Author's Note: HA! –celebrates- chapter IX is uppp:D Wow, this chapter is kinda long for me: I hope you don't hate me for that. XD

We're on Chapter IX! IX is da bomb, yo! Lol. I love significant numbers.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Yess…I've made my story one line longer! That's what Disclaimers are for, right?

Chapter IX

It's true that Ienzo was scared. In fact, he might even go as far as to call himself terrified. However, as fearful as he was, his thought process was still working perfectly fine and scheming, (though, some may beg to differ seeing as he ran for the woods). But the fact remained:

Where do most nightmares take place?

And Ienzo, contrary to what some may believe, (really), was not one who forgave and forgot.

Vengeance was something he was naturally good at, like his heightened sense of smell and his ability to hide in the shadows. Of course, though some may call a talent of getting revenge creepily wicked, he wasn't one to ignore his gifts.

Which is why, as expected, when he caught a brief glimpse of Sora and Riku rushing towards the shadows behind him, he couldn't help but smirk.

"Kairi's over there! Hurry!" Sora called after him, gesturing in a general direction as he slashed and stabbed at the oncoming black mass.

Ienzo hissed under his breath. The nerve…

But nevertheless, at that moment a sickly sweet scent drifted in on the wind, and Ienzo grudgingly followed it into a shadow-free clearing, where Kairi was holding a flowery blade in a defensive position.

Ienzo stopped a few feet from her, catching eye-contact, his face remaining neutral. She attempted to straighten to her full height and take on a look of defiance, but after a few more seconds of Ienzo's dark-blue stare, she seemed to visibly wilt

"I…" she started feebly, her eyes wide and fearful. She trembled slightly and stepped back a little "I'm so sorry. I'll fix this, I swear!"

Ienzo quirked his head and said softly, "Will you?"

"Yes," she breathed with conviction, her eyes shining with tears. "I'm so, so sorry. I can't believe this...I mean, I never wanted it to be like this…"

"What did you want it to be like?"

Kairi shook her head and buried her face in her hands and whimpered, "I…We have to! He's making us."

"He…?"

"Master Yen Sid."

Ienzo was still as he mulled this over.

"We refused to do it at first. 'It was murdering,' we thought. But then he showed us…" she trailed off.

"He showed us the darkness: what the Organization would do to the worlds, what heartbreak they would cause. He brought us there, to those other worlds: he's a magician, I guess...And we saw the empty, empty world. I was terrified: I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I'd thought he was delusional when I'd first heard his story, but when I went to that one world…I don't know. I knew, I could feel the meaninglessness, like the land I had my feet on was so insignificant that it had been forgotten and tossed away by all.

"Who would deserve to live like that...? Deprived of even the right to be human? Loathed by everyone…alive, yet never living. And I thought, 'I'd rather die then live like that, to have to suffer like they will, and not even feel it…!' I pitied them…so much.

"When we got back, Yen Sid threatened us, and my choice was made."

"So," Ienzo said slowly, "you would trade our lives for yours?"

"He was going to kill Sora and Riku…I couldn't let that happen."

"Hey!" the silence was broken as a high, male voice called, and Kairi's eyes moved from his to the figure now approaching Ienzo from behind.

Ienzo listened for a brief moment, then took a small sidestep. The person charging towards him was not anticipating this, and ran right pass, not even brushing Ienzo's shirt.

"In a hurry?" Ienzo asked Sora lazily. Sora glared at him viciously, bright, angry blue eyes meeting skeptical, dark blue ones. Ienzo smirked slightly.

"Yeah, I am actually: to get rid of you!" Sora snapped back.

"Hmm…" Ienzo said politely, quirking his eyebrow. "That's odd. For some reason I was led to believe you were trying to help me. I must have been sorely mistaken, apparently."

Kairi, now out of the spell, pleaded, "We are trying to help you!"

"By killing me? I usually wouldn't consider that helpful, but I suppose you get an 'A' for effort. You've been busy, haven't you?" Ienzo kept his voice courteously dubious, a civil smile faintly on his lips.

Sora and Kairi exchanged looks. "We…we are helping. You don't understand: You're going to feel horrible, you'll regret it..."

