The Nobody of Remnant

by RoxaShadow

Just as Riku prepares to capture Roxas and return him to Sora, the Nobody escapes to a world he has never seen before, the world of Remnant. There he will encounter the challenges of Remnant's Grimm and the underlying evil threatening to destroy the long established peace brought on by the four kingdoms. Will he finally be able to make a difference? Or will he forever be a Nobody?

37. Chapter 36:A Delicate Dance

"Ah come on now! You can do it! I know you can!"

Cinder growled as she slowly pushed herself to her hands and knees, her arms and legs trembling from the effort.

"Shut. Up," she hissed in anger, prompting a smile from Demyx's lips. The room was a simple one, constructed out of cement and little else. They'd taken to using it for training as it had the most space in the building while still remaining sound proof to the outside world. Demyx was wearing a pair of fashionably torn jeans, some pink flip flops, and a yellow T-shirt decorated with a striped grey kitten. Cinder was wearing a basic white tank top and some simple black spandex shorts alongside some sandals. She started out these training sessions wearing her typical attire in the form of her red dress and pumps, but upon realizing Demyx's affinity for water first hand, she quickly made the adjustment to shorts and a tank top. Sure, she preferred training in her standard battle attire, but these dried out faster.

"Ah don't be like that. You're the one who suggested this, right?" the Nobody casually said, his hands in his pockets as he strolled over to where the woman was still hunched over trying to catch her breath.

Demyx squatted down beside Cinder meeting her malicious gaze with a happy smile, "You want a towel? I think we have a few over-"

"I don't want a towel!" Cinder snapped, her voice reverberating against the walls all around them. A towel typically meant that the training session was over since it meant that she was drying off and it wouldn't make sense to dry off just to get blasted by a jet of water again.

Demyx brought two hands up in a motion of surrender. "Okay okay! Sheesh! Don't take my head off!" he spoke in a playful tone.

Cinder growled intending to snap at the young man again, but instead sighed. Her body aching, Cinder slowly shifted herself into a sitting position.

"Sit," she commanded, eyeing the man with a curious gaze.

She watched as Demyx casually looked for a dry spot amidst the sea of seemingly endless puddles before sitting Indian style beside her. Cinder pushed her soggy, soaked bangs back and out of her face as she studied the man with an intense gaze. How could someone so powerful, someone who could defeat her so easily, behave so casually? She gathered that to any outsider looking in would see him as a low rank member, someone to be easily dismissed based on how sheepish and spineless he could sometimes behave. Cinder thought back to all the times she'd intentionally tried to intimidate him just to see his frightful reaction. It amused her to listen to him stutter and tremble from her presence alone. The terrified and jumpy demeanor he so often adopted while in her presence had never failed to draw an inward smile to her metaphorical lips.

This was until she'd begun training with the man, that is. Despite what she'd been told, despite hearing from the others that his capabilities far outclassed their own, she'd always held the firm belief in the back of her mind that she was more powerful. There were very few opponents she knew whom she would actively consider her equal, even fewer she'd consider her superior. She knew that they existed of course, but in a one on one fight, she felt confident that her skills would outclass the vast majority of fighters.

That all changed when she asked him to go all out against her.

It had been over in less than a minute. She allowed him the first attack, confident in her defensive capabilities before quickly being overwhelmed. She started the fight standing with her arms crossed, an overconfident grin on her face. When it ended a minute later, she was soaked head to toe, her slender frame slouched against the wall, a shocked expression consuming her face.

"I don't understand you," she finally said after a long silence.

"...Huh?" Demyx's head tilted to the side, a brow raised. "What do ya mean?"

"What I mean is," she said growing agitated at his lack of seriousness in the moment, "How can you be so strong, and yet so weak at the same time?"

Demyx scratched the side of his head in thought. Cinder waited in anticipation for his response as the man's face grew serious, his eyes reflecting a deep thought.

The Nobody's lips parted before shifting into a goofy grin, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

The wet slap of Cinder's hand against her face echoed throughout the room.

"What I mean is!" she raised her voice in frustration. "You have all this power! You've beaten me so many times I've lost count! I know only a small handful of people I realistically think could bring you down and yet!" The tension in her shoulders eased, the edge to her words dulling. "...You behave so timidly. You shy away from conflict. Hell, before we started training together, you even shied away from me. It's like…" she paused in thought, picking her words carefully. "It's like you have no confidence in yourself, or rather...you feel that you shouldn't have confidence in yourself. Like your strength and power isn't enough to justify standing proud, standing with some pride." She positioned her back and shoulders straight to make a point.

"So what gives?" she continued. "Why do you act the way you do? Why do you quiver beneath me despite the fact that you likely could easily take this entire operation over if you really tried." Cinder paused. "Not that you should mind you. If you did attempt to I assure you that others who can beat you would arrive and your little reign of power would end."

Demyx let out a short laugh. "Sheesh lighten up Cin, I'm not planning on 'starting a revolt' anytime soon!" He reached out and patted her back as she scowled. He'd recently taken to using the nickname 'Cin' on her. She didn't enjoy the nickname, but despite her persistent orders for him to address her by her full name, that didn't stop him.

"It's not really all that complicated y'know," he began, wiping the water he's accumulated from patting Cinder's back onto his shirt. "You remember how I told you guys that I'm a little bit different from the rest of ya, how I'm missing something?"

That's an understatement. Cinder quietly thought to herself as her eyes narrowed, focusing on the man's answer as he continued.

"Well, you see what I'm missing sorta affects my behaviors and stuff. Like," He met her an expression with wide eyes. "If you'll believe it, I shouldn't have any personality, like, at all."

Cinder's brows furrowed at this. No personality? How could that be possible?

"Yeah I know right? Mister 'Lazy and Sheepish' is supposed to be mister 'Robot and Dead inside', crazy right?" He paused. "Well now that I think about it, maybe I should just be 'Mister-Saix' all the time!" He began to let out a laugh before pausing, noticing that Cinder was staring at him with a confused gaze.

"Oh, right, you don't know Saix. Uh, well, imagine a dude leagues uglier than me of course, with like, long blue hair and an X on his face and is always serious all the time!"

Cinder remained quiet, opting to simply stare at the man with a frown.

"Right…you don't want to hear that, you want me to get to the point don'tcha?"

A nod.

"Alright so! Back on topic!" he said laying back and sprawling out, positioning his arms behind his head. Cinder watched him curiously as he did this.

"Something else I should mention: I wasn't always like this. Devoid of emotion, devoid of anything that could actually make me feel something." Cinder's eyes widened as she saw the serious expression on his face. It wasn't playful or mocking this time, it was finally serious. "I used to be normal. I used to be able to feel happy, angry, sad, excited, all the things that you get to experience everyday. Then I lost that. There's actually quite a few people like me who've lost what I have." He raised his head to meet her gaze for a moment. "Wonder Boy is one of 'em, er, well, I guess I should say was one of them." Cinder watched the man scowl in annoyance before laying back down. Had she ever seen Demyx scowl even once?!

"Of course it sucks not being able to feel anything. No one wants that, so something we figured out is that we could pretend," he sighed. "Even now, all these sounds, all these expressions are just me pretending to be the person I was back then. I'm only able to pretend so well because I've lived most of my life as that other guy. So when you tell me I should be 'prideful' or more 'strong'," He sat up, meeting her gaze with a frown, "I'm not lying when I tell you I literally don't know how to be like that. All I know how to be like is the person I was, regardless if that man and the man you see today are the same person." He shrugged, sighing. "Maybe you're right, maybe I should be a lot more aggressive and confident. Maybe I should get mad at things, or try to take charge in situations...but until I recover what I lost…" He raised a hand to the center of his chest, looking down at it. Cinder noticed his eyes taking on a glassy, distant look.

"I won't be able to change. I won't be able to grow or become more as an individual. I'm stuck where I was all those years ago. Trapped to spend the rest of my existence either as the man I was before I became hollow, or to spend it as a robot devoid of anything that could even resemble emotion."

Cinder's eyes were as wide as ovals as she stared at the man. She expected him to tell her that he was just spineless by nature, or that he was just too lazy to take any initiative. But this? This was unlike anything she could have predicted from Demyx. She'd always assumed that due to the shallow and trivial nature of his personality that he was just some loser without a story, a nobody that just happened to be strong. To hear that this was what plagued him, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, a decision between holding onto his past or letting go to embrace what he described as…nothingness.

Could he be lying? Could this all just be a ploy to gain sympathy from me? Cinder thought, but even as the thought passed through her mind, she knew it was wrong. The look on his face, the sincerity of his words accompanied that the bizarre nature of the claim told her that his words were…at least partially...true.

"Oh my god!" he suddenly exclaimed, holding his stomach as he started to wheeze out in laughter. "Look at your face right now! You're so totally shell shocked! Look!" he said pointing. "Your jaw fell open a little bit!"

Cinder blinked rapidly as her mouth quickly shut and a blush flooded her cheeks. The emotion only lasted a moment, but in that moment Cinder felt properly embarrassed for being caught so dumbfounded. She was supposed to be revered, feared, and intimidating; to be caught looking so stupid left the girl feeling sheepish.

But then that moment passed.

And a deep, unbridled rage overcame her.

"Shut! Up!" she roared before raising an open palm to the man's chest. "Fira!"

A wave of red and orange erupted from her hand before enveloping the Nobody beside her, triggering an explosion that sent him flying back. There was a loud CRACK as Demyx made contact with the wall on the other side of the room from his head snapping back and colliding with the cement in a swift and violent motion.

The anger in Cinder's eyes eased as the man slumped to the ground, still.

Cinder rose to her feet as she said, "Get up! I know you're just pretending."

Demyx remained unmoving.

Cinder's eyes began to widen with confusion, worry beginning to rise in her chest. "Hey! Stop it! I'm not playing games with you!"

Still, Demyx's form refused to move, or even shift in any way.

"...Demyx?" Cinder began to walk towards the Nobody, slowly at first, but then she rapidly began to sprint towards his still limp form.

Cinder knelt at the Nobody's side, pulling his body so that his face was looking up.

"Demyx wake up!" she demanded, panic beginning to lace through her words. Had she truly hurt him finally? She didn't think it possible. She'd been sparring with him throughout the week so frequently and so vigorously that she'd gotten it in her head that she couldn't hurt him, or at least not seriously. Sure, she landed some hits on him. The man was sloppy despite his power, but he always seemed to get up or bounce back with twice the vigor.

But that was when he was aware that there was a fight at hand! Not when you blindside him! she mentally scolded herself. Her hands quickly tightened into fists as her mind raced searching for what she was meant to do. Being in command for so long, being in control and seen as a leader had gotten to her head. It had been so long since she'd been viewed as anything less that even that single moment of insecurity had resulted in an outburst of undeserved rage on her part. Should she call for help? No, that would look bad on her, not only for injuring one of her soldiers but for requiring help afterwards like a scared child who just broke their toy. That left only one option.

"Damn it!" she cursed before raising a hand over his form. She was shaky with this type of magic, but it was one she knew nonetheless. "Cure!" she shouted as a small green set of symbols began to hover over the Nobody's head.

She waited patiently for the spell to end, and then looked down to examine her work. To her dismay, the young man was still unmoving.

Was I too late?

Her mind began to flood with panic. She'd just disposed of their most vital asset! This was a massive loss in their leader's eyes as well as her own! What would she do!? Could she fix the situation somehow? What if she-

"Pfftt…"

Cinder's entirely body froze in place, her worried, wide eyes narrowing on the Nobody's lips.

"...You should see your face…" Suddenly Demyx's lips tightened like he'd just tasted something too sour to bear and started to quietly laugh still lying on the ground.

Cinder's worried expression fell away immediately as she quickly rose to her feet, staring daggers at the man who was down stomping his feet against the ground from laughing so hard.

Oh, good, it looks like he really was just playing after all. Of course I didn't actually hurt him.

She swiftly aimed an open palm down at the giggling Nobody which made Demyx freeze in his tracks.

"W-wait, no, no, no, it was a joke! Don't-"

So it shouldn't be so bad if I do it again.

"Fira."

---

-Ten Minutes later-

Cinder held the towel in her hands, wiping down the parts of her body and hair that had yet to dry from their second fight. Demyx, who had a massive burn hole in his kitty T-shirt, walked up beside the girl.

"You know you're getting pretty good with your magic," he spoke with a chipper smile.

"I know," she responded flatly as she continued to focus her attention on drying herself. She figured out in a matter of days how to cast the spells Demyx knew. It'd come naturally to her, like something within her very core had been designed to do it.

"I just wonder why the others are having such a difficult time…" he mumbled under his breath. Despite her good fortune and luck, the others hadn't seen any progress towards attaining the magic that she'd gained so quickly. It was odd to say the least. Neo, Roman, Mercury, and Emerald were all excellent fighters in their own right, and excellent at learning a new craft in very little time as their well being very much depended on this fact. However, it seemed that they were completely inept when it came to casting even the simplest fire spell. This eventually led to the group shifting their focus away from magic and towards refining what they already knew. With Demyx being their opponent, Mercury, Emerald, and Neo all quickly realized that they needed to stay sharp if they even wanted to last a minute in the training room with the Nobody.

