A.N.) I hope you enjoy this next chapter. I've been doing so major prep work when making the skeletons of these last chapters, and now Chapter 10 is almost done! :)

Disclaimer) I do not own Kingdom Hearts. (I've been doing this disclaimer. Always will do it.)

At First Sight

Chapter 9: Missing You

A witch in white was seen kneeling at a bench that was quietly placed to the side of the Tram Common. A ribbon she pulled from her hair was used to join the paws of two plush teddies she found cuddled together, as if on an immortal date. They were living a wonderful night that would last forever. Once the witch completed a fastened bow, she smiled, picked up her sketchpad, and soothingly studied at the latest page she colored.

"How romantic!"

It hurt in her heart, but Roxas said it was natural. Her heart was newly discovered only hours before, and it was confused and weighted with so many other people compromising her emotions. That was why, as Xion watched him leave, she couldn't stop crying. Something deep down, storming in her stomach, she felt like that would be the last she'd see him. She knew it; something awful was coming.

The wind of the cold had been much more harsh with her, possibly just as upset as she was, occasionally being strong enough to tug her to-and-fro. It became so bad that she stayed off the ledge; worried she'd topple over, she leaned against the wall instead despite how much more isolated and lonely without Roxas.

People who volunteered to help set up stuff for the after-fireworks dance concert were coming and going with crates and buckets of speakers and cords. A man with a bandana and muscles like Rai rounded up everyone and left again. Apparently they were going to carry large pieces and put them together to make a stage.

Well if that's how they want to do it… Xion shrugged, hoping to take her mind off her fears. I suppose if everything works out, maybe Roxas and I will have a chance to dance together.

"Xion," she heard Fuu call out from the corner before peaking.

Seeing Xion still crying miserable, as if Roxas had never been there, Fuu grunted "Idiot" to the air and wondered just how worthy the Spiked-Blonde Wonder really was for her. He couldn't even make her feel better? Wasn't that his job as a boyfriend? Fuu wasn't willing to give her friend up to a rat who couldn't keep her in good condition.

At least when it had just been them and the crew, Xion never cried. And even after her "reawakening" and being with them, she was happy. Roxas didn't make her smile and gorge blamelessly. She, Seifer, and the others did.

At that sight, Fuu was questioned if it she'd been making the right decisions. Had supporting Xion's infatuation been a mistake?

"Xion…" Fuu whispered thinking if this was another one of those rare-times again so soon. Wiping away tears, her little doll rose from her crouch of distress and tried to smile. On a whim, Fuu's mind was turning to another direction. It was a new moment, and her ideas were morphing with the wind that tussled her hair as it brought new thoughts. Whether it was welcomed or not, in the end, Fuu wanted what was best for them. The posse. Roxas, although helped cut the strings that made the girl before her a puppet, was not a priority.

He was about to be death fodder.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but…"

This had an extremely high chance of backfiring. Desires and fears were at war in Fuu's heart for one moment, but was quickly stomped threw. It was just so difficult to ease into the conversation right.

And in all this time she was staling, Xion was grinning at her. They were such great friends.

"I distracted them as long as I could to make sure Roxas had time to escape—"

"And I'm so thankful to you for all you've done for us."

"Uh… welcome. But Seifer and the guys are on their way. If you are grateful, hear me out, please," Fuu said so breathless, gazing away to stonewalls of the Tower.

Xion tilted her head, but listened closely.

"Roxas is as good as gone, so if you were to… he wouldn't have the chance to challenge you if you…"

"If I what…?" Xion edged hesitantly, having a decline in spirits, knowing full well what was coming next.

"Seifer is coming to insist that you be his girlfriend. And I think you should agree and forget Roxas ever existed to you in such a way." Fuu glanced at the silent girl before her, and when she was only answered with horrified, wide eyes, she carried on with a more forced bubbly voice that was too fake to fool anyone. "Comparing the two, Roxas is nothing to Seifer. With Seifer, you'll be care for and protected. He does adore you a lot. He's better looking, taller, tougher, and more masculine. I assure you'll be happier with our leader than our enemy! Plus, Roxas is probably going to be caught and taken back to the Destiny Islands anyways, so you'll probably never see him anytime soon. Your relationship with him is practically dead!"

