Hello there, KH fans! So, as you probably know if you paid attention to the spoiler warning, the ending of 358/2 Days is really freaking depressing. However, I always took comfort in the fact that Xion is safe in Sora's heart, with three people to hang out with and a whole island all to herself. Heck, if Namine is to be believed, she'll be released right on time to kick butt in KH3. Yes, it will be all right…
This is what I believed until I made the mistake of reading really dark poetry about her by RequiemOfKingdomHearts (which is actually pretty good, if you're into that sort of thing, but keep some fluffiness open in another tab to rinse afterwards). I mean, holy pancake, that's more heartbreaking than the freaking game! Granted, I should have been tipped off by titles like Torment, but there you go. This was made even worse by the fact that (confession alert) I may be alone in having a legit crush on Xion.
So, yeah, I was moping about how Xion thinks she's in Hell and is slowly falling into madness and just wants someone, anyone to remember her. I was all like, "Why can't Sora save her already? It can't end this way!" And then I looked my writing computer and thought, IT. WON'T. This is the result.
This is already starting to drag on, so I'll leave the infodump for the closing AN. This is dedicated to RequiemOfKingdomHearts, who inspired this whole thing with her brilliant-yet-horrifying poetry, v.t.7, who has given me encouragement every step of the way in my crazy foray into fanfiction, to Raberba Girl, who sparked my interest in writing fanfic again in the first place, and to anyone who cried on Day 357. You are not alone. I hope you enjoy.
DISCLAIMER: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square Enix. I do not stand to profit from this work in any way. Sqaure, please ignore the haters and let Sora save Xion. Pretty please with a cherry on top?
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Unforgettable
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She was forgotten. But some things, you can't forget.
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"Make him remember me."
"I can't just give it to him all at once. He'd be overwhelmed. He'd go insane."
"I don't care. Give it to him in bite-size chunks or something, just make him remember me. I want him to say my name again. I want to hear my name on the lips of someone outside this prison they call a heart. That's all I want. I want to hear that name again."
"I can't do everything with my power. Mess with memories too much, and madness is the only result."
"Madness? I've been writing. I've been seeing myself in the mirror. I am so scared, for you, for Roxas, for everyone, because I'm the one going mad. I just need to hear my name again. Please, help me. Help me. Help me, help me, help—"
"Okay, okay. I'll see what I can do."
"….I'm sorry if I scared you. But do you see what I mean?"
"Yeah. I do."
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Lea was pretty sure he knew everything about his own life, as a Somebody, a Nobody and then a Somebody again. And he figured, even if he didn't remember absolutely everything about his former life, it would be hard to forget the important things.
But he always had the feeling there was something missing about his time in Organization XIII. Why did he kill Vexen when he could have just let Sora deal with him? Why did Roxas always seem like he was talking to someone else at the clocktower? What was the catalyst that made him hate his former friend even before he went all 'bow before me' on Sora? So many questions without any answers. He tried not to think about it. He had duties now, and those duties couldn't be completed by a man rambling to himself about 'someone else'.
But every time he saw Kairi (which was several times a day), it felt like his brain was trying to make a connection. He'd almost remember something, something about a girl who looked like Kairi, but then it'd be lost. It frustrated him, but again, he tried not to think about it.
He wanted something to turn on the light in his brain that knew who this girl was. He got what he wished for.
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The gardens of Disney Castle were, unsurprisingly, flower based. Small flowers, too. Really, besides one fountain and the occasional hedge in the shape of some leader or hero, the gardens were quite boring. The good news was that they were flat and open, making them the perfect place for a training session and sparring match.
Lea ducked under a swift kick from Kairi, listening to the sound of her leg whipping through the air. Anyone else would have found this foot flying just over their head to be at least a tad terrifying. Lea was used to it—it wasn't much worse than the sounds of the Keyblades he had fought several times. "At this rate, you might finally mess up my hairdo," he teased.
Kairi snorted. "I'll definitely enjoy seeing that."
Lea blocked a few punches with his sparring gloves before Kairi managed to take him by surprise and hit him in the gut. He fell backward onto the grass, making a small grunt of pain as he fell on his bum. Kairi looked rather unsympathetic—they had sparred many times before, and she knew full well that he could take it. Indeed, he could, but it didn't make it hurt any less. That girl was getting good.