"They'll figure it out eventually I'm sure," Cinder said matter-of-factly as she felt the last particles of water in her hair absorb into the towel. Tossing it aside she commanded with a critical gaze, "Why haven't I been able to summon the Corridor yet?"

Despite her rapid growth when it came to magic, the ability to summon a Corridor of Darkness had remained elusive to the girl. She practiced every day, attempted every day, following the instructions she received from Demyx to the T, with little results.

And this infuriated her.

To have gained a near mastery of spells so rapidly, only to have what she viewed as the most important ability seemingly out of reach was near maddening. The power to teleport anywhere, anytime…the very concept was intoxicating for the young woman. It had already become an essential part of her plans; Demyx was entirely essentially part of her plans. That fact alone was the entire reason she so frequently ordered Mercury and Emerald to spend time with the young man, and why whatever he asked for no matter how ridiculous was met with the utmost seriousness. The latter to her surprise he'd barely taken advantage of, asking for barely even the essentials which made the former all the more important. Even she, despite her hatred of prolonged interaction with any one individual, did her best to respond positively towards the man. That wasn't to say she didn't snap from time to time, but she did her best. She needed Demyx, with what he could do he was easily their biggest asset, second only to herself in her eyes.

She was dependent on him and his capabilities.

And she hated that fact.

With Demyx, she had the ability to teleport whenever he was around. She would issue commands and he would listen, but even then it didn't feel like the power was truly hers. This distinction was only further reinforced by these recent training exercises. Each jet of water acted as a cold reminder that at any point in time, whenever Demyx felt he no longer wanted to follow her commands he could leave. If he wanted to he could pack up his belongings today and be gone before the sun was up the following morning, and Cinder would be powerless to stop him. If anyone else-Mercury, Roman, Emerald-if any of them decided they wanted to desert, Cinder knew that it was well within her capabilities to kill them for doing so, and they knew that.

Not that I'd want to of course. But them knowing that I have this power over them makes their abilities mine.

Demyx on the other hand, Cinder knew she would have little chance to stop him if he tried to do the same. That fact alone shook her to the very core. Being powerless to anyone left her at a loss; it left her feeling like she wasn't herself. Like everything she'd done up to this point, all that she'd sacrificed to get here was meaningless.

Meaningless, because she wasn't at the top. It had been her hard work that got her this far, it was her hard work that was fueling this very operation, and it would be her hard work when she eventually became the strongest. She wanted to be strong enough so that no one would look down on her ever again. There were few whom she took orders from, and she only accepted those orders with the intent of one day surpassing them.

This fact alone left Cinder full of both sincere admiration for Demyx, and a seething unrivaled rage. Admiration for the fact that he'd managed to grow so impossibly strong through whatever sacrifices he chose to make, and rage for the fact that it seemingly trivialized what she'd gone through to get to where she was now.

That's why I have to make his power my own. That's why I have to make the Corridor of Darkness my own.

Once she'd done that, once she'd taken this final ability, she would no longer need Demyx. His other abilities were nothing too special. Sure his affinity to control water was strong, stronger than her's in fact, but over time she knew that she would eventually grow strong enough to overcome it. But even if her own powers eventually surpassed his, if she didn't learn how to summon the Corridor of Darkness herself she would still be his lesser, still be forced to be dependent on this man.

And Cinder refused to allow that.

"Hmm," Demyx adopted a thinking pose. "Why haven't you been able to summon a Corridor of Darkness...that's a good question!" he said shrugging. "I don't have a clue!"

Cinder crossed her arms giving the man a dirty look that read 'I'm not playing'.

"What?" Demyx waved his arms dramatically before sighing and crossing his own. "Look, I really don't know what I can do to teach you. There's only one way I can think of that could possibly give you control over the Darkness, but that route is out of the question. So it doesn't even matter."

Cinder raised an eyebrow. One way?

"Explain," she demanded coldly. "What is this 'one way'?"

Demyx's eyes grew wide before turning his back to the woman. "No."

Cinder approached the man with her hands tightening into fists, a fire lit behind her eyes. This man was telling her that there was a way to give her what she wanted, and now he was refusing to teach her?!

"I'm only going to ask one more time Demyx," Cinder spoke coldly as she reached up and placed a tight grip on his shoulder. "Tell me what I have to do in order to gain access to the Corridor of Darkness, or else." Cinder knew that if it came down to trading blows she would almost definitely lose. However, the man before her had just revealed that he couldn't change no matter what, so if she attempted to intimidate that timid nature of his, Cinder gathered that she might have a chance to make him talk. It was a gamble, but at this point she had little else to lose.

Demyx looked over his shoulder, noticing the cold death glare from Cinder before a chill ran up his spine.

"Okay! Okay!" Demyx stammered pulling away from her grip. "I'll tell you! But I'm not gonna go through with it okay? I'm only going to show you what I'm talking about so that you understand why it's absolutely positutely out of the question."

Cinder, her arms crossed, merely peared over at the man with a deep frown. Despite her intimidation method being successful, it appeared that even that wouldn't shake his adamant stance on the matter.

"Fine," she said dismissively. If he only wanted to show her, and not actually attempt whatever this process was, that was fine by her. If anything, she could try and replicate the process based on what he said and achieve control of the Corridor of Darkness that way.

"Alright good." Demyx breathed a sigh of relief before raising a hand, a motion Cinder had connected to the process of summoning a Corridor of Darkness. Before anything happened, however, the Nobody froze, his eyes wide before he adopted a contemplative stance with a hand cupping his chin.

"What is it now?" Cinder growled in agitation. She was getting tired of his games.

"Uh, weeellll," Demyx said tilting his head to the side. "It's just that, my old boss told us to NEVER under any circumstances summon Heartless to this world…and I'm just trying to understand why."

Cinder raised an eyebrow at this sentence. His old boss? 'Heartless'? This world? Demyx had mentioned a previous occupation, but he'd always remained vague on the subject for some reason. And 'Heartless' was a term entirely new to the woman. A being without a heart? What could that possible be? She couldn't even begin to unpack what the phrase 'this world' suggested. Did that mean that the man before her was-

Cinder shook her head, ridding her mind of the thought. If this could lead to her gaining the power of the Corridor of Darkness, then that's all that mattered.

"Well he's not your boss anymore Demyx, I am. So I order you to summon this…'Heartless' creature you spoke of."

Demyx scratched the side of his face. "Yeah...but I remember him saying that it was like, really important that we don't. Something about there being another source of Darkness or whatever? Like...we'd lose control or some-"

"Demyx!" Cinder snapped. "I am your boss and I am ordering you to summon the Heartless!"

The room grew quiet once Cinder's voice stopped echoing off the walls. Demyx had turned and was meeting her unwavering gaze with his own. Cinder was staring daggers into the man, unflinching, unblinking, her frown so deep and sincere that it was almost a snarl.

This was the outward demeanor Cinder was doing her best to maintain, but inside she felt the cold chill of fear running up and down her spine. Demyx wasn't folding. He wasn't immediately shrinking away as he normally did, he was staring her down. The look in his eyes was almost just as intense as her own, and it was a look she'd never seen on the man before. One that she didn't think was even possible on his face, and it absolutely terrified her. She'd just been told that no matter what he tried, he couldn't change his personality to one that was more assertive or confident. So how was it now that he'd seemingly figured out how to be so intimidating?!

Their collective distaste for one another continued for several more seconds before Demyx closed his eyes releasing a tired sigh, "Fine."

When his eyes closed, Cinder felt her entire form quiver finally releasing some of the tension that had been building in her body.

"G-Good," she stammered before immediately cursing herself mentally for letting a shred of her nervousness slip out.

Demyx raised his arm out again, grumbling as he said, "Now, I'm not very good at this admittedly. Saix or Xemnas would probably do a better job at summoning them, so I'll just show you the weakest one if that's okay."

Cinder didn't trust her own voice enough to respond. She was glad that Demyx's back was turned because in that moment she could feel her shoulders trembling no matter how much she tried to stop it. She understood all too well throughout the week that Demyx had the power to defeat her in battle, but she'd only ever seen it as just that, a defeat. When she glared into Demyx's eyes glaring back at her, she realized something she hadn't before. If he wanted to, if they ever came to truly trading blows, he could very well kill her if he wanted to. She never saw it from the happy, jovial, goofy Demyx she'd grown to know so well, but that man she'd just seen a moment ago...she could absolutely see him standing over her as she drew her last breath.

Get a hold of yourself Cinder! she commanded herself as a dark flame began to swirl from the ground before dissipating and leaving behind something...strange.

Her immediate assumption was that this...thing was a Grimm, but something about it's yellow beady eyes and pitch black body led her to assume it was something else. It's body resembled that of a small child, or perhaps a goblin for a better comparison. It had sharp, angular feet and three jagged claws at the end of each of its hands. Atop its head were what appeared to be two antennas, one that hung straight back and another that was bent the wrong way, dangling uselessly against its head.

"Huh," Demyx tilted his head examining it. "Must have been in a fight when I called it." Shrugging, he turned back to Cinder, "This is a Heartless. There's a lot of different types. This one in particular is called a 'Shadow', got it?"

Cinder slowly nodded refusing to take her eyes off the strange creature. It seemed to be in a state of constant movement, its torso and head swaying side to side in a never ending loop.

"So what these little guys do is try and collect something called 'hearts', hence the name 'Heartless'. Clear so far?"

Cinder nodded, not really paying attention. It had no mouth or nose, and no ears either. The only sensory organs Cinder could make out at all were the two beady yellow eyes resting center within its circular head. How did this creature sustain itself with no mouth? How did it breath with no nose?

"In order to do that," Demyx continued, "It needs to steal hearts from beings that have them. IE, people like you."

Cinder blinked as she finally started to tune into the conversation again. This thing tried to steal people's hearts?

"So it basically kills people." Cinder stated matter-of-factly. "It kills people and rips out their hearts from their ribcage is what you're telling me."

The look of disgust on Demyx's face told her she got something wrong. "Ew no! That's so gross! That's not what I mean at all! Why would you say something like that?!"

Demyx squirmed for a second, shuttering before continuing, "I guess I should clarify. When I say your 'heart', I don't mean in the literal sense. Like, sure you have the thing that pumps blood in and out of your body, but you also have a different type of heart. One that is more tied to...who you are as a person. It's the part of you that makes you you if that makes any sense."

Cinder studied the man in thought, the part of you that makes you, you...what did he mean?

"Are you talking about that whole 'lovey dovey' sort of heart? Like when someone says 'I love you with all my heart'? Are you walking in that sense of the word?"

Demyx tilted his head back and forth in contemplation. "Yeah...sorta. I mean, it is the heart that allows you to 'love' someone, but it's so much more than that. Everyone knows about how 'love' is supposedly tied to your heart, but no one realizes that your heart is tied to all your other emotions too." The man paused, a frown forming on his face. "Of course, I only know that by what I've been told...I can't really confirm that fact personally."

Cinder raised an eyebrow at this comment. Your heart tied to your other emotions? Can't confirm that personally…! Her eyes grew wide as her mind returned to what she said earlier about not being able to grow, about not having any 'true' emotions as he put it.

"Demyx…" she began slowly. "Are you telling me that you don't have a heart?"

A smile tugged at his lips. "Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner!" A pause. "Can you figure out now what I'm going to tell you would be the way to you learning how to use the Corridor of Darkness?"

Cinder grew silent again, her mind losing itself in thought. It didn't take her long to connect the pieces.

"In order to control the Darkness…I have to be like you," she began slowly, her gaze shifting back towards the Heartless still withering on the floor. "And you don't have a 'heart' as you call it. So in order for me to gain control of this power...I need to let this thing take my heart."

Demyx nodded smiling "There ya go. Now you realize why I said it's not even a possibility for us to-"

"Let's do it."

Demyx froze mid sentence to slowly look back at the woman. Her hands were fists, a look of pure determination in her eyes.

"Are you crazy?!" Demyx shouted with a shocked expression, "You have no idea what you'd be giving up! You wouldn't even feel like a person anymore!"

"I don't care!" Cinder roared back. "I need this power. I don't care how I get it." She needed to be the strongest. She made sacrifices in the past before; family, friends, she'd given them all away in this pursuit. If she lost something like emotions, she wouldn't mind. If it left her in a state similar to Demyx where she was locked in her current mentality, even for forever, then that would just mean that she would continue to pursue her goal indefinitely. That didn't seem so bad in her eyes.

Demyx shook his head. "Cin, look. Not only do you not realize what you'd be giving up, but if you do this, there's no way to assure it'll even work!"

Cinder stared questioningly at the man. What did he mean it might not work?

"Not every person who loses their heart become like me. There's very few of us who actually keep out bodies after the experience. Most people, if their hearts aren't strong enough, become lesser Nobodies. Creatures that retain nothing from their past life as Somebodies, taking a form that isn't much different than that," he said pointing down at the Heartless still standing a few feet away from him.

