Hold on tight, readers, this chapter is intense. Enjoy!

The gavel came down on the sounding block, and Aqua stood up, and looked around the courtroom surrounding her.

"I call up Lightning Farron to authenticate and explain the nature of the tapes covering security footage of Castle Oblivion and the Castle That Never Was."

As Aqua said this, Lightning stood up, and moved up to the front, towards the witness box. She seated herself comfortably, and looked out at the audience coolly.

"Lightning, can you explain briefly who you are?"

Lightning nodded, and took a breath in to begin. "I was previously a member of the Guardian Corps of Cocoon, before I joined a revolution that took back the country from the Sanctum. After that, I became a chief investigator in the Planet."

"What did you use to authenticate the tapes?"

"It's a program that has been introduced into the Investigation Bureau's authentication computers. It's a more advanced version of the program in most police stations."

"And what can this authentication device decipher?"

"To put things plainly, it deciphers the type of tape, how old it is, and if it has been tampered with."

"What did you find out about these tapes?"

"They were taken on the standard T-30 recorder- the same recorder that was documented as having been used to take the security footage in Castle Oblivion and the Castle That Never Was."

"How old was the footage?"

"The eldest is almost three and a half years old- the first set spans from near the beginning of the creation of Organization Thirteen to its end, and the second set documents the events at Castle Oblivion, also from its beginning to its end."

"Have the tapes been tampered with?"

"There are very faint signs of tampering." Lightning said. "And more obvious- missing tapes. But, these signs may be from wear and tear. The tapes are old."

"What parts of the tapes were tampered with, and what tapes are missing?"

"The missing tapes are scattered. The possible tampering occurs all around a few select places."

"And what places are they?" Aqua asked.

"In Castle Oblivion, there is footage of a hallway that has frame damage. Whether this is environmental or manual damage is hard to say. Also, the tapes of Xemnas' office in the Castle That Never Was exhibit frame damage."

Lightning looked out at the audience coolly as she said this, as everyone went a little bit quieter. Xehanort looked furious.

"So what you're saying is, there is no tampering around any of the other tapes?" Aqua asked, and Lightning nodded surely. "No."

As Aqua sat down, Mr. Silver jumped up to question Lightning. The woman answered everything he had to say coolly and efficiently, with not a hint of discomfort in her voice. Aqua looked on the spectacle with pride, and thankfulness that she had met the woman.

When it came time for Aqua to roll the tapes, she stepped up, clicked on the television, and let them roll. The whole courtroom sat silently, watching them with rapt attention.

Lightning did not stay to watch the tapes, and neither did Vanitas.

…..

Riku sat up in Roxas' room with Ventus, slinging rubber bands from Roxas' desk onto the ceiling. Ventus was getting irritated, and he narrowed his eyes as he looked at Riku, until he finally reached out and grabbed the boy's arm, to stop him from slinging another one.

"What's the problem?" Riku asked, and Ventus blinked out at him, with bags under his eyes. "I am trying to relax." He said lowly, and shivered. Riku looked worried. "Are you alright?" the silver haired boy asked, and Ventus nodded. "I don't know what's happening to me. I'm going crazier than I ever was before. I keep dreaming about Vanitas." He added, moaning a little bit. He seemed scared to bits, as he chewed his finger nails sore.

"Stop that." Riku snapped, pulling Ventus' hands away from his face, and he could feel the boy shaking.

There was the sound of feet trodding up the stairs, and Reno poked his head in the door. "Hey, buddy." He said to Ventus, who stared at him expressionlessly.

"Do you want to go out for a walk or something?" Reno asked, trying not to sound rehearsed. "Shake all this bad energy off?"

As Ventus shrugged, Reno's chest became tighter. He felt as though he was leading the boy to his death.

Just as Reno opened his mouth to call off the walk, the front door creaked open, and then slammed shut downstairs, and Lightning ran up the stairs, and waltzed into the bedroom. "Hello, Ventus." She said brightly, strolling over to him. "The case is looking really good for Axel, thanks to Aqua. She's doing a great job."

Ventus shrugged, and looked out the window. Lightning smiled at him. "You want to go outside?"

"Will you guys walk with me?" he asked, and Lightning nodded. "Of course."

"I'll go with you guys." Riku said, but Lightning held her hand up to his chest, stopping him gently. "Could you stay here for when Roxas gets back? I don't know if Vanitas will come by the house or not."

Riku narrowed his eyes at Lightning, irritated. "I'd like to stay with Ventus." He said snippily. Lightning smiled. "Don't worry about him. We're trained investigators. We'll make sure he's alright." She turned to Reno, signaling for him to follow her. "Let's go." She said. Reno suddenly felt the need to stay at the house, but he nodded anyway. "Alright."

Ventus slipped off of the bed slowly, and followed Lightning down the stairs and out the door.

As Reno closed the front door behind them, Lightning stopped him, and whispered in his ear. "Let him walk ahead of you. Don't crowd him. We've got to offer minimal leeway for Vanitas to try and strike."

"I don't think we should be doing this." Reno mumbled. Lightning sighed. "No turning back now."

Lightning eyed the alleyways around them as Ventus walked ahead. "You want to go to the store or something?" Lightning asked. "Get something to eat?"

Ventus seemed to be getting more confident as he walked; Lightning's laid-back tone of voice was putting him at ease. He nodded, and the three of them walked towards the store.

Lightning strutted forward, pretending to be oblivious and confident. She was anticipating that Vanitas' reckless behavior due to his 'falling apart' would make him use the predictable tactic of targeting the kid in a crowded place. It seemed like his only choice, with Ventus being guarded by an Investigation Bureau officer. But Reno didn't know if a kid as desperate as Vanitas would be afraid of a confrontation with an officer.

Reno stayed near the pay counter, and Lightning waited subtly close to the entrance of the store, letting Ventus wander through it. As Reno waited, he became more and more nervous, like he needed to get back to Roxas' house. Finally, he wrote down a note for Lightning, and slipped it to her, pretending to make a round of the store. Then, he slipped out the back of the store, and bolted down the winding alleyways, hoping that Vanitas wasn't anywhere near him.

He charged up to the back door into the apartment, and looked on in horror as a black figure slipped into the window of Ventus' room. He tried to run as quietly as he could up the stairs, but he abandoned that thought when he remembered that Riku was in the house alone.

As he bashed through the door into Roxas' room, Vanitas bent down over Riku, whom he had held down. A phone was near him, and Reno had a pretty clear idea of whom Vanitas was going to call. Vanitas looked up at him, grimacing, and seemed to abandon the phone idea. Reno held up his gun to Vanitas. "Stand down! Don't do anything rash, or I will shoot your ass!"

Vanitas looked back and forth in panic, before reaching quickly into his pocket, and pulling out a syringe full of black fluid, jabbing it into Riku's neck. Riku convulsed briefly, and began to breath raggedly, struggling within himself. "Lie the fuck down!" Reno roared, and Vanitas laughed.

"You can waste your time trying to arrest me, or you can get this poor fuck to a doctor. He's got heartless venom in him, and it doesn't take long for it to work."

Reno gulped, hesitating, leaving just enough time for Vanitas to dash out the window. Reno shot at him in vain, and then turned to Riku with wild eyes. Riku grinned up at him in pain.

"Don't worry about me. I can last for as long as I need. I've built up a short term tolerance to this stuff."

"What does short term tolerance mean?" Reno said dully, and Riku glared at him in irritation. "It means that in a few hours I will need a damn antidote to this shit!" he shouted. "But right now, Roxas is coming home, and so is Ventus!"

Reno nodded, patted Riku on the shoulder, and put the phone beside him. "Have a blast." He said, and Riku began to dial a number.

Reno bolted out the front door again, and charged in the direction that Vanitas had gone. He hoped that Lightning hadn't lead him down a short cut in the vain attempt to 'trap' Vanitas. Reno dialed Roxas' number quickly, and the boy picked up. "Don't go home!" Reno shouted. "No time for questions, call the police!"

He then attempted to call Lightning. He got the answering machine, and picked up his pace, running silently down the alleyways, hoping that the small gun he held in his hands would protect him against Vanitas, who moved with a swiftness that Reno couldn't quite comprehend.

Reno wondered if Vanitas was waiting for him, and became more cautious as he ran. He thought he saw Vanitas' black hair flash a few yards ahead of him, and he ran faster, pushing himself to his limit.

There were familiar voices ahead of him, a scream that was Ventus, and Lightning's not so calm voice. He tried to sneak forward, but Vanitas knew that he had been followed. Reno screamed as he noticed Vanitas striking Lightning, taking her gun from her. Then, he pointed it at Lightning.

"Don't move, Ventus." Vanitas sneered. "You don't want another casualty because of you, right?"

Ventus' eyes widened in horror. "Who else?" he said shakily, and Vanitas shrugged. "Your friend Riku was inconveniencing me."

Ventus' eyes welled up with tears, and he put his hands over his face in agony. Vanitas turned to Reno with a steady glare.

"Now, I know you'd hate to have your girlfriend shot, so I want you to cooperate. Him for her." He added.

Reno tried desperately to think of another solution, but Lightning nodded at him, and he put his gun down. "Alright, we'll do what you want, kid." He mumbled, and Vanitas' chest moved up and down faster. He looked close to some sort of edge, one that would consume him in some sort of torturous agony if he fell over it. With eyes constantly on Lightning and Reno, Vanitas pulled Ventus over to his motorcycle. When the boy was seated, Vanitas began to relax, and Lightning and Reno shared a glance.

Then, Reno dug his feet into the ground as if he was lunging forward, and ducked, but Vanitas saw through this attempt at a distraction, and blocked Lightning's fist as it raced towards his head. Lightning quickly took another hit at him, punching him in the gut and making him drop his gun.

Vanitas crouched down, grinding his teeth, as Lightning struck at him, and Ventus saw a glint of silver coming out of his pocket.

"Lightning! Move back!" he screamed, and the syringe Vanitas held in his hand barely grazed Lightning's neck as she moved back to block herself. Ventus grabbed Vanitas by the hair, and yanked his head back, making Vanitas lose grip of his syringe. Ducking down, Lightning grabbed her gun, and whipped it around to point at Vanitas, who was struggling with Ventus.

"Get down, Vanitas!" Lightning hissed, but Vanitas pressed a button on a bracelet on his arm, and his motorcycle revved up, slicing in between him and Lightning. He threw himself and Ventus on to it, and whizzed down a side lane.

"Fuck!" Reno snapped as Lightning stood up, panting. "We almost had him."

"It's my fault, Reno." Lightning sighed. "I was an idiot. I should have assumed he would come to the house. I won't make mistakes like that again."

"Can we follow him?" Reno asked, and Lightning shook her head. "Not on foot. But if you called someone, they should be blocking off the area. Maybe we still have a chance if we move fast."

Reno nodded, and went over to Lightning, patting her on the back. She looked tired.

"I just hope that Ventus can look after himself." Lightning mumbled. Reno nodded.

…..

As Ventus and Vanitas drove down the side roads, Vanitas' breathing became more ragged. Ventus was acting strangely calm, which scared him. Moments later, Vanitas couldn't take it anymore. He stopped the motorcycle, hopped off of it, and paced back and forth, reaching in his pockets, closing his hands around the familiar metal that he pierced into his body everyday. But something wasn't there.

"-The fuck?" Vanitas growled to himself, and stopped, looking at Ventus, who held up the small vial he was searching for. The shine of the black fluid gleaned in the twilight, and Ventus glared at Vanitas.

"You looking for this?" he asked, and Vanitas' eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "How did you-?"

"You weren't even paying attention." Ventus hissed.

Vanitas looked horrified. He slowly put his hand forward, and smiled weakly at Ventus.

"Alright, Ventus. Come on, that belongs to me. Give it back, would you?"

"You killed my friend." Ventus snarled, twirling the vial in his hands.

"I didn't kill Riku!" Vanitas corrected nervously. "He's had dealings with heartless in the past- I'm sure he can deal with this. I think I heard him say that he was fine for a few hours, alright?" Vanitas added. Ventus stared at him coldly. "You don't know how much I have suffered," Vanitas hissed. "Don't you think I deserve any shred of a happy ending?" he added.

Ventus stared at him for a few moments. Then, his mouth turned up into a grin. "No." he stated simply. Then, he let the vial fall to the ground. When it smashed, he stepped on the glass with his foot, took it away, and spit on the black fluid that was seeping into the ground around it. Vanitas stared at it, and began to hyperventilate.

"That was the last one I had." He stuttered, looking up at Ventus in rage. "That was the last fucking one I had here!" he shrieked. "I can't get more unless I go back to Xehanort- and I can't-!"

Vanitas looked at Ventus with bitter vehemence, and took a step forward.

"Let's settle this again, Vanitas," Ventus replied with a shaky voice, trying to stand tall. "I'll kick your ass again."

"You know I'm stronger than you, dumbass. I'll kill you right here." Vanitas hissed, trying to stop his body from convulsing. The sounds of ambulance sirens rang out from behind Vanitas, who looked around in desperation, but stayed rooted to the ground.

"Fight me, Vanitas! We'll prove who the real fake is!" Ventus roared, and Vanitas' head clicked around. Any sense of reality left him at that point, and he breathed out deeply. Grinning maliciously and cracked his neck, Vanitas flexing the ragged muscles in his arms. "Let's go."

Ventus and Vanitas charged at one another seconds that seemed to drag on in anticipation, until their bodies crumpled in on each other. They struggled with each other, their arms moving up and down each other's bodies, trying to gain hold. Vanitas' strength played to his advantage in this close contact, and he gained control of Ventus quickly, forcing him down to the ground. Ventus kicked swiftly up at Vanitas, who dodged him, swaying a little bit.

"Come on, Vanitas. I thought you were fast." Ventus mocked. "Are you falling apart? Will Xehanort have to put you down if you go back?"

Vanitas charged back at him, but Ventus stayed cool, gracefully striking at Vanitas over and over again, going in and out of Vanitas' range with ease. Vanitas was wearing down quickly, and the minute he put his guard down, Ventus smashed his fist into the boy's tan face, sending him down to the ground. Sweat dripped off of Ventus' face as he stared down at Vanitas, who coughed and sputtered, wheezing in pain.

