Xikira was woken up very, very late at night by Xigbar.
Again.
"You can't come up with a schedule?" she said groggily, rolling over in bed.
"Nope," Xigbar replied quietly. "A schedule makes you predictable. Come on."
"Fine..." Xikira groaned, getting up.
She followed him again through so many different portals, to different worlds - all random. All different from even last time.
They went through thirteen portals this time, before going to their ultimate destination.
Xikira yawned and covered her mouth as they entered the dark, familiar room.
That woman - Skuld - was sitting on the bed like last time, too.
But this time, she turned her head a little in Xikira and Xigbar's direction. Her lips pulled into a smile.
She didn't do anything else, though. She didn't even blink much.
Like last time, Xigbar led her to the woman's bedside and gestured to the chair.
Xikira sat down, opening up her sketchbook.
"All right..." Xigbar said slowly. Hesitantly. "Do your thing, Xikira."
He was so nervous, she saw that clearly.
But he was also...trusting her, she realized. To do this.
To be here at all.
She nodded seriously, and began to reach out across the new, tiny, tattered thread between her mind and this woman's Heart...
Luxu watched the kid for over an hour.
Watched her just...sit there, head down, eyes closed.
It wasn't the most riveting, or even informative thing in the world.
He had no idea how her whole...process worked. What she was doing. He doubted she fully understood her own powers, either.
It was...nerve-wracking, was what it was! Just sitting here, watching her sit, keeping an eye on Skuld...wondering if she was going to just break any second now because this little girl with incredible powers at her fingertips was inexperienced. Just having to trust her with it all. With Skuld herself...
"Xigbar..."
Luxu blinked. "What?" he said quickly. "Something wrong? Did you-"
"No, nothing's wrong!" Xikira said, in a high voice. "I have a better...feel for her now. For what's- going on in there. And I started to...do some work on it all."
Luxu eyed her closely while appearing not to be. "Find anything interesting in there?" he said casually.
Because that was a secret that would come out from this whole arrangement, no getting around it. With Xikira poking around in Skuld's Heart and memories, to fix her memories, it was inevitable, really.
At least Luxu, or "Xigbar" could easily feign ignorance and appropriate shock at all the "revelations" to come, from this test subject he'd rescued years ago for...well, he'd have to admit to personal, emotional reasons. Sentimental, indeed...
"I-" Xikira started. Then stopped. She looked away. her hands tightened their grip on the edges of her sketchbook. "I have something I want to tell you. A secret I've been keeping. About- Castle Oblivion..."
Luxu let out a mental sigh of exasperation. Okay, let's get this out in the open already... "Xikira...you know I told you before how I was watching you the whole time, back at Castle Oblivion...?"
"Yes?" she squeaked. Fearful, this time. Terrified, even.
"I wasn't just kidding around with you. You, Kairi, Sora, Xion...'Keyblade Master Aqua'...I saw it all."
"B-but then...you..."
"That's right. I know Lauriam and Elrena used to be Keyblade wielders. Hell of a shock to learn, let me tell you," Luxu put some appropriate mirth into his voice. Pulled a grin on his face. "To think those two...nobodies I picked up turned out to be so special all along. And I never even realized it. No one did. Not even themselves. Until you...helped them get their memories back. Isn't that right?"
"You really did...hear...everything," she whispered.
"I did. And like I said back at the crossroads, Xikira - the only people who know the truth of what went on in that place...are the ones who aren't telling."
"B-but, then...y-you know I...I..."
"Killed Zexion?" Luxu said, gentle as he could. "Yeah. I know that one, too. I know..."
"But...even then? You aren't telling, you aren't-"
"Yep."
"But then why would you let it happen?! You're Number Two, you're- you said you weren't a traitor! I don't- understand!" Xikira exclaimed.
It struck Luxu, then, again...just how young she was. Naïve. Innocent. Simple and pure. But not in the same way as her Princess of Heart Somebody. Not that kind of Pure Heart.
Luxu hesitated, then he grasped her shoulder and looked her in the eye. "I know you don't. But the World is a lot more complicated than just traitor or not, good and evil - light and darkness. People...are more complicated than that."
"I thought you didn't like complicated."
"I don't. But it's inescapable in my case," he joked, with true humor.
Xikira looked down, tears splashing on the floor. "If you're not a traitor, why not turn me in? Why...why are you keeping my secrets?"
