Axel stood on the roof of a building, ignoring the wind that was tugging on his hair and surveyed his garden.

The Spell of Breaking had been painful in the extreme but it was done. Great rents had been torn in the fabric of his garden. The clock tower and railway were gone. The ocean had expanded and buildings had been swallowed by it. Tattered remains jutted out of the dark sea. Between the buildings, blotches of dark red earth were visible, looking almost like bloodstains. Axel swallowed as it began to rain, a heavy, driving rain. He pulled his hood up and retreated into one of the buildings.

"It had to be done." He muttered to himself as he settled onto the couch, picking up a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows that had appeared for him. It was nice and hot but a bit weak, like a cheap store brand. He drank it anyway and tried to ignore the pounding of the rain and the way a chill began to seep into the house, despite the fire. His garden was damaged. It could only give him so much comfort until it healed. If it healed.

It would have to be enough.

"Why?" Roxas stumbled through the broken land that was his new garden. The clock tower was still there although it looked like it had been hit by lightning. Partially melted as well as burnt, it was a ruin. "Why, Axel?" He'd never dreamed of a pain like this and Roxas was belatedly aware of the truth of Axel's words. Sharing a garden really had meant something. "Fuck!" Panting with pain and exertion he collapsed onto the doorstep of one of the few remaining buildings.

It felt like he'd lost a limb. No, something more vital. It felt like a piece of his heart had been ripped out of his chest. Roxas pulled himself up wearily and went into the house. It greeted him with a fluffy blanket and a mug of hot coffee. The coffee tasted a bit off, like the beans had been burnt, but Roxas drank it anyway as he tried to figure out what to do.

Dull anger kindled as he stared into his coffee. How could Axel have done this to him? Roxas swallowed as he realized that wasn't fair. He'd injured the redhead first, and cruelly. Now Axel had returned the favor… but the redhead had to be suffering just as much as he was. That gave him a kind of satisfaction but it quickly dissolved into a sick, agonized grief. How could it have come to this?

"I didn't really mean it." Roxas whispered as he looked into his mug. "I didn't…" Sniffing, he lifted the drink and took another sip. It was hot and wet even if it wasn't very good.

His garden couldn't give much comfort when it was this badly damaged but he would just have to take what he could get.

Over the next few months, the other fey noticed changes in both Roxas and Axel. They were not good changes.

There was no connection between the two anymore. In the past, they had just seemed so right together, even when they were upset with each other. Now it seemed like there was no connection at all, or perhaps a very weak one. The two avoided each other as much as possible. Really, what was there to say? There were more changes than just that though. Roxas developed a low grade fever that refused to go away despite multiple treatments. At first, Axel seemed to be doing better but that was a false surface. His problems, when they surfaced, were far more alarming.

The problem began when he arrived for his weekly checkup. Xemnas had given Axel firm orders not to skip his appointments in the medical clinic. Namine gently palpitated his stomach, frowning faintly as Axel winced. He felt very tender there, not surprising really. Pregnancy was not a normal male condition. Her concerns, though, went beyond that.

"Axel, the baby is developing rather fast. Are you sure you can handle this?" Namine was seriously concerned by the drain of strength on Axel. "I think the child is almost five months along, physically. Do you need help with the glamours?" Axel smiled tiredly and shook his head.

"I already have Vexen and Marluxia doing those for me." He wasn't the best at glamours anyway and there was no need to sap his strength unnecessarily. "I'm doing to best I can Nam'." He was aware that it wasn't really good enough but it was getting harder and harder to resist the relentless pull of the spell. It had gotten quite a bit worse since he'd used the Spell of Breaking. The internal wound had lessened his ability to resist and the worst part was that Axel wasn't sure he cared anymore. He was fighting that apathy but it was hard. The redhead knew that if he gave in to that feeling he would never survive the birth.

