NOTICE! Axel's journal, being the main character, will occupy the time's placeholder, so that the reader is aware of how much time has passed. His journal will not have any entries. Contrastingly, when the story shows another character's journal entry date, there will be a journal entry following immediately afterwards in italics.

A/N: This is my first real story that exceeds 30 000 words (so I can honestly say it's my first real story)! I had a lot of fun writing this (which I hope is not creepy as the story rolls on) and I hope you'll find it just as enjoyable to read!

I couldn't fit this on the summary page (damned character limit), but this is a spoiler to games all across the board, especially 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep.

Be sure to review/comment on it 'cause it's the only way I can tell you're reading! ^^

Chapter I: Suspicions

Axel's Journal: Day 722

Cerulean locks flaking away the sweat of nerves, the scarred Nobody trudged up the unfamiliar marble stairs, looking for some way—somehow in this seemingly secretive route to the top of this winding clock tower—to find level ground, and soon, as the man realized that the navigating space was growing narrow. As soon as the man had hoped, he found himself on an ever-widening rut, as well as eavesdropping on another's conversation; ears soon befell a nostalgic sound only familiarized in the recollection of times long past. Those were times when the man could truly say he could 'feel.' Now, he questions every reasoning behind the emotions that humans display each day subconsciously. That nostalgic sound… it was that of tears.

"Look, Roxas, it's okay. Just tell me what happened." The man heard a slightly low-pitched voice. One that he knew too daringly well. Saïx gulped at the thought of who the face holding this voice could be.

"I… I can't… I-I-I don't know what to think myself… I'm sorry…" This higher-pitched voice gasped at every interval to gather air for further tears. This voice was familiar; however, it was not recognizable. The scarred male had a chilling assumption of who the voice belonged to, though, as he readied his ears for further information.

"No, no. It's alright. I'll be here as long as you need me." It was here that the Luna Diviner found himself peering closer to the sound, only wishing to know of the faces speaking in such a place that was certainly off-limits, and subject matter that would produce such impossible tears from a Nobody. Yet a chill crept from his spine of his accurate assumption of whom these two actually were. He allowed himself to move but an inch, and this was all the man needed to unfold the scene before him.

There lay Number Thirteen, eyes awash with tears, form crumpled in distress, disallowing any section of his clothed skin to touch the condemn of the marble—only the drape of his cloak daring to envelope the platform—his whole body tucked into Number Eight. The redheaded teen's arms were wrapped securely yet snugly around its distraught friend, one black hand smoothing through plush gold. His emerald eyes darted to a side after this step was placed, hardening into a forest green in defense, but as his companion did not seem to notice, he didn't allow his suspicions to bother them. "Axel… I can't… I… okay. I'll… I-I-I think I can tell you… if I can think for a minute…" The boy's thoughts were obviously askew, unable to make a coherent thought—the tormenting memories assaulting him—as the child wiped his eyes of the tears that did not cease to flow from it. He sighed, trying to process the disarrayed cogitations into a workable sentence.

"That's alright, Rox. All the time you need, and some that ya don't, just in case ya need me and think you don't." This drew a chuckle of amusement from the Key. "Now there's a smile." Axel brushed his nose through the golden locks of the friend below him. He realized that the actions displayed were… abnormal for friends, so why was he so content with doing them? "Just… tell me what's been biting you, alright?" The golden blonde teen could hear his friend drone, not paying very much attention to his lackadaisical form of speaking.

The fiery redhead's thoughts were interrupted when Roxas spoke once more. "Well," The boy's voice began to gain a bit of momentum, his tears now dried up in the warmth of his companion. "My mission was in Destiny Islands today, if you didn't know," The fiery friend's arms wrapped protectively around him, the feeling Nobody became comfortable in speaking of his troubles, always keeping an eye as his friend smiled and winced appropriately as he spoke. "And, yeah. Riku made me feel like… like I had no purpose."

"And that's where he's wrong. You have one of the most important jobs around here, buddy. You collect hearts. Without you, there'd be no purpose in all of us. We… well, we'd be no closer to getting our own hearts than before you arrived. It'd be hopeless. There'd be no use." The redhead's cloaked hand swept a stray drop from the azure sea in Roxas's eyes.

"I… I guess so…" Roxas muttered in a melancholy tone. He tucked himself away closer to Axel's chest with a sniffle.

"Whadda ya mean, 'I guess so?' You're the most important member here, Rox! Without you, we'd just be twelve people in over our heads with an unachievable goal. It'd just be a dream. With you, we can make it all possible." Axel grinned, his arms outstretched towards the everlasting sunset ahead. "With you, Roxas," He substituted the sun as the Kingdom Heart before him. "We can finally achieve Kingdom Hearts… we don't need to worry about fading into oblivion. We can be ourselves and we can finally have lives of our own…!"

"But—well, yeah, I understand you—But Riku made me feel like… just the way he described it all… I felt so… so useless." Roxas no longer held any anguish as he spoke; he simply wanted to express his feelings from the ordeal.

Axel stroked through his friend's golden locks. "It's alright, Roxas. You'll be alright. Just remember how important you are. And why'd you wanna believe him, anyway? He's a jerk. He's the enemy. You're not supposed to believe him; he's only there to put you down." Axel's words sang warmly from his lips as he caressed his friend, shielding him from the evils that lurked just beyond the rut.

