Eighty-seven, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic by Raberba girl

Part 3 [rough draft]

Teenage Saïx

I probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't so preoccupied with thoughts about my family and how in the world I was going to get home. The town was so warm and restful, it was a soothing contrast to the stress I'd awakened to.

"She had babies about a month ago," Xion said, picking up the dog and holding her out to me. "I fed her every day, and the puppies all got adopted."

I stared at the animal wriggling in Xion's hands in excitement, as if she was trying to get closer to me. "Ch...Chi?"

Axel glanced at me curiously. "Hm?"

I reached out and took the dog into my arms. She reached as high as she could to shower me with ecstatic kisses, then snuggled into my chest. "I...I have a pet at home who looks...and acts...exactly like this..."

Axel stared at me, then burst into laughter. "You have a pet Chihuahua and you named her Chi?"

I glared at him. "It's no better than you, naming your cat 'Bomb' with an eight-year-old's creativity..."

"Wait, I have a pet?"

"Yes. A cat."

Axel looked thoughtful. "Huh...I had a set of Frisbees with Bombs on them when I was a kid..."

"Look, Chi, you found a friend," Xion cooed at the dog. "Saïx will take good care of you."

"No." I set Chi - the dog - back on the ground and tried to back away, though she simply stepped close to me again in her 'waiting for orders' stance. "This isn't my dog, just like none of you are my siblings. She belongs in this world, not with me."

"Maybe she belongs with jerk-Saïx," Roxas mused.

"I bet she does," Axel said enthusiastically. "Sai used to be a total dog nut."

"Can we take her back to the castle?" Xion begged. "Please, Axel, pleeeeaaaase?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Well, I'm not taking care of her," I snapped. "If you want to try some experiment with this dog and your Saïx, be my guest. But I've already got a Chi at home, I have no intention of dragging this one away from her own home."

"Poor Chi~" Axel baby-talked at the dog. "Both your daddies are jerks."

I gave him an exasperated look.

We did check the town's library, but it was not very well stocked. Xion and Roxas soon got distracted by picture books in the children's section, exclaiming appreciatively about how easy they were to read and that they were more interesting than anything they'd ever had to read before. I glared at Axel. "Don't you ever take them to the library?"

"Are you kidding? Why the heck would I do that?"

I was so unaccustomed to hearing adults disparage the value of reading that I was at a loss for a minute. "S-So they can read! Children ought to always have discretionary reading material available."

"Sai, they both hate reading, and they don't have time, anyway. By the time we RTC and eat dinner and get ready for bed and stuff, we don't really get a chance to do much because we always have to be waking up early for work. Besides, they're too tired to read at night."

"It's not like reading is difficult!" It was a good stress-reliever, if nothing else.

Axel looked at me as if I was speaking unintelligently. "Yes, it is. Especially for them; they get enough of a workout trying to decipher their mission briefs every day, they don't need the extra stress of having to read after work, too."

Reading. Stressful. He was killing me. I immediately marched over to the front desk and demanded to open four new accounts. I was denied, on the basis that neither I nor any of my companions actually resided in Twilight Town, but I did manage to procure a guest card, limiting both the number and quantity of our checkouts. I went back to the non-fiction section and chose my research volumes carefully, leaving enough of the quota left over for my siblings- my alternate siblings.

"No! I won't!"

"One book, Axel!"

"You can't make me!"

"Stop being so CHILDISH, you're a grown man, for heaven's sake! What is it you're most interested in?"

"Burning things." He meant it as a defiant refusal, but I did manage to find a book on historical explosive devices, which he actually got absorbed in despite strong initial resistance. I made Xion and Roxas fill up the rest of our quota with whatever they seemed even the least bit interested in, and added one last book to the top of the stack.

"What's that?" Xion asked.

"My real siblings' favorite picture book... I'll read it to you later this evening."

Axel kept reading his book even as we were walking through the dark corridor. "Coooool! Did you know that you can start fires with poop?!"

"What?!" both of the younger ones shrieked, laughing gleefully.

I sighed. So childish. "Yes. I did, in fact, know that urea nitrate can be a very volatile substance - and now you, do, too. Because you read a book."

Axel waved a hand dismissively, eyes still fixed on the page. "Yeah, whatever, fine; reading's great."

Back at the castle, Axel made me stay in his room with Chi while he and the children went to make dinner. We all agreed that it would be wise for me to avoid the other Organization members, and it also seemed that someone in authority might take issue with the dog's presence. I let her curl up next to me as I started searching for any hint about how I might be able to return to my rightful world.

