As you can see from the title, something about Hearts is coming up this chapter.

That's all I got. I'm not very good at Author's notes, but at least you know I'm being sincere.

Song: A Day in Agrabah

"What am I looking at?"

Roxas and Xion managed to escape the crumbling cave, but Pete was no where to be found.

They remained in the desert for a short while to catch their breath, and what appears to be some sort of rug floated over to them.

"It's not aggressive." Xion replied. "I think it likes you."

"But… it's a rug."

"Actually, it's a carpet." Roxas and Xion looked up to see a floating blue man with black hair and a red band around his waist float down to them as well.

"Whaa?" Roxas looked on in confusion.

"Wh-who are you?" Xion asked.

"Who am I? You want to know who I am!?"

"Y-yes?"

"Alright then! One personal introduction coming right up! The name's Genie-Formerly-Of-The-Lamp! But call me by my first name, kids! And this is my pal, Magic Carpet!" Genie reached out a hand to Roxas. "Nice to meetcha!"

"Likewise." Roxas nodded.

Genie retracted his hand. "Come ON! You can do better than that! I mean, why so glum? Feeling a little blue? I can relate."

"No doubt." Roxas's lips inched upwards at the corners, and Xion giggled.

"So who are you kids?" Genie asked them.

"We're…" Roxas began, but was elbowed by Xion.

"Change the subject." She whispered.

"Change it to what!?" He whispered back.

"Me? I was just swinging by Agrabah to check in!" Genie changed it for them. "And then Carpet said he'd spotted a friend and took off!"

"A friend?" Roxas asked, getting the image of a brunette boy. "You mean me?"

"Crazy, isn't it? I tag along ready to reminisce about old times, but I have no idea in the cosmos who you are! You sure this is a friend of ours, Rugman?"

The carpet nods… ok. How is that possible?

"Agrabah… that's the city over there, right?"

"That's right! My buddy Al's hometown. When we first met, Al and I were inseparable!"

"Inseparable?" Roxas asked, curious.

"Yeah. But a while ago, Carpet and I took off on a vacation. Call it a mini-world-tour." Genie frowned. "But now we're worried about Al. So we came to check on him."

"What's there to worry about?" Roxas asked.

"It's only natural to worry about your friends. There's worrying about how things were going with Jasmine, how the city's holding up…" Genie's frown worsened. "And once I get something on my mind, I can't knock it out. And I've tried everything. Dynamite, sledgehammers, tweezers…"

"Well I don't know about an Al…" Xion began. "But the city's in rough shape. They've been trying to fix it up."

"Yeah. They keep getting hit by sandstorms." Roxas continued.

"What!? And while I was away, too! Alright! Stand back! A little magic, and I'll have this place whipped back into shape!"

"Your friend Al said this isn't a job for magic." Roxas interjected.

"He what!?" Genie asked.

"He said the people living there should be the ones to fix things." Roxas said.

"Well…" Genie bowed his head. "I guess that's that."

"You're not going to help out?"

"Al said no magic, right? I'd love to fix the place, but even a Genie has to respect a friends wishes." Genie smiled. "Though I doubt he'd mind a tiny bit of help." Genie turned to the raging sand storm and flicked a finger at it. In an instant, it calmed and died down. "Alright, now that that's over with, who…" He turned back to the two and saw nothing but sand. "Uhh, scratch that. WHERE are you?"

Song: At Dusk I Will Think of You

Roxas, Xion, and Axel met up at the clock tower for ice cream.

Roxas and Xion had their minds on what Genie said.

"Hey Axel." Roxas began. "What does it mean when two people are inseparable?"

"Well it doesn't mean they're joined at the hip, I can tell you that." Axel said. "You can be inseparable even if you're apart."

"Really?" Roxas asked.

"Sure. If you're best friends."

Xion turned towards him. "So… best friends are different from plain friends, right?"

"They're about the same." Axel replied.

"Best friends. Huh…" Roxas sighed.

"I'd probably say best friends are a notch above just plain friends." Axel said.

"So how are they different?" Roxas asked.

"Not sure." Axel said. "My only friend back when I had a heart was Saix… or Isa."

"I see." Roxas said.

DAY 94

Song: Organization XIII

The nine remaining members of Organization XIII stood atop the castle, with Xemnas ahead of the rest.

"The time has arrived." Xemnas spoke. He raised his hands skyward. "And at last we see before us the great collection of hearts. Hearts full of rage. Hearts full of hate. Hearts full of sorrow. Hearts full of bliss."

On a lower balcony of the castle, lesser Nobodies were gathered to hear his speech.

