A/N: Lol jk one more chapter without Xenan. ^^;; Also sorry for the long break, I was on vacation and then had some "Cast a Shadow" chapters I needed to type up.

When Riku appeared from a dark corridor, Naminé let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Her worry returned when she realized his coat lay askew across his shoulders, but to her relief, it wasn't a mark of battle. The darkness-resistant clothing was positioned to cover both Riku and the unconscious brunette he was supporting.

"Man, Sora, I know you're hibernating, but you didn't need to put on this much weight…" He groaned with the effort of keeping his deadweight friend from flopping face-first on the floor.

"Whoa," Roxas gasped at his first sight of his other without a translucent pod wall between them. "He looks just like he did in my dreams…"

Riku laughed a little, hefting Sora up higher on his shoulder. "Heh, wait 'til you see him awake. He'll talk your ears off."

Roxas's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean I get to see him wake up?"

"That's why all of us are here, Roxas," Naminé reminded him, puzzled. "That's why we needed you and Xion. So Sora can regain his memories and wake up."

The blond boy shuffled his feet on the marble floor, staring at his reflection in it. "I know that, I mean… I thought after Axel showing up and taking Xion back, you wouldn't…" A light pink tinged his face. "…you wouldn't let me stick around. Because I'm a Nobody."

Naminé winced. That was half of the reason they'd fled to Castle Oblivion rather than staying at the Old Mansion. "Well, if it were up to DiZ…"

"It's not up to DiZ." Riku carefully placed Sora in an open memory pod. "I only worked with him because I didn't have a better choice. If we can finish this without him, then I see no reason to keep holding his grudges."

Naminé smiled at the relief evident on Roxas's face. He wasn't the only one; none of them had ever thought DiZ was the most hospitable man. Like Riku had said, working with him had been necessary to learn about the Organization and how to restore Sora's memories. Something felt cruel about abandoning DiZ the moment he was no longer needed, but at the same time, Naminé and Riku couldn't risk him endangering Roxas and threatening Sora's chances of waking up.

"So you still trust me? Even after the Organization found us?" Roxas asked them, though his eyes stayed focused on Sora's sleeping form inside the pod.

"You could have gone back with Axel if you wanted, but you chose not to. I think you've proven we can trust you. And besides," Riku added with a grin, "What would Sora say if I didn't let him meet his other?"

Naminé giggled behind a loosely-closed hand. "I'm sure he'd never let you hear the end of it. He'd probably ask you all sorts of questions about Roxas."

"Ooh, does he like the same ice cream as me?" Riku imitated his best friend's voice, barely restraining a laugh. "I bet we'd be best friends!"

She laughed along at the charade. "Sora can become best friends with anyone."

Roxas even cracked a smile. "Sounds like a pretty nice guy… I hope Xion gets to meet him too."

Naminé watched his smile slowly fade as he thought of his best friend.

"I'm sure she's alright," She assured him, her hand light on his shoulder. During her first stay at Castle Oblivion, Axel had let her go, in spite of the Organization's wishes. She doubted the man would hurt his best friend for them now.

Riku snorted, not needing his eyes to show his irritation. "If my replica hadn't led Axel straight to us…"

"You don't know that that's what happened," Naminé repeated what she'd already told him. "He only seems to care about Xenan and Demyx. I don't think he would try to help the Organization—"

"But he does want his friends back." Riku shook his head. "You didn't see how he reacted when DiZ suggested Roxas and Xion stay out of the Organization for good."

"Guys," Roxas stepped between them, "I don't think any of them have anything to do with it. Axel's my… Axel was my best friend. He'd do anything to find us, and I think he's mad at Xenan for almost telling me and Xion the truth about who we are. They wouldn't be working together."

Riku mulled it over. "…I suppose it could be a coincidence… if Axel really has been searching for you two since you joined us…"

"After everything that happened, he'd work alone," Roxas replied more confidently. "I'm sure of it."

"There's no reason to spread blame, anyway," Naminé finally said. "The important thing is that I finish what we've started."

