Tango, tango, tango. Man, all I've been doing today is watching tango videos. xD This fic is written for Nijuuni from dA, whose "To Move as One" picture made me want to go and … well, write this. I'm estimating that it'll be about three chapters. I do hope you like it, m'dear :3

Entregarme

Step One - "Parejas"

Parejas - Couple: The two partners in a tango

There was always something about the flow of dance that attracted him. The brisk choreography. The dazzling suits and dresses. The hushed stares of the crowd. The fleeting smile of encouragement and exhilaration that you receive from your partner as you go through your steps. The muffled silence that passes over your ears as everything fades out until all that remains is the tempo, the clack of your shoes against the floor, and the steady beat of your heart. The very pounding tempo that moved your very bones… and then broke them.

Literally.

"I'm so sorry about this, Axel." The willowy girl smiled sheepishly, one hand coming up to scratch at the back of her bob haircut.

"S'alright. It's more my fault than anything else, Yuffie." Axel replied with a gloomy tone, doodling loops with his finger on the hospital bed sheet, unwilling as he was to meet her eyes. "Don't apologize for that freak accident."

The black-haired patient laughed, smacking away Axel's hand. The red-head finally looked up. "So you tripped a little. Don't worry about it."

"… Yuffie, I broke your ankle."

"We broke my ankle." She corrected Axel with a smile, looking for all the world like she wasn't cooped up in a hospital bed with her leg in wraps. "I'm more worried about you, now. You're an amazing ballroom dancer, you can snatch up any partner you want."

"That's not true… Yuffie, you're the best partner I could hope for." Axel wrung his hands together, now a truly miserable look coming over him as the main problem of the matter was put on the table. "The International Standard is coming up in a month, what am I going to do, teach a whole new routine to a rookie? All the other good partners are already taken."

"You'll be fine, Axel. Just a little tango. It's nothing."

Sure. Sure it was. Just a little dance, a little movement of the hips and the legs. Axel scowled to himself as he walked down the windy street of his city, barely even paying attention to where he was going. It was only tango, one of the most passionate dances ever brought to light. A dance of subtle love and attraction in a smooth flow of movement between two people.

Yuffie had been perfect. She was small, lithe, and had excellent reaction time. The quick footwork that Axel's routine demanded had required almost no effort from the expert dancer.

But a rather strenuous practice session that morning had been a little too pressing for Axel. He had gotten… distracted… and somehow, his feet had tangled with Yuffie's. The two had fallen over, but Axel's partner had been wearing heels at the time, which only made the situation worse. Her one foot had slipped into an awkward position and Axel went and flopped over onto it. The resounding crack of bone still echoed in his ears.

To say the least, Axel would be the laughing stock of his dance studio for a while. Axel, the best ballroom dancer of the city, has two left feet? It made the red-head want to walk out into the middle of the chilly autumn street to just get run over and end his misery.

Luckily, before his feet even managed to take the first step towards inevitable death, the dancer's phone rang.

"Hey, you." A soft voice spoke through the receiver, chuckling.

"Roxas." A smile immediately came to Axel's lips, suicide idea immediately forgotten. He began moving back down the sidewalk again, boots clicking as his scarf swayed along behind him. "What's up?"

"I've set up an audition session for you. You're planning on finding a new partner, right?"

"Ah." Axel's smile squished back into a frown. "Yeah. That. Um."

Roxas's amused voice immediately took on a reproachful tone. "You are still planning on going to the competition next month, aren't you?"

Roxas was a good friend of Axel's since college. They had both attended a dance-oriented academy and joined the same studio afterward. However, while Axel specialized in actually dancing, Roxas was a choreographer. The two friends supported each other faithfully; Roxas created the dances and Axel performed them. They were an up and coming team, but heads were already turning at the intricate and stylish performances that Axel and Yuffie had given at other competitions.

The tango was a newer routine, though; usually Roxas didn't go for such passion-oriented, Latin dances, so Axel had decided to try his own hand at choreography. Roxas had agreed, letting Axel do his own thing while the blonde himself went off to put more effort into the dance classes he held every week for non-members of the studio.

