I adore you guys. Your reviews make my life and they keep me excited to add another chapter to the story each time. So thank you all very much. You all rock. Now let's see what our friends get themselves into this time around. And for fair warning, there's more reminiscing/flashbacks in this chapter. Those will probably be a little common for a while before everyone starts actually talking to one another.

'But because things change.

And friends leave.

And life doesn't stop for anybody.'

~Stephen Chbosky, 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'

Xion

"Hey, Ivy, wake up for a second." Xion awoke in the morning to Ventus shaking her arm gently, and for a moment she froze up, not used to somebody else waking her up. When she realized that it was just the oblivious man she was staying with, she relaxed, and, although relieved it was just him, stayed wary due to the fact that her hips were riddled with new additions to her ever-growing collection of wounds. She thanked whatever masters of the universe that were listening for the sheets that were covering her from waist down so that her new acquaintance wasn't faced with the sight of them. She glared up at him from her sleeping position and he smiled apologetically down at her, "Sorry, Ivy, I know it's early, but do you want breakfast before I head out? Aqua needs to know so she can fix any or not." Xion thought about this for a moment. Have someone make her breakfast, or go searching for it later. She nodded without a second thought and Ventus nodded, whispered, "Okay, great!" and left the room.

She hadn't had anyone make her breakfast in a very long time. Xion glanced at the small digital clock sitting on the night table to her left and watched the red number blink 9:17 at her. The woman sat up with a groan and peeled the sheets off of her legs. Nothing had leaked through her bandages onto the sheets during the night, and she breathed a sigh of relief at that. One less thing to try and fix. Her bag held only a single clean pair of pants and T-shirt left before she would have to wash her apparel again, and she reminded herself to look for a washer and dryer later. Xion tentatively left the bed and stood up slowly as she pulled the pair of black jeans over her legs, ignoring the feeling of her bandages rubbing against the denim. Those wounds would have to be checked later, but for now, her mind stayed fixated on the promise of food outside her room.

She left the room, wrapped in the comforter from her bed, and followed the noise of banging kitchen appliances and someone humming to themselves until she found Aqua, setting out different pots and pans on the tiny counter. "Oh, hello, Ivy!" Aqua greeted, placing a pan on the stove. "Hello." Xion replied, and sat at the kitchen table, snuggling into the comforter. "Would you like some bacon this morning?" Aqua asked, and Xion glanced at the array of foods laid out on the counter. "Sure." All of this was reminding her so much of Luxord. That was something she tried not to reminisce about. It just hurt too much. Everything hurt too much. But especially that.

After she had begun to stay with Luxord, her life had taken a dramatic turn from a dull and sad, but safe life to one that held questionable decisions, blacked out nights, and a coping mechanism that didn't leave her skin stained and scarred. She hadn't found it all that exciting at first. She viewing getting drunk, being high, or under the influence of any other drug as just…mediocre. She didn't feel accomplished or freed or like she could take on the world. She just felt better. And that was enough to keep her coming back for more. Luxord had acquired a fancying for gambling, one that Xion never picked up-she thought of them as mindless games that she could pay for as an app on a phone and get the same feeling out of it. And the feelings were all that she cared about. She was just chasing a feeling, not a good time or money. She was chasing all of the emotions that she couldn't coax out any other way. Just as he was.

And if Luxord found those feelings through a pointless card game, then who was she to judge him? The two had developed a pattern of gambling during the early evening, and then when it was obscenely late for anyone else to be awake but them, they did their business behind the holy house. She could sleep for a few hours before classes and he could sleep for a bit before going to work. She was always a little tired and a bit run down every day, but she knew that she would always be tired no matter how much she slept. The one thing she did enjoy about living with Luxord over all of the other reasons was that her safety was secured with him. Nobody fucked with Luxord, just as nobody fucked with Xaldin. She did not love him, though she slept with him often. She did not value him over other people, even though she constantly followed him around at nights. He simply made her feel safer than she'd felt in a very long time. And for her, that was enough.