Lea laughed as he pulled himself up. "Well, don't go easy on me, now…" He dusted himself off and looked at a watch he had picked up from some Moogle. "I think it's time for Keyblade practice."
Kairi checked the watch herself and nodded. "Looks like it." She pulled back and summoned her Keyblade. "Come on! No holding back!"
Lea blinked. "Wha…"
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*BZZT*
"Don't hold back, Axel. Promise?"
"What's your problem?! You both... think you can do whatever you want... well, I'm sick of it. Go on, you just keep running! But I'll always be there to bring you back!"
*BZZT*
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Lea closed his eyes and held his temple. What was that? That girl looked just like Kairi, except with black hair, and she seemed familiar beyond that. What was her name? Why was she running from him? And why did he feel so sad all of a sudden?
A jolt of pain hit him, and he gritted his teeth. "I'm really sorry, Kairi, but I just got a splitting headache, and I need a little downtime."
Kairi looked worried. "Well, okay, it happens. I hope you get better soon."
"Don't worry about me, I'll probably be fine… hurts like heck, though…"
Lea went into the castle to his room and shut the door. Something was coming back to him, a word, no, a name. His brain was attaching a name to the girl he had seen. What was it…
He gripped the windowsill. "Xion," he whispered. "Is that it? Xion. Pretty name. Xion…"
More fractured images hit him. This Xion girl was coming into his memories of the clocktower now. He vaguely remembered that Saix had always been a jerk to her. He couldn't remember everything, but what he did remember was enough to make him want her back. Where was she now, anyway? Had she gone to Twilight Town with Roxas? In fact, if she was so important, why did he forget her in the first place?
He grabbed the keys to the Gummi ship and ran off. One thing was for sure. Whatever was going on, Sora needed to know about it right now.
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Why Lea had insisted they meet in the Gummi ship rather on the ground, Sora didn't know. The red-haired man claimed he preferred the privacy, but Sora also didn't know yet what the privacy was needed for. He guessed he would find out soon, though.
He walked the grey, metallic halls of the ship, staring up at the tall Lea. "Did you just come to show off your snazzy new ship?"
"Actually, no." Lea stopped and put his hands in his pockets. "I have… something to tell you."
Sora nodded. "Go on."
"You mentioned seeing a black-haired girl in an Organization coat during your test. Do you remember her?"
Sora closed his eyes and thought. "Vaguely. It was crystal-clear when I saw her, but now it's all a blur. I felt connected to her somehow, but I couldn't tell you her eye color or anything else about her face. It's like my mind doesn't want to remember her."
Lea sighed. "That's because she wasn't supposed to be remembered."
Sora blinked. "Wait, what?"
"I knew her when I was in Organization XIII. I think. Her name… what was it again, dang it… Xion. Her name was Xion."
He remembers me! Oh, thank goodness, he remembers me!
Sora gasped. That girl's voice had come out of nowhere. He looked around, but saw no one. It sounded so relived, like she had been waiting a long time just for someone to say her name. Was that the voice of this Xion person?
He shook his head. "Sorry. Keep going."
Lea nodded. "Anyway, Xion was a close friend of mine, as close as Roxas. I got her out of a few jams. But then some really bad stuff happened, and she made a break for it. So did Roxas, just for her. I wasn't there to see the rest of it, but I know something happened that made me forget her completely. I still can't remember everything, but it's coming back to me."
Thank you, Axel. Thank you for remembering me. Thank you so much…
Sora looked around again. The voice sounded like it was crying tears of joy. It was definitely the Xion Lea was talking about—no one referred to him as Axel anymore. But how could he hear the voice of a person he had never meet beyond one meeting he barely remembered?
Without warning, pain struck him. He grabbed his head and grunted. Things were coming to him, images and words. They felt like memories, but he knew he had never done anything in them. What was going on?
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*BZZT*
"Roxas, would you... give me your hand?"
"... Like this?"
"Yeah."
*BZZT*
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"What the…"
Sora collapsed, and everything went dark.
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Xion… Xion… where am I? Looks like Destiny Islands…
"Sora!"
