Kingdom Hearts 1. Starting Out

**THIS IS MY FIRST FANFIC SO PLEASE DON'T FLAME!**

*****DISCLAIMER***: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters. That's Square Enix and Disney and they are very very very very lucky . I only own my own character (Who has yet to have a name)**

**R&R Please I love to hear frum yew guysss =^.^=  
CRITICISM ALSO WELCOME ^^**

**

* * *

**

I leaned against the crooked tree and sighed. I wasn't supposed to end up here, even if I had dreamed about it my whole life. It wasn't my plan to be sent here by force, to be hated by the whole island, and have to hide every time I went out in public. I put my face in my hands and reviewed the day's events.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

***Flashback***

I silently walked down the street, wanting to get home soon so I could kick back and unwind from the hectic school day. I trudged down the street, my school getting smaller and smaller behind me. I turned the corner to go down my block and raised my head curiously. Suddenly, I didn't hear the usual birds chirping in the trees, and I didn't hear my neighbor's dog barking at me. I looked around and noticed that everything was still, almost like time had stopped. I gasped as I heard something rustle violently in the bushes. Before I got the chance to see what was making the noise, I felt myself being violently tugged upward.

"Let me go!" I screamed at my attacker.

I turned my head to see who had grabbed me and felt my body go limp.

"Y-you're-ˮ I started as I stared at the man in the black cloak.

"Oh, good. You know who we are. Guess I don't have waste time on the whole explanation thing." He said, pulling back his hood and exposing his face.

I stared at him with a blank expression on my face.

"Aw, you don't know me? Too bad, I thought you would." He said, putting on a cheesy imitation of being sad. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

I stared and him and fainted.


	2. Mysterious Truth

*****DISCLAIMER***: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters. That's Square Enix and Disney and they are very very very very lucky . I only own my own character (Who has yet to have a name)**

* * *

"Whoa, whoa!" Axel said, shaking me. "Get up! Ugh, why does this always happen to me?"

The redhead ran a hand through his spiky hair. He yanked me upward and I felt myself slowly returning to consciousness.

"Wha-?" I blinked and slowly looked up at him. "You!" I shrieked, pointing at him. "Axel! How? When? Wait, what?"

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down there! Don't faint on me again!" Axel said, trying to calm me down.

I felt myself slipping out of consciousness again as my mind was filled with billions of questions.

"No, no, no, don't do that!" Axel said, snapping his fingers.

I sluggishly looked down to see what was hot beneath my hands. I quickly snapped back to reality when I saw the small flame waving in the air above my hands.

"Holy-!" I jumped back, glaring at Axel.

"Hey, hey, don't give me that look. If you would just stop fainting…" He said in singsong voice.

"Well maybe I wouldn't fall over if SOMEONE WOULD GIVE ME SOME ANSWERS!" I screamed, growling at him.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Well, let's see, where do I start?" The pyro said, putting a hand on his chin and looking upward. "My name's Axel, and I'm from a group of Nobodies called Organization XIII-"

"I already know all of that!" I said, rolling my eyes. "I meant, why are you here?"

"How exactly do you know who we are? Wait, never mind, I don't think I really want to know." Axel said. "Well, I'm here because I'm missing something." Axel smiled mischievously. "Something important."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What?" I asked, a look of pure confusion on my face.

"You see, I'm missing something very dear to me, and I believe _you_, little missy are the only one that can help me." He cupped a hand around my chin, a mischievous look dancing behind his dazzling emerald eyes.

"Oh, and what might _that_ be?" I said, crossing my arms. "Your heart? Because I thought it was pretty clear-"

"No, no, no, not my _real_ heart." The redhead started, shaking his head. "But you _could_ say he _is_ my heart."

"You don't mean-" I stared at him, my eyes huge.

"Yes, I do. I seem to have lost little Roxie once again. Only this time, he didn't exactly choose to leave me. He was taken. Captured."

"What?" I gasped, not believing anything that was going on. "Okay, okay, hold on. You mean to tell me that everything that I've been obsessing over practically my whole life is TRUE!?"

"Wait, you've dedicated your life to obsessing over me and Roxie? Oh, crap. Not the fangirl. ANYTHING BUT THE FANGIRL!" He said laughing, backing away slowly as if he was actually scared of a 14 year old girl.

"Well, not _just_ you and Roxas, I've loved everyone in the Organization, plus Sora, and Riku, and Kairi, and Naminé …" I stopped myself before I started rambling on about my obsession. "Yea, and if you don't tell me what is going on, I'm going to glomp you!" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Oh no!" Axel said, bursting into laughter. "Well I guess I ought to tell you then. Well it all started two days ago…"

* * *

**Chappies will get longer...promise ^^**


	3. Axel's POV

*****DISCLAIMER***: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters. That's Square Enix and Disney and they are very very very very lucky . I only own my own character (Who has yet to have a name)**

**

* * *

**

***Axel's Flashback***

I walked down the halls of the deserted Castle Oblivion, waiting for Roxas so we could go back to the World That Never Was together. _Why do we even have this stupid castle anymore? It's not like we got anything out of it. We almost lost half of the Organization to a couple of keyblade bearers. I don't even know why we made him come here in the first place. Sora could've gone without remembering Naminé, but Xemnas _insisted_ on making him "remember to forget" or whatever that crap Marluxia kept repeating._ I rambled on inside my head, my thoughts drowning out the footsteps that were getting closer. "Hey, Axel." A familiar voice broke my wandering thoughts.

"Hey Roxie!" I said, walking toward him.

"Would you quit calling me that! It's girly…" Roxas said, pouting.

"Aw, but Roxie, it wouldn't be fun if I called you Roxas all the time, would it?" I repeated, laughing at his puppy dog face.

"What if I started calling you something weird…like _Axie_?" Roxas shot back.

"Hmm, I guess I wouldn't _mind _it, but I still think I could use something more, ya know, manly." I said, laughing.

"Your impossible, Axel." Roxas said, finally giving up.

"I know. But if I wasn't, I wouldn't be so fun, would I?" I said, ready to go back to the Castle That Never Was. Castle Oblivion just gave me the creeps.

"Whatever, let's just get back to the Castle." Roxas said, thrusting his hand outward and a portal of darkness appeared before them.

"Finally! This place is giving me the creeps." I said, stepping towards the portal.

"Oh, does the wittle castle scare Axie?" Roxas said, laughing as he walked in behind me.

"Shut up Roxas." I said, punching him in the arm.

Roxas laughed as we instantly teleported in the Castle That Never Was.

I stepped out of the darkness and peeked around the corner. _Where is everyone?_ I thought to myself, stepping out into the hallway to see if anyone was in the living room.

"Hey Roxas, where is everyone?" I called out from the kitchen.

"I dunno, probably in their rooms or something." Roxas yelled back, preoccupied with the TV.

"Be right back, I'm gonna see if Demyx has some more conditioner."

"Huh? Oh, okay. I'll be…here I guess." Roxas called back, flipping through channels.

I walked up the massive staircase and headed towards Demyx's room. I stopped in front of an aqua blue door with a small "9" at the top. I knocked on the aqua door.

"Demyx? You in there dude? I'm all out of hair conditioner. You got any left?"

I was greeted by silence. I pressed my ear to the door in hope I would hear him in there. Nothing. I didn't hear him practicing on his sitar, or hear him talking to himself. I turned the knob and opened the door. I peered into his room. He wasn't there. _Hmm, that's odd. _I thought to myself, standing in the doorframe. _I'll try Zexy's room._ I ran down the hall and knocked on a midnight black door with a small "6" above it.

"Zexion! You in there?" I opened the door a crack and peeked inside.

Nobody was in there.

_That's even weirder. Zexy never leaves his room unless he's on a mission._ I quickly opened everyone's doors and peeked inside all of them. No one. I stood outside Xemnas's gold door and opened it up a crack.

_Not even Xemnas is in his room. Something's up._

I quickly summoned another portal and rushed into it. I came out in the basement of the castle, and quickly scanned the labs that Vexen was usually experimenting in. Summoning another portal, I rushed outside to Marluxia's garden. His garden was empty except for the thousands of plants he cared about so much. I quickly checked all the places my fellow members were usually at.

"Where is everyone!?" I screamed to myself in frustration. I sadly walked back to the living room, contemplating where to get sea salt ice cream for Roxas and I or not. I decided to be nice and get Roxas some of his favorite ice cream from the freezer.

I walked toward the living room with two ice creams when I saw a huge portal on the wall and Roxas being dragged away by a hooded kidnapper. My eyes burned with fury as I tried to block of the intruder with a wall of fire, but he just snapped his fingers and it instantly vanished.

"ROXAS!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. There was NO WAY I was going to lose him again. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. I lit the ice cream on fire and threw it to Roxas. He managed to free an arm and catch it.

"Don't lose sight of who you really are, Roxas! I promise I'll come for you!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and lunged forward to attack my best friend's kidnapper. He easily slid back into his portal and laughed evilly as I watched my best friend slip away into darkness. "I'll never let go! Axel, I l-" His sentence was cut short as the darkness swallowed him up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I fell to the floor, my whole body shaking with uncontrolled sobs. "I-I promised I'd never let someone t-take you away again R-Roxas!" I sobbed into my hands. A mixture of hate and overwhelming sadness overtook me as I screamed as hard as I could. No one could hear me anyway. As soon as I let out my scream of defeat, I felt different. I stopped sobbing, and felt some of the anger and sadness slip away. _Oh no. Not again._ My eyes widened in fear. Last time Roxas left, my emotions that I felt when I was with him slowly started melting away, until I felt nothing anymore. It was like Roxas was my heart. I don't know how it was possible, but he made me…feel. I don't care if Xemnas has told us a thousand times that we cannot feel anything, but just remember the emotions we used to feel when we were whole. It was like Roxas was my other half, the piece that completed my nonexistent heart. Maybe it was because he wasn't like the rest of us. He could actually feel emotions since he had only lost his heart a year ago.

_I can't believe what Roxas must be feeling right now. I just had a serious breakdown that I haven't had in…well…since he left the first time. I can't feel as much as Roxas can, I'm sure, so he must be…no…I can't think about that. I have to focus on getting Roxas back…back where he belongs._

I paced back and forth about the living room, thinking about what just happened.

_Oh! The ice cream. I bonded him. Right. _I stopped pacing and thought.

Wait, I haven't ever bonded someone before… What did Xemnas say about bonding again? Oh right: 'If you should bond someone with your own element, you shall always be together as long as the recipient does not remove or lose the item that you bonded. If you bond something, a carbon copy of the same item will be made for both of you to have. As long as both of you have the item, you will be able to find each other, no matter what. This is especially important when-' and I tuned out the rest because it was about battle tactics and that crap. So that means, as long as Roxas has his ice cream, and I have mine, we will be able to find each other. Now about that clone of the ice cream…where would it be?

I ran upstairs and searched my room for an ice cream on fire. Nothing. I checked Roxas's room for the ice cream, but found nothing. I scoured the whole castle, and even went to Castle Oblivion to check. I found nothing and no one.

_I better find out where everyone went before I start searching for R-Roxas._

The thought of him sent tears streaming down my face, but I managed to control my sobs thanks to my disintegrating emotions. I pulled myself together and decided to go check on Naminé. She might know where everyone went. Not to mention she might help me find my bonded ice cream, and eventually, Roxas. I sighed and opened a portal to Castle Oblivion and stepped inside.


	4. Namine's Assistance

*****DISCLAIMER*** I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters, Square Enix and Disney do, and they are very very very lucky .. I only own my character. Please review if you want the series to continue! More reviews= faster updates! Sorry about the whole two chapter 3 thing! O.O; CRITICISM IS WELCOME BUT PLEASE NO FLAMING THIS IS JUST MY FIRST FAN-FIC. o.O; (hope i don't suck too bad)**

* * *

I arrived at the Castle right outside Naminé's room. DiƵ had us move all of Naminé's things out of the mansion and into the Castle a while ago so she could mess with Sora's memories more than she needed to. I slowly knocked on the door and hoped someone was behind the white door. "Hey, Naminé, it's Axel. I, um, need your help with something." I said after knocking. I waited a few moments, and was relieved when I heard soft footsteps walking towards the door. The door swung open and I looked down to see Naminé's shy face filled with worry as she sensed my distress. "What's wrong Axel?" She asked, ushering me inside her all-white room. "Well, you see, I um-" my sentence was cut short when I realized it wasn't just Naminé and I in the room.

"Axel! Hey buddy, what's up?" A chocolate-haired boy said, quickly pulling me into a massive hug.

"Hey, Sora! Long time no see!" I smiled as I ruffled his chocolate spikes.

"Hey, Axel." I turned and saw a silver-haired boy casually waving at me from across the room.

"Hey, Riku. How've you been?" I said back, trying to pry Sora off of my waist.

"Nothing, really, just hanging out with these three." He motioned to the rest of the teens in the room.

"Okay, Sora, time to let go of Axel." A redhead girl said, laughing as she tried also to pull off Sora.

I laughed at Sora's pout when she finally convinced him to get off of me.

_It looks a lot like…his pout. _I sadly thought. My usually cheerful expression fell as I dropped my head.

"Axel, what's wrong?" the redhead said in a worried tone.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you why I'm here." I said, running my fingers through my fiery spikes. The four of them instantly stopped what they were doing and gave their full attention to me.

"I need help. Roxas was…kidnapped."

* * *

I lowered my eyes as I heard four sharp gasps pierce the silence.

"I sensed something was wrong, but I didn't really pay attention to it. Ugh, how stupid am I?" Sora said, his face in his hands.

"Who would've taken him?" Kairi asked, pacing back and forth.

"Kairi, he's Sora's Nobody. He can wield the _keyblade_! Anyone could've taken him!" Riku said, crossing his arms.

"Axel. Tell the rest of the story. We need more details. Don't leave out anything." Naminé said quietly.

"Okay, well I was meeting Roxas here in Castle Oblivion, and we went back to the World That Never Was together." I started, trying to remember everything. "I remember getting back and no one was there. I checked everyone's room and the usual spots, but no one was in the Castle. Let's see, I went back, got Roxas and I some ice cream, and I went into the living room. When I walked into the room I saw this huge black portal on the wall, and some guy with a black coat was dragging R-Roxas toward the portal." I had to pause, although no tears fell, thanks to my failing emotions.

"Go on. It's okay." Naminé said quietly.

I drew in a shaky breath and mustered up as much courage as I could and relived my memories in my head.

"I screamed and tried to block him off with my fire, but he just snapped his fingers and the fire was instantly gone. I-I had an idea…" I said cautiously. I raised my head to see eight pairs of eager eyes, ready to digest what I was about to say. "I lit the ice cream on fire and threw it to him. I…flame-bonded him." I said with a sigh.

"You _what_?" I heard Sora say. "What the heck is flame-bonding?"

"It's when us Nobodies tie each other together with our own elements. When you bond someone, you put your element on an object, and give it to the person you want to be bonded to. When they have the object, a clone is made of it. As long as both of us have that item, we're tied together. We can also find each other…somehow."

"Well that's good!" chirped Kairi. "…Right?"

