Chapter 9: Promise to the Setting Sun

It was snowing.

Sora walked through the forest outside of Twilight Town in silence, the twigs and dry leaves crunching beneath his every step. While the town was covered in snow, out here in the forest there was only a thin layer. Sora looked up at the sunset sky as the snow fell down gently around him. It was a shade of purple. Night was coming.

A chill breeze blew through the forest, rustling the pine trees, and Sora zipped his jacket up. He continued through the dark wood, traveling down a decades-old path that had long been taken by plants—not that he was aware, being only a visitor to this town and all. Twilight Town – virtual or not - belonged to the people who lived here: Hayner, Pence, Olette, Roxas…

…and Xion.

Sora had meant what he said; it was entirely Xion's choice to make. He couldn't blame her if she wanted to stay here, though he also knew it wasn't exactly a safe choice if she did so. But Sora was nothing if not honest, and he'd keep to his word. He just hoped she made the right choice.

The dark forest began to lighten up as Sora came to a clearing. When he approached the old rusted gate Sora pulled his Keyblade out and pointed it forward, releasing the lock. The gates creaked open from years without use, revealing the courtyard as untouched as the day Sora had first seen it months ago. It was still weird for him to see Ansem's mansion without the scorched stone and brick or circle of burnt away grass that Axel had left behind in the other Twilight Town. Unlike the gate, the front door was unlocked. It was equally old, though, and Sora had to jiggle the handle a bit before the old door opened up.

"Your mind's made up?"

Tron was sitting on one of the broken display cases, having evidently been waiting for Sora. The neon blue glow of his suit stood out against night's encroaching darkness, illuminating the mansion's foyer with dim light. Sora's steps forward left hollow echoes.

"I said what I had to say. Xion deserves as much as I do to be her own person, and she can make this choice on her own."

Tron smiled, yet he still sighed. "I can't fault you for thinking that. You know…I'm actually not the original Tron myself. Ansem the Wise copied my data from a computer made by a company called ENCOM. So I can sympathize with Xion a little bit." He looked down at his hand in his fingers wrapped into a tight fist. "And I would like to think that, like Xion to you, I've evolved past being a simple replica of the original and become my own person worthy of the name 'Tron'.

"However," he continued, "are you really sure that she will make the right choice?"

Sora looked down at his feet. He could say all he wanted that he hoped she would, but did he think she would? Before he had been absolutely certain of it, but during this last week he had seen a lot. He had seen that Xion really did have a great life here, even if it was one that was built on lies.

"…Whatever choice Xion makes is the best one for her." If the time came that Xion chose to stay… Well, they'd cross that bridge when they got to it. They'd find a way to stop Braig and Vanitas from using her to forge the χ-blade, and she could live on in Twilight Town like nothing had ever happened.

Tron's silence was enough of a sign for Sora that the subject had been dropped. The brunet shuffled his feet awkwardly before Tron slid off the display case and stood up straight.

"I suppose you'll be going, then."

"…Yeah." Sora looked up out the window, at the ever-darkening sky. "My friends outside are waiting for me. This is the longest visit I've spent in this world, and I bet they're getting worried."

Tron nodded. "Alright then." A silver crack appeared on a wall of the mansion, forming into a Backdoor that would lead to Sora's exit. Tron followed him into the System Sector, perhaps out of a desire to see things through to the end. The blue halls felt cold as Sora traveled down the Sector, as if the winter air outside had come in through the Backdoor.

At the far end of the passage was a keyhole, simple save for its size—it was as big as a door, tall enough for Sora to fit through. As Sora approached the keyhole it began to glow. Light poured out, flooding the room until the walls were pure white, leaving Sora, Tron, and the exit the only visible things in the room. As it had in the mansion, the lights on Tron's suit cast a blue tint over the two of them.

"So this is goodbye then?" Tron asked while Sora turned around to face him, his figure outline by the light of the keyhole-shaped doorway.

"For now yeah, but who knows? I'm sure it won't be forever." Sora held his hand out with a smile, and Tron took it with an equally friendly grin.

Tron pulled on Sora's arm and wrapped the boy in a tight hug. As he had the last time this happened, Sora stood around awkwardly for a moment before reciprocating. "Don't be a stranger, Sora."

