Tais Toi Mon Coeur
so I realized that I hadn't posted the log in which Axel regained his heart. Like. Ever. Way to fail, huh?
HERE IT IS.
Axel loped in a circle around the savannah. It'd been several days since sora and roxas merged, and he was impatient. Ryuu'd said he had a heartbeat? That just made him all the more eager.
Sora was more awake this time, and more interested in adjusting to his lion form. Plus, this butterfly needed to be pounced on.
Songbird was liking the Pridelands less and less. She had in fact left it during the interum, seeking safer grounds, but Axel and Sora enjoyed it, and so she agreed to use it as a meeting point one more time.
The pale gazelle emerged from her Corridor and simply watched the pair of lions for a moment, waiting for them to notice her.
Sora didn't notice her at all, he was too busy trying to capture the surprisingly elusive butterfly. And hey, he didn't mind faceplanting so much this time around.
"Hey Song," Axel said, brightening when he saw her. "How's life?"
She chuckled at the question. "Wild as usual. Speaking of which, you certainly look lively. Ready to finish this?"
his tail twitched. "yeah"
Sora pounced again, completely oblivious for the moment.
Axel looked over his shoulder, and stared at Sora for a while. "he looks like he's having fun," he said with a smile.
She bobbed her head in a nod, prancing a little closer. "Oh, Sora! Do you think you can use that miraculous feline ability to fall asleep even now?"
The butterfly flew just out of his paws, and he looked rather defeated for a few minutes. "Oh! I could try," he said with a toothy grin.
"there'll be butterflies around later," Axel said with his own grin, as he flopped down into a patch of grass, sending more butterlfies scattering.
Sora couldn't resist trying to catch one of those stray butterflies anyway. Not that he'd know what to do with it once he caught i.
Sora's playful energy was infection, even to Song. She just had to gallop forward and scatter the butterflies further before circling back around and trotting over to Axel.
"Heheh.. He's right. I'll even chase them with you later, if you can help me fix Axel's heart first."
Axel tossed his red, spikey mane in impatience. "Yeah, so lets get to it already."
Sora circled around a bit, then flopped down on the ground. "Okay, okay," he said, although he couldn't help but be amused by how pushy Axel was being.
Song smiled at them both, feeling comfortable in the presence of friends, and being slightly awed when she recognized that feeling. She said nothing, however.
Axel lowered his head onto his forepaws, and closed his eyes.
Sora did eventually fall asleep, luckily. Maybe it was one of the perks of being a cat.
Song waited, as always, until she was sure they were ready. And then, remembering the previous time, she projected herself into Axel's dreamspace, pausing there to check on him just briefly before she tried to bring Sora in.
He was waiting for them both at the entrance of a wooden tunnel, his hair, as always fluctuating between spikes and not
She gave a small wave and sat herself down without a word, repeating the process of projecting once again, keeping part of herself locked to Axel while she reached... and grabbed onto Sora's consciousness.
A quick mental message to prepare himself, and she pulled him back along the line.
It was probably the strangest thing he'd ever experienced, and he clung onto whatever tangible thing he could reach (Song, as it were).
She made it as quick as she could, trying to ignore the dizzying feeling, and within moments her body in Axel's mind was solid again and Sora was beside her.
Axel was pacing in front of the tunnel, which was flanked by mirrors. In the mirrors, isntead of his reflection, was a brown-haired man that bore an uncanny resemblance to Axel.
When Sora dared to open his eyes, and he saw Axel, he immediately sprung to his feet.
"Axel?"
"Hey. Welcome to my head, I guess."
She watched them both measuringly - a common look for her - and then took a step into the tunnel. "Shall we, dears?"
"Sure," Axel said, pacing over to the tunnel.
Sora followed, eyes wandering around. Huh, Axel was right, his dreamscape WAS more interesting.
Song slowed to let Axel lead the way, as was his right, and smiled slightly at Sora's wondering expression. "It gets better."
And as they made their way down the tunnel, their clothes, as always, shifted from whatever they'd been wearing into Victorian-era clothing. Finally, they emerged into a well-lit steam-powered factory. The only problem was that the factory was deathly-still.