Regardless of what happened with Xion, she still wanted to believe that Axel and R-2 weren't entirely guilty. The other replica reminded her of Repliku, made her feel like she'd had a second chance somehow, even if they acted completely different. If she had to blame someone, she hoped it could somehow be Xenan. Maybe she wasn't bad if R-2 trusted her so much, but it was hard to forgive the female Organization member for taking her hostage before.

Riku nodded. "Alright. I don't know if this place is as abandoned as it looks. I'll keep guard outside."

"Good idea," She agreed with a smile before flipping open her sketchbook and turning to the blond. "Alright, Roxas. It's almost time to meet your other."

XXX

"Roxas, where are you…?" Axel sighed, staring out over the fields of the Pridelands. He wasn't sure if his friend had ever even heard of this world, but he was checking every world he could get to. The Worlds were a big place, and Riku could have taken him anywhere…

R-2 took a big whiff of savannah air. "Nope. No Rox here. Just a big, big rock – ooh, look! Lions! Like the little fire ones you can make!"

Axel shook his head, ignoring the kid's excitement. "I didn't think so."

"Where do we get to go next?" The silverette bounced eagerly. "Ooh, can we go to Atlantica? Do we get to go swimming?"

Axel hated Atlantica with a burning passion, but at this rate, he was running out of options. Roxas had to be somewhere… He wouldn't have gone back to the Organization by now, would he? Maybe after realizing Xion went back, he decided he didn't want to run away by himself…

R-2 frowned, coat suddenly flashing a dull forest green. "Oh. Do we have to look at Castle Oblivion? That place isn't nice… I wonder if it still smells like Xen-Xen's stew…"

Castle Oblivion. Why hadn't Axel thought of it before? It was an Organization stronghold – or at least, it had been – so Riku was probably crazy if he took him there… but then again, that was the first place Axel had met him, and no one in the Organization besides himself had visited since the incidents with Sora.

Axel allowed himself a flicker of hope. "Yeah, R-2. I think we'd better check C.O."

XXX

Riku jolted at the whoosh of an incoming dark corridor; Soul Eater flashed to his hand. The portal of darkness was easy to hear against the silence of the room, empty except for a glass orb in its center (Riku had nearly tripped over it on his way in). Of all the figures he expected to hear emerge from the darkness, his happily bouncing replica wasn't one of them.

"Yep! Rox's here, Skinny Flaming Pyro Man!"

"What, really-!?" Axel rushed out behind him, his black coat billowing like the sound of a loose sail.

Riku bared his sword, stopping the two Organization members in their tracks. "Looks like Roxas doesn't know you as well as he thought. You two were working together all along."

"Oh, hi Riku!" R-2 waved like he hadn't heard his original's comment at all. "You don't still want to fight me, do you? DiZ was just making you be mean, right?"

He snorted, keeping his battle stance in spite of his replica's oddly cheerful voice. "I thought I was the blind one…"

Axel's footsteps echoed towards him; his chakrams appeared in a fiery swirl. "Look, I don't have time for punny comments. You kidnapped my best friend—"

"You're the one trying to kidnap him," Riku retorted. "He chose to come with us."

R-2 tapped the toe of his prosthetic absently. "Yep. He wanted Riku and Naminé to fix his head. He wouldn't come home even when I asked nicely."

"Whose side are you on!?" Axel turned on him.

"Um… Rox's?" He replied uncertainly.

"So am I!" Riku and Axel exclaimed in unison, then shared a surprised "hunh!?" Riku's sword even dropped a little.

"You honestly think returning to the Organization is what's best for him?" Riku challenged. Even with the blindfold, he could almost feel the fiery glare Axel aimed at him.

"I think being his own person is what's best for him." He spun a flaming chakram in his hand impatiently. "I don't care if he's Sora's Nobody. He's my friend."

"What are you talking about? We're only taking out Sora's memories – we're helping him."

"Sure." Axel's eyes narrowed. "I'm sure the others were gullible enough to believe that, but you can't lie to me. A Nobody and his Somebody can't coexist, and you know it. Sooner or later, you'll take him away from me for good."

That's what this was about: Axel was afraid. To him, this had stopped being about the Organization. He just wanted his friends back. Riku knew from experience that that would only make him more dangerous – if the Nobody was willing to go to the same lengths for his friends as he would for Kairi and Sora, he had tread very carefully.

