A/N: Thank you, anon, for your review!

For those worrying, Roxas will come back. Sora will evolve. Bear with him!

Please remember to FOLLOW, FAVORITE, AND REVIEW! It is such a great resource for me as the author.

~X~

Chapter Twenty Four

~X~

Semester Goals:

1. Get used to being sad alone.

2. Get help from the right people.

3. Eliminate Soddy and Bane-from-Hell.

4. Repay Soddy for this notebook.

Sora gnawed the end of his pencil as he sat back in his desk chair. Last weekend Soddy had dropped off a "thoughts journal" in Mickey's office for Sora to write his "feelings" in. The fact that Mickey told Sora he had one too did not soften the blow. When Mickey handed him a brand new felt pen as well and Sora asked if it was from Soddy too, the mouse said no. But Sora had trouble believing him. Even so, he forced himself to journal and to his dismay, found it surprisingly therapeutic. So far he had spilled pages upon pages about Roxas, Ventus, Vanitas, and Ari. Occasionally Riku, Naminé, Reno, and Kairi made it in as well. Sora liked to start with a lamentation on the fact that the journal was from Soddy. After, he would delve into every hope, fear, and paralyzing sensation gripping him daily. The more he expelled, the more he realized he needed a backpack. Carrying the journal around in the old book belt Joshua lent him last year felt like trundling out of the house without pants on. He had even taken to hiding it in the hem of his trousers. Visions of Vanitas slipping past and digging down his shorts in search of his deepest, darkest secrets made him so jumpy he could hardly veer a corner without glancing over his shoulder. He consoled himself with the fact that there were only three weeks left till combat finals and four weeks till the end of the semester. Finally, after a year and a half in the Land of Departure, he would be able to return home. More and more, that was what filled his entries the most. He dreamed of the Besaid Sea, of Wakka's dad's trawler, of what his mother would say when she saw him, of how the other island kids would ask what he was doing at school, of how cool it would be if Yuna invited he and Tidus to her studio in Luca. Of blitzball tournaments, sea adventures, rafts, paopu ice cream, rollerblading, and skating to the pier. Surfing, deep sea diving, even volleyball. Every vision burned into Sora's skin like brands. Often, between classes, he would pretend an ocean churned beneath the forecourt, right past the stone walls surrounding, stretching in blue satin waves for miles. He'd roll around the grass and stare up as if he was sitting on the dunes near the secret place, reminding himself that the sunlight he winced past now belonged to the same sun shining upon Destiny Islands.

A strange cleft, like an invisible black hole, dug into every room Roxas used to frequent.

He remained absent from class and the dorm. When no one else was around, Sora would sneak up the boy's bunk and smell his pillow, sheets, and comforter in gusts, imagining he was smelling Roxas himself. But it was never the same. The day Ari took all the bedclothes to the laundry room against Sora's knowledge was a shock to the system. Sora knew the replica had done it as a charity trip. But it did not stop him from stomping over and attacking the replica's bare mattress as if it were Ari himself. After spending all his strength and becoming paralyzed by the fear that he may never smell Roxas' body again, Sora burst into tears. Then he skipped class, mumbling that he was sick when the replica asked. When Sora tried hiding out under his covers the day after, Ari threatened to tell Soddy. From then on, someone was always checking up on him. Between classes it was Tifa. Between clubs it was a mix of LGBTQ members, including Kairi and Naminé, and in the dorm it was Ari. After school, it was Hercules or Leon and his gang. Cloud even invited him to the senior "fight club" he had been spirited into by Zack the year before. It was really just a bunch of post pubescent boys vying to see who had the most testosterone. But the struggle was fun. In between all of that, he engaged office hours with Coco, Mickey, Luxord, Reno, and Soddy. Though he would never admit it to anyone but himself, Soddy was an excellent teacher. Ineffably patient, understanding, and inventive, Sora found himself improving miles under his tutelage when Mickey was too busy with the school's other key blade wielders to grant him extra time. The only downside to the arrangement was that Soddy seemed to think he and Sora were becoming "friends." Discussions of Riku and the outer world turned into excuses for Soddy to ask how Sora was "doing," and if he was "creating a healthy mental space." Sometimes Sora considered blurting out everything that had happened with Ventus and Roxas in great detail, just to shock the fiend. Instead, he opted for silence.