Ventus paced back and forth, waiting for Vanitas to get back up. "Are you trying to make the X-blade again?" Ventus asked, and Vanitas shook his head. "What are you doing then?"

The clock tower in Twilight Town rang out the hour, and Vanitas' attention was drawn to it. He stared up at the setting sun in terror, and pulled himself up, pushing past Ventus and heaping himself over his motorcycle.

"I can't let you go, Vanitas." Ventus murmured, putting his hands on the handlebars of the motorcycle. "You're going to go after someone else."

As Ventus' fingers grazed Vanitas' hands, a jolt of energy traveled through Vanitas. He bent his head down, and tried not to crumple over. "Vanitas." Ventus snapped, shaking him. Then, Ventus felt his phone ring in his pocket, and he dug in it to get it out, answering it. "Hey, Reno." He mumbled. "He's here. I'm fine."

Vanitas tried to move his arms, but it seemed as if his body was not working properly. He relaxed his tensed muscles, taking a break as the sounds of police sirens reached closer and closer to them. Ventus looked at him coolly, but Vanitas refused to meet his gaze. "They'll be here in a few seconds. I hope you have good excuses for all the shit you've caused." Ventus added.

"How did you know I had that stuff?" Vanitas asked suddenly, and Ventus shrugged. "I dream your dreams."

Vanitas' head bent low again, and his fists tightened around the handlebars in front of him until his knuckles turned white. "I hate you." He whispered, and forced himself to use his muscles again.

The sounds of running feet and parking cars came closer and closer to them, and Vanitas pressed the autopilot button on his motorcycle. Then, he revved it up, and sped off, maneuvering between two cops that were running towards him. Ventus looked shocked as Lightning and Reno charged towards him.

"My, fuck!" Reno said tiredly, patting Ventus on the back. "Thanks for saving your ass, kid. We would have hated to lose you."

"Occasionally I can look after myself." Ventus murmured, and Reno chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets.

Ventus looked at the place where Vanitas had been. "Was I his sole target?"

"Nope." Reno replied. "He's going to go after Namine next, or he's dead meat. We may solve two cases in one day."

"Let's hope." Ventus said in exhaustion.

….

The bells on the clock tower tolled just as Aqua drove home with Axel. "Well, I expect that tomorrow should be our last day. Xemnas might even want to drop the case after all that footage." She added. Axel sighed, sitting back.

"Are you alright, Axel?" she asked, and he shrugged. "I'm fine. I think we'll win after all."

Aqua's phone rang, and she grabbed at it, answering it. "Hello?" she answered.

"It's Lightning. There was an attempted kidnapping of Ventus by Vanitas."

"Is he alright?" Aqua said frantically.

"He's fine. He did a great job, you should be proud. Better than either of us." Lightning added as if in shame, but Aqua laughed. "I'm sure you're just putting yourself down. I'm coming straight away!"

Aqua sighed, and laughed again for good measure. Something inside her told her that her problems with Vanitas were coming to a close.

….

Xehanort sat at his office in a rage, waiting for Kadaj to come in. The young man made his way into the office, and Xehanort beckoned for him to sit in front of him.

"What is it that you needed, sir?" Kadaj asked, and Xehanort chuckled. "I am a fool, Kadaj. I have surrounded myself with weaklings." He hissed. Kadaj stirred uncomfortably as Xehanort stood up and paced towards the window, looking out of it.

"Vanitas has failed us. The case against Axel we have attempted to build is crumbling. I cannot count on that boy anymore."

"What are you going to do about it, sir?" Kadaj asked, and Xehanort chuckled. "I think that Vanitas does not have much time left. If we hand him over to the authorities in such a frenzied state, they will be satisfied with the murders, Vanitas will die, and the string connecting myself to my past will be severed."

"I thought you would let him die peacefully, sir." Kadaj said uncomfortably.

"That boy means nothing to me. The least he can do is repay me for all the mistakes he has made." Xehanort hissed. "I will forgive him when he is rotting in a cell."

Kadaj nodded, and took the folder Xehanort had left for him. In it were various pieces of information on Vanitas, including fingerprints and DNA samples.

"Make his invisible tracks visible, Kadaj." Xehanort said simply, and Kadaj exited the room.

…

Vanitas sat near the machine, sick with pain. He tried to force his brain to work, try to get it to think up something, anything, but nothing came to mind. He wanted desperately to fall asleep, his bones felt like they were sinking down into the ground below him. But, he forced himself up, and tried to think again. This was his last chance.

There had to have been someone.

It wasn't Kairi, or Aqua, or Xion, or any of the princesses of heart, or any other girl it seemed. But there was one other name that lied on the tip of Vanitas' tongue, silent.

Xemnas had spoken to Xehanort of a girl that they had found. A girl named Namine. She was supposedly a lot like Kairi. She had a power that couldn't be fathomed by anyone. She was used by the Organization against Sora.

Vanitas knew nothing about the girl, except for the fact that she had been adopted by Marluxia, and the fact that the girl had run away from him. He only needed to find out where she was hiding. He couldn't test her to see if she was what he needed, because he'd ran out of heartless medicine. He would have to bring her to the machine and hope for the best.

Vanitas knew he didn't have the right to pray to anyone or anything. The only person in the world he had that he could count on was Xehanort- and that notion was dwindling in his mind.

"I guess I'll count on you, Namine." He whispered hoarsely to himself.

Vanitas boarded his motorcycle, and raced off into the night. He figured that where he would find Marluxia, he would be able to find Namine.

…

Marluxia tapped his fingers on his kitchen table, looking down in his reflection in the coffee in front of him. Namine had been away from him for an unforgivably long time. The police seemed to have scoured everywhere, but they could not locate where she was.

Marluxia thought about Namine, the way she was. Sora, and Kairi, and Riku had captivated Namine when she was told about them. The Organization's power had lain in the fact that Namine wished that she was Kairi in a way, therefore she was able to replace Kairi with herself in order to control Sora. Perhaps the logical thing for Namine to do would be to hide in a place that was dear to Sora.

There was an island off the mainland that had been very important to Sora and his friends when they were younger. It was the last searchable place Marluxia could think of that Namine would be at.

Marluxia jumped up from his chair, and grabbed his coat, going out into a heavy rain that had descended earlier in the night. His anger was mounting, and he knew that this time would be the last time that Namine played him for a fool. He had given her chance and chance again before, but she had let him down. Now she would pay for it.

He made his way to the docks, the trees behind him blowing in the wind, making their own shadows look like the silhouettes of monsters, swaying back and forth, following close behind Marluxia. He felt as though he was being watched, and looked around him ever so often.

He came upon his own boat at the dock, and jumped into it, rowing off towards the island in frenzy. The waves were becoming higher and higher, but Marluxia pushed forward, refusing to look at the shore behind him. All he could do was forge ahead.

When Marluxia came upon the island's shore, he pulled his boat up by its dock, and jumped off, descending onto the sand of the island. He then began to search around, flicking on his flashlight.