"That's not—" Riku tried to interrupt, but the redhead was past listening.

"Well, who says Somebodies should get everything they want, just because they're real!"

Axel spread his arms wide, and flames encircled him and Riku. R-2 yelped and jumped back, trying to keep his remaining leg away from the ring of fire. Red and orange shadows danced around the once-white room, entrancing him and distracting him from breaking up the fight.

"Hot colors… Pretty colors… No, don't touch them, touching fire colors is bad…" The replica muttered to himself.

"You're wrong, Axel!" Riku yelled, baring his sword over his head. "We can both get our friends back! Naminé found a way!"

"You're just stalling me!" Axel shook his head, rustling his spikes of red hair. Even through his blindfold, Riku thought he could see his flaming silhouette. "I've eliminated enough people in this castle. One more won't keep me up at night."

"Skinny Flaming Pyro Man!" R-2 finally snapped out of his fire-gazing trance. "The real Riku is good! Please, don't hurt him!"

Now, whose side was that replica on? Riku couldn't puzzle it out, but he still had a different battle to fight.

R-2 couldn't make it through the flames, and Axel and Riku were already locked in combat, sword clashing against chakrams. Riku wove through the flames, the patterns of heat playing across his skin to guide him away from the more dangerous areas of the battlefield. Still, it was clear that Axel had the upper hand, his deck of fighting cards more fine-tuned than Riku's, which had last been used against Ansem a little over half a year ago. He was just lucky he hadn't trashed them after leaving Castle Oblivion the first time.

"Too hot for you yet?" Axel taunted, panting.

Riku straightened up, glad that his blindfold hid the nervousness in his eyes. Sweat poured down his neck and arms, doubled by the oven-like material of his coat. Still, he would rather feel like he was burning than have the fire reach his unprotected skin. "What kind of question is that?"

He slid forward, cards ready to perform a sleight, when he remembered the cost. All of his sleights would draw off of his dark power, and with only his blindfold already holding that darkness at bay …

But this was what he signed up for. To protect Sora, no matter what the cost. Even if that cost was his own heart… he couldn't let Axel win.

He held the cards in the air—

"RIKU!"

Naminé dove through the flames, tackling him to the ground. The cards floated down, turning to ash as they blew into the fire.

"Axel!?" Roxas called from the doorway. "What are you doing here!?"

"Roxas?" Axel's gaze flitted between him and Naminé before he snapped his fingers, putting out the flames in a gust of smoke.

"Naminé…" Riku sat up, holding the small girl. Her dress was singed at the edges; he took off one glove and felt the soot staining her face and hair. "Naminé, why did you…?"

She coughed, accepting the potion she handed him. "Riku, you couldn't… your darkness…"

He shook his head. She signed up for this too; she knew what his plan was. Why would she try to stop him? "I know. But I had to. I couldn't let Axel…"

"Why did you come looking for me?" Roxas demanded of the redhead. "You already kidnapped Xion! Riku said you had to knock her unconscious to bring her back! Were you going to do the same thing to me, huh!?"

"R-Roxas…" Axel reached out, startled to see water at the corners of his friend's eyes. "You don't get it… they're going to destroy you. And if by some miracle they don't, if I don't bring you back, the Organization will."

Roxas shook his head, clenching his fists. "What are you saying? I'm just gonna die either way?"

"No! If you come back now, I can make Saïx drop all this. He has to." He banished his chakrams, hoping this wouldn't be a repeat of what happened with Xion. If he had to fight Roxas too… he wasn't sure his non-existent heart could take more of that.

"You already have Xion," the blond said coldly. "You don't need another keyblade wielder."

"Another keyblade-!? Come on, Roxas! That's not what this is about!" Axel started to heat up, involuntary flames dancing around his fingers. "You're my best friend!"

"Best friends don't keep secrets from each other!" He yelled, Oathkeeper flashing to his hand.

Axel swallowed, steeling himself for what had to happen. If Roxas wanted a fight, a fight he would get. Even if his best friend hated him… if that was what it took to save him…

"Roxas. Axel." For the first time, R-2 used their real names. He stared at the two Nobodies, his coat its normal shade of deep, dark black. Tears dripped down his face as well. "Why are you fighting? I thought… I thought all of us were friends… please, don't fight…"

Roxas was caught off guard by the replica's plea, but Axel hardly spared him a glance before summoning his chakrams again.

