Xemnas stood there, dumbfounded.
SHE was the technician and expert?
She hardly looked like she was 13!
He just stared at her, completely ignoring her hand-shaking gesture. Xedramon thought she may have offended him in some way, so she quickly lowered her outstretched hand. They stood there for another moment in silence, before Xemnas cleared his throat.
"You are the one I was referred to?" he asked, in disbelief. She nodded.
"You are the weapons technician and expert?" he asked, still not wanting to believe. She started to smile and nodded again.
"Yep, that's me." She said cheerfully. His reaction didn't bother her; she got it all the time. Xemnas nodded slowly.
"Come in, then…" he said, gesturing her inside. She stepped inside the large castle, and Xemnas closed the door behind her.
Xemnas walked back into the living room, where the 12 other Nobodies were anxiously waiting. As Xedramon slowly walked into the room, all of the members' mouths dropped in surprise.
The guy…was a GIRL???
They got a good look at her: She was a little shorter than Roxas. She had peach colored skin, and reddish-brown hair with black streaks in it that was straight and fell down to her lower back. Part of it covered the right side of her face. She was wearing a strapless yellowed-colored dress with red fringes at the top and the bottom of the dress. It came down a little above the middle of her thighs. Underneath she wore black tights that came down to her knees. She wore black shoes that had red at the tops. Two red and black belts were wrapped around her waist loosely; a red and black band was around the top of her left arm, and a red and black choker necklace with a black 'T' charm was around her neck. Slung around her shoulder was a medium-sized black drawstring bag. Roxas nudged Axel in his arm.
"At least I was right about the hair." He whispered. The two started to chuckle, along with Demyx who was nearby and had heard him. A quick look from Xemnas got them to shut up.
The sound of Xemnas loudly clearing his throat snapped the Nobodies out of starring at her, and it got their attention.
"Everyone, this is Xedramon—"
"Xed."
Xemnas looked down at Xedramon, who had just spoken.
"Excuse me?" He asked. She looked up at him.
"Xed. I prefer to be called Xed." She said simply. Xemnas looked over at Roxas.
"Roxas." He said. Roxas looked up at Xemnas.
"Show Xedramon where the Weapon Workshop is." He said. He then sighed. "I have a phone call to make…" Xemnas then walked off. Roxas then walked up to Xedramon.
"Hi! I'm Roxas." He said, smiling. Xedramon smiled back.
"I'm Xed. It's nice to meet you, Roxas." She said. Roxas smiled wider. He then beckoned her to a set of stairs that lead to a lower floor.
"This way." He said. She walked in front of him and started to walk down the stairs, with Roxas following her. As soon as they left, whispers could be heard…
The two walked in silence down the stairs and down a long hall. Roxas then decided to break the ice.
"So, Xed…" he said, looking for something to talk about. Xed looked at him.
"How old are you?" he asked. Wow, he thought. What a lame question. But there was something about Xed that made him nervous…and he never really got nervous…
"I'm 14." She said. "I'll turn 15 soon." She smiled. Roxas looked at her.
"Oh really? How soon?"
"A couple of days."
"What are you going to do for your birthday?" Xed shook her head.
"Nothing." Roxas seemed surprised.
"Nothing? But why?" Xed shrugged.
"I don't know…I never really celebrate it. I'm usually working, and it's not too important." She said, a hint of sadness in her words. She then looked up at Roxas and smiled. "How old are you?"
"15." He said. Xed nodded.
"So, where are you from?" Roxas asked.
"I'm from an island." She said. "It's really nice. And best of all—the moon always shines there." She smiled. Roxas looked at her.
"What's it called?" he asked. Xed crossed her arms.
"That's the strange thing—I can't remember its name. I haven't been there in a while. When all of the worlds were swallowed in darkness, mine was too." Roxas looked at the ground.
"Oh…I'm sorry…" he said. He meant it. Although The World That Never Was had become his new home, he'd be heartbroken if something had happened to his Twilight Town. She smiled, and Roxas looked up.
"That's ok. I'll find it one day." She said. Roxas smiled at her. He had just realized something about her—her smile was so…nice. Every time she smiled, he felt something warm up inside of him. He wasn't sure if nice was even the right word to describe it. It was more like…amazing. Pretty. Beautiful…
"Is this it?" Xed asked, stopping at a door next to them. Roxas looked up, and nodded.
"Yep." He said, turning the doorknob and opening the door for her.
They walked inside and turned on the light. It was evident that no one had been in this room for quite some time. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. There were cobwebs everywhere, and the room was very messy. But Xed didn't seem to mind. She gently brushed some dust off of a large workbench and set her bag on it. She was about to pull something out of her bag when she looked up at Roxas.
"You don't have to stay here, if you don't want to…" she said, disappointment lingering in her words. Roxas looked down at the ground.
"Well…I was…sorta hoping that…I could keep you company…" He said quietly, trying hard to not sound like he was somewhat begging to stay. He really wanted to hang around with Xed more. There was something about her that he liked a lot. Xed smiled again.
That really pretty smile.
"Sure!" She said, before looking down at the ground, blushing slightly. She didn't mean to sound as excited as she did. Roxas smiled back.
"ROXAS!!!"
A voice from upstairs, presumed to be Xemnas, was calling for him. Roxas grunted. He really didn't want to see what he wanted right now. Xed giggled softly at Roxas' reaction. Roxas couldn't help but smiling.
Her laugh was pretty, too.
"It doesn't seem like you have the choice at the moment." She said, smiling. Roxas shrugged, also smiling.
"I'll go see what he wants, and then I'll come back." He said. She nodded.
"Okay." She said. Roxas turned to leave out of the door.
"See ya." He said. She smiled again.
"See you later, Roxas." She said. Roxas stepped out of the door and closed it behind him. He sighed happily.
That really pretty smile.