As he looked around, he himself began to grow afraid. The rain whipped back and forth, howling with the crashing waves, whose depths held secrets unseen by any human eye. Marluxia averted his gaze, and stared ahead, going into the deep undergrowth that engulfed the island. He scoured the expanse of the island, before coming upon a waterfall. He shone his flashlight through it, and thought that he noticed a hollow behind it. He chuckled to himself, and began to speak.

"Namine." He murmured. "I know you're here. Come out for me. Come out right now." He hissed.

Namine crouched in the cave, silent and pinned up against a wall of stone. Her heart beat like a hammer as she searched in vain for an escape. Marluxia's flashlight came closer and closer, until it shone in the cave, its warm light landing on her feet.

Namine ground her fingers into her palms, her hands shaking, and prepared for Marluxia to come in. He set one foot inside the cave, and then the other, and as he peered in, Namine attacked him, clawing at his face and biting at him, hitting and kicking with all her might. He fell back in surprise as she hit him in the face and neck, but he quickly pushed her back into the cave wall behind her.

"You little bitch!" he snarled at her, lunging at her as she screamed as loudly as she could. She tried to kick him away, but he pinned her legs down with his knees, looking up at her with gritted teeth. He grabbed her arms, and mashed them into the ground as she continued to scream, trying her best to bite at him.

"I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier." Marluxia hissed, moving his hand up under her skirt, and pulling her underwear down. "You always wanted to be Kairi, didn't you? Of course you'd pick this spot. You are nothing. You're just a shadow of her." He hissed, and Namine hiccupped as she cried. Marluxia smiled and bent down to kiss Namine.

As Namine tried to look anywhere but Marluxia, she noticed a shadow from near the waterfall unglue itself from the wall, stalking closer and closer to them. Her eyes widened in fear, and she bit Marluxia's lip to get his attention. He just slapped her thigh hard, continuing to kiss her as the shadow drew nearer and nearer. Two shining yellow eyes blinked out from inside it, bloodshot and wide with a mad quality. It drew up closer until it was right behind Marluxia, and then it made a quick movement, and Marluxia gagged, and coughed suddenly, pulling back from Namine. His eyelids fluttered up and down as he tried to figure out what was going on, and the dark figure reached its arm around his neck. Namine put her hands over her eyes as she heard Marluxia gurgle and slump over. She tried to scream, but the black figure was upon her, still holding the knife he had used to cut Marluxia's neck.

"Come with me." He hissed, and Namine tried to claw at him, screaming for him to get away from her. He quickly knocked her out, and grabbed her, lifting her up over his shoulder. Then, he moved as quickly as he could towards Marluxia's boat, hopping into it, and rowing furiously towards the mainland with Namine beside him. When he got there, he loaded her onto the motorcycle he had waiting near the dock, and they both rode off silently into the night.

…

Namine woke up to the sound of a howling wind different from the one she had known in Destiny Islands, and rubbed her eyes tiredly, looking around. In front of her was a great, white machine, which hummed softly. A young, tan man with jet-black hair was toggling with it and Namine noticed that there was some blood on his hands. She looked around the cave she was now in, memories flooding back into her. Noticing that her clothing had a tremendous amount of blood on it, Namine ripped it off of her in disgust, throwing it aside. The young man whipped his head around when he heard this and stopped Namine just as she tried to dash out of the cave.

"You're not going anywhere." He said tiredly, leaning into Namine with all his weight to stop her from going any farther away from him. She tried to struggle against him again, and he sighed, wishing that he would be given a break. "I'm not going to hurt you." He finally shouted, and Namine stopped struggling momentarily, pulling back to look at him.

"Why did you kill Marluxia?" she asked shakily, and Vanitas shrugged. "He was in my way."

"Why do you want me?" she asked. Vanitas looked up at the machine, and then back at her.

"Do you have light inside you? Light and only light?"

"I don't know."

"We're going to find out. You're my last hope to survive. That's why I couldn't waste any time with that man last night. He was slowing me down, so I got rid of him." Vanitas muttered.

"It wasn't because of what he was doing?" Namine murmured, and Vanitas' eyes widened in a fit of intense emotion. "Did you want it to be because of that?" he asked, pulling away from her. He seemed to be in horrific pain, like he would collapse at any moment. Namine felt sorry for him. "So I can help you?" she asked shakily, and Vanitas nodded. "Yes."

Namine paused, thinking about things. After momentary silence, she looked back up at him.

"Then I will." Namine said shakily, nodding. "Because you saved me."

Vanitas blinked out at her incredulously, and shook his head with a sad chuckle. "Get in the machine." He mumbled, and Namine obeyed, lying down on the tray of the right side of the machine. Vanitas messed with the control panel, set it on go, and then trudged towards the machine, nearly dumping himself on the other tray. He pushed Namine's trey into the machine, and then pushed his own in.

The doors in front of the trays shut, and a spray descended around the two of them. Namine felt like something inside her was becoming more relaxed, and she fluttered in and out of sleep, wondering if it was a dream when thick tubes slithered out from the walls and into her neck. In the compartment beside her, Vanitas looked up in deep agony and anticipation, his eyes looking like those of a tiny lost child. He did not seem like the killer who had ended Marluxia's life a few hours ago. Namine noticed a shining white fluid leaving her neck and move into the left side compartment into Vanitas' neck. He convulsed slightly as it was put inside him, but it seemed as if he was fighting to stay awake. The process ended, and Namine felt light headed and weak, as the trays automatically went out of the machine and the spray dissipated. She slid off of her tray onto the ground, and grabbed Vanitas' arm, shaking him. His eyelashes fluttered, and he looked back and forth as if not knowing where he was.

Namine slid him off of his tray, and looked down at him in curiosity and fear. He convulsed slightly, sucking in shallow breaths and looking around wildly.

The young man in front of Namine seemed to possess a strange innocence that baffled her. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but it was some sort of naiveté that appeared to be clouding his vision. Perhaps it was the same as believing unconditionally in someone, like she had done with Sora and Axel.

Time passed by indefinitely, and Namine looked out the mouth of the cave, gaping in awe when she saw the expansive desert land in front of her. Down in its valley, were hoards of keyblades spread out in all directions, separated by what looked like a crossroads. It was unlike anything Namine had ever seen before.

There was a stirring behind Namine, and as she turned around, Vanitas attempted to stand up, swaying back and forth before falling to the ground. Namine rushed over to him, trying to catch him, but he hit the ground before she could get close enough to break his fall.

"Are you feeling any better now?" she asked, and Vanitas looked up at her with a puzzled expression.

"Why are you still here?" he asked, and Namine shrugged. "I didn't really want to leave you on your own out here. So…" she blushed unsurely, and scratched the back of her head, not knowing what else to say. Vanitas' lips curled up in irritation. She was so… light.

"Do you want me to drop you off somewhere?" Vanitas sneered, and Namine looked over at him with narrowed eyes. "I could tell people what happened to me. I could run right now, and you wouldn't be able to stop me." She added dangerously. Vanitas pursed his lips, trying to see if she was bluffing or not. She stared at him steadily, so he gave in, and sighed. "Is there something you want from me?"

"Why did you kidnap me and put me in this machine? I want to know everything about you, from the time you were born to this very second."

