Author's Note: I apologize for taking a bit to get out Chapter 10! I had a lot of fun writing this one. I'll try to update Chapter 11 as soon as I can.
Wonderland was just as lively at night as it was during the daytime. Bats were flying around in the night sky, their wings shaped peculiarly like umbrellas, while a dog with a broom for a head swept the path to kick up dirt and dust all around the woods. Reina had never seen such strange and unusual animals before, but she had long since grown used to the oddities of Wonderland and barely paid the creatures any mind as she let Xigbar lead her through the dark forest.
"I guess this place is as good as any," Xigbar said as he pointed to a secluded area up ahead.
There was a hollowed-out tree that was as tall and wide as a small cottage. It was the perfect spot for a campsite since the trunk was carved through like a small cave, giving them just the right amount of shelter for the night. There was more than enough room for the pair to make themselves nice and comfy inside, even if it did look a bit dirty inside of the tree. Neither of them exchanged any words to break the silence between them, and Reina knew it was only a matter of time before Xigbar would want to address what happened earlier.
He had almost died because of her, and even though he was still miraculously breathing, he had been the one to pay the price for her recklessness. His powers were gone, and he couldn't even summon his Arrowguns, let alone create a portal to get back home. He was stuck in Wonderland until one of his colleagues decided to look for him, and Reina knew he wasn't exactly thrilled about having to sleep on the hard ground inside of a tree when he could have been resting in his own bed.
This was all her fault. Every bit of it. She should have listened to him, should have fallen back when he told her to, but she had blatantly ignored him out of foolish pride. The worst part was that he had yet to scold her about it. All day long, Xigbar hadn't passed a single opportunity to tease or belittle her over the smallest of the things. His insults had rolled off his tongue one after another, crawling under her skin until she thought she was going to explode, but for the first time that day, he had nothing to say to her. Today's entire adventure had been about proving Xigbar wrong and showing him that she was a capable fighter who could handle her own in battle. In the end, there was nothing for her to prove. Everything he had said about her being weak had been true, and not only was she weak, but she was also stupid.
So why wasn't he throwing it back in her face? Why wasn't he yelling at her and blaming her for the failure of his mission? He had said he planned to take her back to her Gummi Ship in the morning, and she knew it was just so he wouldn't have to deal with her dragging him down anymore, but she still wished he would say something cruel to her in regards over today's chaos. She would have preferred to have him spit in her face and punish her with verbal accusations instead of all this cryptic silence. Xigbar had even kindly taken her hand as they walked through Lotus Forest in search of shelter, only to let it go once they came upon the hollowed-out tree. He knew the woods were dark. He knew she'd feel uneasy walking through them with all the unusual creatures lurking in the shadows, but he had held her hand through their voyage to let her know she wasn't alone, even after everything she had done. She couldn't comprehend his kindness. Nothing he did ever made any sense. Why wasn't he attacking her for what happened?
"Hey."
His voice cut through the silence as he started picking up some limbs and weeds to clear out a spot for them inside the tree. He didn't look at her as he kept trying to clean out the area as much as possible, and Reina couldn't help but think of him as a bird trying to build the perfect nest.
"…Yes?"
She waited, wondering if this was it. This was when Xigbar was finally going to yell at her. He was finally going to unleash his anger and tell her that she was nothing but a thorn in his side, nothing but a hindrance who screws up all the time.
"I'm going to gather some wood to make a fire. Do you think you'd be able to light it with your magic?" His voice was softer than she expected as all he offered her at the moment was a simple request.
"Oh, uh, yeah. I should be able to," Reina answered.
He was already walking away, presumably to find wood or even sticks that could help them make a campfire. It was smart thinking on his part since it was not only pitch-black outside, but it was also getting uncomfortably chilly. Thanks to all the brutal humidity, Wonderland had felt like a sauna earlier when the sun was shining. At night, however, the air was cool and crisp. Goosebumps were already rising on Reina's skin, and she had to embrace herself and rub her hands up and down her arms to get them to subside.
Xigbar was only gone for a few minutes before he returned with an armful of logs. He arranged them in a pile just outside the base of the tree, knowing better than to light a fire inside their cozy, wooden shelter.
"Ready when you are," he said once all the wood was neatly stacked.
Reina's Keyblade was soon in her hand as she pointed the tip towards the wood. "Fire!"
A small ball of burning heat turned the pile of logs into a pit of dancing flames, and their newly established campfire immediately brought light and warmth to their immediate area.
"Won't a fire alert Heartless to our location? Won't it draw them to us?" Reina asked as she watched her partner take a seat on the ground next to the fire.