Sora couldn't help it, he muffled a snicker. What on earth was he wearing?
Songbird, of course, was prepared for her long dress and resigned to her corset. No point in fussing about clothing when there was a friend to save.
"Go ahead and give him the tour, Axel. Remember I am only here to enable this meeting. Sora's the one with the Light... and hopefully the spark you need."
Axel waved an arm, and beckoned to Sora. "C'mon, it's this way," he said, leading Sora over to an intricate switchboard.
plan awesome (12:09:09 AM): plan awesome (11:21:46 PM): Axel waved an arm, and beckoned to Sora. "C'mon, it's this way," he said, leading Sora over to an intricate switchboard.
Sora just stared helplessly at the switchboard. "I'm supposed to ...?" he began, trailing off.
He had a hard enough time with his own computer, much less a huge switchboard like this.
"Nah, I'm just showing you around"
"Oh." Sora tried not to look so relieved as he trailed behind Axel.
Song meandered down after them, skirting along the edges as usual, not touching, only watching and thinking.
Axel lead Sora down the rickety walkway to an elaborate structure, where one gear was poised, clearly the axis of this strange machine. He pointed below it. "there should be fire there," he said. "Fire to heat up the steam that'll make it run, but...."
He held out his hand and frowned, obviously concentrating. "I can't do anything with it."
Sora put his hands on his hips, thinking. There was an obvious solution, but--
"Axel? Will you let me summon the Keyblade in here?"
Axel blinked, then frowned. "Can you? If you can, I don't have any objections"
"It's your dream .. If you want me to, then I guess I can." Sora held out his hand in an attempt to summon the Keyblade.
Axel waited, watching, trying to facilitate his dreams letting the keyblade in.
There was a familiar burst of light as the Keyblade appeared, and he wrapped his fingers tightly around the hilt.
It prompted him to smile, tilting his head up to look at Axel.
Axel smiled back. "So... what are you planning to do?"
"Take a page from your book," Sora replied, holding up the weapon.
Axel raised an eyebrow, not sure what Sora meant, but... all the same, he trusted him.
Song watched from a distance, arms crossed, contemplative. She was glad that Sora had so quickly came to the idea of using the Keyblade. She had thought the same, but then, it was only natural.
"if you need fire to operate this thing," Sora said slowly, waving the Keyblade a bit.
"My fire isn't nearly as powerful as yours, but I'm willing to try."
Axel tilted his head, thinking. "Well, some fire is better than none at all, I guess."
Sora nodded, stepping towards the machine. He was going to give it all he had.
He muttered to himself, focusing all of his mana into the form of fire, and then forcing it from his body through the Keyblade. Hopefully that would be enough.
and fire there was, plenty of it, and yet...
The furnace stood cold, only one ember burning in the grate.
It was fire, for sure, but not nearly enough.
Sora huffed. Maybe he had to keep trying.
Axel sighed. "Needs a cataclysm, right Song? You got any ideas?"
Want me to hug you and envelope you in Light and love?" she was only half-joking.
axel frowned for a moment, then turned to her. "Would it work?"
Never mind discussion, Sora just tackled Axel from behind. Only one way to find out.
She gave a light shrug. "Who knows? It might hel-- Okay." She grinned a bit at the two. It wasn't a spark, she figured, but at least couldn't hurt.
Axel staggered a bit from the tackle, but regained his balance. He... wasn't sure what Sora was doing, but... it felt...
the center cog, smallest of all the gears and wheels and apparatuses, turned one tick.
"This isn't a very good hug," Sora murmured, still hanging on. "They're supposed to be mutual, Axel."
Song looked sharply at the machine, honestly surprised. Smiling, she moved to join them. "He's right. I think a group hug is in order, loves."
Axel grunted, then wiggled around so that he was facing Sora, and draped his arms around his friend's shoulders.
Sora grinned. "See?"
Songbird wrapped her arms around both of them, still grinning slightly. An aura of Light radiated from her center, surrounding them in a soft-edged dome. "Perhaps we can create the fire together."