"Well, yea. That's _if_ Axel has the clone. You…_do_ have the replica right?" Sora said, biting his bottom lip nervously. "O-Oh, s-sorry, Riku." Sora stammered when he saw Riku cringe at the word replica.

"No." I confessed sadly. "I don't. That's why I needed Naminé's help. Since all the other members of the Organization are gone, I thought Naminé could help…somehow."

"Well, where have you checked?" I heard the blonde girl quietly say.

"Let's see," I said, trying to remember exactly where I'd looked. "I know I checked my room, same with Roxas's. After that I checked the whole castle, and then I came down here to check."

"Well, it could be in here…" Naminé said, already starting to check places in her room.

"Where would it be? I mean, how hard could flaming ice cream be to spot?" Riku said, checking in the closet.

After ten minutes of searching, I finally spoke up. "Guys, I don't think it's here." They all looked up at me curiously.

"How are you sure?" Kairi said, her head still under Naminé's desk, looking for the ice cream.

"I just do, I guess. I feel it. And right now, I know it's not here." I finished, scratching the back of my head, not sure on how to put my "feelings".

"Well, since it's not here, then do you have any idea where it would be?" Sora asked, pacing back and forth across the white carpet.

"Well, sort of." Four pairs of eyes instantly shot up to look at me. "I'm guessing that the copy is where Roxas and I spend a lot of time together, and seeing how we already checked the Castle…" I drifted off, letting them put two and two together.

"So it's probably where you and Roxas hang out a lot, which is in Twilight Town!" Kairi said with a big smile on her face.

"I'll go get the Gummi Ship!" Sora said, running out the door.

"You guys don't have to come." I said, slightly surprised at their reaction. "I mean, thanks for the help, but you guys don't have to come if you don't want to…"

"Axel, silly!" Sora said, stepping back into the room. "Of course we're coming! Roxas is our friend too! Besides, we weren't really planning on doing anything today."

I laughed at Sora's enthusiasm and turned back to Naminé.

"You sure this is okay?" I said at the shy blonde.

"Yea! Of course! I haven't been out in forever!" She said, an eager look dancing behind her big blue eyes.

"Alright then, let's go!" I said, thrusting my hand out. A giant black portal of swirling darkness appeared on Naminé's white wall.

I turned my head to see two open-mouthed teenagers gaping at the portal on the wall."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Y-You want us to go in…_that_?" Kairi said, pointing at the portal.

"Whatever." Riku said, stepping by the portal, obviously not afraid of the darkness.

"What, are you afraid of the dark?" I taunted the remaining three.

"N-no, just a little unsure." Kairi said, slowly backing away.

Naminé, who was semi-used to this, sighed and went and stood by Riku.

"It's fine, guys. You won't get hurt. I promise." She said, extending a hand towards Sora and Kairi.

"C-Can't we take the Gummi ship?" Sora said, reaching for the keys in his pocket.

"Nah, too slow. My way is _way_ faster." I said, a mischievous smile playing behind my lips.

"I d-don't know." Kairi said, backing away even farther, never taking her eyes off the portal.

"Riku, Naminé, you guys go ahead of us, I'll make sure they get there safe and sound." I commanded them, gesturing towards the portal.

Riku shrugged and stepped into the portal without hesitation. Naminé walked in after him, and looked back and gave Sora and Kairi a caring look before disappearing into the darkness. The two teens watched as the darkness swallowed up their friends, and gaped at the portal disappearing on the wall.

"Now, come on, don't be afraid of the dark." I teased.

"You, um, sure this is…safe?" Sora said, still staring at the wall where the portal was just seconds ago.

"Yea. I use it every day." I said, crossing my arms and rolling my eyes.

"But you don't…have a heart." Kairi said, eyeing me suspiciously. "What will it do to us?"

"Didn't Riku have control over the darkness once? He used to use this method billions of times. And he's still Riku-heart and all." I said, starting to turn impatient.

"Come on." I said, thrusting my hand out and summoning another portal. I shrank back into it and held out my hand. "You won't get hurt. I promise."

The two of them cautiously walked over and took a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing!" Sora said with a shaky laugh, taking my hand tentatively.

"I g-guess." Kairi said, grabbing Sora's hand, not caring if she broke it with her killer grip.

"Good. Now just hold on and we'll be there in no time." I said, pulling them into the shadows with me.

* * *

**REVIEWS PLEASE!**


	5. Speaking in Tounges of Flames

*****DISCLAIMER***: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters. That's Square Enix and Disney and they are very very very very lucky . I only own my own character (Who has yet to have a name)**

* * *

We arrived within seconds and instantly spotted Riku and Naminé, each holding a sea-salt ice cream.

"Finally!" Riku said, licking his ice cream. "What took you guys so long? Shadow traffic?"

"Ha, ha, very funny Riku." Kairi said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm gonna go get us some ice cream." Sora said, running towards the vendor.

"Bring back another one for Riku, he's almost finished with his already!" Naminé called out after Sora, laughing.

Riku stuck a tongue out at Naminé, a slight grin behind his pout.

"So, Axel," Naminé said, turning to me. "You and Roxas used to hang up at the clock tower, right?"

"Yea, we used to sit there and talk all the time." I said, my glance shifting up to the clock tower.

"Got 'em!" Sora said, happily running over to us with five pale blue ice creams in his hand.

The three teenagers eagerly grabbed their ice cream and gobbled it down.

I took mine slowly and stared at it, trying to block the thousands of memories that were flooding back.

"Come on, let's go up before it gets dark." I said to my friends, walking towards the clock tower entrance.

They quickly followed me, running up the stairs eagerly. When we arrived at the top, all of us went to work on trying to find the ice cream clone.

"Guys, I don't think it's here…" I concluded after only five minutes of searching. "We would've found it by now. It's not like it can hide anywhere."

"Axel's right, there aren't many places it would be able to be in." Riku said, scratching the back of his head.

"I don't understand…where else would it be?" Kairi said, sighing as she sat down on the ledge.

"I don't know, we've looked everywhere!" Naminé said, taking a seat next to Kairi.

"Let's just stop and think for a minute." Riku said, plopping himself down next to Naminé.

"Ugh, this is too confusing." Sora said, sitting next to Riku, his hand on his temple.

I sat down slowly next to Sora, my mind filling with meaningless strings of thoughts.

"Well, I guess while we're taking a break…" Sora said, reaching behind him and holding up four sea-salt ice creams, since I still had mine.

Everyone took theirs and ate it slowly as we all stared into the sunset. I slowly took a lick of my sea-salt ice cream, and memories came rushing back. I felt a single tear roll down my cheek. I watched as it fell silently down to the platform below and explode on the brick. I lowered my head and tried to hold back more tears as I drew a shaky breath. The four teens noticed my depression and lowered their heads as well, deep in thought.

Sora patted me on the back and whispered, "I promise we'll find him." I allowed another tear to fall silently onto my ice cream. I slowly looked up and stared into the sunset, wondering what Roxas was doing right now. My thoughts were broken when I felt something warm beneath my hands. I looked down and saw a small flame licking its way up the side of the ice cream, slowly spreading until the whole ice cream was encased in flames.

"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed, jumping away from the fiery frozen treat.

"I think we found the clone…" Kairi said, her gaze fixated on the fire.

"Now what?" Riku said, tearing his sea green eyes away from the flames.

"Um, well, I really don't know." I said, scratching my head in thought.

"Try talking to it." Naminé said softly, also mesmerized by the ice cream.

"What!?" All three of used exclaimed, staring at her like she was some kind of alien.

"I don't know, it was just an idea. Do you guys have any better ideas?"

Naminé said, lifting her pale blue eyes to look into my emerald ones.

"Uh, I guess not." I said, staring at the ice cream.

"Just try it!" Sora said, ready to find out where his other half was.

"Um, hello?" I spoke into the flames. "Roxas? I-It's me. Axel."

We all held out breath as we waited for a response. My breath hitched in my throat as I heard a small gasp come from the flaming ice cream.

"A-Axel? I-Is that r-really you?" I heard an oh-so-familiar voice say in disbelief.

"Yea, Roxas," I said, emotions overwhelming me. "It's really me."

* * *

**PLEASE REVIEW!! MORE REVIEWS FASTER UPDATES!!**

**THANKS FOR THE ONE REVIEW I GOT :]**

**IMAGINARY COOKIES TO REDDOGGIE!**


	6. Just Like A Metal Detector

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!!!!!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!! **

**SORRY FOR THE SLOW UPDATE SCHOOL HAS BEEN HECTIC .**

* * *

"A-Axel." I heard him stammer, drawing in shaky and sob-filled breaths.

"It's okay Roxas, I'm coming for you." I said soothingly into the flames. "Where are you?"

"I-I don't know." I heard him confess. "It's all dark and I'm all a-alone." I heard sobs escape his breath.

"Shh, Roxas." I said, trying to hold back tears. "I'll find you. No matter what, I promise I'll find you."

"I-I k-know." Roxas said quietly. There was silence for the next few moments, spare the few sobs escaping Roxas's lips.

"A-Axel!" Roxas suddenly shouted, making me jump.

"R-Roxas, w-what's wrong?" I shouted at the ice cream, my nonexistent pulse starting to speed up.

"W-What are you doing!?" I heard Roxas scream through the bonded ice cream.

"Get away from me!" I heard a high shriek, and then silence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"R-Roxas! ROXAS!" I screamed, shaking the ice cream, tears streaming down my face. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, NO!" I said, screaming into the ice cream. "ROXAS!"

"Oh no…" Sora said, his startling blue eyes huge with disbelief.

"A-Axel…" Riku said, probing for words.

"I-I'm s-sorry." Kairi said, stuttering, also at a loss for words.

"I-It's going to be a-alright." Naminé said, tears streaming down her pale face.

I couldn't talk as heavy sobs took over my body. My emotions came rushing back after my encounter with Roxas, and I couldn't control them anymore.

There was complete silence as I let tears stream down my face.

"This," I started, speaking between sobs. "This can't b-be h-happening! Not again!"

"Hey, wait!" Sora said, lifting up his tear-streaked face. "Didn't you say that you can find Roxas if you have the ice cream?" All of us looked up in surprise.

"Y-you r-really think s-so?" I said, trying to control my tears.

"Of course!" Sora said, happy that he had lightened the mood a bit.

"I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but exactly _how_ do we find Roxas?" Riku said quietly, a single tear maneuvering its way down his face.

We all thought in silence as I stared at the flames, my vision blurry with tears. I suddenly saw the flames getting smaller beneath my hands.

"What the-?" I blinked away the tears and nervously looked around, wondering what to do.

"Try relighting it!" Kairi said in a panicky voice. I lit the tips of my fingers and brought them to the middle of the ice cream.

"Come on! Light! Light!" I muttered, snapping my fingers. I started panicking as the flames slowly started to die down.

"Ah! Ah! Um…ah!" Sora said, his eyes huge as he tried to think of a solution.

I leaned back, my head resting on the ground. I stretched my arms out, small tears forming in the corner of my eyes.

"I," I said, tears streaming down the sides of my face. "I don't know what to do. I p-promised him…" I laid in silence, watching the sun slowly sink below the horizon. I felt a small flame lick the side of my hand and snapped my head to stare at the ice cream.

"Wait! It's back! The fire's back! Kind of…" I said, sitting up and staring at the flaming ice cream.

"It's not as bright as before, though…" Sora said, a confused look on his face.

"W-What's happening?" I whispered to myself, slowly shaking my head.

"Gah!" Sora's sudden outburst made me snap out of my wonder. "Th-The flames!" He jabbed a finger towards the ice cream in my hand.

"Wha-?" I said, my eyes wide as I stared at the ice cream. "No, no, no! Don't die out on me! Ah! Somebody! What do I do?" I said pitifully looking at my friends.

"Um," Naminé said, trying to think quickly. "Try putting it over there." She pointed to the spot where I was lying down just a few moments ago. "The flames got stronger when you were over there." I quickly stretched my hand, trying to get the flames to burn brighter.

"I look like I'm trying to get cell phone reception!" I said impatiently, flailing my hand around. "Where exactly was I?"

"On the ground?" Riku suggested, pointing to where my arms were stretched out just a few minutes ago. I sank to the ground, waving my bond to Roxas over the spot that Riku pointed to.

"Stop moving it!" Kairi said, trying to steady my arm. My arm finally stopped shaking long enough to hold the copy close to where my arms were.

"It's no u-" I started when I suddenly felt my hand turn slightly warmer.

"Th-They're bigger!" I stared happily at the ice cream.

"Yea, but now what does it mean?" Riku said, his hand on his chin. We all thought in silence as we all watched the flames flicker.

"Maybe," Naminé quietly said, "It means that we're closer to Roxas!"

"R-Really!?" I said, my face instantly brightening.

"Well, maybe. But why else would the bond be doing that?" Naminé said, biting her bottom lip, trying to think.

"So its like a metal detector!" Kairi said happily. "It beeps faster when you get nearer metal. In our case, the flames burn brighter when we get closer to Roxas!"

"Right! So now we just need to follow the ice cream, I guess."

"Alright, so I'm guessing we go down?" I said, heading for the door.

"I guess so." Riku said, following close behind me.

"And we're off!" Sora said, laughing as he followed Riku.

I opened the door and walked down the stairs.

_This is where it starts. Roxas, I'm coming for you._

"A-Axel." I heard him stammer, drawing in shaky and sob-filled breaths.

"It's okay Roxas, I'm coming for you." I said soothingly into the flames. "Where are you?"

"I-I don't know." I heard him confess. "It's all dark and I'm all a-alone." I heard sobs escape his breath.

"Shh, Roxas." I said, trying to hold back tears. "I'll find you. No matter what, I promise I'll find you."

"I-I k-know." Roxas said quietly. There was silence for the next few moments, spare the few sobs escaping Roxas's lips.

"A-Axel!" Roxas suddenly shouted, making me jump.

"R-Roxas, w-what's wrong?" I shouted at the ice cream, my nonexistent pulse starting to speed up.

"W-What are you doing!?" I heard Roxas scream through the bonded ice cream.

"Get away from me!" I heard a high shriek, and then silence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"R-Roxas! ROXAS!" I screamed, shaking the ice cream, tears streaming down my face. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, NO!" I said, screaming into the ice cream. "ROXAS!"

"Oh no…" Sora said, his startling blue eyes huge with disbelief.

"A-Axel…" Riku said, probing for words.

"I-I'm s-sorry." Kairi said, stuttering, also at a loss for words.

"I-It's going to be a-alright." Naminé said, tears streaming down her pale face.

I couldn't talk as heavy sobs took over my body. My emotions came rushing back after my encounter with Roxas, and I couldn't control them anymore.

There was complete silence as I let tears stream down my face.

"This," I started, speaking between sobs. "This can't b-be h-happening! Not again!"

"Hey, wait!" Sora said, lifting up his tear-streaked face. "Didn't you say that you can find Roxas if you have the ice cream?" All of us looked up in surprise.

"Y-you r-really think s-so?" I said, trying to control my tears.

"Of course!" Sora said, happy that he had lightened the mood a bit.

