Cheap Shot

~*"Their two favorite words."*~

Axel was thinking of Larxene.

It was so unusual for him to dwell over the thought of any Organization member, but she was an exception. He wanted to ask her, and get an answer in return, what exactly had happened to make her as she was? No one was just born like that. It was impossible.

Deep in his musings, the Flurry of Dancing Flames grinned. Because despite his deep thinking, he still heard the voices outside his door.

"No, no. You tell him." A quiet murmur sounded.

"Someone needs to knock," a softer voice said.

"I don't want to be the bearer of bad news," Roxas's more mild voice argued.

"Well, we can knock together." Xion said impatiently. Three rapid knocks and Axel chuckled.

"Come in."

Xion, Roxas, and Namine crept into the room, the girl between Roxas and Xion so anyone outside the room couldn't see her. Roxas was gripping Namine's hand protectively, but if he thought Axel cared he had snuck her out yet again he was mistaken.

"What's up?" Axel sat straight in bed, swinging his legs over the side. He looked from each frightened, uneasy face to the other. "C'mon guys, really."

"I-"

"She-"

"The Heartless-"

Axel sighed as three different voices muttered under their breaths. He tapped his foot, waiting for them to stop.

Namine raised her hand and everyone ceased their babbling. "Axel…I…Larxene's hurt."

Axel raised his eyebrows. "Seriously so?" He knew the Nymph would be irritated with him if he went to find her and she didn't need any help.

"She's…well, Saix hasn't heard from her. It was a really simple recon mission, and she should have been back in just an hour or so." Roxas said.

Axel stood up. "Where is she at?"

His voice was so urgent and worried that Xion was surprised. She said without any hesitation, "I'm sure it was The Olde Kingdom."

Axel closed his eyes. The Organization was unique in the fact that they could detect the passing of Nobodies. If he strained and concentrated, he could feel along the Darkness to locate Larxene. He found her, and the weak energy he felt from her made his blood run cold. Shaking his head, Axel opened a Dark Portal. The icy air was familiar and he paid it no mind. "Are you busy, Roxas, Xion?"

"We've finished our mission," Roxas said.

"Help me find Larxene, then! Nothing is going to happen to her, got it memorized?"

I said I'd protect her, Axel thought sourly. Roxas nodded, as did Xion. The raven haired girl plunged directly into the Portal, but Roxas gave Namine a worried look. The witch shook her head, stepping into the Darkness unflinchingly with her friend close by.

Axel grabbed his black pouch of items from his bedside before going in after them.

The Portal closed with a tired whoosh.

~***~

The Olde Kingdom was all forests, little villages and larger towns, and weird armored people on horseback. She had passed this weird sword in a stone but she didn't care about it, not really.

Larxene shifted painfully, and she bit her lip. How the hell had she been almost freakin' defeated by a Heartless and some of those weird armored knights? The Heartless was gone for now, that monstrosity of a thing, but those men might be back any moment.

"Thirteen against one, not even counting that monster Heartless freak." She grumbled. They had seen her emerge from a portal and shouted something about sorceresses. She stood up, warily, too stubborn to sit still for long. She looked around as the evening shadows stretched across the fields, and that's when she noticed something behind her.

That wasn't her shadow, that jagged tower of bristling wings and armor-like coverings. She turned around and summoned her knives, tired as she was, and the thought touched her mind before she could banish it.

Axel, where the heck are you?

~***~

Axel was sprinting through the forest, barely aware of anything around him. He was following a gut instinct at the moment, something that told him he needed to head as far into the forest as possible. Roxas was left behind, watching Namine as he went the other way, but Xion was bounding along at his side.

"Axel, we don't even know where she is! Slow down!" Xion pleaded. The Flurry ignored her, his worry for the Savage Nymph overwhelming anything else. He sent fire out to ward off any Heartless that dared creep too close, and Xion handled the rest.

They rounded a corner on a barely worn path in the woods, and that's when they heard it.

A long, low, screaming roar. A Heartless.

