3Making History3

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XI and V were on a rare Destiny Island mission. Xemnas usually never assigned missions there due to the very minimal amount of heartless and the general desertedness of the area. The only known inhabitants were a small silver-haired boy number VI had spotted there once--and he couldn't have been more than eight or nine, he had said.

They'd been sent here on recon; the Superior said to scan the area thoroughly ("Also look for other Nobodies…we would not be worse off with a Number XII.") and, if there was nothing suspicious or useful on the island, he would close it off to all missions entirely, as to not waste the Organization's time searching a barren place for heartless and oddities.

The island certainly looked barren, Marluxia noted. Neither he nor V were surprised. Destiny Islands had summer-like weather all-year round, and with the scorching heat, they both equally disliked the "hoods up at all times" policy for other worlds. They'd barely been here for thirty seconds and the two Nobodies wanted nothing more than to remove their jackets and "let the sun shine in", as Xigbar once put it when he was talking to Demyx in the Gray Room…a story for another time.

Adjusting to the feeling of sand beneath his feet, Marluxia glanced at his partner. "Let's make this quick, before the heat gets to the both of us." He smiled when Lexaeus gave a small laugh in agreement.

The Assassin gazed at the seemingly endless horizon and internally sighed. This was going to be a long day.

Then, he glanced at the Silent Hero.

At least he wasn't alone.

Marluxia smiled to himself.

Maybe this wasn't going to be such a bad day, after all.

Maybe.

xxxxx

"What's this?"

Marluxia tentatively poked at a squishy, yellow object lying in the sand with the tip of his scythe. Lexaeus, eyeing it curiously, picked it up by the stem it was attached to. The fluorescent yellow thing was in the shape of a five-pointed star, and it was thick and slightly spongy and had a scarcely noticeable crease running right through its line of symmetry.

They both just stared at it for a bit, until XI, noticing the crease, got an idea.

"Lexaeus, hold the left side of it. I want to try something."

The Hero shot a questioning glance at his partner, but did as he was told and shifted his grip to the left side of the object. Marluxia grabbed the other end and tugged at it with slight force. Almost immediately, it broke apart, leaving each Nobody with an exactly symmetrical piece.

Marluxia, slightly proud that his idea worked, examined the now half-star, and noticed that the inside was very similar to the inside of an orange or a grapefruit.

Lexaeus spoke up before XI had a chance to. "It appears to be a fruit of some kind." Apparently, he had noticed the same thing Marluxia had.

Said pink-haired man furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "I wonder…why is it that it seems to be made to come apart like that?" He questioned, voicing his thoughts aloud.

"You haven't heard the legend of the Paopu fruit?"

Both Nobodies jumped slightly at the new, unfamiliar voice, and turned to the source of the noise. Behind them stood a small brown-haired girl, wearing and orange-yellow dress. She couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old. Lexaeus opened his mouth to send the girl away, but Marluxia spoke before he could get the command out of his mouth.

"What legend do you speak of?"

The Hero narrowed his eyes at the neophyte's naïve curiosity, but couldn't be too angry with him, for he, too, was curious. They both watched the little girl inquisitively.

"The legend of the Paopu fruit is really common, I can't believe you don't know it! The legend says that if two people share one, their destinies will be intertwined. They'll be a part of each other's lives no matter what." She explained, exerting some difficulty speaking the larger words.

The two Nobodies let this information sink in. That's why it seems meant to come apart, Marluxia reasoned in the silence. They're meant to share with someone.

Someone.

The Assassin sent a small glance Lexaeus's way, blinking in surprise as he found the dark-hooded form looking right back in Marluxia's general direction. Both caught in the act, they pointedly looked away in opposite directions. For the first time during this trip, Marluxia was thankful for the dark, hooded jacket, for it concealed his face, which was likely the same shade of his bright, pink hair.

"Are you two going to share a Paopu fruit?"

The girl, blissfully unaware of the awkward air around her, motioned to the yellow fruit held in both of their hands, looking up at them with innocent green eyes. Both of them started in realization, and Lexaeus hurriedly cleared his throat and turned away, and he, too, was thankful for the hood that shadowed his features.

"No. We would not even consider that. W-We were just curious as to what it was. That is all."

Noticing the slight stammer as he spoke, the little girl giggled. "Whatever you say. Bye-bye now!" Before they could get a word in edgewise, she ran off, likely in the direction of where she lived.

Marluxia and Lexaeus, both helplessly embarrassed now, just stood in silence, Paopu fruit still in hand. After a few moments of complete and utter silence, the former growled in slightly uncharacteristic annoyance, more at himself than anything else, and tossed the fruit aside.

