Namine's expression was somehow heartbreaking. Like the smile his mother had given him when-

Sora shook his head, derailed that train of thought. Nope, not going there, not until the apocalypse was over and he could safely break down and cry. When the moment came, Sora maybe wanted to be alone with Riku. A blanket cocoon would also have to be involved.

"Namine screens every Relic host and interviews us regularly," Xemnas said. "She's a very talented Relic host herself, capable of adjusting others' memories."

"Does Leon know?" was Riku's first question.

"No. Only the original group of researchers and Saix do."

Sora was pretty sure that meant Xemnas himself, Xigbar, Luxord, Lexeus, Xaldin, and it would have meant Vexen as well. Maybe Zexion, even though he was noticeably younger than the others. That added a whole new layer to the mystery.

"Right. Did – does Ansem know?"

Emotion registered on Namine's face at the mention of the name. It didn't look like she was thinking happy thoughts.

"Yes," Xemnas answered. "Of course. He was the one who insisted on the secrecy."

Riku shifted, bringing his body closer to Sora. "But now that he's out of the picture, you fix that."

Roxas was also inching closer to them. Sora was surprised that he'd trust him and Riku more than the people he'd been working with for months, if not years.

Xemnas shook his head. "This is not an act of benevolence. I wouldn't let Namine's existence be known if I didn't have to. I think it will breed more distrust among us."

"You're right about that," Roxas said. "Still, it has to be lonely, meeting people and making them forget you."

Namine's eyes widened. It took a little while, but she smiled hesitantly.

"I'm not sure I approve of this," Xaldin said. "It's rather sudden. What's your goal, Xemnas?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Sora noticed Saix moving slowly to block the path to one of the doors. Luxord was positioned in front of the other. Demyx, on the other hand, had backed up against the far wall and looked frightened.

Sora wanted to ask what was wrong, but he decided not to bring attention to Demyx – or himself – while there was so much tension in the room. Riku shifted again. Another such adjustment, and he'd walk into Sora.

Xemnas clasped his hands behind his back. "I'm trying to apprehend Vexen and Cid's killer."

"You seem certain they're the same person," Roxas said.

"Not certain. Convinced. I have no proof just yet."

Riku rested a hand on Sora's shoulder. "How do you intend to get it?"

"With Namine's help. As I've said, I'd rather avoid her involvement, but we're in a bit of a hurry. Leon's safe return is of utmost importance. Let's begin, Namine."

She nodded. "I cannot view another person's memories. But I have been conducting interviews with all of you – with all staff members – and wiping them from your memory. This has allowed me to question you repeatedly, use different strategies, record your reactions."

Her voice was soft and sibilant, but commanding in a strange way. Sora felt like he'd heard it before, and of course he had. The realisation was only slightly unsettling. There was something about this girl that inspired trust.

"I have also used Sora's help in affecting the mood of my interviews. In fact, I have discovered that Sora has an aptitude for manipulating memories himself."

That was a lot more unsettling. Sora gaped. "What?"

Namine shot him a quick, wide eyed glance. "I'm sorry. I wish I could have let you keep the awareness of your abilities, but my work is no that precise."

Riku and Roxas were giving him strange looks, and Sora didn't know what to do. Now was probably not the time to question Namine about the issue, not with such a big audience. Sora forced a neutral expression onto his face. "All right. Can we talk about this later, or will you wipe my memory again?"

"No, I need all of you to remember this confrontation," Xemnas said. "Namine's status as the ghost of Hollow Bastion is officially revoked."

Namine looked pleased. "During the course of my interviews, I've noticed one notable thing. While most of you changed your stories and the ways you told them depending on your mood and the questions I asked, one person retold the exact same events in almost the exact same words every time. I have to assume this person had prepared their speech ahead of time."

"Which indicates they had something to hide," Riku murmured. "Clever."

Namine inclined her head. There might or might not have been a blush on her cheeks.

"So," Roxas said, "who's the culprit?"

