Jessica's Point of View
I've been here for two weeks now. I've discovered that Xemnas' friend is really his Heartless who has taken the name of Ansem. Xemnas and Ansem have decided that I'm well enough to be moved to The Castle That Never Was. Xemnas came to get me.
"Are you ready Jessica?" Xemnas asked. I went to stand up, but I was unbalanced. I fell into Xemnas who steadied me with his arm. He rolled his eyes and picked me up bridal style. I blushed from embarrassment. Xemnas turned to his Heartless.
"Thanks again. I really appreciate this." Xemnas said. "We can talk later. You should get her to her family." Ansem sighed. "Jessica, thank him." Xemnas ordered. I blushed even harder and burried my face in his coat. He might have saved me, but it felt odd talking to him. Mostly, he remained silent and so have I. The only time either of us have talked during my stay was when Xemnas was here and we never talked to each other.
"Jessica?" Xemnas urged. "It's alright. She has thanked me many times when we were alone." Ansem assured Xemnas. I raised an eyebrow. Ansem winked and waved. Xemnas took me back to the castle. He set me down on my bed.
"We need to have a talk about your behavior. I don't want that happening again. He saved you and you refused to thank him." Xemnas stated. "I'm leaving soon anyway. The biggest difference between you and Ansem is that he knows when to keep his mouth shut." I scoffed. Xemnas looked like he was about to clobber me, but he walked toward the window.
"You have some people who want to see you. Most of all the boy." Xemnas mentioned. "Zexion." I gasped. My face turned red again. My heart skipped a beat.
"Please tell me he wasn't punished. He tried to stop me. Is he okay?" I asked. Xemnas looked back at me.
"Spare me your lies. Your friend is fine. I didn't punish him and I'm not going to so you don't have to worry. I also know that he let you escape. He told me that he tried to stop you, but I know better. You must think me naive if you believe that I would be fooled by such a blatant lie." Xemnas laughed. "Zexion is loyal to the Organization." I tried. "As loyal as you are, but that's okay Jessica. I can't fault him for letting my precious little bird out of her cage. I often want to myself, but I'm selfish Jessica. Zexion is not. But now that my little bird has been hurt when she escaped, I now understand the importance of letting her free." Xemnas smiled softly. "No. You're not letting me free. You're just giving me a bigger cage." I sighed. "I'll send Zexion in." He kissed my forehead and left my room. Soon, Zexion came in.
"Jess! Are you okay?! How badly were you hurt?!" He fretted. "Jessica is fine Zexion. Perhaps after this ordeal, she'll finally learn how to be obedient." Dad said as he came in behind Zexion. I started to get off the bed, but then decided to just sit on the bed after remembering my incident where I fell into Xemnas.
"I'm fine Zex. Thank you for worrying about me." I smiled. Zexion hugged me and I hugged him back.
"Zexion, what are you doing?" Dad snapped. "Dad! He's like a big brother to me!" I groaned. Zexion let go.
"I am sorry Vexen. It seems that I have overstepped my boundaries. Please forgive me." Zexion apologized. "Zex, don't worry about it. He's just cranky." I sighed. "Zexion, will you give us a minute?" Dad asked. "Of course." Zexion complied. He left the room. I glared at Dad.
"Don't look at me like that. He's liked you since you were children and you know it." Dad snapped. "Keep telling yourself that Dad." I rolled my eyes. "Jessica, what happened?" Dad questioned. "I went to Hollow Bastion." I admitted. "Why did you go there? I thought we were done with this." Dad sighed. "You mean you were done with this." I grumbled. "You know that we don't belong there anymore." Dad explained for the umpteenth time. "That's what you keep telling me, but I'm not you. You don't have a heart. I do." I huffed. "Don't give me that. You play that card far too often. I am very disappointed in you Jessica. This phase you're going through is not something I'm going to stand for." Dad stated. "Who cares! I'm leaving this dump anyway!" I screamed. Uh oh. Based on the way he was talking, he didn't know that I'm not here to stay. He forced himself to calm down.
