A/N; I'm very mean to Roxas and Naminé. But this chapter features a very brief cameo of a knight in shining armor (a real one, that is) who will be around to help them out later.

Disclaimer: will never be mine. And after reading spoilers for 358/2 Days? Thank god. Sigh.

It burned. It burned him terribly, the need to see her, to touch her hair, to promise her it would be alright. Roxas couldn't stop himself from sneaking through the halls at night, making his painstakingly careful way to her cell with a cloth-wrapped bundle clutched tight in white-knuckled hands. It always held something useful, something needed -- food, water, a small candle and some tinder, sometimes one of his own shirts. He even brought her blankets and new shoes, when he could.

But every time there was another pain, lurking beneath the burn, more a terrible and troubling lack than a burn or sting. This was cold, numb, emotionless, a pervasive sense of nothing that made him want to flee from the hollowness in her eyes. This part of him wanted never to go near that cell again. To never see her face, never see her smile.

It just hurt too much to know it was all his fault.

"Roxas," Naminé murmured when he reached her door, circling pale fingers around the bars in the door's small window. Her smile was soft but true, and it got a little more earnest every night. "I'm glad to see you."

Every time he saw her face again, the second pain, the numbness, faded away into nothing. Much as he didn't want to admit it, Roxas hid a secret cowardice deep in his heart. A need to distract himself, to simply look away and hide in his work to avoid those things that troubled him. The tactic had gotten him through the last five years without mental collapse, but it backfired the instant it tried to take him away from Naminé, leading him skittish, evasive, even a little wary. But just to hear her voice reminded Roxas why he had gone through all this pain in the first place. Why he was still here. Why he would fight until his dying breath to see that door opened and his fiancée set free.

"Hey," he murmured in return, shifting his bundle to the crook of one arm so he could reach his other hand up and tangle his fingers with hers through the bars. "I'm ... glad to see you too. You feeling any better?"

"A little," she said, her quiet voice almost swallowed by the darkness surrounding them both. They couldn't risk a light -- the meager moonlight that filtered in through her cell's one tiny window had to do. "The blanket really helped. And thank you for the fruit, yesterday. It's been a long time since I had any that was so fresh."

Her mouth clicked shut as soon as she finished the words, and she let her gaze fall, pale hair drifting down to obscure her features. Instantly Roxas squeezed her fingers tight, and when she looked up he gently shook his head. It's okay.

"Oh, Roxas," she sighed, reaching her other hand through the bars to clasp it around his. Moving as close to the door as she could, she pressed a light kiss to his fingers. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should have known ... the king has always been cruel, and you were so good at what you did ... your magic was so incredible. Is so incredible." Her eyes shone with pride for him, though her voice was as quiet as ever. "I knew someone would want you for your talent. I should have thought..."

"Naminé."

"No, it's alright. It hasn't been so bad, Roxas. Being imprisoned here. Many of the guards are kind. A man with red hair stopped by often to bring me supplies to draw with, so I'd have a way to pass the time. He was very kind to me."

Roxas froze, eyes wide. "Axel?"

Naminé blinked at him curiously, her head tilting slightly to the side. "You know him?"

He didn't know. Axel had no idea who she was, but he was helping her before I even knew where she was being held.

Fighting off a weird rush of gratefulness for his crazy friend, Roxas simply gave Naminé a crooked smile. "Sort of, yeah."

"Then you know he's a pretty good person," she said with a smile of her own, her features lighting with its warmth. "This room is never cold, he made sure of that. It's been comfortable, but ... lonely. The food I got wasn't bad, just ... not what I was used to, I guess."

"Naminé."

"Roxas ... I know how guilty you must feel. I know you. Better than anyone." She gave his hand a squeeze. "And you've been punishing yourself every second of every day for the last five years. But really, Roxas, it's okay. I've got to take some of the blame too."

"For being a prisoner?" he asked, voice numb and quiet as his eyes briefly slipped shut.

"For letting myself become one," she replied, her own voice laced with a steel that was rare for her.

In a burst of blue-white light the door between them simply exploded and dissolved, breaking apart into hundreds of tiny points of light like fireflies that drifted away into the air, surrounding the pair with their delicate fractured glow. And in that moment Roxas took Naminé into his arms and held her so, so tight, like he was afraid she might simply vanish if he let go. Naminé didn't even miss a beat, wasn't even startled by the sudden rush and power of Roxas's magic. She simply hugged him right back, burying her face in his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair.

That's how the guards found them, simply holding each other in the dark, long after all the little lights had drifted away.

