---
“Roxas, if you don't hurry up, there will be a line!”

The carnival was in town today and Axel was desperate to be the first in line for one of his favorite carnival rides: The Ferris wheel. Even if that meant dragging Roxas along on one of the rides that the blonde absolutely dreaded.

“Ouch Axel, stop pulling my arm!” Roxas yelled. “And I already told you: I don't want to go on the Ferris wheel.”

“Aww come on Roxas,” Axel whined. “It's just the Ferris wheel.”

“But what if the wheel falls off?”

“Ro--”

“And what if we fall out the Ferris wheel?”

“Rox--”

“What if--?”

Axel stopped in his tracks and shook the golden blonde's shoulder. “Roxy!” When he finally shut up, he spoke again, “We're not going to die... I promise. And even if something does happen, I'll save your life, okay?”

Roxas looked up at Axel, noticing the genuine concern that was in his eyes. He let out a low sigh and shrugged. “Alright Axel, I'll go on the ride with you. But I'm only going on this Ferris wheel ONCE, you hear me?”

“Yes Roxas, I hear you.” Grabbing his hand, Axel pulled him down the rest of the empty line to get up to the ticket booth. “Two, please,” he told the girl behind the booth, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet.

“Thirty munny, please,” the girl said as she rang up the transaction.

“Here you go,” Axel said, handing her the munny.

The girl nodded and motioned towards the wheel, “Enjoy the ride.”

Axel pulled Roxas off to the Ferris wheel car and soon they were both behind the bar, waiting for the rest of the cars to fill up so the ride can start.

“I'm scared,” Roxas mumbled.

“We're not even off the ground yet Roxas.”

The blonde sent him a cold stare. “Shut up Axel.”

A few minutes later, the Ferris wheel creaked to life and it began to circle around. As the car lifted off the ground, Roxas let out a high squeak and squeezed his eyes shut. “God, God, God...” he muttered, starting to shake.

Axel laid a hand on his shoulder. “Roxas, Roxas, calm down!” As they continued to make their descent up into the air, he kept his hands on his shoulders, giving them a squeeze every now and then. Once their car reached the top of the Ferris wheel, it came to a stop so they could see all across Twilight Town and beyond.

It was amazing how beautiful the view was and the redhead found himself becoming mesmerized by it. Looking over at Roxas, who still had his eyes squeezed shut and his face buried into his hands, he gave him a little shake. “Roxas.”

“What?”

“Open your eyes.”

“No. I know we're at the top.”

“Roxas. Open your eyes.”

“Axel.”

“Please? For me?”

Letting out a loud sigh, Roxas hesitantly took his hands away from his face and slowly opened his eyes. Immediately turning to Axel, he threw his hands up in frustration. “Okay, I opened my eyes, now what?”

The emerald-eyed fire wielder just shook his head and pointed out to the view that was in front of them, “Look Roxy.”

When Roxas turned and looked out, he let out a small gasp. “Wow,” he breathed out. “That's...that's...”

“...amazing?” Axel finished. When the other boy nodded back in reply, he smiled and wrapped his arm around the boy. “Roxas.”

The blue-eyed boy turned and looked at his friend. “Yeah?”

Axel, still smiling, leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on the boy's lips. “Thank you.”

Roxas had a look of surprise on his face, but to Axel's pleasure, it was a look of happiness. “A-Axel... what are you thanking me for?”

“For being a true friend,” Axel replied. “No... Not a true friend. My best friend.”

“Then why did you kiss me?”

Axel just chuckled and remained silent as the car resumed moving and made its way back down to its original position by the ground. Roxas was silent as well, inwardly freaking out at the fact that someone had just kissed him, and his best friend at that. He did notice, though, that Axel's arm never did leave from around him.

The silence remained as they got off the Ferris wheel and walked out of the exit. Deciding that it had gone on long enough, Roxas decided to break the silence by grabbing Axel's hand and making him turn to face him. “Axel, do you like me?”

Axel looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed at his question. “Yeah, I do like you.”

“Well that's good, because I like you too.”

Axel's eyebrows went up in surprise. “Huh? You like me back?”

Roxas nodded. “Yeah. Axel, do you want to go out sometime... Just you and me?”

Axel looked down for a few seconds, a joyful smile tugging at his lips, before looking back up at him. “Yeah Roxas. That would be great.”

The young boy smiled. “Great. Now...” He grabbed his hand and pulled him back over to the line for the Ferris wheel. “I say that we go on the Ferris wheel again.”

Axel let out a laugh. “Don't mind if I do Roxy.”

And with that, they were off.