Demyx: Yay, we're back!

Xemnas: Oh great, look who's back to his old self. I prefer the evil Demyx.

Melody: I don't!

Xemnas: Hey, you're supposed to be dead!

Kairi: The authoress does not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters, except for Melody. Please enjoy the following chapter!

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Chapter 15: Re-appearances

Tears welled up in Demyx's eyes as he saw Melody fall out of sight into the vast darkness below. "No, Melody," he whispered in disbelief, allowing the tears to fall freely down his face.

"It appears as if you have done my job for me, Number Nine," came a chilling voice from behind the distraught Nobody. Demyx turned to face the owner of the voice with wide eyes.

"You! But…but how?" Demyx gasped in confusion.

"My assignment had not been completed, it's only natural for me to come back to finish the job. Though seeing as how you destroyed her for me, it looks like my work here is done. You're turning into quite the cold hearted murderer," Xaldin mused. "There may be hope for you yet for the Organization." Demyx's features contorted into that of a mixture of hate and rage.

"I'll kill you!" the Nobody shouted, sitar appearing in hand and lunging at the Whirlwind Lancer. Before Demyx could even touch him Xaldin disappeared into a haze of darkness, leaving only his chilling laughter echoing throughout the room. The Nobody glared at the vacant spot in front of him in frustration; Xaldin had managed to get away again. Now that he was on the loose again, that meant Melody was in danger. With that thought Demyx immediately forgot his anger and was instantly taken over by sadness. "Melody," he choked out in a sob, falling to his knees in despair.

"What happened to Melody, Demyx?" said a serious voice from behind. Demyx spun around and came face to face with the tip of the keyblad. The Nobody looked up and met the confused gaze of Melody's cousin.

"I…I couldn't save her," he whispered, shaking his head and feeling a knot build in his chest from the realization of his failure. "She's gone."

"What?" Sora questioned disbelievingly, lowering his weapon seeing no threat from the Organization member. "She's gone?" Sora hung his head, shielding his face so that the Nobody wouldn't see the few tears that had escaped his eyes; Melody was gone.

"Sora!" The teenager looked up to see Kairi running towards him, the rest of the gang in tow behind her. "Are you okay? What happened?" she asked, greatly concerned by the teens expression.

"We lost Melody," Demyx whispered. "We weren't able to save her." Kairi placed a hand over her mouth in shock and looked down at the distraught Organization member next to her. Without a second though, Kairi threw her arms around Demyx in a tight embrace, wanting to give the hurting boy any comfort she possibly could. She wouldn't kow what to do if she ever lost the one she loved. The girl pulled away from the Nobody and attempted to give the confused boy a sweet smile through her own tears. "Don't give up hope," she whispered.

"Sora, what happened to the Organization member with the blue hair?" Donald inquired.

"I took care of it," Sora said, no hint of emotion in his voice.

"Saix?" Demyx's eyes went wide. "You-you killed him!"

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Melodys eyes slowly fluttered open, finding herself surrounded by darkness. 'What happened?' she thought, trying to recall the events before she had ended up here. She went to push herself up but immediately regretted it when she felt pain flow throughout her hands. She quickly grasped them to herself, biting her lip to ease the pain in her palms. She slowly opened one of her hands and gently traced her palm with her figertips. She was shocked to find something sharp embedded in her hand and some warm, sticky liquid surrounding it. "Glass!" she gasped in realization. That's when it all started coming back to her. She had fallen out the window, but how was she still alive? Demyx had tried to saver her but- "Demyx!"

"He kid, keep it down," said an unfamiliar irritated voice.

"Who's there?" sh said worriedly.

"Xiggy, have you no manners?" That voice she recognized. "You're in the presence of a Princess, ya know?"

"I told you not to call me that!" 'Xiggy' shouted.

"Axel!" Melody cried out happily.

"Hey kiddo," he said, his voice now next to her. "How are you feeling?" she heard him take a seat beside hr and wrap an arm around her protectively.

"I'm okay, though a little confused. What happened?"

"Don't worry about it; you're safe now and that's all that matters," Axel responded, pointedly avoiding the subject.

"But-"

"You are a curious little thing, aren't you."

"Saix! You're here too?" She hated not being able to see in this darkness.

"Of course; who else would have the patience to baby-sit you?"

"Once again, why am I friends with you?" Melody teased. Axel laughed at her comment as he pulled away to allow Saix to take his place beside her.

"We need to take carae of your hands," he said gently taking hers into his own. He carefully began to remove the pieces of glass from her hands before wiping away the red liquid around her cuts. "This may feel odd to you, but it will help heal your wounds," he said gently. His large hands enveloped her small ones and she suddenly felt like her hands had been placed on a block of ice with pins and needles sticking out. Within seconds, the feeling disappeared and a warm sensation flowed through her. "There, all better," Saix said, releasing her hands. She felt her palms and was surprised to find no sign of injury. Melody threw her arms around the Nobody in a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you!" she said happily. Number Seven chuckled and returned the embrace.

"You're welcome, Princess."

"Hate to break this little reunion, but there is a psycho on the loose," said the one Axel had called 'Xiggy'.

"Xigbar is right," Saix said, pulling away. "Melody, Xaldin is back in the worlds of the living."

"I know; he was standing behind Demyx before I fell," she said, concerned about her friend. "I have to get back to him."

"Yes, I agree," the Nobody said, helping the young girl up. "You and your friends must defeat him once and for all. The only way to do so is to take out his source of power; the Superior.

