Xion bowed her head as Riku finished explaining what had happened at the trial to her and the twins.

"I see..." She said quietly, fighting back the urge to voice that she had been right about what would happen.

"I'm glad Roxas is at least alright." Sora pipped up, trying to stay positive about the situation, though it was clear from the look on his face and the waver in his voice that he was just as concerned as everyone else.

"Wait a second." Vanitas said, gaining everyone's attention but keeping his eyes locked on Riku, his expression gravely serious. "Did either of you get the keyblade out of there?"

Riku blinked at the mention of the keyblade, slowly looking up at Xion, his eyes wide with confusion.

"We were supposed to grab the keyblade?" He asked. Vanitas shot out of his seat immediately, fury etched clearly onto his features.

"What are you, a fucking idiot?! Of course you were supposed to get the keyblade! That was half the reason we sent Roxas in there!"

"Vanitas." Xion said calmly, looking at him with a stern expression as a means of telling him to settle down. Vanitas huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and flopping back onto the couch.

"Yes Riku, you were. That's the only way we can win against the queen, without it, we don't stand a chance." Xion said, worry clear in her tone.

"I didn't know, I didn't think Roxas would be able to use the keyblade..." Riku said, sinking down in his seat and tipping his hat to hide his face.

"It's okay." Xion said, reaching over and placing her hand gently on Riku's knee to get his attention. Riku slowly peeked out from under his hat, looking at Xion's warm smile. "All that matters right now is that everyone is safe. We'll get a night of rest, then you can figure out what we'll do about getting the keyblade."

Riku sighed, taking off his hat and running his hands through his hair.

"I guess you're right. After all, there's not much we can do about it now..." He muttered quietly. The four of them sat there for a while longer, Riku staring at the floor, his hands holding the back of his neck, as Xion and Sora looked over him sadly. Vanitas on the other hand only continued to stew, very obviously having a lot more to say, but holding back for now. After a bit though, Riku finally stood up, grabbing his hat off the couch he was seated on and starting to head for the door.

"I'm going to get some rest." He said absently.

"I'll join you!" Sora said, hopping up and quickly following after Riku. He couldn't help but smile and wrap his arm around Sora's shoulders.

"Sleep well." Xion said, smiling after the pair. Riku waved a hand to Xion before closing the door.

"You're too nice to him..." Vanitas said grumpily from his seat on the couch, earning a look from Xion.

"If I were you Vanitas, I'd learn to hold my tongue." Xion said testily.

"Right, cause Riku is just so magnificent!" He said sarcastically. Xion puffed up her chest, stomping over to where Vanitas sat.

"Well at least he's not selfish like you! Riku put his life on the line bringing Roxas here to save all of hearts! And what do you do? Sit here and make snide and rude comments! You've done nothing good for this world, and you probably never will! So get off your high horse, Vanitas, and show some respect!" Vanitas' eyes had slowly grown larger as Xion spoke, leaning away from her as she got more in his face. He let out a breath he didn't realize he's been holding. He'd never seen her so enraged before, it was quite alarming in a way.

"I..." He started quietly, looking down at his lap. "I think I should be getting on my way now..."

And with that he stood from his seat on the couch, heading for the door. Xion's expression softened as she watched him begin to leave.

"Vanitas, I didn't-" She started, only to have him quickly cut her off.

"You're right. I haven't done anything besides be negative... I... I'm sorry..." He said quietly, looking at her seriously. "Tell Sora I'll be back later."

With that said, he left, leaving a worried Xion staring at the door of the office.

A while later, Roxas found himself waking up on the couch, Axel was no longer asleep on top of him. He looked around in a slight daze, trying to figure out how long he'd slept for, but with out a clock or any kind of light from out side the crypt, he couldn't figure out what the time of day was.

As he continued to look around though, he quickly found that Axel was no where to be seen. His brows furrowed slightly as he slowly moved to get off the couch. He looked around the entirety of the felines home, but he wasn't there. Roxas bit his lip, looking to the front door worriedly. He didn't know if he should leave. There were ghosts out there. Angry ghosts.

Then again, Riku had told him the ghosts wouldn't do anything to him.

Roxas stared hard at the door for a moment longer before letting out a sigh and slowly making his way over to the door. After taking a deep breath to steady himself, he quickly opened it, hurrying outside into the chill night air. He looked around cautiously as he made his way up the steps. From where he was, he could already see several ghosts floating around, and the number was slowly increasing.

