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Water Secrets
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KH: Reflection Conundrum
Word Count: 2380
Genre: Smut, Romance, and a hint of Fluff
Ships?: Tony Stark/Zexion
Characters: Tony Zexion
Rating: R
Spoilers: Nope
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Ironman, or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.
Music: One Minute Man by Missy Elliot
Notes:

Reflection Conundrum


He wakes up, and the first thing he thinks is This isn't ******** funny. There's a faint hope that this is all a dream, but everything is too clear. He can feel his long hair tickling the back of his neck and collecting sand. Island sun beats against his skin, and when he reaches up with a gloveless finger, he can feel the tattoos on his cheeks. But this is wrong; it sure as ******** can't be right.

Because Isa is lying right next to him, short blue hair and kid face and those bright green eyes which are slowly wakening. (Not gold, green.) It takes a lot to stun Axel- you see a lot of crazy s**t when you work with the Organization, done by them or something else. This, though? He can't even do more than blink as Isa sits up, holding a hand to his head. Ideas buzz about in his head for what will happen, but the end result really doesn't surprise him: Isa just narrows his eyes at him, suspicious and guarded. "Who are you?"

His tongue feels like sandpaper, but somehow, Axel manages to roll with the punches, more or less. "They call me Axel, Isa."

"...Alright, how do you know my name?" More suspicion, but Axel rolls with that, too, even as he's cursing his ******** slip of the tongue.

"I know Lea." It's not exactly a lie; after all, he is Lea, just... not. There's stillness in his chest as Isa stares at him, eyes guarded and body tense. Finally, the boy Axel remembers so vividly just nods and relaxes. Hey, it's a good enough idea, after all. Axel may be different from how he was back when he had a normal life, but he still shares similarities with his past self- plastic cup red hair, green eyes that carry flames inside, even if these flames are now nothing more than embers. The only things that are wrong are his age and the tats. As he moves his hand- maybe to shake Isa's in this crazy a** reunion, maybe just to scratch his head from the craziness of it all- both their eyes are drawn down to a metallic jingle.

A set of handcuffs bind them together.

"Are you ******** kidding me?" Axel hisses.

Isa's voice is dry in response. "I hope that was a rhetorical question."

---------------

Nothing works. Neither of them think this out of pessimism but more from their little mental checklists. Lots of noisy rock banging? Check. Tugging, despite both of them thinking how stupid idea that was? Check. Checking for a key? Also checked. Hell, Axel even burst out the flames and the chakrams, but nothing worked. The metal didn't melt, and his chakrams literally didn't make a scratch on the cuffs. When they finally flop down in the shade of a palm tree, Axel throws his head back.

"Well, that was a wonderfully spent waste of time. We should really try it all over again."

Isa just ignores him. "We need to get food," he mutters, rubbing the sweat away from his eyes. "Especially before the sun sets, alright?"

It's a nice, smart, sensible idea, and Axel isn't too surprise to hear it comin' out of Isa's mouth. With a bit of cooperation, they manage to get on their feet again and head into the trees. Already, shadows are forming, hiding who knows what. Hey, Axel's seen lots of crazy when it comes to jungles. This place is just one big unknown.

If Isa is worried, the kid doesn't show it; he's always been like that. When it really all boiled down, he was the kind of guy who got things down. Give him a goal, and you'd get to see him forge a path to it no matter what. Strong hearts... For a moment, Axel closes his eyes. Yeah. Despite their efforts, however, they don't find food- or get it, for that matter- until the moon as risen. With a grimace, Axel bends down to pick up the fruit he can just barely see. The skin is far too soft beneath his fingers. "I guess that's what we get for using rocks."

"Because we're such climbers, especially with these handcuffs," Isa shoots back. Despite his words, he also makes a face but takes a bite anyway. As they look around, their shoulders slump. Complete freakin' darkness.

"Damn," Axel mutters, but his wrist is suddenly tugged in one direction. Surprised, he looks over to Isa. The boy's eyes are strange, now, pupils engulfing his eyes like enormous round circles. His gaze is focused on the sky, mesmerized. Axel feels his stomach sink; the sight is far too familiar. Then Isa looks over to him, and smiles.

"This way." His voice sounds far off, but so sure as he begins to lead Axel through the forest. The redhead doesn't really have much of a choice but to follow after, tripping and cursing roots.

"How do you even know where we're going?" Axel asks eventually.

