A/N: An anonymous Guest put in a request for Roxas and Xion to 'remember', and have a moment. For the record, I'm normally a RokuShi shipper, but I think I might try something different for them in this story. But what I'd like to know is, what did you mean by 'remember'? Remember what, exactly? The Organization's Wi-Fi password? To pick up eggs at the corner market? That the garbage and recycling have to on the curb before 4:00 AM on Tuesday mornings? Please explain what you meant when you review this chapter; in the future, if your review includes requests that I might have questions about, you ought to be logged into your Fanfiction account (which is free to create and doesn't require you to publish stories: I had my account for some six years before I started publishing.) so that we can discuss particulars. In any event, when you do answer my question, be sure to verify your identity with the secret password…eh? You don't know the secret password? Alright, I'll give it to you now. Everyone else reading this, please look away and skip the next line. Thank you.

Now then, the secret password is: Swordfish.

Please enjoy the chapter.

A Year Reclaimed.

Chapter 7: Loose Ends

(After a pot finishes boiling over, you're left with a bunch of little sizzling bubbles scattered around. When the storm finally passes, the survivors contend with the wreckage and start rebuilding. Before we can move forward, we have to pick up the pieces.)

Rai Jinn woke up with a splitting headache, which would have been a hundred times worse if it weren't for the soothing poultice Aerith had wrapped around his head, but wasn't helped by the thunderous snoring that filled the room. He sat up and looked around, and found that he was in some kind of infirmary that looked like no one had been in for years. The bed nearest to him on his right was occupied by Fuu, who appeared to be asleep in her own bed with her back turned to him, and in another bed on the far end of the room was the old man, Cid, who was the cause of the snoring.

Just then, to his left, the door opened and Vivi walked in, carrying a glass of water. He froze in the doorway, and called back over his shoulder, "Rai's awake!" Then he proceeded inside and sat down in a chair between Rai and Fuu's beds. Moments later, Seifer came running in. Rai told himself he was imagining it…but the look on Seifer's face looked like he had aged ten years since Rai had last seen him earlier that day. But as soon as Seifer's eyes looked onto his number one bro, he broke into a wild grin that was…kind of terrifying and out of character for him, if Rai was being honest with himself, but Seifer at least looked like he meant to look relieved, so Rai greeted him with a casual, "Seifer, bro! Man, what hit me? It felt like I got hit by the train, y'know?"

Seifer looked like he wanted to cry, or give Rai a hug, or slap him upside the head for making jokes at a time like this. But instead he just sat down at the foot of Rai's bed and said matter-of-factly, "The blue-haired guy, Saïx. He knocked you out. But you're lucky, you only caught the broad side of his weapon. Fuu…" Seifer's voice choked, and he glanced over at the white-haired girl before just as quickly turning back away, as if the sight of is friend pained him.

"Seifer," said Rai, not quite speaking softly but dropping the usual edge of bluster from his tone, "What happened to Fuu?"

Seifer took a deep breath and said, "Fuu…she…Saïx hit her in the face, and one of the spikes on his claymore…" Seifer choked again, this time seeming to gasp for breath before his breathing sped up and a tinge of green creeped into his face. He looked like he was either going to burst into tears or throw up, or maybe both.

"Seifer, what happened to my sister?" Rai demanded, his voice suddenly hoarse with dread. It couldn't be that she was…they wouldn't bring her into the infirmary if she was actually…Rai glanced over and felt a shock of relief to see that yes, her sleeping form was still breathing.

"Bro, she…she lost an eye," Seifer finally forced out. "Damn it, I'm so sorry, man…I…we never should have left Twilight Town. We never should have left the Sandlot! We–I should have just ignored those guys that were chasing–"

"Seifer, stop!" Vivi squeaked. "You didn't know this would happen–Rai what are you doing!?"

Rai pulled himself out of bed and, despite the fact that his entire body felt like a well-abused punching bag, lumbered around to the far side of Fuu's bed. Fuu Jinn, his younger sister by just a year and a half, his lifelong partner in crime since before they had meet Seifer on the first day of middle school, the only person he knew who could take a complex, three-dimensional human being and reduce them to a summary of all of their faults and failures in three words or less, a person who lived her life by a code of terseness because she genuinely believed that the majority of things a person said were ultimately a waste of their breath; she did not look like an angel in her sleep, at all. Her expression in sleep was every bit as grim and disapproving as it was in waking, as if even her dreams were disturbed by the ruthless inanity of the world. To almost anyone it else, it would have been unsettling. But Rai was her brother, so to him she was beautiful. The bloodstained bandage covering her left eye was nowhere near enough to ruin that. Not to him, at least. However…this immutable blemish on his flesh and blood was an insult to the Jinn name, and he would not let it go unpunished.

"Rai…God, I am so sor–"

"You didn't do this," Rai said hotly. "Those…those people–those monsters–they're responsible, and they're going to pay." He looked up at Seifer, who was standing again. He locked eyes with the young man he idolized, a man he would not fault for his sense of honor and justice. "You and me, an' Fuu too, and even Vivi when it really counts. We're all fighters, but we're used to a way smaller league. We weren't ready for this fight. We will be ready for the next one."

Vivi was so stunned he dropped his glass (which was actually plastic, and so did not shatter, thankfully), and Seifer's jaw dropped. Then he appeared to transform before Rai and Vivi's eyes. Suddenly he was his old self again, arrogant smile and all. "Hey, Rai, I'm pretty sure it's my job to give the inspirational speeches around here."

Rai nodded. "Just giving you a hand up back on to that high horse of yours, y'know?"

Outside, Aerith wandered the streets of the city, guided by the whispers of the earth beneath her feet. She found Cloud tuning up Fenrir in the hollowed-out shell of an empty building. Tifa was off on the far side of the cavernous room shadow-boxing. Literally, she was boxing a Shadow that she had strung up by one of its feet like a speed bag.

Cloud didn't look up when Aerith came to a stop next to him, but he asked, "How is she?"

"Sleeping," Aerith replied, "I did everything I could. Sora was surprisingly helpful, but…eyes are complicated organs, and the extensive damage…even with more advanced healing magic, I don't think we could have restored it. But, at least it won't get infected and it shouldn't cause her too much pain."

