Chapter Two: Magic Lessons and Mister McDuck

Three days after her fight with Sephiroth, Xion returned to her job at the ice cream shop, *Twilight Treats.* Axel had tried to coax her to take another few days off, and there was a part of Xion that wanted to stay home and read books and eat ice cream. But eating ice cream didn't pay for ice cream. So she went to work.

Xion had been hired on the spot when she asked the nice grandmother who ran the ice cream shop if she were hiring. Apparently, she remembered her from the last year of purchases and her "perfect manners." Xion had to take orders and scoop ice cream and keep the tables clean. It was a much nicer job than anything she had do to for the Organization.

"Good morning, Granny." Xion wasn't sure whose grandmother Granny was, actually. Hayner, Pence, and Olette all called her Granny—and when Xion had asked, the small shopkeeper insisted on being referred to as such. By everyone. Even Axel and Isa and the man with the yellow and green coat who refereed the Struggle matches.

"Ah, Xion. How wonderful to see you. I saw you fighting that horrible man. It frightened me so."

"You…you did?" Xion shuffled her feet. It had been terrifying enough to fight Sephiroth…but she hadn't wanted to worry Granny. "I didn't realize…"

"Oh, yes. You were so brave. You're a hero, you are. You saved our lives from that awful."

However threatening he had been, and he did raise his sword towards Olette, Xion wasn't sure Sephiroth was really interested in killing innocent townspeople who couldn't fight back…given that he hadn't gone up and down the streets, cutting down anybody who got in his way. Stopping him didn't make her a hero…she had been nearly sliced into pieces doing it. And honesty was always the best policy.

"Granny…I'm not a hero…at least, I don't feel like a hero."

"Oh, Xion. How would you expect a hero to feel?"

That was a fair question. Xion had glimpsed her fair share of heroics when she was inside Sora's heart: Hercules the demigod using his immense strength and his father Zeus praising him; Aladdin rescuing Jasmine and getting glory in Agrabah; Mulan being honored by the Emperor for her valor in saving China; Simba overthrowing his evil uncle Scar and becoming King of the Pridelands.

"Important, I guess."

"My dear," a new voice interrupted, "The moment a man, or a lass, begins to feel important, he is no longer a hero. Whatever their past accomplishments, they become a buffoon."

Xion turned around and blinked in surprise. Scrooge McDuck was standing there, eating a bar of sea salt ice cream. There was no mistaking the blue coat or black top hat. From what she understood, Mister McDuck was an extremely well-traveled businessman…er, business-duck. He owned the bistro and the open-air theater in Twilight Town, the ice cream shop and skateboard courses in Radiant Garden, most of the businesses in Disney Town and…well, surely there were others, she just hadn't heard about them yet.

"Ummm…Mister McDuck, what's a buffoon?""

"A ridiculous person who engages in all sorts of tomfoolery."

"Ummm…what's tomfoolery?"

"Pretty much everything Donald does. My nephew is quite the buffoon."

"Oh…" Xion bit her lip. Donald could be pretty foolish sometimes. But he still helped Sora on all those missions across all the worlds…and had helped Sora destroy Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, and restore the lost worlds. And fought Xemnas and his artificial Kingdom Hearts. And Master Xehanort in the Graveyard and then the weird portal to the past. Xion had helped Xemnas for so long…and then in the Keyblade Graveyard, Xion had fought as one of Xehanort's vessels. Sure, she had switched sides but that didn't change the fact that she had helped Master Xehanort as a Darkness to clash with a Guardian of Light. She had fought Kairi and hurt her badly and she hadn't intervened when Xemnas had grabbed Kairi and Xehanort had…

It was her fault. All of it. She could have stopped it, somehow. Donald might be…a buffoon but he wasn't bad. Xion tried to be good, but really…how good could she be, after every awful thing she'd done?

"Um…Granny, you want me behind the counter today?"

"Oh yes, dear. Go on, Mister McDuck and I have some things to discuss. I'll be along shortly."

Xion tied on her apron and fixed her name tag onto her pocket. She smiled at herself in the mirror. Customers liked it when she smiled. Axel and Roxas did too. Ding! Ding!

Oh! Customers! Opening time! Xion scurried over to the front of the counter and looked down. A small boy in a blue coat and a very large hat blinked bright yellow eyes back at her.

"I would like…one bar of…chocolate ice cream please," Vivi stammered. Xion smiled at him. Once you got use to his stutter, Vivi was a nice boy—she remembered how Roxas had beaten Seifer up for stealing Vivi's ice cream the week before.

