Finally, the first chapter of the sequel arrives! I hope you all enjoy it! It will be mainly centered around Demyx and Xigbar but don't worry, there will be other pairings scattered in, yaoi and yuri, with a few special characters. :D I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Reviews are loved.

Roxas laid in the dark, staring up into the darkness of the room he shared with Axel. They had hoped to never deal with the outside world again but...Xigbar and Demyx had arrived two days ago with the results of the war they had fled from. Audoro had dominated Nilan with the death of Nilan's King and the loss of the Organization that had leant their strength.

And now they were headed here. Roxas was unsure of how Audoro had discovered the secret haven for the Nekos but wondering about it wouldn't help; they had to prepare for war.

Thankfully, the Neko society hadn't panicked. To be honest, Roxas was sure they had been waiting for the day to come. All they asked of Roxas was to make more of the weapons so they could have an advantage over the Audoro army.

"Roxas?" Axel mumbled. "You awake?"

"Yeah."

Axel shifted beside him and moved so he was above him, looking him in the eye in the darkness. "Is it because of Audoro?"

Roxas nodded, finding Axel's glowing green eyes a comforting feature in the suppressing dark. "We shouldn't have run away."
"What do you mean?" Axel asked.

"We should've dealt with Audoro before. Now we have endangered your people," Roxas whispered, expression pained. "I'm sorry."

"Roxas, we are only a few people. There is no way we could have taken them down alone. I can guess that none of my people blame you for Audoro coming here. Plus, they are a problem anyways and I'm sure my people would love to fight them and give them a piece of what we've endured."

"I just wish problems stopped following me," Roxas muttered.
Axel nuzzled his neck softly. "We'll be okay, I promise."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"You aren't looking too good," Xigbar said, frowning when Demyx swayed once he stood.

The blond merman was pale and sweating, eyes half visible under his drooped eyelids. "I don't feel so good either."

They had arrived in the city of Haven, the Neko city, three days earlier which meant Demyx, who was a creature of water, had been in a desert city for three days. Sure there water but there was no where for Demyx to immerse himself completely in the cool liquid.

"Should we travel back to the ocean? I'll get us there and back before anyone notices we're gone," Xigbar told him, rubbing a black gloved hand against the blond's cheek.
"I guess."

His knees buckled and Xigbar barely caught him in time.

"Dem, you still with me?" Xigbar was used to this situation by now so he knew not to panic. It happened enough when the pair ended up on land for a few days longer than they expected. "Dem?"

"Yeah, hurry up," Demyx panted, voice soft.

Xigbar drew a knife and with a flash of bright purple light, they vanished.

Demyx sucked in a deep breath, feeling the moisture of the ocean in the air as it filled his lungs. The headache that had been plaguing him since yesterday evening was beginning to go away just from being near the ocean. Xigbar set him down so the ocean water lapped at his toes.

"I'll wait here," Xigbar said as he helped Demyx out of his cloak.

Demyx leaned up to gently peck him on the cheek before diving into the water, disappearing beneath the foam. Xigbar sat on the shore, watching Demyx flick in and out of sight among the waves, and thinking hard. The Audorans were a weeks travel away so they had seven days the Haven for war. If it were a city of humans, this task would've been virtually impossible. But these weren't humans; they were Nekos. They had been waiting for this day and they had trained with their claws and swords, covering as many types of fighting styles as they could in preparation.

"Hey Xigbar!" Demyx called, his head bobbing up and down amongst the waves. "I think I've found something interesting. Wanna come see?"

"Um, Dem. I can't breathe underwater."

Demyx swam closer so he didn't have to shout as loud. "I have a trick. It should work."

"No offense, Demyx, but I'm not willing to risk my life on a trick that may or may not work," Xigbar told him, smiling a little.

Demyx pouted at him but relented. "Alright. This should be enough to keep me for awhile."

Xigbar felt a little guilty for spoiling Demyx's fun as he helped him into his cloak so to make up for it, he pulled him close and kissed him gently, running his hands over his back in a soothing manner.

"Sorry Demyx. Just not in the mood to risk my life today," he said, humor in his voice.

"No, I understand," Demyx told him, resting his head on the older's chest. "Everyone's tense and worried and I understand that. I just wanted to help you loosen up."