Cinder paused, staring down at the creature before her. He was saying that there was a possibility of her becoming... like that? Cinder sneered in disgust down at the mindless Heartless before her. He said that only people with strong hearts got to keep their bodies.

Cinder's knuckles went white with rage. Was he calling her weak!?

"So there's zero percent chance that I become a 'lesser Nobody' as you put it," she said with a cold rage.

Demyx blinked several times. "Are you even listening to me?!"

"I am!" Cinder roared back. "You said that only someone weak would turn into something like that thing," she said pointing with disgust down at the Shadow. "And while I might not be as strong as you yet, that does not make me weak!" She raised a finger towards his chest. "And if you think I'm going to let you stand in the way of-hey, hey wait! Where is it going!?"

Demyx turned his head as the Shadow began to shuffle away, moving towards a nearby wall. A puzzled expression crossed his face. "Hey! Where do you think you're going googly eyes?"

Despite the Nobody's orders, the Shadow continued towards the wall before eventually melding into its flat surface and then disappearing entirely.

"...Where did it go?" Cinder asked curiously.

"I...don't know." Demyx admitted. "Heartless tend to follow the commands of whoever they view as the 'biggest bad'. That's why I figured it would listen to me if I summoned it…" Demyx scratched the side of his head confused. "Where could it be going to…?"

Cinder's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "...You didn't just order it to leave so that it wouldn't be able to make me like it did you?!"

Demyx turned back towards her with a look of shock on his face. "I can't believe you right now!" The young man turned away from Cinder and began to make his way towards the door. "I'm done with this conversation. I already told you that I'm not doing this, end of discussion."

As the Nobody walked past her, Cinder fumed with rage, knowing that Demyx was directly going against her orders and knowing that she physically could do NOTHING to stop him.

The woman grit her teeth in frustration searching her mind in an attempt to use anything she might have at her disposal to get her way.

"Wait!" she suddenly called out just as Demyx's fingers had wrapped around the handle.

"I'm done talking about this," the Nobody said in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

"That's fine," Cinder spoke coldly. "But I just need you to answer me one question." She chose her words carefully, stalling for time as she did her best to figure out how to word a question that had been lingering in the back of her mind since the start of this conversation.

"You said that you have no heart, meaning no emotions, right?"

Demyx paused at the doorway, his back still turned to Cinder. "Yeah…?"

"If that's the case, then why are you here?" she said motioning to the room, but Demyx knew she was indicating to their hideout, the White Fang, their Organization. "What makes you stay, huh? If you truly care about nothing at all...then what motivates you to fight for us? What motivates you to train me? What makes you want to wear that stupid cat shirt?"

Silence filled the space for several moments as Cinder awaited a response, the only sound between the two of them being the wet dripping noise from her still damp shorts.

"Wonder Boy came here a few months before me," Demyx began quietly. "When I saw him again, he did something that no Nobody could ever pretend to do...he cried."

Cinder's eyes widened as Demyx turned to face her, a blank expression on his. "I don't know how he managed to do it, but something in this world gave him back what was taken away from all of us. I stay because like all Nobodies, I want to get that piece of me back through any means necessary," he sighed. "That's why I do everything I do. If I want this world to give me back my heart...then I figure I gotta interact with it a little don't I?"

"...Why pretend to care?" Cinder mumbled confused. "If you don't have a heart…then why do you care if I go through with this? I know you don't, or at least, not really...so why stop me?" Cinder didn't let him answer as she continued. "You said it yourself. You can't change. You're either emotionless or stuck as who you remember yourself to be. That person you emulate has always folded to my commands. Every. Single. Time. And yet you still refuse. I know that the emotionless husk you described wouldn't care one way or another...so, when I ask-no, order you to transform me into a…'Nobody' as you put it, what is making you say no?" She figured that if she couldn't flat out order him to comply, perhaps she could attempt to reason with the man.

She fully expected him to say something like 'Because it could mean I don't have a boss anymore' or ' Because I don't want to go through the trouble'. What she got instead was entirely different.

Demyx merely turned towards her with wide eyes and a slack jaw. To say he appeared shocked would have been an understatement. She could see his lips moving, trying to find an answer to the question she posed but every time he did the answer fell apart.

"I...because...you don't…" Finally a hand went to the back of his head ruffling his dirty blonde hair. His gaze fell away from Cinder, averted to the ground where he continued to appear perplexed.

Finally, after what felt like an eon of silence he lifted his head and met her eyes again. "That...is an excellent question. You're right on both accounts. Niether side of me should be refusing this request...and I have a feeling that had you asked me this when I'd first met you I probably would have accepted." He shook his head scratching the back of it. "But now...for one reason or another, I can't seem to bring myself to."

Before she could get out another word the man turned and left the room, letting the door slam behind him as he did.

Cinder simply stared at the spot of the door where he'd been standing. One line of his sentence replayed in her mind as she tried to conclude if it had been a simple turn of phrase...or something more.

"...I have a feeling…?"

---

-Beacon Academy: Dance Hall-

This is...weird. Roxas thought to himself as he watched the dance going on all around him. The space was filled to the brim with students each either wearing a well fitted and often revealing dress or a black tuxedo of some variety.

Colorful balloons and streamers lined the walls alongside some interesting choices in lighting giving the dance an electric energy. Lively music was playing which he only vaguely paid attention to going on in the background of his mind. Chairs lined the walls on either side of the dance floor for those who wanted to take a break from the excitement. Roxas found himself occupying one of these chairs, deciding that it would be less awkward for him to wait here than out on the dance floor while he awaited for Weiss to return. Roughly twenty minutes after they entered the dance, the girl spotted Namine entering and told him that she had to go and compliment her dress and would be right back.

That had been ten minutes ago, and whenever the boy turned to look over towards the two girls he could tell they were seemingly deep in discussion about something serious. Roxas was curious but figured that it wasn't his place to pry. If they wanted to tell him, they would. If not, then it wasn't his business.

The young man slowly brought a cup of punch he'd taken earlier to his lips when he heard a voice call his name.

"Roxas! Is that you!?"

The boy's eyebrows raised as he turned his head and saw a familiar set of emerald eyes staring back at him.

"Penny?" he said the name in surprise as the girl strode up to him with a bright smile on her face.

"Hi Roxas!" she said with a wave.

"Uh, hey," he responded awkwardly smiling back at her. "I didn't know you'd be here." he said honestly.

"But of course! I wouldn't miss a social interaction like this one for the world!" she said motioning up towards the ceiling with two outstretched hands. Roxas could see two soldiers strapped with armor and weapons standing only a handful feet behind her.

"Why do you have guards with you?" Roxas asked curiously. This was a casual school event wasn't it? He couldn't think of a need for a student to require protection.

"Oh don't mind them!" she responded with a cheerful smile. "My dad is just super protective is all."

So protective he won't let his daughter go out to a public dance? Roxas thought to himself as the redhead began to look to her left, then right.

"So where's your date? I don't see Ruby anywhere."

Roxas took a moment to answer, raising an eyebrow at the comment. Why would she assume that Ruby was his date?

"Um...well I haven't seen her yet honestly. I asked Yang and she told me that Ruby might be running a little late," he said with honest disappointment. He wanted to see Ruby again to tell her that his headache was gone and that she could hang out with him again.

Penny raised an eyebrow. "Really? Oh that's weird! I wonder why?" She crossed her arms in exaggerated thought before turning back toward him. "You know you're usually supposed to enter with your date, right? Maybe that's why she didn't come, she's upset!"

Again, she's assuming that I came with Ruby...why?

"Um, I doubt it." Roxas responded as he scratched the back of his head. "Oh, and I don't know why you keep saying it, but me and Ruby didn't come to the dance together."

A shocked expression washed over the girls features "What!?" she shouted out in protest. "But you two were so cute together!"

Roxas blinked a few times. When had she seen the two of them together?

The boy opened his mouth to ask but just then the clicking sound of approaching heels interrupted him.

"Sorry Roxas!" Weiss's voice called out. "I didn't mean to leave you here! Namine and I just got into a discussion about-" The girl paused as she saw Penny standing beside the boy.

"Oh! My apologies," she began casting a curious gaze towards Penny. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced." Offering out a hand she said, "Weiss Schnee, and you are?"

Penny slowly reached out to shake Weiss's hand. "Penny Polendina." She gave Weiss a narrow stare before turning her gaze back towards Roxas. "Is she…your date?"

Roxas rose from his seat nodding, "Yeah, this is her."

Weiss curiously looked between the two. "Do you know each other?"

Penny slowly nodded, "Yeah, we're friends actually."

"Oh!" Weiss began. "I do apologize if I interrupted something. Please, do continue."

"No, no…" Penny began with a frown as she eyed Weiss. Roxas swore that she looked disappointed for some reason. "I was actually just leaving," she continued with a dry tone. Turning to Roxas she said with a half-hearted wave, "I'll talk to ya later I guess." Already beginning to walk away, she waved to Weiss, "Nice meeting you."

The two watched as the guards quickly followed after the girl before disappearing into the crowd.

Weiss slowly turned back towards Roxas with a raised eyebrow. "That was odd...did she seem upset about something to you or was that just me?"

Roxas shook his head, "No no...I felt it too. That was weird. She always seems so upbeat."

"Hm." The girl in white looked out towards where she's seen Penny and her guards disappear into the crowd before turning back towards Roxas with a smile. "Well, let's not focus too much on it! We have to make up for lost time!"
"Lost time?" he repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Well this is a dance after all," she grinned. "And I rudely left you to speak to a friend about something, again, so sorry about that." Roxas shrugged in a 'I didn't mind' sort of manner. "So, we have to make up the time we lost dancing."

Before Roxas could respond, Weiss had already grabbed his hand and was pulling him with her out to the center of the dance floor.

"Alright!" she said excitedly. "Time to show me your moves!" Roxas watched as the girl took a step back before her body began to move in an interesting yet deliberate way. She was dancing as far as he could determine. He'd been watching several others do so throughout the night. From what he could gather, it was the simple act of moving in rhythm to the music. He'd been studying the other students in preparation for when he assumed he would have to do the same with Weiss. He noted that the way the students danced was wildly dependent to the song being played, as their movements directly tied to the beat of the song. Whenever the beat shifted, so did their hips; whenever a different key was hit, their feet moved to the rhythm. It all seemed so complex to the boy, but at the same time so intuitive.

Despite this fact, when Weiss began to move her body to the flow of the music, the boy found his arms and legs frozen stiff. His hands were firmly pinned to his sides while his feet might as well have been nailed to the ground. It didn't help that the girl in front of him was moving beautifully to the music. Roxas had seen several students dancing, many of them were very good, others, quite awkward looking. But none of them could hold a candle to Weiss's performance in that moment. It was as if her movements and the music were directly tied to one another. Each note prompted a corresponding swish of the girl's hips, each elongated key complimenting a shift. Just watching her dance forced a blush on his cheeks. Her movements were so deliberate, so intimate with the music playing that Roxas almost felt embarrassed watching something so irrefutably captivating. Roxas didn't know if someone could take lessons for dancing, but seeing the way Weiss moved, he figured that she could likely be a teacher if she so chose to.

His experience with dancing was limited at best, Roxas knew this fact to be true, but even acknowledging that truth couldn't shake the conclusion in his mind that the girl before him was absolutely incredible. Roxas could barely pull his eyes away from her performance, but when he did, he found his assumptions were true. He could see other male students staring at Weiss's performance, some of which were standing next to their dates at the time. Roxas winced as he saw several of his fellow classmates get slapped by their angry dates.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked with furrowed brows. Roxas watched as she came to an abrupt halt in her movements looking over at him concerned.

"I-uh," he responded dumbly, realizing that his immediate response to her question was to protest against her stopping. Blinking, he immediately discerned that would sound dumb and came up with a different reply.

"You're amazing," he stated flatly.

Weiss's eyes grew wide before a blush overtook her features and she looked away. "Thank you. You can thank years of practice in ballet and dance for that."

Oh, so people do practice this, he thought to himself before smiling.

"You had other people looking you know," he said trying to pay her another compliment.

Weiss appeared startled by this comment, drawing into herself as she wrapped her arms around her torso. "They were?"

Noticing that his compliment had caused the opposite effect to the one he wanted, he quickly doubled back on his words, "Er- well not too many that is. They, uh, well I think it's just that your dancing was so captivating that it drew their attention."

Weiss's lips slowly pulled into a smile at this comment. "Thank you Roxas. That's very sweet."

A mental sigh of relief filled the boy's head in response to her smile.

"But you weren't dancing," Weiss commented appearing concerned. "Is everything alright?"

Huh?

When he'd been watching Weiss dance before him, the way her body moved perfectly to match the sway of the music, it hadn't even crossed his mind that he should start dancing. It had been hard enough to figure out how to dance when it was just him sitting on the sidelines watching others do it. But when he saw Weiss begin to move and realized that he had to compliment that level of skill? He'd all but given up on the idea.