Namine raised her bright blue eyes and locked them with Xaldin.

He jerked, as if he had wanted to take a step back but stopped himself. He uncrossed his arms and let them fall to his sides. "Really? And this is enough evidence for all of you?" He looked at every senior host in the room.

"I've seen the recordings," Luxord said, not looking up from what appeared to be a deck of blank cards. He shuffled them lazily. "Trust me, they leave very little room for doubt."

"I want to see them, if you're using them as evidence against me."

"Of course." Xemnas' smile was almost pleasant. "Everyone will see them and read Namine's report, so that we can all make an informed decision when we meet to decide your fate." His eyes hardened. "But other matters have to be attended to first. I trust you will be reasonable and allow yourself to be escorted to an isolated room."

Xaldin straightened sharply. "No room can hold me, you realise. I don't intend to run, but it seems careless to-"

"You will be put in stasis in a reparation tank," Saix said. "It's almost time for your quarterly preventative treatment, anyway."

"Won't you give me a chance to explain myself?"

Xemnas walked up to him until they were about ten centimetres apart. "We will, once Leon returns."

"So determined to do this right, aren't you?"

"Of course. Don't you think the people you've killed and the people you've put in danger deserve that kind of closure?"

"I'm not guilty." Xaldin squared his shoulders. Everyone in the room tensed.

"I'm sure you believe that," said Luxord. "But it's a different matter from our point of view. Try to understand."

Xigbar walked up to Xaldin, seemingly carelessly, but his eyes remained watchful. "We've been friends for how long, now? I'm disappointed in you, man."

Xaldin bowed his head and frowned at the floor. "No reason to worry. I'm not guilty."

"Yeah, yeah." A string of white rectangles appeared next to Luxord and sailed through the air in a neat row. They circled Xaldin, tall enough to obscure him from view. "Let's make this into a proper arrest. Xigbar, if you would?"

"Sure thing, partner." Xigbar snickered, tilted his head. A second later, he, Luxord and Xaldin were gone.

Sora jumped in surprise. "Whoa!"

"It's fine, just one of Xigbar's tricks," Riku said. He was staring at Namine, and rather unkindly at that.

Roxas, on the other hand, seemed more sympathetic. Sora supposed he and Namine had both experienced a special kind of loneliness. His own trek through Midgar after the fall had probably been a similar experience, but Sora didn't like the idea of relating to people through tragedy.

He nudged Riku. "Stop glaring. We should give Namine a chance to introduce herself properly. How about we meet for dinner later?"

Namine's whole face showed surprise before it shifted to something like gratitude. Roxas gave them a double thumbs-up. Riku made an unhappy sound, but it wasn't a real protest and Sora knew it. He grinned in satisfaction.

"What now?" Riku addressed Xemnas and Saix, who had been in the middle of a whispered conversation. "Can we get Leon and Cloud back? Do you know what Xaldin did to disrupt communication?"

"He convinced technicians to assist him," Saix said. Both his and Xemnas' brows were furrowed. "We don't know how, who exactly or even how many. It's a problem."

Xemnas released a tense chuckle. "Vexen was the only one paranoid enough to keep tabs on every technician and medic. He had a program locating potentially telling words and phrases from their reports."

"Is it still usable?" Riku asked.

"Yes. We don't have time for it, but it wouldn't hurt if you took care of the matter. I wasn't planning on giving you any other tasks."

"All right."

"So with Vexen out of the picture, the only other dangerous player was Cid, as the person all technicians reported to," Roxas said. "And bam, he's gone, implicating Sora through the murder weapon, because why not, I suppose."

Sora's thoughts were forced back to that day. "Now that you mention it, I spent some time with Xaldin on that day. We came here, I dropped the mace, we split up..." The realisation that Cid might be still alive had he been less careless and held onto the mace hit Sora for the first time. "Here you go, if you weren't all that certain about Xaldin's guilt after all."

His voice must have changed, because Riku's hand pressed into his back. "I'll go to the surveillance room and access Vexen's code from there. Roxas should come with us." Apparently Sora and Riku were a package deal now.

