in a cocoon.

Kneeling beside the bed, he stroked a loose strand of hair away from your forehead, gazing at you with an expression you had long forgotten. His green eyes regarded you with such affection, and such gentleness, it made it all the harder to let him go. His mollycoddling wasn’t helping either. He was making you feel like the most precious thing in the world. You didn’t want him to leave, not knowing when he would be back—afraid he might not make it back.

Axel stayed for as long as he could, then when he was certain he was already late to start preparations for his mission, he finally stood up and headed for the door.

“Be back soon,” he said, knowing you didn’t really want him to leave. He was going to get the mission wrapped up as quickly as possible. No dawdling about this time, sightseeing.

Only as he made for the door, you spoke in a rushed, uncertain voice.

“Don’t go.”

With his hand on the bedroom door, he looked back at you. He felt his heart tug. “What do you mean?”

You sat up, undoing his tucking-in so you could pull back the duvet to expose the empty side of the bed. “Just stay. Please. Just for tonight. Just... with me.”

Suddenly, mountains of preparations weren’t important. He could rush it. Tomorrow. There was no way he was going to leave you now. This was the first night since arriving months ago that you had asked him to stay. Not only were you asking him to stay, but to stay beside you. You had never trusted him enough to let him sleep next to you, even in a bed that was so big the two of you never had to touch. Until tonight. Until now.

“I’ll stay,” he said, closing the door. He slipped off his cloak and hung it up, took off his gloves, then climbed into the bed beside you, pulling the duvet up over you both. You were shocked that he had agreed to your selfish request. You couldn’t hide the surprise. You knew he had to leave tomorrow, but just for tonight, just for now, you weren’t ready to part with him.

Axel reached out and took your hand, holding it as the two of you settled down to sleep. He loved this feeling. He loved that you wanted him close. He was contented, holding your hand—anything more might feel intrusive or too much, he knew that, but this was enough.

His heart nearly jumped out his chest when you wriggled yourself closer to him. It wasn’t by accident, like you were rolling over to scratch an itch. You shuffled forwards, rolling over so that your back was towards him, then scooted closer until your back was against his chest. Instantly, he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you against him in a tight hug.

You squeaked, surprised, but didn’t try to stop him. His embrace, his warmth, you were enjoying them too much.

The two of you stayed snuggled together, neither of you falling asleep. It was a surreal experience for the both of you. Neither of you had felt like this in a long, long time. Not since your childhood, and not since before his time in the Organization. Axel had stolen you on a whim—sorry, not stolen. Rescued you. Neither of you were willing to admit it had been a kidnapping. He hadn’t expected events to play out like they had, and had never expected to find someone who he felt so strongly about, yet here he was, playing big spoon to a young woman who made his chest ache at the thought of abandoning her for a couple of weeks. He didn’t know how he, a Nobody, had gotten so lucky. You were special to him and he hoped, truly hoped, that he was special to you.

When he was certain he couldn’t stay awake any longer, he had to slide away from you and roll over. You protested, and he didn’t actually want to let you go, but he was aware of what might happen in the morning should he wake up holding onto an adorable woman with her body nestled incredibly close into him. He had only just gained your trust. He didn’t want something poking you in the back to scare you off.

You groaned in protest, missing his warmth around you, but you were close to nodding off yourself. Bleary eyed, you rolled over and scooted towards him again, only this time you wrapped your arm across his waist. Okay, Axel thought, he could live with this.

Tomorrow he would be gone, but tonight there were just the two of you, cosy in bed, forgetting how the world had been before you met one another.

Chapter Text

Summer was finally here. The snow was gone, the ice had thawed, and the cute woodland animals were back. Arendelle had finally entered its summer months, opening up its ports to trade and travellers and finally—finally—the mountains were green.

It was such a waste.

You were trapped inside, waiting for Axel to come back from a mission. He was only gone for a few days this time but you were eager to get out and explore. Five months of perpetual winter had you itching to see how different Arendelle was in summer.

Unable to stray from the cabin, you spent a lot of time in the main room, busying yourself with the activities Axel had brought you. You had puzzles and paints, books, and even a large stuffed teddy bear with a spiky red wig. When Axel gave it to you, he had joked it was for when you were missing him. You were never going to tell him you cuddled it to sleep every night if he was away.

One morning you were sitting comfortably on the couch, the Axel-bear beside you while you watched cartoons on TV. Your thumb was in your mouth. It was a rare sight for anyone. It was something you only ever did when you were alone and relaxed, when your heart’s light was totally unguarded.

You had sucked your thumb plenty when you were little but because of what happened to you, forcing you to shut away that innocent side of yourself as a child, you hadn’t had chance to grow out of it.

That morning Axel came through the front door, grinning like he always did when he returned to the cabin, carrying bags of new goodies from his travels.

“Honey, I’m home.” He said drolly. You popped your thumb out your mouth to squeal an excited,

“Axel!”

The thumb sucking hadn’t gone unnoticed. Nor had your energetic enthusiasm. You got up and ran to him, but stopped yourself at the last second. It was the light in your heart that was so happy to see him, the dark armour removed from while you were alone. You scrambled to fix the crumbled, thinning darkness back in place. Axel noticed the shift but he still dropped his bags and scooped you up in his arms, lifting you off the ground in a bridal carry. You wrapped your arms around his neck and wailed as he squeezed you.

“Don’t,” you demanded half-heartedly. “You’ll make my darkness weaker than it already is. Put me down.”

“That’s not a bad thing, ya know?” Axel could tell you didn’t mean it by the way your light fluttered giddily against him. He snuggled you closer. What a lovely thing to come home to. He was happy you were letting loose around him more. Had you truly wanted Axel to let go, you would have punched him instead of wrapping your arms around him when he lifted you up. He was taking this one as a win.

Stood in the doorway, you could feel the warmth of the morning through the open door. It was a beautiful sensation after being cooped up inside for a few days. In spite of trying to hold up a front in front of Axel, you let out a contented sigh. Catching your reaction, Axel turned and took you outside. It was a glorious day. You had never felt warmth like this in Arendelle and were grateful all over again that Axel had stolen you away from your home and brought you somewhere so amazing and safe. You tilted your face to the sun, basking in its warm glow.

“Fancy a day trip?” Questioned Axel as he rocked you slowly back and forth, feeling your dark barrier slipping away once more as you relaxed against him. You nodded, wondering where he had in mind.

“Somewhere new?” You asked, aware of the excitement in the pit of your stomach. Axel had nurtured your love of exploring. You weren’t going to turn down a chance to go somewhere new. Axel had never picked a bad location yet.

He chuckled and squeezed you closer. You were small compared to him but so warm and soft and lovable. You felt like a partner in crime, a friend or maybe something more. He wasn’t truly sure what you were to him, or what he was to you, but the fact he could feel something towards you was enough. He had spent the longest time devoid of every emotion, laughing only because his memories told him that’s what people did in certain situations. But now his laughs were real. He looked forward to coming home and seeing you. Whenever he was around you, your smile made him feel alive. He wanted to please you—to make you happy.

He had to do his best and do things for you that only he could do. Taking you on adventures to different worlds was one of those things. Honestly, he had spent most of the last mission thinking of the best place to take you now that the weather was better.

He lowered you to the ground, only relinquishing his hold on you because he was eager to get going. With a grin, he said,

“Grab your swimsuit.”

oOo

Destiny Island was a place plucked straight from a holiday brochure with its white sandy beach and its clear blue waters. The added bonus was that you and Axel, as far as you could tell, were its only inhabitants. You didn’t have to fight for space or worry about making too much noise. As soon as you were clear of the dark corridor you kicked off your flipflops and dashed across the sands, feeling the warmth of the heated grains between your toes. The sun was much hotter than in Arendelle and you were only glad Axel had demanded you put on sunscreen. You had scoffed at the idea in the cabin, but you were truly glad you had caved in to his demand now.

Carrying a towel, sunglasses, a water bottle, and wearing a flowing kaftan over your swimsuit, you waited for Axel to close up the corridor then found a spot under some palm trees to set your things down before making yourself comfortable in the sand.

It was a conveniently shady spot. You enjoyed the sun on a normal day but you also had a bad habit of burning too easily.

Axel joined you, setting down a beachball and the tube of sunscreen before he promptly removed his loose-fitting black tank top, throwing it into the shade.

Now that he was in nothing but a pair of red and white swimming shorts you found it hard to look at him. This wasn’t the first time you had seen him shirtless, as he often joined you in the hot tub, but the way he undressed made you flustered. He had lean, defined muscles from top to toe and he undressed with such carefree confidence that you found yourself both undeniably jealous and attracted to him.

You picked at loose threads of your kaftan, wishing lamely that you had even a percentage of his self-confidence. Even if he was fat, thin, or missing an arm he still wouldn’t think twice about stripping half naked.

You gripped the fabric of your kaftan to hold it in place when Axel squatted down in front of you, dipping low enough to have to look up at you, his forearms resting on his thighs.

“Don’t get comfortable. You’re coming swimming.”

“Am I?” you said with a hint of dread, realising you had to take off your cover-up. Back in the cabin you had ridden on a high while choosing your swimming costume, too excited by the prospect of travelling to a new world to remember about your body confidence. Now that you were at the big reveal you were second guessing your choice. You normally wore a modest tankini in the hot tub but today you were in a blue bikini with lace trimmings on the bust.

You wanted Axel’s confidence. The thought of taking off your kaftan reminded you of every dimple, groove and bump on your body.

Axel noticed your hesitation. He backed off to take some pressure off you, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the vast expanse of ocean.

“Bet it’s warm.” He grinned, hoping to instil some motivation in you.

“Bet it’s not.” You countered jokingly. Axel raised an eyebrow as if to say wanna bet before spinning on his heel to head for the water.

You bit your lip. It was a waste to come all the way here and not go in. You tried to muster up all that excitement from the cabin when you had chosen your costume.

You could do this. You could definitely do this. You clenched your fists in the sand, mentally preparing yourself. You wanted to go in. You couldn’t let nerves get in the way. It was only you and Axel. You worried what he would think if you showed him so much of you, but you also knew you were making it bigger than it had to be. He didn’t care what the world thought of him. He was just happy to be here, and stripping half naked was only a consequence of wanting to swim.

You wanted to swim. You were going to swim.

You took a deep breath.

Grabbing the hem of your kaftan as you stood up, you pulled it up and over your head in as fast a movement as you could manage, then threw it down in the shade beside Axel’s top. The sun’s heat felt much more pleasant against your bare skin. The warmth was welcoming.

Axel was already in the water, wading up to his midriff. Once it was up to his navel he span on the wet sand, raising an arm high into the air to wave at you, telling you the water was warm, only the words got caught in his throat when he saw you. You were running towards the water with the biggest smile on your face. You were in the bikini he had picked for you on your first day in Arendelle and you looked gorgeous. Surprisingly it wasn’t your almost naked form that had him lost for words, although that definitely didn’t help, but the look in your eyes. He could tell you were nervous but he could also tell that you were choosing to enjoy yourself over worrying. It was bravery, not confidence, and damn it looked good on you.

You waded into the water, expecting to flinch at the bitter temperature. To your surprise, it really was warm.

“Oh,” you squeaked, raising your arms above your waist as you walked deeper and deeper into the water. You pursed your lips together, refusing to admit that Axel was right. You stopped when you were in front of him, the water almost up to your bikini top. You fanned your arms across the surface, drawing large lines that rippled out around you as you stared, mesmerised, below the surface. You had never seen such clear waters. You could see every pebble, every grain of sand. Tiny fish the size of pennies swam between your legs, totally indifferent to your presence as they went about their lives.

“Hey,” Axel said, waiting long enough to get a hold of himself. He thought he had a pretty good grip on his urges when he was around you, but having you this close and looking so irresistible in your bikini had him losing his senses. You looked up and he caught sight of your large, curious eyes. He fought off his innermost thoughts, knowing now definitely wasn’t the time, and splashed water into your face to break the tension.

You coughed and spluttered, surprised by the attack.

“Axel!” You whined, rubbing your eyes clean with your upper arms—the only parts left mildly dry. Unable to see, you struck the water hoping to blind Axel just as much.

“Nice try,” he said sarcastically. You missed. Once the water was out of your eyes you looked at him and realised your splash had barely reached his neck. You stuck your tongue out childishly, turned your nose up then strode past him, wading deeper into the water until you had to swim.

“Don’t go too far,” Axel cautioned, following you. You weren’t all that far out. The water turned deep near to the shore, so you still had a ways to go before you swam out of the alcove.

“Why?” You asked, doggy paddling gently towards a standalone bit of land at the end of the island. It looked semi-climbable and had strange, bending trees growing from it. You wanted to take a look. “Will a shark get me?”

“Where are you going?” Axel mused, deciding to swim after you even though he still had room to walk if he wanted. “And no. But I don’t want you getting sucked out to sea.”

“Pffft,” you puffed air between your teeth, ignoring his concerns. “I’ll be fine.”

Axel rolled his eyes, leisurely swimming behind you to let you explore. He was used to you going off on adventures in Arendelle and he knew it would be no different here. At least he could cool off in the waters as you filled your explorer’s appetite.

Swimming out to the end point of the island, you noticed a makeshift set of ladders strapped to the side of the ledge to help you climb up from the water. Taking the invitation you hoisted yourself up, ignoring that Axel probably had a spectacular view of your butt if he was looking.

Once you were up you turned to check on him, ready to cause chaos if he said anything sarcastic. You were totally unprepared to see the blush on his face, or the way he didn’t know where to look. Your face turned warm.

“C-come on,” you urged, fighting past your shyness. “I don’t want you getting sucked out to sea.”

It was hard to mock him when you knew his eyes had indeed been on your less than covered butt. At least he had the decency to act flustered.

Axel wasn’t flustered that he got caught. He was more than happy to own up to leering at you. He just couldn’t get over how attracted he was to you. There was no one else’s butt he would rather be staring at right now in those adorable side-tie bikini bottoms than yours.

You turned away from him, distracting yourself from the flutter in your chest by exploring. You were higher up than most of the rest of the island here and if it weren’t for a large wooden bridge connecting this landmass to the mainland, it would be totally cut off. It had a really great view. You could see a tumbling waterfall half way across the island with treehouses behind that, nestled into the cliff face.

