Inspired by the song Your Guarding Angel by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. :u I'm working on some art that would go with it too, but it's in progress... xD Me and my fail lineart. It's not super Aku/Xion, but enjoy anyways~ :D

And the Streets Are Paved with Gold

"Goodbye, Roxas."

Xion's words came out of her fading body as gentle and kind. The crystals had slowly began eating away at her body, and she willed them away with whatever strength she had left so she could tell her friend things she wished she could have said before. Things she wished didn't require her dying in her friend's arms for her to speak and admit aloud. Truly it was just a comfort, or maybe a hope, to her that Roxas knew and perhaps one day, maybe one day, whether it be soon or long from then, he would remember. But until then, her dying words would fall onto deaf ears, the last hopes and joys she would have would slip through her best friend's mind in vain like the endless sands of an hourglass, passing through but never staying.

"See you again. I'm glad... I got to meet you."

She smiled weakly up at her last sight, a sight she was glad to be her last. If only another face was there... One day, they would meet again. All three of them- she hoped if she wished hard enough, it would become the truth.

"Oh..."

She looked behind Roxas and at their special place, the place where all three of them truly lived their lives. Where the two now parting friends learned so much about life and themselves from such simple, yet so profound conversations and declarations. And they owed their thanks to a single person for shaping their lives.

"And of course, Axel too."

She gave another small, shaky smile that shined through her quiet but strong voice. She wished he could be there. She didn't want to make him watch her die as Roxas was forced to, but she desperately wished she could have told him at least that she was sorry, and goodbye. There were so many things to thank him for, but all she could do was think her thanks and pray they would be whisked off into the sky as her body now was, perhaps one day reaching their desired destination.

"You're both my best friends."

In some desperate dream, she saw herself and her friends together again on the clock tower above for a moment behind closed eyelids. When they reopened, the dream vanished.

"Never forget. That's the truth." She made her voice as strong and firm as she could, as if solidifying the statement itself would preserve the memory of their friendship within reach of his and Axel's mind.

Xion's hand rested on Roxas's cheek. She used the last of her strength to pray for their far-off reunion. Then Xion let go- let go of Roxas, Axel, and life itself.

Let's meet again, in the next life.

Xion's nonexistence was melded with Sora's true one. Her being wandered within Sora, bathed in the perpetual light of his heart. There was no sense of time, just a feeling of endless sleep. Xion was not sure if she had been there for days or years. All she had were memories of the past and musings of the future.

Where will my heart go?

Maybe... to the same place as mine will, one day,

the light seemed to answer.

Memories came back to her in a flurry of rushing thoughts.

"So what's it like, Axel?" Roxas waited for an answer with wide eyes, he and Xion truly intrigued.

Axel shifted in his spot, thoughtful. "Well, I remember that there're these twelve gates. Huge gates, all made of pearl if I remember correctly. And there's a different type of crystal at the base of each one. Oh, and the streets are paved with gold inside."

The other two hung on his every word with large, questioning eyes.

"Why?" Xion wondered and asked.

"Hmm?" The response came as if he were caught a little off guard.

"Well, what's the point of that, having streets paved with gold? I mean, you don't really need that, right?"

"I guess... but maybe it just had to do with desire. That's what people wanted, so they willed it to happen, and it became real." Axel pondered along with them as well; when he thought about it like that, it didn't seem necessary. Although, Nobodies were all about efficiency, so perhaps it was different.

"But... desire is a feeling, right? So we can't desire..." Xion stared at her clasped hands in dismay.

"Does that mean we can't go there?" Xion questioned quietly with lost hope. Roxas hung his head sadly as well.

Axel looked a bit shocked and then ran his hand through his hair, turning out towards the sunset.

"Ahh, well... I dunno, I mean, we're not really beings at all, let alone human..."

The other two seemed to droop in their sadness, which looked so convincing to Axel he was sure it was tangible in the air around them, weighing it down and making it hard to breathe. Or perhaps he just felt it too, but the thought was brushed aside.

"Well, hopefully we won't find out anytime soon, right? And maybe, we can, who knows. It's not like we could ask the others from C.O.," he added darkly, the faintest hint of guilt touching his emerald eyes.

"But you know, once we get our hearts back, then we'll have a chance. Right? Who knows when that'll happen though- after all, everything's up to you two." He grinned, shaking the heavy atmosphere off. Roxas and Xion lifted their heads a bit and smiled slightly.

Xion looked at her two best friends with contentment clear on her face.

"One day..."

Xion was brought back to reality, or whatever it was before her. She realized that the light around her was swirling into glowing, white clouds. A sense of weightlessness and flight followed, causing her to close her sapphire eyes in enjoyment of the feeling. Her raven hair flapped and swirled around her face as streams of light slipped through the strands and tickled her face. It was warm on her floating body, wrapping itself around her. She felt as if it was carrying her away, whisking her off to a far off place.

And it was.

The warmth unwrapped itself from her body and flew off to form solid ground beneath her feet. When she looked down, she realized she still wore her cloak. Before she had been some half existence within Sora, not truly having a physical manifestation of herself, caught somewhere between real and imaginary, so she was surprised to see anything at all.

Suddenly, colossal gates rose from the newly formed ground, and Xion watched them shoot up and touch the azure firmament above with amazement. They were truly something to behold, their ornate carvings and bejeweled bases. Something about them glowed, glowed with all the benevolence and happiness the worlds could offer. Mere words could never give them the justice they so obviously deserved. They were near transparent, and a huge city could be seen shining behind them, the epitome of beauty.

She was drawn forward by the intense joy the magnificent place radiated. When she neared the towering gate before her, she noticed how the crystals sparkled and reflected every hope that had come there, and most of all she noticed what the gate was made of.

Pearl.

She looked at the city, effervescent behind pearl gates, and saw the far-off golden twinkling lining the streets, and she realized the streets were paved with gold.

A single joyful tear escaped her eye, shining and refracting the light of the beautiful city. She was filled with hope, all the hope and happiness she could possibly have mustered and more.

And behind the twinkling gates stood a lone figure, white and radiant like a dazzling star. The gates opened slowly before her, light from the city flowing out and over her body as a welcome. She closed her eyes and let a smile was over her lips as did the light. With each step she took, ecstasy took its hold in every corner of her body. Her cloak flowed behind her and around her ankles as she went to pass through the gates. And then she stopped before passing all the way through, slowly opening her eyes as her last step ended and she looked up at the figure before her.

The angel stood wrapped in white, huge feathery wings stretched behind him.

Red hair rustling in the tangible light and emerald eyes gleaming, he grinned and outstretched a welcoming hand to Xion.

The last tear she would ever have to shed streaked down her face, glimmering and reflecting emerald green, and smiling with bliss, she reached for the outstretched hand.

She wasn't needed by Sora anymore, and one day, Sora wouldn't need Roxas either.

Until then, they would wait together for their lost friend to find his way home.

One day.

"I will never let you fall,

I'll stand up with you forever.

I'll be there for you through it all

Even if saving you sends me to heaven."

- Your Guardian Angel by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus