Notes: Did I ever mention that I've only played the first and second Kingdom Hearts games? I know bits and pieces of the Chain of Memories, but nothing of the 358/2 Days or Birth by Sleep. Seriously. Was reading over an article last week and they kept talking about Terra and Aqua and Ven and a million other characters/story lines I've never heard of. Ugh. Sucks.

More notes: Oh. And I know people keep commenting about my torturing of the characters. Did I ever say this will have a happy ending? With cake and balloons and a party and Sora won't be wearing a dress. It'll just be a while. So… DON'T KILL ME! It will get there! Everything has a reason.

Even more notes: 75 reviews as of when I started working on this chapter. I can't get over that. 75! Think I'm going to die if/when it reaches 100. My most reviewed/hit/faved/alerted story!

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

In Life and Death
Chapter 21: Not Without You

She pushed against the boy huddled beside her in the darkness. "Move over!" She whispered.

"No!" Came his answer.

"Come on! Move over just a little bit. I'm all squished."

"Then you shouldn't have followed me in here."

She couldn't see him in the small, dark linen closet they were hiding in but she pushed against him again, a little more roughly.

"Stopit Zoey or I'm gonna tell the Counts."

She stuck out her tongue even though she knew he couldn't see her.

"I'll tell them you're doing that too." He said smugly.

She smiled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Sometimes it was annoying how her brother could almost read her mind.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Count was the term they and their friends had given to the counselors a few years back at the Twilight Town School for Children where they lived. It was basically an orphanage for kids without other options. There were four floors to the school. The first was comprised of the kitchen, dining, living, laundry, and various activity rooms. The second floor was devoted to several classrooms. The third and fourth were the dormitories. Girls on the third and boys on the fourth.

Zoey and Zander had been at the school for all eleven years of their lives. Nothing was known about their parents, like most of the other kids there. No one really remembers when they got there or how. They just were there one day, two chubby, giggling, perfect babies. They weren't more than a week old.

The twins were as like as they were different. Both were tall for their age, though Zander was just a bit taller. Both had piercing, clear blue eyes. They were usually happy and smiling. They enjoyed ganging up with their friends and playing pranks on the other kids in the school. Neither were big fans of school and did the bare minimum to scrape by.

Of the two, though, Zander was the slightly more relaxed, clam, and quiet one. When he was around his sister, he tended to feed off her energy. But when he was alone or she was absent, he seemed distant and deep in thought. His brown hair was a bit longer than hers and hung down past his chin.

Not to say that he was in anyway lazy but Zoey was defiantly the more active of the two. She was always up and running from one thing to the next. She seemed to never sit down or sit still. She was always challenging the other kids and sometimes the counselors to races and she always won. She kept her silver hair cropped shorter than her brothers and usually had it up in a lazy half ponytail. She hated her hair. If she didn't keep it up, it tended to have a mind of its own and tried to spike in weird places.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"Shhh! Or he's going to find us." She whispered, moving her head closer for him to hear.

"Don't tell me what to do!" He snapped and tried to push her away.

She latched on tighter. "Why not?"

"Because I'm older!"

She laughed softly. "We're the same age stupid."

"But I was born first." He said with a nod of his head. "And don't call me stupid!"

"You don't know that."

"I do too! I was there. I remember."

"You do not! Stop lying Zander!"

"Boys are always older." He pushed her away again.

"Shhh!" She hissed, grabbing his arm tight enough to cut off circulation. "I hear him."

They tried not to make a sound as the small amount of light filtering in under the door was blocked. The door was pulled open a moment later. "Ha! Found you!"

Zoey jumped up and wagged a finger at the older and taller redhead. "Axel! You're not it! Roxas is! This doesn't count!"

A short blonde the same age as the twins poked his head out from behind the one she called Axel. He smiled at them and scratched at the back of his head sheepishly. "Axel said I needed help."

Zander stood up and pushed past them, out of the closet. "I told you he couldn't play. He always cheats." He said it matter-of-factly.

Axel tipped his chin and crossed his arms, looking down at the brunette. "How is it cheating?"

