Isabella

Saix didn't bother going back to the dining room after that. Instead, he went to his bedroom, where he paced about, irritated, confused, and strangest of all, pleased.

On the one hand, he finally had an explanation as to why things had been so weird since the girls first arrived, why he wanted to see her, why he became vexed when she avoided him, why he felt jealous of her speaking to everyone else…But on the other hand, he thought it was a joke. First of all, he didn't have a heart. He was completely unable to make the type of connection needed to fall in love with someone. He couldn't even make friends. Second of all, Izzie had said she was married before. Why wasn't her husband her mate? Saix's mind rejected the idea that he was Izzie's soulmate or whatever this was called. But then…something else fully accepted it, embraced it, even. This part of him was pleased, happy. The promise of a mate, of someone who would always be by his side, faithful, loving…didn't sound all that bad.

"Stop it." He growled to himself. Because while that side of the coin sounded great, the other side was that he would be expected to give the same. Not that he wouldn't be faithful-he abhorred anyone who wasn't-he just couldn't do everything else. And strangely enough, he didn't want to hurt Izzie.

But also the fact that he didn't want to hurt her was strange. It's not like he really went out of his way to hurt someone-he just had a natural talent for ruffling feathers-but he also never went out of his way to not hurt someone. He scrubbed a hand over his face. What a mess this turned into.

The sound of his door opening caught his attention, and he was hesitant to turn. He didn't want it to be her. He didn't know what to say, didn't know if the things he said now would cut her even more than his earlier words already did. But when the visitor spoke, the voice was deep, booming.

"Was there an issue?" Saix turned.

"Xemnas,"

"So? What was the girl's problem?"

He sighed, averting his eyes. He didn't want to tell anyone this, let alone Xemnas.

"She…seems to think that she and I are…" He scoffed. This sounded even stupider coming out of his mouth. "Mates."

Xemnas cocked an eyebrow. "Mates?"

"Yes. Like soulmates. Meant to be together."

Xemnas chuckled darkly, the sound hollow in his throat. "That is impossible."

"Tell her that."

When Saix looked back to Xemnas, he saw a look had come over Xemnas's face, one he knew well. Xemnas was thinking he could use Izzie's still developing feelings against her, with Saix as his pawn. Saix's reaction was immediately to think hell no. He might have a hard time with it himself, but he was not about to let anyone else confuse or hurt Izzie.

"I wouldn't try to play games with her," He said, fixing his voice so he sounded concerned about Xemnas's safety as opposed to Izzie's. Xemnas narrowed his eyes, amused.

"And why do you think that?"

"If you want to keep both the girls here with some semblance of peace, I think it'd be a good idea to just let Isabella think what she wants. Vampires have a higher intelligence than what we're used to. If you try to get in her head, she'll know, and I don't think she's above challenging you." Xemnas's eyes lost their echo of amusement as he considered Saix's words.

"I suppose you have a point," He mused quietly. "Very well. We will just sit back and observe for now." Saix nodded stiffly. He was able to deter Xemnas for now, but he didn't know if he would be so lucky in the future. "Tomorrow, after everyone has left for their missions, you are to go with Isabella to Blackfoot Creek and retrieve clothing and other items from their home."

This caught Saix off guard. He carefully scrutinized Xemnas's face, but he couldn't find any underlying motive.

"Sir?" Xemnas made a bit of a face.

"The child refuses to stop harassing me about it." You would allow anyone to pester you? He didn't say that aloud, but from the look on his face, Xemnas seemed to get that was what he was thinking, and he shook his head a little. "She doesn't take any of my warnings seriously. She's been messing with me, getting into areas she has no business being in and leaving reminders for me." Then his expression darkened. "She's getting on my last nerve. Hopefully she will calm down once she has her things."

"I see."

A part of Saix was amused that after nearly ten years, he finally saw the day that something was challenging Xemnas and there was literally nothing he could do about it but give in. However, the other part was uneasy that he had to spend time, alone, with Izzie, especially after he hurt her. Xemnas turned.

