Another chapter, yay! I spent a good hour or two mapping and planning out this story, and I'm so excited for these next few chapter! Please review and enjoy!
I couldn't remember how long it took us to get through all the worlds I had ever been to or had even one insignificant memory on, but by the time we returned to where we had left Naminé, I was exhausted; mentally and physically. There were so many memories crammed into my brain I was getting a headache, and confused. Some of the memories I had had were from when I was twelve years old, and then thirteen, fourteen fifteen, and even sixteen. Nothing made any sense any more as Axel talked to Naminé across the room and I sat with my head in my hands from the pain of my headache in a chair.
"Roxas?" Naminé's voice was quiet and I barely noticed it. "Roxas, are you all right?" Axel stood behind her, his eyes filled with worry and his forehead furrowed in confusion.
"Yeah, I'm just tired I guess." I gave them both a tired smile and I saw their faces visibly relax.
"You've been through a lot today Rox, but at least you're almost done. And now it's up to Naminé to put that last few pieces together, right Naminé?" Both out gazes fell on a particularly nervous and guilty looking Naminé who had shrunk away from us a little as Axel had been talking. "Naminé?"
"W-well…" She looked up and her eyes darted from me to Axel back to me. "There's still one memory that too big for me to big out on its own, and you can probably figure out which one that it, Axel." Confused I looked up at Axel whose face went a little pale and whose gaze turned down towards the floor avoiding looking at Naminé or me. What ever this memory was, apparently it was bigger than I thought.
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that." He looked up at me with a sad smile. "Guess you're not done Rox, sorry." I sighed, as my headache seemed intensify with that news.
"I figured I wasn't, that would have been too easy." I smiled back and his smile lost some of its sadness. For a moment I was happy, until realization hit me. "Actually, I do remember a little bit about what happened on the day I left." Two pairs of wide eyes looked at me with surprise and shock.
"Roxas you should have told us!" Naminé's voice was finally loud enough for me to hear here without having to lean closer to her, even bordering on yelling, and it surprised me a little.
"I-well I didn't know it was that important…" I was such a bad liar, and Axel noticed it as he gave me a scrutinizing look.
"When did you remember whatever it was that happened?" I swallowed nervously.
"It was when we had just gotten in to the castle. It was when you grabbed my wrist and I blacked out." I looked up into Axel's eyes and I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. He seemed so understanding and concerned about me, it was breaking me on the inside to tell him about the horribly painful memory, especially since I had finally remembered all the good things between us.
Everything just bubbled over and poured out of me all at once, shocking the other two and myself, but I couldn't stop talking. Even when I glanced up and saw Axel's face falling as he remembered the same memory, my brain just kept telling me to keep talking, just keep talking. When I was done, there was silence. Axel wouldn't look at me, he was just staring blankly ahead, but I could almost see the gears in his head turning. Then, just as suddenly as I had poured out this memory, Axel turned and started to walk away.
"Axel…"
"Don't, Roxas, just don't." I could tell he was a mix of hurt and anger, and I couldn't blame him. I was mad at myself for knowing what happened in that memory was real, and that I had hurt the only person I cared for more than I could ever put in words. "I just, need some time to think."
"Axel I'm so sorry." I knew he heard me as he opened up a portal and stepped inside the darkness, but at first he didn't acknowledge me. With one leg inside the portal and the other still here, I held my breath and waited for him to say something.
I could tell he was still in a state of shock and he was still hurt, but I heard the words he quietly spoke before he stepped fully into the darkness and saw the way his expression flashed a change towards guilt. "I know, me too."
And then it was just Naminé and I, standing in silence. Naminé shifted awkwardly where she stood before she spoke up after a few quiet moments. "I've known Axel for a while too, just let him cool off. He's incredibly hot headed." Inwardly I smirked because of how much of an understatement that was, but I couldn't bring myself to physically smile. I hurt Axel, and I hated myself for that.
I turned to face Naminé, realizing the only way I could figure out this whole mess and why I left Axel was to remember the rest of that day, no matter what it took. I would go to the ends of the Earth and any other world and back again if it meant making everything right with Axel. "How do I remember everything else Naminé? I need to remember everything as quickly as possible."
Naminé's expression perked up a little as she put a hand on her cheek and drummed her index finger against it. "Well, I think that physical contact is the trigger for these really big memories, because when Axel grabbed your wrist you remembered. So, basically you'll have to find everyone, or most everyone, who you probably saw or talked to on that day and come in physical contact with them, and that should unearth those last few memories."
"Do you think I saw you that day?" I asked hurriedly, a bit rudely which I felt bad about, but I was in a hurry. Big time.
