A/N: This story is a nod to The Old Life Alive Again by XionRoxas1314. It was a staple Rokushi fanfic back in 2009, wherein the Organization XIII members are resurrected after KH2 and everything goes back to the way it was in Days. Disney and Square Enix own the characters. That being said - enjoy, and please leave feedback!
Chapter 1 - Your Mission, and You Have No Choice but to Accept It
Xigbars?
Roxas rubbed his eyes to ensure he wasn't seeing things. He blinked successively, and then refocused on the item on the grey coffee table before him.
Xigbars. I'm not dreaming.
A cardboard box filled with protein bars covered in wrappers sporting the face of Organizing XIII's second member was staring back at him. Roxas sat down on the long couch, picked up a Xigbar™, and examined it curiously. Suddenly, the man of the hour warped into the Grey Area.
"Like those, kiddo? Feel free to try one! Can't promise they taste great, but they look awesome, am I right?" Xigbar smirked confidently, slicking back his graying black hair.
"Thanks…" Roxas said, peeling back the wrapper.
"Hey, careful with the face!" Xigbar interjected, snatching the bar from the blond boy's hands. "If you want anything done right around here…" he trailed off once he had successfully removed the wrapper without any injury to his likeness.
Roxas accepted the dense, charcoal-colored chewy block and cautiously took a bite. He resisted the urge to spit it back out, and forced himself to chew. And chew and chew and chew. It was a good minute until he was able to swallow whatever that was.
"So, what d'you think?" Xigbar asked proudly. "Not bad, right?"
"Sure…" Roxas managed to choke out. His throat felt dry.
"Tastes like wood!" a smooth voiced chimed in.
Roxas and Xigbar turned to see fiery-haired Axel sitting on the other end of the couch, grimacing with a half-eaten Xigbar™ in hand.
"Feh, what do you know about culinary genius?" Xigbar indignantly snatched up the box of remaining Xigbars™ from the coffee table. "You like Larxene's cooking!"
Roxas shuddered at the mention of Larxene's cooking. His tongue stung from the memory of the sour bacon she had prepared the other morning. Larxene loved adding lemons to everything - to an unhealthy extreme.
"At least Larx's food is exciting," Axel retorted.
"As if," Xigbar spat. "You'll realize you missed out when these babies sell like hotcakes. I was going to make you a business partner, but three strikes, you're out."
"I only counted two," the red-headed pyro smirked.
"And that - makes three." Xigbar opened a Corridor of Darkness and disappeared from sight. Axel shook his head and sighed, amused.
"I thought he didn't care about the taste," Roxas remarked, confused.
Axel laughed. "Who knows what his deal is?" He elbowed his young friend playfully. "Let's just hope neither of us ends up partnering with him on today's mission."
Minutes later, the other members of Organization XIII had gathered in the Grey Area awaiting assignments from Saix, who was uncharacteristically late. He wasn't the only one.
"Where's Xion?" Axel asked Roxas, realizing that the dark-haired girl hadn't accompanied the blond as she normally did.
Roxas's brows creased in concern. "I don't know. I stopped by her room after she didn't show up for breakfast. She wasn't there, but there was a note on her door saying See you in the Grey Area."
"That's not like her," Axel commented, scratching his head.
"Really? I didn't think much of it at the time, but now I'm worried," Roxas admitted.
Axel shook his head. "You're really that clueless, huh? She never skips breakfast with you, and she's not the type to leave notes. You know her better than that. Listen to your gut. Got it memorized?" He tapped the side of his temple for added effect, but Roxas didn't seem to notice.
The boy wrung his gloved hands absently. "Maybe I should go look for her," he decided.
Just as he rose from the couch, a corridor opened up on the opposite side of the room. In walked Xion – with Saix. The tall, blue-haired man had a hand firmly placed on the timid girl's shoulder, a clipboard in his other hand. Xion looked ashamed as he guided her into the center of the room.
Axel jumped to his feet the moment he caught sight of the girl's dejected visage. He made a beeline for his young friend being corralled by his former friend. "What's going on?" he demanded.
