Thought I'd do a double update as an appology XD

KH and FF (c) Square Enix
Mysterious person (c) Me

III

Chapter Four

III

"Axel?" Roxas looked down at hid friend.

"It's that name…I've heard it before. I feel like I should know who she is. It keeps slipping…I have faint bits of her but…"

"It's like a ripple?" Roxas suggested.

"Yah…it is. You keep trying to get closer but the closer you get, the farther away it becomes."

"Memories haven't been the most reliable things in this universe," Roxas smiled weakly.

"Heh…you got that right." Axel attempted to turn his head to look at Demyx but was still too weak to do so.

Roxas noticed this. "He still hasn't moved."

"Thought so," he sighed. "Oh, yah, so what song was he singing?"

Roxas laughed, "A song I wouldn't expect from—"

"…I watch you fast asleep…" For somebody singing in his sleep, Demyx was still pretty good apparently.

Roxas didn't bother hiding his amusement. "That one."

Axel laughed as well. "Are you serious? That song?"

"Uh-huh." Roxas nodded. His smile faded away as the gravity of their situation set in again. "How are we going to get out of this?"

Axel sighed. He knew that if this prison cell was anything like the ones the Organization once used, calling upon their weapons or powers was pointless. "Whatever it is she gave us, I don't trust it." Axel stated and managed to nod at the little cloth bundle. Roxas looked at them.

"I don't either." Roxas replied, "At least, the blue and red one," he opened up all three of the bundles. In the blue and red bundles of cloth were a couple of golden vials and rice balls. The white bundle lacked golden vials.

"Why those two?"

"She probably wants you guys dead and probably poisoned this stuff." Roxas answered. He picked up a poorly made rice ball and sniffed it. "Yuck!" His face twisted with disgust as he recoiled away from the rice ball. "Even if it isn't poisoned," he set it down, "it's so poorly made eating it would kill you."

Axel chuckled, "Still, it's probably better than what Luxord cooks."

"Uch….I don't think anything could cook worse than him," groaned Roxas.

Axel smirked. "See?"

Roxas picked up a golden vial. He unscrewed the cap and sniffed it as well. "This smells familiar." Axel cocked his head to the side a little. "Here," Roxas held it under Axel's nose.

Axel sniffed, "It smells like mint hibiscus tea."

"Why would she put it in something this small?"

"So the poison wouldn't be tasted?" Axel managed to shrug this time. Roxas raised an eyebrow, wondering why on earth somebody would put tea in such a small vial. Axel must have read his mind. "Don't ask me, she's insane."

"Probably," Roxas shrugged as well. He reached out and picked up the vial from the bundle meant for Demyx. He was about to unscrew the cap when a groan reached his and Axel's ears.

"Ahh, man…wha—why can't I move my arms!?" Demyx's crystal eyes darted around in their sockets in search of answers and his friends.

"Good, you're awake; we don't have to give you whatever's in here." Roxas set the vial down and got up, walking towards Demyx. "Can't move?"

"I just said I can't move my arms, what do you think?"

Roxas' lips twitched into a smile. "All right, hang on." Roxas grabbed Demyx by the arm and managed to lift him up. He then supported Demyx and took him to Axel before setting him down as gently as possible, which did not work and ended with a "thud" and "ow."

"Sorry," Roxas smiled apologetically and sat down.

"All right," Demyx began, "What's going on? Last thing I remember was staring into a black eye."

"Same here." Axel said. "That's what got us paralyzed."

Demyx was tempted to say "No, really?" but instead did his best to nod.

"Maltrina, if that's her real name, probably wants to poison us all." Axel stated as he attempted to get his foot to move.

Roxas examined the white bundle again before something caught his attention. "Hey…I don't remember you guys wearing that when I got kidnapped."

Axel and Demyx groaned slightly. "You just noticed?" Demyx tried sitting up but failed.

Roxas shrugged. "Fashion's always been the least of my worries."

