Author's Note: Hello~! :D As much as I'm in love with -man right now, I wanted to do something KH related, more specifically AkuRokuShi-related. I love those three~! :D Anyway, this is set in Sora's heart, during KHII. Can't really happen in the canon of the game (Wouldn't it be nice if it could? ^^) , but I don't think that this really fits in the category of 'AU'. XD I apologize in advance for any OOCness that may occur, but I think I've got the KH cast (or at least Ven, Roxas, and Xion) down pat.
She knew that he wouldn't remember her. She knew it. She still missed him, though. Axel, too, of course, but she missed Roxas so much more. Xion sat in the middle of the platform with a young woman dressed in gold depicted, fiddling with her black dress. She was a bit surprised at first, since all she'd worn before was the cloak she'd been given when she entered the Organization. Before that, she could hardly remember what she wore, but she knew she wore something.
It was peculiar being inside Sora's heart, if that was truly the right way to put it. Being a part of Sora's heart was probably the right use of the terminology. She'd already met someone who looked startlingly like Roxas while a part of Sora's heart. His name was Ventus. He was supposedly a keyblade-master-in-training. They talked often, since there really wasn't anyone else to talk to. He was nice and all, very sweet, but he just wasn't Roxas. It wasn't necessarily loneliness that was getting at Xion, just a sort of discomfort. Had Roxas taken down the Organization? Did he get himself killed? Roxas was always a little on the reckless side, hence why Xion was always worrying about the blond.
Xion stood; beginning to pace back and forth as she usually did when she thought about him. She'd always assumed that something that looked like glass would feel cold when walked on by bare feet. The stained-glass platforms of Sora's heart were warm, though. Somebodies were warmer than nobodies, Xion had learned over the missions she'd performed. She figured it was due to having a heart. She ran a hand through her short, black hair, which drew her thoughts away. She'd observed Sora's memories of Kairi and Riku as Naminé put them back in order. It was astounding the way that Sora, Riku, and Kairi were like Roxas, Axel, and herself. Sora was still in the memory pod, and it had been a long time since he'd seen Kairi. If Kairi hadn't changed her hairstyle, Xion vowed to grow hers out. That is, if Kairi hadn't done so already. Xion liked having short hair, but she didn't want to be a mirror-image.
"You're still wound up about Roxas, aren't you?" The voice sent Xion stumbling out of her thoughts. She turned, smiling and waving at Ven, the typical greeting she gave him whenever he snuck up on her.
"He's my best friend, of course I am." Xion said, a snort coming soon after, crossing her arms and shifting her weight from side to side. "According to you, you felt the same way when Terra was acting weird."
"I'm not saying that you shouldn't be worried," Ven said, putting his hands behind his head, "It's not a crime to care about someone."
"Mmm, yeah, you're right. I just…" Xion mumbled, looking down at her feet and wiggling her toes, "I don't feel right. It's like part of me's aching, but I'm not hurt. This emotion stuff is really confusing." She finished with a laugh.
"I bet; having been told that you can't feel for so long must've been hard." Ven said, sitting down Indian-style.
"Well… Not exactly when you didn't really know which emotions were which. It's harder now that there are names for feelings." Xion sighed.
A pulse radiated throughout Sora's heart, startling Xion. Ven just smiled and got up, walking and motioning for Xion to follow him. She pursed her lips, debating over what to do. Ven laughed, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Aw, come on, I don't think it's a good idea for Roxas to be introduced to Sora's heart by someone who 'looks just like him', at least according to you." Ven said. Xion's eyes lit up.
"That's where we're going?" She said, now walking towards Ven at full speed.
"It's where I'm taking you. I'm gonna back off, though, let you have your alone time with your best friend." Ven said with a grin and a wink, for which, Xion returned with a playful punch in the shoulder on the side without the armor.
"Aw, don't say it like that, Ven." Xion protested, but soon got back to the more important topic, "Lead the way."
Sora's heart was like a labyrinth. Xion wondered if all hearts were like this, or if only hearts of keyblade wielders looked like this. She looked at Ven closely. She knew why he was here and not in his own body. He shattered his heart in order to save his friends Terra and Aqua. Xion respected him a lot for that. She knew she'd do whatever it took to make sure that Axel and Roxas were alright. But in a way, she knew that she probably wasn't strong enough to accomplish such a feat. After all, she was just an embodiment of Sora's memories. She wasn't a full somebody. She wasn't even a somebody. Or a nobody. She was just a being. A replica. But she was a replica that felt, and that was why she kept striding down the path that Ven was leading her down.