Xigbar shook his head. "We were more vulnerable out in the darkness. If they didn't strike us then, they probably wouldn't strike us now."
"I guess that makes us pretty lucky then."
"Who knows? Maybe someone from above is looking out for us, purposely keeping Heartless away since we'd be screwed if they chose to attack." A lazy grin was spread across his face, and Reina couldn't tell if he actually believed in the possibility of a Higher Power or if he was just being his usual sarcastic self.
Xigbar was soon patting the seat beside him, encouraging her to get closer to the fire. "Aren't you cold? C'mere." He held out his arm as if extending the invitation to cuddle close to him, but the brunette chose to sit on the ground at least a foot away from him.
He wasn't bothered by the fact she wasn't in the mood for cuddling; there'd be plenty of chances for that kind of stuff later. For now, it was clear they needed to talk and get everything out in the open.
"I guess we should address the elephant in the room," the Freeshooter said, keeping his face pointed in the direction of the fire while his single amber eye drifted to the girl beside him.
"The what?"
He chuckled at her airheaded response. "It's an expression, sweetheart."
"Oh…" She thought for a moment as she brought her knees to her chest so she could curl herself into a comforting, protective ball. "You mean, you want to address the fact that I majorly screwed up today."
"Yep. You catch on quick."
She knew this was coming. Even though Xigbar was acting calm, she knew she was in for the biggest lecture of her life. Just what names would he call her this time? Or maybe he'd take the opportunity to discourage her from continuing her mission, reminding her that she was just not cut out for this kind of journey. She wasn't sure how she'd react if he did tell her that; maybe she'd actually listen this time. Seeing someone else get hurt because of her own ineptitude was the biggest reality check she had received that day. If she had gotten hurt from her own carelessness, that was one thing. But having someone else suffer because of her mistakes wasn't fair. Reina wasn't sure she could live with that kind of guilt. It was so painfully obvious that a weak little girl like her couldn't handle the hardships of adventuring and battling Heartless. Her mission to find the Five Keys of Radiance was doomed from the start, and she only wished she would have realized it sooner.
"I'm sure it goes without saying that you should have fucking listened to me when I told you to stay out of the fight. I'm sure it's even more obvious that you should have stepped into the portal I created for us instead of stupidly charging forward like you're some hero in an action flick," he grunted. His use of profanity let Reina know he was royally pissed, but he still somehow kept his tone light to keep himself from being too harsh on her. He wasn't yelling, but he needed her to know he wasn't happy, either. "I told you that if things went south, you needed to leave. You, however, must have had moss growing in your ears because you apparently didn't hear me. You're either deaf or just a total dumbass, and I can't figure out which one it is. Would you care to enlighten me?"
"I know…I'm sorry, Xigbar." There was no defense or justification she could come up with to explain her actions. All she could offer him was a sincere apology.
She heard him exhale a deep, heavy sigh, one that was so breathy that it sounded like he was literally deflating. Following the exaggerated sigh, a hand was brought up to the top of Reina's head. He patted her the way he would a dog, or maybe even a small child. It was a gesture meant to be condescending, but there was also a hint of comfort in it as well.
"I can't blame you too harshly, though. You saw me make an ass of myself out there, too. I was jumping around out there like I was playing hopscotch, and my bullets didn't do shit to bring that thing down. You not only wanted to be the hero, but you were also legitimately worried about me, weren't you?" Xigbar scooted closer to her, shifting the patting of his hand to a slow, gentle caress along the top of her head. Even with his hand hidden away inside a glove, he could notice the silkiness of her brown tresses, the smoothness of each strand. She didn't pull away, allowing herself to be soothed by his gentle display of affection.
"I'm sorry, Xigbar… I really should have listened. I just got so caught up in everything, and I risked your life just because I wanted to get that damn key so badly. It's my fault that you got your hurt, that you're unable to use your special abilities, and I don't deserve all the help you've given me…."
He could feel the girl's body shivering as he continued to run his hands through her hair. He didn't think it was because of the cold, though. She was fighting back the tears, drowning herself in a pity party. She had lost more than just her self-confidence earlier; the spark she usually carried had vanished, too. Where was her feistiness he had grown to appreciate? All this gloom just wasn't like her.
"Reina, will you tell me why those keys are so important to you? Why you would be willing to risk your life—and mine, too, apparently—just to get them? You can't expect me to believe a simple family heirloom is worth all that fuss. There's gotta be something more, and maybe now isn't the time to shroud yourself in your secrets."
She knew this was coming. Initially, she had been prepared to lie for as long as she could. Telling him the truth wouldn't have done her any favors. If he knew the reality of the keys' importance, he'd either want them for himself or would at least know of someone who would. That knowledge was dangerous for anyone besides Reina to have since very few people would be strong enough to resist the temptation of power the combined keys would grant to their user.