Three hours had passed. By now, Axel and Demyx could walk with an occasional jerk in their step. "I don't think I can run yet." Axel stated as he tripped over his own feet.

"Even if we locked you in a room with Ieta?" Roxas asked with a smile.

"…Maybe."

Roxas and Demyx laughed.

"Aww…you can't run? That'll ruin all the fun games I have planned."

The three jumped.

Maltrina waved. "We're going to play a game," she said in a sickly sweet voice. "But since you two still can't run, I don't know if we can." Her lips formed a frown.

"Oh, whatever shall we do?" Axel muttered sarcastically.

"That's what I asked myself." Her frown became a smile. "Cure."

"Huh?" A warm feeling washed over the three Nobodies.

"Now we can play!" Maltrina chirped and clapped her hands together.

Axel, Roxas, and Demyx looked at each other and then back to Maltrina.

"Wanna know what we'll play?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Hide-n-seek! I'll give you guys a ten-minute head start, though, cuz this place is huge. Oh, we'll be needing rules. Hmm…no going into my room or any other locked rooms. Also, no using your powers or weapons, but it's not like it'll matter since you won't be able to summon them here." She stepped back and held her arms out.

Axel took an instinctive step in front of his friends.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to kill them, genius. What fun is the game if you guys are dead?" With that, Maltrina opened up a portal of darkness below them. "Have fun," she chirped before waving.

Through the darkness, Roxas' hands blindly shot out for Axel and Demyx but it was too late; his fingers only wrapped around nothingness.

He opened his eyes. Roxas blinked and looked around. The hall he was in would have been pure white if it weren't for the two black figures lying sprawled out on the floor. Roxas jumped up and ran to them. "Axel," he shook Axel's arm.

"What?" Axel blinked and recalled what just happened. "Are you—"

"I'm fine." Roxas answered.

"What about Demyx?"

"Guhh…I'm fine." He shakily sat up; not traveling via darkness in a while was affecting his stomach again like when he first joined the Organization. "You guys all right?"

"Yah," the other two nodded.

"We should—"

"Okay, boys, I'm going to start counting now. Remember the rules!" Maltrina chirped from somewhere.

The three jumped up, thinking she was right next to them, but to then realize she was using a magic of some sort to project her voice throughout the whole property. "C'mon, we should probably start moving," Roxas said, looking to his left and right. "Which way?"

"Left," Axel pointed left.

"Right," Demyx pointed right.

"Right," Axel pointed right.

"Left," Demyx pointed left.

"Uhh…" Roxas didn't know which way. "Er…Right?"

"It doesn't' matter, we just need to find an exit." Demyx said with a shrug.

"All right, let's go. We'll start running if we hear footsteps and only then, sound right?" Axel suggested as they headed to the right.

"Yah," Roxas and Demyx nodded.

After that, there was little talking; they were all too busy straining their ears incase Maltrina decided to change her mind again. This…is degrading. Axel thought, we're like mice. His muscles tensed when a small sound reached his ears. "Wait!" He hissed, sticking his arms out to let Roxas and Demyx know to stay still. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Roxas whispered back.

It was a tiny, barely audible tapping.

"What do you think it is?" Demyx asked, turning around incase it was behind them.

Axel could see something coming around the corner. He squinted. "Oh, false alarm, it's a mouse." He sensed the relief wash over Roxas and Demyx. The little mouse saw them and turned around, running around the corner. "All—"

"Oooh, guess what, boys?"

All three nearly jumped out of their skin. Their heads spun everywhere but Maltrina was out of sight.

"Just making sure you aren't cheating! You have about eight minutes left now, TTFN." If they could see her, they would have seen Maltrina wave good-bye before carrying on with her business.

"….Her attitude reminds me of Kiza." Demyx stated bluntly.

"Uch…" Roxas shuddered. "Let's just keep walking and try to find a way out."

Axel smiled weakly, "If that's possible."

They walked around the corner.