"She was lucky to have you around, Aerith," said Cloud.

Aerith "Hmm"-ed. "Listen, Cloud…I just wanted to apologize–"

"Don't. I told you to call me if you needed my help, but you couldn't reach me, so you did the next best thing." Cloud glanced towards his childhood friend, still pummeling that poor Shadow to within an inch of its life. "Besides…it was nice to see Tifa, even if the first thing she did was literally slap some sense into me."

Aerith grinned. "So that's where this new attitude of yours came from." Then her grin shrunk a bit. "So…have you found out anything?"

"No leads," Cloud replied, his own disappointment unmistakable. "I tracked him as far as Olympus Coliseum, but that's where the trail went cold. I kept doubling back there, hoping I'd find something I missed, but last time I let some evil god of death sucker me into taking a job in exchange for information I never got. Thankfully, a certain boy with a key reminded me of something I'd forgotten lately."

Aerith's eyes widened. "You met Sora? He never mentioned you…then again, I never told him about you, either."

"He's a good kid. Anyone would be lucky to call him a friend. He reminds of…you know…"

Aerith crouched and put a hand on Cloud's shoulder, making him stop in the middle of his ratcheting. Then she gently gripped his chin and made him look directly at her, so he could see the determined fire in her eyes. "We will find Zack. Someday, we will find him, Cloud. He's out there, somewhere, waiting for us to bring him home." Then she pulled the spiky-haired young man into a hug, because one thing she had long known was that, when he wasn't too busy kicking ass and taking names and just generally being the bamfiest swordsman in all the worlds, Cloud Strife could almost always use a hug.

Tifa, having finally obliterated her Shadow, glanced Cloud's way to ask him if he could toss her a water bottle, and froze when she saw him and Aerith hugging. Amusement, annoyance, joy, nostalgia mixed with envy, and a tiny pang of sadness all rolled through her, before she sighed and shook her head, and decided to go and see if she could be useful somewhere.

"And then he just left?" Leon asked in disbelief.

"…yeah…" replied Yuffie. The two of them were sitting on the edge of the old fountain. She had been left relatively unharmed by the battle…but her ego was a whole other story. Almost every inch of her skin was red and burned with itchiness, but her will not to scratch was stronger than iron. Leon was impressed, and wished he could have found some kind of cream or lotion for her.

"He left you tied up in a ball of poison ivy," Leon muttered to himself. "Damn…and I thought Maleficent was evil."

"I'm going to castrate him, Squall," Yuffie growled, "I'm going to feed him his own deep-fried balls. Then I'm going to take his scythe and–"

"Yuffie, my dreams are going to be messed up enough tonight. Please, keep it to yourself," Leon implored.

"Sorry," said the young ninja, her searing rage having made her briefly forget the blender her friend's mind had recently been through. "You're absolutely certain it was her?"

"If I live to be a thousand years old, I'll never forget the sound of her voice. Especially not her laughter," Leon said. "It was her. I don't know how. It shouldn't be possible. But it was her. It couldn't have been anyone else."

Yuffie recognized the tone in Leon's voice. He wouldn't let go of what was building up inside of him until he was alone, because he was that kind of man. But he wouldn't just walk away from her so soon after her own ordeal, either, because he was that kind of friend. So Yuffie stood up and gave a seemingly leisurely stretch, stoically ignoring the way her inflamed skin redoubled its incessant screaming. "Well, I'mma go look for someplace to sleep tonight; maybe I can find my old house. Probably check in on Sora and his new friend. See you tomorrow, Leon. Try to get some sleep."

'Thank you, Yuffie. You're a good friend,' thought Leon. He didn't break down and sob; he wasn't one for such dramatics. But he stopped holding the tears inside, letting them slide down his cheeks. "Wherever you are…I'm going to find you, Rinoa."

A very nice woman named Shera, whom Sora, Donald, and Goofy were shocked to discover was Cid's wife, ushered the trio into a relatively cleaned up room in what had once been an inn before Maleficent's invasion. The inn was one of several buildings serving as a temporary refuge for all the people who had returned to Hollow Bastion following Ansem's defeat. Sora and Goofy had both immediately collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep, exhausted sleep. Donald, much as he wanted to follow suit, stayed awake long enough to write a letter to the queen summarizing their final battle with Ansem and their subsequent series of skirmishes with this new threat, Organization XIII; most importantly, the letter explained the King's current situation. Donald knew that Her Majesty wouldn't be too worried, since Mickey was in the Realm of Darkness by his own choice; he knew how much he meant to everyone back home, Minnie especially, and was not one to throw himself into unnecessary danger.

He then called up a Moogle and paid him fifty Munny to seek out Merlin and ask him to deliver it. Donald envied the older magician, but knew that it would be many years before he was powerful enough to teleport between worlds like Merlin could. Only then did Donald join his compadres on the bed, using Goofy's arm as a pillow and Sora's back as a foot rest. While the trio slept, they each dreamed of home, and the people they missed after their long adventure.

Of course, Sora's dream turned out to be something more than just a dream. In his dream, he saw through Roxas's eyes and heard through Roxas's ears. He stood in front of the chained-up gate to the mansion where he and the others had jumped in to save Roxas and company. He faced a man in the Organization's black coat, and he spoke in a deep, monotone voice. Despite being completely unfamiliar, it sent shivers down Sora's spine. "You seek answers," he said, and then waved his gloved hand in front of him. Shimmering, translucent letters appeared in the empty air between them, spelling out A-R-O-S. After a moment of confusion, Sora realized with a mild shock that it was his own name spelled backwards, and then with a greater shock that, from the stranger's perspective, it was Sora's name. "You feel nothing. Nothing is real," said the stranger. Sora wanted to open Roxas's mouth and argue to the contrary, but then he was struck by a disconcerting wave of self-contradiction. On one hand, he still felt like good old Sora, but on the other hand he also felt a profound emptiness; a strange sense of lacking, as if he had no past, no memories, no sense of self. Most terrifying of all, he realized that the stranger was right; he, or at least the other he, didn't feel anything, and he realized that it was Roxas's feelings (or lack thereof, rather) that he was feeling.

