Title: Playing Emma

Summary: Xion loved her two best friends, Axel and Roxas, and just wanted them to be happy. And what could make them happier than hooking them up- with each other. Xion is sure that Axel and Roxas are meant to be, and she is meant to make it happen. The course of true love never did run smooth, and apparently neither does the course of playing matchmaker.

Chapter 1

"This isn't a good idea," said Riku. He looked up from the book he was reading. Xion had just unveiled her plan to Namine, and Riku happened to be in the room at the time. The older boy was sprawled out on Namine's bed, while the blonde sat in a corner chair, sketchpad in her lap.

Namine's bedroom was typically girly. The furniture was white and the bedspread was a soft blue. Namine decorated with seashells and a print of some painting with boats. Xion thought Namine would have loved it back home on the island. Somehow she managed to make her average bedroom in the Toronto suburbs look like it belonged somewhere warm and sunny. It fit Namine perfectly; the only thing Xion felt was out of place here was Riku's presence in the room.

"Well no one asked you,"Xion told him. Besides, there was nothing wrong with her plan. Xion was pretty sure Axel liked Roxas. There were clues. The way Axel looked at Roxas when he thought no one was looking, the way Roxas talked about what Axel said like he was hanging on his every word. There was just undeniable chemistry between them. They were perfect for each other. Roxas was so cute and innocent! He needed a big tough lovable guy like Axel to look after him. (And he needed a guy. There was no way Roxas was straight.) Axel and Roxas would betoo damn cute together, and Xion was going to make it happen.

Riku shrugged. "I'm justsaying, meddling in other people's love lives is never a good idea."

For her part Namine kept silent, until Xion pressed her to reveal what she thought. "Well," she said. "I'll admit they would be cute together. And I can't think of anyone Roxas would rather spend time with than Axel."

"Hayner, Pence, Olette," Riku listed the names while counting them off on his hand.

"He spends more time with Axel," Xion retorted. "Besides, Hayner is into Seifer."

"What? Seifer and Hayner hate each other's guts!" Riku cried, but then he sighed, shaking his head. "I'm not getting into that debate. Right, so Roxas spends a lot of time with Axel."

"Yup," chirped Xion.

"Well, he probably spends the same amount of time with you. Come on Xion, you've been with Roxas and Axel almost every day since you got here, right?"

"Yeah," she said. "I didn't have anyone else to hang out with really."

About a month before school let out her father had announced his intention to send Xion and her twin brother, Sora, to Toronto for the summer.

"It'll be great," her father had said. "Like a vacation." He'd smiled at her from across the kitchen table. She'd looked to Sora who was sitting at her right, but he'd said nothing.

"But we live in a resort town," Xion had pointed out. They could practically see the beach from their front porch: who needed a vacation when you practically lived in paradise?

"And you have your whole life, sweetheart," her dad had said. "On this trip you'll get to experience a new city. A whole new country. It'll be good for you."

"Uh...daddy, no offense but Canada is hardly an exciting foreign country," Xion had said. "And besides, people are dying to come to Tybee Island for the summer. Why would we want to spend the summer anywhere else?"

"Because your Uncle has graciously invited you both for the summer. I want you two to get to know him."

"I understand, Dad," Sora had said before he'd turned to look at her. "Think about it, Xion. If you ever have kids don't you want them to know me?"

"Well, I guess so?" Xion had admitted.

"When we were kids, we always thought we'd live near each other, and raise our kids together," their father had sighed.

"Then he met aunt Daphne at that internship and moved to Canada to be with her and ended up immigrating. That's why he never moved back, even after she died." Xion's tone had been flat as she'd recited the well-known facts of the situation. "If you miss Uncle Jack so much why don't you go see him, or have them come down here?"

"I'd love to see Jack, but I can't get the time off work right now. Come on, Xion, he hasn't seen you since you were little and you probably don't remember him or your cousins at all. I think you'll really enjoy the trip. Then next summer you and Sora will be old enough to get jobs and will be too busy to travel. Now's the perfect time. Besidesyour mother and I will be busy most of the summer. You'll have much more fun in Toronto."

Xion hadn't looked very convinced.

"It'll be cooler, and less humid," her father had pointed out, "and it'll be a chance for you to experience something new. Toronto is a whole other world compared to Georgia,; different culture, different people. I think it would be great opportunity."

"Well, it would be cool to see a whole other world," Sora had said "And think about it, Xion. The farthest we've ever gone on vacation is Disney World, and that's only one state over. It could be like an adventure."

"What about my friends?" Xion had asked.