"Wow." They all stopped. The three stared down a very wide wing with two doors to the left and two doors to the right, each twenty meters apart from the other and in the middle of the wall that faced them was another door. "How big is this place?" Roxas demanded.

"Really big," Axel replied, "Let's see what's behind those doors." He walked over to one and turned the knob. "Locked. Roxas, think you could summon your Keyblades?"

"We can't summon our weapons, remember?"

Axel swore and muttered as he ran a hand through the red forest of hair.

"Oh, wait," Demyx lifted up his right foot and leaned against the wall. "We might be lucky! If there is one thing I remember," he removed his shoe. "Always wear black socks."

"….What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Axel asked.

"I think whoever took us wanted us all in black," he removed the black sock. "Aha!" Something had fallen out. "Perfect." It was a hairpin.

"And you said his lock picking skills would never be useful." Roxas said to Axel.

"…Only because he kept doing that while I was taking a shower!" Axel couldn't help but half-snap.

Demyx said with a shrug, "Not my fault you take them at night, me and Roxas enjoy good dental hygiene." He crouched down in front of the lock, "We're just lucky they didn't change our socks." He slipped the pin into the lock.

"I guess…" Roxas kept a weary eye on the other doors.

Ten seconds later…

"Got it!" Demyx cheered after they heard a click. He looked up at Axel, who nodded. Demyx turned the knob and opened the door.

They stepped back. When nothing jumped out, they peered into the dark room. They could make out shapes of things on many, many shelves. "Is there a light switch?" Axel asked, taking a step in.

"Found it," Roxas announced and flipped the switch.

"Whoa," Demyx's eyes widened. On those many, many shelves were many, many dolls. "I never saw her as the collector type."

"Do you think she made these?" Axel picked up one with blonde hair and blue eyes that was dressed in all black. "Hey, Roxas, I think I found your older brother," he held up the doll.

"Wait a second, I—Sora knows that guy. He's Cloud." Roxas looked at the other dolls. "That one's Aeris…that's Tifa, and there's Leon." His eyes widened. "These are people Sora knew! Wait, I don't know about these two, though." He picked up two dolls. One was bald with sunglasses, reminding all three of The Matrix and the other had an un-tucked shirt with vibrant red hair on his head. "Wow, this guy has hair as bright as yours," Roxas joked to Axel, "I think I found your lost brother, Axel."

"Whoever made these is really good." Demyx said, setting down a doll with long, silvery-gray hair. "Except for those three; they look more like actual dolls." He picked up the angry, red-eyed one.

Roxas looked over Demyx's shoulder. "Actually, that's how they really look like. They're about that size too."

Demyx was about to reply but Axel interrupted. "Uh…guys?"

"What?"

"Look." Axel held up three very familiar looking dolls.

"All right," Demyx looked down at the much smaller Demyx, "I'm officially creeped out. Let's get outta here. We've wasted enough time."

"Four minutes, boys," sang Maltrina.

"You're right," Axel put the dolls back where he had found them. "Let's go."

The three Nobodies darted out of the room. Roxas purposely left the door open very slightly as Demyx started on the door across from the one they had just left. "Got it," Demyx announced and opened the door. Again, nothing jumped out, so they walked in. The room seemed to have an automatic lighting system and was a lab of some sort.

"It doesn't look like there's an exit." Roxas stated. "Wait," he looked to his right, "I think this room has two doors." He took a few more steps inside and could see a knob about twenty meters away. "Yah…"

"All right, so we know not to pick that lock and to expect something different." Axel headed out. "C'mon, maybe a different room will lead to an exit." There were no windows in this lab and the closest thing that would have offered a hiding spot was behind a large, glass tube filled with a blue liquid.

"All right," Roxas said with a shrug and exited the room. "We should probably hur—

"Two minutes, boys!" Maltrina chirped.

"Got it," Axel began to quickly walk to the next door they had not opened, still going by his no running rule.

By the time they reached the next door, Maltrina had announced they had forty-five seconds left. Demyx hurriedly picked the lock as Roxas and Axel kept watch. "We're in," he announced.

