Author's Note: Hello my pretties! Me again! I've been feeling pretty bummed out lately; according to my hit count, no one has been reading my stories for the past two or so days. But that's impossible, because I've been getting reviews, and you can't review something you never read. I mean, you can, but then it'd just be weird. Anyway, I hope this issue gets resolved soon, because I check my hit counter religiously, and it sucks to see Zero all the time (see what I just did there?).

Enough of my boring melodrama, because seriously, who gives a shit about that? Moving on to something more story-relevant, as I mentioned in the beginning, I only wrote 16 of these chapters. Yes, I understand that that was two weeks ago and that I could've wrote at least one extra chapter in that time, but you guys don't understand; I procrastinate. A lot. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, be prepared for a lag. Sorry, but I'm just saying...

But we'll deal with that when the time comes (in approx. three days), so on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: You know what, fuck it! I'm not writing these anymore!

Chapter 13: Overflow

Zero sat on her bed, seething with hate and rage. If she had half a mind, she would have taken her Keyblade to everyone in the entire castle, but fortunately for her and everyone else, she knew better.

"I was so close!" she spat. "How dare Saïx force me to abort the mission? I was so close!" She stood to her feet and yanked opened her door. She put on her hood, jammed her fists in her pockets, and did what she always did when she needed to blow off steam in a nonlethal way: She took a walk.

"This is all Axel's fault! His plans were foiled, so now he feels he has the right to mess with mine!" she thought bitterly as she skulked through the halls. "His plans were stupid; it's his own fault that they failed. I, on the other hand, was this close to my revenge! Damn him!" She clenched her fists.

"He'd better not show his face to me…" she muttered under her breath. "…if he wants to continue existing…"

"Whoa! Some-one is an-gry!" Xigbar's voice said in singsong. Zero knew that he was above her, but did not give him the satisfaction. Instead, she kept walking. Xigbar jumped down from his clever hiding spot on the ceiling in front of Zero, blocking her path.

"Zero! How's it going?" he greeted as he slung his arm around her shoulder. She cringed slightly. "I was just in the neighborhood and I noticed you looking a little tense there! You ok?" Zero sighed and clenched her fists more tightly.

"I'm fine…" she strained to say. Xigbar smirked.

"Are you sure?" he teased. "You don't look so fine to me!" He tried to remove her hood, but Zero grabbed his hand.

"Don't," she warned. Xigbar removed himself from her and took a step back.

"Whoa, sorry!" he said. "I'd hate to be the guy you're so angry at!"

"Yes you would…" Zero deadpanned and continued to walk. Xigbar rushed to catch up to her.

"So…" he said nonchalantly. "…how was your mission?"

"Saïx forced me to abort it…" Zero grudgingly admitted. Xigbar chuckled.

"Is that so?" he asked. "Did you at least have her on her hands and knees?" Zero stopped and glared up at Xigbar from underneath the shadow of her hood.

"I had her!" she hissed. Xigbar held up his hands submissively.

"Alright, I believe you," he assured her. He smirked. "I just wanted to say I appreciated your help." Zero folded her arms.

"It was easy," she said. "He wouldn't have lasted much longer whether or not I intervened anyway."

"I didn't think you had it in you to cut down one of your comrades," said Xigbar. "Guess I was wrong."

"If it were anyone else, maybe," said Zero.

"What made him different?"

"He annoyed me. He was too weak. He felt too much."

"Jealous?"

"What?"

"I asked if you were jealous."

"What could I possibly have been jealous of him for?"

"He may pretend, but the guy was a pretty heartfelt dude."

"And why would I be jealous of that?"

"Because, a pile of rocks has more feelings than you!" Xigbar laughed and playfully slapped Zero on the back. She snapped. Crying out with frustration and anger, she grabbed Xigbar and shoved him against the wall. An ominous grin spread across his face.

"Now what made you think that was smart?" he teased. Zero wrenched away and ran down the halls as fast as her legs could carry her. She did not stop until she was in Twilight's View. She rushed into Crooked Ascension and tore her hood from off of her head, panting heavily. She tightly held her arms and paced the floor. When she arrived at her floor, she burst into Nothing's Call. She tripped and splashed into the water on her hands and knees. She looked at her reflection. For the first time in her existence, she saw not a look of anger or hate, but of confusion, and something else.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked her reflection. A drop of water caused the water's surface to ripple. When it stabilized, Zero was loathed see a reflection of Vanessa in place of her own. She hit the water to make it go away, but her other remained. In a fit of anxiety, Zero began to slap at the water with her hands.

