Author's Note: See, I told you I'd be cranking out oneshots these days.

Hello again, guys. This is me updating a little story I started, oh, back in the beginning of this year but didn't get the chance to finish until tonight. XD As far as I know, there shouldn't be any Birth By Sleep spoilers below aside from, well, Axel and Saix's real names, so if you're wary about reading any spoilers you shouldn't worry about reading this. I-it's another metaphor-ish ficlet that I put together because...I guess I'm in that kind of mood lately, so, yes! Please enjoy~

Disclaimer: Nnnnothing really aside from a little bit of BLOOD?

1, 2, 3

Isa tells Lea to count to three, which shouldn't be difficult to do, but because the redhead is impatient he pouts and at first refuses.

"If you don't, then we can't play," Isa responds, shaking his head toward the ground with arms akimbo. The boy in front of him, shorter, immature, and stubborn stands on an entirely opposite side of the spectrum. And while Isa may not understand the reason why they're friends, he tries not to question it, because doing so would ruin the relationship all together—someone doesn't have to prove their friendship; they only need to know it exists otherwise they aren't really friends, right?

The redheaded boy sighs, momentarily glaring up at the crystal blue sky and the fountains shooting nearly fifty feet in the air, before smiling as he always does.

"Fine, but you'd better not cheat this time."

Isa returns the smile, though it's smaller and much less cheeky than Lea's. "Sure."

Seemingly happy with that response Lea quickly adjusts the yellow and checkered scarf around his neck before positioning his feet on the starting line the two of them created for themselves. It's little more than a stick Lea had found in the town square, but to a child's imagination a stick can be anything. Admittedly they aren't children anymore—both of them at least 15 years of age—but anyone would think that with how playful they are they're ten years younger. Lea, as Isa can recall, blue eyes momentarily glancing over at the redhead who is doing some sort of silly stretching routine to his left, has big plans for the future, and yet he never seems to grow up.

He tells him almost every day that he wants to be remembered, and that being in people's memories will keep him alive forever, and though Isa finds the thought to be silly, maybe even the slightest bit stupid, he says nothing against it...because Lea is his friend. All his dreams, all his aspirations and childhood fantasies become a part of his memories, too, ever since they met, so there's nothing to complain about.

"All right! On the count of three!"

Isa looks up from the ground, blinking, and gets into a starting position behind the wooden stick.

"One...two..."

But by the time Lea reaches the end of his count and begins running away on worn down Converse shoes, his laughter reverberating against the walls of water and stone, Isa remains standing, alone, behind the starting line. Sometimes...he feels like he's older than he should be—the adult in his and Lea's friendship—but the sight of that silly boy disappearing in the distance brings nothing but comfort to Isa's chest. He smiles, because in all this time, all this distance, the other boy still hasn't noticed that his friend hasn't followed. No glance over his shoulder, no quip or stopping to check—no, Lea only wants to win.

The blue haired boy shakes his head with a scoff and decides to sit crossed legged at the starting line...to wait, just wait, for Lea—now a red and orange dot disappearing in the distance—to return.

This time he wants his friend to win.

He wants him to be happy.

xxXXxx

It's a week later when Lea, idly twirling his Frisbee around his finger, spots a familiar face walking by the gardens without him. He grins, a mischievous snicker accompanying it, and with Frisbee in hand saunters over toward the one who walked around a corner.

"Isa," he calls out once the blue haired boy is in sight, "Where're you off to?"

...To his surprise Isa's voice doesn't come. It never comes. With nothing but a freeze in his tracks and a glance of his shoulder his friend brushes off the question like rainwater on his back before continuing his walk toward the two double doors awaiting him ahead.

xxXXxx

They play Frisbee the week after that, and Lea immediately notices how detached Isa has been for the past couple of minutes they've been walking towards the gardens. However, once their feet touch the grass and the pungent scent of tulips waft in the breeze, Isa's back on track and he catches the toy with little hesitation...just as Lea remembers.

"Don't let me win this time!" Lea calls out after tossing the disc back to his best friend. Isa jumps to catch it and tosses it back with a laugh.

"How do you know I let you?"

The redheaded boy scoffs and swiftly catches the Frisbee with both hands. "Because you always throw like a girl."

Isa can only shake his head at that...and, as Lea puts it, throw like a girl. It's true that he always allows his friend to win and that he hardly ever wins at even the easiest of boardgames, but, to Isa, that's hardly something to be ashamed of. He wants the best for Lea.

He wants him to be happy.

That day...Isa loses again.

xxXXxx

Lea's happiness only lasts so long. He isn't happy when Isa goes on a day trip to the beach without him and he doesn't like it when he comes back too tired to play cops and robbers, even if it's a silly game that younger kids play while their parents chat on the sidelines. But Isa knows better and in the morning when he wakes and walks across the block to Lea's house, he tosses a pebble at the boy's window just as always, counts to three, and there Lea is with the ghost of a smile on his face.

Within minutes there they go: down the street for another round of whatever the day has in store for them. Some days they race, other days they throw stones and loose munny in the fountains, and sometimes if they're really daring they'll try to sneak past the guards at the castle just to be grabbed by the scruff of their shirts and tossed back out. Today, however, they do none of that and instead go for a simple walk around the town, Lea, of course, taking every opportunity he can to jump onto a stone wall or railing and walk along its narrow path, arms held out to his sides and Isa below, waiting to catch him should he topple over.