"Twenty-three…twenty-two…"

"All right, let's see what's in here," Axel said as Demyx opened the door. The three darted in and closed the door and locked it again. "All right, we'll probably be fine in here since this was originally a locked door." He shut the door and locked it. "The rest are unlocked, she should be distracted with those," he added.

"I hope." Roxas said. "Hey, what's that light?" He pointed to a faint glow coming from a corner.

"I don't know," Axel took a step forward, "Let's go see."

I have a bad feeling about this…Demyx thought as they began to walk. "Gah!" He tripped over a thick cord and landed on Axel and Roxas.

"Ow!"

"Sorry!" Demyx got up. "Are you guys all right?"

"Yah," Roxas helped Axel up.

"I'm fine," Axel dusted himself off, "You?"

"Uh-huh," Demyx nodded.

He relaxed slightly. "Good—"

"Boys?"

All three froze.

They could see a pair of feet black out some of the crack of light that leaked through the door. The knob clattered. "Oh…you aren't in here? Of course! Silly me it's lock—Ooooh…I think somebody forgot to close a door…" Maltrina walked off, causing the three to sigh with relief.

"That was close," Roxas breathed.

"A little too close for my liking," Demyx agreed.

"C'mon," Axel grabbed both of the blonde's by their shoulders, "Let's go see what the light is." He nodded to the light. "Maybe it's a window or something."

"Doubt it," Demyx said.

"That's right, Roxas, keep the optimistic level as high as Demyx's." Axel whispered back sarcastically.

"I'll do my best," Roxas said with a smile. "It'll be ha—" He stopped.

So did Demyx and Axel.

Roxas took a sharp intake of breath and almost stumbled backwards. "I-It's like my dream!" He stared at the pale forms of Sora, Kairi, and Riku.

All there were in their own thrones of steel; Sora in the middle with Riku to his left and Kairi to the right. They were not in black but, instead, the clothes Roxas had last seen them in, only they looked dusty. Along with dust decorating the trio, wires were stuck into their arms and legs, their eyes were shut in an unpeaceful sleep. An unfriendly carpet of cords and wires swam around the three like a mote of plastic and metal.

Kairi's left hand twitched. Her jaw clenched. "Nnn…"

"Kairi?" Roxas jumped over cords and almost tripped as he stood before her.

Axel made a move to stop him but, instead, almost fell over. He then ran after Roxas. "Huh?" Pallid lids opened and revealed a pair of unfocused eyes. "Sora…?"

Roxas shook his head. "No, Roxas. What happened?"

Kairi gasped sharply and her eyes widened to the point where it looked like her skin might tear. "Go…now! She's here! She'll get you! You have to go now!" Kairi was yelling at the top of her lungs and began to shake. "There," she managed to jerk head to a giant computer. "Type up "Princess Seven" and then the keys alt and F-4! Now! It's the only way out!"

"Kairi! What are you talking abou—"

"Now!" Her eyelids and body suddenly dropped and she was back to a painful sleep.

"What the…?" Roxas looked up at Axel and Demyx.

"I honestly don't know," Axel shrugged. "But trying whatever she suggested sounds good now. I think Maltrina knows—"

"Tsk, tsk!" They could hear her through the door.

Demyx darted to the computer, which was where the light was coming from and began to peck at the keyboard. "Alt and F-4, right?"

"Yah," Axel nodded; his eyes on the corner.

"Got—Crap!"

"What?" Both Axel and Roxas looked up.

"The window disappeared!"

They heard the door open.

"So will we," hissed Axel. He grabbed Roxas and Demyx's wrists and ducked behind the large cylinder that was connected to all three seats.

Crouched behind the seats, they hoped Maltrina wouldn't see them. "You broke the rules," she said to the three even if she couldn't see them, "Now anything goes."