Mister McDuck and Granny were still talking but now more people were filing into the ice cream shop. That in itself wasn't strange. But there was another girl who worked behind the counter, Monica hadn't shown up yet. It hadn't been the first time Monica had been late, but still, Xion felt a little worried.

She didn't have a chance to worry for long though. There were more people wanted ice cream. And some people wanted milkshakes or floats. And others wanted sundaes. Scoop of ice cream, spray of whipped cream, squirt of syrup, spoonful of sprinkles.

"Here, you are—one Neapolitan sundae." Why it was called "Neapolitan" Xion had no idea—it was one scope each of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Colorful though—the strawberry ice cream reminded her of Kairi and the vanilla ice cream Naminé. What sort of flavor, other than sea salt of course, would remind her of Roxas or Axel?

Xion made three shakes for Donald's three nephews, with straws matching their hats and sweaters. They said something about "ice cream for fuel"

Where in the worlds was Monica? The opening shift had started nearly ninety minutes ago! And come to think of it, why were Mister McDuck and Granny still talking? Surely business things couldn't take this long to talk about? Xion wasn't sure there was anything she could talk about for an hour and a half—even with Axel and Roxas there were loads of times where they didn't say much, just enjoyed each other's company.

Well, enough dawdling. There were still more customers. Scoop, scoop, spray, squirt. Soda, sundae, shake, ice cream bars.

Ding! Ding!

Augh—there were even more people than before! An entire tram's worth of people! And still no sign of Monica! Mister McDuck looked up from his table and glared. Or at least, she thought he glared—it was kind of hard to tell with how big his hat was. An uncomfortably familiar sense of guilt tied a knot in Xion's stomach. She couldn't fail, she couldn't, couldn't, couldn't. She mustn't let Granny down, who was so nice to give her this job, so Xion could earn munny for her family. She couldn't let Roxas down either, her best friend. Or Axel…her other best friend, who took such good care of her. And the idea of letting Isa down…he wasn't Saix. He wasn't, he wasn't, he wasn't.

Really though, this was nothing Xion couldn't handle. She had served in the Organization for a year. She had fought dozens of giant Heartless. What was a few extra customers? Okay maybe it was a little more than a few…

A group of teenagers were at one of the tables, expecting their tray of ice creams and drinks to be delivered to them. Xion frowned—that wasn't something that was against the rules, but it would mean having to leave the counter. Three strawberry sundaes with raspberry syrup and caramel sauce, three bowls of candied cherries, and six hot coffees. Xion chewed her lip; it'd be easier to take two trips, but…

"Waitress! We want our food now! Can't you do anything right?"

Oh, that was just perfect. The same teenager who had been in charge of the tram station and wouldn't let Xion on with the pie was at the table. She seemed to have even more lip piercings, and Lion still couldn't help but wonder if that made eating ice cream more difficult.

"I'll be there in just a moment," Xion took the heavily-laden tray and as carefully as she could walk over. It was simple, really. Get the food over as efficiently as possible and then she could get back to the counter. Really, there weren't that many now…

Something caught her ankle and she started to fall. Panic turned her blood to ice; she couldn't let anything spill. Xion pushed the tray out as far as she could, it clattered onto the table but nothing tipped over. The ice in her veins melted—Xion hadn't failed after all.

"You idiot!" One of the teenagers, a girl with blonde hair that was almost yellow, looked furious. "You got ice cream all over my new blouse!"

Xion squinted. There was a tiny blob of strawberry ice cream on the girl's blouse, next to one of the buttons. If she hadn't been told it was there she wouldn't have noticed it. Who on earth would wear a white blouse to an ice cream parlor?

"I'm sorry this happened," Xion answered, forcing herself to keep her manners. "I can get you some napkins and we can fix it."

"No! It's ruined!" The girl smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile. It reminded her a bit of Larxene. Larxene had not been nice. "But I understand that you might not be able to see. Here, let me help you. I think you have something in your eye. Let me wash it out!"

The blonde girl yanked the lid off her coffee and threw it at Xion, splashing her in the face.

"Ow! Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow ow!"

Xion covered her face as the coffee seared her skin, trying to wipe it off. A sob caught in her throat. It burned. Maybe it wasn't the same as Axel's fire magic, but this hurt. Xion couldn't start crying—not in front of the customers. She needed to remain professional. She needed to get back behind the counter.

