Of embers and ashes

Two people who couldn't be more different, yet at the same time, couldn't be more alike.

Axel and Riku, Riku and Axel.

Embers and ashes, ashes and embers.

Maybe, once, they could have been friends, best friends. But not now, they had made decisions that would put them at odds, mistakes that made them enemies. Unwilling enemies in an undefined war. The grudging respect was there, as well as hazy fear.

"I don't want to be like him"

They stood across from each other, thinking this. Riku stared at the young man across from him, comparing. Life personified, it seemed he was. But that was ironic, seeing as Axel wasn't alive, not really. Hair that stood blood-red, each lock standing alone like an individual flame. Proud acid-green eyes. Sun-kissed skin. Loud, enthusiastic, happy. Yes, he like was everything that represented life. Riku smiled.

If he is life, what am I?

Axel smirked at the slightly smaller boy across from him, comparing. Death in the flesh, he appeared to be. But that was just hilarious, because Riku wasn't dead, not even close. Hair that fell moon-pale, drifting softly around his face. Soft, glowing-white skin. Eyes that were a strange blue-it looked like the sea. Bright, glittering but deep and unfathomable. Oh, yes. Riku most certainly was the description of "death". Axel grinned.

"If he is death, what am I?"

An eternity passed as they watched each other. The were in the World That Never Was. Itfit them. Friends who never were. They weren't going to fight, not today. But not fighting was so strange when it came to them that they just stood there, not know what to do. They were opposites, him and Axel. Axel was always so happy, headstrong and proud. But there was something more, a little glitch in his persona, a crack in the mask. It was that sadness, that bone-crushing despair that he carried around like a stone in his soul. At the center of the inferno was a rain-storm that would never leave. His face reflected that, two tear-drops upside-down on his face, under his eyes. And it scared him.

"I hope to God I never end up like that"

They were like Yin and Yang, him and Riku. Riku was so serious, headstrong and proud. So somber, always. But there was something more. A chink in his armor, a crack in the mask he wore. It was that joy, that soul-lifting happiness he carried like a seed in his heart. In the center of the storm, was a fire that remained. He had a light that never went out. It wasn't obvious, but it was there, like sun behind the clouds. And it scared him.

"May I never become like him"

Looking at the two of them, you'd think of embers and ashes, Axel was like embers that burned so brightly, beautiful and mesmerizing. Warm and lovely. But eventually, embers went out, leaving only an after-image that quickly faded and was gone, forgotten. Riku was akin to the ashes, the remnants of all that was bright and beautiful. Beautiful in their own right, but unlike embers they did remain, ghostly and ethereal, long after the initial flames went out. Axel knew, deep down, that long after he passed from existence, Riku would still be around, a memory of the war, a twisted and reversed image of Axel in the mirror.

"Looking at him, you'd think there was light in these shadows"

They walked past each other, heading to wherever they needed to be. A sigh from Axel's lips, because it's sad, light and dark, dark and light, they should be friends, right? But they aren't, and that feels wrong. Riku glances back over his shoulder, at the bright, receding figure. He whispers, even though he knows it's futile and knows the other won't hear, can't hear.

"Shine as brightly as you can before you fade, because then you'll never go out"

"because then, You'll never be like me"