Chapter Eighteen: Curiosity

Secret Report: Zexion III

From the beginning, Roxas and Naminé were exceptional nobodies, their very existence defies reason. Their powers are the very keystone of so much of our work, not just in Castle Oblivion, but for the Organization as a whole.

And yet Roxas is still treated as the bottom rank, while Naminé is not even considered amongst our number. So much of our handling directives regarding the two is to keep them in the dark as long as possible. And that doesn't even get into some of the treatment that Naminé might be receiving from Marluxia and Larxene.

It doesn't fee…

I don't li…

I question these directives and whatever logic might drive them.

In the weeks before Castle Oblivion, Roxas only had his main meals in his room. Mostly because that's what everyone else did, and even if he did eat out in the commons the lesser nobodies were not exactly conversationalists. Eating ice cream with Axel was the only exception, but that was a bit different. That was for fun, or to relax after a day's mission. Maybe that was what led to him deciding to eat with Naminé this past week.

But while Axel was fun to be with, he never seemed to really talk much about what he was thinking or worried about. But talking with Naminé, Roxas felt like he could open up. And it also gave her a chance to talk about her own troubles honestly. It probably was her only chance to talk to someone who cared about her.

As much as a Nobody could even care.

"Something wrong?"

Naminé's voice brought him back to right now, where he was sitting with her, Axel, and Zexion with their meals. Or rather what was left of them, as he had begun tapping his fork gently against his empty tray. "I've…just got alot on my mind."

Axel leaned back against his chair with a smile, "Bit of a change from a month ago. You were practically a zombie."

Roxas shook his head as he nudged his tray away on the table. "All I had was the keyblade, missions, you, and ice cream. I wasn't fighting to stay alive." He hadn't met Naminé or Sora, or even had an idea of some of the horrible things the Organization would do to get results. There was no way he could stay so passive with everything going on.

Of course, of everything that Roxas mentioned, it was the last one that got Naminé's attention. "Ice cream? How did you get ice cream?"

Zexion looked over to Axel, eyebrow raised as he set aside his porridge bowl. Axel just shrugged and explained, "I was the one who showed Roxas the ropes of the Organization. After each mission, I'd pick up some sea salt ice cream from Twilight Town's shop and we'd eat it on the clock tower there."

Naminé's eyes drifted to the floor as she began to mutter, "It must have been nice to have some freedom after work."

Zexion crossed his arms with a sigh. "As of now, none of us really have much freedom. We all must remain in Castle Oblivion until Sora, Riku, and Kairi are sufficiently controlled. Though Ansem is our highest priority for now."

Axel smiled and looked over at Naminé. "Once we take care of them, we can definitely let you out of the castle. We could probably get you in for the Organization's one day of vacation this year."

A small smile came to Naminé at the answer. "If...it's not too much trouble."

Roxas raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's a vacation?"

Axel began to chuckle and leaned forward onto the table with an elbow. "Guess you still have a lot to learn. It's the best thing ever is what it is."

"It's a day off," Naminé began to explain, "You don't have to work, and you can do whatever you want to do, or go where you want to."

"So long as you're ready to get back to work when the vacation is over." Zexion sighed and tapped his cheek. "Granted, my vacation day is usually low key. I simply take the time to read some book that has caught my eye, or a bit of my own research."

Axel snorted and stood up from his chair. "Well, the book part I get, but the other options sounds like your job with less deadlines."

Zexion turned to face him with a smirk. "And what would you do, sleep all day?"

"Yep." Axel raised a finger almost instantly after Zexion's question. " I'm catching up on my shuteye, especially after this job." His confidence faltered however as he looked over to Roxas and Naminé, and he hastily added, "Er, no offense."

Naminé simply shook her head. "It's alright, this whole situation has been very hectic." She looked across the table to Roxas and asked, "Is there anything you want to do for a vacation?"

Roxas had been turning over the thought in his mind. A few weeks ago, he couldn't even think of anything to do besides missions and ice cream. But now? After knowing what he did about himself and Sora? "I want to go see a new world. Somewhere the Organization hasn't sent me yet."

Somewhere that Sora hadn't been yet.

Someplace he could call his own.

"Would you want to take Naminé with you?"

And that question caused the two of them to look up to Axel with wide eyes, the two of them sputtering. "Wha…Wha?!" "H…Hold on!"

Axel chuckled as he walked towards them. "I mean, considering you two seem to be pretty close friends, it's a fair question."

Roxas and Naminé looked at each other. The two of them letting the idea simmer between them. Roxas certainly wouldn't mind the two of them going out together for a day. But she deserved to make a choice with how she wanted to spend her day off. He asked nervously, "Would…you want to go see a new world with me?"