Xion stumbled and bumped into the table and then another of the coffees spilled, splashing onto her boots. One of the other teenagers swore at her. She felt something cold and sticky be pressed into her hair. The strawberry sundaes…ew…

"You're getting a bill for my ruined blouse," the blonde teenager sneered as she stood up to leave.

"You will do no such thing!" Granny shouted. "I have never been so disgusted."

"I'm…I'm so sorry," Xion spluttered. She had failed Granny…she was going to get fired, she knew it. And then Axel would be so disappointed in her and Isa would be angry…Saix Ould turn her into a Dusk…

Xion fumbled blindly for a towel to wipe her eyes. Her fingers tightened around a small set of napkins and she began dabbing at the coffee. She could see Granny and Mister McDuck looking at her. The blonde teenager and two others—one the girl with the pierced lip and a tall boy with broad shoulders were all standing up.

"Xion, was it?" Mister McDuck was seething, his cane gripped tight in his hands. "You are a friend of Sora's yes? I trust you are familiar with my nephew's temper?"

"Um, sorta."

"You'll want to stand back, dear," Mister McDuck's cane glowed so bright, it made Xion cover her eyes. "My nephew isn't the only Court Magician who has served King Mickey."

The ice cream shop filled with light…

oooo

Ordinarily the Sandlot was one of the more crowded areas in Twilight Town. Struggle matches were a sponsored sport, and even when there weren't matches, there were usually a few kids running around.

Today, thankfully, Roxas was alone. Or alone with Hayner and Pence, who had approached him for a meeting that they wanted to keep secret from the others.

"You sure about this?" Roxas looked from Hayner to Pence and back again. "I'm not sure this is a good idea."

"We want to learn to fight and you're the best fighter out of anyone."

"That's part of why I'm not sure this is a good idea," Roxas scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm stronger than our friends but I'm not sure that really makes me a good teacher. And fighting…it can be really dangerous. I know you've seen me do neat stuff and you were there when Sora, Donald and Goofy took out that Demon Tide but…you can get hurt."

"That's the point!" Hayner shouted. "It's dangerous! But you and Xion and Axel shouldn't be the only ones risking your necks! I'm not even talking about Seffy-roff or whatever his name is. There's still Heartless in the woods and sometimes they get into town. What if something bigger and meaner than one of those moving shadow-things comes along? Why shouldn't we learn to fight?! This is our home!"

That was actually a really good point. And certainly, there were still a lot of Heartless and even Nobodies in the Woods. Why shouldn't Hayner and Pence learn to fight? Even if they didn't know how to wield Keyblades—and Roxas was not about to perform an inheritance ceremony or whatever it was (he wasn't sure it'd work anyway), they could still learn some combat skills.

And magic too—if Sora could go from an islander to someone who was capable of performing terrific feats of magic, then why should't Hayner or Pence be able to learn how to cast Fire or Thunder magic?

"Alright, alright," Roxas let go a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "I'm in. I can teach you some stuff. You might not ever wield a Keyblade, but you should at least be prepared for what's out there."

Hayner pumped a fist in triumph and Pence pulled out a notebook. Oh, was Pence filling out information for a mission report?

"So…um…I've never taught anybody before. Except for Xion, right when she first started in the Organization, but she learned really fast. Er…I'm not really sure where to begin."

"How do you actually cast magic?" Pence looked up from his notebook. "I've looked at some of the books in the mansion, but none of them really detailed how to do it."

"Magic isn't like regular attacking," Roxas answered. "It takes a lot of energy that you have to supply with…yourself? I can attack with just my Keyblade all day, but if I use too much, it can sap my strength. I might not have enough for when I need it."

"And magic is tied to classical elements?" Pence looked even more eager for information. "Fire, water, earth, air?"

"Mostly. There's ice magic that's different than water magic, and then there's light and dark magic. There's not a lot of people who use earth-based magic—it's really powerful but it's hard to control."

"Okay…Earth Magic is hard to control…What sorts of magic are easy to control?"

"I should let you know now that not everyone can actually use magic—some people just don't have the ability. Goofy doesn't use magic and he's been best friends with Donald and King Mickey for…um…a long time."

"Just how old are those guys, anyway?" Hayner crossed his arms. "Half the time, hey act buddy buddy with Sora and Riku, but the rest of the time they act like their parents."

"Like Axel is with Xion and me?"

"…Okay, fair point, but didn't Mickey know those other Keyblade wielders from way back when he was training with Master Yen Sid?"

