Wow…this chapter's a whooping seven pages in my word processor! I think that's a record!

Rated T for "blood". Everyone's names in this story have been changed. Even mine. XD

Thank you to Toaster8000, WeaponNinjaGirl, and Echo the Ethereal Swordmaster for reviewing! (if you reviewed and I totally forgot to mention you, I'm sorry and thank you!)

BTW, I'm looking for a betareader for this story. Anybody interested?

The sun woke me up when its first rays bathed my backyard in light. I groaned and rolled over, trying to block it from my eyes, but was unsuccessful.

Then, something clicked in my mind and I remembered last night's events. I gasped. Axel! I raced to the tent and opened the door. Axel was just waking up, blinking his eyes to get used to the sudden light.

"Good morning!" I croaked (my voice always sounds weird in the morning). "How do you feel?"

He turned to look at me. "Better than I did last night." He yawned and stretched his left arm. In his sleep, Axel had tossed off the blanket, and I could see that the bandages on his side and arm were black.

I sucked in a breath. They're still..."bleeding"…

Axel noticed my look. "Huh? Oh, yeah. They haven't stopped." He carefully sat up, and grimaced as he did so.

I picked up the first aid kit and stepped over to him. "You shouldn't try to move today; that only makes your wounds worse." I carefully pulled off the tape off of his side and removed the black pads. Fighting my reaction to gag, I set them aside and re-bandaged his gash. It actually looked a little better than last night; darkness wasn't flowing out of it as much.

When I had finished, I sat back on my knees and took a few deep breaths. I was starting to feel queasy with all the blood…er, darkness…whatever it is!

"Ok…other side…" I stepped over Axel and gently unwrapped his arm. The pads on his arm were dripping with his darkness. This time, I couldn't help it, and gagged a little. I couldn't tell if Axel smirked or frowned at that. A little darkness got on my hand…it felt a little viscous, like that really weird glowing stuff that was on his arm last night. It was definitely thicker than blood…and it felt oddly cold… I frowned, examining it.

Axel pulled me back to reality with a small cough.

"Oh, sorry," I mumbled, setting the pads aside and redressed the wound. "How's that?"

The Nobody shrugged his shoulders as much as he could. "It's fine…"

"Ok, then can I take a look at your ankle?"

"Sure." He reached down and took off his left boot.

I immediately grimaced when I saw it. "Wow, that looks bad…" he ankle was really swollen, and it was black and blue. I pulled out an Ace bandage from my kit and began to wrap his ankle, making sure it was snug but not tight. "I've had first aid training, so this was actually a piece of cake…" I said absent mindedly. Actually, it wasn't a piece of cake. I think I was just saying that to impress him and to convince myself it was going to be ok…

Finally, his ankle was wrapped. Thank God his foot didn't smell bad! I sighed and sat back, trying to calm myself down. Even though you couldn't tell, I was really freaking out. Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames, Number Eight in the Organization, was sitting in my tent and I was bandaging his wounds. My head was spinning.

"You ok?" Axel asked, peering at me as I closed my eyes and took deep, cleansing breaths.

Do I look ok? I thought. But I just forced a smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm ok…"

We were silent for a few moments.

Then, my stomach decided to break the silence by growling loudly.

My face turned red (again) and Axel smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Umm…I'm gonna go get something to eat," I said, standing up. "Do you want anything?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

"Are you ok with crackers?"

He shrugged (he seems to do that a lot). "Sure."

I picked up the soiled bandages and ran into the house. First, I wrapped the bandages in napkins to hide them, then I threw them away. I was just pulling the crackers out of the near-by pantry when my mom came into the room, carrying her suitcase!

I blinked. "'Morning…" I mumbled, eyeing the suitcase. "Where're you going?"

Mom just laughed and said, "It's our anniversary! Your father and I are going to Diamond Island, that hotel resort, remember?"

"Oh! Duh!" I said. Did I mention I'm also really slow in the mornings? "You guys are leaving at eight, right?"

"Well, actually, we're leaving as soon as the car is packed up," she answered. Mom set the suitcase by the door and exited the kitchen. I seized the opportunity to grab the crackers and race back out to the tent.

I opened the tent and lightly tossed the crackers to Axel. "Here."

"Thanks," he mumbled, opening the box.

Meanwhile, I folded up the tarp and set it next to the tent. Then, I picked up my sleeping bag and took it with me into the tent.

Axel was already chowing down on the crackers.

I laid my sleeping bag down and sat on it. Watching him eat, I couldn't help but think, He's just so…normal! He eats like any other guy… No, I didn't expect him to be some kind of freaky monster or anything, but…it never really dawned on me that he eats and lives like everyone else.

"Hey, Emily! Mom and Dad want us to help pack up the car!"

Shoot! It's Dylan!!

"Ah! Uh, don't come it! I'm changing!" I yelled, jumping up and rushing to the door. But it was too late. My older brother was already inside the tent. Axel and Dylan eyed each other, and Axel quit chewing.

"Uh, who's that?" Dylan asked.

Axel swallowed his cracker and answered, "My name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"

My palm and forehead collide. Great. Just great.

Dylan snickered. "Right. No, seriously, who are you? Are you that Jeff guy she's always talking about? Why are you dressed up like Axel?"

"Maybe because I am Axel," Axel shot back. "And how do you know me, anyway?"

I smacked Dylan's arm hard.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"For…just….UGH!"

My blonde brother was so confused now. "Ok…what the heck is going on here?!"

I sighed. "Fine. Axel, this is my older brother, Dylan," I motioned to the tall teenager beside me. "Dylan, this is really Axel."

The Nobody saluted my brother and popped another cracker in his mouth.

Dylan looked between me and Axel. "Is that…really him? No way…"

My brother doesn't know much about Kingdom Hearts, but he knows the names of most of the characters. That's probably because I talk about it all the time…

I nodded. "Yup."

"So then…wait. Isn't he a bad guy? Part of Organization XIII?"

I could feel Axel's curious gaze resting on us. "Um…I don't know. He's been pretty nice so far…" And I don't know if the rest of the Organization members are even alive…

"How do you guys know about the Organization?" Axel asked. He looked a little suspicious and on-edge.

Thankfully, I was spared from having to explain that little detail when my mom called for my brother and me.

Sighing, Dylan said, "We better go. We gotta help pack up the car."

"Stay here," I instructed Axel. "I'll explain everything when I get back."

So Dylan and I helped pack up the tiny Sedan for our parents' trip.

"I got the medicine bag and Dad's suitcase!" I called, slinging them over my shoulder.

"Oh sure! Take the light ones!" Dylan rolled his eyes and picked up Mom's suitcase, along with a brown bag and hauled them out to the car.

After packing them tightly in the trunk, Mom and Dad came out, ready for their few days away from kids! Then, after a round of hugs and kisses, they got in the car and drove down the driveway.

"Bye!" I called, waving. They waved back as they disappeared around the corner of our block.

Dylan sighed. "Finally! They're gone! The whole house to ourselves! Wanna play Super Smash Brothers?"

I gave him my "oh, come on!" look. "No…" I said slowly. "I think we'd better get back to Axel who's waiting for an explanation in our tent."

"Oh. Right. So, uh…how exactly are you planning on explaining this?"

"Oh, I don't know…maybe I'll tell him the truth?"

Dylan smiled. "Good idea, Sherlock!"

I rolled my eyes. "C'mon…"

"Actually, I'm gonna go check on Adam," Dylan headed for the kitchen door. "You can bring Axel in once you tell him the news."

I laughed and said sarcastically, "No, I was just gonna leave him outside in the tent!"

Taking deep breathes, I walked out to the backyard again. I was steeling myself for Axel's reaction. I had no idea what would happen!

Luckily for me, my telling Axel the truth was delayed once again when another portal opened a few yards in front of me! Just like last night!

I waited apprehensively to see who would arrive. What if it's Xemnas? Or Saix? Or one of those other Organization members that is supper evil? I started to shake again, thinking of all the horrible things that could happen. It could even be Heartless or Malificent or Pete or Dusks…heck, anything is possible now!

Sure enough, a cloaked figure stumbled out of the portal. Whoever it was had his hood up, so I had no idea who it was. The man stood there for a moment, panting as the portal closed. Even from the distance I was at, I could tell that he had some of that glowing stuff on him as well!

The man looked up, and as he did, his hood fell down.

"Demyx!" I cried in realization.

Startled, he looked up, but then he cringed and started to fall over!

"Demyx!" I yelled again, running to him. Fortunately, I caught him just in time. Unfortunately, when I wrapped my arms around his shoulders to keep him steady, some of the glowing goo got on my arm. It burned, causing me to loosen my grip, and Demyx fell anyway.

