Chapter 11: Together Apart

Day 98

*knock-knock

Before Xion could even lift herself out of bed to open the door, Roxas let himself into her room and plopped himself down on the bed. "Hey! Mornin' Xion!" He greeted.

"...morning..." She yawned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "You sound enthusiastic, what do you want?"

"I wanna go to this festival with you."

"Where's it at?"

"Twilight Town. There's this thing called a summer festival I've been hearing about since the last time I came there and they're giving out a bunch of free ice cream. So, how about it?"

"Of course, sounds fun!"

Roxas grinned. "-Oh and before you ask, we'll be back before Saïx even wakes up to assign us missions. Axel's for sure gonna come with us too...whenever he's done with his mission that is."

"He's on a mission at this time? Gosh, no wonder he takes so many naps."

"Yeah I know." Roxas got off the bed and headed back to the doorway. "C'mon slowpoke or I'll leave without ya."

"Right, right, after you just invited me." Xion followed Roxas out of her room and down the hall into a dark portal.

OoO

Xion and Roxas arrived in the streets of Twilight Town, it was a relatively quiet day with a few people walking around, shopping, and gazing through the store windows. Days like this were xion's favorite.

"Alright so the festival is at a place called 'Sunset Terrace' and we'll have to take the train to get there," Roxas said.

"The train? I've never been on one before."

"Neither have I, this'll be a new experience for the both of us."

They began walking to the station plaza where, unlike the quiet streets, was bustling and loud. "Looks like this is where the rest of Twilight Town is," Roxas said, Xion nodded in silence, they navigated through the crowd to get inside the train station.

As expected, the train station was as jam packed as station plaza, but it only proved the fuel their imagination for what the summer festival would be like. "Whoa didn't think this many people would be here," Roxas said.

Xion smiled. "Man, I'm getting really excited for this!"

Roxas chuckled, then added, "Me too." He fished around in his pocket for his munny pouch. 'For me and her together...I should have just enough for two tickets and a couple snacks at the festival.'

Xion sat down on a bench by the door while Roxas went up to the ticket counter to buy tickets, she glimpsed out of the window at the endless sunset. 'I can't believe I'm going to a festival. I've never been to one of those before. Best of all, I'll be here with one of my best friends.'

"Hey, Xion."

Xion turned around to see Roxas waving at her with two train tickets in hand. "Let's get on!"

"Ok, I'm coming!" Xion joined Roxas in the line to board the train.

*SCREECH

"Sounds like that's the train."

They boarded the train and found themselves a seat near the back. As the train filled up, Roxas kicked back in his uncomfortable seat and Xion rested her head on the window.

"—Boarding passengers will be taken to Sunset Terrace, the north-east district of Twilight Town." A radio announced. With that, the doors closed shut and the train began moving.

"So..." Roxas began. "How's your keyblade been working out?"

"Great, I really can't thank you enough. Wish I planned going out to this summer festival out for you instead."

"Hey, don't mention it, I'm glad we're here. We should totally do this more often since we won't be working together anymore and all."

"I'd love to." She turned her back to stare out the window and enjoy the view, however, a black substance splatter on the window. "...huh?"

Subsequently, the train came to a halt and the radio blared out, "A swarm of black creatures has appeared on the tracks and we'll be unable to move on until we clear it out. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

Various complaints from the passengers occupied the once quiet train at word of their inconvenience, Xion and Roxas merely glanced at each other with mutual understanding of the situation. They walked down the aisle to the front door and opened it up, as they were moving around more cautiously once they were outside, several shadows jumped out in front of them.

Roxas took the first initiative and swatted them away. He then turned back to Xion, who summoned her own keyblade and with a smirk he said, "Why don't we test out that keyblade of yours?"

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Let's see who can kill the most heartless, loser has to buy the winner ice cream for the rest of the week!"

Xion twirled her keyblade in hand, holding it close. "You're on."

Xion and Roxas separated to opposite ends of the track, each killing as many heartless they could possibly find. There wasn't too many heartless lurking around so their game ended quickly and they returned to each other just as fast as they left.

"So, how many did you get?" Roxas asked, then added, "I got 16."

"Seriously? I only got 9, hm, I bet you miscounted."

