Chapter 5: Beginnings

He didn't know what had gotten into him. Before he could have stopped himself, the words had suddenly come pouring, "Do you… do you think I can visit once in awhile?"
Axel groaned in exasperation as he thought of a reason that would have made him blurt out those words. He didn't know her and they had no relationship whatsoever, so why? As he leaned on the wall of the Grey Area within the Castle That Never Was, he massaged his head and thought of his interaction with the girl he had met again today… Dawn. No matter how many times he pondered it within his head, he couldn't shake off the feeling that she seemed so very familiar. That was part of the reason that he had blurted out what he said earlier. Whenever he saw her, there was a twinge of what could be described as nostalgia and contentedness that seemed to envelop his head whenever he saw her.
"I've lost it. Absolutely completely lost it, giving myself 'feelings' that I don't even have", shaking his head in disbelief, Axel muttered to himself.
"Just imagine what would happen if this got out…endless lecture on how I have a mission and distractions that prevent…"
"That would be the case if there was a cause for the lecture."
Axel jerked his head up to see Saix a few feet in front of him, his yellow eyes boring into Axel's face.
'Sheesh, where had he come from…'
"So Axel," Saix's voice broke through Axel's thoughts, "is there a reason for a…distraction?" Distinctly emphasizing the last word, Saix eyes continued to stare steadily into Axel's.
Not blinking, Axel shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and grinned, "Well, it's been two days of nothing, it's starting to get pretty dull and anything else seems more interesting you know."

Narrowing his eyes, Saix said icily, "It's not a matter of being bored, or have you forgotten the objective of this mission?"
"Yea yea, I got it. It's not like I'm not doing it."
Saix turned and looked over his shoulders at Axel, "Be sure you deal with it swiftly," giving Axel one last stare, Saix left the room.

"That guy…he's way too perceptive," Axel mumbled while shaking his head.

Axel had purposely left Dawn out of the conversation. It's not as if he had to inform Saix of every person he met after all. Besides, he wasn't lying that the mission was getting dull and Dawn was just a source of company and one of the many things that seemed to be much more interesting in the face of his daily recon task. Although mentioning the girl would be no big deal, it wouldn't do any good to notify Saix of this fact either.
Staring at the place where Saix had been, Axel turned his head to face the giant golden heart floating above the sky.

"Kingdom Hearts, huh," Axel murmured.

/)(/

Back at the Old Mansion, a man, his faced dressed in bandages stood in front a panel of screens that lined the wall. In each of the screens, it displayed a different setting, one for each of the areas in the residence. He now faced the screen displaying that of an open and empty pod.
"It has begun," he whispered with eyes full of satisfaction.

/)(/

Dawn jolted out of her bed and quickly sat up. A sheen of cold sweat had covered her face and she sat there, shivering. It had taken her several long moments of tossing and turning and starting out the window for her to finally fall into a light slumber. The darkness of the room felt uncomfortable to her and so, she had slept with the the curtains open to the reddish haze of sunlight creeping in for reassurance. Yet, just as she had fallen asleep, she was awoken by a frightening dream. But as she sat there, she could not recall what it was that had woken her. All she could remember was the feeling of being trapped and hopeless…and utterly…alone.
Shaking her head to clear her frightened mind, she raised a shaking hand to unlatch the window by her bedside and let loose the cool wind that slipped into the room. Staring down at the street below, she remembered her interaction with the man…Axel, earlier in the day. He seemed such a bright person, easy to talk to.
She was glad she had been able to thank him, she hadn't expected to meet him again so soon. He didn't seem as if he was a resident of this town. It surprised her when he had suggested seeing her again.

"Do you… do you think I can visit once in awhile?"
He had hesitated before he had finished his question. Perhaps he thought she would decline seeing as they were still very much strangers that had only met through brief happenings. However, Dawn was glad. Seeing him meant that there would be another familiar face.
Softly smiling at the thought, she closed the window and lay down once more.

I've gone and left you dear readers again OTL...
I am so so sooo sorry, there was an unexpected vacation that just popped out of nowhere and I'd been far too occupied to update or even write ;n;...
I also have to apologize for the length of this chapter, I was focused on the fact that I shouldn't keep you all waiting for too long and rushed trying to get the main plot of the story to finally start moving. I also have to do some re-planning and adding of the original story I was going for because more ideas have plopped into my head and if I'm going to pursue it, I'll have to adapt it to the current storyline. BRAINSTORMING TIME once more! ꒰。•`ェ´•。꒱۶

I was watching the complete cutscenes of KH 358/2 days that came included within KH 1.5 ReMix and my goodness, the feels...but the feels are of the sad type. Just the whole plot and how it turns out breaks my heart, especially towards Axel...
Talking about 1.5, I can't wait until 2.5 comes out this December (in NA). Anybody else looking forward to it as I am?

Anywho, thank you for still sticking by and a big warm hug to all those new followers/favourite-ers ^^ Thank you so much for reading~

As always, please feel free to ask questions, correct me, etc. However this time, if it's not too much to ask, I would be forever grateful to receive some input on the story as I'm quite curious to how it's being received. Are you enjoying it?
Other than that...

Happy Reading!