A gentle breeze caught your attention when it tickled the leaves of a large, slumped tree. The tree itself looked as though it had given up growing tall on day one, much preferring to grow sideways so that the leaves on the very tip of the tree hung well over the water, its strong trunk supporting its unnatural, deep lean. Up where the leaves were, you spotted strange looking fruits – if you had to describe them, they looked like large yellow stars.

“Hey, Axel,” you called, hearing a splash as he hoisted himself out of the water onto the ladder.

“Yeah?” He answered once he was at the top, combing his hands through his semi-wet hair. By this point you were already mounting the trunk, fully intending to reach the weird stars.

“Think they’re edible?”

Axel first took in the sight of you shimmying your way across the tree trunk like a determined sloth and had to disguise his laugh as a cough, then he spotted what you were talking about. As he did, you added,

“Let’s try it together. If I poisons me, it poisons you too.”

Suicide-pact aside, Axel couldn’t take his eyes off what you were heading for. It was a cluster of paopu fruit. By the sounds of it you had no idea what they were. He sure as hell did, and he also knew what the rumours said about them. Let’s try it together held a lot more weight for him than you probably intended. He didn’t know if he believed in destinies intertwining, especially from sharing a weird looking fruit, but the idea didn’t sound all that bad to him. Not if you were suggesting it.

Suddenly you slipped, yelping as you slid sideways off the trunk. Axel lurched, ready to dive into the water if you fell in, but you righted yourself and carried on as if nothing happened. Axel chuckled, running a hand up his face and through his hair, finding his overprotectiveness of you both ridiculous and amusing. It wasn’t like you couldn’t look after yourself—you’d proven that by somehow staying alive over years of being chased by the heartless. Yet he still felt the compulsion to protect you. You sparked a primal wont in him to keep you safe.

Didn’t mean he would admit that to your face, though.

“Fall in. Make my day.”

He saw you grip the trunk for dear life just so you could turn your head and land him with a haughty glare. You weren’t falling in.

Atta girl.

You could feel Axel’s gaze on you. You just knew he wanted you to slip. You weren’t going to give him the satisfaction. You shuffled slowly but safely along the trunk until you reached the upswing—the point where the tree finally decided to grow normally. It was out over the water and much thinner here but you didn’t let that worry you. You got to your feet as steadily as you could, balancing your bare soles on the rough bark, curling your toes for grip, then stretched as high as you could, reaching up to grab one of the fruits.

You were too short. After all that, you couldn’t reach. You stood on the tips of your toes, bracing one arm against the trunk to hold yourself still and still couldn’t touch the fruit.

“Don’t say a word,” you warned, aware Axel was watching you. He held his hands up defensively, amused that you could sense he wanted to goad you.

“Wasn’t gonna.”

You puffed air between your teeth to tell him you didn’t believe him then tried to attach yourself to the tree so you could climb up like a monkey.

Axel found it wholeheartedly amusing. You really wanted a paopu fruit. It was even funnier considering you had no idea what it was. Axel was hoping for a game of volleyball but for this excursion he could wait. If you wanted to share destinies with him, that was fine by him. He might just wait to tell you about the paopu fruit rumour until after you’d shared it. Didn’t want you bailing on him.

Destiny had other plans for you, though. As you struggled to reach the fruit, Axel became aware of a noise a little distance away. At the other end of bridge that connected this island to the mainland was a cabin. He thought you were alone but he could hear noises in the cabin— voices.

“____,” Axel said in a forced whisper, shuffling to the base of the tree. “____. Might have a problem here.”

“Huh?” You looked back at him, expecting him to be joking. He wasn’t. You could tell. “What’s wrong?”

Axel stood still, listening. Without a reply, you turned your attention back to the fruit. You were so close.

“Nope,” Axel said all of a sudden, louder. “Nuh-uh. Not today. Not happening.”

Before you knew what was going on, Axel had leapt onto the tree trunk beside you, missing out the entire length that you had shimmied across.

“Sorry,” he apologised. He wrapped his arms tightly around your waist, tugging you backwards away from the tree, into his grip. You yelped as if to demand to know what he was doing but his eyes were on the cabin. You caught him glancing frantically between it and out to sea.

“What are you doing?” You asked, held rigidly with your bare back to his bare chest. If this was any other situation you would have been in a tizzy but Axel was acting alert and you didn’t like it when he did that. It meant something was wrong.

After one final glance at the cabin Axel said, “I’ll buy you a new dress.”

“Dress? You mean my kaftan? What do you--”

“Deep breath.” Before you could get the last of your sentence out, Axel’s grip turned vice-like, then without warning he pulled you straight off the tree, jumping down into the ocean. You shrieked until you hit the water and only stopped because Axel forced you below the surface. You had no time to take a deep breath like he asked. You barely had any breath at all. Axel did not resurface, instead swimming out into the open waters, following the sand bed as far as he could before it suddenly dropped off. To your horror he didn’t stop. He had tight hold of you and dragged you down through the water, kicking with strong legs as you started to squirm and panic as your lungs began to feel hot.

You wanted to go back to the beach. Your eyes stung with salt water but you couldn’t close them, too afraid, too in shock by Axel’s actions to act rationally. Neither one of you could breathe, and the deeper he swam the more helpless you felt, unable to scream or tell him to surface. You tried to resist, kicking with all your might as you struggled out of his grip. You didn’t know what Axel was so afraid of back on the island but it wasn’t worth drowning for. You were worried something in Axel had snapped and grabbed his hand, tugging him as you tried to swim straight up, feeling your lungs ready to collapse.

Axel tugged you and he was much stronger. He jolted you through the water. You jerked back in front of him and he fixed you with a stare. You were too frightened to see it until he let go of you, only to grip both sides of your head between his hands. His cheeks were puffed out as he attempted to hold his breath. You could see a desperation in his eyes. He knew just as much as you that you had limited oxygen. He couldn’t communicate with you with words. All he could do was stare at you and hope you understood. His eyes said trust me.

If it was any other person in the world you would have struggled in the water until you drowned, refusing to listen. But it was Axel so how could you not?

You stilled. Axel grabbed you in an instant, resuming his descent. Your lungs burned. You had no other option but to trust Axel, aware it was too late to reach the surface now. He pulled and pulled and you tried to kick but your panic was too great to let you function.

Then, suddenly, everything changed.

The first thing to shift was the light. Murky, dark waters suddenly cleared up to reveal an entire seascape of gullies, caverns, coral reefs, drop-offs and thousands of shoals of fish in every colour. You gasped at the stark contrast and then realised, shockingly, that you could gasp. It felt great. The tension in your lungs dissipated and you took long, meaningful breaths. You had no idea what was going on. You squeezed Axel’s hand, staring out into the ocean, then looked at him. Then screamed.

“Thanks,” Axel said drolly. That was when you realised it actually was Axel. He didn’t look like himself. His face and chest were the same but the spikes of his hair had turned into lengthy spines that carried on down his back and over the tops of his shoulders in a veil. There were gills on either side of his neck and suddenly he had the longest, most mesmerising red and white tail in place of where his legs were meant to be, with fins that looked like wings. If you had to pin him to a species, he very much resembled a lionfish.

You looked down at yourself instinctively and weren’t surprised to see that you had also transformed. You had a long, elegant blue tail that matched your bikini top perfectly with very delicate looking fins running down the sides, the back, and a stronger fin at the base.

“Mermaids?” you asked in utter disbelief, looking back and forth between your tail and Axel. You clasped your hand to your neck, feeling the rigid flaps of skin that made up your gills.

Axel grinned that wonky, smug grin of his. He swam forwards, totally accustomed to his tail already, and ran his fingers through your hair as it hovered weightlessly around your head.

“Welcome to Atlantica. Looks good on you.”

Axel’s laid back attitude never failed to amaze you. You were anything but calm.

“Did you know this was going to happen?”

“No. Thought I’d drown you, but you got lucky.”

You turned away so you didn’t have to see the face he was pulling. You knew it would be somewhere between smugness and an of course I knew look. Hoping to change the subject, you folded your arms over your chest, tentatively flicking your tail back and forth to get yourself accustomed to your new limb.

“So, what was that all about?” you pointed towards the surface, referring to Axel’s man-handling and sudden serious mood on the island.

He didn’t like the way you were pouting at him. He swam close to you, gently taking your hands so you couldn’t cross your arms again. This was no time to strop.

“Sorry.” The sincerity of his apology made you relax. “It was an emergency.”

“Couldn’t you have just opened a dark corridor?”

“You heard those things? They’re damn noisy. Didn’t want us getting caught.”

“Caught?” you knew he couldn’t be talking about the heartless. You suddenly remembered a moment when he told you something similar, back in the 100-Acre Wood. The Organization had a nemesis who Axel didn’t want to bump into.

“Was it the same guy from last time?”

“Mhmm,” Axel hummed, glancing up through the waters. “Destiny Island is his home. Thought he was off-world but I guess not.”

“His home?” Considering Axel seemed adamant that you had to stay clear of this plan-ruining nemesis, you had to laugh at Axel’s sheer tenacity. “You could have brought me to any other beach.”

Axel shrugged, landing you with his infamously blasé expression.

“Destiny Island has the best beaches. Besides, it’s fine. Didn’t get caught. Now we’re mermaids. Who’s the real winner here?”

Keeping tight hold of your hands, Axel span round and round in the water, pulling your weightless body in giant circles. It made you dizzy and you knew Axel was trying to change the subject but you loved it all the same.

“Okay, okay,” you pleaded once you’d had enough, too dizzy to see straight. Axel let go and you immediately bumped into his chest, unused to your tail and unable to see up from down.

“Careful,” he cooed, holding your shoulders to steady you. You tried not to blush but there was no stopping it when you realised you had touched his naked chest, nor did it help that his skin was so warm. You had to fight the urge to cuddle up to him, aware that the ocean was nowhere near as heated as he was.

You shivered defiantly, refusing to melt into him. Actually, you over exaggerated it. A small part of you hoped Axel would man-handle you again, pulling you against him in an attempt to keep you warm, his muscular arms folding around you, his fingertips brushing against your bare skin. Axel had slipped past your heart’s defences. You wanted him to hold you. You wanted him to dote on you. You wanted to rely on him. You were usually self-sufficient. You didn’t rely on anyone, and that’s what finally made you realise.

You truly had feelings for Axel.

If he was aware of your epiphany he didn’t show it. When he felt you shiver he let go and swam a short distance away.

“Come on. Baby steps.” He opened his arms out to you like a parent encouraging their toddler to walk for the first time. “You’ve got this.”

Your heart felt ready to burst just from looking at him. Now that you were aware of your feelings it was hard to stop them getting loose. The darkness in your heart was getting frailer. Soon it might be just as frail as the light in you, and then nothing could save you if you got hurt.

Such a consequence didn’t occur to you as you flicked your tail around, trying to navigate yourself towards Axel. For the first time in forever you were too giddy to care.

oOo

Considering it was your first time with a tailfin, Axel found it hard to believe you had never done this before. He had visited Atlantica a few times but for some reason he found it hard to keep up with you. He wanted to put it down to his grade-A teaching but he could tell it was all on you. Your eagerness to explore the ocean pushed you forward. Atlantica was a whole other reality for you—humans did not swim underwater, it was physically impossible. He knew you were making the most of it, like you never expected to come back here again once you left.

You seemed to forget you had a very handsome personal transporter. As long as he could control the heartless and the darkness, he could take you anywhere.

Axel left the ocean navigation up to you. He could see a sparkle in your eyes that had only crept out on occasions before now. It shimmered whenever you swam through a school of multi-coloured fish or used the undertow like a slide. What shocked Axel was that he also saw that sparkle when you looked at him—because you were looking at him. You had only ever looked at him like that before for split seconds before fixing the dark barrier back around your heart. But you were looking at him now, maintaining eye contact, and the sparkle never dulled.

“Axel!” You called a while later, stopping so suddenly that he swam into the back of you. One of the positives of being underwater was that he couldn’t bowl you over completely.

“You could warn a guy—” he began, only you started batting him on the shoulder excitedly, never looking away from the spectacle in the distance. Axel managed to grab your hands and cease the beating before he caught sight of what had you so excited.

A whale.

It was alone, peacefully gliding through the open waters as no creature was stupid enough to attack a mammal that large. It was hard to see from such a distance but if Axel had to guess, he’d say it was just bigger than a coach.

Axel waited, expecting you to charge headfirst towards the whale. But you didn’t. You stayed still. Axel peered at your face. Your eyes were sparkling but you seemed hesitant. You caught him looking and turned away awkwardly. Then he saw your gaze turn back to the whale.

“You okay?” He asked, hoping he sounded genuinely concerned—he was aware of his default sarcastic tone. You nodded as if to end the topic then grinned and swam off towards a bright cluster of coral near the base of the reef you were in.

Axel watched you go, tutting. You liked to think you were a closed-off kind of girl. However over the months he had spent with you, Axel picked up on the small ticks and gestures that told him how you really felt when you tried to act indifferent.

“Oi.” He swam after you, grabbing your hand and intertwining his fingers with yours once he caught up. He had something to say but took a moment to enjoy the way you turned pink at his physical contact.

“Come on.” He tugged you away from the coral. “The whale won’t stick around forever.”

The smile you gave him made his insides do something funny and he quickly found himself grinning back at you as the two of you set off for the whale.

“Do you think it’ll mind?” You asked, finally willing to voice your concerns. Axel scoffed, flexing an arm as he held your hand with the other.

“It won’t get past me if it does.” He was glad you knew he was joking. That, or you laughed because you knew the whale would pulverise him. He liked to think it was the former. “Relax. Whales don’t eat merfolk. They see mermaids how you humans see puppies.”

Axel bit his tongue, realising he said something he shouldn’t have. As far as you were aware, he was a normal human with a fully functioning heart and emotions. You could not find out that he was a Nobody—a being that in all cases except his was incapable of compassion, kindness or love. He was anxious you wouldn’t believe he was a unique case. He didn’t have the courage to tell you what he was. He didn’t know how you would react to finding out he was the same as those creatures that had terrorised you for most of your life. He didn’t want you to resent him. He didn’t want you to tighten the constraints around your heart, locking your light away forever where he could not reach it.

It was too late now to confess what he was. Behind every other emotion growing inside him was the fear of loss. He didn’t want to lose you. Heartache was the one emotion he could live without.

Fortunately you were too enamoured by the whale to notice Axel’s slip up.

“Wait, so whales think mermaids are cute?”

Without dropping a beat he flashed you a playfully flirty wink, hiding any panic deep inside him.

