Correspondence with a Demon

Chapter 21 – A Photo

Naminé felt so relieved to take a shower again.

After all the things she went through like the struggles in Vexen's storage room and in the snow, it felt good to wash off all the dirt and grime. She felt bad that she had gotten the coral dress so dirty since she was only borrowing it, but at the same time, she was happy to at least have something else to change into.

Once she changed into it, she twirled around in her new green dress, finding it comfortable even with the long sleeve undershirt. It fit her form nicely with the hem going down to her knees, and the style was very simple, much to her delight.

She was supposed to have gone back earlier that morning, but she was kept a little while longer due to Sora and Kairi's insistence.

"We just want to make sure that you've gotten enough rest," they explained.

Most of her wounds and injuries already healed, thanks to the salve. The bruises were almost gone, and the scratches on her cheek were already healed. The only evidence of it being there were the faint red marks, but those would be gone by the end of the day, according to Sora.

Kairi and Sora stayed with her the whole morning and managed not to quarrel for once. On the contrary, it seemed like Kairi started to tease him a little. She once said something about a beach ball only to have Sora look away, a blush creeping on his face. Sora had to eventually leave due to work, and Kairi had to go with him because Axel "didn't want to babysit two humans."

"One is already enough," he said. But as they left, both Kairi and Sora promised to be back.

As for a certain mountain lion, Naminé had not seen him since last night.

She had time to think over things the rest of the night and found that it was strange. Well, his behavior was strange to begin with, but the fear in his eyes was…it was unlike him. She couldn't find the reason for it unless it had to be that he was scared of being poisoned by her.

But if that was the case, then shouldn't he have stayed away from her to begin with? She became confused again.

There was one thing she was sure of, however. She realized it in the middle of the night when she woke up from a nightmare. She was unsure of it at first, but as she pondered about it more, it made sense. She asked herself why and how it could have happened, but she still hasn't found an answer for it…

A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts.

The spiky redhead – Axel, she remembered – stood resting against the door frame. He was supposed to escort her back to Xion's room, and it reminded her that she was supposed to be getting ready.

"You ready?" he asked. Naminé nodded silently as she smoothed out her dress and made her way over to the exit of the infirmary with the dirty clothes in her arms.

"You can leave that on your bed, you know. Someone will come and get it eventually," he said. Naminé paused before she neatly folded the pink dress and put them on the foot of the bed. Then she trotted over to him.

When she came closer, she noticed that Axel was staring blankly at her dress. Then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he tilted his head.

"Is something wrong?" Naminé asked.

Axel shook his head. "I'm sure it's nothing," as he said that, he pushed off of the door frame. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, "That color looks good on you, by the way."

Naminé looked down. "Thanks," she said shyly. She wasn't used to compliments…

He started walking ahead. "Let's get goin' before the sun sets, all right?"

Naminé jogged to catch up and walked next to him.

Axel walked casually with his hands behind his head and started to whistle, which echoed down the corridor. Other than that, it was quiet, but it wasn't uncomfortable. She noticed that Axel kept glancing at her every now and then, but when she turned to look at him, he would avert his gaze. She raised an eyebrow at this but didn't say anything.

Up ahead, they saw someone walk around the corner. It was the pink haired man. Naminé remembered him from the meeting as the member who was more interested in his nails. Axel held up a hand in greeting.

"Yo! Marluxia!"

He turned around to greet the spiky redhead. "Hello, Axel," he said as his eyes traveled down to Naminé, "Taking her back to her room, I presume?"

They stopped in front of him. "Yep. Afterwards, I was going to the lab to see this new machine Zexion fixed up. Wanna go?"

Once again, the pink haired man looked uninterested. "If you're talking about that new scanner of his, I've already seen it. It's not the most up-to-date technology I've seen, but I suppose that if it works faster than the old one, then it would do."

"That's right. I forgot that there were a lot of cities in your area," Axel laughed.