"Of course not. When this is all over, I'll come back. We're friends, you and I." He pulled away from Tron's embrace and turned to the door. Looking back over his shoulder, Sora's grin widened. "See you again, Tron. Thanks for all your help." The light enveloped him while he walked forward, leaving Tron's Twilight Town behind him.

x-x-x

"Ugh…"

Roxas's body ached in pain as he pushed himself up off the ground. He blinked in confusion as his vision came back to him and revealed a wide area cleared of snow, the white fluff having apparently been tossed around and shoved aside judging from the way it piled up on the edges of the cleared area. After glancing around for a moment and wondering where he was, it all came back to him: Xion at Kronk's, the masked boy, everything.

Roxas stumbled as he stood up and leaned against the wall. Xion, what happened? He bit his lip as the blurry, vague memories of Xion leaning over his body and begging him to wake up. That had been in the afternoon, but now Roxas realized it was much later. The sun had set and the only light came from the shops that were still open. Roxas pulled out his phone to check the time, but the screen was black and cracked. Well wasn't that just perfect?

Despite his aches and stiff limbs and asphalt-stained clothes, a quick examination showed Roxas that his skin was unscarred. He ran a hand over his nose and found no blood; well, no blood besides the stains on his hand from when he had first been punched by the masked boy.

He had to find Xion.

Roxas started limping down the street, but something caught his eye. Two halves of a little white box with gold ribbon lay forgotten in the street. Roxas recognize it after a few seconds of staring at it, and immediately swung his head around the street searching for something. There, in the snow!

He ran over to the pile outside Kronk's and dropped to his knees. A silver chain sat in the snow and Roxas dug through the white, digging the rest of Xion's Christmas present out. Holding the chain up, Roxas investigated the heart-shaped locket closely. It was expertly crafted, with little unique designs that had been carved in at Roxas's request. It was soaked with melted snow, but it appeared unharmed. He sighed in relief.

"I don't know what would have happened if I lost this."

Roxas pressed on the side of the heart and the locket swung open, revealing his and Xion's smiling face. It was the same photo that they both had copies of, the one they had taken at the beach four months ago. Xion had wanted them to always be together, and Roxas respected that; but he also wanted to get her something for the holidays that she could hold, and so he had opted for this.

Picking up the pieces of the box, Roxas carefully placed the locket inside and then slid it into his pocket. A clock in a nearby window told him it was eleven at night. Ignoring the oddity that no one had noticed him lying in the street all day, he started to make his way up to the clock tower. Christmas fireworks were in an hour, and he'd give Xion her present there.

Best friends, forever.

x-x-x

"Promise me you'll stay for the sunset."

Roxas paused what he was doing and looked over his shoulder, the umbrella in front of him haphazardly shoved into his bag. Xion still stood on the beach in her swimsuit, as opposed to the oversized white shirt she had worn over it on arrival. Her hair was still wet from the ocean, and seeing the way it stuck to her face made Roxas tug on one of his own soaking locks. He probably looked pretty weird without his hair spiking up everywhere.

"Please?"

Roxas started. He had been so preoccupied with her appearance that he hadn't really been paying attention to her words. "Uh… Sure," he said with a nod, hoping that the orange sky would mask his red face. He stepped off the sidewalk and slid off his sandals, feeling the last bits of late afternoon warmth radiating off the sand beneath his feet. Hayner, Pence, and Olette had already gone ahead and Roxas had nearly finished packing up, but now he realized Xion hadn't even started. Her towel still lay on the sand where it had been all day, sitting under one of the larger umbrellas that was always set up on the beach.

Smiling brightly, Xion led Roxas over to the towel and sat down. Roxas followed a moment later, listening to the crunch of the sand as it shifted under his weight. The sun was already low on the horizon over the ocean, and they sat in silence as it lowered further. Xion, despite her insistence that Roxas stay with her, and dropped into silence and stared out at the sparkling orange water with a content smile on her lips.

"…How are you feeling, Xion?" The question came unbidden, though he didn't regret it. She had only woken up a day or two ago after being unconscious for all of summer vacation. It was only natural to be concerned about her.