“Mhmm. You, in particular.”

“Get lost,” you squeaked, too affected by his words to manage a proper comeback.

oOo

Your encounter with the whale was more than you ever dreamed it would be. Axel was right. You had nothing to fear from getting so close to it. Fear had nearly scared you off, and yet here you were, lounging on the head of the humpback, Axel beside you as your new aquatic friend made happy noise that resembled singing. You stayed quiet for the longest time, listening to the creature gloat about having mermaids on its back.

Really, from the moment it had spotted you swimming towards it, it had started singing. It rolled straight onto its side, eager to let you aboard. After a bit of reassurance from Axel you had swam up and onto its back and the large creature had set off on its travels.

It was amazing how much there was to see from the top of a whale. It travelled distances that would have taken you hours without its assistance. The whale preferred to stay nearer to the ocean’s surface so you saw many a coral reef, with tens of thousands of fish of all colours and varieties calmly swimming out of the behemoth’s path. You couldn’t stop smiling, running your hand back and forth over the whale’s thick skin as you took in the wonders of the ocean. It was hard to remember sitting in the cabin earlier that morning.

Suddenly, the whale’s song changed. Its deep voice reverberated just once like a signal.

“What did it say?” You asked, patting the creature’s back to tell it you were listening. Axel sat up, smoothing his hands over the ridges of its back.

“Hm. Pretty sure it said…” For a moment he seemed contemplative; up until he landed you with a mischievous grin. “My bad. Forgot I don’t speak whale.”

You were ready to pummel him for being a sarcastic bastard but had to brace yourself when the whale suddenly changed course to head for the surface. The whale made another low, sharp noise and then you realised it was planning to breach.

“I think it needs air,” you semi-shouted over the sound of water rushing past your ears. Axel shook his head, forcing his spiked body flat against the humpback to stop the water resistance toppling him backwards.

“I think it wants to play with the puppies.”

“Huh?” You didn’t understand. Instead of answering you, Axel dragged himself across to you, wrapping an arm across your back to pin you against the whale. Nerves danced in your stomach both from Axel’s touches and wondering what the whale was going to do, but Axel smiled to tell you not to worry.

“Brace yourself.”

His two-word warning didn’t feel enough considering what happened to you. The whale sped up, breaking past the water’s surface. The force of the jump sent you flying into the air, way above where the whale stopped. For a moment you were weightless. You seemed to float as the whale disappeared back below the surface, a giant splash following you up into the air. The shock of it took your voice away but Axel kept you wrapped tightly in his arms, laughing to tell you everything was alright.

You barely heard him over the roar of the wind but as he squeezed you on your ascent you heard him mention the view. Though it was only a quick glance, you caught sight of the ocean stretching on for miles, filled with small islands and longboats. Destiny Island was not among them.

You had travelled to two different worlds in one short day, and had only used the corridors to reach one of them. It made you wonder how you had travelled to Atlantica, if not for harnessing the darkness of all human hearts. Sometimes it bothered you that Axel used such a power but without it he could not see you, and you could not travel. You wanted to know more about the links between worlds.

Axel let go of you when the pair of you started to fall, telling you to dive. You straightened out and landed in the water with a quiet plop, laughing. Being shot up into the air by a whale was pretty fun. It made your stomach lurch, like being on a rollercoaster or a log flume.

“Still in one piece?” asked Axel, enjoying your dazed expression. It was hard to tell. You were dizzy but you felt the rush of adrenaline.

“I could go for round two.”

“Oh, really?” Axel patted the whale as it swam over to check on the two of you. “Hey, big guy. One more time but it’ll have to be the last one. Don’t think my stomach could hack a third go.”

To your surprise, the whale made another signalling sound, picking you up on its back.

“You do know whale!” You said with a laugh, shuffling closer to Axel so he could wrap his arms around you if he got the urge again.

“Nope. But the whale might know mermaid.”

Instead of soaring up to the surface, the whale took its time. It did not plan to breach again. Instead, it surfaced just so that you, Axel and its blowhole were above water. Then it wiggled, bouncing you until you were nearer the blowhole. Helping it, the two of you shuffled into place. You waited with excited butterflies, stealing glances at Axel’s lionfish-esque face.

You had to wonder if this was really happening. Were you really sitting on the back of a whale, twiddling your fishy tail, waiting to be shot into the air? How had you ended up this lucky, on top of meeting Axel, on top of escaping the heartless?

The whale lowered itself until its blowhole was below water, leaving you and Axel wet up to your midriffs. Axel finally closed the space between you, slipping his arms around your waist. This time his actions felt much softer, like he was enjoying the time spent holding you instead of doing it purely to keep you from shooting off when the whale fired you up. The whale gave one final signal, a beautiful high pitched note that could be heard inside the water and out, then it pushed its body upwards and shot the largest jet of water from its back. The force took hold of you, sending you up into the air. You latched onto Axel instinctively, tangling your hands around his back, nestling your fingers amongst the lionfish spines as you laughed with glee.

Once you were back in the water, giddy and a little disorientated, you waved goodbye to the whale then it carried on its journey alone. Noting that you might need a rest, Axel took you by the hand and swam you down from the surface until you reached a large, densely populated coral reef. It was home to hundreds of fish but he didn’t stop there. He followed the sand, sticking low to it as he pulled you along. You had no idea where you were going and you were sure Axel couldn’t know where he was either. But he carried on, swishing his tail to pull the two of you onwards.

Until the land ended. He stopped at the edge of a sheer drop, using the ledge there as a perch to rest on.

“Come on,” he urged you to sit beside him, small dust clouds pooling around his hand as he tapped the edge of the sandbank. You slipped in beside him, dangling your tail into the abyss. It was endless darkness no matter how closely you looked down. It made you feel sick, in all honesty. Which is why the endless array of fish swimming at eye-level were much more appealing. There were so many different kinds and only a few varieties you recognised, like the tiny cluster of clownfish with their bright orange scales.

“I feel like I’m in a picture book.” You admitted, unable to think of any other situation where you could see something so striking. With the sun filtering in from above, the waters were clear and blue. Without much hassle you could see a fish of every colour. This wasn’t a world normal humans got to see.

You knew how lucky you were. A few short months ago you had lived a sheltered life, confined to your hometown in your homeworld, barely avoiding heartless and Dusks daily. Chance luck had brought you this far; Axel wandering into your world to pick up his misguided Dusk lackies, becoming your warding talisman to keep the monsters at bay. To jump from your bland reality into a world where magic made snow at will, or made stuffed donkeys talk, or turned you into a mermaid, you had no one but Axel to thank. It may have been a kidnapping of sorts, once upon a time, but it was a blessing in disguise.

“Is this normal?” You asked, gazing into the seascape of aquatic creatures. Axel was close beside you, enjoying the same view as you, though he took his chance every so often to shuffle just that little bit closer. “This view? These worlds? Do you still find them amazing, or have you seen that many that they don’t impress you anymore?”

Axel had to chuckle at your question. Truth be told, he was new to this too. Until recently, emotions had escaped him. He had ventured to countless worlds but they had not phased him. He was sure they had been extraordinary but his body had not reacted, thus was the curse of the Nobodies. It was only his past few ventures that had really made him excited. In all honesty, it wasn’t even the worlds themselves that impressed him. It was the thought of bringing home stories for you to hear, or thinking of places to take you that excited him. Even now, staring into the infinity of ocean with the endless spectrum of fish, his giddy heart came from knowing that you thought this world was beautiful. He took pride in being the one to show you this. On some level he could appreciate the world’s wonder, but first and foremost his joy came from your enthusiasm.

“Let’s just say you make these ventures more worthwhile.” You felt flattered until he added, “Nothing beats watching you fall over something, into something, stub your toe, trip on thin air, attract feral animals. You’re like a walking chaos centre. Makes it exciting.”

“Oh. Jeez. Thanks.”

Axel glanced your way to tell you he was kidding. You swiped at his shoulder playfully. He fended you off, adding,

“Fine. Fine. Everything looks a bit better when you’re going goo-goo eyed over it next to me. Guess you taught me to see things a little differently.”

 His honesty was refreshing. It was nice to hear something like that coming from him. You wondered if you had really made that kind of impact on him.

“Well,” you said, hoping to return his gesture. “You make me see things differently now, too.”

“How so?” He turned his attention to you, ignoring the ocean to listen to your answer. You swished your tail back and forth, catching how interested he was.

“I used to think relationships were a bother.”

“Relationships?” Axel sounded intrigued, which you took to mean he was about to get sarcastic and torment you for getting ahead of yourself, thinking you and he were in a relationship. You knew you weren’t, but you didn’t want Axel to tease you when it was somewhat of a sore spot for you. Your newly-realised feelings for him couldn’t cope being shot down in such a jokey manner. You corrected yourself.

“In general. With people. Getting close to them. I never wanted to make friends; I thought people were just backstabbers who only kept their friends around as long as they weren’t a bother.”

You didn’t notice Axel twitch, his back stiffening as he got another quick glance into your world from before he knew you. Humans were vile, and emotions led them down wicked roads. He knew that, and he knew it was only the nature of the world, but that didn’t stop him hating it, knowing you were a victim of it.

“I thought I hated everyone. But not you,” you said shyly, a smile creeping onto your lips as you watched your swishing tail to keep your gaze away from Axel’s suddenly wide-eyed stare. “You’ve been so patient, so kind, so thoughtful.”

“—You sure you’re talking about me, here?” Axel cut in, unable to humbly take the compliment. Thoughtful was not a term usually attached to his character, though he loved that you thought that of him.

“Yes,” you said with a chuckle, thankful that he had broken the seriousness of the topic. It felt a lot easier to open up about it now. “You’ve shown me I can be myself, be a problem, and still be worth sticking around.”

“When were you a problem?”

“Don’t say that like you can’t think of a time. I have trust issues, I called you every name under the sun that first day in Arendelle, thought you were a pickup artist or worse. I made you sleep on the couch for months instead of the bed—”

“—my choice, but whatever—”

“I didn’t want you to touch me. I freaked out if you got in my personal space, let alone accidentally bumping me or something.”

“—I’d freak if someone grabbed me, to be fair—”

“The point being,” you said, aware Axel probably had a counter for every problem you tried to address. “I’m getting better, now. Thanks to you. It makes me want to make friends, or at least try to. It was hard for me to be next to someone even physically. But I’m getting better.”

You felt your heart leap, knowing you wanted to reach out to put your hand on top of Axel’s or to cuddle into his side like the moment was screaming for you to do so. You wanted to say here, like this and embrace him, to prove to yourself that you really had come a long way. But the longer you hesitated, the more you thought about it and the more you built it up in your head.

Axel saw your brain start to fry. By the way you edged your hand towards him then stopped and clenched your fist, he knew you were in some kind of mental dilemma. You probably wanted to touch him. If it were the other way round, he wouldn’t think twice about it even if he was nervous. It was better to do what you wanted and worry about the consequences later. But he knew you weren’t that kind of person. You were shy even though you could be loud, and thoughtful even though you could be impulsive.

He knew you’d get there if you really wanted to, whatever it was. You were growing, your heart’s light getting stronger even though you probably couldn’t tell. You were toughening up to the world, starting to cope with some of its improbabilities. You just needed confidence.

While he pondered your dilemma, his gaze inadvertently wandered back across the seascape. Instead of the fish, he focused on something at the edge of his vision, probably miles across the sea. It was the faintest of lights, like a glow on the furthest horizon.

The city of Atlantica.

“____,” he said, snapping you from your panic about wanting to hug him. “Over there. Look.”

He pointed at the glow. You squinted, trying to follow his direction but as far as you could see it was a blank ocean.

“What am I looking at?”

“Over there,” Axel shuffled closer so you could stare down his arm like a sight on a weapon. “That glow. It’s the city of Atlantica.”

You closed one eye, leaning your head over his arm to look. “Oh!”

“It’s the biggest hub for mermaids in the ocean. Wanna take a look?”

“Absolutely!” You replied eagerly, keeping your chin on Axel’s outstretched arm. “How long do you think it’ll take to get there?”

“Thirty seconds if we use the corridors.”

“That’s no fun.”

“Alright. Maybe…” he tried to guess the distance. As the two of you talked about Atlantica, neither of you noticed something lurking. It didn’t make a sound. Its silence was its biggest asset when it came to the hunt.

“Hey, Axel…” Taking your gaze away from the glow but keeping your chin on his arm, you noticed something strange about the view. “… Where did all the fish go?”

Axel twitched, noticing the distinctly empty waters too. He lowered his arm so you sat up, then he turned to you with a puzzled but calm look on his face. Until he saw the shark.

“Oh no you don’t.” Axel was on you in a flash, gripping you with both arms. He pulled you towards him with all his strength, propelling himself backwards to put distance between the two of you and the shark as it lunged for the space you had just been sat in.

At first you didn’t know what was going on, but when you laid eyes on the shark the colour drained from your face. You could still see your imprint in the sand directly below where the shark’s body was. If Axel had not grabbed you when he did, his unnaturally terrified face would have been the last thing you saw. Now that he had tight hold of you, with your smaller body pressed into his warm side, the fear on his face was gone. Instead, he looked pissed.

“Pick on someone your own size, you overgrown guppy.” Axel didn’t appreciate anything trying to hurt you, natural instinct or otherwise. Keeping you securely fixed against him with an arm, he stretched the other out towards the shark, palm forwards. The shark lunged, disgruntled that it had missed the first time. With a spark and hiss, flames suddenly erupted from Axel’s hand.

“Sea-fire!”

The flames spurred towards the shark. The creature took one look at the ball of flames, totally out of place in the ocean, and turned tail. Axel shot a second fireball to chase it away completely then spent the next while watching to make sure it was gone.

You felt your heart hammering against your ribs. Your hands were shaking as you held them against Axel’s chest, gland to be ensnared in his grip. You couldn’t help but look at the place you had been sitting. If Axel hadn’t gotten to you…

But he had. You had seen the fear in his eyes, the fear of losing you. He wasn’t afraid of the shark, you could tell by the way he had calmly scared it off. For a brief instance, though, Axel had been afraid to lose you. He had gripped you hard enough to make you wince, thinking of nothing else but getting you out of there.

Despite the panic and adrenaline pacing through your veins, the implications of his actions settled on you, and you smiled gently.

“Axel,” you said. Reluctantly he pulled his gaze away from where the shark had disappeared only for you to reach up and place a soft kiss on his cheek. His body went rigid again, but only for a moment.

