Disclaimer: don't own.

A/N: my thanks goes out to Mr. Fipp for how to fix my ff .net problem.

Also, I would like to apologize for the late update. All blame goes to the document edit/preview thing. Allrighty, with out further ado, here is capitulo nueve. Get readin' :)

Chapter 9

When Emily awoke from an uneventful sleep, she saw that the room she was in looked much as it did when she had awoken the last time. Aerith was opening the blinds on the window. The light that entered the room did not hurt Emily's head as it had done before. Her head now felt reasonably better, at least compared to before.

"Good morning!" Aerith said brightly yet softly at the same time.

"Hello." Emily said, then asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

"You slept through most of yesterday." Aerith answered. "And on a happy note, you only needed one elixir during the night. I think you're doing much better. Does your head still hurt? I just changed the bandages a few hours ago."

Emily shook her head. Then asked, wondering where everyone was, "Where is everybody?"

"Well, Tidus is with Merlin, Sora, Riku, and Kairi are all out in the town running some errands, the King is--- well, I don't really know where he is. And the man with the spiky red hair, I think his name's Axel, is discussing weapons and other fighting things with Leon." Aerith answered in vivid detail.

"Oh." was the only thing Emily could say. After a few seconds of complete silence, Emily asked, "So you have no idea where King Mickey is? I need to tell him some… important stuff." Aerith shook her head.

"Sorry." she said.

After another few seconds of silence, there was a low grumbling which startled Aerith. Emily's face flushed with embarrassment as she said, "I think I'm hungry. Do you have any breakfast food?" Aerith chuckled softly and said with a smile, "I'm sure I'll find something" And with that, Aerith left the room. Emily sat, wondering where on earth the King could be. She tried to keep the details of the memory with Diexsa fresh in her mind, by going over them. After several minutes of recollecting the details, Aerith reentered the room with a bed-in-breakfast tray that had a glass of orange juice (Emily's favorite), an orange, and a slice of what looked like toast.

"Axel told me you were rather fond of oranges." Aerith said, gently setting the tray over Emily's lap.

"Thanks!" Emily said, looking forward to eating because her stomach wouldn't stop telling her that she was hungry.

"Before I leave," Aerith said, who was already at the door, "I found the King. He was observing Tidus and Merlin's progress." After Aerith had exited the room, the familiar form of the little mouse entered.

"Glad ta see you're doin' better!" the King squeaked.

"Glad to be feeling better, your majesty." Emily said, grinning as she pealed her orange.

"I'll let ya eat your breakfast," the King continued, taking a seat in the empty armchair, "And then you can tell me your important news." Emily stopped pealing her orange, and stared at the King, a bit surprised that he was truly interested in what she had to say.

"Please," he said, noticing her staring. "Finish. Food will give you much needed energy." Emily nodded, and went back to pealing her orange.

After successfully pealing the last portion, she ate a slice, and set the rest of the orange down. She had to tell the King everything before she forgot any of it.

"When I fell," she started, "It was because Diexsa called me, your majesty." Emily then went on to explain how Xemnas was planning something, but Diexsa wasn't sure what and how Diexsa was being locked up in a small room for her supposed "protection". She told of Diexsa's lessons with Xemnas on how to control her powers, and how Xemnas had explained the difference between subconscious and conscious connections. All the while the King nodded in the appropriate times, never changing his facial expressions.

"Is that all?" he asked, after Emily had stopped talking. Emily thought and then remembered something.

"No!" she shouted, how could she have forgotten?

"Diexsa said--- she said that the people that she brought back--- she said that she gave them artificial hearts. She said that even the nobodies would be able to feel emotions, well--- up to a certain point anyways. She said that the light she put into them made a type of artificial heart." Emily finished and looked at the King. He seemed to be pondering this statement. But all he said was, "hmmm", before jumping off the chair. He stopped at the doorway and said, "I'll inform the others. You need ta rest up. We're only plannin' ta stay here another day and you need ta get plenty-a rest while you can."

"Your majesty!" Emily called as the King moved through the door and out of view. He popped his head back in and asked, "Yes?"

"I was wondering if it would be possible for me to go out with the others. I wanted to look at the town---" but the King cut her off.