"Wait!" Naminé called. "Listen! I hear something!"

"What—?" Axel was about to ignore her warning when he heard it too – Heartless.

And the distinct sound of energy bullets disintegrating those Heartless.

"Go!" Axel ordered, pointing to the door the others had come from. "You too, R-2!"

"What? Why?" The silver-haired replica asked, not yet grasping the urgency of the situation.

"Let's just call it flexible thinking, alright?" Axel replied, sharing a glance with Roxas, who quickly looked away.

Luckily, R-2 couldn't argue much more, because Riku pulled him into the other room where Roxas and Naminé had already hidden themselves.

It really was a matter of flexible thinking – Axel had about fifteen seconds before Xigbar burst through the door on the other side of the room.

"Just when I thought today couldn't get any worse," the redhead muttered, spinning a chakram on one finger. Xigbar just chuckled.

"What's with the mess, Flamsilocks? Have another temper tantrum?" He kicked up a patch of ash, scattering it into the air like dirty snow.

Axel's pride wanted to deny it, but there were worse explanations. He decided to run with it.

"Saïx isn't here to pull me off of your carcass this time." He didn't try to quell the flames instinctively circling around his arms. "If I were you, I wouldn't risk putting any more firewood on my temper."

"Heh, well, it's a good thing I'm not you." Xigbar rested one arrowgun on his shoulder. "And as much as I'd love to stick around and hear about how much you 'hate' me, I'm actually here on business."

"Oh, really?" He glared for lack of a better comeback. He knew exactly why the Freeshooter was here; every Organization member had the same mission today. Find Roxas and Xion.

"Yeah, really," Xigbar deadpanned, but followed it up with a half-grin. "In case you hadn't noticed, our little keybladers flew the coop. Looks like someone failed Babysitting 101."

Every instinct, every emotion, screamed at Axel to stop putting up with the banter and just attack. But somehow he knew that was exactly what Xigbar wanted. All the Freeshooter was doing was trying to push his buttons – but why?

"Xion's back at the Castle now," he said evenly. "I brought her back. In case you hadn't noticed."

Xigbar shrugged. "Still got Kiddo to worry about. Moony might not think we need both, but you're not going to give up on him that easily, are you?"

Axel bristled like an aggravated hedgehog. "What do you think? I'm searching every world until I find him. Just got done with this one." He stared around at the blackened marble floor, as if to imply that his "tantrum" was a result of not finding Roxas. Xigbar seemed to accept the half-lie.

"Heh. You and those kids really are something special, aren't you?" Xigbar paced around him, making Axel feel oddly trapped in the spacious room. "The Little Nobodies Who Cared. Like some motivational kiddie book."

"If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were jealous," Axel tried to regain control of the conversation. If only he could just impale him, like he had Vexen… but no, regardless of his threat to Riku, his days of assassinating anyone who became a liability were over. Besides, Roxas was just in the other room; he couldn't risk his friend hearing that.

"Jealous? As if." Xigbar shook off the comment, holding Axel's eye contact. It made him shudder instinctively, like there was something different in that one yellow eye… "But if you did get yourself a new heart, it seems pretty traitorous to keep that secret all to yourself."

Axel snorted, gaze fleeing to the soot-scarred ground. "I don't know about all that. You've been listening to Demyx too much if you think we really have hearts."

"I've been listening to all of you," he retorted. "The way you talk is too human for your own good."

"So? It beats being a boring zombie all the time," Axel dismissed. For once, he didn't really know if he was lying or not. Sure, something was different about being around Roxas and Xion, but a whole new heart? It seemed a little too good to be true.

"Playing dumb doesn't suit you, Flamsilocks. I don't know about Kiddo and Poppet, but you, Waterboy, and Girlie were never the same after – well, after this place." Xigbar gestured with an arrowgun, his voice growing steadily louder, until it suddenly dropped dangerously soft. "Now, 'cause I'm feeling generous, I'll give you one more shot. Tell me how you got your heart back."

