Ch.18

Roxas and Xion had finished up their mission and were heading to the clock tower as they always did. They exited out of their portal at the top and rounded the corner expecting to see Saix like they always did. They did see him in fact, but what they did not expect was to see someone else sitting there with him.

Before they could say anything Saix turned to look at them. "Roxas. Xion. I hope you do not mind that I brought Demyx with me today. He needed the fresh air away from the castle."

Roxas and Xion furrowed their brows in confusion. Neither of them knew truly what to make of the situation. But thankfully Saix easily caught on to what they must have been thinking. "It was something that was related to Axel. But we don't wait to dwell on it."

As soon as the name 'Axel' was said, Roxas and Xion understood. He already was someone they were not fond of wanting to interact with, but with him being the 2nd in command they didn't have much of a choice. With a few nods, the two of them took their seats next to Saix and he handed them their ice cream.

"Did your mission go well today?" Saix asked after a moment.

"It was good," Roxas replied.

After that, Xion spared a quick unnoticed glance to Demyx. The guy was listening but being polite as to not invade the conversation. But Xionknew full well that Demyx did not know of the plan that had been created and she wasn't about to let him know about it. She knew better than to let that slip up.

"We worked hard and took out all the Heartless in no time flat."

"Good to hear it," Saix replied with a nod. "Keep doing what you can."

Roxas bit into his ice cream and stared at it. Finally he looked up over towards Saix, knowing he could ask what he wanted and hopefully would get an answer. "I don't get it though. Why do we need to keep on fighting the Heartless like this?"

"Because we need to get to the goal of completing Kingdom Hearts," Saix replied simply. "You remember what we were looking at the start of the day, correct? That is what it is."

"But I still don't get just what it is… The 'hearts of all hearts' stuff?" Roxas asked before eating more of his ice cream while he waited for the answer.

Much to his surprise, Xion ended up being the one to answer. "Isn't it where all the hearts that we collect wind up?"

"That's right Xion," Saix replied with a slight nod. "You two are the core of this entire goal that the Organization has. With the two of you working as you are, we move closer to our goal. Closer…" Saix paused, letting his thoughts dip deeply to what all of this meant. He had always thought about the day that they would meet their goal. But it still was strange to think they were getting closer. "Closer to gaining hearts once more.

"Xemnas said that the strength of the human heart is vast," Xion commented, recalling what Xemnas had spoken about before.

Roxas shrugged. "Yeah, but what do we need with it?"

There was a gasp, but not from Saix or Xion. Instead all eyes focused on Demyx who now realized he'd drawn attention to himself. "Ah sorry. Didn't mean to invade the conversation and stuff."

"No Demyx, it's quite all right. If you have something you wish to interject there is no harm in doing so," Saix answered.

"Well if you say so..." Demyx stared down at his almost finished ice cream for a moment and then shifted his gaze to Roxas. "It's just that the heart and emotions are totally important man!"

"But I just don't understand stand... why is having a heart important? You understand it I guess?"

"Well of course!" Demyx exclaimed. "It's just something really important to being human and all that jazz. Isn't that right, Saix?"

"Yes, it is very important for that element."

"You just know all this? Never just wonder about it? I mean... I feel so lost with it. Fighting for something I don't know anything about..." Roxas lowered his head before sighing.

Demyx furrowed his brows. "How could you not-"

Saix raised a hand. "I think part of it may be that Roxas and Xion have no memories from before. It is hard to recall the importance of having heart when you cannot remember. But don't worry," Saix now focused on looking at the two young teens. "in time I am sure you will both understand it more, mainly for when you achieve that heart. But in the meantime I'll do what I can to explain any further questions you may have."

"Ah.. okay. Thanks Saix," Roxas replied.

After that the group went back to eating their ice cream like they always did. Well everyone but Demyx. He watched the others then stared back at his own ice cream. Finally he cleared his throat and spoke up. "Uh… you guys really don't mind having me here? I'm not like being invasive or anything?"

"Demyx, I told you already that it isn't a problem. I invited you to come, there is no problem with that," Saix replied in the strongest serious tone he could give at the moment.