"Aren't you coming?"

"I can't," Saixe said, shaking his head with a soft smile on his face.

"Why not?" she asked, her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"He's stuck here with the rest of us," Xigbar interrupted. It then clicked that Saix no longer belonged to the light.

"That's why Demyx suddenly was himself again," she thought aloud, it all now asking sense.

"There was no way I would have reached you I time while fending off both the Keyblader and Demyx."

"So you sacrificed yourself?" Melody asked, becoming upset with herself for being the cause of her friends suffering.

"To save you," he whispered, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

"You-you shouldn't have don't that!" she exclaimed, pulling back from him with angry tears in her eyes; she was angry with herself for being the reason why her friend had to die. "I could've handled it!" Xigbar snorted at this statement.

"Obviously you couldn't otherwise you wouldn't be here with us," he stated disdainfully. "You're seriously counting on this girl to save us?" Xigbar questioned Axel and Saix. "She can't even handle herself never mind Kingdom Hearts." Melody listened with a sadness filling her heart. She was their only hope and here she was, weak and powerless.

"Xigbar, that's enough," Saix said firmly.

"No, he's right. What if I can't save all of you?" she asked, feeling the prick of tears behind her eyes. "I'm powerless, or did you forget?"

"That's far from true, for you have the greatest power of all," Saix stated. Melody gave him a confused look, not understanding what he meant. "You have the power of friendship. All your friends, everyone who cares about you, will you always stand by your side and be at your aid."

"Including us," Axel chirped in. "We'll all help as much as we possibly can." Melody couldn't help but smile. Saix was right; with the kind of friends she had, she was able to do pretty much anytime.

"Thank you, guys," she said happily. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Anytime, kid," Axel said, throwing an arm around her. "Anytime." Melody smiled and leaned into her friend. She really was lucky to have such amazing people in her life.

"Well would look who's here," Xigbar said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Who?" Melody asked, now alert and gripping to Axel; she really hated this darkness.

"Melody?"

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Sora and the gang walked through the castle, searching for Xaldin and the Superior, but could find nothing. "Kairi?" Sora questioned, realizing she hasn't said a word since they left the Dome. She jumped a bit when hearing her name, coming out of her daze. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just worried about that boy," she sighed.

"The Organization member?" Riku asked, surprise written on his face over the concern of their once enemy. She nodded her response.

"Gawrsh, Kairi, well why you worried about him?"

"He seemed really upset," she whispered.

"We're all upset, Kairi. We all just lost a great friend," Sora stated, trying to hold back the tears e refused to shed.

"Yes, but I think he just lost two friends instead of one."

"Who?" Donald asked.

"That man with the blue hair."

"Saix?" No way they were friends. Demyx would not befriend someone who would try and hurt her," Sora said, getting angered by the memory of him both kidnapping and attacking his cousin.

"He just seemed really upset when he found out you destroyed him; he left so suddenly without a word," Kairi thought out loud. "Maybe we're not seeing the full picture."

"Well there's nothing we can do about it now; it's over and done with," Sora said, becoming serious. "Right now we have to concentrate on finding and defeating the Superior."

"I guess you're right," Kairi sighed in defeat, following the others into a nearby room. She couldn't do anything to change the past, but she hoped for a brighter future.

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Axel removed himself from her and illuminated the space around them with a fire from his hands. Once Melodys eyes adjusted to the light she was able to see everyone; Axel and Saix standing close beside her and Xigbar sitting not too far off. She recognized him as the one who had called Xaldin away that day weeks ago. Then, a little farther behind Xigbar, she saw him.

"Melody?" he asked again, disbelief written all over his face. "Is…is it really you?"

"Of course it's me, silly," she smiled at him. He continued to stare at her, still not believing what he was seeing. "Demyx?" she questioned, taking a few steps towards the boy.

"Demyx, could you get the Princess out of here?" Saix asked, causing Demyx to come to his senses. He cleared his throat and nodded his response, opening a portal and beckoning Melody to him. She walked over to the portal and stood before her friend.

"Wait for me on the other side. I'll only be a moment," Demyx whispered to her. Melody nodded in understanding and walked through the haze, finding herself in Demyx's room again. She took a seat on the edge of his bed, waiting patiently for her friend to show. It only took a few moments for the familiar dark haze to appear in the corner of the room and then disappear once Demyx had come through.

"Demyx? Is everything alright?" Melody asked, concerned by the unmoving teenager gazing at her from across the room.

"No, everything is not alright," he said, rather upset. "Why couldn't you have listened to me when I told you to run? I could've killed you!" he shouted angrily, whether it was directed at her or himself she couldn't tell.

"I couldn't just leave you there!" she argued.

"Yes, you could have and you should have!" he argued back, walking over to her with guilt written all over his features. I couldn't control my own actions; all I could do was watch horrified through my own eyes as I attacked you. Then I forced you out the window…" he said, staring shamefully at his feet. "Melody, the last thing I want to do is hurt you!" he said, looking up at her with tears escaping his eyes.

"Oh, Demyx," Melody sighed, seeing how much he was beating himself up over what had happened even though it was far from his fault.

"Don't you see, Melody?" Demyx whispered, cupping her face in his hands. "You are my life; the reason to my existence. You are everything to me." And before Melody knew what was happening, she felt Demyx's lips upon hers.

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Melody & Demyx: -speechless-

Axel: Whoo Hoo go Demyx!

Xaldin: That was uncalled for.

Me: What do ya think? Read & Review please!