While they were talking, Naminé stole a peek at the pink haired man. He wasn't like the other members she's seen and met. He seemed more elegant, but he also seemed more mysterious. There was something else about him that she couldn't put her finger on, but it was something similar to the word "ominous." As if he felt her stare, he looked at her through the corner of his eye. As soon as they made eye contact, Naminé quickly looked down to stare at her feet. For some reason, she felt as if it was rude to stare.

"So where are you going?" Axel asked.

"I'm on my way to the greenhouse. There's a particular rosebush that I've been taking care of for a while now, and I was on my way to see its progress."

"Hmm. You mean the huge red one? That seems to be growing really well," Axel said.

"I suppose," Marluxia sighed. "It's being quite stubborn lately. I've gotten the feeling that it's sick, but I haven't found any symptoms yet."

"It still looks really good though," Axel noted.

"Ah, that may be so, but there might actually be something wrong that is not easily seen on the surface," Marluxia pointed out. "Speaking of which, I heard that you were given orders to eliminate the traitor?"

"Oh, that..." Axel scratched the back of his head. He looked unsure about answering. "Yeah, I was. I was supposed to track him down, but then he eventually revealed himself. Who would have thought it would be Vexen? Didn't see that one coming." At the sound of his name, Naminé fought back a shudder.

"I agree. He was always an unstable one, but he didn't look like the secretive type," Marluxia shrugged. "But now that he's dead, we can rest easy for now. Have you found out who he was contacting?"

Axel shook his head, but he looked a little uncomfortable. Naminé saw that he glanced at her before answering. "Nah. Whoever he was talking to must have not been in this castle. That's all we know though."

They both stopped talking and looked down the hallway. Naminé also looked in the same direction, but she wondered what was happening. After a while, she heard soft paddings of an animal that grew louder as it came closer. Then a lynx rounded the corner, its green eyes immediately spotting them.

Then to Naminé's surprise, the animal began to spin, and its form started to grow. Before them stood the woman with slicked back blonde hair. She wore the same black cloak as the two men and stood with her hands on her hips, looking quite annoyed. Naminé looked at both of the men and saw that they weren't surprised as her to see the sudden transformation.

"Oy, Marluxia! Stay in one place, will you?" she said in a snarky way.

"What do you want, Larxene?" he said in a monotone.

"Leader-to-be wants to see you," she said, jabbing her thumb to the hallway around the corner.

"About what, may I ask?" he said, bored.

"Hell if I know," she spat. "Probably wants to question you about your recent report. Why he sent me to get you, I have no clue. Should've asked a freakin' servant."

Marluxia sighed. "I suppose the rosebush will have to wait." His blue eyes then shifted over to Naminé. "It is good that you were brought back safe, but do take care as to who you open the door for, Miss." He turned with his back facing them and began to walk away.

She was surprised since it was the first time Marluxia ever addressed her directly. "Thanks," she said timidly.

He raised his hand lazily, acknowledging her. Then he walked over to Larxene, who still looked annoyed. Together, they turned the corner and headed to wherever Sora was.

Naminé and Axel rounded the corner but were headed the opposite direction. She took a sidelong glance at Axel.

"So…what does he mean by Vexen being a traitor?" she asked.

Axel wrinkled his nose. "Now I wish he hadn't said those things," he ruffled his hair. He looked at Naminé pointedly. "Look, you weren't allowed to roam the castle because there are demons that live here, right? You know that, right?"

Naminé nodded.

"Well, there was another reason for that. There was a rumor that there was a traitor in the castle, so we had to be careful about who sees you. That is why you had to be with Roxas all the time. Because he was the one who found you and it was better for him to watch you."

"But he wasn't with me when they moved me into Xion's room," Naminé pointed out.

Axel's eyebrows raised when he heard Xion's name, but he didn't say anything. "Yeah, well…there was another reason for that, too," he muttered.

"And that is…?"

Axel looked uncomfortable.

"Look, okay? Stop asking questions now. I'm not made of answers, all right?" Axel snapped. As he did so, Naminé got a good look at his fangs.

Naminé stepped to the side a little. "Sorry…" she said.

Axel groaned. "Argh. I'm not good with talking to humans," he muttered. "I'm sorry for scaring you, all right? It's just that I can't tell you a lot."