"We can try..." Axel said, the doubt in his voice evident. He didn't think that hugging was the answer, or that it was this easy
Sora could sense the doubt from the inflections in Axel's voice. "What do you think would work, Axel?" he asked.
"if I knew, I would have tried it already" he retorted.
Her voice had a soothing lilt to it. "We just have to try everything until we find it. And remember not to constrain yourselves to rules of the physical plane. All three of us can dream fire, if we wish, or anything."
"Song, I've got plenty of fire. I think the picture is bigger than that -metaphorically." He pointed to the furnace. "Maybe we're being too literal - we don't need FIRE, literally, we need a power source. Something that'll make it tick"
"Song, I've got plenty of fire. I think the picture is bigger than that -metaphorically."
plan awesome (10:48:39 AM): He pointed to the furnace. "Maybe we're being too literal - we don't need FIRE, literally, we need a power source. Something that'll make it tick"
Sora frowned a bit, but he didn't pull away.
"Everything I say can be taken metaphorically," she commented. "Haven't you noticed?"
Axel shifted. "Yeah, I know. I'm just trying to figure out what'd work"
"Something other than fire ..." Sora pulled away that time, turning back towards the furnace.
"And Keyblades, apparently." She backed off again, but only slightly. "Well, I am out of ideas for the moment, but that will change. Keep thinking, keep trying. There must be something. We need a spark or a trigger..."
Well, he had an idea, anyway. Sora walked over, leaning down close to the opening of the furnace.
"What are you thinking about, Sora?" Axel asked, genuinely curious
"I'm thinking I'm gonna take a look around in here," Sora replied, swinging his legs around.
Axel blinked, but shrugged. "alright."
So he slid on down, leaving behind a trail of thick black dust.
Axel hesistated, and then crawled into the furnace behind Sora.
Song stayed behind, but close by, in case she was needed. "Be careful in there. It would be rather pointless to start it up and set yourselves on fire in the process!"
It took him a minute to adjust to the dark, but he was soon poking around, giving everything curious taps with the Keyblade.
Axel glanced backwards at Song. "I set myself on fire regularly for fun. I'll be fine."
"Oh, right. Point."
"It's so dark in here," Sora commented absently.
"Dunno if there's any light," Axel said.
Sora squinted through the darkness, looking for a light of any sort.
"Well, if fire won't work," he began, lost in thought.
"Light? A lantern? i dunno."
"Light?" Sora put his hands on his hips, suddenly grinning.
"Axel? Get out for a second."
Axel frowned, but obliged, scrambling out of the tunnel and over Song. He stood at the entrance, dusting the soot off his pants.
Sora stood in the furnace alone, his mind racing. He'd just have to give it some of his light; there was just the issue of figuring out how.
"If this is a dream," he mumbled to himself, Keyblade hoisted on his shoulder. "I can do whatever I want, right?"
"I think so," Axel called down.
"Just try," Song agreed, slightly impatient to see what he had planned.
It was settled, then. Sora plopped on the floor, eyes closed. If the furnace wanted light, it could have his.
He set the Keyblade on the floor, but didn't let go of the hilt. It would serve as his medium.
Sora pictured everything that ever made him happy, everything that ever helped him to keep fighting.
He thought about how Riku laughed whenever Sora said something lame. He thought about Kairi's gentle smile and laughter.
He thought about how it really was pretty hard to sleep without hearing Goofy's snoring (odd as that was).
He thought about how Donald had his own weird way of caring, even if he showed it by throwing temper tantrums.
He thought about the cake exploding on Axel.
There was light all around, and Sora was more than willing to share. The Keyblade had light emanating, and it glowed so brightly it was blinding.
The light was so fierce Sora could see it through his closed eyes; it was all he could focus on.
And the light that burst from the furnace, so Axel shielded his eyes. It BURNED, almost, and the gears rattled above the furnace.
At the same time, his own chest - or rather, the manifestation of himself in the dream - became rather tight. As though something inside was stirring. "Sora, I think it's working!" he called.
But he wasn't done; he didn't even hear Axel.