"Because it's Roxas' turn, not yours." Zander snapped.

Axel uncrossed his arms and shrugged. "I'm just helping Roxy."

"I'm tired of this stupid game." Zander threw up his arms and stepped away from Zoey.

"Zander…" She turned to follow.

Zander grabbed Roxas' arm and tugged on him. "Come on. Let's go play in our room. No girls allowed."

"Hey! I'm not a girl." Axel said with a smile.

"You're too old!"

Axel watched them go and crossed his arms again. "I'm not that much older."

Zoey tugged on his arm. "Come on. Let's go find the others."

"And then I can go play with Roxy?"

Zoey giggled and smiled. "Yes."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

The four of them were the closest of friends at the school, along with their other friends Zexion, Demyx, Namine, and Larxene. In some sort of combination, they were always together. Where you found one, usually all the others were right behind.

The three girls, Zoey, Larxene, and Namine shared a room on the third floor. At fourteen, Larxene was the oldest and loudest of the three. When she couldn't be found with the others it was because she was grounded in her room or being yelled at or being punished in some way. She was always picking fights and getting in screaming matches with the Counts. She was like a ticking time bomb half of the time. She was also obsessed with storms. The louder, the better.

Namine, the youngest of the whole group at only ten, was the exact opposite. She was shy, timid, quiet as a mouse, and hardly opened her mouth. Mostly she spent her time hiding or drawing in her sketch pad. And she was terrified of storms. The only things she had in common with her loudmouthed roommate were their blonde colored hair and blue colored eyes.

Zander shared his room with Roxas. Roxas was a bit shorter than his roommate and the same age. His short blonde hair was always spiked and his blue eyes were always wide. He was a very curious kid. He was also naïve and loyal to a fault. The other kids were his family and he'd do anything they asked of him. He was also a very good card game player and always beat his roommate. And Struggle was his favorite sport.

The older boys were Axel, Demyx, and Zexion. They shared a room on the fourth floor. All were fifteen though Axel liked bragging that he was the oldest by a few months. The fiery red head could be the loudest, most hot-tempered, head-strong, and annoying of the bunch when he wanted to be. He also had a thing for fire and had been in trouble numerous times because of it. He was the tallest, another thing he held other the other's head literally. His long, spiked bright red hair contrasted greatly with his emerald green eyes.

Demyx was probably the best roommate for Axel to have, since they were both equally annoying. He was usually overly hyper and timid and loud and scatterbrained all at the same time. He had an old, beat-up, second hand sitar that once belong to his grandfather. Since the moment he leaned to sit up, he hasn't put the thing down. He wasn't always the best at judging when he was driving people crazy with it. And he was very good at that. His blonde mullet seemed to fit his personality perfectly. A contradiction to the blue-gray eyes he had.

Zexion was the final one. Of the group he was the most thoughtful. Namine's silence was due to her timid nature. Zexion's was because he believed if he didn't have something important say, what was the point of him opening his mouth? Sometimes the others would forget that he was there until he reminded them. He didn't mind though. He enjoyed spending time alone in the library reading or listening to Demyx's sitar playing. He had this weird blue-gray hair that he kept short except for his bangs, which usually obscured his blue eyes.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"This is what we get for playing a kid's game with kids." Larxene grumbled as she followed Axel and Zoey up the stairs to the second floor. Zexion walked beside her, silent as usual.

Zoey shrugged. "Axel's the one who cheated and Zander's the one who quit and drug Roxas off."

"Plus it was your idea, Lar." Axel pointed out.

Larxene rolled her eyes. "Well… we're still missing Namine and Demyx. Namine we will never find. She's so damn quiet. Like a fucking mouse."

"Larxene! What have I told you about that mouth?" They all turned to look at the source of the voice. It belonged to one of the younger counselors, Xemnas. His long, silver hair hung down his back and his golden colored eyes watched the four as they stopped in the hallway. He pushed off of the wall he was leaning against.

