Many thanks to LiteraryMirage, Legendary Chimera, Jupiter-Lightning, Pantharya, and Endings Matter Most for the reviews! Thanks, y'all! :D

And thank yous and fluffy kittens to LiteraryMirage for beta-ing this chapter. Thanks, chica!

Chapter 3: Naminé

In the tallest tower of Castle Oblivion, Naminé was working on a Keyblade Master of her own. She slid her fingers over the glass flower that surrounded her would-be hero, wondering what Sora may be thinking. He looked so peaceful, sleeping like that. Naminé envied him.

Life for her had been nothing but misery. She'd appeared one day, as Nobodies do, but without a single clue who she'd been or where she'd come from. That was how Marluxia had found her, tired from wandering, sitting under a shady tree and drawing in the dirt with a stick. Apparently he'd been looking for her- apparently she was important in some way. And so, without so much as a how-do-you-do, she was carted off to Castle Oblivion and ditched to the care of Larxene.

"So, did everything work out ok?" Naminé startled and whipped around to see Axel looking at her. She hadn't even heard him teleport in. Her tiny body unconsciously pressed into Sora's pod, as if to keep Axel away from him. "I guess it did," he grinned, as he leaned his lanky frame against one of the castle's pillars. Naminé closed her eyes and searched for her voice.

"Are you going to kill me now, too?" she whispered. Her fingers clenched and she braced for what was about to come. Much to her surprise, instead of striking her down, Axel burst out laughing. The laugh was forced, of course, since Nobodies weren't able to feel any sort of mirth, and the harsh sound echoed through the empty tower, ricocheting from column to column like gunfire.

"Of course not," he said, his voice now completely even. Namine was silently grateful that the grating laugh was gone, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him. Marluxia and Larxene, you knew where you stood with them, what to expect. Axel, on the other hand, was completely unpredictable. He had been her favorite- he was always nice to her, or at the very least neutral. But then, less than an hour before, when Marluxia had grabbed her around the wrist and tried to use her as a shield, he'd been ready to kill her. In that moment, all of his fake emotions had fallen away, as he'd stared at her with those acidic green eyes, flat and lifeless like a doll's. Axel felt nothing for her or anyone else. Just like the rest of them.

"Why?" she asked softly, opening her eyes again to look at Sora's sleeping face. He looked so peaceful. She wanted to sleep, too. Nobodies never got to sleep, not ever, stuck wandering until their feet bled and their legs gave out.

"Your name's not on the list," Axel answered easily, producing a list from his jacket and holding it up for Naminé to see. Sure enough, the paper in his hand had only numbers written on it- not a single name, not even Sora's. All but one of the numbers listed had been ticked off with a lazy check mark. The last number was clearly visible, in painfully neat handwriting that was obviously not Axel's- the number six.

"Is that meant to be some sort of code?" Naminé asked warily. For all she knew, she was 'number six.' She had no idea what the numbers meant, except on the odd occasion she'd heard Vexen shouting them at people. He'd never shouted a number at her, but that was probably because he didn't even know she existed. She was below Nobody- she was just a shadow. No, she was invisible.

"Wow. They really didn't tell you anything, did they," Axel said, shaking his hefty red mane. "Well, guess there's nothing you can do about it now, eh? Here." Axel dropped the note into Naminé's hands, not even bothering to see if she caught it. She did, but barely. "Each of the members of the Organization has a number- we're ranked, if you will, from when we were recruited. Got that so far?"

"So when Vexen was shouting numbers…"

"He was trying to pull rank, yes. It never worked. He was number four. Get it?" Naminé ran a finger over the first number on the list, crossed off with one of her red crayons. On the day that Marluxia had ordered him to kill Vexen, Axel had come back from the assignment and plopped down on her table. She sucked in a quick breath through her teeth.

"Eleven and twelve were Marluxia and Larxene," she said softly. Axel accompanied her with a loud croaking noise as he slowly drew a finger across his throat. She tried to ignore him. "Who was number five?"

"Big guy named Lexaeus. He didn't really talk much- you didn't miss anything," he said with a shrug. The nonchalance with which he spoke of slaughtering his coworkers would normally have unnerved Naminé, but she was thoroughly desensitized to that sort of thing thanks to her time spent with Marluxia and Larxene. That was the thought she'd clung to during her long weeks in the castle- she was only desensitized! It wasn't really that she couldn't feel anything at all, like they said. That couldn't be. Could it?

"You were supposed to kill all these people?" Something wasn't adding up. Sora had beaten Larxene and Marluxia- she'd seen it.

"One, we're not people. But yep. That's my job."

"But… Sora killed at least two of them, and-"

"I'm more an 'ends, not means' kind of guy." Axel cut her off with a smirk. "As much as I love a good purge, killing five Nobodies all by myself would get awfully tiring."

"Who is number six?" she asked breathlessly.

"A kid named Zexion." Axel looked her up and down. "Probably about your age, actually."

"Then why aren't you off killing him?" Axel was hanging around much longer than he should have. Was he interested in Sora? Naminé carefully kept herself positioned between the pod and the trickster Nobody.

