V.

It's raining in the World That Never Was. It's always raining. It spews from the sky, chilly, but not frigid. Not the way it was in Transmute City, though I'm not sure it could be worse than that. Standing, beneath a skyscraper, with my palms open, I stare at the sky, eyes narrowed.

"Demyx?" I call over the storm. I hear him grunt and the sound of his sitar smashing into something.

"Whoa!" Jeez.

"Demyx!" I call out, and I'm pretty sure he can't hear me. Heaving a sigh, I peak around the corner of the building, only to see him using the water to his elemental advantage, drowning a heard of Heartless at the base of the building. Despite not being able to hear me, he can see me just fine.

"Uh, don't worry Rueki! I've got this under control." He insists, using his full weight to smash his sitar into the heartless. I duck back behind the building.

"I don't understand why I need to be here then!" I shout at him, as loud as I can.

"Can't hear you! Sorry!" He huffs back as he, I assume, fights more Heartless. I roll my eyes and heave a sigh, sliding down the building, folding my knees to my chest.

We've been out here for hours. Apparently I was gone 'too long' at the library, three days ago, so my round the clock babysitting has of course, resumed. That's what I get for having reckless sex, I suppose.

My hair hangs completely limp against me, I keep having to push my bangs out of my mouth. Demyx says this is the most he's ever been stuck on Heartless cleanup duty. I'm beginning to wonder if this is a personal attack.

"It's cold can I go inside?" I shout, peaking my head around to see more Heartless forming.

"Kinda busy right now, Rueki." He reminds me.

"You know, I can help you get this done in half the time!" I insist.

"Oh no, the Superior will have my head!" Oh, so he can 'hear' me now? I watch him stomp his foot to the ground and water shoots out of the pavement in a spike, taking out a group of Heartless. Still, it doesn't seem to matter how many he kills off, for every one he kills, two more come to take its place. I grab the hem of my shirt and twist it, ringing some of the water out of it. Despite my offer to help Demyx, I still don't have my claw back, I'd be completely useless in a fight, though I'm not so much desperate for my weapon right now as I am an umbrella. Sighing, I pinch my eyes shut and rest my head on my knees.

"You looking to imitate a drowned rat, or is that just a lovely little coincidence?" I know the voice. My stomach twists and I look up, snapping my neck to look at him.

"Are you following me?" I shout, squinting as I cover my eyes to block out the rain. Axel crouches over, hood up, but not hanging so low that I cannot see his face. He squats down so that we're at eye level.

"You can't call it 'following' when it's purely coincidental, Rueks." He winks at me. I roll my eyes.

"What ever happened to not believing in coincidences?" I ask. He snickers.

"Good memory. Well, maybe fate has us bound together. We'll be forced to keep running into each other, forever. Besides, I waited the three day rule before coming to call on you, what more can you ask for?" He shrugs. "So Demyx still hasn't finished with Heartless patrol?" He raises an eyebrow.

"More keep showing up and he insists he'll be in trouble if I help him." I say.

"What a true gentleman, keeping the lady safe from the dirty work. Can't say I'd do the same, myself." He tells me. Somehow, this doesn't surprise me.

"I think it's a little more self preservation than it is chivalry." I remind him.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I might have your ticket out of this lovely monsoon we're having." He makes a gesture, flicking his wrist at the sky.

"Did you bring me an umbrella and a dry change of clothes?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Sorry Princess, can't help you there." He says. "But I can get you back into the Castle." He's looking me over in a way that makes me shiver, and not from the cold. I have no right to be nervous around him, I remind myself. Not after the other day in the library. Not when he's seen me naked. "Not for anything fun, get your mind outta the gutter." He says and I have to force myself to look away from him to hide the embarrassment on my face. I know I'm not good at hiding things but I didn't realize I was that transparent.

"Your mind's in the gutter." Wow. For how clever I was the other day, apparently my mind has resorted to being as crafty as an eight year old. Axel reaches a hand out and helps me to my feet. "Has my leash been loosened again? Is that why I'm allowed back inside?"

"Of course not, that'd be too nice. I heard you were a very bad girl, breaking all the rules, wasting hours and hours in the library. Such a hooligan." He teases. I roll my eyes. "Nah, in fact the only reason you can come back inside is because of Demyx. The Superior has called a meeting. Wouldn't be the same without our friendly neighborhood Nocturne." He nods his head at the corner of the building. I sigh.