"No, you are not." He said calmly. "Why don't you ask Xemnas? He knows." I scoffed. Dad raised his eyebrow. I remained straight faced. Dad rushed out of my room. Approximately twenty minutes later, Xaldin came in grinning from ear to ear.
"You really did it now. Vexen hasn't been so worked up about anything since before you were born." Xaldin laughed. "Don't you have a lesson to prepare or something?" I huffed. "I thought you weren't going to be staying dearest." Xaldin smirked. "Whatever. Is Lexaeus around? I want to talk to him." I groaned. "You're not going to see him with that attitude little miss runaway." Xaldin stated. I glared at him.
"You hurt Lexaeus you know. You have your mother's face. He's reminded of her whenever he sees you. But you know what he told me? It's okay because when I'm with Jessica, it's like I get to be with her again." Xaldin sighed. "Really?" I asked with tears forming in my eyes. "Have I ever misinformed you?" He smiled. I opened my mouth to reply.
"Don't answer that. I suppose your father feels the same way. You remind us all of her." Xaldin mentioned. "Was he this uptight when she was around?" I wondered. "No child. She brought out the best in him. When she was around was when he could truly relax." Xaldin sighed. "Then he can't be reminded of me when he sees me. He's super uptight." I said. Xaldin ruffled my hair.
"No. I think that's why he's so uptight. Because it reminds him that you're her child and he doesn't want to lose you as well and you doing all these things that you shouldn't be isn't doing him any favors." Xaldin sighed. "I know. Soon, I'm not going to be his problem. I'll be in Atlantica." I mentioned. Xaldin sat on my bed and put his arm around me. "You'll always be his problem. He'll never stop worrying about you. The same goes for all of the founding members of the Organization. I'm sure you will be getting plenty of visits from us." Xaldin reassured me. I hugged him.
"Thank you for teaching me so many things and helping me sort through my problems. I know that I don't show that I appreciate you much, but I really do." I said. "That's sweet of you to say, but I think Vexen could use those words a little more than I could, don't you think?" Xaldin asked. "I don't want to talk to him right now. He's really upset with me." I sighed. "I suppose it wouldn't have anything to do with your misbehavior as of late." Xaldin chuckled. "Really?" I asked. What else happened to make him so frustrated?
"No." He smirked. Slowly, I stood up. I wobbled a little. Xaldin supported me.
"What happened to you?" He questioned. "Vines. They pushed me against the wall and I was left to die. I was there for four and a half days before I was found. I'm still a little week. I'm staying here until I'm completely better." I explained. Xaldin closed his eyes. I could tell that he was trying not to get angry. He looks like that when I misbehave to the point where I start to annoy him.
"Jessica, who did this to you?" Xaldin growled. I know where this is going.
"Revenge is not the answer. It doesn't matter anymore. I'm never going home again." I sighed. "Home? Which home? Sunset Kingdom? Radiant Gardens?" Xaldin pressed. "Xaldin, please stop. It's over. I want this to be done." I shuddered. "Vines... you went to Radiant Gardens." Xaldin sighed. "Hollow Bastion." I corrected. "Jessica, that's Maleficent's domain now. Didn't you know that?" Xaldin asked. "No. I haven't gotten any missions there in years. Now I know why." I sighed. "Come. I'll help you get to your father. You need to talk to him." Xaldin decided. "Why?" I huffed. "Jessica, he needs to know what happened and you need to be the one to tell him." Xaldin stated. "Why?" I whined. "Because he's your father." Xaldin replied. I plopped back down on my bed.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is I'm here now and I'm going to be leaving when I'm better." I sighed. "Fine. I'll let you rest. I do hope that you realize that you won't have your father forever. One day, he will cease to exist. I hope that there won't be anything you'll regret when that time comes." Xaldin mentioned. "I'm sure I will, but if I don't regret one thing, I'll regret another." I replied. Xaldin left my room. I looked up at the stars.
"Mom, I wish you were here. Then things would be a lot less complicated." I sighed.
Samantha: Yes. It's Ansem.