Naminé was quiet for a moment, as Roxas waited for her answer. But soon enough she began to smile, "I would like that."

At her answer, Roxas began to grin. It might be their first vacation, but Roxas just knew it'd be a great one. "Alright! I'll look for a world for us!"

Axel just smirked at the response. "Great. How are you gonna pick a vacation destion?"

"Somehow," Roxas muttered as he realized he had no idea how to actually find a new world

Zexion sighed as he got up from his seat. "I do have a few notes on several worlds, I'm sure one of them would be to both your liking." He gestured to the door. "However, I do believe Naminé needs to begin her work with Roxas to show him Sora's memories. Axel and I can clean up."

Naminé nodded and rose to her feet. "Right. We should get going." The two of them headed to her room.

Axel was thankful that Zexion seemed to be a step ahead. These past few days, he had his suspicions about Roxas and Naminé. Roxas seemed a lot more interested in seeing her after dinner than catching up with him like before. But the way the two of them behaved tonight? He waited long enough to put the trays into the garbage before turning to Zexion. "I can't be the only one noticing the way those two get around each other."

"The inordinate amount of affection the two seem to share. Something that should be impossible for Nobodies." Axel nodded and Zexion began to pace, cupping his chin as he thought aloud, "I would call it a result of their original selves propinquity if it weren't for two factors. Roxas had no memories of his own when he was created."

Axel nodded. "So he wouldn't have anything that would make him attracted to Naminé." He knew first hand how spaced out the kid was when he first came to the Organization. Putting his life on the line seemed to make him pick things up real fast. But that was one half of the equation. "What's the second issue?"

"Naminé was initially to be given Sora as compensation, but seems to prefer Roxas far more."

Axel crossed his arms at the observation. "She did seem pretty eager to work on Keyblade training. In comparison, changing Sora's memories should be a cakewalk." At the very least, she wouldn't need to put herself on the line for Sora.

Zexion placed a hand to his chest as he elaborated, "Our memories are our only link to our former hearts, and ideally we seek to emulate them as closely as possible. So why would she be satisfied with Roxas to the point she would engage in this training?"

Axel shook his head. "You're making it sound like the two are more than Nobodies instead of less." Ever since the two of them entered his life, Axel had a lot of his simple routine shaken up. The strangest thing is that he couldn't really call it a bad thing.

"It...definitely raises serious questions about us Nobodies. That's why I want to keep an eye on the two of them." Zexion began to walk towards the door, only to pause right in front of it. "Axel?"

Axel felt his shoulders tense. He didn't want any of his targets in Castle Oblivion to suspect a thing before the knife was in their back. "Yes?"

Zexion looked back with a small smile. "Thank you for helping with all this."

Axel blinked before grinning and offering a loose two finger salute. "You know me. Glad to be of service."

Zexion opened the door and walked into the hallway, leaving Axel to mull over his plan. Zexion deciding to join Roxas' training was a curveball for sure. Axel had to bite his tongue so he didn't raise any suspicion about monopolizing the time of the Organization's keybearer.

Still, Zexion wasn't bad to hang around with. He was intelligent enough, even if he seemed to want to show off how well he knew a thesaurus. Not to mention he could hold his own in a fight.

Well, Axel didn't need to get rid of everyone. Just the traitors. He was willing to let Zexion walk away from all this for sure.

As long as he could make it out with Roxas. Maybe Naminé too if she could prove herself.

Yeah, that was the only reason he was doing this.

Back again to her little room. Naminé already missed the streets of Traverse Town, even if the memory of the place brought heartless with it. Unfortunately, an illusion was only an illusion. Ultimately meant to fade away against reality. She took her seat as Roxas closed the door behind him. "We should start with some of Sora's earlier memories of childhood, that way you could see how he became who he is."

Roxas paused and put a hand to his chin. "Like the ones I saw yesterday, and last night? With you, him, Kairi, and Riku sparring?"

Naminé raised an eyebrow as she picked up the notebook and crayons that sat next to her chair. "More or less like that. Obviously I wouldn't be there."

He slowly began to smile and ventured, "If those are pretty close to real memories, then maybe we did our job already."

Naminé blinked at the logic, but then began to giggle and answer, "Yes…yes, I suppose so. But if you leave early today, then it might be suspicious."

Roxas walked over to her chair as she began to flip through the notebook. "Then maybe we can just spend some time together."

"That would be nice. "Do you mind if I draw?" He shook his head with a smile, so she began by picking up a crayon and outlined a beach with a sun overhead. "Sometimes, when I need to modify or change memories, I need an image to focus on to visualize a memory."

