Chapter 10

Days passed, on days that Xion, and Axel cannot make it to the tower, Roxas could always count on Kixma. He looked up to her, how she always wanted to make sure of everyone's safety ahead of her own. She always made sure he was okay, he was the one thing he could count on 100 percent of the time. He liked how no matter what question he had, she would explain it until he understood. Only a few at the Organization had patience to deal with his questions. Going to see her work with Gaston, he wasn't sure if he will see another side to her, but he was curious why she loathed working with this guy.

Roxas and Kixma watched as Gaston fight the heartless. "Roxas," Kixma said, "Don't judge me on what will happen next. You will see exactly why I hate it. Remember your mission today is just to watch. So stay here." Kixma jumped down, summoning the lesser Nobodies to take care of the heartless. "The best really? I do doubt that now."

"You out of my town!" Gaston yelled.

"Technically, I'm not in your town." Kixma looked at him, with her arms folded. "No wonder Belle picked the Beast. He is much stronger than you. He has to fight those heartless and stronger ones almost every day. How can someone as weak as you protect a town? How can you be the best if you let your town fall?"

"No one messes..."

"With Gaston..." she finished, "Then surrender to the darkness, let it consume your every cell. You well have the strength you need, the strength to protect your village, the strength to be the best." Kixma looked around the area, more weak heartless were coming. Port Royal heartless was much stronger. "You have such darkness already, such a shame you won't use it."

Gaston fired his gun; dusk went to protect her. She casted bio as a warning. The heartless arrived, she used bio to get rid of them, and used cure to heal Gaston. "Heal me, why?"

"Protect your village, isn't that what your heart is telling you?"

"What of yours?"

"Don't have a heart remember?"

"Heart, or no heart, do you have a conscious?"

"That is a good question." Kixma dismissed the Nobodies. "I'm doing my job so I can't exactly be guilty about it. It's not like I want to be here, but they placed you in my hands."

"So you want me to be like you? You are trapped, you don't have freedom."

"I normally like my job. You just happen to be that assignment I don't wanna do. But after everything I told you, you do have to get stronger to protect your town. If not the heartless will ruin it."

"Are you with the heartless?"

"Oh no, this is a 3 way battle. You Somebodies vs. the Heartless vs. the Nobodies. Later."

"That person isn't you." Roxas said as he and Kixma walked up the tower after grabbing some ice-cream.

"I know..."

"What is the reason for going to him? What's his connection with Belle?"

"Belle is from that town. I talked to her father, such a nice man. Gaston wanted her for her beauty, she didn't want him. Long story short she ended at the castle and fell in love with the Beast. Gaston couldn't compete with true love. The organization wants his heart. To do that, they want me to get the darkness in him to grow, until he is a heartless himself."

"That's wrong."

"I know... remember what I told you, it's good for the organization but not for our morels." Kixma then sat on the ledge, with Roxas next to her. "I do hate doing it. That's one reason, the other I don't like him... and I don't like what it does to me. It's the exact same thing I rejected doing at C.O..." She stared out at the sunset. '... to Riku,' she finished her thought in her head.

"Why don't you request another mission?"

"I whined at first... but Saïx jumped down my throat." She looked at the blond. "Roxas, no matter what, no matter what missions you have to do, promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"Don't lose who you are." She smiled softly. "It's the one thing you have, don't let it die off."

"I promise." Roxas looked at the sunset, "Don't lose your personality either."

"You got a deal."

The next day, Kixma and Axel arrived at the tower together. Kixma looked at him. "You don't look so good. Something happen?"

"Xion... she knows... she doesn't know that she's a puppet, but she knows she has his memories. She remembers me from the C.O. mission."

"I see..." Kixma sighed, "Did she take off?"

"Yeah, she just left after entering one of the golden doors."

"So what now?"

"Don't know. We got to protect Roxas."

"Right," Kixma sighed, "Let's go."

Axel and Kixma walked up to the tower. "You are here early."

"No you two are just late." Roxas spoke.

"Sorry," Kixma sat down next to her brother. "Long mission."

"Today makes 255."