"Yeah!" Xion interjected. "I don't mind. We totally understand as well. You know… wanting to get away from Axel and all."

Demyx felt a bit better at that, though hearing Axel's name again brought uncertainty. "I can't just stay here though… eventually I'll have to head back to the castle… Back to facing him again…"

"We all must face him at some point, no matter how he acts towards us we need to get through it as best as we can. But," Saix placed a hand on Demyx's back. "If Axel ever does anything like that again to you, I want you to come and tell me, okay?"

"Okay… I can try that," Demyx whispered. He was thankful for sure that Saix wanted to help him, but the worry about having to confront Axel still was much stronger. Still overall very thankful either way. "Thanks…"

The remainder of the time at the clock tower was still quiet, but it was peaceful while everyone finished up their ice cream. Once the group finished they headed to leave, with Demyx trying to trail farther behind, but Saix still was far too observant to let that slide. He walked right by Demyx's side as they entered back into the castle.

Axel was there waiting as he always did, but his attention was on Roxas and Xion, leaving Saix and Demyx to head out on their own into the hallway. Once they were near the bedrooms, Demyx slowed his pace again and stopped after another moment. "Thanks again Saix."

"You do not need to keep thanking me," Saix said without turning around.

"I just feel like I gotta though… you really stood up for me there. It's just nice to know that someone's got my back."

Saix still didn't turn around. He breathed in deeply before he ended up nodding. "You're welcome, just do not forget what I said from before."

"Right," Demyx replied before turning to walk down the hallway that would lead to his room.

With nothing more for Saix to do he always continued moving towards his bedroom for the night. He headed to his room for the night and left all these thoughts to linger. He was far to tire dot actually sort though them, but he knew he had to complete his journal for the night. Then finally after what felt like a very long day he could get some good rest.

Roxas's Diary Entry: Day 94

Xemnas summoned us. Nothing he says ever makes sense to me. He showed us Kingdom Hearts, a big heart-shaped moon floating up there in the night sky, and said the human heart will never have power over us. Great...I guess?

So why are we trying to get hearts again?

Saix did his best to explain that I will understand one day… but I still am unsure. But I know I can trust Saix at least if I have any questions.

Secret Report: Saix

Roxas and Xion have been doing their best to keep our little plan working, and truly it seems to have been paying off. Kingdom Hearts… it is finally in the sky for all of us to see. It still is a long way away from being full, but it is going to grow closer each day. But even with that, we need to keep our plans going smoothly.

Though I still have some underlying worry for Axel. His actions towards the others like Demyx are becoming more and more obvious. He never seems to realize that he is in the wrong for doing what he does… I hate to have to say this, but he acts just as a bully would to others. I am sure if I had my heart now I would be hurt by this, but there is still nothing but the old memories…

A young Isa walked down the streets of his home. The day was clear and the sun shined brightly down on him, making him wish he had remembered a hat. Either way he kept on walking, heading towards the area that was more of the downtown area for people to head to shows and hangout with one another.

On his way there, he walked passed an alleyway, but before he could go any farther stopped. Though it was shadowed at the far end of the alleyway, there was no way he could mistake that bright red hair.

"Lea… just what are you doing?"

Lea was standing at the end of the alleyway, surrounded by three other older teens. Lea was backed up against the way, with one the older teens grabbing onto his shirt collar. They shoved him hard against the wall and then let him crumble to the ground.

The boys started laughing and that was when Isa moved forward as fast as he could. "How about you leave him alone already."

The three older teens turned around and scoffed at Isa. Looking back at Lea, one of them laughed. "Well look, 'bout time your buddy came to your rescue."

"Heh, yeah such a weakling that you need others to come and save you," one of the others said.

Isa narrowed his eyes. "And how about you just get out of here."

"Man seriously. Way too serious," the 3rd one sighed. "We've already had our fun with him, so I guess we can head out. But…" he walked right up to Isa and gave him an equally serious and cold stare. "We will mess with him again if he tries to pick a fight with us. We would be glad to teach him more lessons."

The group of boys laughed and ran off before Isa could even say anything to them. Right away Isa ran over and knelt down next to his friend. "Lea. Are you all right?"