Roxas' fear-filled eyes fell onto a pile of cords. He nudged Axel and Demyx in the arms and gestured to the chords. It took them half a second to realize what he was thinking about. They smirked and nodded. Roxas silently inched towards the cords. The moment he touched them, an ear-piercing shriek shattered the dusty silence. "You boys touched my computer!?"

The shriek caused all three to jump into standing positions. "Now," mouthed Axel; Maltrina's back was to them. Roxas nodded and took a few steps towards her and threw the cords at her.

"What the—?" The cords were rather heavy and had thrown her off balance.

Taking advantage of this, Roxas pushed her forward. "Run!"

Demyx and Axel ran to the door. Axel let Roxas run ahead of him before shutting the door, not holding back the heat of his anger. As they tore down the wing, Maltrina yelped, and Axel smirked; having your element fuse with normal things, such as body temperature, had its perks. "Good going with the cords, Roxas." Axel said, as they passed the doll room; its door was wide open.

"Thanks," they turned the corner and sprinted down the hall.

"What you did, Axel, that was cool, too." Demyx said.

"Thanks," Axel replied. "Wait, how'd—"

"Your element is fire." He said with a smile. "You heated the door knob up, right?"

"Yah—Oof! What was—"

Splintering wood reached their ears.

Roxas had stopped in front of a door. "Demyx, pick the lock to this door. Now."

Demyx removed the pin from his sleeve. "Uh sure…why this one?" His hands were shaking as he picked the lock.

Axel looked at it. "It says "F-4"," he replied, eyebrows high.

Demyx swore and went back to the lock. "I hate emotions right now."

"Might want to hurry…" Roxas urged as the pounding sound of footsteps bounced off the giant halls.

Click.

"Yes!" Demyx twisted the knob and jumped in. He shut the door as soon as Axel and Roxas were in the room.

"Wow, the one time you finally decide to be observant it saves us. You should try it more often." Axel clapped Roxas' shoulders. "We have an exit!" In the dimly lit room, they could see a rippling door to darkness.

"Are you sure we can trust it?" Demyx asked.

"Of course; Kairi suggested it. She's the one with the purest heart." Roxas answered. "C'mon."

"All right…" Demyx walked up to it. He reached out, ready to stick in his hand when the door was thrown open.

"It's unlocked," she smiled, "No broken rules."

"Go!" Axel pushed Roxas into Demyx, "Now!"

"Wait—" Demyx grabbed onto Roxas' wrist. "Y—"

"Now! Take Ro—Ahh!"

"Nobody is going anywhere." Maltrina hissed, twisting Axel's arm and applying her iron-grip.

"Well," Axel said through gritted teeth, "They are Nobod—Grach!"

"Don't' be smart with me!" She dug her nails into his arm. "Take another step foreword and it's a broken bone for him," both of Axel's arms were twisted behind his back now.

"Both of you go!" Axel yelled. "Now!" He did his best to keep the pain out of his face and voice but it wasn't working too well.

Demyx looked torn between jumping through and saving himself and Roxas or staying and saving Axel. He weakly tugged at Roxas' arm, "Roxas."

Roxas made a move to wrench his arm out of Demyx's grip but Axel's pain and anger filled eyes made him freeze. "Roxas, Demyx, take care of each other." He then added: "I'll see you guys again," Roxas allowed himself to be dragged into the darkness. "Got it memorized?"

The last thing they saw before darkness took over was Axel's worried face. After darkness surrounded Roxas and Demyx, the last thing they heard was his pain filled yell.

The sweet and minty smell wrapped around him. Good…it was all a nightmare…Demyx thought. When I open my eyes, I'm going to see Roxas ready to dump water on me for borrowing his headphones without asking him.

"He's moving!"

Demyx's eyes snapped open; since when did a girl move in with them? He gasped at a pair of amber eyes. "Ah!" He cringed; his left side was very sore.

"Is he alive?" Asked a bored voice.

"Yah," nodded the girl with amber eyes. "Aeris how's the other one?"

Other? "Roxas?" He bolted up into a sitting position ignoring his sore side. Demyx felt cold. He looked down. Where's my shirt?