Who was that? Sora pulled himself up and dusted off. A girl ran towards him. She had short, black, almost boyish hair. She was wearing Kairi's outfit, except it was white with black boxes along the bottom. In fact, she looked a lot like Kairi. As she got closer, Sora could make out her blue eyes and other aspects of her face. She looked overjoyed.
The girl ran into him, hugging him tight. But why? He'd never… wait a minute… it was the girl he seen before during the test. But that still didn't explain why she was hugging him. They barely knew each other. What was her name again…
She was crying with happiness. "Say my name. Please, say my name."
Sora was taken aback. He thought hard. "…Xion. Is that right?"
"Yes!" Xion hugged him even tighter. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for someone to remember me, to say my name again. Roxas, he doesn't remember me even in this place, and we never see each other long enough for me to tell him. It's so hard…"
Sora had no clue what was going on, but he got the sense that Xion had been here a long time. He hugged her back—that was probably a good place to start. "Where are we?"
She blinked, but didn't stop hugging him. "Your heart. I thought it would be better, especially with the island, but I learned quick that it's a prison. It's the same thing every day, over and over. Get up, walk on the beach, look at the same old seashells, the same old trees. Maybe if I'm feeling adventurous, I'll talk to Namine or Ventus. Not Roxas, he won't even notice me anymore… it's so horrible."
Sora tried to be comforting by stroking her hair. "How can I help?"
Xion was in a new round of crying, but it was sad crying now. "Help me. Get me out of here. Take me with you. I want to see the real world again. I want to feel a real sun on my face. I want to eat ice cream at the clocktower. I want to see something other than an island. I want out. Get me out." She became almost suffocating with her grip now. "Please! Get me out of here! Help me! Help me! Help me!"
Sora heard another girl's voice. "Xion."
Xion whipped around, and tears flew off her wet face. She had gone the whole way with the crying—she was red in the face and sniffling and her voice was some unnatural mix of her normal voice and a panicked scream. "What?"
Sora looked in the direction of the voice. It was Namine. "Let go of him."
Xion only hugged Sora even harder, or at least tried to—she had hit the absolute limit. "No! I need to get out of here. He's my ticket out of this living hell."
"Xion, you aren't in Hell. This place is lovely."
Her jaw dropped. "How could you even say that to me? We are dead, do you understand me? We are all dead! I want to be alive again!"
Namine stepped closer. "You aren't dead. Not even close. You were always going to come out, Xion. It just takes a little—"
Xion summoned a Keyblade that looked just like Sora's. "Get away from me. I want out now. Right now." She turned back to him. "Please, get me out now. Please, please, please…"
Sora watched Namine back away slowly. Gee, thanks for leaving me to deal with a crying girl with a weapon. He sighed and held her shoulders. "Xion. You aren't going to like hearing this. But I don't know how to get you out. Not yet."
If she didn't look shocked before, she did now. "Wha… but you're Sora. This is your heart. Can't you just pull us out of it?"
Sora closed his eyes. "I wish it were that simple. I promise, if it was, I would let you out right now. I barely know you, but you're still breaking my heart." It took him a moment to think about that. "Sorry. Anyway, if I could just—"
Xion interrupted. "Wait. Back up. What do you mean, you barely know me? I'm your Replica. This is your heart. Don't you know everything about everyone here?"
Replica? He cringed, not sure what to say. "Um… no. I don't. I'm sorry."
A look of horror fell over her face. "But… but…"
"Xion, please listen to—"
She pushed him away and ran up the ladders, weeping. "No," she wailed. "No! Even he… how… but… no, no, no!
Sora started to run after her, but Namine gripped his arm. She was strong for such a small girl. He was filled with so many questions. Why is life in my heart making her so sad? Why won't Roxas notice her? Why did she threaten Namine? What did she mean, she's my Replica? What did she mean, they're all dead? And why is she suddenly so crazy?
Namine sighed. "I'm sorry you had to see that. She's been getting depressed since you saw her during your test. It's only getting worse. I didn't know nightmares were possible here, but she's been having those, too, reliving the worst moments of her life. It's been really upsetting to watch." She looked him in the eyes. "She's sick, Sora."
Sora gritted his teeth in determination. "Then tell me how to cure her. Or better yet, how to get her out of here."