"But, I thought Nobodies couldn't feel…"

They remained silent, surprised, perhaps, by how much he knew.

Ienzo continued calmly. "There are fourteen people on that list of yours. So far, you have failed to 'save' any of them. I doubt your 'Master' is very happy about that."

"Come to think of it…why do you follow his every order? He isn't telling you everything: even I know that."

"Really, now? So, oh Knowledgeable One, what hasn't he been telling us?" a mocking voice asked as its owner entered the clearing.

"Ah, Riku," Ienzo purred, feigning enthusiasm. "I was hoping you'd come soon. After all, I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding."

"What was?" Riku asked. He was sporting a heavy bruise on both eyes, his lip was still healing from being split, but his nose was, unfortunately, normal. He wouldn't be needing plastic surgery after all.

"Don't you have something to tell your friends, Riku?"

Sora and Kairi's faces immediately shot to Riku's. "What?"

"Go on, Riku. I'm sure they'll forgive you. Isn't that what friends are for?" Ienzo said effortlessly, and he felt his chest tighten at the mention of friends.

Riku remained silent, his eyes glued to Ienzo's face.

"Alright then, I'll tell them." And he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper he'd found on Elaeus' countertop on that fateful day.

He read clearly, "'13) R-O-X-A-S. Minus 'X' equals…'"

He paused briefly, and looked idly at Sora's entranced features.

"'Sora'. Of course, Sora, you probably already knew that, right? I'm sure that was all part of your plan for 'saving the worlds from a terrible fate': sacrificing yourself."

Not a sound was heard as the silence wore on, the only sign of movement in the distantly swaying, up reaching arms of the surrounding, sentinel trees.

"The last name was tricky, of course: there's no 'x' in 'Namine'. But then I thought, 'Hey, wouldn't it only make sense that Kairi became a Nobody, too? After all, she and Sora are joined at the hip, and if Sora was in the situation to become one, wouldn't Kairi be, as well?'"

After another moment of silence, Riku snarled, "You sick bastard…"

Ienzo's polite façade held, and voice was still controlled as he said, "Me? I am the sick one? You're the one killing people; you're the one carving numbers into their chests."

Riku flinched, and Ienzo continued, his voice remaining cool and unemotional, though inside, he was raging. "I can't believe you could just betray your friends like that. Were you planning to kill them, too, when you got to number thirteen?"

"No." Riku said immediately. "Of course not! I love you guys, you know that…" He turned to his friends.

Sora and Kairi were looking at him, eyes wide.

"Don't blame it all on Riku; Yen Sid was the one who told him, after all," Ienzo added helpfully.

Sora's eyes were filling up with tears. "Riku…how…?

Riku was looking panicked. "NO! I swear, I never would have-!"

"When were you planning to tell us?" Kairi asked, part accusingly, part pathetically.

Riku bit his lip. "Look, I'm just as scared as you guys are. I…I was too shocked to say anything. I didn't know how you'd handle it."

"So, you waited, and we had to learn this from him?" Kairi gestured in Ienzo's direction.

"Why are you even listening to him? You know me, come on! You know I have good intentions; you know how much I care about you!"

"I'm not sure…" Sora said distantly, his eyes wide and empty.

"Sora…" Riku pleaded. Sora ignored him and looked instead at Ienzo.

"How did you know?"

Ienzo gestured at the list.

Sora shook his head. "No, I mean, how did you know Riku knew?"

"He told me," Ienzo said, acting deeply remorseful. "I told him to be honest with you, but he was to intent on completing your 'mission'…I probably shouldn't have kept quiet for so long: I've known for a few days. I'm sorry." Ienzo sighed.

Riku sputtered. "You liar! I haven't told you anything!" He turned to Sora. "Don't you understand?! This is what I was telling you about: he's messing with your mind!

Sora's face was stony. "Riku…I…just give me a second to think, okay? I'm not sure…"

Kairi let out a yelp as she pointed towards the trees to her left. A shadow was visible a ways away, glowing eyes watching them uncomprehendingly.

The shadows were starting to rise back out of the forest: apparently Riku hadn't destroyed all of them. Sora and Kairi ran towards the shadows without another word, pulling out their keyblades with a flash of light.

