Author's note: This takes place immediately after Axel's "death" in KH2. Minor spoilers for KH3D. One Shot, but I had to retype half of it because my brother decided to randomly exit the tab when I was working on it. Oh yeah, depending what comes up, this might not work perfectly with canon, as there is already one scene in KH3D that suggests something different in the way things work with Kingdom Hearts. Oh, and I don't own anything.

Axel found himself in a white room, sitting on a white chair. To his left was a large window covered with a white curtain filtering the sunlight entering the room. The air was still, but not stagnant or stale. On the walls were many well-drawn pictures. Many of them were of Sora and his friends, but some of them were of Roxas. There were also pictures of scenery, and of night skies full of stars. There were almost more picture than white on the walls. He even spotted a few pictures of himself, with Roxas. One picture portrayed himself and Roxas with a girl he'd never met, all in black cloaks, standing side by side, facing away from the viewer. There was a table in front of him, and a girl with blond hair and a white dress, quietly drawing yet another picture, on a white chair on the other side of the table. The room had the general feel of being pulled out of time, as if there wasn't an era or location it truly belonged.

He quickly realized where he was and spoke.

"Why am I here?" The girl, Namine, looked up at him.

"As you know, I have power over Sora's memories and those close to him; his most important friends. And now, that includes you." Before she could continue speaking, Axel interrupted.

"Me? How could I be his friend? I kidnapped Kairi. I tried to kill him! If anything, he'd think of me as his enemy!" Namine smiled and shook her head.

"No. You helped him, and he forgave you and accepted you as his friend. There is something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time now, but we have time." She stood up and walked over to the picture of Axel, Roxas, and the girl. She gently ran a finger over the figure of the mysterious girl. "Do you remember her, Axel?"

"No, I don't. Was she one of Roxas' friends?" He thought of the three kids in the fake Twilight Town. He didn't think of them much. He was quite sure one of them was a girl.

"Yes, she was his friend, and yours too." Namine looked sad. Axel could help feeling that the girl, whoever she was, was important, but no matter how hard he tried, he could remember anything about her. He couldn't remember how she looked besides what what in the drawing. He couldn't remember her smile, or how often she smiled, or even if she smiled at all. He couldn't remember a single thing they did together. This girl, whoever she is, she deserves better. Axel thought. He knew how it felt to have a close friend completely forget you. Even if she was as bad as Larxene, she deserves more than to be just forgotten. Nobody deserves that. He realized the irony of his thought. But then, that's what we are. Nobody. He decided that he shouldn't let things stay like this.

"Namine, if you have power over our memories, couldn't you..." He couldn't get himself to finish.

"No, I've tried. It's just not possible. She's gone. There's nothing I can do." Namine looked more depressed and more distressed than Axel had ever seen her, though he didn't see her much, so he tried to change the subject.

"So... This thing you've been wanting to tell me. What was it?" he said, trying to keep his voice light. Namine walked back over to her chair and sat down.

"It's Xemnas. Xemnas was lying to you, to the Organization, to Saix." Axel wondered why she would point out Saix specifically. He did want to make the new Kingdom Hearts, but just as much as the other members. "Kingdom Hearts won't restore your hearts. I'm not even sure if it can. Hearts are made out of what you feel, the people around you, your connections to your friends. It can't just come out of the light of Kingdom Hearts. I don't know what Xemnas is trying to do, but it won't bring your or any of the Organization's hearts back."

"But, I'm fading away, aren't I? I mean, it's not like there's anything I can do anymore, is there?"

"No. Your existence as a Nobody may be over, but I'm certain you're not dead yet. When you wake up there is something you must do." She picked up the drawing she had just completed and handed it over to Axel. When he saw it, he was startled.

"Isa..." he said, in almost a whisper. The picture was a drawing of him and Saix, from before they became Nobodies. Lea and Isa. Each had one of Lea's frisbees in their hand. They were both smiling.

"Yes. There's only one way I'm certain he can be brought back."

"I don't think you can do that." said Axel, sceptically. He knew she was powerful, but he doubted that she could do something like that.

"No, I can't," She smiled as she answered. "but YOU can." Axel was even more surprised.

"How?" he asked, even though Namine was about to continue.

"Wake up. Get a keyblade. Release his heart from the heartless that has it trapped. When you are done that, destroy his Nobody." It made sense. Heartless were made out of hearts, and kept collecting them. Isa's heart must be out there somewhere, or he wouldn't be Saix. But he was still confused, and Namine looked like she was waiting for him to say something.

"But how can I get a keyblade? How'll I know if I freed his heart?"

"There are three ways to get a keyblade. The first way was how Sora has his. The Kingdom Key chose him. The second way is to have it given to you by one who already has a keyblade. The third way is to get a Keyblade Master to help you. As for knowing when you've gotten the right heart, watch the hearts you free. The hearts of those with a Nobody would go back to where the person was when they became separated, instead of Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts."

"Thanks, but I have another question."

"Feel free to ask it."

"How would you know that I will wake up? I mean if you saw Sora's memories or someone's and wherever the hearts he freed went, how'd you know if it's mine, or someone else's? Maybe someone who's Nobody is a Dusk or something?"

"I don't know. I saw a few hearts return to the Radiant Garden. Maybe if Saix gets destroyed, he will wake up there. Maybe you won't wake up. But we can only hope, and do our best. As for the people who's Nobody is a dusk, there's just not enough left of them to return. It's why they don't even look human anymore."

"Thank you, Namine."

-.-.-.-

...You'll always be there to bring us back...

-.-.-.-

Lea had searched the entire building. Neither Braig nor Isa were to be found.

"Where are they? I've turned this castle upside-down." he said as he walked into the room where Aeleus and Ienzo were trying to tidy up the books which had been strewn everywhere. Ienzo seemed like he was doing more reading than tidying. Lea glanced at their achievement. Earlier, barely any of the books were on the shelves, but now there were noticeably fewer books on the floor.

"Hey, are the other two still out cold?"

"Dilan and Even are conscious again, but still unstable." said Aeleus, who barely paused in his book-sorting to answer. "They're resting inside."

"Gotcha. I guess I'll give the castle grounds a sweep." said Lea, turning around.

"Don't," said Aeleus. "If they were back, we would have found them by now." Lea turned back around again. He considered the possibilities

"So, do you think they were blasted of into some other world or what?"

"I highly doubt it." said the ever-knowledgeable Ienzo. "When some who has lost their heart is recompleted, they should return to the place where it happened." He went and started talking about some thing else and Lea thought he heard something about a place called "Traverse Town, but decided that he didn't really need to hear anymore, as he already knew where Isa lost his heart and didn't need an explanation of it not being available or whatever Ienzo was going to keep talking about.

"No, look, okay. The fact is, we're here, and we've been recompleted, so they should be here too. Plain and simple."

"I agree that is strange..." Ienzo sounded like he was planning to talk more. Lea didn't let him.

"What a drag... could they not have been recompleted at all?" Lea was pretty sure, but thought this was the best way to silence Ienzo for a few more seconds.

"Well, you see..." Ienzo was definitely going to continue talking. Lea didn't want one of his long-winded theories and didn't want to listen to his voice go on and on and on.

"Ah! Forget it. You know what? I'll bring them back myself!"

"How exactly?" For once, Ienzo didn't sound like he wanted to explain something. He sounded like he needed an explanation himself. One which Lea was happy to NOT give him.

"Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs?"

Authour's note:
Sorry if Axel was a bit OOC. Sorry if Namine was a bit OOC. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe! I mean, don't forget to favorite and review and stuff. Oh, and the last section actually came from KH3D, which was what gave me the idea to write this thing in the first place.