"So should Namine, unless she's needed," Roxas said.

Xemnas made shooing motions with his hands. "Go ahead. I'll mobilise the rest of the hosts and the few other people I trust. Hopefully, we'll re-establish contact with Traverse Town before it's too late."

"You will," Namine said. She seemed surprised with herself and shrunk a little under the sudden attention. "I've made predictions. You have an eighty percent chance of success."

"Your predictions are unreliable," Xemnas told her. "Go along, now. I don't want you kids near here when I gather the others."

They spent a couple of hours in the surveillance room. Riku's tension was palpable enough that the other three had trouble holding a conversation. They ended up whispering more and more quietly, and stopping mid-sentence every time Riku cursed or hit the table in anger. Eventually, he managed to get the program running with slight modifications.

"Now we leave it to do it's thing," he said, and he looked so tired when he ran both hands through his hair.

Sora wanted to drag him to a bed and force him to relax, but social duty called. He had questions for Namine. There was one thing he could do, however. "How about we get Kairi to join us? She's gotta be bored, and she needs to meet new people here."

"You're right," Riku murmured. "She's not on vacation. She'll have to make herself useful if she wants to stay here. I'd really rather she stayed here."

And that was how they ended up eating dinner together. Sora took care of the introductions, since Riku seemed somewhat distracted. Kairi lit up the moment she saw Namine. Sora supposed it was tough, being the only girl in a group of boys and older men. He'd have to introduce her to Yuffie once the observer was done taking a break in a reparation tank.

They filled their trays with random dishes and shared the ones that had an interesting taste. It worked wonders, as far as bonding activities went. Even Roxas got in a few good laughs, though he kept cringing in guilt every time he caught himself having too much fun.

"I think I want to be a host," Kairi said. She was bent over the table, resting her head on her crossed arms. She looked at Namine dreamily. "You are all so useful. You help people and fight against a terrible enemy. It's like we're in a story."

"We are most likely not going to be successful in protecting humanity across the dimensions," Namine said, suddenly grim. "A change of strategy might be in order. I think... I think that's what Xaldin had in mind when he betrayed us."

Kairi blinked. "Who?"

"Never mind," Sora said quickly. He wanted this to be a happy time for them all. "Stop with the depressing talk, guys. We're fine for now. Safe."

He noticed that Riku and Roxas were staring at him pointedly. It was enough to remind him of Namine's introduction.

Sora couldn't stop a full body shudder at the thought of tampering with other people's minds. Happy times would have to wait. "Right. This isn't how I wanted to do this, but - Namine. What was that about me helping you making people forget stuff?"

She stiffened immediately, drawing her shoulders up, but held Sora's gaze. "I'm so sorry about that. We've only tried it a couple of times, while Riku was stuck in a reparation tank. All you did was make the people I interviewed calm and more receptive to my… abilities. At some point you discovered that you could make people's memories more vivid, easier to recall and describe. You didn't take anything from anybody, I promise."

She looked sincere enough, looking at Sora with her wide blue eyes. Still, some things didn't make sense.

"How did you get me to help you?" Sora asked.

Namine smiled, then bit her lip in a futile attempt to hide it. "You're very friendly. I introduced myself as a medic and Xemnas corroborated my story."

Sora winced at how gullible that made him sound. Then again, he wouldn't have had a reason to deny a simple request to keep people calm during a conversation. He didn't think Namine was lying or even trying to hide anything. He glanced at Riku and Roxas, and was at least happy to find that they looked relieved.

Sora's tablet buzzed. He grimaced when he saw who the caller was. "Sorry, guys, hold up." He answered the call. "Hey. What's up?"

"I have Xemnas hostage," Marluxia told him. "I want you to bring Namine and Riku to me, or I'll rid us of the last leader anyone is willing to follow. Don't tell them anything. Just make up an excuse to go to infirmary 11-C." Sora took a sharp breath. The call ended.