Axel took his ice-cream out of his mouth. "What's that about?"

"It's been that many days since I first joined the organization. Man time flies."

"So you got the number memorized do ya?"

"Yeah, have to hang on to something right? It's not like I have memories from before the organization. Don't you remember? I acted like a zombie."

Axel patted Roxas's shoulder. "Right, that first week you could barely form a sentence. But come on, you still kind of a zombie." he patted the blonds' back.

Roxas pushed him away, "Oh, thanks!"

"Hey!" Kixma yelled, shoving Axel off her, "Watch where you're shoving him!" The three laughed.

"Hey," Axel broke the laughter. "Bet you two don't know why the sun sets red. You see, light is made up of lots of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest."

Roxas elbowed him, "Like I asked! Know-it-all."

Kixma lay back, "You know, he is half right. Light is absorbed by everything, the color we see, is the only color that isn't absorbed. Black and white is the only exceptions. Black means all colors are absorbed, and white means none."

"And where did you get that?" Axel asked.

"A book that Zexy lent me once."

Axel lay back as well. "You miss him?"

"What do you think?"

Roxas finished his ice-cream. Time passed. "Seriously, where is she?"

Kixma watched as Axel sat up quickly, with his arm over his knee, while the other foot was straight. His eyes narrowed. "Roxas..." he started, "I'm not sure not sure she's gonna show today."

"Did she collapse again?"

"She..." Axel looked away, "... what, didn't you hear? She got sent on a really important mission. Pretty cool, huh?"

Kixma looked at the sky, he chickened out.

"Oh," Roxas said, "When is she coming back?"

"Well, I guess that depends on how well she does her job, right?" Axel asked.

"Heh, fair enough."

Kixma sat in the dusty library. It was really cut off now. She looked out the window. "Knew I'll found you here."

Kixma nodded her head. "What are you doing here Axel?"

"You're my sis; I know when things are upsetting you."

"What are we going to do?" She looked at him. "She is... and you lied to Roxas. That wasn't wise. She left, there will be a meeting, and you know it. And it's not like we can force her back."

"We just gotta wait. Let's give her a time limit."

"Okay, then we goes looking." Kixma walked to her room.

Kixma looked at a piece of paper on her bed. 'Kixma, I'm sorry I just up and left. I found out what I am. I'm getting his memories. I have to find out the truth. Please don't tell Roxas, okay? And please support me, even if you don't agree. I won't forget you.' Kixma held the paper in her hands. She felt tears. A goodbye note, fine. She placed it in her journal. She sighed deeply. "I'll support you," she whispered. "Just be safe..."

The following day, there was a meeting. Kixma sat in her new chair, along with everyone else. She knew what this was about, her legs were crossed.

Xemnas looked at everyone, like he always did. It made everyone pay attention, "Xion is gone."

"What?" Demyx yelled, a bit surprised. "Whoa, whoa, time out. You mean she flew the coop?"

"Hah," came Xaldin, "Preposterous. What would drive her to choose her own demise?"

Xemnas corrected Xaldin, "On the contrary, no one is to go looking for Xion without my express permission."

"What? Why not?" Roxas yelled.

Kixma hasn't heard him that angry, or as angry as he could get without a heart anyways. "Because, if she left on her own, we just can't force her back."

"Your 'friend' will be left alone," came Saïx, "Or would you rather we find some punishment."

"I'd rather you get her back!" Roxas yelled again.

"And why would we do that?"

"Rrgh..."

Xemnas looked around, getting everyone's attention back to him. "All would be revealed at the right time."

"Which means if the time doesn't come, things can stay as they are..." Axel spoke.

"Lord Xemnas has spoken," Saïx started. "Obey, or face your end." Of course the meeting was never over complete without that reminder.

Kixma entered the grey room. Things were tense, but there was nothing she could do. She never thought herself so helpless since C.O.

"You okay, Pet?" Xigbar asked her. "Your first female friend left."

"Hopeless." she responded.

"Working with me today. Ya ready?"

"Yeah," She looked up at Kingdom Hearts. "Let's go."

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