"I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but exactly _how_ do we find Roxas?" Riku said quietly, a single tear maneuvering its way down his face.

We all thought in silence as I stared at the flames, my vision blurry with tears. I suddenly saw the flames getting smaller beneath my hands.

"What the-?" I blinked away the tears and nervously looked around, wondering what to do.

"Try relighting it!" Kairi said in a panicky voice. I lit the tips of my fingers and brought them to the middle of the ice cream.

"Come on! Light! Light!" I muttered, snapping my fingers. I started panicking as the flames slowly started to die down.

"Ah! Ah! Um…ah!" Sora said, his eyes huge as he tried to think of a solution.

I leaned back, my head resting on the ground. I stretched my arms out, small tears forming in the corner of my eyes.

"I," I said, tears streaming down the sides of my face. "I don't know what to do. I p-promised him…" I laid in silence, watching the sun slowly sink below the horizon. I felt a small flame lick the side of my hand and snapped my head to stare at the ice cream.

"Wait! It's back! The fire's back! Kind of…" I said, sitting up and staring at the flaming ice cream.

"It's not as bright as before, though…" Sora said, a confused look on his face.

"W-What's happening?" I whispered to myself, slowly shaking my head.

"Gah!" Sora's sudden outburst made me snap out of my wonder. "Th-The flames!" He jabbed a finger towards the ice cream in my hand.

"Wha-?" I said, my eyes wide as I stared at the ice cream. "No, no, no! Don't die out on me! Ah! Somebody! What do I do?" I said pitifully looking at my friends.

"Um," Naminé said, trying to think quickly. "Try putting it over there." She pointed to the spot where I was lying down just a few moments ago. "The flames got stronger when you were over there." I quickly stretched my hand, trying to get the flames to burn brighter.

"I look like I'm trying to get cell phone reception!" I said impatiently, flailing my hand around. "Where exactly was I?"

"On the ground?" Riku suggested, pointing to where my arms were stretched out just a few minutes ago. I sank to the ground, waving my bond to Roxas over the spot that Riku pointed to.

"Stop moving it!" Kairi said, trying to steady my arm. My arm finally stopped shaking long enough to hold the copy close to where my arms were.

"It's no u-" I started when I suddenly felt my hand turn slightly warmer.

"Th-They're bigger!" I stared happily at the ice cream.

"Yea, but now what does it mean?" Riku said, his hand on his chin. We all thought in silence as we all watched the flames flicker.

"Maybe," Naminé quietly said, "It means that we're closer to Roxas!"

"R-Really!?" I said, my face instantly brightening.

"Well, maybe. But why else would the bond be doing that?" Naminé said, biting her bottom lip, trying to think.

"So its like a metal detector!" Kairi said happily. "It beeps faster when you get nearer metal. In our case, the flames burn brighter when we get closer to Roxas!"

"Right! So now we just need to follow the ice cream, I guess."

"Alright, so I'm guessing we go down?" I said, heading for the door.

"I guess so." Riku said, following close behind me.

"And we're off!" Sora said, laughing as he followed Riku.

I opened the door and walked down the stairs.

_This is where it starts. Roxas, I'm coming for you._

* * *

**Axel: Why does it have to be so sappy?**

**Me: Because I LIKE writing people crying!**

**Roxas: Am I going to die?**

**Me: No, Roxas, your too cute ^^**

**Axel: Back off...**

**Me: *Hiss* :P**

**REVIEWS PLEASE**


	7. Gemstone Eyes

**HOLY FRICK EVERYONE! Gosh I'm sooo friggin sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!! *dodges tomatoes* I've had this chapter in my files FORREVVVERRRR but I've been to busy to upload it . I went to the Revolve Tour in Columbus, Ohio, where I wrote most of this chappie, and school has been soooo OVERWHELMING!! . I've also had severe writers block and have been slowly losing my inspriation [don't worry I'm trying to get it back by reading fanfics] and i WILL keep writing, but it might be a bit of a lag until the next update, so keep reading this crappy fanfic overrr and ovverr again until the next update XD. **

**[I DO have an excuse for not writing so much!!!**

**Axel: Mhmm...**

**Xanjen: WHAT I DO!!**

**Axel: Sure....**

**Xanjen: The reason I've not been writing is because I've been drawing (EVEN THOUGH I SUCK) I've been drawing a lot of KH-related crap, and will probably post it all on deviantART soon. I drew a book cover and two pictures that sort of go along with the story... **

**.com/**** --- go here if you want your eyes to BLEED from the pure CRAPNESS of my drawings .**

**Alright, enough of my rambling and READDD ^.^**I ran down the stairs, in a hurry to go and find Roxas.

* * *

"Where do we start?" I yelled, walking in different directions, waving the ice cream around.

"Try that way!" Kairi called out, pointing to the Sandlot.

We all sprinted toward the Sandlot, our eyes never leaving the ice cream.

"Did anything change?" Sora said, jogging to catch up with me.

"Not by much, it just got bigger, but not by much." I answered, never taking my gaze off of the bond.

"Hey! You got business here?" I heard someone say. My head snapped up and I saw three teenagers in front of me.

"Yea, you have a problem with that?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Since I _am _head of the Twilight Town Discipline Committee, I think I should know what you're doing here. Are you new around here? What's your name? Mine's Seifer."

"The name's Axel. Commit to memory. We're here because of…special _personal _reasons." I said, walking past the teens.

"Axel, eh? Well you better tell me what you're here for, otherwise Iwill have to take some _disciplinary action_." Seifer said with a smirk on his face. The two teens behind him snickered.

_They obviously don't know who they are up against…_ I thought to myself, chuckling slightly.

"What's so funny?" Seifer said, springing into an offence position, pulling out a small blue bat. The two teens behind him quickly pulled out their own weapons and sprang to his side.

"Meh." I said, snapping my fingers. Flames instantly erupted on all sides of us, making a ring of fire around us. My chakrams appeared in my hands and I spun them around, making sparks erupt from them. Sora, Riku, and Kairi quickly summoned their keyblades and crouched into an offense position. Naminé stayed back and started murmuring numerous spells, her newfound ability.

"W-Whoa!" Seifer said, slowly backing away, his hands raised. "L-Let's be rational about this! W-we didn't mean anything! D-Do whatever you need! Our town is your town!" Seifer said, nervously eying us.

"Good." I said, snapping my fingers again, making the flames instantly disappear. Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Naminé relaxed into their usual position. "We'll just be going through then. That is, if you don't _mind_." I said, my mischievous smile on my lips.

"N-No! That's f-fine! G-go right ahead!" Seifer said, backing away slowly.

"Good. See ya, _Seifer_." I sneered, walking away with a smirk.

"Whoa, did we show him!" Sora said, once again trying to catch up with me.

"Well he _did_ used to bully Roxas." I said, my hands clenching into fists at the thought of anyone touching him.

"Too bad he's not able to remember Roxas, otherwise you could've made him feel really guilty!" Riku said, smirking at the thought of Seifer's mental pain.

"Now I'd pay to see that!" Kairi said, laughing.

We all walked deeper into the Sandlot, talking and laughing like nothing was wrong, but we all kept a wary eye on the ice cream.

"There it goes again!" Riku suddenly said, pointing to the flaming bond.

"Ah!" I exclaimed as I saw and felt the flames get brighter.

"We must be closer!" Naminé said happily, skipping to catch up to the rest of us

"Closer to…Roxas." I said, a hopeful look in my emerald eyes.

"It looks like it's pointing to the station." Sora said, pointing towards a building.

"Let's go!" I yelled, sprinting for the stairs.

"Axel!" Kairi said, trying to catch up with me. "Slow down, you're gonna f-" Her lecture was cut short as I tripped on my coat and went flying towards the stairs.

"No!" I screamed as the ice cream flew out of my hands.

"Ah!' Sora said, lunging for the clone. "Got it!" He proclaimed happily as he held my bond up.

Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief as I stood back up and brushed myself off.

"Whoops…" I said with a sheepish look on my face.

"Hey! What the-?" Sora suddenly said. I raised my eyes to see my bonded ice cream's flames rising rapidly.

"What's going on?!" Riku said, running towards Sora.

"Ah!" Sora said, holding the ice cream far away from himself.

"Sora!" Riku said, gently taking the ice cream away from him. "You're going to set something on fire!"

We all watched as the flames swiftly started to decrease.

"The ice cream doesn't like you Riku…" Kairi said, walking over and grabbing out of his hands.

"Kairi-" Riku started to complain, but he was cut short when he saw the flames get insanely large, and then shrank back down to a smoldering fire.

"Ah!" Kairi said, her eyes huge with confusion and fright. "Here, Axel! Take it back!" She gently tossed the ice cream to me and slightly backed away from the berserk ice cream

I grabbed the fiery bond and gently cradled it in my hands.

"Um, OW! Ah, that hurt!" Sora said, flapping his hands.

"Well fire _will_ burn you…" Riku said. "Unless your Axel."

"What's wrong with it?" I said, staring at the now normal-sized flames. "When you guys touched the bond it want insane!"

"Here Naminé, you take it." I said. I passed it to Naminé, and watched Kairi, Sora, and Riku slowly cringe as she took it in her small hands.

"It's the same." Naminé said softly, squinting into the flames.

"Pass it to everyone else again." I said, my forehead scrunched up in thought.

Naminé slowly passed it on to Riku, and the flames went down almost instantly. He passed it to Sora, who held it out in front of him. Just as before, the fire instantly shot up. Sora quickly passed it to Kairi, who took it with a hesitating hand. The flames died down a bit, then shot up, then shrank back. Kairi walked over and handed the ice cream to me, and as predicted, the flames instantly went back down to the normal

"Well that's weird." I said, putting a hand on my chin.

"Why does it do that when we touch it," Sora said, motioning to Riku and Kairi. "And not Naminé?"

"Maybe," Naminé started, "Because only keyblade bearers make it do that."

"What?" We all said in unison.

"Well think about it" Naminé said. "When Axel and I hold it, nothing happens, but when Kairi, Riku, and Sora hold it, it goes insane."

"Alright, that makes sense. But then how do we know who's right?"

"I would assume you, since youwere the one you flame-bonded him." Naminé said. "But then there's me, but maybe that's just because I'm not a keyblade wielder."

"Well, I guess, but I don't want to be running around in circles because we don't know who's accurate." I said, slightly scowling at the thought of wasting even more time trying to find Roxas.

"Then let's all touch it at the same time." Sora suggested happily.

"Um, I'm not too sure on that…" Riku said, staring at Sora warily.

"Aw, come on, it can't be that bad, can it?" Sora replied, walking towards me.

"Um, I guess." I said, looking at Naminé for help. "Naminé, what do you think?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt…" She said, extending a slim hand towards the bond.

"Alright, fine. Kairi, Riku, get over here." I said, waving them over. "Okay, everyone, on three." I held my ice cream in the middle of the hovering hands. "One, two, three!" We all touched the ice cream, our eyes huge. A huge flash of light erupted from the ice cream, and a huge explosion of flames threw us across the station heights.

"What was THAT?!" I heard Sora scream across the station heights.

"Oomph. Never. Again." I heard Riku swear under his breath as he struggled to get up.

"Ngh. Axel. How 'bout you keep the ice cream to yourself. I suddenly don't want to touch it." I heard Kairi grunt and pull herself up off the ground.

"Maybe we should stop listening to Sora…especially when it involves fire." Naminé said, kneeling on the ground.

I got up and brushed myself off, flicking little ashes off my coat.

"I think I'll hold onto the ice cream for right now." I said, walking over to help Naminé and Kairi up.

"Crap, I have burns all over me." Sora said, inspecting his arms and neck.

"Me too." I heard Kairi say after she was done brushing herself off.

I only heard Riku swearing under his breath as he was dusting his arms off.

"I got it." Naminé said, murmuring healing spells.

In seconds, the four teens were burn-free and ready for more safe ideas.

"Well that did nothing…" Riku said, crossing his arms.

"Wait! No, I think it _did_ do something!" Naminé said, pointing to the flames.

I turned my attention to the flames and inspected it carefully. The flames had gotten bigger, but this time they were waving towards the station doors.

"I'm guessing that means we go that way?" Kairi said, happy that there weren't any more crazy experiments involved.

"I guess so." I said, heading toward the station.

We opened the huge doors and walked inside, looking around for some kind of clue on where we were to go.

"It's pointing towards the train area!" Sora said, running towards the trains.

We walked towards the trains and yet again consulted the sea-salt ice cream. It waved in the direction of an empty track.  
"Are you serious?" Riku said, staring at the empty track. "I think we broke it. It must be malfunctioning or something."

We walked towards the empty track and stared at it for several seconds.

"Well what are we supposed to do? Wait for the train that's never going to come?" Sora said, peeking around the corner to see if there was a train coming.

I waved my hand around, seeing if it was some kind of invisible train.

"Guys, what are we going to do?" I said, putting my hand in my face.

"I don't kn-" Naminé started saying, when suddenly, Sora, Riku, and Kairi's keyblades appeared in their hands. Naminé's spell book was instantly in her hands, and my chakrams were suddenly in my hands.

"What's going on!?" I said, whipping my head around.

"W-Whoa!" Sora said as his keyblade automatically pointed itself towards the track.

Riku and Kairi's followed suit, and Naminé's book flipped itself to a page, and my chakrams started on fire.

"Huh?" I said, still utterly confused. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Follow your heart." Naminé said softly.

"What?" Kairi said.

"That's what the page says." Naminé said, showing her the book.

"But um-Naminé and I don't technically have hearts, and seeing that Roxas isn't here at the moment…" I said, pointing to the ice cream.

"I think it means to do whatever you think is best." Kairi concluded after reading Naminé's book.

"And that would be-?" I said, when I saw my keyblade buddies instantly point their keyblades at the track and a beam of light shot out from the top of the keyblades. I watched as Naminé started murmuring spells that I had never heard her recite before.

"What are you guys do-" My question was cut short when I instantly understood what 'follow your heart' meant. I flung my chakrams up in the air and directed them to spin around a space around the track. I started making them spin faster and faster until a ring of fire was circling the empty space. A purple orb started glowing inside my fire ring, courtesy of Naminé I guessed. My chakrams soon encased Naminé's orb in a fiery shield, and the keyblades' beams shot straight into the middle. We couldn't take our eyes off of the growing mass inside the orb. We watched as it slowly took shape, first a square, then a cylinder, until we finally got the big picture. We slowly stopped our weapons and stood back to gaze at the final product our 'hearts' had made.

"Whoa." Is all we could say when the flames and orb melted away.

We stared in awe at what we had created. A huge purple glowing train sat on the train, glittering in the sunset. The gold accents shone proudly, and we had to shield our eyes as we stared at the diamond-encrusted windows. At the front of the train were four glittering gems. The first one was a brilliant emerald; followed by a bright blue sapphire, a stunning turquoise, a light pink diamond, and finally a sparkling white diamond.

"Do we get in?" Riku questioned, his eyes never leaving the sparkling turquoise on the front of the train.

"Um, I guess…" I said, tearing my eyes away from the emerald. I walked toward where the door was and reached for the handle. "Wait a minute." I said, waving my hand in front of the door. "Where's the handle?"