Did Fuu believe everything she said? Sort of. She agreed that Seifer would be better than Roxas. He wasn't perfect, but she truly felt it would be superior. Was it enough to persuade Xion?

If Xion were a puppet again, this wouldn't be a problem, but Fuu believed this Xion, who could think, could live healthier.

Roxas fulfilled a purpose. Now he had to get the hell out of their lives.

And Xion looked… unfazed, stoic. Fuu expected tears, anger, denial, maybe heartbreak, but all she got was a calm stare and a small frown.

"Are you saying this from the heart, Fuu?" the fourteenth sighed, looking straight at Fuu's red eyes.

Surprised, Fuu nodded eagerly. "From my heart and soul."

There was something new in Xion's smile. Fuu saw the blue eyes that turned as still as a glass doll's look below to the station entrance. "And they're coming up?" she said so normal.

Fuu could only murmur confirmation, also noting three brighter-dressed figures, clearly not of the workers, entering the station.

Swooshing hard winds that would occasionally tug at the two only broke the silence like flying lashes. Xion refused to look at her the entire wait.

But upon that moment, Fuu realized something cold and painful. Her behavior was now making sense.

Xion didn't trust Fuu anymore.

And they might no longer be friends.

The door to the stairs rammed open and the three happy males, Seifer, Rai, and Vivi, joined the two girls, oblivious to how shaken both were.

As gently as Seifer could pull-off, he grasped one of Xion's clenching fists.

"Xi-Xi—" Xion winced with distaste. "I don't know if you heard about—"

"—I did," she cut, not even trying to sound polite. It's your fault Roxas has to hide, she grieved.

"Oh," Seifer said, looking away, cursing under his breath, then looked back to the small ebony-haired lady as if it didn't bother him. "I'm sorry I underestimated him, but don't worry, Xion, 'cause I will get back at him for what he did to you!" He flashed her his cool-guy smile.

Xion had no patience for him if he wasn't going to apologize for attacking her true love and causing them more misfortune. She couldn't even fake a smile for him.

In the distant sky, several booms sounded off and strings of fire and light sored up to exploded into a shower of vibrant colors. The fireworks ceremony had begun.

Seifer took that as his cue. "Xion, I really like you, and I think we'd be good together. It's only natural that we be."

Xion whipped her head to glare straight at her leader, and opened her mouth to tell him exactly why she wouldn't be his girlfriend no matter what he said.

And while that was happening, Seifer leaned forward.

Before a vocal could be articulated, Xion had toned arms wrapped around her back and was pulled up to meet Seifer's fervent lips. She struggled to grasp what was happened in the split second the kiss was regular—then Seifer had the audacity to stick his tongue in her mouth! Xion was outraged and elbowed the blonde in the chest with the strength of her trauma.

The blow had stunned Seifer enough for his arms to loosen, allowing Xion to free herself and run to the Tower's western ledge. Rai and Vivi blocked the door the staircase, Xion found. She had no choice but to face them and hope they weren't planning to fight. There wasn't a lot of room.

Alert, Xion glanced to the west and saw that beyond the point of the Clock Tower was a raised railway that stretch past the horizon—and everything else was forest. A lengthy outstretch of ominous trees made out the western land of the Tower from a deep drop away.

So she couldn't think about jumping without dying.

Seifer's rough hand slapped onto Xion's wrist, yanking her to face him.

"What was that for?" he yelled.

"I'm not your girlfriend, Seifer! I… I'm flattered, but you have to understand that I don't like you like that. And I still want to be friends—But I have to tell you I already have a boyfriend!"

Her last word seemed to have echoed in everyone's head. Everyone was shocked. Everyone tensed.