"Hmmm." Namine made a noncommittal sound and put a blood pressure cuff around his arm. "Meditate a little, please." Axel nodded and gently tranced himself. It would help her get the best possible readings. "…Not good." Namine muttered a short time later and Axel blinked, focusing on her.

"Huh?" His blood pressure had always been notoriously low. What could be wrong? Unless it was too low, that could be a medical condition almost as dangerous as high blood pressure. Namine gave him a reassuring smile but Axel caught the anxious edge underneath.

"Your blood pressure is quite high, especially for you. I need to run a few more tests." Axel frowned as Namine began pulling out equipment. "Pee in this." She handed him a specimen bottle and Axel grimaced.

"Gee, thanks." Fortunately he did have to go so it wasn't very hard. Namine took the filled bottle without comment as he zipped himself back up. "What's going on Nam?" Axel didn't like this at all. The blonde girl pursed her lips thoughtfully and shook her head.

"Probably nothing. But you look a little puffy." That made Axel blink. He had noticed a certain puffiness around his hands and face. "Along with the increased blood pressure you might be starting to suffer preeclampsia."

"English please?" He said plaintively and she smiled sympathetically before carefully explaining.

"No one is sure what causes it. It's thought to be a toxic reaction to the placental fluid. Has anyone in your family ever suffered it?" Axel frowned and shook his head. He had a very large family and he'd never heard of this before. "Ah. Well, I would guess the invasive nature of the spell might be causing it. You don't have any of the risk factors associated with it, like a previous history of high blood pressure or excessive weight." Namine shook her head. "But we won't know for certain until I get the results from your urine test. If there are elevated proteins then it's definitely preeclampsia."

"So what's the treatment?" Axel had a bad feeling he knew what she was going to say. She confirmed it a moment later.

"Complete bedrest. You might need to stay here in the clinic for observation. This is a very serious complication, Axel. It can lead to full blown eclampsia and that can result in seizures and death. It can kill the baby too." Axel frowned at that and Namine anticipated his next question. "No, the spell won't necessarily protect the child from this. It should but there are no guarantees." The spell was more optimized to avoiding an immune response from the host. This wasn't Axel's body trying to reject the foreign invader, it was just a side effect of the pregnancy.

"Fuck." Axel muttered to himself. He hated bed rest. He'd had to spend almost two weeks in bed once when he was bitten by a dream spider and really didn't want to do it again. But if Namine was right there would be no way out of it. "Let me know as soon as you get the results, okay?" Axel pushed himself to his feet, feeling dizzy for just a moment before he braced himself. Namine watched him as he left the clinic and shook her head. Then she began flipping through her file of healing spells.

They might need something very strong to deal with this.

"I hate him." Roxas muttered to himself as he grimly applied himself to his food.

"Well, you yanked his heart out and stomped on it. I guess he just wanted to return the favor." Sora said, entirely unsympathetic. Riku gripped his shoulder as Roxas scowled at the brunette.

"Fuck off. This has nothing to do with you." Roxas snarled and Sora scowled before Riku murmured something in his ear. Then he looked down at his food. Roxas swallowed, feeling the silent disapproval of several of the others. They were staying out of things for the sake of the group but that meant they didn't want to hear anything from either Roxas or Axel, in public at least. Roxas had figured out how things worked here but Sora was having a few problems. Riku seemed to be catching on better. He and Sora were talking quietly and Roxas caught Sora giving him a speculative look but he ignored it. They could do what they liked.

The truth was, his garden was not getting better. He'd quietly spoken to Namine about it but she'd had very few suggestions. The sea was expanding, gradually devouring the land. Roxas wasn't sure what that meant but it was probably nothing good. He was feeling more unbalanced and the aching emptiness in his heart wasn't going away. He glanced up at the table and saw Axel slumping slightly in his seat, his face completely blank. The redhead looked miserable and for just a moment Roxas almost imagined he could feel something, a hint of the connection. Then Axel looked up and met his eyes. They were empty as green glass and Roxas looked away, swallowing. He was just imagining things.