Now, as he thought of winter jobs he could get when he went back to Destiny Island for vacation, Argento's stopwatch alarm sounded. Sora clicked it off and gathered his things. Then, with a sigh, he stretched and lumbered towards his morning class. Today was a B day, otherwise known as "Mickey Mode," as Sora was one of the few students in his class whose element and weapon were the same as the Mouse's. He sauntered through the dorm corridor with a skip in his step, bursting into the exit stairwell and hopping down two steps at a time until he made it to the second floor. Once he reached the mouse's office he furrowed his brows. The door was locked. In confusion Sora glanced from one end of the hall to the other. Then, on gut instinct, he slipped back through the exit stairwell and whizzed towards the grand hall. When he got there and peeped inside, he saw the entirety of the key blade wielding junior class bar Roxas huddled around the thrones at the room's head. Stationed before them were Mickey, Eraqus, Master Xehanort, Yen Sid, Soddy, and Aqua. When they glanced towards him in curiosity, Sora gaped and hurried in in embarrassment. Mickey beamed. Eraqus' lip curled. Aqua scoffed in exasperation. Soddy remained motionless as Yen Sid gave a low chortle.

"Well, better late than never," Mickey said. Soddy stood at his arm. When the mouse winked at him, he glowed with joy.

"I'm sorry," Sora blustered. "I came down from your office. I thought you were in the bathroom."

"I put a sign on the door, Sora," the mouse responded. Sora's shoulders sagged. There had been no sign. When he spied Nimo's bent, snickering form, he narrowed his eyes and said he must have missed it.

"Well, maybe someone tore it away by accident," Mickey responded, shooting Nimo a bright grin. Nimo's smirk wiped away as he straightened. The mouse continued.

"As you all know, I've been busy as a cow's tail in fly time these past few weeks," he explained, "and if anyone knows me at all, they know I hate missing stuff. I won't fib, I love driving out on a good ol' fashioned adventure more than steaming down Disney River. But if it means missing time with you kiddos, count me out. Even so? When the world calls, as a key blade wielder and follower of light, I answer. That's why I've gathered you kids together. I have something to tell you that I've kept close to my heart for quite some time..."

As Mickey struggled over what followed, Soddy sent him silent, beaming encouragement. The endearment confused Sora. Soddy stared at Mickey like a son staring at his father. Well, save for the fact that Mickey was the size of a small child and Soddy towered just over six feet.

"I've never placed much value in standardized tests," Mickey snapped with new vigor. "I don't think they serve as an accurate measurement of the capacity of a human being. I think the real test is being in the thick of something, and I've carried this through every adventure I've experienced, from the time I worked for crumbs and tuppence on Master Pete's steamboat through the day I assumed leadership over Disney City and on. I've never needed a certificate to prove my worth. But I do believe in milestones. If a certificate represents a milestone that tells me I'm ready to guide a young person along the same journey I carved, and when that young person comes to me pleading for help, I answer."

Sora thought he saw Soddy duck his head and stifle a sheepish grin. It made him grit his teeth.

"That's why I've gathered you all here," Mickey continued. "To tell you that I'll be leaving for awhile."

Suspension on the verge of a collective gasp captured his entire audience. Mickey let it settle. Then he trudged on.

"In two days I will begin my Mark of Mastery, which will be proctored by my dear friend and mentor Yen Sid. I plan to return during winter break or during the first week back. The way things are rolling nowadays, you can never be too sure what will happen next. I don't want to make any grandiose plans, but I do want to give you something to look forward to. I'm sorry I had to do this. But right now, we need as many key blade masters as we can get. That's why it's up to all of you to work twice as hard, be twice as vigilant, and most importantly? To be twice as kind, hopeful, and selfless as you were when I was here." With that, Mickey looked into the eyes of each and every one of his students and comrades. When he settled on Sora, his gaze twinkled. The guilt that had perched its nest on Sora's shoulder since the Drag Show made him avert his gaze.

"And if there's one thing I want you to remember more than anything, it's this:" Mickey said softly. "Helping others should always come before asking others for help. We're all safe and sound and free to choose. So there's no reason we shouldn't choose to help our friends. And a friend should be anyone you meet along the way. We all need kindness and a shoulder to cry on, I'm not saying anything different. But if we took notice of the sagging shoulders and trembling lips around us and reached out to understand more often, what a peaceful world this would be."

"I respect and value every one of you," he continued. "Every flaw can be a gift if we figure out how it helped us survive in the first place." A smile twitched across Sora's mouth in spite of him. When Mickey saw it he beamed and glanced out again.