"Oh, well…" Roxas began slowly rubbing the back of his head as he did so. "It's just that, you're so good and, well, to be frank," the boy sighed shaking his head. "I've never actually danced before." His cheeks went red.

Realization hit Weiss like a tidal wave in a tsunami. Of course he didn't know how to dance! This was Roxas! The boy had never attended another school let alone another school dance!

Weiss's hand immediately reached up and face palmed.

"I'm an idiot…" she slowly whispered.

"Huh?" Roxas replied confused. "You're not an idiot just because I don't know how to dance."

Weiss shook her head, "No, no I just-" She smiled at the boy. "Would you like me to teach you?"

The boy didn't know why, but suddenly his chest felt warm from the sincere and sweet smile she was giving him.

"Oh, uh, sure." he finally stammered out.

Weiss took a step forward before reaching out with two hands and placing them on Roxas's hips, pulling him in so that their navels were nearly touching. Immediately, a bright flush overcame the boy's face.

"You see," Weiss began. Roxas could tell that she was intentionally looking down, unwilling to meet his gaze as she too was bearing a blush. "Dancing is all in your hips, just follow me as I go."

Roxas found himself moving the same way Weiss was as her hands directed him.

"Good good, keep mimicking me," she said as she slowly pulled her hands away and left him to move on his own which he did his best to keep up, all the while Roxas was becoming increasingly aware of just how close they were to one another. He could feel her breath against his lips; the aroma of her perfume was sweet as it drifted to his nose, it smelt of flowers.

"Now, just move your legs like so," she said simply as her feet began to step to the beat of the music. Roxas quickly followed suit as he watched her legs move to the rhythm of the song. He found his eyes slowly wandering up to the edge of where her thighs disappeared beneath her dress.

Roxas blinked rapidly as he quickly averted his gaze while still maintaining Weiss's instruction.

What is wrong with me right now?! he mentally shouted at himself. His body felt hot but it wasn't from the tuxedo; his face was seemingly in a constant blush now and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop his heart from racing.

Am I okay? Am I gonna have a heart attack?

"Very good!" Weiss chimed with a smile. "Now you just have to do something with your hands."

Roxas looked down and saw that his arms were still limply at his side as the rest of his body was moving.

Crap! She's right! What am I supposed to do with my hands!

The boy awkwardly shot them straight up towards the ceiling as if he needed to ask a teacher a really important question to a teacher.

Somehow this feels worse, he thought to himself as a cute giggle emanated from Weiss.

"No, that's not what I mean." She reached up and pulled his arms back down. The moment her slender fingers made contact with his arms he felt a jolt of electricity race up his spine.

There's definitely something wrong with me.

"Here, just position your arms like this…"

.

.

.

A half hour had passed since Weiss began teaching him how to dance and in that time Roxas realized he worked up a bit of sweat. He hadn't realized it going in, but dancing was quite the workout.

He spun in unison with Weiss as the music picked up. The two of them moving in different yet complementing fashions. Externally he had a confident smile on his face, happy that he was finally able to move in time with the music, internally he was hoping that the sweat on his forehead and neck wasn't too noticeable. He'd only realized that he was sweating when the gel in his hair began to come undone, resulting in a single defiant bang falling in front of his face while the rest of his hair remained slick back in a proper fashion.

He noticed that even Weiss had begun to glisten with sweat, creating a small gleam along her arms and legs. To her credit, it didn't make her look bad.

Roxas continued to dance to the best of his capabilities. He knew that he wasn't the best at it judging based on the stifled giggles from Weiss whenever he would do a particularly silly maneuver, but at the same time he figured he wasn't the worst dancer there.

Finally the song came to a close as the two spun into one another, meeting each other in a flourish as their faces drew inches apart, their hands clasped together. Once the final notes rang out, the two quickly separated.

Breathing heavily Weiss complimented, "I knew you would be a quick study, you were great out there Roxas!"

Already smiling, Roxas felt his grin grow wider. "Thanks, although I'm still nothing compared to you."

Weiss shrugged with a confident grin. "Ah well, it's hard to contend with someone so perfect," she commented in a semi-serious, semi-sarcastic tone.

Roxas rolled his eyes still smiling. "Might I add how humble you are too?"

"But of course!" Weiss added. "I am the most humble person you will ever meet."

The two shared a laugh together as Roxas felt a finger tap against his shoulder. Turning to look, the boy was met with a face he hadn't expected to see here.

"Blake?" he asked questioningly. She was wearing a dark black dress that accented her curves well with a slit running up the side of her leg.

"Hello," she said with a smile, but Roxas noted that her eyes were serious.

Weiss raising an eyebrow said, "Hello, you look wonderful by the way."

Blake gave a courteous nod before responding, "And you as well. You wouldn't mind if I stole Roxas away for a second would you?" she asked in what sounded like a jovial tone, but Roxas could hear a hint of something serious beneath it.

"Oh, um," Weiss stammered, clearly having picked up on the slight conflict in tone. "I...suppose…"

"Great." Blake's tone was no longer jovial, returning to its typical serious nature. Grabbing Roxas's arm she said, "I'll have him back in ten, promise." She turned and began to drag Roxas along with her.

Weiss shot him a questioning gaze which Roxas returned before he was pulled to the other side of the room to where he saw steps leading up.

"This way," she said sternly as she began to make her way up the staircase. Confused, Roxas decided to follow. Eventually, the two found themselves atop a balcony looking out and over the rest of the school. Looking up, Roxas had a clear view of the stars twinkling in the night sky.

Blake leaned against the railing looking out towards the rest of the school with a serious gaze. Roxas slowly walked up next to her, studying her as he leaned against the railing too.

"I have a lead," she said finally breaking the silence.

Roxas stared at her perplexed. A lead on what?

Blake sighed seeing his lost expression. "I have a lead on the White Fang, which part of Vale they're in, and a potential hideout of theirs."

Roxas's eyes grew big at this. She found them? How? Where!?

Turning towards Roxas, she continued, "You wanted to take down that 'Demyx' guy right? Well, I want to bust this group and find out why they're teaming up with scum like Torchwick just as much as you want to take down your former ally."

She reached out for a handshake. "I need as much help as I can get if I want this to go smoothly and I know you have a stake in this too, so are you in?"

Roxas's wide eyes stared down at the hand in front of her in bewilderment. So many questions raced through his head as he stood there. She wanted him to help her investigate the White Fang? How'd she find them? What were they up to? If they still had Demyx with them, how much of a threat were they to Vale? Someone with Demyx's kind of powers anywhere was potentially devastating. And more importantly, if this 'lead' was right and they did find Demyx, what would they do?

"Before I agree to anything, I need to know. If we do find their hideout, what will we do?"

Blake's hand slowly fell to her side. "Well in a typical situation like this one, I'd say we treat it like a reconnaissance mission. We go in, get what we came for, and then get out. We could go to the police with a friendly tip and let them handle the matter." She raised a finger. "However, this is not the typical situation. We know that a member of their organization has the ability to teleport wherever they want, and considering how large their organization is, for them to have stayed hidden this long they must have a rat somewhere in the police force. This means that going to the police is out of the question because the moment the rat leaks that someone's onto them, they can up and teleport away before the cops can get properly assembled."

Roxas blinked twice, she'd really thought this through hadn't she?

"So...what does that mean for us?"

Blake appeared conflicted in her answer, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she began, "It means...that we're between a rock and a hard place. We can't turn to the authorities with what we have in case that one of them is in cahoots with Roman and them. I'd thought of maybe telling one of the teachers-they'll likely act on the information. But I also know that once I do that, they'll have a closer eye on me for investigating the White Fang by myself." She sighed. "Students aren't supposed to be going off on their own investigating crime syndicates as you might imagine. It being 'dangerous' and all that. Once I give them this lead, then that's it for me and my investigation, and what if my lead is wrong? What if they storm the factory and discover nothing? I would have given up my edge on the White Fang for nothing."

"Ah c'mon! Give me a little credit!" complained a masculine voice from behind them.

Wait…why do I know that voice…?

Turning around, Roxas was met with a familiar face.

"Sun?"

The boy was wearing his typical attire, jean shorts and red gloves, but with a black dress shirt and a hanging tie around his neck.

"Heya Roxas!" he chimed walking over. "Long time no see, huh?"

Roxas's eyebrows furrowed staring at the young man. Why was he here?

Blake appearing more annoyed than usual sighed and gestured to Sun who was now standing beside her. "I guess I should mention that this is my lead. Sun here's the one who found it."

Sun laughed noticing Roxas's still confused expression.

"Here, let me explain," he spoke with a wide grin before turning to Blake. "Should I tell him how we met?"

Blake rolled her eyes as her arms crossed. Looking away she responded, "Do what you want to."

Sun snickered before turning back to Roxas. "So I'll give ya the short version. Basically, after that fight at the docks, me and Neptune never stopped investigating the White Fang." Leaning in he whispered, "We kinda thought it was cool that our detective work led to an actual bust."

He leaned back and continued, "Eventually, we noticed that all the places we were investigating had this little black caaaaaa…" Sun's happy expression dropped as he slowly turned his head towards Blake who was staring daggers into him.

"aaaandice…?" Sun paused scratching the top of his head in thought. "We, uh, thought her name was Candice as first so…" Roxas watched amused as Sun struggled to come up with an excuse. He could even see Blake attempting to hide a smile.

"He already knows about me," she finally said aloud.

"Oh thank god," Sun exhaled a sigh of relief. "I thought I'd just really messed up there."

Roxas let out a laugh.

"So, getting on with the story," Sun began again. "Basically me and Neptune kept seeing this little black cat hanging around all the dust robbery locations and eventually we decided to approach her."

"I beat them up." Blake said flatly.

"It was a draw at best!" Sun exclaimed pointing a finger at the girl.

Blake had a devious smile on her lips.

"Anyway!" Sun exclaimed only slightly annoyed. "We got to talking after our little exchange and realized that we were after the same thing, the White Fang." Sun's expression shifted from jovial to serious in that moment. "So naturally we decided to join forces and trade information to see if together we had something that apart we didn't."

Blake rolled her eyes. "Basically everything they had I already had but more."

"That was true up until a few days ago! I saw a suspicious figure in the western Industrial District. He was wearing flip flops, some torn jeans and a cat T-shirt."

Well that certainly sounds like something Demyx would wear…

"Now, if we had been in the residential or commercial districts, I wouldn't have batted an eye. But when everyone is in steel toe boots with old oil stained work clothes on, a guy looking like he did stands out." Sun shrugged. "Well, there was that, and I saw a familiar face with him."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. Who?

"You remember that guy in the bowler hat? Roman I think it was."

Roxas's eyes widened.

"Yeah," Sun crossed his arms across his chest. "I was walking up next to the guy, already curious when he suddenly pulled out a ringing scroll. And guess whose face I saw when he answered it?"

Silence filled the balcony for several seconds as they waited for Sun to continue.

"What? No guesses?" the Faunus said with a grin.

"Get to the point already," Blake said in an impatient tone.

Rolling his eyes Sun sighed, "Take the fun out of everything, why don't you? Alright I'll continue. So basically, after I saw that I tailed the dude until we reached an old abandoned factory. He entered, and I got out of there before I was found out."

"So that's what we have," Blake said pushing off the balcony and meeting Roxas's gaze. "We know where they are and have the advantage of them not knowing that we know. We have an opportunity here, but it might slip by fast."

Roxas tilted his head to the side. "Huh?"

"We don't know how long they've been there or how long they plan to stay. They could move out by tomorrow if they really want to. So that's one issue. Another issue we have is that we can't go to the authorities on this without potentially alerting the White Fang that we're onto them...at least not yet."

"Hey!" Sun complained. "You said that I'd get to tell the plan since I came up with it!"

Blake shot the Faunus a dark look before sighing, "Fine, go ahead."

"Sweet!" Sun cheered. "So we know that if we call the police that the White Fang will probably catch onto their operation and dip before they get there right?"

Roxas nodded.

"But what if the White Fang is too busy at the time to pack their bags and head out?"

Roxas shot him a curious gaze. What was he getting at?

"What I'm saying is we have a repeat of our time at the docks!" he exclaimed with a bright smile while wrapping an arm around Roxas's torso. "We make it impossible for them to run away by acting as the distraction! As a group we all jump down and start knocking some heads! We call the police and while they're taking their sweet time getting down here we can take our sweet time kicking some serious bad guy butt!" As he said his last words he slammed a fist into his palm.

"You want to...just straight up fight them?"

"Only until the police arrive," Blake interjected. "Preferably we'd run a distraction tactic; a straight out fight might end poorly for us. We'd basically be stalling for time until the police arrive."

Roxas felt a sinking feeling in his stomach at the idea. "There's no way." He shook his head. "This is a terrible plan."

"It is," Blake agreed. "But it's the best we've got right now." Reaching out, she rested a slender hand on Roxas's shoulder. "That's where you come into play. We're going to need as many people on this as possible, which means we'll need you to convince your team to help."