"I bet you anything that Larxene is over there," Xion said as golden light lit the forest around them, but the lightning didn't catch on the trees.

Axel ran to the edges of a cliff ledge, looking down. Below them was a Heartless easily several feet tall, perhaps a dozen or so, only dwarfed by the ancient trees. Its entire body was a silvery, metallic color, like it was covered in steel plates, and yellow eyes glared downward with a cold malevolence. It was roughly bipedal, with three long claws on each appendage and a tail that ended in a sword-like point. The visible skin was a dark purple, and the beast's jaw was full of teeth.

And barely dodging each attack, the Heartless totally ignoring her lightning, was Larxene. She leaped, dived, twisted and swerved around it, firing more bolts and alternating between slashing and kicking at it, but the Heartless was unaffected.

Axel let loose the largest ball of fire he could muster, and melted the plates of steel on its back. The Heartless lifted its head slowly, turning around, but Axel jumped and landed at its feet, throwing more flames as he did so.

The Heartless found its feet covered in molten steel, and it lifted its legs sluggishly, slashing and waving its tail in an effort to strike at him, but Axel easily deflected the attack, tossing chakrams into its exposed sections.

"Axel, took your sweet time didn't you?" Larxene snarled, running to his side. "This thing will attract those knight jerks over here soon, if we fight much longer."

Xion called to Axel, "I'll go get Roxas!"

Axel nodded and she ran.

"Oh great, is all of your followers here now?"

"Stop complaining, you needed help!" Axel snapped, pushing her back before the Heartless could hit her with his spiny tail. Larxene retaliated with an electric shock to his system. "For once stop being so stubborn, we're going to lend a hand, like it or not."

Larxene hesitated, and then she nodded and accepted Axel's Elixir.

"Where are your items, sparky?" Axel asked as he pushed the exhausted Nymph safely behind him. The Heartless clawed and dragged its tail through the earth, snapping its teeth, but wouldn't get nearer to the dancing flames.

"I used them! I mean, really, recon for one hour and fighting twelve knights? I'm freakin' exhausted, not to mention this Heartless."

Even though the Elixir healed her wounds and restored her magic, it didn't change the fact she was still tired. Larxene was too obstinate to stop and rest though, so she jumped back into the melee.

Not long into the fight with the stubborn Heartless, Roxas and Xion appeared, with Namine looking fearfully over the edge, clenching her notebook, her eyes following Roxas as he twirled and jumped around the field.

The Heartless lashed out and clawed, bit and slashed, but it was no match for four Organization members and it fell in an explosion of dark energy, and since it was reaped by the Keyblade, one huge heart.

"Roxas, can you get Namine and Xion home?" Axel asked. "Larxene and I need to have a talk."

Confused, Roxas nodded, opening a Portal with only the slightest difficulty. Namine and Xion hesitated near its edges. "Why?" Namine asked.

"Seriously, why, Axel? I just want to get home and rest," snapped the Nymph.

"It's important. See you at the Castle, Roxas, Xion, and Namine."

They nodded and left, with Roxas looking curiously over his shoulder before the black closed around him.

Silence.

Larxene blinked her teal colored eyes, and now that they were gone, she slumped against the tree with a hiss. Axel tried to help her, but she shrugged him off.

"Why do you do that?" Axel lit a fire and kept it as a controlled mass in the air. The orange flames danced across his face, sending moving shadows every which way. "Refuse help."

"I don't need help," she replied, sitting down altogether. The day had taken more out of her than the Nymph cared to give. Axel sat beside her, and the natural warmth of his skin eased the coldness of the Kingdom's night.

"Hmm. Y'know, Larxene, no matter what you say, you owe me a favor on this one."

A weary sigh, obviously meant to be irritated. "What do you want, redhead?"

"I want to know about you. What happened to make you so reclusive?"

She lifted her head and stared into his eyes unflinchingly, Axel doing the same. The fire moved to hover a little above their heads. The wind rustled the trees and started a small symphony of dusk music accompanied by hooting owls.