"After the last person leaves tomorrow, you are to go as well. I need you back here as soon as possible. No dallying."

Saix lowered his head obsequiously.

"Yes, sir."

The next morning came both too quickly and too slowly. Saix slept like absolute crap that night, floating in and out of sleep, and time just seemed to creep along.

Everyone was trying on his nerves as he attempted to get them out on their missions. Xigbar was hungover, Demyx was complaining that he didn't feel good (just trying to get out of work), and Larxene argued with Saix over her mission location. He had never hit a woman before, but his hand was certainly itching with her. Finally a team consisting of Marluxia and Luxord left, and that was everyone. Once the dark corridor swirled shut, Izzie, who had been sitting patiently, rose to her feet. She glided seamlessly over to him, her eyes careful and guarded.

"Ready?" She asked. Saix nodded and set his clipboard down before waving a hand to open a corridor to Blackfoot Creek.

It dropped them off in the same location it had on the day they first met, and once Izzie stepped onto the trail, she headed to the left, where the dead tree was laying.

"Where are you going?" Saix called. She turned back to him.

"To my house?"

"It's that way?"

"Yes." As she replied, she jumped up onto the huge tree-her body still facing him-and as her feet landed some moss fell to the ground. Saix eyed her.

"Show off." He said.

Ignoring that, Izzie said, "You coming or not?" Snorting, Saix trudged over to the tree, placing his hands on the side of it and moving them around, trying to figure out where would be best for him to hold on to. "Want some help?"

"No." His fingers gripped an area that seemed sturdy, but when he put just a little bit of force on it, it crumbled off, and he sighed. Izzie watched, her arms crossed, and after a few more failed attempts at climbing the tree trunk, she reached down and grabbed one of Saix's hands. "Hey-!"

He began to complain, but all the air in his lungs rushed out of him as she yanked him up on top of the tree. She had pulled him up so quickly that the world spun, and it took him a moment to reorient himself. When he finally came back down to earth, he threw a glare at her.

"Well I'm sorry, Saix, but we would've been here all day if I let you keep being stubborn." Before he could say anything, Izzie hopped to the ground, landing perfectly on her feet. "I'm assuming you don't need any help getting down?"

It took about fifteen minutes of hiking, climbing up steep hills and ducking under low hanging branches-and a lot of Saix complaining toward the end-until the trees broke and they stepped into the yard of an impossible mansion. Saix's feet slowed to a stop as he stared at the manor, looking most unnatural in the middle of a forest, as Izzie continued on. The house was huge, three stories, white paneling with brown rimming on the corners of each wall. On the far east side of the house there was a round wall with a conical roof. Dark brown-rimmed windows, some Tiffany, littered the sides of the house, allowing for lots of natural light. There was a pointed segmental arch that led into what looked like a garden, and Saix could hear the rushing sounds of a small waterfall toward the front of the house. There was a long, cobblestone driveway that wound into the woods to the north, where a sleek, burgundy car sat, its windows frosted over from the cold. On its grill was a logo with a jaguar on it.

"This is your house?" He mumbled. Izzie stopped and turned back to him.

"Yes. It's been my house since the early 1800s."

Saix finally managed to tear his eyes from the grandiose manor and looked to her. "Wasn't this town settled in 1895?"

Izzie smiled. "Sure, but Iris and I lived here long before that. We had a little cottage further out in this forest, and when people started settling in this state, we decided to build a bigger, more permanent residence."

"You…built this house yourselves?"

"That's right. It's really not hard to do when one can rip trees right out of the ground. So, are you coming in or do you want to stay out in the cold?" He thought about just waiting out here, but the temperature had to be in the low thirties, and since Saix was freezing his scar off, he opted for warmth.

As he followed Izzie to the front of the house, he saw the source of the waterfall-a huge area of dark rocks decorated the grass outside the front door, and there was a small artificial waterfall at the highest point. He shook his head a little.

"This is all a bit extravagant, isn't it?" He mumbled as Izzie hopped up to the front door. She smiled a bit as she punched in a code on the number pad above the handle.