"I can give you purpose," the stranger offered. Sora wanted to speak up, to tell him where he could put his offer, but he set back helplessly, a passenger in the backseat of Roxas's mind, as Roxas mutely nodded. Nature abhors a vacuum, and in the absence of purpose or self a being will latch onto the first thing that comes along, it would seem. The stranger waved his hand again and the letters glowed and started swirling around Sora/Roxas, until suddenly they stopped with a bright flash as a new letter appeared in the middle of the now-rearranged letters. They now spelled S-A-X-O-R, which Sora quickly ran backwards in his head, and then he felt like his jaw would drop if he were still in his own body. To eliminate all possibility that he was mistaken, the stranger said, "Roxas. That is right–the new you."

Then, the next thing Sora knew, he/Roxas was sitting on the edge of a clock tower, eating sea-salt ice cream, sitting next to Axel or all people. Then he/Roxas was standing next to Axel in a big, round white room lined with towering thrones, occupied by all the members of Organization XIII they had fought and then some. "Let us all welcome one of the Keyblade's Chosen," spoke the monotonous voice from earlier. Roxas, who was now wearing the black coat as well, looked up and Sora saw that the speaker was a man with yellow eyes and silver hair, and he looked familiar somehow. He kind of resembled Ansem, a bit, but he also looked like someone else whose name, and face for that matter, Sora couldn't seem to recall. Then Roxas's voice spoke in Sora's head, as monotonous as the silver-haired man, "For the seven days since my arrival–the name Roxas, and the number thirteen were all I had. Who the people around me were, what they wanted, or what they were trying to do, I had no idea…"

Then there was darkness. He heard an old man's voice, one that was once again completely unknown to Sora but still felt deeply familiar, and caused alien sensations of fear and anger to bubble up inside of him. The voice sounded muted, as if he was speaking on the other side of a thick wall. "There, you see? An empty world, like a prison. I imagine you will be right at home." Sora felt numb at first, but then sensations started filtering in: a cool night air breeze, something silky and warm wrapped around his body leaving only his face exposed, and then the smell of saltwater mixed with ripe paopu; the heartaching scent of home.

"Who's there?" asked a voice that sounded like Roxas, but something told Sora it was someone new. He felt as though he was falling slowly, gently drifting as though he were sinking through water, but he didn't feel any wetness. His feet hit solid ground, and then there was blinding light under the darkness. Then his perspective inverted; he was nowhere and everywhere, looking in at a shirtless boy who looked just like Roxas. But still, something told Sora it wasn't. "I'm a brand-new heart," replied…something. It wasn't a voice so much as a thought, and it sent the strangest feeling of familiarity through Sora…almost as if it was something he had said himself. "But this is––Why are you in my heart?" asked not-Roxas.

"The light brought me," replied the…presence. The presence that felt like Sora himself. "I saw it shining in the distance…and followed it here."

"Yeah, that was my light. But my heart is fractured," said the boy. "And now the little I have left is slipping away."

Sora's perspective widened, and he saw that it was true. The boy was standing on a pillar of light, like the pillars of stained glass in his own Dive to the Heart. But there was a huge chunk missing from it.

"Then you should join your heart with mine," suggested the Sora-like presence to the Roxas-like boy.

"Huh?" asked not-Roxas. There was a blinding glow, and as the missing piece of the pillar was filled in with new light the presence continued, "Now our hearts have touched. Nothing else will slip away. And one day…you'll be strong enough to win back the part that already did."

"Right. Thanks."

"It's time to wake up now. All we need to do is…"

"Open the door," Not-Roxas finished for him. Then the light bloomed once more…

Then he was lying under the night sky, watching a meteor shower. As before he had the sensation of being in someone else's body, hearing through their ears and seeing through their eyes, as he had with Roxas. This body felt like Roxas…but not like Roxas. It was the boy from before, though now he was fully clothed. He dozed off…and then he was staring up at a pretty young woman with bright blue hair.

"Whoa! Gimme a break, Aqua."

"Ven, you hopeless sleepyhead," she replied.

"Whoa! Gimme a break, Kairi!"

"Sora, you lazy bum."

Then Sora was in another memory, one of his own this time. He was four years old, chasing five-year-old Riku down the beach at sunset.

"Hey, wait up!" he called.

"Too slow, Sora! See you at the finish line!" Riku called back.

They ran under the bridge. Riku won, of course. "One more time!" Sora demanded as soon as he caught his breath. "You just got lucky." He noticed Riku staring at something on the bridge, so he looked up, and there was the woman from before. Aqua.

She laughed and jumped down. Sora jumped back in surprise.

"One of you might be special enough," she said to them, though Sora thought there was a trace of sadness in her voice. "Hey, you two mind telling me your names?"

"I'm Sora!"

"And you?"

"Riku."

"Sora, do you like Riku?" Aqua asked him.

"Of course I do! He's my best friend!"

"Good. So then, if something happens, and Riku is about to get lost––or say, he starts wandering down a dark path alone––you make sure to stay with him and keep him safe."

Sora and Riku exchanged confused looks, but Aqua continued, "That's your job Sora, and I'm counting on you to do it, okay?"

Then he was the other boy, the not-Roxas boy named Ven, again. He fought with a Keyblade against a sinister armored figure that also had a Keyblade, and then Mickey was there. Then he was somewhere else, and he was so cold, and he was so furious, and then the dream dissolved into a rapid barrage of memories flashing by, out of order and with little to no context, and then–

Then Sora woke up and bolted up in bed. It was night, and Donald and Goofy were nowhere to be seen. Sora' head hurt, and his heart…felt empty. As if there was something that was supposed to be there that wasn't, something he was missing that he hadn't noticed was gone until now. "Ven?" Sora asked himself, not sure if he was calling for him or asking himself if the he knew the name. It felt familiar…but didn't…but did…

"Ugh. Weird dreams again," Sora grumbled. He smacked his dry lips and got out of bed, leaving the room to look for something to drink.

Xemnas materialized in Vexen's laboratory, his curiosity already piqued by Number 4's uncharacteristically abrupt and terse summons (he was generally more polite to the Superior, as well as prone to posturing about the incomprehensible importance of his work and himself to the Organization). His curiosity was further piqued when he saw how agitated the Chilly Academic seemed; he was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet with a troubled look on his feet, somewhere halfway between worry, disgust, and distress. Between the older Nobodies, emotive gestures such as these were not used to alleviate the monotony of their emotionless existences, as it was with the neophytes.