"Why is it so important for you to know?" he growled, trying to stand up, but he couldn't.

"I just have to know!"

"Fine, Fine" Vanitas muttered, holding his hands up in surrender. He suddenly felt immensely uncomfortable. He felt strange, like there were two heartbeats overlapping his own- Ventus's, and now Namine's.

"I was born Ber… ber… I know it started with a 'b'", he reasoned, scratching his head. "Bertrand, that's it." He remembered.

"Hello, Bertrand." Namine said quietly.

Vanitas looked up at her with a suspicious expression, but he could feel inside himself for some reason that she wasn't trying to trick him in any way. He sighed, shrugging.

"I was adopted by Xehanort from a home for the mentally disabled- because I was neutral. I had no light or dark inside me, I was empty. When darkness was put in me, I became different, stronger. I was meant to make this X-Blade capable of 'ruling the world' with a guy like Ventus."

"I think I know this story." Namine said quietly, and Vanitas stared at her incredulously. "How would you know it?"

"Xemnas told it to me." Namine murmured.

Vanitas stared at her for a moment, before deciding to continue. "Well, you know all of that. So, in the meantime, I've been doing Xehanort's bidding. He's all I have, so I might as well stick around."

"You've killed other people?" Namine asked, and Vanitas smirked. "I did all of Xehanort's dirty work. I didn't feel any remorse, either." He added. Namine furrowed her eyebrows. "But you seem so sweet."

Vanitas stared at her again, and broke out laughing, falling back onto the ground. He laughed till he cried, and laughed more when Namine went over to see if he was alright. He felt strange and weightless, like he was being suspended in the air.

"I've been called a lot of things in my life, but 'sweet' has never been one of them." He chuckled, wiping his eyes. "No, I'm not sweet. I'm a snake. I'm a murderer." He added, trailing off. He didn't know how he'd felt about what he did now.

The two sat in silence for a moment, and Namine crossed her legs, sitting up straighter. "I suppose I'll tell you about myself." She said quietly, sighing in contentment. "I was born far away from here, in Gehstalia. Through an unfortunate series of events, I was carried from orphanage to orphanage until I ended up in The Land That Never Was, where Marluxia adopted me. He's been after me for a while now."

Vanitas looked at Namine oddly. He could feel wisps of her thoughts floating around in his head. It was so strange that he hardly knew what to do.

"Well, I guess we're both products of the environment we were born into." Vanitas added, chuckling. "I guess I must really look pitiful right now, since you don't seem to be the slightest bit scared of me."

"Are you going to go back to Xehanort?" Namine asked, and Vanitas hesitated, before nodding.

"Maybe Xehanort is your Marluxia. If you don't get away from him, he'll continue to use you." Namine whispered. "You can't trust someone who only hurts you."

There was silence again, and the two sat together, taking in how they felt. Vanitas sighed. "Sorry, I've made you sad."

"How'd you know I was sad?" Namine asked nervously. Vanitas shrugged. "You're a part of me, now, like Ventus. You're sad; he's calm and slightly confused. Can't say why, though."

"How does the darkness in you feel?" Namine added serenely.

"I'll always hurt. Just probably not as bad as before." Vanitas murmured. Namine seemed fascinating. He was constantly wondering if she knew more than she appeared to. She probably did. How else could she have been so calm, knowing what he'd done? There was something about her that reminded him of the college in the Land Of Departure.

"Looks like I'll be incapacitated for a few more hours." Vanitas mumbled. Namine didn't respond, she just looked out the mouth of the cave silently, thinking deeply.

…..

As Axel stepped up to the witness stand, Xemnas looked up at his father, who seemed to be livid. Everything had gone completely wrong.

"What happened next, Axel?" Aqua asked, and Axel took a deep breath.

"I joined the Organization." He started. "Saix and I did originally have the plan to take it over. But, when Roxas joined the Organization, I was interested. I reached out to him, and we were beginning to become friends when I left for Castle Oblivion."

"Why did you reach out to him?" Aqua asked. Axel shrugged, blushing a little bit. "I don't know. He looked like he was kind of lost. He reminded me of myself when I was his age, I guess… like I didn't really know what was in front of me…"

"So he reminded you of yourself? Is that all?" Aqua asked. Axel sighed. "Well, he was good looking, too. I was interested!"

"But you quickly found that he was like you. It was a connection, right? Is that what made you two friends?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, he started talking about things that I'd never thought about before. He was a deeper hearted person then I'd ever met before."

"Even your friend Saix?"

"Saix was a good friend… he was just… different." Axel said softly.

"He was intellectual, right?" Aqua said. "But you could never talk about what was on your heart with him."

"Yeah." Axel mumbled. "That was the thing with a lot of the people in Organization Thirteen."

"So, you were away from Roxas, what happened in Castle Oblivion?"

"I carried out the plans of Xemnas and Saix. I eliminated Marluxia and Larxene so that they wouldn't attempt to take Sora. I eliminated Vexen for our own plans, and Riku ended up eliminating Lexaeus and Zexion on his own. Then, I went back to Organization Thirteen."

"What had happened while you were gone?" Aqua asked.

"Roxas had made friends with Xion. I was jealous. I thought that Roxas was my friend. I was worried he wouldn't like me as much anymore."

"But he welcomed you back into the friend group, and all three of you became close."

"Yeah." Axel replied. "We were all good friends."

"And then Xemnas told you to frame Xion for the Organizations dirty work." Aqua stated, and Axel nodded.

"She was speaking with the guy named Riku, and then she and I were fighting, and everything began to go wrong when she figured out what the organization wanted to do to her. And they told me to go and frame one of my best friends." Axel snapped.

"You didn't want to frame her?" Aqua asked.

Axel looked at her sadly, shaking his head. "Of course not. We were friends. I'd never had friends like them before. I wanted to keep that balance."

"So when Xion abruptly quit, and Roxas followed suit, you had no one left? How did you cope without your only friends?" Aqua asked.

"I began to hate the people in the Organization, including myself. I tried to get Roxas back, but he wouldn't come back. So, I decided to meddle with the Organization again. I went undercover, I got on Sora's side, helped him out a little bit."

"And you kidnapped Kairi." Aqua added. Axel shrugged. "I knew that kidnapping Kairi would bring me closer to Sora, who at the time had Roxas around. I ended up fighting on Sora's side."

"You got pretty beat up because of it at one point." Aqua added. Axel nodded uncomfortably, like he didn't want to talk about that moment, like it was private. "Yeah, we were fighting nobodies. But I wanted to show Roxas that I wasn't a complete jerk. I did everything for him."

"No further questioning." Aqua said, and went back to her seat as Mr. Silver stepped up, moving towards Axel.

"So, you say that you were friends with Roxas?" Mr. Silver said. "That's your reasoning for your 'good deeds' to the organization that 'wronged' you and your friend?"

Axel nodded.

"If you were such good friends with Xion, why did you let her go so abruptly?" Mr. Silver asked. Axel sighed. "Because I wasn't as good a friend to her as I was to Roxas. She went out of everyone's minds."

"And someone just poofs out of everyone's memory when they leave?" Mr. Silver asked rhetorically. Axel sat in silence, not knowing what the man was trying to do.