The blonde had also been on the other side of the room when Axel had snapped Yuffie's ankle and had been the first to call for an ambulance. He also seemed to be most concerned with Axel still performing the tango.

What Roxas didn't realize, however, was that he was the primary cause of the accident. Funny how a mere little distraction could turn a situation into a disaster.

It had started out innocently enough that morning. Axel and Yuffie had been practicing their tango on one side of the room. Roxas, meanwhile, had been fine-turning his samba lesson plan for the day. Usually, sharing a room wasn't a problem. However, the air conditioning had gone out the previous day and both parties quickly grew hot. While Yuffie and Axel ignored their discomfort, as intent as they were on practicing, Roxas had chosen to peel off his shirt.

Axel turned his head just in time to witness a firm and fit torso thrown into the open as Roxas tossed away the sweat-soaked garment and flicked his hair away from his face with a sigh, eyes half-closed as the tiny droplets of perspiration on his cheeks and forehead either flew away with the hair or proceeded to drip down his face and onto his chest.

Needless to say, Axel had been enamored enough with the sight that the idea of actually keeping up with Yuffie had flown from his head and thus, the horrendous accident.

Granted, Axel had yet to mention just why Yuffie was currently lying in the hospital with her ankle in a cast and why Axel was partner-less for an international dance competition in a month while being bogged down with a realization that he was crushing for his best mate.

The red-head sighed, a few stray hairs from his face as he continued walking down the street. "Yes, I'm still going. Just tell me when."

"Mm, that's better." Roxas hummed in approval. "So you'll show up tomorrow at noon for try-outs, right?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Axel could already imagine the satisfied smirk on Roxas's face. "No."

"Then noon it is."

Axel hung up the phone without another word, shoving it back into his pocket with a gloomy exhale of breath and pausing at an intersection as he did so. He had his doubts about the auditions tomorrow. It would be a perfect opportunity for eager girls to scurry out to attempt and "impress" him with their non-existent skills. And that worried him. The chances of actually finding a decent partner were slim.

"Why am I even bothering?" He muttered, rolling his eyes as he stepped off the sidewalk to cross the street without looking for traffic. A moment later, a car came to a screeching halt inches away from him. The driver immediately stuck his head out the window, cigarette hanging from his lips.

"The hell are you doing!? Do you want to die?"

If Axel had known what would happen the next day at try-outs, he probably would have said yes.

"Alright, Roxas. What the hell have you gotten me into?" The red-head groaned, sitting down at the table where he would watch all of the auditions. They were taking place in the exact same area as where he had tumbled the day before; the training room, with the worn wood-paneled floors and mirrors with bars running along the side. Roxas only smiled, standing and holding a clip-board with a list of all of the people trying out.

"Don't give me that look. It's for your own good. I won't have you moping about after you nearly killed Yuffie. She wants you to perform, too, y'know. Especially after all that work you put into making those tango dance steps."

Axel didn't reply. His sulking pout was enough of a response for Roxas to interpret as "Yeah, alright. Let's just get this over with before I change my mind."

The blonde grinned and went off to usher in the first girl. As he turned his back, Axel couldn't hold back a small smile at Roxas's determination. He truly was a good friend who had his best intentions in mind. Axel didn't come by people like Roxas often, if ever. But he'd be damned if he ever showed Roxas just how grateful he was. The choreographer would only end up with a swelled head and another reason to tease Axel, anyway.

The blonde shortly returned with a girl and her partner in tow. As soon as Roxas joined Axel at the table, the couple hurried out to the middle of the room, the female half appearing to the be the more controlling of the two, as she had almost forcefully dragged her partner there.

Axel was handed the form that the girl had filled out beforehand. Her beaming face stared up at him from the paper, as well as her wide, loopy handwriting. The red-head just barely managed to discern that her name was Kairi and that her previous experience consisted of being a back-up dancer in some music videos. Classy.

"So, uh, Kairi." Axel tilted his head, finally looking up at the fidgety pair. At least, the male was fidgety. "Why are you auditioning here today?"