"They'll be here when you get back," her dad had assured her, "and you'll probably make plenty of new friends in Canada. Your cousin Namine is only a couple years older than you, and you and Roxas are about the same age. I'm sure you'll get along fine."

"Yeah, and you'll have me," Sora had pointed out.

As it turned out, Xion didn't have Sora with her, because Sora failed his math final. That meant he had to retake it over the summer. Sora stayed behind for summer school, and Xion was packed off to Canada.

Xion had arrived in Toronto certain that her summer would be miserable. It was cloudy the day she landed, a low mass covering the world like the surface of a gray sea. Landing in Toronto on that cloudy day had felt like diving underwater into a land of perpetual twilight beneath a sky of gray. The plane descended through the sea of clouds into the world beneath where everything was muted.

Uncle Jack insisted on driving them through down town so Xion could get a good look of the city. Xion couldn't see the sky at all,; even the top of the great spire of CN tower disappeared into the clouds. Things weren't open here but smothered by the clouds and choked with buildings that towered over the world. Everything was tall and close, like bars on a giant cage. Even the people who crammed the tiny sidewalks framing the streets that they drove through added walls to the world. Xion was trapped here for the summer.

She never thought the city would grow on her. But the next day had been sunny,as most days after had been too. Once they got away from downtown things were more open. The suburban neighborhood where Uncle Jack and her cousins lived was beautiful, although a little homogenous, it was like something from a brochure, with no real character or individuality. It was nice all the same, and Roxas went out of his way to make her feel welcome. He took her for ice cream, and showed her all his favorite spots around the city.

It was sort of amazing how fast she'd clicked with Roxas. Maybe it was because they were family. Although they hadn't grown up together, their dads were identical twin brothers. So did that make them like cousins who were genetically half siblings? In lots of ways Roxas felt more like a brother than a cousin.

With Sora back home, Roxas sort of filled the gap. Not that anyone could take Sora's place in her heart, but there was always more room for loved ones. Especially when it came to family. In Roxas, Xion found a second brother, and in his sister Namine, Xion had found the big sister she'd always wanted.

It was natural that she was close with Namine and with Roxas. More-so with Roxas because he was closer to her age. Given all that why wouldn't she hang out with Roxas everyday? Leave it to Riku to make pointless arguments.

"So what if I spend a lot of time with Roxas?" she asked. "We're related. Even if we weren't, that doesn't mean he isn't in love with Axel."

"I'm just saying, spending a lot of time with someone doesn't mean you're in love with them, either," he continued. "I spend a lot of time with Namine, and we're not in love." It was true; Riku was over at Namine's house a lot. He'd met Namine at some magazine project thingearly on in the summer. It was some sort of teen lit mag through the local library where local kids submitted poetry, short stories, and art. Then the club edited it and put it together. They were partners or something, and ever since then, Riku had been her shadow. Although sometimes Xion suspected Riku only came over all the time so he could annoy her.

"Maybe you just don't like the idea, because it's my idea?"

"Oh come on," said Riku, "you think I care about you that much that I'd go out of my way to disagree with you? Really, Xion, I'm just looking out for you. There are so many ways this could go wrong, and do you really want either of them mad at you if it does?"

"But what if it goes right?" she asked. "I really think there's something more between them. It's more than just friends."

Like the way Axel had acted when they first met. He'd just gotten back into town after being gone for about a week, and Roxas was supposed to meet him at the train station. Roxas had brought Xion along to introduce her. She'd been pretty excited honestly, since Roxas talked about Axel constantly.

Apparently they'd met at some philanthropic organization Roxas had joined a while back, something where they'd go and clean up different parts of the city, that sort of thing. Axel had been his partner/mentor, showing him the ropes. They'd just clicked from there, and had been inseparable ever since.

They'd been sitting together on a bench, Xion resting her head on Roxas's shoulder, when Axel had walked up.

"Roxas!" Axel had called, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "All right, how've you been? Miss me?" His smile faltered when he saw Xion. "And who's this?"

The way he'd said this, and used the word 'this' instead of 'she' was degrading. It was like she was something he'd found on the bottom of his shoe. The look Axel had given her then that wasn't so much contempt as it was a stare down.

"This is Xion," said Roxas. "She's my friend. I thought we could all hang out together. The three of us?"

Axel shrugged. "Sure, whatever floats your boat, Roxas," he said before tossing his bag at Roxas. "Mind carrying that for me?"

He caught the bag. "Uh, sure," said Roxas, although the weight of the bag had almost knocked him off balance.

"So, Xion, how long have you known Roxas? You guys seemed kind of cozy."

"Oh, well, I guess in a way we've always known each other," she had said. "We just hadn't actually met until this summer."

"How romantic," Axel had scoffed.