Song squinted, but resisted the urge to raise her arms against the light. Instead, she brought out her own again, focusing all of her willpower into it. Light from two strong sources pulsed within Axel's heart.
Sora was delving into memories that weren't entirely his: he saw himself sitting on the clock tower in Twilight Town.
He could taste ice cream and laughed a laugh that was his but it wasn't. He smiled a smile that didn't quite belong to him.
Sora remembered goofing off with Axel SOMEWHERE, but he didn't remember ever being in half the locations he was remembering.
Still, they were there, they were his in some way, and they were light. Sora didn't notice the crackling and heat around him.
And there was a brilliant flash, and the gears turned.
Engines clanked, machines rattled.
And at the far end of the room, the switchboard hummed to life.
Song let her own Light slowly fade. It had only been a support anyway. It was Sora, she knew... and Roxas... who had created the spark. She wasn't sure what to say yet, so she waited... watching the factory come alive.
The light finally dissipated, replaced by the heat of flames flickering from the furnace.
Axel gasped as his heart came roaring back to life. He'd been completely winded by it, and as he stood there, clutching at his chest and gasping for air, the red slowly faded out of his hair into a rusty brown.
She whirled slightly at his gasp, the thrill setting her on edge, and she was smiling broadly, eyes alight with wonder as she watched her friend change. "Sora, you've done it!" she called. "I knew that you would!"
Whatever presence had been in the furnace before was gone; as if he'd been disconnected from the dream.
His breath was coming in shaky gasps now, and from the shock of all of it, he collapsed in the dream and jumped up in the real with a shout.
Songbird was shoved out of the dream with a jolt and stumbled to her four hooves, looking quickly at Axel. "Are you all right?!"
His eyes were wide, and his chest was heaving from his rapid breathing, but he managed a quick nod.
Hopefully Axel was ready to be pounced on by a lion cub. "Axel!"
"Oof!" he wheezed as Sora (who wasn't really a cub, more like a teenaged lion and quite heavy) jumped on him and squashed his stomach. "You're not tired? Not after that number?"
Sora sat down, looking triumphant. "It'll probably hit me in a minute," he said cheerfully.
HERE IT IS.
Axel loped in a circle around the savannah. It'd been several days since sora and roxas merged, and he was impatient. Ryuu'd said he had a heartbeat? That just made him all the more eager.
Sora was more awake this time, and more interested in adjusting to his lion form. Plus, this butterfly needed to be pounced on.
Songbird was liking the Pridelands less and less. She had in fact left it during the interum, seeking safer grounds, but Axel and Sora enjoyed it, and so she agreed to use it as a meeting point one more time.
The pale gazelle emerged from her Corridor and simply watched the pair of lions for a moment, waiting for them to notice her.
Sora didn't notice her at all, he was too busy trying to capture the surprisingly elusive butterfly. And hey, he didn't mind faceplanting so much this time around.
"Hey Song," Axel said, brightening when he saw her. "How's life?"
She chuckled at the question. "Wild as usual. Speaking of which, you certainly look lively. Ready to finish this?"
his tail twitched. "yeah"
Sora pounced again, completely oblivious for the moment.
Axel looked over his shoulder, and stared at Sora for a while. "he looks like he's having fun," he said with a smile.
She bobbed her head in a nod, prancing a little closer. "Oh, Sora! Do you think you can use that miraculous feline ability to fall asleep even now?"
The butterfly flew just out of his paws, and he looked rather defeated for a few minutes. "Oh! I could try," he said with a toothy grin.
"there'll be butterflies around later," Axel said with his own grin, as he flopped down into a patch of grass, sending more butterlfies scattering.
Sora couldn't resist trying to catch one of those stray butterflies anyway. Not that he'd know what to do with it once he caught i.
Sora's playful energy was infection, even to Song. She just had to gallop forward and scatter the butterflies further before circling back around and trotting over to Axel.
"Heheh.. He's right. I'll even chase them with you later, if you can help me fix Axel's heart first."
Axel tossed his red, spikey mane in impatience. "Yeah, so lets get to it already."