It finally came out.

"Who?" Seifer growled, tightening his grip on her.

Xion was too frightened to answer.

"WHO?" he roared.

"Roxas!" she cried, trying to pry his fingers off her wrist.

"You ungrateful—!"

"Seifer, you're arrogant, prejudiced, aggressive, and I won't refuse that I'm mad at you for trying to hurt him, but you're still a friend that would be too hard to erase. I care about all of you. But—But I—!" she huffed, desperate to contain the situation.

Neither, Fuu or Vivi or Rai were willing to move. They all looked away, uncertain and unnerved.

Xion felt so guilty yet justified saying this. It was the truth, but Seifer was starting to look less angry and more betrayed with each sentence she spoke.

"I'm in love with Roxas, Seifer. And I don't think we can continue to even be friends if you can't accept that!"

The winds pushed bitterly against her as she saw Seifer's heart slowly break as her words sunk into his mind.

After all the misery he had caused, she never wanted to hurt him like this.

Seifer looked away from her.

"…Fine. You're out."

As a last adieu, Seifer shoved her back without mercy. No one looked at their ex-member stumble and, with a combination of wind and her upper bodyweight, was sent flying over the ledge.

Xion didn't scream. It happened so fast. She went off the Tower, into the air, and plummeted down a great height with pointed trees and dense rock ready to crush/impale her.

When it was clear she was about to die, things somehow become slower. She could see far away, more fireworks painting over the stars with dazzling ambition to be stars themselves. She could hear the fading voices of Seifer, Fuu, and the others screaming after her falling form. Their arms stretched down to her even though she was already too far-gone to save.

She was reborn with a second chance—after having no choice but give up her right to exist her first lifetime.

And now it was going to end in just a few seconds.

Despite all the things she would never get to do—she mostly felt horrible that she still hadn't made it to the beach with her boyfriend and Lea. That had been her dream. What would they react after hearing of her death? She hoped they wouldn't feel as awful as she would if it were one of them, but she knew better.

Her poor Roxas… She knew how much he loved her. How much would pain would it produce to find that their future together would never be?

We never get a break. Ever!

I just want to go to the beach! The beach with him, Lea, and the ocean!

The sound of the wind rushed faster; she could practically feel the impalement from a blunt tree or the crushing halt of the hard ground. Everything suddenly zoomed by her in a flash of changing colors. It was starry skies with the decorative sparks of light to the enclosure of the top of pine trees.

She expected the end, as the ground should have been next, but the rush kept coming as the chills of darkness enveloped all over her skin. Zooming down a pathway of rippling aura and shadows, she felt herself being bombarded by winds coming everywhere.

And just as soon as it happen, Xion landed on sand.

Softer than stone floors, but enough force slamming her down was enough to turn everything black.

"OH MY G—!" Fuu screamed, falling to her knees and muffling her cries with her hands. Shaking hysterically, hands clamped over her mouth, she looked over to her leader who was standing by the ledge where Xion had fallen. Pathetic, Seifer reached out for nothing, staring locked at the level sweet Xion's eyes would have been had he not shoved her.

"It was an accident… It was an accident… It was an accident…" he repeated over and over, trying to fully overcome the shock.

"IS SHE DEAD?" Vivi shrieked, nearly shivering out of his shoes.

"No one could survive a fall the far down! Y'know?" Rai said loud, while effortlessly pulling Seifer back. Didn't want him to fall too, you know?

"It was an accident…"

Fuu's tears, after one blink, turned to one's of wrath. Hurling up, she marched to the scar-faced teenager being held up by the muscled guy and glared threw his eyes to his soul. She was just so tired—sick of him being so… so…

Whack! "Spineless!" she cried, beating her clutch purse against Seifer's cheek.

Whack! "Stupid!"

Whack! "Selfish!"

The anguish gushed down her face. Stopping, she sobbed. Yet, when Seifer started to recover from the dizziness—

WHACK!