"Is that his name?" A woman in a pink and white dress walked up. "He's fine, I just cast cure on him. He'll be sore but fine." She noticed Demyx was looking around.

"Oh, your clothes were really torn up. Don't worry," the amber-eyed woman winked, "you still have the bubbles."

Demyx's cheeks turned red once he realized she was referring to his boxers. He yanked the blankets up to cover his bare chest. The two girls giggled.

"That's a way to greet a guy," the bored voice spoke up again. He walked into view with arms folded across his chest. "You all right?" It didn't sound like he cared.

"Yah…" He reached up to his sitar charm, it was still there. A weak groan floated to the other side of the room. "Roxas?"

"Demyx…?" Roxas looked pale. He moved a little and opened his eyes but then closed them again. The amber-eyed woman rushed over to check on him but then quickly returned and shook her head and said something about sleeping.

Leon looked at Demyx. "Is that Sora's brother?"

"Leon, let them wake up," the woman that cured Roxas, Aeris, looked down at Demyx and smiled sweetly. "Is he Sora's brother?"

"I don't remember him mentioning one," the man named Leon added.

"No…" Demyx answered, "But we are related," he added. At least Roxas is. He looked around the room he was in. It was small and had small windows. There was a bed in the corner opposite of Demyx and that was where Roxas laid. "Can I…uh…"

"We've sent Yuffie to get you boys some clothes," said Tifa.

"So your name's Demyx?" Asked Leon.

He gave Leon a slow nod.

"I'm Leon," he gestured to the woman with amber eyes, "Tifa," he gestured to the other woman. "Aeris."

Yah, that's nice. Can I go see Roxas now? He thought but then remembered he only had his boxers on, so getting up to check on Roxas would be a little embarrassing. Instead, Demyx merely nodded. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours," Tifa answered. "Well, when you arrived. Rude found you two and brought you to us. He doesn't know how long you and your friend had been laying out in the middle of nowhere."

"Rude..?" Demyx asked before he could stop himself.

"Yes," Aeris nodded, "He's a friend of ours."

"IIII'MM BAAACK!!" An overly cheery voice sang.

"That's Yuffie with your boys' new clothes," Tifa said just as a girl with short black hair hopped in.

"Oh, hey, one of'm's awake!" The girl named Yuffie walked over to Demyx. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Uh…"

"Give him some air," Leon said and gently pulled Yuffie back. He noticed the number of bags she held; only three. This was not much for Yuffie. Leon was about to open his mouth and ask but an angry yell cut him off.

"Damn it! Who the hell left all these bags on the floor?!" It was coming from another room.

"Oh, sorry, Cid!" Yuffie called out, smiling. "Didn't know you were back!"

Cid's response was inarticulate grumbling.

"Yuffie…how much did you buy for them?" Leon had a feeling he'd regret asking.

"These bags," she held up the three bags. "The other four are for me. Oh, wait, one of'm is for all of you guys." She set the bags down onto the floor and reached in. "For you," she looked at Demyx, "I got a more exciting version of what we found you in," she threw him some black garments. "And him," she looked to see Roxas was now sitting up. "Oh, hey! Sora-clone is awake!" She pulled out an exact duplicate of the clothes he arrived in (his "Twilight Town threads" as Demyx liked to call them).

"What?" Roxas looked up. "Where are we, Demyx?" His eyes darted around the room in an alarmed dance.

"Radiant Garden," Tifa answered. "Feeling better?"

Roxas wondered if Demyx noticed this amber-eyed woman, Tifa, looked eerily similar to the doll they had found in Maltrina's giant property. "Oh." He felt cold suddenly and looked down. "Ah!" It was then he realized all he had on was boxers. He yanked the blankets up.

Yuffie giggled and threw Roxas his new clothes. "I think you guys can change on your own." She looked at Leon. "Did you introduce yourselves yet?"

"Only to him," Leon nodded to Demyx. He tuned to Roxas. "Roxas, right?"

