Roxas took a big bite out of the salty ice cream with a satisfying snap, cooling him down from another successful mission. He was sitting next to Axel on the bell tower, their usual meeting spot.
Axel gave Roxas a noticeable smile. "Good?"
Roxas nodded. "Always. It never disappoints."
He tried to take another bite, only to chew on solid wood and a frown formed on his face. "But I wish they were a little bigger."
The redhead barked a laugh. "Yeah, I was once thinking the same. But then I realised it's a perfect size. Makes you savour the moment."
Roxas stared at it for a second before pulling out a small satchel and dropping the skewer inside. He tied the knot tightly before gently shaking it as it rattled with a satisfying noise.
Axel raised an eyebrow before he snorted. "I still don't get why you have to do this."
"It helps to remember how many days I've been in the Organization already. It still feels like I came here just yesterday," he said before putting the satchel away inside his cloak.
"Yeah, no kidding. I still remember the time when Xemnas made me teach you how to fight. Boy, was that a treat."
Roxas' face formed a sad frown. "Was I really that bad?"
"No, not really. It was just unsettling seeing you so lifeless. Not that I have any right to say that, but back then, it felt weird you'd just let every order slide."
"Yeah…" Roxas exclaimed, his head and shoulders lowering with each moment.
Axel's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he lightly punched Roxas on the side. "Keep your chin up, you're much better now. Talking to you feels refreshing compared to the maniacs in the Organization."
"Not even Saix?" Roxas asked, and the smile present on Axel's face faded away instantly.
"Yeah, not even him," he admitted. "He became obsessed with creating Kingdom Hearts as soon as possible. Hence why he is pressuring me to make me send you on more difficult missions."
"But I'm doing much better now. I think I could handle it," Roxas said. "If I just have you close by, I should be fine."
Axel's shoulders slumped. "That's the thing though. I can't."
"W-what? What do you mean?"
He tilted his head before breathing a sigh. "Xemnas gave me a job, and it's too important to ignore."
"There is this place called Castle Oblivion, another stronghold of the Organization. Some of the members were sent there to do some experimenting. With what, I don't know, but Xemnas said that there are traitors among them."
He extended his hand before a flurry of flames enveloped his arm. With a swish, the flames scattered away, revealing one of Axel's chakrams. "And with me being the one who snuffs them out, I don't really have a choice. I have to find out who they are and dispose of them."
A dry snort escaped his lips. "I guess the name 'Organization XIII' isn't going to age well."
"But then…" Roxas stopped, looking down at his dangling feet. "Who am I going to be paired up with?"
"I don't know," Axel said with a shake of his head. "But I'm sure you won't do everything alone. Xemnas prizes you too highly to send you to your death. You're basically the only one who can collect hearts efficiently."
"Right," Roxas exclaimed. "I just don't understand why I am the only one who can. Who was I before I became a Nobody?"
"Don't know that either. Usually, Nobodies keep their memories when they become one, but I guess you're a special case. An exception proves a rule, after all."
Axel dismissed his chakram and stood up from his spot. He stretched his limbs before summoning a dark portal behind him. "Come on, we spend enough time here. I need to prepare and you need to find out who you're getting paired up with."
Roxas slowly stood up and followed Axel to the Castle That Never Was. He had gotten used to the darkness enveloping the path although it took some time. He had no other choice when every single day felt the same, hence why he started to collect the skewers.
The trip was uneventful, and they ended up in a gathering hall.
It was larger than any room Roxas had been to, except for the council room, but so much unoccupied space being void of any decorations made it feel emptier than it should be. The only thing keeping the hall from being completely empty was a set of appropriate furniture, where two members were waiting. Xigbar was lazily hunched over, sitting on a couch in front of Saix, who had his arms crossed with closed eyes.
Xigbar waved his hand in front of him. "Hey, you in there?"
"I told you to stop and wait," Saix said, his voice monotone.
"Kind of hard to do that when we've been here for who knows how long," the thief remarked. "And you are boring company."
Saix huffed. "Then deal with it yourself. I'm not here to amuse you."
"Of course," Xigbar drawled while throwing his hands into the air. He leaned back on the couch before accidentally spotting Axel and Roxas, waiting for them to finish.
