Merry Christmas, people. Here's your present. :)

As always, I don't own any of the Square-Enix characters, worlds, ideas, blah blah blah.

If you haven't been listening to the songs I'm listing here, then I highly suggest you do this time. Red is an AWESOME band and this song is really applicable to this chapter... I always listen to them while I'm reading through for typos. Anyway, enjoy.

And this is how it feels when I ignore the words you spoke to me
And this is where I lose myself when I keep running away from you
And this is who I am when, when I don't know myself anymore
And this is what I choose when it's all left up to me
Breathe your life into me
I can feel you
I'm falling, falling faster
Breathe your life into me
I still need you
I'm falling, falling
Breathe into me
-Red, "Breathe Into Me"

Isalena must have been damn sure of Bruixe's answer, because she'd brought the former Nobody to the one place where Bruixe might have had a chance to act against her – Kingdom City.

"The people expect an answer to the mysteries surrounding them," Isalena had told Bruixe. "We're going to give them one. That is, I will give them one. And with the great heroine Bruixe at my side, who will doubt me?"

"Crazy bitch," Bruixe muttered.

Isalena had only laughed as if it were a compliment.

Now Bruixe stood slightly behind the Councilor as Isalena addressed the enormous crowd from the steps of the Temple of Heroes.

As frustrating as it was, Isalena had been right. Bruixe desperately wanted to scream, to warn someone, to expose the Councilor for the lying scum she was. But she couldn't – not without putting Riku and her friends at risk.

"It is with the uttermost regret that I must inform you of the tragic death of our beloved Councilor Danthus," Isalena was saying.

Yeah, only you forget the part where you skewered him like a piece of meat, Bruixe thought bitterly as the people gasped and wailed.

"It is my belief that this heinous act was committed by a force unlike any other this world has faced," Isalena continued. "I speak of something I know very little about, I must admit – however I am very sure that this threat comes from beyond the Eternal Kingdom."

Shocked murmurs from the crowd. And how the hell do you explain this 'threat' getting past the Watch? Bruixe wondered, easily seeing the holes in Isalena's story.

Thinking about the Watch, though, gave her an idea. She couldn't say anything aloud – but maybe there was someone who could still help her. Someone who knew her well enough to see that something was wrong.

She scanned the crowd and found him easily, his unruly brown head sticking up nearly a foot above the others.

Terra, she thought desperately. Look at me, dammit.

But the Liberator's eyes were fixed on Isalena, narrowed in a confused frown.

"To meet this threat will take more strength than this world has ever seen," the Councilor went on, her face the picture of determination and remorse. "That is why, effective immediately, I am seizing emergency powers as senior member of the Council of Nine."

Terra's eyes widened in shock, and he glanced at Bruixe, only for a second – but it was enough to realize that she was glaring at him, silver eyes determined.

"What?" she saw him mouth, and she widened her eyes.

She's lying, Bruixe thought, as if she could will the words into Terra's head. Don't believe her. She's insane.

She looked pointedly at Isalena, then returned her gaze to Terra and shook her head, ever so slightly.

"And with these emergency powers, I am approving the creation of the first-ever World Army," Isalena said. "My dear comrade Bruixe has agreed to create these soldiers, called 'Wardens,' to join our army, so that no human need be hurt in the coming conflict."

Bruixe saw realization begin to dawn on Terra's face, and fervently thanked whatever higher power might exist that someone had paid attention to her rants about how much she hated her foster mother. Terra had always been the only one who had ever listened. He knew that Bruixe would never willingly agree to do anything for Isalena, much less build an army for her.

"Wardens?" Terra mouthed, and Bruixe shook her head again.

"Chasers," he corrected, and Bruixe nodded grimly, pressing her lips together in a hard line.

Terra turned and pushed his way through the crowd, disappearing among the faces.

It was up to fate now, Bruixe realized. All she could do was hope Terra had a plan.

"I hope for your continued support as we solve this crisis," Isalena finished, spreading her arms to the crowd. "The people of the Eternal Kingdom have always been strong, and will remain so for ages to come."

She turned away, and raised her eyebrows to Bruixe as if seeking approval.

"Big words for someone who's going to kill them all," Bruixe muttered.

"Not all of them," Isalena replied, just as quietly but with a hint of smugness.

"Wish I knew what the hell was going on out there," Riku growled, pacing around the darkness in his and Sora's cell.

"Nothing you can do, man," Sora said. "Not now, anyway. Relax."

"How am I supposed to relax?" Riku demanded. "I watched her get hurt – she could be dying for all I know –"

"Bruixe will be fine," Sora told his best friend calmly. "Think about it. She's with Kairi, and Kairi is the best healer we know. Remember what I told you? You gotta try and think positive."

Riku grunted. "Positive? We're in the middle of a world we hardly know anything about, prisoners of some crazy lady that pins corpses to her wall, and oh, yeah, we have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA why we're here."

"But we still have each other!" Sora burst out, grinning.