"Oh sure," He said sarcastically. "Man, I can just taste that free ice cream already."

Xion rolled her eyes.

"Thank goodness!" Praised the train conductor. "Those things have given us such a hard time in the past!"

"We're happy to help," Xion said, she turned to Roxas. "Hey, we should stay outside on the roof of the train, just in case there's more."

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

"You're doing what?"

"It's ok, we'll have no problem staying in place while it moves," Roxas said.

Shaking his head, the train conductor went back into the train, momentarily, the engine roared and the wheels churned. In no time, the train was back at full speed, chugging across the tracks. The two nobodies stood firmly in place on the roof and watched the sky blur into a mix of orange and red as the train sped to its destination.

OoO

After the first bout of heartless, the road to Sunset Terrace was seamless and Xion unknowingly dozed off. Visions of Sora and Kairi formed in her head, along with another boy she couldn't identify. 'You're the boy named Sora, then there's Kairi...and then the other boy with silver hair. Who are you? Your name—'

"Xion! Hey! Wake up!"

Her eyes fluttered open. She looked around, dazed, then saw Roxas at the bottom waving to her. "We're here at Sunset Terrace!" He shouted.

Xion jumped off the train's roof and approached Roxas, embarrassed she'd fallen asleep like that. "So uh...the festival, it's here, right? Let's check it out."

"Mm hm!"

Together, they moved past crowds of people and down several sets of steps. They reached the large part of town where the festival was being held.

"Wow, this place looks so cool!"

"I've never seen anything like it!" Xion added.

A comfortable silence sat in between them while they marveled at the various stands stretched across the street and the colorful decorations adorning nearly every building and street sign.

"So what should we do first?" Xion asked.

"Whatever you want do?"

"Let's go see what those guys are doing over there!"

Xion took Roxas by the hand and dragged him all the way to a station where several tanks of small goldfish were swimming around in. A couple of kids were attempting to catch them with paper nets, Xion watched them curiously before turning to Roxas. "What're they doing?" She asked.

"Beats me, but we should try it out."

"—you guys!" A familiar voice yelled out.

Roxas and Xion looked behind to see Olette and Pence running over with Hayner lagging behind. "Never thought I'd find you two here," Olette said once they caught up to them.

"How could we pass free ice cream up," Roxas said.

"Ha ha, right? So this must be your guys' first festival," Pence said. "It's ours too. It took forever to make enough munny 'cause we were spending it on dumb stuff, but here we are."

"Does that mean you haven't played this game before," Xion said, motioning to the fish tanks.

"Poi? Yeah, we've played it before, not with real fish though, just with like toy fish or plastic balls," Olette said. "But basically all you have to do is—"

"Talk is cheap. You learn better by doing." Hayner interjected. "I'll show you how a pro scoops some goldfish."

Olette crossed her arms. "Could you be any more of a showoff?"

"I'm just helpin' some friends out." Hayner went up to the vendor and exchanged some munny for three paper nets and a small, plastic bag. He dipped his net just below the surface of the water, then quickly scooped out four small goldfish while they were swimming over the net.

"That was so cool!" Xion exclaimed.

"Wow Hayner, first try too, when'd you get so good at it?" Pence asked.

"Practice makes perfect, as they say." Hayner, having tied up the fishes in the bag, gave his prize to Xion who giddily accepted it.

"Thank you so much!"

"Anytime," He said smoothly.

Roxas frowned at his advances. "Why don't I try? Looks easy enough if you can do it." He marched up to the vendor to buy paper nets for himself.

"Roxas, it's not a competition." Xion reprimanded. "We're here to have fun."

"I don't know about that, I mean, beating him is gonna be pretty fun!"

Hayner smirked. "Oooh, are those fighting words? Just try and beat me."

Roxas approached the fish tank. 'I'll get a big one, that'll top him.' His eyes landed on the oddly colored black goldfish floating at the edge, it was double the size of the rest of the fishes and a perfect catch. He readied his paper net and in one swift motion, scooped the fish up, then plopped it in the bag, along with a few other goldfish.

"That's so awesome!" Xion exclaimed.

"And it's a different color too," Olette said."Talk about rare, huh Hayner?"

"Whatever."

"Oh, Roxas, can I borrow one of your nets so I can try?"

