[Fic] Axel/Roxas - a moment to be real
Title: a moment to be real [Ao3]
Series: Kingdom Hearts
Pairing/Characters: Axel/Roxas, Kairi/Sora/Riku, Namine, Xion
Rating: PG-13
Total length: 1598 words
Warnings: Space Pirates
Summary: There are rumors of them-legends really, spread throughout the galaxy from those they'd been kind enough to spare.
Author's Note: Written for ravewalker at my Kingdom Hearts meme. Third part of the Treasure Planet fusion- Winds of the Etherium. Prompt was "I'm Still Here," which naturally made me think of the song, which made me think of this series. Title is from the same song.
There are rumors of them-legends really, spread throughout the galaxy from those they'd been kind enough to spare. They said that they were princely despite living in squalor-that their ship was the size of a hundred castles but smaller than the sparsest of hovels. They said that they killed indiscriminately, blue eyes flashing and the edge of a smile flecked in blood-that they took no prisoners and let the void of space have the corpses. They also said that they were kind, that they spared children and only targeted the choicest of villains. That they were the scourge of the multiverse-that their decks ran red to sate their bloodlust.
Namine smiles as she tells the latest tale. She wonders if the boys will appreciate this one.
.
"Move over, Axel," Roxas hisses, his bangs singed enough that they're still smoking. Axel rolls his eyes.
"I know how to pilot my own ship, Rox," he grits out, fighting to keep the wheel from spinning out of control. Roxas makes a noise of frustration, something like an irate cat, and wrenches the wheel from his hands. He locks his left forearm against it, keeping it in place as he fiddles with the gears and levers on the control strip. The strip spits sparks at him and he grimaces, kicking one foot up onto the wheel and holding it there, using his now free hand to input some code.
"No, you're an idiot, that's what you are. The repulsors are all fucked up, our terminal velocity is shot to all hell and back, and we're drifting into the gravitational pull of a fucking blue giant. No, Axel, it's not okay. She's an antique! You need to treat her with more respect."
Axel gapes at him, gesturing to the foot that Roxas is steering with, the mud starting to coat the pristine wheel. Roxas shoots him a scathing look.
"Just shut up and let me drive. Wake the crew and tell them to get the solar sails unfurled."
"Aye aye, sir," Axel purrs, rolling his eyes as he starts down the stairs.
.
Their crew is small, because after the Achereon neither of them were inclined to trust many people enough to let them onto Le Amorette. So they have a scraggly few loyal friends they keep on board for times like this, when it's physically impossible to pilot the ship by themselves and still live to tell about it.
Namine they picked up in Txittua when Axel had coerced Roxas into heading over to the small star cluster just to have a taste of their alchemic moon-berry wine. When Roxas had protested, saying that it was a ridiculous waste of time because he had tasted their wine, that Axel had stolen the recipe forever ago and only allowed it out on special occasions, Axel had scoffed at him. He leaned in close and told Roxas that he meant the real wine, made by the professionals beneath Txittua's third moon in fields of dew-speckled berries.
Namine had been a priestess of the Red Lord, a petite thing with pale hair and paler eyes that had cowered when Roxas and Axel had broken into the temple's basement to get away from the Red Guard. She'd had a good reason for cowering of course-the berry juice that stained their white tunics had looked far too much like blood in the dim lighting, and it was all they could do to stop her from caterwauling before the whole planet descended on them.
After that little miscommunication had been cleared up, she'd taken a liking to them, showing them around the Vineyard properly and teaching them how to tell the good berries from the bad ones.
They'd bid her farewell, and the next time they'd dropped into Txittua she'd come with them, a bag already packed beneath her bed.
Xion's story was more difficult to tell, a clone that a terrorist group had grown from Sora's cells in the hopes of infiltrating the Alliance. The fact that she'd come out as a girl and looking more like Axel's sister than Roxas's brother was neither here nor there, so they'd dubbed her useless and sent her out on a slave ship headed towards Kizyette. The fact that Axel had been on board at the time was both a blessing and a curse. It wasn't unheard of that Mutt's were picked up from planets and shoved aboard trade ships, and that's exactly what had happened. One minute you're picking up parts to repair your ship, the next you're knocked out and on your way to a planet that will sell you for either sex or labor.