"My team?" Roxas repeated.

Blake nodded. "In a couple of days it'll be announced that first year teams will be shadowing real Huntresses and Huntsmen. The teachers have been talking about it quietly the last few days. If you manage to grab a mission somewhere in the Industrial District, then both of our teams will be able to meet up after nightfall outside the factory."

Roxas's eyes widened. "You've already managed to convince the rest of team Rainbow?"

Blake's gaze dropped, a conflicted look washing over her features. "...Not yet," she sighed looking out towards the stars. "And I'm not looking forward to telling them either. They're going to have a lot of questions...and in order to gain their trust I'm going to have to be completely honest with them."

Roxas saw the black bow resting atop her head twitch and knew immediately what she was saying. He felt like he should say something...but he didn't know what.

"Hopefully they can trust me," she mumbled beneath her breath. Roxas could see nervousness and fear in her eyes. Doubt and uncertainty was clearly written on her features as they stood there in the moonlight. Before him was a girl that he presumed had been hiding her entire identity behind that black bow. She kept her heritage, her past, her interests and intentions all a secret to her team all this time. How someone would react to having all of that revealed Roxas could only imagine.

Actually… Roxas thought to himself in realization, I don't have to.

Reaching out he set a hand on Blake's shoulder. "Don't worry too much about. Yang might get upset, but she'll still have your back. Trust me, I know from experience." He gave her a reassuring smile. "I don't know Nora and Ren as well, but Nora seems like a person who just goes along with anything without too much hang up, and Ren...well, he seems to just go along with whatever Nora wants." Roxas shrugged.

Blake returned his smile. "Thanks."

"So!" Sun loudly interjected slapping Roxas on the back in the process. "You're in right? We're gonna need a powerhouse like you to make this plan work."

Roxas paused, the term 'powerhouse' wrapping itself around his mind over and over again.

I'm no powerhouse anymore… he thought to himself quietly as he contemplated the offer. If what Sun told him was true, then they wouldn't just have to face the White Fang, they'd be forced to face Demyx as well. The very thought sent a shiver down the boy's spine. The idea of facing Demyx the way he was then was enough to cause a tremble in the boy's shoulders. With his powers gone, he didn't stand an ice cube's chance in a forest fire of winning.

Maybe I could ask them to hold off until my powers returned? Namine mentioned my powers could come back within the week...No...that won't work.

Roxas knew he couldn't wait until he got his strength back. There was no way to ensure that the White Fang would still be there by the time his powers returned. Not only that, but he didn't have time to waste searching for Demyx afterwards. He needed to stop Xemnas as soon as possible, which meant the moment his powers returned would be the moment he went for Xemnas's throat.

I can't let Xemnas get any stronger. Every second I'm stuck here could be another second of Xemnas getting closer to completing Kingdom Hearts. But what does that leave me with? If I can't wait for my powers to return, then that means…

Roxas sighed. He knew he would have to face Demyx in his current state, but that didn't mean he liked it. He would be at a severe disadvantage, but if he didn't do this now then he might not get the chance again.

If I don't stop Demyx here and now…I won't get another chance before I have to face Xemnas. And if I fall to Xemnas...then I'll be leaving this world to face Demyx alone.

Roxas shivered at the thought.

It's my fault he's here in the first place. It's my duty to stop him.

"I won't be as strong as I was at the docks…" Roxas slowly began before reaching out and meeting Sun's handshake. "But I'll do everything I can to help."

Sun raised an eyebrow to the reply. "Wait, why do you say you won't be as strong? Did something happen?"

Roxas frowned looking down. "I...suffered an injury that's left me weaker than I was. I'm still recovering."

"...Oh," Sun uttered frowning. "You sure you up for this? I mean, if you're feeling weak, then...maybe it'd be better if you sat this one out?"

A deep fear in Roxas's gut was screaming at him to accept the offer. Roaring at him that he was just as vulnerable as all the others now, that his failure wasn't just a possibility anymore, it was a likelihood. The chance of him perishing in this upcoming battle was more than in any other fight he'd ever faced and Roxas knew that to be the truth. In any other fight he could always just heal himself, or if things were getting really bad: summon a Corridor of Darkness and flee.

Those safety nets were gone now.

"Not a chance I'm sitting this one out," Roxas spoke with what he hoped was a confident grin. "Just because I'm not as strong as I was, doesn't mean I'm weak." Despite the nerves in the pit of his stomach roaring at him to hide away, to flee from this problem until the safety net that was his power returned, something else persuaded him to persist. The idea of Ruby, Yang, Pyrrha and the rest of his friends all going to fight without his help was enough of a motivation to push down all those fears. If one of them was injured or worse and he wasn't there doing absolutely everything in his power to prevent it, Roxas didn't know if he'd be able to sleep at night afterwards. Even without his powers, Roxas knew that he wanted to-no-needed to protect his friends

A bright grin spread from Sun's lips. "Aye! That's more like it!" He clapped a hand against Roxas's back.

"Good. Then it's settled," Blake said seriously as she started to make her way back towards the party. "I'll get my team together, you see if you can't do the same."

Sun's head whipped between Roxas and Blake before turning in the direction of the girl and chasing after her. "See ya later Roxas! I can't wait 'til we do this!" he shouted back with a wave.

Roxas raised a hand waving back with a smile on his face until the two disappeared back into the party.

The boy's hand slowly fell to his side as his smile slipped away replaced by a worried frown. Turning his back to the balcony doors, the boy leaned on the railing looking out towards the stars. His mind racing, he began to think of ways he might deal with someone like Demyx without his normal powerset.

He's poor at close range combat for the most part, if I I can manage to get in close I might just be able to deal some damage to him…that is assuming I somehow manage to break through those defenses.

He sighed thinking about the walls of water he would have to somehow blast through.

Maybe if I catch him off guard it might give me enough time to get in close before he can react. The others could distract him while I slip around the back and-

"Um, hey Roxas, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

The boy turned with wide eyes to see Weiss standing awkwardly by the door.

"Oh, hey." He forced a smile pushing the doubt in his mind away. "Having fun at the party?"

Weiss smiled approaching him. "Well I would be if the guy I came with was down there with me."

"Oh, right. Haha, sorry about that," the boy answered rubbing the back of his neck as she positioned herself next to him alongside the railing.

"I was beginning to wonder what was keeping you up here." She leaned up against the railing, her back to the sky as she looked over towards him. "It looked like you had your mind on something when I arrived. Everything okay?"

Roxas paused considering if he should share what he was feeling, if he should tell her the plan Blake was initiating.

...I said I wouldn't keep secrets from my friends anymore. Besides, I might be able to get her to join our plan.

Roxas's lips parted. Taking a breath, he prepared to recount the plan.

---

-Ten Minutes Later-

Weiss's eyes were wide as the last of Roxas's explanation reached her ears. The boy maintained their gaze with an expectant look; it was obvious that he was hoping for a response.

"I...wow," Was all that she could mutter in response. "I had no clue that Blake was diving so deep into this."

Roxas nodded. He'd told her nearly everything, excluding the bits about Blake being a Faunus. That seemed like a secret that wasn't his to tell.

"Yeah, a lot to take in I know." He sighed. "But I'm willing to bet that they would appreciate it if you tried to help too."

"Wait," Weiss began with an incredulous expression. "You're not really considering going are you?"

Roxas's eyebrows furrowed. "Of course I am, how could I not?"

Weiss's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious."

Roxas nodded. "You know I'm not one to kid around about stuff like this. Why do you think I wouldn't?"

"Oh I don't know maybe because you nearly died in your last couple of fights! Maybe because you're literally in no condition to be fighting again!" He could sense a build up of rage from the girl.

"I'm not weak Weiss!" Roxas snapped back, his voice echoing out into the night sky.

Weiss paused in her sentence, her eyes wide, her mouth ajar. It was clear to the boy that she hadn't expected him to snap like that.

"I-I-," she stammered before swallowing her surprise and staring into Roxas with a serious gaze. "I know you're not Roxas. I know that even now, even without all your abilities that you're still an incredible fighter who still has every right to be in this school. But-"

"I can handle this Weiss, I'm not running away from-"

"Please!" Weiss interrupted. "Just...let me finish alright?"

Roxas felt the well of anger from his outburst slowly begin to diminish. When he snapped he'd seen a girl telling him that he was too weak to make a difference, that his strength wasn't enough, that he was irrelevant. But as he stood there, looking into those pale blue eyes, he didn't see someone telling him that he wasn't enough, he saw someone terrified.

Terrified of losing him.

"I-...I- know you're strong. You're the strongest person I know Roxas. You're strong, clever, selfless, cute, honest, pure, and overall...just incredible." She paused, Roxas could see a blush spreading across her face. He could feel a warmth spreading over his features too. "I-I don't know how else to say it. You're an incredible person Roxas. I know I'm still young, and there's still so much more life to live, but I've honestly never encountered a single person like you in my whole life, and I-" Her voice grew shaky as she took a breath. "I can't begin to fathom a world where you're not in it. I don't want to think about a reality where you aren't a part of...my life."

Roxas felt a warm swelling in the center of his chest, his eyes were wide as he stared back into hers. He could see a distinct glimmer in them, like she was on the verge of tears.

"And I can't help but feel like..." She paused, looking down for a moment and using a sleeve to wipe at the corner of her eye. "I can't help but feel like this mission, that this battle could be the last time I see you. You've always made it by the skin of your teeth, you've always pushed yourself past your breaking point. I saw that in the Castle That Never Was when you were fighting Xion, I saw it during the breach and it terrified me to witness it. And I'm willing to bet that you did something similar during your fight against Demyx down in Vale."

Roxas averted his gaze choosing to study the floor rather than face the pleading expression in Weiss's eyes. It felt like someone was twisting something in his chest seeing her like that, and knowing he was the cause for it made it even worse.

"Now you're even weaker than before going up against even bigger dangers and I can't help but feel like if I don't say something now, if I don't somehow stop you from doing this then I won't get a second chance." Weiss pushed forward, wrapping Roxas into a hug. "So please, just wait. Wait until you've recovered and then we can face whoever you want. I won't get in your way, I promise. So please," The way the word escaped her lips, the desperation behind it made Roxas grimace in shame, his hands tightening into fists as he stood stiff.

"Just...wait, okay?" Weiss pulled away with her hands still resting on his shoulders.

The sounds of music and dance echoed out from the slight crack between double doors being ajar. Weiss waited quietly for a response as Roxas fell silent.

"Namine told me that I could have my power back in a week or two, maybe longer."

A bright smile crossed Weiss's expression, she didn't know how Namine might know this, but regardless she delighted choosing to interpret this information as a 'yes'. "That's great! That's not all that long! We could wait until that day and then investigate this lead-"

"No," Roxas interrupted slowly shaking his head. "We can't wait that long."

Weiss's lips pulled into a frown, her brows furrowing; what did he mean they couldn't wait?

"I, I don't understand."

Roxas slowly pulled his head up, his gaze cold and calculated as he stared into her emotion driven eyes. "Blake and Sun seemed intent on going through with this plan regardless of if I help, and even if we did somehow manage to convince them towards waiting, there's no way to assure that the White Fang, that Demyx would be there when we finally go."

Weiss shook her head. "Then once you get your powers back we can go on a hunt for the White Fang again! Like old times!" She smiled. "Remember? That's how you and I started to become friends."

Roxas felt a faint smile pull at his lips. "I remember. You were super angry at me for taking your position in team Purger."

Weiss nodded, letting out a soft laugh. "I can't recall if I ever apologized for that thinking back on it. I really berated you some of those times didn't I?" She sighed shaking her head on the silly thought. "In any regard, I apologize for how I acted back then. You didn't deserve it and I know that now."

Roxas shook his head smiling. "It's alright, you weren't all that bad. Plus afterwards you took me to dinner, so I think we're even."

The night air flooded with a short laughter between the two of them. After a few seconds, they stopped, staring into each other each searching for something in the other.

Weiss was searching his face for a 'yes'. A confirmation that he listened to her and wasn't planning on risking his life once again. Weiss frowned as she stared into his eyes, the way he was looking at her, the glint in his eye, the tightness in his face told her that he hadn't been convinced, that her words hadn't been enough to dissuade him.

Roxas was searching her face for understanding. He wanted her to see why he couldn't back down from this, he wanted her to know that this was the way it had to be. But he knew that she couldn't understand, not yet. She hadn't been told the whole story, she didn't know what he did and until she did there was no way she would agree to this fight until she did.

Roxas let out a sigh as he felt the light hearted laugh they shared slowly fading away and being replaced by a tension between them that he couldn't ignore.

She needs to know. She deserves to know...they all do.

"I can already tell that you're not going to wait…" Weiss frowned. "But why? What's making you rush this so much when you don't have to? Sometimes it's better to take things slow rather than rush. People get hurt that way."

Roxas's mouth felt dry as he swallowed, preparing to reveal what he discovered only a few nights ago. "You're right. Of course you're right, if we had the time...if I had the time, then I would be listening to you. I would wait until my powers came back and face Demyx then."