Roxas gave Xion a paper net and she went to the tanks. "...?" Upon closer inspection, she realized all the fish in the tank Roxas used were gone. 'He couldn't of got every single one, something is wrong.'

"What's up, Xion?" Roxas asked.

"Come see for yourself."

Roxas along with Hayner, Pence, and Olette went up to Xion.

Roxas shook his head. "They're all gone? How is that possible?!"

"Whoa, that's kinda freaky. There's no way you got them all in one go," Hayner said.

"..." Roxas raised his own fish bag to examine it, the bag was shrouded in total darkness, as if he was holding a bag of black ink. Suddenly, the bag burst open and several shadows crawled out.

Xion and Roxas summoned their keyblades and tried to attack the shadows, but they swiftly dodged their keyblades and disappeared, just like that.

"What kind of shadows were those... since when did they get so fast?" Xion muttered.

"Looks like those guys follow you everywhere," Pence said. "Where do you think they went this time?"

"Who knows, but me and Xion are going to end them."

Several loud screams erupted not too far from where they were telling them exactly where the heartless were. Before taking off, Xion looked over to Roxas with a smirk on her face. "Let's have a rematch," She said.

"Sure, but when you lose, you're gonna have to buy me and Axel ice cream next week too."

"Oh, really? Then I won't lose." With that, Xion bolted into the direction where the screams were the loudest. 'There, by the fruit stand!' She threw her keyblade at two heartless gnawing on the giant watermelons and destroyed them upon impact...along with the watermelon themselves.

As her keyblade, sticky from watermelon guts, returned to her hand, she saw several more heartless materialize from the shadows lining the ground. 'Awesome, I'll for sure win this time around!' Although, on her way to defeat the shadows, a keyblade flew in from above and struck the heartless, Roxas came down momentarily to pick his keyblade up and flashed a sly grin at Xion.

"Ugh! Rox..." Xion quickly spun around and slashed an airborne heartless that was coming from behind. 'Still, that only makes 6 for me. I have to up my game.' She leaped high up into the air to scout for any more heartless. 'Looks like there's a lot of them by the food carts- and Roxas is already heading that way. I need to hurry up.'

The moment Xion landed back down on the streets, she took off. On her way to catching up with Roxas, she found a giant heartless wielding an even bigger sword pulling itself out of the darkness. 'That one's near the goldfish scooping place, hope those three are ok.' She jumped over several stands and stood in the shadow casked by the towering heartless. 'This heartless...I feel like I recognize it...me and him fought it all those days ago. It's another Orcus.'

"XION! WATCH OUT!"

"-Huh?!" So lost in her own thoughts, she didn't realize the Orcus' sword was coming for her, luckily however, she was pushed to the side. Barely escaping the sword's reach.

"Xion, don't just stand around like that!"

"H-Hayner, what're you doing here?! It's too dangerous!"

"What are you talking about? I couldn't just leave you all alone..."

"Hayner..." She sighed. "...thanks..."

"Heh, anything for you!"

Xion's eyes widened when she saw another sword swing coming down at them, she quickly grabbed onto Hayner and rolled out of the way. They were so close, Xion could feel something something from Hayner's chest onto her chest. 'Is this what a heart feels like?' "You pay attention too," She said, letting go of Hayner.

"Y...Yeah..." He stammered.

They pulled each other up on their feet and finally faced the Orcus. "Listen to me." Xion looked at Hayner directly in the eye to which he nervously looked away. "You have to get out of here. I don't want you to get hurt."

"..."

The Orcus was approaching them, sword held out in front of its armor clad chest. Xion saw the determined look on Hayner's face, and right then, she realized no matter what she could say, he'd never leave her. "...Hayner. Don't let go of my hand," She said.

He squeezed her hand signaling for Xion to take off. She ran as fast as she could, maneuvering past each sword slash and jab until she was able to get completely behind the Orcus by sliding under its legs. With the Orcus out of the way, she could see Roxas lying on the ground, his keyblade still in his grasp.

"Roxas!" She ran over and shook him. "Are you okay?!"

"Ugh...yeah..." He turned over on his back. "My head's killing me though, I think something fell on my head."

"We gotta get you out of here," Hayner said. "Can you get on your feet?"