"You are a very, very intelligent young man. The excuse that you didn't have any college education is a good one for someone trying to meddle inconspicuously. But you did it expertly, didn't you?" Mr. Silver said coolly. Axel didn't respond, so Mr. Silver went on.

"I do not believe that a man changes so abruptly after time with a young man, about five years your junior, may I add. It seemed like you were interested in one thing with him, and on thing only." Mr. Silver waited for a response. "You're not going to have a guess? Well, I'll tell you. Sex."

Axel clenched his fists, and looked down at his hands.

"The fact is, Axel hasn't just had sexual relations with Roxas. You did him in an empty room adjacent to a wedding ceremony, didn't you?"

Axel's jaw dropped, and he sucked in a deep breath. "I didn't do him! He didn't want to, I stopped!" Axel barked. Mr. Silver chuckled. "And I bet Roxas would feel too guilty to say otherwise," then, he turned his head, directing his next statement to the jury, "The fact is, Axel is a fantastic liar. He lied to a lot of people."

He turned back to Axel, narrowing his eyes. "How many sexual relations have you had since Roxas?"

"I- I don't know…" Axel muttered, and Mr. Silver snorted. "I believe it included Selphie, a pass at Aerith- who was by the way, going to be married, Ventus- Roxas' own mentally unstable brother, and even Marluxia. That is quite a number."

Axel looked down at his hands, gulping in a deep breath. He felt like thousands of eyes were on him, watching him fall apart.

"You knew where those cameras were, didn't you? Who's to say that the real business went on other places? But we won't know. All we know is that you are an excellent liar, you are smart, resourceful, and you like to meddle with people and bring them ruin."

"Objection!" Aqua cut in, seeing that Axel was wearing down. "That's blatant bullying!"

"Sustained." The judge replied, and Aqua sat down. Mr. Silver shrugged in a half ass apology.

"If you'll notice in the tapes, there were strange points where you looked directly at the camera and smirked. You dealt with a crooked cop named Croc, why didn't you go to a real policeman?"

"Because I was scared." Axel snapped, "I felt like I could trust Croc."

"Wrong again, Axel." Mr. Silver snapped back. "Croc was one of the least trust worthy cops you could go to. And you paid him off to find more information on Professor Ansem and Organization Thirteen; you paid him to look for the clues to prove you innocence in the matter. Because you probably knew this would happen, right?"

"I knew that we'd fall, but I didn't know that-" Axel began, and Mr. Silver threw his forefinger up, pointing to Axel's face. "He accepts it readily. Perhaps Axel paid Croc off to do a shoddy search, who's to say that Croc was just to say that Axel did call the police?"

"Objection!" Aqua shouted again. "He's making up his own version of events!"

"Sustained. Watch it, Mr. Silver." The judge growled, and Mr. Silver nodded, bowing a little bit.

"No further questioning." He muttered, leaving Axel up on the witness stand, tired and upset. The jury looked up at him with mixed thoughts, some of their eyes boring into him in disgust.

The judge slammed his gavel down on its block. "This court is adjourned, the jury shall make its decision."

As the jury filed out of the courtroom, Axel squeezed Aqua's hand. "What's the matter, Axel?" Aqua asked, and Axel looked at the floor blankly. "I want to plead guilty." He mumbled, shocking Aqua. "What the hell are you saying?"

"What I did to Roxas and everyone else was terrible. I deserve to go to jail. I did meddle." Axel added with a tight throat that strangled his words. "The thing is, I did enlist Croc to find stuff out, because I did have things to hide."

"Axel, I know that at heart you are a good person. What you did in the past is over and done with, you have a chance to be free."

"I'll never be free, now. Not after what he said." Axel snapped.

Aqua pursed her lips, wanting to reach out and give Axel a hug. But something in her told her not to. She didn't want Mr. Silver to have any other shit to fling in court, if they had to go at it again for some reason.

"I stole money." Axel said softly. "Me and Saix stole a lot of money. That's why we wanted to bring the Organization down. We wanted to cover up the money laundering. And Saix was one of the people who helped make it so that Xion was used in the Organization to weaken Roxas. I watched as Larxene beat up Namine. I turned a blind eye. She trusted me. I was an accessory to abuse and experimentation and I laundered money. I should be going to jail."

Aqua put her head in her hands, sighing audibly. "I'm sorry." Axel said softly. "Well, let's hope no one finds out, or we'll have to rebuild your whole case," Aqua muttered. "I can't believe that you didn't tell me this sooner."

Suddenly, Mr. Silver pealed into the room and towards the judge. He seemed intensely excited. "Sir, I request one more day. I want partial ownership of those tapes. I want a copy. I also have paper work that was found by our investigators proving that Axel laundered money." Mr. Silver hissed.

"Speak of the devil." Aqua growled. Axel didn't really have any expression on his face, it was like he had expected this to happen sometime or other.

The judge called the jury back in, and told them that the trial would go on one more day. Aqua stared up at the judge's box in masked defeat. Axel would be convinced to plead guilty, and the case would be lost. Maybe he should plead guilty. But she hated defeat.

Mr. Silver nearly danced back to Xehanort and Xemnas, with a huge grin plastered across his face. "I think we've got something!" He hissed with delight, and Xehanort looked pleased. Xemnas seemed to have reservations, but he kept his discomfort unnoticed by his father or the lawyer who was representing him.

Axel went to the bathroom, and Aqua waited for him outside. Apparently, Axel would now be staying the night in a jail cell because of the new charges brought against him.

Suddenly, Aqua noticed Xemnas walking towards her, looking around him to see if he was being watched. "Hi," he began, smiling slightly to be nice. Aqua didn't grant him the same favor. "I just came to tell you that I think you've still got a chance tomorrow. Sorry for how tough things were today."

"Do you know how much you've done?" Aqua asked vehemently. Xemnas looked away. "I used to be different. More like my father. At least I'm not the same as I was before."

"Do you think you still have a chance with me?" Aqua snapped, and Xemnas blinked, shrugging. Then, he stepped closer to her, leaning in to her ear. "You know, you could just forget everything that happened. Terra was bound to go crazy, he had it in him."

"He could have changed!" Aqua hissed, but Xemnas ignored her and continued.

"Ventus went nuts the minute Vanitas was injected with heartless venom, right? Axel would've gone to jail anyway- and deserves it. He did wrong, too."

Aqua tried to pull away from him as he spoke, disgusted with what he was saying. He moved over to her, grabbing her arm urgently. "The only thing I'm sorry about is you. But you're back now. You've started again. You've got Ventus. Now please, just think about things."

Aqua paused again, and looked down at the marble floor below her. Tears welled up in her eyes. She had loved Xemnas at one time. And she thought that all the while she should have loved Terra, instead. She suddenly wondered just how hard it was for Ventus, being away from him.

"Get away from me." Aqua snarled, and broke away from Xemnas' grasp. She noticed Axel waiting for her by the door, and went over to him, wiping her eyes as subtly as she could.

"You okay?" Axel asked, and Aqua nodded. "I won't let you plead guilty tomorrow, Axel."

