Chapter 29

~Day 352~

"Can't you just let things run their course?" Saïx was saying to Axel when Kairi entered the Grey Area. If Axel was planning to argue, he never got the chance. "You will be with Kairi for your mission."

"What is our mission?" Kairi asked when Saïx left.

"Don't know, don't care," Axel whispered. He looked down at Kairi intently. "We're going to Halloween Town."


"Stupid Heartless." Xion kicked a stray bone in her frustration. She had gone all over Halloween Town, even out as far as the Manor Ruins, but she had had no luck finding the Orcus she was required to defeat. Defeated herself, she made her way back to the Guillotine Gate to leave.

When she reached the Graveyard, chills shot up her spine and she summoned her Keyblade as the Orcus appeared. The humanoid Pureblood Heartless looked down at her, then immediately swung its sword. Xion dodge rolled away, and shot a "Firaga!" spell at the monster. It took the hit, but was not so much as stunned. It began spinning, and several orbs of darkness came from its body and flew towards her. Xion dodge rolled from most of them, but came up too slow on the last and took a hit to her back that sent her tumbling into a tombstone.

When the lights stopped dancing before her eyes, she saw the Orcus was again preparing to swing its sword down at her. This time, Xion caught the attack on her Keyblade, and pushed the monster back. She tried to stab her Keyblade into it, but it dropped its sword and its body disappeared. It took her a half second too long to realize what was happening. She dodge rolled from the flying sword, but it still managed to graze her shoulder. She let out a brief cry from the pain, but stifled it in time to raise her Keyblade and block the rest of the attacks of the flying sword. After many harsh attacks, it stopped. Before she could heal herself, the Orcus had again grabbed the sword and sent a shockwave that knocked her into, and almost through, the bricks surrounding the graveyard. She landed on her hurt shoulder. She yelled in pain. The Orcus charged at her again, but a firaga and aero spell knocked it back long enough for her to heal her shoulder.

She was using too much magic. She was going to run out long before she defeated the Orcus. Ranged fighting was not an option. She evaded the demon's swipe attack, then dove in, raising her Keyblade to drive it into her opponent's chest...

There was a blinding flash of light, and the sound of flames. Xion's Keyblade hit something solid and sturdy.

"Stop, both of you!" Axel yelled. Kairi was holding up Xion's Keyblade with Rainfell, refusing the attack Xion had tried to make. Behind Kairi was Axel, whose chakrams were holding up the Keyblade of-

"Roxas?"

He was just as surprised to see her. "Xion?!"

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Dread filled her face as she realization came over her. "The Heartless I was fighting... it was you?" She had almost killed him. If Axel and Kairi had not shown...

"This mission was a setup," their elder friend said, lowering his chakrams. The other three dismissed their Keyblades.

"It was rigged so you two would battle each other," Kairi explained.

"Me and Xion?" Roxas nervously looked between Kairi and Axel, and Xion. She noticed his hair, face, and coat were all damp with sweat. "But..."

"They would do that?" Xion voiced his thoughts.

"Let's get out of here," Axel said, already walking towards the Guillotine Gate. "This illusionary magic is making my brain feel like mush... I'll explain when we get to the clocktower."


It seemed exceptionally sad to Kairi, she thought, that she could not remember the last time they had all been able to sit on the clocktower together, eating ice cream and laughing... it almost felt foreign to laugh. But sure enough, within a few minutes, her friends had her giggling to the point her stomach hurt.

Roxas pointed out how long it had been since they had hung out together, to which Axel replied, "Well, we have had our share of drama." He took the last bite of his ice cream at that point, and then a thought came to him. "Hey, I just remembered! Did you guys know you should be checking your ice cream sticks?"

"Really?" Xion asked, having just finished hers. She inspected it carefully, and, finding nothing of interest, asked, "For what?"

"Once you finish your ice cream bar, check the stick. It might say WINNER."

Roxas mumbled something to himself, then, slightly louder, "Oh yeah!"

"'Oh yeah' what?"

"N-nothing!" He stuttered. His three companions all looked at him in concern, then at each other, acknowledging that they all thought it was due to, put in the nicest way, the cause of his mediocre performance over the past weeks. Not that Kairi knew the actual reason he was becoming weaker. "So, what do you win?"

"Heh, beats me."

"You don't know?"

"It's got to be something good, if you're a WINNER." He said it as if that were reason enough.

"Right..."

Maybe I'll never actually find out what you win, Kairi mused.

"The sun sure is beautiful," Xion said, once again switching their topic. They never stayed on one for very long. "I know we've seen a lot of sunsets, but today's puts them all to shame. If only things stayed like this."

Nobody said anything for a moment. All simply enjoyed the sunset. Kairi had to admit, it was very beautiful.

"What if we all ran off?"

Another sunset. Sitting on the dock besides Sora. "Sora, let's take the raft and go! Just the two of us!"

