Part 22

"Wow." Roxas said.

"I can't believe you actually said it." Axel added.

"Is it that hard to accept that?" I asked.

"Pretty much." Demyx replied.

"How unfortunate…" Xunakiy commented.

"Anyway…" Demyx cut in. "It's getting a little late…." He pulled out Mr. Dan-Dan. "Dan-Dan says so!"

"Dan-Dan-san is wise." Xunakiy bows to the little panda doll.

"Are you sure you chose a good girlfriend?" Axel asked while pointing to Xunakiy, who was now shaking hands with the panda.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy."

"But you are crazy!" Demyx turned my way. "You're crazy with love!"

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!"

"No need to get so upset, Zexy."

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!?"

"Mm…" Demyx counted fingers but he only held up two, and then he shrugged. "Once or twice."

"I'm pretty sure it's more than that…" I scratched my head.

"Hey guys…" Xunakiy put a hand on my shoulder. When I looked back, she was rubbing her eyes. "How about we go to a hotel and continue our activities tomorrow? I'm getting a little sleepy…" She fell over, and I caught her.

"She fell asleep." Axel pointed out.

"Yes, I know that." I changed her position, so that she would be a little more comfortable. "We might as well hurry up and get ourselves to a hotel."

"Mr. Dan-Dan agrees!" Demyx waved the panda around.

"Enough with the stupid panda or I will personally give him a premature cremation." Axel gave Demyx a 'scary look'.

"Axel looks scary!" Demyx shouted while running back to the other side of the hill.

"I didn't know he's that immature." Roxas said swiftly.

"Let's try hotel searching before it gets too late…" I suggested.

"Good idea."

"Why, Zexion! I never thought you'd embrace your innermost feelings so soon!" Marluxia ran over to me. "I must say…I've underestimated you—wait. Our snow maiden looks dead."

"That's because she's sleeping. Don't shout so much, or you'll wake her up." I said calmly, trying not to let Marluxia's crappy personality get to me.

"Oh well, seeing as she's asleep, we might as well go hotel searching." Vexen said.

"Zexy, isn't that what you said earlier?" Axel asked.

"First Demyx, now you?" I asked in return. Axel shrugged.

We went on to our little conversations, which didn't take too long. Saix was the only one that didn't take part. Instead, he simply stared at the moon. And when we were about to leave, he took a small peek at me and Xunakiy, and I eyed him back. His reaction was the thing that left me feeling uneasy. His lips curled into a small smile when he turned and walked away with the rest of us.

"Looks like…I'll be winning my bet sometime soon." Was what I heard him say.

"What do you mean by—"

"This is awesome! You're carrying her! If only I had a camera…then I could blackmail you!" Xigbar poked me in the cheek.

"Hey!"

We went to the nearest hotel, and we got three rooms. Vexen, Marluxia, and Xigbar in one, Roxas, Axel, and Demyx in the second one, and Xunakiy, Larxene, Saix and me in the last one.

"There are only two beds…" Larxene said as we entered our room.

"I'll be happy to sleep somewhere else." Saix raised his hand.

"Fine. You do that, while I take the first bed, while Romeo and Juliet take the second."

"Romeo and Juliet!?"

"Shut up and sleep." Larxene crawled over to the nearest bed and buried her head underneath a pillow.

I just simply laid Xunakiy on the bed while I just sat down in a corner and leaned my head against the wall. Saix got himself an extra pillow and went to the balcony that was outside. He ended up sleeping on one of the chairs. The transparent doors that led to the balcony were conveniently placed right next to me, which made me fell uneasy. I still doubted he had good intentions when he joined our group.

"Well, good night." I said to myself as I drifted off.

For some reason, I woke up while it was still dark outside. I also found out that Xunakiy wasn't in her bed. When I looked over to the balcony, Xunakiy was out on the balcony with Saix.

"How did this happen?" Xunakiy asked. I scrambled back to my corner and pretended to be asleep. Eavesdropping is a terrible habit, but I'm worried about what's happening.

"I have no idea. It just happened. I can't explain it."

"Oh well…I'm happy for you!"

"You are?"

"Of course! No wait…is it so surprising for you?"

"Well…yes. The other members would kill me if they heard of this…"

"What do they have against you?"

"I honestly have no idea…but if they heard about this…"

"Don't worry…I'll keep your secret safe! You can count on me!"