"Er, yeah. Ven did mention something about that. I'm not sure how old Donald and Goofy are."

"Whatever, doesn't really matter. We're getting off the subject," Hayner scratched his chin. "So some people can't cast magic at all. How exactly do you know unless you try?"

"You don't, I guess." Roxas frowned. Hayner asked good questions. He really wasn't sure he was the best guy to teach them…but Axel and Isa would probably have refused to teach them in the first place.

"One other thing, before we even try to start," Roxas straightened up, locking eyes with Hayner. Pence looked up from his notebook.

"More powerful magic takes more energy to cast. And if you use too much energy to cast a spell…"

"Let me guess: You pass out?"

"You die."

Whatever Hayner or Pence had been expecting, it hadn't been that. Hayner's mouth fell open. Pence dropped his pencil and it rolled down the pavement and under a bench. Pence didn't seem to have noticed.

"Die?"

"You burn up all your energy to cast a spell, and then there's nothing left to be alive with."

"How do you know?" Pence looked really pale, kind of like Xion did when she was too weak to move after fighting Sephiroth.

"It's how Axel died. He used up all his strength to cast the most powerful fire spell he knew to burn up hundreds of Dusks—those Nobodies with the wiggly arms."

"But Axel's not dead." Hayner's eyes were as wide as Axel's chakrams. We saw him over at the ice cream shop—it hasn't even been an hour."

"Technically, he's not Axel. He's Lea. Sure, Xion and I call him Axel..and you guys call him Axel and Kairi calls him Axel…okay, everyone shorter than him calls him Axel, but I watched Axel fade into nothing after he sacrificed himself to protect Sora."

Neither Pence or Hayner said a word. Giving big speeches wasn't exactly Roxas's strong suit. He chewed the inside of his cheek. Maybe he had said too much, but then again…it needed to be said. Magic was powerful, but it was dangerous. Roxas was no stranger to nightmares, and more than once he had dreamt of watching Axel dissolve into nothingness…again. But he hoped he hadn't hurt their feelings.

"Did you see anyone else use too much magic?"

"Er…not that I can remember…" Something similar had happened at the Keyblade Graveyard—of that, Roxas was certain. But a lot of it was a blur, and Roxas found that he remembered less and less of Sora's life the closer it was to his own return. The harder Roxas tried to focus on it, the more blurry it seemed to get. Which wasn't that different from trying to recall things about his past back in the Organization, come to think of it.

Neither Hayner or Pence said anything for a really long time…Roxas felt a twinge of guilt in his belly.

"Look, don't get me wrong…I do think it's great that you guys want to help, really. I just…don't want you guys to give this up."

"Give what up?" Hayner cocked an eyebrow, his hands on his hips. "You guys are the ones putting yourselves on the line. Seffy-roff, or whatever his name is, nearly killed Xion."

"Don't remind me. I meant give up this," Roxas looked at some of the buildings. "You guys have a life here. A normal life—ice cream on the clock tower and Struggle matches and the train station and trips to the library and the market…"

"And you and Xion and Axel are a part of that. You're our friend Roxas. We want to help you."

"I'm still not sure I can actually teach you magic, but if you want to fight…well, I guess I can teach you a little."

He summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Even now, after everything they'd seen, it made Hayner and Pence take a step back in surprise.

"If either one of you have a weapon, now's the time to draw it."

"You go Hayner, I'll take more notes. Er, has anyone seen my pencil?"

While Pence looked around his pencil (getting nowhere near to where it had rolled), Roxas stared down Hayner. This might be the icky part.

"I don't want to hurt you. This isn't a Struggle match."

"Whatever," Hayner rolled his eyes and picked up a Struggle bat. "Like they always say, That which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Show me what you got."

Roxas was never sure who the "they" in those funny sayings was supposed to refer to, but at least this one actually made sense. There had been plenty of times he had fought to the point of exhaustion for the Organization but wound up stronger for it. And sometimes Sora would be able to enhance his magic just from fighting enough enemies, or one really powerful one.

Roxas bowed respectfully to Hayner, who looked more confused than anything else before bowing himself, and the sparring match began.

"Most Heartless aren't very smart," Roxas explained as he casually blocked one of Hayner's blows. "They fight and search for hearts to eat because that's how they live. The ones that live around here—Shadows and Powerwilds and Soldiers and even Large Bodies rely mostly on instinct."

"Who comes up with those names?"

"Honestly, I have no idea."