"I know all of you must be relieved to get a break from this old timer," he explained. "So I've brought in some handy replacements to teach you while I learn to walk the walk. Master Eraqus will cover my element tutoring. Master Holland will take over my weapon classes. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness will act as her assistant, and she his supervisor. He will be present at every one of your lessons and will be a valuable resource in terms of technique and raw gumption."

Soddy gazed upon Mickey with almost inhuman pleasure, his ecstasy thinly veiled behind pursed lips and narrowed eyes. Aqua attempted not to smile as well, but once "Master" and "Holland" rolled off of Mickey's tongue in the same sentence, her beam of pride proved uncontainable. Until then, Sora had not noticed the steel blue pantsuit she wore for the occasion, offset quite painfully by Soddy's black leather "teaching" pants, combat boots, and crumpled white button up. She was in silver heels as well, with pointed toes, steel talons, and tiny metal crescents on either side similar to the wings of her combat uniform boots. The sun caught her cheek as she turned to accept the congratulatory applause ringing around her and Sora noticed she was wearing makeup. She took Soddy's hand with a laugh. Soddy whispered something in her ear that made her nod with enthusiasm, as if both of them had received an award and were working out who would perform their acceptance speech first.

"Now because your faculty is just a bunch of secret party nuts," Mickey sang over the hubbub, "we're all taking Master Holland and Ansem for lunch to celebrate their new positions and the school's freedom from my shenanigans. In the meantime, though, I want you all to be vigilant."

Suddenly, the room fell quiet. Mickey's smile was gone. So was Soddy's. Aqua peeked around in shock at the sudden change in temperature, but decorated herself to suit the situation in a flash. When Mickey was certain he had recaptured everyone's attention, he resumed.

"Darkness bathes itself in everything we do," he said. "It drifts beneath our fingers when we shake a friend's hand, it snuggles between us when we hug someone we love, it surrounds us as we dream, and every time we turn on a light, its shadow grows bigger. I may never figure out the answer to it, but right now, I can see patterns in the ways it weasels into people's hearts. And one of those patterns is judgement. I want us all to make a pact right now not to judge each other, each others' circumstances, or ourselves. Let's keep our minds and hearts open for the warmth we can give to others. The past is in the past. The future is far away. But this moment is now. And we can catch it by the horns only when we work together. And that's all I have to say about that," he finished, turning towards Aqua with a beaming nod. When Aqua realized he was waiting for her to dismiss class, she jumped up and clapped her hands together with glee.

"I'd like us all meet back here after lunch," she explained. "I've already asked your element teachers to let me keep you for about thirty minutes just so I can hand out a new syllabus and tell you about myself. In fact, if you could all read over it before then and come with questions, we can get straight to work," she added, tapping Soddy on the arm. Within moments he was passing out thick packets. Sora averted his gaze when the fiend passed him his copy, feigning interest in the massive rose window at the room's head. Soddy froze and stifled a groan. Then he was back at Aqua's side, class was dismissed, and the remaining professors huddled at the hall's head while their students charged to freedom. Sora glanced from face to face in anxiety, lost for what to do next. When he noticed Ventus hovering towards him out of the corner of his eye, he bolted to the professor closest and asked if he could talk to him for five minutes. When Mickey turned and chirped that he would love to talk, Sora beamed and clung to his four inch form. He could feel Ventus watching him. When the boy's gaze disappeared, he relaxed. Then, he and Mickey lumbered with Yen Sid and Soddy towards his office. As they filed up the stairs, Mickey asked what was troubling Sora. Sora shrugged and muttered that he was just curious about something.

"What would that be?" asked Mickey. Sora glanced towards Soddy in distaste before mumbling unintelligibly.

"What?" asked Mickey again. A glimmer of impatience ruffled his voice. Sora scowled and shuffled back and forth.

"He doesn't want me around," Soddy said flatly, turning. "I'll leave." But Mickey caught his arm.

"You're going to be teaching him for four weeks, my friend," the mouse insisted. "So now's as well a time to get to know him as any."

"I think we know each other pretty well," Sora muttered in return. Mickey's ensuing glance made him wilt.

"Remember that nice conversation I just had with all of you regarding the definition of friends, Sora?" the mouse warned. "Well, now is an excellent time to put that definition into practice."

"But it's about something private, Mickey!" Sora blurted out. As soon as the words left his mouth, Soddy puffed up like a ballon and commanded Sora to address the mouse by the correct title.

"I'll call him what I want, Ansem," Sora snapped back without thinking. When Mickey gasped and Yen Sid let out a low, rumbling, "ah," Sora whipped around and hunkered to avoid stepping on the bomb he had inadvertently set off. When he met Mickey's eye again, the mouse was glowering.

