A/N: Two chapters this time. In this one, I wrote some half-lemon. Half-lemon as in "they didn't go far but did something pretty damn close to it" lemon. Even so, those who are underage----don't read it. I'm even letting you know that it begins with the line "He started to unbutton her pajama shirt . . ." and this continues on for three small paragraphs. And if you just happened to 'accidently' read, I tried to keep it as clean as possible. For those who would read it, sorry if it sucks. I'm not much of lemon writer anyway. Hopefully, the rest of this chapter will make up for it. Sorry that it's a long one though. A new KH character appears and an old one returns. Just to let you know. Okay, that's enough rambling for me.

CHAPTER 11

:In Sunsetville:

Two weeks later . . .

"Here's your change!" The shop owner said cheerfully as he placed the coins into Alana's hand. Alana quickly placed them into her pocket and picked up the bag. Then she walked off. "Have a nice day!" The man called out to her.

She walked down the road filled with shops, stands, and people. It was normally crowded in the afternoon and she had been to this part several times. However, she still found it aggravating with the noise level and crowds. After pushing pass and walking around them, she finally reached the hotel that she and Axel were staying at it. Alana walked into the extravagantly decorated, red lobby and headed for the stairs. Luckily they were on the second floor. Their room was two doors on the right. When she stopped in front of the door, she placed down the bag. Then she started searching for the keycard. Before she could find it, the door opened.

"You were right," Axel said in the doorway. "That didn't take long." It was strange seeing him out of the black coat. Instead, he wore a black shirt and jeans. Somehow, it looked good on him. He moved aside and allowed Alana to come in. "So what's in the bag?"

"Things," she muttered as she reached in and pulled out a bag of potato chips. "Here," she said when she tossed it at him. He caught it. "It's yours. In case you were hungry."

"Thanks," he said as he opened the bag.

"Just to remind you, the festival is tonight. So I didn't want you to spoil your appetite since there will be lots of things to eat outside." She looked at Axel and saw that the redhead was already staring at her. She turned away, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Don't you want to look out the window?"

"I think I like looking at you better."

" . . . Don't make me gag," she muttered and looked at him. He had small potato chip crumbs around his mouth and she almost smiled at how cute he looked. Before she could, she remember something that was in the bag. She pulled out a blue dress and threw it on the bed that they took turns sleeping in.

"I thought you didn't like dresses."

"It was the cheapest thing that I could buy. Most of the money I earned is for the room's rent." Ever since their arrival, her and Axel had been doing odd jobs around the town to earn money. They used most of the money to pay the hotel. The rest went to whatever else they wanted.

Without a word, Alana picked up the dress and headed to the bathroom to get ready. Axel sighed when he was alone in the room and jumped on the bed. He thought about their last couple of weeks alone with one another. To him, there seemed to be some one-sided sexual tension. Sleeping in the same room, having only one bed—things were sort of tempting. He wondered if Alana felt something as well. If she did, then maybe . . .

His thoughts trailed off as he heard the bathroom door open. Alana came out wearing the blue dress. It was strapless and it was knee-length. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail.

"You look beautiful," he said without thinking about it.

Alana blushed as she stood there. This time she didn't think of hiding it. "You think so?" She asked.

He nodded. "But I don't see why you're so dressed up."

She folded her arms and sucked her teeth. He raised his eyebrows at her reaction. She tossed him a glare before she said, "Why don't you get ready instead of criticizing me about what I'm wearing?" That came out wrong, she thought to herself.

Axel didn't say anything as he placed the bag down and walked passed her on his way to the bathroom for a hot shower. Suddenly, he stopped outside the door and looked back at Alana. She was still glaring. He sighed. "It's okay. I think I understand. It's your period, right? I heard women are real bitches during that time of the month."

". . . Please go before I kill you."

"Hmph." He smirked and walked into the bathroom.

She threw herself onto the bed. He indirectly called me a bitch.


"I'm almost done with the keyblade," Vexen announced. He was in the lab, working on his newest creation. Marluxia, Roxas, and Naminé were inside the room with him. "This one is made out of hearts. Sounds familiar?" He asked the Graceful Assassin.

Marluxia shook his head.

"A similar one was used by Riku. Or better yet, Ansem. That one was made out of the hearts of the seven princesses."

"Riku?" Roxas repeated. He had never heard of him. However, it seemed that Vexen and Marluxia had some knowledge of him.

"He was . . . a friend of yours." Vexen walked over to another side of his lab and took out a case. He opened it in a way that only he could see its contents. "When the time is right, you will use the keyblade to unlock Alana's heart to the darkness."

"Yes sir," Roxas responded.

"But the barriers around her heart—!" Naminé started to say but was caught off.

"Are going to be gone by that time," Marluxia smirked. "For once, Axel is doing the Organization some good. Who would have known his influence would have been good for the prisoner?"

Vexen looked back at Roxas. "Of course, it would be most helpful if you brought the girl here. That way, we can have both her Heartless and her Nobody."

"I will," Roxas said.