"It's…all right. I'm sorry for asking so many questions," Naminé replied quietly.

It became quiet again. This time, it was a little awkward.

After rounding another corner, they bumped into Olette, who was carrying a stack of books piled high. There were some books in her arms, but then there were some that were balanced perfectly on her head. Naminé wondered how she managed to carry so much, but she was once again reminded that they were not human.

"Hey, Olette," Axel nodded.

"Oh, hello!" Olette said as she turned to the side to get a good look at who was speaking. Then she spotted Naminé. "I'm sorry I didn't get to visit you earlier. All of a sudden, work just popped up. Are you all right now? Are you healed up?"

Naminé nodded. "It's all right. I know you were busy. I'm okay now."

Olette looked over her body, nodding in response. "Yeah. It healed up quite nicely. Thank goodness you're safe!" she smiled. "Well, I'd better get this back to Roxas' room. He's been asking me to bring back his books."

"You should really get someone to help you with that," Axel said.

"Everyone else is really busy. They're trying to tighten up the security, so they need all the help they can get. It's fine though. I'm almost done," she paused to check whether the books on her head were properly balanced.

Naminé stepped aside to let her through, but she wasn't fast enough and accidentally bumped into the maid.

"Oh! Sorry about that!" Olette said as she dropped a few books. She balanced the stack of books on one arm and bent over to pick up the fallen books.

Naminé immediately went to go pick them up. Olette smiled apologetically as she held out her hand to receive the fallen books. Naminé didn't hand them to her.

"Why don't I help you with that? You look like you need some help," Naminé suggested.

"That's all right. I can't ask you to help. It would be rude of me. I mean, you just came from the infirmary and all. You might just want to rest."

Naminé smiled. "I've got all the rest I could get. I'd be glad to help you, Olette."

"Oh…if you say so. I'm okay with this pile. But if you could get those over there…?" she pointed behind her to the open door further down the hall. There was a smaller pile of books at the entrance.

"That's the rest of them," Olette said.

Naminé looked at Axel. "It's okay if I help her, right?"

He shrugged in response. "I don't really mind. It's on the way anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Naminé smiled as she plopped the books into his arms. He was surprised to find how heavy they were despite the size. Then she jogged over to the door and lifted the smaller pile with a little difficulty. It was heavier than it seemed. She heard Axel sigh and walk over, grabbing a few books from her pile.

Olette waited for them before proceeding down the hall.

"Oh yeah," Naminé remembered. "I forgot to thank you for picking out these clothes. They're very comfortable."

Olette slowly looked over her shoulder and then looked at her dress. She blinked, and then her eyebrows furrowed in confusion the same way Axel's did.

"I picked those out…?" she trailed off.

Naminé tilted her head. "Didn't you? Roxas said you did…"

Axel coughed indiscreetly from Naminé's side.

"Oh! That's right! I did pick those out!" Olette quickly recovered. "I'm…I'm glad you like it! The color really suits you!"

Naminé looked at her, wondering what was going on. She had an idea though…

"Hey, Olette," Axel began, "You'd better watch out. That left side looks like it's going to topple over" He was right. There was a small blue book at the top that looked almost ready to fall.

"Thanks." She leaned over to the right a bit, which made the pile straight.

"Is your shoulder okay?" Naminé asked. Olette looked surprised.

"Oh, right. That. It's okay. It healed up a long time ago," Olette laughed. "Demons heal faster than humans, so it healed up in about two days. See?" She balanced the books on one arm once again and rotated her arm.

"That's good," Naminé smiled, but she kept her eyes on that small blue book that still looked like it was going to fall.

And it did.

As they rounded a corner, Olette must have moved too fast, because a few books from the pile on her head fell off. Some of the books fell near her, but the blue book flew across the hall. She heard the thud as it fell and turned around to pick it up.

"It's all right, Olette," Naminé piped up. "I got it."

"Thanks! I'm going to go ahead to drop these off. These are actually heavier than they look."

Axel nodded. "I'll stay here, then."