Was Xigbar trustworthy? She wasn't sure. He was, however, her savior. He had thrown himself at death's door just to save her sorry ass. He was willing to lose his power-willing to die-to help some poor, dumb girl he had met in the woods earlier. Trustworthy or not, he had saved her life at the expense of his own, and she owed him an entire life of servitude just for that. Thankfully, he wasn't asking her for anything but a real, honest answer to his question. She owed him an explanation, at the very least, and honoring his request was something she felt compelled to do despite the overbearing risks.
"It's…kind of a long story," Reina admitted.
"Good. I love long stories," he grinned.
She could have given him a simple answer. She could have just told him the keys could create some super badass weapon that could be used to conquer the darkness for good, but the way his golden eye roamed over her trembling body as his hand continued to weave its way through her hair made her cave in, and she started from the very beginning.
"For starters, I want you to know that I'm a liar. I…lied to you about who I was," she told him, curling herself into an even tighter ball. "Do you remember how I said I was from Radiant Garden? I wasn't just an ordinary civilian. I'm the—"
"Princess? Yeah, I already gathered that." He let his arm slip back away from her hair to rest it atop his knee.
Reina's eyes were as big as planets as she gawked at him. "W-What?! You knew?!"
He scratched his chin. "Knew probably isn't the right word. Let's just say I figured it out. There were some loopholes in your story when we first started talking, but the way you got all defensive about Ansem the Wise's rule is what really gave it away."
She suddenly felt nauseous as she hung her head in shame. "I must be the worst liar in history."
"A little bit, yeah. Remember how I said that you tend to blink four times really fast whenever you tell a fib? You also stutter a lot and fidget nervously. I had a hunch that you were hiding something serious. I either thought you were possibly an old concubine of Ansem's, or you were his daughter. Personally, I'm glad to hear it's the latter."
Reina couldn't hide the look of disgust on her face. "Concubine?! Ansem the Wise didn't have any concubines! He was a sage king and ruled with grace and dignity—"
"As far as you know," Xigbar grinned. "I'm sure dear ole' daddy had plenty of secrets he didn't want his little girl knowing. I guess that journal you had was full of those secrets, though?"
She didn't want to think of her father as the type of king that would have concubines at his disposal, but she had to admit that he was a very secretive person. He had a laboratory built underneath the castle, and she was never permitted to go anywhere near it as a child. The only ones that were allowed in the lab were Ansem himself and his apprentices. She couldn't seem to recall the names or faces of any of his apprentices, but it had been a long time since she lived in Radiant Garden. It was only natural for her childhood memories to be a bit scattered after everything she had been through.
"His journal is all I have left of him. He disappeared years ago with no one knowing what happened to him, but Radiant Garden was thrown into chaos following his disappearance. Darkness enshrouded the place, and soon everyone had to evacuate or risk being swallowed up by it. My mother, the queen, and I safely made it to Traverse Town with many other residents. I was still pretty young when it happened, and I think there are gaps in my memory of that time. I guess I always thought that Traverse Town was a temporary living situation for my mom and me and that one day my father would come back for us and regain his throne. I hoped maybe one day everything would go back to normal."
Reina paused for a moment. Xigbar kept his gaze on her face, watching as the fire cast shadows over her features. He could tell she was struggling to recount the tragedy of her past, but the poor thing didn't have the slightest clue that the man sitting beside her had been there to see it all. Not only did he see it, but he had orchestrated the fall of Radiant Garden and the royal family who governed it.
As long as her fragile mind didn't try to sink too deep in her fabricated memories, as long as she didn't notice the mismatched pieces of her broken past, everything would continue to go as planned. Things could continue to progress just as he wanted them to.
"I guess your father never came for you?" Xigbar spoke up.
Reina shook her head. "No… And my mother was…Well, she was…"
Out of everything there was to say about her past, talking about her mother was the hardest. Her mouth was suddenly dry as the words she needed to speak ended up getting tangled in the back of her throat. The disappearance of her father had worried her, the destruction of her world had terrified her, but the death of her mother had been the only thing to destroy her. She had spent so many years thinking that she could handle anything that was thrown her way as long as her mom was by her side, and when that security was stripped away, Reina felt like she had nothing left to hold onto. All hopes of a better future were gone. All light inside of her heart had withered away. She was nothing but a broken spirit, too miserable to keep going. If it were not for Merlin handing her the journal that had once belonged to Ansem the Wise, she never would have found a new purpose. She would have kept wallowing in her sorrow, wasting away in her grief until there was nothing left but a hollow shell of the girl she once was.