Naminé sighed and grabbed Roxas' hand. "We can go now." Naminé took Number Thirteen out of the room, away from the other two members.

"It was a good plan, Marluxia," Vexen commented. His sea-green eyes landed on the Graceful Assassin, a smirk tugging the corners of his mouth. "Using Naminé's powers to bend Roxas to our will. But it will wear off eventually, right?"

"Yeah," Marluxia answered. "But by that time it will be too late."


Sunsetville's festival official started at eight o'clock. The streets were decorated in lights and everyone was outside, even the children. People were either dancing, buying, or watching the public shows. Axel, with what money he had to spare, was buying shish kebab. He gave one to Alana to try. "I heard that's it good," he told her.

Alana tried to get the vegetable off the wooden stick and into her mouth. Yet she was having some difficulty because it was near the middle.

"Try getting it from the side," Axel suggested.

Alana took the advice and finally tasted the vegetable. "It's . . . good," she commented quietly.

"I told you." He wrapped his free arm around Alana's waist. When he noticed that she was staring at him, he started to remove his arm. However, her hand held it in place.

"You can keep it there," she muttered before eating one of the marinated meats. After they were done with shish kebab, they threw the sticks out into an empty garbage can. They reached the section of town where everyone was dancing. There were all types of dancing starting from the simplest and cleanest to the complicated and dirty.

"You want to dance?" Axel asked Alana.

"No," she said immediately. She then quickly added, "I'm not much of a dancer."

"You don't have to be a dancer to dance."

"I hate dancing. I'll go sit by the bar place and you find some other girl to dance with."

Axel stared at her as he thought it over. ". . . Okay." He walked off to find someone else to dance with. Alana, trying her hardest not to care, walked over to the bar and took a seat.

"You're not much of a dancer, are you?" Asked the person next to her.

She looked and saw a boy who appeared to be fifteen or sixteen. His silver hair reached his shoulders and his blue eyes were bright. He wore a yellow vest and blue pants. He also had on a pair of black gloves. He looked at her and smiled a bit. All in all, the boy was cute.

Alana placed her hands on her lap. "No, I'm not. So who are you?"

"Riku. And you are?"

"Alana."

He stuck his hand out. "Nice to meet you."

She shook it. "Nice to meet you, too."

The bartender came up to them. "Aren't you going to buy drinks? If you're not, leave so the real paying customers will come."

"One virgin martini," Riku ordered. He looked at Alana. "What do you want? I'm willing to pay for yours."

"Thanks," Alana said to Riku. She looked at the bartender. "I'll take the same thing."

"So," Riku started, "I take it that you aren't from around here?"

Alana sat up straight. "What would make you say that?"

"A shop owner told me that all the residents here by the Sunset Gin or anything with the word 'sunset' in it. The other drinks are for the tourists."

"Oh." Alana had thought that he was working with the Organization and that he came after them. She relaxed a bit and took a sip of her martini. Then she looked at the boy. "So, you must be a tourist."

"Actually, I'm just passing through. I'm looking for someone."

"Who?"

"A friend. The keyblade wielder."

"The keyblade wielder?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought about the name. For some reason, Roxas came to mind. However, he was a Nobody in the Organization. Then again, Nobodies were humans before and she didn't know how long he had been in Organization Thirteen. "Is his name Roxas?"

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "It's Sora. You know, I doubt I should be telling a stranger this."

Alana folded her arms. "You don't have to tell me anything. You don't even have to answer my questions."

Riku smirked. "Sounds good. The same goes for you then. The guy that you came with, he's your boyfriend?"

Alana carefully thought of her answer before responding. ". . . No. He's just helping me out of some trouble." Alana looked at the boy and he met her eyes. They were aware that they were doing the same thing: giving answers that didn't reveal a lot of information. It was just small talk because they didn't trust each other yet.

Riku tasted his martini and then spoke. "You must trust him a lot to ask him for help."

"I guess so."

"It shows how much you like him."

She turned and looked at the kid. "What?"

At that moment, Axel came and placed a hand on her shoulder. She instantly turned around and saw him grinning. "You want to go now?" He asked.

Alana nodded and stood. Then her attention switched to Riku. "I hope you find who you're looking for."

"Me, too."

"Thanks for offering to pay for the drink."

"No problem."

Axel had to do a double take. He couldn't believe that the keyblade wielder's friend was sitting right in front of him. If it had been any other time, he would have brought the boy back to the Organization. And get praised for it. However, since he was no longer working with the other Nobodies, he just kept his mouth shut and did nothing.

Alana took out some money and placed it on the counter. "For the martini," she explained.

"I told you that you didn't have to pay."

"Just take it. Bye, Riku."

"Bye."


"So, you were talking to him the whole time," Axel said as he sat on the bed. They were back in the hotel room. That night, it was Alana's turn to sleep on the bed, leaving the floor for Axel. He would soon have to get off. It was only midnight but the festival was still going strong outside.

"While you were dancing," Alana muttered.

"You said that I could."

"I know that."