"We're cousins!" Roxas and Xion clarified, in unison. They broke out laughing, and the shouted "Jinx!"

Axel's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, you're," he laughed. "Um...anyway it's nice to meet you Xion. I'm Axel, got it memorized?"

"Um..."

"You don't actually answer that," said Roxas. "He just asks you."

"It encourages you to remember it," said Axel. "So Xion how long are you in town for?" He smiled at her and took his bag back from Roxas. "You should probably let me get that, it's pretty heavy after all." He slung the duffle bag back over his shoulder and ruffled Roxas's hair.

After that day, Axel had always been pretty nice to her. It had been a complete one eighty after he found out she and Roxas were related. Nothing could explain the change in behavior except jealousy. Axel liked Roxas, and didn't want anyone around who might be a threat. From the very first day she'd seen Roxas and Axel together, Xion had known the truth.

Riku and Namine weren't so convinced.

"Ok, so humoring you," Riku said, "what makes you think they're more than just friends?"

"The way they look at each other sometimes," said Xion. "Off hand things Axel's said."

"What has he said?" asked Namine, sitting forward in her chair.

"Well..." Xion fell silent. She didn't want to gossip about Roxas or anything. "Ok, well, it's just something I overheard. Roxas was sort of down, he'd gotten into a fight with his dad, and was talking about graduating early and moving across the country or even immigrating to the US. Axel seemed pretty concerned. He asked if Roxas really would go that far? And Roxas said no one would miss him. Then Axel said, "that's not true, I would.' He sounded so sad, like he was hurt Roxas wouldn't know that. Then they looked at each other..."

"And!" Namine pressed, gripping the edges of her sketchpad.

"Well, that's when they noticed I was there," Xion admitted. "I had sort of walked in on their conversation. I said sorry, and hoped I didn't interrupt anything. They said it was nothing, and we just kind of acted like nothing happened. Roxas acted like he was fine."

Namine nodded. "Yeah, that's Roxas. He never talks about what's wrong. Sometimes he just stares off into space, and looks so troubled, and I know he's just letting things eat at him inside. Until finally he ends up exploding." She pushed a strand of white blonde hair behind her ear. "He and dad have had some screaming matches when that's happened. He broke a computer once, because he got frustrated and slammed his fist on the keyboard."

"And that's why you should go with Mac?" suggested Riku.

Namine glared at him.

"Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood," he said. "Come on, Roxas is sixteen, - fights with parents and angry tantrums are part of the package."

"It's more than that," said Namine, "And he wouldn't have so many anger issues if he'd just quit pretending everything was all right, or actually talk about it when something was wrong."

"He talks to Axel," said Xion.

Namine smiled and nodded. "Maybe Axel is special then."

"Maybe all they need is a push."

"One flaw in your little plan," Riku broke in. "What if they're not gay?"

"Way ahead of you," said Xion. She reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a laptop. After flipping it open it took her moments to pull up Axel's Facebook page. "See," she said, pointing to Axel's information.

"He has 'Burn baby!' listed under political views, and 'Fire!' under religious views?" asked Riku.

"I meant the part where it says 'interested in men'," said Xion. "And, he's not on Facebook much, so it was easy for me to look through all his activity. He used to date some guy named Saix. Oh and this chick named Larxene was totally hitting on him, and he wasn't interested, like at all."

"Does this count as cyber stalking?" asked Riku.

"Merely preliminary investigation, and if he didn't want people to know about it, it wouldn't be on Facebook," said Xion. "So what we know so far is:Axel claims to be interested in guys, has dated a guy before, and totally blew off a girl who was flirting with him. He's gay, nothing else to it."

"And Roxas?"

"Roxas doesn't use Facebook," said Namine. "And he hasn't told me anything about it, and I'd think he'd come out to me before he came out online."

"He hasn't said anything to me either," said Xion. "Maybe he just isn't ready to admit his feelings."

"So we should leave him alone?" suggested Riku.

"Of course not," said Xion. "I should help him realize that he and Axel are meant to be, so that he'll admit that he's gay and in love. I mean...I guess before I move forward with my plan I should test to see if Roxas is gay. Like maybe have a girl ask him out and gauge how he reacts. But I just know there's something more between Axel and Roxas!"

Riku groaned. "Are you really sure you want to go playing Emma?"

"Who?" asked Xion.

"She's the main character of a Jane Austin novel," said Namine. "She basically tries to be a matchmaker but keeps getting things wrong."

"Well, see, there's the difference," said Xion. "I'm not wrong. This could be true love, and since when has true love not worked out?"

Riku just rolled his eyes. "Ever hear of Romeo and Juliet?"