Sora circled around a bit, then flopped down on the ground. "Okay, okay," he said, although he couldn't help but be amused by how pushy Axel was being.
Song smiled at them both, feeling comfortable in the presence of friends, and being slightly awed when she recognized that feeling. She said nothing, however.
Axel lowered his head onto his forepaws, and closed his eyes.
Sora did eventually fall asleep, luckily. Maybe it was one of the perks of being a cat.
Song waited, as always, until she was sure they were ready. And then, remembering the previous time, she projected herself into Axel's dreamspace, pausing there to check on him just briefly before she tried to bring Sora in.
He was waiting for them both at the entrance of a wooden tunnel, his hair, as always fluctuating between spikes and not
She gave a small wave and sat herself down without a word, repeating the process of projecting once again, keeping part of herself locked to Axel while she reached... and grabbed onto Sora's consciousness.
A quick mental message to prepare himself, and she pulled him back along the line.
It was probably the strangest thing he'd ever experienced, and he clung onto whatever tangible thing he could reach (Song, as it were).
She made it as quick as she could, trying to ignore the dizzying feeling, and within moments her body in Axel's mind was solid again and Sora was beside her.
Axel was pacing in front of the tunnel, which was flanked by mirrors. In the mirrors, isntead of his reflection, was a brown-haired man that bore an uncanny resemblance to Axel.
When Sora dared to open his eyes, and he saw Axel, he immediately sprung to his feet.
"Axel?"
"Hey. Welcome to my head, I guess."
She watched them both measuringly - a common look for her - and then took a step into the tunnel. "Shall we, dears?"
"Sure," Axel said, pacing over to the tunnel.
Sora followed, eyes wandering around. Huh, Axel was right, his dreamscape WAS more interesting.
Song slowed to let Axel lead the way, as was his right, and smiled slightly at Sora's wondering expression. "It gets better."
And as they made their way down the tunnel, their clothes, as always, shifted from whatever they'd been wearing into Victorian-era clothing. Finally, they emerged into a well-lit steam-powered factory. The only problem was that the factory was deathly-still.
Sora couldn't help it, he muffled a snicker. What on earth was he wearing?
Songbird, of course, was prepared for her long dress and resigned to her corset. No point in fussing about clothing when there was a friend to save.
"Go ahead and give him the tour, Axel. Remember I am only here to enable this meeting. Sora's the one with the Light... and hopefully the spark you need."
Axel waved an arm, and beckoned to Sora. "C'mon, it's this way," he said, leading Sora over to an intricate switchboard.
plan awesome (12:09:09 AM): plan awesome (11:21:46 PM): Axel waved an arm, and beckoned to Sora. "C'mon, it's this way," he said, leading Sora over to an intricate switchboard.
Sora just stared helplessly at the switchboard. "I'm supposed to ...?" he began, trailing off.
He had a hard enough time with his own computer, much less a huge switchboard like this.
"Nah, I'm just showing you around"
"Oh." Sora tried not to look so relieved as he trailed behind Axel.
Song meandered down after them, skirting along the edges as usual, not touching, only watching and thinking.
Axel lead Sora down the rickety walkway to an elaborate structure, where one gear was poised, clearly the axis of this strange machine. He pointed below it. "there should be fire there," he said. "Fire to heat up the steam that'll make it run, but...."
He held out his hand and frowned, obviously concentrating. "I can't do anything with it."
Sora put his hands on his hips, thinking. There was an obvious solution, but--
"Axel? Will you let me summon the Keyblade in here?"
Axel blinked, then frowned. "Can you? If you can, I don't have any objections"
"It's your dream .. If you want me to, then I guess I can." Sora held out his hand in an attempt to summon the Keyblade.
Axel waited, watching, trying to facilitate his dreams letting the keyblade in.
There was a familiar burst of light as the Keyblade appeared, and he wrapped his fingers tightly around the hilt.
It prompted him to smile, tilting his head up to look at Axel.
Axel smiled back. "So... what are you planning to do?"
"Take a page from your book," Sora replied, holding up the weapon.
Axel raised an eyebrow, not sure what Sora meant, but... all the same, he trusted him.