Riku watched them go sadly, and then jerked his face to watch Ienzo's, his expression changing into one of absolute loathing.

"You know, I don't think I've ever hated someone so much."

Ienzo scoffed. "Lovely. Should I feel flattered?" He continued. "Your friends seem to be feeling quite strongly at the moment, too. I wonder if they'll forgive you, someday."

Riku's eyes narrowed. "How would you know anything about friends? The only person who can stand you is a complete and utter idiot who can't tell if someone's insulting him or not."

Ienzo blinked, then gave Riku an indifferent look. "Hm…that's strange, for a second there, I thought you were describing you and Sora's relationship."

Riku stood in shocked silence, and Ienzo continued in his composed manner. "But, it seems like your friends were feeling a bit…deceived. Are you sure they'll come back to you this time, Riku? Do you think you deserve them?"

Riku's stance immediately slumped a bit as he looked sadly into Ienzo's eyes. "No, you don't think that, do you? Someone like you doesn't deserve friends like those; you'll only hurt them, in the end."

"I would know…" Ienzo added softly, and Riku's eyes dropped piteously to the ground.

"Maybe they'll come back…" Riku said, but his voice was feeble, now, lost of all confidence or conviction.

Ienzo quirked his head. "Conceivably, they may. But it would only be prolonging their agony, wouldn't it? You know how it goes; you've always known. Lying to them any longer would only make yourself less deserving, after what you've done."

Riku looked up, his face blank. "Really?"

Ienzo looked away and said, "I can't tell you, can I? Only you know the truth. Look inside yourself; you'll get an answer."

Only the sounds of the wind brushing eerily through the landscape could be heard as Riku mulled silently. Ienzo reveled in it and looked up at the silver, threatening sky, soaking in the breeze and overall openness of it all, not at all used to the sensation.

"No," Riku said suddenly, and Ienzo looked back at him. "No…I don't deserve my friends." Riku was suddenly glaring.

Ienzo's back straightened as he felt a shooting pain suddenly erupt across his lean chest. It took a moment to process what had just happened: Riku, out of rage, had jumped towards him with lightening speed and slashed at him crazily, a manic glint in his greenish eyes.

Ienzo quickly dodged the second attack, and took off for the cover of the woods. Riku's footfalls could be heard, not far behind him.

666

Sora loved the thrill of a fight. As innocent as he may seem at times, the adrenaline rush was like nothing else, and it wasn't like he was attacking humans or animals, or anything. He was attacking evil: he was attacking darkness. It felt like it just fit the second he had felt his fingers hold the cool metal of the keyblade, almost as if it was habitual.

"On your left," he said to Kairi as she slashed at another Heartless beside him.

Another good thing about fighting? It took your mind off certain things you didn't want to currently think about, like the fact that your best friend just happened to be hiding the fact that you were going to die if this continued.

Ah, crap.

Riku and Sora had known each other since, well, forever. Kairi had joined their circle of friends later, and Sora had thought Riku and he hadn't lost their bond.

Another good thing about fighting? It did amazing things for when you were angry.

sSs

"Heeey…you wanna know something really weird?"

"Sure," Myde said distractedly through the phone receiver as he tried to focus on his English paper that was due…sometime soon.

"You know that girl, Kairi? I think she has a crush on me. Gross, huh? Sheesh, that girl's pathetic…" Lea said.

"Because she, like half the school girl, and even some of the guys, population, likes you?"

"Nah, just sort of creepy. She was writing my name all over her paper the other day."

"Hm..." Myde agreed vaguely, not really listening to Lea's 'middle school girl's gossip' thing he had going on at the moment. Poor Lea; he always found something to talk to in order to talk to someone. He would never admit it, but he missed his parents.

"Yeah, that and 'Axel', but I'm not really sure of the significance of that. What kind of name is 'Axel'?" Lea snorted on the other line.

Wait…'Axel'?

"How did she spell it?" Myde asked, the urgency in his voice taking Lea off guard.

"Uhh…Why? 'A-X-E-L'…what's wrong, Myde?"

Myde's heart stopped. "Ohhh…that's not cool…"

989

"Where are you?!" Riku yelled in frustration after nearly an hour of searching for the elusive Number Six. He'd failed and that meant only one thing: Kairi and Sora, and him too, probably, would be dead by tomorrow.