"It's right- oh. I see…" Kairi said, biting her bottom lip.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Sora commented, coming over to push on the door.

"Why does this have to be so hard?" Naminé said, leaning against the train. I gave up on trying to pry open the door and walked around the whole train, inspecting our creation. I inspected the back of the train and tried the side door. It wouldn't budge. I gave up and walked over to the front of the train and stared at the stones again. I looked up at the emerald and saw my reflection in the glittering gem. I could see my whole face and hair, but my eyes were not reflected in the stone.

_What the-?_ I stared harder at the emerald, trying to find my eyes.

"What are you doing?" Naminé said softly, coming over to inspect the emerald.

"I can't um…I can't find my eyes in my reflection." I tried to explain my dilemma.

"What?" Naminé said, staring at my reflection "You're right!"

"What's wrong with m-" I started.

"Go put your head by the emerald." Naminé interrupted, pointing to the gem.

"O-Okay." I replied, slightly confused at her command. I put my face to the left of the left of the stone so my cheek was slightly pressed against the perfectly cut sides.

"That's it!" Naminé suddenly shouted after staring at me for a while.

"Huh?" I questioned peering at her.

"Your eyes!" Naminé said, putting the tips of her fingers together. "They're exactly the same color as the emerald!"

I turned my head to look straight into the green gem.

"W-Whoa." I stared back at my reflection. No matter how hard I looked, I could only see two small black pupils staring back at me in amazement.

"S-Sora! Get over here!" I said, waving Sora over.

"What's up?" He said, walking over to stand by Naminé.

"Put your face by the sapphire." I said, stepping away from my own gem.

"Um…okay." He replied, walking over to the sapphire and did the same thing I did.

"Oh!" Naminé said, clapping her hands once. "Sora's eyes do it too!"

"Anyone care to explain?" Sora said, confusion clear in his tone.

"Turn your head and look into the sapphire." I answered, a slight smile on my lips.

"Turn my-AH!" Sora said, looking back at his reflection.

Naminé and I laughed at his reaction as he kept touching his eyes to make sure they were still there.

"W-Where are my eyes?" Sora said, touching the sapphire lightly.

"On your face?" I offered, still chuckling at his reaction

"The stone is the same exact color as your eyes, so they don't look like they're there in the reflection." Naminé explained with a sweet smile.

"R-Riku! Kairi! G-Get over here!" Sora called out to his remaining friends.

"What?" Riku questioned, walking over to Naminé and I.

"Put your f-face up by the t-turquoise." Sora replied excitedly, jabbing at a finger at the turquoise

"U-Um. Okay?" Riku said, confused.

The three of us watched excitedly as Riku put his face by the turquoise, the sides of it poking into his cheek.

"O-Oh w-wow!" Kairi said, her mouth open as she looked from Riku to the turquoise.

"What!?" Riku said. "Is there something on my face or something?"

"No, look at the gem." Sora replied excitedly.

"O-Okay…" Riku said, slowly turning his head to look at his reflection. "AH! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY EYES!?" Riku screamed,

We could only laugh as Riku switched between rubbing and eyes and staring at his reflection and glaring at us.

"Y-Your eyes," Sora said, trying to control his laughter. "They-They're the s-same c-color as the t-turquoise."

"Yea, it happened to Sora and me too." I said, smirking at Riku's reaction.

"What about us?" Kairi asked, turning to face us. "My eyes aren't pink, they're blue." She said, pointing to her eyes. "And Naminé's are blue, too. Not white!"

"Well you're outfits are pink and white…" Riku said, still touching his eyes to make sure they were really there.

"Ya, you know, clothes and diamonds are a girl's best friend. It's perfect!" I said, laughing.

Kairi glared at me but Naminé just rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Well," Kairi said, positioning herself so she could see herself in the pink diamond. "Might as well check." She stared up into the pink diamond and gasped.

I walked over and leaned in so I could see her reflection. I could see her head, arms, and legs, but where her pink dress was, it was invisible.

"Whoa. Now _that's_ pretty cool!" I said, laughing at Kairi, who kept patting her dress down to make sure it was still there.

"Let me try!" Naminé said, positioning herself under the clear diamond. "Oh, wow!" She said in surprise, looking down at her dress. "I didn't think it would be invisible in my reflection since the diamond is clear, not white." She gushed, staring at her diamond proudly.

"Well, that's…cool?" Riku said blankly, still transfixed by the turquoise.

"Freaky is a better word…" I said flatly.

"Um, guys?" Sora said, looking at us. "We still have a problem. The door? How the heck are we gonna get in?"

We all ripped our gazes from our gems to stare at him.

"Oh, right." I said, scratching the back of my head with a sheepish look on my face. "I guess girls aren't the only ones who can get distracted by sparkly rocks."

"I still want the turquoise." Riku said, scowling slightly at the thought of leaving his gem.

"Then just take it, Riku!" Kairi said, laughing.

"Maybe I will!" Riku said, reaching for the turquoise. He grabbed the stone and pulled it hard. "Whoa!" Riku screamed as he fell backwards.

"Got him!" Sora called, running over and letting Riku land in his arms. We all let out a sigh as Riku straightened up and blushed slightly.

"Don't pull so hard next time, Riku!" Sora said, laughing slightly.

"Man, I'm an idiot." Riku muttered, but started laughing at his own fault.

"Ooh! I want mine now!" Kairi said, reaching for her own pink diamond. She learned from Riku's mistake and lightly tugged at the glittering pink stone.

"Got it!" Kairi said, staring at her reflection in the perfectly cut gem.

"Well now I suppose I have to get mine." I said, reaching for my breathtaking emerald.

"Me too." Sora said, also stepping up to reach for his deep blue sapphire.

"Me three!" Naminé chirped, standing on her tippy-toes to reach her clear diamond.

When we all got our own gems all we could do is stare deep into the reflecting sides.

"N-Now what?" Sora questioned, breaking the long silence.

"Well I guess we try to get that stupid door open again." I replied with a big sigh. _This should be fun._ I thought, walking over to the side of the huge train.

"You guys, it's getting dark, we should probably get moving." Naminé said worriedly, staring into the fading sunset.

"Okay, we'll try our best." I said back, putting the ice cream between my teeth and placing the huge emerald in my pocket. I bit down harder on the fiery ice cream and placed my hands on the diamond windows. I pushed to the right, trying to somehow push the door open. I looked over and saw eight hands place themselves on the door and mimic my actions. After a couple minutes of trying to push the door open, we thought we'd try prying it open.

"We should probably stick something like a crowbar to get it open." Sora said, looking around for a makeshift crowbar.

"Maybe we should break the window." Riku suggested, staring at the window with longing.

"I like Riku's idea." I said, smiling mischievously. It had been a while since I broke into something.

"Um, guys. I don't know if that's such a good i-" Sora started, but his sentence was cut short as he stared at me and Riku.

"On three." I whispered to him, my eyes wild with excitement and adrenaline.

"One…two…three!" Riku yelled, as we both lunged at the window.

* * *

**Xanjen: :D Heh**

**Riku: At least it wasn't sappy...**

**OHMGEES PEOPLE 17 PAGES IM SO PROUD OF MYSELF (17 pages in roughly 3 weeks? I think that's pretty GOOD!!!!!)**

**REVIEW AND/OR FAVORITE**

**i know thur are a lot of people that read and don't favorite and/or review, [including me] so PLEASE review and/or favorite!!!!! I get SOOO excited when someone favorites or reviews! [cookies go to Reddoggie, sasunarufangirl111, and Keiko Sahara!!!! YOU ALL ROCK!**

**I don't even care if you say ^.^ or . I JUST WANT TO KNOW YOU LIKE IT :]**


	8. Falling

****

i lurv u all :D

**DISCLAIMER- I DONT OWN ANYTHING except my own characters, everything else belongs to square enix and disney**"Nngh." I grunted as I felt my shoulder collide with the window. Instead of feeling sharp shards of glass piercing into my skin, I felt small pieces of gravel digging into my cheek. I grunted and sat up, brushing off my coat.

* * *

"Well THAT didn't work…" Riku huffed as he stood up, brushing pebbles off his clothes.

I looked up and saw Sora's look of half amusement and half wonder. Kairi was face-palming herself and mumbling something about us being idiots. I turned to see Naminé's head shaking slowly, and an I-told-you-so look on her face. I rolled my eyes at the three and jumped up.

"What? You guys have any better ideas?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders.

"A crowbar?" Sora suggested, walking over to Riku to help him brush off.

"I really don't think that door is going to open…" Riku said, sighing heavily.

"It's getting dark, and we're probably not going to open it today." Kairi complained. "We made this stupid train for nothing…"

We all sighed and sat down on the ground.

"We can't leave now! I know this train will bring us closer to Roxas!"

"Got any more bright ideas?" Kairi snapped.

"Maybe…" I said, a mischievous smile on my lips.

"_Please _tell me it doesn't involve fire…" Naminé said, biting her bottom lip.

"No, but it _does_ involve those gems we took off the train." I replied, my hand slipping in my pocket to retrieve the emerald.

"This can't end well…" Sora said, blowing air out of his mouth in an audible puff.

"Okay, okay, here me out! We found those gems on the train right? Well, they had to be there for _some_ reason, right?" I explained. Four heads hesitantly shook and I continued. "Well, maybe we should _throw_ them at the train!" I grinned happily, waiting for their response."

"Are you fricken INSANE?" Riku shouted, rolling his eyes.

"Riku's right!" Sora exclaimed, jumping to Riku's side. "They'll just bounce off the windows and hit our heads and we'll be knocked out 'cause they're heavy and then we'll be here FOREVER, because-" Riku clamped his hand over Sora's mouth to keep him from blabbering any longer.

"What I think Sora is trying to say is that we should probably try something else a little more _safe_ or call it a day." Riku explained.

"Wibu! WIIBBUU! Wemme bo!" Sora mumbled under Riku's hand.

"Oh, sorry." Riku apologized, taking his hand away from Sora's mouth and wiping it on his pants.

"I still think we should call it a day." Kairi mumbled. "Stupid train."

"Axel…" Naminé said softly, touching my arm gently. "Maybe we should go back home. We're not going to be able to do anything if it's pitch black out."

"You guys go ahead, I think I'll stay here just in case something happens." I said hopefully, turning the emerald over in my hands.

"You sure?" Sora asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I replied back with a reassuring smile.

"O-Okay…" Sora said, hanging his head down.

"Hey," Riku said softy. "Axel'll be okay. He's in the Organization, remember?" Riku lightly put a hand on Sora's shoulder and led him towards Kairi and Naminé.

"I-I guess." Sora stuttered.

"It's fine. No biggie." I said, sticking my thumb up.

_He's just like Roxas…so caring about his friends… _I thought to myself, my gaze directing towards the emerald. I turned the gem over in my palm and held it up to the sunset.

"Kind of cool how it catches it the light." Kairi said, her pink diamond now held up in front of her.

"Yeah…" Naminé said in a daze, hypnotized by her diamond's reflection.

Sora and Riku held theirs up also stared into them.

"Huh. It's kind of like they're glowing…" Sora said, staring into his sapphire.

"Wait!" Kairi exclaimed, her eyes huge. "They ARE glowing!"

"What?" I gawked as my emerald hummed between my fingers. I heard four gasps as I watch my emerald start to float from my fingertips.

"AH!" Sora shouted, shuffling closer to Riku.

We watched with wary eyes as the stones hovered gently in the air. The gems started humming louder, and they started glowing a brilliant yellow. The gems came together in a diamond shape. The diamond was on top, with the pink diamond at the bottom, and the sapphire and turquoise across from each other, while the emerald was in the middle, glowing the brightest. I suddenly got the urge to touch my emerald, and walked over and put a gloved hand by the emerald. I held out my hand and touched it very softly, as if it was to shatter into a million pieces if I tapped it too hard. I gasped as it bounced up and down, but still defied gravity.

"Axel!" Riku hissed at me. "What do you think you're doing?"

I tried to say something, but no words came out. My mouth wouldn't shape the words and my vocal cords wouldn't respond. My emerald hypnotized me, and there seemed to be no way to escape the trance.

"A-Axel?" Sora whispered, his arm clinging to Riku's.

_Sora. _I thought as I stared into the green gem. _He sounds like…like…_ I couldn't think of the name. _Why am I forgetting!? Sora sounds like…like…_ My mind raced as I tried to remember his name.

"Roxas." I said suddenly without thinking.

"W-What about Roxas?" Sora said softly.

"He…" I started, trying to think as my mind clouded over. "He sounds a lot like you…Sora." I suddenly felt myself falling, and everything went black.

* * *

**REVIEWS PLEASE**


	9. Encounters

**Sorry guys for being so late T.T I'm kinda grounded from the internet, but not from writing, so I typed up this chapter in 4 hours and snuck on for you guys 'cause I lurv you so much!! ^.^ *huggles you all*  
I think that this is by farrrr my best chapter (it really does help to listen to music while writing)  
anyway SORRY that this story is dragging on and on and is EVERYWHERE... heh I never really had this planned out, I just make it up as I go ^///^ Yea so Read and Review!! CRITICISM IS WELCOME (and probably needed :/)  
oh sorry if there are mistakes...I'm one of the top English people in my class, but I'm only human and makes TONS of mistakes and plus I don't have an editior or beta-er, so ^///^ sorrryyy okay READ**

**My Playlist: Ignorance, All I Wanted, Decode- Paramore  
Dance, Dance- Fall Out Boy  
Faint- Linkin Park  
Never Too Late, Riot, Animal I Have Become- Three Days Grace  
Kairi, Kairi III, Hikari PLANITb Remix, Hikari, Passion Orchestra Version, Hikari Orchestra Version, Dearly Beloved, Passion, Passion ~after the battle~- yoko shimoura and utada hikaru and all the other peoples :/  
Paffendorf and Motteke! Sailor Fuku (Lucky Star opening)- Aya Hiarano and the whole lucky star team ^^  
Leva's Polkka, Leva's Polkka dance remix, Leva's Polkka: Basshunter Remix- Lotimua and Basshunter  
hha sorry for such a long intro -.-**

**DISCLAMER- I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING BUT THE POWER OF WRITING AND MY IDEAS oh and Xarsah and my character**

* * *

"Axel! AXEL!" I heard several voices call. I tried to open my mouth to tell them to leave me be, but nothing came out.

"He must be going through a repressed memory or something!" I heard Kairi call out.

"Do something!" I heard Riku shout.

And then everything was suddenly quiet.

"I'm glad you came." I heard a voice whisper.

_What? _Suddenly I wasn't lying on the ground in front of the train, I was standing somewhere.

_Where am I? _I opened my eyes to see myself in a small all-white room, with no furniture except a white wooden chair in the corner. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, and scanned the room again. I turned around to see that there was now a girl sitting in the chair, her big brown eyes meeting my emerald ones.

"W-Where am I?" I questioned, staring nervously at the girl.

"You could say you're in your mind." The girl replied back, folding her hands on her lap.

"I'm in my m-mind?" I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"Mhmm." The girl replied with a quick nod.