The other three eventually returned with a load of hamburgers and hot dogs. Frankly, it looked disgusting, but since there was nothing else to eat, I forced down as much as I could tolerate. Then Axel started to play a video game, but soon laid it aside and watched over my shoulder as I read Stellaluna to the younger two. "On silent wings the powerful bird swooped down upon the bats..."

They all seemed attentive as I read, and Xion, leaning against me with her chin propped on my shoulder, sometimes even gasped or made sympathetic noises in appropriate places. Roxas (I had to keep telling him to lean back, his messy hair kept obstructing my view...) had a few questions, which I tried to answer patiently even though they were inquiries I'd expect more from a kindergartener. Axel did make a few jokes, though his mocking was mild and made in good humor. When I finished the book, I asked them how they liked it.

"I'm glad her mom's not dead," said Roxas.

"They're friends just like us," Xion remarked happily.

"This is really you guys' favorite book?" Axel murmured.

"Yes. I think we feel a bit like birds and bats - entirely different species, yet thrown together as a family..."

"I wish I could meet the other Axel and Roxas and Xion," Xion said wistfully.

"I wish I could, too," I sighed. Leaving Axel to read the rest of the books to them, I went back to studying.

"As a world uniquely situated on the margin between the Realms of Light and Darkness..."

"...known as Gummi Blocks, which can be obtained by defeating certain types of Heartless only found in the void between the worlds..."

Axel, unfortunately, did not have a Gummi ship, nor did he know any means of procuring one.

"Traverse Town is often cited as a place of refuge for those who have lost their worlds of origin..."

"...legendary weapons. Among which is the ability to transform into a vehicle customized to the taste of the wielder..."

Neither Xion nor Roxas had any clue how to turn their Keyblades into vehicles, if such a thing was even possible.

"...of course entirely theoretical, as the War itself would have happened roughly a thousand years ago and has left its mark in nothing more than legend..."

I sighed and snapped the book shut. "I'm never going to get home, am I."

Axel reached over to clap me on the shoulder. "Come on, Sai, don't get depressed. We'll get you home somehow."

"Or you can just live with us forever," Xion said hopefully.

"I'm afraid that's not an option," I said, trying not to sound as horrified as I felt at the idea. Being trapped in this disturbing Organization was not what I would call a 'life.'

"I like reading when I don't have to read," Roxas said, gazing happily at the page Axel had left off on.

I only dimly registered what he said - my attention had suddenly been caught by my watch. It was an analog one, and the hands were currently pointing to the numbers seven and eight. At least...it was within the seven o'clock hour, and the longer hand had passed the numeral 8 two minutes ago. "Axel," I said. "You are Number VIII in this Organization, is that correct?"

"Yup."

"And I am Number VII?"

"Heh, don't think that makes you better than me."

"Hmmm..."

o.o.o.o.o

Ansem the guardian

That evening, I waited until his training session was over. The boy came out at last, calling good-bye to his teammates and then going to unlock his bicycle. I allowed him to see me in the shadows when he had come far enough away from the others, when there was no one else around besides the oblivious drivers passing in their noisy vehicles.

I lowered my Shield enough to catch his attention, and he stopped dead as he caught sight of me. I was glad to see that his reflexes had improved. He stared at me for a minute, and I wondered curiously what he would do.

He finally swallowed, smiled at me, and said in a cheerful tone, "Hi! Are you here to kill me?"

I couldn't help chuckling. "If that is what you suspect, shouldn't you be fleeing?"

"You'd catch me in a second."

"Very true. Should I wish to capture or harm you, you would not be able to escape."

"That's what I figured. So it couldn't hurt to ask, right?"

"Well, you will be happy to know that I mean you no harm - I have, in fact, devoted a great deal of time and energy to keeping you safe."

"Three kinds of people in this world," he murmured, almost as if quoting someone. He smiled at me again and dismounted from his bicycle so that he could push it along. "By the way, is that Van guy still mad at me?"

"I would not know. I do not speak to him very often."

"Oh. Well, if you see him again, tell him I'm sorry, okay? I know it's his fault and all, but I think we can still be friends. He won't believe me, but...I mean, he hasn't even tried."

I chuckled. "I will pass along the message if I get the opportunity."

"Cool. Thanks."

"I'm glad to see that you have kept up with your training."

