Chapter 8: Xion

A/N: Hey everyone! We finally get to see Xion! Or rather, get to know her better. I wonder how she'll react around Ankoku and Roxas?

I also know that I've been doing a lot of Axel x Tsukiko parts, even though this is mainly a Riku romance story, but since I can't think of a separate story for Axel, I'm just trying to smash it in here. Plus, Tsukiko plays an important part in this story, so sorry for the inconvince.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.

Enjoy!

/

Later that night, Axel walked through the castle.

He had said his goodbyes to Tsukiko, and held onto her lucky charm.

As he was walking, he passed Saix.

Saix simply gave him a cold stare.

"Axel" he said.

"I have a message from Lord Xemnas"

The red head stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder.

"We have reason to believe one or more of the members assigned to Castle Oblivion intend to betray us" Saix continued.

"Find them and dispose of them"

Axel just gripped Tsukiko's charm in his hand.

"And I take it that's straight from Lord Xemnas's lips, huh?" he asked.

With that, he simply walked off and left Saix where he was standing.

/

Day 23

The next day, Roxas and Ankoku ran straight into the main room.

They searched the whole area for Axel, hoping that he still might be here.

Roxas wanted to ask him about the winner stick, and Ankoku wanted to bug him about Tsukiko.

The only people who were in the room where Xion and Demyx at the moment.

Saix walked into the room and looked at the twins.

"Axel already left" he said.

Roxas's shoulders slumped while Ankoku looked annoyed.

"And he didn't even bother to say goodbye to us. How sweet"

Saix just ignored her.

Instead, he simply handed them the info they needed for their daily mission.

They didn't even notice Xion had walked up to them until the last minute.

Ankoku just gave her a slight wave, but Xion didn't respond.

"Xion will be with you both today" Saix informed them.

"Today will mark as the first mission you have with her. We need you to eliminate the specific heartless. You two are in charge"

Ankoku shrugged while Roxas nodded.

"Whatever you said" Ankoku said.

She was tempted to call him elf man, but she didn't want to face his wrath.

She had made that mistake when she called Larxene a nymph and was zapped dozens of times.

Roxas looked at Xion for a moment before stepping through the portal.

Ankoku just patted her on the back.

"Don't mind him" she said.

"He's not a morning person"

Xion didn't say anything and just walked into the portal.

Ankoku sweat dropped.

"Gee, who does that remind me of?"

She stepped into the portal and headed towards Twilight Town.

/

They stepped out into the sandlot and looked around.

"All right, let's go" Roxas said.

Xion didn't say anything while Ankoku shoved her hands in her pocket.

She tried to brush the hair that covered the right side of her face, but it would just fall back in place.

Roxas jus sighed.

"So much for being in charge" he thought.

He just looked at his sister.

"Well, Sis. Do you know where the heartless is?"

Ankoku closed her eyes and tired to predict where the heartless would be.

She opened her eyes when she spotted it.

"The caverns" she said.

Roxas nodded.

Ankoku looked at Xion.

"Just follow us" she said.

"We know the way"

Xion didn't say anything, but she nodded.

Roxas lead the way, while the two girls followed.

"This is going to be interesting" Ankoku thought.

/

Xion proved to be a very capable fighter.

Even though she didn't have a weapon, she was very good with magic.

Whenever they ran into a group of heartless, she would just blast them away.

They finally reached the caverns and spotted the heartless they were sent to destroy.

It was a large plant like one, and it seemed it liked to smash things with its head.

Ankoku gripped her keyblade tightly.

"You ready for this?" she asked Roxas.

He nodded as he held his keyblade.

Ankoku looked at Xion.

"If it becomes too much for you, just step back and leave it to us"

Xion didn't say or do anything is response.

Instead, she just went into the fray and started attacking.

While she cast fire spells at it, Roxas and Ankoku attacked with their keyblades.

Ankoku would cast a few fire spells every now and then.

By the time that they defeated the heartless, they were worn out.

"Well that was harder than I envisioned it to be" Ankoku said.