"Riku'll take care of it. I'm beat." As if to demonstrate just how terribly exhausted he was, Axel stretched his arms high over his head, then cracked open one of Larxene's leftover sodas. Naminé rolled her eyes. Nobodies didn't get tired- they just didn't. Wait.

"Riku!?" Axel was making the Riku Replica do his dirty work, now? Were Naminé able to feel anger, now would be the time. She'd been bullied and threatened into mucking up Sora and Riku's memories, but now that she was out at least somewhat from under the Organization's thumb, she was desperate to clean up the mess she'd made, to make it all better so she wouldn't have to live with this guilt anymore. She stared longingly through the thick glass at Sora's sleeping face. He'd smiled at her before she stuck him in there- but would it be worth it? And the Riku Replica- could he ever be fixed at all?

"No, no, not the Replica- the real one," Axel waved a hand dismissively, completely oblivious to Naminé's agitation. "He should be meeting up with Zexion right now. Zexy's a good kid I guess, but no way is he coming out of that one alive."

"So you're just going to leave him down there to die?" Naminé felt ill. The Riku she'd seen in Sora's heart wasn't a murderer, not even close. "Letting someone else do your dirty work for you?" With the accusation, she brought her eyes up to meet Axel's for the first time. Her tiny voice rose with courage she hadn't known she had. Courage that was rapidly deflated by the withering look Axel gave her.

"Hey! Gift horse! Mouth! Why go out of my way to do work I don't have to?"

"So that's why you're leaving me alive?" Axel only responded with a shrug. She sighed, looked away and once more began rubbing her hands on Sora's glass. She'd done so much damage, writing herself into Sora's heart. Larxene's words to her echoed through her mind: So you can be somebody, instead of somebody's shadow. But no. She had no use for her own heart- she was a monster, and it would be no good to anyone. Someone else's words came back to her, forceful and clear.

What do I want with the heart of a loser?

"I have no reason to kill you, kiddo," Axel said sternly, ruffling her hair. Naminé was broken out of her thoughts long enough to frown slightly at the condescending gesture. Axel looked to be at least twice her Other's age, and while Nobodies were technically ageless, well, appearance is everything, or so they say. Naminé would forever be treated like her 14-year-old body, no matter how old she got. Wandering and wandering until her feet bled and her legs gave out.

Axel wasn't going away, but he didn't seem to be doing any damage, so Naminé reluctantly left Sora and sat down at her usual place, pulling out her sketchbook out of habit. The very first page had a picture of her and Sora playing together scribbled on it. She slammed the book closed and shoved it away from her.

"Wow! Was that some anger I just heard you not feel?" Axel called from the other side of the room. Naminé shook her head without looking up.

"Not anger. Guilt," she murmured. Axel didn't answer. Maybe he didn't hear her? Or maybe he'd finally left? Naminé was about to turn and see when she heard a faint thumping noise, like…

Like someone tapping his fingers on glass.

"What are you doing?" she squeaked, jumping up and rushing back over to the pod. Axel was bent over almost comically low to peer at Sora's face, drumming the fingers on his right hand while he used his left to keep his balance. His fingerprints were everywhere. Before she really knew what she was planning to do, Naminé was running at the pod and the intruder, only to be stopped in her tracks by a single bony hand against her forehead. She tried to jerk to the side, but Axel held her easily in one place. She jerked to the other side, and Axel laughed at her. So instead, she decided to just seethe quietly.

"Whoa! Relax, kiddo. Chill. I just wanted to see him." Naminé made a noise that might have been a whimper and might have been a growl- some kind of guttural noise of irritation, in any case. "Ok. As soon as I get confirmation that Zexion's kicked it, I'm going home, ok? I'll be gone and you can do whatever the hell it is you do up here. Rescue your Prince Charming or put him back together or whatever. Ok?" Axel's voice stayed even, but Naminé could pick up on the hint of amusement lacing the words. That was all she was, after all. An impotent joke. A failed tool.

When she stopped struggling, Axel released her face and gave her a condescending pat on the head. Naminé was thoroughly deflated by now, exhausted in body, soul, and not-heart, but she stayed by Sora's pod, determined to protect it from anyone else who tried to come near. That was her responsibility, after all. He had rescued her so many times, even despite all that she'd done to him. She owed it to him to keep him safe. When he awoke, he would feel as great as if he'd taken a year-long vacation in the most beautiful place in all worlds. He'd have no memories at all of this awful castle and the awful things he'd seen and had done to him. Then, maybe then, he would be able to forgive her.

Maybe then she'd be able to forgive herself.

"It's been almost two hours since Lexaeus croaked… Zex should definitely be dead by now." Axel was muttering to himself, pacing two and fro and cracking his knuckles. Finally, he stopped, and with one last extra-loud crack balled his hands into fists. "Ok, that's it. This is ridiculous. I'm going down there and killing him myself."

"Believe me, that won't be necessary." All heads but Sora's jerked towards the source of the sound- a portal that had just opened up in the farthest corner of the hall. And so, for the first time, Naminé came face to face with Zexion, Organization XIII's number VI.

Oooooh, the melodrama! Thoughts please? :)

Next chapter: Axel