“Wha—wh—I—wha—” Axel touched his hand to his cheek, staring at you. He was surprised but you could see a happy twinkle in his eyes. You pulled your arms free from between the two of you. Taking a deep breath you hugged him, burying your face into the side of his neck to hide your nerves.

“Let’s go home.” You said. Your lips brushed against the surprisingly sensitive skin of his gills. He shivered but laced his arms around you in a more comforting hold to tell you he approved of everything you were doing.

He didn’t want to go home. Not just yet. He could feel the spot where you had kissed him and wondered if you had done it to thank him for saving you. He doubted it, considering he had rescued you countless times to date. That kiss meant something else. He didn’t want to get ahead of himself, but he was pretty sure it meant what he hoped it meant.

Daring to respond, he planted a single kiss to your forehead. You whimpered but hugged him harder, relieved he had not rejected you. There was a lot the both of you wanted to say but neither of you felt the moment called for it. There was a calmness in the embrace that quelled both your nerves. Axel smiled against your skin.

It was comforting to know your heart was longing for him the same way his heart longed for you.

Chapter Text

In the grand scheme of Arendelle, October was the last month before the snow and ice returned for a perpetually long winter. Even towards the final few weeks of autumn there was a bite to the air and the animals were considerably plumper, preparing for hibernation.

It should be no surprise, then, that you had taken it upon yourself to venture to every part of Arendelle before the paths became too dangerous to travel.

Currently, you were in the foothills just above the main kingdom. It was mid-afternoon and you had been out since morning, with Axel waiting at the cabin to keep the heartless at bay for you.

You smiled to yourself, thinking fondly of the sarcastic redhead as you clambered down towards the kingdom. After the events in Atlantica, you had found yourself getting giddy over the thought of him. The two of you had grown considerably closer. You were even willing to hold his hand or stroke his hair now. You looked forward to seeing him and could even accept any compliments he gave you – albeit flustered and shyly.

One thing you had not managed again, though, was kissing him. You clutched your cheeks now, thinking about it. You wanted to kiss him properly but your heart was too shy. You wanted him to kiss you. You wanted a kiss that could stop the world when your lips connected and his arms folded around you. Now that he had the all-clear, Axel planted chaste kisses on you but not all that much. He was trying to respect your boundaries.

You didn’t have it in you to say he could go further. Your shyness was infuriating but you supposed that’s what you got for protecting your heart’s light for all these years. It was still too meek and innocent.

You focused on the rocky path down to the kingdom, distracting yourself. Something was going on down there today. You had heard noises from up in the mountains and wanted to check it out. As the day's light faded, the ground turned frosty. You took one step at a time, careful not to miss your footing where the low sun had cast shadows.

You ventured to the closest village, hoping to catch a glimmer of the commotion. When you got there, you saw it instantly. The village was glowing with life. Dozens of children had taken to the streets, carrying pillow cases or woven wicker-baskets over-spilling with sweets and chocolates. Carved pumpkins sat on doorsteps or in the windows of homes with tea lights inside them to give off a spooky glow.

Everyone, as far as your eyes could see, either had on a monster costume, a bed sheet with the eyes cut out, or an outfit that resembled the queen and princess of Arendelle.

You were shocked, at first, to see another land besides your own celebrating Halloween. The longer you watched, the more you longed to join in. You had never had the time to celebrate Halloween before. Until recently, you life had consisted of nothing but dodging heartless. You never could have wandered around in the dark, spooky costume or not.

Before long, the sun set and the light faded away. That was the trouble with the later months. The days ended too quickly. It was only around two o’clock now. Losing so much daylight was infuriating -- though it didn’t deter the trick-or-treaters at all. You, on the other hand, had a different problem once the dark rolled in.

As soon as you decided to get closer to the action, you saw it. There was a Dusk. It was watching you. Its body wiggled sporadically at the edge of an alleyway, hoping to catch your attention. You tried to ignore it. It was too soon to go. But the longer you avoided it, the more it wiggled, as if shouting for you to pay it some attention. You only gave in when the thing tried to venture into the street to get you.

“Okay, okay,” you hissed, knocking it back into the alleyway so it couldn’t frighten the dressed-up toddlers. “You’ve ruined all my Halloweens so far. Might as well make it this one too.”

Once you were hidden from the main street a dark corridor emerged. The Dusk wiggled expectantly. You knocked past it with a gruff sigh, resentful for all the years of torment its kind had subjected you to, then stepped into the corridor.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going.”

With a whir and a flash of blue, you found yourself outside the cabin. You stomped up to the front door, hoping the Dusk realised how irked you were. Your strop was most likely in vain. You weren’t sure Dusks could understand emotion. They felt more like mindless machines that either obeyed orders or hunted tirelessly for light when left to their own devices.

Didn’t stop you flipping it off when it emerged through the corridor, though.

You couldn't find Axel when you got inside the cabin. His clothes, however, were scattered between the bedroom and the back door, so you hazarded a guess that he was enjoying the hot tub. You scooped up his things, took them with you into the bedroom then dropped them in a pile on the bed before turning your attention to the wardrobe. This year you were going to do Halloween. During your nine month’s stay in Arendelle you had accumulated a large sum of new clothes, thanks to Axel. You were hoping some of them might combine to make a costume.

The day was still early. With any luck you could convince Axel to let you go trick-or-treating. He didn’t like you going out by yourself after dark because of wolves and other scary creatures, but you were sure if he tagged along it would be fine.

You flicked through the items in your wardrobe but slowly felt your excitement ebb as you realised you had nothing to make a costume with. Well, so much for that idea. Next year you would definitely have the biggest, spookiest, heartless-free Halloween and get sick from eating too many sweets. But not today.

You cursed Dusks and Heartless for ruining your life thus far, then headed out onto the decking to see Axel. You wanted to complain that he had dragged you back too soon. Though, as you stepped into the fresh mountain air you decided you better hadn’t. He was only trying to keep you safe. You also had no reason to complain if you had no costume to take part in Halloween. Instead, you wandered onto the decking with a soft pout, hoping Axel might cheer you up.

As expected, you found him lounging in the hot tub with his arms hooked over the sides to keep himself anchored while the cool air lapped at his exposed skin. You stepped on a loose slat in the decking and when it creaked he lifted his head curiously, then grinned when he spotted you.

“What’s wrong with you, Miss Pouty-Lips?”

“Oh, nothing.” You said, sighing dramatically to garner his attention.

“Come on,” he goaded, taking part in your charade as he waded across the tub until he was closer to you. “Something's up. Tell me.” He waited until you were in front of him then lifted himself out of the water on his elbows, leaning forwards so that his lips were close to your ear. “I’ll make it all better.”

To Axel’s delight, you squeaked as your heart clenched, completely unguarded from such an attack, then when you tried to turn away and dash off in a tizzy, he grabbed you around the middle with wet arms to root you to the spot.

“____. No, ____. I was kidding. Stay here.” He struggled to keep hold of you as you squirmed. He could feel your heart fluttering in your chest, and it was the most wonderful thing. You were so shy and so open with him now, and your heart resonated with the growing one in his chest, making him feel human like he once had so very, very long ago.  “C’mon. Tell me what’s wrong.”

It was hard to remember what was upsetting you with Axel clinging to your waist like a koala. Indeed, you felt so much better after seeing him that you nearly forgot your many years of ruined Halloweens. Axel, however, held you until you had chance to remember. He was the dictionary definition of 'laid-back' but then when it came to you and your worries, he somehow managed to find a well of enthusiasm and commitment.

You decided to confess, but only after helping him back into the hot tub after he slipped down your waist trying to hold onto you. You told him about the villages and the trick-or-treaters, and all the spooky wonder you had missed out on as a child. By the end of your rant, Axel had a contemplative finger pressed to his chin.

“What?” you asked, feeling a glimmer of hope as Axel mused over your predicament. It made you wonder if you might actually get to take part in Halloween this year. Even if Axel dumped a cluster of overripe apples in the hot tub and told you to go apple bobbing, you would still be happy.

“Didn’t realise it meant that much to you.” He admitted, noticing the twinkle in your eyes as your heart quietly begged him for help. He couldn’t very well ignore a plea like that. He could barely say no to you on a good day. He definitely wasn’t this forthcoming with anyone else – especially not the other Organization members. Then again, the other Organization members had never made him feel like this before – or feel at all. When he was around you, sometimes his emotions were so strong that he hurt. Indulging your festive whims was the least he could do to repay you.

He had just the way to do it.

Your cheeks turned crimson as Axel suddenly pulled himself out of the water, exposing every inch of his defined torso to you as he hopped out of the hot tub, nimbly landing onto the decking. There was a towel folded neatly beside the tub so in your haste to get your sensibilities back you scooped it up and held it out for him.

“Good girl,” he said, flashing you a lop-sided grin before he took the towel. Lord, he was playing with your heart strings today. You loved it when he said that. It gave you an overwhelming sense of safety but also made you want to playfully strop and have him fuss over you some more. Axel had made you spoiled, and you loved it.

After drying off somewhat, he brought you back inside the cabin with an arm around your shoulders then sat you down on the couch while he dashed about, drying off and getting changed. When he was done, he stood in front of you, seemingly more excited than he had been in some time. He only ever looked this excited when he was about to show you a new world to explore.

Your heart did a giddy leap.

“Axel, are we--”

He interrupted your question, purposefully cutting over you. He did not want his brilliant idea and surprise spoiling.

“Stay here,” he instructed, holding his hand palm-towards you as if trying to make a puppy sit. You cocked an eyebrow. He didn’t exactly have to ask. You couldn’t very well go anywhere else. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

An hour? You couldn’t think what would take so long, but the possibilities were endless and all of a sudden you couldn’t wait.

“Okay, okay,” you replied giddily, getting up from the couch to edge him towards the door. “I don’t know what you’re doing but I’m excited and ready and I’ll stay here.”

Axel had to laugh when you put your hands to his back, forcing him towards the front door. If he wasn’t so much in a rush, he would have put his whole bodyweight on top of you, forcing you to hold him up. It would have ended with the two of you in a heap on the floor, and although he loved the idea of lying on top of you while you squirmed and hit him in embarrassment, your adorable light fluttering like it had no idea what to do, he had a task to do.

After you had successfully marched him to the door, he span on his heel then leaned down and pressed an affection kiss against your forehead. It was so sudden that you froze.

“Be back in an hour. Got it memorized?”

You pursed your lips together, trying to hold down the smile that was ready to burst across your face. You raised your fingers to your forehead, feeling the warmth of his lips on your skin. You nodded.

“See you soon, Axel.”

“You got it.” He gave you a two fingered salute good bye then headed out.

You had no idea what awaited you. You could only imagine while you let your feelings for Axel consume you once you were alone. The sarcastic bastard had definitely dug his way into your heart. You just wished you had the courage to tell him that. Flopping onto the couch, you wrapped your arms around a cushion and squeezing it, burying your giddy smile.

You never stopped to notice how fragile the darkness around your heart had become. You never stopped to notice how fragile the light inside it still was. You were too happy to care. You had never been happier in your life.

oOo

“Keep ‘em closed, ____.”

“I am,” you reassured Axel, keeping tight hold of his hands as he steered you blindly to the location of his surprise. True to his word, Axel had only been gone an hour and as soon as he had come back he had told you it was time to go. You were told to close your eyes and keep them as such until he said it was okay to look.

You had no idea where you were, walking slowly to avoid any trip hazards on the floor, but you remembered hearing the whir of the dark corridors not too long ago. Straight after that the air around you had turned stagnant. There was no wind, no sun and no chill. Arendelle was long gone. That, you were sure of.

“Are we nearly there?” you pondered, finding it suddenly harder to keep your balance as the ground beneath you altered.  The flat ground became bumpy, like it was made up of dozens of tiny hills.

“Nearly,” Axel reassured you, taking a firmer grip on your hands to make sure you didn’t slip. That was the last thing he needed; having you injured before you were out of the starting blocks. It would, however, be very like you to do that. He didn’t have the luxury of the cabin and a first aid kit here, either. “Should only be a couple minutes m—”

The sound of an inhuman scream in the distance made you jump. Axel felt you grip his hands for comfort, and he revelled in his win while you panicked.

“What was that?” you asked, refusing to open your eyes in case it was part of Axel’s surprise. You hoped he appreciated your effort. You were desperate to see what was happening. You heard another shriek but not from the same creature. The hairs along your neck and arms prickled instinctively.

“Okay.” Axel sounded like he had made up his mind. “This’ll do.”

He stopped and let go of your hands. You heard him shuffle away then waited for the all-clear. You waited. And waited. Something else screeched in the distance. It was a wail that echoed in the still air around you.

Then, finally, Axel said,

“Go for it.”

You opened your eyes. You looked ahead. At first all you saw was the bleakness of the landscape. The whole world was tinted brown and grey. It was like looking into an old photograph that had wilted over time. You were in a forest, if you could call it that. The trees were sparse and charcoal black, like a fire had ripped through them. Not enough to kill them, but enough to strip them of their leaves and leave them as tall, spindly needles.

“Where… are we?” you asked, for the first time questioning Axel’s choice of destination.

“We’re not quite there yet.” His voice came from behind you.

“What?” You asked again, turning to face him. You bit your tongue when you saw him, holding down a wail. Axel wasn’t going to get you a second time. He had caught you off-guard in Atlantica when you had found him transformed into a lionfish merman, but you weren’t going to give him the satisfaction a second time. Even though he looked horrifying.

“Cat got your tongue?” He asked smugly. Then he stuck his tongue out for effect – or he would have done, had he had a tongue. You could clearly tell it was what he was trying to do, only there was an empty gap between his jaws. You realised that he had stood out of sight initially just so he could gain a bigger shock-factor when you saw him. You lifted your nose defiantly, refusing to give him the satisfaction.

“You look like you had a fight with your fire magic and finally lost.”

Axel chuckled, finding your defiance quite cute. He noticed pretty quickly that you were trying to avoid looking at him, despite your tough talk.

“If you can’t deal with me,” he said, coming in close to wrap his arms languidly around you, “you won’t cope with the rest of your Halloween Test of Courage.”

“Test of--” you turned your head to look at him excitedly, only you caught sight of his face and shuddered involuntarily. He felt you tremble and laughed.

“Point one to Axel.”