"Better," Xion said. Her hand wandered to the seashell resting against her chest and her fingers curled around it. "Not great, but…better."

"Well, that's good to hear. You really had all of us scared. I stopped by the hospital every day."

"Sorry."

Roxas looked at her with an eyebrow raised in confusion. "Don't be sorry, Xion. It's not your fault."

A smile tugged at her lips. "Yeah, I guess not."

Their attention turned back to the sun, ablaze with warm colors—orange, red, yellow. The ocean was like it was made out of fire as it reflected the sky. Somewhere in the depths of his memory, Roxas remembered something; something he had heard ages ago, when he was little. Shifting his weight around to get more comfortable, he spoke while staring out at the natural display of art in front of him.

"Hey Xion, bet you don't know why the sun sets red."

Xion looked at him inquisitively, shaking her head ever so slightly. Roxas shared a smile with her before looking at the waves softly lapping against the shore. "You see, light is made up of lots of colors." The words poured out of Roxas's mouth on autopilot. It was an interesting little fact, but he wasn't sure what made him start talking about it. "And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest."

"The red sky…" Xion whispered softly, seemingly recalling a memory of her own. "One sky, one destiny." Then her eyes narrowed and she smirked at Roxas. "Like I asked, know-it-all!"

Guilty as charged. Roxas shoved Xion's shoulder playfully and the two of the laughed, all awkwardness from the earlier conversation dissolved in the play of two best friends.

When the sun was nearly below the horizon and the water was streaked with gold, Roxas felt Xion's hand rest on his own. He looked over to her and she quickly glanced away, the faint hints of a blush on her face washed out by the red and orange all around them. But her hand on his never moved.

"Roxas," she began slowly, her other hand still clutching the thalassa shell, "Promise me…you'll always be there."

Roxas tilted his head in confusion, but a soft smile crossed his features. Xion looked up at him and blinked her eyes. "I promise, Xion. And even if we get separated," he brought a hand to his chest, "we'll always be together."

That was so cheesy, and Xion's light laughter showed that she agreed. But despite that Roxas didn't regret saying it. Her head rested against his shoulder and she reached for her nearby bag. Roxas waited as she fumbled around through the bag without looking, and then she pulled out a small silver object—a camera. She held it in front of them and the flash momentarily lit up the night. Xion turned the camera around and examined the screen, looking at the picture of the two of them with a smile.

"I'll never forget today. This picture will stay with me for as long as I live."

x-x-x

Roxas…I'm out of time.

Xion stood with her back against the wall of Twilight Town's clock tower. It was 11:30. From her position down here she could just barely make out her friends sitting on top of the tower, four dark figures against the not quite as dark sky. Snowflakes fell slowly around her, almost in mockery of what she was feeling. Rain would have been more appropriate, really.

Her fingers again reached for the thalassa shell charm; it was a comforting gesture for her, reminding her that her friends were always with her. But no matter how much she told herself that, Xion also knew that what Hayner had said once was right. They couldn't be together forever, and no amount of feel-good thoughts could make the fact that sometimes people are driven apart go away.

"Even if I'm not ready, I have to make this choice," she whispered, repeating her thought from earlier that day.

I wonder if, in another life, it could have ended differently. If we could have been…

Xion bit her lip and shook her head. There was no use hanging onto 'what ifs' and 'if onlys'. This was the life she had. But it wasn't the only life she had. Memories stirred inside her heart of a world she knew but didn't remember, and she knew that they were real—more real than this town.

x-x-x

Xion sat on the dock on the beach and watched the stars sparkle above her. Sora and Kairi had both gone home a while ago, leaving Xion to herself. In the back of her mind was a nagging feeling to return to Sora's house shortly, just to make sure no one could get the jump on her while they were separated and thus weak, but she shook her head to banish those thoughts. Destiny Islands was safe; three weeks here of nothing happening had proven that.

Xion had a feeling she knew what was making her nervous tonight. The three of them had been talking about Riku all evening; about where he was, about when they would go out and find him. Of course without a reliable way of transport there wasn't exactly an easy way to get started on that. Xion still had her Star Shard and she could use it to reach out to find those close to her heart – like she had when returning to Sora after La Cité des Cloches – but the fact of the matter was she wasn't that close to Riku. Sure he had helped her a lot during her time in the Organization, and she guessed she considered him a friend (though that could have been the influence of Sora's memories), but still… It wasn't a simple task to just use the Star Shard to find him.