Oops. However, the blistering pain in my arm was so intense, I could only clutch my arm and double over. It was horrible! It was like my whole arm was on fire! Despite my best efforts, I shed a few tears. I shut my eyes tight, just wishing the pain would go away. Then, as quickly as it had come, the pain left.

"Are you ok?" asked a voice.

I gasped and looked to my left. Demyx was kneeling next to me, concern written on his face.

"Y—yeah, I think I'm ok now…" I inspected my arm. I didn't have any burn marks on it. It was almost like that golden ooze had never been there in the first place. In fact, Demyx didn't have any of it on him anymore, either. "What was that stuff?"

Demyx frowned. "What stuff?"

"That glowing stuff! Axel had some of it on him, too…"

"Axel? You've seen him?"

"Hey, Demyx! Over here!" We both looked toward the tent, and there was Axel, poking his head out the door, gesturing at us.

"Axel!" Demyx exclaimed happily, running to the other Nobody. "Whoa! What happened to you?" I ran over and followed Demyx into the tent.

The fiery-haired Nobody shrugged. "I think I remember some kind of battle, but—"

"What're you doing here?" Demyx interrupted.

"Beats me," Axel replied, sitting back down.

Demyx sat down across from Axel, laughing. "You mean you don't remember?"

"No; do you?"

Demyx's laughter stopped. "Um…"

Axel groaned. "Don't tell me you forgot, too!"

"No! I didn't! I just…" he frowned. "Can't…remember…"

Why can't they remember? I thought, frowning. This is weird…

"So, neither of you can remember what happened to send you here?" I asked.

They both shook their heads.

"Can either of you open a portal to get back?"

The Melodious Nocturne turned to me, confused. "How did you know we could do that?"

"Yeah," agreed Axel, scrutinizing me through slotted eyes. "And how do you know about the Organization?"

"Well…uh…because…" my face was turning red again as the two Nobodies waited for my answer. "Ok, listen. I'll tell you guys, but you have to promise not to freak out, ok? I don't want my house burned to the ground and my backyard flooded at the same time!" I tried to joke about it, but that only seemed to make the situation more tense. They both nodded, and I took a deep breath. "Ok…in my world…you're both from a video game."

They seemed to take it well. All they did was stare at me with their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide.

Finally, Axel spoke. "Are you…serious?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"So…do you know all about our lives?"

I shook my head. "No; I only know about your lives when you were part of the Organization."

"I guess you've played this…game…then, huh?"

I shook my head again. "I own Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, but I've only played the first one a little bit 'cause I don't have a Playstation 2." Judging by the looks on their faces, I could tell that most of what I said went right over their heads.

Demyx finally snapped out of his trance-like state and asked, "Huh?"

I sighed. "Ok, the game that you're from is called Kingdom Hearts. The first game is about what happens when Sora gets the keyblade, up until he is separated again from Riku and Kairi at Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories deals with Sora, Donald, and Goofy's time in Castle Oblivion, and Kingdom Hearts II is what happens after Sora wakes up and how he gets back to Destiny Islands."

They still just stared at me.

"Why would someone make a game out of us? Out of this?" Axel asked, mostly to himself. He looked away.

I had to shrug. When you think about it, if everything in Kingdom Hearts actually happened…it's not so cool anymore. It's scary, quiet honestly.

We sat there quietly for a few minutes. I think the two Nobodies were just trying to absorb what they had been told. I mean, if someone had told me I was from a videogame, I'm pretty sure I would've reacted the same way.

"So why did you help us?" asked Axel as he turned to face me again.

"Huh?" I questioned, unsure of what Axel was trying to get at.

"You know everything we've done. We were evil, but you still helped us. Why?"

"I—It was the right thing to do…" I whispered, hoping that was a good answer. Well, what else was I supposed to do? Let you die again? I couldn't let that happen!

Axel nodded as if it was a satisfactory response.

"If you guys want to, we can go inside my house. My parents just left, so you guys can come in now." Ugh. Babbling again…

Demyx nodded. "Ok, that sounds good!"

"Alright," I said, getting up. "Demyx, I'm going to need your help getting Axel into the house. He hurt his ankle."

"I can walk fine," insisted Axel angrily. Still, Demyx and I helped him up. Once we were outside the tent, Axel hobbled into the house. Demyx and I shrugged to each other and followed him in.