The best part was that she knew that he wasn't hopelessly attached to her. He was simply in desperate need of company, and she was the best company that he could keep. They both required nothing from each other and yet needed everything from one another. She would keep the house nice, she sold more and therefore made more money (though she sold more than just the drugs in her pocket) but he kept her safe, and he always woke her up with breakfast. That was what made Aqua so similar to Luxord. No, her optimistic air was not similar to Luxord, who often settled into grim sarcasm. It also wasn't her constant need to chatter on about anything. Luxord never said something without a purpose. It was that they both fed her. They both treated her like an equal. And even if she did find Aqua rather annoying and far too happy for her own good, Xion would take it. After all, she had no clue as to how long this would last. She figured she might as well enjoy this while it lasted.

So she said yes to the bacon, and eggs, and toast, and let Aqua shove whatever concoction of ingredients that she could come up with in front of her. And she let herself enjoy it.

Naminé

Naminé was hiding. Behind Sora and Demyx, that is. She could hear Sora speaking, "Hello, I'm Sora Hikari, is this the residence of Roxas Strife?" Even to Naminé's ears he sounded nervous. To the woman's shock, however, she heard laughter from inside the apartment. Immediately she identified Roxas' laugh. It sounded older, harder, different. But she still knew it was him. She peaked out from around Sora's shoulder just enough to see a tall red haired man with absurd triangle tattoos under each eye. She could see blonde hair past him. But his face, she couldn't see. The red head winked at her and she disappeared behind Sora again. She felt Sora turn to glance down at her. The three stood in the doorway for a moment, waiting for the blonde to stop laughing, and when he did, she heard him say,

"Well, well, if it isn't Destiny Islands' very own golden boy, come to visit with the commoners." Sora chuckled nervously, "Hey, Roxas." The next time Roxas spoke Naminé could hear he was closer now, the bitterness evident in his voice. She cowered behind Sora's frame. "How ya doing, ya dipshit? You haven't talked to me in what, three years?" "Listen, I'm sorry about that. I got into a business and they took all of my time. I'm really sorry-" "Oh, shut up, ya dipshit." Roxas laughed, and wrapped Sora in the biggest hug Naminé had ever seen. Luckily, Roxas' eyes were closed, and she had time to nervously glance at the red head, who smiled at her, and Demyx, who was looking around the apartment's interior. And then Roxas' eyes opened.

She could see her tiny reflection in his eyes and she tried her best to not appear completely terrified. She could see in his expression first the recognition, then the confusion, and then just…wide eyes. "Naminé?" he murmured, letting go of Sora and stepping towards her. She felt herself flinch a bit and he frowned at her. She couldn't help herself, it wasn't that he put her off; she just found the sight of him so utterly terrifying. Her body flinched without her even thinking about it. Unfortunately, he noticed, and retracted the hand he had begun to extend to her and frowned. "Naminé…it's me. Roxas. You remember me, right?" he asked, only half joking. Naminé smiled hesitantly at him, "Yes." Was all she could choke out. He let the corner of his mouth curve ever so slightly and gulped. His hand hesitantly stretched out and pulled her shoulder towards him. And she let him pull her into an awkward but familiar hug.

Roxas' arms wrapped around her, and for the first time in five years she could vividly smell the cologne that he wore-the same he'd used since his junior year of high school. This was real. This was really happening. Here he was. Her blonde haired dream had finally come to chase all of the loneliness away. So she let him hold her, and she let herself hold him back. And she let herself weep into his shoulder while he ran his fingers through her hair, telling her how happy he was to see her.

They had all squished into Roxas' living room, Sora and Naminé on the couch, Roxas in an overstuffed chair across from them, Demyx had pulled up a kitchen chair and the red head-Axel stood against the wall, arms crossed. "So you want me to follow you back to the city and work behind a desk for the rest of my life?" Roxas questioned after Sora had explained the job to his old friend. Sora smiled nervously, taken aback by Roxas' seemingly effortless shifts from sarcastic and bitter to happy throughout their conversation. "Yes." Sora answered, "I was told I needed at least four new managers by the end of the month, and I said I could get five." Roxas leaned back in his chair and glanced around him, up at his walls and the ceiling around him. Axel cleared his throat and hissed, "Roxas, what are you waiting for? You wanted to get away. This is your chance!" Roxas stared at his friend and snorted. "Axel, I can't just leave. I'd have an apartment to sell, things to pack. I need more time." He said the last part to Sora and Naminé.

