A/N: So. It's a merge, then.

I just found out that there's going to be a Final Mix for KHII and a remake of KH:CoM for the PS2. Unfortunately, as of now, they're only releasing it in Japan. Pssh.

And it has another Secret trailer too, where one of the faces of the armored guys is revealed. Aww. I wish that they'd see that KHII:Final Mix + and Re: CoM would make a killing out of Japan. I wish. I hope. Ack. Anyway, it's due out spring of 2007.

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Wish I did, though.

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XXV: Confession

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The sound of his name from her lips was almost enough to drive him berserk. After a long year of training and wallowing in the darkness of his own heart and the guilt and the betrayal, his name carried on her voice was the sweetest thing he had ever heard.

And also one of the most painful.

"Get your Heartless out of here!" Roxas yelled, bringing him out of his reverie. He blinked rapidly, crystal tear and crimson droplet splattering on Kairi's flushed cheeks.

He had immediately portalled here upon getting wind that the Heartless were sending fifty patrols to the Old Mansion--blindly, to tell the truth, because he didn't really think what would happen if Riku and Kairi caught sight of him. All he thought about was Kairi's safety. But now...

"Sora! Your Heartless!" Naminé's voice came shrilly, the Dusks dancing their deadly dance among the Heartless ranks, avoiding their retaliating attacks with ease.

He shook his head vehemently and quickly tore away his gaze from her beryl orbs, fearing that his--and her--sanity would snap. He made to stand up, but the moment he eased his knees off her hands her arms shot up and pulled his collar down, bringing his face closer to hers.

He saw fear bloom in in her eyes.

Something in Sora clicked, and he pulled himself roughly free of the Princess' grip, feeling that he left a part of his soul with her on the ground. He scrambled to his feet and backed away quickly, feet unsteady, until his back touched the brown, peeling wall of the Mansion.

Sky-blue met aquamarine.

Sora screamed, hands covering his face as if Riku's disbelieving stare burned, and screamed for the Heartless, beseeching them to retreat and leave the Princess and the Wielder alone so that the blessed moment in which he leaves would come much much sooner and then he can just forget and--

"What the hell did you do to Kairi?" Riku's voice bellowed, and the unmistakable Heartless screams followed as Sora heard pounding footsteps coming closer to him.

"FOR THE LOVE OF THE CREATOR, HEARTLESS, RETREAT NOW!" he screamed once more, snapping both eyes open and portalling behind a stunned Riku and pushing him down with inhuman strength to avoid a Darkside's sweeping hand. Sora then leapt and clung to the railing of the second-floor stairs in mid-flip, swinging over and landing besides a frightened Naminé, who was very near her Twilight-Thorn summoning point. The girl was almost in hysterics.

But then again, so was he.

Kairi, obviously dazed, had gotten to her feet and was currently staring at him, speechless, oblivious to the Dusks and Heartless battling it out around her. Riku, however, had his eyes narrowed into nothing but slits as he hacked his way up the stairs, mouth set in a grim line.

"Naminé! Please!" he pleaded, almost heaving up the girl bodily and throwing her on her unsteady feet towards Riku, out of sheer panic. No, he couldn't let Riku and Kairi see him like this! Cripes, his once best friend was now trying to kill him! Once again, blind panic took over, and he hollered a plea to the flaxen-haired girl in front of him. "Chain it down!"

She spared him a fleeting glance, cerulean eyes reflecting immense guilt. "You are insane!" she yelled, summoning another Dusk platoon.

Sora did something he had only done once before in his lifetime.

He knelt on both knees and let his hands rest on the dusty floor. Sora bowed his head, watching the tears, both clear and crimson, puddle beneath him. "...please." He whispered. It was almost the same two years ago, except that this was Naminé instead of Saïx and instead of saying no like the berserker did, she nodded in a quiet yes.

She shivered slightly and sprinted down the stairs, now Heartless-free courtesy of both Riku and Roxas' slaughter and Sora's command of retreat. She touched a pale finger to a surprised Riku's forehead as she streaked past, making him stagger slightly.

"Now!" Roxas yelled, waving his Oathkeeper as he dismissed his Slayers and ran to Kairi's side, ready to catch her if she tried to escape. Instead, the redhead was still staring blankly at Sora, following his every move with a haunted gaze.

Sora tore his eyes away from the sight as Naminé reached her Other, and presumably, chained her memories down. He shut his eyes tight and sank back to the ground, whimpering. Now Kairi and Riku would not remember seeing him...maybe it was better that way.

God, that hurt.

