A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back… yet again! Here is another part of the crack series… I actually wrote this a while ago, but I've been hoarding it to myself until now. xD I hope you enjoy it!
-x -
Xion considers herself a fairly observant young Nobody.
She's noticed a certain method to Roxas and Axel's banter: playful shoves and rowdy laughter. Xion doesn't mind when Axel ruffles Roxas' spikes affectionately, or when Roxas elbows him in the ribcage with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. She's always known about the special bond they share—a deeper understanding that she is not privy to. And Xion is okay with that. The problem arises when Xion tries to emulate their behavior.
They look at her strangely when she lets out a deliberately loud laugh and reaches up to pet Axel's spikes without reservation. They clear their throats when she nearly shoves Roxas off the Clock Tower in her attempt to be burly, grinning roguishly at the bemusement on their faces. They exchange awkward glances when she throws her arm around Roxas' shoulder and pokes and prods him like she's seen Axel do time after time.
She expects them to reciprocate. They never do.
"What am I doing wrong, Axel?" She clasps her hands against her chest and stares down at her pointed boots. "I want to be like you and Roxas."
"You're not doing anything wrong, Xion," Axel says. He scratches the back of his head and gesticulates artlessly. "It's just... Roxas and I are both guys. You're a girl. It's different, is all."
Xion doesn't really get it, but she manages a small 'oh' anyways.
She watches him leave in a swirl of leather and spikes, wishing that she, too, could be a boy.
-x-
The first time Xion sees her is from the height of the Clock Tower.
Axel and Roxas are bantering again, though they are conscious not to exclude her. They treat her delicately—small nudges and simpering smiles. They even lower their voices from the racket in which they address one another, speaking to her in gentle tones.
Why? What makes me so different? If anything, Xion thinks she could best them in a one-on-one fight if she trained hard enough for it. She wonders if her petite stature is a determent. Maybe it's the shade of her eyes, or her too-high voice and too-soft skin.
She gazes out into the town with a sigh, forcing a wan smile as she licks her ice cream. There are two boys playing kickball by the station; doubtless they are enjoying the wide space of the Station Plaza.
Her eyes shift to the right. A mop of cinnamon brown hair catches her attention—a girl, standing by the sidelines and acting as a referee.
Xion thinks about how nice it is to see another girl her age. She doesn't know who she is, but she looks like a drop of sunshine with her citrus-colored clothes and bright smile.
She wonders what color her eyes are, because the twilight is ghosting over everything and making it gleam with iridescence.
-x-
Her eyes are forest-green.
Xion learns this after a particularly difficult mission. She seeks shelter and finds her instead, hidden behind a tattered carmine curtain. Of course, Xion isn't boorish enough to walk in uninvited, but she is curious.
The girl is with her two friends: a boy with short blond hair and another with dark hair held up by a headband. The blond one is loud, very loud, and the other appears to be more level-headed.
She ("Olette," one of the boys had called her), however, is the most level-headed of all. She chides them like a mother would, standing with her arms folded across her chest with a pronounced pout.
Olette catches a glimpse of her peeking through the curtain, and Xion catches a glimpse of those eyes (bright, bright green like the grass on a sunny day)—and she smiles.
Xion thinks that if she had a heart it might be palpitating right now; she tells herself it's her hypothetical fear of being spotted by the locals.
-x-
She learns various things about Olette through clandestine (very onesided) encounters, whether she's on a mission by herself or with Axel and Roxas. Twilight Town is a small town, and Xion has gained a hypersensitivity to Olette's presence.
She isn't sure if it's due to the innate connection they share as two young females, or if it's because Xion is constantly swathed in darkness (or nothing-ness, to be precise) and Olette is like a ray of sunshine.
Every time Xion sees her she's carrying a small load of books in her arms.
When she's worried about something, she taps her lip minutely until she thinks up a solution. When she's mad, she crosses her arms and glowers.
On Wednesdays, it's her turn to buy sea-salt ice cream—a tradition that she and Xion both share in their respective friend groups.
One thing Xion wishes she could have learned, however, is that Olette has a tendency to cut through alleyways on her way back from school.
Xion looks at her like a deer caught in headlights, caught red-handed. They stare at each other for a long moment, before Xion turns away and tries to slip into another alleyway. It's just another encounter, she won't remember this by tomorrow—
"You don't have to leave," Olette says quietly. "I see you, sometimes, with a group of two boys. Are you new around here?"
Xion says nothing, merely berates herself for her carelessness. She wants to lift up her hood and hide, because the rays are too bright.
"I'm sorry if I startled you," she adds, before her voice jumps back to its usual lilt. "My name is Olette. What's yours?"
Slowly, achingly, Xion turns to look at her. Her forest-green eyes are ablaze with compassion, and there is something soft in the cant of her lips. Xion knows she isn't thinking properly, but she doesn't believe that this girl is a threat.
"Xion," she answers, and then turns away. "I have to go now... but I'll be back."
"Okay." Olette smiles. "I'll be waiting, then. Be safe!"
Xion nods and stumbles into an adjacent alleyway, breathless as she uses a hand to steady herself against the wall. She just broke a very important rule.
Do not fraternize with the locals.
What would Axel and Roxas say if Olette were to call out to her during a mission? Or worse, what if she were with the other members? What would happen if Saix were to eventually find out?
She shudders as she reflects upon the man's steely gaze. He is particularly querulous when it comes to her, and always strict with her punishments.
She presses her forehead against the wall and closes her eyes. A swirling mist envelops her body and she loses herself within the murky darkness.