He formed a smirk. "Well, look who's here. I thought I was going to die out here from sheer dullness."
Saix gave him a half-lidded look before tilting his head in the duo's direction. He stood up before slowly heading towards the exit, stopping next to Axel. "Meet me outside once you're ready."
Axel breathed through his nose. "Right."
Only a curt nod was Saix's answer and once he disappeared, Axel put a hand on Roxas' shoulder. He bobbed his head towards Xigbar. "Don't drop your guard. You memorised why, right?"
Roxas raised both of his eyebrows before meeting the thief eye to eye and gave Roxas a lop-sided grin.
It made him jolt in place. "Y-yeah."
Axel nodded. "Good."
"You guys know I'm here, right?" Xigbar asked, his grin still in place. "I don't think it's good manners to spread gossip around when that certain someone is here."
The redhead huffed. "Like I would be telling something new about you you don't know."
Xigbar shrugged. "Fair enough."
"We'll meet up again at our place once I'm done, alright?" Axel said to Roxas while giving him a pat on the back.
Roxas' lips formed a smile. "Yeah."
With a mock salute, Axel left the hall as well. Roxas tilted his head towards Xigbar for a moment before turning to the exit.
"I'll be going as well," he said.
"Don't go anywhere just yet."
Roxas stopped. He fully turned towards Xigbar. "But why?"
"Precautions have been made and Xemnas found you a new partner," he said, leaning back on the couch. "Pretty sure Axel already told you why he can't have you under his wing, but why it has to be me to show you, I have no clue."
A frown settled on Roxas' face. "Can you get to the point?"
"I wish I could but that certain person is still not here." Xigbar stretched his limbs before letting out a satisfied sigh. "Might as well make yourself comfortable before they come."
"Wouldn't it be better to find them?" Roxas proposed but Xigbar only tilted his head lazily.
"And you think I didn't think of that? Who knows where they are now, so it's better to just sit and wait."
Narrowing his eyes, Roxas took a step forward but halted. He was cautious, but not just because Axel told him. Xigbar looked like a fox that could pounce at any moment on his prey, but the laziness clashed with the predatory aspect.
He was never good at assessing people, or at least he didn't know how and couldn't draw a conclusion.
"Come on, just sit down already. Even those young legs of yours can't hold you up forever."
With a shake of his head, Roxas eventually sat down in front of Xigbar, putting his hands on his thighs and looking down at the ground. He didn't say a word so the thief would have nothing to latch on to.
Xigbar breathed a sigh. "Great, I've traded a grumpy adult with a shut-in."
He crossed his legs and started playing with his ponytail. "Have any questions to ask? Me starting the conversation wouldn't go anywhere."
"But… you did," Roxas said carefully.
His finger stopped moving and he had strands of hair tangled around his palm while his eyebrows shot up. His lop-sided grin returned. "I didn't know you could be sassy. What happened to the puppet that came to the council? Don't tell me that volcano actually warmed you up."
Roxas frowned. "Axel isn't a volcano. He is my friend."
"Friend, huh?" Xigbar crossed his arms. "That's quite the hard thing to come by in this place. Even I can't say I had one here. Well, theoretically speaking anyway."
"So you had one," Roxas stated. "What happened to them?"
Xigbar's grin immediately fell, and he leaned his head on his arm. "How much did Axel tell you?"
"Not much," Roxas admitted.
"Then we'll keep it that way. I know it wouldn't be good to spill the beans now, or at least what's left of them."
Roxas didn't know whether to ask further or not. Was that the bait? Or only a random remark? He couldn't help but wonder what was beyond the half-told truth.
"I'll just say this." Roxas perked up, lifting his head only to see Xigbar pointing at him, not directly at him but around his waist. "Make sure you don't throw away that thing."
"Uh… what?"
He waved his hand dismissively. "Just take my word for it."
Quiet steps suddenly filled the hall and Xigbar tilted his head before he threw his hands into the air once again. "Finally, you certainly took your sweet time."
While the person was wearing the same garb as him and Roxas, they had their hood up and it was very good at hiding the person's features. However, it wasn't perfect enough, revealing soft, almost pale skin. Their lips and nose almost looked like small black lines that indicated their presence while strands of black hair seeped through the hood's darkness.