"Mister Nomura," Mickey intoned. "You are staring at three men senior to you not only in age, but in experience and chain of command. All of us have received the titles of professor, king, or master for a reason. And regardless of your opinion of us, we all deserve your respect-"

"I'm sorry, your highness, I really am!" Sora returned in a blubber. "If I forget a title, it- it's just because I like you!"

"Sora, you know very well that that is not true!" Mickey returned like a bullet. "I don't think I've ever heard you mutter even a whisper of a prefix before Professor Ansem's name."

Sora decided it was best not to reveal the clever nickname he had come up with for the fiend. Instead, he faltered through a failed attempt to explain his lack of respect. When the words "dream quest," passed his lips, Mickey shot him down with the swipe of a paw and the shake of his head.

"I said not ten minutes ago that the past was in the past," the mouse explained. "And that we've got to think of everyone as our friend until they prove otherwise-"

"But-"

"-And dream quest or not, he is your professor and a very good friend of mine, so I'm going to need you to treat my friend with the respect he deserves. And then I'm going to need you to tell me what you came up here to tell me to begin with. And make it fast, because I'm feeling peckish for lunch!"

"Bu, be, bah," Sora began, glancing from Soddy's trembling lip to Mickey's careful glance to Yen Sid's ominous glower with weakening resolve. He had really just followed the trio to escape Ventus. But right as his resolve left him, he found himself asking about becoming Mickey's apprentice. As soon as the words left him, Soddy's jaw jammed shut and his spirit shrunk to half its size. Mickey and Yen Sid shared a meaningful glance. Then Mickey asked Sora what he meant.

"I-I mean that once you, once you become master-"

"Sora, I haven't even started my exam, yet."

"Well, well say you do... if you were to pass, would you let me become your apprentice?" Sora insisted. As Mickey and Yen Sid glanced towards each other again, the idea settled over Sora's heart like a bud, growing until he realized it was actually possible. When he leaned over Mickey nearly bursting with glee, Mickey stepped back and muttered that he was not at liberty to make that decision right now.

"You were just saying earlier that we need as many key blade masters as possible," Sora insisted. "I know Eraqus is continuing with Ventus and Terra, and Master Yen Sid just left retirement to teach you-"

"Eraqus is a master as well, Sora, and should be titled as such," Yen Sid rumbled behind him. "And beware your assumptions of us, lest those assumptions prove true."

Nodding like he understood what Yen Sid meant, Sora insisted that he would be an excellent student.

"I work really hard when I set my mind to it, and I can be courteous when I need to, and I always help my friends-"

Soddy snorted behind him and shook his head. Sora resisted the urge to punch his lights out. When Mickey noticed his glare, the mouse cut the conversation short and snapped that he had already made the same promise to someone else. Sora swiveled towards him in confusion.

"What?" he balked.

"I've already promised to apprentice someone else if I become master, Sora," the mouse responded. Sora racked his brains to figure out who it was. Terra? No. Ventus? Maybe. Roxas? Was that why he was absent from class? But it could have been anyone. Nimo? If Soddy could wrap the mouse around his grubby tan finger enough for the king to call him a "friend," so could Master Xehanort's grandson.

"Who is it?" Sora asked in desperation. Mickey pointed him a glowering nod. Then, he murmured, "honest to goodness, Sora? I don't think you'd know him if he stared you in the face."

Sora scoffed in confusion, glancing around him for a helping hand. When he fell under Soddy's sunken gaze, his shoulders sagged. A cleft cut through his heart that he could not explain. Before he could figure it out, a familiar steel blue pantsuit swept passed him to ask the trio surrounding if they were ready to leave. Yen Sid announced that he found constant readiness to depart an excellent quality. Soddy agreed with a weak chuckle. Mickey sighed and murmured that he would be ready shortly. Then he returned his gaze to Sora.

"I come from a tradition of masters who apprentice people familiar and compassionate with the trials darkness drags up. People who are really ready to take an honest look at themselves and who are in it for the people they love."

"But, your majesty," Sora insisted through tears he had not known were coming. "I- that's the only reason I'm here at all! For my friends! I'd do anything for them, I'd even die!"

Before he could say another word, Mickey clasped his gloved hands around Sora's shoulders and cooed him quiet. Then, he beamed.

"The best way for you to help your friends now, Sora?" he intoned. "Is to study mercy."

