Chapter 2

When confronted by Sora and allies rather than simply portal away, Xigbar decided to summon his sniper nobodies as distraction so the Freeshooter could slip away on foot. Portaling in front of enemies had not been banned per se, but after the disaster of King Mickey jumping into Xemnas' portal before it fully closed, it was now strongly discouraged. (It had taken nearly an hour of portaling before the white haired Nobody had managed to shake the mouse.) Xigbar's strategy worked perfectly. He took a moment to congratulate himself on his quick thinking. All it would take is one quick stop outside to make sure the dragon was on target. Then he'd portal somewhere safe to watch the battle to ensure that Sora was successful in liberating the heart. If he were capable of joy, he would be feeling quite gleeful at how close they were in obtaining Kingdom Hearts. Just a few more weeks of Sora defeating heartless and they'd be there.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught a silhouette of a figure in a black coat. Even with the hood up he instantly recognized Demyx. Only Demyx, Axel and himself had coats that fit tightly to the shoulders and arms and the figure wasn't tall or skinny enough to be Axel. At the thought of mischief, a smile appeared on the older Nobody's face. Unable to stop himself (and not truly wanting to) he silently teleported behind the figure.

"Boo!" grabbing Demyx's shoulder he was satisfied with how far the kid jumped. No doubt about it Demyx was by far the jumpiest Organization member and thus the best to sneak up on.

"Xigbar," Demyx whirled awkwardly around his hood falling down. "They sent you?"

"What are you talking about kid? What are you doing here and Good Lord! What happened to you?" Xigbar finished noticing what terrible shape the kid was in.

Demyx ignored the question."They didn't send you after me?"

"Huh? Kid, what happened to you?" Xigbar repeated.

Demyx shrugged, "I fought Roxas. I lost."

"I can see that. Come on dude you can come back with me, I'll help fix you up."

Demyx winced. "I can't go back. I have to fight him again."

"You're not going to last like that. Let's go back."

"No," Demyx repeated forcefully, "I'm not allowed back, not till I win."

"You won't be winning like this." Xigbar put his hand on Demyx shoulder, a gesture he remembered could be seen as comforting. "I'm sure that they'll let you back to recover first."

"No," Demyx repeated. He shrugged off Xigbar's hand and ducked his head which hid his face from the other's view. "Superior made it quite clear, I'm not welcome back unless I win."

Xigbar cursed silently to himself. What was Xemnas thinking? He knew the answer to the that question and that was the problem. Why Xemnas would sent Demyx after Sora when they weren't done with the keyblade wielder yet. Eventually they would destroy the wielder and teach Roxas what happens when you betrayed the Organization. But they couldn't do that until Kingdom Hearts was complete. So Xemnas would only send Demyx after Sora if he was sure number Nine would lose. With orders to "win or don't come back" it was clear Xemnas was getting rid of Nine.

Xigbar was surprised at how strongly echoes of anger coursed through him. Sure Nine had the worst track record when it came to missions but he was loyal, a trait which in number Two's opinion was seriously undervalued and lacking in far too many members. Throughout the mess that was the Castle Oblivion affair, Roxas' betrayal and now Axel 's recent behavior, Demyx had never given them any reason to doubt his loyalties. And now Xemnas had all but sent the kid on a suicide mission just because he screwed up a few, okay lots of times, but still he deserved better. He deserved to get his heart back.

Both men were momentarily distracted by Sora and his odd traveling companions rushing out of the palace and attacking the heartless dragon. Xigbar couldn't help but think, Nine is no match for this, as he was watched the keybearer land a solid hit on the dragon's face. A glance at Demyx suggested that the blonde was thinking the same thing. "Kid you can't fight him like this." Xigbar stated the obvious.

"I know. But if I don't I'll be labeled a traitor and Saix will hunt me down." Xigbar had always been secretly impressed with just how well the Melodious Nocturne could fake emotion and this was no exception. If he didn't know better, he'd swear the younger man was truly miserable.