As Axel picked up the books closer to him, Naminé walked over to the blue book and found that it had fallen so that the pages were displayed. She also realized that it wasn't a book at all but an album. She smiled as her eyes traveled to a picture of a young Roxas and Sora. Both of them were smiling and laughing. Then she saw a standalone picture of the young Roxas, who turned to grin at the camera with an origami crane in his hand. She put her pile of books down and picked up the album. She took the stand alone picture of Roxas and pocketed it.

After making sure that the other photos were safely inside the album, she closed it and added it to her pile. Then she noticed a picture had fallen out and bent down to pick it up. She was about to put it back in the album when her eyes caught sight of a certain raven-haired girl.

In the picture, a young Sora and a young Roxas stood side by side in the snow with their winter coats on. Sora smiled and waved at the camera, but he didn't realize that his hand had knocked Roxas' hat off his head. The spiky blonde looked angry about that and was waving a fist at him. But in front of them was a little girl that caught Naminé's attention. She had short raven colored hair with sparkling blue eyes. She also smiled at the camera as she held a snowball in her gloved hands.

Naminé flipped the picture to see check if it had a date or some names. There wasn't a date, but it did have some names.

"Sora, Roxas, and…Xion," she whispered. So this girl was Xion. She was very cute, but Naminé wondered what her relationship was to the twins.

Suddenly, the picture was taken from her hand, and she turned to find Roxas towering over her, looking angry. He took one look at the picture before his eyes turned to Naminé.

"Don't ever touch this," he said with his voice dangerously low. He pocketed it and turned away, grabbing the album on his way. Naminé watched him in confusion as he walked away, his boots echoing down the corridor.

"Naminé?"

She turned to see Sora walking towards her. He took one look at Roxas' back and then looked at her.

"Everything okay?"

"Everything's peachy," Axel said, rolling his eyes. "Roxas just got angry for no reason and stomped off to his room."

Naminé shook her head, "No, I think he got angry because I looked at his pictures." She didn't know why he would be that angry though.

Sora sighed as he ran a hand through his messy hair. "Oh…that. He's been very touchy with that album, but I thought he had stowed it away somewhere. He doesn't like to look at them, because those pictures kind of bring out bitter memories."

"What kind of bitter memories?" Naminé asked.

Sora crossed his arms, and his eyebrows furrowed. "How do I put it? It's kind of complicated to say..."

"I actually thought he threw it away," Axel said. "Didn't think he kept it after all these years."

"Sora," Naminé stood up and wiped the dust from her dress, "Who is Xion? What is she to Roxas?"

At this, Sora's eyes became sad. He wiped the sweat off of his nose before turning his head to look away.

"That girl is - " Axel began to say.

Sora held up his hand to stop him. He closed his eyes for a minute and took a few breaths before speaking.

"Xion is..." he began to say.

"She's actually our little sister…"

To Be Continued…

Author's Note:

Hello hello to new readers and to people who have been faithfully checking for my update! Thank you for being patient! It's gotten busy over at my end, but somehow I was able to finish writing this chapter! Yay! So happy to update again.

So this chapter was quite short, but it's actually pretty meaningful. It's also leading up to (dun dun dunn) Xion's story! I wonder if there will be a flashback? Perhaps! But now that I revealed that she's their SISTER, I wonder how Naminé is going to take it? Haha. We'll see in the next chapter.

I wanted to extend my thanks to everyone who gave me a review! After a month of absence, I'm glad to see that you guys are still checking up on me. :') So a BIG thank you to: rikku247, Random Fandom, soluvepink, Q-A the Authoress, lizzyytx33, Hegodart, Allied Forces, Redeeming Endeavor, midnight-heart, Kutlessrocker, Draco Oblivion, Witch of Tragedies, CaptainJas, overreactiveteenagemindsxo, eion sairy, and Dennou Writer! I also wanted to give a special thank you to Amy Cahill09 for being the 100th story alert person. And yes, indeed-y. I was keeping track of it. 100th story alert is something worthy to celebrate (in my book, that is. It's the first time it's happened to me.)

So that is all! Hope to see you all at the next update!