Then he, Aqua, and Yen Sid blew past like leaves on the breeze. Soddy lingered at Sora's side. Once Sora was sure it was only the two of them, he groaned and collapsed on the steps, settling his head in his hands. After enduring several minutes of Soddy's lowering presence, he snapped an apology for disrespecting him. Soddy responded with silence. Then, he murmured that it was alright.

"You're going through a difficult time," he acquiesced. "Slip ups are understandable."

"No one should take their anger out on anyone else," Sora spat in return. Silence returned. Guilty, Sora inquired in his best student voice if Soddy had any advice for him. For a moment the fiend stared out. Then he asked if Sora had gotten into a fight with Ventus and Vanitas. On hearing the names, Sora reared back in shock. Then he demanded to know how Soddy had found out. Soddy shrugged.

"With an argument and opponents that vocal, word spreads like wildfire," he said flatly.

"Well if you're that sure of yourself, why did you have to ask me-" Sora began, but Soddy cut him off with a raised hand and insisted that he did not want to argue.

"If the rumors are true and you really do want my advice," he stated, "you'll stay clear of both of them."

"You think I'm not doing that already?" Sora growled. Soddy shut his eyes and breathed through his nose. Then he continued in a measured tone, "if you cannot steer clear of them, you should make a clear and pointed effort towards controlling your impulses."

"And you have great experience with controlling your impulses?" Sora intoned. Soddy puffed up in indignation.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do," he insisted. "When I find myself in a situation where my impulses hinder my goals, I close my eyes, camp out in my mind's safe place, and remind myself why I came here to begin with."

"Your mind's 'safe place'?" Sora scoffed as if Soddy were telling him a story about unicorns with puppy paws. Soddy's shoulders shot up.

"Yes," he stated, continuing, "it's a psychological practice where you create a room in your brain for gathering your strength whenever you find yourself in a physically compromising situation. Naminé was the one who taught it to me, funny enough."

"So the room can be whatever you want?" Sora asked, curiosity easing his vitriol. When Soddy noticed it, he grinned and nodded with vigor.

"Exactly!" he explained. "For me, I chose a place from my childhood, but it can be imaginary if you want it to. And you can put whatever you want in it. For example, Naminé fills hers with paper and pastels, but mine just has white chalk, and just enough sun to where you can see everything without being blinded by the light."

"Because you prefer the darkness," Sora intoned, eyes narrowing with returning suspicion. Soddy shrugged and murmured that he preferred a bit of both. His eyes twinkled as a new image popped into his head.

"It's like the chill just before dawn, when everything is brightening up in a pastel, kind of washed out way. Just as everything is coming into focus- that's when everything's strongest. The smells, the sounds, the taste, the touch of everything. Makes you think anything is possible."

"Sounds like a nice place to go," Sora murmured. Soddy's ensuing laugh took him aback.

"Too nice, sometimes," the fiend said with a sigh. "I've got to limit the amount of time I spend there, because it's just not the same as visiting for real. Though I suspect now, I'd hardly even be able to fit through the way in..."

Grief swallowed Soddy's words. Sora stared as the man dug himself out of it. Half out of pity, he asked if Soddy knew anything about Roxas. Soddy groped for a response, eventually mumbling that Organization Thirteen and Eraqus knew better than anyone else.

"If I thought it would help you, I would tell you," he added. "But if he wants to keep his distance, for now, I'd let him."

"I'm not going to pounce on him," Sora snapped. "I was just curious." A sliver of him wondered if Soddy knew exactly what he had done with Ventus and Vanitas.

"Well, if I don't go to lunch soon, the king will leave without me," Soddy burst suddenly. Then he swiveled on his heel and hurried down the stairs. Just when he reached the ground hall, he stopped and hesitated. Like a flash he was back at Sora's side, bending close to him with a wary glance. When Sora met him with an equally careful gaze, Soddy asked if Sora went to the Flynns for advice often. Aghast, Sora blubbered that he had stopped going to Axel sometime before the drag show. Soddy beamed.

"That's good," he insisted. "King Mickey and Master Yen Sid are better resources, anyway."

Sora scowled at the thought of sobbing his deepest secrets to Yen Sid. "Mickey's going to be gone for two months and Yen Sid is old as dirt," he mumbled.

"What's the matter with being old?" Soddy inquired.

"I'd need a lexicon to understand Yen Sid!" barked Sora.

"That's because he doesn't believe in easy answers!" Soddy insisted.

"Well, I like easy answers!" Sora shot back. "I don't want to invest in a key blade master translator just to get a bit of relationship advice!"