"Light-based magic," the king announces, marching around me in slow circles. "That's what made you the pride and joy of the academy. The apple of Merlin's eye." I don't look up as his stupid-looking shoes come to a stop before me. I'm not going to say a word. I'm not going to make a damn sound.

"They say it's unique in the entire kingdom. They say you're the first to wield it perhaps ever. Once I caught wind of your incredible powers, I knew I had to have you." The king uses his foot to kick none too gently at my chin, forcing me to look up. I don't even bother to hide my scowl for this man, the deep-set hatred I can feel bubbling up from the bottom of my soul like bile.

I imagine taking that ornamental sword of his and plunging it right into his black, depraved little--

"But I didn't know what I would get," the king goes on, voice gentle and musing, like he's thoughtful. Like he ever thinks, the gluttonous mass.

"Axel's had a bad influence on you, Roxas. You were never so disobedient before he came."

I won't reply. I won't say a word. I won't make a sound. I won't rise your bait, you sick, fat fuck.

"You like the light, don't you, Roxas? You're drawn to it." That gets a reaction out of me before I can help it. The smallest twitch of my jaw as I swallow. Perhaps the king's only talent is being observant in moments like this, so he knows exactly how to torture people. "Well, why don't you try spending a week without it. And without food, for that matter. Guards!" he snaps, and the group of armored knights surrounding us moves forward in a tightening circle. Not that I could escape even if I wanted to. It's kind of hard to run with thick, magic-resistant chains binding your ankles.

"Blindfold him. Glue his eyes shut if you have to. Throw him into our darkest, foulest cell and leave him there without food for a week. Then dock the cost for replacing that door from his pay, with an additional sum for..." He glances down at me again, gleeful in his disdain. "... emotional damages."

I don't even have a chance to reply before a gag is forced into my mouth. The blindfold is around my eyes instantly, and it's dark. But not completely. I manage not to jump at the feel of the warm breath on my ear. The whisper is quick and so quiet I barely catch it.

"Don't worry. I've got you."

Then several pairs of hands haul me to my feet and I'm dragged away.

You know, I've gotta say. This is a beautiful horse, but this riding stuff is for the birds. Within an hour I'm sore and I can't touch the ground without groaning and waddling around like I've got a barrel between my legs. Which is fitting, I guess, considering. Just incredibly annoying.

I've been riding for a while now, almost a full day out from the castle, and the sun is just slipping below the horizon as I finally spot the glow of a little village on the horizon. Their fires and candles are just starting to light for the evening. I slow my horse down to a walk as I observe it, careful to memorize as much as I can. I need to know this place like the back of my hand before I get there. I need to know it so well that the villagers don't know I know it. It's a dangerous game I'll be playing - pretending at being some lost or exiled knight, seeking shelter and a bit of kindness as I prepare to return home to my lost love or whatever.

The thought makes me twitch. Lost love. I wonder how my twin is now, if the king is treating him any worse now that I'm out of the castle. The thought pisses me off so much that I don't notice the air going tight and dark around me until my horse whinnies in fright, rearing up on her back legs, and it takes minutes of careful soothing to calm her back down so the whites of her eyes are no longer showing. Stupid stupid stupid. That's exactly what needs not to happen while I'm in the village. Even a hint that I can control magic -- dark magics, old magics they've never seen before -- and they'll send me packing if they don't hang me first. Sure, most villages have progressed past their witch-burning obsessions these days, but with a backwater place like this, you can never be too careful.

I've just got to have faith that Roxas will hold down the fort in my absence. I trust the kid, stupid as I know it is to trust a human, even a good one like him. Still, there's something about him that makes me want to like him, to have faith in him. So I will, and I'll leave my twin in his hands and hope he can appease the king on his own. For now. I'll eventually send a little trouble the castle's way in order to take the king's mind off his chief sorcerer for a bit.

Heh.

But the village is getting closer now, and I take a minute to review my part in my head. Humble, earnest exiled knight, cast away for angering his lord, pining for his little lost ... fiancée. Sorry, Rox, for borrowing the inspiration. Good and true, simply looking for a roof over his head, willing to repay gratitude in kind ... just have to make sure I knock on the right door. If I don't get this right in one shot, I won't have the window of opportunity I need to get close to the girl...