“Absolutely not,” you shot back, thinking it was hardly fair to start the game before you were even at the place. You looked Axel purposefully in the eye, overcoming your shudders to prove to him that he hadn’t bested you already. You knew his transformation was only temporary which made it a lot easier to cope with the fact he looked like a half-decomposed zombie with chunks of skin attached in odd places to an otherwise fleshless skeleton. The only part of him totally intact was his ever-gravity-defying red hair. Even the black coat he always wore had holes in.

Which begged the question. What did you look like?

You looked down. Your clothes were the same, albeit they had turned an ash-grey colour and looked years older than they actually were. It was your skin that caught your attention most. You were blue – or, to be more precise, light blue with a sickly dead tint.

“Am I dead?” You asked aloud. Axel nodded.

“Looks like it.” His jaws clacked together as he smiled. “She died as she lived: probably causing me hassle.”

You clicked your tongue, flashing him a cheeky grin.

“I look better than you do.” At least you had all your skin. At least you had a face.

“Probably wouldn’t commit to that until I’d looked in a mirror.”

It baffled you how Axel had managed to survive in his organization all these years without someone taking a knife to him. He had a sarcastic comeback for everything. All the same, you reached up and tried to touch your face to check for damage. Axel, however, grabbed your hand before you could inspect yourself. A shiver ran up your spine when you felt the cold bones of his fingers intertwine with yours.

“Come on,” he said, “let’s get this Halloween adventure going.”

You wondered why he didn’t want you to touch your face but then, taking a second look at Axel’s grotesque appearance, you decided you didn’t want to know. Instead, you tried to grow accustomed to the sensation of holding his dead hand as he turned and headed off through the black forest with you in tow.

This new world was bleak, to say the least. When you finally breached the edge of the trees you found yourself on the top of a tall hill. The sky was murky brown. There were no birds and no clouds. At the foot of the hill stood a large pumpkin patch. It was bigger than any pumpkin patch you had ever seen, and the pumpkins themselves were too large to be natural. There was something off about them too, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it without taking a closer look. Beyond the pumpkin patch was another hill too, only it was a strange shape. The very tip seemed to have curled in on itself like a spiral. You didn’t think it was physically possible, but you supposed it was easy to forget logic and reason in the world’s Axel took you to.

As Axel walked you leisurely down towards the pumpkin patch, you squinted to get a better look at them. It was only once you were in the field that you figured out what had caught your attention. The outside of every pumpkin – and there must have been hundreds – had a twisted jack-o-lantern grin. They had triangular jet-black eyes and a jagged black smile. They were not carved. They had literal faces.

The shiver ran up your spine, looking at them.

“That’s not normal…” you muttered, squeezing Axel’s hand to reassure yourself. Just then, you heard another inhuman scream of terror and quicker than you could think, you latched both arms around Axel’s, squeezing against him with no regards for his personal space. Not that he had any, where you were concerned.

“You okay?” Axel mused, secretly enjoying the way the mounds of your chest pressed against him.

“Yeah…” you mumbled. “Just made me jump a bit.”

“No kidding.” He ruffled your hair affectionately.

As you continued your walk towards the sound of the scream, you had to wonder. You weren’t sure how far Axel was willing to go for this test of courage; you could only hope he wasn’t about to make up for years of being scare-free by flinging you head-first into real danger. He wouldn’t do that… surely?

As intrusive images of axe-murderers came into your mind, the two of you stopped at the base of the other hill.

“You ready?” Axel asked. His jaw formed a smile in a way no skull should be able to without the assistance of muscles. He was clearly excited. It was nice to see him like this, even if you knew he was going to try his hardest to terrify you by the end of the evening. You nodded, all the same.

Axel stepped forward theatrically, raising both arms into the air. You wondered what he was doing until, to your amazement, the hill began to move. The curl at the very tip unfolded and the whole mass of earth began to lean down towards Axel. Like an octopuses’ tentacle unfurling, it extended all the way down to the ground until the very tip of the hill brushed the earth at Axel’s feet. He stepped onto it then offered you his hand.

“My lady,” he put the other arm behind his back and dipped in a bow. Even with his god-awful appearance you couldn’t help but feel your heart flutter at the gesture. You took his bony hand and he helped you onto the hill. As the pair of you walked, you looked behind and saw the hill curling back in on itself.

“That’s insane,” you thought aloud. Axel smiled. If you thought that was crazy, wait until you saw the next part, he thought with a mischievous smile. When you were at the top of the hill he let go of your hand and slid down the far side in one movement. It wasn’t too steep a hill, and he landed comfortably in a graveyard. When you were looking, he threw his arms wide.

“Welcome to Halloween Town.”

Beyond the graveyard was a tall metal gate, and beyond that lay a daunting and macabre-looking town. It wouldn’t be out of place in a gothic horror, with its twisted buildings and the faintest hints of eerie green light coming from the streetlamps.

“C-come again?” You found yourself caught somewhere between terror and excitement at the world’s very literal name, and that was just how Axel wanted you. He waited for you to make your way to the foot of the hill then urged you to go ahead of him. He had a hunch you weren’t all that easy to frighten once you were on guard. If he was going to get you then Halloween Town, the epicentre of Halloween itself, was the only place he would have a shot.

He planned to get you good, and if that meant you then had to cuddle up to him in bed to get any sleep tonight, then so be it. Axel had been sharing your bed since back in spring, after that fateful trip to the 100-Acre Wood, but until very recently you had kept your distance under the covers, except for the odd rare night. After Atlantica, though, Axel had noticed a growing confidence in you. You let him wrap his arms around you and hold you close before the two of you would fall asleep. You even shuffled into him if you felt he was too far away. Tonight, he wanted to spook you so badly that you’d practically be his second skin. Now that you were being more affectionate with him, he wanted to make up for lost time.

The graveyard was big, but not so big that you couldn't see the end. You walked in front while Axel stayed a few paces behind you to 'keep an eye on you'. Or so he said. You were sure he just wanted a front row seat for the show. Then again, the further you walked the more you figured that, maybe, you had let the name Halloween Town run off with your imagination. You were expecting all sorts of goblins and ghoulies to have unleashed hell on you by now, but so far the scariest thing you had seen was Axel’s gruesome zombie mug.

Until, that was, you got close to the gate of Halloween Town. All at once ghostly spectres jumped from the headstones of graves, wailing at you as their taloned fingers reached out to grab you. The suddenness of their apparition shocked you enough to make you raise your hands in defence. It was only then that you realised the ghosts could not touch you. No matter how hard they tried to claw, their hands fazed straight through your body. All they could do was wail and screech, frustrated by their lack of physicality.

When you realised you weren’t in any danger, you mood shifted. The fear turned to laughter.

“This’ll be a breeze.” You span to face Axel, grinning while the ghosts continued their desperate attempts to maim. “If they can’t actually touch me then this test of courage is a synch.”

“You got lucky.” Axel pointed out as he lazily swatted a ghost away. “Don’t think they’re all so easy.”

You felt invigorated. As you jabbed a punch into the air, barely missing a ghost, you couldn’t help but think that, really, if anything here chased you, it was most likely nowhere near as aggressive or persistent as your old friends, the heartless. You weren’t a fighter but you were definitely a runner. You hadn’t been sat idly on your bum in Arendelle. You had made a point of maintaining your stamina, just in case.

“Bring it!”

Axel was still determined to make you scream. Once you made it to Halloween Town’s deserted town square, he steered you towards an old, rickety house. The windows were broken and the gate on the front porch squeaked without a breeze to move it. It was derelict and dirty, and a perfect place to set up a haunted house. Axel had used his hour away from you wisely.

Stopping at the gate, he gestured for you to carry on.

“I can’t,” you hissed, not entirely sure why you were whispering. “What if someone’s home?”

Axel looked at you rather incredulously.

“Does it look like anyone lives here?”

“Well I don’t know,” you huffed. “It’s Halloween Town. I thought maybe everyone lived in a creepy house.”

“Ya’ know, sometimes ____,” you could hear the amusement in his voice. “You’re too damn adorable.”

You had expected an insult. You huffed again as you felt your face turn red… or maybe purple, since you were blue?

Happy to have caught you off guard, Axel added,

“Relax. It’s Halloween. Residents are off-world, spooking kids.”

Admittedly that made you more willing to go inside. At least there wouldn’t be anyone waiting to scare you.

You hoped.

oOo

“Oh no. Axel, no. No, oh my god no. Nooo—”

“Heh, cool it or you’ll never make it outta here.” Axel said, pushing his knuckle between his jawbones to silence the laughter. Currently, you were in a pitch black room somewhere inside the deceptively long house, groping around in the dark for a key to the next room. Any room was better than this one. In here, there were bugs.

“That’s easy for you to say,” you screeched demonically at him, feeling your hand run over what was almost certainly a cluster of worms. “You’re not the one crawling around on the floor.”

“I’m also the one who knows where the key is,” he added casually, then regretted it when the cluster of worms hit him in the face. “Violence won’t solve anything.”

“It’ll make me feel better,” you grumbled.

“Admit defeat and I’ll whisk you home.”

“Never!” You declared, then went quiet while you searched. Axel couldn’t see you in the dark but he could feel the light in your heart. As much as you complained and shrieked, he could sense how giddy you were. You were secretly enjoying it.

“Ew, ew, eww…” he heard you whimper. You shrieked and then something hit the far wall with a splat. Axel was having too much fun at your expense. He probably should have felt guilty, what with his new heart and emotions and all, but he didn’t. You had asked to do something Halloweeny, after all.

“Whatd’ya throw?”

There was a pause. Then a small voice.

“A spider.”

Axel tried not to laugh again. He was enjoying himself too much to reveal that all the bugs in the room were either greased up plastic toys or gummi sweets. Even the worms were just thick noodles.

“Want a clue about the key?”

The two of you were in room two of three, and he was itching to get you onto the next task – the next torture. In room one, he had subjected you to something similar to this but on a smaller scale. You had been forced to put your hand in five different boxes to find the next room key. Each box had contained a failed Halloween-Christmas toy – harmless, but they did move on their own. You had jumped nearly a foot in the air when the box with the living Christmas wreath had tried wrapping its vines up your arm.

If Axel had learned anything about himself from this evening, it was that he had an all-in-good-jest-but-still-very-real sadistic streak. Ah, well. He did belong to the Organization, after all.

“Got it!” You yelped with excitement. Wrapping your hand firmly around the key, you pulled yourself off the floor, vigorously shook yourself down to fling the bugs off then stumbled your way over to the next door. Axel couldn’t wait.

The next room was a maze of mirrors. Without having time to worry about how easy it was to get lost in said maze, you took one long look at yourself in the first mirror you came to then nearly deafened Axel with your shriek.

“What’s happened to my face?”

He had enough sense to cover his ears. All the same, he responded with a smug, “What was that about you looking better than me earlier?”

Half of your face was missing. It was not rotted away like Axel’s, but rather like something had torn the flesh away down to the bone. It was a great-massive chunk, spanning from your brow all the way down to the base of your jaw on one side. Your eyeball was still intact, a great circular thing rolling around in its socket with no eyelids to cover it. In the edges around the wound stood the protruding muscles and veins from the rest of your face. You took it back. You looked way worse. If anything was going to haunt your nightmares from now on it would be the image of your mangled visage. What was worse, you couldn’t avoid looking at your face while you navigated the maze. Great.

Standing behind you, Axel wrapped his arms across your shoulders and rested his chin on the top of your head.

“Don’t we make a cute couple?”

He meant it sarcastically, poking fun at both your horrible faces, but you couldn’t help but wonder if he meant something more.

“Axel, I—” You cut yourself off. No, you couldn’t. You wanted to ask if you really were a couple. Not just from his efforts today, but from the past nine months he had wormed his way so far under your skin that he seemed like an extra limb. You wanted to tell him how important he was to you but were too scared of how he could react. Curse your life so far for ruining all your human connections. If you lost Axel, you lost everything. You weren’t willing to risk that for the sake of your silly feelings.

However, it turned out Axel was having much the same dilemma while he held you. Looking at the two of you being so close in the mirror’s reflection, hideous faces or not, he wanted to tell you how he felt – what you were to him and how he never, ever wanted to let you go. But he thought he might scare you away. He didn’t know if you were ready to accept his feelings or who he was. It was more terrifying to him than anything Halloween could throw at him. His secret of being a Nobody still hung on his shoulders; he didn’t think it was right for him to care so much about you. The Nobodies had caused you nothing but torment.

Feeling his heart ache over his predicament, Axel slipped his age-old smirk back in place then nudged you into the mirror maze.

“Navigate away. And don’t freak out when you can’t escape.”

Equally as ready to hide your feelings, you put an even bigger smirk on your grotesque face. “Puh-lease. I’ll get us through this in minutes.”

Together you walked, both lost in thought, and both blissfully unaware that something else had just entered the house.

A short while later you were fairly certain you were in the heart of the maze, though it was rather hard to tell. The mirrors all faced at triangular angles, giving the impression in their reflections that the maze stretched on for an eternity, and that there were an infinite number of you to go with them. And an infinite number of Axel’s – something the world certainly wouldn’t be able to handle if it were true. You walked with your arms outstretched, trying to find the one panel every-so-often that was missing for you to walk through. It was easy to mistake a solid mirror for a passage, and in the first few minutes you had collided with two separate mirrors, certain that they were the way through.

It definitely didn’t help that you had to see your reflection at every which way and turn. You weren’t a pretty sight.

“Alright,” you confessed to Axel as you found another gap in the maze. “I admit it. You’ve outdone yourself with this Halloween thing.”

You grinned at him through the reflections. For a split second you didn’t notice what was wrong. Then you saw it. You were alone. Faster than lightning, you span to look behind you but he really, well and truly wasn’t there. He had been, though. He really had been, just a moment ago.

“Axel…?” Resigning yourself to your fate, all you could do was sigh as you waited for him to jump out and scare you. You turned and watched the reflections. In a place full of mirrors, he wouldn’t have an easy time concealing himself. You could spot him before he tried to jump-scare you. Only, he didn’t come. You frowned. You hadn’t heard the dark corridors so he hadn’t teleported away.

You waited a while longer then called out to him and told him to stop messing around, but when you had no reply you decided to carry on alone. Whatever he was up to, he wouldn’t be able to do it if you were outside the maze.