"What teacher gives relationship advice?" Soddy barked.

"Just because you don't get along with anyone doesn't mean I can't consider Axel and Reno friends," Sora insisted.

"Your teachers aren't your buddies, Sora."

"So I all of a sudden can't be friends with Aqua because she's a teacher now?"

"She's a master now, so you need to treat her with respect. She's also eighteen and Axel is twenty five."

"Well how old are you, and don't you want me to consider you a friend?"

"Well, I," Soddy blubbered, folding in on himself. Then, with new determination, he thundered, "no, Sora, I'd just like you to treat me like- like Argento!"

"Argento?" Sora snapped. Soddy nodded with vigor. "You came to her whenever you worried you were losing your way, right? Whenever you felt your personal life was interfering with your goal of becoming a hero?"

"Well she was just the same as Axel!" Sora returned. "Except that I never asked her for relationship advice because she wouldn't have given me an answer!"

"Exactly!" Soddy beamed with a clap. "Because she was a professional, Sora! She treated her position with respect! Organization Thirteen doesn't have a clue how to treat young adults- didn't she tell you not to trust them, either?"

"How would you know?" Sora gasped. "Were you spying on me then, too?"

"I-" Soddy began. Before he could finish, a voice rang up the stairs with his name. He jumped as he glanced over the balcony beside the grand hall towards it. When he met Aqua's smile, the frown gripping his brows melted away.

"You still coming to lunch?" she asked from the front hall. "Yen Sid and Mickey decided to walk ahead already."

"I'm coming right now," Soddy replied. The tone he used on Aqua was surprisingly soft. After shooting Sora a pleading glance, he whizzed towards her and folded his hands in his pockets at her side. As his shoulder brushed against hers, she blushed and chuckled, eyeing the chest hair peeking out of his crinkly white button up. Sora fumed as he watched them leave. Then, just to spite Soddy, he swiveled for the exit stairwell and hiked towards the attic. When he got there, he turned for the familiar office at its center and rapped against the door with his fist. As he waited for an answer, he wondered what he would ask. Just as the door opened, his fingers closed around Roxas' iPod in his pocket. When he met Axel's surprised eyes, he gave a forceful smile. Then he asked if he had five minutes. Axel paused. Then he shrugged and murmured that he was free until two. Sora nodded and followed him in, keeping a wary distance as if he was crossing the threshold into a lion's den. He half expected Axel to attack him over his behavior at the drag show, but the man seemed to be in an unnaturally good mood. He practically skipped to his desk. When he settled down and indicated for Sora to sit in front of him, Sora did so without making a sound. Then he took a deep breath and set Roxas' iPod before Axel's eyes. When Axel glanced down at the metal, his smile wiped away as fast as it had been strong. He glowered at Sora from beneath his brows. Sora pointed back with a cool glance. When Axel asked what Sora was trying to say, Sora asked if the iPod had been from him. Axel's eyes widened. His fists closed. His jaw clenched. He gave a nervous chuckle and said he did not know what Sora meant.

"You got this for Roxas for his birthday, right?" Sora asked. "Ventus told me."

"Did he," Axel said in a flat tone. Sora nodded. Axel lowered his glance and groaned. Then he rubbed his palms across his forehead and asked Sora what he was going to do about it. Sora shrugged. Then, coughing, he asked if Axel had made friends with Roxas on his advice. Axel's attention snapped up. He stared Sora down in confusion. Then he asked him to repeat himself.

"Remember that day I ate your chicken wrap and told you you should be friends with Roxas because you were friends with me?" Sora elaborated. "Well... you must have taken my advice... because you got Roxas an iPod."

Axel gaped at Sora as if he had elephant ears. "But..." he stumbled, "Sora, Roxas' birthday is in the summer."

"What?" Sora blubbered. Axel's mouth clamped tight as he muttered, "nothing." But Sora's eyes widened as his mind began working.

"He told you he hadn't gotten a present since he was nine, didn't he?" he gasped. "So it must have been belated, right?"

Axel's look became more and more confounded. Then, as if a brick of realization had pounded him right above his nose, he shut his eyes and bellowed, "oh!" Then, grinning in a sheepish way, he sighed that Sora was right. Sora beamed and straightened, asking when Axel had started talking to him.

"Pretty much right after you told me to," Axel sighed with a shrug. "Mind you, Sora, as a professor I'm not supposed to have intimate friendships with students."