The girl, a red-head herself, beamed widely. "Well, I really love to dance! My dream has always been to be a ballroom dancer, you know, and I would love to start out my career with you, Mr. Lustrada, sir! My mother was actually pretty famous; you might have heard of her, she used to be a really popular lambada danc-"

"Alright, good enough." Axel cut in smoothly, struggling to keep a smile on his lips as he waved off the rest of Kairi's explanation. "What'll you be dancing for us today?"

"I decided, to, ah, leave it a surprise for you!" Kairi replied happily, her tight hold on her partner's hand increasing. Axel's smile dropped immediately at her words.

"I gave you the CD, right?"

"I have it here." Roxas briefly flashed the case - a bright pink one, no less- before sliding it into the boombox he had set up alongside the table. "Ready?"

"One second!" Kairi hurried into position, tugging her partner this way and that. "Tidus, stop standing there!"

Her blonde partner scowled gloomily as he allowed Kairi to drag him into place, on hand with hers and the other on her waist. "I can't believe I let you drag me into this."

"Shut up!" She hissed before flashing Axel and Roxas a dazzling smile. "Ok, we're ready!"

Wordlessly, Roxas hit the play button. Almost instantaneously, a thick, booming rap song began screeching from the player's speakers. Axel turned an alarmed eye towards Roxas first, exchanging surprised looks with him, before turning back to the couple to see them dancing. Dancing being a loose interpretation of the word. Kairi had immediately pivoted so that her back was pressed to Tidus's chest and the two were now fiercely rocking against each other in a grind amidst the blaring music.

Axel's eyes proceeded to nearly melt out of his head and Roxas only choked on his laughter, a hand coming up to clap over his mouth. The dancing pair didn't seem to notice, but Axel eventually managed to reach around Roxas and slam the "stop" button. Kairi and Tidus seemed to finally return to reality as soon as the song came to a dead halt.

Axel grappled briefly with what to say. He managed a forced grin first. "Er..."

Kairi unglued herself from Tidus and hurried forward to grab her CD. "How, uh, how soon do you think it will take for call-backs?"

Roxas smiled reassuringly, holding back his laughter as he handed back the case. "A couple of days, at most. Don't worry, we'll be sure to call you first. Thank you."

As soon as Kairi had shoved Tidus out the door, Axel's head dropped to the desk with a thud.

"Ok. We're done here. I quit."

"Shut up, it was only the first one." Roxas snorted with amusement, leaning back in his chair as he did so. "Although I suppose I should have filtered out the applicants a little better…"

"Y'know what? I'll do that myself." Roxas blinked in surprise as Axel stormed from his seat to the door connecting the training room to the hallway where all the other applicants were waiting. The red-head stuck his head through. In an instant, the crowd hushed. Axel cleared his throat.

"If anyone else came here today to try and impress me with their dances from your damn high school prom night, I suggest you leave now. These are auditions for ballroom dance, not who's better at attempt to make babies standing!" And with that, he irritatedly retreated, snapping the door shut behind him.

Axel returned to a mildly amused Roxas. "I feel much better now."

For the next two hours, Axel was subjected to numerous couples and pairs. Thankfully, the rest came prepared with actual ballroom routines. Some were decent, others were rather disastrous, and a rare few even possessed some talent. None, however, were up to Axel and Yuffie's standard.

Axel, quite frankly, was not surprised. He hadn't expected to find any hidden dance experts in the auditions; all of them had already been taken months ago. But still… some of the entries he witnessed were just atrocious.

The worst of all had been the very last couple.

Axel stared at the pair across from him. "Er, I think you must be in the wrong audition session. This is for ballroom dance, specifically tango?"

The first of the pair smiled brightly. "No, no, we're in the right place."

His partner grinned a little in embarrassment, scratching at the back of his head in a move reminiscent of Yuffie. "It's just that, ah… both our female partners have gone missing, you see, so Demyx and I just decided to pair up for our audition."