He smiled sheepishly. "I'm still not that good..."

"You are better than you think. However, there is only so much you can learn from sparring against opponents of that kind."

"Are you gonna kidnap me for some kind of special training?" He seemed so cheerful and at ease, but he was obviously still wary of me. That was good. His foster parents had taught him well.

"Not at the present time. I actually...wish to ask a favor of you, Sora."

He paused. "One of you needs help from me?"

"It won't be very difficult. And rest assured that it will harm no one. It is actually a favor on behalf of your...cousin, I suppose." Human familial relationships could be so complicated.

"My cousin?"

"The one who will be sacrificed in your place, should you be fully successful in eluding your fate."

"What?!" He turned to face me, looking dismayed and a little angry. "What do you mean, 'sacrificed'? What 'fate'?"

"Surely you know there is a reason why your parents gave up so much to protect you?"

"Well, yeah, but Mom and Dad don't like to talk about it much...just that my real family's a bunch of bad people or something. Hey." He was staring hard at me, as if he could will me to explain. "I don't know any cousins, but...is someone in trouble because of me?"

"Not because of you. I'm afraid that the fault lies with myself."

"Huh?"

"It was a good experiment, and a successful one. I did not realize that your cousin would get caught up in it - his number turned out to be unlucky, so to speak."

"Whaaaat are you talking about?"

"Merely that should you wish to help him, your task is simple."

He leaned toward me attentively.

"All you need do is go to bed as soon as you get home."

"Huh?"

"As I said, a simple task." We had reached a crossroads, and I paused, watching him turn to the right.

He halted after a few steps and glanced back over his shoulder. "Umm...you coming?"

"Your home is to the left."

"Nah, it's this way. It's easy to get turned around."

I smiled affectionately at him. "You're a clever boy, and a brave one, trying to lead me away from your family. But do not fear; I mean them no harm, either, and I will part from you here."

"...Someday," he said quietly, "I'll get strong enough to beat you guys."

"I look forward to it very much, Sora." I turned to leave. "By the way - if your parents ask, his name is Saïx."

"Saïx?"

"A woman named Aqua Fair will confirm it." With nothing more to say, I cloaked myself from view and, as far as he could tell, disappeared.

DiZ

"I did what you asked."

I looked down at Naminé, who reached out to offer me her sketchbook. I took it out of her hands and paged through the newest drawings.

"...Is it what you wanted?"

"Yes, I suppose this will do," I said. "Now leave." She obeyed almost soundlessly.

I turned back to face the boy sleeping in the white memory pod: Sora. So unique and fascinating, a key in so many ways. If my other self was right, it was this ordinary-looking boy's extraordinary heart that had bridged the chasm between us, guided us to find what we both sought. He and his own other self would continue to help us as the experiment progressed, and my World and his drew ever closer. "Sleep well, Sora." I looked down at the top page in my hands where Naminé had drawn a path, wending its way between the stars.

To be continued...

Author's Notes: LOL why did Sora choose THIS story, of all things, to make his Stepsibs debut...? XD XD *facepalm* And ftr, I made up a lot of that on the spot, so the timeline might be messed up whenever I get around to writing his side of the story in earnest.

Should've probably waited longer to post this, but my muse is really interested in this story at the moment; I'm not used to having a new installment ready so soon. XD And I figure, the last chapter unintentionally landed on something of a cliffhanger (though it didn't even get resolved in this one, lol), and I'd meant to write more anyway, and had only stopped to check the word count because it was late and I had to go to bed, so...yeah, chapter 3 already. ^^; It's a lot shorter than the others, but AkuSaiRokuShi killing time in the canonverse wasn't very eventful (half a page in the outline, and some of it I even had to move to later in the story), whereas it's gonna take a while to get through (both versions of) what AkuSai's been up to (3 outline pages for the real version, 2 pages for the alternate version). So chapter 4 should be long.

I was a bit hesitant to include the part about fertilizer, because it's actually caused a lot of tragedies by a lot of evil people. *sigh*

Heh, Kiryn was the one who got me thinking about Saïx being all indignant about the Keybearers' lack of reading skills... XD

...I don't usually put much thought into premise mechanisms...such as Seventy-eight, where I didn't even TRY to explain the time traveling... My original mechanism for this story was (and still is) dumb, but I thought a bit and tried to expand on it so that it's not quite as dumb as before. Hopefully. Just...don't scrutinize it too closely, okay...?