"Go away!" she shouted desperately. "Leave me alone!" Her cries echoed through the stony chambers. "Please…go away…" With one last slap, Zero sat down in the water and held her head with her hands as she rocked to and fro.

"This way. Just a little further," she heard a voice say. She looked up to see an image of Roxas smiling down at her. "Don't give up now; we're almost out." Zero swallowed.

"But I'm…scared…" she said unconsciously in a voice not her own. She flinched as Roxas reached out to a hand that emerged from her chest. Suddenly, an image of Vanessa phased through Zero and stood to her feet.

"Don't worry; I'll protect you," said the image of Roxas. The image of Vanessa smiled and allowed her self to be led down the chamber and out of sight. Zero's eyes wavered at the sight she witnessed. She closed her eyes and allowed a memory to enter her mind.

"Ta-dah!" exclaimed Vanessa as she handed Roxas and Axel their ice cream. "Here ya go ya moochers!"

"I'm a moocher?" Axel joked. "I've been buying you ice cream for over a month now!" Vanessa laughed and took a seat in between her friends.

"Ok you got me there," she admitted. She hooked her arm around Roxas and took a bite of her ice cream. "Mmmmm… Y'know, once you get used to it, this stuff ain't half-bad."

"Yeah, it's pretty good," Roxas replied. Vanessa laid on her back in his lap. "Vanessa?"

"Y'know…" she said. "…being here is alright. I like this, being up here with you guys, eating ice cream, goofing off, the works… It's great." She laughed. "And the best part is, all this running around I'm doing prevents me from getting fat!" Axel chuckled.

"I don't know, Roxas over there looks like he's suffering a bit," he joked. Vanessa bolted upright and gave Axel a stern look.

"Watch it twiggy!" she retorted. Axel laughed.

"I was just kidding…" he said. "…don't have a cow." Vanessa blew him a raspberry before laying back down on Roxas.

"Why are you laying on me?" he asked.

"'Cause…" Vanessa answered.

"Because what?" Roxas pushed.

"'Cause because," Vanessa countered. She smiled up at him. "Oh don't give me that face! You know I'm weird!" Roxas sighed and shook his head.

"Only too well…" he muttered. He smiled down at her. "I don't mind though; it's kinda nice." Vanessa sat up.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "Someone's getting a bit too comfortable right there!" Axel burst out laughing. Roxas furrowed his brows.

"Huh?" he asked. "What's the matter?" Vanessa blushed and frantically shook her head.

"Nothing!" she said hurriedly. Axel just continued to laugh. She nudged him in the ribs. "That's not what I meant! Perve…"

"I'm lost…" muttered Roxas. Axel suppressed his laughter.

"It's nothing buddy," he said. "Just an inside joke, got it memorized?" Roxas shook his head.

"Whatever…" he mumbled. Vanessa lassoed him into her with her arm and did the same to Axel. "Hey! What are you…?"

"Hush," she commanded them. "Close your eyes."

"Why?" asked Axel. "What are you doing?"

"This is not an option; close your freaking eyes or we have a problem," Vanessa threatened. The two Nobodies quickly did as they were told. "Now take a deep breath." They did. "Now open your eyes." When they did, she let them go and obliviously looked at the setting sun.

"Um, Vanessa?" said Axel. "Forgive me if I don't understand but, what was that about?" Vanessa smiled.

"Sometimes you just gotta stop everything, take a deep breath, and just enjoy being alive," she explained. "Being here with you two at that very moment; it just made me feel so alive."

"Another Somebody thing?" asked Roxas. Vanessa sighed.

"Yeah…" she muttered blankly. "…just a Somebody thing…"

Zero clambered to her feet. Using the Darkness, she journeyed to Twilight Town's clock tower. Though soaking wet, she took a seat on the ledge. She clenched her hands together, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she felt no different. She did not feel alive.

"If she continues to live…" she muttered softly. "…I never can."