Axel cleared his throat with difficulty, looking over the couple's audition sheet. "But, ah, y'see, it's those female partners of yours that I want to see. You're both male leads, and that position's already taken by me…"

The two men looked at each other and the taller of the two, a gangly male with a strange mullet … Axel squinted his eyes… mohawk… thing… spoke first.

"You didn't specify that in the ad. You just said that you were looking for a partner for a tango routine for next month's International, right? So why can't Sora and I audition?"

"You didn't put that I need a girl?" Axel looked sharply at Roxas, who looked just as bewildered as he did.

"I thought I had…" The blonde said slowly, a smile slowly creeping onto his lips. "But I guess not. I just assumed that only girls would show up, I suppose."

"Wonderful…" Axel grumbled to himself, already quite beside himself from the previous two hours worth of auditions.

"Hey!" The one named Sora suddenly put his hands onto his hips and cocked his head, pushing his lips out into a pout. His mop of hair also flopped over with the action. "You have something against dancing with guys?"

Axel flinched, surprised at Sora's aggressiveness. "Well, no, but-"

Demyx crossed his arms, scowling as he thrust his hip to one side to show his disgust. "Then you should let us audition!"

Finding himself cornered by the two flamboyant men, Axel turned to Roxas for assistance with a helpless whimper. Roxas merely shrugged, now quite unable to restrain himself from laughing under his breath. "I say let them audition. It won't do you any harm."

"Yeah!" Sora waved his hand about to match his energetic response. "Listen to your boyfriend there and let us dance!"

"Boyfriend?!" The blonde and red-head squeaked simultaneously, Roxas nearly falling backwards in the chair he had been leaning in while Axel came close to smacking his head back down to the table. Demyx and Sora smirked, tasting success.

Swallowing weakly, Axel could only manage to flop his hand in Roxas's general direction to motion for him to start the music. Demyx and Sora immediately flew into position with extravagant flourishes of their arms as Roxas hit play. Obnoxiously loud and, for lack of a better word, fruity Spanish music filled the room. Axel could barely hold back the image of Carmen Miranda in his mind, decked out with her full outfit, including the bowl on her head, maracas in her hand, and tropically colored dresses.

Roxas just about passed out next to him, but Axel managed to hold on long enough to witness Demyx and Sora's dance collapse into pieces. Demyx had been the lead, but as he had been in the middle of spinning Sora back in for his grand finale, the smaller brunette had slipped and ended up tripping into Demyx. Needless to say, the two ended up in a small pile on the floor shortly after just as the last notes of the song played out.

"Demyx!" Sora wailed, starting to punch the other man in the chest. "You messed it all up!"

"Me?!" Demyx's voice rose to a painfully high pitch. "You're the one who slipped like the fruitcake you are! It's your fault! I knew I shouldn't have agreed to this."

The two continued to squabble and beat at each other. Axel managed to break free of his daze to just barely stand and escort the pair out the door.

"Thank you very much for your audition!" He yelled over the arguing couple. "You'll hear from us in a few days!"

The long-winded try-out session came to a dramatic end. Axel slumped back into his chair with a loud groan.

"Dear god, I am doomed." There was no way in hell that he would be able to find a partner now. Not with people like Demyx and Sora showing up at his doorstep. Or Kairi and Tidus, for that matter. Or combinations of the two. Axel shuddered to himself.

Roxas responded by burying his head in his arms. His shoulders began to shake and at first, Axel thought that Demyx and Sora's performance had driven him to hysterical tears.

A sudden explosion of laughter from the blonde proved that Roxas indeed had been driven to hysterics, but not the type that Axel had first thought.

"Oh god, I think you should go with Sora. He had quite the footwork." Roxas giggled to himself, still doubled over. It appeared that the choreographer had already gotten over his shock, leaving Axel to resist the temptation of smacking his friend upside the head.

Instead, he threw up his hands in exasperation. "I don't even know what that was! Cha cha? Samba?"

Roxas couldn't resist another jab in Axel's side. "Tango, obviously. I hope you took notes, their routine was pretty advanced. Especially their last few steps. That was just epic. You're calling them back, right?"