The other option was finding some way to contact King Mickey and ask for a Gummi ship. Chip and Dale had returned the Highwind to Disney Castle after using it to pick the King, Donald, and Goofy up from Destiny Islands following the final battle with Xemnas. Before they left the King had given Sora a blank paper marked with his seal.

"If you ever need to contact me," he had said, "write a letter in a bottle and toss it into the ocean. It will find me, I promise."

As far as Xion knew, the paper was still blank and sitting in Sora's room next to a glass bottle that Kairi had supplied. Sora had talked about writing a letter to ask Mickey for help concerning Riku, but he hadn't actually gotten around to it yet. Problems with how to word it, Xion guessed.

Regardless, Xion figured that discussion was probably why she was nervous this night. But there was no reason to be; the only things on the beach besides her were the sound of the tides and the chilly sea breeze.

"Nice night, isn't it?" Xion was up on her feet immediately, Keyblade in hand. She knew that voice, and even if she hadn't heard it in months it haunted her nightmares almost every night. She hadn't even heard Braig approach, but the man now stood on the sand next to her. Even wearing grey and purple instead of black, there was no mistaking that scarred face.

"What do you want?" Xion demanded, pointing her Keyblade forward. She hoped Sora wasn't asleep yet and noticed Braig out here, because there was no way she could stand against him while they were apart.

"Is that any way to greet an old pal?" Braig asked with a step forward. Xion in turn took a step back. "You know, the two of us have something in common, Xion. We're both looking for someone."

"Ventus?" Xion asked, tightening her grip on the hilt of her Keyblade. Braig laughed loudly, confusing her.

"Not quite. Say, you wouldn't happen to have seen Riku around here, would ya?" Braig's guns appeared in his hands as he spoke. "He's been a real pain to track down, know what I'm sayin'?"

"…Why do you want to find Riku too?"

"Ah-ah, my lips are sealed." He leveled the gun in his right hand at Xion and she in turn raised her Keyblade a little bit higher. "I'm also looking for you, you know."

"Me?" Instead of responding with words, Braig opted to fire a round. Xion jumped away from the explosion of sand and called on the wind, sending a blast of Aero at Braig. He vanished in an instant and reappeared above her, using his powers over space ands gravity to stand in midair. More bullets rained down on Xion and she dodged the attacks with a roll, only for something white to burst out of the sand and wrap its lanky limbs around her. "Nobodies?!"

Xion struggled against the Dusk's grip until she freed her arm and pierced its head with her Keyblade. Was that just a fluke, or was Braig still in command of the Nobodies despite the Organization's destruction? She didn't have to wait for an answer; more Dusks arrived and flew at her, continuing to coil their limbs and boneless bodies around her.

"What do you want with me?!" Xion sent a burst of Aeroga swirling out around her, blowing the Dusks back and making them fade away into darkness. She pierced the Keyblade into the sand and leaned against it for support with soft pants. She was using too much magic.

Cold metal was pressed against her neck and Xion stiffened in fear. Braig leaned in close and pushed the side of his gun further against her neck. The sharp blades pricked at her skin and threatened to draw blood. "Your heart."

Xion spun around, but Braig vanished again just before he could be hit. Something hard slammed into her back: a fist, followed by a chop to the back of her head. Xion fell down to her knees and the Keyblade landed in the sand next to her. Magic swirled in Braig's hand as he kneeled down next to her, and Xion suddenly felt sleepy… So very sleepy…

x-x-x

Braig dropped Xion's unconscious body on the cold tile floor without a second thought and slid into his chair at the computer; one Sleep spell and she wouldn't wake up from anything. He grimaced as his fingers flew over the keyboard and the screens flared to life. He had only cracked Ansem's password a few days ago – the first thing he had tried had been 'sea-salt ice cream', but of course it didn't work; who had food as their password? – and so had very little experience working with this program.