"The four of us," Roxas continued. "Then we could always be together."

"We don't have any place to run," Xion pointed out.

"I know. Heh, I was just thinking out loud."

"Well," Axel started, "even if things change, we'll never be apart-"

"As long as we remember each other...right?" Xion interrupted, grinning at him. "Don't worry, Axel. We got your hokey speech memorized."

"Just checking."

Kairi giggled at their antics, even though her mind was still on that sunset with Sora, trying to capture every piece of that moment. The light of the sun reflecting in the water...

"I'll have these moments memorized for a long time," Xion said. "Forever, I hope."

...the smell of the salt, and another unplaceable fruity smell...

"Me too," Roxas said. "Forever..."

And Sora's voice as he laughed with her about their utter ridiculousness.

Kairi looked at her three friends out of the corner of her eyes."Guys, don't ever change."


~Day 353~

"What is Wonderflonium supposed to even be?" Kairi grumbled as she dragged the chest down the hall to the Grey Area. Demyx had apparently thought it would be funny to make their arrival at the castle be in the Hall of Empty Melodies, which meant she had to drag the chest up through the castle to give it to Saïx and complete her mission. She had been told that morning to go to the Cave of Wonders and retrieve a certain synthesis material. "They better have some decent use for this stuff... why is it so heavy?"

When she got close enough, she heard voices coming from the Grey Area that were not monotone. She dropped the end of the chest she had been holding onto, and ventured into the Grey Area, searching for someone who might be willing to help her move it into the room (and make sure Saïx was actually in there).

"Have you gone nuts?" One person was Roxas. "Xion's a person, not a puppet."

A puppet? Who is he talking to? She arrived, and saw that it was Roxas and Axel talking. Roxas's back was to her, but Axel saw her almost immediately. He did not look pleased with what he and Roxas were talking about.

"That's not what I mean, Roxas," he said. "It was only a matter of time before somebody had to break the mirror."

"Mirror? What are you two talking about? Does this have to do with Luxord's 'seven years of bad luck' speech?" Kairi asked, abandoning her mission and joining her two friends.

"He means destroy Xion." Roxas deadpanned. Kairi's eyes widened, and she looked to Axel for confirmation. He looked away. "Answer me!"

"Roxas," he began, as if talking to a child, "if somebody doesn't, you'll... you won't be you anymore."

"What am I hearing?" Kairi laughed nervously, looking between them, hoping it was a joke. Their faces suggested not. They completely ignored her.

"I'll always be me! Your best friend- just like Xion!"

"And Kairi," she muttered. Axel at least glanced at her before continuing with Roxas.

"Roxas, you're... you're not seeing the bigger picture. Any of it."

"Ugh, forget this!" He turned and ran away, ignoring Axel's calling after him.

"Why can't you understand..." Axel sighed once Roxas had disappeared.

"I'm trying to!" Kairi snapped. Axel jumped, as if he were only just noticing she was there.

"Sorry." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, and groaned as if he had a headache. "I just... you know how those two are... like they have hearts or something..."

"Did something happen to Xion?" Kairi asked, shaking Axel's arm so he could not forget her again. "Did she... she didn't... on the mission... did she?"

"No," Axel said quickly. "She's alive. But it doesn't look like she will be for long. She ran away."

"Again?!" Heat came to Kairi's face with something akin to anger. "Weren't you on a mission with her? Why didn't you stop her? They're for sure going to turn her into a Dusk this time!"

"Not likely."

"Why not?!" No reply. "Why won't you tell me?!" Kairi's voice cracked, and she let go of his arm so that she could look down and hide her face. She was not crying. She had cried too much, especially for a Nobody. "Axel, why is Xion a mirror?"

"She's a mirror of Roxas. It's hard to explain... but, she's a replica."

"Heh, right." Kairi crossed her arms as she looked up at him, clearly doubting. "I read about the replica project at Castle Oblivion. Admittedly, most of it went over my head... but I know it failed. Bad."

"That replica wasn't the first. Xion was."

"I'm with Roxas. You've gone nuts."

Axel groaned and placed the tips of his fingers to his forehead. "I'll just let Xemnas tell you tomorrow. Since she's run away, he's bound to call another meeting. Just don't get mad at me."

"Nobodies can't get mad, can they?"

"You guys never listen to the rules."

Then he left her.


A/N Everything belongs to Square Enix and Disney, save for the plot, which is mine, and Wonderflonium, which is from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (written/produced/directed by Joss Whedon, so I am going to say it belongs to him).

Punch Lord, she is remembering Sora because of Roxas, and since Xion is an (imperfect) replica of Roxas, it is possible she is also remembering because of Xion's presence. Whether Xion is actually contributing is unknown, and does not effect the story. Thank you for your feedback/question!

Thought: Kairi would be in her KH2 form now, at the latest. So if you have not made the mental switch, I advise doing so.