Roxas nodded.

"I'm Leon, that's Tifa, Aeris, and, as you heard, Yuffie. I'm pretty sure you heard Cid." He headed for the door. "We'll be in the other room." He walked out.

"See you in a few minutes." Aeris said before walking out.

Tifa just smiled and followed Aeris.

"Buh-bye for now!" Yuffie ran out the room, shutting it behind her.

Demyx blinked. "O…kay…" He said slowly. "Sora knows those people, right?"

"Yah…" Roxas nodded and got out of the bed. "Those people look familiar?"

"The dolls. You don't think this is another illusion, do you?"

Roxas thought for a moment. "Only one way to find out." He held his hands out. With a sparkle of magic, the Keyblades appeared. He smiled. "Nope; no illusion." Roxas dismissed the blades and grabbed the pair of pants Yuffie had thrown at him. He noticed the doubt on Demyx's face. "If this was some computer illusion, it wouldn't have sparkled like that."

"Oh, all right. That's good, I guess." Demyx grabbed the pants he had been thrown. "They seem like nice people."

"They a—"

"TIFA! Give it back!!" It sounded like Tifa took something from Yuffie, "You can be such a—"

"Uhh…" Roxas had paused in putting his shirt on.

Demyx chucked and grabbed his black shirt when something blue fell out.

"What's this?" Demyx picked it up. "…She honestly doesn't expect me to wear this, does she?"

"Huh?" Roxas had just zipped up the last of his shirts.

Demyx held up a blue tank top that was clearly meant for girls. He was about to comment when the door burst open. "I am so sorry!" Yuffie had her left hand over her eyes. "I knew it'd be here! I think the lady at the store accidentally put that in there," she held out her other hand. "So can I have it back?"

Demyx was relieved that it wasn't meant for him. "Sure…"

"Thanks!" Yuffie chirped and darted out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Demyx blinked and shook his head. He picked the shirt up and looked at it. "I'm missing a sleeve," he said and slipped it on. His right arm was covered to the finger tips but his left arm was completely bare. Wow…so exciting. his thoughts dripped with sarcasm. "Did this thing come with a belt?" He tugged at the pants a bit; they were a tad big on him.

"She said the three bags were for us." Roxas walked over to one and rummaged through it. "I think this one's for you." He pulled out a silver belt with a black buckle. It was a little too big for Roxas. Demyx took the belt, as he put the belt on, he sniffed the air. "Something smells good."

"Let's go see," Roxas headed for the door and walked into what looked like a living room that had many bags on the ground.

"I hope you boys like tempura!" Yuffie called out from the kitchen. "Oh, and udon and gyoza's cool, too, right?"

Roxas was a little surprised by the kindness. First clothes and now food? "Uh…sure." He replied. He looked up at Demyx.

"I'm all right with that," Demyx said with a shrug.

"Cool!" Yuffie replied happily.

"While Yuffie's cooking," began Aeris, "We could show you around the neighborhood if you want."

"That'd be nice," said Roxas, not knowing what else to say.

Aeris was about to say something else but there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," Aeris chirped and opened the door. "Oh, hello, Rude."

A tall, bald man stood outside. "Hi," he gave her a curt nod.

"Demyx, Roxas, this is Rude," she stepped aside to let Rude in, which he did not do. "He's the one that brought you to us."

"Oh, uh, thanks." Demyx said, not knowing what else to say; another person they had seen as a doll towered over them. The intimidating sense coming from this man didn't help much either.

"Yah," Roxas bowed his head, "Thank you for, er, saving us."

"…You're welcome." Rude replied bluntly. He returned his attention to Aeris. "Have you seen Reno?"

"No…why?" Aeris cocked her head to the side.

"I haven't seen him all day."

"Oh. Yuffie," Aeris turned to the kitchen.

"Yah?" Yuffie leaned back so she could see who was at the door. "Oh, hey, Rude!"

"While you were shopping, did you see Reno?"

