Okay, I do not own any of the characters or settings; they belong to Square Enix. A one-shot about Roxas and Xion's friendship.

This originally was just gonna be a regular one-shot, but I'm actually gonna have a group of one-shots to go with it. No, you won't have to read all of them to know what's going on, but they'll all take place in the same alternate universe and make small references to other stories in the collection.

If you like this, please check out my first multichapter story, Standoff.

Anyway, I'm gonna shut up now cuz you probably wanna read the story. Enjoy and please review!

DEAREST FRIEND

Xion Lockheart had made her mind up; for the first time in a year and a half, she would visit the abandoned building in the center of town. She slipped out of the renewed part of the city, and moved into the area the Restoration Committee hadn't touched yet.

None of it really scared her anymore; not the crumbling buildings, or the piles of loose bricks and rubble in the street. When she was a kid, though, a simple walk through this part of Hollow Bastion turned into a terrifying adventure.

She smiled to herself. "An adventure;" that was what Roxas had called it then, wasn't it?

oooooooooo

The two eight year olds kept giggling and tripping over each other in excitement; for the first time ever, they could go to the ruins by themselves. When they got to the division that separated the liveable part of Hollow Bastion from its other, more decimated half, Xion froze. Roxas didn't seem to notice; he was still laughing, and it looked liked he was about to disappear into the uncharted territory alone. Xion called out to him. He turned to see her glued to her spot, shivering.

"What's wrong, Xion?"

She stared down at her feet. "I-um-I don't wanna go anymore."

"Why not?"

"Roxas, I'm...that place-it's too scary. What if there are monsters?"

Roxas stared into the wreckage for a while. "There prob'ly are monsters in there..." he mumbled.

"What?" Xion yelled, now shaking even more than before. "Then we should go back home!"

Roxas held out his hand to her. "Don't worry. I'll fight all of 'em; I'll keep you safe." Xion hesitated. "C'mon, Xion; it'll be a real adventure!"

It really had been an adventure; although, to Xion's relief, there weren't any monsters. At the end of the day, when they were all tuckered out, they had stared up at the huge parking deck attached to the old bailey. They both agreed to go up to its highest level when they got tall enough.

oooooooooo

Xion started scaling the side of the half-decaying garage. She sighed at the memories. All of them so vivid. She and Roxas came here almost every day after that, until Leon found out about it. He was head of the Restoration Committee and, horrified at the idea of child injury (or worse, a lawsuit against the city), had started putting up tape to block the entrance. His Committee even made rules against going in; if you got caught, you'd have to do a week's worth of community service. This would have been enough to keep Xion away, but on her 13th birthday...

oooooooooo

"Keep'em closed; no peaking, Xion."

"Okay, Okay. Are we almost there?"

"Yep." Roxas uncovered her eyes. When Xion opened them, she saw the entrance to the ruins before her.

"Now quick," he said, "before Seifer and his gang start patrolling."

"Roxas, you know this is illegal..."

"Well goody two-shoes, it's up to you. But your present is in there. You want it, don't you?"

Xion thought about it. Part of her had wanted to go snooping around in the debris for some time. Eventually, though, she shook her head. "Roxas, we're not suppose-"

But before she could finish, Roxas' hand was on hers and he was pulling her inside the ruins.

"Roxas!" she yelled, ducking beneath the tape at the entrance. He shushed her and dragged her behind a wall.

"We can't be seen," he said. He shifted his gaze from left to right for effect, and adopted a thick Southern accent. "Now, private Lockheart, I got a special mission for ya'. Ya' think you can handle it?"

Xion giggled and nodded (Roxas did this kind of thing a lot, but it never failed to entertain her).

"Awlright. Now in these here ruins we got a bomb hidden somewhere. Ya got half an hour to find and disarm it. Go!" Roxas skittered off and left Xion alone.

"Woah," she wondered aloud. "Was he half-serious?"

Roxas called from wherever he had run off to. "O'course this is serious; the fate of America is in yer hands! Do not blow it!"

Xion kept laughing, but eventually she ran off into the ruins, too.

It took her all of ten minutes to find "the bomb," which was really just Roxas' phone with the timer on it running and a piece of tape on top that said "dangerous and explosive." She picked it up and froze the stopwatch app. When Xion looked around, she realized she stood in the broken-down parking deck. "Sarge!" She called, "I disarmed the bomb!"