Once he was inside the house, Axel grabbed a chair and eased himself into it. He grimaced in pain.

"No more moving!" I said, pretending to be stern. "Sit there until…um…we can move you to the couch!" The room connected to the dining room and kitchen area is the living room. There's a short doorway connecting the two spaces. In the living room, Adam and Dylan were sitting on the couch, watching an episode of Scooby-Doo (the old ones, not the "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" ones).

"Oh, Emily!" Adam jumped up as soon as he saw me. "In this episode of Scooby-Doo, there was this funny ghost who, like, tried to push the door open, and…" he trailed off and gave me this weird look. "Emily, who's dat?" (He means that, but he doesn't always pronounce his thsounds right)

"Uh…" I turned around to see Demyx standing behind me, looking around the room curiously. "This is Demyx. He's…um…a friend of mine."

"Demyx?" repeated Adam. He had this really weird look on his face, like he wasn't sure what to think of the Nobody yet. Then, his face brightened into a smile. "Oh, hello, Demyx! It's nice to meet you!" Adam ran over and shook Demyx's hand as hard as he could.

"Whoa!" Demyx exclaimed, surprised at Adam's sudden gesture. And probably the strength of his handshake. That little boy will shake your hand right off your arm! (That's why he's not allowed to do that anymore in church).

From the couch, Dylan laughed. "That's a five-year-old mood swing for ya!"

"Mood swings?" asked Demyx as he followed me into the hallway that intersected with the living room. "Are those when you're happy one moment, and sad the next?"

"Yeah."

He shivered. "Larxene had those all the time…even though she didn't have a heart. It was scary…"

"Yeah, I bet it was…" I mumbled as I dug in the hallway closet for some spare bed sheets. Larxene's a pretty scary girl! I'd hate to meet her even when she's in a good mood!" "Ah, here we go!" I pulled out some soft linen sheets, closed the door, and headed back to the living room. "Get off the couch!" I demanded, shooing Adam and Dylan into the loveseat.

"Why?" asked Dylan.

"Axel got hurt in a battle, so he's gotta lie down."

"Who's Axel?" Adam asked.

"I'm Axel," we heard a voice say. Sure enough, there was Axel, making his way into the living room.

I sighed. "Ok, you can lay down here."

He gratefully laid down on the couch. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep, cleansing breaths. "That's better…"

"You're Axel?" Adam walked up to the Nobody, inspecting him from head to toe.

"Yeah."

"It's nice to meet you, too!" exclaimed Adam. He grabbed Axel's right hand and began to shake it roughly, like he had Demyx's.

Axel cringed and tried to pull away while I yelled, "Adam! Can't you see his arm's hurt?! Cut it out!" I pulled Adam away from Axel and gave my younger brother a stern look.

Adam just stuck his tunge out at me and went to sulk on the loveseat next to our brother.

"Sorry about that," I apologized. "Do you need anything?" I asked, trying to be a good host and nurse.

Axel shook his head slightly. "No; I'm good."

I turned to Demyx. "What about you? Do you need anything to eat or drink?"

The Nobody made himself comfortable in the recliner next to the loveseat. "No thanks."

I sighed and sat down where I was at, halfway between the recliner and couch to watch the Scooby-Doo episode. Adam eagerly explained the characters and storyline to our guests (even though Axel couldn't have cared less).

Before the end of the episode even came, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" cried Adam excitedly. He ran to the door and flung it open. "Yes? Can I help you?"

Dylan and I laughed a little.

"Uh, hopefully. We're kinda lost. Do you know were we are?"

I stood up. That voice…is it really…?

"Oh, yes I do! Come on in!" Adam opened the door and let two teenagers in. One had spiky brown hair, and the other had long, silver hair.

Sora and Riku!

Dun dun DUN!!!! They're here!!! I promise Roxas will appear in the next chapter!

If my little brother opened the door and saw Sora and Riku standing there, I'm really not sure what he would do. He knows what they look like and he knows their names, but…he's five. He's so unpredictable! And I'm gonna totally get my older brother back for revealing my crush right in front of Axel…just you wait! XD

This story won't be worked on for a few days, 'cause I'm working on a one-shot request for Toaster8000. It's gonna be epic, I promise!

WOOT!

Once again, please review! I'll give you sea-salt ice cream if you review! (shoot, better go make some first…)

^.^

TTYL!

BRB (BlueandRedButterflies)