"Demyx!" I shout.

"Rueki, I'm busy!" He whines. Axel leans across me to poke his head around.

"Too busy for a meeting, Dem? I think on a scale of 1-10, Xemnas'll give that that excuse a negative 9, don'tcha think?" He asks. Suddenly, Demyx looks alert and wide eyed. He takes a swing at some of the Heartless and curses.

"I'm coming, I promise!" He shouts, taking another swing as he makes his way over.

"Hmm, something you two have in common." Axel says, in a low voice, and I reach over and punch him. "Damn, temper, temper, Rueks. And here I was, thinking we were friends. You're breakin' my heart." He pouts, looking at me with puppy dog eyes, right as Demyx appears, panting.

"He called a meeting? Now?" Demyx whines. "Didn't we just have one when Roxas got here?" He asks.

"It's been a week." Axel reminds him.

"And since I got here it's been three weeks, six days, five hours and thirty minutes. But who's counting?" I flash a sicky sweet smile. I don't actually know that those are the exact hours and minutes that I've been here, but it certainly adds a dramatic flair to my statement.

"Certainly not our resident drowned rat?" Axel ruffles my wet hair, which is lovely, I know it's going to be a delightfully tangled mess by time I get around to brush it. With the swish of his hand, Axel summons a dark portal and sweeps down into a bow. "Ladies first." He says, and I go to take a step, when Demyx nudges me aside.

"He means me. He always means me. He thinks he's funny." I didn't need the water elemental to tell me that.

The portal opens up outside of the meeting room of the castle, where I plop down on the ground.

"I see you saved her just before she could drown." An English accent sounds off, and I flash Luxord a pathetic smile.

"Barely." I say. He snorts a little as he files into the room, Xigbar at his heels.

"Uggh, c'mon, we might as well get this over with." Demyx grumbles.

"Then can I dry off?" I whine.

"Then you can dry off." Demyx nods.

"You're not wet." I observe, noticing for the first time that he is the only one of the three of us that were outside that was spared from the rain. He grins.

"I'm a water elemental Rueki, remember? I can't get wet unless I want to." He says proudly.

"Lucky bastard." I curl my knees to my chest, sitting on the floor beside his chair as the rest of the members file in.

"Good tidings, friends." Xemnas greets us as he gets into his chair. "Today is a momentous day. I am pleased to announce that a new comrade has been chosen to wear the coat. Number XIV, Xion. Let us all welcome one of the Keyblade's chosen." One of? I whip my head around, looking to Roxas—the one who looks like Sora. He is about as animated as a corpse, his pretty eyes glazed over with absolutely zero acknowledgement of me or the fact that this girl—and I only know she's a girl because of her figure, she's clearly a girl in her early teens, but her hood is up—is a Keyblade wielder. Does this mean that maybe Sora is still alive? I almost breathe a sigh of relief. Shit, maybe Sora will crash into this world and rescue me from my captors…

Ha, yeah right. Ew, how tragic would that be? Rescued by some teenage boy?

"We also have come to a decision, regarding our guest." Xemnas looks to me and I nod at him, trying to look dignified despite being soaked still. "From this day forward, Rueki, you will act as an assistant to the members of this organization."

"So does that mean I get to fetch coffee? Oh joy." I say flatly, rolling my eyes. "I want to get the hell outta here."

"If you still believe that you will be allowed to leave, you're more foolish than I thought." Saix's voice cuts into me and my hands ball into tight fists, fingernails biting into my palms to relieve some tension. I can't find my words and I look away, defeated.

"As I said, you will be treated as an assistant, you will be assigned missions for you to complete alongside another member." Xemnas says.

"Isn't that what I've already been doing?" I ask.

"You have been a tagalong during missions, but without a weapon, you are more a hinderance than a help." I could've told him that. I just roll my eyes. "And while our Melodious Nocturne has been perfectly competent at keeping you in line, you cannot fulfill your true potential as his assistant."

"This is true." Demyx agrees and I glare at him.

"Demyx is fine to work with, we completed that mission with the wizard's book together." I remind him.

"That mission was barely above an entry level task. It is not up to you to decide whether a member is competent enough to train you or barely competent enough to tie his shoes." Saix snaps at me. My eyes dart from him to Xemnas who is just smirking, content to let his guard dog do the dirty work.