"Thank you. Hopefully…having my heart back wouldn't be so bad after all…"

Unfortunately, I fell asleep after that.

I woke up, and found out that something was on me. When I turned my head, Xunakiy was leaning her head on my shoulder. She looked…cute.

"Um…Xunakiy…you should wake up…" I tried nudging her, and then she opened her eyes.

"Zexion…kun…is it morning already?" She asked.

"Mm-hmm…"

"Oh, I must've been heavy for you…I'm sorry…" She got up, but then she fell back, and I caught her.

"If you're still tired, go back to sleep."

"I'm awake!" She jumped up.

"Okay then…" I looked at the balcony through the transparent doors…and Saix wasn't there. "Where the hell is Saix!?"

"Shut…up…I'm still…sleeping…" Larxene growled from under the pillow.

"But where's—"

"Good morning everyone…" Saix came back into the room with a bag.

"Where the hell have you been?" I asked.

"I bought this…" He pulled out a bag of…pancake mix.

"Pancakes! We can have pancakes for breakfast!" Xunakiy clapped. "Thank you for buying this, Saix-sensei!"

"Great…your shouting woke me up…" Larxene pulled her head out from the pillow. "Saix…if you were going to get us breakfast…you should have just bought us to-go pancakes…"

"Oh. I'll just return this then…"

"Don't worry! Making pancakes is fun! If you don't know, I'll teach you!"

"Okay?"

"And while you guys are making pancakes, I'm taking a shower…"

"Have fun then…" Larxene waved.

After taking a short five-minute shower, I put on my jeans and started drying my hair with a towel. While I was drying myself, I was thinking about that "conversation" between Xunakiy and Saix. How the hell could he have gotten his heart back? But if he said he didn't know how he got it, I can't exactly blame him. When would me and Xunakiy get our hearts back?

"How did that happen?" I asked myself. I had a funny feeling I was being watched. I looked at the door, and it was slightly open. "Okay, you can either stay out or get in."

"I-I'm sorry." Xunakiy slowly got inside and closed the door. "I wanted to tell you that your pancakes were ready but…I sort of got caught up…"

"Caught up by what?"

"Well…um…you…um…didn't put a shirt on…" So…does that mean that she was looking at my…

"Um…you should just make the others their pancakes…" I blushed while I was pondering the previous thought. At the same time, I put my black shirt on. My hair was still a little wet, but I could just try drying again. When I looked back, Xunakiy's face was all red. "Are you alright? Are you sure you're not having a fever?" I walked up to her to put my hand on her forehead.

"I…I...um…" Her face was going even redder while she looked up at me. "I'm fine! Nothing wrong with me!" She took a step back.

"Why was your face red then…" I'm such an idiot! By now I should know what she was blushing about! But I don't know! I make a HORRIBLE boyfriend!

"Um…well…it's just that…you look…um…handsome…when your hair is still a little wet…um…" She tried to look up, but then she looked down again. "Well…" She looked up again. "THERE! I SAID IT!"

I tried to close the gap between us by taking a step forward. I put my hand on her head and I ruffled her hair a little.

"You don't have to be embarrassed by saying that."

"O-Okay…now can you get your pancakes before they get cold?" When she looked up, she blushed again. Then she just ran out of the room.

"Hey! Wait! Xunakiy—" I went out of the bathroom, but when I opened the door, something flew in my face.

"Bull's-eye!" Larxene shouted. "Nice shot, Saix!"

"What did I hit?"

The pancake slowly slid off my face. Xunakiy then waited for it to drop, and she caught it on a plate. Was it just me? Or was it true that Saix was really wearing an apron?

"Larxene got hungry and got tired of waiting for you, so she ate one of your pancakes. But that's solved because now you have this extra one!" She handed me the plate with three pancakes.

"Thank. You. Very. Much."

"You are welcome!" She hopped into the small kitchen. "Saix-sensei! You can take off the apron now! I still need to cook your waffles!"

"I felt that I should make my own. This is actually my first time cooking." We all stared at Saix. "Is it that surprising?"

"Yup." Larxene said flatly.

It ended up raining shortly after we finished breakfast, and we decided to check up on the others. Vexen, Marluxia, And Xigbar all got drunk, so now they had a hangover and ended up sleeping again. Roxas, Axel, and Demyx seemed bored out of their minds. They were all doing something different when we came into their room.

