Chapter 21

Roxas pushed Axel's hand off of his shoulder, turning around to glare at him. Even if Axel had been yelling at Saix and was, for the most part, on Roxas's side, he still felt disgruntled.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

Axel's eyes narrowed. "You have to listen to Saix. You have to stop going to C.O." he said. At this proximity, Roxas could see his Adam's apple bob in his throat.

"Pff," Roxas rolled his eyes. "And never see Xion again? You're kidding, right?" Even with Saix's warnings in mind, he wasn't ready to stop visiting with her. He'd just have to be stealthier about his visits to Castle Oblivion, maybe avoid the Main Room entirely.

Axel grabbed him by the shoulder again, his grip rougher than it ever was. "But if you're found out?" He bent down a little to meet Roxas's eyes. "I thought you didn't want Xemnas to know about Xion."

Roxas faltered. "Well, no," he admitted. "But I'm not- I'm not just gonna stop seeing her."

"They won't just kill her, they'll Rewrite you while they're at it!"

Axel was only worried—or as worried as he could be—and Roxas understood that. But something about Axel's expression and words were rubbing him the wrong way. Maybe it was just being annoyed at the events that had taken place today. Maybe it was just a leftover sting from how bitter Xion had been when he'd gone to see her. He shoved Axel's hand off his shoulder, harder this time, taking a step back to distance himself from Axel. The glare on his face now was deeper, the snarl on his lips more pronounced.

"What else am I supposed to do, Axel!?"

"Only see her out in the worlds instead of C.O.?" Axel suggested. The way his eyes narrowed now seemed almost suspicious, and he watched Roxas warily. "Twilight Town has that sweet spot on the clock tower, remember?—we could all start hanging out there if you'd like."

The suggestion that Axel be included in what had previously been a time privately shared between Roxas and Xion grated Roxas even more than any of Axel's previous words. He bit his lip, though.

"Look, I'll talk to Xion, and I'll ask," Roxas said. "But I'm not making any promises to stay out of C.O."

"You're being reckless."

Roxas snorted. "So? Why not talk to Saix and get me clearance to go, if you care so much about it." The words were bitter, and he knew they were, and knew that they would sting. He didn't care. It wasn't like Axel had a heart to be upset.

"Roxas, that's not going to do anything and you know it!"

Roxas shrugged. "Then forget about it. You can't tell me what to do, Axel."

"I just want you to be cautious."

"Funny to hear that from you." Roxas pushed past Axel and flopped onto his bed. "Now can you get out of my room? I'm exhausted from all the extra work I had to do today."

Axel sighed. "Yeah, fine. Good night."

It was a relief to hear the click of his door when it shut.

xxx

The day's missions brought them to Halloween Town—its eternal dreary atmosphere was a nice fit to Xion's mood, along with Roxas's, from the looks of him. He was putting on a smile, but it was bitter, and his attitude was much more biting than it normally was. He'd seemed irritated when he picked her up this morning, still seemed irritated now.

"So the Organization's cut ties with C.O. and I probably shouldn't have gone there to pick you up, but, I mean, whatever." It was an attempt at small talk on Roxas's part, as they trudged into a deeper area of the world in search for Heartless, which were proving surprisingly hard to find. He sliced his Keyblade angrily at one of the statues when he passed it, though it didn't do much.

It wasn't very good small talk, though, seeing as it made Xion stop dead in her tracks.

"Aren't you going to get in trouble?" she asked. She rubbed her hands together nervously, in part worried about Roxas, in part hoping she'd still be able to cast magic when they eventually found Heartless. She hadn't lost the ability before, but losing her Keyblade had taken a toll on her confidence.

Roxas shrugged, pausing to examine a separate statue. As if he expected to find Heartless hiding behind it! "Only if I'm caught," he said. He tapped the top of the statue, then bumped it with his foot. Nothing. He shook his head and moved to the next one.

"Roxas! You should be more careful."

Roxas stopped with his hand a few inches from this statue, looking up at her with narrowed eyes. "How?" he asked. "I mean, even if we do start hanging out more on different worlds, I still gotta go to C.O. to pick you up."

"I… could always meet you in Twilight Town," Xion suggested.

Roxas flashed her a wry look. "Be honest, though. It's near impossible to tell time between the World that Never Was and Castle Oblivion, so setting a time to meet won't be easy, not to mention I don't even have solo missions every day—look, I'm stopping by other worlds before heading to C.O., just in case they can track dark corridors." The words were meant to calm her, as was his reassuring smile. He put his hand against the statue, drumming his fingers against it. The statue seemed to rumble. "So long as I don't hang around C.O. for more than a few minutes at a time, I don't think we'll have a problem. Right?"

"I guess not…" Xion agreed, very slowly. Roxas knew the Organization better than her, anyway, and what was the worst they could do to him if he was caught? They couldn't kill him. She thought. There might've been something worse they could've done to Roxas—something that was really scaring her—but for the life of her, she couldn't remember it. What it was. Not even why it scared her.

