Author's Note: The Days timeline is no doubt messed up in this, and I'm sorry for that. I just don't remember some events in chronological order off my head, and am too lazy to go and check.

Yellow Soldiers

Xion's PoV

"Xion, why don't you ever do something with your room?" Roxas asked Xion when visiting her room again… This was the third time that she had passed out recently. And to say that Xion was getting sick of passing out all the time would've been an understatement.

The looks Saïx had been giving her lately, as he seemed to think more and more that she was becoming a failure… well, they sent shivers down Xion's spine to put it mildly.

But she was trying not to think about any of that right now, but rather her best friend's comforting presence... and the weird question he'd asked her. And why did there seem to be something so… off about it?

"What do you mean?" Xion asked as she inclined her head to the side, and felt much like the dogs she loved as she did so. "…I guess I get what you're talking about, Roxas. Like, that woman from Beast's Castle certainly has done something with her own room. But do you really think Xemnas would let us do something similar with our own?"

But now that Xion was asking this question, she found that she did want this; despite what the Superior—or anyone else, for that matter—would probably say about it. She wanted to prove to everyone that… even if it was just for a moment, she'd been her own person with her own wants… and fears.

And besides, the Organization could do with some light and cheer in their castle, couldn't they? They were all fighting for hearts—the very thing that would allow them to touch the light and feel cheerful—so why not try and fake that they already had something inside them, and maybe try to prematurely connect to Kingdom Hearts that way?

"...I just think decorating your room might make you feel somehow better, Xion," Roxas whispered, as he stepped forward and took her hand in his own—not completely unlike her dream—and looked at her with a look in his eyes that she'd never fully understand. "Even though it is hypocritical of me, since I haven't done anything to my own room. But if you don't want to-"

"Roxas, don't be silly!" Xion countered, as she laced her fingers through Roxas' and stood up so she could stand beside him. If she didn't want to worry him, after all, it was best to show that she didn't need bed rest and was fine standing as she normally would. And more than anything else, she didn't want to worry Roxas. Didn't he do that enough for her already? "Roxas… because of you, I'm already trying to imagine what colors to make my room! So, I'm all for this idea!

"What color do you think would be the best in here? You'd think purple, right? But my mind's going to yellows because of Larxene, for some reason ...Do you think I would've liked Larxene if I'd gotten to meet her?"

She was babbling now, Xion knew. Probably like she had just a day ago, in convincing Axel to let her keep her puppy, but she couldn't help it! This was the first ray of sunshine that she'd ever felt touch her skin, in a lot of ways. And she would overthink it as much as she wanted to, for that reason.

And the way that Roxas was looking at her now, as he motioned with his hands that she should continue on with his ideas, made him think that he thought she should do the same.

…Though he did seem to question her suddenly trying to link herself to Larxene, Xion noticed as she put her hands on her hips: "Maybe you would've liked her, Xion. I mean, Larxene seemed to hate men… but not women. So maybe she would have sought you out and befriended you like Axel and I... …But are you really going to base something so important on someone you don't even know? But then again-"

"Well… what would you color it, then?" Xion shot back. And it was when Roxas chose white, that Xion her heart seemed to tell her something in a burst. She saw a flash of blue in her mind's eye—and a pale girl hidden behind it—and tasted sand on her tongue, for whatever reason.

And she had no idea what any of that was, but it distressed her greatly! Something the dear golden puppy must have realized because he padded over to her and leaned his head against her leg at once.

…With how much he hated her, was Saïx somehow behind the brain hemorrhage she'd just had? Xion wouldn't have put it past him.

And that was the main reason why Xion ended up looking things up on Organization XIII's computers again. She just couldn't trust them anymore! Not when they'd tried to have her and Roxas fight to the death!

…And what Xion found on said devices wasn't at all what she had expected. She ended up seeing the blonde girl she had just imagined—and who Roxas had eluded to in suggesting she paint her room white—Naminé talking to her from it.

And at once, Xion was taken aback because how had she ever forgotten her friend? Of course she knew the poor, fragile white doll. The day that she had showed her how to find seashells on the shore of Destiny Islands was still one of Xion's favorite memories… but how the heck was she back in this time with Organization XIII? …If that was what was happening at all.

"Naminé… what on earth is going on here? And why was I 'asleep'? Is it time travel?" Xion asked as she looked into nearly snow colored eyes, that she'd always thought were prettier than her navy-blue ones.

"You're right about the latter, Xion," Naminé smiled. "…Some time travel has happened... Sora has gone back to this era, though I don't know where he is or fully why. But it's made most of us back here become aware of what lies ahead for us. And if we want things to end as well as they did after the Keyblade War, we need to keep things from deviating too much… and to maybe stop Sora from whatever he's going to do."

