Our heroine knew she was awake, but she refused to open her eyes. Strangely, considering what had been happening, she felt safe and warm, and was in no hurry to ruin those feelings by getting up. Instead, she snuggled deeper under the blankets and sighed happily.

Unexpectedly, something moved—something on top of her. Shoshanah shot up, and what she saw made her scream.

Axel blinked up at her resentfully. His arm, Shoshanah realized, was what had moved—it had been draped over her chest.

"Come on, Sparky. Can you get any louder?"

"Ooo…" Shoshanah said, breathing heavily. "I have not yet begun to get loud. What are you doing on my bed?"

"I was sleeping." He sat up, too. "I thought you could figure that part out, at least."

"And it's so difficult for you to sleep on a couch?"

"Why'd I wanna do that?" Axel asked mischievously. Abruptly, he sobered. "Did you hear what happened to Roxas?"

"Riku told me." Shoshanah was not angry enough to not feel sorry for him. "I heard him and Sora blundered upstairs, and I had to go check what was going on." She hesitated before adding, "I'm really sorry, Axel. I know he was your best friend."

"Yeah." He hunched over, and stared down at his gloved hands.

"And…" Shoshanah began again, without knowing what she was going to say. But Axel interrupted her.

"It's my fault, ya know. I should've guessed what was gonna happen if he did run into Sora. I could've stopped him."

"Roxas made his own choice," Shoshanah told him sternly. "And there's nothing you could have done about that; no point in beating yourself up over it. But…." Again, she paused. "But, at least he's not actually dead, you know. I mean, there's still a chance you can see him again."

"As opposed to you and Henry?" Axel asked bitterly.

Hearing Henry's name thrown out so casually and with such a crass manner, Shoshanah felt as if she had been stung. She bit back a number of angry retorts, remembering that he had just lost someone he cared about and was therefore not likely to be particularly tactful. Instead, she fished around for something sensitive but true to say. Nothing came to mind.

Axel seemed to realize he crossed a line. "Sorry, Sparky."

"It's fine," Shoshanah said, relieved he had spoken first.

"There's an Organization member here!" Riku shouted, running in through the door. "Shoshanah, hurry…." He stopped, confused, staring at Shoshanah and Axel, who had been leaning unconsciously toward each other. "Oh! Sorry…I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll…just go."

"No! It's not like that!" Shoshanah cried hurriedly, casting an embarrassed look at Axel. "Riku, really…" but Riku had already snuck out the door, his face as red as hers. "Shit."

"What's the matter?" Axel asked, offended. "You don't wanna do with me what he thinks you doing with me?"

"What?"

"Because I'm a Nobody?"

"You make no sense," Shoshanah informed him. "I need to get dressed. Go away."

"Sure thing, Sparky," Axel grinned weakly. "I'll go clear a few things up with poor, befuddled Riku."

Once Shoshanah had changed, she strolled into the kitchen were Riku and Axel were busy having a very heated argument. Zexion was leaning against the counter, watching mildly amused while he ate a bowl of cold cereal.

"I don't care if you're older! I at least am human!" Riku exclaimed. "So don't tell me what to do!"

"Being human has nothing to do with this!" Axel disagreed. Smoke began swirling around him, and set the smoke detector off. Over the noise, Axel shouted, "And you have no sense of leadership! You think you know so much, but you're just an egotistical, self-absorbed little brat!"

"And you're a scheming, diabolical monster!" Riku yelled back.

Sparks began flashing in the air around Axel. Shoshanah decided it was time to act. "SHUT UP!"

The three males all turned to face her. For a moment, the only sound was the smoke detector's wailing. Finally, Shoshanah spoke again. "What is this all about?"

They both started again.

"He's ordering me around…"

"He absolutely refuses to listen…"

"I've been here longer…"

"I know what I'm doing…"

"He thinks he knows everything!"
"He thinks he knows everything!"
"Stop!" Shoshanah said firmly. "This isn't getting anywhere." She gritted her teeth. "And will someone please shut that thing up?"

Zexion sighed, and put his bowl on the counter. "I suppose that means me." He left. Silence soon followed.

Shoshanah took a few deep breaths through her nose before continuing. "Okay. Riku. What happened?"

"He's acting like some sort of emperor!" Riku said hotly. Axel snorted, but one look from Shoshanah quieted him. "He comes in here, sprouting off orders, and expects me to bow to his every wish!"

"That's nice, Riku," Shoshanah said carefully, while behind her, Axel and Zexion were both rolling their eyes. "But what did he tell you to do?"

"He says," Riku stressed the word heavily. "That we should allow more Nobodies in! He wants us to go to the Organization, and try and persuade some to join us! Soon, there'll be more Nobodies here than actual people! And we're fighting against the Nobodies!" He added, as if that hadn't been clear before.

"He wants us to be completely outnumbered!" Axel argued. "If only real people fight against the Organization, you'll all die!"

"Why does that matter to you?' Riku sneered. "You're one of the enemy! You want us to let in more Nobodies just so you can turn on us!"

"I've changed sides, in case you didn't notice it!"

"That doesn't mean you can order me around!"

"This is what this is over?" Shoshanah asked in disbelief. "Who can order who around?"

Zexion cackled, but Axel and Riku fell silent. Shoshanah drew herself up to her full height.

"Well, you wanna know something? Neither of you can order anyone around because both of you are too busy proving how manly you are, you can't think with you're heads. I'm taking over the damn leadership position, and if either of you argue with me, I'm shooting you both!"

"Does this include me?" Zexion quipped. His eyes twinkled—he was enjoying all this.

Shoshanah pursed her lips. "As long as you don't act like some hotheaded fool, no." With that, she reached for the cereal box, and poured some out for her breakfast.

-

Alright, so I lied and I took awhile to post. Ah, sigh, but that's the way things went.

Anyways, this chapter was another pretty fun one to write, and I hope it was just as fun to read. At least marginally.