Author's Note: Congratulations to Angie-ange, a very faithful reviewer and presumably the only one who hit the hammer on the head with last chapter's philosophical question of the day. I'll make it a wee bit simpler, Naminé was drawing a picture of Vanessa. Anymore would totally spoil the plot (assuming you guys read these, which I'm sure you don't, unless I do this), so enjoy the small morsel I doled out, and read the frigging chapter!

Disclaimer: I disclaim the relevancy of putting in more than five of these damn things. I mean, who started this anyway? Is this required? Will we really get sued if we don't add them? Do the original owners give a damn? This is a free site, it's not like we're making money off of this. And if you ask me...End transmission.

Vanessa (twirling around a plug): Who's laughing now?

Chapter 25: Master Plan

"What plan?" asked Roxas. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, before I can tell you that…" said Xigbar. "…I have to tell you a little something about the human heart. It's boring, but bare with me." He cleared his throat. "Like a person, the heart is naturally sociable; it wants to be around others just like it. When a person meets someone new and they hit it off, their hearts attach. Now, what would happen if the heart tries to attach to something that isn't there?"

"What do you mean?" said Roxas.

"Come on Roxas, think about it! If the heart is constantly trying to attach to another heart that doesn't exist, don't you think it'd get tired after a while?" said Xigbar. "Well, such is the case with our little missy over there. Her poor heart's been working overtime to try and attach to a heart. Problem is, there's no heart here to attach to!"

"You mean…" said Roxas. "…her heat is weak…because of us?" Xigbar smirked.

"Almost!" he said. "Her heart is weak because of you!" Vanessa flinched.

"What?" she exclaimed. "That's a bunch of crap!" Xigbar chuckled.

"It's the truth. I mean come on, you'd have to be blind if you couldn't see the little relationship thing going on between you two." he teased. "Only, for you, it's more than what you let on right? Admit it Vanessa; you're in love with Roxas, aren't you?" Vanessa flinched.

"Wh-What?" she said. "I…" She looked away, a blush poised on her face. "That is none of your god damn business!" Roxas looked at her.

"V-Vanessa? Is that…is that true?" he asked.

"Don't deny it little missy." Xigbar accused. "I see the way you look at him. I may not have a heart anymore, but I still remember the way a girl looks at a boy she loves. Face it; you're in love with him." Vanessa said nothing, so he turned his attention back to Roxas. "But anyway, her heart tried so hard to connect to yours Roxas, but as you can well imagine, that's kinda impossible to do when you don't have one to connect with in the first place." Roxas looked down.

"Vanessa…is in love with me?" he said with disbelief, mostly to himself. His face hardened. He glared at Xigbar. "What does this have to do with her being sick?"

"Which brings us to the point." said Xigbar. "As a Keyblade wielder, Vanessa's heart is naturally strong. I mean, look how long it took us to weaken it: 150 days! Thanks to you tiger, her heart is weak enough to be taken over by the Darkness. We'll have her heart and her Nobody in no time at all!" Roxas flinched.

"What?" he cried. "You're trying to turn her into a Nobody? Why?"

"Think about it." said Xigbar. "If we had two Keyblade wielders instead of one, Kingdom Hearts would be complete in twice the time!"

"But I already work for you dumbass!" cried Vanessa. "Turning me into a Nobody who will do the exact same thing I do now would be border-line retarded!" Xigbar laughed.

"At first, that's what I said." he admitted. "But, your Nobody's just an added bonus. It's your heart that we really want."

"My heart?" asked Vanessa. "Why would you want my heart?"

"It'll make Kingdom Hearts just that much stronger." explained Xigbar. "I mean, a Keyblader's heart? Come one, Kingdom Hearts would be the baddest entity in the universe! Sure, you're not Sora, but we'll take what we can get." Roxas summoned his Keyblade.

"I won't let you do it!" he shouted. He grabbed Vanessa's hand and yanked her out of bed. "I'm not gonna let you corrupt her heart!" Xigbar smirked as Roxas pushed past him and lead Vanessa out the door.

"Gotta admire that conviction!" Xigbar joked to himself as he disappeared in the Darkness. Meanwhile, Vanessa tried to keep up as Roxas pulled her along the halls.

"R-Roxas! What a damn minute!" she called. Roxas stopped, allowing her to catch her breath.

"I'm sorry." he said. "Are you ok?" Vanessa nodded.

"I'm as ok as I can be after hearing all of that." she said. She frowned. "Do you think it's true?"

"Xigbar's a joker…" said Roxas. "…but he's not a liar. I know when he's telling the truth, and believe me, he was telling the truth." He clenched his fists. "I just can't believe they're gonna do this!" Vanessa looked down.

"I'm not surprised." she said. "I knew I was nothing but a liability to them. All this time, I've been tricking myself into believing that they gave the slightest bit of damn about me…" She shook her head. "I feel so stupid…" Roxas placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't." he said. "This isn't your fault." He looked away. "It's mine. I'm the reason why your heart is getting weaker and weaker everyday. I wish…" He separated himself from Vanessa. "…I wish you never met me…" Vanessa gasped.

"Roxas!" she exclaimed. "Don't you dare say that!" She grabbed his hand. "You're my friend, the best I've ever known! I'm nothing but glad I met you!"

"But if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be in this mess!" Roxas argued.

"None of that matters!" Vanessa countered. "I care about you, and you care about me; that's all that matters." Roxas shook his head.

"No…" he said. "…that's not all that matters. Vanessa, they want to consume you in Darkness. They want to control you. Doesn't that bother you?"

"Of course it does."

"And it's my fault. Doesn't that bother you?"