Weiss felt her lips slowly mouth the single word 'if'. What could he possibly mean by that? What could be happening right now that she was unaware of? What could possibly be forcing him to rush into this battle when he was clearly not ready for it?

"I can't wait anymore Weiss. I won't have the time to search out Demyx and the White Fang once I get my powers back because once I do…" Roxas felt his voice shutter as he took a deep breath in preparation for what he was about to admit. "Because once I do I won't be here anymore."

Roxas could see confusion written on her face. She was trying to understand what he was saying. Not be here anymore? Why? Where was he leaving to? If he was going somewhere then why was it so important to go there right away?

"You're…" she began softly. "You're not just talking about heading down to Vale, are you?"

Roxas shook his head. "No. I'm not."

"You're planning to leave Beacon...aren't you?" He could sense the concern in her voice.

"...Sorta, yeah."

"...You're not just leaving Beacon are you?" As Weiss spoke her eyes grew larger. "You're planning…I don't even know what you're planning."

"I need to face Xemnas."

The name split the air like a knife. Weiss felt a cold shiver run down her spine as the name struck her eardrums. Her mind flashed back to the cold amber gaze, his impossible speed and strength. Her mind flashed back to the time they'd been in The Castle That Never Was, when they'd been discussing what they would do in the instance that any number of the Organization approached them. She remembered the Roxas being uncertain, but at least confident enough to give them some information on the other members, Saix, Luxord, Xaldin. He had at least something on those members reflecting some level of confidence that they could be beaten. But then he'd gotten to the number one of the Organization, their leader, Xemnas.

She remembered him describing the man to her. His silver hair, his amber piercing eyes, his deep authoritative voice. The only piece of advice he'd been able to give in regards to that…monster had been to run.

"You...want to face Xemnas?" Weiss reiterated. Her tone was lost, confused. Roxas could tell that she was grasping to understand.

Roxas shook his head. "I don't. I don't want to fight him. If I could run away and hide...I just might. But I can't. I made a promise that I've put off for too long, and now I'm the only one left who can even hope to stop him. I need to face Xemnas, before it's too late."

Weiss blinked. "What do you mean that you're the only one left?"

Roxas swallowed as he prepared to reveal to the girl what he'd been dreading admitting for the past several days. What he felt was his fault, his mistake; the result of his absence, the result of his inaction.

His mind repeated it in different ways to say it, different ways to tell her the same truth. Each and every formation of the same message sounded dumb in his mind, like no matter how he framed the sentence his words couldn't represent the gravity of what was being said, at least not properly. After several moments of internal debate Roxas decided that if finding the proper words to tell her was impossible, then he might as well tell her as simply as he could manage.

"Sora is dead and it's my fault!" he spoke abruptly, shouting as he let it burst out of him like a wild animal racing out of its cage. The words hit the air like any other sentence would, but the message contained within them hung in the air, settling as he could see Weiss processing what she'd just heard. He'd not realized it before, but saying it aloud was so much worse than he could have ever imagined. It was as if before when he'd only known this truth, it hadn't been real. It was something only he knew and because of that it was something that only he could know was true, his reality but not the world's reality. It felt like a bad dream to him before, something that he experienced in his sleep, something that could be forgotten and pushed away.

But now that he'd said it aloud to someone else, it was as if all of the weight of that fact was increased tenfold. Now not only he knew of his failure, but someone else knew of it as well, cementing his guilt and finalizing the fact that Sora was dead.

It was no longer his secret to keep.

Now it was someone else's.

Weiss's expression was one of loss, of confusion and a determined resolve to understand.

Finally after what felt like an eternity of silence waiting for her response, she said, "Sora...the boy we woke up back at the...how do you know?" Her words were soft and calculated, he could tell her mind was racing to put the pieces together.

"I've...I've been having visions in my sleep. In them I watched Sora's journey. We're still linked somehow, he and I...or I guess I should say that we were linked. Anyway, I watched him explore new worlds and saw him grow incredibly strong...stronger than me even with my powers." Roxas let a sad laugh slip through his lips. He knew it wasn't funny, he just wanted a reason to take a pause before he continued.

"...A few nights ago I received my final vision. I saw Sora going toe to toe with Xemnas. The two were at the climax of the fight and…" The boy grimaced and turned away. "Then I got to watch Sora's final moments...before Xemnas finished him."

Weiss's expression was blank and emotionless. He could tell that she didn't know what to make of this information, and he didn't blame her.

I need to explain more for her to fully understand… he thought to himself as his lips parted. "In these visions I saw what Sora saw, I felt what Sora felt. It was as if I was him in these visions. I experienced everything that he did, and in those final moments before he was struck down by Xemnas's hand, I could feel him seeking deep within himself, searching for a strength that was missing." He paused a moment, waiting for her to understand what he was saying. When he saw her eyes widening a look of understanding behind them, he continued. "He was searching for my power, his other half." He shook his head. "When Sora woke up in that room, I was supposed to be a part of him again. I should have stopped existing in that moment and returned to him as his second half. That was my fate. That's what should have happened." He looked down at his hands at they began to tremble, a look of disgust written on his face. "And now it's too late for that. Sora's gone and I'm all that's left of him. Just a poor imitation of what he could have been." He looked up and locked eyes with her. "That's why it's my fault."

He could see the turmoil behind her eyes. He could tell those words had hurt her to listen to. She wanted to refute him, to tell him that he shouldn't blame himself, but there was no way to spin this the other way. They both knew that had he been with Sora in that moment, things could have ended differently.

To Roxas's surprise, Weiss's expression contorted into one of fury as she began, "So now you figure that you have to go and face Xemnas yourself? What will that do? You said it yourself, Sora was stronger than you when he went up against Xemnas. Even if you get your abilities back, going to face him now will just be throwing your life away!"

Roxas sighed looking down. He knew she was right, what was he supposed to do? If both Riku and Sora failed together, then what was he supposed to do alone?

Despite this, Roxas shook his head. "You don't understand. If I don't go then soon there won't be anyone strong enough to stop him!"

Weiss's anger immediately subsided in place of bewilderment. "...What?"

Roxas waited until she was properly listening before he began to explain.

"Xemnas is after Kingdom Hearts. Why that is...I don't know for sure. He told us that he was trying to restore our hearts...but now I know that as a lie. I've thought about it a lot, and I've realized something. In the vision I saw Xemnas looked…different than normal, as if he had something else aiding him in the fight. He felt different, moved faster, hit harder...and it got me thinking. Back during my time in the Organization, the way we collected hearts was by defeating the Heartless, and some of the Heartless I fought were pretty strong. They got their strength from the hearts they stole...so I imagine that Xemnas has started to figured out a way to harness that same power. I've collected so many hearts, I've slain countless Heartless during my time in the Organization…and if all those hearts, all those powers collected into one being..." He shook his head. "I can't imagine how strong that person could be, what they might be able to do with that power. They would be able to ravage worlds without an effort, he could come here and there would be nothing I could do to stop him." He could see from the look on her face that she was beginning to understand. "When I saw him, he still resembled himself. I could tell that despite all the power he gained, he was still fighting, and struggling, at least to some extent. Which means to me that he hasn't completed Kingdom Hearts...yet." Roxas sighed as he looked down. "That's why I can't stay once I get my powers back. I don't know anyone that even comes close to facing Xemnas other than me. If I wait any longer then he might figure out a way to complete Kingdom Hearts and then it'll be too late for anyone to stop him."

"...You don't know that for sure," she murmured looking like she'd just been told that someone died. Thinking about it, Roxas realized she had.

"He's figured out a way to harness Kingdom Hearts Weiss. That's something I never saw him do during my time in the Organization. It's not unreasonable to believe that he's figured out a way to continue making Kingdom Hearts too." He looked down at his open hand. "All this time I justified staying in this world because I told myself I was stopping him. I told myself that because no Heartless were here, that because I kept the Keyblade so far out of his grasp that I had the time to get strong enough to face him eventually." He shook his head. "Now I know that I was wrong. I've waited long enough, and look what that's done." He sighed. "I know that I might not be enough to stop him...but at this point my best odds are to face him as soon as I can before he can get even stronger."

He looked up studying her face, looking for the recognition he'd been searching for earlier. He wanted her to understand why he was doing this, even if she didn't agree with him.

"I see…" she muttered quietly as she turned away from him deciding to face out towards the night sky then meet his face.

"That's why I can't wait for my powers to come back to face Demyx. I know that there's a…big chance that I won't win against Xemnas in our fight. If that happens…then I don't want to leave this world to face Demyx and the White Fang alone. He's goofy and he's aloof at times, but when he's serious...well there's not many that can rival a member of the Organization."

Roxas waited for her to respond as he stood there. He said everything, told her everything. It was a weight off his shoulders, but at the same time, what was he expecting her to say? Was he expecting her to tell him to go for it? That she supported his decision to go and probably throw his life away fighting an unstoppable enemy? He knew she wouldn't do that, there was no way any friend would say that. He knew that he wouldn't get that response. Maybe he just wanted to hear someone that wasn't himself tell him that they understood why he was doing what he was doing. Not that they wanted it done, but that his actions made sense. He wanted some form of validation that at least in what he predicted would be his final acts...at least they would be justified in some way?

After another minute of silence, Roxas concluded that he probably wasn't going to get a response at all, let alone the one he wanted. He knew he couldn't blame her for it as he stared at the back of her head, his eyes full of sadness and uncertainty. What could anyone say to what he'd just told her? It was crazy to think about. Roxas was having a hard time himself accepting the situation he was in. A man without a heart was forming a power with the capacity to potentially consume worlds, and somehow he was supposed to stop it...or at least die trying.

I should probably go. She's still processing all this. I doubt she wants me here.

Roxas turned to leave, his dress shoes clicking against the hard floor as he made his way towards the door.

"Wait."

Weiss was quiet, but the boy froze the moment the word reached his ears. Turning on his heel, he could see Weiss was facing towards him leaning against the railing behind her.

"I'd be lying if I said that I understood everything that's going on with you and this 'Kingdom Hearts' thing. I mean, you're literally out of this world." She flashed a sheepish smile at her own joke, but it quickly fell away. "But I know more than most, and I know enough to realize that nothing I say will change your mind. This is bigger than me, this is bigger than team Purger and team Rainbow, and whether you like it or not this is bigger than you. You're not gonna be enough to stop this and you know that deep down no matter how strong you are that you're still just a fifteen year old boy." Roxas's lips parted to contest this, but Weiss raised a hand in a gesture for him to wait. Frowning, he complied.

"I'm not asking you to wait anymore, I know that you won't, and I understand why you can't. But I can tell by the way that you're talking that you plan to take this on alone." Weiss paused closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. "So this is the deal I'm willing to make. I'll help you and Blake. I'll even convince Namine to help, although I doubt that it'll take much to convince her. I'll help you tell the rest of your team and I'll even do everything in my power to convince team Rainbow to help too." She looked him dead in the eye as she said, "But in return, you have to accept our help when you go to face Xemnas."

Roxas's eyes immediately widened as his lips parted to protest, but before he could Weiss's hand shot out and pointed at him, her face full of unwavering determination and stubbornness. "That's the deal!" her voice rang out in a sharp burst. "And you don't get to accept it one way or another! Even if you say no! I'm friends with Namine and she knows how to do your 'Dark Corridor' trick too! So even if when your powers come back and you disappear on us, we'll be able to follow you even if you don't want us to!"

The boy stood there with shock written on his expression. Namine could form a Dark Corridor too? Was that true? He knew that she was a Nobody like him, hell she was even created at the same time he was so it made sense that she would be capable of creating one...but who would have taught her?

"...Why has she never done it before? She's never showed me." Roxas questioned.

Weiss's determined expression faltered for a moment, revealing a sheepish frown of someone caught in a lie. "Well… she showed me one day that she was able to create one, but she told me that she wasn't as good at it as you are at it due to lack of practice, so it might not be as…stable as the ones you create…" The seriousness in her tone immediately returned. "But that doesn't mean that we can't try and follow! It might take a few tries, but we'll get there soon enough!"

Roxas raised an eyebrow at this. Not as stable? Lack of practice? Did that mean that someone hadn't shown her, but rather she figured it out through seeing someone else do so alone? It made sense to a degree. She'd been with DiZ before all this, and it wouldn't make sense for the man to teach her a way for her to flee from him if she ever decided to. Did that mean that the Dark Corridor she could form would be even more dangerous to enter than a normal one? Would travelling between worlds be dangerous even with a coat from the Organization through one of her portals? Or would it just spit them out at a random location like his had done when he fled from the battle against Riku? Either way he didn't like the idea of his friends being exposed to the affects of Darkness or being lost on a strange world without a way to get back.

The boy locked eyes with Weiss, studying her expression for even a hint of a bluff. Several moments passed, and no matter how hard he dived into those pale blue eyes, he knew that she was telling the truth.

