Chapter Thirteen:

The Way We Planned

Raxet snuggled into my side, murmuring contentedly in her sleep. I grinned and fluffed her hair lightly, also content. It was a short-lived feeling. My watch beeped and I rolled my sleeve back to examine it. Three AM.

I was late. I sighed, gently pulling away from the sleeping Raxet. I leaned down to kiss her cheek. On my way out, I nearly tripped over the weapons she'd carelessly tossed to the floor. I set them up to spare her a similar fate, and exited through a darkness door.

"You're late," Naminé whispered.

"Sorry." I apologized, handing her a small set of papers. "I couldn't get anything else. There's practically nothing there—he's got all the important things hidden away."

"Have you seen Sora lately?"

"Yeah. Yesterday, actually. He was at Beast's Castle, but I know that he's already opened every pathway. He could be here any day." I watched her face carefully, looking for signs of emotion. I was rewarded by a sad smile.

"That's good. Will you be able to do this?"

"Fetch Kairi? Of course."

"Riku told you what to say?"

"Yeah, yeah. And I remember all of it. You worry too much, Naminé." I tried not to sound tense, but this was a dangerous conversation, and I was nervous.

"…what about Tera? Demyx told me that you took Raxet away the other day. That she almost Faded. What held you back? Can you really afford to be distracted right now?"

I took a seat, massaging my temples, "I'm not distracted."

"She's all you think about."

"…I need her."

"What happened to what you told Demyx? What happened to, 'I'm doing Alex a favor'?"

I wanted to scream. I could barely control my voice as I answered.

"What about Alex? What about Tera? Forget them. What about Axel and Raxet, huh? What about Naminé What about us! Don't we mean anything?"

"Unfortunately, Axel, we don't. We're Nobodies."

"But…"

"I'm sorry," She sighed, "I know it sounds harsh. But you should let Raxet go. While there's still time, get her back to Tera. She'll think no less of you, maybe better,"

"I don't care what Tera thinks of Axel. But Raxet…"

"Axel, Tera and Raxet are just two pieces of one whole—they're as much the same as they are different!"

"Easy for you to say! You'll be Kairi again in a matter of hours! But me, Axel, I'm going to be like this forever! If not, I'll be less!"

She had nothing to say to that, because she knew I was right. I stood suddenly, brushing my anger aside with the dust on my robes. "I'm going," I told her. "I'll bring Kairi to you as soon as I can. Imagine his face, Naminé…when he finds Kairi and Riku here together, waiting for him."

"He'll be very excited, won't he?" She tried to smile at me, but my earlier comments had done nothing but sober her. I felt a little bit bad, but then again, I didn't. It was only fair that she understand that not everyone was coming out of this with a happily ever after.

I pushed a darkness door open, concentrating on a place I had never been to before—The Destiny Islands.

Kairi didn't know me, but I recognized her instantly. She just…fit the role, I guess. She was a lot like Naminé. I fed her the lines, just like I'd promised. She didn't like me, but that was alright.

I didn't feel the need to be liked, or trusted. So long as she came.

"Aw geeze, I feel like we're friends already," I laughed as she stepped towards my portal.

"You're not acting very friendly," She scolded, running through with Pluto. I shrugged, following. Everything was working according to plan. So why didn't I feel at ease?

Probably because this is where everything started to go wrong. Riku wasn't waiting for us on the other side of my door. He wasn't in the agreed meeting spot.

Kairi noticed my distress instantly.

"Axel, what—" I motioned for her to be quiet.

"I don't know. But he's not here…"

"He—"

"Riku."

"Riku's here?" She was being too loud.

"He sent me to find you," I hissed at her, "Be quiet. Something's not right!"

"On the contrary, Axel," A deep voice reverberated off the marble surrounding us. Pluto whined loudly, curling up in a corner and shaking. Kairi flinched back as well. I summoned my Chakram. "I think things are going in just the right direction."

"Saїx!" I braced myself, "What are you—"

"Xemnas got a tip that you'd found a way to make yourself useful. Kidnapping the Keyblade Bearer's girlfriend. Clever, Axel."

"You know what I'm doing."

"Thought I'd give you a chance," He stepped out of the shadows to my left, grinning sadistically. "But if you're going to insist on being noble, I'll have to intervene, won't I?"