"No. I know it sounds kinda harsh, but you really should stay in bed. Too much blood rushing into your head could cause ya ta fall again, and we don't want that." he said, and left before Emily could argue. How unfair was this!? Emily had to stay bed ridden; unable to do anything while everyone else was either getting training, or doing something for the benefit of, well, all the worlds. And here Emily was, stuck in a bed, not allowed to do anything. She found it highly unfair.

Emily looked down at her breakfast tray, no longer finding herself hungry. She chugged the rest of her orange juice and removed the tray off her lap. After looking for a table to put the tray on, Emily reluctantly set the tray back down, hoping that Aerith would soon come back to take it. Emily huffed and laid her head on her pillow. She was extremely upset that the King wouldn't let her go out. She wanted to see the town, wanted to explore it, wanted to help the others with whatever they were doing. She didn't plan on being such a burden. So far it seemed that bad things kept happening to her. She and Tidus had had a fight, Shelby seemed to hate her, discovering she was the Receiver, Diexsa hurting her several times in the process of calling her.

But the more Emily thought about it, the more she began to realize that so far, everything had turned out for the better. She and Tidus had gotten back together, Shelby stopped being angry, and Emily was now an insider on what was happening with Xemnas. Emily still couldn't help feeling upset that she wasn't allowed to do anything, but she couldn't feel upset that only bad things were happening to her, because all the bad things had turned out to be good things. She sighed, but was startled when there was a knock at her door.

"Uh--- come in." Emily said, not sure of who it was seeing as there were so many people in the one little house.

Aerith came into the room.

"Just checking in on you." she said warmly.

"Are you finished?" she asked, pointing to the breakfast tray. Emily nodded her head. Aerith smiled and took the tray.

"I'm going out to do a few things. Only Leon and Axel are still here, so if you need anything they say to just holler." Aerith said, leaving the room. Emily nodded.

"Okay." she said. A few minutes after Aerith left her room, Emily heard the sound of a large door open and close. Emily guessed it was the front door, and that Aerith had gone.

Emily figured she might as well try to sleep, seeing that was the only thing she could think to do. Perhaps Diexsa would try calling her again. Emily closed her eyes, but her mind was buzzing on too many topics for Emily to even think about sleep. She opened her eyes and sighed out of boredom. Then it dawned on her. The only two people there were Axel, and the man named Leon. It would be much easier for her to sneak out while there were fewer people in the house. Emily sat up quickly, but had to lay back down when the sudden rush of blood made her become dizzy. When her head cleared, she sat up again, only much slower, and more carefully.

"So far so good." She said to herself in a whisper as she planted her feet on the ground and stood up for the first time in two days. It felt good to be on her feet again. Emily stretched, and noticed that she was wearing a very baggy pair of pajamas. She slowly walked over to the other side of the bed, and found her bag that she had packed. She changed into a pair of khaki caprice and a purple shirt that had three quarter length sleeves. She was careful when pulling it over her head so as not to mess up her bandages.

She slipped a pair of tennis shoes on, and pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail. This was done with a lot of pain. It hurt to stretch the skin on her scalp. After she struggled to put her hair up, she snuck over to her door. She opened it just a crack, and did it as quietly as possible. She listened, and heard Axel's and who she guessed to be Leon's conversation.

"So," Leon was saying. "You just imagine your chakrams being there, and they show up?"

"Mm hmm." came Axel's voice. Emily should have guessed they'd be talking about weaponry.

She stopped listening to their conversation, and decided it was safe for her to poke her head out of her room. Axel and Leon's voices were coming from a room somewhere from the right, and to the left was a dead end. When she had heard Aerith leave, she heard the front door close from a room that must have been to the right. Emily quietly tiptoed out of the room, and shut the door almost silently. She tiptoed down the hallway, praying that the old wooden floorboards wouldn't creak. Her heart was pounding as the two men's voices got louder. The hallway stopped, and led into a large room. It seemed that Axel and Leon were located in this room. Emily stopped moving forward, for her heart had given a giant lurch.