"You don't have to say anything else," Xigbar whispered, his voice smooth like pure marble. "I know about the Queen of Radiant Garden. She was very sick for many years, wasn't she?"
This would generally be the time when Reina would start crying. Anytime she talked about her mother's illness, whether with Merlin or her friends like Yuffie, Leon, and Aerith, she would always begin to sob. She had been teased as a child for always being a bit of a crybaby, but no one said anything to her about the way she always teared up when the subject of her mother was brought up. Right now, however, the tears just weren't flowing. She guessed it was because she had cried so much earlier over Xigbar and maybe she had already reached her "tear quota" for the day with nothing left to spill. Either way, she was glad that her eyes weren't watery and that her nose wasn't dripping. She had cried enough for one day as it was.
"You really do know a lot about Radiant Garden and the royal family," she said, eyeing him suspiciously. "You sure you're not a native?"
He regarded her question with a toothy grin. "I've been to many, many worlds and have met many, many people, sweetheart. I just happen to have a good memory of the places I've been to, is all. I could tell you all about the kings and queens of Wonderland, too, but it doesn't mean I'm from here."
His answer must have satisfied her since she looked away from him, only to start picking at the fire with a twig she found. "Still, if you discovered I was the former princess of Radiant Garden, you could have said something…"
"And have you become even more suspicious of me? As if. Up until now, you've treated me like I was some creepy ole' stalker. I didn't want you running away from me and risk getting hurt in the forest." He nudged her shoulder with his own. "Plus, I wasn't completely sure that you were the princess I've read about anyways. I could have sworn all the rumors said the princess was blonde."
She couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "Nope. My father was blonde, but I took after my mom. She had brown hair and green eyes, too. She was so beautiful…I'm glad I resemble her."
"You sayin' you think your dad is ugly?"
"No!" She playfully elbowed him in the side while laughing. "I just like knowing I favor my mother. I'm just reminded of her anytime I look in the mirror, so it brings me a bit of comfort."
Xigbar had to strain to keep his snarky grin fastened on his face. The girl sitting beside him, the one who called herself Reina, wasn't the same princess he had known back in Radiant Garden. Yes, they were technically the same person, but everything was different. He'd never forget the shine of her golden hair that captured his attention every time the sunlight gleamed off her, and the warmth she carried in her vibrant orange eyes always ignited something in him whenever they locked gazes. He knew there were bound to be some changes from the young woman he had known in the past with her current self, but it was still something he was having a hard time getting used to. He wasn't sure why her physical appearance was so vastly different now, but a lot had happened over the past ten years, and maybe her appearance had changed to fit her inner desires. In this case, to be more like her deceased mother.
"I will say, though, I thought the nickname suited you even before I knew who you were."
"Nickname?" She asked.
"Princess."
Reina could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. "Why is that?"
He tilted his head back, face looking up to the twinkling stars above them. "You're obviously a princess. You can't do shit on your own without someone having to swoop in and rescue your ass from danger."
The rosy blush dissipated as quickly as it had appeared, an irritated grimace replacing it. "I can't believe I thought you were going to say something like I'm pretty like a princess or something."
"Did I ever say you weren't pretty?" He flashed his pearly whites in her direction, giving her what she could only assume to be a wink. "You've already got me wrapped around your pretty little finger. I wouldn't fling myself into harm's way for just anyone, you know."
She refused to let herself think too much of his flirtatious comment. He was always joking around, making it impossible to know when he was serious or not. "You…You didn't have to do that. I was the one that put myself in harm's way today. You should have just let me get hit by the Drainer's tail. I would have deserved it for challenging it head-on."
"And let you be squashed like a fly?" Xigbar shook his head. "As if."
"Well…Why did you save me? It wasn't very beneficial to you," she mumbled. "All you really needed me for was to find the Drainer since it would have been drawn to my Keyblade's light, but you technically didn't need me anymore once it came to us. Why even bother trying to protect me? Why even still stick around with me after I caused you to get your butt kicked so badly?"
He sneered at her. "Okay, first of all, your highness, I did not get my butt kicked."
"You were knocked unconscious. You got more than just your butt kicked, Xiggy." If he could use nicknames, so could she. She reveled in the way a slight grin couldn't help but sneak its way along his slender cheeks.
He threw up one of his hands in defense. "Fine, fine. I got my butt kicked, but it wouldn't have happened as badly if we had just retreated when I said to."
"You still didn't answer my question. Why go out of your way to save me?" She poked him in the side with the twig in her hand.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" His short, bitter laugh let her know he wasn't going to give her a straight answer. She should have figured as much.