"They won't hurt you, they have no reason to." A slightly familiar voice said from behind Roxas, making Roxas jump in surprise and spin around in search of the person. Atop the stone sat Vexen, puffing on his hooka.

"You again?" Roxas said, a hint of irritation to his tone as he placed his hand on his hip.

"Nice to see you as well." Vexen said drily, a deadpan look on his face.

"Look, have you seen Axel?" Vexen hummed slightly in thought.

"I may know where the cat is, but first, answer me this, Roxas. Have you discovered who you are yet?"

Roxas huffed and shook his head.

"This again?" He asked in exasperation. Vexen didn't respond, but instead took to making rings with the smoke from his hooka. Roxas sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"No, I don't know who I am. And I still don't understand what you mean." Roxas snapped.

"I pity you child, intelligence eludes you once more."

Roxas was fuming now, his hands balled info tight fists as he glared at the older male.

"You ignorant, self satisfying piece of-"

"The feline is over there, paying respect to some lost souls." Vexen said, cutting Roxas off as he pointed to the left side of the graveyard. Roxas growled slightly, but fought back the urge to punch this bastard in the face as he stormed off in the direction Vexen had sent him in. As he slowly made his way through the fog, Roxas could make out the shape of Axel kneeling in front of three gravestones. On the top of each stone sat a ghost, staring down at Axel. Roxas approached them slowly, looking at Axel with a worried expression on his face.

"Axel?" Roxas said quietly, startling the poor red head as he shot straight up and looked behind him at Roxas.

"What are you doing up?" He asked, his voice breathy. He looked frightened in a way, like Roxas was going to attack him suddenly or something.

Roxas blinked in surprise, simply standing there for a moment as he stared at Axel, not exactly sure how to respond. After a moment, he took a slow, deep breath before opening his mouth to speak.

"I just woke up and you were gone..." Roxas said quietly.

"Sorry..." Axel muttered as he turned his gaze back to the dirt in front of him. Roxas stared at him for another moment in worry before getting down on his knees beside Axel and placing his hand on Axel's shoulder comfortingly.

"Who... Who are they?" Roxas asked slowly, looking over the graves.

Axel was silent for a few minutes, continuing to stare at the ground. Though he slowly responded to the questioning.

"The guards that painted the roses..." He said quietly, shifting so he would be sitting Indian style. Roxas was silent for a moment as he slowly nodded in response. He really wanted to help Axel, but to help, he needed to know what happened, and the last time he asked, Axel had snapped at him. He didn't want that to happen again...

"What..." Roxas swallowed thickly, looking away from Axel. "What happened Axel?"

He heard Axel take a sharp breath at the question, then things were silent, and Roxas couldn't help but worry that he'd upset him once more.

"Let's go inside." Axel said, floating up suddenly into a standing position and offering his hand to Roxas. He looked up at Axel curiously, but slowly took the offered hand, allowing Axel to pull him up and lead him back to his "home".

When they were back inside Axel flopped down onto his plush couch, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Roxas stood to the side for a moment, watching him in concern before he let his worry get the better of him and he sat down beside Axel, taking the red head's free hand in his own, giving it a comforting squeeze. Axel looked down at Roxas' hand in his own and smiled slightly at the gesture. He didn't feel as though he deserved the kindness, but he appreciated it none the less, and it helped his nerves melt away from him enough that he was finally able to speak up.

"It was a little after Larxene's rule had begun, back when I was still well liked." Axel let out a hollow chuckle at his words. "I liked playing harmless pranks back then. You know, the kind of stuff most people would just laugh off. So when Larxene took over, she immediately started redecorating the castle and commanded some of her royal guard to plant some red roses in the garden. When they weren't looking though, I switched out the seeds for the red roses with white roses. I didn't yet know what Larxene was like back then, so I didn't think anything bad was going to happen." Axel paused for a moment, seeming to stare off into space as he thought back on everything. Roxas watched him for a moment before squeezing his hand again, bringing his attention back to the present.

Axel sighed, looking down at his lap for a moment before he continued. "The guards cast a spell over the roses to make them grow faster, and the next morning, when they went to check on the roses, they were white. They immediately started to panic, saying the queen would surely have their heads for this. I kind of thought they were over exaggerating, but I felt kind of bad since the white roses were my doing, so I appeared before them in my cat form and suggested that they paint the roses red. They thought it was a fantastic idea. So they hurried to get paint and start working on their new task. While they were painting the roses though, Larxene had come out to view her flowers. She saw the white roses and freaked out. Thought they were trying to make some sort of statement of loyalty to the white queen. She immediately called for more guards to arrest them for execution..."