"Kind of."

Xion and Hayner helped Roxas get back on his feet. "Thanks..." He muttered.

"Roxas...do you remember that heartless?" Xion asked.

"How could I forget?" He cranked out a smile "Took me almost dying to get you talk to me!"

"That's rough man," Hayner said.

"Be serious you guys! We still have an Orcus to defeat!"

Roxas summoned his keyblade. "Yeah, I know."

He stood by Xion, prepared to finish it off together, just like they did that day long ago. However, before either of them could take a step, the Orcus' body sliced in half. Roxas and Xion exchanged confused glances, but ran forward anyways to the mesh of darkness in order to release its captive heart.

"Xion, on my mark!"

"Ready whenever you are!"

Roxas thew his keyblade at the Orcus and Xion threw hers. Their keyblade's intertwined with each other as they spiraled to its target and the resulting impact decimated the creature, leaving only a single heart in its place.

Hayner stared at the heart floating above in the sky. "It's kinda weird how something so fragile can be trapped in a huge monster like that."

"Yeah, but I like that we're able to turn monsters into something better, you know..." Roxas turned to Xion. "Maybe we're not so different from them. Even if the heartless look like monsters, we still all seek the same thing we lost."

Xion smiled. "...That so doesn't sound like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean come on, you trying to sound deep sounds funny coming from you."

"Maybe 'cause I picked it up from you!"

"Hey!" Xion pushed on Roxas. "At least sounding all deep and philosophical fits me!"

They both laughed, despite being surrounded by debris, they kept each other company. Their shared laughter naturally died down and Roxas, suddenly remembering something, faced Xion quipped with his usual cheeky grin. "So, who do you think won?" Roxas asked.

"Won? Oh...right! I got 6."

"6..." Roxas rubbed the back of his head. "Funny. I got that too."

"Ok, then we need a tiebreaker. I'd say the Orcus, but someone else got to it first, we just cleaned up."

"Who do you think cut that big thing in half anyways? Definitely couldn't of been by these guys in Twilight Town."

"Then it was an Organization member."

"Right, someone who finished their mission early."

"And someone who knew we'd be down here..."

"Axel!" They said in unison.

"—Bingo!" Axel yelled, he jumped down from the rooftops and startle them both.

"Axel! You're finally here!" Xion exclaimed. "Sure took your time, huh?"

"Yeah, you missed out on the whole thing!"

"What? You guys didn't even get the ice cream yet, looks to me like I didn't miss that much."

"Oh! Speaking of, me and Xion we're in a competition to see who could kill the most heartless and we ended up with a tie. Any ideas for a tiebreaker?"

"...I got it, we'll play a guessing game. I'm thinking of a number right now and you two try to guess it, whoever guesses the closest wins!" Axel suggested. "Alright, go!"

"...13!" Roxas yelled out.

"Roxas that's just your own number...I bet you're thinking of the number 8!"

"Tch, nice try, but you guys are both wrong. The correct answer is 35...so Roxas wins!"

"What?! That's such a random number!"

"I was just thinking how much munny ice cream costs for the three of us."

"That's so not fair."

"—HEY! YOU GUYS OK?!" Olette called out while she and Hayner ran up to them. "...We were worried about you, Hayner, when we didn't see you on the train."

"Nah I'm fine. What about you guys?"

"We're all ok, everyone else is trying to get out of Sunset Terrace so it's a bit of a mess back at the train station." Olette supplied.

"They're holding another summer festival a month from now, I sure hope those things don't come back anytime soon," Pence said.

"Think we can make it next month?" Roxas asked to Xion and Axel.

"Depends on the boss and his lapdog are 'feeling'." Axel snided.

"Well, we'll be waiting for you guys regardless," Hayner said, he then turned to Xion. "Uh, you got a moment?"

"Sure." Xion walked with Hayner a little ways past the group, when he stopped, she asked, "Need something?"

"..." Hayner stared at the ground, noticeably avoiding her gaze. "Can I show you a place, it'll only be like 5 minutes."

"What place?"

"Sunset hill. Come on!"

