Chapter 21
~Day 168~
"Morning, Xion!" Roxas's face suddenly appearing before hers made Xion yelp, and she stumbled from him in surprise. They had not spoken much for so long, his sudden cheer was enough to give her a scare."Guess what?! Luxord said he'd give an Orichalcum to whoever collects the most hearts today!"
"Why would he do that?"
"Speed up the process of getting Kingdom Hearts, maybe? Who cares! It's an Orichalcum! Kairi already said yes. Do you want to do it?"
"I dunno..." She shrugged and bowed her head. A competition would not be the easiest thing to handle, especially since, due to her dreams, she had been having such trouble sleeping. But, then again... If I win, it will prove to Saïx that I'm not a mistake like he said. With this thought, Xion placed a smile on her face and looked up to Roxas. "Sure! Tell Luxord I'm in!"
"Great! He said to meet at Havoc's Divide after our missions to tally." The pep faded from him, and his head tilted downward a bit as he asked, "Do you think... we could all go to the clocktower afterwards?"
She did not realize how long she was taking to reply until she saw his face fall. Quickly, she said, "Sure! That'd be great!"
"Great!" He straightened again, smiling with a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Good luck."
"You too." Xion pulled back her sleeve enough for him to see the edge of the Elven bandanna. "You'll be needing it." It just felt like the thing to say. He probably would not.
"Thank you, Luxord!" Kairi exclaimed with a laugh as she walked up to them. "Because of the competition, Axel was able to convince Saïx to let me go alone. I thought I would go crazy if I was stuck with Xigbar again." Roxas and Xion both laughed quietly, light smiles hardly reflecting the grin on Kairi's face.
"I'm about to head out," Roxas said. "May the best-"
"Most aware." Kairi corrected.
"One with the most Emblem Heartless in their world." Xion corrected her.
"-Keybearer win!"
"Of course I'd get stuck at Beast's Castle," Kairi muttered as she dropped herself onto the front steps. "Why are there so many Purebloods here...?"
"I didn't run into a single one in Twilight Town." Roxas's voice made her start. Kairi looked behind her, where he was standing partway through a dark portal.
"You lucky duck."
"I'm not a duck..."
"It's an expression." Kairi pushed herself to her feet, and followed him into the Corridor of Darkness. "Well, I certainly didn't win. How do you think Xion did?"
"She had Agrabah, and there's usually a good number of Emblem Heartless there. I guess we can't know until Luxord tells us."
They arrived at Havoc's Divide, and gave Luxord the results, written on their mission papers. Xion was already there, and nodded her head to them in greeting. Luxord read over the results. For several moments, he said nothing, lifting the suspense for the three Keybearers. After a minute, though, the suspense turned to impatience. It was only some numbers, so it should not have taken him long to figure out whose was highest.
"Well?" Roxas asked.
"Lady luck seems to be in favor of you this round." Luxord reached into his pocket, pulled out the Orichalcum, and tossed it to Roxas. The boy caught it in a fumble. "From what I can see, you all collected more than your usual number of hearts today, bringing us closer to our goal. The game's been a pleasure, children. I wish you all good luck for next time." He teleported away before any of them could complain about being called "children."
"Bravo, Roxas!" Kairi clapped for him.
"Good job." Xion nodded slowly. Kairi could see that her smile was forced.
If Roxas noticed, he did not let on. "Thanks! So, can we all go to the clocktower now?"
"Actually... I'm really tired. I really went over the top with this one. You two can still go." With that, Xion turned on heel and left.
"Something's wrong with her." It was pointing out the obvious, but if Kairi had not, Roxas would not have said anything on the subject.
"I can't figure it out." He sighed, shaking his head. "She won't tell me what's bothering her... Axel said I pushed the wrong buttons, but I can't figure out what the right ones are."
"Chocolate."
"What?"
Kairi had to hold back a laugh at his peculiar expression. "All girls like chocolate. It's always a win."
Roxas crossed his arms and bowed his head as he contemplated this. "I think I heard Axel say he sometimes gave Larxene chocolate to appease her... do you really think it'd work?"
"It's worth a try."
"Yeah... I'll go do it right now!"
Knock. Knock.
Xion sat up partway on her bed, leaning back on her elbows to support her body. "You can come in." Unless you're Saïx. Then you can go die in a hole.
The door to her room opened, and in walked Roxas, carrying a silver box in his hand. He grinned at Xion, and nodded towards her bed, silently asking if he could sit. She sat up and swung her legs over the side to give him room. "I thought you were going to the clocktower."
"I dropped Kairi off. She and Axel are still there," he said. He sat down beside her, and then thrust the box into her lap.
"What's this?" she asked, looking down at it.
"Open it!"
"Alright..." Xion slipped her gloved fingers under the ends of the cover, and pulled it off, revealing- "Chocolate?"
"Just for you!"
Xion genuinely smiled at him as she put her arms around the box in a half-hug. "Thanks, Roxas. You're so sweet."
"Anything for my friends!" He stood up again, and smiled down at her. "Wanna go exploring with me?"
"What?"
"I never really thought about it before, but on Havoc's Divide today, I saw how the city just keeps going on and on forever below us... but I've never even been down there! Wanna go with me?"
"Thanks, but, I'm still really tired." She yawned in proof of this. "I haven't been sleeping very well. Maybe some other time?"
"Alright..." He turned around and walked from her room, but she still saw the disappointment written on his face. "Enjoy the chocolates."
"I plan to."