-x-
Later Xion will remember her sunshine-radiant smile in the dreary halls of the Beast's Castle, spread-eagled on the ground and panting as the Neoshadows advance upon her. They creep along the sides and stare at her with their limpid, golden eyes, waiting to devour her. She almost lets them; the pull of nonexistence is stronger now than it was before.
Be safe, a voice echoes inside her mind.
Xion staggers to her feet and fights, releasing a cry as she strikes out against the masses. They dissipate into wispy clouds of smoke and she stands there, panting.
It is at that point that she begins to reassess what is truly important to her.
-x-
She returns only when Olette's picture has started to fade: the curl of her lips, the slope of her cheeks, the exact shade of her eyes. She returns only when she is sure that Olette has forgotten her.
Their encounter is reminiscent of their first: Xion waits for her in the alleyway after school, and Olette eventually passes through. They stare at each other for a long moment; a sense of deja vu floats into Xion's mind.
Only this time Olette reaches out to take her hand, clasping it between both of hers. Xion's breath hitches. Even though she is wearing gloves, she can still feel the warmth from Olette's hands seeping into her.
"You came back," Olette says, smiling.
Xion doesn't know what to say, so she tells her the truth.
"I can't stay for long." She averts her eyes.
Olette finally releases her hand. "Then let's make the most of it," she declares, like it's simple, like it's easy, and Xion finds herself gazing upon her with reverence.
"Okay," she says uneasily, and Olette knows what she really means is, "Why?"
"Us girls have got to stick together, right?" Smiling, she clasps her hands behind her back and leans playfully towards her.
Suddenly, Xion's face breaks out into a wide grin, and she agrees with all of her (nonexistent) heart.
-x-
They traipse across the sunset-trail, following the fragments of light as they immerse themselves in conversation. Olette gives shape to the thoughts that flit across Xion's mind like a mantra, blurry-edged questions that she is too afraid to ask the others: the reason why Axel and Roxas treat her differently, the reason for the crimson warmth that seeps between her legs, the reason why boys act the way they do sometimes.
Olette understands everything. She answers all her questions and giggles at her naivety, but when topics like the Organization arise and Xion's face grows stony and cold, Olette doesn't pry. She merely offers a few words of encouragement and skips over to the next subject like a girl playing rope.
"But you know, that's amazing," Olette sighs and lifts a hand to rest whimsically upon her cheek. "It's like they treat you like a princess! I wish Hayner and Pence would do things like that. It'd be nice if they'd speak in quieter tones and stop elbowing me in the shoulder all the time!"
Xion giggles as the girl huffs, exasperated, folding her arms across her chest in motherly disapproval. A soft smile forms on her lips.
"I don't need to be treated like a princess, though," Xion replies, remembering the various damsels she's encountered on her missions. "Isn't it funner to experience all of the adventure with your friends? Maybe... one day, I can save them instead." She closes her eyes and smiles privately to herself, the vision of Axel and Roxas flitting across her mind.
When she opens them again, she sees a few locals up ahead. Xion blanches and quickly averts her gaze.
"Xion?" Olette asks, noticing her jittery behavior. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she answers, lifting the hood of her cloak with due haste.
A few moments of silence pass. Xion is sure Olette must be gazing upon her with disdain; she can already imagine her rosy lips turned down in a frown...
"Hey," Olette cuts in, gently, "you don't have to be afraid. There are times when I don't want to run into other people, too."
Xion looks up at her. She must look so strange to her right now, a faceless cloak shrouded in shadows, but Olette continues.
"There's this really wonderful place I like to go to, sometimes, up on a hill. No one else goes there, because there's this silly rumor about a ghost in a bag, but I think it's beautiful." Olette smiles, and Xion finds herself smiling back.
"I would enjoy that." Xion pauses to think about the potential threat. "And if there is a ghost there," her brows furrow as she thinks about the wretched search ghosts in Halloween Town, "I promise to protect you."
Olette's smile gains a soft quality to it, and it looks like her eyes are smiling, too. "Thank you, Xion."
-x-
They arrive at the top of a hill bathed in red and gold. Xion lowers her hood and gazes out across the crimson-laced sky, breathing in the scent of magic and pine trees. Olette is standing a little closer to her now; Xion is just glad that she's away from that bag of questionable contents.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Olette asks. Her hair smells like something tart and sweet.
"Yeah," Xion breathes.
"My friends and I like to come up here sometimes," she says. "Pence always insists on waiting for the ghost train."
Ghost train? Xion's brow wrinkles in distaste. She would have to keep an extra close eye on Olette, then.
She nods. "I've only seen it once, but... it was magical. I looked away for one moment, and then 'POOF' it was gone!" She laughs. "Just like that. Never to be seen again."
There's a bitter note to her voice that surprises Xion, and when Olette turns to look at her again, her smile is cracked around the edges. "You'll come back... right?"
"Of course," Xion says, blinking. But maybe that isn't really the truth… A sigh filters through her lips. "I may not be the same as I am now, but... I promise I'll come back."
She turns to gaze upon her steadfastly, and Olette's eyes reflect her own. Olette leans in and kisses her right then, soft as the rosy sky, and Xion is left in a daze.
"I believe you," Olette says. "Stay safe, alright?"
Xion smiles. "I will."
-x-
Months later, a boy with spiky brown hair stumbles upon a tattered carmine curtain. He goes inside and his heart splits at the seams, crying out for reasons he cannot name.
A girl, with citrus-colored clothes and cinnamon hair. He doesn't know why, but she reminds him of a drop of sunshine with her radiant smile.
She looks up, and her face flashes with emotion.
"My name is Olette," she tells him. "What's yours?"
fin.