Between the older Nobodies, such as Xemnas and Vexen, emoting was used as a form of non-verbalized shorthand, a means of saying several things without speaking. Vexen's worried, distressed, disgusted look wasn't meant to convey that he was feeling any of those things, but that the situation at hand would inspire those emotions. His look told the Superior, 'something very bad has happened, something that might terribly compromise our operations, and aside from taking all necessary countermeasures we should also immediately begin planning an appropriately horrible punishment for those who had the nerve to cross us in such an audacious way.' With all of that going without saying, Vexen immediately launched into explaining.

"You recall that shortly after the world known as Destiny Islands fell to Darkness, you tasked several of us with covertly shadowing and observing the new Keyblade wielder called Sora?" asked Vexen. They both understood that the question was purely rhetorical, so Xemnas was neither offended nor surprised when Vexen immediately continued, "And you recall that after Number 13 was recruited you canceled future missions to shadow the Keybearer and instructed me to implement the compiled data to produce a Replica of him, yes?"

Again, Xemnas understood that the question was rhetorical, so instead of saying 'yes' or 'no' he asked, "Is the Replica finished, then?"

"Yes," replied Vexen grimly, "But it's been stolen."

A moment of silence passed, and Xemnas belatedly reacted, "Wait…what? Stolen? From here, deep within the bowels of Castle Oblivion?"

Vexen wanted to protest his workspace being described as 'bowels', but elaborated, "Yes, stolen. It was in here, awaiting activation." He gestured at a pod set into the wall, labeled 'No. i'.

Xemnas stared blankly at the empty pod. "How?" he asked.

"I can only speculate, Superior," replied Vexen.

"Then what is your speculation?" Xemnas asked.

"You recall the plan we were developing for Sora before we found Naminé?" asked Vexen.

"We were going to have Marluxia subdue him and repurpose one of your Replica Pods to serve as a mechanism for overwriting his memories, installing our own data the same way the pods are designed to install artificial memories into your Replicas," Xemnas recalled.

"But in light of the power Sora and his companions displayed when battling the Prime Heartless, along with the revelation of Naminé and her power to alter memories from a distance, we decided that it would be safer to use her to rewrite his memories by degrees, rather than attempt to use force, starting with Naminé inserting herself as the most precious person in Sora's memories and using her as bait to lure him deeper into the castle, softening him up to ensure Marluxia's decisive victory; if physical force was even still necessary by that point." Vexen stepped over to the pod and laid a hand on its control console. "But while the original plan was abandoned, I nevertheless made use of the modifications I had made to this pod to increase the efficiency of memory-installation. Particularly, rather than writing Sora's Replica from code as I had intended I was able to base it on the memories of those who had been assigned to observe Sora; memories I copied from the observers using this very pod. Specifically, since this Replica was intended as a weapon, I only used memories of Sora in combat. Long story short, this Replica was based not only on data, but on pure memory. Memory, which is Naminé's Attribute."

"What is it that you are suggesting, No. IV?" Xemnas inquired.

"We know that Naminé didn't steal the Replica on her way out of here, because Axel only reported chasing down her and Roxas. But a third subject, wearing our coat and wielding Sora's Keyblade appeared out of nowhere in the middle of their flight through Twilight Town. Here again, this is purely speculation that is not at all based on any available empirical evidence, but given the facts as they stand my best guess is this: at some point, Naminé was cornered by Demyx, whom Axel sent after her while he himself fought Roxas, and in a fit of desperation she may have attempted to draw on Sora's combat memories to construct some kind of guardian–which she could have plausible thought to try, as at her inquiry I did explain the role of memory in Replication to her a few days ago–but instead unconsciously summoned this entirely memory-based Replica to her side. But that's just an educated guess, Superior."

"Hmm. But then, how was the Replica activated?" Xemnas questioned.

Vexen just shrugged. "I have no idea. Through Naminé's pure force of will, for all I know. I believed it impossible to transmute a Heartless directly back into a person, but Kairi did exactly that to Sora, and Naminé is her Nobody. Kairi, being a Princess of Heart, cannot become a Heartless and thus should not be capable of having a Nobody at all, so Naminé's state of being is even more puzzling than ours. In fact, I might go so far as describing her as something of a cosmic wildcard. Apparently she was somehow able to completely divert our plans for Sora, seeing how as soon as his allies picked him up he had them take him directly to the very world where we were in the process of recapturing Roxas and Naminé, which he did not hesitate to prevent. Based on that, I can only conclude that Naminé used her abilities to plant a false memory in Sora's mind–from several worlds away, mind you–that compelled him to come to her aid. And, incidentally, conveniently drawing him away from our trap."

Vexen turned to face his Superior. "All the available evidence points to one thing, Superior. Naminé single-handedly derailed all of our plans for the Keybearer, and though we have her back in our custody I do not imagine she will be compelled to stop throwing spanners into our works."

Xemnas frowned. "What are you suggesting now, No. IV?"

Vexen's expression was grimmer than ever. "For the sake of our plans, and to ensure the success of the Organization…Naminé must be terminated."

Xemnas gave no visible reaction, of course, but the silence that followed meant that he was thinking it over intensely. "I shall take your suggestion under advisement, No. IV." Then Xemnas noticed another pod, this one appearing to have been shattered, and pointed to it. "What happened to that one?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, that. That's an even more puzzling mystery, Superior. Somehow, Riku appeared in the lowest basement of this very castle, and I fought him to gauge his strength. Seeing as Sora failed to show up here as planned, I wondered if Riku might not serve as a worthy substitute. Using the data I acquired, I assembled a Replica of him, which I was getting ready to activate before Zexion called for reinforcements to secure Roxas and Naminé. When I got back, it was also gone. Unlike the case with No. i, however, this Replica does not seem to have been spirited away. As you can see, it broke out of its own pod. My analysis of the damage indicates that the pod was destroyed from within. Now that I've appraised you of the situation regarding our Sora Replica, I intend to personally scour the castle for it. You wouldn't mind if I brought in some Dusks and Creepers to assist, would you? And might I ask if Lexaeus and Zexion will be returning to their posts soon?"