Blyxil had a scowl on his face. On the other side of the crowd, Sheylax was listening with earnest.

"Shining down upon us is the crystallization of all hearts. Kingdom Hearts. There, in the sky, hangs the promise of a new world." Xemnas looked down at the lesser Nobodies, then turned towards the Organization. "My friends! Let us gain further power, to conquer the human heart and claim it as our own. Let us remember why we are here, and what we hope to achieve. Hearts shall be gathered and be made our own. Hearts shall never again have power over us.

Song: Destiny's Force

At the dark Castle Roxas explored before, Roxas and Xion took out a Neoshadow, their target, but when they were about to leave, they were ambushed by two more.

Before they got the chance to fight, however, a beast appeared and took them out.

"The Heartless do not belong here! Not in my castle!

"Whoa!" Xion exclaimed.

"So he has been fighting the Heartless." Roxas observed.

"Apparently."

"Guess this castle plays by different rules than ours." Roxas thought out loud.

"What do you mean?" Xion asked curiously.

"That beast is the master here. And Xemnas is our master. Right?

"Right?" Xion sort of answered.

"But if Heartless showed up in our castle, Xemnas would have us handle it."

"Isn't that our job?"

"I figured that'd be how it worked everywhere. Isn't that what being a master is about? I mean, the beast has servants. He shouldn't have to fight."

Xion frowned. "I wouldn't refer to us as Xemnas's servants. But maybe the beast is fighting the Heartless because he has something he wants to protect."

Song: At Dusk I Will Think of You

"Why are we fighting?" Roxas asked at the clock tower.

"You should know that at least." Axel said. "We have to complete the great Kingdom Hearts. You saw it too, didn't you?"

"But… what is Kingdom Hearts?" Roxas pushed.

"It's the gathering place of hearts… isn't it?" Xion replied.

"It's where all the hearts released by the Keyblade end up. When we gather enough, we might get hearts of our own." Axel said.

"Hearts shall be gathered and made our own." Xion repeated from Xemnas's speech.

"Is Kingdom Hearts really that important?" Roxas asked. "I just don't see why having a heart is that important."

"You're wondering about that now?" Axel probed. "You'll understand once you have a heart to call your own. That's why we fight."

Roxas turned to his red haired friend. "Okay. I guess you're right."

DAY 95

The next day the three of them met again after their missions.

"It looks like every Nobody in the Organization is good at different things." Roxas said.

"That's right." Axel said. "Everybody's unique."

"Even Nobodies without hearts?" Xion asked.

"Just because we all don't have hearts, doesn't mean that we're all exactly the same." Axel replied. "We each have memories of our pasts."

"Memories?" Xion asked.

"You remember your past?" Roxas added.

"Yeah. In the absence of the heart, the mind and soul remain." Axel said. "With those, we remember who we were as humans."

Roxas sighed. "But I don't."

"Me neither." Xion added.

Axel smiled. "Well maybe that's what makes you two the most unique."

Roxas turned to Axel. "What were you like before you were a Nobody?"

"Huh? Me?" Axel asked. "Not sure. I think I've always been pretty much the same."

Roxas turned back to the sunset. "I wish I could remember stuff like that."

"Really? It's just baggage, you know."

"Says you." Roxas and Xion turned in surprise to see Blyxil standing behind them with an ice cream cone in his right hand. His ice cream was a light green with brown chips in it.

Axel turned in mock boredom. "When did you get here?"

Blyxil shrugged, and put the conversation back on track. "Nobodies remember who they were as humans, but what if you'd spent most of your life as one?"

Axel put on a serious face, really thinking about this one. "I wouldn't know. But I guess you'd be in a similar situation as these two." He motioned to Roxas and Xion.

"I can't remember anything." Roxas and Xion turned back to the sunset. "Not even from when I awoke a Nobody."

"All you did was stare into space." Axel commented.

"Oh thanks." Roxas said sarcastically. Blyxil looked at Roxas at this, curious, and then Blyxil noticed something.

The group laughed for a bit, then Xion spoke when they stopped. "You know, I don't remember much either."

"You two sure have a lot in common." Axel said.

"I wonder…" Roxas looked up at the sky. "What kind of guy I was before."

Blyxil and Axel shared a look as Roxas and Xion continued, oblivious.

In front of the Twilight Town Mansion stood a blonde girl in a white dress, and a man in a red cloak.

"That presence… I can sense it now, without seeing the Keyblade. It is not that boy from the castle, but someone else. Roxas is his Nobody, of that I am certain. But then why does Roxas have someone else's Keyblade?"