"It's not your fault."

"Yes it is! Don't you see? If you hadn't gotten so close to me…" Roxas sighed. "I'm just a Nobody Vanessa. I don't understand why you even consider me a friend…" Vanessa gritted her teeth.

"God dammit Roxas!" she yelled. "Don't you get it? I…" She cut herself off.

"You what?" asked Roxas. Vanessa shook her head.

"Nothing…" she mumbled. "Forget it…" Roxas glared at her.

"No! Not 'forget it'! You always say that!" he cried. "Tell me!" He grabbed Vanessa's shoulders and looked into her eyes. She avoided his gaze. He gave her a gentle shake. She looked back up to see a pleading look invade Roxas's face. "Please. I need to know." Finally, Vanessa could hold back no longer. She crashed her lips into Roxas's. His eyes widened with shock. When she pulled away, he was confused. "Vanessa?"

"I love you god dammit!" she cried. She quickly turned her back to him. "There, I admitted it!"

"So it's true…" said Roxas softly. Vanessa began to weep.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed. "I know you don't feel the same way but…!" Her words dissolved into tears. At that point, Roxas no longer knew what to do. Instead, he did what felt right. He embraced her.

"Vanessa…" he said. "…please, don't cry." He stroked her hair. Vanessa allowed her sobs to die down. He pulled away from her and wiped her tears away. "Please don't cry." Vanessa sniffed.

"I'm sorry…" she said softly. "…I know you don't know what love means, and I don't wanna complicate things any more than the already are, so just forget I said anything…"

"So you don't love me?" Roxas asked. Vanessa sniffed again.

"I-I do…" she said. "…but…" Roxas pressed his lips against hers. Vanessa gasped. When Roxas pulled away, it was her turn to be confused. "Roxas?"

"I may not know exactly what love is…" he said. "…but I know I feel something for you. Maybe it's love; I don't know. But what I do know is that I care about you, and that I want to be with you always." He squeezed Vanessa's hand. She smiled.

"Thanks Roxas." she said. She frowned. "But what are we gonna do now?"

"Don't worry." he said. "I won't let them turn you into a Nobody. I don't want you to be like me." He tugged on her hand. "Come on." She followed him down the halls.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To find Axel." Roxas replied. "Maybe he can help us."

"But isn't Axel in on it too?" asked Vanessa. Before Roxas could respond, Xigbar appeared in their path, forcing Roxas to come to an abrupt halt. Xigbar smirked.

"She's right y'know!" he teased. "Everyone is in on this plan, including your buddy!" Roxas gritted his teeth.

"That's not true!" he shouted. "Axel would never keep a secret from me!" Xigbar laughed.

"Are you serious?" he said. "Axel's been keeping stuff from you since day one!" Roxas flinched.

"Y-You're lying!" he cried. "Axel's my best friend! He wouldn't do that!"

"Who're you trying to prove it to?" asked Xigbar. "Me? Or yourself?" Uncertainty flooded Roxas's face.

"Stop screwing around with us and move!" Vanessa shouted.

"Or what?" Xigbar asked. "What will you do? It's not like you have the strength to fight!" Vanessa growled and tried to summon her Keyblade. A burst of light flashed in her hand, but that was all. No key came. She tried again. Still, nothing happened. She tried several more times after that. No Keyblade.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed. "What happened to my Keyblade?"

"When I said you didn't have the 'strength'…" sneered Xigbar. "…I was talking about your heart. Remember, your heart's weak! Only strong-hearted people can wield the Keyblade!" Vanessa glared at him.

"Go to hell!" she cried. She pulled on Roxas. "Let's go!" She tried to run in the opposite direction, but Axel appeared in her path.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"Axel!" cried Roxas. "They're trying to…!"

"I know." Axel interrupted. He summoned his chakrams and got into a fighter's stance. "Sorry buddy; boss's orders. I know you care about her and all, but I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for a Somebody." Roxas's eyes widened with horrific realization. Xigbar was right; Axel was lying to him.

"A-Axel?" said Roxas, bewildered and betrayed. "Wh-What are you…? Why?" He gritted his teeth. "Why are you doing this?"

"The Organization comes first Roxas…" said Axel. "…got it memorized?"

"You bastard!" Vanessa cried. "You double-crossing bastard! I thought we were friends!" Axel smirked.

"Are you kidding?" he said. "I was only pretending to be your friend to speed up the process. I never cared about you. Why should I? Why should I care about someone who possesses the very thing I've been fighting for the past several years? And you, Roxas; whatever you think you feel for her, its nothing, just a trick of your mind. She's only sucking up to you now because you're the only ally she has left. What do you think will happen if she escapes? You think she's coming back for you? Well think again! I'm the only real friend you have!"

"That's not true!" shouted Roxas. "Vanessa loves me; she'd never leave me or betray me!" Axel gritted his teeth.

"You don't even know what love is!" he shouted back. Roxas rushed to attack Axel, Keyblade in hand.

"Roxas!" cried Vanessa. She watched the two best friends clash with each other. Roxas looked as if he wanted to kill Axel; Axel, on the other hand, looked like he was regretting every minute. She wanted to jump in, but a gloved hand over her mouth prevented her from doing so. She gasped as Xigbar smirked down at her.

"Oh no you don't little missy!" he whispered. He said aloud, "Good work Axel!" Roxas stopped his assault on Axel in time to notice Xigbar open a dark portal. "Take one last look at her Roxas; this'll be the last time you see her this way!" He yanked Vanessa's coat away, the last protection she had against the Darkness.

"Vanessa!" Roxas cried as he watched Xigbar push her into the Corridor of Darkness.