"Shit, Xem, I don't fucking rem…"

"Lar!" Zoey exclaimed as Axel slapped the blonde in the back of the head.

"Hey! Damn Axel. That hurt." She rubbed at the back of her head where he hit her.

Xemnas wagged a finger at her as he strode over. "You come with me."

She rolled her eyes as she stepped towards him, meeting him in the middle of the hall. Sending him a glare, she pointed back at Axel. "What about Axel? He hit me!"

Xemnas lifted his gaze and looked over her at the redhead. "No hitting, Axel."

"Oh that's so fair!" Larxene threw up her arms. "I get a lecture or worse and he gets a warning! Real fucking fair."

Xemnas laughed despite himself and shook his head slowly. "Just keep talking, Larxene. You're only digging yourself deeper."

"No shit." She mumbled.

"Larxene. Mouth shut. Now."

She rolled her eyes again and flipped him off when he turned around. "I saw that."

Zoey put a hand over her mouth, trying and failing not to giggle.

"So Namy and Demy." Axel continued when the pair was out of earshot, acting as if nothing had happened. "Lar's right about Namy. She always wins. Can't ever find her."

"Demyx will be in our room." Zexion said for the first time since Axel and Zoey had found him in hiding, or not hiding, out in the open in the library. "Playing his sitar."

Axel laughed. "You're right. He probably is."

Zoey wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "I don't see how you guys can stand sharing a room with him. He plays that thing all the time! And one of the strings is broken."

Zexion shrugged. "He's not that bad."

Axel turned towards him and lowered his voice. "You're just saying that because you're in love with him."

He didn't deny it. "At least I don't have a crush on an eleven year old."

Axel's face twisted in a glare, very aware that Zoey was standing right beside him. "I do not!"

Zexion rolled his eyes. "Yes you do."

Axel pushed him and gritted his teeth. "Drop it."

"Oh. So you can tease me about Demy but if I mention your precious Roxy…"

Zexion's calm tone was pissing Axel off. He grabbed the shorter boy and pushed him up against the wall. "Don't."

Zoey pulled at Axel's arm and pushed herself between them. "Cool it, Axe. You're going to get yourself in trouble. Both of you drop it now and come on." She grabbed both of their hands and towed them towards the stairs. "Go find Demyx. I'll get Zander and Roxas and try to find Namine."

Axel grumbled as he stomped up the stairs.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Roxas looked up from the cards he held in his hands. "Got any 9's?"

Zander shook his head. "Go fish."

Roxas drew an 8 out of the pile and stuck his tongue out at it. He didn't need that number.

"Got any 2's?"

The blonde nodded and handed over two cards with the number 2 on them.

"What about a 5?"

"Go fish."

Zander drew a 3. Despite having scored two cards, Zander was losing horribly to Roxas. He always did. He threw his cards at the pile suddenly and crossed his arms. "This is boring." The corners of his lips curled in a pouting fashion.

Roxas laughed and dropped his cards onto the pile. "It was your idea. We could have stayed and finished the game with Axel and the others."

"He cheats." Zander said, flopping backwards on the bed they were sitting on.

Just then, Zoey came bouncing in.

Zander turned his head to glare at her. "What don't you understand about boy's room Zoey?"

"Brothers don't count as boys." She pounced on him and the resulting tussle landed them on the ground, pulling Roxas down with them.

"Zoey!" He pushed her off but he was laughing as he picked up a handful of the discarded playing cards and tossed them at her.

She faked like she had been hit and fell backwards on top of Roxas. Zander jumped on top of her and all three began to wrestle. It took only a moment for both boys to gang up and pin Zoey. She gave in. "Okay, okay. Let me up now."

All three sat on the floor for a few minutes, laughing. They didn't see her until the short, silent blonde was sitting beside them.

"Namine!" Zoey exclaimed, turning to look at her roommate. "Gesh. Make some noise when you sneak up on people."

She looked down bashfully but she was smiling. "Sorry." She said softly. "Axel sent me to get you guys. He said you're taking too long."

Roxas groaned and rolled his eyes. "We better hurry then. He gets impatient and worried too easily."