Xion followed Hayner up onto a grassy hill with a railing enclosing the area. Xion gazed over the railing and could see all of Sunset Terrace as well as the edges of main Twilight Town and the train that ran through it. The view coupled with the sunset that hung over them was intoxicating. "This is so beautiful!" Xion gushed. 'No matter how often I come to this world, there's always something new to admire.'

"Right? I'd love to go here more if train tickets weren't so expensive." He rested his arms on the railing, slightly warm from the sun's glow. "I've been meaning to ask, you ever scared by those black things?"

"The heartless? No. Not at all. Hard to be scared of something you fight everyday."

"You and me...we're from two completely different worlds, aren't we?"

"Definitely."

"Guess that means there's no way of me joining whatever club you guys are in."

"Definitely not. Unless you're willing to stop being human."

"Huh? Stop being human?!"

"Nevermind...besides, I'm happy to have a friend like you that's so different from me."

"...yeah, friend." He sighed and his head sunk. 'I'm such an idiot...I really thought I could win her over, but she already likes that other guy, I should've known.'

"You ok, Hayner?"

"It's nothing...now it's my turn to ask a question."

"Go ahead."

"How do you feel about that Roxas guy?"

"I like Roxas of course, he's my friend."

"I know that, but do you have a crush on Roxas?"

"Do I have a what on him?"

"You don't know what that means? Well, having a crush is this dumb feeling you get when you're around someone and you want to be with them forever. You don't just wanna be friends with them, you really, reallly like them and you never want to leave their side."

Xion snorted. "That sounds like an obsession."

"Heh, that about sums it up."

"And you think that's how I feel towards Roxas?"

"I thought so, but maybe you two are just friends after all."

"I don't know. I guess I'll find out soon." She stood back. "They're all waiting for us down there, wanna go back?"

"Nah. I'm gonna stay here a little bit longer."

"See you later then." Xion walked away from him, while making her way down the hill, she stopped abruptly. "You guys can come out now," She said sharply.

Roxas and Axel walked out from the crevice between two buildings. "What were you guys talkin' about?" Roxas asked.

"He just asked if I had a crush on..." Her eyes were drawn to Roxas. "...someone...Ugh, it's not important!"

"Yeah right, you're hiding something, aren't you? Your face is getting red." Axel teased.

"Shut up! Let's just go already before Saïx finds out we're gone." 'I don't get it...why am I so embarrassed? It's not like I feel anything towards him, one way or the other, I don't have a heart to feel.' She looked back towards Axel and Roxas who were snickering behind her back. 'I guess there's more to being a nobody than I thought.'

XxXX

Day 99

"A test of...endurance?" Xion asked.

"Yes, the same test Roxas has competed prior. Starting the day after tomorrow, I'd like to task you with more challenging missions, but you must complete this test first in order to see whether or not you're suitable for said challenging missions. It would be a waste for you to die by a misplaced mission." Saïx explained.

"What type of missions will I get if I pass?"

"You'll be able to go on missions where you defeat incredibly powerful heartless, the boss you could say. As well as go to Organization facilities other than this castle, there will also be a weekly sparring session I'll allow you to participate in."

'That sounds pretty exciting! Especially the part about going to other Organization facilities.' "...so then what happens if I fail?"

"Nothing. You'll simply carry out your missions as usual, but Lord Xemnas will take note of your failure. Take that as you will."

He continued. "In any case, your endurance test will take place in Hollow Bastion, you're to collect 50 hearts before sundown."

"Hollow Bastion? Should I stay hidden?"

"Preferably. Recon in that world has yet to be complete."

"Okay. I'll get right on it, sir!" Xion approached Axel and Roxas, excited to tell them the news.

"Hey guys!" She greeted.

"You look happy," Roxas said.

"Yeah, did Saïx say you could get the day off?" Axel asked.

"Nope! I'm taking my endurance test in Hollow Bastion, and as soon as I pass it, I'll be in the same league as you two."

"Aw, guess we can't tease you about that anymore, huh," Axel said. "So what's the objective?"

"Kill 50 heartless before sundown."

Roxas shook his head. "Is that it? I had to kill like 75 heartless in Agrabah with Xaldin! It was a total pain the neck!"

"I think Xaldin just made you do more, you know how he is," Xion said. "Anyways, I better get going, I'm sure Saïx is counting this in with my time. Wish me luck."

"Like you'll need it," Axel said.