He'd spotted her in the mess hall, and his tongue had gotten caught between wanting to shout his sister's name or calling Roxas's brothers.
When Roxas had finally sprung him loose, Xion had gone with him, her little hand clenched tight to his.
Kairi was a more off-and-on crew member. Some months she spent her time being a naval officer's wife and a physicist, and others she spent stealing and pillaging with her brother and her husband's brother. She was good at it too, even if Sora never quite got over Roxas becoming a pirate much less stealing his wife away for months at the time. She assured them that Riku would keep her husband occupied and when she winked at Axel, he was torn between wanting to rip her husband and their lover apart for daring to touch his baby sister and the strong desire to give her a fistbump.
Kairi was pleasant to have aboard though, her enthusiasm catching as she whooped and hollered at the passing cargo ships and made necklaces for all the crew members. When she thought no one was looking she'd climb the sails and sit with the Shadows, feeding them little chunks of meat and cooing when they rubbed against her legs. Some days the girls would sit together in the depths of Le Amorette and put their brilliant minds together, upgrading their weapons and navigation systems and surprising Axel and Roxas with them.
Now when Axel makes his way to the bottom of the stairs, Kairi's already in action, monitoring the valves and pressure warnings as she tinkers with the engine. Axel would feel worried that she isn't keeping an eye on what her hand's are doing, but his baby sister has always been a genius, and this is no exception.
Namine and Xion rush past him so fast that he has to grip the railing. He sighs and glances over to Kairi. "You okay down here, sis?"
"You betcha, Captain," she chirps, whistling merrily as she cheerfully beats a piece of the engine into submission. Axel rolls his eyes and makes his way back to the deck, where Xion has already scurried up the main mast and is slowly unfurling the solar sails. Namine is with Roxas at the wheel, guiding the wheel calmly as Roxas frantically punches buttons.
The ship's already turning away from the sun, sails catching its rays and propelling them away.
"See, Rox?" he grins. "It was nothing to worry about."
.
See, the thing is, they love their lives. They curl up in a nest of pillows at night and watch the stars pass overhead. They steal and pillage and occassionally they'll take down a nasty operation, but the thing is, they never take the missions where people will get hurt. They keep the girls out of trouble and when they drop Kairi back off on Oarahn Sora will greet his brother with a hug, his wife with a kiss, and Axel with a halfhearted glare. Kairi will make Sora and Riku invite them to dinner and all seven of them will huddle around Sora, Kairi, and Riku's dining room table, sipping alchemic wine and laughing when Sora attempts to help Riku in the kitchen. They'll tell Sora and Riku of their journeys and in turn, Riku will tell them about Sora's crew. How Donald had managed to misread a transcript and nearly sent them over enemy lines, but how Sora had saved the day, pacifying the outlying planet's leaders into not declaring war against the Alliance.
Namine will sometimes sketch cartoons of everybody on her napkins, and Xion will braid her hair as they're waiting for dessert to be served.
When dinner is over, they'll leave Kairi with hugs and well wishes and they'll take to the skies again.
They make bets on which story Namine will tell at the next planet, which rumors she'll weave, her words one of their biggest defences. None of the other pirates come close to them, and Sora keeps the Alliance off their backs. Xion and Namine will roll their eyes when Axel twirls Roxas around the deck, laughing so hard that he flushes a deep grey.
There are bad days, when Axel comes back from a heist dripping inky black liquid all over the deck and Roxas panics, staunching the blood flow with a towel as Namine rushes off to get the healing kits.
Then there are the good days, like the next time they visit Oarahn and Kairi's belly is faintly rounded, radiant with happiness as Sora and Riku wait on her every move. Axel will press his ear to his sister's stomach and coo at his unborn nephew or niece, and Roxas will tease her about the possibility of her kid taking after her and Axel's mom.
Namine tells her stories, but the unspoken one is this:
Love keeps Le Amorette moving, and family means everything.
