Okay, Amber had officially decided that training with Roxas was difficult. After escaping Xigbar, Roxas had led her straight to the training room without another word. Was he mad at her? She wouldn't be surprised if he was. She kissed him, a girl he'd just met yesterday

kissed him. Maybe it wasn't what he wanted. Maybe he didn't even like her that way.

Panting, Amber brought herself back to her feet.

"A-are we done yet?" she asked, exhausted.

"No," Roxas replied. One of the few words he'd said since they got to the training room.

"But--"

"No. You're not leaving this room until you can hold a fight for more than a minute," Roxas cut her off, his eyes narrowing. "Now come at me again."

Amber straightened up, tightening her key blade in her hand. She charged at Roxas, the key blade behind her, barely an inch off the floor. She got close to him, lifting it above her head and brought it down, making contact hard with his key blade, which she learned was called Oblivion. She'd named hers 'Braveheart'. His other key blade, Oathkeeper, smacked into her side, sending her tumbling to the ground. She somersaulted backward onto her feet and lifted Braveheart above her head, blocking an oncoming swing from Roxas. She pushed up hard, sending Roxas staggering backwards and she brought her key down hard on him, sending a shower of sparks onto the floor from impact.

"How long?" she asked as he pushed her back, sending her sliding across the floor. He charged at her, both Oathkeeper and Oblivion dragging on the floor.

"Forty-eight seconds," he replied, crashing Oblivion down at her. She caught it with her key blade, Roxas putting pressure behind his strike. 3...2...1.

"Done," Amber muttered. She shoved Roxas off of her and laid down on her back, panting heavily. The coolness of the floor's tile felt amazing on her. She sat up, unzipping her coat and pushing it aside, then laid back down to let her skin touch the tile.

Roxas stared over at Amber. When they kissed, was it him? Had he just forced it on her without thinking about it? She hadn't said anything about it. She'd been oddly quiet since then, too.

"H-hey…Amber?" Roxas asked, looking over at her. "I'm sorry for what happened earlier…"

"What, you mean the kiss? Why be sorry about it?" She tilted her head at him. He felt himself blush deep red.

"Never mind," he said quickly.

"Well," she said, standing up as her key blade vanished. "I won't ever regret it."

Amber looked around as she left the room. They'd completely destroyed it. Tile was scratched deep, walls were dented, and it looked terrible. She wondered if maybe they'd get in trouble. She was rather proud of herself, though. Roxas was already experienced with his key blades, and he had two. Amber had one, and she'd just learned about it today, and yet she managed to hold a fight with him for a full minute. She pushed through the huge door, leaving Roxas sitting back in the training room.

As soon as she reached her room, Amber flopped onto the bed. She was exhausted from the training. It'd been a few hours since she woke up…about nap time, she figured. She dozed off eventually.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," hot breath echoed in Amber's ear. It wasn't Roxas. Her eyes shot open and she sat up, face-to-face with Xigbar. He grinned at her smugly.

"Yer boyfriend's a'ready downstairs. Told me to come get you for dinner. Zexion cooked," Xigbar sat up from his leaning position on the bed. Amber stood up, stretching.

"Note to self; lock the door," she said, glaring at him.

Amber quietly followed Xigbar down the huge empty halls. The closer they got to the dining room, the better it smelled. She really wasn't sure what that smell was, but it smelled delectable. She took deep breaths to inhale as much of it as she could.

"Smells good, huh?" Xigbar asked over his shoulder. "For a little bookworm, that kid can sure cook."

Amber nodded as they rounded the corner into the dining room.

Zexion froze for a moment. It was very unlike him to loose attention, but he smelled strawberries. Secretly, he was very glad that Amber would be joining them for dinner. She could taste his cooking, which he took much pride in. He continued adding the last touches to the meal he was preparing.

"Amber, over here!" Roxas called. There were nine or ten people in the room at the moment, none of which she recognized aside from Axel. There was a pinkish-brown haired man sitting next to a blonde girl with short hair. There was a big, buff brown haired man sitting next to a sickly-looking blonde man, along with another handsome blonde man. So, all together, counting her and Xigbar, she could count…eleven. There was no sign of Xemnas or Zexion. She slowly made her way to the chair next to Roxas. Luckily, the seat next to her was empty, so she didn't have to sit next to anyone she didn't know.

"Who are all these people?" she whispered to Roxas. Roxas looked as if he might laugh.

"Do you think Organization XIII only has five members? There are thirteen people, fourteen with you."

She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when the room fell silent. Xemnas stood in the door way, next to him was a blue-haired man with golden eyes and an X scar on his forehead. They walked in rather regally and slowly, taking their time. As soon as Xemnas sat down, a door to the side of the room flew open. Flashes of white zipped back and fourth, leaving food on the table as they snapped in and out of the kitchen.