His blonde Nobody caught his attention by a well-aimed Blizzaga, Sora threw Roxas a glare as he pulled out a shard of steel-hard ice out of the small of his back. He was frantically gesturing at him, and Sora immediately understood--the chaining down would have no effect if Riku and Kairi saw him again, wouldn't it?

It only took a split second, but it seemed like an excruciating eternity to Sora.

He portalled away from his once close friends.

He portalled away from Kairi.

Never had he felt so alone.

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"Riku! Firaga that thing!" Roxas' voice came from what seemed miles away. He had to blink more than a few times to gather his wits enough to jump out of the way as a Neoshadow clawed at his chest.

"Right," he muttered, summoning a Dark Firaga fireball and hurling it at the Heartless' torso, making it dissipate into a wave of darkness. He stared for a moment at the heart that floated out of the darkness' remains, staring at the pinkish light as it sparkled in the sunset--

"Get down from the clouds!" Roxas hollered once again, voice frustrated. Riku blinked once more, and the blonde smacked him lightly on the back of the head. "What is up with you?"

"Huh...?"

"Get off his case, Roxas," This time, it was Naminé's voice. He glanced up to see the pale-blonde girl come up to them, gently dragging Kairi with her. The redhead seemed just as disoriented as him. Her beryl eyes still held a blank glaze over them, and she was struggling to keep up with her Nobody. "It was a Heartless attack. Maybe it just got to them. It's pretty late, you know."

The blonde boy just shrugged in reply, dismissing both Keyblades in spatters of light and echoes of blackness.

"Heartless, huh?"

Roxas stared at him as if he had sprouted an extra hand or something. "What? You're a Keyblade Master and you suddenly go all woozy after a Heartless battle?"

"Shut it, Ro--"

"What time is it?" Kairi suddenly shrieked, wrenching her hand free from Naminé's grip. Riku swallowed painfully, there was no way to guess what time it was. None of them usually wore watches, and all of them had probably left their cellphones back at the dormitories. The fact the Twilight Town's shadows never lengthened due to the fact that it was stuck in eternal twilight didn't help much. "Riku! We left the dorm at nine! Curfew's at ten!"

"Kai, it was a Heartless attack," Naminé pointed out. "It's perfectly understandable."

"B-but!" the redhead cried out, wringing her hands. "M-me and Riku went out alone! At night! Who knows what Professor Larxene and Zexion might think!"

Riku snorted derisively. Zexion was still a touchy subject, and from the look on Roxas' face, they'd really rather not talk about number Six.

However, if they broke curfew, even if it was because of Heartless, the school admin was still going to question why the Keyblade Master and the seventh Princess of Heart was out so late. And if that reached the Mayor's ears...in trouble would be a massive understatement.

"Well?" he took Kairi's hand securely in his. "Let's get outta here!"

Roxas nodded enthusiastically, and exchanged glances with Naminé. He was expecting the two blonde Nobodies to sprint out, but Naminé just held out swept out her hand and a portal to the Corridors formed.

"Are you--" Riku started, but she cut him off.

"It's much faster this way, Riku," she tilted her head thoughtfully as she stepped through. "No-one's going to see us come in."

Roxas shoved him roughly in the general direction of the portal. As a result, Kairi almost fell on top of him, tripping into the Corridors, making her wince in pain. Riku suddenly had a horrible realization: the Corridors were pure darkness, and Kairi was pure of heart--no darkness whatsoever. It would be excruciating for her--"No! Kairi can't pass through! She's of the realm of light!"

Naminé rolled her eyes. "Don't be stupid, Riku. No-one's immune to darkness. She's already gone through one of Axel's portals, remember? And she's not as pure as she seems, you know."

And with that, she vanished completely into the portal. Roxas 'pssh'-ed behind them. "Cripes, you two, what's the use of split-second portalling if you take forever to get in?"

To his amazement, the redhead herself dragged him inside the oval of pulsating darkness as she directed a glare at the blonde Keyblade Master.

"Wait. I think you have something on your face..." he murmured, wiping away a stain from her furiously blushing cheek. Maybe she got it from the Heartless skirmish.

She pulled him deeper into the Corridors, following her Nobody.

...and curiously, his fingers smelled strongly of iron.

Almost like blood.

He blinked once again, and yawned. I need to get more sleep.

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Shelinda never thought too much of giggling. Oftentimes she found it rather crude and childish.

But she couldn't help but giggle now, as the yound blonde man in front of her animatedly finished one of the harder pieces for the guitar. He was something of a natural. Where did King Mickey get his musicians...?

