Chapter 25: Melodies of Life

The sun was low on the horizon, setting an orange glow over the dense pine trees along the mountainside. Puffy clouds like cotton candy floated high in the sky, casting their shadows here and there among the already dark woods. If one journeyed through the forest, before long they'd find their way to a large wall that went on for miles, keeping the creatures of the wilderness outside. But scattered here and there along the mountains were faults, cracks in the wall that had been forgotten or overlooked by its caretakers. One such crack was large enough for individuals to pass through, and the children of this world had made good use of that. Often their echoing laughter could be heard in the parts of the woods nearest to the wall. But they never went very far inside, for fear of the area deeper in the woods said to be haunted by a mad scientist.

Five visitors made their way through the forest, their feet crunching on twigs, pine needles, and dead leaves as they snaked through the trees. Sunlight cascaded down in shafts from openings in the thick canopy, illuminating their path forward. The group came to a large wall after about twenty minutes from when they had started out in the middle of the woods, impenetrable save for the hole slightly taller than a man.

"Twilight Town, we made it!"

Donald jumped out into the Tram Common with cheer, leaping into the air and raising his fists as the sunset light cascaded down upon their group. Xion lingered in the back, leaning against the wall separating Twilight Town from the woods while Goofy, Kairi, and Sora joined Donald out in the crowds. Kairi looked especially excited; it must have been her first time in Twilight Town. But for Xion, she wasn't exactly ecstatic to be back here. It wasn't the Twilight Town she knew.

What had even brought them here? They hadn't been immediately able to go find Riku after Leon gave them that directive, because the Highwind still needed to be repaired. A week had passed in Hollow Bastion, a week spent on doing as much as they could to fix up the destroyed homes. Kairi and Donald had been able to talk Scrooge into giving away all his tents without selling them; even he was driven by what the Heartless had done to all their work.

But Cid had eventually presented them all with the new and improved Highwind; capable, Cid claimed, of faster travel than before and a new and improved Warp Drive system. Xion couldn't tell just how new and improved it was, though, because the Warp Drive was what had ruined it last time and their group was now too scared to try it. One other improvement that Cid had provided, though, was a new world map feature that displayed the section of space around the ship on a handy screen without the need for Xion or someone else to map it themselves, as well as sensors indicating Heartless and Nobody presence and whether or not the world's Keyhole had been locked.

Using all their new gadgets, the group had found something curious and alarming coming from Twilight Town. The radar claimed that an extremely powerful Heartless had arrived there: Ansem; that is, Xehanort's Heartless. However, as they drew closer to the world the signature suddenly disappeared; Ansem had left the world as quickly as he had arrived. Kairi had suggested that they land anyway, since she hadn't been to the town and wanted to see what it was like, not to mention Ansem had to have gone there for something important. Xion had protested, saying that they didn't have time to goof off and had to find Riku, though in reality her reluctance was for more personal reasons. But it had been put to a vote, and she had been outvoted by everyone except Jiminy.

The Highwind had come to a landing in the middle of the woods, since landing in town would attract too much attention and the old mansion was out of the question in case Braig was still using it. And now here they were. It wasn't so bad, Xion supposed; maybe they could find a lead toward Riku here, though that was a stretch. She just really wasn't sure if she was ready to face Twilight Town so soon after leaving; even if it wasn't the same one, it was close enough.

"Xion, you coming?"

Xion glanced up to see Kairi waving at her from the road. Xion smiled back, pushing her concerns down into the back of her mind, and ran over to her friends.

"Sorry," she said. "I was just thinking about—" She shook her head. "About why Ansem would come here."

Kairi frowned and cross her arms as the moved through the Tram Common, walking parallel to the tram's tracks. "I'm still not sure I trust Ansem…" she said.

"I know I don't," Donald added with a grumble.

Xion found herself lingering behind the others again as she considered their words. She really couldn't blame Kairi for not trusting Ansem, since he was behind everything bad that had happened in her life, right down to losing her family when she was little; and of course, his role in her kidnapping and losing her heart went without saying. Still, though, he had done some good things for them since he reappeared.

Xion decided to speak her mind. "He did save us from Xemnas that day in the Great Maw."

Kairi frowned at that and said nothing. She wasn't there when it happened, and even if she had been Xion couldn't blame her for being suspicious. It had been wildly out of character for Ansem to help them then, just like it was when he showed up at the Castle That Never Was to fight Saïx. What was he up to? Ansem was a schemer, working in the shadows and manipulating others; just like Xemnas, Xion realized, so it must have been the same when the two of them were Xehanort. So what game was he playing now?

