Chapter Twelve:

Don't read it 'till tomorrow

When Raxet woke up the following morning, Axel was gone. She looked around frantically, having expected his unnatural heat and cocky words, but he wasn't in her room. She sighed. After spending almost two entire days together, waking up to find him gone was almost maddeningly lonely.

She changed clothes, replacing her night wear with her heavy black uniform. It was routine enough, now. She reached for her weapons; they were carefully stacked in one corner. She blinked, then sighed. Axel must have arranged them for her. She had left them in a sloppy pile.

A tap at the door drew her attention. She opened it, surprised to look up and lock eyes with Demyx.

"Demyx!" she exclaimed, still tying her whip at its usual place on her hip.

"Hey," He scratched boyishly at the back of his head, eyes traveling to the ceiling self-consciously. "Er…."

"Is something the matter?" He seemed edgy. Then again, he was always edgy.

"Well…no one's seen you for a couple of days. I just thought I'd make sure you were ok—I mean, after Axel dragged you back in…you just didn't do your normal prowling thing…" well, she hadn't had the energy to 'prowl' the castle. She'd been 'prowling' elsewhere. The Beast's castle, for example. Her own mind.

"I'm alright," She smiled reassuringly at him. "I was about to go talk to Naminé—I have some questions."

"You ask a lot of questions."

"I don't get many answers."

Demyx sighed, "Yeah, it seems like that a lot to me, too. Hey…" He took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket, handing it to her, his gloved hand shaking slightly. "I've got to go—Xemnas had an errand for me to run—but I wanted to give this to you first."

"What is it?" She looked at it curiously, began to unfold it.

"No—" He put his hand on top of hers so she couldn't unfold it. "Wait until tomorrow. Please?"

"Er…sure. Why?"

"Call it a hunch," He said with a smile that was almost sad. "Anyway, if you were going to talk to Naminé…best get going."

"Why, is she going somewhere, too?"

"Call it a hunch," He told her again. And this time, there was no almost; that smile was anything but cheerful. Before she could ask if he was ok, he'd disappeared into a darkness portal. She looked down at the paper in her hand, now slightly crumpled. She began to open it again, then stopped. She would honor his request and wait until the morrow to see what was inside. Raxet slid the paper into her pocket. Then she closed the door behind her as she began to make her way down the hall.

"Naminé?" she tapped lightly on the younger girl's door. Naminé's answer, as expected, was prompt; the door cracked almost before Raxet finished knocking.

"Come in," Naminé waved Raxet inside, sounding slightly anxious. "Did Demyx find you?"

"Er…yeah, he just went by my room. Why?"

"He told me he was looking." Naminé motioned to the same chair Raxet had sat in the last time she'd come. Raxet sat, scooping up more art.

"Axel. Sora. That stupid duck—"

"Donald."

"What?" Raxet looked up. Naminé was sitting on the very edge of her seat, looking…well…edgy.

"His name. The duck. His name is Donald. He's the King's magician."

"The king?"

"Third picture behind that."

Raxet flipped to it. "A mouse?"

"Yes. His name is King Mickey."

"…that's…interesting." Naminé picked up her pencil and began to draw something. Raxet waited a minute, flipping through the papers, before speaking again. "Naminé…the last time we spoke, you told me you were going to try and find out…what I was doing here. What Xemnas was planning, and…" She bit her lip, fighting with the words even as they escaped her mouth, "And what Axel knew about it."

"I knew you would ask…" Naminé didn't look up, but began to speak. Her voice was soft, almost dead. "Xemnas…stole your soul."

"He what?"

"He had your Somebody turned into a Heartless, and then forced the heart back into it. He created you, you could say…" Her pencil moved jerkily.

"He…did this to me? Why?" She set the papers down, eying Naminé with confusion.

"…It…I….I can't really say…" Naminé still didn't look up, sketching furiously.

"Why not? Naminé…" Raxet's voice broke. "What does Xemnas want with me?"

"You know what he wants from you." Naminé said. "And don't pretend you don't. You're beautiful, Raxet." She wiped at her face—self-consciously? Naminé was pretty. Young, admittedly, but she was very pretty. She had a lot to look forward to. Or she would, had she been a Somebody. Raxet found herself feeling rather sad again.

"Naminé…" she began an attempt at comfort, but Naminé shook her head.

"Look, Raxet…" Naminé finally looked up, "I can't help you. I tried. I really, really, really did."

"Naminé…are you crying?" Raxet stood, going over to the girl, "Don't cry…please…"

"…y-you're too kind." Naminé pulled away. "I don't deserve anyone's kindness, Raxet. I've done too much to help these things go wrong."

"What are you talking about?"

Naminé changed the subject, "I hear you succeeded in opening a darkness door,"

"Yeah…are you alright?"

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"That you opened a darkness door. It means…you've got more darkness in your soul than you used to have." Naminé put the pencil down, grabbed some map colors. "I'm sorry, Raxet. I'm sorry."

"You're still crying." Raxet was kneeling next to Naminé's chair, and she put her hands on Naminé's knees, trying to gain her attention. "Naminé…what's the matter?"

"Look," Naminé held up the half-colored drawing.

"What is that? I don't recognize those people…"

"…It's a girl…and her husband…and their baby."

"And? Why does this matter? Naminé…I came to get answers and I'm more confused than before!"

"I'm sorry, Raxet. I can't. I just…can't. You wouldn't want me to. Please…just trust me. Don't ask me about this anymore."

"Will you stop crying if I promise?"

"I might,"

"Then I promise." Raxet took the paper out of Naminé's hands, setting it aside and drawing the girl in, embracing her and rocking her, much the same as Axel had done for Raxet the night before.

"…You should know…" Naminé spoke quietly. "I won't be available much longer."

"What?"

"Don't ask…please…"

"Are you…going to become whole?"

"Not yet. But Axel—"

"Axel? What's he got to do with anything?" Naminé winced at the sharp tone.

"He heard that Xemnas was going to…eh…" She shivered. "I just…I'm going to have to do some things—I've got to play my part, I've made too many mistakes already. We all have."

"Have I?"

"You may be the only player in this game that's innocent." Naminé sighed. "I'm going to try to amend my previous misdeeds. It's going to cause me a lot of trouble. Raxet, make me a promise."

"Sure," Raxet shrugged easily. "Anything."

"Don't let Xemnas fool you. He wants to hurt you. Very badly. Almost as badly as he wants to gain Kingdom Hearts."

"Er…alright." Naminé stood, pulling Raxet up, too.

"I'm sorry, Raxet. I wish I could tell you happy things and make you understand what's going on. Still, it's my turn to make you a promise."

"What kind of promise?"

"I promise that when this is over, you'll be the happiest woman you can possibly be."

"Can you make that sort of promise?"

"I already have," Naminé smiled at her, and Raxet wondered where the energy came from. She couldn't seem to find it, even though she tried to bravely smile back. Naminé was frightening her.

Raxet turned to leave, and as she passed beside the wall nearest the door, she paused, examining a picture Naminé had pinned up. "Axel…and Roxas?"

"They were very close," Naminé told her, retracing the lines with her finger, "And…in a similar way, Axel is very close to Sora,"

"Sora!"

"Yes. Sora and Roxas…they are two pieces of the same entity."

"Sora was…he…"

"It's something for you to think about," Naminé smiled again, opening the door. "I can't give you any more answers."