Xigbar wiped his hands clean before standing up from his seat. Once he blinked next to the woman, he leaned his entire arm on both of her shoulders. She didn't even flinch.
"Alright, this is Xion," he said while introducing her with an exaggerated hand motion. "She will be your new partner to gather hearts because most of the members are off doing their own thing."
Xion didn't say anything, she only lowered her head ever-so-slightly and let out a quiet hum. Roxas stared at her for a second before tilting his head towards Xigbar.
"Wait, so I'm going to…"
"Work with her immediately, yes. Which means tomorrow."
Lowering his arm, Xigbar put a hand into his pocket and aimed for the exit. He gave Roxas a wave. "Better get to know each other. Don't want a bad relationship to screw you over, kiddo. See you soon."
"W-wait," but Xigbar was already too far away to hear Roxas. "I'm not a kid."
He turned to Xion who was glued to her spot, eyeing him constantly.
"I… I guess we'll see each other tomorrow?" he half-asked while scratching the back of his neck.
Only a quiet hum was Xion's answer.
{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}
Stepping out of a dark portal, Roxas and Xion found themselves back at the train station, ready to begin their first mission together. However, Roxas would have been more excited if Xion would even talk to him. No matter what words he tried to speak, only hums and nods were the only indication she even heard him.
He found it hard even to trust her, but maybe she was only shy. Or at least that was how Roxas justified her silent behaviour.
Looking up at the bell tower, where Axel and he always met after a mission, made him miss his friend already. He shook his head before turning to Xion behind him.
"There is a large group of Heartless in the sewers. Just let me deal with them while you watch my back, alright?" he proposed but once again, only a hum came out of Xion's lips.
It made him sigh. "Let's just get this over with."
While he didn't know the exact layout of this place, he was once in the sewers and it didn't take long before they found the tunnel leading down into the network below the city. Already, the stench assaulted Roxas' nostrils and not even his cloak was good enough to stave off the smell. All he could do was endure it until he was done.
He looked behind him to check how Xion was doing, but to his astonishment, she was fine. She wasn't fazed by the stench or the growing darkness as they descended lower, with just a few rays of light illuminating their way. Roxas shook his head, and instead, focused on finding any Heartless running amok.
It didn't take long before he found a set of yellow beads slowly inching their way deeper into the tunnels. Roxas perked up and summoned his keyblade immediately before rushing towards the Heartless.
Being caught by surprise, the small dark servant didn't have time to react before Roxas swung his blade over his head. With a resonating twang, the Heartless was quickly disposed of, the only thing left over being the floating pink heart that eventually was transported back to their base.
Roxas looked around, trying to find more Heartless, but to his surprise, he couldn't see any.
"There has to be more…" he mumbled, taking a stance while having his eyes peeled. Glancing at Xion, who was still by his side, her head kept whipping from side to side. At least it calmed Roxas down; she knew something was up as well.
Then, within the darkness, one set of yellow beads appeared out of nowhere. Then two, then three, then four, until the darkness in front of them was filled to the brim with glowing prying eyes.
The duo began circling each other in anticipation, watching their backs, and waiting for the horde to pounce. Roxas gritted his teeth. "You know how to fight, right?"
Xion widened her stance before her hands conjured small wisps of fire. Not enough to light the place up, but enough to give Roxas his answer with a firm nod.
"Right. Get ready."
Once Roxas' words echoed inside the sewers, the first Heartless jumped out from the darkness towards Xion. She immediately stretched her arms out and the two flame wisps shot out a fireball towards the shadowy minion and launched it back into the darkness.
The light from the fireball revealed the horde behind the dark curtain, a set of pitch-black minions, some of which had armour that clanked with every step they took. It was like a bunch of bells constantly ringing eerie dissonant tunes.
Another Heartless jumped out of the darkness, but Roxas was prepared and decisively struck it with his keyblade. It was destroyed quickly, but the time between the appearing threats shortened. Eventually, it formed into a relentless tide that the duo had to repel, and despite the numbers disadvantage, they kept their ground successfully.
Another strike from the keyblade got rid of an armoured Heartless and the number of beads began to shrink. Roxas whipped his towards Xion, who had her fire at the ready.
"Let's bring the fight to them. Light the place up, Xion!" Roxas shouted.