You carried on, twisting and turning, and soon felt like there was no end to this puzzle. You had to be close to the exit, surely. You walked and walked, and turned and walked until finally a noise caught your attention. Something snarled. You stopped dead to listen. You waited, but nothing more came so you carried on, picking up speed with a new sense of determination to get out of here. Something moved in the background of the reflections. You saw it just as it fell out of view. It looked like toilet paper being dragged across the ground. You thought it was Axel until something snarled again, closer this time.

“A-Axel?” You asked, hoping upon hope that he would reply. He didn’t. Instead, something walked into the millions of reflections and when you saw it your blood ran cold. A werewolf was in the maze. It was tall and hunched over with its human clothes torn to pieces.

You hadn’t realised it was a full moon tonight but you didn’t stop to worry as you launched yourself into a run, realising you were very much in danger. The werewolf howled. The hunt was on.

“Oh my god,” you said aloud, banging on the mirrors to try to find the way out. “If I see Axel again I’m going to kill him.” You couldn’t believe he had taken you to somewhere that could really get you in trouble. You knew he had planned to scare you, and he had damn well succeeded. You hammered frantically, yelping only when the werewolf set off at a run towards you in the mirrors. You couldn’t tell which way it was coming from. You had to watch as it chased you, dipping from reflections and appearing in others. Every time you were sure it had caught up, it vanished again.

Then, suddenly, you saw another creature in the reflections where the werewolf was not. A mummy. That’s what you had seen before, dragging a loose thread of its wrappings along behind it. It was slower, but no less terrifying, particularly when it stopped moving to bang its fists against the mirror, reflected in an infinite images, thinking it was next to you.

You wanted to scream, to cry, to find Axel and on some level make sure he was alright, and on another level throttle him for putting you in such a situation, but all you could do was scramble on, hoping that finally you would escape the maze, the house, this terrifying world.

There.

Pushing through another passageway, you spotted the exit. Just beyond the end of the maze was a solid looking door with a letterbox firmly planted in the centre of it. That had to be the way out. You launched yourself off one foot, hearing the werewolf snarl from blood-chillingly close by, then wrenched the door open. Without looking back you ran outside, back into the middle of Halloween Town’s main square.

Then you stopped dead.

More monsters, and they had you surrounded.

Axel came round from the side of the house just as you let out a heart-pounding scream. He sauntered over to the open back door just in time for the werewolf and mummy to come pottering out, looking very pleased with themselves. They high-fived one another, then when they spotted Axel they gave him a thumbs-up.

“We got her.”

“You did.” Axel agreed. He shook the werewolf’s hand then eyed up the loose wrappings on the mummy. “Thanks for a good job.”

“No problem. It is Halloween, after all.”

The two monsters looked pleased as punch, with the werewolf grinning and the mummy creasing his eyes up at the sides in the only way he knew how to smile. Then the three of them turned, hearing you wail again. The mummy pointed a finger at you.

“Perhaps we got her a little too well.”

Axel’s smile slanted, seeing you caught in a circle of monsters who you thought were out to get you. They were, in fact, if you stopped being scared long enough to listen, trying to say hello. You looked like a new resident.

“Okay, okay.” Axel pressed one skeletal hand to his forehead. “Time to rescue the damsel in distress.” He didn’t get to say that too often. Before he came to your aid, taking this as good an opportunity as any, Axel grabbed the dangling wrapping from the end of the mummy’s outstretched finger. Neither of them said a word, then with one mighty pull of his arm, Axel span the mummy so fast that it unwrapped him entirely. The rotted body underneath was pretty horrific but the werewolf found the whole thing hilarious. The mummy was too in shock to protest, and Axel used that to bow out.

He arrived at the monster circle just in time to hear you scream, then the monsters closest to him fell backwards as you landed a punch on the closest vampire to you, knocking him away. They were like monster dominoes.

Crap, Axel thought. It was bad enough that the monsters had seen the two of you – bad enough that Axel had gotten two of the monsters to help with his Halloween scheme, but now you were attacking them. If the Organization ever found out about this. Oh hell, he didn’t want to think about it.

“Okay, ____. Leave the poor guys alone.”

When you heard Axel’s voice you lowered your clenched fists. When you spotted him, grotesque zombie or not, the rush of relief made you run to him. He had just about enough time to realise what you were doing before you launched yourself off the floor, securing your arms around his neck.

“They didn’t eat you!”

Noticing the desperate relief in your voice, for the first time all night Axel felt the tiniest bit guilty.

“You did it,” he cheered quietly. “You survived the test.”

He expected you to drop the relief in favour of attacking him for putting you through such hell, but instead you cuddled closer. Yup, he felt guilty now. He secured you against him with one arm around your middle, then stroked his skeletal fingers through your hair to soothe you.

“Can we go home?” you muttered meekly. He wanted to laugh, but had enough sense to hold it in. This was his fault, after all.

“Sure we can.”

oOo

Back at the cabin, it was a while after returning and getting over the trauma that you realised you had not been in any danger. You sat in the main room, mulling it all over. Axel had got you good. Damn it, he really had.

After coming home Axel had left you on the couch, mumbling a soft apology, then disappeared into the bedroom. At the time you had been too traumatised to say anything back, but now that you were feeling better you thought you should let him know it was okay. You had asked for Halloween, and Halloween he had given you.

Coming into the bedroom, you weren’t sure what you were looking at, at first. All over the bed and on the floor stretched metres and metres of a single strip of recently-washed linen, and there on the bed with his legs crossed was Axel, invoking his fire magic.

“What’s going on?” You asked, pulling at the collar of your top in the heat. Axel grinned when you came in.

“A couple minutes more. Hang on.”

You weren’t sure how to respond, but Axel looked pleased with himself so you let him carry on. You took the moment to appreciate just how stupidly handsome Axel was when he had all his skin. You found yourself feeling warm inside, and your heart felt dizzy with a new sensation.

Axel shut off his magic before too long. You asked what he was up to again, but instead of replying he gathered up the great length of wrapping then came to stand in front of you. He looked expectant.

“Arms up,” he commanded. You raised your eyebrows before you raised your arms, but did as you were told. There was that other giddy feeling again. The one you only got when Axel used his authoritative voice. The one that made you want to rebel so that he would tell you off. You resisted the urge.

As Axel began wrapping the length of cloth around you, he explained,

“Time for phase two.”

“Uhmm…” you felt your stomach drop at the thought. “I’ve had enough of being scared for one day, please.”

Axel almost didn’t want to comment. Instead, all he said was,

“You’ll see.”

oOo

The lights had faded from Arendelle’s skies some time ago, but the villages surrounding the castle were just as bright as ever. The streets were basked in the warm glow of flickering torch light and each house had its own jack-o-lantern lamp, with many of the candles swapped out for fresh ones. Halloween was in full swing with families gathering for parties and a grand abundance of costumed villagers on the streets.

Amongst them all, there you were. You were wrapped from head to toe in an impossibly long piece of cloth as a mummy with makeup to make your eyes look sunken in. Axel had done you up himself and had even given you his black pillow case to use as a spooky coloured sweets bag.

Axel, of course, had not let you go alone. There was no way. More so than keeping you safe, he wanted to see you on your first ever real Halloween, and watch as you giddily stomped about the village completely in character. Though he only had enough mummy wrap to turn you into a monster, he knew he looked acceptably spooky in his coat with the hood up. There was nothing more terrifying than meeting a dark figure in an alleyway with a face that was impossible to see. You could attest to that. Heck, it was how you had met.

Axel took you from door to door, loving how excited you got each time you knocked and waited. The way you bounced up and down on your toes hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Trick-or-treat!” You announced with a grin, holding your black pillow case open. Axel, although keeping quiet, also had a pillow case. He held it forward dutifully. The woman at the door looked at the two of you and smiled, but Axel noticed it looked almost awkward.

“Oh, my, my. What wonderful costumes.” She paused. “But… aren’t you a little old to be trick-or-treating?”

Not giving her chance to put a downer on your very first Halloween, Axel intercepted the conversation. In a chilling, groaning voice he said,

“We were cursed to wander the earth, on Halloween, for all time.” Then added in a much peppier voice, “Better make the most of it.”

The woman laughed uneasily then handed the two of you a chocolate bar. She wished you a happy Halloween then closed the door. Axel hoped her words hadn’t bothered you, but he knew you too well.

“Damn it,” you said, sounding more down than before. “I knew I’d missed the boat.”

“What’cha talking about?” Axel chuckled, shaking his half-full pillow case. “No boats missed. We’re doing well.”

“Yeah, but…” you didn’t finish. Axel saw you wilting. He was having none of it.

“Right.” He put the bag down and clapped his hands. Noticing he was up to something, you gave him a hard stare. He raised a mischievous eyebrow, rolled his shoulders to click his neck then said, “Trust me?”

O

When the next villager opened their door to you, the first thing she did was coo.

“Ohhh, look at your littlen’s costume. Isn’t he sweet? How old is he?”

You stared at the woman with a fixed grin on your face, awkwardly holding the hand of your ‘child’.

“Oh, you know,” you blagged, “not quite old enough to walk on his own yet, but old enough to go hunting for sweets.”

The woman gave a knowing nod. Her hair was unkempt and the bottom of her apron was covered in… artistic interpretations of animals done in marker pen. She clearly had a tribe of tots of her own. With a warm, motherly smile she handed over quite a haul of Halloween goodies. You raised your eyebrows in surprise. It was more than anything you had gotten so far.

You thanked her and wished her a happy Halloween, then when she had closed the door you turned to Axel.

“I can’t believe it worked.”

If he was surprised, he didn’t show it.

“Course it worked. Told ya.”

“Can you blame me for being sceptical?” You asked, looking first at Axel then down at your ‘child’. Stood between the two of you, holding each of your hands, was a Shadow. It was the weakest of all the heartless – Axel had assured you – and when stood upright it looked very much like a toddler in a costume. You had never in your wildest dreams imagined holding hands with such a creature, but all the same you had to admit you felt less self-conscious going door-to-door with the monster in tow.

“Let’s name him.” Axel said, hiding his amusement underneath his hood as you made your way to the next house. You didn’t miss a beat.

“Absolutely not.”

oOo

Much later, the two of you returned to the cabin with pillow cases full to bursting with treats. Axel sent the heartless away with the corridors but you had to admit, it had been useful. The villagers had given you twice as many sweets thanks to the little guy. You caught yourself. Little monster.

Back inside the cabin, the two of you unloaded your haul onto the rug in front of the fireplace, ate a choice few chocolates, then Axel helped to peel you out of your costume. You never did ask where he had found it. It seemed to have come out of nowhere.

While Axel sat on the arm of the couch, holding one end of the wrapping, you span and span in circles to unravel yourself. There was so much of it that you span until you were impossibly dizzy, and yet you still weren’t free from it from the waist down. You stumbled, unable to see straight, and nearly stepped into your sweets pile. Axel chuckled and caught you, holding you still so there was no chance of you causing any damage.

“Whoa there.” You were like his little tornado, course permanently set for destruction.

“I’m fine,” you lied, having to shut your eyes to stop the world spinning. He smiled once you couldn’t see him. It was genuine and warm, and the longer he looked at you pulling that silly face in your state of dizziness, the more an urge arose in him.

“Hey, ____?”

“Mm?” You asked, still unable to open your eyes yet. Axel couldn’t decide what to do. There was a feeling in his chest that felt foreign, even to him, even thinking back on all of his memories as a human. It hurt and it was tight, but it was brilliant and powerful and ached the longer he stared at you.

Nope, he couldn’t do it. He sighed to himself in frustration, running a hand through his red hair.

“Doesn’t matter.”

You managed to open your eyes at last. The room was still spinning, but less so. You managed to focus on Axel – on his expression. He looked different, somehow. Like he was… worried?

“Are you sure?” If something was bothering him, you wanted to know. You weren’t sure you could help but you still wanted to try. But he shook his head and gripped the cloth once more as he resumed his position on the arm of the couch, turning his concern into his ever-mischievous grin.

“Go again?”

You nodded then returned to spinning in circles to unravel yourself. As you span, hoping very much to evade the dizziness this time, you couldn’t help but grow giddy as you thought about all that had happened in the last few hours. What a ridiculous, brilliant Halloween you had had. It was more than enough to make up for your lack of the holiday so far. You thought back on the monsters, and the screams, and the mirror maze. Then the image of a zombified Axel holding a mangled you in his arms. And the way you had felt when he had called you a couple.

You stopped spinning. You had been too afraid to tell Axel your feelings in that moment. Which was silly, really. Time and time again he had shown you what it was to be valued, to be worth spending time with and cared about. You had been so scared that confessing might make him run away.

But this was Halloween. And Halloween was the best time for scares.

“Axel, I—” Before you could get much of anything said, Axel closed the gap between you, silencing your confession with a confession of his own. His lips found yours and the longing in his kiss was overwhelming. He pulled you close but kept his hold gentle, to let you pull away if you wanted to. He had made up his mind just a moment ago to let his feelings for you take over. Finally. He felt selfish and unsure, and in the back of his mind he tried to memorise how wonderful the sensation of your lips pressed against his felt because he was so certain that this would be the first and last time it ever happened. He tried to etch in the feeling of your body held in his arms and the way your heart gave a light jolt of surprise. He was afraid of what his selfishness would cost him.

Until you pressed yourself against him and deepened the kiss.

Fireworks erupted in both of you. Your heart jolted so strongly that it was painful but you didn’t care. All you cared about was how close you were to Axel, how he held you like something so precious, and the way his lips melded with yours in a way that melted the very last of your doubts.

When the two of you broke apart there was silence for a while. Your cheeks were stained impossibly red and your heart felt ready to burst. You stayed still in Axel’s arms, contented by the swell of emotions in the air. You both had a lot on your chest, and a lot you wanted to say. Axel, in the end, was the first to speak. Of all the things you expected him to say, you could never have expected,

“____, I love you.”

The tears prickled at the corners of your eyes before you could stop them. Which was absurd. You didn’t need tears. You were happy. So happy. So happy that the more you replayed what he said the more the tears welled up until you were crying and smiling and laughing at the same time. You were so overcome with emotion that you couldn’t get the words out to speak. Seeing your reaction, Axel couldn't help but sigh in relief. Happy sobbing was better than sad sobbing. He could see you trying to speak, to get the words out, so to help you along in very Axel-like fashion, he said sarcastically,

“I take your silence to mean you’re appalled by that. I understand. Say no more. I’ll see myself out.”