"What are you dimwits doing?" Larxene asked.

"Well, I'm watching TV static..." Roxas answered.

"I'm sitting upside-down on a chair…" Axel sighed.

"I'm watching the rain…" Demyx said.

"You seem bored." I commented.

"We are…" All three of them replied in monotone voices.

"Want to come with us for another day out?" Xunakiy asked.

"YES!" They all replied. Roxas jumped off the couch, Demyx ran over, and Axel landed on his face.

"Are you okay, Axel-senpai?" Xunakiy asked.

"Of course I am!" Axel growled.

"Then how come you look annoyed?"

"I. Am. Fine."

We ended up bringing Kimaru with us (Anyone know where he's been?). He liked the rain, which was obvious, seeing as he liked going in and out of it and getting us wet by ruffling his feathers too much.

"Any idea where we should go?" Xunakiy asked. We were waiting underneath shade and watching cars go by.

"Mr. Dan-Dan thinks we should go to the pet store!" Demyx shouted. Kimaru seconded that by squeaking.

"Well, we haven't gone there yet…" Roxas sighed.

"So long as we actually do something!" Axel yelled.

"So we're all in favor?" Saix asked.

"Yup."

"Let's go then!" Xunakiy jumped up and down.

The nearest pet store was large and you could actually play with each of the animals, which everyone liked. Like almost all the other places we've been to, we were the only people there. Kimaru went to the aviary and interacted with the all the other birds there, Roxas stared at fish, and Demyx joined him. Larxene just watched us.

"I don't know what I should do here…" Saix sighed.

"Don't worry, Saix-sensei!" Xunakiy dragged him over to a small, enclosed space filled with rabbits. "You just grab a bag filled with veggies and you feed them!"

"I can't see how you people enjoy this…" Saix sighed. He sat down and took the bag of vegetables from Xunakiy and started feeding the nearest rabbit. Suddenly, all the rabbits swarmed all over him. "How did I end up going here?" He asked himself as one rabbit climbed onto his leg.

"Aww…the rabbits all love Saix!" Axel yelled. Saix growled in response. "I'll just go check out the dogs and convince Roxas to join me. Fish are boring!" He walked over to the back of the store, which had a separate room for the dogs, but I was able to see him drag Roxas over.

"Zexion-kun!" Xunakiy took my hand. "Let's go play with the cats!"

"Um…sure?" I had never handled a cat, or any other animal for that matter. So Xunakiy walked us over to an encaged space that had all these cat toys. It was hard not to step on one.

"I think these cats are adorable!" She held up a middle-sized cat and put it in front of my face. "Don't you agree?"

"I'm not entirely sure…" I said while the cat was trying to claw at my hair.

"He likes you!"

"I think that's obvious…"

We both cleared out spaces so we can sit on the floor, and we ended up having fun. Well, Xunakiy did, but all the cats wanted to do was play with my hair.

"Having fun?" Xunakiy said as she waved around a stick with a mouse on it. The cats all tried to fight over it.

"A little…" Somehow I was in the same predicament as Saix. All the cats somehow were all over me. When I tried to see how Saix was doing, he was still feeding the rabbits, but they didn't want the food. They all crawled all over him. I saw that one was on his shoulder, while two were on his head, and several were on his arms. Despite having a fan club populated by rabbits, he seemed a little…happy.

"Surprised?" Xunakiy asked me. I turned and she was hugging a cat that was pawing at strands of hair that fell over her shoulders. "From what Axel-senpai tells me, Saix usually doesn't do anything besides serve Shishou. But I think he actually looks like he's having fun with us."

"I…I think so too…"

"Something bothering you?" She looked at me with a worried face. Dammit! She looked too cute…

"I accidentally eavesdropped on your conversation last night…" I sighed. She simply blinked.

"You won't tell anyone?" She struck me with 'those eyes'. And I fell victim.

"Of course."

"Thank you!" She held up the cat in front of her face. "You're so cute!"

"Hey…"

"What?"

"You've been asking me if something's wrong, but…have you ever considered taking care of yourself?" I felt as if I was forced to ask that. But it had to come out sooner or later…

"I-I think I'm perfectly fine!"