"Be back in a sec." It was Axel's voice. Emily heard fast approaching footsteps coming her way, and she decided to make a run for it. She turned around, but the sudden movement sent her head in a dizzying frenzy, and she could feel herself falling as her eyes became clouded with a black and gray fuzz. However, she never hit the ground. A hand was tightly closed around her arm, preventing her from crashing. Emily opened her eyes, and regained her balance. She turned to see that it was Axel who was grasping her.

"What have we got here?" he asked with a smirk, and eyed Emily suspiciously. He let go of her arm.

"I--- uh---" Emily stuttered, searching for words. Axel held out his finger and said, "Tsk, tsk. You shouldn't be outta bed. The King gave us specific instructions to not let you leave your room, much less leave the house." Axel was giving her a pretty convincing look of sternness. Emily hesitated before saying angrily, "I'm fine! Really, I am! I can't stand lying in bed anymore! I wanna get up! I need to do something!" Axel looked surprised, he was obviously not expecting her to lash out in anger.

"Look," Axel started explaining. "We don't want you to go hurting your pretty little head again. If you honestly want to do something to help, then go back to bed. It'll make us feel better knowing that you're getting better. You took quite a nasty fall there---"

"But I feel fine now!" Emily shouted, interrupting. "I'm going mad staying in that room." Axel had suddenly gotten a stern, almost fatherly look on his face.

"Do you know how much we did for you after you fell? We all got soaked, Sora used all of his magic to heal you, and---"

"Gee Axel," Emily sneered. "It sounds like you're actually feeling an emotion." The words escaped her mouth before she even realized what she had said.

Axel stared at her, his face rigid. His eye seemed to twitch before he put his head in one hand, and pointed back to Emily's room with the other and said, "Go. Just--- go."

"Axel--- I---" Emily tried to apologize. Axel said nothing. He gestured her to go back to her room.

"I'm so sorry…" Emily said, not moving. "I didn't--- I just--- gaw, I don't even know what came over me." Axel took his head out of his un-pointing hand and looked Emily in the eyes. After an extended silence, Emily asked softly, "King Mickey didn't tell you, did he…"

"Tell me what!?" Axel snapped, but caught himself and repeated more calmly, "Tell me… what?"

Emily took a deep breath before saying, "He didn't tell you about the--- about your heart, err--- your fake heart, anyways." Axel looked taken aback.

"My--- what?" He looked like he wasn't sure if he should be laughing, or crying, or possibly even both at the same time. However that was a complicated emotion, even for those that possessed actual hearts, so it was probably far to complicated for the artificial heart steadily beating in Axel's chest to perform.

"Looks like I've got a lot of explaining to do…" Emily said. She paused before adding, "That is, if you're not mad anymore… and if you'll let me come out of that room." Axel looked her over for a moment before grinning and saying, "Naa--- come on. You can join me and Leon in the other room. It's a bit cramped in there though…"

Emily grinned and followed Axel who was walking into the room where Emily had heard him and Leon discussing weaponry. She took a step forward, but immediately felt dizzy again. Her eyes clouded once more as she began falling towards the floor. This time she hit it, and it wasn't too painful of an impact, but she knew she'd have several bruises.

"Hey!" Emily heard Axel's voice shout, and she heard and felt his running footsteps towards her. Her vision cleared as Axel helped her up.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning…" Emily nervously chuckled, rubbing the red spot that had formed on her knee. After making sure Emily was able to stand on her own, Axel let go of her, and put his other arm behind his head as he said, "Maybe you should just tell me about this in your bed. Your head still needs time to heal you know."

"I think you're right." Emily said reluctantly, messaging her temples with her fingers.

"Walk slow. Got it memorized? You don't need to hurry, your door isn't that far away." Axel said, going ahead of Emily and opening the bedroom door. Emily did as she was told, not wanting to chance falling again. After a slow and cautious walk, Emily climbed back into the soft bed. Axel grabbed the armchair and pulled it closer to the bed so he could hear what Emily had to tell him about his so-called "heart". But before Emily could even begin, the man named Leon's head popped into the door and said in a concerned tone, "Is everything okay? It sounded like someone fell."

"Yeah, everything's peachy." Axel said, not meaning to sound rude.

"Everything's fine." Emily said reassuringly. Leon nodded, and turned and walked out of the room to do who knew what.