Series: Kingdom Hearts
Pairing/Characters: Axel/Roxas, Kairi/Sora/Riku, Namine, Xion
Rating: PG-13
Total length: 1598 words
Warnings: Space Pirates
Summary: There are rumors of them-legends really, spread throughout the galaxy from those they'd been kind enough to spare.
Author's Note: Written for ravewalker at my Kingdom Hearts meme. Third part of the Treasure Planet fusion- Winds of the Etherium. Prompt was "I'm Still Here," which naturally made me think of the song, which made me think of this series. Title is from the same song.
There are rumors of them-legends really, spread throughout the galaxy from those they'd been kind enough to spare. They said that they were princely despite living in squalor-that their ship was the size of a hundred castles but smaller than the sparsest of hovels. They said that they killed indiscriminately, blue eyes flashing and the edge of a smile flecked in blood-that they took no prisoners and let the void of space have the corpses. They also said that they were kind, that they spared children and only targeted the choicest of villains. That they were the scourge of the multiverse-that their decks ran red to sate their bloodlust.
Namine smiles as she tells the latest tale. She wonders if the boys will appreciate this one.
.
"Move over, Axel," Roxas hisses, his bangs singed enough that they're still smoking. Axel rolls his eyes.
"I know how to pilot my own ship, Rox," he grits out, fighting to keep the wheel from spinning out of control. Roxas makes a noise of frustration, something like an irate cat, and wrenches the wheel from his hands. He locks his left forearm against it, keeping it in place as he fiddles with the gears and levers on the control strip. The strip spits sparks at him and he grimaces, kicking one foot up onto the wheel and holding it there, using his now free hand to input some code.
"No, you're an idiot, that's what you are. The repulsors are all fucked up, our terminal velocity is shot to all hell and back, and we're drifting into the gravitational pull of a fucking blue giant. No, Axel, it's not okay. She's an antique! You need to treat her with more respect."
Axel gapes at him, gesturing to the foot that Roxas is steering with, the mud starting to coat the pristine wheel. Roxas shoots him a scathing look.
"Just shut up and let me drive. Wake the crew and tell them to get the solar sails unfurled."
"Aye aye, sir," Axel purrs, rolling his eyes as he starts down the stairs.
.
Their crew is small, because after the Achereon neither of them were inclined to trust many people enough to let them onto Le Amorette. So they have a scraggly few loyal friends they keep on board for times like this, when it's physically impossible to pilot the ship by themselves and still live to tell about it.
Namine they picked up in Txittua when Axel had coerced Roxas into heading over to the small star cluster just to have a taste of their alchemic moon-berry wine. When Roxas had protested, saying that it was a ridiculous waste of time because he had tasted their wine, that Axel had stolen the recipe forever ago and only allowed it out on special occasions, Axel had scoffed at him. He leaned in close and told Roxas that he meant the real wine, made by the professionals beneath Txittua's third moon in fields of dew-speckled berries.
Namine had been a priestess of the Red Lord, a petite thing with pale hair and paler eyes that had cowered when Roxas and Axel had broken into the temple's basement to get away from the Red Guard. She'd had a good reason for cowering of course-the berry juice that stained their white tunics had looked far too much like blood in the dim lighting, and it was all they could do to stop her from caterwauling before the whole planet descended on them.
After that little miscommunication had been cleared up, she'd taken a liking to them, showing them around the Vineyard properly and teaching them how to tell the good berries from the bad ones.
They'd bid her farewell, and the next time they'd dropped into Txittua she'd come with them, a bag already packed beneath her bed.
Xion's story was more difficult to tell, a clone that a terrorist group had grown from Sora's cells in the hopes of infiltrating the Alliance. The fact that she'd come out as a girl and looking more like Axel's sister than Roxas's brother was neither here nor there, so they'd dubbed her useless and sent her out on a slave ship headed towards Kizyette. The fact that Axel had been on board at the time was both a blessing and a curse. It wasn't unheard of that Mutt's were picked up from planets and shoved aboard trade ships, and that's exactly what had happened. One minute you're picking up parts to repair your ship, the next you're knocked out and on your way to a planet that will sell you for either sex or labor.