Just to annoy him for his vague answer, she poked him a few more times with the twig until he snatched it out of her hands, broke it in two, and tossed it back into the fire.
Xigbar decided to steer the conversation back to his original question. She had finally opened up to him about who she was, but he needed her to trust him even more. Things like trust always took forever to build, but he had hoped that he had gotten himself at least a few stepping stones towards it. "You never told me about the importance of the keys, though. Since your father is Ansem the Wise, I guess there must be a pretty big reason as to why you need to gather them."
"Oh, right…Sorry, I didn't mean to give you my whole backstory when all you asked about were the keys," she mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed she had unloaded all of that on a perfect stranger. Dare she say it, though, but he was starting to become less of a stranger the more time she spent with him. It was kind of nice, actually.
Well, this was it. It was time to lay it all out on the table and hope it didn't come back to bite her in the ass later.
"The Five Keys of Radiance," Reina began to explain, "are still kind of a mystery to me, to be honest. Apparently, they are great tools of light that my father was researching up until he disappeared. If they're all gathered together, they can create one big, powerful weapon. According to the journal my father left behind, the weapon can completely eliminate the darkness from all worlds forever. Or, if placed in the wrong hands, it could lead to absolute destruction. But that's all I really know about them…"
Xigbar waited until she was finished before he started to ask questions. "Do you think those keys have something to do with your dad's disappearance?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. It's a possibility. A few days before he vanished, my father gave me the key I wear around my neck. I think he knew something bad was going to happen to him, but he wanted to keep the keys safe and away from those who'd want to use them for evil. The key around my neck is the Fifth Key, but he hid the other four keys in different worlds in hopes of separating them all so no one could use their power. It was a lot harder to travel to different worlds back then, but he befriended a mouse who helped him get around so he could bury the other four keys."
"So you've had the Fifth Key this whole time," Xigbar said, pointing to the pendant that dipped into her cleavage as she leaned forward. "It turned into a Keyblade, right? It makes me wonder if this ultimate weapon is some form of a Keyblade."
"Maybe… I didn't even know what a Keyblade was until today," she frowned, reflexively bringing up her hand to protectively hold the key-shaped pendant in her gentle grasp.
"Oh, I'm fully aware," Xigbar began to tease. "Oh, mighty and powerful Keystick! I command thee to save me!"
His perfect reenactment of her earlier folly earned him a rough punch to the shoulder, but the Freeshooter only laughed harder. "Come on, babe, you know it's funny! You're the first person I've ever met who possessed a Keyblade and didn't even know what it was. There are tons of people out there who would kill to get their hands on something as valuable as a Keyblade."
In hindsight, calling it a Keystick was pretty funny and ignorant of her, but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of letting him see the smirk turning up the corners of her lips as she fought back a chuckle of her own. "Yeah, yeah, okay. You made your point. It's not my fault I didn't know what it was. My necklace just sort of turned into one today. It had never transformed into a Keyblade before. I just don't know why my father would entrust me with the Fifth Key…"
Xigbar raised a brow, waiting for her to continue.
"No one I've ever encountered has asked me about it, nor has anyone tried to steal it from me. It makes me think no one else really knows about the Five Keys of Radiance, so I can only assume they're all still safely hidden, just waiting for the right person to find them."
The fire was crackling peacefully in the night, and Xigbar couldn't bring himself to look away from the dancing flames as if lulled by their hypnotic beauty. "And I guess you think that right person is you?"
"Who else could it be? I'm Ansem's daughter, after all." Reina's own gaze was drawn to the fire as she finally felt calm and at peace for the first time that day. It actually felt nice to talk about this with someone, and she was grateful he wasn't chiming in with any sarcastic, snooty remarks. "It's like he wrote those notes and instructions just for me, hoping that one day I would grow up and seek the precious keys he had worked so hard to keep safe. "
Xigbar rubbed his chin in thought and hummed for a moment before asking another question. "Why would he go through all that effort to hide them in other worlds when someone else could just easily snatch them up? Why couldn't he just create the weapon himself and use it to seal away the darkness? That sounds like a better plan than simply jotting down everything in a notebook, hoping it would one day be passed down to someone worthy."
"I'm trying to figure out the same thing." Reina gave a short laugh. "It's honestly hard to make sense of all of this. His journal talks about the keys' power and the importance of keeping them separated. I don't think he knew how to truly harness their power when they were all in his possession, but he hoped maybe someone out there would be able to. Since he never got the chance to do it himself, he placed all his knowledge into the journal and left it in the hands of a trustworthy wizard until someone would be able to pick up where he left off. I think he wanted someone to try and deliver all these worlds from darkness, to wipe out all the Heartless from existence and bring peace to everything."