Naminé had to work to keep her expression neutral. Here she was, finally with Roxas again, but now he was saying he couldn't go with them. She saw Roxas lock gazes with hers and sigh, "Naminé, I'd go with you…I just can't pack and sell my house in a day." She nodded, and was about to respond by asking if he would even bother to contact her again, when Sora interjected quickly, "We can wait a few days!" Both she and Roxas stared at Sora with surprise. "Don't you only have two and a half weeks to find everyone else?" he asked, and Sora nodded. "Well yeah, but…you're my best friend. And you're Naminé's best friend, too. We can wait a few days." "I can help you pack" Axel said to Roxas, and Naminé found herself smiling. So maybe she would get her chance with Roxas after all. Roxas glanced at her and she quickly hid her smile. He snorted, "Alright, fine…I'll see what I can do."

For a moment, Naminé felt like she could fly. For a moment, everything felt right. And then that moment ended with a phone call. Naminé felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and she picked it up, looked at the caller ID, and answered it immediately when she saw it was her mother's number. "Mom? Is everything okay?" Naminé answered the phone, hoping that nothing had happened to her dear mother. She heard the other line crackle and then her mother's voice, raw and teary say, "Naminé? Where are you?" The blonde girl smiled and relaxed, "Mom, I told you, I put my house up for sale, I'm moving from the islands to Radiant Gardens for a job." "Yes, yes, I know that, I need to know where you are right now…something's happened…" "What, mom? Are you alright? Did something happen to dad?" "No, but…oh this is so horrible. You remember your old friend from high school, Kairi?" Naminé furrowed her brow and snapped her fingers at Sora, "Yeah, I remember Kairi." She said and hit the 'speaker' button on her phone. Roxas and Sora moved to stand around Naminé as her mother continued talking, her voice growing more and more hysterical as she kept going. "Well, her mother called me this morning, she received a call at four in the morning from the hospital…" Naminé glanced up at Sora, his eyes widened. "And the hospital said that she was brought in by a man driving along the high way. He said she jumped out in front of the car."

Kairi

Everything was so dark…Kairi didn't think this was what heaven would be like. Or hell, for that matter. Maybe there wasn't either. Maybe she was just destined to float through nothingness for all of eternity. Just like her life. She'd never be able to escape nothingness. How disappointing. But she could feel something… what was it called again? Pain. There was pain here. Why was there pain? Hadn't she gotten rid of all of her pain? Why hadn't it worked? It wasn't dark anymore. There was a light. Was this the light that everyone talked about? Was she finally going to be free from all of her pain and frustrations?

But as the light got brighter, the pain increased. In fact, the pain shooting through her abdomen and shoulders became nearly unbearable, until she felt her eyelids snap open, and a blinding whiteness assault her eyes. This wasn't an afterlife. This wasn't death. There were several lights above her, beaming down at her. An IV was attached to her left arm, and bandaged encircled her stomach and much of her chest. A heart monitor beeped at her faintly from her left. There was an ache throughout her limbs, and a breathing tube supplied oxygen into her nose. Her plan hadn't worked. She hadn't succeeded. Now she had to watch her family find out. She had to face people and listen to them cry to her about how devastated they were. Because she couldn't do one thing right. Not even kill herself. Not one god damned thing could go right. She fought the urge to scream and cry. Now she was stuck here. To be miserable all over again.

Someone cleared their throats from the doorway. She glanced up through the strands of hair that had fallen in her face and felt her heart skip a beat. The heart monitor to her left recorded this, and she glared at it. Standing in front of her was the most beautiful angel she had ever laid eyes on. Here he was, here were her friends, staring down at her as if she were a monster. Here they were, witnessing her like this. Why did he come for her now? Why had they chosen now to finally find her?! She felt a wave of rage wash over her, and before she could even think, she clenched her fists and screamed at Sora, "Get out!"

Well, I hope you all found this chapter satisfactory. Please review, favorite, etc. And have a fantastic day everyone!

Special thanks to: 89niners-best-team-ever, mckail397, Lucenthia, Megamewgirl, xXSilenceXx, Sookdeo, and Princess-Xion. Thanks for reviewing you guys!