She had him. He couldn't think of a way to stop her if Namine truly could create a Dark Corridor. If he didn't agree to her terms and went off by himself to face Xemnas, then he'd be endangering his friends by doing so.

Roxas cursed under his breath as he broke their stare down, looking away with a scowl. When he looked back towards the girl he could see a confident smile on her lips. Still smiling, the girl approached Roxas, her general demeanor radiating that of someone who'd just won.

She reached out a hand for him to shake. "Do we have a deal?"

Roxas's frown was deep and unwavering as he stared down at the hand. He didn't want to endanger his friends in a fight against someone like Xemnas. Sure, he understood why she was doing it. It made sense from his standpoint to bring as many allies that were available to go against someone so strong. Roxas admitted to himself that he would be lying if he said he didn't at least feel a little more confident in his odds of success if team Rainbow and Purger came with him, but that didn't mean he wanted to.

There's no way I would be able to keep everyone safe and fight Xemnas at the same time. If I accept this offer, then that would mean any one of them could be injured or worse in this fight…

But it wasn't like he was being given much of a choice. The alternative was that all of his friends be potentially exposed to the full effects of Darkness due to Namine's inexperience. Without him realizing it, Weiss had managed to trap him in the corner without any way out. He'd not realized it until then, but she was far more clever than he gave her credit for.

"...You know that I don't have a choice here…" he grumbled staring daggers into the girl.

Weiss smiled sweetly at the comment. Roxas couldn't help but find her pretty in that moment despite the feelings of annoyance he held for her at the same time.

"I know, I just need to make sure you understand that," she said pushing her hand even closer to him.

Roxas sighed as he reached out and took the hand, limply shaking it.

"Good," Weiss smiled. "I'm glad that we could come to an agreement."

Roxas rolled his eyes, a grin slowly pulling at his lips. Despite not liking the deal, something about knowing his friends would be there with him was reassuring, although he would never admit it.

The two continued to stare at one another as they grew silent, the gentle night breeze licking at their faces as it passed. Several seconds later Roxas realized that they'd been staring at each other for too long without saying a word and the boy immediately turned away, his face feeling warm.

"Are you feeling okay Roxas?" Weiss asked reaching out a hand to rest on his shoulder. As she did so Roxas realized that he was becoming increasingly aware of the girl's physical touch and just how close she was to him.

"Uh, yeah I'm good," he stammered out as he took a step back escaping her grasp. Running the back of his neck he asked, "Do you want to go back down to the party?"

"Oh…"

Roxas watched as her expression fell.

"Uh, yes. Of course."

Feeling particularly partch Roxas turned on his heel and began to make his way towards the door.

Before he could get very far however, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wait…"

Roxas looked over his shoulder eyeing the girl. Her hand was gripping his shoulder firmly, tightly like she was fighting to keep him here despite him stopping when she asked him to.

"Yeah?" he answered. Her head was lowered so that her hair was hanging in her face masking her facial expression.

"I just...I need to tell you something I think," she said uncharacteristically quiet.

Roxas raised an eyebrow. What else was there to talk about? Did she still have questions about the plan? He'd gone into depth telling her all that he knew. Was she planning to bring up Xemnas again? He'd already agreed to her terms, so that wouldn't make sense to him.

His eyes looked into hers questioningly and to his surprise he could see...uncertainty in those pale blue irises.

"Is everything okay?"

Her smile reassured him as she said, "Yes, everything is fine, it's just that...with this plan that Blake proposed I realize that we only have a few days left until things start moving forward."

Roxas nodded in response. It would be only a couple days until teams would be assigned their Huntsman or Huntress to shadow. Assuming Roxas could convince his team to transfer to the right district, the fight against Demyx and the White Fang would be a mere day away.

"Not only that, but even if we do succeed and manage to take down this Demyx guy...well the moment you get your powers back whether it's tomorrow or sometime within the week, we'll be off to face some other life risking adventure…" The girl paused as her words trailed off. Her gaze remained locked onto Roxas; however, he could feel her gaze searching deep into his own, searching for something he could not determine. She was studying him looking for an answer he knew not how to give.

"Yeah…" Roxas answered back. "Looks like the next week is gonna be pretty eventful huh?" The boy attempted to muster a short laugh but it fell away quickly, the weight of the upcoming events drowning away any sense of humor he could muster.

"It is." Weiss smiled briefly before it disappeared behind a nervous look, one that only cemented the boy's previous analysis.

"...What's wrong Weiss?" he quietly asked staring into her eyes.

A scarlet blush rushed to the girl's features as she pulled away stammering, "N-Nothing. I'm just-...I am just building up the courage right now…"

Roxas tilted his head in confusion as he watched Weiss turn her back to him taking deep breaths.

The courage for what?

"...Roxas?" she asked delicately, an aura of insecurity in her voice that Roxas found himself unfamiliar with. Rare was it that Roxas found Weiss appearing insecure or unconfident in any way. She was confident, both in who she was and her abilities and that quality was something that Roxas picked up on the first day they met. Seeing this side of her as she turned around, looking over towards him like a lost child looking for their parent, Roxas couldn't help but feel unsettled watching her look at him that way.

"...Yes?" he answered back questioningly.

"Do you know why I asked you to the dance?"

Roxas paused in thought recognizing the weight of the question. Just from the way she was looking at him he could tell that 'because you wanted someone to dance with' wouldn't cut it.

"...I imagine it's not because you just wanted a dance party...was it?" he answered honestly. His mind raced through the depictions of romance and affection he'd seen leading up to the evening. The looks that some of the couples gave each other as they swayed in each others' arms ignoring the music entirely to spend it closer to one another.

A short laugh escaped Weiss lips. "Perceptive as ever aren't you?" Her smile remained as she continued to watch him, staring as he stared back uncertainty.

What does she want me to do right now?

Almost on cue, Weiss said, "Before I say anything...can you answer me a single question?"
Roxas slowly nodded. "Um, sure, yeah that's alright."

"Why did you choose to tell me?"

To Roxas's surprise the answer came out almost immediately. It'd been a question he'd been unknowingly preparing for ever since he received his vision of Sora's defeat. Every time he thought about what he had to do, every time he considered the impact his failure would have, he always thought about his friends. About what they would think and what they would say. He didn't want them to be confused if something happened to him, he didn't want them to feel like he was keeping something from them if this was truly it. He wanted them to know that he cared for them, that he confided in them and that they mattered to him enough that he let them in when he pushed everyone else out. It wasn't just his little world anymore, they were all a part of it too.

"Because I trust you," he answered simply. "I've learned that I can trust you. That I can trust Ruby and Pyrrha and Yang and all of our other friends. I decided a little while ago that I was done with keeping secrets. That you all deserve to know the truth behind what's happening and why it's happening. I told you because...well, you deserve to know." Roxas smiled. "I told you because I knew that I could trust you."

The smile pulling at Roxas's cheeks soon fell away as he saw the look of sadness consuming Weiss's features.

"What?" he questioned with wide eyes. "Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry, I didn't know that-"

"No no!" Weiss waved off his concern. "It's not that. Nothing you said was wrong...in fact it was quite sweet thinking about it."

Roxas's head cocked to the side. If she found his answer sweet, then why did she appear so sad?

"It's just that...I have a couple things I need to tell you, and I don't know what to tell you first." She rubbed the side of her arm as she looked away appearing uncomfortable. Letting out a nervous laugh she spoke, "What's funny is I spoke to Namine about this. That's actually why I pulled away from you at the start of the dance. I was actually talking to her about exactly this."

So Namine knows.

Roxas noted as he let Weiss continue, "She effectively told me that I should stop beating around the bush and just outright say it. That I need to take that risk, and I had planned to do exactly that tonight." She sighed looking wistful as she stared out into the darkness. "I figured tonight would be the perfect occasion to finally say it. Finally let go of that fear and tell you."

Roxas felt his eyes begin to grow as his mind worked at what she was telling him. Nervousness, embarrassment, a message she wanted to deliver to him on this specific night. It had been staring him in the face all this time and Roxas felt annoyed that he hadn't seen it before. His mind filled with the displays of affection he'd encountered throughout the campus leading up to the dance. He didn't understand it, or at least not completely, he knew that much. But from what he'd seen leading up to the dance, he could figure that she was expecting something of that nature.

As his mind filled with these images, suddenly a seemingly new image occupied his memories.

Ruby was looking back at him, their feet swishing in the water as they sat close to one another next to a river bank. He was studying her face as she began to speak, stuttering the entire time. Her expression was one of uncertainty, of nervousness...nearly identical to the expression Weiss had been wearing. The outside world suddenly stopped mattering as the memory began to play out again, his mind blanking on every previous thought except for this memory as he began to relive it.

"You don't have to tell me." Roxas shrugged away the question.

"No no!" Ruby startled turning back to the boy. "I want to tell you I do! It's just… hard to I guess."

"Why?" Roxas asked bluntly.

Ruby smiled. "I love how innocent you are sometimes."

Roxas scratched his head in response, looking at her strangely.

She sighed, "It's actually something that Jaune told me…that started to make a lot of sense when I thought about it."

"...Roxas?"

Before he realized what was happening Roxas felt himself pulled back to the present with Weiss standing before him resting a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to get his attention.

The boy stared at the Schnee with wide eyes, his face contorted into one of pure surprise and shock.

"Are you okay?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh," Roxas stammered. He could feel the sweat running down the side of his face, his heart was beating a mile a minute, but why?

Wait...what were we just talking about? What was that memory? That was after the walk...wasn't it? Grr! It's all so foggy right now!

Realizing that the Schnee was still awaiting his response he quickly blurted out, "Oh, yeah I'm uh, fine I think." He rubbed his temple as he continued, "Just…feeling sorta weird right now."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How so?"

The boy slowly raised a hand to his chest. "My heart is pounding and my head is blanking and I'm all…" Roxas ran a finger down the side of his face. "I'm sweating for some reason."

To his surprise this prompted a knowing smile from the Schnee standing before him. Much to his surprise, Weiss raised her other hand to rest on his shoulder, her fingers lightly gripping his shoulders as she smiled at him.

"I think I know what's going on," she said as she gently began to pull him towards the center of the large balcony space.

"You do?" he asked confused as he yielded to her pull.

She nodded. "I do. You're feeling nervous because you're having feelings that are new to you, that are unfamiliar. You're having butterflies and it's because you're closer than you ever were before towards understanding those feelings."

Roxas blinked as he noticed her begin to sway back and forth. "How...do you know?"

Weiss's smile widened before leaning forward and whispering in his ear, "Because I'm feeling it too."

Roxas blinked rapidly. She was!? Did that mean that she was having flashbacks too? Wait, that didn't make sense, she hadn't suffered any memory loss...did she?

"Dance with me," she spoke calmly and sweetly as she lightly tugged at his shoulders to move with her.

"Huh?" he responded dumbly.

"Don't you hear the music? It's a slow dance right now."

Roxas blinked before closing his eyes and focusing on the sounds around him. Just as she'd said, he could hear a slow sweet melody drifting out from the crack in the door.

"Oh," he quietly murmured as his feet began to fall into step with Weiss's. "So it is."

Opening his eyes he saw Weiss staring at him with a deep and intense gaze giving him a look he'd never seen her use before. His mind immediately thought back to the time Emerald had approached him just before he'd left with Ruby for...something. She gave him the same look Weiss was giving as she drew closer to him, positioning her head so that her lips were just at his ears.

"I wanted this to be perfect you know," she softly whispered in his ear. "I didn't want a single distraction to get in the way. Then Blake came to you with her plan and you told me about yours and well…" she sighed, shaking her head. "It just didn't feel like the right time anymore."

The right time for what? he thought to himself as he awkwardly placed his hands just above her hips replicating how he'd seen other students conduct this dance earlier.

"I initially thought to scrap the idea and wait for another night, but it didn't take long to realize that I don't have that luxury. Based on what you're telling me...we may not get another moment like this one."

Another moment like this one…

Without warning Roxas's mind blanked again as he was pulled back to the running river with Ruby sitting beside him with a nervous look on her face.

"He said…" she began before gulping. "That the breach made him realize… that had something happened to him…he might not have gotten the chance to tell…a girl… that he um, well." Ruby gulped again, nervousness clearly present as she continued, "That he had feelings for her."

The boy was abruptly pulled back to the present as Weiss said, "It's not perfect. But considering the fact that in just a few days time Blake plans to throw all of us into the thick of things, well, I may never get a second chance to truly express to you how I feel."

"Huh," Roxas responded chewing on his lip. "And that gave you an idea?"

Ruby shot him a raised eyebrow. "Yes. It um. It made me realize that I should… probably do the same."

Roxas could feel his heart begin to beat a mile a minute as he heard Weiss's words. It was becoming clearer to him now what her message to him was, what that look was about, but he felt stunned in place unable to respond. His thoughts were divided between what was going on then and what happened in the past creating a mishmash of thoughts, none of which were comprehensible. His eyes were wide, his cheeks red whether this was due to the memories flooding back to him or what Weiss was telling him her feelings.

Weiss was staring him in the eyes now, her face red, her eyes full of determination.

