A/N: Lyrics are from Carrie Underwood's Jesus Take The Wheel.

Summary: Axel and Namine have a moment to spare.




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Again, she used up all of the pages in this sketchbook. She wanted to ask him for more but he didn't seem to be in the mood. Her eyes were sore and dried out of tears but he didn't pay any attention to her. It wasn't like him to not say anything. To not taunt her back into tears again, reminding her of her loneliness.

Namine tried several times to bury that sickness beneath her heart but those people, she thought. Those people knew exactly how to cut her soul open again and expose to everyone she tried to reach out to of the ugliness of her intentions, her motives, and her heart. She was done crying for now. Her chest choked from the pain she coughed earlier as they continued to mock her but she didn't say a word.

She was told sit only in this chair at the center of the room. There wasn't much to this empty room except for a podium toward the end of the room where Axel spied on the residents of Marluxia's castle. She saw a glimpse of the brown hair that streaked across the crystal and shifted too suddenly in her seat. The movement of its legs screeched, spurring a loud echo throughout the chamber. That was a big no-no, she remembered. Her heart was pounding with fear. It was the fear of being broken again and after being broken again, shattered further.

Don't draw attention to yourself. She clasped her legs together and held onto her sketchpad, hoping for some miracle that he didn't hear that horrific shriek. Her ears were slightly numb from the sudden sharp resonance.

He was laughing to himself. She could hear that. This chamber echoed the slightest sound of movement, and she clenched her notebook tighter as if it was her only friend about to be taken away.

"Here's your knight in shining armor—or should I say, lack thereof?"

She knows their cycle of torture and she knows their routine. It amazes her every time of how weak she feels under their words. Perhaps she had the power to overcome them but if she did, they would taunt her again, reducing her to something less than the ground beneath her feet. Then, they would regain their strength and ruin her some more.

"He doesn't know up from down—"

Her head drooped to the rings of the sketchpad and her hair covered her face. Don't think about it.

"—he doesn't know his friends and enemies—"

I can't do this all on my own

Her dry eyes were suddenly overwhelmed with water and the soreness of her chest began to rise. Her throat was stuck, rendering her silent.

"—he can't tell the difference between some silly promises—"

That was all she wanted; to be wanted. She made up that promise because she saw it and wanted it. Her job was just to destroy his memories. How she wanted to was up to her. They watched her fantasy play out over and over in Sora's imagination and laugh at the crumbling reality she imposed.

She wanted to be loved by him and no other.

"—he can't even tell the difference between you and what's her name—"

I'm letting go

Don't say it. Her drawings were melting again from the salty drops of rain that washed over the ink and smudged her paintings as the droplets stained her dress.

"—his darling angel—"

She had to find some outlet to break free. She looked down and saw the stains of darkness so she gathered her hands and began ripping the paper away fiercely. There were sketches and beautiful worlds she imagined and the memories she implanted in other people's minds. They were more beautiful than reality to make up for her ugly world.

She ripped as many pieces as she could. Fiercely, uncontrollably, and violently to throw away the dreams she wished she could have when she ever slept. She threw them in every direction but Axel.

So give me one more chance

By the time she reached the cover, Namine tore the hard piece of cardboard into pieces with her frail hands. She wanted to get up from her seat and run away to a place where she could hold onto something and scream. There was no screaming in this room. Axel had stopped talking.

Her mouth and throat were too soar for her to say anything. He watched her with amusement in his eyes. He then stood by her chair and, to her surprise, leaned closely to whisper in her ear. It was very close that she felt uncomfortable. She felt his hand touch her back as he said:

"I know."

Namine sat up and saw him as he was for the first time. There was a strange glint in his eyes that she never saw before. She wondered if she missed that every other time because he was amongst the other members. He was by himself this time where he allowed her to have a slight peak through the creak of the door to his soul.

To save me from this road I'm on

She wanted to know for her powers could not reach his mind. She opened her mouth about to ask—

"Axel," a young man stepped aside of the crystal podium. She was never quite used to the fact that they were beyond her radar of power, being able to appear here and there without order. Noticing how suggestive they looked together, Axel straightened himself up and smiled to the man.

"What?"

Zexion decided it was best not to push for any questions as odd as they looked together.

"Marluxia calls."

Axel took one more glance at the girl and grinned before vanishing. The sensation of his hand on her back did not leave until she slowly moved in her seat and something fell onto the floor. The sensation vanished with the thud. Namine turned around in her seat to find an empty sketchbook on the floor Axel placed behind her.

When her crying and her mourning ceased, she took up the empty sketchbook, and began to draw again.