"Hmm…" Goofy was tapping the side of his head. He came to a halt and raised a finger in the air as a thought occurred to him. "Ansem also helped us out when he brought Naminé to the Organization's world, didn't he? It was because of him that we were able to bring her to Kairi!"

Kairi rubbed her arm. "Ansem did? But…Naminé had told me in a dream to thank Riku for that…" Had she? That was odd. Kairi said it quietly, so Xion wasn't sure the others had heard it, but it definitely caught Xion's interest.

It hadn't made any sense for Ansem to do that; in fact, it made even less sense than him helping them against Xemnas had. She could see potential reasoning in the latter, mostly in that his intervention had allowed her and Sora to eventually bring an end to Xemnas, whose goal to reach Kingdom Hearts conflicted with Ansem's own. But why have Kairi and Naminé merge again? It couldn't be to restore the part of Kairi he'd need; since Naminé was a Nobody, the heart of pure light wasn't inside her. Kairi had it the whole time.

Xion was gnawing on her lower lip nervously as they moved through the afternoon crowds out shopping and living normal lives, completely unaware of the wider World beyond their city. Xion envied them, somewhat. A part of her still wished that she had stayed with Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas. At least there these worries about Ansem, Braig, Riku, and everyone else wouldn't affect her.

Back to the topic at hand, though. If Kairi was telling the truth, and Xion sure she was, then what exactly had Naminé meant about thanking Riku? Had Riku tipped Ansem off about Naminé? It's possible he hadn't actually known about her before, and he'd have had to find out somehow. Ansem was using Riku's sword…maybe the two of them were in contact. Maybe they could find a lead about Riku here. Or maybe it was all just a dead end.

"It was after we left Naminé with Hayner, Pence, and Olette, wasn't it?" Sora was looking over his shoulder at Donald, who nodded in affirmative.

"Well," Sora continued, "then maybe those guys know why Ansem would have come here today? I mean, he must have met them when he took Naminé back then."

Xion stopped. What? Was Sora suggesting that they go to see Hayner, Pence, and Olette? But that wasn't—Xion couldn't— She gulped and shook her head. Her throat suddenly felt very dry. She glanced down to the street corner, half expecting to see the familiar sign of Kronk's diner sitting there with the trio eating inside. But Kronk's wasn't there; there was just a generic chain restaurant in its place.

"Makes sense to me, Sora!" Goofy said.

Kairi giggled. "Yeah, and I think I'd really like to meet them!"

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Xion said quietly. She swallowed to try and cure her parched throat. Not much of a success.

"Huh?" Sora asked, turning around to look at her. "Why not?"

Xion stared down at the ground. The tram rushed by them, sending up a wind that blew her hair back. What was she supposed to say? "I don't want to see them because they're not really my friends"? Never mind that it could be a real lead? Xion hated herself for it, but she was genuinely scared of seeing the three of them and having them not remember her except for their brief meetings. It would make her face the reality of her time in Twilight Town, while if they went without seeing them she could still pretend that it hadn't all been inside a computer simulation.

It had been real to her. She didn't want to shatter the illusion.

"I just… Let's not. Please?"

Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy all glanced around at each other. "Uh… Sure, I guess," Sora said at last, shrugging. "We don't have to go see them if you don't want to, Xion. We can find a lead somewhere else."

"Thanks." Relief washed over Xion, and though she tried not to show it she was sure the others had noticed. Kairi definitely did. She immediately moved over to Xion and locked arms with the other girl, smiling at her.

"Hey, you know this town inside and out, right? Show us around!" Kairi let out another giggle. "This is the first time I've been to a, modern big city!"

Xion smiled and brushed some hair behind her ear. "Okay," she said, already starting to cheer up. "I'll give you guys the grand tour!"

"Great!" Kairi cried with a big grin on her face. Then she broke into a run, moving so suddenly that Xion nearly tripped. The redhead pulled Xion along with her, weaving through the crowded Tram Common. Sora, Donald, and Goofy's heartfelt laughter followed behind them, and Xion found herself joining in. Maybe taking a break to goof off and shop around a bit wasn't such a bad idea after all. What was three or four hours in the grand scheme of things, really?

"Okay!" Kairi said, stopping suddenly. "Xion, quick: where is the closest accessory store?"

"Uh…" Xion rubbed the back of her neck, trying to think.

Kairi rested her hands on her hips. "Don't pretend you don't know; look at all the stuff you're wearing!"

Xion glanced at herself, an embarrassed blush forming on her face. "Well, the rings, bracelet, and hairclip are actually from Destiny Islands, and Stitch's charm is from Hollow Bastion…" Kairi groaned and Xion chuckled. "Sorry, I guess I do know. Follow me, this way."