Roxas came out from his hiding place, speaking now in his regular voice. "Good job."

"Haha, nice present. Definitely the best this year," she laughed.

Roxas gave her a look. "No way! That wasn't your present. Although," he said, pulling something from his pocket; "If you didn't complete the mission there was no way you were getting this-" He handed her a small, gift-wrapped box.

Xion looked at him, then took the present and tore off the paper. Inside was a small case.

When she opened it, she found a simple gold ring in the center. "Roxas...it's lovely...it really is," she whispered as she slipped it on her finger. She looked back up at him and noticed he was blushing.

"I'm..er..glad you like it." He mumbled, scratching the back of his head. Xion smiled. She leaned over and gave him a tight hug. When she pulled away, she saw that his face had turned a decidedly darker shade of red. He started smiling, too. "Happy Birthday, Xion."

oooooooooo

It really was the best present she had gotten that year. In fact, now that she thought about it, it was probably the best she had gotten any year. And most days that followed, they climbed up that same parking garage after school and sat and talked.

He didn't tell her until that December...

oooooooooo

Roxas helped her up the edge of the garage. She shivered a little, pulled her black coat tighter around her.

"My treat," he grinned, handing her a sea salt ice cream. "It's your favorite."

"What's this all about?" She asked. She eyed him suspiciously. "You hate spending money. And ice cream in the middle of winter? Who are you, really?" She giggled a little, but when she looked over she saw how serious Roxas' face looked. "Rox-"

"You know that ring I gave you?" Xion nodded. "It's kinda...a special ring."

"Of course it is," she said, staring at him. But he wouldn't look her in the eye. He just focused on some distant spot ahead of him.

"I actually had a friend of mine make it. The metal-it's from a key I melted."

"A key?"

"Yeah. It's a key to my house."

"Okay, Roxas. That's cool."

He shot an unsure glance in her direction, then continued looking forward. "...I'm moving, Xion. At the end of this month...I wanted you to have that key, just so-I don't know-I guess so you would remember me." After a few moments of awkward silence, he turned to her. Now she stared blankly ahead. She tried to process what she had just heard.

A few minutes later, she managed to force out a curt "Oh," then pulled her knees up under her chin.

"I'm sorry, Xi."

They had talked about other things after that, but her memory of that day always ended with those three words. That look on his face. The hug he gave her before he told her he had to go pack.

All the while she could hardly speak. She just kept arms around her bent legs, and her tears where he couldn't see them.

For a week, she wouldn't talk to him or return his calls. It really was childish and stupid. But she felt so angry with him for not telling her earlier.

At the week's end, though, she gave in. She had never gone so long without talking to her best friend, and it had started getting uncomfortable. On a Saturday, a week before he left, she texted Roxas to meet her in the parking deck.

oooooooooo

Xion hoisted herself up into the building, and took her usual seat overlooking the city. She felt odd, being there alone. The place suddenly seemed cold and unfamiliar in his absence. Still, she remained sitting in the building for a few hours, thinking of all the times they spent there, and of their last meeting...

oooooooooo

"Xion!" Roxas ran up to her.

"Roxas...I'm sorry I didn't call you back or text you. Or-" Before she could finish, he pulled her into a bear hug.

"It's okay, Xion. I'm just glad I get to see you before I go."

Xion felt a tear start to crawl down the side of her face, but she quickly wiped it away and pulled her friend over to the open edge of the parking garage, where the two of them usually sat. The whole time they laughed and talked about the memories they had in these ruins, and how much of a shame it would be when the Committee finally cleaned the place up.

"But hey-if they haven't finished by now, then maybe they never will," Roxas grinned.

Xion smiled back at him. Soon after, her mind wandered to their most recent conversation. "Hey, Roxas; remember what you said that last time we were here?"

Roxas grimaced a little. "...Yeah."

"Well, just so you know, I don't need a ring to remember you. I mean-don't get me wrong; I love the ring. But...I'll remember you no matter what."

Roxas smiled at her, and the two of them just sat in silence for a while, enjoying the day's end together.

oooooooooo

Xion sighed, stared for a while at the empty space next to her. Usually she was happy when she was right. Today, not so much. Her choice to avoid this place had actually been a good one. This empty garage just made her depressed. It was a reminder of what she missed most about her childhood; her best friend.

Hope you liked it. Please please please review! And if you liked this don't forget to check out Standoff!