Roxas just groaned as he dismissed his weapon.

The group slowly made it back to the portal.

When they got there, Roxas and Ankoku looked at each other.

They were going to have ice cream like they normally did, but they figured Xion wouldn't want to tag along.

Ankoku looked at Xion.

"We've got someplace to be" she said.

"You go ahead and RTC without us"

Xion didn't say anything as she looked at them.

She quietly went through the portal and headed back towards the castle.

Roxas looked at Ankoku.

"Well, let's go" he said.

They bought their ice cream and headed up to the clock tower.

/

Roxas quietly ate his ice cream.

He would keep checking to see if anyone would come, but would hang his head when he didn't see anyone.

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

"He's not coming, Roxas" Ankoku said.

She figured he was hoping that Axel would show up.

Now that she thought about it, Tsukiko wasn't here either.

"I guess since Axel isn't here, she wouldn't be here either"

Roxas looked at his ice cream sadly.

"It's kind of lonely eating up here"

Ankoku whacked him on the back.

"What does that make me? Chopped liver?" she asked.

"I'm right here, so it's not like you're eating alone"

Roxas gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Sis" he said.

Ankoku just waved him off.

"Don't worry about it" she said.

"At least we have each other"

Roxas nodded.

"Yeah"

/

Day 24

The next morning, the two of them found Demyx and Xigbar talking to Xion, or rather, Xion just listening to them talk.

Demyx was such a chatter box.

"This place is like, a hundred times better minus all the bossy coworkers, am I right?"

Xion just looked at him through her hood.

"Bossy coworkers?" Roxas asked.

Demyx and Xigbar looked at the twins.

"Yeah, the 'dream team' that got shipped off to Castle Oblivion" Demyx said.

"Dreamy for me, because they're gone!"

Roxas looked away.

"Oh" he said.

Xigbar just chuckled.

"Too bad you, the diva and Poppet didn't get to spend more quality time with them" he said.

Ankoku glared at him.

Who was he calling a diva?

Roxas looked at him.

"Poppet? Who's that?"

"Xion of course" Xigbar said.

"Who else, kiddo?"

Roxas glared at him.

"My name's not 'kiddo'" he said.

"Yeah, and I'm not a diva" Ankoku added.

Xigbar shrugged.

"I don't know" he said.

"With that little attitude of yours, you act pretty much like a diva"

Ankoku glared at him.

"Well if I'm a diva, then you're going to be called patchy" she said referring to his eye patch.

Demyx snickered.

Before Xigbar could say anything, Saix came into the room.

As usual, he gave them a cold stare.

"You two, get to work" he said.

Ankoku glared at him.

"I don't see you doing anything, elf man" she thought.

Roxas just took the info they needed for their mission and pushed his sister along before she could say anything that would get them in trouble.

/

They had another mission with Xion in Twilight Town.

They had to get rid of a group of heartless that were gathered at the sandlot.

"Damn that Saix" Ankoku muttered.

"Always giving us missions but he doesn't do squat"

Roxas just sighed and pushed her towards the sandlot.

"Let's just get this over with and be done with it" he said.

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can have ice cream"

Ankoku's face lit up at the thought of having ice cream.

She looked over her shoulder to see Xion.

"Come on, Xion" she said.

She slowly followed them towards the sandlot.

/

When they saw the amount of heartless that covered the area, Ankoku looked at Roxas.

"The one who destroys the least amount of heartless has to buy the winner an ice cream" she said.

Roxas pulled out his keyblade.

"You're on"

Ankoku pulled out her keyblade and looked at Xion.

"Good luck, Xion" she said.

They all jumped into the fray and attacked every heartless that they could get their hands on.

Roxas and Ankoku did fairly well with their end of the fighting.

They were evenly matched in every way.

Xion seemed to do find on her own, but a heartless caught her from behind.

Ankoku saw this and slashed at the heartless.

"Watch out" she said.

She went back to attacking her portion of heartless until there were none left.

In the end, Roxas and Ankoku were tied up.

"Looks like we'll have to buy each other's ice cream" Ankoku said.

