The mating game Chapter 10: Crawling in the dark, a kingdom hearts fanfic

I know it's been a while. I have a job now. So now I have school, job, homework time, and then whatever time I have left is relaxing time. Sorry, but during my free time, I usually tend to go straight to gaming or writing. I haven't exactly felt like updating. I'm not saying I won't try to update faster, I'm just explaining why it will take a lot longer to update compared to other times.

Sorry... I'll still do my best.

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own KH or the song 'Crawling in the dark.'

Oh, and I thank my reviewers and readers very much! Thank you for all your support!

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Sora (Crawling in the dark) Late July 3000

I will dedicate

And sacrifice my everything for just a second's worth

Of how my story's ending

And I wish I could know if the directions that I take

And all the choices that I make

won't end up all for nothing

Show me what it's for

Make me understand it

I've been crawling in the dark looking for the answer

Is there something more than what I've been handed?

I've been crawling in the dark looking for the answer

I sat in our room, rubbing at my eyes tenderly.

It'd been a long night…

I began to worry when Roxas never came back to our room. But then a guard came in and told me about the surprising news. Roxas was refusing to breed with Axel, and therefore was being held in the quarantine hangar until he decided to cooperate.

I already had enough on my mind BEFORE I heard that.

So my other stubborn little brother was going to be ungrateful about going through his first heat? I had to admit, that made me a little angry at first. I'd been waiting for that to happen to me for nearly two years… and Roxas was lucky enough to have gotten his before he was even expected for it? At least he knew he could have kids…

I was beginning to get a little scared for myself. Was I the only Nobody who hadn't gone through their first heat? What if I was infertile? What would happen to me? Or an even scarier thought; what would Riku think…?

Thinking about it wasn't helping… it only made me more fearful. I'd thought about the possibility before, but I told myself to quit panicking about it. So I did. But now that my little brother had his heat at the young age of thirteen, the same possibility has risen back to the surface of my mind, tormenting me.

And as silly as that fear may have sounded, it was actually a big deal. I mean, how shameful was it for a creation to fail at their purpose in life? I was meant to be a Nobody who helped with the repopulation of mankind- and here I was, being the one who needed a surrogate mother…

It was an awful thought.

But I couldn't give up on myself yet. I was fifteen- nearly sixteen, and had about another year before I was out of the first heat age range. But then why did I have such a hard time accepting that? Why did the possibility of infertility still poke at me annoyingly?

And for some reason, through all that poking, Ventus came to my mind. I knew what he'd do in this kind of situation. He'd claim that the employees here knew something- that they had documented data on us; data that was possibly about our first time of heat. He said that they probably knew almost everything about us- planted how we'd function before the time we were even 'born.' I wasn't one to believe in his silly antics. He only assumed all of this because he hated them so much, but at this desperate time, I think he was beginning to rub off on me.

I was tempted to break into whichever room they kept documents about us in order to find out about me. Maybe I was being silly and us Nobodies couldn't even have problems like infertility.

Hopefully…

I think I really surprised Ventus and his roommates when I ended up at their door that night. They stared at me, their eyes as big as dinner plates.

"Sora!" Ven practically hissed under his breath, shocked, "What the hell are you doing here!"

Ven's mate, Hayner, gave me a dirty look- probably afraid that I'd get them in trouble with the guards considering we weren't supposed to snoop. And the other roommate, a brunette who I didn't know, gave me a questionable glance.

"Ven, sorry. But I'm giving myself a little mission," I explained in a hushed voice, my senses alert, " I need to know something! So tell me, considering you probably know; Where does Xemnas keep his records about us?"

Again, Ventus looked surprised, blinking briefly before he answered, "He's got a small, black cabinet in the corner of his office. I know there are some documents on Nobodies there… But for all we know, he could have some more stashed away someplace else."

I smiled. I guessed that the documents in his office would have to be good enough. If I wandered aimlessly, not even knowing where to look, I'd definitely get caught. I didn't need that.

"Thanks. And you do know that I blame you for this, right? You're a bad influence," I added playfully. Ven grinned back, slapping me lightly on the shoulder before he closed the door to their dorm room gently.

I smiled once more, rushing down the hall soon after. My foot steps were as light and silent as a ballerina's. It didn't take long before I stood in front of Xemnas' office. It seemed rather silent in there, though the lights were on. Their brightness seeped through the crack under the door. I cautiously began to turn the doorknob, but soon withdrew with a jerk at the sound of a voice.

"What if he continues with this nonsense! He's already managed to bear it the entire night… that kid is so stubborn!" the same voice snapped angrily. I recognized it to be Xemnas'. He was in his office! Dang! I leapt a few feet away from the door, startled. But then I suddenly realized what they were discussing… They were talking about my brother by the sounds of it. I wanted to leave, but my curiosity took the best of me.

"We need to get him pregnant as soon as possible!…" Xemnas' tone sounded flustered as I leaned towards the door closer.

"I know, sir… but-" another voice said- this one calm.

"But nothing! The client has already been notified that he's gone through his first heat. They'll be expecting a baby soon."

After that, the rest of his strange rambling was blocked out. My mind concentrated on one word he'd used. Client? What did he mean by a client? What the heck was going on? We'd never been told about anything like that…

My breath froze in my chest as I tried to replay the conversation; just try to make sense of it all. But when I began to think that I probably didn't want to know, it was too late. I got a sudden idea. It wasn't exactly a pleasant one. But it answered so much… The reasons for the strict mate selection; the mystery of what happened after a Nobody had a baby… I didn't know any Nobodies who had successfully had children, but there were a few mothers in the facility somewhere. For some reason, I always believed that it was the mated couple who got to raise the child. That, or at least choose it's fate. But now that I thought about it, there were never any babies crying; no baby materials…

I ran away from the door, unable to hear anymore of it! I didn't want to! I felt tears falling down my face silently as the new worry bubbled to the surface of my mind.

What if this wasn't destiny at all? This whole time, I'd thought we were mated to the person who was meant for us- who was meant to be our significant other. But now that was unlikely…

Whoever these clients were, they wanted certain babies with certain genes… Xemnas was giving our babies to people who were rich enough to pay him. He matched us Nobodies up depending on the client's own genes. We were only mated to whomever had the most similar genes to the client's own partner, so that the baby that they were paying Xemnas for looked as if it were theirs…

Please review! Oh, and I'll post the next chapter too considering I left this one for so long.