"As soon as I sign up for the Ice Capades and you for the Insane Asylum, yes." Axel mumbled back scathingly as he took on a Roxas-like scowl and slouched in his seat. "Didn't even know that male-male pairs in dancing were popular these days. I might as well enlist you for my partner."

Roxas chuckled as Axel reached over to pull out Demyx's atrocious CD and insert his own CD, the one carrying the tango tune to which he and Yuffie usually practiced. The soft, latin music swept over the two as they fell silent, occupied with their own thoughts.

"Actually…" Axel said eventually, pursing his lips as an idea came to his mind. "That's not even half-bad."

Roxas looked up from the folder of audition forms. "What is?"

Keeping his rising hope quelled for the moment, Axel hurriedly grabbed at Roxas's hands. "It's a little crazy, but it just might work."

Eyeing the eager look in Axel's eye and smiling bemusedly, Roxas only laughed again. "What? What are you going on about?"

"Here, c'mon." Axel gave Roxas's hands another tug. "Stand up, let's dance."

Startled at the sudden request, Roxas immediately pulled his hands back from Axel's warm grip. "Dance? Are you serious? I think that that last audition went to your head, Axel. Maybe you should go home and take a break for a while."

"I'm serious!" Axel protested, but quickly fell silent at Roxas's inflexible, dubious expression. Instead, the red-head allowed his features to soften. He'd need to try another approach.

"Dance with me." Axel said softly, cajolingly, standing and shoving away his chair as the tango track continued to play. Roxas only stared at him from his own seat, a frown marring his features and wrinkling his forehead.

"Now? Axel, we're in the middle of a crisis here. A minute ago, you were freaking out. Honestly…" The blonde laughed again, this time in disbelief. "We just went through the most willing dancers in the area and none of them are up for your routine. What are we gonna do with you?"

Axel shook his head stubbornly, holding out his hand for Roxas. "C'mon, just get up and dance with me. Stop worrying."

Roxas looked long and hard at the red-head before, with a resigned sigh and a roll of his blue eyes, he gave in and stood, taking Axel's hand as he did so. "Fine. But I'm only doing this because we're friends and these weird whims of yours sometimes help us out."

It wasn't the first time Axel had danced with Roxas. Before Yuffie had come along, the two had practiced together multiple times with the intent of Roxas teaching Axel new dance steps. Like always, Axel took the lead, as well as Roxas's hip with his other hand, and led him out to the open area of the training room. It was such a familiar gesture that Roxas didn't even hesitate.

"This is called entregarme," Axel murmured as soon as they were in position. Their hips pressed together softly and the dancer's lips came hovering dangerously close to Roxas's ear. "To surrender, or give oneself up to the leader's lead."

The blonde merely raised an eyebrow at the other man's calm attitude, allowing Axel to set their arms in the proper dance position, then pull him closer. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Axel smiled, easing into a simple 8-count step. "Just a little tango."

"I fail to see the point of this." replied Roxas, maintaining his cool and composure as he moved with Axel effortlessly while keeping a loose grip on the other dancer's upper arm. The blonde witnessed the intense green spark that always came over Axel's stare when the red-head danced. He faltered. "Wait, how is this helping us to find you a partner?"

"It probably isn't." Axel started into a walk, keeping his eyes locked with Roxas's as he led him about the room, keeping to the beat perfectly. "I just wanted to see if you could keep up. You usually don't go for the Latin dances… you're too conservative."

The hairs at the back of Roxas's neck stood up as Axel whispered the last phrase into his ear. He briefly had a moment of respite when the taller man spun him, but as soon as he returned to his embrace, there was a smirk playing about the choreographer's lips. He knew a challenge when he saw one.

"Take your best shot." He replied slowly. To emphasize his point, Roxas abruptly jerked Axel to a halt and teasingly lifted his leg to press it against Axel's hip. It was a popular move in tango, but was usually performed by a woman. Even Yuffie had been more subtle than that. Axel nearly choked in surprise as the blonde's leg stroked his own in a downward motion. As soon as Roxas's foot returned to the floor, the red-head moved, taking a firmer grip around Roxas and spinning the two of them to finish with Roxas arching back in a dip, held up by Axel's arms. They froze in that position for a brief second, Axel's hand firmly pressing against the small of the blonde's back while Roxas himself held onto his partner's shoulder. Neither could read the other's expression as they kept their gazes locked.