He was slowly loosing steam, his anger from before waning until he felt nothing but pure, hard aloneness and guilt. He'd failed…

Ienzo watched him from the safety of a nearby shadow, having been following the enraged teen for the full hour. Riku had chased him for nearly five minutes before he'd been deep enough into the grove to slip away: one of the most irksome five minutes of his life. Stupid Riku and his basketball playing skill requiring stamina.

Riku had now collapsed to the ground, exhausted in more ways then one. Fifteen minutes after Riku had shut his eyes, Ienzo removed himself from his light blanket of darkness and stood over him, glaring at the fallen body with disgust.

"You don't deserve this. Someday, you will return to where you came from," he breathed softly as he picked up a sharp stone and went over to the nearest tree. There, he carved two letters:

'VI,'.

And without a backwards glance, he picked up a large stick and thrust it into the nearby dirt, narrowly missing Riku's oh-so-perfect nose. And then he was gone, as silently as he had come.

r6r

"Ienzooooo…'ZOOOO….? Why aren't you picking up…? I needa talk to you right now!" Myde whined into the receiver, having given up on trying not to sound like a teenage girl after leaving his sixth message.

"Heeeey, if you're mad at me or something, I'm sorry!"

The machine beeped, signaling that the message was done, so Myde pressed 'redial' on his phone for what felt like the twentieth time. "Look, I know you're home, so why don't you just pick up?!"

When no one did, Myde glared at the phone and yelled, "You're such a meanie!" then pressed the red button. Hard.

Five minutes later, Myde was feeling bad again, and pressed the redial button for what felt like the twenty-first time. To his surprise, someone answered on the second ring.

"Hello, Fauna speaking?" said the chipper voice on the other end.

"Uhhh…Hi?"

"May I ask who it is?"

"It's Myde, but, is Ienzo home? I've called about fifty times so far and no one's picked up yet!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear; I just got home from a few errands." There was a brief pause. "And no, he doesn't seem to be here."

"What? But it's 5 o'clock, shouldn't he have been home by now?"

"Yes, I suppose he should have…oh dear, I hope he's alright, though he's probably just at a friend's house…Poor boy, he's a sweetheart, isn't he?"

Myde stifled a snicker. He didn't feel guilty about laughing; he knew Ienzo would be doing the same thing if he heard that. But then he felt like Lea, laughing at his friend like that, so he said, "Yep, he sure is. In his own way, I guess…"

"Please call if you hear from him?"

"Yeah."

Myde hung up the phone, worry eating at his gut like an invading parasite. Eww…what a gross analogy. Worry was eating at him like…like Myde ate chocolate: really, really fast and effective-like.

Myde stared at the ceiling vacantly. There was nothing he could do now except wait.

Or was there?

Myde sat up abruptly. If Myde were Ienzo, where would he go? Hmm…the library? The bookstore? The park? The doctor? Starbuck's? Mmm…Starbuck's…

Myde mentally berated himself to focus. This was important. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Ienzo had a cell phone, which he had already tried calling hundreds of times. If he hadn't called him back yet, either something was wrong, or…something was wrong. Ienzo was OCD, and he was in that habit of leaving his phone on. Besides, Ienzo was always responsible…

At that moment, the phone rang.

Myde lunged for it. "Hey?!"

"Myde."

Myde screeched, (but it was an extremely manly screech, mind you). "Ienzooo! Where've you been?! I've been trying to call you for like, an hour!"

"Myde, listen to me," Ienzo's voice was clear as he spoke, but Myde noticed that he was panting slightly. "Stay where you are. I'll be over there as soon as I can, is that okay?"

It wasn't a question, and it's not like Myde would have said 'no', anyway. "Yep!"

Ienzo hung up before Myde could say another word.

696

Ienzo stood outside of Myde's simple, one-story house, eyeing it hesitantly. He hadn't really looked at it in awhile, and doing so brought back memories…

-6-6-6-

"Ienzo! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! You're so sllloooww!" Myde whined gleefully as he tugged his smaller friend towards the front door.

Ienzo was looking up at the house gingerly. He was nervous, though he'd never admit to it. Myde talked about his parents a lot, but still…how could parents actually be nice, like Myde said his were?