"You always know how to lay on the guilt," Xigbar grumbled, mock glaring at him with his golden eye.

Demyx chuckled. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Ready to go back?"

Demyx nodded into his chest before looking up at him. "Tidus and Auron are probably freaking out trying to find us."

Tidus and Auron were the 'generals' of the Neko army and had been working with him and Demyx on the best course of action. They wanted to know as much as possible about the Audorans army as well as how they fought and their life style.

"I'll let you handle them. I have to go get Larxene and Tifa."

"Are you getting Zack and Cloud too?" Demyx asked, looking like an eager child at the thought of his surrogate parents joining them.

"Only if they want to," Xigbar said. "But knowing them, they'll want to come protect their baby."

"I'm not a baby!" Demyx protested. "I don't know why people treat me that way!"

Xigbar chuckled. "Sorry, Dem. We can't help that you look so innocent. Now let's go."

(INSERTBREAKHERE)

"Roxy!"

Roxas closed his eyes, wishing he could shield his ears off from the female Neko's rather obnoxiously loud voice.

"Yes, Rikku?" Roxas turned away from the heat and stepped out of the forge, into the slightly milder heat.

The young Neko that stood before him was tanned with a mass of blond hair on top of her head, barely organized into a myriad of small braids. Her eyes were a bright green, much like Axel's, but her pupils were different. A small black dot swirled outwards before ending just outside the iris. Well toned abdomen muscles were displayed for she only wore a strip of yellow cloth over her chest and a small green skirt that didn't leave much to the imagination.

"Paine wants the next batch of weapons you have," Rikku told him.

Roxas turned away, nodding as he did so. While the girl was an annoyance to his existence ever since he had arrived, he couldn't deny her strength physically or mentally. She was able to lift a box of the weapons with one arm, no problem, and after what she had gone through, Roxas wasn't sure he had ever met such a resilient person, mentally. But that was a different story completely.

The women she spoke of, Paine, worked as the weapon maker for the Neko society before Roxas had arrived and was quite skilled in her work, though she had never seen anything like Roxas had made.

He dragged the box of freshly made weapons out and Rikku hefted it up onto one shoulder. "Tell her that's the last batch for two days. Also, I need to know how many more she needs."

"Okay Roxy!" she called, waving at him before walking off.

Weary from all the work, Roxas sat down on one of the chairs, wiping sweat from his forehead. He had been working since the crack of dawn trying to get the magically imbued weapons for when Audoro landed and attacked, and the work left him feeling drained.

"Roxas!"

"What?" Roxas snapped, whirling to face whoever was bugging him now.

Sora recoiled quickly, blue eyes startled, then concerned. "Day not going so well?"

"Sorry for snapping at you," Roxas sighed. "But yeah. I'm just...tired."

"Then you should come get some lunch with me," Sora said. "Take a break and all that. Besides, we haven't had a chance to talk lately, what with all the preparations."

"Yeah...that's a good idea," Roxas said, standing up. "Where to?"

"My house is good. Kairi said she was making some fresh rolls."

"That sounds delicious right about now," Roxas admitted as he and Sora began making there way in that general direction. "It still amazes me how well they manage just on what Luxord brings them every two weeks. It amazes me that the stupid bastard is willing to do it."

Sora frowned. "You shouldn't talk about him like that."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Whatever. It's still amazing that he's willing to bring them wheat and grains and...well everything they need to survive."

"Well one day, once they are able to live in peace with other nations, they'll be able to trade with other nations," Sora said, voice happy.

His optimism cheered Roxas up a little. They arrived at the house Sora, Riku, and Kairi shared together, a one story five room house with plenty of space and open windows. The smell of freshly made bread wafted out of the windows and Roxas heard his stomach growl eagerly at the prospect of food.

"Hi Kairi!" the brunet cried. "We come for food!"

"So go sit in the living room, I'll bring it out in a second!" she called back.

Obediently, the two men did so.

"So how are you adjusting?" Roxas asked. "Being with Riku and all."

"Oh we're getting a long better, now that he's finally working past his prejudices," Sora said. "Though it scares me a little how eager he is to fight. He...gets like that sometimes."

"Gets like what?" Roxas asked, curious.

Sora frowned. "Well he...he seems so..."

"Food's ready!" Kairi announced.

Sora brightened immediately and settled right into the food, abandoning the topic for another day.