"And then, as you make changes, you can make sure it all makes sense and it's not too out of place." He watched as slowly, people were added on the beach. A young Sora and Riku clashing with wooden blades. Kairi was standing to the side and watching with her own toy sword in hand. He glanced over to her and asked, "Do you ever draw for fun?"

Naminé paused for a moment before reaching for more colors "Sometimes, but it's not the only reason I want to draw." Over on the side, she began to draw another girl, sitting in the sand with a wooden sword. "If the memory change is undone, or eventually when it's all forgotten, the picture would still remain." She looked over the addition of herself to the memory as she wiped away some of the last remnants of crayon dust. "It's the only way I can think of to leave something to prove I existed."

The room was quiet after her explanation. Roxas didn't say a word, but a frown had settled on his face in response to Naminé's forlorn expression. Without a word, he gently cradled her hands. As she began to weave her fingers with his, Roxas muttered, "It's better than what I've got, just a journal that I use to write about what I see each day."

Naminé shook her head with a smile. "Words are an art all their own." She closed her sketchbook with her free hand and set it aside. "I wouldn't mind reading it."

Roxas scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "It's a little short. I lost my old one before coming here."

"Whatever time you think it's ready. I'd be here." Naminé then glanced over to the globe in the center of the room, wondering "Speaking of time, what time is it?" After waving her hand and seeing the result, she winced. "Pretty late."

"Yeah, I probably should rest up for tomorrow." Roxas let go of Naminé's hand, but hesitated for a moment. "Do you think that we could use dreams to just see Sora's memories?"

Naminé shook her head in response to the idea. "We were lucky last night. Trying to see a memory with just dreaming could have it slip into something totally different from what originally happened." She paused and looked aside as she corrected, "Well, that'd be what happens for a normal person. Nobodies…don't have real dreams, so it'd just cut to nothingness."

Roxas frowned, but nodded in understanding. He glanced over to the notebook Naminé had. "From what Axel said, you probably need to get me out of the memories now."

She cringed at the suggestion, but eventually Naminé nodded and reached out with her hand. "Yes. It's better in the long run. You won't remember the island as well, or every detail of what happened. But it's a small enough change that we should be able to remember it broadly." As she spoke, she seemed to grasp something in the air and gently pulled it towards her.

As she did so, Roxas could feel the memory of their conversation on the beach begin to dim. The crystal sea was just a mass of blue, the sunbeams just reduced to a ball of light. And though Roxas knew he was able to say something that made things better for her, he could not recall the words exactly.

But still, he knew it brought a smile to her face. And that was plenty.

He saw her frowning, with eyes cast downward at what he could only assume was the memory in her hand. He asked quietly, "Do you remember it?"

"Yes, I'm the only one who does now," she murmured, holding the memory to her chest.

Roxas offered a smile for her and answered, "Then that's enough for me."

Slowly, she began to smile too.

And somehow Roxas knew it was the same sort of smile she had back in that memory.

A blue sky…The ocean…An island…

Children played and fought over a drawing from a friend.

He watched the fight play out from afar. Naminé and Kairi went first.

And though Naminé did her best, it was still her first time fighting. And so she watched the remainder of the fight from a seat in the sand.

Kairi lasted a bit longer. Riku catching her off guard, knocking her down. Though she wasn't too upset at the loss.

He watched Sora fight Riku once again from where he was.

But...where was he exactly?

Where once was the inside of the island hut, there was an emptiness. And something was calling him deep within.

Letting go of the memory, sinking into the depths below, Roxas followed the call.

Naminé sighed as Kairi sat next to her. "I guess I still have a lot to learn."

She shook her head and smiled back. "We all start somewhere. It wasn't bad for your first try."

Grabbing Kairi's sword as well as her own, Naminé picked herself up from the beach and dusted away the sand. "I'll put our swords away and get my notepad." She walked over to the barrel by the hut and placed the toys inside.

But instead of going to where her notepad was, she couldn't help but pause at the door.

Roxas should be gone from the memory, and yet she knew that there was something important behind that door. Quickly, she chanced a peek inside.

Only to find an unfilled space of nothing behind the door. And the call was from deep within.

Letting go of the memory, stepping forth into the depths below, Naminé followed the call.

The two Nobodies dived deeply into their dreams.

Not knowing if there was an end to their fall into the abyss.

But eventually something came into view, but it was not each other.

Instead each of them saw a platform of glass, almost the shape of a circle with incomplete pieces. A platform with their own image resting upon it.