Roxas parried a series of attacks from Hayner. Hayner seemed to be getting angry and his attacks fiercer but also more erratic.

"You're trying too hard—when you swing your weapon and it hits something, it can knock you back just as hard."

"Yeah, we learned that in science class. For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction."

That sounded like something Vexen…er, something that Even might say. Or Ienzo. Roxas parried another blow from Hayner and struck with the side of Oathkeeper, knocking Hayner back to the edge of the sandlot.

"And that's what happens—you hit too hard, you open yourself up to attack. You alright, Hayner? We can stop now, if you want a break."

Hayner stood back up, shook his head rapidly, and straightened his back. He held his Struggle bat out, straight as a ruler. Sweat dripped from his forehead.

"I could do this all day."

oooo

Lea walked as quickly as he could down the streets of Twilight Town without actually running. He was still a little woozy from the bazillion chicken wings Xion had tricked him into eating. He'd gotten a phone call from Donald Duck's uncle, ol' Scrooge. He wasn't quite sure what was wrong though, what was it with talking ducks and their funny accents? Something about how Xion gotten ill and needed to go home.

Poor kiddo—he should have insisted she stay home at least one more day. Even healing magic and potions had their limits. Even though physical injuries would heal, the pain would often linger. And considering it was Sephiroth…Lea shook his head. The chicken-man was gone and never coming back…probably. Whatever. Lea would worry about that later; right now, Xion was sick and needed to go home.

He turned a corner and startled. The ice cream shop was completely deserted. And a complete and utter mess. Tables were overturned . A small figure with red hair and pink clothes was sitting at the only upright table near the door.

Wait a second, what was Kairi doing in Twilight Town? Lea grinned; they hadn't seen her in nearly a month, with Sora vanishing and Riku following shortly thereafter. The way Kairi had cried…it was one of the worst things he'd ever heard. Lea liked being a sort of big brother figure to the very short teenagers who wielded Keyblades. Ah well, Roxas and Xion would love the visit. Kairi could share Xion's room. As he got closer though, Lea's grin vanished. It wasn't Kairi sitting up on the steps to the ice cream shop. It was Xion, completely covered in pink ice cream and red candies.

Oh, crap.

"Xion? What happened to your face?"

"I'm sorry…" Xion's lip trembled and she darted forward, tripping as she ran. Lea caught her just as she stumbled into his chest. Xion's body trembled and she began crying. Lea patted her gently on the back and tried to smooth her hair. Half-melted ice cream stuck to his fingers. Ugh…Xion was getting doused with a water spell as soon as they were out of sight of the rest of the people.

"I messed up an order…and I…tripped."

Hoo-boy, Xion was a lousy liar. Really, really lousy. Lea wasn't sure he had ever met a lousier liar in his life. Which actually made his job as as a big brother/father-figure/guardian much, much easier come to think of it. So now, time to get to the bottom of Sad Xion.

"And?"

"I…I…it was my fault…"

"Axel?" The grandmotherly ice cream lady approached them, her eyes sad. "I'm so sorry this happened. I never would have expected it."

"Er…my name's Lea. I don't know an Axel," Lea stammered. Regaining his heart had ruined his own ability to lie. Xion tightened her little arms around him.

"Don't even try that nonsense with me, young man!" Granny snapped. The little old lady slapped his hand and began wagging her finger, like he was a disobedient puppy. "I know quite well that you are Axel! I have over one hundred receipts with your name on them!"

Oh, double crap.

"Er…um…er…um…Isa did it?"

"Oh, don't you go be blaming Saix! He never bought any ice cream before he was !sa!"

"How did you even know about that?"

"You did many horrible things in that vile cult," Granny barked. She glanced at Xion and her voice softened. "But I also know that you grew to love Xion and the sweet boy Roxas. And that everything you've done in the last few months has been to atone for your past. And give those two little ones a home.

"Whatever you want to put on your driver's license, I couldn't care less. But you will always be Axel to me."

"Um…well, okay, if that's what you want to call me, that's fine I guess."

Axel (What? It was a cooler name than Lea!) ducked his head down from the omniscient ice cream lady and ruffled Xion's hair somewhat awkwardly. It was still very sticky.

"Monica never showed up," Xion admitted. "So I had to work the counter by myself. Granny had to talk to Mister McDuck. I've done solo…er, I mean I've worked by myself before. I thought I could handle it."

"Dear, you have nothing to be ashamed of. I'm quite proud of how you were able to do so much on your own," Granny murmured. She turned to Axel and sighed deeply. "A patron splashed her with hot coffee."