"Do as you see fit regarding your creation, No. IV," replied Xemnas. "No. V is recovering from serious damage sustained in the battle at Hollow Bastion, and Zexion is seeking out a rogue illusion of his. No. X and Saïx are here to fill in for them, and No. III is in charge of the castle until Marluxia returns with No. XII. Enlist one of them, of you need to, but I do not want Naminé left unattended until I decide her fate."

"Ah. Very well. Thank you for your time, Superior," said Vexen, bowing politely. Xemnas nodded and Corridored out.

After getting a drink of water, Sora left the inn to go for a walk. He wandered around town aimlessly, and found Xion sitting alone on the edge of an old, long-dried-up fountain. "Hey, Xion!" he called to the other Keybearer.

"Hmm? Oh, hey, Sora," she replied, nodding at him before going back to staring up at the sky. Sora sat down next to her and joined her in her stargazing. Xion was a complete mystery to him. Who was she? Where was she from? Why did she have a Keyblade? Why did she have his Keyblade? What was her connection to Roxas and Naminé? What was her connection to Organization XIII? And did she herself even know any of the answers to these questions? But Sora's head was already full of confusing nonsense, so he was in no mood to give her the fourth degree. For now, he was content with the fact that she was on their side. And for now, he was equally content just to stare up at the sky with her for silent company. Well, maybe one question wouldn't hurt…

"Which one's yours?" he asked, waving his hand at the ocean of stars above them. "Do you know?" Xion mutely shook her head. "I think…yeah, that one's mine, definitely," said Sora, pointing out a single star. He didn't know how, but he felt almost positive that that star was Destiny Islands. He could feel the hearts of his friends and loved ones, of Kairi and his parents, calling out to him from there.

"Is it nice there?" asked Xion.

"Course it is! It's my home. Home is where the heart is, didn't anyone ever tell you that?" Sora asked with his trademark dopey grin.

Xion frowned. "I thought my heart was here?" she tapped her chest.

"Nah. That's not your real heart. That's just a big squishy muscle that pumps blood through your body. Your real heart…that's wherever you call home. Where you come from, where the people most important to you live, and where you always want to go back to after a crazy adventure. I can't wait to go back…but there's a couple things I have to do, first. Promises to keep, and all that."

Xion 'Hmm'-ed again. "I don't have a home. I didn't come from anywhere. Naminé created me to protect her and Roxas from Organization XIII…but I failed." Her frown deepened and she dropped her gaze, staring at the ground.

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. The Organization was pretty trick–wait! Did you say Naminé created you?" Sora asked incredulously.

"Well…I wasn't one second, and then I was, and Naminé said she…no, she said she summoned me. I…I don't know. The first thing I remember is Naminé asking me to protect her. There wasn't anything before that…or maybe there was? Maybe I was asleep? Or maybe I was fighting. I remember…I think I remember fighting." Xion shook her head. "I honestly don't know, Sora. I wish I could ask Naminé."

"You will. As soon as we save her and Roxas from the Organization, you can ask her," said Sora.

"We?" asked Xion. "You'll help me?"

"What? Of course I will!" said Sora. He stood up and conjured his Keyblade. This time, Kingdom Key appeared without hesitation. "I am the Keyblade master, after all. Saving people is what Keyblade masters do best!"

"…thank you, Sora," Xion said softly. Then she frowned again. "Isn't that…my Keyblade?"

"Huh? Oh, no, it's mine," said Sora. "And so are the ones Roxas was using before." To prove his point, he transformed Kingdom Key into Oathkeeper, and then Oblivion. Then he dismissed the Keyblade and sat back down. "Don't know how you guys got them. Do you know where you got the Keyblade from?"

Xion shook her head. "It was just…there…when I needed it." She held out her hand, and after a moment she frowned again. Her face screwed up in concentration, and then she huffed before dropping her hand. "I guess I don't need it right now."

"Yeah, that's pretty much how I got mine, too. Weird though, mine comes whenever I want it too. Maybe you're just not strong enough yet?"

"Maybe. Sora…when my crazy adventure is over, where will I go? I don't have a home."

"Well…home doesn't have to be a place. It can just be the people you belong with. Back at the islands there are these people who wander from island to island. Sea nomads. They say that 'home isn't a place where you live, it's the people you live with'. So…I guess, maybe Naminé and Roxas will be your home?"

"I see…who is it that makes that star your home?" asked Xion, pointing out the star Sora had indicated.

"Hmmm. Well, there's my Mom and Dad…and Kairi," Sora added, blushing a little, "And then there's my best friend, Riku–but he's not there right now–and then Riku's parents, they're kind of like an aunt and uncle to me. And there's my other friends, Tidus and Wakka and Selphie."

"Your heart has a lot of people in it," Xion commented.

"Huh?!"

"You said 'home is you're your heart is' and 'home is the people you live with'. So the people you live with live in your heart, and that's your home, right?"

"Huh. Yeah, I guess that's one way of looking at it," Sora agreed.

"But I wasn't able to protect Roxas and Naminé…even if we do save them, what if…what if they don't want me around anymore?" Xion asked. Her tone sounded close to heartbreak.

"Hey, don't say that! They wouldn't–" Sora began, before he stopped and considered the fact that he really didn't know them that well. He quickly rallied, though. "Well, even if they don't want you, you can come live on the islands with me and my family. You could be the little sister I've always wanted!" Xion started giggling at his declaration. Sora scratched the back of his neck and continued, "Though, you look more like you'd be Kairi's sister. You just have to help me find Riku, first. I promised Kairi I'd bring him home, too, so I can't go home until I find him."

"What are they like? Kairi and Riku. You talk about them all the time."

"Oh, they're just the best people in the worlds. Heh, especially Kairi. She's smart, and funny, and braver than most girls–uh, no offense–and she knows a lot of neat things, like how to make good luck charms," Sora pulled out the Wayfinder Kairi had lent him to show to Xion, "And if you tease her she teases you right back instead of crying, and…and she's pretty, and…" here Sora started blushing again and his rambling turned to mumbling. Xion laughed at him.

"I can tell she means a lot to you. What's Riku like?" she asked.