That's always what Isa is to Lea, really; a safety net. He doesn't understand the term yet, but when he's older he'll come to understand the importance of Isa's presence at his side...because when he falls the last thing he wants is for it to hurt and the last thing he wants is for Isa to be gone.

"Hey, Isa?" Lea asks, wobbling a little with a couple steps.

Isa turns his head to look up at the redhead and slows just in case he has to break his fall. "Hm?"

"You know, last week I saw you at that old castle."

It's a subject that immediately causes the boy to look away and shove his hands in his pockets.

Figuring he's just listening, Lea continues. "I guess you didn't hear me, but...I wanted to know what you were doin' there anyway."

Isa doesn't hesitate for too long. "I was just taking part in a little research."

"Really?" At this Lea stops and shoots a curious look down at his friend. "Research about what?"

"It's...like extra credit."

"Aw, come on, man, that's cheating!"

Isa manages a weak smile at that and holds his head up higher. It's a lie, yes, but, he'd rather stick to lies instead of risk losing Lea.

"I'm just getting a head start on my summer homework."

Lea intertwines his hands behind his head and pouts up at the sky and it's at that point that he loses his footing and trips over his own shoelaces, though this time, unlike all the other times, Isa isn't looking when he breaks his fall. The boys collide with each other in a tangle of limbs and screeching voices before, once Lea looks up to see that his scarf has flung itself over Isa's face, the two break into a bout of laughter.

The words were lies, but the laughter—That isn't.

xxXXxx

...Suddenly they're two boys caught in a tangle of one another again, though this time...there is no laughter. There's nothing but ash and smoke caught in the air ways and piles of wood and stone collapsing about them, leaving them trapped and engulfed in what might as well be death. There's blood on Isa's face, dripping in vibrant beads down the bridge of his nose and lips, and from where Lea is lying breathless he can see that his eyes are tired and spent.

Lea gasps, unable to move his legs or arms, because he can see the darkness filtering through the cracks in his and Isa's burning enclave. Amber eyes follow hungry and already devouring them limb from limb even without those sticky little fingers touching their bodies. It's a sight that chills him to the bone, but, more than that, the sight of Isa dragging himself over to him while on his stomach—body bloody and cut, burnt, seeping darkness and losing light—

"Isa..." he manages to say but Isa shakes his head, later collapsing atop the redhead.

"Lea," the other boy returns, though he isn't quite a boy anymore. The years have passed, their bodies are no longer young, but what hasn't changed is what they are. Isa is sure of this when he glances down at his friend who is fading by the minute—falling, teetering on the edge—and until the very end he vows to keep his promise of breaking that fall. Now amber eyes unfamiliar to Lea shut before a bloody hand rises to gently fall over emerald eyes, leaving Lea's world to darkness.

"...Count to three," Isa whispers to which Lea can't help but chuckle.

Now. Out of all times? But he does as told, unlike before when life was...as it should have bee, and once his breath falls on the last count the darkness invades their space, their bodies, their hearts—ripping them to pieces.

...3.

xxXXxx

"I'm not doing it again."

"You'll do it again."

"Why? I got 'em all the first time."

"That doesn't matter. You're still going over your time limit."

He scoffs and scowls off to the side, not caring if anyone sees, and in the palms of his leather clad hands there is the sound of crackling. There's no reaction, however, as is probably for the best, and rather than stand around relieving the false anger pent up within him, he growls and simply flings his arms out to his side, sending metal colliding into one pot after another, shattering them to pieces.

With none left to destroy, he honestly feels empty, emptier than he should be, but with the shallow sound of clapping from behind his expression softens if only for a beat and then he glances over...seeing those yellow eyes blankly staring back at him.

"Better. Had I known you could achieve that, maybe I would have cajoled you earlier."

"Tch." The redhead straightens up before banishing his weapons from his hands, though he comes to regret doing so when a Dusk suddenly creeps up from behind to slash him across the back per the other's order. He cringes and ends up on his knees, clutching at his side in pain, and it isn't until he hears the sound of heels clacking in the opposite direction that Axel comes to realize how cold the floor really is.

Isa wasn't there to break his fall.

"Always keep your guard up." And with that Saix takes his leave, leaving Axel—not Lea—behind the finish line.

He doesn't care for their happiness, let alone his...because such an emotion is now superficial.

...Saix never knows how often Axel still counts to three in hopes that when he finishes...there the two of them will be, crossing the line together, laughing, and being as two boys once were.

"Isa, you cheated!"

"How?"

"You let me win again."

"Fine. Maybe next time I'll let you lose."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

And when was that next time? I'll leave that up to you to decide.

I've...grown a little soft spot for these two as well as Axel and Saix ever since Days and BBS came out. I just-It's so bittersweet and sad. Don't be surprised if I crank out an Axel/Saix story soonish since, uh, I've already got two in the making. XD I will try to get back on track with my other chapter stories as soon as I find the inspiration for them. It's just that right now my mind is set to write oneshots about bittersweetness...and I can't...get it to deter away from that. Sob.

At any rate, thank you for reading and, as always, thank you for continuing to be my inspiration.

your friends make all the difference,
kokoro77