"I-I think so." She stuttered, her cheeks turned a little pink, then she shook it off and replied more confidently. "Yes, we were. You're memory's the way it is because of me, so we must have come in contact at come point."
I held out my hand straight up with my palm facing her. "Well, it's worth a shot." She smiled, the first real smile that actually made her look happy since I had seen her, and placed her hand against mind as we both closed our eyes.
"What happened to him!" I didn't know whose voice it was. I was fading in and out of consciousness, and the girl's voice wasn't one I recognized.
"I'll explain it later, but you to do this now, before Xemnas finds out. He thinks Roxas left the Organization for good, he doesn't know he's here."
I recognized that voice. "Axel." I murmured faintly, and I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Shh, just stay quiet," and for once I actually listened to him. I was just happy he was here with me and wasn't mad anymore. He had learned the truth, and the truth explained everything. But I couldn't think of what everything was right now; I was too tired, and my whole body ached in pain.
"Axel, what exactally is it that you all want me to do?" The girl's voice was shaky and uncertain, almost fearful.
"Give him new memories, so we can put him in a new world, a world that you create for him, for just a little bit, just until we figure everything out." I panicked for a moment. New memories? But, I liked the ones I had. I was about to open my mouth, to object, but then I remembered that it was Axel who had said the idea, and I relaxed. Axel would never to anything to hurt me. Never.
"But Axel, you know how dangerous that could be! If I give him new memories, the new ones may replace the old ones permanently. He could forget about everything and everyone here forever!" I heard the panic and uncertainty in her voice, and I tensed up again. I tried to open my eyes but my eyelids weighted a hundred pounds and all the energy I had left was going towards listening to this conversation.
"Of course I know Naminé, but it's the only way! If we just dump him in this new world he'll find a way to come back, especially after all that's happened. He's just like that, you know? But, if we put new memories in him, just to cover up the ones he has from here, then he won't try and find a way to come back here because there won't know this place exists."
"Axel… I don't know. It's hard to create a fake world, even if he's the only real person in it."
"Naminé, that's exactally what this world is; a world that was never meant to exist, a world that's not real. It can be done, and the world you make with your magic will be on a smaller scale, like the size of a small town. If anyone can do it Naminé, it's you."
"I'll try, the best I can, if it's to help Roxas." I felt a soft smooth hand place itself on my forehead, and I opened my eyes the most I could. Through my eyelashes I saw a girl's face on one side and Axel standing off to the side with his arms crossed and a worried face.
"Don't worry Roxas, I'll be here when you wake up, I promise." Then I saw nothing but darkness.
My eyes snapped open and I stumbled back a few steps from Naminé. Her eyes were still closed; she was still remembering things from after I blacked out.
I stood there, trying to absorb the memory. So, if that was true then…the life I lived before, the world where everything seemed so dull and normal, where Axel disappeared from my life, that was all a lie? An elaborate story made up by Axel and Naminé to keep me in one place?
So that was it. Everything in my life was a lie. How did I know that the things I was remembering weren't lies too? I felt my headache get worse, and in confusion and pain I dropped down to my knees holding my head in my hands.
"Roxas! Roxas are you all right?" I heard Naminé's startled voice and I looked up. When she met me eyes she stopped advancing towards me and looked away. "Roxas, I'm sorry, about everything that happened."
"So what? Sorry doesn't change anything." I tried to be angry; to be bitter, but it just came out sad and discouraged. "My mind has been filled with lies. My entire life, the one I thought I had lived, isn't even real; it's just a bunch of fake memories stuffed together so I wouldn't leave that place."
"Roxas, this is my fault. I can't believe I was so stupid to do this to you, to pretend that changing your memory wouldn't turn out so bad in the end, that you wouldn't be scared from it. I was wrong." She put her head in her hands and started to silently sob as I looked up at her from my knees, and I felt genuinely horrible.
"Naminé, this isn't all your fault, you were just doing what Axel asked you to do, and so you guys could apparently save me."
"But I should have come up with another way!" she shouted into her hands. "Messing with memories never ends well, I should have learned by now." Naminé wiped a tear out of her eye as she raised her head and sucked in a deep breath to calm herself. "I'll make everything right though, I promise. I don't know how but I will. You should go now though."
"Wait, why?"
"Go find Demyx or Xion, one of them had to have seen you that day. You need to figure out what happened that day, so everyone can remember and then we can fix this whole mess. Well, I can fix this whole mess." I felt my heart swell with sadness for her as Naminé tried to give me an encouraging smile. "Just go, I'll be all right."
"Naminé are you-"
"Yes, now go. If I see Axel I'll tell him where to look for you, now go." I gave her one parting smile before turning and running towards the door. I didn't stop to look back, but I didn't think I had to. Naminé had said everything would be all right, so it would be, right?
Right?