"I'll just get a higher sentence, then." Axel said in fear, but Aqua shook her head. "You will not. I'll make sure it doesn't happen. Just trust me."

….

Sid had dreams about his friends frequently. He dreamed of a world where they could be happy, where their lives weren't fraught with disappointment.

He dreamed of a world where Aerith had never met Sephiroth or Zach Fair, a world where she had fallen in love with Leon, instead, a real hero, and had started a flower shop far away from the Planet and Midgar, with its dark skies and bleak landscape. Sid dreamed of a world where Yuffie had never laid eyes on Loz, who had too many problems for her to deal with by herself. A world where she was a little girl forever, smiling and laughing with a big chocolate covered grin on her face, playing with Aerith and Leon like they were all young and naïve. Sometimes, Sid even dreamed about Aerith and Leon having a little baby that he could spoil. If it was a boy, he'd take him fishing off the coast of Destiny Islands, if it were a little girl, he'd grudgingly let her brush his hair and put makeup on his face, like Yuffie had used to do.

And sometimes, Sid even thought about having a wife of his own, of sitting out on their little porch with her in the evenings. He thought of a time before he'd become hard, when he was young and free to roam around, of a time when he was handsome and fell in love with beautiful women who made him laugh and that he could talk about anything to.

Leon would set up paper lanterns around the backyard, and Sora and his friends would come over and help set up the tables. Maybe Sora would play with Aerith's little boy, running around after him in laughter. And Kairi might run around with Aerith's little girl.

Aerith would delegate people's jobs, going between cooking, welcoming, and setting the tables with Riku, Namine, and Roxas. If Roxas and Xion were there, Axel would probably have to tag along, too.

Sid and his wife would sit in the backyard and relax, watching the children as they played. Then, everyone would sit down to dinner, smiling and laughing, not a wrinkle on their faces.

Sid wondered where everything had gone wrong. He wondered how long ago he could have prevented what had happened from happening. But there was no use dwelling on what was. What he had was right now.

Aerith was trying to save up enough money to get a house with Zach, Yuffie was crying silently over Loz, who wouldn't speak to her and got angry and sad for reasons she didn't know. Axel was on trial and seemed poised to be put in jail at any moment, and Roxas had a brother who drove him mad. Namine had disappeared, leaving Xion behind.

These thoughts whirled around in Sid's head; as he subtly watched Aerith and Zach, in the room beside him, discuss houses together at the kitchen table. They laughed occasionally at little private jokes, and clasped hands as they spoke. Leon came down the stairs by the kitchen, and looked at Aerith and Zach's clasped hands for a moment, before catching Sid's eyes across the room, and turning, going out the front door.

…

Lightning scoured through various diaries and notebooks that held information on Namine. She just couldn't figure out where the girl was.

Lightning tapped her fingers on the table in front of her, sighing. Reno was in the office adjacent to her, making calls and taking notes on the Xehanort case. Technically, Lightning was supposed to be in charge, but she figured that Reno could do it by himself. He'd changed a lot in the time they'd been together. She didn't want to say that his fall from grace was a good thing, but he did seem more serious about his work.

Suddenly, Reno popped his head into Lightning's room in excitement.

"What is it, Reno?" Lightning asked, and Reno put a small manila folder in front of her. She opened it, and looked through its contents, shocked.

"They've found fingerprints on countless crime scenes around Midgar, and such. All enemies of Shinra, all Vanitas' mark."

"So we have evidence that he assassinated these people?" Lightning asked incredulously, and Reno nodded. "How did they find the DNA so slow? Why just now?" Lightning asked.

Reno shrugged. "It's weird to me too."

"Are you sure the evidence wasn't planted? Who told you guys to look again?"

"Apparently it was a friend of Xehanort's. Xehanort was talking to him about how Vanitas had recently made contact with him again. Xehanort's lawyer put in a call about how Xehanort was fearing for his life."

"That's a load of shit." Lightning growled. "Vanitas and Xehanort have been together ever since he adopted that boy from the orphanage."

She wondered why Xehanort would suddenly try to get Vanitas caught, if they'd been together for so long. There had to be something…

Yen Sid had said before how he didn't understand how a person could live so long with just heartless inside them. Aqua and Ventus had the theory that Vanitas was slowly dying. If he were getting weaker and weaker, then he wouldn't be able to do Xehanort's dirty work anymore…

"What if Xehanort is framing Vanitas for his crimes?" Reno murmured, and Lightning looked at him inquiringly, wanting to hear more.

"I mean, when I was in Shinra, the lower officers carried out the dirty work. When we got caught, we were sent to jail. The ones giving the orders never got caught."

"Did anyone say who made them do what they did?" Lightning asked, and Reno snorted, replying, "Of course not! We were loyal to Shinra- well, and we would've been afraid of getting killed."

Lightning nodded, thinking about it. Xehanort was Vanitas' only guardian. If Vanitas had some strange sense of unbreakable loyalty to Xehanort, he would never rat Xehanort out, even if Xehanort let him take the blame for crimes he commit out of service to his master.

"He's using Vanitas to cover his tracks. If Vanitas did everything, he'll be charged, and Xehanort will get off scot-free. Vanitas won't tell us anything that Xehanort did." Lightning said incredulously, and Reno pursed his lips darkly.

"If Vanitas is going nuts, you'd be surprised what we could get out of him," Reno finally said, making Lightning shake her head. "But Xehanort is smart- he wouldn't have put so much trust into a plan that would fail."

"Why not? His other plans failed," Reno replied. Lightning raised her eyebrows at this, waiting for Reno to continue.

"His sons, that kid Terra, Ventus, and Vanitas with the X-blade… he doesn't make very good choices in people to count on."

"I think it's more just the nature of the game," Lightning responded. Reno shrugged and patted her on the shoulder. "If we find Vanitas, we'll find Xehanort."

There was another call, and Reno picked up the phone, listening to the other end of the line intently. He rolled his eyes at the end, and said thank you.

"Xehanort wants cops to come to his house to protect him." He growled. "It's all for show. He wants us to catch Vanitas. Make it seem like it wasn't his fault."

"Well, we'll be sure to inform Vanitas just how much Xehanort had to do with it once we find him." Lightning said quickly. She went back to her studies; almost sure that Vanitas and Namine were together as they spoke. Otherwise, Vanitas was dead. That would be a disaster for their case against Xehanort.

If Vanitas was alive, he would be going back to Xehanort soon to prove to him that he was worth keeping around. The cops would have to be at the house to catch him at that point.

"We need cops stationed at Xehanort's house. Meanwhile, I want to find Vanitas before he gets home so that he has no contact with Xehanort," Lightning said urgently, and Reno nodded, getting his coat.

Lightning racked her brain, trying to think of a place where Vanitas would be hiding. It would be a place he trusted, a place he knew well. Somewhere no one would suspect him to be…

"I think he's at Castle Oblivion." Lightning barked, jumping up. Reno thought about it, nodded, and then followed her out.

…

Lightning and Reno drove down through fields of grass, coming closer and closer to Castle Oblivion, which lay in waste ahead of them.

"I heard that there's a graveyard for weapons around here somewhere." Reno said suddenly, and Lightning nodded. "I think it's way far down, behind the Castle. The grass ends as you reach the castle, and behind it is just clay ground, I think, until you reach the forests of the Land That Never Was."