"…you can't take her, Saїx. She's going to meet Naminé."

"I think I can take her, Axel. Who's going to stop me, you?" he laughed. Admittedly, the idea was not an encouraging one.

I threw my chakram, glaring flames. "Yeah." I told him. "I'm going to stop you. I've come too far, Saїx. I can't let you ruin that!"

"Come, then!"

…

Do you really want to read about me getting my ass handed to me?

I didn't think so.

…

He stood over me, laughing. Kairi was screaming something, but I couldn't make out her words over Pluto's incessant howls. Where the hell was Riku?

Saїx knelt, laughing still. He slapped my face. "I could kill you, you know?" He asked. I swore. "But I'm not going to. I want you to watch as this all plays out. I want you to remember despair as we take Kingdom Hearts. Don't worry about Xemnas, hmm? I'll be sure to tell him how cooperative you were."

I pushed myself up on my elbow, intent on stopping him, but a swift kick to my jaw knocked me back over. Kairi screamed again when Saїx grabbed her, dragging her through a darkness door.

"SAЇX!" I yelled, slamming my fist into the floor as they disappeared. "Damn…damn!"

I pulled a darkness door open beneath me, landing in Naminé's room. I could barely hold myself up, but I did my best, drawing into the shadows in an attempt to hide my wounds.

"Axel!" She noticed anyway. "What—"

"Shut up and listen," I told her. I didn't have the breath to spend on insisting I was alright, "Where the hell is Riku?"

"He's not with you? Where's Kairi?" She tried to examine my wounds but I pulled away.

"Don't touch me! …Kairi's with Saїx. He took her. Riku wasn't at the meeting place. I knew I should have brought her straight here, but Riku said he wanted to explain…damn him. I knew he couldn't be trusted,"

"I don't think Riku's at fault here. Do you know what Xemnas did today?"

"What?" Something in her tone…I looked closer at the little blonde girl. She was crying. "What did he do?" A foreboding sensation overtook me. Something was very, very wrong here.

"…he sent Demyx. To face Sora. For no reason…" She bit her lip. "Because he knew…that Demyx was trying to help us."

"He was?" News to me.

"Well, he was planting things along the paths for Sora to find. Clues, hints, items…the same as you and Riku."

"And the idiot got caught?"

"Xemnas knows, Axel. He sent Demyx as a warning."

"What happened, Demyx get the shit beat out of him again?"

"…Axel…Demyx is dead."

I didn't react at first. I thought maybe I'd heard wrong.

"He…he…"

"He Faded. Sora killed him." I sat down on the floor with a loud thunk, leaning against the wall painfully.

"I'm sorry, Axel."

"What for? He was a fool."

"You don't mean that," She was trying to be kind.

"I do. But it doesn't matter, because I'm worse. I've got to go get Kairi back."

"All that will happen is that you'll die, too. Wait a bit. It won't hurt anything—Xemnas knows better than to harm her."

"Does he?" I couldn't find myself believing that. But Naminé knew more than I'd ever given her credit for. I'd just have to trust her.

"You know, Raxet came by today." She was looking at a picture she'd hung on the wall. A picture of me and Roxas.

"Oh?" I was cautious. The last time we'd talked about Raxet I'd nearly exploded. I didn't have the energy to explode.

"She had a lot of questions, but that's to be expected." Naminé was tracing the crayola lines. "…and I made her a promise."

"…what kind of promise?" she obviously wanted me to ask.

"I promised her that when this was over, she'd be whole. And she'd be as happy as it was possible for her to be. Can't you see how much this is hurting her?"

Don't talk to me about hurting. I think Saїx broke half my ribs.

"I can see it."

"Help me keep my promise, Axel."

"…I'll do what I can." I don't think I knew what I was saying, at that point. "I'm sorry I couldn't bring Kairi to you," I sighed, pushing myself back up. My blood stained the wall, but Naminé and I ignored it. There'd be more blood, before the end, and we both knew it.

"All in time," She shrugged. "It just wasn't meant to happen today. I'll see what I can do. And I trust Riku. Whatever called him away must have been urgent."

I kept my own theories to myself, stepping backwards into darkness.