Song watched from a distance, arms crossed, contemplative. She was glad that Sora had so quickly came to the idea of using the Keyblade. She had thought the same, but then, it was only natural.
"if you need fire to operate this thing," Sora said slowly, waving the Keyblade a bit.
"My fire isn't nearly as powerful as yours, but I'm willing to try."
Axel tilted his head, thinking. "Well, some fire is better than none at all, I guess."
Sora nodded, stepping towards the machine. He was going to give it all he had.
He muttered to himself, focusing all of his mana into the form of fire, and then forcing it from his body through the Keyblade. Hopefully that would be enough.
and fire there was, plenty of it, and yet...
The furnace stood cold, only one ember burning in the grate.
It was fire, for sure, but not nearly enough.
Sora huffed. Maybe he had to keep trying.
Axel sighed. "Needs a cataclysm, right Song? You got any ideas?"
Want me to hug you and envelope you in Light and love?" she was only half-joking.
axel frowned for a moment, then turned to her. "Would it work?"
Never mind discussion, Sora just tackled Axel from behind. Only one way to find out.
She gave a light shrug. "Who knows? It might hel-- Okay." She grinned a bit at the two. It wasn't a spark, she figured, but at least couldn't hurt.
Axel staggered a bit from the tackle, but regained his balance. He... wasn't sure what Sora was doing, but... it felt...
the center cog, smallest of all the gears and wheels and apparatuses, turned one tick.
"This isn't a very good hug," Sora murmured, still hanging on. "They're supposed to be mutual, Axel."
Song looked sharply at the machine, honestly surprised. Smiling, she moved to join them. "He's right. I think a group hug is in order, loves."
Axel grunted, then wiggled around so that he was facing Sora, and draped his arms around his friend's shoulders.
Sora grinned. "See?"
Songbird wrapped her arms around both of them, still grinning slightly. An aura of Light radiated from her center, surrounding them in a soft-edged dome. "Perhaps we can create the fire together."
"We can try..." Axel said, the doubt in his voice evident. He didn't think that hugging was the answer, or that it was this easy
Sora could sense the doubt from the inflections in Axel's voice. "What do you think would work, Axel?" he asked.
"if I knew, I would have tried it already" he retorted.
Her voice had a soothing lilt to it. "We just have to try everything until we find it. And remember not to constrain yourselves to rules of the physical plane. All three of us can dream fire, if we wish, or anything."
"Song, I've got plenty of fire. I think the picture is bigger than that -metaphorically." He pointed to the furnace. "Maybe we're being too literal - we don't need FIRE, literally, we need a power source. Something that'll make it tick"
"Song, I've got plenty of fire. I think the picture is bigger than that -metaphorically."
plan awesome (10:48:39 AM): He pointed to the furnace. "Maybe we're being too literal - we don't need FIRE, literally, we need a power source. Something that'll make it tick"
Sora frowned a bit, but he didn't pull away.
"Everything I say can be taken metaphorically," she commented. "Haven't you noticed?"
Axel shifted. "Yeah, I know. I'm just trying to figure out what'd work"
"Something other than fire ..." Sora pulled away that time, turning back towards the furnace.
"And Keyblades, apparently." She backed off again, but only slightly. "Well, I am out of ideas for the moment, but that will change. Keep thinking, keep trying. There must be something. We need a spark or a trigger..."
Well, he had an idea, anyway. Sora walked over, leaning down close to the opening of the furnace.
"What are you thinking about, Sora?" Axel asked, genuinely curious
"I'm thinking I'm gonna take a look around in here," Sora replied, swinging his legs around.
Axel blinked, but shrugged. "alright."
So he slid on down, leaving behind a trail of thick black dust.
Axel hesistated, and then crawled into the furnace behind Sora.
Song stayed behind, but close by, in case she was needed. "Be careful in there. It would be rather pointless to start it up and set yourselves on fire in the process!"
It took him a minute to adjust to the dark, but he was soon poking around, giving everything curious taps with the Keyblade.
Axel glanced backwards at Song. "I set myself on fire regularly for fun. I'll be fine."