Roxas shrugged.

"Sounds fair enough"

They headed back towards the portal to drop Xion off.

"We've got someplace to be again today, so go on ahead without us" Roxas said.

He and Ankoku were starting to walk off, when Xion spoke out.

"R..Roxas…An…Ankoku"

They both stopped and looked at her.

Ankoku looked amazed.

"What did you say?" she asked.

Xion looked at them.

"Your names…their …Roxas and Ankoku, right?" she asked.

Ankoku nodded.

"Yeah, Xion. That's right"

With that, Xion went through the portal.

/

Up on the clock tower, Ankoku thought about when Xemnas gave her, her name.

How hers was different from everyone else.

Ankoku watched the birds as they flew through the sky.

She silently munched on her ice cream.

Roxas looked at his sister after a while.

"Our names" he said.

Ankoku looked at him strangely.

"What about them?"

Roxas looked out at the sky.

"I think that was the first thing Xion has said"

Ankoku looked at the sky as well.

"I guess you're right" she said.

/

Day 25

The next day, Xion was waiting for them.

"Morning Xion" Roxas said.

Xion looked at them.

She didn't say anything to them for a bit.

"I guess it was too much for her yesterday" Ankoku thought.

"Is something the matter?" Roxas asked.

Xion shook her head.

"Good…morning, Roxas…Ankoku"

Ankoku smiled.

"So you really are talking" she said.

Saix walked up to them.

"Finish your preparations ASAP" he said.

"A giant heartless has surfaced. It must be exterminated"

Ankoku waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah. We've got it" she said.

Saix just glared at her and walked away.

Roxas sighed at his sister.

"You're going to get us in trouble one of these days" he said.

/

The three of them arrived in the allies of Twilight Town.

Xion looked at her two partners.

"Roxas…Ankoku"

The twins looked at her.

Xion pulled her hood back to reveal a young girl with short black hair and bright blue eyes.

"Good luck today" she said.

Roxas looked taken aback.

"T-thanks" he said.

Ankoku smiled.

"You too, Xion" she said.

Roxas looked at her.

"Ok, Sis" he said.

"Can you see where the heartless is going to be?"

Ankoku looked annoyed.

For the last few days, he had been depending on her to see into the future and find out where their target was.

It annoyed her, but she figured that she had to put her powers into good use.

Besides, she didn't need them today.

"I don't need to use my powers to find our target" she said.

"It's pretty obvious where it is?"

Roxas an eyebrow.

"Oh really? Where is it?"

Ankoku placed her hands on her hips.

"If we're facing a huge enemy, then it'll be at the biggest area around here: the clock tower"

/

They all hurried towards the clock tower.

If this heartless was as bad as Saix said, then they had to get rid of it fast.

Ankoku scanned the whole area.

"Come out, come out where ever you are" she said.

Roxas sighed.

"It's not a dog, Sis"

Ankoku just gave him a look.

Xion was about to say something, but the ground started the rumble.

"What the?"

A heartless emerged from the ground.

It towered over them, making them seem like ants.

Roxas and Ankoku pulled out their weapons.

"What is THAT?" Roxas asked.

Xion got into a defensive position.

"Our target!" she said.

Ankoku studied their opponent.

From the looks of it, it didn't appear to be that strong.

It was big, but that was the only problem they had.

"You guys ready for this?" she asked.

They both nodded.

"Then let's go kick some heartless ass!"

They all charged at the heartless.

Like Ankoku predicted, the Darkside heartless was slow.

Roxas and Ankoku got one arm while Xion got the other.

Things seemed to look good for the group.

When the Darkside fell on one knee, the group thought they got it.

Ankoku pumped her fist.

"We did it!" she cried.

She spoke too soon.

When she and Roxas were caught up in their supposed victory, the Darkside swatted its big hand at them and knocked their keyblades out of their hands.

The keys scattered across the ground and landed in front of Xion.

The keys disappeared and reappeared in her hands.

Xion looked at them for a second before charging at the Darkside and finishing it off.