"Riku's awesome. He's kind of like a big brother to me and all the other kids on our island. He's always cool and calm–when he's not possessed by a Heartless, anyways–and he never gets scared, and he's really strong, too. I'm the only one who can beat him. And he's always looking out for everyone else, too. I mean…yeah, he kind of, accidentally, sort of, destroyed our world, a little, but it wasn't his fault! The darkness was messing with him, and I fixed it anyways, so no big deal, right?"

"Do…do you think your friends, Kairi and Riku…do you think they would like me as much as you do?" Xion asked.

"Of course they would. Kairi's like me; she can be best friends with anyone. Riku might take a little while to get used to you, but like I said he's like everyone's big brother. It won't take long for him to adopt you, too."

"Okay then…I can't wait to meet them," said Xion. "Right after we save Roxas and Naminé, right, Sora?"

"Right," he answered with a confident, reassuring nod.

And both of them looked back up to the stars with a renewed sense of hope.

"OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" the Queen of Hearts screamed in outrage and terror as the man in black tore through her ineffectually valiant card-soldiers like a deadly whirlwind of flashing steel and glowing cherry blossoms. The last of her soldiers threw themselves upon him, courageously fighting to the bitter end on behalf of a mad tyrant who did nothing to deserve their loyalty. Or maybe they were all just hopelessly stupid?

Regardless, Marluxia ripped them to shreds, all the way down to the last man…card…thing, standing. The Queen jumped down from her throne and turned tail to run out of the garden, but with a rush of wind and a burst of cherry petals, Marluxia flickered into her path. Without a doubt, the Queen thought, this day had gone downhill ever since that surly flamingo had ruined her croquet game by electrocuting anyone who touched her. Even the Queen's own royal hair was still frizzed and stuck up every with way, and the White Rabbit was an unrecognizable white puffball.

"Your Majesty," Marluxia greeted her with a faux-affable tone. Casually, he laid the head of Graceful Dahlia upon her shoulder, its blade curling behind her neck. "I understand you have something of a fetish for decapitation. But why limit yourself to enjoying such pleasures vicariously? You really ought to try it out for yourself, Your Bloodiness," Marluxia proposed with a slasher-smirk.

The Queen broke out in a cold sweat and stammered, "Pluh-pluh-please, er…"

"You may address me as…'Your Grace'," Marluxia supplied.

"Yuh-Your Grace, pluh-please…whatever you want, you c-can have. Muh-muh-my kingdom, even! Juh-juh-just pluh-please, d-uh-duh-don't tuh-take my heh-heh-heh-heh–"

"Your head?" Marluxia finished. With his free hand he stroked his chin. "Hmm. Your whole kingdom, just to keep your head? Seems an unfair price to me, Your Majesty. Your head isn't that valuable."

"Anything your heart desires, you can have it, just please spare me, Your Grace!" the Queen sobbed hysterically.

Her sobbing abruptly ceased as Marluxia leaned in and cupped her chin with his left hand, while his right hand inched the edge of his blade ever so closer to her skin, just enough for her to feel the metal biting the nape of her neck. At this distance her terror was overshadowed by the realization of his ethereal beauty. A bloody demon with the face of an angel, and his breath smelled of sweet, red roses. "I have no heart, Your Majesty," he whispered gently, so low that even this close she had to focus quite attentively to hear him, "Nor have I any sense of mercy you can appeal to. If you truly wish to keep your precious head, you must desist in your insipid whining and agree to give me exactly what I want. Am I clear?"

The Queen didn't dare move her head to nod, not with Graceful Dahlia flush against her neck, but she eagerly said in a trembling voice, "Yes, yes of course, Your Grace."

…

Shortly thereafter, Marluxia wandered through the Lotus Forest. "Larxene?" he called out, "Where have you gone, you silly bird? I have the Tonic."

"Was that a pun, you asshole?" demanded a familiar voice from above him. Marluxia looked up to see a flamingo perched on a tree branch. Two pink feathers on its head stood up and swept back, like Larxene's 'antennae'.

"So what if it was? Do you want this or not?" he asked, holding up a fist-sized glass phial, mostly spherical but with a flat bottom and topped with a glass stopper that had been cut to resemble a diamond, filled with liquid that came in a rich shade of purple.

Quicker than greased lightning, Larxene flapped down with a joyous honk and zeroed in on the Tonic of True-Self in Marluxia's hand; a formidable formula potent enough to counteract any and all of the many transformative potions, sweets, and other miscellaneous edibles that could be found in Wonderland. If anything could reverse what the Genie had done to the Savage Nymph, this Tonic was as good a place to start as any.

Despite her superior speed, Marluxia was still able to sidestep her and keep the Tonic in his hand. "Ah-ah-ah," Marluxia admonished, waving the Tonic in front of her beak, "I had to go through some trouble to get this for you–"

"Bull!"

"Fine, I had to go through some tedious inconvenience to get this for you," Marluxia amended. "If you want it, you're going to have to be a good little homicidal sadist, okay?"

"Marluxia," said Larxene with a pleading tone, "If you give me the goddamn Tonic, I'll [BLEEPBLEEPBLEEPBLEEPBLEEEEEEEEEEEEP] for you, alright?!"

Marluxia, to his credit, did not drop his jaw. He was struck dumb for a moment, and a good deal of blood rushed into his face as he said with forced evenness, "I was only jesting…No. XII. There will be no need for…any of that." He cleared his throat and reasserted his cold composure before setting down the Tonic and pulling out the stopper. "I would not go through such inconvenience only to deny you," he muttered as he stepped back.

Whether it was because Larxene didn't trust him not to pull another fast one, or just because she was so damn anxious to shed her unwanted avian form, she flickered to the Tonic, grabbed it in her beak and upended it as quickly as Nobody-ly possible. A mystical Purple Mountain Majesty aura enveloped her, producing a field of magical power so intense that it lifted her off the ground, and in a brilliant flash of light that made the entire forest shudder and yell for someone to turn down the light because some of them happened to be third-shift foragers, Larxene was returned to her normal form.

Rather than dispersing gradually and letting her drift gently to the forest floor, the Tonic's energy field abruptly cut off and made her fall like a graceless sack of flour. Fortunately for her, Marluxia had enough grace for any two people to share and impulsively lunged forward to catch her.

"Th-thanks, Marluxia…" Larxene groaned, her second sudden transformation of the day leaving her feeling a bit woozy.