"Right!" Sora barked in triumph, jumping up as if digging his feet into Soddy's self aggrandizing head. "Because you're a real professional!"

"... Yeah," Axel returned with hesitance, leaning back against Sora's aggressive bounds in careful curiosity. Sora clapped his hands and sat down again, giddy with joy. Without thought, he blurted out, "because Soddy was saying you weren't a good teacher."

"Soddy?" Axel repeated. Sora scoffed and corrected, "Ansem."

"You shouldn't call him Soddy, Sora, that's disrespectful," Axel returned in a warning tone. Sora clapped his hands again, aghast with delight that Soddy could have dreamed Axel was a bad teacher at all. Before he could speak again, Axel insisted that he did not speak with Roxas much.

"He's a busy student, but he did come to me for advice every once in a while, and I did feel sorry about the birthday thing, you know?" he explained with a gaze of pity. "I mean, you'd buy him an iPod, if you could, too, right?"

Sora nodded with vigor, blurting that he would put a lot of Alicia Keys on it for him. Axel gave a light chuckle in return. Then he shrugged and said Roxas probably had all the Alicia Keys in the universe on it already. Sora chuckled and agreed with him. Then he asked if the battered up iPod Roxas had been using during the midterm had been Axel's as well. Axel raised his hands like a criminal being cuffed. Then he grinned and sighed, "you got me!" Sora laughed out loud.

"So since you're good friends with him, now, do you know where he is?" he blustered. Axel's smile disappeared again. Grinding his teeth, he tapped his finger to his chin and asked why Sora wanted to know.

"I mean, we're friends!" Sora began, trailing off towards the end when Axel's responding expression layered over memories of Ventus. Uncomfortable, he drifted into silence. For a moment Axel examined him. Then he beamed and said that Roxas was doing great.

"Really?" Sora breathed. "He's not mad at me for anything? Has- has Vanitas been bothering him?"

Axel shrugged and murmured that if he had, Roxas hadn't told him anything. Sora's shoulders relaxed further. Perhaps Vanitas had been lying after all. Suddenly, Sora felt stupid for kissing him. It had been a waste.

"Recovering like a charm," Axel continued with a singsong sigh. "And I think, for his mental health, you should stay away from him."

"Huh?" Sora breathed, feeling his heart plunk through his ribs. When he could not respond, Axel continued, "but I did hear through the grapevine that you've been seeing Ventus!"

"Huh," Sora repeated, this time as if he had been stabbed. He wobbled to standing as he attempted through a stutter to tell Axel that he had not meant to hurt anyone.

"Hurt anyone?" Axel snapped. Then he snorted. "Sora, I think it's great!"

"You..." Sora faltered, "you do?"

"Yeah!" Axel returned.

"And... and Roxas doesn't mind?" asked Sora, hoping guiltily that he did. But Axel shook his head. "Doesn't mind a bit. It's great, really! It'll give him space and it'll really help Ventus."

"Help... Ventus?" Sora said through a haze. Axel nodded, putting on a frown as he shook his head.

"Poor Aqua was saying a while back that she was afraid he may have been involved with Vanitas," he sighed.

"Huh," Sora said flatly. Axel chuckled obliviously.

"I personally thinks she confides too much in strangers," he announced. Then he cocked his head to the side and tapped his temple. "But, I think Ansem will be good for her. Organization Thirteen will be saved from hearing about her personal life."

"So..." Sora redirected, ignoring Axel's previous statement, "how am I helping Ventus?"

Axel stared at Sora again, this time with a strange expression. It was one of consideration, of bated breath and disinclination. Then, surrendering, he reached out and clasped Sora's hand.

"You wouldn't hate me for being selfish, would you, Sora?" he intoned. His eyes widened like a panther's at dusk as his smile crinkled up. Sora stared at him, wanting to say no. But something held him back. The way Soddy's eyes rolled whenever Sora argued with him, as if begging Sora to admit his idiocy, pasted itself around the back of his head until he gritted his teeth and spit out that he would never hate Axel at all. In return Axel grinned.

"You know how Marluxia used to say you were like Vanitas?" he asked. Sora held his breath and muttered that Vanitas seemed to think they were alike, too. But Axel held up a hand.

"That's not what I'm saying, Sora," he warned. "I'm saying that the reason people compare the two of you is because you're one of the only people who's strong enough to stand up to him."

Sora blinked at Axel in wonder. Something in him cracked. When he opened his mouth to speak, he clapped his free hand over it to keep from crying. "R-really?" he whispered. Axel gave a curt nod. When Sora sobbed he relinquished his hand and glanced away. The gesture prickled.

