I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any characters thereof, and will not be making any money off of them.
Xion sees a strange animal, tailing behind her and Axel as they walk through the woods.
"What is it?" She points towards the flicker of white between the trees.
"What is what?" Axel takes his arm off of her shoulders, stops thinking about all of the things he wants to do to her, even if he can't, not yet. Not until the mission is over.
"That." She points again, at the flicker of white. "What is it?"
Axel grins broadly. "That, my dear, sweet little virgin, is our assignment." He looks over her critically, then presses a kiss to her forehead. Not yet. Almost, but not yet.
"It… is?" She looks up at him, her big blue eyes confused. Confusion isn't an emotion, after all - all one needs for confusion is an intellect, to notice the rules get discombobulated.
"It is indeed." Axel kneels down in front of her, beginning to unzip her coat. "You need to take your coat off, okay?"
"I do? Why?" She lets him take her coat off, sees him put it over his arm. She feels strangely naked without it - is she still an Organization member, even without her coat? But she's still an Organization member, even when she bathes or swims or sleeps, so this isn't' any different.
"Your boots too." Axel takes one foot in his hand, beginning to unlace the boot, then pull it off.
Xion stands on the soft grass in just her socks, curling her toes, almost imagining that she can feel the grass under them. "Why are you taking away my clothing?"
"It's necessary," he said, digging around one pocket. He takes out… something. It's pretty and sparkly, and Xion admires the way it sparkles and shines in the light. "Here. Take this."
"What is it?" She examines it - it's made of gold, but it seems strangely pliant under her hands.
"A golden bridle." Axel ushers her towards the big, empty clearing, surrounded by lilac trees. There is a pool in the center of it, and a strange feeling of… peace. Even Xion, without a heart, can feel… something in her empty chest. "Now, you sit here and you wait."
"What do I wait for?" Xion sits with her feet in the water, giggling at the feeling of the tiny fish inside of it nibbling at her toes.
"You'll see." Axel presses another kiss to the top of her head, then opens a dark portal. He pauses, halfway through it. I'll be back in two hours, alright?"
"Okay…" Xion says. She doesn't mind too much, being left alone on her own in this quiet place. She doesn't understand, exactly, what is going to happen, but she sits with her pants rolled up and her socks off, feeling the little fish nibble on her toes and feeling the strange… peace, which flows through her whole self.
Xion has been sitting there for an hour when the white animal comes back out. She forgets her almost-boredom, forgets the tedium of just staring into space, because it is the most beautiful thing Xion has ever seen. It's… all of the wonderful things she's ever seen, ice cream and sunsets and holding Axel's hand and tiny, half remembered memories that smell like salt and hot sand. She doesn't know what it is, but she doesn't even realize that she's crying until the first teardrop splashes in her lap. She's shivering, her face red and blotchy.
The animal… it looks something like a horse, something like a goat, something like… she isn't sure. There is a horn coming from the animal's forehead, and she knows that she should be scared, because that horn looks isharp/i, as do the hooves. But she feels no fear. Not even the little remedial shiver of shadow-fear that she can feel in her chest on occasion. The creature is moving towards her, and she reaches out for it, not even thinking about why. Something in her calls out to it, and it calls back to her in kind, something that doesn't have a name or a sound, only that it's there.
The creature approaches her slowly, carefully, and Xion stays dead still until she feels the soft, velvety lips against her cheek, tasting her tears. She's crying harder, now, and she doesn't know why, doesn't know why she feels this soft, special thing that makes her want to sit and just iwatch/i, although she doesn't know what she wants to watch. She feels still and calm and safe, but she doesn't know what to do. She presses the muzzle of the creature against her cheek, and the creature gets down, kneeling, and hangs it's head over her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek. Xion wraps her arms around the creature's neck, forgetting the bridle, forgetting the mission, forgetting the Organization. She presses her cheek against the animal's soft skin, softer fur, smelling the soft, warm smell and feeling something delicate and soft and tender in the place where her heart would be, if she had one.
She's still sitting like this when Axel comes back, hugging it, pressing her forehead against it's neck. When Axel comes out of the dark portal, the animal makes a panicked noise, and Xion jolts out of her daze. She blinks owlishly when Axel grabs the creature's horn and carefully slides the golden bridle over it's mouth.
"Axel? What are you doing?" She swipes at her face with her sleep, crying. The animal has gone still, and something in it has gone… still. The tender, soft place in Xion's chest hurts, like she's been kicked.
"The heart of a unicorn," Axel says, and he sounds almost reverent. "We needed a virgin." He strokes the creature (a unicorn? Is that what it is?) on the nose, and it shivers away from his gloved hand.
"W-w-why do you need it?" Xion wants to curl into a ball and cry, wants to make noise, but she can't, because she doesn't have a heart, and simulating emotions like that take effort, and she can't use that effort, because right now she's concentrating on the pain that makes her shake and cry.