"—Find her!" Fuu yelled at the top of her lungs. Unwilling to spare one more second, she ran to the stairs and already sprinting to the Station Heights.

With each clap of her heels pounding the brick path, the frenzy increased. Dead… Dead? Really? Xion? Couldn't be! But she… she went all the way down.

Turning the corner, she collided with a familiar stocky enemy with a headband. However, Pence didn't look anxious or aggressive; like that of a regular nice-guy, he showed concern.

"What's wrong, Fuu?" he gently asked, placing a warm hand on her shaking shoulder.

Nothing was making sense anymore! Pence was suppose to hate her, not help. Roxas and Xion should have fought as opponents. And Seifer, or at least the one she knew, never would have hurt Xion.

Everything was changing, and she needed some kind of support or she would fall along side her dead friend.

Despairing, she threw her arms around Pence, held him tight and cried.

Such an action startled him for a moment, but quick to understand, he hugged her back.

"It's that bad?"

She shook her head yes. "She fell off the Clock Tower!"

"Huh?" he gasped. "I was on my way there right now! Who—?"

"Seifer shoved Xion! She rejected him when he kissed her and told him she loved Roxas! She said they couldn't be friends if he couldn't accept Roxas, so he pushed her! She fell all the way down into the Woods!" she wailed, balling Pence's jersey in her fingers.

"Is she—?"

"No chance of survival!" was all she had left to say, weeping uncontrollably. It did not take long for the exhaustion to overcome her. She fell asleep on Pence's shoulder.

"How could this happen?" Pence mumbled under his breath. The next few steps were simple. He carried Fuu back to the Tower, handed her to Rai, who, with the others, had finally come down and were racing to some unknown location. Seifer had glared at him when he was spotted with the unconscious girl on his back, but from the mourning pulling Seifer's lips to frown, there was no threat.

The next step was to head to the Old Mansion.

The actual mansion part of the Old Mansion was dusty to all-hell but it was beautiful. Some people say it's haunted, others think it's condemnably unstable. For whatever reason, nobody in Twilight Town wanted to inhabit it; making it perfect for someone like Ansem to have used it for his base after he lost the one he had in Radian Gardens (now Hollow Bastion). But in terms of an actual living environment, it didn't look half bad.

Roxas roamed every room in boredom, waiting for this "messenger" Lea promised to send with an update on the situation. The bedrooms were lushly decorated in all kinds of magnificent paintings and veils. The beds were fresh with satin sheets, and the chandelier in the Dining Room sparkled the reflecting moonlight. The Library was overflowing with books of all subjects, and the atmosphere of that room held with such grandeur, Roxas became pleasantly overwhelmed.

To think, he came into existence, both times, right outside the very gate.

To think he was forcibly absorbed into Sora's heart down in the Pod Room.

All in the past though. All in the past. Roxas was happy; he had something truly wonderful to look forward too. A bright future. He was in love with the breath-taking Xion, and she loved him. They were going to live the rest of their lives together after that night. Every passing second, he thought of her; how much he longed to be with her again.

He toured the house, for the sixth time sense his arrival.

In one bedroom, there was an ivory vanity mirror with old powders and brushes on its desk. Roxas smiled big, picturing Xion sitting on the matching stool, running a brush through her black hair, eyes focused on her reflection.

In the kitchen, he saw Xion with a flamboyant apron attentively mixing a boiling pot of sludge from various mystery ingredients that would no doubt make any consumer sick.

When he got to the Fourier, his daydreaming showed Xion taking advantage of the wide space, training with a wooden sword, careful to every stance and strike at an imaginary foe.

The Library was the last spot again, and he wasn't disappointed to see Xion curled on one of the velvet couches, fixed on a fairly bulked book.

The icing on this very fantasy was after he had his time to admire every bit of her, Xion would always look to him, smile, and wave.

I love her so much.