Lea kept his head lowered, but faint sniffles were heard. Now that he was up close to Lea, he could see some small cuts and bruises on his arms. Clearly much more had happened than what Isa would have wished.

Isa placed both his hands onto Lea's shoulders and held him tightly. "Lea. Come on, look at me."

Lea slowly raised his head. There were a few more bruises and cuts, but most notable there was blood dripping from his nose. Lea stared at him with watery eyes, but no words came from his mouth, only small whimpers.

Sighing Isa pulled out his handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it gently against Lea's nose. "Lea… I've told you before you got to stop picking fights with those guys. They're just big bullies who won't listen to anyone."

"But if no one stands up to the bullies… then they'll never stop," Lea muttered. "I didn't mean to pick a fight today…"

"What happened then?"

"I was just minding my own business, and they were just picking on these younger kids. Trying to take any money that they had for ice cream. I wasn't going to let that go by so I told them to lay off. Then…" Lea stopped for a bit as he went to wipe away the tears from his eyes. "That's when they dragged me back here to… ya know 'teach me a lesson for messing with them' as they would say."

Isa sighed one more. "Lea. You could have gotten really hurt, more so than you have already. Picking a fight with bullies isn't a safe choice even if you are doing it for a good cause."

"Yeah well… I just wanted to see them stop. I hate seeing them pick on little kids like that."

"But now you're hurt and those bullies won't care to stop."

"Yeah yeah… don't gotta rub it in my face…" Lea said before pushing away Isa's hand. "I don't need help…"

As soon as Isa's hand was away, the blood started to trickle again. Lea frowned as he tried to wipe it away, but it kept on dripping. Eventually he looked to Isa with a sad and pleading look, and Isa went right back to trying to stop the bleeding.

As they sat there, Lea's expression slowly kept dropping to look far less cheerful. His eyes were showing clear signs of how tired and hurt he was, but Isa knew that Lea wasn't going to jump up to talk about it.

"Are you going to tell your parents about this?" Isa said before putting his other hand on Lea's back.

Lea shook his head. "Nah… they'd only get mad at me for getting into another fight… You know how they are about this stuff…"

Carefully Isa pulled away the now bloody handkerchief and saw that the bleeding had stopped. There wasn't much else he could do with it so he folded it carefully and placed it away in his pocket, mentally reminding himself to remember to wash it as soon as he could.

"Come on, Lea. How about we head to my house then?"

Lea nodded. "Sure…"

Isa moved his arms to be under Lea. After a brief count to three, the two of them stood up. "Everything feel all right?"

"Hmm… yeah…" Lea answered. "Still a bit sore though…"

"Let's get going," Isa said as the two of them walked. He made sure to keep one arm around Lea, making sure he wouldn't drop at any moment.

"Isa?"

"Yeah, Lea?"

"Thanks," Lea whispered. "I guess I was just lucky that you came around when you did…"

"I was coming to find you downtown anyways. We were going to meet up, remember?"

"Yeah I know… I just don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come around when you did. So thanks," Lea replied before giving a small smile. "It's good to know I have such a good friend who always has my back."

Saix shot up in his bed, finding a memory of surprise and shock filling his mind. He stared at the darken room around him, while he tried to let his mind sort everything out. Soon enough he sighed and laid back down to stare up at the ceiling.

He pinched the bridge of his nose while he continued to sort through what he had just dreamt. "Why… Why of all times… Why must I now start dreaming of the past?"

He knew it was pointless to ask why.

He knew exactly why.

He just wanted to avoid and never think about it, yet here he was, with no other choice but to think on it. "Lea… since when did the tables turn…? When did you become the thing you hated? Why… I just want to know. What invoked this change? And why am I stuck unable to help you or get through to you? I feel so useless in all of this. If I could just understand the reason behind it, maybe I could do something. But I still am so lost… I suppose though, if you have become the thing you once tried to stand up to, it is my job to keep protecting those you try to hurt."

I have been really excited about this chapter. I had this great idea and now I finally get to show it off. Thank you all so much for sticking with me throughout all of this! Hope you like what is to come!