"Or what?" He challenged, wondering if all that time in exile had actually made Xigbar lose it. Where had he been exiled to, anyway? Saïx had never found it important enough to tell him. "Roxas is already gone. Xion's the only keyblade wielder right now. Good luck trying to convince anyone she's expendable."

"Ah, but you're forgetting someone." He grinned. "Guess you didn't get Kirux memorized, huh?"

Axel scoffed. "If you think you can even go near him without Xenan tearing you apart, you really have lost it."

He laughed loudly. "Maybe I have, Flamsilocks. But how's that saying go? To find is to lose, and to lose is to find? Yeah, I think Moony said something like that when he left us here…"

"Wait – you've been trapped here this whole time?" His eyes widened, then narrowed to suspicious slits. "And you didn't just corridor back?"

"As if it's that simple. Since we didn't have any babysitters like the last kiddos to get exiled, Xemnas used his Nothingness powers to lock all of ours. So no corridors or space-time shenanigans. Basically just poker games, over and over again… even Pokerface eventually got sick of it…"

The eyepatched man started muttering to himself, not seeming to notice Axel's presence anymore. He knew Castle Oblivion could mess with your mind if you weren't careful, but he had always had goals to keep him focused: thwart Marluxia's plot, find the Chamber of Waking, et cetera. If Xigbar was trapped here with nothing to keep him sane but Luxord's card games… He wondered if this new Xigbar could be even more dangerous than the old one.

"Sounds great," Axel said shortly, clapping his hands together. "Well, I better get going. Got worlds to search, people to see—"

Xigbar pointed both arrowguns straight at him.

"Not before I get my answer. Or will I just have to take that heart out of you?"

Axel's eyes widened. The straight-up threat wasn't Xigbar's usual approach, but he wasn't going to bet on it being a bluff. But how could he give an answer he didn't have himself? Even trying to think flexibly, he could only come up with one way out of this.

"And ruin the surprise?" Axel forced a grin. "Nah, you better wait 'til the party tonight."

He opened a corridor, fading backwards into it. Surely Xigbar wouldn't keep searching the castle after that… right? Roxas would be safe… If Roxas was right, and Riku and Naminé weren't getting rid of him…

For once, he decided to trust his best friend's judgement, and he disappeared.

Once he was gone, Xigbar laughed, a borderline-hysterical outburst. "Flamsilocks is trying to steal my style now… Heh, a party. Gotta be some kind of trap. But I bet I can at least get some food out of them first… Man, I haven't had any good cooking in a month…"

When Roxas heard the sound of another dark corridor opening and closing in the adjacent room, he peeked around the door. The coast was clear again.

"Axel… He stopped Xigbar from bringing me back?" He looked to R-2 for answers, but the replica shrugged.

"Skinny Flaming Pyro Man is your friend. He wouldn't let Scary Eyepatch Man take you."

"But he wanted me to come back…"

Riku put a hand on Roxas's shoulder. "You can worry about it later. We need to get this done before any more surprises show up."

"I'm almost done," Naminé said. "Roxas doesn't have as many of Sora's memories as Xion did. I think I can finish this soon."

"And then…" Roxas swallowed, "I'm going back. To Axel and Xion. They… they're my best friends."

Naminé smiled sadly. "I thought you might say that. If that's what you decide is best…"

Riku frowned in obvious disapproval. "We'll talk about that after this is finished."

"Right." The girl nodded.

"I'll go away now," R-2 said after patting a strand of her hair. "Your hair is pretty, but I won't touch it and make you mess up Rox's memories. Bye-bye Naminé."

She laughed, slightly embarrassed at the compliment and awkward touch. "Goodbye, R-2."

As he left, Roxas stepped up into the open memory pod. If Naminé was right, this would be it… when he stepped out, he could be meeting his other half. And then… and then he could go back to his friends.

Xion… Axel… He smiled as Riku pressed the controls to close the pod.

I promise, I'll come back…

A/N: One more chapter to go! And a whole ton of stuff yet to happen in it. And about 20 days left before I go to college… *pressure intensifies* There may or may not be an epilogue after that, but I do at least have the next chapter planned out and am very excited to write it! And then the 200 review special that I still haven't gotten around to yet. xP I'm never going to get out of this universe, am I? ^^;;