"Axel." Xemnas looks to the redhaired man and my stomach drops. Damn. "You will be taking on the task of mentoring both Rueki and Roxas."

"So we're not playing keep away with the new girl after all?" Axel chuckles. "Why now though? Why the two of them?

"Rueki knows what it's like to work in tandem with a Keybearer, she'll be an aid to you in teaching Roxas. Isn't that right Rueki?" Xemnas asks and my insides freeze. How can he know? He can't know.

"I'm not sure what you're.."

"Was that not the Keyblade master's ship that you crashed into our world?" Dammit.

"I dunno who it was, it was just some kid, like I said, he didn't stay long." I lie and Xemnas chuckles, a low, menacing sound.

"Didn't stay long? He must've found the Keyhole in Transmute City very quickly then, and sealed it up. What luck you and your friends at the Gummi Repair Shop must've had." They did research on me, of course they did. Damn, damn, damn. "Of course, if you don't remember any of this, we could easily go and ask your friends? Perhaps Delfinius and Amaya have a better memory than you?"

"No, it's fine." I say quickly. "I can help Roxas, Axel can help me, this will be a good team." Whether Del or Amaya betrayed me or did me an honest to goodness favor, forcing my hand, it doesn't matter. I look at Saix and I know that I would never wish either of those two the kind of ill will I'm sure he could inflict.

I'm not allowed another word until after the meeting.

Instead, I spend the rest of the meeting, trying to comb through my tangled mush of hair with my fingers, a knee curled to my chest. My eyes flick up to where Axel sits and my stomach backflips when I catch him staring back at me. I have the good sense to look away but I still feel his eyes searing into me.

"Consider the rest of today a reprieve. Your missions will resume in the morning." Xemnas says, but I don't rise. Instead, I pretend to be very busy with my hair, even as Demyx clambers down from his throne.

"Well, Rueki, it's been fun and all…" He stretches his arms over his head and I can hear the popping of his joints.

"Oh fuck off." I roll my eyes and he laughs.

"Listen, Axel's not that bad, in fact, you could do a lot worse than assisting him." Demyx tells me and truth be told, I know he's not all that bad. But I don't trust myself not to get up to something bad with him. At close quarters, with him watching over me constantly…

My skin feels hot.

"But I don't want to be anyone's assistant. I want to get in a Gummi Ship and get the hell out of here." I remind him. And then, on a lighter note. "Besides, now who is going to play music for me?" I quirk an eyebrow and Demyx laughs.

"Well, you're outta luck there. But hey, if Axel ever wants to play cards with you, you'll probably win!" He reminds me and I bite back a smirk.

"Still itching to get out of those clothes, Rueks?" I hear his voice behind me before I even see him and the hairs on my arms stand up straight. I turn to Axel and offer him a look that 'politely encourages' him to shut the fuck up, and then back to Demyx, who is, to my surprise, not phased in the slightest. I stare at Axel over my shoulder, watching as his lips curl into a smirk. "You were complaining about being soaked from the rain, you wanted to put on some dry clothes? Ring a bell or are you as much of a zombie as this one?" He juts a thumb out to point at Roxas, who has appeared beside him, looking silent and dazed and... yeah, a lot like a zombie.

"Um, right, yeah, of course." I still cross my arms to my chest. "I guess I'll see you around." I say to Demyx who offers me a goofy smile.

"Definitely." And with that he leaves me and I am forced to finally turn to Axel completely. I stare down at my feet, my finger nails, anything to avoid his gaze.

"Am I still staying in the same room?" I ask.

"Yup."

"So I won't be needing any help getting there, have a great day and I'll see you for our mission in the morning." I am able to take one step before he grabs me by the top of my arm, holding me in place. I scrunch my face up.

"So you have dry change of clothes in your room? Or just a serious desire to get pneumonia?" He raises an eyebrow at me as I meet his gaze over my shoulder.

"It's very sweet of you to care." I roll my eyes and he grins.

"I need you in tip top shape for tomorrows mission, got it memorized?" He asks. "Same goes to you, Roxas. Why don't you head to your room, I'll take care of Crazy here." He points at me with his free hand, I pout and Roxas somehow manages to look even more confused.

"But…I thought her name was Rueki?" He asks. Okay, there is no way this kid is Sora, he wasn't this much of a space case…A clone maybe? A poorly reconstructed one, but it's the only thing that makes sense in my head. I'd rather not have to ask Axel any information, something tells me that would put me in the position of owing him a favor and that is not a position I wanna be in.