Xion moved down a side road, which to be honest she only thought led to the accessory store. But more importantly than that, it was a road that wound its way all over the Tram Common—exactly the kind of road perfect for a tour. The boys, meanwhile, were following a yard or two behind them and whispering amongst themselves. Kairi glanced over her shoulder and paused, putting a hand on Xion's shoulder to stop her as well.

"What are you guys talking about?" Kairi asked, looking at Sora in particular.

Donald pointed to a poster hanging on a nearby wall. Xion couldn't make it out from the angle she and Kairi stood at. "Sora saw this and wanted to ask you about it," he explained.

"But we were discussin' whether to ask ya now or wait until you two were done talkin'," Goofy added.

Sora rubbed the back of his head, evidently embarrassed that the other two had spoken for him. Xion, though, raised an eyebrow and walked over to the three of them to investigate the poster. Immediately her face brightened, her mouth forming into a wild smile. The poster was blue, with four balls of different colors and a hand holding up a foam bat.

"Struggle!" she exclaimed happily.

"What's that?" Sora asked.

"It's a sport, probably the most popular event in all of Twilight Town; at least among teens," Xion explained. "You wear these outfits with colored balls attached, and fight one-on-one with foam bats to knock balls off the other. Whoever has the most at the end is the winner. There's a big tournament and everything, and the winner even gets a fancy trophy."

"Hey, that sounds kind of fun," Kairi said as she walked over to the rest of them.

"Yeah!" Sora agreed. "So where do I sign up?!"

"Not here," Xion tapped a finger against the poster, specifically at the writing on the bottom. "It's a summer thing and we're still in winter. Someone probably just forgot to take the poster down from last summer."

"Ah, man…" Sora groaned, leaning back against the wall. "I wanted to give it a shot." He shrugged. "Well, maybe we'll just have to come back in six months."

Goofy laughed. "Yup, I'd visit Twilight Town every chance I got! It sure is pretty here."

Xion smiled as she went back to leading Kairi down the road. She had to agree; something about this town was just...comfortable. And it wasn't just because of her time in the other Twilight Town, or her memories of the clock tower. She had always thought that, way back to her very first time here on a mission with Roxas. Something about Twilight Town's streets just gave the town a safe, cozy feeling. She supposed the eternal sunset had a lot to do with that.

Orange was still her favorite color.

"I've been wondering," Kairi said after they had been walking a few minutes. "But why is that hill sloping so drastically?" Xion followed her finger; she was pointing at Market Street.

"Twilight Town is built on a mountain," Xion explained. She pointed upwards, to the top of the large wall separating the city from the woods. "The train tracks are up on that, because the station is at the mountaintop."

"If it's on a mountainside, then wouldn't it be hard to build houses?" Donald asked.

"Most homes around the Market Street area are actually apartment buildings," Xion said with a light shrug. Individual houses are down in Sunset Terrace… Look there." She motioned to the nearby tunnel entrance, sealed with a steel cage. "Tunnels dating way back to an ancient war run through the entire mountain range, and they were reinforced when Twilight Town was built. Using them you can travel all over the city without needing to buy train tickets." She paused in thought for a moment. "Do you guys want to go see Sunset Terrace?"

"It could be nice, but like I said earlier this is my first time in a big city," Kairi said, shaking her head. "Come on! Let's hurry up!"

The next hour or two were spent with Xion showing them around the Tram Common, starting with the accessory shop Kairi had wanted to see so badly. Kairi bought a golden locket from the girl there—Jessie, Xion thought her name was—though had no picture to put inside of it. When Donald pointed this out, Kairi glanced over to Sora, who was looking through wristbands, and said nothing more.

After that they went to a book store, where Xion immediately moved to the back and found a comic called Darkwing Duck. Seeing the mallard on the cover immediately brought her back to the first morning of winter vacation, after spending the night at Roxas's house to celebrate. That had been the comic she had tossed at his face. Xion ended up buying it, not out of any real interest in the comic itself but as a memento. Surprisingly, Donald also bought a few issues of it; he claimed they were for his nephews, but Xion was sure he was going to read some of them as well.

Sora had asked to stop at a sports outlet, which surprised Xion. But they weren't about to say no, and inside Sora had immediately gone up to the man at the register asking for a Struggle bat. Much to Sora's disappointment, though not Xion's surprise, they didn't have any in stock; generally they were only sold during summer or around the holidays. Still, Sora had left the store more determined than ever to return to Twilight Town next summer.

