Hello everybody! Here's a new chapter for you all to read. To tell you all the truth, I'm hoping that I'll be able to finish this story before or at the time Christmas comes around. For those of you who don't remember, I've already based this story in the middle of winter in respect to the upcoming Christmas holidays. As such, I wanted to finish it before on at Christmas. I feel that it would fit with the time placement of the story well.

Anyway, that's enough about trying to tie in the story's time frame with real life. This chapter is mostly just a conversation piece that's really meant to help supplement the relationship between Roxas and Sora. I figured out that they both do not have much of a chance to get to know each other well even through the conversation they have mainly revolving on business. As such, I decided to go ahead and dedicate an entire chapter for them. Sorry to those who do not like chapters that are just mainly talking, but that's what I'm going to do here.

Well, that's enough with the author's notes. I'll let you all go ahead and start reading this new chapter. Just don't forget to leave a review before you leave telling me what you think of this new chapter. They are always helpful unless they're just flames. Until the next update on this or any of my other stories everybpdy!

And as a little side note, sorry if the format of the dialogue is hard to read. As a reminder, bold stands for computer talk, "this stands for regular person-to-person talk," and Italicized stands for the inner thoughts of Sora. That's the end of the short dialogue description to help lessen whatever confusion that might arise upon you all reading this.

Chapter 10: We Need to Make Another Plan

Wow, I can't believe that it's only been a couple of days since I first got caught up in this self-rescue mission of yours, Sora told Roxas in amazement from his work computer back at the bank. To be perfectly honest with you, it feels like I've been helping you out for a lot longer than that. I guess having so many crazy things happening to you in such a short amount of time can do that to you.

It was the beginning of the evening hours on the same day that he had tried to contact Axel for help. He had been debating in his mind whether or not to skip today's meeting and continue on the next day, but he figured that it might worry Roxas a bit in that there was no timely response back. It would not be good to worry him, but it would also not be the greatest of situations to be caught at work when he is theoretically supposed to be home sick. So it was either face the wrath of his boss and best friend or have the spy worry about him for not contacting him tonight.

In the end, he decided to sneak back into his office just five minutes before seven when the office was theoretically supposed to have been cleared out with only the security guard situated outside knowing of him entering. He was supposed to have been sick that day after all, and coming this late at night would not only peg him as a liar but would also cast him under a suspicious shadow with his boss Xemnas and his best friend Riku. That was one position he did not want to be in on top of everything else that was happening around him. It just would not be the greatest of combinations.

Well, I was starting to think that something might have happened to you when you didn't sign on at seven, Roxas responded back with relief clear in his words. Sora could just imagine the teen's barely mid-tone voice he first heard on the answering machine last night replacing the soundless words on the screen along with the emotion being put behind each word. You were always so prompt the last few times we communicated, so I wasn't sure if you were just held up or something else happened.

Oh, don't tell me a tough spy like yourself was worried about a poor simple civilian like me? the brown spiky haired teen teased with a chuckle that only he could obviously hear. A lot of things could happen on my end of communications, especially when my only source of communication with you happens to be my work computer. A small bit of delay should be expected every now and then.

…Yeah, I guess you're right, the light brown spiky haired spy admitted after a couple seconds of hesitation that was most likely him contemplating the last statement. I should be expecting slight delays in a situation such as this. Nevertheless, you are my only hope at coming home alive, so I can't afford to lose you as an ally right now.

Yeah, and I intend on doing my best to make sure you get back home. After all, you're a teenager just like me, and it just wouldn't feel right if I let a fellow teen out in the dust to fend for himself just like that.

I'm guessing that you already figured out a few things about me from that trip to my apartment. No surprise there, I suppose. I was kind of expecting for that to happen since I had quite a few hints just lying around. And I'm guessing that you know my name because my phone decided to ring while you were in there.

Yeah, a girl named Ollete made it sound like she's been trying to call you for a while now, Sora responded, making sure not to say anything about him listening in on the unanswered messages in the machine. I didn't answer her phone since she would probably think that you moved or something like that, but she did sound pretty worried about you. If anything, you should come back safe so you don't worry them anymore.

By the way, do you mind if we go on a little side trip away from all these requests for a bit? he continued on as he tried to change the subject away from the rescue mission. I want to get to know you a little bit better, especially since I've went to your house and saw photos of you and your friends hanging out together.

For a couple of seconds, Roxas did not bother to type in anything as a response to that. Apparently, he was thinking whether or not to delve into his private life with a complete stranger whom he only contacted at first with the thoughts of being able to try and get home safely. The answer soon popped onto the screen.

I guess that's fair, he responded while Sora could just imagine him giving off a shrug of his shoulders as an added response. You figured out a little bit of my life, and I'm sure that you're curious about a couple of other things because of it.