Zexion exited the kitchen, avoiding being struck by the flashes of white. He sat down across from Amber, between Xigbar and the long haired blonde man. Thankful that the seat next to her remained empty, Amber sighed and looked over at Roxas. He was already shoveling potatoes onto his plate from a big bowl. The flashes slowly ceased and Xemnas stood up.

"It's been a while, since we've met like this, am I correct?" Xemnas asked in a very monotonous manner. He looked around the room, taking a quick looked over the audience. "Does anyone know where IX is?"

There was a shifting in the crowd, and someone muttered: "Maybe he's dead or something."

Roxas stifled a giggle to receive a nudge from Axel.

"Who's IX…?"Amber whispered.

"Demyx. He's the screw-up here," he replied quietly. The door that Amber had entered through burst open and a tall man, probably nineteen, skidded though. He had sandy blonde hair and dark green eyes. Amber skimmed the room. No open chairs. She cringed; he'd be sitting next to her.

"Sorry I'm late, Superior! I--"

"Have a seat, Demyx," Xemnas said irritably. Demyx nodded and made his way over to the only available seat, next to Amber. He sat down as a few of the other members chuckled.

"As I was saying," Xemnas continued, "It has been a while since we've met like this. Last time we did, it was when we took Roxas into the Organization. And now, we have a new member."

All eyes turned straight to Amber.

"Oh dear God," Amber mumbled, sinking down into her chair.

"Who's she? She looks weird," the only girl there blurted.

"Silence, Larxene. She's to be part of our Organization, and you're going to respect just as you do the rest of our members. Though, she has a heart, and she won't be assigned a number."

So, dinner was complete HELL. It was embarrassing and left Amber feeling so singled out that it was shocking. That Larxene girl was a bitch, and all she did was snap little comments about the rest of the members. Amber hated it. Larxene reminded Amber of a girl from her school…um, Tiffany? Yeah, that was it. Tiffany was always surrounded by those fake girls, the ones wearing everything that she wore and praying to God that one day, they'd wake up in her body. Psh. Tiffany had the tendency to be mean to everyone who didn't worship her. She loathed Amber.

Flopping back onto the bed, Amber sighed. Training and that horrible dinner…well, it wasn't that bad, aside from Larxene and Xemnas calling her out. The food was great; Zexion was a very good cook. Demyx was a dork, and it was funny. He dropped his food constantly, making little noises as he fought to pick it up without looking sloppy, which made him look worse. Amber and Roxas would exchange glances and snicker, then return to their food.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She sat up, looking to it. She felt so sluggish after eating so much…she hadn't eaten since she was taken to the Castle.

"Come in," she said.

The door opened and Roxas stepped in. Amber could see Axel behind him.

"Come on, Amber, you need to train more."

Amber's jaw dropped a little.

"But…but…bu--"

"Come on, Amber," Roxas demanded in a father-like tone. Amber rolled her eyes.

"Fine, dad," she muttered. She walked passed Roxas and slipped by Axel. They walked down the hallway quietly, not a word between them.

I'll bet Roxas told him with the kiss, she thought darkly.

"Why's Axel coming?" Amber finally asked, sick of the deafening silence.

"You'll see," Roxas replied, in very smug tone.

Amber pushed open the door to the training room and looked around. None of the damage that she and Roxas had done was there anymore. The scratches were gone and the entire place shone the way it had the first time she'd seen it. Roxas went into gym-teacher mode and snapped his fingers.

"Get ready, Amber," he said. Amber summoned her key blade and turned back to him, smiling proudly.

Roxas didn't hold his weapons, though. He stood, smiling broadly back at her, Axel behind him.

"Axel is going to keep you on your feet. You have to keep moving, you know."

A two rings of fire spun around Axel's hands, and two chakrams appeared in his hand. Amber gasped and stumbled backward. As she did, the ground felt like it was sinking down. It was getting hot, too. She could feel it through the heels of her boots. She looked down; the floor was a liquid-like lava substance. Axel gave her a smug grin as she began to stumble.

"Don't hurt her, Axel," Roxas reminded him. Axel rolled his eyes,

"Got it," he muttered. As soon as the words left his mouth, he threw the chakram straight at Amber. She dodged it skillfully, avoiding sinking into the ground. She stumbled again and kept running.

"What…the…hell," she panted. She nearly took a face-first dive into the ground, but caught herself clumsily on Braveheart.

A flaming chakram whizzed past her head and she lifted her blade to block it.

One of the spikes on the chakram sliced into her cheek. She winced. She pulled herself up from the ground.

Okay, she thought, If I can get close enough to him without…well, dying, I can--she dodged another chakram and charged Axel, only halfway through her plan.--I can hit him down and maybe the floor will go back to normal. She swung her blade to block a chakram, missed, and was stabbed in her stomach. She fell to the floor, winded. She couldn't breathe, and the floor was burning her cheek. She breathed as hard as she could and pushed herself onto one knee, burning her hand.