Later that day, Axel got a very unusual surprise.

"Axel?" The redhead looked up from his work, vaguely surprised to see Sora and Riku. He was feeding the horses, hauling bales of good hay into the field and carefully spreading them out so all the horses would get an even share. They'd found that left it all in one bale the stronger horses would crowd out the weaker. There was plenty of food but a few of the horses were pigs about it. "Um, Riku and I were wondering. Would you like to come to our room tonight?" Sora asked, clearly nervous and a little embarrassed. Axel blinked slowly at the brunette then looked at Riku, meeting calm aquamarine eyes. Surely they weren't suggesting…?

"Are you sure?" Axel said as he considered the offer. There was no reason not to take them up on it. He was getting bigger but the glamour would keep them from noticing. It wasn't an illusion so much as an instruction not to pay attention, and that's exactly what they would do, even during sex. Axel blinked as Sora suddenly hugged him.

"Axel… we want to help you. You look awful." He said sincerely, looking into Axel's eyes. His caring blue eyes were the same shade as Roxas' and Axel felt a sudden wave of hurt. The blonde had never cared for him like this. "You saved our lives." Axel didn't point out that Roxas' had had plenty to do with that as well. "If you need some comfort, we'd be glad to help." Axel swallowed, hugging Sora back for a moment. Then he looked at Riku.

"How do you feel about this?" He asked carefully. The last thing he wanted was to disrupt their relationship. But the silver haired young man gave him a half-smile.

"I'm fine with it." Riku put an arm around Sora's shoulders as he stepped back. "I've always wondered what a threesome would be like and we do owe you a lot." His smile turned warmer. "And you're pretty sexy." Axel couldn't help but smile at that, feeling a touch of his old pleasure in life coming back.

"Sure, why not?" He owed Roxas absolutely nothing now. "I'll meet you after supper." It was only a bit after lunch so they all had classes and work to be done before then. Sora smiled brilliantly as Axel hefted another hay bale.

"Later then!" Axel smiled to himself as the two boys left, hand in hand. It had been decades since he'd done a threesome.

He hoped he still had the knack.

Axel hardly noticed Roxas at supper, catching Sora's eyes and making the brunette giggle. Riku was smiling and Roxas noticed the strange undercurrents. To the blonde, it was just confusing. He had no idea what was going on between the three of them. Whatever it was, it seemed to be making Axel happy and Roxas frowned in silent resentment. Then he rubbed his head and shivered. The fever was really getting to him. He felt heavy, tired and sick. Roxas watched Axel leave the table with Sora and Riku and vaguely wondered if they were going to play cards. Then he decided he didn't care, going back to picking at his food.

"Axel?" Sora looked up worriedly at the redhead as he stumbled. "Are you alright?" Riku paused, looking back. Axel didn't look very good to him.

"You're sweating." The silver hair commented as he stepped back, gripping Axel's arm. Axel rubbed his face as a wave of dizziness hit him. He found himself leaning against Riku and wasn't sure how he'd gotten there. "Are you alright?" The younger boy sounded very concerned. Axel swallowed as he realized his vision was very hazy.

"I think you better get me to the med centre." He managed to say and Riku and Sora exchanged a look. Riku put an arm around him, helping him as Sora trailed behind them.

"Axel, what's wrong?" Sora sounded very worried but the redhead ignored him. Most of the fey only knew that he was engaged in an involved spell, not the details of it. The only exceptions were Saix, Xemnas, Marluxia, Vexen and Namine. Saix and Xemnas had been behind the whole thing so obviously they knew. He needed Marluxia and Vexen to spin the glamours and Namine was their nurse so she had to know as well. No one else had been told, which was how he liked it. Axel did not want to deal with Roxas' reaction right now. It wasn't his business anyway.