"A boy, obviously."

Axel tried to keep as still as possible, as if Larxene would bolt like a rabbit if he moved too much. She moved her eyes to the left, focusing on a rock. "If I remember correctly, he said all the lies a boy always does. That he loves you, and wants to be with you and that he'll never betray you. So I let him take my heart, and I thought I had his." Her voice was full of bitter mocking, and Axel went against his instincts, but with his memories, and took her gloved hand in his, squeezing her fingers in silent reassurance.

"Then you find out that he was lying. Like men and humans always do. And then you find him with another girl, and he says it's through, it's over. You follow him into the rain, just wanting answers, just wanting to understand, and you know what happens?"

Axel was stunned to see tears going down Larxene's face, and he thought it was impossible. Tears couldn't form without a heart, could they? Much less from Larxene. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Then he'll say that you were never right for him anyway, and I was so stupid back then!" Anger flared in Larxene's voice and electricity flickered like fireflies in the air. "I actually begged like some pathetic tramp, and he slapped me, Axel. That's when I decided, not long after, that I was never going to get close to anyone again. They're just pain and broken trust and the agony of having your heart broken."

"That's why you don't want a heart. But it seems to me you can still remember the pain."

"It's your fault!" Larxene glared at him, her eyes flashing in the semidarkness. "I was trying to forget but you're bringing them back up! They were like foggy dreams at first, not connected me, but to someone else, almost a stranger's memories. But you had to keep pestering me to-"

"I will never break your trust."

A pause.

"So you say," she snorted, turning her head to the right and glaring, using her free hand to wipe her tears away. No more came, but Axel saw the silvery trails they left on her face. Another moment of hesitation, the Flurry reached out and lightly touched her face, turning her head to face him. He leaned forward slightly, his voice a low whisper. "I know that guy broke your heart, Larxene, but you can't give up on everyone because of that."

She didn't reply.

"I want you to listen to me, okay? I'd never break your trust Larxene, never do anything to hurt you, not unless you were going down a path I could not follow."

"Where can't you go?" She asked quietly, her free hand holding his own hand in place.

Axel chuckled warmly. "Well I'm not exactly sure yet, still testing my boundaries. Hopefully I won't have any reason to see my borders."

He then pressed his lips to hers, and there was only the slightest resistance, her body tensed, before she relaxed and leaned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around him.

When Axel pulled back, he was surprised to see something. Larxene turned away, looking at the crescent moon above their heads. "That kiss was a cheap shot, Axel!"

"No it wasn't. You liked it, don't deny it." Axel only snickered as she started sparking. A smirk. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It's nothing you idiot."

"Yes, I think it is!" Axel inched forward, his emerald eyes gleaming. "Ha, it is! You're blushing!"

"Shut up! It's not a blush, we can't blush you moron! It's your dang fire, it's too warm."

Axel affectionately ruffled her hair, and the Nymph huffed, wondering if she should electrocute him now.

"Let's get you home, then." Axel stood up and opened the Portal, and Larxene said before she stepped into its dark depths,

"One word of this. To anyone, and I'm killing you personally."

"Wouldn't dream of it, sparky."

~***~

Axel was awakened by the miniscule sound of a Portal opening in his room. He sat up in bed to see Larxene in Kingdom Heart's pallid light, her teal eyes shining. "Let's get this straight, redhead, okay? If we're doing this…relationship, you understand I have full rights-"

"To murder me, kill me, drug me and then kill me, electrocute me, torture me, obliterate me; the list goes on, Larxene. But I get the message."

He stood up and pulled her into an embrace, smirking as she actually returned it. "You got it memorized then?" She asked.

He tilted her head up and grinned. "Completely committed to memory."

Then he kissed her again.

~***~

Huh.

I'm not sure what to say 'bout this chapter, if you dislike it, I completely understand. Thanks again to my reviewers, yes indeed. Dropping another is quite welcome. I apologize if this is odd, meant to be a oneshot, after all.