"Well, I could say I need you to help Skuld. Or...I could say what I've told you before: I've taken a shine to you."
"You mean you like me. You care about me. Because you're my friend."
"Yeah..."
She continued to stare at the floor, sniffling in silence.
"I told you...not to let sentiment cloud your judgement..."
Luxu let her go, arm falling to his side. "Hey...want to know a secret of mine, princess?" he said suddenly.
"Yes..."
"What you did - it wasn't a big deal. And it wasn't a bad thing," he went on firmly. "You didn't kill Zexion - you helped him."
"What...how...?"
"Our universe...is built on rules, princess. When someone loses a Heart to a Heartless, they become one themselves. When someone loses their Heart, but has a strong will, they create a Nobody." Luxu paused, holding her gaze. Forcing her to. "And when you destroy both a person's Heartless and Nobody...they'll come back as a complete person again. Human, Heart and body reunited. Good as new, back in black. The process is called recompletion."
"R-really?" she gasped, perking up at last.
"Yeah. Really. It's a lesser known rule of the universe, but it's there. So you see, by destroying the kid, you didn't end his existence: you gave him a second chance at living again, whole and true - human again." That was, assuming his Heartless had also been destroyed out there somewhere, at some point - by Xikira, Roxas, or Kairi and Xion. Although, even then, Zexion wouldn't return as human as long as Xemnas was redirecting Hearts into his Kingdom Hearts...but that was besides the point...
"But...then everyone could be fine again if we just- killed ourselves? We don't even need Kingdom Hearts-"
"It's not quite that simple!" Luxu said swiftly. "To permanently destroy a Heartless, you know you need a Keyblade. And on top of that, you'd never know if you destroyed the right Heartless beforehand. And you're not going to convince anyone in this Organization to stand there and be destroyed, either, are you?"
"So no one...knows about this?"
"I said it before: it's not a well-known fact. It's old, and obscure, and the only reason I know about it is because I heard rumors during my travels across all these worlds. But even then...how much stock could we put in it? Would you bet, a hundred percent, that ending your current existence would lead to returning to the old one?" Luxu shook his head, letting her go. "No one would want to take that chance."
"But...Zexion...he'll be Ienzo again now?" she said with a smile.
Luxu gave a slow, careful nod. "If his Heartless has been destroyed somewhere out there - then, yeah...I suppose he would be. But even if it has been, I've got no clue where he'd even come back, or when, princess. Like I said - it was more rumors than anything. I don't know the specifics of the process. He might pop up again a month from now, or a year from now - in some far off world we've never been to. And, again, that's still only if his Heartless was destroyed at some point."
"But just knowing he's going to be out there, that he'll come back..." Xikira had an excited look to her face now.
"You're not listening!" He stood, stalking away from her. He sighed, turning back to her. "It's not guaranteed. You understand? No one can know for sure."
"But we can hope!" Xikira said, staring at him with that open defiance of hers. Those blue eyes hard, narrowed at him.
Luxu nodded. "Of course you can. Hope all you want. Just try to be a little more realistic about it. It's not a done deal."
"I have hope for Skuld too," she said, as if challenging him. Haha, no "as if" about it. She was.
"Me too - with you on the case," Luxu told her, giving a small grin. "Speaking of which...I think it's about time you got back to work."
"Okay..." Xikira gave a big yawn, shifting in her seat and returning her focus to Skuld...
Luxu startled back to awareness as a soft clattering noise rang out.
Damn. He hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep again. He looked to Xikira, frowning.
Xikira had dropped her pencil to the floor (the source of the noise), was half clinging to her sketchbook - was slumping forward in her chair, her eyes closed, as tiny, shallow breaths rose and fell in her chest.
He realized then that her hair was a mess, that her face had lines, that her eyes were...
Luxu stood silently, going over to her. He put a hand to his chin, hesitating, anxiety in his stomach. He hadn't truly outgrown it, even now. Maybe he never would. It was just...him...Heh...
He carefully reached for the bed, taking one of the spare blankets, and he just as carefully laid it over Xikira's tiny, thin frame. He stepped back, looking at her again. Then he turned away and swiftly left the room, escaping the evidence of his handiwork.
But the results spoke for themselves.
This damn warm and fuzzy feeling in his Heart.