"Anything you want to look at, Goofy?" Xion asked after a few hours had passed. The five of them sat on a bench, just watching people go by now. A chill breeze blew through as a constant reminder that it was still winter, even if it wasn't snowing.

"Me?" Goofy asked with a bit of surprise.

"Well, we've all chosen somewhere to go except you," Sora said from the other end of the bench, leaning over to see his friend better.

Goofy shook his head. "Gawrsh, you guys. I don't need to go anywhere, I'm havin' fun just walkin' around!" He smiled. "Besides, we haven't all gone chosen somewhere yet."

Xion suddenly felt like she was under a spotlight as Goofy and the others looked at her expectantly. She smiled sheepishly, fidgeting with some nervousness before letting out a soft chuckle.

"What's everyone staring for? Is something on my face?"

"You've been showing us around all day, but we haven't gone where you want to go," Donald said.

"Me?" Xion asked. She laughed softly again. "I don't need to go anywhere, really. I'm having fun just hanging out with you guys, just like Goofy."

"Come on, Xion," Kairi said. "Isn't there one place you want to go?"

Xion rubbed the back of her neck as she thought. "Well…" She was hungry, actually, and Kronk's sounded good. But that was out of the question; she had already noticed earlier that it wasn't where it should be. But there was one other place, come to think of it. Xion jumped up off of the bench, landing on her feet, and turned around to face her friends.

"You can't come to Twilight Town and not try the candy shop's famous sea-salt ice cream!"

"You mean the ice cream Scrooge gave us that one time?" Donald asked. He was starting to stand up too, and the others with him.

Xion grinned and shook her head. "That was good, but nothing beats a classic Twilight Town sea-salt bar. I'm not allowing any of you to leave until you've had one!"

Goofy laughed. "Ice cream it is then, sounds good to me!"

"Great, follow me!"

The candy shop wasn't far, and at this point in the evening the crowds had started to clear up. Xion ran through the streets, moving over the tram's tracks and past the Struggle poster. She almost ran into a familiar little boy in a big yellow hat, calling apologies to him from over her shoulder as he watched her and the others move quickly by.

Xion had to admit to being relieved that the candy shop was still where she remembered it, unlike Kronk's. It even still had the same smiling old woman running it, who was currently wiping away at some spilled milk on her counter as a little cat nearby licked at scattered drops. The old woman leaned down to put the towel away, and when she came back up a surprised but welcoming smile was on her face.

"Five sea-salt ice creams please," Xion said as she approached the counter, her own smile matching the kind old woman's. Xion didn't even know her name, but they were surprisingly close for a shopkeeper and customer; she came by almost every single day, after all.

"Of course, dear," the old woman said, moving to the freezer in the back. The others had caught up to Xion by this point, complete with Donald complaining about speed between heavy panting.

"You know," the old woman said from the freezer, "I haven't seen you around much lately."

Xion smiled. "I guess things have been pretty frantic these last few weeks."

"For both you and your friends?" She came back and set the five wrapped ice creams on the counter while Xion pulled out her wallet. "I think the last time I saw the tall one was—goodness, almost six or seven months ago now."

Xion took the ice creams and handed them over to her friends. "Tall one? What, do you mean Ha-" She stopped, realizing now who the kindly woman was talking about. "Right. You mean Axel…" Xion had gotten so caught up in this that she had forgotten… Well, isn't that what she had wanted? To not have to face the truth about her Twilight Town?

"Axel, yes, that was his name. And I haven't seen that blond boy of yours in even longer. Is he alright?" No, he wasn't alright. Farm from it. He was dead, he was dead and it was all her fault. But she couldn't tell the old woman that, she couldn't make her worry.

Xion forced a smile. "Roxas? He's—He moved out of town."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"I-It is what it is." Xion turned away from the old lady, and the moment her face was out of sight the smiling mask dropped. Her friends watched her with concern as she walked down the street and unwrapped her ice cream. She could feel their eyes drilling holes into her.

"Xion—" Sora began.

Xion held the blue bar to her lips, but paused before she took her first bite. "Hey," she said softly, turning around and rubbing her eyes to keep the tears that had begun to form from showing. "There's one last thing I have to show you guys while we're here."

"What's that?" Goofy asked.

Xion couldn't help but smile slightly. "The icing on the cake."

x-x-x

The clock tower hadn't changed one bit, Xion realized. More than anything else she had seen today, that made her happy. The stone still had the same chisels and grooves, she still got the same perfect angle of the town and sun from her usual seat, and the pine-scented mountain breeze still came in from the west just as it always had. Sora sat next to Xion without fear—he had been on the tower a few times himself—and Goofy was with them as well, but Kairi and Donald were sitting against the back wall.