"It's our forever home. We want it to be as amazing as it can." There was little beep followed by the sound of something unlocking, and Izzie twisted the doorknob, the old wooden door swinging open.

As they stepped inside, Saix looked around. The ground floor was cozy, having been built before open concept was popular, with a parlor to the left and the dining area to the right. A set of stairs was situated a few feet from the door, their wood a rich, dark color. The banister was intricate, carved expertly, and along the thin area next to it was a little bench, coat and shoe rack. As Saix looked up the stairs, he saw one of the Tiffany windows with a display of an old teapot, a picture frame, a small plant, and a couple books next to it. Another flight of stairs continued up on the other side. The walls were covered in a tasteful dark red wallpaper, elaborate carvings in the crown molding and baseboards. The floor was hardwood, matching the color of the stairs, and continued as far as Saix could see.

"Two parlors, five bedrooms, four and a half baths, a four seasons room, eat-in kitchen and formal dining," Izzie said as she turned to face him. He raised his eyebrows.

"Bedrooms? Kitchen?" Izzie shifted her shoulders.

"Even if we don't use them, they're still nice to have. Makes a house feel more like a home. Besides that, even if we don't sleep, we like having our own private spaces." She began for the steps, and as she ascended, she looked over her shoulder. "I'll just be a couple minutes. Feel free to look around." And then she did that thing where she just vanished.

Saix sighed, looking down at the impeccably polished floor for a moment. He didn't know which he would've preferred; Izzie acting just as awkward as he felt, or her acting like everything was normal. He looked back up, and decided he would look around. Maybe that'd save him from wondering what in the hell was wrong with her.

He stepped into the dining room. A long table was in the center of the room, eight beautiful Victorian dining chairs surrounding it. In the center of the table was a vase filled with a few sorts of flowers that were now dead after being neglected for weeks, their withered petals littering the shiny tabletop. Standing on the opposite side of the table was a cabinet filled with delicately decorated porcelain dishes. On either side of the cabinet were old paintings, most likely originals, worn with the passing of time. A large area rug covered most of the floor, and the room smelled floral, the scent reminding Saix of spring. He slid the pocket doors open and continued into the kitchen.

Now this room was a far cry from the other areas of the house. This room was bright, most of the walls covered in floor to ceiling windows. Everything in here was more modern, from the color of the walls to the tile on the floor. The countertops were textured white granite, the counters themselves made from white wood. The fridge looked relatively recent, stainless steel with a screen in its door. There was a stacked oven that matched the fridge, and the stovetop was on the island in the middle of the room. Of course, since it wasn't used, there was barely any sign that the kitchen had seen life in years. It was too clean. Saix was willing to bet that if he opened the fridge, it'd be empty and still smell brand new.

He turned and went back through the dining room into the house's first parlor. There were two sofas in the room, clearly antique, their fabric a deep red, and two matching chairs were situated by another Tiffany window. The lights were made to look like they came straight from the nineteenth century, glowing dimly. There were two antique bookshelves filled to their capacity with colorful books of varying sizes on either side of the large fireplace. Above the fireplace was a large painting. Saix came to stand in front of it.

It was framed in a modern, golden picture frame, but the painting itself looked ancient, the canvas browned and worn from centuries passed. It depicted a man, maybe in his late twenties to early thirties, and a small child, about five, sitting on his lap. The man had a boyish face, rounded cheeks, wide deep blue eyes, and full lips, his skin fair. There were brown dots on his cheeks and nose, indicating freckles. Wavy light blond hair, maybe a shade or two darker than Iris's, framed his young face, falling around his shoulders, one curl caught in the child's hand. He was dressed plainly, like a peasant during medieval times, his muscle structure suggesting he did physical labor for a living. The child, a little girl, while having the same eye color, didn't really look much like him. Her hair was long and curlier, a melting dark chocolate color. Her skin tone was paler, sheet white as opposed to peach cream, though her full cheeks flamed with color. And her face looked to be a carbon copy, a younger version, of Izzie's. Saix exhaled slowly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her standing beside him, two suitcases sitting by her feet. She was looking at the painting as well, her expression wistful and nostalgic.