Demyx, he called himself...a tall, rather lanky teenager with unusual taste in hairstyles. His icy blue eyes fit nicely with his black three-fourths sleeved shirt and black jogging pants, over equally black rubber shoes. His right ear was pierced with two unusually-shaped studs. And the smile--no, the grin. Can't forget the charming show of perfect teeth. In fact, he looked more like some college kid out for a jog, or a workout. He didn't seem to be the type to be extraordinarily gifted in music.

But then again, that blonde violin prodigy, Larxene, was someone who didn't seem to extraordinarily gifted, either. And they both had the same taste in color: black and silver.

The boy (for he was still young, no matter how much he said that he was twenty-four years old), it seemed, had visited Disney Castle in hopes of catching a glimpse of the sick monarch. Unfortunately for him (but so much more fortunate for her), he got lost in the massive hallways of the Castle and stumbled upon the soundproof orchestra room.

"...and a-one and a two and a three." He declared with a flourish, the piece that he had been playing for the lest few minutes. It was the hardest for guitar in her orchestra's repertoire, but Demyx had gone through effortlessly, yet still managed for it to sound professional. Very professional, in fact. "Yay. Miss Shelinda, you got any other pieces in there?"

"None that you haven't played yet," she offered.

He grinned, and put his hands on his hips. "...lemme try writing one!"

Shelinda was more than delighted to provide him with no less than five blank sheets of paper and a brand-new fountain pen. This kid was good. Really good.

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Axel, once again, woke up with a headache. If that wasn't enough, his stomach churned with foreboding.

Of course, given the thing that he's going to have to do to make Roxas summon the Dark Keyblade and stab Larxene with it, it's not surprising.

But Axel has to do what he has to do to get rid of Larxene's shard of heart and stop her from reverting. He can't lose the Savage Nymph. Not when he'd just found out that he won't be able to exist sanely without her.

"And so sleeping beauty awakes," Marluxia snickered from the doorway of his room.

He groaned. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to realize you're pretty insane. Now buck up; they're bound to portal back here soon --- their field trip, whatever that is, is probably finished," the brunet number Eleven cocked his head thoughtfully. "I'm counting on you to get our Larxene back."

Axel stared at him.

Marluxia's mouth shaped itself into an 'o', before widening into a smirk. "Oh, sorry, my bad," he said sarcastically. "Not our Larxene. Your Larxene."

Unfortunately, the Graceful Assassin had portalled out in time to avoid the Firaga aimed at his oh-so-pretty brown locks.

He had a feeling that this day won't be so good.

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The Gummi Ship trip back home was rather uneventful, to say the very least. Well, if you didn't count Roxas' and Seifer's farewell scuffle, the massive group of people that turned out to see them off, the twice-near deadly encounters with fragments of Heartless-ships, and the rough landing on the Destiny Islands tarmac.

As usual, with long, boring trips, he and Kairi had slept almost all the way, only to be woken up by the almost inane giggling of Professor Larxene, who, strangely, was wearing all white. The blonde priestess had then taken to humming under her breath, something that Riku had never known her to do so before. However, at the sight of the 'new' Larxene, Roxas and Naminé had immediately blanched and clammed up.

He couldn't sleep off his gut feeling that they had forgotten something. He had a suspicion it was Roxas' cheeriness, however.

The blonde was as surly as the day Riku had taken him down in the World That Never Was, and that was saying something. Naminé, however, had ignored his surliness (she was probably immune to it) and kept on talking, ignoring the fact that the glares Roxas was hurling her way was enough to make a grown man cry.

"Okay, people," Professor Zexion called, waving a hand over his head as they entered Destiny Academy's threshold. Riku slung an arm around Kairi's shoulders. "Head count!"

He sighed boredly, and started to play with a lock of Kairi's hair as Professor Larxene rattled off names.

He forgot something. It was on the tip of his tongue, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure what it was.

What the heck was it...?

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"Soo...I think Lexaeus is planning to have Japanese night scheduled next Tuesday," she said happily, if not in a bit of an undertone. Naminé yawned and drew her hair once again over her shoulder, before resuming her monologue. Well, it wasn't really a monologue, but the blonde just kept on talking even if all Roxas did was grunt the occasional yes and nod. "They're having some of my Dusks go and cut marble chopsticks..."

Tuning her voice out, Roxas scowled at the pavement. If looks could kill, and if concrete could die, he'd have left a trail of death all the way from Twilight Town.

Existing was against him today.

"That's it, everybody's here and accounted for. You can go. Quiz in Physics on Moday," Zexion was saying, waving a hand to shoo them home.

Beside him, Larxene paused a while, before adding, "Practicals in Healing Arts. Study and practice!"