~Day 172~
"Man, did you hear about Xion?" Demyx said when had Kairi walked into the Grey Area. She quickly turned to him. "She's out! She didn't come back from her mission yesterday, and Xigbar had to go find her. Whatever her target was got away, and she was laying unconscious on the sidewalk. Hasn't woken up yet."
Kairi was instantly beside him, leaning over the armrest. "Is she alright?"
"She's comatose! What do you think?!" Demyx rolled his eyes and partially turned from her. "I hope she wakes up soon. I don't want to have to pick up the slack."
Kairi's eyes became slits as she turned from him. "You have no heart, Demyx!"
"And neither do you."
Huffing, Kairi turned from him and started for the hall. She arrived at Xion's door just as it spat out Roxas, who quickly walked past Kairi towards the Grey Area. Going by his expression, he was not at all pleased by what he had found inside. "Hey, Roxas!" He ignored her. Kairi took a few steps towards him. Why's he ignoring me? "Sora!"
She took a startled step back, her hand rising to her mouth in surprise. He did not seem to hear her, thank Kingdom Hearts. "Did I just...?" Ugh, I'm all discombobulated! At least no one heard that. They'd probably think I'm crazy if they heard me call Roxas by his human name. Sora's dead.
Kairi shook her head at her mistake, and trudged into Xion's room, seeing the girl asleep on the bed. She showed no signs of the injuries that Demyx's tale had impressed to Kairi. Physically, she was perfectly fine.
~Day 175~
"Kairi!" Roxas called out to her just before she entered the Corridor of Darkness. She was slightly surprised he was talking to her, considering how upset he had seemed with her a few days before. "Are you going to the clocktower today?"
She had not been since the day of the competition for the Orichalcum. "I dunno."
"Why haven't you been?"
I didn't realize I was welcome. "I've never had a decent chance to get there. I usually leave before you and Axel wake up, so I couldn't exactly ask you guys to bring me."
"I can pick you up from your mission today, if you want to come tonight."
"Sure. Xigbar was supposed to pick me up, so just tell him you've got it. And don't forget."
"On it!" Roxas lazily saluted, before wandering off to find their coworker. Kairi turned back into the Corridor of Darkness, smiling to herself.
"All done with work?" Axel asked from behind Roxas and Kairi. The two turned to him as he walked along the back wall and took his usual spot on the other side of Roxas from Kairi.
"Yup! It wasn't too bad," Roxas said. Once Axel sat down, Roxas's relatively calm demeanor was replaced by a goofy smile that Kairi had not seen him wearing in... she did not even know how long. "Okay, I've been waiting all day to tell you guys! You're not gonna believe this. I flew today!"
"You're right, I don't believe it," Kairi teased.
Axel glanced out of the corner of his eyes to Roxas, his lips playing into a skeptical frown. "You flew?"
"Yeah, like a bird!" Roxas waved his arms around to symbolize, then stopped, realizing how ridiculous it probably seemed. "Well, sort of. I wasn't flapping or anything like that, I just did it... it's hard to explain..."
Axel snorted. "I can imagine."
"I can't wait 'til Xion wakes up so I can tell her about it." Roxas laid down so that he was watching the orange clouds, no doubt imagining himself flying among them. "There's just no way to describe it."
"Right..." Axel glanced at Kairi, raising his eyebrows in a gesture to show that he was believing it about as much as she was.
"Flying felt so natural... like I'd done it before. Weird, huh?"
"Weird, indeed," Axel mouthed the words to Kairi. She stifled a giggle by taking a bite of her ice cream. Axel cleared his throat, showing a change in subject, and said, "So, I heard a rumor that you two are having more assessments coming up."
Kairi bit down hard. Assessments. Not pleasant. "Oh?"
"Yep. You've got that luck assessment with the pots, and Roxas has to escape a room full of Assassins."
"What?!" Roxas sat up quickly, staring wide-eyed at Axel. "What kind of room?"
"I dunno. Hall of Empty Melodies? Soundless Prison?"
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"Figuring it out is the entire purpose of the assessment."
"Come on, Slacker!" Kairi playfully shoved Roxas's shoulder. "Don't tell me you're scared of a few Assassins!"
"Do you really want to be locked in a room with them?" Roxas asked, shoving her in return. "Give me a break, Kairi!"
Kairi's laugh was cut short when Roxas's face became younger and his hair turned from golden to brown. The words echoed in her mind, but with a different voice. His voice.
"Kairi?" Axel's fingers disrupted her vision. Kairi started. "Hah, you look like you've seen a ghost."
"Sorry." Kairi shook her head, trying to clear her mind.
"Are you alright?" Roxas placed a concerned hand on her shoulder. Kairi tensed. It was Sora's hand.
"Fine."
"Do you want chocolate?" Roxas asked. Axel started.
"I have plenty of sugar, thanks." Kairi laughed as she waved her ice cream stick for him to see.
"Chocolate?" Axel flicked Roxas on the back of his head. Roxas turned to him. "Where'd that come from?"
"Kairi told me that girls like chocolate. It was a few days before Xion fell asleep."
Kairi tuned out the rest of the conversation, opting to not say anything for the rest of the night. Her left hand was tightly clenched at her side, her right shaking and flinging blue drops of ice cream to the ground. Her head was going wild, and she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with a brain freeze. Things were not quite as normal as she had hoped. What's happening to me?
A/N Actually, not all girls like chocolate, but the advice worked so Kairi can get away with it.
Thought: Why didn't they go down into the Dark City more? It would have been so cool to do missions there!