Riku groaned and lightly punched his friend in the gut. "If we survive this, you're dead."

The door swung open and four soldiers stepped through. "You," one said, pointing at Riku. "Come with us."

"Escort service," Sora said wryly. "Gotta like this place."

"Try not to die while I'm gone," Riku told him.

Sora saluted, smirking. "I'll do my best."

The soldiers led him to yet another cell, and idly Riku wondered if it was normal for the Eternal Kingdom's people to keep dungeons in their houses. One unlocked the door, and Riku was shoved in unceremoniously. "Nice," he mumbled.

He looked around; a familiar black-haired figure was slumped against the wall. "Bruixe!"

She looked up, and Riku noticed that her silver eyes were lined with red. "You okay?" he asked, kneeling next to her.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Well, sort of."

Riku slid an arm around her shoulders, drawing her close. "What's going on? Why are we here?"

"I asked to see you," Bruixe told him.

He raised an eyebrow. "And our, um, gracious host just let you do that?"

"She wants me to make Chasers for her," Bruixe said, cutting straight to the chase.

Riku blinked, caught by surprise. "And you said 'no way in hell,' right?"

Bruixe shook her head.

"You should have," Riku told her. "Would've wiped the smile right off her face."

"I have to," Bruixe whispered. She blinked furiously. She would not cry again, would not give Isalena the satisfaction of seeing her break down.

"Why?" Riku demanded.

She bit her lip.

"That bad, huh?" he remarked.

"She's going to kill you," Bruixe whispered at long last. "And Kairi, and Sora, and Ren. If I don't do what she wants."

Riku didn't reply to that. Can't blame him, she thought. How is someone supposed to react to being given a death sentence?

"You can't," Riku said finally. "No way. If you do… hundreds of people are going to die."

"I know, but…" Bruixe began.

"No buts," he said firmly. "I mean… four lives versus hundreds."

"No!" she replied frantically. "No, no, I can't –"

"Has to be," he told her calmly, as if they were talking about the weather and not his own death. "We're not worth it, Bruixe. It's the right thing to do."

"I know that," she wailed. "Don't you think I know that? I just… I can't… I can't lose you again. I thought I did once and it almost killed me. I…"

Riku pulled her into his arms, cradling her against his chest, and the tears spilled out despite Bruixe's best efforts. After a while, he said, "I'm not afraid to die, Bruixe."

"But… I'm not strong enough to let you," she admitted quietly.

"Don't be selfish," he said, but softly.

Her hands balled into fists, clutching at the fabric of his shirt. "I don't care if it's selfish," she wept angrily. "I – I never could protect anyone. I lost them – Axel and Demyx – I couldn't protect them, and now they're gone. And I'll gladly kill a thousand people before I lose you, too –"

"Don't say that," Riku said, lifting her face up to look him in the eye. "Don't ever say that. You're not a killer, Bruixe."

Bruixe shook her head and brought his face to hers, silencing him with a long, slow kiss, so that he wouldn't say what she knew was coming. Don't be a killer for me, he'd tell her. But she'd already made up her mind.

He pulled her to one side, pressing her into the wall, and his lips were sad, but determined. Gentle hands slid up her back, cold against her suddenly overheated skin, and she pulled back enough to breathe correctly.

"You know, that's my vest," he said jokingly, but his eyes were tight, serious. Resigned.

She touched his face with a shaking hand, memorizing the rough, rugged feel of his jaw, his cheek, his lips. "This isn't goodbye," she told him. "I won't let this be goodbye."

"Bruixe," he whispered, and seemed to collapse, burying his face in her shoulder. "It has to be."

But the warmth of his body next to hers, his arms around her, had done nothing but strengthen her resolve.

"I love you," he said quietly.

"I love you, too," she told him. Although it wasn't the first time they'd spoken those words, she'd never realized how true it was.

She loved him. And she could never let him go.

The trip to the mountains passed in silence as Bruixe stared dully into space. She hardly noticed when they stopped once again at the ruins of her old house, or when the soldiers half-led, half-dragged her down to the Room of Awakening.

Isalena was there, sitting in the chair, a shadowy, ghost-like form floating before her. As if responding to the room, Fallen Angel sprang into her hand unbidden, and Bruixe looked at it idly.

"Welcome back," the Councilor greeted her, voice mocking. "Everything is ready. Are you prepared?"

Bruixe ignored her, Riku's voice echoing through her head. Four lives versus hundreds. You're not a killer, Bruixe. Don't be selfish.

Why? Why had she gained a heart? Not to have it torn, shredded, shattered into a million tiny shards. Not for this.

Because she knew what the right decision was. But she also knew – knew in her heart, damn the thing to hell – that she could never, ever do it.

People were incredibly selfish creatures, she'd seen it before. But she'd never really applied that to herself. Some how she'd thought herself above all of that.

She'd never realized how wrong she was.

Because there really wasn't a choice, was there?

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and raised her blade.

review please. mwahahaha.