Unable to get the words out, you laughed with a very watery smile and had to smack him lightly on the shoulder to tell him he was a sarcastic prick. You managed to catch your voice after sniffing loudly, then finally managed to say the words that had kept you up worrying at night for the longest time.

“Axel, I love you too.”

Chapter Text

In the days and weeks following Axel’s confession, you forgot how it felt to be afraid of getting hurt. Though the light in your heart was young and meek, and the surrounding darkness that had once protected it was nothing but a distant memory, you were not scared. You were happy and safe – more than you had ever felt in your life.

You were gaining the confidence to be intimate. You could kiss Axel’s cheek or hold his hand, or sit in his lap by the fire as he told you stories of the worlds he had seen. It no longer repulsed you or frightened you to think of the future, to think of the bonds you could create with others when you finally had people to call friends. Axel had given you your life back. It was like you were living a dream.

The only problem when it came to dreams, though, was how easily they could be broken.

One morning in the midst of Arendelle’s long winter you woke to find Axel missing from beside you. Stretching to banish the sleep from your body, you rolled over in your comfortable bed then pulled yourself up to look around. His Organization cloak was gone from the back of the bedroom door so you had to assume he was out. With any luck he was at the market. You were running decidedly low on food, especially with two mouths to feed.

After a quick shower and a long time blow-drying your hair, you changed into comfortable clothes to lounge around the cabin in then made yourself a bowl of cereal, then settled down with on the couch. You were three mouthfuls into your breakfast when you noticed a small note attached to the front door. Setting your food down, you got up and looked at it but had to squint to read Axel’s handwriting.

‘Gone Fishing – Axel’

You rolled your eyes. Whatever he was up to, it definitely wasn't fishing. If he was going to leave a note, he might as well tell the truth instead of finding yet another way to be sarcastic. Still, you thought, at least it meant he wasn’t in any trouble. He wouldn’t have had time to write the note if he had been kidnapped.

You finished your meal as you waited for his return but when he did not appear you found things to do around the cabin. Axel had brought you a set of colouring pens back from his trip to Corona and a floral-covered notebook to boot.

Sprawling the items out across the floor in front of the fireplace, you lay down beside them, picked up a red pen and began to draw.

It was a short while into creating your masterpiece that there came a knock at your door. Strange, you thought. It couldn’t be Axel because he had a key, and the Dusks were not able to get within a metre of the cabin. Then who…?

You picked yourself up, dusted yourself down then regretted your choice of shabby clothes. You hadn’t expected company today.

“Just a second,” you called, stopping shy of the door to check your appearance in the mirror. After fixing your hair as best you could you put on a smile, telling yourself you needn’t worry about how you looked, especially if it was a hiker or someone who had found you while lost in the mountains. They would care less about your appearance and more about their frostbitten toes.

You opened the door and welcomed them with a smile. Only, when you saw the familiar black cloak but not the familiar redhead that usually adorned it, your smile faltered.

“Can I… help you?”

“Is Axel here?”

You were looking at a man with a mullet. Judging by his outfit you had to assume he was another of the Organization members which instantly put you on guard around him, no matter how laid-back he came across. Axel had warned you many a time that, should the Organization find out about your particularly interesting heart, they might very well spirit you away to where no-one would ever find you.

“No, umm…” You tried to choose your words wisely but your heart was nervously loud in your ears, enough that you couldn’t think straight. “I don’t know who that is.”

The man glanced lazily around the interior of the cabin but upon hearing your comment he turned his attention to you with a disbelieving glance.

“Then how do I know he lives here?”

You opened your mouth but couldn’t think of an answer quick enough. The man saw this and rolled his eyes, stepping past you to let himself inside your home.

“I’ll wait here ‘til he gets back.”

You weren’t sure what to do. He seemed relaxed enough to stop you wanting to flee into the mountains but his presence in your safe-haven was enough of a threat to keep you on edge. Still, you thought. For now you would humour him. It was better to keep an eye on him than to leave him to do as he pleased.

Speaking of which, in the time it took you to turn around and close the front door, the man had sat himself down in Axel’s armchair then spotted your artwork on the floor. He picked it up just as you realised what he was doing then passed you a glance.

“Sure. Sure you don’t know him.”

It was, of course, a drawing of Axel. You sighed, knowing you had well and truly been caught out with no way to recover yourself. Cutting your losses, you sat in the armchair opposite the man then held your hand out for the notebook. He smirked, noting your put-out expression, but surrendered it none the less. After hiding the book down the side of the armchair you asked the newcomer,

“So… you and Axel. Do you know each other well?”

Perhaps he thought it was a strange question or perhaps you were rude for asking, but the man raised his eyebrows. It was only for a moment, then his expression slipped into one of gentle amusement like he found everything in the world a tiny bit funny.

“We work together.”

If he was willing to offer the information up, you wondered if you could get anything more out of him.

“So,” you questioned, ignoring your urge to hesitate. “You work for the Organization, then?”

“How do you know about that?” The man chuckled. “Has Axel been letting secrets slip? And people call me the idiot.”

Thinking that his identity had been rumbled, the man did a rather unexpected thing and relaxed completely, sinking back into the armchair like he was spending time at a friend’s house. You had expected him to turn hostile or withdrawn, but instead the man started to grin.

“I’ve got to keep on my guard when I’m not at home. We’re not supposed to interact with people when we’re in the field in case it interferes with missions, but if you know us, you know us. Sweet.”

He threw his arms up dramatically then settled them in behind his head, slinking even further down in the armchair.

You came to the very quick conclusion that this man was, in fact, an idiot. No one of sane mind could let their guard down that fast, or make themselves quite as at home in a stranger’s living room as he had.

You had, in the past, asked Axel about the Organization and what it strived to achieve but he had never given you a clear answer. It was the only topic he never indulged you in. Now that you had another Organization member in front of you, and one who seemed so laid back that he might actually fuse with the cushions of the armchair, you thought you should do a little bit of digging.

Your meek heart beat like a bee’s wing in your chest, quietly excited to find out anything from the part of Axel’s life that you knew nothing about. You were so excited that you forgot how easily someone like Axel could sense it; feel the warmth of your heart’s light with no darkness to shroud it.

“Oh.” The man said, his smile growing wider when he noticed the strange thing inside you. “That explains a lot.”

“I’m sorry?”

He got up and came towards you, faltering when you recoiled away from him. Unperturbed, he said,

“I couldn’t understand what Axel was doing, sneaking off all the time, disappearing for days and weeks on end. But now I get it.”

He left it there as a smug expression danced on his face, like he thought he was clever for figuring Axel out. Only, his lack of explanation only served to make you more confused and that much more curious.

“I don’t understand?”

You didn’t realise what he was talking about until he pointed a gloved hand at your chest.

“We’ll need that heart of yours to build Kingdom Hearts if Sora doesn’t stop messing up our plans.”

“What…?”

Finally, it dawned on the man that perhaps he was letting slip secrets that you didn’t already know. A look of alarm flashed across his features and he stiffened.

“Oh. Uhh. No. I mean. You said Axel told you about us?” He sounded accusatory. You glared at him, wondering how he thought his loose lips were your fault. You hadn’t said anything of the sort. Then again, you couldn’t afford to let him stop talking. You might never have this opportunity again.

“Tell me what you mean. Why would you need my heart?”

It took a long minute before the man decided to talk. He sighed, running a hand through his blonde hair, then took his seat. After that, he did not seem to mind telling you more than he probably should.

“So Axel’s never told you why he’s been keeping you here?”

“Y-yes.” You faltered. “He’s been protecting me.”

A sharp pain stabbed your chest. The way he said it, it sounded like Axel had a different motive.

“Well, yeah.” The man agreed, dropping his guard more than he ought to. “You ever tried looking for a heart of pure light? It’s a needle in a haystack job, I’ll tell ya. Your heart is as rare as they come. Makes sense if he found one, Axel would keep it safe for us.”

For them? No. Axel was keeping you safe from them. Because he cared about you. It had nothing to do with the Organization’s plans. You were… sure.

Very gently, your heart began to ache.

“Why do you need this Kingdom Hearts, whatever it is?”

He sighed, stretching out to make himself more comfortable.

“So we can be whole again. The life of a Nobody is a dull one.”

‘A Nobody’ – you had heard Axel mention that phrase before. Only once, and such a long time ago. Back then he had let the word slip and then tried to cover it up immediately.

“You’re a Nobody?” You asked. The man nodded lazily, thinking nothing of admitting it to you. “Does that mean Axel’s a Nobody too?”

“All the Organization members are.”

A single word had never held such weight. It was Axel’s entire existence and for some reason he had tried to hide it away from you. The ache in your heart grew stronger, thinking that he had not trusted you enough to explain. What did it really mean to be a Nobody?

For some reason, and perhaps you should have questioned his willingness to offer the information up so freely, the man told you,

“Nobodies are creatures that were human once, but gave into the darkness. They lose their hearts and their humanities. What you see before you is an empty husk.” He gestured to himself. His words settled uneasily on top of you as the ache in your heart began to hurt more than just an ache, spurred on by a sudden dread inside you. If you were to believe what he was saying, what he was implying, then that meant Axel—

“We can’t feel anything.” The man said, matter-of-factly. “We don’t experience emotion. Sure, we fill our time with pointless hobbies and pass-times but it’s not like they mean anything. There’s no satisfaction. No joy. We’re just going through the motions.” And then the man smiled, like he was clinging on to a hope. “But Kingdom Hearts can give us back what we’re missing.”

He had to be lying. Axel was not like that at all, you reasoned as you fought to take control of the growing pain in your chest. Not a day went by when he wasn’t laughing or being playfully sarcastic. His kindness towards you stemmed from a great well of thoughtfulness and consideration. He was as wonderfully human as they came.

The door to the cabin opened just then, turning both your attentions’ towards it. It was Axel himself standing in the doorway, looking dishevelled and worn like he had barely scraped a win in a fight. He saw you first and smiled to tell you not to worry about the state he was in, yet for some reason his presence did not comfort you like you thought it would. In fact, it made your heart twang with a sharper pain. You had many questions he needed to answer, and by the pain in your chest he needed to answer them soon.

“Demyx.” Axel said, his expression slipping down into a tight-lipped frown when he spotted the blonde. “What are you doing here?”

It was hard not to notice the way Axel’s gaze flickered between you and his fellow Organization member, a look of great uncertainty on his face. As he came in and closed the door, Demyx rubbed his hands together, hoisting himself out of the chair by leg-strength alone.

“Oh good, you’re back.” He exclaimed, striding across the cabin to block Axel’s path to you. “You’ve got a mission over at Castle Oblivion. Saїx told me to pick you up. He’s got a lot to explain so we’d better head off.”

Axel’s expression did not change nor did his gaze stop switching between you and Demyx as Demyx tried to lead him outside by the arm.

“Good thing you showed up when you did, Axel. You’ve got a nosy housemate. Didn’t think she’d ever stop asking questions.”

“Questions?” In that instant you saw something flash across Axel’s face that you had never seen from him before. Panic. Anger. “What did you tell ____?”

Maybe if he had never said that, you never would have doubted him. Maybe you would have let your uncertainties drop away completely and carry on your life, just as you were, for as long as you could.

But when he was so obviously hiding something from you, something that could make his laid-back demeanour fall away from his face so quickly, you could not help but let the seeds of doubt grow beneath your skin. And they hurt, terribly.

“Wait,” you said, caught off-guard when your heart pulsed uncomfortably in your chest to try to stop you asking a question you didn’t want to know the answer to. “Axel, Demyx was lying… right?”

You saw the instance Axel realised he was in trouble. He opened and shut his mouth, seemingly at a total loss for words for the first time. Unable to speak to you, he directed his attention on his partner, gripping him by the scruff of his coat as a flash of anger burned behind his eyes. “What. Did. You. Tell. Her?”

The more you second-guessed Axel’s intentions, the less your heart could bear it. It started to waver, beating so painfully in your chest as your doubts began to take hold of you. Did Axel need to know what you knew to stop anything more slipping out? For an instant your heart hurt so much that you thought a piece of it had torn away completely. You winced and gasped, hunching forwards as you clutched at your chest.

“____.” Axel said in alarm, feeling the light in your heart trembling. The sharpness of the pain faded but while your doubts continued to grow, your heart clenched tighter until your breathing began to suffer. If everything Demyx had told you was true, then what became of your time spent with Axel over the past year? What did any of it mean? You remembered the laughter and the warmth, yet the more you thought about it the more the seeds of doubt burst open inside of you and spread like vines.

Axel knew he had to salvage this; he could see the hurt in your eyes but could never know the true extent of the turmoil you were suffering inside.

“____,” he said, keeping his voice calm for fear the panic he truly felt would make you worse if you knew about it. “Take it easy. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

He tried to come towards you but Demyx looped his arm and held him back.

“We’ve gotta go. You know what Saїx is like.”

“Get off me.” Axel warned in a low voice, knowing where his loyalties remained.

Your thoughts were too volatile; there was no rationality to them as they rattled through your head. You needed Axel to prove Demyx wrong. You needed to know that Demyx had lied. There might have been a rational way to go about it but instead you chose to twist Demyx’s words and use them to test Axel, to see if he would deny your accusation. How you silently begged for him to say he was human.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a Nobody?”

Any words he might have thought of fell from his lips. He looked shocked, and then so too did you upon realising what that meant. His silence spoke a hideous truth, one that stabbed your heart straight through. You wheezed as the pain hit, stepping back to grip the arm of your chair for balance. Axel could not love you.

Axel shook his arm to break free of Demyx but the blonde held him fast.

“____, listen to me.” He did his best to stay composed for your sake, to try to be the anchor while your emotions got the best of you. “Only reason I didn’t tell ya I was a Nobody was—” hearing him admit it stabbed another knife into your chest. The pain made you cough as your knuckles turned white from trying to keep yourself upright. “—because I didn’t want ya worrying like this.”

The vines of doubt spread throughout your body, wrapping their way into your chest, caressing the very edges of your delicate heart.

“Worry? Why would I worry?” You snapped, holding back your coughing-fit long enough to let the bitterness bubble out of you. “Because you made me believe I was worth caring about? Because you broke down my barriers and made me fall for you, when you’re incapable of loving me back? Why would that make me worry?”

You didn’t mean to screech the last part but the pain in your chest hurt too much for you to control your voice or emotions. Axel stilled, like the fight had suddenly left him.

“I…” he began, but you were done listening to him.