"If you didn't want me to, you could have said so."

"Stop implying that I'm jealous."

Axel smirked. "Okay, you're jealous." He wanted to laugh when she let out a groan of frustration. "Now you're mad."

"Do you like pissing me off?"

"No. I love it when you get feisty."

Alana grabbed her pajamas and stormed into the bathroom. Then she slammed the door to let him know how angry she was. She started to undress. Now that she was away from Axel, she realized that she was more frustrated than angry and feisty. She didn't know why though. As she button up her giant pajama shirt, an idea came to mind. Alana thought that she was in denial about her feelings. She closed her eyes as she contemplated and leaned on the door. Maybe I just have a stupid, silly, pointless, worthless, unnecessary crush. Spending every damn hour of the day is not enough to make someone fall in love. It's never enough. Things like that take months, years. And since it's just a crush, I'll get over it. In about two seconds.

With that in mind, Alana opened the bathroom door and walked out. Axel was already in his nightwear; it was just the pajamas pants. She watched as he set his "bed" on the floor, eying the muscles in his arm working. "Axel," she said and he looked at her.

She's only wearing that shirt, Axel thought to himself as he examined the girl. It's like she's trying to tempt me.

"Do you want to split the bed in half?"

"Literally?"

"No." She sighed, aggravated that she said anything in the first place. "I mean that you get one half of the bed and I get the other half. I feel . . . bad for making you sleep on the floor."

"Okay," Axel said as he got on to the bed and under the bed sheets. I think she is tempting me.

Alana put off the light and crawled on to the other side. Then she got underneath the sheets and had her back toward Axel. After two minutes, she turned and checked on him. He was lying on his back. Apparently, he heard the bed creak and had looked at her. She sighed and averted her gaze. "How do you . . . feel about me?"

Axel smirked. "I'm pretty sure if I told you, you'd deny it."

" . . . I won't."

He chuckled. "I love you."

Her jaw dropped. "Y-you're lying," she finally managed to mutter.

"You think so?" He saw the cold glare she was giving him and he laughed. "I know you better than you know yourself."

Again, Alana felt frustration coursing through her body. "You can have the bed tonight. I'll gladly sleep on the floor." She removed the sheets from her body. Before she could get out of bed, Axel sat up and awkwardly pinned her. Her slate eyes met his emerald ones. "Get off me."

"Not until you tell me how you feel about me."

"I. Don't. Feel. Anything. For. You."

Axel sighed. "Let's try this again."

Suddenly, Alana laughed and Axel raised an eyebrow. Yet Alana continued laughing. "And you had the nerve of telling me I'm in denial."

Axel smirked and rested his head on her shoulder. "I never heard you laugh before. It sounds cute."

She stopped and rested her chin on top of his head. I shouldn't be laughing. I shouldn't be feeling this happy. There was a knock at the door and Alana snapped out of it. When she realized that she was still pinned, she said, "Axel, the door."

He pushed her back down on the bed as the knocks continued. "Forget about it and show me that you don't feel anything for me." With that, he kissed her on the lips. He wrapped his arms around her body and felt her arms lace themselves around his neck. So much for not liking me, Axel thought when she eagerly kissed him back. His tongue begged her lips to part and they made a small opening. His tongue slipped its way into Alana's mouth and she moaned.

The knocking stopped.

He pulled away from her and met her eyes. "Tell me when you want to stop."

"I don't think I want you to." Alana mentally slapped herself for saying that, but her heart gladly raced as his eyes went over her body.

He started to unbutton her pajama shirt, exposing her chest. She blushed when he kissed the top of her breasts. Then he took one of her nipples into his mouth and she let out a gasp. Her fingers ran through his red hair as his name graced her lips. Axel's free hand passed over her stomach then to her side then slid down to her hip. Her body shifted beneath him and he stopped.

"Relax," he whispered to her before he went back to teasing her. Strange sensations spread throughout her body, leaving her feeling needy. Her body silently cried out for more.

Axel stopped and got above her. His eyes stared at her bare chest before staring at her underwear. Get a hold of yourself, he thought. We can't do that yet. He went back down and claimed her lips for himself. Her arms wrapped around him; after multiple times, Alana was finally enjoying having her chest pressed against his.

The balcony door opened and someone walked into the room. "Axel, Alana! There's a . . . um . . ."

Alana heard the person and, in the mist of her ecstasy, she glanced to her left. She saw someone in the familiar black cloak and black boats. The spiky blonde hair and blue eyes stood out in the darkness. Her face turned bright red as she shoved Axel off and closed her pajama shirt. "Roxas?!"

Axel raised his eyebrows when he saw Number Thirteen by the balcony door. He was surprised that his friend was here, out of all places.

A/N: For those who read the half-lemon, heh, I warned you. Anyway, thanks to SilverGhostKitsune and Esinahs for reviewing. Also, thanks to those who put me on this story on their alerts/favorites list. Anyway, after the next chapter, there will be about three or four chapters left. At the most five. If you want, you can read the next chapter now or review :)