When she was done she looked at Roxas and Ankoku.

The twins looked shocked.

They didn't realize Xion could use a keyblade, or even two for that matter.

"Whoa, Xion!" Roxas cried.

"We didn't know you could use a keyblade!"

"Or two for that matter" Ankoku added.

Xion looked at her hand sheepishly.

"Yeah…neither did I" she said.

Ankoku smiled.

"You did great"

Xion smiled softly at that.

"Hey you guys!"

Everyone turned around to see Tsukiko coming towards them with a bag in hand.

She waved at them as she got closer.

Ankoku smiled when she saw her.

"Hey, Tsukiko. Long time no see"

Tsukiko just laughed as she approached them.

"Sorry about that" she said.

"I've been busy the last few days"

She looked at Xion.

"Oh? And who is this?"

"This is Xion" Roxas said.

"She's No. XVI in the Organization"

"And she can use two keyblades!" Ankoku said.

"We were fighting this heartless, and she suddenly got these keyblades. She clobbered that heartless"

Tsukiko grinned at Xion.

"Is that right?" she said.

Xion blushed a little, but nodded.

Tsukiko grinned at her.

"Well, this calls for a celebration"

She held up the bag she was holding.

"In fact, you guys deserve a little something extra"

Ankoku's eyes lit up when she noticed what it was in the bag.

"Sea-Salt Ice Cream!"

Xion tilted her head.

"Something extra?" she asked.

Tsukiko nodded.

"Yep. The 'Icing on the cake', or at least that's what Axel calls it"

She motioned towards the clock tower.

"Come on, I'll show you"

/

The four of them sat up at their usual spot on the clock tower.

Ankoku was practically drooling when Tsukiko handed her, her ice cream.

Roxas took his and handed Xion hers.

"Here you go" he said.

Xion looked at her frozen treat for a moment.

She didn't know what to do with it.

Tsukiko nudged her slightly.

"Go ahead, try it" she said.

Xion looked at her ice cream, then took a bite out of it.

"It's sweet" she said.

"But kind of salty too"

Tsukiko giggled.

"It's really good, right?" she asked.

"We always have it with Axel all the time" Roxas said.

Tsukiko sighed as she heard Axel's name.

"This is his favorite" she said quietly.

She nibbled on her ice cream.

"It's going to be quiet without him here"

Ankoku looked at her.

She noticed that her moon necklace was gone.

"Hey, what happened to your necklace?"

Tsukiko touched her neck.

"I gave it to Axel" she said.

"He told me that he was going away for a few days, so I gave him my good luck charm"

She smiled sweetly.

"He can get into trouble at times, so I wanted to give him something that would keep him safe"

Ankoku just nibbled on her ice cream stick as she looked at her.

"Sounds like you're really close to him" she said.

Tsukiko blushed a little.

"Well…you could say that" she said.

She looked at the sky.

"After all, we're lovers" she mumbled.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

Lovers? What was that?

She decided to ask her later when no one else was around.

Roxas sighed as he thought about his friend.

"We always had ice cream together" he said.

"He said that's what friends do"

Xion looked at him.

"Do you think I could be a friend too?" she asked.

Ankoku smirked at her and patted her on the back.

"Of course you can" she said.

"Besides, with you around, I won't be the only girl in the group"

Xion smiled at her.

"Thanks" she said.

Tsukiko watched as the three Nobodies talked with each other.

The four of them talked and laughed for the rest of the day.

Each of them enjoyed each other's company.

/

That night, Ankoku was too tired to write in her diary.

"I'll just write in it tomorrow" she said.

She got in her bed and turned off the lights.

That night, she had a strange dream.

She wouldn't really call it a dream, since she kept seeing the same image over and over again.

For the rest of her night, she kept seeing a pure white keyblade and the image of a young girl holding it.

/

A/N: Looks like Ankoku is starting to remember Hikari. I wonder how that's going to end.

So Xion finally showed her face to Roxas and Ankoku, that must be good.

Please review and tell me what you think.

Ja ne