"Who are they?" He asked as if he didn't already know.

"Alessandro, my husband, and our only surviving child, Gabriella," She whispered back.

Saix felt something throb in his chest. Of course he knew Izzie had been married, and he knew she had children. That was one of the first things she had told the Organization. Her children had been the motivation to turn Iris. But Saix didn't think much about it. Besides that, in his head, he could make her husband a gremlin, a hideous, deformed creature, and then the fact that another man had loved her and touched her didn't bother him so much. Now, seeing him as depicted, jealousy flared inside Saix. He couldn't help but scoff at himself.

What right did he have to feel jealous of a—dead-man who was able to love and cherish Izzie? Who not only gave her everything he could, but was actually able to give her everything he could? Saix couldn't give her what she wanted or deserved. He would only hurt her, just like he had done the previous night. And then for him to feel jealous? Could he make a bigger jackass of himself?

"Why wasn't he your…mate?" He asked quietly.

Izzie was silent for a couple moments before she replied, "Because, Saix, that's just how it was. I mean, I loved Alessandro, I did, but…we weren't meant to be together. If he had been my mate, I never would have been able to survive past the first year of being a vampire. Not to mention back then, arranged marriages weren't uncommon. It's not like we happened to meet, dated, and then got married. Once I turned thirteen, we were immediately married."

"Thirteen?" Saix repeated, surprised.

"Life expectancies back when I was human weren't very long, only about forty on average. Once a girl got her monthly cycle, she was almost immediately married. My husband was the son of a friend of my father, and I had known him all my life, but I never thought of him as anything more than a friend." Izzie turned her head to look at him.

"But you had children with him." Saix said, confused.

"Well, yes. Back then, the role of the woman in the family was to bear and raise children. It wasn't necessarily a choice. Two months before I turned fourteen, I gave birth to our first child. He only lived for about three months before he died. Before he turned three months old, I became pregnant again. I had another son who lived long enough to see his little sister. Gabriella. I gave birth to her when I was fifteen." Izzie stopped talking then, and turned her head from Saix so he couldn't see her face.

"Why was the mortality rate so high?" He mumbled, more to himself than her. But she answered anyway.

"Because health and wellness weren't taken as seriously as they should've been back then. There was no such thing as vaccines, and medicine typically did nothing to get rid of illness. Babies usually died from sudden infant death syndrome. Toddlers and children could get sick from disease or from a little scratch they got from a rock, and would die. Luckily, once one made it to twelve, they were most likely going to live another couple decades. Babies and children were most at risk." Saix took a deep breath, surprised at how bleak life was when Izzie was human. Where he was from, once someone was born, the only way they could die was from being physically killed or of old age. No one really died from getting sick. "I gave birth to my last child shortly before I turned twenty," She continued softly. "She lived about six months, and then…well, you know."

"And you became a vampire when you were twenty," Saix said. Izzie nodded. "How?" Izzie's mouth twitched, like she wanted to smile, and she looked back to him.

"I processi alle streghe in Italia."

He stared at her for a long moment before he replied, "What?" Izzie giggled.

"I said, the Italian witch trials. Iris told you about the Salem Witch Trials, and before that there were the Val Camonica witch trials that took place in Italy. One lasted from 1505 to 1510, and the other lasted from 1518 to 1521. I was one of the accused in the first trial period."

"You were burned at the stake, too?" Saix growled, the jealousy he had felt before being replaced by deep, burning anger. How dare anyone hurt her? How dare they?

"In 1510, there was a drought, and since science was basically completely unheard of back then, people needed someone to blame for it. Sixty men and women were accused of using magic to bring about the drought, and I was among them. Obviously I was completely innocent. I was just a human with no magical abilities, but that's not how the village saw it. Religion was spotty in Val Camonica, many women, myself included, going to church without our hair covered, people dancing on holidays...And to add insult to injury, I have red in my hair, and I'm left-handed. Those two characteristics marked a bad omen, a witch, in the eyes of the ignorant."