"Oh, right. Point."
"It's so dark in here," Sora commented absently.
"Dunno if there's any light," Axel said.
Sora squinted through the darkness, looking for a light of any sort.
"Well, if fire won't work," he began, lost in thought.
"Light? A lantern? i dunno."
"Light?" Sora put his hands on his hips, suddenly grinning.
"Axel? Get out for a second."
Axel frowned, but obliged, scrambling out of the tunnel and over Song. He stood at the entrance, dusting the soot off his pants.
Sora stood in the furnace alone, his mind racing. He'd just have to give it some of his light; there was just the issue of figuring out how.
"If this is a dream," he mumbled to himself, Keyblade hoisted on his shoulder. "I can do whatever I want, right?"
"I think so," Axel called down.
"Just try," Song agreed, slightly impatient to see what he had planned.
It was settled, then. Sora plopped on the floor, eyes closed. If the furnace wanted light, it could have his.
He set the Keyblade on the floor, but didn't let go of the hilt. It would serve as his medium.
Sora pictured everything that ever made him happy, everything that ever helped him to keep fighting.
He thought about how Riku laughed whenever Sora said something lame. He thought about Kairi's gentle smile and laughter.
He thought about how it really was pretty hard to sleep without hearing Goofy's snoring (odd as that was).
He thought about how Donald had his own weird way of caring, even if he showed it by throwing temper tantrums.
He thought about the cake exploding on Axel.
There was light all around, and Sora was more than willing to share. The Keyblade had light emanating, and it glowed so brightly it was blinding.
The light was so fierce Sora could see it through his closed eyes; it was all he could focus on.
And the light that burst from the furnace, so Axel shielded his eyes. It BURNED, almost, and the gears rattled above the furnace.
At the same time, his own chest - or rather, the manifestation of himself in the dream - became rather tight. As though something inside was stirring. "Sora, I think it's working!" he called.
But he wasn't done; he didn't even hear Axel.
Song squinted, but resisted the urge to raise her arms against the light. Instead, she brought out her own again, focusing all of her willpower into it. Light from two strong sources pulsed within Axel's heart.
Sora was delving into memories that weren't entirely his: he saw himself sitting on the clock tower in Twilight Town.
He could taste ice cream and laughed a laugh that was his but it wasn't. He smiled a smile that didn't quite belong to him.
Sora remembered goofing off with Axel SOMEWHERE, but he didn't remember ever being in half the locations he was remembering.
Still, they were there, they were his in some way, and they were light. Sora didn't notice the crackling and heat around him.
And there was a brilliant flash, and the gears turned.
Engines clanked, machines rattled.
And at the far end of the room, the switchboard hummed to life.
Song let her own Light slowly fade. It had only been a support anyway. It was Sora, she knew... and Roxas... who had created the spark. She wasn't sure what to say yet, so she waited... watching the factory come alive.
The light finally dissipated, replaced by the heat of flames flickering from the furnace.
Axel gasped as his heart came roaring back to life. He'd been completely winded by it, and as he stood there, clutching at his chest and gasping for air, the red slowly faded out of his hair into a rusty brown.
She whirled slightly at his gasp, the thrill setting her on edge, and she was smiling broadly, eyes alight with wonder as she watched her friend change. "Sora, you've done it!" she called. "I knew that you would!"
Whatever presence had been in the furnace before was gone; as if he'd been disconnected from the dream.
His breath was coming in shaky gasps now, and from the shock of all of it, he collapsed in the dream and jumped up in the real with a shout.
Songbird was shoved out of the dream with a jolt and stumbled to her four hooves, looking quickly at Axel. "Are you all right?!"
His eyes were wide, and his chest was heaving from his rapid breathing, but he managed a quick nod.
Hopefully Axel was ready to be pounced on by a lion cub. "Axel!"
"Oof!" he wheezed as Sora (who wasn't really a cub, more like a teenaged lion and quite heavy) jumped on him and squashed his stomach. "You're not tired? Not after that number?"
Sora sat down, looking triumphant. "It'll probably hit me in a minute," he said cheerfully.