Xigbar scoffed at her sentiment. "Sounds like a bunch of melodramatic horseshit to me."
It was only a matter of time before Xigbar opened his big mouth to say something offensive, but she still couldn't help but turn her nose up at him in annoyance. "It's not horseshit! If Ansem the Wise said the keys needed to be protected, then I believe him!"
"Come on, sweetheart." Xigbar leaned back until he was stretched out on the ground in front of the fire, arms tucked behind his head as he made himself comfortable. "You can't honestly believe that there are some magical keys out there that can completely get rid of the darkness. It's impossible to destroy darkness for good. As long as people have hearts, there will always be darkness to hide within them."
"Well, aren't you a pessimistic one?" Reina rolled her eyes. "Not everyone has darkness in their hearts. That was another thing my father was researching up until the day of his disappearance."
Her words drew out a low rumble from the back of his throat. "As if. Every person in the universe can possess darkness inside of them. Even the sweetest, kindest people can be full of hate and rage. Supposedly there are seven Princesses of Heart that are said to be the only individuals alive who only carry pure light in their hearts, but who knows if that's true or not?"
Princesses of Heart? Reina wasn't sure she had ever heard of them before. "What's a Princess of Heart?"
"Nothing for you worry about, kiddo. It's not like you're one of them."
"Hey! That's not fair!" Reina pouted. "I told you about the keys! You could at least tell me what those princesses are. And how do you know I'm not one of them? I am the daughter of a wise king, after all."
"I just do," he yawned lazily. "Look, I'm pretty beat. Having your energy sucked out of you like a vacuum isn't exactly a walk in the park. I promise I'll tell 'ya later, okay? Plus, are you not exhausted from everything? It must have been a lot of work to drag my ass all the way out of the Bizarre Room into the woods. You must at least be hungry or thirsty after exhilarating all that energy."
He was a professional at changing subjects and deflecting questions, but at least he promised to tell her more about the Princesses of Heart later. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't eaten anything since that morning, but she didn't feel the least bit hungry. She didn't even feel thirsty, even though she had screamed and cried a lot earlier. Hunger should have been tearing at her stomach by now, but food had just been so far from her mind all day.
"I'm okay," she told him. "What about you? I think I might have an apple and some water in my ba—"
Reina didn't finish her sentence as a painful realization swept over her, making her face grow pale as her veins turn to her ice.
Xigbar didn't get a chance to ask what was up as the brunette soon leaped to her feet in one big dramatic jump.
"My bag. My bag! MY BAG!" Her voice climbed to a loud shriek as panic surged through her. She looked all around the area, even sneaking a glance inside the tree, but she knew it wasn't there. The last time she had seen her bag was back in the Bizarre Room, stashed securely away in her hiding spot. She had left it hidden when she flung her fireballs at the Drainer, and she could only guess it was still there.
Unless someone, or something, snatched it up.
"We have to go back!" Reina snapped, reaching for Xigbar. The closest thing she could get her hands on was the black hood of his cloak, and she roughly tugged it upwards to get Xigbar to get off his ass.
"Go back? Where?" He grunted.
"The Bizarre Room! I LEFT MY BAG IN THE BIZARRE ROOM!" She wanted to yank her hair out for being so careless enough to forget the most critical thing she owned—her father's journal. "I was so distracted trying to get us both out of the Bizarre Room that I completely forgot all about my bag!"
He didn't join in her panic, instead choosing just to stand there and grin. "Awwww, you must really like me if you cared more about rescuing me than you did that precious journal of yours! I'm almost moved to tears right now!"
"This is no time for sarcasm!" The brunette snapped back. "I have to go back! I have to go back right now and get my bag!"
She had just turned on her heels, ready to storm off into the dark woods, before a sturdy pair of hands clamped down on her shoulders to keep her in place. "Woah, woah! Hold on just a second there, princess! You're not seriously planning on parading through the woods at this hour, are you?"
Annoyed, Reina tried to swat his hands away, but he kept them firmly in place to keep her from going anywhere. "Of course I am! I have to get to the Bizarre Room right now and—"
"And what if you run into the Drainer? Neither of us can fight it, you know," he reminded her.
"I'll just run away then! Now, let me go. I need to hurry! What if someone tries to steal my bag?! They'll take the journal and all the contents with it!" She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but Xigbar was soon yanking her towards him until she lost her footing and fell back against his broad chest.
Embracing the opportunity to hold her close to him, Xigbar refused to let go of her. "Calm down just a second, sweetheart. For starters, I guarantee no one is going to steal your bag. We didn't see anyone but the Drainer in the Bizarre Room earlier, and I highly doubt that mindless bastard gives a rat's ass about a chick's purse."