Sparks flew from the machine sitting on the wall above Xion, which told Braig he was at least doing something right. Vanitas, leaning against the wall, spoke up as Braig continued to dig through dozens of folders and windows trying to find the right program.

"What are we even doing?" His tone was impatient. Braig knew he wanted to break Xion more than anything—well, maybe he wanted to break Ven more, but that wasn't an option right now.

Braig smirked but never turned away from his work. "Old Mister Wise made a whole virtual world in this computer and planned to trap Roxas in it. So now we're gonna drop Poppet in here until her heart's all good and ready for you to use." He glanced over at the limp body of the girl and then to Vanitas's shadowed figure. "Give her a bit of a life in there, you know?"

Vanitas scoffed. "That's almost kind of you."

Braig laughed and shook his head. "Heh, as if. I just can't wait to see her face when it's all torn out from under her."

"Now you're speaking my language."

Ah, there it was. The program Braig had been looking for sat buried beneath about a dozen folders; for what reason, Braig couldn't possibly fathom. It's not like anyone really knew about this computer. Maybe Ansem had grown to be especially cautious after things went to hell for him all those years ago. Braig couldn't blame him for that, at least.

The program was running and the machine began to whir and hiss and make all the other kinds of sounds that activating machines do. Panels lit up on its surface and the spike-like protrusion came to life with sparks coursing along its length. A beam of light fired from the tip and pierced Xion's body and then expanded out, surrounding the corner of the room with a white shell.

Braig's grin widened as the light faded; Xion was gone. He looked over to one of the computer screens, where he could now see her sleeping in a hospital bed. "Pleasant dreams, kiddo."

x-x-x

"I guess…Xion isn't coming?" Olette's question felt like a nail driven through Roxas's heart, but he couldn't blame her for it. She didn't know what had happened; he wasn't even sure what had happened, not really.

While Hayner, Pence, and Olette ate their ice cream in silence, Roxas stared down at the little box in his hands. His own bar of ice cream sat next to him, still wrapped up and no doubt melting inside the plastic.

"I'm sure she'll show up soon," Pence said with a naïve hope that made Roxas tighten his fingers around the box. The others glanced at him in quiet concern but said nothing. As far as they knew, he was simply nervous about giving Xion the locket. That was what he had tried to pass it off as, anyway.

For all his talk to Xion about bottling things up inside, he wasn't any better.

The clock tower rumbled beneath them and bells rang out, signaling the stroke of midnight. The four of them looked out over the city with held breath, and soon light flashed from over by Sunset Terrace. Green and red and white fireworks lit up the sky, followed by blue and yellow and all other colors. They rang out across the city and Roxas paid no attention to them.

x-x-x

Xion looked up as the fireworks started and choked back a heartbroken sob. Her eyes watering weren't from the light, no matter how much she tried to tell herself that. Xion pulled her necklace off and held the shell in her hand as the tears moved down her face. Salty droplets of water landed in her hand and on the stone floor beneath her.

A faint sound, barely audible in fact, rose up around her. Before Xion's eyes, the seashell in her hands began to crystallize. Shimmering blue ice crept its way slowly across the surface of the shell and little sparkles of light began to lift off of it, rising into the night sky to join the fireworks.

She couldn't fight the sobs this time. Xion hugged the seashell tightly to her chest and began to cry. Images of her friends flashed through her mind: skating with Hayner, investigating the Seven Wonders with Pence, doing homework with Olette, sitting on the beach with Roxas. All of them were lies; she had never really lived in Twilight Town at all. The last bits of the thalassa shell vanished, leaving Xion empty-handed.

"But it was real to me…"

She had made up her mind, but the sorrow was something she didn't want to deal with—couldn't deal with. Xion hugged herself tightly and the tears never stopped flowing. She could feel a creeping sensation at her feet and knew that she, too, would soon vanish just as the seashell had. Already the same sparkles of light were rising from her own body.

"Goodbye, Roxas… I'm glad I got to meet you." Xion looked up at the sky to watch the fireworks. The light pierced the darkness of midnight, and Xion wondered why, like with the snow, her surroundings were so cheerful when she was so sad. "You're my best friend… Never forget, that's the truth."

You promised that we'd stay for the sunset…