Somehow, the Diviner knew, this action that the Flurry of Dancing Flames was displaying was… abnormal. It seemed to be lesser that of a friend and that of something… more. To whatever extent of the cerulean-haired eavesdropper's knowledge, this display rang foreign in his eyes. There was nothing that the man observed that could not be classified. It was… strange. How will I explain this to the others? What will I tell them? The man tried desperately to understand this display. True, he had seen it before in one of the movies that he had stolen from Number Twelve, but in that case, it was not that sort of inexplicable feelings displayed between two men, but rather a man and a woman; there, the two's feelings were equally shared. Here, it seemed like Number Thirteen was oblivious to Number Eight's actions.

The boy sniffled dryly for what would be the last time. "Th-Thanks, Axel. You're a good friend, you know that?" He sank himself further into the warmth of his friend's chest, sighing contently as he did so. "And you know how to be a human furnace."

Emerald eyes darted out towards the everlasting sunset, nerve forcing them away from the golden locks that tickled his chin just underneath. "A good friend, huh? And here I thought I was your best friend." The man, although seemingly normal in his enthusiasm, chuckled tensely. Saïx realized… these words pained him. The fact that Number Thirteen simply called him a 'good friend' and not something more was what upset him, it seemed.

"Well, you are my best friend, Axe, but I didn't really feel that I had to say all that…" He could hear Roxas muttered, slightly upset, from the muffled confides of Axel's cloak. Saïx felt he had to expose the two for who they really were. He had to expose their… 'romance?' was the word? He allowed himself but another footstep, allowing it to be all but enough. Unfamiliar noise entered the redhead's ears, forcing apprehension as he tightened his grip around his friend. Being all but strangled in Axel's protective grip, Roxas was forced to ask, a hint of tension himself in his voice, "Something wrong, Axel?"

His head craned to the side, exposing himself to the backside wall. This sound, that single sound that caught in his ears, it was undeniable; three words ghosted from his lips, only readable by his partner. "We're being watched."

"It has come to my attention…" The cerulean-haired Nobody was not facing the others, eyes targeting the Kingdom Heart just beyond his reach. Just beyond his hopes and dreams was the victory that each one of the thirteen members wished for. All, it seems, except his once-closest friend who, in all irony, was one of the only two that did not make himself present. The man stood there, awaiting the moment where Number Twelve would cease to speak and allow him the chance to, and in his silence he hoped to achieve this. When the time came that it still did not work, "that Numbers Nine and Twelve should cease all of this incessant bantering so that I may continue, please?" It was here that the two chatter birds finally realized their place. "So, as you are all very much aware, two of us are not present." All expected the superior to force haste, yet he remained complaisant. "It is only a coincidence, and yet therein lies our problem. These two have become… close."

After a moment of silence contemplating those departed, it was the platinum blonde British accent that spoke up among the chatter. "And what do you suppose that means?"

The Luna Diviner could hold back his anger no more. The simple thought of this friendship growing so strong—beyond the contemplation of the untrained unfeeling as the Organization—drove the man mad, burning the fuel of his temper, now quick and hot in irritation. "They're friends! Chums! 'Buddies!' What else would you like me to say?"

"Oh… well then, I had thought you'd meant something else."

"What? That they could feel that? Hah. Don't even make me laugh." The man scoffed curtly. "It is simply that they've begun to spend an excessive amount of time with one another, and I had made the time to investigate this further. It has come to my attention that they are very close to one another. There was a moment where I was to intervene, but as I moved closer, the sound of my soles made their way to Number Eight's ears, and he became very defensive indeed. He told Number Thirteen to keep his voice down and instantly moved about, keeping a watchful eye over him. There was a sense of… protection, yes, and something more that I've begun to develop as friendship."

This seemed to amuse the Savage Nymph. "Hah! So what does that mean?" She discourteously sneered, "They have feelings for one another? Like you said, Saïx, we shouldn't make you laugh!"

"Well, there is the presence of feeling in Number Thirteen. This I am aware of." And this information fell the Round Room to silence, all eyes now watching the man in cerulean as he explained, "He holds the damaged heart of another. This heart
is not complete, still forcing him as one of us, and yet it is enough to make him feel. As you're all aware of, I'm sure, Number Thirteen's presence invokes something… strange in all of us when exposed for extended periods of time. This is because you are being exposed to the true feelings that this heart releases. Now it has come to my attention that Number Eight, having attached himself to Number Thirteen, has had an excessively extended exposure—"

"Try saying that five times fast…" Saïx could hear Number Nine snicker, yet ignored it.

"—to this emotion. This has caused him to feel a great amount when he is around Number Thirteen, and it appears he has retained some of this emotion… to some extent. This is a very troubling topic, and if nothing is done, our way to Kingdom Hearts will be all but achievable. Something must be done."

A/N: So... this is my introduction to 'Love!' I really don't know how I did, so I'm hoping you can tell this poor girl...

So, how did I do? Leave me a review saying whatever you want—good stuff, bad stuff, grammar stuff... all the works! :)