Then the music track came to a halt and the moment was quickly broken in the now silent room, leaving Roxas to relax and suddenly smile.

"Caricias," The blonde chuckled as soon as they returned to a standing position, "A gentle stroking with the leg or shoe against some part of the partner's body."

Axel bit his lip, quite surprised. "Huh."

"There's no need to give me tango lessons, Axel. I learned more about this than you back in the academy. You can't pull any of those tricks on me."

"You're right, I suppose. I guess I'll just straight to the point." Axel sighed, feigning defeat. Roxas's counter-attack had been quite effective, but had also proven Axel's growing suspicions. The red-head's lips abruptly sprouted a mischievous grin. He still had one last move up his sleeve.

"I think I just found my new partner."

Roxas's immediate reaction was less than enthusiastic. "Right. And I'm a ballerina."

Axel only smiled, used to Roxas's scowling responses. "Is that a hint of sarcasm or denial?"

"Refusal." Roxas quipped back, turning on his heel to leave. However, Axel managed to snatch his wrist at the very last moment and, with a fluid motion, pulled Roxas back with a flick of his arm. The blonde was flung into Axel's chest with a gasp. The red-head, however, now had a set goal in mind. He adjusted their poses back into the standard dancing positions, keeping a determined vice-like grip around the blonde's waist and hand.

Roxas had no choice but to fall back into dancing. Axel led them in slow circles, their feet moving back and forth with the simple one-two­-three­-four rhythm.

"The tango is a dance of passion." Axel finally spoke after they had settled into a pattern and Roxas had simmered down. "Where the lead, the man, is chasing after his partner and the woman hasn't decided whether or not she wants the man."

Roxas said nothing, maintaining a stubborn, stony silence as they danced on in the hushed training room. Axel continued, "It's a passionate dance, subtle but with deliberate movements as the pair move with the intention of proving their feelings for each other without being too obvious."

Axel suddenly pulled Roxas into a swift spin that left the blonde against the wall with Axel pinning him there. Roxas stared at the red-head, ignoring the way that Axel's fingers were still curled tightly around his or that the grasp around his hip had tightened considerably. He didn't even bother wondering how the taller man had managed to trap him so well.

"You and I have been dancing longer than almost all the people we saw today." Axel spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully as if he himself wasn't sure about where he was going with his sentences. "We know each other; we can manipulate the dance how we want to."

"If we dance together at International, people will get the wrong idea. It's not done, Axel. It might even be against regulations." Roxas grated out, forcing himself to remain calm. "This is insane."

"You know as well as I do that if there's anyone who's perfect to dance the tango with me, Roxas, it's you." Axel breathed out, eyes shining with hope. Roxas already felt himself melting slightly under the red-head's intense green gaze. Damnit, he was such a push-over for the idiot.

Dipping his head down so that his bangs hid his eyes, as well as his emotions, the blonde shoved Axel away and stormed past him before the other man could prevent him from escaping. At the door, however, the small twinge of regret made the choreographer stop. He took a deep breath, knowing full well that Axel was still watching him.

"… I'll think about it." And with one last huff, the blonde walked out and slammed the door shut behind him.

Axel was left in the empty training room, first at a loss for words. Roxas's promising message eventually managed to break through the red-head's stalled brain, which may or not have been a result of the smoldering glare that Roxas had been giving him only seconds before.

Wait… He'll think about it?

…

"YES!" The dancer took a moment to punch the air in triumph before, without further ado, scurrying off to go and retouch his tango routine. Now that Roxas was going to be his possible partner, he'd definitely need to make some adjustments. Roxas himself had proven with his little leg-rubbing action that Axel's current steps were, by far, in need of change.

They just weren't sexy enough.