That's when the statue rumbled so hard Roxas jumped back from it. It fell to the ground, and a Heartless popped out of it. It was one of those skeleton or mummy looking ones that were native to this world. Xion hurried a few paces backwards, biting her lip. Her arms ached when she raised them to cast a spell. Spell? What magic did she—oh right. Fire would probably work.

Her few feeble blasts of Fire didn't appear to do anything, but Roxas finished the Heartless off after a couple dozen bashes of his Keyblade. Xion doubled over as the Heartless vanished, gasping for air. She'd hardly moved at all, but she was as breathless as if she'd run three flights of stairs.

"You sure you're okay?" Roxas asked her.

She looked up at him, frowning. He was speaking as if he'd asked her this recently. Had he…? She couldn't remember.

"I'm… it's… wooo…" She let out a long breath, then took a deep one in. What was she going to say? What had Roxas asked? And… why were her lungs on fire?

"Xion?" Roxas was over and steadying her, though he still had his Keyblade out. She thought that funny, but also thought there was a reason he hadn't banished it. A specific reason. What was it? She clung to him, trying not to breath so heavily, not wanting to look like she was about to pass out. Even as she thought it, she had to squeeze her eyes shut a moment. Her vision was swimming.

"Listen, I know you said you were fine, but you also said it's been harder to breathe lately," Roxas said. "If you really don't think you can keep going on missions with me, that's fine—We can hang out plenty other times."

Xion looked at Roxas, squinting. "Did I say I felt like I couldn't go on missions anymore?" she asked. She didn't remember that. And she certainly didn't remember telling him it was harder to breathe than usual.

"Yeah, you said you've been feeling extremely tired, lately…" Roxas squinted back at her. "Seriously, Xion, are you okay? Do you think you need to go back to C.O.? I don't mind."

"What? Pff!" She tried to laugh, but a feeble puff of air through her lips was all she could manage. "I'm fine, really. Besides, we've only been here like five minutes! It'd be silly to go back so soon."

Roxas's grip on her tightened. She realized dimly that he had to be supporting most of her weight with how she was leaning against him.

"Wow, okay, Xion, you are really starting to worry me!"

"What? Why?"

"Because this is the third time you've nearly collapsed, and we've definitely been here at least thirty minutes, though for the past twenty you've seemed convinced we only just got here." Roxas banished his Keyblade, supporting her with both his hands. Xion flushed uncomfortably. Was that true? Roxas wouldn't lie to her, of course, but…

"Seriously?" She reached up to press a hand to her forehead. She felt even dizzier now.

Roxas grunted. "Listen, Xion, I don't want to be mean but if you're gonna be like this, I may not be able to take you on missions."

"I can't help it, Roxas!" she snapped.

"I know. I know." He sighed. "But that doesn't make you less of a liability. I'm sorry."

Xion groaned, and attempted to put her weight back on her feet, and not on Roxas. It seemed to go… well. "How am I supposed to hang out with you if not on missions?" she asked.

"We can hang out after my missions, in other worlds, like I said!" Roxas was starting to sound a little impatient. "Axel even suggested the three of us could start hanging out on the clock tower in Twilight Town—though if you don't want to hang with Axel, I understand." Roxas noticed she was trying to support herself, and loosened his hold on her.

"No, Axel's al…right…" She swayed, and Roxas moved to steady her again. She pressed her hand against her forehead, squeezing it. "Ohh, I really don't think I can… I don't think I can go on missions with you, Roxas."

Roxas let out an extremely exasperated breath, though she couldn't understand why. "Well. If that's what you think." His voice was strained, like he was trying to keep from shouting.

She sent a mock offended glance at him. Why was he supporting her? "Oh, come on, not even gonna try and talk me out of it?" she teased. When she tried to stand up, she realized why she'd been leaning on Roxas. Her knees wobbled and her head swam, so she fell back against him.

"I think you need some rest," Roxas said. "And you might want to talk to 7—"

"Why? He can't fix me."

A slight growl rumbled in Roxas's throat.

"Not yet, no, but eventually… He'll figure something out."

Xion just shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. He can't do anything for me right now, anyway." If she could've pushed away from Roxas, she would've.

"Then just… get some rest. I'll come talk to you once I'm done with my missions." He formed a dark corridor straight into her room, and without closing it, walked her over to her bed. There was something nagging at Xion, about what Roxas had said, about why he shouldn't come see her… She couldn't place it.

She was settled in bed before long, and Roxas was heading back for the dark corridor he'd formed, waving. "I'll see you soon, alright?" he said.

"Alright!" she called, as chipper as she could muster. It was too much effort to wave back, so she didn't.

That's right. The Organization didn't want him coming to Castle Oblivion. Because of… the Rebellion. The Rebellion lead by Riku and that prick of a Zexion Replica. But how else was she supposed to hang out with Roxas, if not here? And why did her head hurt so much?