Reina's whole face burned brightly as Xigbar's hands moved from her shoulders down to her waist, pulling her closer to him. She felt his cool breath against the shell of her ear as he spoke, and it made her shudder. It was a good thing he couldn't see her face from where her back was leaning against him since he would have had something snarky to say about the rosy blush on her cheeks.
"L-Let me go, Xigbar," Reina commanded, twisting herself in his arms so she could try to break free. Even without his powers, he was still physically strong and easily capable of keeping her trapped in his arms with little effort. "I need to get my bag back! Please… I can't risk someone getting their hands on that journal and finding out the location of the keys!"
The more she fought, the tighter he held her against him. "If it's any consolation at all, I snuck a glance in the notebook earlier. I couldn't understand a damn thing! Ansem the Wise really does have the worst handwriting out of everyone I've seen. If someone did happen to snatch it up, they wouldn't be able to make any sense of it. I'm surprised you were able to, but maybe your handwriting is just as bad as his."
She didn't think her father's writing was as intangible as Xigbar was making it out to be, but she understood the point he was trying to make. If a random person happened to stumble upon her book, they might think it was nothing more than a hunk of trash full of rants and incomprehensible notes from a mad scientist. It could even be misconstrued as a piece of fiction.
"Still…I need to get it. I can't just leave it!"
"I didn't say you had to leave it. I just don't think it's a good idea to go tonight," he told her before finally releasing his hold on her. He took a step back to let her know she was free, and he even stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat to let her know he wasn't going to try and suddenly grab her again. "I can take you there in the morning. We can go get your bag before I bring you back to your Gummi Ship. Of course, if you absolutely insist on going tonight, I won't stop you, but I don't plan on tagging along. I don't really feel like dying, if you catch my drift. Just know that if anything happens to you, I won't be able to step in to save you."
Reina turned her head back around to look at him before staring longingly at the dark path just past the trees. It was a long walk back to the Tea Party Garden, and she wasn't sure she'd even be able to find her way through the darkness of the woods. Xigbar had been her tour guide, so without him, the journey almost seemed pointless.
"You…You really don't think anyone will steal it?" She asked timidly, needing one more piece of reassurance before she could let it go.
"I promise it's fine, sweetheart. No one's going to steal your stupid book. We'll get it in the morning, okay?" He rubbed the back of his neck before realizing that the fire looked like it needed to be kindled to keep burning. He abandoned her side to sit by the campfire again, adding a few more sticks and logs to ensure it didn't go out.
The agitation in her chest over losing her bag was finally quieting, and with a dejected sigh, Reina decided to give up on retrieving it until dawn. She joined him by the fire again, wondering just how long the nights lasted in Wonderland and if time flowed just as normally as it did on Radiant Garden and Traverse Town. Without the journal, she doubted she'd be able to get much sleep until it was safe and sound in her hands once more.
"You really need to learn to relax more, kiddo. Don't take everything so seriously," Xigbar scooted closer to her until he could easily drape an arm around her shoulder. Reina didn't bother trying to fight his arm off of her; she had seen just how relentless he could be when it came to physical contact. She had been unable to break free from his arms just a moment ago, and she doubted he'd let her put some distance between them now until he was good and ready.
"You have no concept of personal boundaries, do you?" She grumbled.
"Don't be like that, babe. I'm only trying to keep you warm." The twinking of his eye let her know he was only teasing her, and she had to look away from his face to keep him from seeing just how much of an effect his closeness had on her.
No guy had ever been this bold with her, and she couldn't decide if she found it flattering or just plain annoying that he kept flirting with her. Had she not been close to watching him die right in front of her earlier, she might have been more adamant about him keeping his paws off of her. It was just such a huge relief that he was still able to joke around and laugh like he hadn't been knocking on death's door just a few hours before.
"I still wish I knew why you saved me. You just don't really strike me as the chivalrous type, but maybe I'm wrong about you," Reina commented with a strained smile.
Unexpectedly, that was enough to make Xigbar pull his arm away. "Maybe I saved you just because I wanted to. Maybe there was no bigger reasoning behind it, nor any ulterior motives hiding behind my heroic actions."
Why did she find that hard to believe even after everything? While she should have been glad that his arm was no longer draped over her, the chills brought forth from the night's breeze made her want to reconsider turning his physical contact away.
"Buuuuuuut," Xigbar drawled out, "I wouldn't be opposed to getting a reward from you."