Sighing in ecstasy, he walked out and stood alone in the large plane between the manor and the looming gate. Dancing in public wasn't his comfort, but if she were there, Roxas would have taken her into his arms and swayed with her under the stars.

Being in love feels awesome!

After tonight, he would have her to himself. They'd be together forever. The morning to come everyone would go to sleep, and they could either have more time or they'd go far away. He was tired of others trying to force themselves between him and his beloved. Sora, thinking he knew best for his Nobody, yet at the same time doubting him. Kairi and Riku following him. Seifer and Hayner's constant fighting like there was a war going on. Friendships weren't supposed to hurt like this.

Obligations and loyalty were starting to feel less and less like responsibilities the more Roxas started to acknowledge his resentment toward all these people who he also didn't trust to accept him.

If not for how grateful he was to Lea and Fuu, and how Xion and he would miss Lea terribly, he would have already walked past the gate, back to the balcony, swept her up in his arms and left. Sayonara!

"Roxas!" someone called.

Startled, Roxas tried to think if he should run back into the mansion, go into the Woods, or fight. It was too late to hide, since the intruder called him, meaning they saw him already. Deciding to just confront the problem, Roxas got closer to the gate and saw Pence looking with a whole different light. Pence didn't look as carefree anymore. Was he upset? Did he know?

"Hey, Pence," Roxas greeted, content that the gate divided them. "Are you here to take me to Sora?"

"No, Lea pulled me from Olette's house, and asked me to be a messenger. He told me the truth. You and Seifer's other crewmember. Roxas, why didn't you just tell us?"

"You know why," Roxas replied, eyes narrowing.

Pence sighed. "Yeah, Hayner would have flipped his lid, and Seifer looked determined to kill you. Not to mention after that fight earlier, Olette would probably side with Hayner too. Who knows, maybe I would have too. And, of course, everyone would try to shoot down your relationship just because it's pretty sudden."

"How are Hayner and Olette?" Roxas asked.

"Olette's parents are hips deep in the festivities, so knowing her house would be empty, we took Hayner there. He's fine. The wound isn't life threatening. It'll be like having a bruise that scars. They're both still resting though. The shock kind of got to them."

"And Lea and Sora?"

"I haven't seen Sora since before the Sunset Terrance incident. Last I saw Lea, he was off to try and straighten things out though."

"What about Xion?" Roxas pushed, smiling again, yearning for the lady.

Pence's face fell.

"Did you hear me, Pence? How's Xion, my girlfriend?" Roxas frowned, reaching to clench the metal bars of the gate that separated them.

"She… He… Uh…" Pence struggled to find the words.

"Pence?"

"After you left her, I assume… Seifer and the others met her there. Seifer kissed Xion—"

Roxas growled like a savage.

"She rejected him, and told them all about you and her…"

Oh no… "Then what?"

"He… He…"

If you hurt her, Seifer, I swear—

"He pushed her and she fell off the Clock Tower. Fuu said she went all the way down into the forest. Roxas, I'm sorry, but there's no way she survived that."

Roxas was struck, and not in the way he was before. Slowly, his heart shattered. "Dead…?" he huffed. "She's gone?" Fingers clawed at the center of his chest into a fist. This aching—a stabbing pain!

Pence looked away. The agony shown on Roxas's face was becoming too much.

Something snapped inside Roxas at that moment. He was left so distraught—He lost his true love again. And she died so horridly—this time, alone. He wasn't there for her, and he promised to protect her…

Swift and skilled, Roxas hopped the gate, landing very thuggish and rough. Forgetting Pence, Roxas began to walk away.

"Roxas!" Pence succeeded getting the blonde to halt. "Please wait a bit. I know you loved her and you're upset—"

"—'Upset' doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling right now—!"

"I just don't want you to do anything crazy or hurt yourself!"

"I won't," Roxas brushed off and disappeared into the shadows.

We'll be together again, Xi-Xi. That is the greatest joy.

A.N.) Let me know what you think! Good day to everyone! ^_^