"T-Then who are you?" I stuttered out, my mind racing with questions.

"My name is Xarsah," she pointed to her collarbone. "You could say I'm your conscious, but I don't think that covers it.

"Name anagram…" I mumbled. "Wait! Are you in the Organization?"

"Heh, that's for me to know and you to find out. Anyway, back to why you are here." She chuckled slightly, as if she was enjoying my confusion

"W-Why am I here?" I said, gesturing to the room.

"Only you know why you are here, Axel." Xarsah said softly.

"I don't know why I'm here!" I bellowed. "One minute I was reaching for that stupid gem and now I'm here!"

"And what did someone say you were going through?" Xarsah asked, crossing her legs in the chair.

I tried to remember what the voices were screaming just minutes ago.

_Repressed…repressed…repressed memory! I remember now! Kairi was shouting something about me going through a repressed memory._

"Kairi said something about me going through a repressed memory…" I answered. "But I wasn't, was I?"

"Do you remember anything after you fainted?" Xarsah asked quietly.

"Just voices, I remember Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Naminé screaming things, but I don't remember what I was doing or anything."

"Oh, well you're obviously not going through a repressed memory." She said flatly.

"Then what's happening!?" I screamed, my voice getting higher with anxiety.

"Well," Xarsah said, uncrossing and crossing her legs, "Let's see here…" I watched as she pulled out a blue notebook and pen from a bag by her chair.

"Repressed memory…no, no…" She scanned down the list with her pen, occasionally checking things off and scribbling notes. "Do you need to be forgiven?" She suddenly asked, looking up from her notebook.

"Do I need to be what?" I asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Forgiven. To you need to be forgiven?" Xarsah repeated, waving her pen around.

"What did I do?" I quickly scanned my mind of possible wrongs I had committed recently. "My _existence_ is a sin in of itself." I replied nonchalantly.

"Nobodies don't choose to exist, they just are…or rather they are _not_." She preached. "We can never hope to be Somebodies, to be whole…we only long to."

"Alright! Enough with the Nobody 101!" I said, slightly pissed at the whole situation.

"So being forgiven would be a no?" Xarsah questioned, completely ignoring my outburst.

"I-I don't know anymore…" I said, starting to draw shaky breaths. "I need to be sent to hell is what I need. I promised R-Roxas that I would never let a-anyone t-take him again, and here I am now! I let someone take him and it's all my fault! I deserve to _die_. Roxas must hate me n-now…I-I'm sorry R-Roxas! Y-You must hate me now!" I let the tears fall freely down my face.

"Roxas doesn't hate you, Axel." Xarsah said in a comforting tone.

"Oh yeah? And how exactly do you know that?" I snapped back, wiping away tears underneath my tattooed eyes.

"I don't. You do." She replied quietly, pointing to my chest.

"I-I know? How do you know that?" I asked in a softer tone.

"Because I'm almost like your consciousness, I know what's in your heart. And deep down there's a little flicker of hope telling you that Roxas doesn't hate you and that he still loves you with all his heart." She practically shouted at me.

"What heart?! We don't have hearts! You of all people should know that!" I practically screamed back at her.

"Ah, but _you_ know that you must have a heart, because how else could Roxas make you feel?" Xarsah replied wisely, a small smile on her face.

"Fabricated emotions?" I suggested, shrugging my shoulders.

"Axel. You were always the one who kept telling yourself that Xemnas was wrong, and that Nobodies like you _had_ hearts and that you saw it around Demyx and Zexion, and Saïx and Xemnas, and Vexen and Marluxia!" Xarsah jabbed a finger sternly and almost angrily at me. "And do _not_ tell me that you don't feel something around Roxas!"

I stood there, speechless from her testament. I looked up and thought about what she said.

_Y'know, she's right…Zexion's usually really emo unless Demyx is in the room, then he brightens up instantly. And Sa__ï__x is usually really uptight and mean except when he's around Xemnas, even _if_ Sa__ï__x treats himself like Xemnas's pet…And Marluxia is the only one who can calm down Vexen when everyone else is taunting him about his failed experiments and he breaks down… And when Roxas comes in the room, it's like…anything bad that has happened to me that day suddenly never happened. I feel like…like all my sins have been forgiven, and I'm finally safe from everything. He's like my personal angel. I-I don't know how else to describe it. I feel perfect, like I was meant to exist, not some supposedly higher rank of nonexistent matter. I just hope I make him _feel_ the same… If Roxas only knew how I felt around him… More of a reason to keep to fighting for him._

"Y-You're right!" I suddenly said, my eyes widening at my breakthrough.

"See?" Xarsah said, her small smile stretching into a huge grin. "You just needed some reassuring, that's all."

"So…I can go now?" I asked hesitantly, looking around the room.

"Well, not quite yet… Do you have anything else on your mind?" Xarsah said, quickly scribbling notes down in her notebook.

"I-I don't think so…" I thought about anything that had been bothering me for a while. "W-Wait! What about Sora and Riku? They actually have _real_ hearts, and I'm assuming we don't have the same kind of heart as Somebodies, am I right?"

"You're right. Even though we have hearts, they aren't like Sombody hearts." Xarsah explained, slowly closing her notebook and folding her hands over it.

"T-Then what do we have?" I asked curiously.

"No one really knows, Axel, but from what I have observed, we have the exact same structure as a Sombody heart, y'know, emotions and all that crap. But what makes us different is our ability to handle those emotions. Some parts are more, how should I put it, unprotected? Squishier? Weaker? And some parts are stronger, harder, you get the point. Nobody hearts are stronger in the emotion fields of pain, while they are weaker in the fields of anger and hate. Somebody hearts are usually weaker in the fields of pain and sadness, and stronger in the fields of love and joy." Xarsah finished explaining, with a satisfied sigh.

"So that means that we are better at dealing with pain than anger?" I questioned, my fists balling at my side.

"Weaker as in we let ourselves go too often, we are quick to hate and usually have no regrets. We're better at handling with pain, physical or mental." Xarsah replied calmly, oblivious to my growing anger.

"Hmm, that seems almost right, but what about the Sombodies? They're better at loving and being happy but can't deal with pain and sadness?" I questioned through gritted teeth.

"Well if 'love' is what you'd call it, then yes. Somebodies seem to fall in 'love' more often than Nobodies, but that may be either that Nobodies refuse to accept that they have hearts, or that Somebodies always claim to be in love, but it is usually a mere crush or misunderstood feelings. In general, I think Somebodies do have more emotion action going on. They can feel multiple emotions at once, emotions that shouldn't even cross paths, such as happiness and anger, and sadness and joy. No one knows why this happens, but sometimes the results can be dangerous. As with Nobodies, our emotions are more on a straight track. We can only feel so many emotions at a time, and they rarely cross paths if they aren't supposed to." Xarsah finished with a big sigh and stared at me with waiting eyes.

"So," I said, pacing back and forth across the room, my hands clasped behind my back. "What you saying is that Somebodies are somehow superior to us Nobodies, and even if that may be true, you're _accepting_ _it_?!" I didn't wait for her to respond, but kept pacing faster and faster across the small room. "I love my Somebody friends to death, but I would still like them to think of me as _something_, not just some accident, some product of a stronger heart! I know for a fact that I have felt emotions I thought I would never feel before! Like when DiƵ tired to take away Roxas, I was overwhelmed. I wanted to rip that man limb from limb, but I also wanted to hold Roxas in my arms again so bad, and I was about to cry because I knew he might win, and that doubt made my scared, which is _another_ emotion, mind you. Oh, and don't forget I was so HAPPY to finally see him!" I dug my fingernails into my palms as I screamed the emotions at her.

It was silent for a while, the only soundless noise of ashes dropping to the floor as I kept lighting my hands on fire.

"Not all Nobodies are like that, Axel. You're…special." She snickered quietly, her brown eyes full of mischief and taunting. "Maybe you _were_ never meant to exist." She looked up at me one more time and laughed darkly.

"AHHH! Don't EVER say that AGAIN!" I screamed at her, commanding flames to erupt from underneath her chair. The quiet, helpful girl that was sitting in the flaming chair just minutes ago was gone. She had become an evil, controlling Nobody who I needed to destory. I didn't know why, but I knew I had to. She said we shouldn't have any regrets about our anger, so why should I have regrets about killing her? I screamed with fury as I kept throwing flame after flame at her.

"I told you, Axel. We Nobodies can't control our anger. You just proved yourself. Congratulations." She laughed evilly as her brown eyes bored into me. "I'll always be there, Axel. Don't think you can get rid of me that easily."

I screamed and set the whole room on fire, encasing her immediately in lethal flames.

She didn't scream, she just laughed darkly at me, her eyes turning from a soft chocolate into a fiery red, staring straight into my soul.

"My mind belongs to ME!" I screamed as I threw even more flames at her.

"You can't get rid of me _that _easily, Axel. Oh, and don't forget, _she's_ always there to keep you in check." She cackled as she starting fading away.

"She? Who's she?! What are you talking about!?" I screamed at her fading existence.

"Find it out, Axel." I heard her say as she faded away into nothing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Whoa!" I heard a familiar voice say. "Guys! He's back! I think he's back!"

I heard footsteps thundering toward my direction, and I squinted into the darkness.

"I-Is she gone?" I groaned as I tried to move my body upwards.

"Is who gone?" I squinted to see two shocking blue eyes filled with worry and concern staring at me.

"X-Xarsah." I managed to stutter out.

"Who's Xarsah?" I heard another voice say in the darkness.

"T-That girl. S-She told me I wasn't meant to exist…" I said, looking for my friends' faces in the dark.

"Where were you?" I turned my head to see two softer blue eyes staring at me with confusion.

"I-I don't even know…" I said, grunting and sitting up. "Ugh, where is everyone? I can't see a stupid thing!"

"I've got a flashlight!" I heard Sora say somewhere.

"Gah!" I flinched as Sora shone the flashlight straight into my eyes.

"Sora, give me the flashlight…" I heard Kairi say somewhere to my left.

"Axel, what happened?" I heard Riku say.

"Well," I said, shifting into a comfortable sitting position. "I remember touching the emerald, and then everything went black. Then I remember hearing voices, but that's about it. Then suddenly I was in this white room, and there was this girl, her name was Xarsah. She said that I was inside my mind and that she was like my conscious. She helped me understand about how Nobodies actually have hearts, but then she kept saying that Nobodies can't feel many emotions, and we're just hot-headed nothings who can't feel more than two emotions at a time. Then I told her about how when I found Roxas and DiZ tried to take him away from me, and I was feeling millions of emotions, but then she said I was 'special' and that I was probably never meant to exist, so I set her on fire. And she died." I finished, looking at my friends for help.

"W-Whoa." Is all Sora could manage.

"Y-Your mind?" Riku stuttered out, his silver eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"I bet it was PMS…" Kairi muttered, rolling her eyes. "At least she's gone."

"She _is_ gone, right, Axel?" Naminé asked, concern and worry filling her pale blue eyes.

"I-I think so…" I said, rubbing the back of my head. "But, guys…she did say something else…" I looked up to see eight pairs of eyes focused on me. "Um, she mentioned a girl…someone who would keep me in check…and it's not you guys."

"There's another girl?" They all said at the same time.

_**Oh yes, and she's gonna show up faster than you think.**_

"W-What was that?!" I said aloud, whipping my head around to look who spoke.

_**It's me…Xarsah. I told you that you couldn't get rid of me that easily.**_

**

* * *

**

**Okay if you're wondering what the bold italicized print is, it's Xarsah's 'voice' or whatever inside Axel's head...  
haha it took me only like 4 hours to type this XD  
cookies go to reddoggie, sasunarufangirl111, The Emerald Shapeshifter, The 1 and Only Surkura, and Keiko Sahara!!!! =^.^=**

**sorry if I missed anyone!! if you have reviewed/added to subscription/ added to favorites/ etc PLEASE drop a line saying who you are and I'll put you in!!  
THANK YOU EVERYONEE**


	10. The Story

***Whistle* Hoooollyyy crap guys. I toooottally thought that I had uploaded this! I REALLY DID o.O. IM SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG! ITS BEEN LIKE WHAT -checks calendar- OMG TWO MONTHS ALMOST!! ugh! Well regardless, I'm back! and these chapters are getting long because I just realized "I can read these chapters in like...2 minutes XD) So yea, I don't really have anything else to say other than READ AND REVIEW ^.^  
DISCLAIMER: Yes, Square Enix just handed me the certificate to the company...wait...no...they gave it to that other girl over there...nevermind I don't own anything.**

**Okay and if you are actually still reading this, you are a saint. seriously**

* * *

_What? _My hand flew to my head, rubbing it slightly.

_**I told you. I'm not gonna go away that easily.**_

"What's wrong Axel?" Sora questioned, gently placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I-I don't know." I confessed. "I-I hear her. Xarsah."  
"What!?" Four teens exclaimed.

"H-How!?" Sora asked, his blue eyes huge.

"I-I don't know." I repeated, clutching my head.

"Well, what did she say?" Kairi asked, shining the flashlight in my direction.

"She said something about that other girl, and that she's gonna show up faster than I think, and that I couldn't get rid of her that easily." I explained, shaking my head slowly.

_**Oh, don't think your friends will understand you. They probably think you're insane.**_

_Don't tell me what my friends think of me! You're just a result of my stress, or something. You can't be real. _I fought back in my mind.

_**You just keep on thinking that, see how far you get.**_I heard her laugh mentally.

"Nngh. Get out!" I thought aloud, shaking my head violently.

"Axel! What's going on!?" Naminé said worriedly.

"S-She's still there! Talking to me! Somehow!" I explained in a panicky voice.

_**Exactly, I'm not a figment of your imagination. I'm really here, and I'm here to stay.**_

_Get out._

_**You put me here, mister. Don't complain.**_

_I don't care who put you in my mind, all I want is for you to be gone! _

_**Hmph. Too bad. I'm here to stay.**_

"Axel? How do you get her out?" Riku asked, his turquoise eyes staring at me warily.

"I-I don't know." Is all I could manage to say.

_**You can tell your so-called 'friends' that I'm here, and you can get me out.**_

"She said that she's here to stay…" I stated in a defeated tone.

"There's gotta be some way!" Naminé suddenly shouted, pulling out her spell book and paging through it.

"Naminé, I-" My sentence was cut short as she shouted. "Aha! Here!" She pointed excitedly at the page.

"Mind-binding?" I questioned, arching my eyebrow.

"Mhm!" Naminé agreed with a quick nod. "My reasoning is that if she's in your mind, then I can shut her up by binding her…right?"

_**Oh, the witch. Scary, scary.**_

"Well, what will it do to me?" I asked, chewing nervously on my bottom lip.

"Um, I haven't exactly got that far…" Naminé confessed, lowering her head into her book.

"What if he like-goes into a mental lockdown or something?" Sora suggested, rolling over on his back.

_**Mhm, I'm sure something bad will happen to you, seeing as nothing can actually touch me. **_She smiled mentally at the sight of me in mental pain.

"Naminé…" I started, trying to be as calm as possible. "What…what if it _doesn't_ bind her? Then what?"

Naminé's pale blue eyes slid down as she thought of a response.

