Roxas sat in the lab staring down at Xion. Twenty days had passed since she collapsed. He figured in four or five more days, they would all know for sure if she was ever going to wake up. A feeling of great discomfort lingered in him. What would they do with her if she didn't wake? Would they just get rid of her? That seemed most likely but it didn't seem right, in fact it seemed very wrong to him. He wanted to help her but Saix would not let him. Xion was important to Roxas and Axel but not to any of the others. Before he could dread any further, her eyes flew open and looked bluer and clearer than ever.

"Sh…Xion…" he gasped.

Xion stared at him for a few moments and slowly formed a smile.

"I saw your face…" she said softly. "…in my dreams."

He stared back at her, unable to think of a sensible response.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"T…twenty days."

Her face betrayed a hint of surprise.

"That long? Are you sure?"

"Yes…I counted the days."

"Why?"

"Because…" he said, his voice trembling, for some reason. "I…I wanted…"

"You wanted me to wake up?"

"Yes." he breathed.

Before either of them could say anything else, Axel walked in.

"Oh…Xion…" he said, scratching his head and furrowing his brow slightly. He then turned to Roxas and said "It's you and me today, Roxas."

Xion was quick to speak up.

"I want to go."

Roxas and Axel stared at her for a few moments and Roxas turned to Axel.

"Can she come, Axel?" Roxas asked.

"Um…sure." Axel replied, sounding strangely hesitant.

He led them to the briefing room where Saix was waiting. He glanced at Xion for only a moment and addressed Roxas.

"The Heartless you discovered in Gold Crown Town has been sighted in Twilight Town. Axel will help you find its weakness so you can eliminate it."

"Saix, I want to go with them." Xion said.

"You belong in the lab." Saix said, without looking at her.

"I'm not staying here." Xion said defiantly, "I'm going with Axel and Roxas."

"Whatever." Saix muttered, turning to his computer.

Axel opened a portal and the Keyblade wielders followed him to a back alley in Twilight Town. As soon as they emerged, they heard screams coming from the Tram Common. When they got there they saw citizens fleeing and three kids, all older looking than Roxas, engaging the Heartless. The first was a boy in a black cap and a sleeveless white coat, wielding a Gunblade, the second was a girl with white hair and a blue jacket who fought with a blue wheel-like weapon, and the third was a large, muscular, tan boy in an orange tank top, wielding a long wooden staff.

"Seifer, Look out!" the large boy shouted, but it was too late. The Heartless swung its wing and knocked the leaner boy across the street, as he flew he left a crimson trail, it was surprising that he wasn't cleaved in half. The large boy rushed over to his friend, picked him up and fled with the white-haired girl right behind him.

Roxas turned to Axel for instructions but he was gone.

"Where did Axel go?"

"Don't know." said Xion "He was behind us a second ago."

Without warning, a geyser of flame burst upward underneath the Heartless, scorching it and cracking the gem in its ribcage. Axel rose from a fiery portal in the ground and flung his chakrams into the gem, shattering it.

"Hit its skull!" he called to Roxas and Xion. Roxas tried to throw his Keyblade into the Heartless' skull but it only traveled a few feet for some reason. Xion however sent hers spinning toward it with surprising speed. Her Keyblade pierced the Heartless' skull and it thrashed for a bit before falling to pieces and turning into a heart.

"Nice…uh…job…Xion." said Axel. "Ahem, how about some ice cream?"

"Don't want any." said Xion.

He turned to Roxas, who shook his head.

"The clock tower, then?"

Roxas and Xion nodded and he took them to the tower.

"I feel weak today." Roxas said, "I don't know why."

"You're probably just having an off-day." Axel said, with a mouthful of pizza.

Xion was thinking about everything she had seen in her dreams, she had seen an island that she once discovered while on a mission. She had briefly seen the faces of Roxas, the white-haired boy who beat her, a girl who looked just like her (but with red hair), and a boy who looked much like Roxas, but with brown hair. Who were these people and why did they feel so important to her? Were they a part of her past? She wanted answers, but somehow she knew that no one in the organization would give them to her. She wondered if going back to that island would help her remember something. At that moment, she made a decision; she would go to that island tomorrow, but she would go secretly.

Saix stood next to Xemnas on the highest tower in the castle. Kingdom Hearts could be seen high above them, it glowed an impressive golden glow. Absolutely no one was allowed up here without Xemnas' permission.

"You wished to discuss something with me?" Xemnas asked.

"Yes." said Saix "Are you sure we need to keep Xion? It is less obedient now, much like Roxas. He believes that it is a real person, and now I guess it believes so too."

"I admit that Xion has deviated from its programming. It was not supposed to develop a mind of its own, or become the person who many of us see."

Saix did not see it as a person, perhaps because he never got a good look at Sora. He saw a faceless mannequin in a cloak, Xemnas saw it as a perfect copy of Sora, and Xigbar once said he saw it as someone he encountered in his past life.

"Keep it and Roxas separate for a while, and have some Creepers follow it wherever it goes." Xemnas instructed. "Its unexpected attributes prove that it may be more useful than we hypothesized."

Saix left through a portal and Xemnas continued to gaze up at Kingdom Hearts. It was growing with each heart that Roxas and Xion delivered. Some day it would be complete and its power would be his and his alone. He suspected that Saix was plotting to undermine him, possibly with Axel. He did not doubt that Xigbar had his own agenda as well, but it did not matter. Whatever schemes his pawns made would fail and he would be the only survivor in the end, he would make certain of that.