Actually, I got a lot of my questions answered about you from your two friends and spy allies, Hayner and Axel, the brown spiky haired teen explained with a small smile creeping onto his face. Hayner said that you've been his best friend for a while, and Axel said that you've only been working as a spy for a few months. He also told me the story on how you helped him out during one of his missions gone wrong. Interesting way to start out the beginning of your career.

Well, I wasn't going to be taken as a hostage without a fight, the light brown spiky haired spy responded. I didn't care if the guy had a gun to my head or not. That and it was a good way for me to practice those self-defense moves that I managed to teach myself over the past few years.

Yeah, moves that you taught yourself after playing a lot of spy video games. Axel also told me that you told him that you learned those high level spy moves through being a video game junkie. You know, a lot of things about you are pretty unbelievable even when your friends say it to be the truth. I'm not saying that I don't believe either you or them, but it's just pretty interesting at how you're able to willingly risk your life as a spy while only being the same age as me.

And I still can't believe that you're actually working at the bank in the international transactions department at the age of eighteen, Roxas quickly responded in a countering attitude. Last I checked, us teens don't usually land a job at the bank until sometime after we've finished college.

I guess like you, I just managed to catch a lucky break by having a good friend that was willing to help me out when I really needed it, Sora simply responded back with a shrug of his shoulders. I guess you can consider the both of us to be the luckiest teens in the world in that we got rather successful jobs.

I guess you could say that, the other stated. Having Axel as a friend surely has its perks in that I landed a job and being given a bunch of craziness in my life being that he likes to practically play with fire.

Anyway, why don't we just get back to the topic at hand here? the other quickly typed in an attempt to change the subject. Either he was getting embarrassed revealing to someone he did not know the private parts of his life, or he did not feel comfortable talking about sensitive stuff on a proxy server regardless whether or not it was secure. Sora was willing to bet his money on the latter of the two. If you still want to know more about me, then I promise we'll meet up one of these days once I'm back at home. It seems better than talking on here where someone could break into the proxy server at any moment. Until then, do you think we could just concentrate on helping me get back home?

Fine you big party pooper; we'll just stick with trying to get you home and forget about getting to know each other better, the spiky haired teen typed in with a pout. He then blew a raspberry before continuing to talk to the other. You sure know how to rain down on a guy's attempt at some fun, you know?

Why can I just imagine you with a pout on your face right now when you say that? Roxas rhetorically asked in a humorous fashion while most likely lightly chuckling to himself. Anyway, how did things go with the list of contacts I sent you to get? Did you managed to call all of them?

I called them all, but they didn't turn out to be as helpful as either you or I thought they would be. The only person who I didn't get to directly talk to was this woman called Therxia Nagrobshigou. She hasn't bothered to call me back all day today after I left a message with her butler guy last night. You don't think she's ignoring me because she doesn't know who I am, do you?

No, she's most likely just busy working on other stuff, the spy explained while most likely shrugging his shoulders with indifference. She may be a spy, but she tends to be pretty busy with other things in order to keep her cover-up life believable to other regular people, so I suppose getting her help was a long shot.

Then how about Hayner? he asked while suddenly shifting from one person to the other. He probably was a bit stubborn when you first talked to him, but he had to believe you after you talked to him about me. Please tell me he believed you.

I was starting to think that he wasn't going to believe me after spending a few minutes just trying to convince him. Unfortunately, he had to get shot by some mysterious woman before he even chose to start believing me. And before you go all crazy on me, he was only shot once in the shoulder, so he's more than fine. He's not going to be dying on you anytime soon. If you want the details though, then you're just going to have to come back and ask him for it yourself.

You two were shot at while meeting each other? the other quickly typed in, clearly surprised upon hearing that both his best friend and intended savior were nearly killed on his behalf. Damn; then I guess this means that the enemy's already onto us. I'm glad to hear that Hayner's going to be alright, but what about you, Sora? Has anything happened to you after that incident?

Well, I almost ended up getting myself kidnapped when I was leaving your rather nice apartment before that, but the frying pan you had me take was more than helpful in getting me out of that situation, Sora answered as he thought back to the taxi fiasco he was forced to suffer through last night. He could practically feel the light brown teen spy on the other end gasp in shock upon hearing this. I just consider myself lucky there that the guy didn't bother to check whether or not I had anything in my jacket that could possibly kill him. Then again, he was already in the driver's seat when I first asked him to take me back home, so he wasn't in the position to go and frisk me. Oh well, nothing a little bang on the side of the guy's head can't fix.

Well, I'm just glad that both you and Hayner managed to get out of this alright, the spiky light brown haired spy responded in what seemed to have been accompanied with a sigh of relief. I'm really sorry to have put your life in such danger here. I honestly never meant for you to be dragged into the dangerous side of all this spy business. If I had known that things would get this dangerous, then I wouldn't have gone and asked you to help me out in the first place.

