OMG you guys. I'm SO SORRY! I've been so super busy lately with having an actual happy and busy life that I haven't been doing much else.

I've completely redone my bedroom (painting, sanding and staining furniture, redecorating etc.) and I've been doing a LOT of gardening lately. I have a very handsome vegetable garden growing in the back and some beautiful flowers/trees out front. Not to mention partying with friends, working and all that. I've also been riding my bike to work every day so that I can lessen the damage I do to this planet.

All of which leaves me very little time to write. :(

I apologize.

Anyhow, let's continue on! Nothing interesting has happened in those three months this story has been on break anyway!

It had been three months since Xion had declared she wouldn't be speaking to us and she stayed true to her word. Not only did she not speak to us, she wouldn't even speak a word if we were within earshot of her.

I never thought I'd miss my sister's voice, especially when she was normally driving me nuts with it, but I did.

Axel and I were at a complete loss of how to fix the situation and nobody else was really willing to help us. Xigbar only laughed at us and Larxene told us it served us right. Demyx was too nervous to try and help us and Marluxia was far too busy. We didn't want to involve Lexaeus or Zexion because we knew they'd likely report back to Saïx or Xemnas and we didn't want them to know we had screwed up so royally. The same went with Xaldin and Vexen; though they might not tell Xemnas they may still reprimand us in their own terrifying way. Luxord was one that actually tried to talk to Xion for us but it only resulted in her shunning him too.

It made the fact that I was trapped at home even more unbelievably wretched. There were days that the only other soul in the house aside from Goofy would be Xion but she would completely avoid me at all costs. Basically I was trapped in my room with nothing but my T.V. and basic cable to pass my time. That was when I saw it...

My face on the local news.

I grabbed the remote and quickly turned up the volume to hear what was being said. My heart dropped into my stomach. As the news caster read off a string of information about my height, weight and my all around appearance, I read the text underneath my picture. An outstanding arrest warrant had been issued by the state of Nevada for my arrest in relation to a series of incidents involving missing wallets on the Las Vegas strip. "That bitch!"

I was on my feet in an instant and I reached for my phone. I called Axel. It was the only thing I could think to do. I couldn't tell any of the others until I knew exactly how to handle this. I didn't want to be kicked out with nowhere to go and I certainly didn't want anybody to be pissed off at me.

The phone rang and rang and I started to panic. Axel just had to answer. He had to. "Come on... pick up! Pick up!" Then thankfully he answered and I never thought I'd be so relieved to hear Axel's voice. "Axel! We've got a huge problem! There is a warrant out for my arrest! I just saw it on T.V."

There was a long pause before Axel answered me. "What? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! I just saw it! I think Yuffie is blaming me for all the pick pocketing she was doing! This way she's passing blame from herself to me and she's getting a state wide search for me. This is a nightmare! What do I do?" I waited for an answer but there was only silence. "Axel? Axel, can you hear me?"

Then finally his voice came hesitantly over the phone. "Y-yeah. I hear you. Look, don't do anything until I get there."

"Well how long is that going to take you?" I asked in a panic but it was too late. Axel had already hung up. "Axel! Damn it!"

"Looks like you've got a problem." Said a voice from behind me. It really caught me off guard because this person swore they wouldn't be talking to me anymore. I whirled around to see Xion standing in my doorway with her arms crossed and a smug smile on her face.

Under normal circumstances I would have been pissed at the attitude in which Xion was holding herself but I was just so glad to finally hear her talking to me again that I let it slide off my back. "Xion... I thought..."

"Well I'm not mad anymore. It all worked out in my favor, all thanks to you. I get to see sis and mom again and you're probably going to go to jail for a little bit which, if you ask me, might do you a bit of good." Xion stared at me with a cold look in her eyes but I could only stare back. I still couldn't feel angry.

"Xion, don't be like this. I said I was sorry but you just don't understand how serious this is! It's more than just getting to see mom again. Everybody else here is involved. What if mom decides she doesn't want to pay dad's debt so she leaves us here? Can you live with knowing that? Or what if she does want us back but still refuses to pay? That can only go down one of two ways. Either the cops get involved and everybody here gets into serious trouble or they kill mom and Yuffie to keep their mouths shut!" I stared hard at my sister hoping that my words would sink in. "Think about it Xion. Think about it seriously because this is all really important!"

"Do you really think they'd hurt them?" Xion asked quietly. Suddenly her whole demeanor changed. "I mean, we're family and mom and Yuffie are our family."