"We have a mission to do." He said curtly, motioning Lexaeus to follow. Blinking in surprise, he nodded, and half-heartedly flung the half-Paopu fruit away as he followed the Assassin.

Desperate to not let more awkward silence fall between them, Marluxia kept up the one-sided conversation. "Since we have already scanned most of the island, all we must do now is scan the northern areas of--"

"Ahhh! Someone help! Help!!"

A loud, piercing cry intercepted XI's sentence. They both jerked their head at the sound of the cry, and saw a small figure, likely a child, splashing in the sea, trying in vain to keep afloat. There were chunks of wood floating around the figure, obviously once part of a small raft or boat.

Both of them shared a glance, all discomfort between them vanishing at the situation before them. Even without a heart, they both knew that saving the drowning child was the right thing to do, and even with a conscience clouded by the darkness of the Organization, they both would have trouble with the fact that they let a small child drown.

Sharing a mutual nod, they both ran towards the waves, shuddering as the ice-cold water reached their skin but diving in nonetheless. Lexaeus, being the stronger of the two, swam noticeably faster than Marluxia and reached the child in just a few moments. Getting a closer look, it appeared to be a young boy about the same age as the girl they saw earlier.

The boy, noticing the two Nobodies in the water, attempted to swim towards them, only getting a waveful of water in the face. The Hero, now in good range of the boy, turned his back to him and motioned to it. "Get on." The boy latched on without complaint and Lexaeus began to swim towards the shore.

Just then, Marluxia, floating close by, saw a considerably large wave creep up from behind them, towering threateningly behind Lexaeus and the boy.

"Watch out!" The Assassin yelled, attempting to warn them, but it was too late. The wave crashed down right on top of the two, sending them underwater, creating a splash so large Marluxia had to dive underwater to avoid getting thrown back by the force of it. When he came up, the only thing he saw were the remains of the raft or boat, no sign of either Lexaeus or the boy, and the Assassin began to panic.

His panic was calmed, however, when a few seconds later, the two rose a few feet away from him, coughing and spluttering. The Hero was moving at a slightly slower pace now, obviously fatigued, and he constantly glanced over his shoulder for any more waves.

Much to Lexaeus's dismay, the wave had washed all of the wooden debris further up-shore, and it now blocked their path. He halted, unsure of how to proceed now. Thinking quickly, Marluxia summoned his scythe and, in one swift movement, swung it just above the surface of the water and knocked all of the wood aside, clearing the way to shore. With a quick nod Marluxia's way, Lexaeus continued towards the sand, Marluxia following close behind.

Arriving at shore rather quickly, they stumbled forward a bit until they were completely out and away from the water. The three fell to their hands and knees, gasping for air and spluttering water from their systems. The two Nobodies lay on the sand for at least a minute, until they got to their senses and stood up, brushing the sand off the black coats. They were jarred out of their fatigued daze by the boy, now hopping up and down in ecstasy.

"You guys saved me! I thought I was gonna die when my raft got hit by a really big wave, and I dunno how to swim yet so I tried but then I was drowning…and then you guys came! You guys were so brave and you worked like a team because one of you carried me on your back and one of you moved the wood out of the way with that cool axe-thingy and…" He paused from his large run-on sentence to look at them both with large, thankful eyes. Then, without warning, he pulled both Nobodies into a cramped, awkward bear-hug. "Thank you!"

It took Marluxia and Lexaeus a couple of seconds to notice how close their bodies were and how tightly they were being crushed together. Then, when they both simultaneously turned to look at each other, their faces were so close that Marluxia could see his partner's face clearly even through the shadows of the hood. He also noticed something else…how close their lips were.

Both of them started at the realization, and they hastily pushed the boy away and turned their heads away from each other, Lexaeus clearing his throat awkwardly, and Marluxia looking at the ground and blushing madly and again thanking Kingdom Hearts the hood that hid his face.

"We must leave now." The Hero muttered gruffly, gesturing to open a dark portal, which the kid seemed unfazed by. As the two turned and entered the portal, the boy took a step towards them.

"Hey! My name's Sora!"

But the portal was already closed, and Sora's words went unheard to the two Nobodies.

xxxxx

This is so totally late, I'm sorry! D: But to make up for it I made this Theme twice as long as the other ones! ^_^ Also, I need ideas for Theme 4, Rivalry, so please review and maybe your idea will be chosen!

Also, yeah, I know this isn't exactly "making history" but I couldn't think of anything else! XD;