"He's right. You're awesome with the keyblade, you should be back in no time."

'Let's hope so.' Xion opened a dark dark portal and went through.

OoO

Xion arrived in Hollow Bastion midday. The city was alive as ever and crowds of people swarmed the streets, shopping, eating out at restaurants, or just enjoying the day. And there she was, in the middle of it all, trying to navigate past all the people. Eventually she found a clearing in what appeared to be the remains of an old fountain.

'The best way to find heartless-' Her keyblade formed in her hand. 'Let them come to you!' The keyblade, being the magnet for darkness as it was, attracted several shadows that surrounded her instantaneously. Xion acted efficiently, first placing a stop spell on the heartless, then throwing her keyblade in a circle, like a windmill.

After the keyblade made its rounds, the pitch black shadows became bright pink hearts that covered the sky. Xion pulled back. 'If this keeps up I'll be done a lot sooner than I thought.' Just as the thought formed in her head, a cluster of shadows emerged from the ground. Xion took off, preparing for a ground attack, but before she could destroy them, an oversized shuriken sliced them in half.

"What...no, nevermind, there's more!" She could hear more heartless behind her cultivate from the overarching shadows. However, like the last time, the heartless were quickly defeated by an array of kunai knives.

"Again?! What's going on?!" Xion grumbled.

"Fear not traveler!" Announced a voice that had a certain familiarity to it. "It is I; Yuffie Kisaragi, the single white rose of Hollow Bastion, here to rescue you!"

"...!" 'I have to get out of her sight!' Xion ran behind an old fixture by the fountain and a young ninja jumped out into the open.

"Huh, where they go?" Yuffie asked.

"I think you were seeing things," Leon said, walking beside her.

"Whatever you say, Squall."

"Leon."

"Again with 'Leon'? But we're back in Hollow Bastion now, aren't we?"

"I won't accept that name again until all of Hollow bastion is back to its former glory." He took out his famed silver gunblade and pointed it a few inches past Yuffie's head where several more shadows manifested.

*click

*bang-bang-bang

Leon slid the gunblade back into its holster. "We still have a long way to go."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Geez, do you always have to be so negative? Once we get the stuff from Ansem's castle for Cid, 'Claymore' will be up in no time and we won't have to play patrol anymore."

"Right, Tifa should be at the Bailey by now waiting for us, let's not keep her waiting."

She raised an eyebrow. "Just Tifa?"

"Cloud said he wasn't feeling well, so Aerith is looking after him at Merlon's."

"Wow, I can't believe Tifa would actually give Aerith such a privilege," She said with playful sarcasm.

"I think there's a mutual understanding of their relationship. With that said, ready to depart?"

"Sure!"

Xion watched Yuffie and Leon run down the alley. 'I should follow them too.' She trailed behind them via the rooftops. 'Ansem's castle is the source of all heartless in this world, this is a perfect opportunity.'

OoO

Yuffie and Leon reached a stopping point outside the bailey of Ansem's castle where Tifa waited. She was melodically tapping her foot on the ground and had an unusually drawn out expression—a clear sign they took too long for her liking. "You guys sure took your time, I thought I'd had to come get you myself," She said, sounding as pissed as she looked.

"Uh, sorry, we got sidetracked along the way by heartless." He chose his words carefully knowing how scary she could get when angry. "How does it look from the inside?"

"Not good. The place is packed with heartless, it'll take forever to comb through them all."

"We're looking for a few Mythril crystals, right? Mythril should be easy to find," Yuffie said. "I bet we can find some in the restoration site."

"You're thinking of Mythril shards, crystals are the finest type of Myhtril and exactly what Cid needs." Tifa explained. "Let's think of a way to infiltrate the castle and start from there. We'll have to clear that place out too...eventually, might as well see just how hard it'll be."

'...With my keyblade, I won't have any problem!' Xion slipped past the three while they were forming a plan of their own and made her way down the restoration site. Along the way, she slayed the heartless that stood in her way of reaching the postern, giving her a false sense of security that was taken away from her the moment she entered the castle's postern.

'There's so many heartless, I can barely see past the postern.' Gripping her keyblade with unwavering fortitude, she stepped forward and swung gallantly at the horde of shadows.