Reina raised her brow in suspicion. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I did sacrifice myself to save your life. Don't you think I earned myself a little something special? A kiss, maybe?" His face was brimming with his usual grin, but the way he purred out his question in a seductive manner made her think he wasn't just goofing around this time.
Her pulse throbbed in her ears as Xigbar leaned in a little closer. If her cheeks got any redder, she'd turn into a tomato. "W-What?! Stop joking around!"
"Come on, sweetheart. It's a simple request," he whispered against her cheek in a deep, gravelly voice. " With only the stars as our witness, I'll make sure it's a kiss you'll never forget. The mood is just right with the crackling of the fire, so there's really no better way to thank me for today."
'Is he serious right now?! Does he really want me to kiss him?!' Reina's thoughts were a tangled mess as she felt the ferocity of his heated gaze lingering on her. "W-We can't kiss! Only couples do that! Besides, I barely know you!"
His low, amused chuckle rang through her ears as he gently ran a single finger down from her shoulder to the edge of her wrist. The light, intimate gesture was enough to make Reina's whole body tense up. "You don't have to be so modest. Don't think I didn't notice you checking me out a few times earlier. You're totally into the bad-boy types, aren't you, babe? Just give in to your body's desires. Of course, if you're scared, I won't force you. The choice is yours, princess."
The deepness of his voice was making her tremble as she focused her eyes on his mouth. His face was maybe three inches from her, but he didn't lean any closer to her. If she wanted to give her honorary hero a kiss, she'd have to be the one who closed the distance between them. Xigbar was many things, but a thief wasn't one of them. He didn't steal kisses from unwilling participants. If she genuinely didn't want to explore her budding attraction for the mysterious, handsome man with the eyepatch, he wouldn't force it.
"I…Um…Uh…"
Words weren't properly forming in her throat as she froze in place.
"Any day now, princess. Either kiss me or don't. I'm good either way."
Somehow she found that last part hard to believe. He ran his tongue along his bottom lip in anticipation, waiting for her to make the next move, but Reina just couldn't make herself move.
It wasn't that Xigbar wasn't attractive. He was damn good-looking, and he knew it, too. The sharpness of his jawline, the vibrant hue of his yellow eye, his long, velvety hair… Everything about him called to Reina in ways she didn't understand. She had been around attractive men before. Hell, even Leon was pretty hot in his own way, but she never once felt physically drawn to Leon, or anyone else, ever before. Besides the fictional characters she read about in her favorite romance novels, that is. So what was it about Xigbar that made her head swim and her heart pound?
A part of her wanted to kiss him. She wanted to know what his lips felt like and how he would taste. She wondered what he would do with his hands during their kiss and if they would find their way into her hair or if they would wrap around her waist to pull her closer to him. Would it be a simple peck, or would it lead to something more?
The pressure was becoming too much for her to handle. Anxiety welled in her chest, her lack of experience in this kind of "stuff" becoming more apparent the longer she sat there without moving. Finally, she pushed herself through the uncertainties of what would happen next as she took the plunge and leaned forward. Her mouth didn't connect with his, however, as she purposely aimed for his cheek instead.
"Th-There! There's your kiss!" She squeaked out.
Xigbar was surprised at how anti-climatic that was despite the amount of time it took for her to finally muster up the courage to give him a light peck on the cheek.
"That's…all? Seriously?" He asked, almost bored.
Reina's cheeks were burning brighter than the campfire, and she scooted away from him until there was at least three feet of air separating them. "W-What do you mean 'that's all'?! I've never kissed a guy before! I can't just give away something as special as my first kiss to just anyone!"
"So the guy who nearly broke his neck trying to save you isn't worthy enough of your first kiss? Ouch. You wound me, princess," Xigbar pretended to be offended as he gripped his chest tightly as if he were suffering from a heart attack. He then broke out into a roaring laugh before he shook his head. "Fine, fine, I should have expected as much. It's obvious you never kissed anyone before, but I guess I'll just have to try a bit harder if I want to take your first."
Reina wanted to beat him over the head with her fist for that remark, both embarrassed and angry over his senseless flirting. "You're the worst, Xigbar! I'll never kiss a guy like you! Never! Never! NEVER!"
He tapped his chin in thought for a moment. "Hmmm….Wait a second, didn't you technically kiss me on the mouth already? When you were giving me CPR."
"That wasn't a kiss! That was mouth-to-mouth resuscitation! Two very things!" Reina insisted, the blush on her cheeks still staining her face.
He sighed. "Yeah, you're right… Not enough tongue action to be considered a real kiss."
"That's it! You're dead, mister!" Reina picked up a nearby pebble and threw it at his head. He only laughed as he caught it in mid-air before continuing to relentlessly tease her through the night.