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It was normal, asking them to go and get ice cream with him. Because that’s what friends did, right? At least, that’s what Axel kept telling himself, after he had brought it up the first time with the newest Organization member. The kid had looked at him, not understanding just what it meant to be friends. Not that he had any idea himself, but the memories of what he had before seemed to make him believe that ice cream was something that friends ate together. Now, with Xion added to their group, it was definitely starting to feel more that way.
“Go on up to the tower, you guys. I’ll be right behind with our ice cream.” Axel says to them, as they complete another mission in Twilight Town. He watches the blonde manifest a portal, and waits until both Xion and he are through, before he heads to the stall that sells the sea salt ice cream.
Making his way to the top of the Clock Tower, he sits down next to Roxas, and hands him an ice cream bar, then hands the second one to Xion. “Eat up, before it melts!” He chides the younger Nobodies, and cringes as he sees both bite into it, without even thinking.
“Why do we always get ice cream after a mission again?” Xion asks, her blue eyes seeming to draw a blank today.
Axel can’t help but smile, with a bit of forlornness in it. “Because we’re friends. It’s what friends do, remember?” He sees the spiky haired blonde nod, and watches as both she and Roxas goes back to eating his ice cream, leaving the redhead to stew in his thoughts.
It is times like these that Axel begins to remember something, something from his past. He tries to push it away each time it happens, but the more times he meets up with Roxas and Xion for ice cream, the more his memories begin to torment his mind.
Summer vacation was in full swing. School had been out for a month, and wasn’t set to start for another month. That didn’t stop Lea from shirking all of his schoolwork, as he had more important things to attend to, rather than get ahead.
His routine was always the same. Wake up, shower, get ready, and go over to Isa’s house to waste the day away. Isa was his best friend, and someone he couldn’t even think of being apart from. So, when he woke up on the day in the middle of their break, he immediately went through his routine, and was soon standing in front of Isa’s house, knocking impatiently.
“What?” Isa asked, opening the door with an annoyed look on his face. “It’s too early, Lea. Go back home.”
“Ah, but why?” Lea whined, standing on the front porch. “You’re obviously awake, so it can’t be that early now, can it?”
“Fine.” Isa moved away from the door, and reluctantly let the redhead into his home. “But, I’m working on homework, so you need to figure out something to do. Unless you want to do your homework with me?”
They walked into Isa’s bedroom, Lea snorting as he sits down on the floor. “Homework? Are you kidding? That’s what the last week of summer is for. Got it memorized?” He tapped his temple, a smirk on his face.
“You are an idiot.” Isa shook his head, and sat back down at his desk. “This is why you’re going to flunk your classes.”
The redhead exhaled loudly. “Just because you are too uptight to have some fun, doesn’t mean I can’t have enough fun for the both of us.” He can see the sun rising higher into the sky from Isa’s bedroom window. “Did you know there’s a new shop that’s opened up in town?”
“Oh?” Isa asked, clearly not paying any attention to the redhead. “What sort of store is it? Is it another weapons shop? Because we clearly need more of those in our quiet residence.”
Lea paused for a moment, and began to laugh. A true, deep, from the belly laugh, as he thought about what Isa had said. He saw him turn in his chair to look at him, a strange look on his face, which only made the redhead laugh harder. Wiping tears from his eyes, the laughter finally ebbed, as he took a deep breath to calm himself down.
“Nice one, Isa.” He started to chuckle again, as he thought about how weird it was that there was a weapons shop, when there wasn’t a lot of activity in the neighborhood. “No, it isn’t another weapons shop.”
“Well? What is it?” His best friend asked, clearly perterbed by Lea’s reaction to his question. “Lea, I really don’t have time for this sort of thing. I want to get my homework done. Don’t make me kick you out of my house.”
Covering his heart, Lea shook his head. “You wouldn’t!” He saw Isa’s blue eyes narrow, as he glared at him from across the room. He held onto his best friend’s eyes before he saw Isa begin to break, that glare disappearing, as a smile began to reach his eyes. “That’s what I thought!” He uncovered his heart, and smiled.
“Whatever.” Isa replied nonchalantly, before turning back to his desk. “Just tell me what sort of shop it is, please and thank you.”
Lea leaned his head back against Isa’s bed. “It’s an ice cream shop.”
“Ice cream?” That had got Isa’s attention. “Like, chocolate sundaes and stuff like that?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Not sure. Thought maybe we’d go check it out later, if you want? I mean, if you’re not too busy with your homework and all.” Lea ducked, as an eraser went sailing through the air, right towards his head. “Watch it!”
“If I promise to go with you once I’m finished, will you just….entertain yourself somehow so I can get this done without any more distractions?” Isa requested. “Don’t make me beg you, Lea.”