He turned to the silver-haired Wielder and the ruby-locked Princess behind them. "Naminé and I'll have a quick word with the professors, 'kay?" he said in the most even voice he could manage.

Kairi shrugged. "Sure. See you two on Monday!"

"Pssh. Practicals in Healing! " Riku groaned. "Roxas! I'll give you a call sometime later--I need a tutor in concentration..."

"Okay," Roxas answered in a very tight voice, before dragging Naminé away. She threw him a look of indignation as she waved a hurried goodbye to the two.

Amidst the groans and disbelieving 'aww, quiz?'-es, Roxas shoved his way through the crowd, his fingers in an iron clamp around Naminé's slender wrist. The blonde number Twelve was wearing all white today--white sleeveless turtleneck, white capris, white sandals, white everything. Problem was, Larxene never wore white sleeveless turtlenecks, white capris, and white sandals. Nothing ever that girlish. In fact, she absoutely refused to wear anything else than her black coat. And the blonde seemed especially happy today. Giggly, almost.

Heck. Screw almost. She was unnaturally giggly.

Larxene does not giggle, thank you very much.

"You. Two," Roxas paused, looking around to see if everybody had gone out of earshot. Whatever. He'd cast Silence if need be. Naminé whispered a vehement "what the heck is going ON?" before he shushed her. "We need to talk."

Larxene exchanged unreadable glances with Zexion. "...you are...Roxas, right?" she said uncertainly.

"Larxene, you ought to know that, I'm a number below you."

"Um," she pursed her lips. "Erm. How do I say this."

Naminé's fingernails dug into his own arm, and the Look he threw her way couldn't make her budge. "How do you say what?" she asked shrilly.

Zexion sighed.

The blonde shuffled her sandalled feet. "I'm sorry to break this to you, but...Larxene. She's. Um. Gone."

"Zexion, too. We've both reverted completely," the lilac-haired scientist added, putting emphasis on the word reverted.

Roxas stared at them, stunned, mouth working, but his voice seemed to have crawled back into his larynx and shut itself within for an indefinite period of time.

"So. I probably should call you Arlene," the blonde girl holding onto his arm gazed curiously at the priestess, before turning to stare at Zexion. Or, more fittingly, "--and you, Ienzo."

They beamed.

Roxas felt like throwing up.

This day was just not his day.

He suddenly jerked Naminé towards the opposite direction, leaving the surprised couple behind. The girl made no protest. In fact, Roxas had to half-support her before she gathered her wits and withdrew her arm from his.

First of all, Larxene and Ienzo reverted. The Castle seemed like a very hazardous place to be once Axel found out.

Then, Sora had shown up once again, this time right in front of Kairi and Riku. And as expected, he and Naminé had to cover it up. He was getting pretty sick and tired of doing that.

Then, the girl he'd gladly fade away for was talking nonstop. Now, this wouldn't be such a bad thing, if Naminé wasn't nattering on and on and on about stting him up on a blind date.

It hurt. It actually, honest-to-goodness hurt like hell.

He kept his eyes on the ground, hoping to the high heavens that somebody would knock sense into this girl and make her stop believing that what he's feeling is false, just because he's a Nobody and Nobodies aren't supposed to feel. She's acting all tough right now but Roxas knows deep down inside she's wailing because she's been forced once again to chain down memories that she had no right to chain down.

They're both being used once more, and right now, they're too tired to do anything about it. Too tired of existing in general.

Roxas scowled.

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Panic.

That was something Sora did not want to feel.

eh, buddy-boy? The other you's about to kill, from the looks of it. Lookie.

"Shut up," he told Antiform, sipping feverishly from the bright, cheery yellow tetra-pack. Which was filled with paopu-blood. Once, a long time ago, he would've thrown up at the very thought of swallowing blood that was not his, but right now, it was all that he could think of.

Sora had just discovered that he and Roxas still shared a link. A Nobody-Other link, if you will, and if Roxas felt extreme emotion, Sora himself would feel it too. Now Roxas was definitely furious; he was just keeping his anger under wraps to the best of his abilities. And if Roxas was mad, it meant that he couldn't concentrate. And that meant he was losing control. And that meant the chances that his Antiform would break free once more was high. Very high. Panicky-very-high.

He took another sip, and the carton squeezed itself in with a disgusting squelching sound. He chucked it to one side, making an audible bop as it bounced off the massive glass windows of the Castle That Never Was. The blood that was left in the pack left tiny red droplets on the pristine white marble floor.