I'm such a liar.

"It's a nickname, kid." Axel tells him. Roxas scrunches up his face.

"Nick. Name." The two words come out with an aura of grace one could only get with a clump of peanut butter stuck to the roof of their mouth.

"Anyway, why don't you call it a day?" Axel asks and Roxas nods.

"Yeah." Is all he says before he leaves the two of us without so much as a goodbye. I look at Axel, who releases my arm from his grasp.

"C'mon, I've got a couple extra coats you can change into while your clothes dry." He offers and finally, I resolve to follow him. We head to his room, which is across the hall from Demyx's, right next to Luxords, and I piece together in my mind that the room assignments must have something to do with the numbers they were assigned. With the door safely shut behind us, he is, pleasantly normal. Not teasing or obnoxious, the way he was with plenty of prying eyes on us. He starts over to a closet at one end of the room and begins rummaging.

The room is well, just like mine. Just like Demyx's, with a few personal touches. There's a popsicle stick with the word 'winner' etched across it on a plain, white dresser, way too many pairs of black socks scattered across the floor, and it smells vaguely of campfire, which is actually incredibly appealing.

It's the same way he smells.

"Don't mind Roxas too much." He tells me. "Everyone is kinda like that when we get here, until we get our memories back that is." He says it with so much ease, that I don't even want to ask him what he means by that. Even though he makes no sense. What the hell, what kind of memories is he missing?

Is he like me?

"Luxord told me, by the way. About you, just waking up in Transmute City nine years ago, no memories, just your name." He tells me and I color. "Kinda the same circumstances with Roxas. I'm sure you know how it goes." He says. I tuck my wet hair behind my ear, suddenly feeling very exposed. I'm certain he can't read my mind, but it sure as hell unnerves all the same.

"Were you asking about me or something?" I mutter and Axel appears at my side, a fresh, dry coat at hand. I take it from him and resist the urge to bury my face in it. I wonder if it smells like him?

"On occasion, Luxord and I have been known to exchange information for favors." He tells me and I scoff.

"What kind of favor did you have to trade?"

He leers at me and leans in. I want nothing more than to close the distance between us.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He teases.

"Yep, that's why I asked." I deadpan and he chuckles, pulling away from me.

"Well, I'll tell you this, it wasn't worth the information I got on you, that's for sure. Sorry about your boyfriend though." He tells me and I color even deeper.

"Fuck, does everyone know now?" I grumble and he chuckles.

"Nah, just me and your little friends. And only cuz I'm a nosey fucker and Luxord likes to make a habit of people owing him." He taps my nose.

"I mean, it's not like I'm really that upset, I just wanted to get away from my world, and now people are gonna make assumptions—"

"Calm down, Rueks, no one's gonna fault you for having a heart." He winks. I pout.

"One, didn't I already tell you not to call me that?" I ask. He shrugs. "And two, who's to say I even have a heart? I might be the coldest bitch you know." Del certainly seemed to think I was. And it's not like it actually matters if Axel thinks I'm still grieving my ex or not, but still, there's a part of me that wants him to know that I'm most definitely not.

Suddenly, Axel howls out laughing, doubling over, wheezing, holding his stomach as though I have told the funniest joke ever. This take a whole three minutes—I know, I count—before he settles down into some semblance of normal and he comes back to a standing position, tossing his head back.

"Oh, Rueks," he chuckles. "If you didn't have a heart, we'd know by now."

That's the only explanation he offers me.

I look over the coat in my hand and heave a sigh, looking very pointedly at him.

"Use your words, sweetheart." I could hit him. I could hit him and it would be incredibly satisfying.

"Could I maybe get some privacy?" I ask and he lifts an eyebrow. It actually takes a minute for him to process what I said.

"I'm sorry, did you fall asleep for the part where I've definitely already seen you mostly naked?" He asks and then chuckles. "Wait, you couldn't have, because it was fantastic." I scoff.

"I don't really think you're the one that gets to decide that, now look away please."

To his credit, Axel, does throw himself across the bed and covers his eyes with his forearm. He looks very appealing, in that position, I think, despite myself.

I peel out of my wet clothes and the sound of them hitting the floor is beyond satisfying. I leave everything at the floor of Axel's bed as I zip myself into his coat. Its far too big length wise, but thank goodness for my giant hips, which pull the leather taught.