"Come on, you guys," Xion said, looking over her shoulder. "You're not going to see the sunset like that!"

Kairi gulped and let out an awkward, nervous laugh as she scooted forward. She glanced down at the ground so far below and immediately latched on to Sora, wrapping her arms around his. But at least she had come up to the edge, which couldn't be said for the duck behind them.

"Who's ever heard of a bird scared of heights?" Sora teased Donald.

"Who's ever heard of a giant key-shaped sword?" Donald called back. "Weirder things have happened."

"He's got us there," Kairi said, and then took a bite out of her own ice cream. Unlike the rest of them, Kairi had never had sea-salt before. Like everyone seemed to, she had reacted with the comment that it was "sweet, yet salty." Xion couldn't hide her laughter after that.

Already growing a bit more comfortable with the tower, Kairi turned to Xion. "So, this is where you guys met?"

"Yup," Xion said with a nod. She licked off the last bits of ice cream from her own bar and set the stick down next to her. "Every day after a mission. Axel brought Roxas up here first, and then Roxas showed me it later."

"Sounds like you guys were really close."

Xion shrugged. "Those two were my best friends. I loved them both, in different ways. Axel was like a big brother to me, and Roxas…" She paused. Why did the sun have to make everything look so red? "Well, Roxas isn't ever really gone, I suppose."

"Yup!" Goofy chimed in. "Our best friends are always inside our hearts, there for us when we need 'em."

"And outside our hearts, too," Sora said. "Today was a really great day, and I'm glad we got to spend it just hanging out. I have to admit, Xion, that when I saw you and your friends doing this kind of thing in the other Twilight Town, I was kind of jealous."

Kairi had a nostalgic smile on her face. "I guess none of us have really lived normal lives since this happened. Not even me, since I spent a year without even knowing my best friend's name."

Surprise caused Sora to choke on his ice cream. "You couldn't remember my name?! Thanks a lot, Kairi." But he wasn't actually angry; he started laughing a second later. Waving his ice cream stick in the air, he added, "Always remember: starts with an 'S.'"

"I don't think it's going to be a problem anymore," Kairi said with a giggle.

"Sure, we're always together!" Donald added from behind them.

Xion grinned and shoved Sora lightly in the shoulder. "Look at all those friends of yours," she said. "Almost makes me jealous, Roxas."

Everyone suddenly grew silent, an awkward silence overtaking the clock tower. Sora averted his gaze, suddenly taking a vested interest in his ice cream. Wondering if it was something she said, Xion ran her last few sentences over in her head before letting out a soft gasp.

"Sora—"

"Don't be sorry, Xion," Sora said, shaking his head. "You have nothing to be sorry about, and I'm not offended." He took in a deep breath and let it out. "It's understandable. You got caught up in your memories."

Xion glanced down at her hands and let her hair fall in front of her eyes. That's right; she had allowed herself to fall back into the past, to think she was once again sitting on the clock tower with her friends—and she was! Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy were all her friends! Just not the ones she had been thinking about.

"…You know, I wish I had gotten to meet him."

Xion glanced up at Sora, who was watching the sunset with a sad smile on his face. The wind brushed through the brown spikes of his hair and Xion felt her heart clench tight.

"I think he really wanted to meet you, too." The sun finished its descent below the horizon, casting the ever-orange Twilight Town in darkness. Xion took in a deep breath and looked around at the others. Everyone had finished their ice cream, so she stood up. "I think we've spent enough time here."

"Are you sure?" Kairi asked.

"We came here on a signal from Ansem, and we decided to stick around looking for a sign of Riku. We haven't found either." Xion shook her head. "I really enjoyed today, I enjoyed it a lot, but we have to keep moving."

"Do we have any leads at all, though?" Donald asked.

Xion frowned and brought a hand to her chin in thought. No, they really didn't. They had hoped to find something to go on here, after all.

A horn caught their attention, and everyone glanced down at a blue and gold train coming down one of the tracks on its way to the station below the clock tower. Xion's frown deepened; that train in particular was familiar, but where had she seen it before…? Oh, of course!

"Yen Sid!" Xion said with a snap of her fingers.

Kairi and Sora glanced at each other then back to Xion. "Who?" Sora asked.

"You know Yen Sid?" Goofy asked. "Gawrsh, it's been so long since we've seen him!"

"Yeah." Xion nodded. "Remember when the King and I met you guys down in the plaza in front of the station? We had just come from Yen Sid's world." She pointed down at the tracks as the train vanished inside the station. "And that train is the one that goes there!"

If anyone had an idea of where to look, it would be Yen Sid.

Things were finally looking up.