"I-I don't know. Axel, you could possibly, not be the same." She stated sadly.

"Wha-? H-How?" I asked, my face stricken with shock from her answer.

"Well, it may very well bind _your_ mind, and not touch Xarsah at all. You could be…hmm…how to put this…" she tapped her chin thoughtfully as we all anxiously awaited her to finish.

"It's kind of like being in a coma, only you're awake, but only in your mind. You can't move or do anything, just wander around in your thoughts. You'll be a prisoner to your own mind." She finished, her eyes casting downward.

"W-Well, can you reverse it or something?" I said in an exasperated tone.

"That's the thing." Naminé started. "I know I _could_ reverse it, but I don't know if you'd be the same person when you woke up physically."

My face twisted into a shocked expression. "How could I not be the same person? You wouldn't really shut down my mind or anything, right?"

"Well, when I do the mind-binding spell, it warps your thinking and your thoughts are jumbled and cloudy. You may very well go insane. You might forget things, important memories that you thought you'd never lose…" Naminé explained sorrowfully.

"So I would probably forget you guys…and Roxas…" I said, a lump in my throat forming.

_**Hmm…the witch speaks the truth. There's no way you're gonna touch me…Ha…You…Going insane…this should be exciting. **_

_Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! _I chanted inside my head, thinking somehow it would make her go away.

_**Make me.**_

_Man, she's almost as stubborn as Larxene. _I shuddered violently at the thought of Larxene inside my head, her high-pitched laugh piercing my mental ears.

_**Heh, be lucky I don't laugh that high… **_She laughed to prove her point, and I could only try to ignore her.

"Don't do it Naminé, I don't want to forget you guys." I finally remembered to say after my little mental fight.

"I understand, Axel." Naminé quietly said, sitting up and smoothing her dress down.

"Okay, well now what?" Sora suddenly quipped.

"I don't know…I don't know how this train will open, I don't know how to get to Roxas, I have this evil voice inside my head, and there's apparently another girl I'm supposed to know about." I lamented, a single tear dripping down my cheek.

"The door! The gems! I almost forgot about them!" Riku said excitedly, hopping up and walking over to the still-floating gems.

"Well Riku's never this excited…" Sora said, eying Riku curiously.

"Look! When I tap mine, it shines!" Riku proved his point by touching his gem, which emitted a silver light. As soon as he took his hand of the turquoise, the silver light immediately ceased.

"Whoa! Lemme try!" Sora said excitedly, scrambling over to the diamond of stones. Sora stuck out a finger and poked his sapphire, which glowed a soft brown.

"W-Whoa! That's awesome!" Sora exclaimed. "C'mere Kairi and Naminé! Touch yours!"

"Mmk." The two girls mumbled as they got up and touched their stones as well. Kairi's glowed a maroon and Naminé's glowed a soft yellow.

"Hey! That's pretty cool!" Kairi said, tilting her heads slightly.

_**Yea, it's so normal…**_

_Are you going to be this sarcastic the whole time?  
__**Probably.**_

_Joy._

_**Glad you're happy.**_

_Ugh._

I rolled my eyes, coming to the conclusion that Xarsah was just an annoyance, like another addition to our group. An annoying, sarcastic one at that. But all the same, at least she wasn't controlling me or something.

_**Joy, I'm in the 'group'. Can't wait. Three guys and three girls now, hurrah. **_

_Three Nobodies and three Somebodies._

_**Three people of higher existence and three of lower nonexistence. **_

_Give it up. _My fists balled at my sides, not because she insulted me, but because she was totally okay with being nonexistent. She seemed almost pleased with the idea.

"Axel?" Riku questioned, peering at me with turquoise orbs.

"Hmm?" I replied, snapping out of my trance.

"Oh, you just looked like you were hypnotized or something." Riku laughed slightly.

"Yea, I was talking to Xarsah…" I said, pointing to my head. "Gimme a minute, okay?"

"Yea, sure." He nodded and headed back to his friends.

_How can you be so fine with the idea of being a lower form of life…or non-life._

_**I dunno, I just accepted it a while back and now I'm used to it, I guess. I'm not rebellious as some people. **_I could feel her mentally roll her eyes at me.

_It's in my nature to be rebellious. I'm like a package deal. I'm a sexy rebellious pyromaniac. _

_**You forgot arrogant, and sexy isn't really part of the deal…it's like the extra part that was supposed to come with the package, but never arrived.**_

_Ouch. That hurt._

_**Hurt what? Your nonexistent heart?**_

_Hey, you were the one who told me we had hearts._

_**Oh I did, did I? Oops, sorry, but let's just say here, I was lying, Mr. Rebellious. You wouldn't freaking calm down about the whole Roxas situation, and there was no way to get you out of my room.**_

_W-Wait! What!?_

_**You heard me. We. Don't. Have. Hearts.**_

_How can you tell? You just can't look inside and decide if there's something there. How else could I feel emotions?_

_**You don't need a heart to feel emotions…well yes you do I guess. Our emotions are only half as strong as a Somebody's.**_

_Well thanks for completely screwing up my knowledge._

_**No problem ducky. Now get back to your little friendship stone gathering, I'm sure she'll be thrilled once you find her.**_

_She? Wait-that girl that you were talking about before? Who is she!?_

_**Oh, would you look at that. It's sleepy time. Ciao.**_

_No! Wait! Xarsah! Come back!_

I was greeted by an empty silence in my head.

_At least she shut up…_

_**I heard that.**_

_What girl!? Come back here!_

Again, my mind was filled with silence. I growled at myself in frustration and rubbed my temples.

"Hey Axel! C'mere and touch your emerald!" Sora called me over, a big grin on his face and he poked his sapphire.

""Kay!" I called back, walking over to my friends.

"Touch it! Touch it!" Riku chanted, his turquoise eyes filled with a playfulness I hadn't seen in a while.

"Haha, okay." I laughed. I reached out and touched the middle of the emerald lightly with my index finger. Instantly, it glowed a brilliant red and hummed slightly.

"W-Whoa! That's awesome!" I gawked, my own eyes growing big with excitement as I tested everyone else's.

"Cool, huh?" Naminé said, tapping hers rhythmically.

"Yea! Totally!" I grinned, glad that Xarsah wasn't awake to make any mocking comments.

"Let's all touch them at the same time!" Kairi chirped. "I wanna see the color they make!"

We all nodded in agreement and extended our hands to the stones.

"On three!" Kairi instructed.

"One!" Naminé shouted.

"Two!" Sora and Riku said together.

"Three!" I shouted, placing a finger on the emerald.

As we all touched them simultaneously, a large hum erupted from the gems, and a bright light emitted from them, causing us to shield our eyes with our free hand.

"W-Whoa!" Is all I could say as I gaped at the train as the light faded.

"H-How in the world?" Kairi peered at the train, squinting to see in the dark.

"W-Wow." Sora stared, amazed at the now-open door to the train.

"Well come on!" Riku said, taking Sora's hand and leading him inside the train.

"Wah!" Sora shrieked as Riku pulled him into the train with him.

Kairi, Naminé, and I laughed as we stepped in the train, our gazes searching the train.

"So…now what do we do?" I said, peering around the train.

We all jumped as the doors slammed close behind us.

"I guess stay in here…" Riku said, the excitement leaving his eyes.

"A-Are we stuck?" Sora asked worriedly, clutching Riku's arm.

"No, silly. I'm sure the train will be moving soon, and then we'll be that much closer to Roxas." Riku comforted Sora, patting his chocolaty spikes.

In response to Riku's words, the train lurched and started rolling down the track. We all jumped slightly at the rock and grabbed the closest thing to steady ourselves.

"Um, Axel?" Kairi asked, clutching the pole in the middle of the train. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Oh, um…I-I don't really know…" I admitted, chewing on my bottom lip.

"Great." Kairi rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Well we _did_ make this, so I'm assuming it's going to take us to Roxas." I defended myself, leaning against the wall.

"When do we know when it's gonna stop?" Sora asked timidly, still clutching Riku's arm.

"Well I guess we just guess…try looking out in the window." Riku suggested, pressing his face to the crystallized window.

"Well, what do you see?" Sora asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Well, to tell you the truth…nothing." Riku confessed, peeling his face away from the window. "The crystals are in the way."

"Well…" Sora started, leaning on the wall opposite to me. "What do we now?"

"Sleep." Riku yawned, stretching his arms out.

"One. There are no seats tosleep _on_. Two. What if we don't wake up when the train stops and either lose valuable time, or the train will take us somewhere else other than where we supposed to get off." I stated flatly, crossing my arms.

"The floor's fine." Riku said, bending down to feel the carpet.

"We can sleep in shifts." Naminé piped up. "One or two of us can stay awake while the rest sleep, and whoever stays awake starts to get tired, they wake up one of us and we switch."

"That sounds fine." Riku said, laying down on the ground and curling up.

"Who's gonna keep watch first?" Sora asked.

"I will." I volunteered.

"You sure Axel? I mean, you'll need your rest…" Naminé explained softly, her eyes filled with concern as they stared up at me.

"Yea. I'm too anxious to sleep anyway." I reassured them, looking up at the purple ceiling.

"O-Okay." Naminé said with a slight nod, and kneeled down, looking for a good spot to crash.

"Night everyone." Sora mumbled, crawling over to Riku.

"Night." Naminé and Kairi responded, closing their eyes.

"Mmm." Riku muttered, half asleep next to Sora.

"Night you guys." I chuckled, amused at the sleepy teenagers. I walked over to the front of the train and flipped of the lights. "Aw…how cute." I smirked at them. Kairi, Naminé, Sora, and Riku all lay curled up peacefully next to each other.

My mind filled with random thoughts of Roxas and our journey so far. I tried to imagine where in the world was taking us, but eventually I gave up and settled on talking to the only person I could.

_Xarsah, you awake?_

_**I am now.**_

_Heh, sorry._

_**What do you want?**_

_I dunno, I'm just confused._

_**'Bout what?**_

_Everything._

_**Well that's specific.**_

_Why did Roxas have to be taken away…again? Where is this train taking us, and why? Why is all of this happening in general?_

_**Well, I'm not exactly supposed to be a mentor here, more like the evil little voice inside your head, but I'm feeling kind of generous after my nap. I'll let you in on a little secret. This is all happening…because of her.**_

_Who's her?_

_**If I told you, then I'd be spoiling the big surprise.**_

_I don't care! Just tell me!_

_**I'd rather not.**_

_Fine, then tell me this. When am I going to find about this '_girl'_?_

_**Hm…hard to say…probably in a couple of hours, if you're lucky.**_

_If I'm…lucky?_

_**The old man talks for a **_**long**_** time.**_

_What old man!? What are you talking about!?_

_**Like I said, I'm not gonna ruin the surprise. **_

_Fine, then is this '_girl'_ going to bring me closer to Roxas?_

_**Hm…probably. If she chooses correctly.**_

_Chooses what? Oh wait, let me guess. You're not going to tell me._

_**Ding, ding. Folks, we have ourselves a winner.**_

_So, let me get this straight. There's this '_girl'. _And I'm going to find out about her in a few hours, and there's gonna be some old guy thrown into the mix. Then she'll lead me to Roxas, if she can make the '_right choice'_ or whatever._

_**Bingo.**_

I sighed, leaning my head against the wall and closing my eyes.

_Why did this have to happen to me?_

_**I dunno. Guess you'll have to figure that one out on your own.**_

We both were silent for a couple of minutes, spare the many sighs that escaped my lips.

_Hey Xarsah?_

_**Mmm?**_

_Do…do you know this girl…like…personally?_

_**Well, you could say that, I guess. **_**I **_**myself didn't really know her, and if she saw me now, she probably wouldn't recognize me.**_

_Why? What happened?_

_**Let's just say someone that was…very close to me, you could say…took a wrong turn and I won't ever be the same.**_