Zoey giggled as she watched him stand up.

"What?"

"Nothing." She jumped up and dashed towards the door. "Race you!"

The four filed out of the room and started up the stairs to the third floor. They spotted Larxene on the way up.

"Hey! That didn't take too long." Zoey said, smiling.

Larxene sighed and drug her feet as she fell in step with them. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jeans and hung her head. "Xem yelled at me. And put me on dish duty tomorrow."

"That sucks." Roxas said.

"You probably deserved it. You shouldn't have done whatever you did to get in trouble." Zander said bluntly. "Though for you, that's probably a hard thing to do, to stay out of trouble."

Zoey elbowed him. "That's a mean thing to say."

Larxene shrugged her shoulders. "He's right though. I'm always getting myself in trouble."

"You could stop." Namine said softly.

Larxene looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, I could. But I won't." She clapped the smaller girl on the back. "Life would be boring then." With a smile, she hurried up the stairs, getting to the top before the others. "Now let's hurry and see what Pyro wants."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Axel sighed as he looked over at Zexion and Demyx. Just as Zexion has said downstairs, they found the blonde in their room, strumming away. He was still doing that, sitting on his bed with Zexion lounging beside him. "Look man…" Axel scratched at the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about what I said. And about pushing you."

Demyx's fingers stopped and he looked up at Axel. "You pushed him?"

"Not hard." Zexion said, lifting his eyes to Axel's. "It was partly my fault anyways. I shouldn't have brought it up in front of Zoey."

"Likewise. Still friends?"

Zexion shrugged. "Sure. I won't bring it up again if you don't."

"I won't." Axel smiled.

Demyx looked between the two, lost on whatever thing they were sharing. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Just about outing each other in front of Zoey earlier."

"Zex!"

"He already knows."

"So?" Axel snapped. "No more talking about it."

"About what?" Roxas asked as he appeared in the doorway. The others were just behind him and they all filed in.

"Nothing." Axel muttered. He ushered them all in, told them to take a seat, and then clapped his hands together.

Zander and Zoey bounced on Zexion's empty bed. Namine sat quietly on the floor beside Axel's bed and Roxas sat on it behind her. "Axel!" Larxene whined as she fell on the bed beside Zexion and Demyx. "What are we doing in here? I can't get into trouble again."

"What'd the Count do?"

"Dish duty tomorrow." She answered, stretched out and pulling Demyx's sitar out of his grasp.

Demyx glared at her but didn't pull it away.

"All day?"

She nodded, running her fingers over the strings.

"Damn, Lar." Axel crossed his arms and shook his head. "You need to learn to keep your mouth shut."

"Why?"

"Because tomorrow is special!"

Zander yawned as he stretched out on Zexion's bed. "What's so special about tomorrow?"

Axel looked down at the floor for a moment. He had been thinking about tomorrow all week and it was killing him not to scream about it. But now, he felt a bit of hesitation. He imagined Larxene laughing at him, Demyx calling him silly, Zexion saying nothing, and the younger ones not remembering.

"Come on Axel."

The redhead sighed, hearing Roxas' voice. "Okay. Tomorrow is… the anniversary of us becoming friends."

"The… anniversary?" Larxene dropped Demyx's sitar on the floor as she rolled towards the edge of the bed, curling up in a ball. She struggled to breathe as laughter erupted from her.

Demyx pushed her off the bed and reached down to retrieve his sitar.

"Yes." Axel said loudly, trying to interrupt her. "Exactly seven years ago tomorrow we were all in the arts room and Zoey poured glue in my hair."

"Oh yeah!" Demyx sat up as he set his sitar on the bed beside him, forgetting about it for the moment. "You pushed her and Zander jumped on your back because of it."

"Zoey jumped on him too, didn't you?"

Zoey looked over at Zexion as he asked and then back at Axel. "I remember the glue part." She looked at Zander beside her.

"Yeah. I think I remember that." He said slowly.