Well, all of this made the situation she was already in that much more difficult, didn't it? Not that anything about this era had ever been easy, Xion recalled now… as sad memories of dying in Roxas' arms—and his face, even when he hadn't known her—came back to her.

But it was weird to Xion, that she—of all people—had been chosen by Naminé for a mission like this. Not that long ago, she (or rather, her future self… she supposed) had been thinking that she would be okay if she ever had to disappear again—even if she didn't want to—and now it turned out that she was actually someone important?!

Perhaps despite Roxas having doubted it earlier, she really was connected to the color yellow—the color of light—on a fast journey as speedy as it was, to try and keep Sora from devastating the timeline…

Even if it was selfish to think so. And as it was, this Xion was still selfish. She didn't think she'd found the strength to self-sacrifice the way the other one had… yet.

"Naminé… what should I do?" Xion asked helplessly, as it occurred to her that deviations in the timeline had already happened. She'd never had a dog before… and she never would have even dreamed of painting her room if her future memories hadn't known she did have the right to exist. "How can I make things play out just right—like they did last time?—but also differently, so that Sora doesn't make this mistake? …And do Roxas and Axel know any of this? It'll be hard to hide this from them… And if the Xehanorts get a whiff of time travel shenanigans going on..."

But Naminé was already nodding her head to all of this and seemed to have the solution… how Xion somewhat envied her that. "This does call for a certain touch. You're right. That's why I've enlisted Merlin's help. He, with his own traveling, can use his magic to hide what's happening from Xemnas, and Xigbar."

But Xion didn't have any more time to think about any of this—or ask Naminé more questions—because Is- Saïx was now coming this way, and Xion didn't know if Merlin's magic would apply to him and she didn't have time to ask her!

Xion made a Corridor of Darkness and teleported away.

On the clock tower later that night, Xion found herself mulling over everything Naminé told her, as—for a change—she ate one of the chocolate ice cream bars that Sora had introduced to her after going to San Fransokyo for the first time.

So... something must have happened to make the time after Xehanort's Keyblade go wrong. And knowing Sora… his fall probably had something to do with Kairi, Riku, Donald, or Goofy. Though she had a guess that it was because of one person and one person only. But still… what could she even do about the issue? She had no idea where time traveling Sora was… And short of talking to past Sora, while he slept in his pod, about not messing with time a fourth time, what else was there so far?

"...You seem thoughtful, Xion," Axel said a bit testily, as he suddenly sat by her side and nearly gave Xion a heart attack as he did so.

Xion thought long and hard about just telling Axel the truth here. She could envision so clearly how happy he'd been to see her (and Roxas) during the Keyblade War, but had tried to downplay it in saying he should've gotten ice cream…

But then she remembered how Axel had always been so uncertain about his allegiances at this stage of his life, in not knowing if he wanted to choose the Organization—or moreover... Isa and Skuld via them—or her or Roxas. So, would it be wise to tell him something that might him think she was insane, and push him to the side of Organization XIII? Xion thought not.

But then again... she would have given anything to have another soldier in this battle with her, if Sora—the best of them—had become somewhat lost.

So in the end, Xion decided to take a leap of faith, because she did loved and believe in Lea—she did—and no, it had nothing to do with how the sun was glowing in a way to make Axel's hair appear yellow, to make him think he was destined to help her. It had nothing to do with that at all. "Axel… what if I said I was from the future?... Or rather, have memories from the future? It's- it's a bit hard to explain."

"I'd say, 'prove it'. Got it memorized?" Axel answered in a way that was so like him, that she had to roll her eyes.

And as some of her anger at some things he had said to her recently, in learning what she really was, came back to her, she thought about getting up and leaving him right there. But as it was, what he had asked of her was easy enough to do.

She could have said how Axel was thinking of choosing Roxas over her right now (and oh, how that knowledge still hurt her), but why even start a fight between them by insinuating that?

So Xion instead she went with something she couldn't know, really… unless he had told her in the future. And he had… or rather, he would. "I know the reason you and Saïx
—Isa—joined the Organization was for Skuld."

Axel looked at Xion as if he had seen a ghost the moment her words really seemed to register in his heart. And then his eyes glistened—and it made Xion ponder how any of them had ever believed that they didn't have hearts?—and he looked like Xion with a strength she'd never seen in him before; and she'd even seen him give up everything he'd ever known in order to do the right thing, and that was saying something. "You saying that... it must mean that I told you in this future. And that means we went looking for her. So, tell me, Xion... Did we find Skuld?"