"What?!"

Spilled ice cream was one thing—nothing a nice shower wouldn't fix. But hot coffee? Axel took Xion's face in his hands. There were splotchy half-healed burn marks all over her little face and neck. Oh, Xion…

"It's not as bad as before," Xion bit her lip, her eyes welling with fresh tears. "Granny gave me a Potion to make the burns better. She says they'll be all gone in the morning. Oh, and she called Monica to fire her and kicked out the people who were mean…and Mister McDuck used some magic to turn them into coins."

"Right, right," Axel muttered. "Wait a minute, Scrooge did what?!"

"Here, my boy."

Scrooge McDuck waddled over. Had his cane always been gold? That didn't seem very practical. Axel was no stranger to magic users, but it wasn't often he could sense it on someone else. But Scrooge had Power with a capital P.

"All's well that ends well," Scrooge brushed himself off. "I do think those miscreants have learned their lesson, oh yes."

Scrooge flicked his thumb and tossed a coin up into the air. Axel's mouth fell open and his tongue felt heavy. That coin had been a human being? That was…not unlike Luxord weird time magic that let him turn his enemies into cards and dice to give him an edge in a fight. At the time, Axel had thought it quite impressive magic. Now that he was human…

"That's…not permanent, is it?"

"No, no, no, more's the pity." Scrooge put his top hat back on. "It'll wear off in about twenty-four hours. Plenty of time for her to think about what she did and I'd say she'll be far more polite in the future. It takes a far stronger spell than that to permanently imprison someone inside a coin, I tell ya.

"Now, Lea," Scrooge's voice grew more business-like, "There's something of great importance I should let ya know."

"Axel," Axel interrupted. "My name is Axel. And if it's a job—"

"Don't interrupt, boy," Scrooge interrupted. "It's rude. You'll set a bad example for the little pink one."

"Now, just a minute!"

"Where was I?" Scrooge asked himself, oblivious to Axel's irritation or Xion's embarrassment, "Oh yes, his Majesty asked me to collect you and the children. Apparently there's a meeting of some sort, and he's calling in the Keybearers. Apparently, I'm to be your 'ride' back to the castle."

Axel's breath caught and he heard Xion sharply inhale. Mickey calling in the Keybearers? This could be huge. Had Riku finally made contact? Was there word on Sora's whereabouts?

"Er…right. Well, thanks Scrooge. We'll see you in the morning then."

"Nine o'clock, boy-o, I keep a tight schedule. If you are not at the station, then I will be leaving you being, and the King can deal with it in his own time."

"Right, nine sharp. Got it memorized."

Axel steered Xion away from the ice cream shop and they began walking home. Xion didn't say anything for the longest time.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

Not again…

"Xion, you heard what Scrooge and Granny said. You did everything you could. It's not your fault that your co-worker was a…flake." It wasn't the word Axel wanted to use, but it didn't seem the best idea to swear in front of Xion.

"I just…I let you down," Xion sounded close to tears again. "We need the money to pay for our home and I didn't do my share."

"Sweetheart," Axel's tone softened. "I'm the grown-up. You and Roxas are the kids. It's my job to worry about you, not the other way around. Is there anything else bothering you?"

"I guess…I'm worried about Sephiroth coming back."

"Yeah, he's scary. But you've beat him once already. Twice, if we count that time with Sora."

"He said some mean things…" Xion ducked her head down. "What he said…it got in my head."

"I can fix that."

Axel pulled up a few tufts of Xion's hair and peered at her ear. Xion looked at him like he grew a second head.

"Sephiroth! Get out of my friend's head! Now! Now now! Now now now!" He began rocking Xion's head back and forth. It was still sticky with melted ice cream. "Shoo! Shoo! Bad birdie-man! Bad!"

Xion blinked at him. Now she was staring at Axel like he'd grown three heads. He ignored her ignorance. This was funny!

"I'm gonna keep doing this until you laugh, Xi," Axel ruffled her hair. C'mon, Sephiroth! You cannot get in my friend's head! That's where Roxas and I live and we say you can't hurt her! Now shoo, birdie!"

Xion began to giggle. Now there was a better sound than crying. Xion's eyes still looked sad, but that giggle was one of Axel's favorite sounds in the world.

Tomorrow, they would follow Scrooge to Disney Castle, and hopefully get some answers. Together, the three of them. Four if they could talk Isa into it. Together, as it should be.