“I kinda like the idea of you on your knees in front of me.” The redhead said it with confidence, even though his heart had begun racing in his chest. Another eraser flew through the air, this time the object hitting him right in the center of his forehead. “Yeowch!”
Isa didn’t bother to say anything, letting the eraser speak his peace. Not that Lea minded at all. He didn’t know what had possessed him to say something like that. Yes, he had begun to have some strange dreams about his best friend, but just thought it was because they were the only ones that stuck around for summer vacation. It was spending too much time together. That was it. It had to be.
Time passed, but as to how much, Lea wasn’t sure. He had begun to flip through a book, as boredom had set in, but didn’t want Isa to know about it. Not that the page turns weren’t a tip off, but it seemed that he was completely focused on his schoolwork. He saw him close the notebook he was writing in, and sat back with a sigh.
“You know, if you expect me to just do your homework for you at the end of summer, you are sorely mistaken, Lea.” Isa huffed, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles. “But, knowing me, I’ll probably just do it anyway.” He mumbled, standing up from his chair.
“Oh, lighten up, Isa.” Lea jumped up off the floor, pushing the book he had been reading as far away from him as possible. “You ready to go get some ice cream?”
“Where are we going to eat it? I don’t really want to walk to the Outer Gardens today. There’s been some weird creatures that have been popping up lately.” Isa stretched, his shirt riding up just a tiny bit, showing the light blue hair that was beginning to appear just below his belly button. Lea could feel that weirdness return, darting his eyes away quickly, not wanting to be caught staring at his best friend’s body.
“We could go and sit in the fountain courtyard?” Lea suggested, as he opened Isa’s bedroom door. “I mean, it’s either there, or we just hang out in the center of town. But, I don’t really want to look at the castle today. I’m tired of constantly getting thrown down those stairs by those mean castle guards.”
Now it was Isa’s turn to snort. “Yes, well. Maybe if we had a better plan, rather than just trying to charge in.”
“It’s not like they’ll ever let us in there!” Lea complained, as the two of them began to head towards town. “Those stupid scientists don’t seem to give a rat’s ass about anybody but themselves.”
“Don’t forget about the guards.” Isa pushed his hands in his pockets. “Since, you know, they’re the ones we seem to have the most interaction with.”
“I hate that guy Aeleus.” Lea muttered. “Seems like he enjoys tossing me as far as he can without breaking any bones.”
Isa started to laugh, the sound appealing to Lea’s ears. “Yes, well. The one time he did hurt you, he healed you immediately with a potion he happened to have on him, so he can’t be all that bad. I would have let you suffer.”
“Iiiiisa!” He knew he was whining, but he hated hearing his best friend talk in such a manner. “I’d protect you, and you’re saying you’d laugh? You’re so mean.”
“Pot meet kettle.” Isa remarked. “Now, where the heck is this ice cream you were talking about?”
“Ice cream?” A mild mannered duck started to talk to them. “You boys aren’t interested in some sea salt ice cream, are ya?” His thick accent almost made it difficult to understand what he was saying.
Lea nodded his head rapidly. “Yes! That’s what we want! Mister, are you the one that makes the ice cream?”
The duck shook his head. “Oh, no. I just come here to sell it.” He held up a popsicle stick that no longer had any ice cream on it. “You can get it over there at that cart.” He pointed to the small shack, where two moogle were selling the ice cream for 25 munny.
“Did you bring munny, Lea?” Isa asked, as they both saw how much it cost. “I don’t have any on me right now.”
The redhead grinned, and reached into his pocket. “Not to worry! I’ve got it covered.” He walked up to the stall, and ordered two ice creams. He walked back over to Isa, and handed him one ice cream bar. “Come on. Want to go to the fountain courtyard now?”
“Alright.” Isa followed the redhead down the street.
They walked down the stairs, and climbed up to the first landing of the fountains, sitting the ledge together. The castle loomed in front of them, the odd turrets jutting out from the side throwing strange shadows on the ground. Neither of them spoke, as they just sat there, enjoying a moment of silence together.
“Are you going to eat it first?” Isa asked, as they looked at the ice cream bars. “Or do you expect me to be the guinea pig in this experiment of yours?”
His emerald eyes looked into Isa’s blue ones. “Why don’t we eat it together? That way, we can both be either happy, or miserable, or both, at the same time?”
“Fine.”
The both of them placed the ice cream at their lips, and tentatively bit down. The burst of salty-sweetness was both satisfying and strange, at the same time. Their eyes widened, almost identically, as their taste buds tried to figure out which was more prevalent. Neither spoke, as they kept eating their ice cream, as the fountains danced in synchronization around them. Lea held up his stick, and saw a small message there.
“Huh.” He remarked, not quite sure what to make of it.