Saix met Axel's fiery glare with icy indifference. He then addressed the group. "Mission assignments have been set. Please pass around copies of the roster for details." He handed a stack of papers to Demyx who idled nearby. The sitarist groaned when he saw his name at the top of the roster. It didn't matter who he was going with; it was the fact that he was going at all.
Finally Saix turned aside to answer Axel. "Until Number 14 can pull its own weight, it will be working with me - under close observation."
Roxas absently accepted a mission roster from Lexaeus as he hurried over to join Axel. He shot Xion a panicked look when he overheard Saix's last statement. The girl didn't look up. She knew what result Saix's experiment would yield and she couldn't bear to face it. Her inability to summon the keyblade had only increased in the last week, and without it she would be deemed utterly useless to the Organization.
Axel's chest ached as he gazed down at sight of Xion's downcast expression. The sensation was soon followed by a tightening fury in his throat, a fire threatening to call forth his chakrams then and there in the supposed sanctuary of the Grey Area.
"Look," he managed to utter in a low voice, "If you have a problem with us-" he gestured between himself and his two young friends on either side of him "-then take it out on me. But leave them out of it."
Saix scoffed, then got in Axel's face and matched his intensity. "This isn't about pretending to have friendships. It's about numbers. And Number 14 has been unable to meet the quota."
Before Axel could respond, Roxas cut in. "Xion is still learning how to wield the keyblade! Please send her on a mission with me." He put a hand to his chest. "As the only other keyblade wielder in the Organization, I can help her learn the right techniques."
Xion lifted her head and Axel looked at Saix.
Saix looked ready to retort, but refrained and considered the boy's request. "I will bring it up with Xemnas," he said presently "If he approves, you two will be paired tomorrow. However, he has already signed off on today's roster. Number 14 goes with me."
Tomorrow. I can survive one day.
The faintest smile spread across Xion's face. She glanced over at Axel and Roxas who wore their disappointment plainly. She addressed them, speaking for the first time that morning. "We'll still see each other tonight, right? At our usual spot?"
Now her friends smiled. "Yeah," Roxas promised, while Axel nodded confidently.
As Saix turned away from them to open a dark corridor, Xion could have sworn she glimpsed him roll his eyes. If she could feel, she thought that sadness would have been appropriate at that moment. Not for herself, but for Saix.
"First, let's see how many hearts you can collect in Halloween Town," Saix said, his back to Xion.
Roxas glared at Saix. He had spoken calmly enough, but he must have somehow known that Halloween Town was one of Xion's most challenging worlds. But Xion didn't seem to mind. She waved at Roxas and Axel with a hopeful grin, anticipating their reunion at the day's end, then followed Saix into the dark corridor.
Roxas and Axel exchanged glances, but before either could speak Larxene walked over and draped her arm over Axel's shoulder. "You. Me. Wonderland."
Axel met her eyes. "That sounds oddly seductive."
"Ew." Larxene immediately let go of him. "Leave it to you to think like that. In front of a kid, no less!" She turned away pretending to be disgusted, but she was smirking in amusement.
Roxas regarded them both curiously. He had no idea what they meant, but for some reason he felt heat rising to his face. As they headed for a dark corridor together, a different realization hit Roxas. I'm not going with Axel today. Then who am I-? His thought was stopped short when he looked down at the roster in his hand and saw the name next to his. The sensation that overcame him felt as though his chest had fallen into his stomach. It was followed by a physical slap on the shoulder. Roxas was paired with none other than-
"Ready to sell my merch, Kiddo?"
Xigbar… Roxas sighed loudly.
"Hey, why the long face? You look like Vexen!" Xigbar laughed.
Vexen, who had almost completely disappeared into a dark corridor after Xaldin, stuck his head out just in time to yell, "I do not have a horse face!" before the corridor swallowed him up entirely.
Roxas inhaled deeply, as though sucking in his dread to contain it. "It's nothing," he lied. "I'm ready." It's going to be a long day.