"I don't think you're telling the truth." Then I looked at the cat she was holding. "Don't you agree with me, Mr. Cat?" Mr. Cat probably wasn't the best name, but he responded by forcing its way out of Xunakiy's arms.

"Both of you are right…" She sighed. "I just…miss…certain people…" She started crying. "There's my big brother…"

"And Arc?" She seemed surprised when I completed her sentence, but the n she looked back down.

"Yeah…" The cat walked onto her lap, and she started stroking its back. "I'm happy with you, and everyone else, but…I just can't help but miss them."

"Don't worry, it's perfectly normal…" I held up my little finger. "I made a promise. I intend to keep it."

"I…" She wiped her eyes. "I know you will!" She stroked the cat's fur, to which it responded with content purrs. "I have something to ask."

"What is it?"

"You know how our names are anagrams of our true names with an 'X'?"

"Yes? What about it?"

"What's your true name?" She leaned forward.

"Its…Ienzo."

"Ienzo is a nice name! It sounds nice and original! It sounds a lot better than Yukina—"

"Why did you ask?"

"Well…I asked because…" She laid the cat down. "I have a feeling that you would soon be addressed by that name again."

"What do you mean—"

"I don't think the dogs liked me…" Roxas came in with a torn up jacket.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"The dogs…didn't like me." He sat down, and several of my cats went over to him. "I think I'll just stick with you guys for a while."

"The more the merrier!" Xunakiy cheered.

"Actually, I think I'll get out." I stood up and the cats got off of me. "Bye, Mr. Cat."

"Mr. Cat?" Roxas asked. Then he burst into laughter.

"It was last minute…" I sighed.

I walked out of the large cage and decided to see what Saix was doing. He was…napping. He was leaning against the wall while a bunch of other rabbits were sleeping with him.

"Looks cute, don't you think?"

"GAH!" I looked back. "Larxene! You didn't have to scare me like that…"

"But I did anyway." She looked again at the sleeping Saix. "I never thought he would sleep at a time like this."

"I thought so too."

"Thought?"

"I think he…changed in some way…" In some way, I gave her a hint of what happened.

"Could be." She yawned.

"EVIL DOGS!" Axel came out from the back of the store, with ripped up clothing. He put his hand on my head, and took a deep breath, and then he straightened himself out. "Don't ask about what happened."

"Okay…" I sighed. Suddenly I heard Kimaru scrambling out of the aviary, with a mouth full of food.

"What happened to you?" Larxene asked the chocobo. Kimaru squeaked like crazy.

"I know how to translate!" Demyx suddenly dropped out of nowhere. "He says that he borrowed food from the birds in the aviary and that they got angry and chased him out!"

"How the hell do you know if that's what he was saying?"

"Mr. Dan-Dan can translate!" He held up the panda doll.

"I wonder how else it could be useful…" Axel sighed.

"Are we all having fun?"

"Sa-Sa-Saix!" I jumped. "When did you wake up!?"

"Just now. Though my nap would've been longer if you people hadn't been shouting." Saix slowly took a rabbit off of his head.

"Saix-sensei, did you enjoy your nap?" Xunakiy asked upon leaving the cats.

"Yes. Very much."

"So! Did everyone else have fun?" She asked.

"I guess…" Larxene sighed.

"But where else are we to go?" Demyx asked.

"Well, I think we've had enough 'fun'. So can we go back to the castle?"

"Let's retrieve the old men first…" Roxas added.

"Agreed."

"What happened?" I asked upon entering the room. The room was very messed up with overturned furniture, with Vexen, Marluxia, and Xigbar nowhere to be seen.

"I think a battle was fought here." Demyx pointed out.

"Of course there was a battle, you dimwit!" Larxene smacked him on the head.

"Are you guys back?" Marluxia ran out from somewhere. "We were attacked…again."

"By none other than the Taboo nobodies." Vexen added upon entering the room.

"Sorry we weren't here to help…" Xunakiy sighed.

"That's okay!" Xigbar popped out of a portal. "They were small fry! If they were that hard to fight, you would find a large, gaping hole in the wall!"

"Anyway, we're going back to the castle." Saix pointed out.

"Let's go back before we're ambushed again." Marluxia agreed.

"Let's go home then." Larxene said.

Upon returning to the castle, we simply went back to our rooms. The two strange things that I realized was that it was raining back at the castle, and I still didn't clean up my room. So, I asked her if she could help me out, and she happily went along.