"I know that this is all new to you Roxas. I know that you probably don't quite understand what I'm telling you. But-"

"No, I do." Roxas stammered, slowly nodding his head. "I-I get it, I think."

A bright smile pulled at Weiss's lips. "Is that right?"

Roxas slowly nodded struggling to clear his mind from all the rampant thoughts flooding through it. It was like two sides of him were roaring at him to take action; the side of him who remembered, and the side of him who didn't. The former was screaming at him to pull away, that he was about to do something that he'd regret, while his other half was telling him the opposite, that this was good, that this was right.

What am I supposed to do right now!?

He yelled at himself internally as Weiss began to speak, her voice sheepish and slow. "So...do you understand when I tell you that I have feelings for you? Feelings that are...more...than just friendship?" Weiss's face was full of worry, full of insecurity and fear. She was offering her heart to the boy and didn't know if he would accept it, or dismiss it.

"I…think so…" he said with uncertainty. A part of him did know what she was telling him. He knew it was a big deal, that this was something that had to be handled delicately. He knew he needed to formulate a response, a decision to either accept or reject these feelings, but he had no clue which to choose.

Why is everything so fuzzy right now?

He thought to himself as Weiss asked, "So...do you think...that you feel the same about me?"

"So…" Roxas began again, this time at a whisper, "You…you have 'feelings' for me?"

"I…do." Ruby slowly nodded, still not meeting his eye.

Roxas paused, looking out towards the water before looking back, "What does that mean exactly?"

Roxas felt himself pull back to the present, his mind blanking on a response as he stared back at Weiss's nervous expression. He needed to give her a response now and he knew it. His mind spacing on forming a good one, he decided that honesty would be the best way to go.

"I...dunno." He began feeling a little queasy. "I can't seem to think straight right now, my mind keeps flooding with memories and thoughts and I don't know what to listen to anymore." He sighed as he looked down breaking eye contact with the girl, "I wish I had an answer for you right now, but it's all so fuzzy that I can't make sense of how I'm feeling anymore…I can't seem to be able to decide on anything."

Silence fell between them as Roxas kept his head down doing his best to try and think through his dilemma while his stomach was doing repeated backflips. He felt like he was doing the wrong thing and the right thing at the same time, like he had two choices but didn't know what the other choice was.

Before long he felt Weiss's slender fingers softly raise his chin so that he was eye level with her again. The nervousness she'd previously exhibited had fallen away replaced by a look of sheer determination.

"Well, if you're struggling to find an answer. Maybe this will make things simpler for you."

Before he could react, before he could even respond, she closed the distance between them, pulling her lips to his as her fingers wrapped around the back of his head pulling him in.

Roxas felt Ruby's shoulders tense before they slowly eased, and suddenly, the boy felt the girl's slender fingers running through his wet hair pulling him deeper into the kiss. He felt his hands wanting to reach up to do the same with hers.

Her lips were sweet as they pushed against his own, warm but cool at the same time with a layer of lip gloss giving them a sleek and sweet affect. His senses were screaming at him all different messages, his mind so clustered with rivaling emotions that he found himself unable to move, unable to think, unable to pull away or even sink deeper into the kiss. He was frozen stiff, his eyes wide and unblinking as he was pulled away from the moment yet again.

Her lips were soft and slippery from the water as his eyes closed, his senses numbing themselves so that the only thing he could feel were her lips pressed against his; her fingers in his hair as his fingers ran through her own.

His senses slammed him back into reality as he could hear the distant sound of music behind him combined with voices chatting and laughing together as they continued to appreciate the event. His eyes were wide taking in every aspect of the world around him to the most minute details. The small chips in paint on the railing, the slight wisps of clouds in the night sky blocking out some of the stars and giving the night a smokey effect. It was as if all of his senses had been magnified in response to the kiss. His fingers tingled with anticipation as Roxas's mind rapidly began firing off theories as to what he was experiencing in the moment. One of which was the realization that he felt like he was doing something wrong, that his senses were alerting him because he felt like he was about to be caught, or at least the prospect of being caught by anyone was enough to send waves of panic to all of his sensations. He felt like he was in the heat of battle, his heart racing, his legs jittering from his fight or flight response kicking in.

The moment of clarity was gone a second later as his mind retreated into itself once again to experience what felt like new and familiar all at the same time.

The world around him seemed to fall away, the sound of rushing water only a few feet away seemed so distant as it's wet splashes seemed miles away. The wind which had been previously drying his clothes mere moments ago had seemingly stopped in its entirety so as to not interrupt this single moment.

He'd nearly lost all sense of time when his mind returned once more. He could tell it was still night out from the sky and stars. The dance was still going on behind him from the echoing sounds of music, but if he'd been forced in that moment to tell someone how long he'd been standing there in that moment, he would have stared blankly at them.

He remained motionless as Weiss pulled back, a bright blush on her face as she smiled sweetly at him. "So…" she began, slowly studying his stunned expression for some type of response. "Do you think that helped you make up your mind?"

Roxas felt like an eternity had passed when they finally pulled away from each other.

He had to admit, he wouldn't have minded spending another eternity enveloped by those lips.

When he pulled away, taking a deep breath of air, he realized that the swirling mass of uncertainty and fear in his mind was gone.

His head was clear.

Despite the feelings of his former memory, his mind was anything but clear. He stood motionless and dumb as his mind began to piece together the rest of that night with Ruby. He remembered Roman, Demyx and Neo standing at the top of the hill looking down at them. He recalled the fight. He remembered watching as Neo plunged a blade into Ruby's chest...and he remembered pushing everything he had left in him towards healing the girl before it was too late.

"...Roxas?" Weiss's voice echoed out as she reached out to grasp his shoulder. Before she could however, instinct took over and Roxas found himself pulling away from the girl taking several steps away before he felt his back collide with the door.

Roxas felt himself blink once, looking over his shoulder to examine the door before immediately returning his attention to Weiss.

The look on her face made Roxas's stomach drop.

Her eyes were both wide and scared interwoven with a combination of confusion and hurt. He could see a slight tremble in her bottom lip as she stared lost into his eyes. He could see that she didn't understand, that she couldn't figure out what she'd done wrong. She looked like someone who's world had just been shattered and she was trying her best to pick up all the pieces.

"R-Roxas?" she stammered out repeating herself and studying him, searching for an answer in his face to explain why he was looking at her that way. There was still a sliver of hope in her tone, a hope that was desperately clinging to the idea that he pulled away on accident, that he'd made a simple mistake due to being bewildered by the exchange.

"I-I'm sorry," she began softly, her feet slowly approaching him like a person approaching a nervous dog for the first time. "I, I didn't mean to freak you out, honestly. I- I just thought that- I,"

Her voice trailed off as Roxas pulled his head to the side shutting his eyes in a tight grimace. His lips had formed a thin frown as his hands tightened into fists.

Weiss froze as she saw this, her eyes lingering on his hands before she asked, "W-What's wrong Roxas? C-Can we just talk about this for a second?"

Roxas felt like his head was going to explode as his mind raced to come to some sort of answer, some sort of conclusion in response to everything he'd just learned. His mind raced round and round before he realized that it was all too much as his breathing began to quicken and his chest began to pound louder.

"...I...I…!" He slowly began to stammer as he tried to think of what he needed to say, of what he needed to do in this situation. Despite this desire, none of his thoughts would agree with each other. The moment he began to think one thing another thought would form that took the other side of the argument.

I should walk up to her.

I should stay still until I know what's going on.

She's scared right now, I can see it in her face.

I'm scared right now too. I could make it worse.

I should tell her that it's alright.

But it's not alright, I'm not alright.

I should say something, anything

But what would you say?

I need to find someone who can help me make sense of all this.

But who?

I need to find Ruby.

I need to find Ruby.

Roxas's eyes flashed open wide as the thought raced through his head, the only thought that wasn't being challenged, the only thought that made any sense in that moment. He didn't know what he wanted to say to her or even what he would do when he found her, but it was all he could think to do in that moment.

Looking at the girl in front of him staring back at him with a distraught look full of sorrow, of anxiety, and most of all fear, he couldn't think of what he could do to make her feel better in that moment. He knew he wanted to, or at least, he figured he should, but his mind was too cluttered to do that now.

There were only two words that he could muster as he stood there on that balcony facing her.

"...I'm sorry," he said before turning on his heel and dashing through the crack in the door. He heard Weiss's voice pleading his name as he raced down the steps but soon the upbeat dance music had drowned out the sound of her voice.

I need to find Ruby. Where is she? Is she here?

His thoughts sounded like they were playing through speakers as they echoed in his mind. His head turned like a swivel rapidly scanning the room for a familiar set of silver eyes accompanied by raven black hair.

To his dismay, none of the party goers fit that description.

Where is she!? Shouldn't she be here?

His eyes scanned the room a second time to no avail. However, he did catch a familiar set of blonde hair that drew his attention.

Yang!

He felt a slight smile pulling at his lips as his feet began to rapidly carry him towards her.
She'll know where Ruby is.

As he neared the older girl he could see that she was wearing a simply designed white dress talking to Pyrrha who was wearing a vibrant form fitting red dress that complimented her hair beautifully.

"Yang!" he exclaimed, realizing that he was out of breath. Both of the girls turned and looked at him with furrowed brows.

"Roxas? Are you feeling alright?" Pyrrha asked with a frown.

"Just fine," he responded flatly before turning back to Yang, "I need your help!"

Yang frowned as she crossed her arms staring daggers into the boy. "I'm not gonna help you go out with Weiss. Sorry, but I just can't."

Yang turned back to resume her conversation with Pyrrha but Roxas reached out and grabbed her shoulder before she could.

"Yang," he repeated in a serious tone.

The girl responded by looking over her shoulder with a piercing gaze, "I already told you that-"

"I remember Yang!" he said cutting her off, "I remember everything!"

Yang's eyes narrowed in confusion before widening with realization. A bright smile spread from her cheeks as she understood. "Is that right?" she asked with a knowing grin.

Ignoring the look she was giving him he blurted out, "I need to find Ruby, do you know where she is?"

Yang's smile fell some as she paused in thought. After a few seconds of chewing on her bottom lip she responded, "She's in the Forever Fall Forest. She said she didn't want to come so she and-"

Roxas had already taken off before she could finish her sentence, weaving through the crowds of students occupying the dance floor and ignoring the sea of 'Hey!' and 'Watch it!' he received in response.

Before he reached the doors he felt a hand grab his elbow prompting him to turn on his heel. Looking over his shoulder he was met with a concerned looking Namine with confusion in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked in bewilderment.

Roxas felt a wave of answers hit him. All of them competing to be the one that he used to respond. His mind raced to choose one, but as he ran through them he knew that a proper explanation would take too long, and he didn't have that time.

"Weiss is on the balcony...I think she'll need someone to talk to."

As he said this he pulled his arm away, his legs bursting with energy as he rushed towards the door in a sprint. Reaching the door he did his best to push his thoughts of Weiss and Namine down, refocusing his mind towards his goal.

She's in the Forever Fall Forest, he thought to himself as he burst through the double doors and took off in a sprint through the school yard.

I need to find her!

---

AN:

Well this has taken quite a while to complete now hasn't it? I hope that the length of this chapter along with the release of the previous bonus chapter was enough to satisfy some of you for the time being because I am pooped! It took a lot out of me to try and deliver this chapter to you all. I don't know if you'll believe me but initially there was suppose to be another 2 extra scenes to this chapter before it came to an end, but considering the impact of their scenes and the number of pages it would take to complete them… we might be looking at a chapter at 60 pages instead of just the 40 XD. That being said the following chapter has already been planned out but I doubt it will be anywhere near the length of this chapter (although who knows at this point, seems I'm just writing more and more.) There's a lot planned for what's coming and I hope you all are looking forward to it just as much as I am!

That's about all I have to say for now. Like always all reviews will be responded to via PM so please! Drop a review if you'd enjoy chatting with yours truly! And don't forget to sing Shiloh some praise while you're at it! This is a 40 page document that she had to go through line by line cleaning up my mistakes so you can imagine that taking a lot of work.

That being said, take it away Shiloh!

Hey guys! Shiloh here! As RoxaShadow has said before, this was A LOT of material to go through. So much was happening in this chapter that I had to make our writer stop so that he wouldn't try to work himself to death and drag me with him DX I also want to announce that RoxaShadow and I have decided that it would be best to put the omake on hold. Now I know I promised we'd put in the omake and you're all wondering why we didn't do so. Well...let's just say that after what happened between Roxas Weiss, I don't think it would be wise to add oil to the fire. Plus it would be very awkward since it looks like things are going south and putting in a comedic omake after a serious event in the main chapter wouldn't exactly feel proper. But if things go according to plan for RoxaShadow, we should be able to upload it with the next chapter since some events should cool down a little. Until then, though, I would kindly ask that you all let him rest so that he can be able to regain some energy to write the next chapter. I greatly appreciate all your support and patience to me and to RoxaShadow and I hope to see you all again soon :)