"We did," Xion said with the type of grin on her face, that she was sure Naminé had often worn when someone had correctly gathered something she was trying to explain to them.

Axel got very close to Xion then. And she thought he might put an arm around her shoulder—to bring her closer, so that they might talk conspiringly—or hug her. But he did neither of those things, for this Axel didn't miss her enough yet to act so emotionally.

"Then tell me everything I can to reach that future, Xion. I'm listening."

And so she did. But on the condition that he would try to help her find solutions to the Sora problem… and that they tell Roxas what was going on. For she now regretted taking some of his choices away last time and wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

…

But as it turned out, Xion didn't need to tell Roxas anything at all. He- he already knew, and had for a while—and via his connection to Sora, perhaps that made sense—and he was able to tell just by seeing the look in Xion's eyes when she returned to the castle that she knew, too, and ended up explaining everything to her.

"I think- I think in the future, Kairi loses a fight again and dies—even after the Keyblade War—so Sora came back here to try and train her early, so that won't happen again. But Kairi doesn't really want to fight yet, and he'll push her too far with it, I think… Making her fall out of love with him, that'll ruin everything. So, there's only one real answer here, and it makes me hate everything...I think you need to return to Kairi this time and try to make her stronger through your influence."

"What?!" Xion gasped. After Roxas had lost her after loving her so much, she almost couldn't believe he was even suggesting this! And what about Sora's memories? How would he return to him? But then again… Naminé had once said that she could extract Sora's memories out of her without her disappearing, but that it would take longer. Was that what would happen here? And then after that, she'd just assimilate with Kairi? …Xion did like that girl. And maybe it would be the best for all parties considered, if she did this.

And as Roxas tucked a strand of hair behind Xion's ear, he explained the infinite for her. "Xion... the last thing I want to do now is let you go. I'd give anything to run away with you and Axel now, like I once dreamed about. 'specially now that I know we are our own people… I'd even keep everyone away from the Keyblade War, to be honest. But we- we learned from Sora's sacrifices for all of us—and the world—how to be selfless, right? And we- we have to be that now. We have to have things mostly go as they did before… to make sure the future's safe… even if I will make each time that I touch better, if I can." And that was why he'd helped her convince Axel to let her have Pluto of all things, and had been trying to get her to enjoy her room… and enjoy being herself while she could, Xion could see now.

And despite the amount of will, Roxas had just displayed… he was crying now. And Xion could only imagine how much this was hurting him. That he, who—more than anything—had fought to get her back, and had held onto her memory longer than anyone else had—was now suggesting that she go away. But to keep that future where they were both smiling at that yellow sunset at the Destiny Islands… she had to, didn't she?

As Roxas brought her into his arms in this one, random hall in the Castle That Never was without a ridiculous name—Xion couldn't help but to still laugh about the ridiculousness of the situation—"Maybe Roxas- maybe there's a good reason I've come to associate myself with yellow lately. It's like white… but darker, like we Nothings rejected by the light are. But back to that white that's still a part of me… it's all colors. And aren't I now giving some of my colors to others, so theirs can survive?"

"Why do you think I mostly prefer black, the absence of color? Because I know what you're like—in still thinking you might disappear in the future, and mostly being okay with it?!—and hate it… You deserve better, Xion. And I swear I'll give it to you someday." And he placed his lips against her forehead, but this wasn't their goodbye. Xion wouldn't let it be.

In fact, she refused to have one with Roxas and Axel at all—knowing that if all went well, she'd see them again—and just played with Pluto some more and that was more than enough for her.

Sometime later, Xion visited a certain girl on the beach that they both loved... and actually explained to her about the boy she'd forgotten (oh, how Xion prayed they'd one day get their happy ending, too) and Riku, and much more.

And as Kairi smiled like the treasure she was, Xion thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to at least be part of the diamond in this girl's rough… and she disappeared, too.

Author's Note: If I had known a Xion zine was happening-and would have auditioned for it and gotten in-this probably would have been what I did for it.

This is also my attempt at getting into the swing of writing Xion and RokuShi again. And I sort of drew on a lot of my old Xion/RokuShi work (that's now deleted) to do so. Haha.

This is also somewhat part of my "Turn Me to Gold" Kairi fic and "Silver Doors" Naminé one.

And, yeah: stuff at the start of this story that didn't happen in the Days game was supposed to be a hint that something more was going on here.

While I didn't intend it, you can see this as a Master of Masters!Sora fic, too, if you want. Like, maybe this future Sora who's gone back to the Days timeline to try and train Kairi there is him as the Master of Masters post-KHIII or something... or just a somewhat heart broken/corrupted Sora not connected to that theory at all. Your choice.