So I make myself the picture of dogged determination, valiant weariness, as my horse trudges into the village. She seems to have picked up on my ploy, somehow, because even she is hanging her head and barely picking up her feet as she walks. I surreptitiously pat her side and whisper a promise of a carrot, when I can manage it. Urging her forward just a bit, I angle for the house I know will be Kairi's. It's situated, thankfully enough, near the edge of the village, near enough that it can be a plausible place for me to stop. Tugging gently on my horse's reins, I more fall off than dismount, even stumbling a little in case someone is watching out their window. With the last of my obviously fading strength, I give the door a quick knock.

The reaction is exactly what I was expecting -- and hoping for. A middle aged woman cracks the door and peeks out, the lines around her eyes and mouth giving lie to a woman who has spent much of her life smiling. Hovering behind her is a young son, eyes bright with curiosity, and a cautious husband. Their daughter is nowhere in sight, somewhat to my chagrin, but that hardly matters for now. Without any ado I spin out my sad and pathetic tale, hardly even paying attention to what I'm saying as I examine every inch of their house that I can see. The mother's reaction is instantaneous -- with a cry of sympathy she places both hands on my shoulders and steers me inside, murmuring and cooing kindly all the time. It takes all my willpower not to smirk at her. Nice lady, but seriously naive.

"Dylan, go get your sister, tell her to fetch a bucket of water and to prepare your bed for our guest. Yes, your bed, you and your sister can share her bed for just one night, can't you? That's my boy, run along now." Now I actually do smirk as the little kid gives me the stink eye before running out the front door, presumably to find the missing Kairi. I'm treated like a king as the woman and her husband help me with my few possessions and provide me with a bit of cheese and bread. I can tell these people have little, but they're sharing it with me anyway. A point in their favor, then, if only a small one. Besides, it's tempered by the barrage of questions and curious looks I keep catching them giving me when they think I'm not watching. Somehow I get the feeling the news will be all over the village by dawn that a handsome exiled knight has shown up at their door, and isn't that so amazing?

I'm just starting to relax when the little brat comes back in the door, sulking. "Kairi says she'll be here in a minute." He frowns petulantly at his mother until she laughs and ruffles his hair. She starts to say something about the beds, how they'll be split up, something like that, but that's when I stop paying attention. That's when the girl walks through the door.

"Hi, mom!" she says breathlessly, carefully lugging a bucket brimming with clear well water in the door. Wisps of her hair are askew, free of the practical braid that trails down her neck, and her face is a little red, like she's been running. She's not very tall - probably half a foot shorter than me - and pretty in a simple way, though nothing stunning or arresting. She bustles in the door and sets the bucket down on the table before trotting back over to shut the door, remove her apron, straighten her dress, and give her mother and father quick kisses on the cheek. Then she turns to me, hands going immediately to her hips as she gives me a strange little smile. "So this is our knight in shining armor, huh? Doesn't seem very shining to me..."

I can't help a surprised grin as her mother pinches her ear and whispers something harsh in her ear. Kairi whines and mutters "I know, mom, I know," and gives me a grudging curtsy once released. "I'm Kairi. It's nice to meet you...?"

"Axel," I murmur with a grin. She's ... not what I expected. I was thinking she'd look older, somehow. Powerful, maybe. That there would be some visual clue as to how this country girl could somehow bring about the fall of the entire kingdom by herself. Death and ruination for the king coming from a kid who still gets her ear twisted by her mom at the age of twenty? I can't help but think, instinctively, that maybe Zexion made a mistake, but I know he wouldn't. He's far, far too careful, and Roxas's dream can't have been wrong, either. So what is it about this girl?

"So what were you out doing so late at night, Kairi?" I drawl out her name just a bit, unable to help teasing, and she immediately turns all huffy and pouty. I don't even bother to look up as her parents quietly and nervously excuse themselves from the room. I know what they want to happen. Suits me fine. Doesn't seem like it'll suit the girl, though, since she's folding her arms like that'll keep me away from her.

"I was reading earlier in the day, and I just ... I lost track of time once! That never happens, usually I'm so good with chores, but Dylan will never let me hear the end of this--"

Chuckling, I wave my hand, stemming the tide of her rant. "Listen, don't worry about it. Happens to the best of us."

Sighing heavily, she drops into the only other chair in the kitchen, pulling her knees up to her chest and leaning her cheek on them as she watches me. It's all very girlish, and she very much does not strike me as a woman of any kind. It's like she's a young girl, still. But I can't help but notice something odd about her eyes, like they're looking into me instead of at me. They're a very, very bright blue, much like Roxas's, though these are even freakier, if that's possible. Before I even notice it, several minutes have gone by in silence where we only stared at each other. I open my mouth to speak, to fill the quiet, but she stops me.