There were so many shadows they piled up on top her, Xion, thinking as fast as they were attempting to bury her in a pit of darkness, casted a newer spell she learned recently. "Fira burst!" She spit out, a cluster of fireballs launched from her keyblade. It destroyed most of the shadows on top of her, but that merely gave way for more, stronger heartless, some of which she'd never seen before, to gang up on her.

Suddenly, Xion felt a heavy blow in her stomach and she flew backwards, rolling onto her back. "...Ugh..." She struggled to get back on her arms. "...I just...have to try something else..."

"—LOOK OUT!"

Xion felt the embrace of another person holding on tight to her, looking up with widened eyes, Xion realized Tifa was holding her in her clutches. They landed softly on the other side of the heartless swarm and Tifa set her down.

"You ok?" Tifa asked.

Xion nodded in a cautious manner, wondering if Tifa saw Sora in her, but so far she had no reaction to her appearance.

"...Alright. Be careful next time, ok? You could've got seriously hurt, don't take on these things alone if you can't handle it." She was gentle and motherly when scolding Xion, if felt comforting in a way she couldn't describe.

Tifa turned around, back against Xion. "Leon, Yuffie, let's go!"

By her command, Yuffie and Leon came running in. Yuffie dashed ahead of Leon while doing some sort of ritual with her 4-point shuriken. As she was closing in on the heartless, she leaped high up into the air and pounded the ground. "Landscaper!" She yelled.

The ground beneath the heartless shook with the ferocity of an earthquake, sending the lightweight heartless flying in the air.

"Leon, it's on you," Yuffie said.

Leon, already having his gunblade loaded and positioned, shot the heartless in the air while Tifa began punching the heavyweight heartless still stationed on the ground.

Xion watched the team destroy the heartless one by one, and soon, she felt compelled to join in herself. 'I'll help you guys out just like you helped me!' Summoning her keyblade, she ran in beside Tifa. "...Thank you..." Xion said.

Tifa punched another heartless into the ground. "Don't mention it, I see you also have the keyblade with you..." She paused to dodge an incoming punch from a large armour heartless. As the heartless stumbled forward, she quickly grabbed it by the arm and flipped it over like it was nothing. "...Good to know our efforts won't go to total waste," She finished.

Xion gawked at how fast Tifa's reflexes were despite being a mere human. She shook her head, not wanting to be distracted for too long, and stabbed the heartless lunging for her. 'These guys aren't regular humans, that's for sure.'

With the 4 of them working together, they made quick work of the heartless and before long, Tifa finished off the last heartless with one final kick in the head. Tifa rubbed her hands together and stretched her back out. "Good work team, now we infiltrate the castle! Leon, are you ready?"

"Renzokuken is up and ready to go."

Tifa and Yuffie ran down the steps leading to the castle gates and pressed their backs against the door. They glanced at each other, then back at Leon, who reaffirmed them with a short nod. Tifa kicked the door open, unleashing a wave of heartless that poured from the inner castle and Leon charged inside, Yuffie followed close behind while Tifa stayed back, sighing.

'We need to get those Mythril crystals so it can keep them at bay.' "...! Oh, I nearly forgot. What's your name any..." She looked around for Xion, another sigh escaped her breath when she realized her disappearance.

"Well if you're still here...thank you. I hope you'll come back at a different time when it's not so crazy, whoever you are."

OoO

'I hope I'm not too late!' Xion ran through the darkness and back into the contrastingly white Castle That Never Was. Xion breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Saïx was still in the Gray room tying up something at the back. She went up to him with her mission report clutched tightly in her hand.

"Here it is!" Xion huffed. "I'm finished with my test of endurance. I collected 50 hearts before sundown in Hollow Bastion."

Saïx glimpsed at Xion's mission report then tossed it aside, destroying a little piece inside her. "...You're officially competent enough to complete the next set of missions, be prepared because missteps won't be taken lightly."

"Yes sir!" She turned to walk away back into the darkness, ready to tell Axel and Sora the good news...as well as buy them ice cream.

XxXX

Day 100

Xion walked into the gray area, though, no one was there. Worried she missed out on something important, she was for once in her life relieved to see Saïx working at his desk. "What is my mission for the day?" She asked, walking up to him.