"I'll try and buy you some time. I'll tell them you're planning on taking down the Keybearer as soon as you're able. With Axel still running renegade we've got bigger fish to fry." Xigbar ran a hand through his hair. Now Demyx's fake emotions were getting to him. It was almost like he actually cared for the kid. "Just keep your head down. Another couple of weeks and this will all be over. In the mean time hang in there kid. And go clean yourself up, you look terrible. " Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a potion Vexen had created special for nobodies. He tossed it to Demyx. "Here, I've got a spare."

"Thanks, Xigbar." The Nocturne quickly downed the contents. Xigbar shook his head but felt almost pleased. Demyx was soon back to his old self, fake cheerfulness dripping from every pore.

Together the two watched as Sora and the local girl landed a final blow on the heartless. Once the heart was safely appropriated into Kingdom Hearts, Xigbar opened a portal. "Guess that's my cue to head back. Be careful kid. Remember, you promised to play for me once we got our hearts back." He stepped through the portal before Demyx could reply, wondering if he'd ever see the kid again. The way things had been going lately it didn't seem likely.

Sora had noticed that Demyx didn't seem to be around when they ran back outside to fight the dragon, but he'd been too distracted to spare the Nobody a second thought. It wasn't until after the dragon had been defeated and the trio had said their goodbye's to Shang, the Emperor and Mulan that they decided to look for him.

"That Nobody isn't here," Goofy stated the obvious as they looked around the courtyard. "I wonder where he got to?"

"Good riddance," Donald scoffed, his feeling on the subject quite clear.

"Now, that's not very nice!" cried a familiar voice from behind them. Sora turned around to take in the sight of Demyx sitting on a low wall. He looked like he'd been there all along but Sora knew this wasn't the case. The Nobody appeared to be in slightly better condition than they'd left him and now had a goofy grin that looked quite at home on his face. Demyx swung his legs forward and jumped off the wall wincing as he landed. "Oww! Won't try that again till my ribs recover," he mumbled mostly to himself. He still walked with a limp but even it seemed improved from before. An easy going smile in place he made his way over to the trio. "Good job with that dragon. Kingdom Hearts will love a heart that size." He didn't seem to notice the glares directed his way. "So, where are we going next?'

Donald started sputtering something about the "we" but before the duck could manage to get out a coherent statement, Sora cut it with, "Why are you following us?"

"Because you told me to."

"But, we can't stop you from leaving, and I don't trust you. What are you up to?" Sora demanded.

Demyx gave another of his exaggerated shrugs. "Nothing, at first I was just following because I didn't have anything better to do," he admitted, "but I've been thinking, if I stick with you- you can protect me from any Organization members who come after me. Not on purpose of course," he quickly clarified, "but if they have to fight you anyways and if you beat them, then they won't be able to kill me." After a moment's pause he added, "Just until I'm well enough to fight you again." He gave them an innocent looking smile and let his words sink in.

Sora blinked, "Wait a minute you want us to let you come with us so we can protect you? You're a bad guy."

"That's just rude," Demyx protested. "It's more like former bad guy anyways," he corrected, "I'm sort of not in the Organization at the moment." Sora stared hard at Demyx. Did he really need help or was this just a trick? "Please!" the Nobody suddenly pleaded. "Please take with you, if Saix or someone like that comes for me I'm a goner!"

Sora could feel his heart being pulled by the heartless man's pleas. He knew Donald wouldn't like it but they did need to keep an eye on the Nobody, "If you promise to behave and stay out of trouble you can come."

Demyx brightened "I promise, as long as you don't make me betray the Organization. I'm not a member at the moment but I won't turn on them." Sora could almost hear an unspoken "like you" at the end of the sentence.

The keyblade wielder turned to his two traveling companions, "Is it okay with you guys?"

"Yup."

"I guess."

"Yay!" The strange man cheered. Dusting off his coat he shot them a wide fake grin. He limped over to stand next to Sora. Placing his arm around the brunette's shoulders he asked again, "So where are we going next?"

Sora shrugged off the unwelcome arm, "Back to the gummy ship I guess." What had he gotten himself into?

AN: I didn't want to delay too much in the getting this chapter posted. Unfortunately, I'm afraid from this point on updates will probably be sparse until at least May as I will have very little time to write this semester. Next chapter will be from Demyx's point-of-view.