She charged him again, ducking a chakram and swinging Braveheart. At Axel. It hit him in the side and he stumbled, hitting the liquid-like ground with a thud. He blocked another swing with his chakrams. She went to bring it down a third time, but he moved the chakram in the right position, and the blade went through. She was caught. He twisted the chakram, bringing the key blade with it.

Amber automatically let go of the blade. Bad move. He skidded across the floor, over near the door.

Roxas sat on the edge of the battle field. Watching Amber fight Axel was very hard for him; he knew Axel could hurt her. Her face was burned and cut already, and she was limping a little, though that might've just been the flooring. As her key blade slid across the floor, he stuck a finger in his mouth to keep from gasping. She was in trouble now.

Chakram-ouch. Oh, there's another. Ugh, that hurt. Amber was getting beat. Bad. Every time one of Axel's weapons hit her, she lost her breath. She had no energy left. She felt a little blood trickle over her forehead-Oops. Now it was in her eyes. She gave up, collapsing to the burning floor, which stung into her cheek as she panted. She waited for Roxas to walk over and pick her up, but then the thought struck her.

Why hadn't he stopped Axel? He saw what was happening. She felt the floor go cool below her, and she knew it was over.

Amber could hear footsteps coming to her. Her red-blurred vision made out Roxas kneeling down to pick her up, but she immediately snatched off of the floor.

"I'm fine," she lied, wiping her eyes.

"Amber--"

"I'm fine!" she cut Roxas off. Axel looked at her, sighing.

"Sorry, didn't mean to rough you up that much," he said. She glared at him and wiped more of the sticky red fluid from her eyes.

"I'll walk with you to Zexion, okay?" Roxas said gently.

The walk to search for Zexion was deafeningly silent. Amber figured Roxas just walked with her to make sure she didn't pass out from blood loss.

She rubbed her temples in a pointless attempt to soothe the headache she'd gotten.

"Amber…" Roxas said finally. "I'm sorry. I should've stopped Axel…"

"Not accepted," Amber said before he could finish. He sighed as they entered the lab. The smell of antiseptic bit Amber's nose.

"What'd you do to her, Roxas?" Zexion exclaimed, dropping his book and hurrying over to Amber. He gently guided her to a metal lab table and sat her down. "Out, Roxas."

Roxas gasped, then looked up to them and nodded, leaving the room.

"Where's it hurt?" Zexion asked gently, brushing a strand of bloody brown hair from Amber's forehead.

She was too exhausted for words. She pointed simply to her chest and stomach.

Poor thing, Zexion thought. He very gently unzipped her coat, careful not to touch her. Her ribs were bruised badly. He disappeared into a cabinet to get some peroxide, burn ointment, and bandages, along with some ice from the freezer. He returned and sat everything down next to her.

"Here we go…" Zexion said, very gently dabbing at a cut on her forehead.

"That stings!" Amber mumbled, wincing.

"Shh, shh, it's alright. Just hold still. It'll stop in a second," he said. His voice had no edge; he didn't sound impatient or anything. Amber relaxed, and the stinging ceased. She held the ice to her ribs. It didn't embarrass her to be in nothing but her bra and pants in front of Zexion…She knew he wasn't a pervert.

"So," she said, Zexion dabbing peroxide on another cut. "What do you do here? Do you have any powers like Axel?"

"Besides being an exquisite cook with amazing charm? I'm an illusionist," he replied. "And I have a very strong sense of smell."

He took a deep breath, catching the scent of strawberries.

"An illusionist, eh? Well-- Ouch! That hurts!" Amber squealed as Zexion touched a bruise. Zexion pulled back and sighed.

"Here. Maybe this will help," he turned back to the counter and grabbed a huge black book. It looked like he wouldn't even be able to pick it up. He flipped through it quickly, stopping. "Here it is…"he muttered to himself. He looked into the book and mumbled something strange. Before Amber could ask what it was, everything went white. Amber felt warm, not hot, but just barely warm enough to be comfortable. Her labored breaths slowed to a normal pace, and every ache and pain in her body felt numb. The good kind.

In front of her was a rainbow-like glow. She reached forward and touched it very gently, feeling how cool it was on the tips of her fingers. Suddenly, the light was gone. Amber was staring straight at Zexion, her stomach bandaged. She quickly realized that her hand was on his cheek.

"Oh…sorry," she said quickly, snatching it back.

"It's okay. You're all done. Go find Roxas," Zexion said, helping her off the table. The name inflamed her. She was so angry at him for letting this happen to her., she didn't want to talk to him. Or Axel. Jerks.

Amber walked as fast as she could out the door, brushing past Roxas and heading for her room.