Hey, none of this was your fault, Roxas, the spiky brown haired teen responded in an attempt to keep the other from blaming himself. I had a feeling what I was signing up for when I figured out that you were a spy, and I chose to continue helping you out despite that. And even if they were just trying to scare me off so I would stop helping you, then they did a pretty bad job at it. After all, I'm still talking to you right now and giving you a brief on how things went on my end.

And speaking of which, I also talked to Axel this morning, he continued on as he felt they were starting to move away from the main topic. Actually, it was Hayner who suggested that I called him just before he drove himself to the hospital to get the bullet out of his shoulder. He said that I should call Axel and ask him about some guy named Ansem. They said that he was your mentor when you first became an official spy.

And how did things end up working on that lead? Roxas asked with his words filled with hope. I'm pretty sure Hayner wouldn't have suggested that unless he felt that he couldn't help me in any other way.

Unfortunately, that ended up being a dead end because he ended up dying of a heart attack over two weeks ago. The only person who was said to be willing to bend spy rules and get you out of Twilight Town himself isn't going to be doing much of anything except look down at us and try to figure out what the heck we're doing.

Damn, all of my contacts are giving me nothing but bad news all the way around, the spiky light brown haired teen typed in an aggravated fashion. Why is life choosing to be so damn stubborn with me right now? And what about Xion? Did you manage to get in contact with her?

Well, I did figure out that she and Axel live in the same place, so I just asked him if she was home, Sora explained as he remembered what the other spy told him over the phone earlier that day. Strangely enough, he said that she was already with you when you first started your mission. Shouldn't she be with you then?

Believe it or not, we got separated sometime last week. We both agreed to try and find a way for the both of us to get out of here. I just figured that she discovered a way out but could not take the time to tell me about it. I know that she wouldn't just abandon me without a good reason. I figured this whole time she made it back home. Guess that I was wrong the whole time. I suppose that means that there's no way I'm ever going to get out of here alive.

So what, you're just going to give up like that because you think that all your friends can't help you out? the spiky haired teen quickly responded upon seeing the words of helplessness appearing in front of him. You may give people a bad first impression of you being unsure of yourself and stuff when they hear your answering machine, but I know you better than that. You've always sounded so sure and certain of yourself every time we've talked about trying to get you home. Now you all of a sudden turn into this guy who thinks that everything is hopeless because of the failure of the only plan that you've told me? I've put my neck too far into this to hear you say that you're giving up. Come on; there must be something else that you can think of. Just tell me what it is, and I'll try my best to make it work. There's always more than one way to attack any problem.

For a few seconds, Roxas was quiet on his end of the computer connection. It felt like he was seriously taking the words just spoken to him to heart and trying to think of another plan. Either that or he was just choosing to ignore him because he already had it in his mind that nothing was going to work beyond his first plan.

You're right, Sora, Roxas finally responded with a sort of renewed energy in his words. I shouldn't be giving up just because the best plan that I can come up with went down the drain. If things can't be done the easy way, then we'll do it the hard way. Thanks for reminding me about that.

Don't mention it, the brown haired teen answered, his blue eyes shining with the signs of triumph at getting the spy's sense of hope back. I guess it is kind of easy to forget about other possibilities when you're in a position like this. Anyway, do you have any other way that we can get you back here to Destiny Island?

Well, I just got another idea from the newspaper here, the spy quickly responded. The paper here says that they're planning a celebration for the upcoming Twilight Independence Day. Apparently, it's going to be two centuries from tomorrow since the town officially declared independence from Hollow Bastion. I'm sure that the consulate on Destiny Island will also be holding a celebration of their own. Perhaps we can use that to our advantage.

And what exactly is it that you're thinking about? Sora asked, the fact that he quickly typed in his question showing that he was more than eager to go through with whatever the spy was going to ask him to try out.

Don't be too eager in case the plan doesn't sound like something you'd want to do. I have to admit, it's pretty dangerous for you to try out, but I guess I'll never know until I actually tell you. What I want you to do is try and get into the Twilight Town Consulate while the party is going on. The event's most likely to take place during the evening hours, so try to get yourself ready before then.

Well, I guess that's more than possible since there's going to be a party of sorts, the teen answered back with a smile before figuring out that it might be harder to get into the consulate this time around. But don't I need an invitation or something like that to get in? I doubt that they're just going to let me stroll in this time like when you had me deliver that secret message to them a couple of days ago.

I think you might be able to make it work with either Axel or Hayner if he's well enough to go. They both work as spies for Twilight Town, so they should be able to get invitations without any problems. All I suggest is that you wear a nice dinner dress so that you can pose as one of their dates.