"Umm…what did you do to this room?" She said as she gathered a pile of books. I shrugged.

"By the way, can you help me clean up the desk?"

"Sure!"

Cleaning up the room was tiring, time-consuming, and most of all, BORING. Despite that, it felt rewarding to collapse on the bed and take a deep breath.

"Thanks for helping me out." I said as I stretched my limbs.

"No problem." She sighed.

"Would it be a problem…if you could sleep in my room tonight?" I asked. I think I went insane showing what I actually feel like this. I'm practically breaking the laws of the universe. Nobodies can't feel. At least I thought we couldn't.

"I wouldn't mind." She said as she sat up on the bed. "You know what?"

"What?" I sat up.

"Nobodies can't have feelings, right?"

"That's what everyone thinks."

"But…I think, that…everyone does have feelings. Just like when we were whole. They're just…a little harder to reach."

"I think I get what you mean…"

"You do?"

"Umm…yeah. I get it."

"Then…hopefully I won't regret this…"

"Regret wha—" I was cut off by a…kiss. After getting past the shock, I slowly closed my eyes.

A kiss. That's what it was. It could've meant something, but at the same time, I felt as if it didn't mean anything. But even though it might not have meant anything, it still happened. I know it did. When we opened our eyes, and our lips parted, both of us, were blushing. Sure, we were blushing, but we weren't blushing as much as did before.

"Umm…I need some fresh air!" I quickly walked out of the room.

"I'M SUCH AN IDIOT!" I yelled out into the rainy sky.

I kissed a girl, and then I just walk off like it never happened! What the hell was that!? I bet Xunakiy actually did regret kissing me. Dammit! Even though I could try forgetting about it, someone actually could've seen us! That makes the situation worse! What if whoever saw us told everyone!? That would mark tomorrow as the worst day of my non-existent life.

"Why do you always come out here when it's raining?" I looked up. Xunakiy.

"Is there something wrong with this?"

"No. I'm just wondering why you do it."

"hmm…I guess it's because it feels relaxing."

"Hmm…it feels relaxing?" She sat down next to me, and leaned her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.. "It really does feel relaxing."

"I guess that comes as a surprise to you."

"Well, it kind of does…" She slightly opened her eyes. "But it isn't much. Because… you're here with me." She went back to having her eyes closed, and I put my arm on her shoulder.

"Xunakiy…do you like life as a Nobody?"

"It has its ups and downs…but I think I can oversee the downs." She opened her eyes. "In other words…I think I like it. But…"

"But…?"

"But even though I like this life…I would like to go back to my old one…"

"Even though you have memories you would like to forget?"

"At first…they were memories that I thought I would be better off without…but now I realize…" She looked up and closed her eyes. "It's those kind of memories that make us strong."

"You know, we should bet back to my room if you're going to sleep here…" I said after about an hour or so in the rain.

"It would've been nice if we actually did stay here, but to the members…I guess that would've been hard to explain…"

"Exactly. Now let's go." I stood up and helped Xunakiy up, and together, we walked back.

I forgot when I actually slept, or when I actually got to my room, but I could tell I was in a dream. With Saix and…Karasu.

"I can tell why no one actually likes you." Karasu growled. "You never did what I told you to when I taught you how to summon Taboo nobodies."

"Of course not. Why would I want to kill Little Bookworm and Xunakiy?"

"Damn you!" She took out her whip and tried to grab Saix, but Saix simply jumped out of the way and landed gently at another spot.

"You don't realize what you really are, do you?"

"Shut up! I know already! That's why I'm bent on trying to kill those two!"

"Heartless are practically the manifestation of darkness within one's heart. And since you were the dark side to Yukina, you were able to have an actual form. Therefore—"

"I thought I told you to shut up!"

"You are a heartless."

So many things were revealed during their fight. Saix was the one who made the Taboo nobodies, Karasu was Yukina's heartless, and…if I could defeat her, I would have a shot at giving Xunakiy the life that she wants.

((I had sympathy for Saix, seeing as so many people viewed him in a bad light. So, I decided to give him a bigger role. That bit of info was just in case you're wondering. Anyways, final chapter of this fanfic would be either the next one or the one after that. I think I finally sorted things out and have the ending in mind. Thanks for reading this chapter! Review!))