Xion hummed before bringing her arms together and shooting a large fireball up at the ceiling. With a quiet bang, the spell dispersed into a bunch of sparks, illuminating the place and revealing the rest of the Heartless.
Roxas charged forward while Xion stayed in the back, taking the Heartless head-on. Swing after swing, their numbers dwindled, and the now scared minions began to run away from the battle and up the sewers, but Roxas wouldn't let any run away.
"After them!" Roxas said, bolting towards the exit while Xion wordlessly followed him, but for a bunch of formless creatures, they were surprisingly fast. It was hard for Roxas to keep up with them, some of which already left his sight.
He gritted his teeth, rushing after those he could still see and they eventually led him towards the main street of the city. Only a single Heartless waited for him at the centre, a yellow smile grinning under the helmet it wore.
Roxas didn't waste any time and charged forward, readying his keyblade for a strike, but the Heartless let out a piercing cry. Several minions jumped out of the roofs, halting Roxas' assault. He brought his guard up, but the group struck Roxas simultaneously, launching him off his feet.
He landed on the ground with a dull thud, almost letting go of his keyblade, but he powered through and picked himself back up. He took in three laboured breaths before resuming his attack, but didn't notice something dropping from his pocket.
However, Xion did.
A small used ball fell on the rocky tiles without bouncing once, and she couldn't help but stare at the ball for a moment. She looked up to see Roxas fighting off the group of armoured Heartless alone and ran towards him to help while quickly picking the toy off the ground.
Once she put it in her own pocket, she launched another fire spell at a Heartless that was about to attack Roxas' blindside, successfully blowing it away. Roxas snapped his head towards Xion, gave her a curt nod and blocked another attack. Retaliating back, he knocked away another Heartless that disappeared after it impacted the wall behind it.
The last of the Heartless gazed back at their dead comrade before they all relentlessly charged at Roxas as a last resort. Keeping his feet steady, Roxas waited until they were all perfectly lined up, just like the attack before that caught him off-guard.
With a firm step forward, he swung his keyblade in a wide arc and dealt critical blows to all of them with a loud thwack. One cry after another, they all unceremoniously puffed out of existence, leaving only their hearts behind for the Organization to collect.
Roxas stayed in place for a moment before he began catching his breath. His hands fell limb, his keyblade disappeared and he had a strong urge to lay down on the cold ground.
That was… something.
Roxas couldn't help it. He didn't expect his first mission without Axel to tire him this much and plopped down on the ground with a dull thud. He stared at the red-tinted sky before Xion's head blocked his view.
The sight of blue eyes behind the hood made Roxas jolt in place before fully standing up. He stared at her for a moment and Xion began digging inside her pocket.
Roxas raised an eyebrow, but he saw the used ball he found in Xion's hand, and his eyes widened.
"Did… did I drop it?" he asked, and Xion nodded.
"Y-yeah."
He blinked once, then twice, before his mouth went agape.
"Xion, you—" Roxas shook his head and took the ball from Xion's hand. "Never mind. Thanks."
"It looked important to you," she said before lowering her head. "See you tomorrow."
Roxas scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, see you tomorrow as well."
She hummed and summoned a dark portal back to their base and prompted Roxas to go first. However, he turned away.
"I actually have a place to go to today. You can go on ahead without me."
Xion paused for a moment, but eventually entered the portal before it disappeared with her while Roxas went to his usual spot. At the top of the bell tower with an ice cream in hand.
He took a large bite, but it didn't feel as satisfying as it did back when Axel was here with him. Yes, it still tasted great, as it always did, but he knew something was missing to savour the moment. He glanced down at the popsicle in his hand before gazing at the distant sky.
"Maybe I could invite her here…"
AN: Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?
I'm just here to make sure you guys know this story isn't dead. Sure, the time between uploads is... sporadic, to say the least, but I got to writing this chapter eventually.
As always, here is the usual plug of the Fanfiction Treehouse discord server. At this point, you probably know what the server is about at this point. If you want to join, here is the link: gg/u89gs745fn
Hope you enjoyed today's chapter.
God's speed.
PS: Yes, this fic doesn't have a proofreader. We die like men. (No, Cavik. I want to see how far I can take this.)