"It doesn't work that way. I can't just tell you. But I can help you."She started scribbling in her sketchbook. "When you wake up, you'll have all of Xion's memories. It's going to be really disorienting, because it will feel like you are her, but you'll know what happened to her. That should help you save her. She needs your help, Sora."
Sora nodded and pumped his fist. "I'll save her, no matter what!"
Namine held him by the arm again. "Why don't we tell Xion that? She needs to know."
Sora agreed, and they headed up the ladder. As it turned out, the Destiny Islands in his heart was very similar to the one in the real world, but there were differences. There were four doors that weren't supposed to be there. Each was marked with a letter—V, X, R, N—except for three doors that had had their letters scratched out. One door in particular was boarded up and had a note reading, NO! DO NOT OPEN! He wondered what terrible thing laid beyond that door, but shook his head and turned his attention back to the door marked X.
Sora waited a moment before knocking lightly. "Are you okay?"
A moan came from inside, presumably Xion's. "No, but come anyway. I'm sorry if I scared you or anything like that. I need to talk to you. Please…"
Sora opened the door slowly. He was now in a white bedroom, similar to ones he had caught glimpses of in The Castle That Never Was. Xion was sitting at a desk, rubbing her face with her hands. The floor around her chair was covered in crumbled papers, colored solid black by what appeared to be crayon. The papers that weren't crumpled or colored black had writing on them, all spelling out phrases along the lines of HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE.
Sora pulled out a convenient folding chair and sat down next to her. "You really don't like it here, huh?"
Xion leaned on his shoulder, which really surprised him. "I hate this place so much. All I want is to leave and hear people say my name again."
He sighed and tried stroking her hair again. "Xion, what if I told you I'm going to get you out of here?"
She gasped. "Really?"
Sora raised his hand to signal her to calm down. "Not right this very second. It'll take some time. But I'll get you out of here somehow, no matter what it takes. I promise."
Xion was crying again, but it was in joy. She hugged him again, almost falling out of her chair. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"Hey. It's what heroes do."
Namine held Xion on the shoulder. "Sora has to wake up now. His friends are worried. But he'll save you."
Xion nodded. "Okay." She gave Sora one more tight squeeze. "Remember me, okay? Say my name a lot. I feel better every time I hear my name. Please?"
Sora smiled. "Of course I will, Xion."
As he started to fade out of the dream, Xion held his cheek. "Thank you so much."
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Xion's memories hit him first. What happened? He (or was he a she?) was about to be absorbed into Roxas, and then everything went dark. He gasped when he realized that he was in a 'new' body. Did being a part of Sora mean being Sora? Then his memories of just being Sora came back to him, and he groaned. Namine hadn't been kidding about having two sets of memories being disorienting. And when he delved into his new memories, he was horrified. Xion had lived a short, tragic life and was then forgotten by her own best friends. She deserved better than this.
After a moment of contemplation, Sora opened his eyes. He was in a rather generic bed in the Gummi ship. There was machinery strapped to his arm. Kairi ran over to him. "Lea, he's awake!"
Lea walked over and patted Sora on the shoulder. "You okay, kid?"
Sora closed his eyes, then opened them again. "Yeah, I'm fine. But Xion isn't. And I'm going to rescue her."
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Yes! The first chapter is finally done! I'm coming, Xion! :D
Okay, begin infodump. First, this is built off of pure canon (more or less). Second, it ties directly into my upcoming Kingdom Hearts III fic, and it explains important things, so if you're reading this from THE FUTURE when that fic is actually a thing, do keep reading. Third, I'm going to try out a posting schedule for this story. I'll try to get a new chapter out every Saturday, like a TV show. Hopefully, that will keep this moving while preventing burnout. I might produce unexpected off-schedule chapters if I'm feeling productive, but I'll make sure not to slack off on the schedule and miss weeks. End infodump.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Here's a little contest for you (we all love contests, right?). I'm going to be making a TV Tropes page for this fic. Now, there are a lot of tropes out there, and I need help finding them all. That's where you come in. As you read, note as many tropes as you can in the reviews. I'll keep score myself, and the reader who ends up naming the most tropes will get something very special once the last chapter goes up. Okay, not super special, like a vacation to Japan or something, but you'll like it. :)
Thanks for reading, and tune in next time for Chapter Two of Unforgettable, the best Xion fanfic ever!