"The suspense is killing me. Really." Axel said, leaning on his hands looking at Emily with a look of true curiosity. Emily could tell that the emotion wasn't fake because she could see it in Axel's eyes. Before his eyes were just blank, emotionless green orbs. Now there was something in them, be it a gleam, or a sparkle, Emily could just tell that Axel was experiencing true emotion for the first time in years, whether he knew it or not.

"I had another meeting with Diexsa. That's why I fell the other night." Emily then went on to explain everything she had previously told the king. She was surprised that she could still remember it in almost full detail. She paused to take a breath before explaining the part about the hearts of light.

"So," she said, "when she brought you back to life, she placed an orb of light in your chest where your heart should've been.

"It's no where close to being a real heart, or a heart like the one you would've received from Kingdom Hearts, but, it's a beating, pumping, emotion-feeling heart nonetheless." Emily stopped talking, waiting to hear Axel's reply. Axel sat quietly for a moment before saying, "You're pulling my leg!"

"No!" Emily said, knowing how to get him to believe her. "Place your hand over the spot where your heart should be and feel for yourself." Axel sat, just staring at Emily.

"Well, go on! What's the worst that could happen?" Emily said, beaming, knowing that she would win. Axel shook his head, and laughed as he removed his glove from his right hand. He then placed it over his chest, and felt. His face immediately turned into one of shock, and some of the color seemed to drain from his face.

"No way." he said in disbelief. He did not remove his hand from his chest; as if he was daring it to stop beating. Emily nodded, grinning. Axel stood up, and said, his face turning a light shade of green, "I---" he stuttered, "I think I'm gonna be sick!" he ran out of the room, and Emily heard a nearby door slam, the bathroom no doubt. Emily burst out laughing. It wasn't that the situation was funny, well, maybe a little, but to be honest with herself, Emily didn't really know what her reason for laughing was.

After Emily had calmed down a little, she felt her stomach squirm uncomfortably.

"I'm starving," she said as she realized she never actually finished her breakfast. Not wanting to risk getting another dizzy attack, Emily shouted for Axel, who bounded back into the room, a look of complete merriment on his face. He ran to Emily, and began squeezing the life out of her in a tight hug. After the shock wore off, Emily said, "You know, I have a rule about touching. No touching me, 'got it memorized'?" she said, laughing as Axel put her down and gave her an 'I-hate-you-for-using-my-line' look which vanished quickly.

"I don't know how I didn't see it before!" he said excitedly.

"See what?" Emily asked.

"I mean, I don't know how I overlooked all of this---" he searched for the word, but couldn't seem to find a better one than, "feeling."

"You mean the emotions?" Emily asked, and Axel nodded.

"I overlooked them. I guess--- I really don't know! But I realized while I was in the bathroom. This overwhelming sense of… I guess the emotion is 'happiness'… yeah… that's it--- This overwhelming sense of happiness came over me. And I realized that I was actually feeling happy! Then you called, and I--- hey what did you want anyway, kid?" Axel said, regaining his "cool; nonchalant" composure once more. Emily held back a giggle. She had never seen Axel this--- well, there really wasn't a word to describe him.

"I wanted some food," she said, masking an escaping laugh as a cough.

"Well, I'll go ask Leon what he has in the kitchen. Oh, and I was going to show him my chakrams…" Axel mumbled as he left the room and walked down the hallway.

Emily couldn't wait for everyone to return so she could tell them the news as well. Axel soon returned with a ham and cheese sandwich, or at least, that's what it looked like. Emily took a bite and noticed that it didn't really taste like ham, but it didn't matter. It was delicious.

"Thanks." Emily said with her mouth full.

"No prob." Axel said, lazily waving her off with his hand. Before Axel left the room, he said, "You should rest up. The others'll be returning soon, along with your little boyfriend, and there's no doubt that he's gonna want to talk to you." Emily nodded. As soon as she finished her sandwich, Emily felt the effects of sleep hit her like a rock. She was out like a light within ten minutes.

A/N: so what did ya think? I was trying to picture what axel might do if he learned he had a heart, so… that was just what I thought in my mind. If you have any ideas on what you think a nobody's reaction might be, please tell me because I would really like to hear your ideas. Review please! And again, my thanks goes out to Mr. Fipp.