"You know, I don't normally make a habit out of sleeping with strangers." I say. "You caught me in a rare mood.

"Well that's a damn shame, you'd be a hell of a lot more popular around here if you did sleep with random strangers. I'm firmly convinced that all Saix needs is a good lay to turn his frown upside down." He replies, arm still over his eyes, which is good, cuz he doesn't see the face that I make.

"That's gonna be a hard pass on my end, but thanks for pimping me out to your coworker." I throw myself across the bed on my stomach, landing next to him. He removes his arm from his eyes and props himself on his elbows, so he can look down at me. "Seriously though, this isn't gonna be like…a thing. Like I'm not looking for…what we did was fun and all…"

"Don't strain yourself." Axel scoffs.

"I just don't need anyone thinking we're together." I insist. "Cuz we're not, you are an irritating creature. And probably stalking me." He laughs as he takes a strand of my damp hair between his fingers.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" He asks me and I chew my lip, looking down at the white comforter.

"I mean, obviously."

"Was it better than it was with your boyfriend?"

"What the hell kinda question is that?" I stare up at him, wild eyed, and he's grinning, very obviously trying to make me uncomfortable, and it definitely worked.

"And that was all the answer I needed." He winks. I take my stand of hair away from them.

"I mean, I don't really see how it affects the conversation we were just having." I mutter. In a series of very fluid movements, he wraps an arm around my waist, turns on his side and pulls me in so that our torsos are touching. My heart skips a beat. He's obnoxious, but he's fucking beautiful.

"I don't wanna be your boyfriend, Rueks, does that make your precious little heart feel better?" His words say one thing, but he starts caressing my hip.

"I'm not stupid, Axel, that little 'I know you from somewhere' line is like the oldest line in the book." I remind him.

"See the thing is, I do actually know you. Which was why I asked Luxord about you. You've got a huge gap in your memory Rueki. How old were you when you woke up in Transmute City?" He asks. I chew at my lip, trying not to meet his eyes, but it's hard at this proximity.

"Nine." I tell him.

"So you've got nine years worth of nothing."

"But if I actually knew you, don't you think seeing you would've jogged something? Or anyone from my past, for that matter. My world gets a lot of travelers and I have no recollection of anyone I've ever met from my past. For all I know, I was created in a lab somewhere." I offer and he snorts.

"That's all good and dandy and everything, but can't you maybe concede that I might be at least be a little bit right? See, I've got most of my memories still in tact." He taps his finger against his temple. I pout.

"I dunno, I really don't like being wrong, and since I already told you that you were wrong, I can't let you be right." I remind him. He snickers.

"And that, Rueks, is one of the many reasons that despite this," He gestures to how the two of us are lying, chest to chest. "I am never going to be your boyfriend, got it memorized?" He asks me. I blink.

"Are you saying I'd be a bad girlfriend?"

"I'm saying you don't have to worry at all about me falling for you. I promise." And for some reason, I don't like hearing this out of his mouth.

"Oh sure. You're so immune to my charms, that's why you're following me and whispering innuendoes in my ear every chance you get." I accuse, my tone growing more hostile than I necessarily mean for it to. He laughs a bit and I really don't like that.

"Maybe I just really liked fucking you the one time?" He offers.

"So you bring me into your room, don't even get to see me naked, then hold me close in bed all just because you wanted to fuck me?" I raise an eyebrow and he grins, nudging my jaw with the tip of his nose, pressing his mouth against my neck.

"Do you need me to prove it to you?" He murmurs against my skin, to my own dismay, a sigh escapes from my parted lips. He takes advantage of this and pulls me in, grabbing a handful of my ass, nipping the skin of my neck. I slide my hands into his hair, pulling him away from my throat so that I can press my lips to his. His teeth graze my bottom lip, which parts oh so easily for him. I feel his tongue flick against mine.

"We're not together." I breathe between kisses.

"Definitely not." He agrees and starts nipping down my neck again.

"But we can do this from time to time." I concede and feel him smirk into my skin.

"Whenever your pretty little heart desires, Rueks." His hands slide the zipper of the coat I am wearing down and his teeth mash down onto my collar bone. I see white for a minute, the cry that escapes my lips is anything but subtle.

"You suck." I hiss and he comes back up to meet my eyes, pressing his nose to mine.

"Or you can." He winks, with absolutely zero grace.

Apparently, that's all the invitation I need.