"Roxas joined in too." Axel smiled as he looked over at the blonde on his bed. "All three of them had me on the floor and you three…" He pointed to the still laughing Larxene and Zexion and Demyx. "… were watching and laughing."

"We all got in trouble." Demyx said with a nod.

"Not all." Zexion looked over at the silent, short blonde sitting on the floor. "Namine sat and colored a picture of all of us."

Axel laughed. "I still have that picture."

Namine's face reddened and she looked down. "Wow. It must look awful."

"Hey! You could draw better at three than I can draw now."

Larxene took a few deep breaths as she sat up, finally under control of herself. "Axel… I can draw a line and still it's better than you can do."

Roxas grabbed Axel's pillow and threw at her. "Be nice Lar."

"Don't throw things at me!" She jumped up and grabbed Demyx's abandoned sitar.

"Hey!" He lunged after her.

Axel lost all control he had over their attention as pillows, blankets, books, and anything lying around the room went flying.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

It was getting late and the darkening sky poked through the single window in the room. They should have all been in their rooms sleeping. Certainly they shouldn't have been playing games and laughing as loud as they were.

Axel pulled Zoey aside and led her out into the hallway. He lowered his voice. "Hey. Don't say anything about what Zex said today. About Roxy. I don't have a crush on him."

Zoey giggled. "I think you do."

Axel looked away as a slight red colored his cheeks. "Just don't tell him."

"Why not?"

"Why not?" Axel leaned closer and dropped his voice. "Because he's four years younger than me."

She smiled. "So? Four's not such a big number."

"It is right now."

"But it won't always be."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Damn, girl. Are you sure you're only eleven? You sure don't act like it."

She stuck out her tongue and wrinkled her nose. "That better?"

He laughed and pulled her into a hug.

"You wouldn't know the difference anyways." She said when he released her. "Half the time you act like you're eight. So I take it back. He's too old for you."

"Damnit Zoey!" He grabbed for her again.

She giggeld and darted back in the room.

"Watch that mouth, Axel!" Larxene said in her best Xemnas imitation.

"Fuck Xem."

Every single one of their mouths dropped open as they stared at him in the doorway.

"What?"

"One…"

Axel's eyes widened as he heard the voice. He spun around and came face to face with the counselor.

"What that mouth." Xemnas said sternly. "Two… you three…" He pointed to Namine, Larxene, and Zoey. "Girls are not allowed in the boys' room unsupervised. Three… you two…" He pointed to Roxas and Zander. "… don't need to be in the older boys' room past curfew. Four, its past curfew. And five…" He looked down at Axel, a hint of a smile on his face. "I'm dating someone. And you're too young and scrawny."

Axel's face turned as red as his hair.

If Xemnas noticed the kid's embarrassment, he disregarded it. "Now everyone who doesn't sleep in this room, get back to theirs. Axel, you're on dish duty tomorrow with Larxene. And you all better not let me catch you together in this room again or I'm going to ground you all." He took a step into the room and unblocked the doorway. "Go."

Larxene rolled her eyes as she slid off Zexion's bed and bent down to grab Namine's hand. "Come on. Let's go before Xem's head explodes." She said with a smile as she pulled the younger girl behind her.

Zander and Roxas followed afterwards.

Zoey lingered as she walked past Axel. "I'm going to tell." She mouthed at him.

His eyes widened and panic flashed across his face. "Don't." He whispered.

She wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue.

He sighed and shook his head. "I hate you." He said it loud enough so everyone left in the room heard.

"I know."

"OUT!"

"Yes sir."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

End of Chapter 21. Stay tuned for Chapter 22: Heart in Pieces

Author's Notes: Yeah… confused yet? Good. Sort of a filler chapter to intro the Org guys. And yes, they don't have any memories. Not yet. And an intro to Zoey and Zander. Saying nothing about them. Prepared to be confused for a little while. Most of your questions will hopefully be answered in chapter 27. Or sooner. Somewhere between here and there. Hope I haven't scared you off. I mean... I could tell you exactly what's going on, but it's funner to sit back and watch you all try and figure it out on your own.