The blood was nearly not enough. Antiform was deliriously happy with all the blood Sora was drinking and all the hatred Roxas was feeling. No. The blood was not enough!

aww, c'mon, Sowwa. let's have another go at King Mick-o!

"No, Antiform, not now!" he groaned frustratedly. Whatever Roxas was doing now, he had to stop! The anger flooding through the link was almost unbearable. Now, Sora did have an option--he could just cut Roxas off and the painful madness would be gone like that, but Antiform would have free reign. But if he waited too long,. Antiform would break free on his own, anyway. Either way, he was screwed.

So let's have a go at King Mick-o already! Antiform cajoled. Come on!

"Arrgh!" Sora bellowed, hate and panic and anger and sadness rushing into his head; Roxas was fuming, panic was taking over him, Antiform laughing loudly, and he himself drowning in sadness as he realized never would Kairi and Riku see him as the same ever again.

The look on his...no, the Princess' face haunted him.

How could she love a monster?

How could she love him?

How could she love somebody who does not feel love?

How could he love?

Taking a swipe at the tears brimming at the edge of his eyes, Sora portalled out, not really caring where the Corridors took him. All he hoped (like he could even hope! He was only remembering!) was that he ended up somewhere quiet. Somewhere he could rearrange his thoughts and just...just let go.

He didn't realize that he had forgotten to bring another blood pack.

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"So, what about Lenne? She's pretty and smart. Also rich," she added, staring straight ahead on the concrete pavement. The elementary treehouse was just around Pavilion II, and she could spot the stragglers who were waiting for their parents to pick them up. Funny how Somebodies wasted time travelling all over the place. "Can't forget rich."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Aside from the fact that we really don't have a need for money, Lenne's already going out with Shuyin," he recited in a bored voice.

"What do you mean, we?" Naminé blinked. "This is for you, Roxas! You get to love a Somebody!"

The blonde boy shrugged, looking away.

She felt a stab of pain in her shard of heart. She bit her lip, knowing that it could very well be hers or Roxas'; they still did share a shard of heart, and it somehow forged an emotional bond between them. She had only discovered it because of the sheer panic they both had felt when the Kairi and Riku saw the note. But it wasn't stopping her from living a life as a Somebody. And that started with getting Roxas' mind off her.

God forbid they could read each other's minds...that was a scary idea.

"..or how about Selphie? She'd balance your scowls out," she said in a cheery voice, attempting to imitate the brunette's unmistakable hyper-on-sugar enunciation. "You two would be perfect!"

Speaking of scowls, the one he was giving the pavement now was enough the crack the concrete. Crush it to powder, even.

Swallowing, she continued on. She swore to herself that one day she'd break down Roxas' illusions that what he felt for her was true love. Like that was possible anyway. Aside from the fact that Nobodies couldn't feel, it was Sora's heart they were sharing. Therefore, it was Sora acting through Roxas, Sora saying that he loved Kairi. Because she's Kairi's shadow and she'll remain like that forever. It was like a horrible sort of birthmark.

Roxas growled, making a few of the preschoolers frolicking in the playground burst into tears.

Naminé sighed and threw a glare at him, which seemed to bounce off him and puddle unceremoniously on the pavement. "Well, Valentine's Day is something like a month away," she murmured dreamily, excited over participating in something she had never been able to understand properly. Love, especially when you haven't the ability to feel it, was definitely something to celebrate about. "Girls are bound to attack you then. D'you have any idea how many girls are dying to be in my place right n--"

"Naminé, shut up."

She blinked. Roxas had stopped walking and had whirled around to face her, and it was a truly terrifying sight to see him angry--even more so than Riku and Sora, for she had never seen him that furious. Anger blazed in his once-again stormy blue eyes.

"Wha...?" she stammered, stung by his bluntness.

He ground his teeth audibly and took hold of her shoulders roughly, his grip almost painful--no, it was painful. Her shard of heart galloped along, and if she opened her mouth once more, she was sure they would rattle in fear.

"Stop breaking my heart, will you!" he yelled furiously, shaking her, eyes shimmering with a film of unshed tears. Roxas trembled, fingers curling upon her shoulders. "I love you, and only you, dammit!"

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AHAHAH DID YOU REALLY THINK I'D LET KAIRI SEE SORA JUST LIKE THAT?

WE NEED A MORE DRAMATIC ENDING!

Yay!

erm.

CLIFFIE ATTACK! rawr.

Hopefully, I get to end this right on Halloween. Hopefully. That'd be nice.

Nobody's Perfect is now on permanent hiatus.

Now. Reviews, please? I did update fast, right? Riiiight?

Flames are okay!