"Hmm. Larxene, you appear to be nude," Marluxia commented casually.

"WHAT!?"

"I said, you appear–"

I heard you the first [BLEEP] time," Larxene gasped, shooting out of his arms and taking cover behind a tree.

Marluxia chuckled before waving a hand. A corridor of darkness appeared and dropped one of his own spare Black Coats on the forest floor before collapsing. A crackling electrical blur shot out from behind the tree and shot back just as quickly, leaving nothing but a few sparks snapping across the patch of ground where the coat had lain. A moment later, a slightly-more-than-fully covered Larxene stepped out from behind the tree. The coat she wore dragged along the ground behind her, covered her hands entirely, and if she were to pull the hood up she wouldn't be able to see where she was going, but it would get her home to the Castle, at least.

"Thank you, Marluxia," Larxene said again, more sedately this time. Though he knew it was an act, Marluxia couldn't help but be amused by Larxene's behavior.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually sound grateful, Larxene," Marluxia commented. He opened another corridor of darkness and gestured for her to go through. "Go change into your own attire, and come back. We're taking the rest of the day off and compensating ourselves for the wretched debacle that the last few hours have been."

Larxene perked up. "Can we go to that coffeehouse in Twilight Town? The one with the cherry scones and éclairs?"

"Sure. After your being transformed into a flamingo and used as a croquet mallet, and me having to waste my time cutting through so many pathetic, weak fools, we deserve a treat," said Marluxia. "Now be quick about changing or I'm going without you."

In the time it had taken him to finish speaking, Larxene had bounded through and reemerged, properly attired in her own coat, which was curiously zipped all the way down. "Alright, let's go!" she said excitedly, opening the new corridor herself. Marluxia wondered at the energy she was putting into this façade of joy. She was usually much more laidback in her emoting. He also idly wondered at the faint prickling feeling, much like the pins and needles one feels in one's feet after crouching on them for too long and then standing, that emerged somewhere in the depths of his chest when Larxene smiled at him before jumping through the corridor. Marluxia shook away such trivial curiosities and followed his junior, looking forward to those delicious scones.

"Crazy day, huh?" Axel asked as he flopped down on Roxas's bed. Roxas himself was still tied up and seated in a chair in the corner. Axel pulled a couple of Atomic Fireballs out of his pocket, unwrapped them, and popped them in his mouth. "Hey, could you stop looking at me like I set your dog on fire?" he asked in response to Roxas's murderous glare.

"Where's Naminé?" he asked, growling. It was the first thing he had said since being brought back, not counting the inarticulate rage-screaming when the Dusks had dragged him into the Round Room.

"Castle Oblivion, where she belongs," Axel replied. He narrowed his eyes. "Hey, cut the act, man. It's cool that you somehow went from full-zombie to being able to fully emote over the course of an afternoon; really, I'm in awe of your sharp-as-hell learning curve, truly I am. But c'mon, dude, there's no one to put on an act for here. You sure as hell aint gonna impress–let alone intimidate–me with your stupid angry act."

"Who's acting?" Roxas seethed. "I hate you, Axel. You took me away from Xion and Sora…you took Naminé away from me. I hate you, Axel, and I'll never forgive you!" Roxas screamed.

Axel rolled his eyes, got up, walked over to Roxas, and casually bitch-slapped him fully across the face, the 'smack' echoing in the small room. "Knock it off, No. XIII," said Axel coldly, "You're being stupid. You'd need a heart to hate someone…though it's true, you can't forgive without a heart, either. That's okay, we don't have to like each other–we can't like each other, technically speaking–we just need to work together to create Kingdom Hearts."

"You're the stupid one!" Roxas yelled in his face, "Xemnas is just using you as a tool, so he can get what he wants!"

"What Xemnas wants is to restore our existences by giving us back the hearts that the darkness took from us," Axel retorted, reciting the Organization's mission statement from memory. Because, of course, he had it memorized. "To do that, we need Kingdom Hearts. But since your 'buddy' Sora and that a-hole Mouse King locked it away with Keyblades from both Realms, we can't have the real thing, so we have to make do with a copy. To create that copy, we have to have a Keyblade to release the hearts from the Heartless. Conveniently, with the real Kingdom Hearts locked up in the Realm of Darkness, all the hearts released by the Keyblade will gather here in the Realm of In-Between, instead."

"Oh yeah? Well if it's as simple as replacing your lost hearts, why do you need hundreds of thousands? Why isn't twelve enough?" Roxas asked, still angry but realizing that raging against Axel wasn't going to get him anywhere. Sora had asked why he and Naminé hadn't just explained the truth to the others, and Naminé had said that Xemnas would destroy them all before they could get anywhere. Now, it seemed like Roxas's best chance was to try reasoning with at least one of the Nobodies.

"Idiot, if we just grabbed a few hearts and shoved them into ourselves we would just have other people's hearts, not our own. To create our own hearts, we need the source of all hearts…Kingdom Hearts, that is. Got it memorized?" Axel questioned, jabbing his finger against Roxas's forehead.

"But it won't be Kingdom Hearts. It'll just be a bunch of lost hearts clumped together. It'll just look like Kingdom Hearts…but it'll still be a source of incredible power, won't it? Power Xemnas could use to make any world, or even all the worlds, bend to his will, right?" Roxas reasoned.

Axel chuckled humorlessly, "What, you think you're some expert on hearts now? Listen, Xemnas and Vexen and Zexion, their Others were all scientists who were studying hearts before we all got Nobodied. I think they know a little bit more than you do about Kingdom Hearts. If they say we can do this, we can. You're, like, a week old? The hell do you know?" Axel frowned thoughtfully for a moment, and then added, "And hey, it's thirteen hearts, not twelve. You're still one of us, even if you are being a dick right now."