After a few hairpin turns and platform hopping, they reached a path that lead to a platform on which Sora himself was depicted, along with his comrades. Xion looked back at Ven, her hands tightly wound up in her dress. Now that she was just a stone's throw away, she was very unsure of what to do. Her blue eyes were round and questioning, and Ven didn't even need her to say anything to understand. He smiled at her, ruffling her midnight black hair.
"You'll be fine." He said, giving her a thumbs up with his free hand, "Even if his mind doesn't remember you, some part of him will."
Xion put on her best brave face, "Ven, I really hope you're right."
"Go get 'im." Ven said, patting her shoulder, and quickly high-tailing it out of there.
Xion sighed and reluctantly started moving towards the platform where a clearly disoriented Roxas was surveying the area around him. As she moved closer and closer to the platform, she realized just how similar Ven and Roxas looked. From the spiky blond hair and blue eyes to the intricacies of their apparel; they looked like twins. One could easily mistake one for the other. Lucky for Xion, she'd known Roxas for most, if not all, of her existence. Suddenly she felt happier, more light on her feet, now that she saw that Roxas was here. Maybe… Maybe it could be like how it used to be. The two of them hanging out. She knew that there was no clock tower in Sora's heart, but they'd manage.
As soon as Xion's feet landed on the platform, she had Roxas' attention. The familiar blue eyes that she'd known for just under a year looked straight into her own, though pain was clearly evident in them, making Xion freeze. Maybe he really didn't remember and Ven was wrong. Maybe Ven was right, but those memories caused him pain. She didn't want him to be in pain.
"Who… Are you?" The blond asked cautiously, "What is this place? I've been here before."
"I'm…" Xion paused, clutching her hands behind her back as she attempted to wring the right words out of them, "I'm Xion. This is Sora's heart, or so I'm told." She smiled at him, hoping that he wasn't alarmed, or at least not as alarmed as she thought he could be.
"Sora's… heart." Roxas repeated. He surveyed the stained glass below him and then his eyes darted back up to Xion, wide. His jaw set and his hands twitched at his side, ready to summon his keyblades at any moment, "What are you doing here?"
Xion held her hands up defensively, backing up a few steps, "I'm a part of Sora, too! I'm his memories of a certain person… A girl he likes. Naminé told me."
"How do you know I'm even a part of Sora?" Roxas' eyes narrowed, looking her square in the eye, ready to call her on a bluff if need be.
Naminé told me. That sounded like the best response. It was, wasn't it? It was a terrible lie, but if he didn't remember the Organization, anything that was true might set him off. He seemed highly irritable now, so much unlike the way he was before. Xion swallowed hard. Truth can't hurt. At least she could see him this one last time.
"I… I met you before. You probably don't remember me." Xion said meekly, looking down at her feet. Way to screw things up, she thought, There's no way he'll trust me now.
"Xion…" The blond spoke her name, as if rolling the two syllables around on his tongue and trying to determine if there was any familiarity with the name or the face. Xion looked back up at Roxas, letting her arms fall to her side. There was something like recognition in his eyes as he stared at the girl.
Xion took a cautious step forward, then another, and a few more until she was three paces away. Roxas moved to summon Oblivion and Oathkeeper and Xion jumped backward, cart-wheeling out of striking range. She'd given Oblivion to him. There was no way that she'd be able to hold her own like she used to when sparring without her keyblade. He frowned, seeing that she'd moved away, and came out of the attack posture that had been ingrained within him, though he wasn't sure just where he'd learned it. He'd always known it, though.
He let Oathkeeper drop on the floor and spun Oblivion around, holding out the hilt. "This… This is yours, isn't it?"
Xion's eyes widened, mouth slightly agape, coming out of attack posture herself. She nodded, moving forward in slow strides, "I… I gave it to you."
Roxas smiled; a more familiar expression to Xion. "Xion… I'm sorry. There are still gaps in my memory that are missing. I remember Axel and the Organization and sea-salt ice cream. I don't… I don't really remember you all that well…"
She swallowed the lump in her throat, smiling back at him and gripping Oblivion's hilt, "It's okay. You didn't forget everything, that's more than I can ask for."