He didn't just tell me to go and wear a dress, did he? Sora thought with both of his eyebrows raised in amazement at what he was being told to do. Another thought then struck him at that moment. He probably figured that I'm a girl or something like that. Then again, Sora is an androgynous name, so he probably figured me to be a girl since it's more popular with them. Sounds like I got a bit of explaining to do.

Actually, I prefer to wear a nice tuxedo over a dress any day, he responded quickly in an attempt to confuse the other before explaining himself. You see, the Sora you're speaking to right now happens to be a guy. I know the name's more common with girls than it is with guys, but I just happen to be one of those few guys.

…I'm sorry; I didn't know that, Roxas apologized after pausing for a few moments that was most likely a result of him being shocked that he was talking to a guy this entire time. And to be perfectly honest, Sora swore he felt a bit of a flustered attitude behind the words. Why he felt it there, he was not sure. This whole time, I thought I was talking to a woman because of the name you gave me. That and I can picture a woman working as a transaction clerk more than a guy.

Well, except for that stereotype about mainly women working in the transaction department of a bank, I can see why you thought I was a girl. There's no harm done, though. After all, I don't think it'll really make much of a difference in the plan that you have created for me to try.

I'm sorry, but I beg to differ on that. You see, I was thinking that with you as a woman, you might be able to charm your way up into the restricted areas of the consulate. However, I don't think that you'd be able to do that being you're a guy and all that. After all, security guards tend to be men, and having other men striking conversations with them doesn't usually yield the intended results. I'm sorry, but I can't ask you to try this out. I'll think up of another plan and contact you tomorrow.

Oh, don't tell me he just said that to me! Sora thought as his eyes shown with the shock he was no doubt feeling at being told he could not do the job Roxas had planned simply because he was a guy. He then angrily typed into the computer, Hey, don't you dare pull that on me just because you had a case of mistaken identity! Just because I'm a guy doesn't mean that I can't just find some other way to venture deeper into the Twilight Town Consulate. And for your information, I happen to be a gay guy, so I think I could charm men just as well if not better than any of your average girls. You better reconsider and think about giving me a chance here, or I'm not going to help you again no matter how many times you bug me after I sign out tonight. And I mean it!

For some time that felt like minutes but was actually half a minute in reality, neither of the teen's typed anything into their computer. Sora was obviously still fuming at being told he could not perform whatever was on Roxas' mind simply because he was a guy. Roxas, however, was either shocked at being talked to like that or trying to consider whether or not his original plan might have some chance at working.

…I'm sorry for saying you couldn't do the job because you're not a girl, Sora, Roxas finally apologized with strong sincerity behind his words. There also seemed to be some regret tied in with it that felt like something you would hear in a conversation between you and the one you really loved or cared about. But the brown spiky haired teen was still fuming to have caught that. Regardless whether you're a guy, a girl, gay, or straight, I shouldn't have said anything stupid like that. I'm just not used to having things not go my way when I'm in a desperate situation like this. So I'm sorry about that.

…Don't sweat it, Roxas, the teen responded after calming down a bit and spending a couple of seconds reading the short but sincere apology. I just get a bit peeved off when people tell me to do something and then suddenly say I can't do it. It feels like I was being picked on and bullied back in the orphanage all over again. I know it sounds silly, but things like that just make me remember the childhood I never got to really have when I was little. Sorry for just snapping at you like that.

Heh, looks like we're both at fault here, the spy answered back, most likely giving off a small apologetic smile in the process. I guess we can call it even then. But yeah, I think you still might be able to get my plan off the ground. It'll probably be a little bit difficult since you most likely have to sneak your way around now.

Just give me the instructions, and I'll do whatever it is that I can on my end of things, Sora responded with a cocky smile, seemingly already putting their rather short and minor argument into the forgotten past. And besides, Axel promised me that he'd help me in any way he can when it comes to helping you get back home. So even if I can't do it myself, I have him to fall back on.

Wow, you're pretty easy to ask for forgiveness, you know that? Then again, you can tell whether or not I'm being sincere just by talking to me through computer typing, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised about it.

Anyway, let me go ahead and explain to you the plan I have in mind, the spy continued on before he heard another response about what he had just said. Hope you have a pen and paper at hand, because this is going to be a lot of instructions that you're going to have to memorize.

Well, that's it for this new chapter. I hope that you all ended up enjoying it as much as I had creating it. I really wanted to create more closeness with Sora and Roxas, but it did prove to be a bit challenging because of the fact that the two are simply talking through the computer. Still, I hope that you like the attempt I put in it with this new chapter.

Just to say, there isn't going to be a character bio for this chapter. That's basically because there's nothing new to really say about the characters. So with that, don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story telling me how you think the new chapter is. Until the next update on this or any of my other stories everybody!