"The heart of a unicorn," Axel says again, still stroking the unicorn's nose. "A thing of purity and beauty. To corrupt the heart of a unicorn…." Axel runs a finger along the unicorn's horn, then snaps his fingers.
Xion makes a surprised noise as the shadows slither away from the trees, gain legs and yellow eyes. She looks at the unicorn, even though she doesn't want to, because the unicorn is screaming in a high, terrified voice as the shadows come closer and closer, until they're within touching distance. The unicorn is going mad with fright, rearing up on its hind legs, wheeling at the shadows with its horn. But it does not help.
Xion cries as the heartless attack the unicorn, cries as the white coat slowly turns grey, then black. The eyes change from calm violet to an angry yellow, and Xion feels the soft thing in her chest flare up, like someone stepping on it. She watches the unicorn, only now it isn't a unicorn. It isn't the thing that held Xion close in a small, warm place that smelled of lilacs and sea salt. This… this thing, whatever it is, is some kind of perversion.
"Alright, Xion, do your thing." Axel looks at her expectantly, the not-unicorn wheeling and bucking against his hold on the bridle. It's snorting and screaming, trying to get away from him.
"What?" Xion stares at him, tears still streaming down her face.
Axel rolls his eyes. "The Keyblade," he says in an annoyed tone of voice.
"You want me to… to kill it?" Xion can't believe this. She doesn't know why she's reluctant - it isn't the unicorn anymore, it's something else, something… wrong. But she remembers the soft, warm feeling in her chest, that made her feel soft and protected and safe. That made her feel, period.
"What's the point of takin' the damn things heart if we don't harvest it?" Axel hisses as the not-unicorn kicks him in the shin.
Xion is a Nobody. No matter how much she strives, no matter how much she tries to remember, at the end of it all, she is still a Nobody. If a tear trickles down her cheek as the pink heart rises up and up and up, before disappearing into the sky, well even not-real things can have a slight flare up of existence.
Axel smiles down at her, thrilled. "Good job," he says, and ruffles her hair.
Xion pulls away from him, glaring. Something unfamiliar bubbles up her throat, something hot and acidic, and it's almost welcome. It's better than the blank, empty feeling.
"Geez. What did I do?" Axel looks down at her, genuinely perplexed.
Xion glares at him, then gets up right close to him, close-close-close, and begins to hit his chest with both hands. "I hate you!" she yowls, tears streaming down her face as she hits him, wanting to make him hurt the way that she does.
Axel does the unexpected - he turns her face upwards and kisses her, on the mouth. The tears on her face smudge against his own, and he holds her close, close-close-close, holds her tight and kisses her, his tongue tasting hers.
Xion makes a shocked noise and opens her mouth, letting his tongue in. She clutches at his coat with both hands, still shaking like a leaf. When the kiss is broken, she stares up at him, her blue eyes wide.
"No, you don't," he says quietly, and leans in for another kiss.
"I do," she sobs, but she kisses him back. "I hate you I hate you I ihate/i you!" Every "hate" is punctuated by a kiss.
"No you don't," Axel says again, and he does something that makes Xion trip, and then they're lying on the soft, soft grass, with him on top of her. The place is already starting to lose some of it's… special, some of its peace. He's on top of her, hot and heavy, making her shiver in almost-fear, because he's so ibig/i, so hot, so warm, so terrifying.
What happens next, to Xion, is a blur. She remembers, looking back, when Axel pulled her shirt off. She remembers his warm mouth fastening around her nipple before her shirt is even off, making her moan and shudder. She remembers the jolt of newness down her back, remembers her hips jerking. She is still crying, tears dripping down her down her face, as he kisses lower, sliding his tongue into her navel. She is crying as the orgasm dribbles down her back, crying when he climbs back on top of her.
Axel kisses her when he pushes in, feeling her tiny hands clutching at his shoulders through his coat. He feels something tear, and he feels the ghost of regret at that - they'll have to find another virgin, for another unicorn, unless that one really was the last one, in which case it doesn't make a difference. But he kisses her face, tastes her tears and feels her twitch and spasm around him, feels her clutch at him like a drowning person.
Xion is crying, except he doesn't exactly know why. Is she crying for the burn between her legs, or the memory of the unicorn's eyes as the heartless clawed into its chest. When she feels the heat between her legs and he pulls her close, she presses her forehead against his, panting loudly.
"You can't hate me," Axel whispers against her lips, still inside of her.
"I do," she whispers back, holding him tightly to her with her legs, wrapped around his hips and holding him close. She kisses his mouth again, squirming against him. She feels another one of those twitching nice feeling things in her belly from before.
"You can't." Axel reaches down, pressing down on her breast. "You don't have a heart." He kisses her on the forehead. "That's the only reason we did that."
Xion presses her face against his, still crying. "I hate you," she whispers, only she isn't sure. She feels… something for him, something that she just can't… explain. So she fists her hands in his dark coat and squeezes his shoulders, shaking like a leaf and remembering in the corner of her mind the soft, warm, vulnerable feeling, already starting to scab over from the hurt.