"Ahem."
Turning to look behind himself, Axel noticed a blonde boy standing there, looking rather impatient.
'What the hell could he be so huffed up about?' the redhead wondered.
"Excuse me, but I have plans to die tonight. And you're in my way," the blonde said stoically. Axel couldn't comprehend that right away.
"Um, do you realize what you just said to me?" he questioned.
"What do I care, you don't even know me."
'This kid can't be older than 17. What could he possibly want to kill himself for?' Axel's thoughts were starting to race through his mind.
"That may be true, but I'd like to change that soon… If you'll let me," the older one replied.
The blonde looked taken aback. This certainly wasn't going the way he planned it. In fact, according to his plan, he should already be dead.
"What do you mean?"
"Name's Axel Kenneth. Now, do you mind telling me who you are?" Axel stated, getting to his feet and offering his hand.
"Roxas."
Withdrawing his hand, Axel replied, "Just Roxas?"
A nod was all Axel received. Then the blonde spoke again.
"You make living seem so easy… I haven't talked this much in months, not even to my family. But I've gotta know, how am I supposed to live, when I'm numb to everything around me? It's like, everything inside of me is dead."
"Trust me, I know you want to jump, but how about this; instead of you dying, why don't you come live with me?"
Roxas couldn't believe that he'd heard that right.
"Are you crazy? You don't even know me! Hell, I could kill you while you were sleeping if I wanted to," he ranted.
"I don't believe that for a second…" Axel whispered. "Anyway, I'd be lying if I said that things would never get rough… And all this motivational shit could never be enough. I mean, I could stand here all night, trying to convince you, but what good would that do either of us? My offer stands, and you have to choose."
After a moment of silence, Roxas sighed, "Alright, but you get one night. One night to prove that living with you is better than jumping. But I swear to God, if you hurt me, I'll jump. I'll toss myself off this very cliff, and you won't even see it coming."
"Calm down, I know what you're going through…" the redhead started.
"How could you possibly understand?" Roxas asked defensively.
"Ten minutes before you got here… I was gonna jump, too."
The shorter one was shocked. Just from the conversation they were having, he wouldn't have thought Axel to be the type to contemplate suicide.
"What stopped you?" Roxas probed.
"I don't know for sure. Maybe it was Fate. I mean, if I had jumped, who would have stopped you from doing the same?"
The blonde had to admit, he had a good point there. His fortune cookie had been right.
Compassion will cure more than condemnation.