“What is it?” Isa looked over at him, his lips pinker than normal. Lea could see the back of his tongue was slightly blue, having no doubt that his tongue probably looked the same. “Lea, is something the matter?”
The urgency in Isa’s voice made Lea’s insides turn to mush. It wasn’t often that his friend showed just how much he cared for him. This was one of those times, where he knew, just by the sound of his voice, that Isa was actually concerned about him.
“No, nothing really. Just, this popsicle stick says something weird on it.” He held it up, and showed his best friend.
“Winner? I wonder that that means.” Isa examined the stick. “Maybe it means you get another ice cream?”
“Maybe.” Lea nodded his head. “Never thought I’d be a winner.”
“You’re more of the loser type.” Isa taunted, a smirk on his face.
Lea chuckled and shook his head. “Nah. I’m not much of anything, really.” He glanced up at the castle. “We should try and go back in there again.”
“You just want to be thrown again, don’t you?” Isa sighed. “I guess you’re right. We can try again. And if we don’t succeed this time…”
“We try again?” Lea asked, standing up. He held out his hand, helping Isa up onto his feet. He ignored the tingle that raced through his body, as their hands touched one another.
“I guess so.”
“Can we get ice cream again soon?” The redhead asked, as they made their way back towards the grand staircase, leading up to the castle.
“Of course. That’s what friends do, right?” Isa said, a rare smile now gracing his face. “Tomorrow, I’ll buy the ice cream, okay, Lea?”
“Alright.” Lea smiled, ignoring the butterflies that had manifested in his stomach. They headed towards the castle, ready to be turned away once more.
“Earth to Axel!” Xion waved a hand in front of his face. He snapped out of the memory, and blinked a few times, ignoring the giggles from the girl and boy sitting next to him.
“Did I miss something?” He asked, running a hand through his spikes. At least he had finished his ice cream, the brown stick sitting on the ledge next to him. There were no words on it, not like the one that had been in his memory, making his shoulders droop a little.
“No, but we were talking about how we should RTC.” Roxas said, standing up. He took the blonde’s offered hand, and stood up last, brushing the dust off of his body. “Thanks for the ice cream today, Axel.”
“Yeah!” Xion smiled. “I can buy tomorrow!”
The words seemed to make Axel’s head hurt, as he heard another voice say the same thing. He followed the two of them to the portal, and walked through, appearing back in the Grey Area. Only the three of them, plus the ever-present azured haired Nobody was there.
“So, tomorrow? Ice cream is on us!” Roxas said, a large smile on his face. “Okay?”
“You got it, Rox.” Axe nodded his head, and waved to both him and Xion, as they walked out of the Grey Area together.
“How cute.” A steely voice spoke low.
Axel kept his back turned away from him. “For someone that doesn’t have a heart, you sure are acting a little strange, aren’t you, Isa?”
“Humph.”
Incapable of stopping himself, Axel turned on his heel, and looked at him. “Do you remember? Do you remember how we’d go and get ice cream together? Or, is this a memory I’m wishing was true?”
“I remember quite well,” Saïx spoke quietly, the disregard in his face suddenly gone. “Sea salt ice cream.”
“That’s right.” Axel nodded his head. “You know, they sell it in Twilight Town.”
“It doesn’t matter.” The facade returned almost immediately.
Never knowing when to quit, the redhead continued. “What the hell happened to us, Sai?”
Saïx turned away, his back now towards him. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Quit lying.” Axel wanted to go over to him, but was rooted to his spot. “You know, just as well as I do, that you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Lea…” Saïx was about to say something, but was stopped in mid-sentence, as an unexpected guest arrived in the Grey Area.
“Number VII, Lord Xemnas wishes to speak to you.” Xaldin said, bowing his head slightly. “He said it was of the utmost urgency.” The man who had once thrown Saïx’ human self, sending him tumbling down a flight of stairs, left the two men alone once more.
“Excuse me, Number VIII.” Saïx began to walk towards the exit of the Grey Area.
“Just because you push away the memories doesn’t mean they’re real, Isa.” He called out, taunting his old best friend.
“Just because you’re doing the same thing we used to do doesn’t mean they’re the same as me, Lea.”
Amber eyes looked into his emerald eyes for the briefest of moments, before Saïx walked away, breaking off their eye contact. Axel could feel himself growing warm. He hadn’t thought that Saïx had known what the three of them had been doing, but apparently he was incorrect. He knew, and he knew that it was just what the two of them had done before. Axel wasn’t sure what was worse - knowing that Saïx knew, or that he was wishing it was Saïx to be up on the clock tower in Twilight Town with him.
He missed his best friend. These two younger Nobodies weren’t capable of filling the void in his body that belonged to the Nobody with the ‘X’ on his face. No, only Saïx was able to fill that void. No matter how hard he tried to replicate that particular friendship, it just wasn’t the same.
It never would be.