Saix glared at the painting in front of him. "And your husband?" He asked lowly.

"My husband tried to protect me. He tried to make them see that I wasn't what they were saying I was. And he was branded a hopeless cause, an accomplice." Part of Saix was grateful at least one person tried to protect her. The rest was still angry anyone would move against her at all-and was tinged with just a little bit of jealousy again. "There was no trial. They just came to the house one day and dragged us out to the square. They tore my Gabriella from my arms and took her away while they tied us to the stake. I could hear her screaming for me. And then there was fire. Being burned alive is not something I would wish on anybody. I don't remember much from the actual event besides the burning, the bright light of flames, and then…darkness. But somehow I knew I wasn't dead. I was still breathing, short, painful breaths. I could open my eyes just a little and see the kindling under my feet, but I couldn't recognize my feet. They were black. Everyone was gone, giving our bodies a chance to cool off before they threw us in the river, and my husband was dead. So I thought I would just have to wait a little longer, bear a little more pain until I finally died too." Saix listened quietly, his chest aching. "And then I heard footsteps. I just thought it was the villagers coming back to untie us and get rid of our bodies, but someone spoke to me. He told me he would help me. I didn't think he could, I mean, how could anyone help someone who was so obviously beyond saving? But then there was a different pain on my shoulder, just a warm slash of it,"

Izzie stopped talking for a moment, her lips turning up just a tad, and she looked up at Saix. "The pain that followed made being burned alive seem like lying in a feather bed. I would've taken being burned alive for the next thousand years, taken it, and been grateful for it, if it meant stopping what I was feeling then."

"And that pain was venom?" Saix asked.

"Venom." She confirmed flatly. "Every vampire you come across will tell you that the worst pain they've ever experienced is when the venom is in their bodies. For three days, we suffer, wishing every second that we were dead. Each day signifies a different stage our bodies go through. The venom circulates multiple times, each time getting deeper and deeper into our very anatomy. The first day, it works to heal external and internal wounds, healing cuts, broken bones, getting rid of any disease. The second day, it sinks further into us, taking over each and every cell until they're no longer human cells. It ravages the brain and rewires it, it enhances our senses, and reinforces our muscles and bones. On the third day, it…perfects us. If we had been physically altered, such as in my case, it restores the hair and skin, then enhances our attributes. For instance, someone who was exceptionally beautiful as a human would be godlike as a vampire."

Like you? Saix startled himself when he almost opened his mouth and said those words aloud. He felt his cheeks warm up and he clenched his teeth against his tongue, turning his head away from her. Luckily she didn't seem to notice as she continued,

"And when all that pain finally stops, all you're able to comprehend is its absence. Everything feels in a perfect place. For a while, you're riding high on your new abilities. Running through the forest faster than the speed of light, seeing every living organism down to the smallest iota, hearing everything within a fifty mile radius…It's amazing. Many years passed and in that time I left my creator. He had created me with the intention that I would be his mate." Now Saix scowled. Another man? "When that obviously didn't become the case we separated, and I began looking for Gabriella. It took me a long time as the city we lived in suffered a devasting fire. For the longest time, I thought maybe she had died during it, but one day as I was passing through another nearby town, I spotted a little girl who looked remarkably like her. I followed her for a while, and she led me to a small cottage a few miles outside the town where I was able to climb into the rafters and see inside. There were several people, men, women, and children, all surrounding the bed of a little old lady. The little girl I had followed referred to her as Bisnonna Gabriella, or great-grandma Gabriella." Saix looked back to Izzie to see her smiling wistfully. "The little five-year-old that had been ripped from my arms was now a seventy-year-old, tiny old lady, dying, surrounded by the children she bore and their families. I could see in her withered face the features of my five-year-old, the pleasant narrowing of her eyes and the crooked smile on her lips. Despite living through such awful circumstances, she thrived, and had a family. She was happy. As the night went on and some of her children left, those who remained made the house dark and they all went to bed. I climbed down from the rafters and sat by my daughter's side, holding her hand as she slept. But before she passed, she woke up. She looked at me and she smiled, squeezing my hand as tightly as she could in her weakened grasp. She called me 'mama', a title I had not heard in sixty-five years, and told me she loved me, that she missed me. I apologized to her for not being around for most of her life, but she didn't think it was that big of a problem. She was happy I was there then. I know that she probably thought I was coming to take her with me into the afterlife, so I didn't say I was still alive-if that's what I am-and after a few minutes, she passed. The last time I checked, I have about sixty however-many-great-grandchildren."