"So what's your story?"

Feigning weariness again, I rake a hand through my hair. "I forgot you weren't here when I told your parents. I'm a knight, you see. Or, er, was. I was exiled from my lands for something I didn't do -- long story." I let some of the fight drain out of me, hooding my expression with resigned dejection. It's a good show. "This village was the first place I found far enough from my home that I thought it would be safe to stop. I just need to rest and recuperate for a time while I try to figure out what to do. Your parents immediately offered me their hospitality. They're very kind."

Lay it on thick, Axel. They offered to let me stay here for however long I needed -- I just need to get Kairi to like me, to believe me. If all goes well, I can distract her with a fake courtship until she turns twenty one. If I can just keep her in this stupid, no-name village for a few months, if I can just keep her simple mind distracted, then I can finally see my twin again, finally--

"You're lying."

That stops me.

I can't help the sharp look I give her, though I regret it immediately. Not like she hasn't already seen through me, somehow, but the urge to cover my tracks is still too strong to drop the facade completely. But she hasn't moved except to blink, and she's still watching me with those preternaturally blue eyes. Her voice is quiet, very matter-of-fact, and she doesn't talk like she's surprised or even angry. She's just saying the truth.

"I don't know why you're lying," she continues, finally picking her head up to sit straight, "but I don't like it. And I don't like you." Slowly she lowers her legs back to the floor, straightening out her skirt as she does so. Her movements are careful, calculated, as if she doesn't want to waste a single bit of energy on unnecessary movement. By the time she's done, she's sitting ramrod straight in her chair, legs crossed at the ankle, and the expression on her face startles me. For the first time since I can remember, I've completely underestimated my opponent. There's an almost regal iciness in her perfectly composed expression, a judgment that actually leaves me feeling ashamed, though I know it's beyond ridiculous to feel that way.

"I don't know why you're here, but my parents like you, so I won't disobey them. But if you even dare to hurt them or my brother, if you even think about it, I'll make you pay."

She's serious. Suddenly the girlish child who was grousing at her mom is gone, and I'm finally confronted with the woman who could be the downfall of the king's vast empire. Just what the hell am I dealing with, here? Who is this girl?

"So, Axel." She stands, brushing out her skirt, and some of the pressure in the room drains away. "You're welcome in my home as long as my parents want you here, but you have your warning." And then she smiles, the intimidating presence of just a moment ago fading like it was never there at all. "If you ever need anything, just tell me. I can show you where you'll be sleeping now, if you like."

"Kairi..." The words are out before I can stop them. I just can't stop staring at her. "What are you?"

She merely arches a brow at me. "I could ask the same of you. But we've all got our secrets, right?" The impish grin that crosses her face somehow isn't a surprise. "Come on."

Grudgingly I get to my feet and take my bags into the room where her brother sleeps, if you could call it a room. Really, the "rooms" where the kids sleep are actually just two sections of one slightly larger room divided into two by a sheet strung across the middle. Very economical. Looks like I'll get one side of the curtain, Kairi and Dylan the other. Great. No privacy, even. The parents come bustling back in from their own room when they hear Kairi and I exit the little kitchen, and they're both smiling, gracious, trying a little too hard. The mother especially doesn't do much to hide her hopes that the dashing exiled knight will marry her daughter and then ride for home and become a hero - a wealthy, important hero - once I straighten out the "crime" I supposedly committed.

In truth, I don't pay much attention while she blathers at me. She honestly doesn't seem a bad sort, but my mind is elsewhere. On those eyes that turned so cold and that bizarrely powerful presence that filled the room when I was caught in my lie. How did Kairi know? What was that power? Because it was a power. That was not normal human intuition leading to a frowny face of disapproval. That was magic. Ancient, very powerful magic, maybe even older than my own. She probably doesn't even know she has it - she's just grown up being able to see into the hearts of people.

To see into the hearts of people...

It takes a while, but I manage to wave her mother and father away by pleading exhaustion. Once left alone with a candle and my journal, I start to hastily record everything I noticed, every strange thing that's happened so far, in a quick scrawl across the pages. I don't even bother to encrypt it, right now -- I'll just lock the thing and make sure the brats can't get to it before I can use a cipher to scramble the words beyond recognition. I just need to get my thoughts down now, before I lose track of this idea.

To see into the hearts of people ... it's a magic I've heard of only once before, but I can't think of where. Looks like Roxas will be getting a letter sooner than he'd thought.