"Well so is dad but that doesn't mean they wouldn't do whatever it takes to get what they want. We're a family alright but just like any family our relationships are circumstantial. This is still Xemnas' business, Xion. It's how he makes money. We're still collateral and if mom can't pay then things are going to get messy, fast." I took in a deep breath and looked to Xion who had a look of despair on her face. It seemed like she finally understood the severity of the whole situation. "It's just better if mom never finds us."

"But that isn't fair..." Xion said, her voice evident that she was on the verge of tears.

"You're right. It isn't fair. But that's the way it is." Axel said as he entered my room, thankfully hearing the latter of the conversation so nothing needed to be repeated. "Roxas is right. It's just better for everyone involved if you don't see your mom and sister. It won't always have to be that way but right now it has to be. We tried to explain that to you before but you were so mad..."

"Look, I get it. Alright?" Xion wrapped her arms around herself and it looked a lot more like she was trying to hug herself for comfort rather than just stubbornly crossing her arms. "So what do we do now? There's a warrant out for Roxas' arrest. I saw it on the news."

Axel inhaled sharply and I knew that meant he was probably about to say something that might cause a stir. "You're probably not going to like the solution to that problem Xion. We have to turn things back around on your sister. She's really the pick pocket and like it or not, we can't let Roxas take the fall for that. It's too risky. All we have to do now is go forward to the police with information. Xigbar and Luxord and I will all report to the police that we saw a pick pocket but it wasn't Roxas. We'll describe Yuffie down the the color of her lipstick if we have to and we'll get the cops noses pointed in the right direction. Meanwhile, you're both still going to have to stay here until this all blows over. And not a word do anybody else about this either. Xemnas doesn't need to know unless we can't fix the problem. Understand?"

"But..." Xion started to protest but one look from Axel shut her mouth quickly.

"Look, this really sucks but it's all we can do for now. Yuffie started this and we're going to end it one way or another. I'm trying to opt for the happier method." Axel let out a small sigh and pulled out his phone. "I've gotta call Xigbar and Luxord and get them on board with this. I'll be right back."

"Alright." I watched Axel make his way out into the hall before I looked to my sister. She was upset, I could tell. The simple fact that she wasn't saying anything spoke volumes of how uncomfortable she really was. "It's all going to work out Xion. You have to believe in that." I smiled at her but she didn't respond. We stood there silently in my room a moment before finally she decided to speak.

"When I joined up with you guys it was my choice, not dad's. I thought that maybe if I stayed in long enough I could earn the money and resources that I would need to find mom again. I didn't think that instead of helping me, being here would hinder me. All I've wanted from the moment she left was to find her and get away from dad." Xion looked to me and I swear, I'd never seen her so serious. "If I could just make them see that neither side is the enemy... then maybe..."

"Alright." Axel said as he came back in my room. "Good news and bad news. Good news is that Xemnas already got wind of this little fiasco and Saïx is pissed. Apparently he wants to just send you both on your merry way and be done with it."

"That's the good news?" I asked as my heart dropped into my stomach. Seriously, if that was good I didn't want to stick around and hear the bad.

"No, wait! That's the bad news. Sorry, I meant to say bad news. The good news is that Xemnas was totally prepared for this and he isn't angry with you at all. He's having everybody make the same kind of call I was planning. Everybody is going to implicate Yuffie as the real pick pocket which should hopefully take the heat off of you. But unfortunately you're going to have to come forward too and just say that you were in Vegas and you were a victim of pick pocketing. You'll have to say you didn't see the person who did it. If you describe Yuffie to the cops then it will just seem like you got a bunch of your friends to make a call and accuse some random woman. You can't act like you know who did this. You have to seem concerned and cooperative but completely oblivious. If we play this right, everything will go perfectly." Axel smiled and placed his hands on his hips. "How does it sound?"

"It sounds completely insane but what choice do I have?" I sighed and flopped onto my bed. "If I ever want to be able to leave the house again I better do something. I'm tired of being cooped up here. I want to go on retrievals again! Hell, even on grocery duty as long as I can get out of the house! It's Spring time and I'm stuck indoors. I've already read half of Zexion's books and do you know how boring those are? I'm getting stir crazy!"

"Well, all the more reason to get this taken care of as soon as possible." Axel smiled and gave a slight wave. "I've gotta go make that phone call. Assuming that was the first broadcast of your face, we have to act fast before too many people can recognize you and call."

And just like that he was gone again and Xion and I were alone. She still looked upset and I didn't know what I could say to cheer her up. All I knew was that I was glad to have her talking to me again but I knew I could never tell her that.