"The moon is a compass," Isa says in response, still far off, eyes always on the sharp curve of the moon. "Where it sets, where it rises..."

Everything clicks and Axel's eyes widen. "No s**t," he mutters, wondering why he didn't see it before. Of course, east and west. It's pretty much the same thing as using the sun to see where the directions are, and isn't the moon just a reflection of the sun? Isa's path takes them out of the forest, and onto a rocky shore, nothing but jutting cliffs shoved here and there. It's a pain in the a** to get through, but there's one good thing: as they walk along, clouds crawl over the moon, hiding it from sight. Soon enough, the strange look is gone from Isa's eyes and there might even be a small grin on his face when he turns to Axel.

"You look a lot like him, you know."

One of his intestines or something twists, but Axel grins, lazy and cool as a cat. "Lea, y'mean?"

Isa nods absentmindedly, more focused on not stubbing his toes on an ill placed stone. "Same hair. Same eyes- well, maybe a little different. You're better at lying."

Even with all his practice, Axel jerks in surprise at that little observation. Without his noticing much, they come to a stop and Isa turns to look at him. "And just how would you know that?" he asks, trying to keep his cool.

The grin is gone from Isa's face. He's simply looking at Axel- actually looking, trying to understand, not the faint 'look right through' stare when he sees the moon, not the detachment of Saix's eyes that seems to grow everyday. "Your eyes are different," is all the teenager says and then they just stand there. The island is eerily quiet; as much as he tries, Axel can't hear even bugs chirping and crawling in the night. There's only the scent of the sea and the sound of wind rustling leaves, whistling through rocks. Isa speaks once more.

"Who are you? Really?"

What the hell can he say? The truth would sound too outrageous, but he has a feeling all his usual tricks won't work on this kid, the kid who used to be (still is) his best friend. Axel opens his mouth, even as he has no idea what the ******** to say- and then he's drowned out by the wind. Without little warning, it seems like they're stuck in the middle of a hurricane. No matter how loud he shouts, the wind steals it all. All he can do is raise one arm to shield his eyes and use his other to tug Isa along by their handcuffs. They push their way through the wind, lost as the air screams about them and rocks threaten to make them fall. s**t, Axel can't even see the forest now-

And apparently, he can't see how close they are to the cliff edge. Not until the wind violently shoves him to the side and he discovers there's no earth to support his weight. With his eyes wide open, he tries to twist around and latch onto something, but the first thing he sees is Isa's face, twisted in shock and horror. Time seems to slow, if just for a few seconds.

Not Isa he thinks desperately, watching in slow-mo as his friend tries to dig his heels into the rocks, tries to save him. I can't let him die-

And the chains snap.

As Axel freefalls, he swears he can hear Isa calling past the gales-

---------------

"Lea!"

Reality and consciousness greet him with a fist to the chest. Groggily, Axel forces his eyes open and watches as the world comes into focus. That's around the time he realizes his cute little metaphor sure as ******** ain't cute and quickly raises his arms. "Saix, s**t, wait!"

The man's fist stops just centimeters away from Axel's chest. Saix raises an eyebrow coolly. "So it finally worked?"

Letting his arms fall heavily and painfully to his sides, Axel let's out a bark of a laugh. "You crazy jerk," he rasps, ignoring the pain in his chest and- pretty much everywhere, actually. "What happened?"

"That Cannibal Goddess, Mother? She made a fool out of you."

Axel let's his eyes fall shut, a weary grin on his lips. "Just what I need. Welll, I'm pretty sure I have all my limbs... How d'you know anyway? Weren't you looking for that new Nobody Xigbar told us about?"

"I was until I heard about you."

It takes a moment for that to penetrate Axel's brain, and by the time he makes himself open his eyes, Saix is already banding up the cuts and bruises on his arms. His smile returns, even weaker. "Yeah?"

"Of course." Once he's finished, Saix stands up and helps Axel to his feet, arms slung about each other. The Great Southern Forest is quiet, now, with no more spirits running rampant. Something must have happened while he was unconscious.... "After all..." Axel looks over to Saix, who looks right back at him. "We are friends, aren't we?"

Letting his head drop, Axel's grin grows in strength. "Yeah." Using what he can of his strength, he tightens his grip around Saix's shoulder as they drag each other through the forest and to Tien's Landing. "Best friends, in case you forgot."

It is halfway through their first year of the Organization, and their first mission. And for just a second, everything looks like it will turn out alright.





 
 
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