_How so?_

_**You really want to know?**_

_Yes._

_**Okay. Back when I was a Somebody, me and that girl…we were best friends. Inseparable, we stuck together like glue. We were both thirteen, and we were sick of being stuck. Stuck with the same friends in the same school in the same school in the same neighborhood in the state in the same country in the same world. We were ambitious, and we wanted to go see the world, even other worlds, if they existed. But we knew that was almost impossible, seeing as we weren't by a sea to sail across or something, or even the money to afford a plane ticket to go the state over. So we dreamed. We dreamed of other worlds, different people, and overall, freedom. She was always obsessed with this game called "Kingdom Hearts". And yes, it did have to do with the real Kingdom Hearts. To boil the game down for you, it was all pretty much about Sora and his adventures, or whatever. There were four main games, and most of them were about Sora, although one of them was centered on the Organization. They were accurate, too. Apart from the whole dying thing. They said all of you died, except for Roxas, he just merged into Sora. Stupid, I know. Maybe they wanted to crush the spirits of those who thought they could find you guys. Or something. Don't ask me how they made the game, but somehow they knew, or I don't know. But anyway, she's been obsessed since she was six, and she got me pretty crazy about it too. We wanted a life like yours. Freedom, power, adventure. She would pray every night that somehow Kingdom Hearts was really real and that she would be stuck into the real thing somehow. Guess she got her wish, but that's not what I'm focusing on. While she was praying for you guys, I was praying for something else. I prayed for freedom, to break free from my hometown, maybe even the world. I wanted to be totally free, and I vowed I would do anything for that freedom. Well one night, we were at her house for a sleepover, and there was a big thunderstorm. We were the only ones up, and since we loved storms so much, we decided to watch it from her upstairs window. Well, when we were watching it, lightening struck her driveway, but luckily her driveway was pretty long, so we weren't hurt or anything. Well there wasn't any fire, but her driveway changed. It wasn't the usual asphalt; it looked like a mini sea, with waves and everything. We thought we were dreaming, but it turns out we weren't. So we went downstairs and ran outside to check it out. We suddenly realized that we weren't the only ones outside. There was someone else. We couldn't really see their face, so we didn't know if it was a boy or girl. But they definitely weren't one of her neighbors. They wasn't there before either; they just appeared when the lightening struck, along with the little sea. They turned around and stretched a hand out to us, and we felt a huge wind pick up. I somehow realized that this was real and this was my only way to freedom, so I ran toward them and took their hand. She screamed and screamed and tried to go with me, but the wind picked up fast and we instantly vanished, leaving her behind. As you could assume, I felt terrible for leaving her, but I felt a new thrill. I was free. I was finally free. That person took me to a white room, where they sat me down and asked me questioned. They finally asked me the question that changed my life forever. They asked me what I wanted. I said I wanted freedom. And they told me that I could have ultimate freedom and power. I was of course thrilled, but I knew there was a catch. They said that the only way to have freedom was to become a Nobody, to lose my heart, but not completely. It was then I realized I was stuck right inside **_**her**_** dream. What we had been obsessed with was actually true, but I was stuck with a choice I had never thought I would have to make. I knew I had a strong enough heart, but I didn't know about everything else. She had always told me that Nobodies like us had hearts like Demyx said, but we were just too afraid to accept it. I decided that this was my one and only chance to have freedom, and I had already promised myself I would do anything for it. So I accepted the offer. I don't remember much about the transformation, other than it was excruciating. I woke up and felt different. I knew I wasn't the same, but I was almost the same. The people that gave me my choice were gone, and I was on my own. It was thrilling but scary. I had different clothes on, and in my pocket was a note that said, "You're different". I didn't know what to do so I figured I might as well figure out my "ultimate power". Turns out I have the power of mind. I can go into other peoples' mind, control them, etcetera. Maybe that's why I remember my Somebody's life so clearly. I didn't have anywhere to go, so I tested my freedom and went back to her to tell her everything. I went to her house, and she was sitting on her doorstep, crying her eyes out. She kept mumbling "She's gone." And "This can't be happening!". I soon figured out that it was me she was talking about. I tried to go over and tell her that I was okay, but I soon figured out that she couldn't see me. I was invisible to her and the rest of her world. After sitting next to her for a little while, I found out that I had been asleep as a Nobody for about a week, and during that time, they had issued an Amber Alert for me and search parties were everywhere. The authorities wouldn't listen to her when she told them what really happened, and said I was probably stolen in the middle of the night, and that she was drugged and was hallucinating about what happened to me. Either that or I ran away from home and she was covering for me, with a very unbelievable story. I shadowed her for the next few days, having nowhere else to go. I then knew that freedom was only good if you had someone else to share it with. She was still stuck, and she was completely in the dark. I hoped at least she knew that she wasn't going crazy, and that she would realize what really happened to me. While shadowing her, I realized that if I had nowhere else to go, I might as well go to the Organization. Even if I wouldn't have total freedom, I would have company, and I would know at least something about you. And from what we used to believe about you guys, this would be interesting. So I showed up at the Castle that Never Was, and Xemnas gladly brought me in, seeing how my power was pretty useful, and how I already knew what was going on. You probably don't remember this, but Roxas, Demyx, you, and I were best friends. I don't know why I took such a liking to you guys, probably because she used to say I reminded her of Roxas, and that she was Demyx, and she was always so obsessed with you, so I tried to make friends with you guys, and you guys really helped me keep my memories of her. Anyway, so when Roxas left, you went crazier than you remember. No one could help you or calm you down, so we left you locked in your room, and no one could enter your room without special permission from either Xemnas or Saïx. Well I was really worried about you, so I snuck in your room one right to check on you, and let's just say the Superior was pretty pissed. So he gave me one last warning, but I kept screwing up on missions, and I wasn't really helping the Organization much anymore. Truth be told, I was really missing her. Demyx was a lot like her, but I missed my real best friend more than anything. So I was preoccupied with wishful and regretful thinking and I didn't put my whole being into the Organization, so Xemnas, well, he fired me, I guess. I was too "valuable" to be put a dusk, so he said I had to get someone to accept me. Well the night before, I snuck into your room again, and Xemnas was there. He somehow "banished" me to your mind. The only thing was, I couldn't do anything but wander inside your nonexistent heart and thoughts until you really needed me, and I could only be released if you "killed" me. That's why I had to make you mad and act all evil and such. I knew even **_**you**_** were too modest to kill me just because, so I had to make you mad. Hence the whole speech and me acting all evil and such. So back to after you were mentally stable. Well Xemnas didn't want anyone remembering me, so he made Vexen make a mind-erasing laser beam of some sort, and shot all of you with it.**_ She mentally sighed, and an image of a tear flashed across my mind.

_W-Whoa. T-That was…wow. _Is all I could think of, but she knew all the crazy thoughts going on inside my head.

_**Yeah, I know. Sorry if I act like a jerk sometimes. Being bottled up inside someone for almost two years and not being able to say anything ticks you off a bit.**_

_Apology accepted. W-Wow. I never would've guessed._

_**Strange things happen, don't they?  
**__Hey Xarsah?  
__**Yeah?**_

_What happened to her…ya know…after you left?_

_**Well let's fast-forward a year. During that they issued an Amber Alert for me and a whole bunch of search parties were sent everywhere. I was apparently on the news a lot, and they searched for me for roughly a year.  
**__What happened after that?_

_**They pronounced me dead. Never found my body, of course, there wasn't one to be found. They still had a funeral though. She was heartbroken. She thought she had lost me, which technically she had. I'm not my Somebody. I'm actually a whole bunch different. But somehow, I'm closer to my Somebody than most Nobodies. I can remember her life crystal clear. Like it's part of my memories. I feel oddly close to the people I once knew. Maybe it's the way they made me lose my heart. For all I know, I could've been an experiment.**_

_W-What was your original name?_

_**I'd love to chat some more, but it looks like your train has arrived.**_

I looked out the window to see the blurry objects outside slow down.

_Oh._

_**Don't worry, we'll talk later. I'll be around a while. Go. Find out about her.**_

_Thanks._

_**Mmhmm.**_

"Guys. Wake up. I think we're here." I shook the sleeping teens, glancing out the window in anticipation.

"Geez, mom. Five more minutes!" Riku muttered darkly under his breath, hugging his knees to his chest and rolling over closer to Riku.

"Too cold…" Kairi mumbled, shifting closer to Naminé for warmth.

"You guys are cold?" I snickered, standing up and staring at them

Sora shivered in response and curled up closer to Riku.

"Hmm…four half-asleep freezing teenagers. How did I get stuck with you guys?" I joked, chuckling under my breath. "Here, want some warmth?" I snapped my fingers and a small circle of flames encircled them.

"Mmm…warm…" Sora mumbled, hugging himself.

"Heh, not for long." I snickered, making the flames go higher, getting close enough for them to feel their heat, but not get burned.

"HOLY-!" Riku shouted, whipping into a sitting position and glaring at me.

I could only laugh as I waited for the remaining three to respond.

"Nngh. Riku…too hot…get offa me." Sora murmured, trying to shove Riku away from him.

"Sora, Sora, get up!" Riku gently shook Sora, trying to get him to wake up. "We're here."

"That's nice…" Sora slurred, slowly sinking back into sleep.

Riku sighed and ran his fingers through his silver hair. His eyes brightened as his brain hatched an idea.

"OHMYGOSH SORA! LOOK! A SHEEP!" Riku shouted, his voice filled with exaggerated animation.

"WHERE!?" Sora shouted, instantly sat up, snapping out of his slumber.

"Gotcha." Riku winked.

"Aw…" Sora said disappointedly, a pink blush dusting his cheeks.

I doubled over in laughter, tears forming in my eyes. I snapped my fingers again, making the small flames disappear.

"Now we just need to get Naminé and Kairi up…" Riku said, staring worriedly at the two sleeping girls.

"Naminé won't be too hard to get up, but Kairi will murder us if we wake her up." Sora said, shying away from the sleeping maroon-headed girl and crawled closer to Naminé.

"Naminé, c'mon. We gotta go." Sora whispered into her ear, softly shaking her.

"Mmm? Okay." Naminé said, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her pale blue eyes.

"Who wants to die today?" Riku asked nonchalantly.

"I'll wake her up." Naminé bravely volunteered, drumming her fingers on Kairi's back to the tune of her favorite song.

"What are you doing?" Riku questioned, his turquoise eyes filled with astonishment.

"Watch." Naminé said softly, focusing on the beat.

Soon enough, Kairi started humming the tune, then singing the words. She finally sat up and stared at us through half-lidded blue eyes.

"Kai! We need to get up!" Sora said, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Fine, fine…gosh Sora…lemme alone." Kairi said, staggering to get on her feet.

"Wow, you guys are something else." I said, wiping the tears from the corner of my eyes.

They just rolled their eyes at me and tried to stare out the translucent windows.

"Where do we go after we got off this?" Kairi asked, cupping her hands to the window to see outside.

"I dunno. Xarsah said that we'd find out about that girl here. Oh and there's supposed to be some old guy that likes to talk a lot." I said sheepishly, running my long fingers through my spikes.

"Okay…random girl…old man…this should be fun." Kairi said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I didn't say it, she did." I said, pointing to my head.

_**Yup. And don't you forget it.**_

"Um, Axel?" Riku said, his turquoise eyes warily meeting mine. "You sure you aren't making this up?"

"W-What!? No! I swear! She just told me her life story practically! Y-You don't think that I'm making this up…do you?" I flailed my arms around, my voice getting panicky.

_**Oh no.**_

"N-No! Axel, I didn't mean that! I just wanted to make sure that you're totally certain that this is all real, that's all." Riku reassured.

"O-Okay." I stuttered, slightly embarrassed by little outburst.

_**I don't think you can go any more insane.**_

_Thanks._

_**Hehe. I'm doing it again, aren't I? Sorry, I can't help it all the time.**_

I rolled my eyes and stared at the window, focusing on the warped figures outside the crystallized glass.

"Um…guys? I think it's stopping." Sora observed, stepping away from the window.

_**Thank you, Captain Obvious.**_

We all watched the doors slide open as the train stopped, the train filling with fresh air. We stepped off of the train, blinking our eyes to get used to the low light as the sun slowly rose in the distance.

"Where are we?" Sora asked timidly, his head turning in all directions.

"I-I've never been here before…" I admitted, peering into the soft light.

"Neither have we." Riku spoke for the rest of the group, lifting his head to gaze at the still-starry sky.

"Wonder where we are…" I mumbled, pacing toward the middle of what appeared to be the train station.

"Welcome to the Passage of Returning." A voice came from somewhere in the shadows, making all five of us jump.

"W-Who's there?" Sora said, clutching Riku's arm once again in fear.

An aged man stepped out of the shadows, walking slowly, his cane trembling as he made his way to the center of the supposed train station. "My name is Marquea." He waved his cane above his head, motioning to the hypothetical train station. "And this is the Passage of Returning."

_**That's him.**_

_Great. He likes to repeat himself?_

_**Oh yea.**_

_Joy._

_**Have fun.**_

"W-What's that?" Sora timidly asked, his blue orbs huge as he scanned the open room.

"You don't know?" Marquea questioned, his gray eyebrow arching.

"N-No." Sora stuttered, shuffling closer to Riku.

"Let me explain for you then. This is where all the souls arrive when they leave their bodies when they become Nobodies." Marquea explained.

"Where are the bodies then?" Riku inquired boldly.

"They are sent to the Passage of Reoccurrence." Marquea went on shakily, hobbling over to the middle of our group. "From there they are sent into the Hall of Remembrance, where the souls and bodies meet, and they become whole again."

"What!?" We all shouted, not believing anything the old man said.

"Yes, yes. But they cannot leave this world. They are confined to it, although it is not too much of a dilemma." Marquea said, shambling back to the middle of the open room.

"W-What's this world called? And why did we get sent here?" Kairi asked, defiance creeping up in her tone.

"This is The World of Broken Memories." He responded. "I do not know exactly why you are here. We do not get visitors very often, because no one is supposed to know of this place, but I had sensed someone was going to arrive."

"WAIT!" I shouted, throwing my hands out. "You're telling me that my Somebody is HERE!? In this very world!?"

"Well, yes, of course!" Marquea replied, appalled by my question.

"I-I can finally figure out my past! W-Whoa…" I got starry eyed as I thought about how I could finally figure out my past, and stop being haunted by the fragments of broken reminiscences I had left of my former self.

"Axel? Um…what should we do?" Naminé asked, tugging my sleeve.

"Mmm?" I mumbled, shaking my head, snapping out of my thoughts. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to see Lea!" I said, sliding over to Marquea. "Where exactly do you think Lea is?"

"Oh, he's in Building 8, top floor, thirteenth floor on the left." Marquea dismissed us with a wave of his frail hand. "If you need me, I will be in my office." He pointed to a door hidden in the shadows with his cane.

"Okay! Thanks!" I shouted, sprinting toward Building 8. "Come on you guys!" I yelled at my companions far behind me.

* * *

**YAY!! LEA!!!!! 3  
Okay, I want to do a little shout out to all the awesome people who have reviewed, specially my 'fiance' Luke ;]  
Thanks guys you rock and are the reason I'm still writing this crap :D**


	11. Lea

**Eh, not much to say about this...kind of let out my little rant on the last chapter...reviews please?**

* * *

"Eight, nine, ten, eleven." I counted the doors on the left, trying to find the apartment that belonged to my Somebody.

"Axel! Wait up!" I heard Sora whisper loudly, thundering after me down the hall with Riku in tow.

"'Kay!" I said, stopping outside the thirteenth door, grinning with anticipation.

"Are we all here?" Kairi said, her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

"Yea. Knock already!" Riku commanded impatiently, practically bouncing with anxiousness.

I nodded and knocked on the door three times, biting my bottom lip nervously.

I nearly gasped as someone opened the door, leaning against the doorframe. "Hey. Who are you guys?" He questioned, tilting his head slightly to the side.

We couldn't say anything, but only could stare at what looked to be my twin. He had the exact same flaming red hair, but in a choppier style, and it was longer, and pulled into a low, thin ponytail. He had red, crescent tattoos directly underneath the corner of his eyes and he wore sunglasses on top of his forehead. His eyes were green, but not as neon as mine, and he was slightly shorter than me.

"W-Woah." Sora managed to stutter out, gawking at us.

"Hey, do I know you?" He asked, tilting his head even more to the side.

_He even has the same voice as me. Whoa._

"Um…I think so…sort of…not really…" I stumbled for words, trying to explain the situation. "I'm Axel. Got it memorized?" I finally came up with, sticking out a hand for him to shake.

"Lea. Man, you look really familiar." He shook my hand briskly, shaking his head, trying to think.

"Um, yea. That's the thing." I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly. "I'm your…um…Nobody."

* * *

"My what?" Lea's face flashed with surprise and shock.

"Your Nobody. Y'know. When you lost your heart to a heartless, except your heart was too strong, so it made um…me? I'm almost like your alter-ego." I tried to explain, rubbing the back of my neck.

"_Oh._ _Those_ things. _Right._ That old guy, what's his name? Oh yea, Marquea. He told me somethin' about you. Heh, _that's_ why you look so much like me." He grinned, straightening up a bit.

_**He seems a bit cockier than you. I'm almost glad I'm stuck inside your head and not his.**_

_Haha. I like him._

_**That's because you're full of yourself.**_

_Touché._

"So who're your friends?" Lea asked, peering around me to look at the group.

"Oh! This is Sora, Riku, Naminé, Kairi, and Xarsah." I said, pointing to each of them.

_**Idiot. You think **_**he's**_** gonna believe you?**_

_He's me. He's gotta understand. Right?_

_**Have fun explaining. This should be a train wreck.**_

I sighed mentally and rolled my eyes.

"Um…where's Xarsah?" Lea asked, whipping his head around.

"Oh…she's…um…in my…head…" I said sheepishly.

"What?" Lea tilted his head to the side again.

"Long story. Bottom line, I killed her and she's like…trapped in my mind." I tried to explain.

"Dude…you killed a girl!?" Lea's emerald eyes grew huge.

"N-No! Not exactly! Well…yes…no?" I facepalmed my forehead, mentally chastising myself.

"Hey, dude. Don't worry about it. I have troubles with explaining unexplainable things too." He patted me on the back reassuringly. "Heh, I guess we really are the same."

We all laughed, relieved that most of the tension had been lifted.