She looked back up to the painting, and Saix turned to look at her.

"If your husband had survived, if he had become a vampire too…then would he have been your mate?" Izzie closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"No. No, Saix, he wouldn't have," She placed her hands together, turning her body toward him, and said, "I need you to understand at least one thing. This chose us. It chose us before we were even born. When I was human, I always felt like I was missing something, like a puzzle without one piece. And when my human life was over, and I began learning, doing, and acquiring new things, I thought that that feeling would go away, but it actually got worse. Even with adding Iris to my family. And then I met you, and I found my missing piece." Saix swallowed tightly, her words both resonating with him and making him uncomfortable. "I have waited five centuries for you. I can wait longer."

"How long?" He mumbled, not really hearing himself. Izzie smiled.

"As long as it takes. I'm very patient." He shook his head a little, his hair quivering against his shoulders.

"That's not right."

"Why isn't it?"

"Because! I don't even exist! You can't be soulmates or whatever with a person who isn't real! Besides that, didn't the things I say yesterday hurt you? Why would you want to waste your time waiting for someone like me?"

Izzie gazed up at him for a moment, then took a deep breath, taking a couple steps toward him. "Saix, I've been reading the books in the castle's library, and I read one explaining what you are. A Nobody is half a person, right? You're half the person you were, but only half. That means you still retain some semblance of who you were before. I mean, of course you do. If you didn't, then we couldn't have made the connection until you were human again. I wouldn't see green in your eyes, I'd see gold like everyone else, and you would see red in my eyes. You wouldn't have cared that I was alone when the Heartless attacked. I wouldn't have cared so much when Iris went after you. But we both cared because we both feel that connection."

Saix averted his eyes, looking at the various knick-knacks on the mantle next to him. "And what I said?" He asked.

"Yeah, what you said hurt me. It hurt me a lot," He flinched. "I can give you plenty of grace, because I understand this makes you uncomfortable, but please, also know that I'm not gonna let you kick me around." His eyes snapped back to her, a frown darkening his brow.

"I do not want to kick you around."

"I know you don't want to, but that doesn't mean you won't subconsciously do it. And I'll call you out if you do." Saix opened his mouth, ready to discourage her and tell her to give up, but her hand flew up, her fingers pressing against his lips. He started a bit at the shock of her icy skin, but he didn't feel the need to recoil. Like before when they were sparring, there was a charge that surged along his skin and sunk deep into his bones. It was still so strange, so alien, that he completely forgot what he was going to say. Izzie was frowning at him, annoyed, as she said, "There is a learning curve with you here. Are you really saying that I shouldn't give you a chance at all?" He lifted one of his hands and wrapped hers in it, pulling her hand away from his face.

"I'm saying you shouldn't be willing to let me hurt you. I'm saying you might be fine with being hurt…but…" I'm not fine with being the one who hurts you. Something blocked him from saying that last part. Of course it would be that part, that was the most important part. But looking down at her, staring up at him the way she was, made him embarrassed. He felt his cheeks getting warm. Izzie smiled a bit and seeming to guess what he was thinking, said,

"And the fact that you're not okay with hurting me means that you're worth it."

Still, Saix stubbornly shook his head. "You're being stupid." He told her. She shrugged, and turned, picking up the suitcases and heading for the door.

"And you're being bull-headed. Xemnas wanted you back by noon, right? Well we have twenty minutes, so let's get going."

…