"Nope," the ninja shook her head. "Sorry!" Yuffie's attention returned to her cooking.

"Anybody else?" Aeris called out.

"Nope," Cid continued down the hall with a laundry basket.

"No," Leon went back to his letter.

Tifa appeared next to Aeris, "Sorry." She shook her head.

Rude frowned. "Thanks," he bowed his head and walked off.

Aeris, too, frowned as she shut the door. "Weird, Reno and Rude are almost always together." Her attention snapped back to Roxas and Demyx. "I'm sorry, but I think we'll have to give you a tour after dinner." She quickly bowed her head apologetically and dashed off somewhere.

"That's all right," Roxas said as she walked of.

"Actually," Yuffie leaned back again, "That's a great idea! We can get ice-cream!"

That idea seemed to have put some cheer into Roxas. "That'd be all right, too." He said and looked around the room hoping to find a seat for him and Demyx. Spotting another couch that was in the corner and not occupied, he and Demyx headed for it. "Demyx?" Roxas had just realized that Demyx looked pale. "Are you all right?"

"Huh?"

Roxas made him sit. "You look really pale." His eyebrows knitted together. "What is it?"

Demyx cringed; a sudden headache caused his jaw to clench. "It's this world…" he looked up at Roxas. "I think," he began, "I—"

"Hey," Tifa walked over to Demyx, "Are you all right?"

"Uh…yah, I will be."

She frowned. "I'll get you a glass of water." She headed to the kitchen.

Roxas looked back at Demyx.

Demyx gave Roxas a very slight shake of the head and mouthed "later."

Roxas gave him a slight nod before making it look like he was stretching his neck. He sighed, not doing a good job at keeping the sadness out. "You're looking for somebody, aren't you?" Tifa had returned with the glass of water. "Here."

"Huh? Oh, thanks." Demyx took the glass.

"So, who are you looking for?" She asked.

Roxas and Demyx exchanged glances. "…Somebody very close." Roxas finally answered. He was about to say something else but he realized something was missing. "My wallet!"

Demyx's eyes widened. He turned to Tifa. "Did you—"

"Oh, that?" Tifa turned to Leon, "What'd you do with their stuff?"

Leon looked up from his letter. "It's in my room," he sounded annoyed. Standing up, Leon left for his room.

"Hey," Roxas began before Tifa could speak, "Aren't you looking for somebody, too?"

Tifa seemed a little surprised by this question. "Yes…how do you know this?"

Roxas realized his mistake. "Er, well…Sora kind of told me." This was obviously a lie. "When he got back home, he told us all about his adventures and all the people he met." It sounded like a Sora-thing to Roxas.

Tifa nodded. "He probably would tell his friends those things."

"Here," Leon returned, holding a few of Roxas and Demyx's things.

"Thanks," Roxas took his things. "Oh, still want this?" He held up Demyx's hairpin.

"Sure," Demyx took the pin and slipped it onto his sleeve. He noticed Tifa had cocked an eyebrow at it. "Lucky pin," Demyx carelessly shrugged. The remark satisfied her.

"Do you have a picture of the person you're looking for?" Questioned Tifa.

"Yah…" Roxas replied slowly.

"Can we see it?"

"Sure," Roxas kept the sigh out of his voice and carefully opened the wallet and pulled out a picture of Axel sitting on the couch; unaware of Demyx sneaking up on him with a bucket of water.

Tifa looked at the picture of for a few seconds. "We haven't seen him anywhere, I'm sorry."

Roxas kept any sign of emotion off his face. Oh c'mon, he scolded himself, you weren't really expecting her to say "Oh, him? He's sleeping in Leon's room" did you?

Demyx had finished his water. "That's all right," he, too, managed to keep emotion out of his voice.

"What's his name?"

"Axel," replied both Roxas and Demyx at the same time.

She nodded and then smiled. "We can look for him too while we look for Reno."

"Thanks," said Roxas.

III

End of Chapter Four

III