"Axel!" Namine hurried over as soon as she saw him, concern on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Dizzy… my eyesight is blurry…" Axel muttered and Namine immediately put him on a table, getting out the blood pressure cuff again.

"Try to trance, please." It was extremely difficult but Axel attempted to follow her instructions. "Oh this is not good. The results haven't come back but I'm sure, you definitely have preeclampsia." She said and Axel frowned, jerking his head towards Riku and Sora. They were listening and Sora was frowning. Riku just looked blank. "Your blood pressure is going through the roof." She reached for a needle and began filling it with something.

"I tried to cut down on my salt – ow!" Axel winced as Namine slapped him lightly on the head. She was scowling as she put a cuff around his arm, preparing him for the injection.

"Did I tell you to do that?" She said tartly as she administered the shot. "No? Axel, this condition is not normal high blood pressure and salt is vital for your… other condition. You are not to cut back on it at all." Axel blinked at that. "Your blurry vision is being caused by the high blood pressure pushing your retina forward. That can lead to detachment and possible blindness."

"What!" Axel swallowed heavily and shook his head. "What should I do?" He hadn't been aware of that particular possibility. Blind? Namine's voice softened.

"Bedrest and injections of magnesium sulfate will help. So will drinking plenty of fluids to flush out the proteins. That's all we can do until the spell is over." Axel appreciated her efforts in avoiding the word 'pregnancy'. Unfortunately, it was proved futile when Sora opened his mouth.

"Preeclampsia? I don't understand. That's something pregnant women get, isn't it?" Namine and Axel exchanged a glance and Sora's eyes went round. "Wait, you're PREGNANT? How?" Riku looked shocked and slightly nauseated at the idea.

"Lower your voice!" Axel hissed at the brunette, then swallowed. "Shit." He really didn't want to go into this. But it looked like there was no choice. "Xemnas asked me to, okay? There's a spell. He and Saix are going to raise the child." That was what had been decided and Axel was mostly relieved. What if the baby looked like Roxas? It would be a painful reminder of his mistakes.

"But that means Roxas is going to be a father." Riku said slowly. "Does he know?" Axel looked away as Namine bit her lip. "He doesn't, does he?" Sora looked shocked at that thought.

"Axel, that's horrible! You need to tell him. He has rights to the baby you know." That made Axel blink. Rights?

"No he doesn't." Axel's flat contradiction caught the two boys off guard. "Why would you say that?" It didn't make any sense to him. Sora was struggling for an answer when Namine cleared her throat.

"Sora, Riku, this is a cultural difference." She said gently as the two boys stared. "The fey are matrilineal and Axel's family follows the fey ways. A male parent has no rights to a child. In fact, very few fae males would help raise their children at all." Sora and Riku both looked like that was hard to swallow. Axel found their reactions difficult to understand. "If Roxas wishes to help I'm certain Xemnas and Saix will let him. But he has no say in what will happen to this child."

"But – but what about child support? Not for Roxas, I mean for most fey… didn't they do that?" Sora asked tentatively and Namine shook her head.

"No. A fey male would give no support aside from helping the clan, if he decided to stay. If not the woman's clan would do everything. If a female fey had a baby when the clan couldn't support it, she would be subject to justice from her clan. Of course, that would be a very rare occurrence. Fey are not very fertile." Axel noticed that Namine didn't mention what that justice would be. He knew it could be anything up to the death of the woman and the child, if the clan was particularly strapped for resources. His family had been in dire straights once or twice but as far as he knew they'd never had to resort to that.

"You still should tell him. Roxas deserves to know Axel." Sora said stubbornly as Riku bit his lip. Axel favored them both with a glare.

"He deserves nothing! Now leave me alone." He put a hand over his eyes as he vaguely heard Namine telling the two boys not to give him stress right now. He vaguely wondered if he'd ever get another chance to take Sora and Riku up on their offer.

Probably not. It was a pity, they were both very nice. But at least they could be friends.