He'd spotted her in the mess hall, and his tongue had gotten caught between wanting to shout his sister's name or calling Roxas's brothers.
When Roxas had finally sprung him loose, Xion had gone with him, her little hand clenched tight to his.
Kairi was a more off-and-on crew member. Some months she spent her time being a naval officer's wife and a physicist, and others she spent stealing and pillaging with her brother and her husband's brother. She was good at it too, even if Sora never quite got over Roxas becoming a pirate much less stealing his wife away for months at the time. She assured them that Riku would keep her husband occupied and when she winked at Axel, he was torn between wanting to rip her husband and their lover apart for daring to touch his baby sister and the strong desire to give her a fistbump.
Kairi was pleasant to have aboard though, her enthusiasm catching as she whooped and hollered at the passing cargo ships and made necklaces for all the crew members. When she thought no one was looking she'd climb the sails and sit with the Shadows, feeding them little chunks of meat and cooing when they rubbed against her legs. Some days the girls would sit together in the depths of Le Amorette and put their brilliant minds together, upgrading their weapons and navigation systems and surprising Axel and Roxas with them.
Now when Axel makes his way to the bottom of the stairs, Kairi's already in action, monitoring the valves and pressure warnings as she tinkers with the engine. Axel would feel worried that she isn't keeping an eye on what her hand's are doing, but his baby sister has always been a genius, and this is no exception.
Namine and Xion rush past him so fast that he has to grip the railing. He sighs and glances over to Kairi. "You okay down here, sis?"
"You betcha, Captain," she chirps, whistling merrily as she cheerfully beats a piece of the engine into submission. Axel rolls his eyes and makes his way back to the deck, where Xion has already scurried up the main mast and is slowly unfurling the solar sails. Namine is with Roxas at the wheel, guiding the wheel calmly as Roxas frantically punches buttons.
The ship's already turning away from the sun, sails catching its rays and propelling them away.
"See, Rox?" he grins. "It was nothing to worry about."
.
See, the thing is, they love their lives. They curl up in a nest of pillows at night and watch the stars pass overhead. They steal and pillage and occassionally they'll take down a nasty operation, but the thing is, they never take the missions where people will get hurt. They keep the girls out of trouble and when they drop Kairi back off on Oarahn Sora will greet his brother with a hug, his wife with a kiss, and Axel with a halfhearted glare. Kairi will make Sora and Riku invite them to dinner and all seven of them will huddle around Sora, Kairi, and Riku's dining room table, sipping alchemic wine and laughing when Sora attempts to help Riku in the kitchen. They'll tell Sora and Riku of their journeys and in turn, Riku will tell them about Sora's crew. How Donald had managed to misread a transcript and nearly sent them over enemy lines, but how Sora had saved the day, pacifying the outlying planet's leaders into not declaring war against the Alliance.
Namine will sometimes sketch cartoons of everybody on her napkins, and Xion will braid her hair as they're waiting for dessert to be served.
When dinner is over, they'll leave Kairi with hugs and well wishes and they'll take to the skies again.
They make bets on which story Namine will tell at the next planet, which rumors she'll weave, her words one of their biggest defences. None of the other pirates come close to them, and Sora keeps the Alliance off their backs. Xion and Namine will roll their eyes when Axel twirls Roxas around the deck, laughing so hard that he flushes a deep grey.
There are bad days, when Axel comes back from a heist dripping inky black liquid all over the deck and Roxas panics, staunching the blood flow with a towel as Namine rushes off to get the healing kits.
Then there are the good days, like the next time they visit Oarahn and Kairi's belly is faintly rounded, radiant with happiness as Sora and Riku wait on her every move. Axel will press his ear to his sister's stomach and coo at his unborn nephew or niece, and Roxas will tease her about the possibility of her kid taking after her and Axel's mom.
Namine tells her stories, but the unspoken one is this:
Love keeps Le Amorette moving, and family means everything.