“What have you been doing with me all this time? Was it all a lie? Playing house to keep me sweet until you needed me for your precious Kingdom Hearts? Is that it?” You didn’t know why you were asking those questions. You didn’t want to face the answers. With every question, with every second spent looking at Axel’s dumbstruck face, your heart started to break. The vines gripped at the edges of it, chipping away the light you had spent your whole life trying to protect, piece by piece.

Hearing you speak of Kingdom Hearts, Axel glared at Demyx, knowing only he could be stupid enough to bring that up.

Unaware of the grandeur of his screw-up, and still very much believing that Axel intended to use you to create Kingdom Hearts, Demyx shrugged with an apathetic smile.

“What? I didn’t think it’d hurt to tell her if we’re just gonna’ take her heart anyway.”

“You idiot.”

As Axel tried harder to dislodge his arm so he could incite his fire magic, he failed to notice how Demyx’s words had reached you.

The vines tore deeper into your insides. Until now, you had not stopped to think what Demyx had meant when he said you were needed to make Kingdom Hearts. Even then, knowing you might be part of Axel’s scheme, you had not worried for your safety because it was Axel. He would never hurt you.

But now you could do nothing but worry, fearing that you were nothing more than his livestock.

You whimpered, fighting to keep hold of yourself as a new wave of pain struck you, driven into you by the realisation that Axel might only have kept you in the cabin to manipulate you into releasing the pure light in your heart from its dark barrier. At the start of all this, Axel had told you himself that the light and darkness inside you were two separate entities. He must have known to play nice with you, to crumble your protective layer of darkness until only the pure light remained – the surprise-centre toffee, as he had once called it.

The pain brought you to your knees. It was suffocating. How had you been sucked in so easily? How had you let this happen?

“____, have you lost it? You’re the most important person in the world to me.” Axel’s words broke through the pain beating inside you. “You're the only important person in the world to me.” He clenched his jaw, unable to hold his composure when he could see and feel how dangerously close you were to giving in. “Look, I’ll admit I couldn’t feel anything for you in the beginning—”

“So why did you ‘rescue’ me?” You snapped, spitting sarcasm at him.

“Because… because you were interesting, okay? You were different. I—”

“Did you think you could waste some time by kidnapping me? Is your life just one meaningless existence, and you thought I’d keep you entertained?”

Demyx bit his tongue, realising you were quoting what he had told you. He could feel the tense static in the air; he didn’t want to ignite Axel’s fury further by having him realise Demyx had put those words in your mouth.

“Yes.” Axel admitted. Now was not the time for lies. Your heart was getting weaker; he couldn’t let any more doubt reach you. But, by the heavy presence that settled over the room, he realised the compassion behind his words was no longer reaching you.

But he wasn’t about to give up.

“But things changed, ____. I learned what it was to love you – just didn’t have the heart to prove it. But then I did. It was impossible. I wanted to love you so badly that I grew a heart. And it got stronger. Every day I spent with you; every one of your smiles I saw; every hour I spent pacing the cabin while you were out exploring, worrying you’d been eaten by a wolf, it got stronger. ____, I love you.”

“Come on, man.” Demyx muttered, looking uncomfortable about the whole situation. “We’ve really got to go. You can stop the act. She can see through you so what’s the point in keeping this up?”

“I’m not acting.”

Demyx placed a hand to his forehead and sighed.

“At this point it’s just cruel.”

He let Axel go.

“Look,” Demyx said, speaking louder to address you. “If you need proof, why don’t you stick your ear to his chest? Then you’ll see he’s lying and we can all get on with our day.”

Axel clenched his jaw. If Demyx said one more thing, he was going to suffer. Even if he didn’t know the damage he was causing, surely even an idiot like Demyx could tell his words were causing you pain. Most likely, he didn’t care. Because that’s how Nobodies really were. And Axel was only glad he was no longer like them.

 “Course I have a heart. Wouldn’t be in this mess without one. I’d be stoic and dead inside, like you.”

“Axel…” came your quiet voice from beside the armchairs. You were slumped over, wincing, taking shallow breaths as you fought to keep yourself together as a cold sweat trickled down your forehead. “Please… I need to hear it.”

Demyx’s crass comment had sparked a memory inside you. One you had almost forgotten. On your first day in Arendelle Axel had rescued you from the mountains. You thought of how happy you had been that he had come for you, how nice it had felt to be held in his arms after no one had shown you such kindness in years.

But there was another moment you could remember now. In the instance before he had opened a corridor to take you to the cabin, he had held you close to shield you from the wind. You had nestled into his chest with your ear pressed against it. There had been no heartbeat.

Axel obeyed you. He came to you and gripped both your arms, helping you to sit up.

“Breathe. Breathe. It’s alright. Breathe. You’re okay.”

He helped to steady you, encouraging you to take it slowly when you nodded to say you were okay, then he shuffled into you, taking you around the shoulders to keep you propped against his chest as you listened closely.

The pain in your body and the sounds from around you faded away to nothing as you waited. He was warm, and the smell of him relaxed you. You had spent many nights wrapped in his arms, lulled to sleep by the very same scent. It was such a comfort. It made you wish this wasn’t happening. You wanted to close your eyes then wake to realise this had all been a dream. It was your love and your belief in Axel that held your heart together. And it was that love and that belief that made the pain hurt so, so much more when you realised there was nothing beating inside his chest.

It was like someone reaching into your ribcage and squeezing down on your heart to suffocate you. As the pain returned, stabbing you in sharp bursts, you cried out and shoved Axel away. You knocked him down, flat onto his back, and managed to stagger a few paces back before you hunched over and braced yourself against the floor. The pain doubled. It tripled. How could he? How could he? He had lied to you right up to the end.

“There’s nothing there.” Tears streamed down your face as a strangled cry ripped from your throat. You glared at Axel, hoping that now, if he had any shred of the humanity he claimed to have found from you, he would admit the truth.

But Axel was very still.

“No… way...” He said weakly. “But… I was sure.”

“Is that all I was?” You whined, gripping your chest as the pain threatened to crack your ribs and strangle you dead. But even then, even when you could barely breathe, you tried to hold on. The light in your heart was crumbling; it was screaming out to be saved. You wanted to believe Axel loved you. God, you were desperate to know he cared. “Was I a means to an end? Were you stringing me along, using me for your own selfish gain so you could be human?”

“It wasn’t like that. Sorry. I—”

“You’re sorry? You don’t feel guilt or sadness – how can you be sorry? You’re no better than a Dusk.”

“I mean,” and it was Demyx who spoke, causing Axel to look at him in alarm, to urge him to be quiet. But Demyx had had enough. He did not understand what was happening, but he had his orders and was tired of waiting for Axel. Perhaps it was this which caused him to snap at you. “That’s literally what we are. Dusks are Nobodies too, we just have an easier time collecting hearts than they do.” He looked at Axel. “I’ll be outside. Hurry up.”

And with that he left the cabin, not realising or caring of the damage his parting words could do. But Axel knew. He saw the look of emptiness in your eyes when he turned to look at you and knew he was too late. Your heart had held out for so long but the final strings of hope holding you together had just snapped.

Discovering that Axel was one and the same with the creatures whose only function was to hunt and kill sources of light – the literal goodness of the world – was the very last heartache you could take.

“____, no!” Axel shouted as you clutched your chest and screamed. He reached for you, but all that had built up in the room, all the tension and pain, it swirled into darkness and came down on top of you in a great mass from above – a tangible energy that Axel knew too well. It was a purple maelstrom around you.

As you screamed, both from pain and fear, the darkness seeped inside your chest and was quick to patch up your heart, scorching away the light to let the darkness fester inside you and grow. But humans without light in their hearts cannot survive, and your light was too weak to fight.

Beginning at the tips of your fingers your skin turned dark – darker that night. The darkness crawled into your veins and seeped from the pores in your hands, and your wrists, working its way up your arms as your emotions gave way to despair. How had you let yourself be so taken in by a monster? How had it come to this? Why was it you who had to suffer? Axel had been your last hope. You had given him your all and believed he was different. He was different, but not in a way you could ever have imagined. Perhaps it was your own fault. You should never have let him in. You should never have let anyone in. People could not be trusted. They were liars and swindlers and selfish. They were all the same.

The more you fell into the pit of despair, where any pleasant thoughts were strangled and eaten alive, the more the darkness consumed you, stealing away your humanity piece by piece.

“—aaahhh-HRAAWWRKKK!”

A heart without light is not a human one.

“____!” Axel exclaimed, watching on in horror as your body started to transform into something dark, something inhuman. Parts of you became a writhing mass that fought to control the parts of you that still resembled a person.

You were becoming a heartless.

“No,” Axel said, dragging himself up from the floor so he could get to you. “No. No way. That’s not happening. ____. ____! Listen to me. You’ve got to fight it.”

“RWAARKKK-WHYYYY?” Your voice belonged to a beast. Your screams were shrill and tempered and as Axel tried to get close you lashed out with a taloned claw. He leapt back, eyes wide and alarmed. He was going to lose you. “-I CAAAAAN’T TRUST YOU-”

He knew that. He knew, with no tangible way to prove that his feelings existed, or that they had ever existed at all, he could not ask you to trust him. You had every right to be mad at him for keeping secrets, for hiding the origin of his existence when it was creatures just like him that had terrorised you your whole life.

You came from a broken place. You had reached out to him and asked him to care. He had sworn he would protect you but had let you down.

But he still had a chance to save you.

He charged forwards, bracing himself for when you lashed out, and you did. You struck him with a claw, gripping into his arm as he broke through your flailing limbs and gripped your shoulders.

“GEETTT OFFF-MWRAARRW-MEEEE—”

“No, I won’t. ____, I won’t hurt you.” He held you tighter as you lashed out, trying to tear him off while you writhed about in agony. “Sorry I didn’t tell you I was a Nobody. I was afraid. Thought it’d break your heart and I’d lose you to the darkness. I ain’t like those other Nobodies.”

You swung with your other hand. It connected with his side and sent him across the room.

As one who had suffered many battles against the heartless, Axel was quick to recover. He shook himself off then told you to knock it off.

“Doesn’t matter that I don’t have a heart. Doesn’t matter if I ever own a heart again. I don’t need one. I know I love you and I don’t need my heart or my stinkin’ humanity to get that.”

“HOW CAN I TRUST YOU?” It wasn’t the heartless screaming but the part of you that was still you; fighting with all you had to keep yourself together.

“I’m not asking you to.” He said, daring to get closer. “Don’t force yourself. It’s fine not to trust. You can be wary of the whole world. You don’t even have to trust that my feelings are real. You’ve just gotta believe yours are.”

You swung for him again but when he dodged the attack and gripped your arms, holding you still, you did not struggle against him.

“Think about all the worlds you’ve seen. The things you’ve learned. How much you’ve grown now the heartless aren’t chasing you. Let me be the darkness that protects you while you keep on exploring and discovering, because you’re the light that guides me.”

Axel wrapped his arms around your shoulders, pulling you against him as he tangled his hands in the back of your hair, desperately trying to reach you through the heartless taking over.

“You’ve gotta let both sides in your heart or you’ll lose yourself. I know there’s things that scare you. I get it. But you can’t shield yourself from the world’s darkness forever. Face the pain head-on. You’re so much stronger now, you don’t need to lock the light away.”

He begged you to listen. You had the strength to fight this, you just had to believe in yourself like he did.

He heard a sniff. He gripped your chin and made you look at him. Your face was misshapen, rounding out to take the form of a Shadow, with blotches of black skin and eyes that had gone yellow. But you were listening. And your eyes were filled with tears of emotion so very different from pain. You were still in there.

“Come on.” He urged, holding you how he always did; in the way you always said made you feel safe and at home. “You’ve got this.”

You screamed. This time it was not the shrill cry of a monster but your own voice. Axel was right. Your light was still in there but it was losing out to doubt and fear, and the hold you still kept to try and protect it.

But you had come a long way from what happened back when you were small. You had experienced so many wonderful things, and Axel’s words reminded you of that. You wanted to face your fears.

You screamed again as the pain in your heart ten-folded but you could take it. You were stronger. The darkness felt your resistance but you couldn’t let it consume you.

“I’m so scared.” Your voice rattled from the pain but was filled with the will to fight. “Life terrifies me. There’s so much uncertainty, sometimes I can barely stand it.” Your eyes met Axel’s and he saw the endless well of longing in you. “But I want to live. I want to see what’s out there and to find all the things so much better than what can hurt me. Axel, I want to see it with you.” Your claws gripped him, wrapping tightly in the folds of his coat. Not to hurt him. To hold him as tears tumbled down your face. “I want to believe you have a heart. I’ve never been happier in my life, and I’m not afraid of getting hurt if it means living – really, truly living.”

Your heart pounded just once. It was the beat of a drum, signalling the start and the end of a battle. You cried out as the light in your heart stood to fight; growing, spreading, cutting off the darkness’ path to your core. It sealed the exits, swirling through the darkness, calming it, settling it, until the fight was done.

Axel sensed the shift inside you. When he looked and found you smiling with that stupid, beautiful human face of yours he felt a pang in his chest and a rush of emotions that made him choke down a sob.

“Welcome back.”

For the first time in a long, long time you sensed a quiet calm inside you. You sighed, feeling the relief, then the comfort of Axel’s arms around you and the way they trembled as he held you. You embraced him, burying your face against his chest.

Axel could sense it. Your heart was different now. It was normal, interspersed by both light and darkness. He was glad. The heartless would no longer come for you. You did not have to hide in the cabin. You did not have to stay here at all. He was… glad.

“You’re free.” He spoke softly, wondering if you understood. But you did. You sensed the change within you; the stability that meant you could stop running.

The two of you stayed in each other’s arms for some time, letting the quiet wash over you. It was a comfortable silence, but one Axel knew he had the responsibility to break.

“Do you…” he said, but turned hesitant. “If you don’t want to trust me— I mean, you won’t get chased now. And the Organization won’t be interested— what I’m tryna’ say. I— you’re safe. So. You don’t need me. So you can—You don’t… have to stay here.”

There was such an uncertainty in his eyes. There was worry, and grief, and only those who had felt love and knew the fear of losing it could express such emotion.

“I don’t want to stay here.” You said. There was no doubt in your voice. Axel’s eyes widened but he nodded, accepting your wish.

“I get it.”

He bowed his head but you made him look at you. And you smiled.

“I don’t want to stay here, because I want to see the worlds.” You slipped your hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “And I want to see them with you.”