Reno snorted. "I know the geography, I did live here once, you know."

"In The Land of Departure?" Lightning asked, but Reno shook his head. "No, in Disney City. And before that we lived in Radiant Garden, which was when I was tiny. We moved to Disney City when Axel was still pretty young, before Lea came along."

Reno smiled as he remembered, sighing a little bit. Lightning reached out and held his hand without thinking about it.

"You know, maybe after all this ends, we can go on a date," she tried abruptly, and Reno nodded, chuckling for a moment, before whipping around and staring at her in shock. "What?" Lightning asked defensively. Reno shrugged.

"No, it's just unexpected. But I would love to go on a date with you, Lightning!" Reno said softly.

"Call me… Claire." Lightning mumbled. She suddenly wondered if she was crazy, letting Reno in so much. "Actually-" she started, but when she saw the look on Reno's face, she stopped.

He nodded at her in satisfaction, and looked out the window with a smile.

Lightning could see the former peaks of the land of departure, and behind them lay what looked like an extended view of the badlands.

They finally reached the Castle itself, and Lightning and Reno got out of the car cautiously, going over to the Castle with light steps. If Vanitas was in there keeping watch, he would have seen them coming in the car. But then again, why would he be there if he could keep watch?

Lightning went in first, and Reno followed close behind her.

"Oh, boy," Lightning sighed. "This place feels really weird."

"Feels alive." Reno mumbled, looking around sheepishly. Everything was so blank.

"This was the former majesty of the University?" Reno asked, and Lightning nodded.

They searched through the rooms, climbing stairs and descending them until they were fed up.

"We need a whole brigade to search this place," Reno muttered. Lightning shook her head, and stared down at her watch. "Shit!" she snapped. "It's already six o'clock. We can't waste any more time here."

"I agree," Reno replied. "I really don't think he's here."

Lightning sat down near the front door, and thought things over. "I was sure that this would be it!"

Reno scratched his head as he thought, and then pursed his lips. "Wait a minute. Was Vanitas a student at the University?"

"Never." Lightning responded.

Reno nodded to himself. "Of course we would've thought it would be here. But this is Ventus' place, not Vanitas'. And he wouldn't be at Xehanort's. Do you want to try his Orphanage?" he tried, and Lightning nodded vigorously, not believing that she hadn't come up with it earlier.

They sped over to the run-down, graffiti covered building, and quickly searched through it. There was nothing.

"Dammit!" Lightning said in irritation, suddenly feeling like time was running out. She sat down and thought hard, mulling over ideas in her mind. There was nowhere else that he could have been that held any significance to him.

Then, she thought about the badlands again. The place where the X-blade was almost created. The place where Vanitas almost became whole again.

"I know where he is," Lightning barked, jumping up. "He's in the Keyblade Graveyard!"

…..

Aqua looked down at the table in deep frustration. Mr. Silver had suddenly found files documenting Axel's money laundering- no doubt found with the help of Saix. And Mr. Silver had done an excellent job of making it seem like Axel had watched carelessly as Larxene and Marluxia bullied and beat on Namine. It was true that he had turned a blind eye. Axel sat by as the tapes played, stoic. Roxas was in the room, and so was Xion. They'd come to support him, and they were seeing for the first time what really happened in Castle Oblivion. Whenever Larxene got really mad at Namine, Axel left the room. But maybe he hadn't wanted to get on Marluxia and Larxene's bad side, for the sake of his mission.

But that didn't matter now, because it was all coming back to him in the courtroom.

"I should've just gone to jail and be done with it." Axel murmured abruptly, and Aqua felt like she had failed him.

After the last few testimonies were made, the closing statements were in order.

Mr. Silver stepped up first.

"Axel has gotten a sparkling defense. Really, he has. Aqua successfully discredited the witnesses of Axel's behavior. But, bad as they were, they seemed to have it right. Today, you may be convinced that while Axel did launder money and act as an accessory of abuse to this poor young girl- who has since disappeared- that he isn't the true mastermind behind Organization Thirteen's crimes. What if I told you you were wrong? What if I told you that Axel saw Organization Thirteen as a great outlet of getting rich quick, and he did anything to get his money without getting caught. He sat back as a young girl was viciously beaten, he had sex with any member who showed the slightest interest in him, he lied and scammed people into believing that he was good at heart. Don't let this charming liar weasel his way into your hearts. Act on behalf of the people he has stepped on. It is your job to deliver justice."

Mr. Silver sat back down, and Aqua trudged up to the front of the room, and focused.

"Mr. Silver just said an interesting thing. He said that even though his witnesses were bad people, they still had the ability to speak the truth. And isn't that the truth of everything? Axel, a young man at the prime of his life, has done questionable things, like us all. These have made him an easy target for these false accusations against him. The paperwork that Mr. Silver found detailing money laundering only implied Axel's dealings in the matter- they also heavily implied Saix's involvement, too. Now, the prosecution does not want to pursue Saix, who let's remember, was the one who encouraged Axel to carry out his own plans of taking over the Organization. But, notice that Silver's file dates stop just around the time that Axel began really making friends with Roxas and Xion. Maybe Axel was tired of doing Saix's dirty work. Maybe he finally realized what true friendship was. When he finally found that Roxas could not return his love, he drifted around amongst people. He made mistakes. Let's not prosecute him for what he did not do."

Aqua sat down, and the jury was dismissed to make their decision. Xemnas seemed conflicted, his eyebrows wrinkled together in irritation. Xehanort patted him on the shoulder.

"I want you to start a research division, Xemnas. This will be good publicity for you. The 'wronged scientist' you can be the answer to your brother's disaster. You'll be the good one," Xehanort added, chuckling to himself. Xemnas thought things over in his mind, looking down at Aqua, who seemed so disappointed. Axel stared ahead blankly, and Roxas stayed away from him, trying to process everything that had happened. Roxas wasn't doing it to be spiteful; he just didn't know what to say to the man.

"I want to plead guilty," Axel mumbled. Aqua sighed, and Axel looked over at her. "Do you think it's a good idea?" he asked, and Aqua nodded, rubbing her temple. "I think it's a pretty decent idea, Axel. Unless you want to take a chance."

Axel looked ahead. "I'd rather do what's right. For Lea, and Reno. I need to own up to something."

After an hour's recess, the jury returned with their verdict. Everyone stood up, and the judge addressed Axel.

"Axel, do you plead guilty or not guilty to the charges brought against you?" the judge asked, and Axel was just about to open his mouth, when Xemnas stood up. His father looked at his son in alarm, and Aqua locked eyes with Xemnas, wondering what he would do.

"Can we take a break?" Xemnas asked, and the judge was baffled. "What do you mean?"

"I want to drop the charges." Xemnas barked, looking straight at Aqua. Xehanort looked like he was going to have a fit.

"You want to drop the charges?" the judge said incredulously, and Xemnas nodded.

"Court is in recess." The judge replied bluntly, slamming his gavel down on the block.

…

Probably there will only be two more chapters, 21, and a very short epilogue. Keep reading, it's seriously almost the end!