Axel was silent again, his jaw clentched and his grip on Roxas' hand tight.

"And you didn't try to save them did you?" Roxas guessed, though Axel quickly looked up at him in surprise. In reality, he probably shouldn't have been surprised that Roxas would guess he did the wrong thing, what with his sketchy past. Though Axel couldn't help but be slightly taken aback by his words, because even if Axel constantly berated himself for what happened that day, he knew it was the last good thing he'd done.

"No, I did try to save them. When they were on the chopping block I tried to stop everything and tell Larxene that it was my fault the roses were white, that I was just playing a harmless prank, that I didn't... I didn't think it would... Hurt anyone... The guards were grateful, they thought for sure that my coming forward had saved them. But... Larxene still went forward with the execution. She said it was my punishment then, that their death would show me harmless pranks weren't so harmless after all. She killed them right in front of me, then bound me to the graveyard, that I would live there as a reminder of what I had done with the ghosts of the men I'd killed... That was the day that I decided I would no longer try to do the right thing. That I wouldn't look out for anyone else's well being but my own. Because when I tried to do the right thing, it got three innocent men killed..."

Roxas sat there in stunned silence at the end of Axel's story. He hadn't expected that ending at all, but some how, it all made sense. Of course Larxene was always a bitch, that part wasn't at all surprising, though it now made sense to him why Axel acted the way he did. Why he was seemingly always willing to throw anyone under the bus regardless of who they may be.

"Wow, I don't know what to say. That's just... awful what happened. You and those guards... None of you deserved that." Roxas said slowly, looking at Axel in concern. Axel smiled bitterly and nodded slightly in his agreement.

"You're right, they didn't deserve to die. But it's my fault that they did and I deserve this punishment. Every time I come home and see their ghosts right outside, this feeling of regret and sorrow. It reminds me of how badly I fucked up." Axel responded, his voice quiet and thick, like he was about to cry.

"Axel, you don't deserve this punishment, you didn't do anything wrong. Larxene is just an evil wretch. And I know we can't bring back any of these people that she killed during her reign, but we can fix this. We can end everyone's suffering. We can make Hearts the great country it once was under Xion's rule, we can make everything right again, for the people who have been lost in this war."

"I know." Axel said quietly, staying silent for a moment longer. Roxas watched him for a moment, trying to understand what was going on in his head, but all he could see at the moment was the sorrow that filled his eyes.

"Since I met you Roxas, I don't know what it was, but you made me feel like I needed to be a better person. Like I needed to try harder and do more. I've felt more guilt for the things that I've done in the past few days than I've felt over anything in a long time. And I feel like... Like I need your approval. For the longest time I haven't truly felt anything at all, I was so numb I thought I had lost my heart all together in my bitter tyranny. But since I met you, spending so much time around you... You... You make me feel... like I have a heart." Axel finally looked over to Roxas at this point, his bright green eyes glassy with unshed tears but piercing, like they were looking right through him. And Roxas' breath caught in his throat at the sight.

"That's why I've decided to stop doing things for just myself. Why I'm now going to help you in the fight for Hearts. I want to help the one person who really matters to me. The one person that has made me care more than I ever thought I could, and feel human once again."

Roxas felt his chest constrict at the words as tears started to fill his own eyes. He stared at Axel for a moment longer through his slowly blurring vision before he quickly moved to pull Axel into a tight hug, the sudden show of affection shocking the red head as he fell over on the couch with Roxas on top of him.

"R-Roxas?" Axel questioned in his confusion as he watched said blond hide his face in Axel's neck, his breathing coming out a bit ragged against his skin and making him shiver slightly.

"Thank you... Thank you so much, for everything, Axel. Thank you." Roxas mumbled into his neck, his voice cracking as tears spilled from his eyes. Axel couldn't help but smile at Roxas' behavior as he returned the tight embrace.

Vanitas stood on the edge of the forest, staring up at the large, magnificent structure that was Larxene's castle. In the dark it was looming, intimidating, almost terrifying as it was lit by only the moon above and a few lanterns down in the castle yards.

He let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding as he hooked a black, reflective mask piece into a metal piece that surrounded his jaw and the back of his head. Once he was certain it was secured over his face, he picked up the sword he'd left resting against a near by tree and turned his attention back to the castle towering before him.

"I'm sorry Sora..."