1…2…3…4…5…6.

As they walked through the front door, Myde called out, "HEEEY, WE'RE HOOOOME!"

Ienzo stood, shocked. Myde was yelling at his parents? He braced himself for what would inevitably be Myde's parent's oncoming fury.

It never came.

"Hey, Myde! Is this Ienzo?" a woman said kindly as she entered the entryway from the kitchen. "Hello, there."

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you," Ienzo cited smoothly, just as he was taught to speak to adults, averting his eyes from hers and ignoring her outstretched hand.

She frowned slightly and let her arm drop to her side. "Cookies, anyone?"

Myde squealed cheerfully. "Didja make 'em?"

Myde's mom shook her head. "No, silly, you know I haven't got time for that. But Ms. Gainsborough brought them over today."

"Aw, well. She makes great cookies, too," Myde shrugged, happily munching on a chocolate chip cookie.

"Myde, ask your guest if he wants one, too," Myde's mom reminded him gently, laughing.

Myde looked down at the cookie jar he had clutched in his grasping hands. He held it out to Ienzo, "Wamft oomes?" he asked merrily through his face full of cookie.

1…2…3…4…5…6.

Ienzo hesitated. He wasn't usually aloud sweets, the last time he'd had them being on his…seventh birthday? Something like that…

But being here, with Myde and his yelling, with Myde's mom and her sweetness, and in this old, one story house that looked similar to all the other ones on the street, it made him feel slightly…normal. Like here, here, was what his home should have been like.

So he took one. And then he took two. Just because he could.

-6-6-6-

"You're here," Myde smiled from the doorway. "What are you doing, just standing out here? C'mon!"

Ienzo obliged, following Myde into the family room and watching as he plopped himself onto the couch. He sat down, too, after a moment's hesitation.

"Sooo," Myde said, getting right to the point. "Where've you been? That's what this is about, right?"

Ienzo nodded, avoiding Myde's eye. If he saw him face-on, he'd end up telling him everything.

He ended up doing it, anyway, after Myde forced him to look up and caught him with one of his 'looks'. So Ienzo told him everything, sparing only a few minor details.

Ienzo's eyes had averted from Myde's somewhere in the story, and by the time he was finished with it, Ienzo was slightly scared to look up.

Ienzo saw a glimpse Myde's horror-stricken face before he was thrown from the coach.

"MYDE? What the-?!" protested Ienzo as he was wrapped in a huge hug, flinching under the close contact and attempting to slink out from under him. "Let go of me, you kook."

Myde ignored him, only squeezing him harder and burying his head in the crook of Ienzo's neck. "Y-You…Why'd-? I…Gaaahh! You stupid, stupid…!"

And Myde proceeded to yell out stupid for awhile longer, finally ending the sentence with 'meanie!' and then going into a rant about how 'dying was bad, Zoey, because that would mean no more Ienzo and Myde would be really, really sad, and how the chocolate in Heaven could not be sampled without Myde tasting it first…' and on and on and on…

"Those…those…! I can't even think of a word for them! I'm so kicking Sora off the swim team after this, especially since he didn't show up for practice today! And to think, a few weeks ago I was begging him to join…!"

Ienzo felt a warm sensation spread through his chest. What was that feeling? Gratitude? Whatever it was and however uncomfortable he was feeling at the moment, he could help but be glad, so glad, that he had Myde; that Myde considered him a friend, even…

They both ended up falling asleep in the living room; Ienzo on the couch, Myde in the recliner. The TV was still on when Myde's mom got home from work, and she could only shake her head.

Teenagers: Couldn't live with them, and definitely couldn't live without them.

But sometimes, parents were forced to live without them.

696

End Note: Seeee?? Not a cliffy! –pats self on back- I'm so proud of myself. .

Game quotes!!:

"Who is this kook?" Sora about Demyx, KH2

Kudos to you if you caught that one. Kinda tougher than usual.

I hope I haven't made too many spelling/grammar mistakes. And if I did, I hope you'll survive. And I deeply apologize if you don't.

Review? For leftover V-day candy (it's classy and tempting and you know it)? …how about for cute little emo!Ienzo?! He needs love!

b9 iNe