"I. Don't. NEED. A HEART!" Roxas screamed, "I have one already! And you know how I know? Because I don't know how to act like I have one! I don't know how to fake feelings like you do, but I do feel…I feel a lot! I feel angry at Xemnas for putting me here, and I feel angry at you for not listening to me, and I feel angry at the whole Organization for wanting to keep me here! Most of all, I feel angry at myself for not being strong enough to stop you from taking back Naminé! And I also feel sad; sad that I might never see Sora, or Xion, or Donald, or Goofy, or Leon, or Aerith, or Yuffie again. I feel terrified for what you assholes might do to Naminé…what might be happening to her right now." Moisture started building up in his eyes, and he kept going even as Axel's eyes widened and he took a step back, "My heart's aching because I know that Naminé must be scared and maybe even in pain right now, and I know that she's as worried about me as I am for her…and I'm afraid for what Xemnas might do if he gets the power he's after–"

"Stop it!" Axel yelled, lunging forward and planting his hands on the armrests of the chair, practically spitting in Roxas's face as he leaned in and continued yelling, "You! Can't! Feel! None of what you think you're feeling is real! It's all fake, all pretend, just like––it's all in your damn head, okay?! We can't feel shit, alright, none of us can, and that's why we need–"

"Xemnas," Roxas interrupted, "You need him because he's got you all thinking that you need him to get your hearts back, right? That's how he controls you. I hate you, Axel, but I also pity you because you're just Xemnas's puppet."

"Gragh!" roared Axel as he slapped Roxas again, and then backhanded him for good measure. "Shut up! Shut the hell up, you stupid little know-it-all punk! You're so damn stupid! If Xemnas is lying to us, if we really do have hearts, wouldn't we know?! Wouldn't we know what's inside of us?!"

"What's with the angry act, Axel?" asked Roxas with a smug grin, despite the thin line of blood running from the corner of his mouth, "There's no one here for you to act for, so who are you trying to fool?"

"I'm trying to make you shut your stupid face!"

"Why? If you really think I can't feel fear, then what's the point of putting on an act to intimidate me? Just knock it off, No. VIII, you're being stupid–grrk!" Roxas grunted as Axel screamed and slammed his fist into the blonde's face.

"Just [BLEEP] shut up, okay?!" Axel demanded. He summoned Eternal Flames and said, "If you keep this up, I swear I'm gonna–"

"Stop it, Axel," Roxas gasped, blood streaming from his nose. "If you really have no heart, stop acting angry right now. Unless you can't. Unless your rage isn't really just metaphorical."

"How the hell can I stop, I'm effing pissed, Ventus!" Axel screamed, his outrage climaxing as fire gushed around his feet. The flames conveniently incinerated the ropes binding Roxas, though the magically-reinforced Black Coat he'd been stuffed back into was undamaged.

Roxas, however, was too stunned by Axel's admission of emotion to react. "…Ventus?" he asked, perplexed.

"Huh?" grunted Axel, breathing heavily through his nose. "Who's 'Ventus'?"

"I don't know, that's what you called me. You tell me, who's Ventus?" asked Roxas.

"I don't know any 'Ventus', you idiot. Get it memorized!" Axel growled. Then he gasped in pain and dropped his chakrams, clapping a hand over his forehead.

"This yours?"

"Lea, we don't have time for this."

"Lighten up, Isa. It'll only take a sec. You still play with toy swords? That's cute. Now this right here––tada! Whaddaya think?"

"Not a whole lot."

"You're just jealous. I'm Lea. Got it memorized? What's your name?"

"Ventus."

Axel shook his head clear and removed his hands. Roxas's eyes widened at the sight of a glowing red 'X', outlined in black, that had appeared on Axel's forehead. It quickly faded away.

"Ugh, that was weird," said Axel, shaking his head again. "You really are nothing but a giant headache, Roxas. You know that?"

"…you were angry," Roxas muttered, "You were really, truly angry. What happened?" he asked himself as much as he asked Axel.

Axel just rolled his eyes. "Don't be dumb, Roxas. I can't get angry, any more than you can. We don't have hearts, after all." Then he smirked and jabbed at his own temple, "Got it memorized?" Then he frowned. "Hey, weren't you just tied up? Where'd your ropes go?"

Roxas opened his mouth to speak, but found that he was shaking too hard to form an articulate thought. 'Axel…what the hell has the Organization done to you?' he wondered, horrified.

Forward:

He opened his eyes slowly, and groaned. His head was pounding and his chest felt like it was burning on the inside, but he wasn't sure why. He tried to remember what happened to him, but for some reason his memories were a jumbling mess. The last thing he remembered with any certainty was helping Sora and Mickey close the door, and then waking up in Castle Oblivion, and then…

'I fought my Replica?'

'No, what Replica? I never had a Replica.'

'I left Castle Oblivion with Mickey, to help him while Sora slept for a year.'

'No, Sora never slept for a year, and he was never at Castle Oblivion, not until we woke up Ventus.'

'Wait, who's Ventus? I don't know anyone named Ventus.'

'Yes I do. He helped us beat Xemnas in the War.'

'What war?'

'The war that started when Sora–'

He shook his head. His memories were contradicting each other. His head and heart both started aching. He sat up and looked around. He appeared to be in Radiant Garden, except it still looked…no, scratch that, it looked even more rundown than when it had been Hollow Bastion. He was somewhere in town, but the cityscape was so ruined that he wasn't sure exactly where he was. He stood up, and realized for the first time that he was wearing the Black Coat again. 'I haven't worn one of these since The Castle That Never Was,' he thought. On a hunch, he reached into one of his pockets and gripped something. His heart froze, and he glanced down as he pulled it out; a long black ribbon, one that bore a faint salty stench from sweat that had dried into it when it had been worn during battle. 'My blindfold…I burned this old thing almost a year ago. Why do I have it now?'

"Master Riku?" asked a voice that made Riku's heart unfroze and start hammering triple-time. He whirled around and called Way to the Dawn to his hand, though for some reason it was Sora's Oathkeeper that answered the summons. "Master Riku, what are you doing out here all alone?" asked Xemnas, who faced him from across the square. Saïx stood behind him.

Riku didn't waste any time thinking or talking to the two. He raised his weapon and rushed forth to attack.

A/N: Are you horribly confused? Did this chapter give you a vague sense of mood whiplash? Are you in any way tempted to get off this messed-up ride before it gets worse? Well too bad, we're riding this crazy train all the way to Dysfunction Junction! In the next chapter, Sora and Co. begin hatching plans to rescue Roxas and Xion while Riku has a very strange day. A Year Reclaimed, Chapter 8: Return of the Revenge of the Darkness Awakens! Coming soon to a theater near you! (Not.)

No, that's not really the title of the next chapter…