"I don't like to see you sad, Sora," Axel intoned coolly. Sora sniffed and wiped away his tears, taking measured breaths to regain control. When he glanced towards him again, Axel softened.

"Everything that has happened between the two of you has informed who you are. And that's why Ventus needs your help."

"He- he does?" Sora asked in befuddlement. Axel nodded.

"He's not well, Sora," he insisted. "And I think Vanitas takes advantage of that."

"I don't doubt that," Sora returned. "But what about Aqua, or Terra? Isn't there someone else who could..."

"Doesn't Mickey always say that thing about helping others before helping yourself?" Axel cut in. Sora faltered into silence with a nod. Axel nodded, continuing, "I mean, this is a great way to turn around what you did to Roxas at the drag show."

"But I feel like every time I'm with Ventus, I get a piece of myself taken away," Sora whined in desperation. Axel held up his hand again.

"Sora, that's life," he snapped. "Heroes make sacrifices. And it's not as if he's forcing you to do anything you don't want to do, right? You're bigger than him, anyway, aren't you?"

"I think we're... we're about the same size..." Sora gulped. Axel smiled again.

"There you go. He doesn't have to be anything but a friend. And who knows, after a while you might discover you really like him."

"But..." Sora continued, leaned towards Axel in turmoil. But the man turned away to pick a piece of paper from the floor and glance at his watch. When he saw the time, he gasped, realizing out loud that he had a meeting he had to prepare for.

"But you said you were free till-"

"I know, Sora, I messed up and I'm sorry," he chirped, "but we can always talk again."

"O-Okay." Sora mumbled. As he stood and reached for Roxas' iPod, Axel swept it from his hands. Sora whipped out and caught his palm before he could slip the device into his pocket. When he asked for it back, Axel rose an eyebrow and asked why. Sora stuttered over excuses, but none came out in full sentences.

"It's Roxas' iPod, isn't it?" Axel asked. "I think he'd want it back."

"Well, but he did say I could borrow it," Sora gulped, clasping at the metal gripped tightly in Axel's palm as if it held his heart.

"He didn't say you could keep it," Axel insisted. "So I'm going to give it back to him."

"No, I wanted to-" Sora tried not to beg. But Axel eluded his grip and sheathed the iPod in his coat. Then he swiveled around his desk, clamped his hand on Sora's shoulder, and led him from his office like a sleepwalking child. Sora did not even hear him say goodbye. Like a stringless puppet he hobbled down the staircase past the grand hall. The closer he got to the double doors leading inside, the more he became aware of a set of voices whispering from within. Feeling the wall beside him for support, he leaned his ear close to get a better listen. A familiar cackle made his blood curdle. It's responder's voice rang deep and gravelly, not immediately placeable. At first their words were unintelligible. But the harder Sora concentrated, the more their conversation came into focus.

"I'll be glad when that rodent is gone," snarled Vanitas. "Aqua and the imposter are idiots."

His companion warned him in a chuckle to speak lower. For a moment they whispered. Then Vanitas cackled again, lamenting that it had been too bad they lost out on Riku.

"Riku was intelligent but feeble," his companion intoned. "I've got my eyes on someone better, now."

"Terra?"

"No."

"Not the replica?"

"Don't be a fool, Vanitas."

"When can I out him? I wanna see what everyone does when they figure out Riku is really gone."

"You shall do nothing of the sort."

"Why not?"

"We must conceal our knowledge until the time is right."

As Sora inched closer to the door and clutched his chest to calm his thundering heart, a sharp, hissing sound blew from inside the door. Sora froze, wondering if his whale breath had given him away. For once in his life, he breathed silently. With quiet steps he inched further away. Before Vanitas and his master could discover him, he dashed beneath the staircase towards the attic and curled himself into a ball. Two sets of footsteps clobbered forward, stopping ten feet from his own and shuffling as their owners glanced around. When the pair grew certain they were alone, Vanitas asked how Terra was taking losing his Mark of Mastery. For a moment the enigma at his side remained silent. Then, it murmured, "Terribly."

"Sweet," responded Vanitas. Then, the pair disappeared for the forecourt, while Sora trembled and held his breath beneath the stairs, wondering if he would ever have the strength to come out.

~X~

A/N: GASP, what the hell is going on with Axel, Soddy, Roxas, etc. etc.? Perhaps you have inklings. FOLLOW, FAV, AND REVIEW so I'll have the impetus to upload faster T.T