"I didn't assign you one because Lord Xemnas has requested your appearance. I advise you go to him at once, he is not as patient when it comes to direct orders."

"O-Oh...ok. Where can I find him?"

"In his study. It's at the end of the hall where Axel resides."

Xion left the Gray Room, back to worrying once again. 'What does the boss want with me? Did I do something wrong? Will he turn me into a dusk?' She was getting more and more nervous, her thoughts getting increasingly intrusive the closer she got to her destination, and then, she was there.

The door to Xemnas' study reached nearly to the top of the ceiling. Xion pressed on it and it creaked open. Inside, Xemnas was sitting at a desk, surrounded by hundreds of papers scattered all across the floor, stuffed in the bookshelf, and covering every piece of whatever furniture was present in the room.

'He's so...disorganized...I would've never thought.'

"There's a chair by the door," Xemnas said.

Xion moved the papers off the chair and sat down, waiting for Xemnas to look up at her with the usual emotionless express he gave everyone.

Xemnas set his pen down. "Xion...number XIV." He began.

"A-Am I in trouble?!" Xion blurted out.

"No, nothing of the sort. I simply want to ask you a few questions, then you may leave, is that suitable?" He spoke with an unprecedented calmness drastically different from the passively aggressive tone Saïx spoke in.

"Yes sir."

"Very well, my first question, how are you with the keyblade?"

"Really good. At least...I don't mean to brag when I say that, I think I'm competent."

"I see. Was it true you defeated a Darkside with one strike the day Roxas fell asleep?"

"It is."

"Do you believe you have the power to do that again currently?"

"Oh no sir."

Xemnas stopped briefly to jot something down. 'My theory was right. Their powers are interconnected.' "My second question, when you're on a mission and interact with the inhabitants of said world, do they remark anything particular of your appearance?"

"They say I look like a boy named Sora. I don't know who he is, but he's appeared in my dreams sometimes."

"Interesting."

"...Is it normal I'm having dreams of someone who I don't know?"

"Of course. They're your memories as a human, every nobody has some recollection of their memories as a human, even myself."

"You too?"

"Yes. I assume you've gone to Hollow Bastion recently? Have you heard of Ansem's Castle."

"I have."

"My human counterpart used to reside there, as have a considerable amount of the other Organization member's human counterparts."

*knock-knock

"You may come in."

The door swung open and Saïx walked in carrying only a handful of papers. "Lord Xemnas, I apologize for interrupting you, but it seems the printer has stopped working. I did manage to print out these papers in my hand."

"Are they last week's reports?"

"Yes sir."

With a sigh, Xemnas stood up from his desk and approached Saïx. "When will you learn to fix these problems on your own?"

"...I...I don't know sir." He admitted. "Technology has never been something that's ever wanted to cooperate with me."

"I suppose we all have our weak points."

while they left the room, they talked loud enough for Xion to listen in

"Is that so? Or does that exclude you, our almighty leader?"

"I'm not one to be egotistical. Compulsiveness is why we're down to only half our members, although you used to be compulsive as well. I suppose I hoped a few of them would calm down like you."

"Well, none of them remember what it felt like to have a heart. I'm surprised any of them even remembered having a brain."

"Hm. We are only nobodies..."

'...I can't hear them anymore.' Xion looked around his study. 'I don't think he'll notice if I just look around a little bit.' Standing up off her chair, she peered inside his notebook that lied on his desk. "...Let's see...oh, it's just a transcript of our conversation."

She snooped further and found an old note sticking out from the bookshelf, curious, she began reading his rather messy handwriting. "...As I've remembered my name and my purpose, I'm also starting to remember how it felt like to have emotions. Anger and sadness are easy to contextualize, but genuine happiness, the thought of love or to be loved, the desire to be with someone...they mean—"

"Nothing." Xemnas answered.

"AH! X-Xemnas!" Startled by his sudden appearance, she dropped the note on the floor. "I was just...uh...I was just ..."

"I take no offense to your intrusion. It's a mere document as a testament to my own research. I have hundreds of them." He took a seat back down at his cluttered desk. "Now onto my final question for you...when do you think your powers as a keyblade wielder first came to be?"

"That's an easy question. The day I saw Roxas as a friend, that's when the keyblade came to me."