"Oh, sorry! Come in guys!" Lea suddenly said, ushering us in his apartment.

We all piled in the small living room, taking in everything.

I noticed that his apartment, too, smelled like cinnamon and bonfire smoke, much like my room back at The World That Never Was.

"So…" Lea called from the kitchen, making us hot chocolate. "What brings you here?"

"It's a…long story…" I explained, messing with the chains on my coat.

"I got all day, man." Lea shouted back, rifling through his cabinets for a tray.

"Okay." I started, taking a deep breath. "Well, my…um…boyfriend was captured by some guy I don't know. It was totally out of the blue. But I did this thing called 'bonding'. It kind of ties us together, and we can talk to each other and find each other, somehow. Anyway I didn't know where to go so I went to these four and we've been running around since yesterday trying to find him." I finished, biting my lip, hoping I got everything in.

"Heh, wasn't that long." Lea smirked, bringing in a tray of six hot chocolates.

"Yeah, well. I left out details and such…" I replied, rubbing the back of my head.

"Oh. So, you're gay?" Lea asked, sipping his hot chocolate slowly.

"Wha-? Oh…yeah." I laughed nervously, taking my hot chocolate and staring into it.

_Two little marshmallows and one big one. That's how I always make mine._

_**Ha. I knew you didn't come up with it.**_

_What?_

_**When you would make hot chocolate for you and Roxas, you would always put two mini and one jumbo marshmallow and called it the "Axel Special" Heh, should rename it the "Lea Special"**_

_Oh, shut up._

_**With pleasure.**_

"That's cool. Me too." Lea replied, leaning back in the recliner.

"Hmm?" I asked, looking up from my hot chocolate.

"I'm gay too." Lea said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh! Sorry! I…I space out sometimes." I laughed, drinking my hot chocolate.

"Hah. No prob." Lea laughed, leaning forward slightly. "So. I have some questions."

"Shoot." I mumbled through my marshmallows.

"Okay, question one. What's your boyfriend like?" He asked me, resting his chin in his hands.

"Roxas is…amazing. He's everything I could ask for and more. He's perfect for me; he's like my little angel. I seriously don't know what I did to deserve him." I said, shaking my head slowly, trying to recall my emotions.

"Okay. Now how exactly did he get kidnapped?" Lea asked, leaning in like as if I was telling him a secret.

"Well, we were at Castle Oblivion- a place where Roxas and I sometimes hang out. We went back to The Castle That Never Was-which is where we live. We live with 12 other people, but for some reason none of them were home, which is strange because _someone's_ always home. So I went looking for them while Roxas was watching TV. When I came back I got us some ice cream and went to the living room but when I got there he was being dragged away by some guy. I tried to stop him best I could, but he was too powerful, and he dragged Roxas away. But right before he disappeared with Roxas, I bonded him." I finished, my eyes only slightly dampening at the memory of Roxas's kidnapping.

"Ouch. I'm sorry, dude. But…um… what's bonding?" He replied, leaning back again in his chair.

"Well I set the ice cream that was supposed to be for us on fire and I threw it to him. As long as both of us have the ice cream we can talk to each other and find each other. Which_ really_ helps considering I have no frickin idea where this guy went." I replied, trying to remember anything important.

"And how do you find each other?" Lea asked, blowing stray locks of hair out of his eyes.

"We think it's like a metal detector!" Kairi piped up. "You see, the flames get bigger when we're closer to Roxas, and smaller when we're farther away from him.

"Interesting, but…um…where's the ice cream?" Lea questioned, looking at all of us.

"Oh! Hold on!" I exclaimed, reaching into my pocket and producing the flaming ice cream.

"W-Whoa! T-That's not normal!" Lea shouted, slightly recoiling.

"And neither is this." I smirked, lighting the tips of my fingers and roasting the large marshmallow over them.

Lea just gaped as I popped the brown marshmallow in my mouth.

"Yum." I grinned.

"W-Wow. T-That's…That's awesome!" He managed to stutter out, his jade eyes widening.

The five of us just laughed at Lea's expression and continued chugging our hot cocoa.

"Anyway, back to the questions." I said, putting down my mug and motioning to the ice cream. "Yup, so this here is a bond. Flame bond to be more exact. I can find and talk to Roxas as long as he has the other one. And to answer your oncoming question, no, I do not know if he has the other one or not at the present moment. Y'see, we _were_ talking to him, but just for a short while. Someone cut him off and we haven't been able to talk to him since then. We're just following the flames now."

"A-And the ice cream led you h-here?" Lea asked, shaking his head, trying to recover from my pyrokinesis.

"Looks like it." I said casually, gazing at the ice cream.

"Okay, more questions. How'd you get here, and who's Xarsah?" Lea asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Well," I started, trying to remember what exactly happened yesterday. "The ice cream lead us to a train station, and we um…used our…powers to make a train-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You all have fire powers?" Lea interrupted, his green eyes widened.

"No, no. Just Axel." Sora said, shaking his head. "Me, Riku, and Kairi have these things called Keyblades. Naminé has power over memories…well actually only mine and those associated with me, and she can do spells and stuff. And Xarsah, well she has power over um…" He struggled, looking at me for help.

"Mind." I replied quickly.

"Yeah, mind." Sora nodded briskly.

"Seriously?" Lea asked, his eyes filled with the slightest bit of doubt.

On cue, Sora, Riku, and Kairi's Keyblades appeared in a bright flash of light, along with Naminé's spell book and my chakrams, which I had appropriately set on fire.

_**Rawr.**_

_Nice._

_**What am I supposed to do? I'm stuck in **_**your **_**head.**_

_Just watch, I suppose._

_**Wee.**_

Lea's eyes widened even more as he scrambled back in his chair.

"Believe us now?" Riku said, a smirk on his lips.

"Y-Yeah." Lea nodded, looking slightly flushed.

"Good, now back to the question. Where was I?" I tapped my chin thoughtfully. "Ah, that's right. Okay, so we made this weird train with gems on it." I explained, taking out my emerald. Riku, Sora, Naminé, and Kairi also took out theirs, showing them to Lea.

"And so it took us _forever_ to get them off the front of the train. And when we did, they started glowing and floating, and I was practically possessed, no thanks to Xarsah, and I passed out and I went to this little room in my 'mind' and Xarsah explained some things to me and I got pissed at her and 'killed' her, I guess. But then I woke up and she was still in my mind, but she explained her whole story and turns out she's not really evil. And so then we were let osn the train and we were transported here and Marquea talked to us and he told us about this place and we went to go see you and…well…here we are now." I rambled, taking long deep breaths.

"Oh…w-wow." Lea stuttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Any more questions?" I asked, picking up my neglected hot chocolate.

"Yeah. What about those people you live with? Who are they?" Lea asked, tilting his head again.

"Oh, the Organization. Okay, well, when we Nobodies are created, we really have no place to go. We're too light for the dark and too dark for the light. We're rejected by both sides, left wandering, stumbling through nothingness. There's this guy, Xemnas. He takes powerful Nobodies in, and that's how the Organization was born. We're called Organization XIII, a group of fourteen higher-ranking Nobodies. Xemnas sends us on missions, where we usually scout out new worlds and collect hearts from heartlesses. We collect hearts to complete our ultimate goal, which is Kingdom Hearts. From what Xemnas tells us, Kingdom Hearts will supposedly give us real hearts, as if we didn't have real enough hearts. We Nobodies _do_ have hearts, they are just different from Somebody hearts, much different." I finished, hoping I made at least partial sense.

"So an organization of fourteen people is called Organization XIII?" Lea questioned, raising a slim eyebrow.  
"Heh, long story. There's some…um…complications? Besides, Organization XIII sounds cooler than Organization XIV." I tried to explain, shrugging.

"Fair enough. Do all of these…Nobodies…have special powers too?" Lea asked, setting his empty mug on the tray.

"Oh yeah." I replied, nodding.

"What are they?" He questioned, leaning in.

"Well Xemnas has power over Nothing…literally. Xigbar has power over space, so he can warp and stuff like that. Xaldin has power over wind, Vexen has control over ice, Lexeaus controls earth and rocks and things like that, and Zexion has power of illusion. Saïx reins over the moon, me over fire, Demyx has control of water, Luxord over time, which means he can stop it, warp it, etcetera. Marluxia has power over flowers, Larxene has control over electricity, and Roxas and Xion have power over light." I explained.

"And you four-erm, five." Lea motioned to the four teenagers and glanced at my head.

"Sora has power of light, Riku has power over darkness, Kairi we think has power over light, but we're not quite sure yet. Naminé has power over Sora's memories and magic, and Xarsah has-well _had_ control over the mind." I enlightened him.

"Oh. So I'm guessing all the Organization plus Xarsah have 'X's' in their name? Why?" Lea questioned, chewing his bottom lip thoughtfully.

"I dunno, Xemnas came up with it when him, Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo first became Nobodies." I shrugged, really having no explanation for Xemnas's actions.

"Hey I know them! They live in this apartment too!" Lea exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Really!?" I tilted my head too. "What about Ansem, Isa, Meyd, Dulor, Lumaria, and Elenar?"

_**And Sarah.**_ I heard a small but hopeful voice speak.

_Sarah…?_

_**My Somebody.**_

_Oh!_

"Yeah! They all live in this complex!" Lea exclaimed excitedly.

"And Sarah?" I asked, sensing hopeful feelings in my head.

"Well she doesn't live in this building, but I've seen her around." Lea said, taking the tray and six empty mugs to the kitchen.

"Awesome! The guys are gonna be psyched once they hear about this!" I said, pumping my fist in the air and walking over to Lea to help with the dishes.

"Now you've got me curious. What do they look like?" Lea asked, stooping down to grab the soap from underneath the sink.

I reached into my deep pockets and dug out my wallet. I opened it and pulled out a folded up picture and showed it to him. It was one of the few group pictures we had taken. We were on the annual skiing trip last year. I smiled at the memories that appeared in my head as I stared at the picture. Saïx was leaning peacefully on Xemnas, his eyes closed underneath his blue goggles. Zexion was in one of his rare happy moods and was piggybacking on Demyx, his mouth wide open as he let out a laugh. Marluxia was cringing as Vexen poured snow on his frozen pink hair. Larxene was glaring at Luxord, her ski pole poised to stab him, as Xaldin's eyes were huge as he tried to warn Luxord of the oncoming danger. Xigbar was upside-down as usual, dangling a giggling Xion from her snow boots. Lexeaus stood in the corner of the picture, looking bored and silent as usual. Then there was Roxas and me. My arm was on top of his head, my fingers making the peace sign as my other arm was wrapped around his waist. His arm was raised in protest, and his face was a mixture of affection and annoyance. I laughed at myself at the strange mixture of emotions in my lover's face.

"So who's who?" Lea asked, squinting at the picture.

I pointed out each member of my 'family', also informing him of their Somebodies.

"Whoa. T-They all look a _lot_ a like." Lea breathed, still staring at the picture. "I'm guessing you're all gay?"

"Yeah, except for the two girls. I'm pretty sure they're straight, although Larxene is more of a guy than most of us. We don't exactly know who Lexeaus, Luxord, Xaldin, and Xigbar's lovers are, but you can guess the others." I explained, scratching my head.

"Yeah, I'm guessing Ansem and Isa; Meyd and Ienzo; Lumaria and Even; and of course, you and Roxas." Lea guessed, pointing to the photograph.

"Yeah, only it's their Nobodies." I laughed. "Wait, are their Somebodies lovers too?"

"What? Oh, yeah." He said indifferently, resuming to his dishes.

"Whoa. That's…wow." I gaped, folding the picture and slipping it in my wallet.

"Wait…then who's _your_ boyfriend?" Sora squeaked from the living room. "I-It's not me! I have Riku!" He grabbed Riku's hand to prove his point.

"Oh, I don't really have one at the moment. I used to have one though." Lea replied, scrubbing a mug.

"Mind if we ask who?" Riku asked.

"His name was Cloud. We were going out only for a couple of months. He left me for some guy named Zack a couple weeks ago." He sighed, wiping down the tray.

"Oh…I'm sorry…" Sora said, his huge blue eyes filled with pity.

"Nah, it's okay. I feel sorry for the guy before me. His name was Leon. Poor guy. They were going out for two years, and suddenly, he just left him. Just like that." Lea snapped his fingers.

"Oh…" Is all Sora could say as he squeezed Riku's hand tighter.

"Hey, Lea? Can I ask _you_ a question?" I asked, sitting down on the couch again.

"Yeah, sure, shoot." He replied, waving a hand.

"

"Yeah. So do you guys want to visit the guys?" Lea asked brightly, wiping his hands on a towel.

"We'd love to, but…we kind of need to get going…" I said sadly, scuffing my shoes against the tile. "Y'know. Gotta go save my boyfriend and all." I laughed slightly.

"No, no! They can wait! Go, go! Save Roxas! Just promise to come back, okay? And bring little Roxie-chan with you!" Lea grinned.

"I'll commit it to memory." I tapped my head twice and stuck out my hand.

"Nice to see ya, Lea." I said sincerely.

"You too, Axel. It's not every day you get to meet your other half." He laughed, shaking my hand.

"Bye guys! Don't forget to come visit me!" Lea called as we left his apartment.

"We won't! Thanks so much!" We called back, rushing towards the elevator.

"That was…interesting." Sora said, leaning against the mirrored wall inside the elevator.

"Heh, yea. I guess." I chuckled, pushing the lobby button.

"So. I'm guessing we go back to Marquea?" Riku said, his turquoise eyes questioning me silently.

"Well, I guess. He's supposed to tell us about that girl, I think." I replied, scratching my head.

_Am I right?_

_**Yea. He'll tell you all about **_**her.**

_This should be…fun._

_**Heh, yeah. He talks a **_**lot**_**.**_

_Ugh._

_**But first.**_

_Hmm?_

_**Can…can we go see Sarah?**_

_Sarah?_

_**My Somebody?**_

_Oh! Um…yea…sure I guess._

_**Don't worry about Marquea. He can wait just a little longer. **_**She's**_** not going anywhere anytime soon anyway.**_

_Okay._

_**Thanks.**_

_No problem. But, why do you want to see her?_

_**Well, I've been wondering who those people were that changed me. I want to see if she remembers anything about those guys. Remember the note? It said, "You're different." I want to find out who those guys were and what they wanted with me. I want to find out my past, believe it or not.**_

_Yeah. I understand. If I was you, I would want to find out those weirdo's intentions._

_**Thanks for understanding. **_

_No problem._

"Um guys?" I spoke up, staring at the elevator doors. "Can we make a little side trip?"

"To where?" Sora piped up, his cerulean eyes questioning me.

"We're gonna go see Sarah. Xarsah's Somebody." I replied, my eyes unchanging.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN!!!! CLIFFHANGER!!! not really!!!! anyway, I was going to make this chapter longer, but I thought I'd publish it for yew guys :]**

**YAY RENO! (You do not know how many times I had to go over my writing and catch my mistakes because I kept writing 'Reno' instead of 'Lea'. ARGH! I'm so easily confused...)**

**Reviews?**


End file.

Kingdom Hearts, Drama, Tragedy