A/N: Eh, another chapter for y'all. Oh, and some review replies:

Larxene12: I'm glad to hear it. Yeah, Catássa is pretty creepy, at least, for right now. I hope she came off how I wanted her to.

Readergirl-290: I'm glad it was, because I'm not the worlds fastest typist, or writer, for that matter.

Kris126: And two things to answer you: 1) Originally, I was going to make Larissa's birthday November 31 to see if anyone said anything. 2) Happy early birthday!

Ansem591: I'm glad to hear that my work is 'interesting' and, I'm quite aware that it appears that I'm not following the Kingdom Hearts storyline. If every fanfiction writer followed the storyline perfectly and meticulously, the genre would surely die. But that's not the point. I know that there are still a few loose ends, but things like that will be addressed, and even a couple of the issues you mentioned will be covered in this chapter. I'll take your suggestions as helpful criticism, but also keep this in mind: I'm thirteen. I'm not serious about anything.

-Ahem-

Next to Nothing:

Chapter Four:

"Redemption"

"Larissa! You can't just go to Between!" Aerith cried, sounding panicky and distressed for the first time in a long time. "You nearly died last time, but surely you learned your lesson!"

I turned, halfway down the hard stone steps. The smile on my face showed that I had every intention of disregarding her advice. The look on her face suggested that she had not expected me to smile. "But you understand, right?"

Aerith said nothing, but paled and smiled slightly as I continued to walk down the stone steps, my footsteps echoing in the emptiness of the city. She seemed to be working something out, and the realization written on her face was like watching a dawn.

"Larissa!" She said, as my shoe touched the landing of the steps. "There's—there's something you should know. Sora—he told us how Axel died. Axel gave his life so he could find Kairi. Axel sacrificed what life he had left, because he knew that Sora was in love. I think—I think Axel did that because he understood, or he remembered what love was like."

"Thank you, Aerith. We'll meet again, I promise." All at once, it bothered me how I could make a promise to someone I barely knew, but I still couldn't promise Catássa anything.

I hate déjà vu. I hate the feeling of being in the same place, for the same purpose, feeling the same things. I hate déjà vu, but I put myself in a position where I knew déjà vu would strike, even when I expected it.

I stood about one hundred yards from the Gate to Between, and I was terrified. I was here, because I was looking for someone. Someone important to me. And he was here. I was very aware of the risk of the situation, sadly. The Gatekeeper could kill me in an instant with that staff, according to legend. So I would return with Axel, or not at all.

But who would miss me, after all? I lost my friends when Starlight was taken over. But I was wrong. I made new friends, in Radiant Garden. Something surged through my veins. And now I had a promise to keep. A pang resonated throughout my body, as I came to the realization that I had more to lose than my tortured afterlife.

Gathering up what confidence I had left, I walked forward to face the Gatekeeper. I had planned to simply reach out and touch him, but without a moment of hesitation, something else happened.

"Gatekeeper, can Nobodies feel?"

The Gatekeeper turned to his head to me very slowly, almost in a mocking sort of way. But I merely peered up at him expectantly, because I knew deep inside that he would answer. For clarification, I continued,

"I mean, I know everyone says that Nobodies can't feel, but Larxene—" I faltered, "I mean—I remember—things she felt—"

"Nobodies cannot feel, Larissa/Relena."

My shoulders fell. Maybe I was wrong, after all.

"But even though they cannot feel, they experience a sensation that is truly," he seemed to be searching for a word, "unique to their race."

I looked back up at him, my eyes begging to understand, like a little kindergartener on their first day of school.

"It's sort of like a blind man remembering what colors had looked like before he was blind, or a deaf man recalling the sound of a bell. The things Nobodies feel, it's like an echo, something pulled from their first life."

I couldn't decide if I was disappointed or not, having found out that the things Larxene had felt for Axel were only remnants of things left behind.

"Now, if I may, I will ask you a question, Larissa/Relena."

I looked up at the Gatekeeper meekly. "Ask away…" I said, expecting anything.

"Who is it that you have come for this time?" I had not been expecting this question, however. "Who is so important to you that you would risk your life to take them out of the very place that Death itself sent them? Your brother? Your best friend, little red-haired Catássa?"

"Axel."

"Pardon?"

"Axel." I repeated, stronger this time.

"I should have guessed. But, of all the Organization, Larissa/Relena, you care the most for Axel?"

I looked up, slightly confused. "Yes, of course. Why?"

"Personally, I think you should be more worried about the other members of the Organization, primarily the ones that would chop off your pretty little head without hesitation."

Xemnas! The thought speeded through my head like a silver bullet. The Gatekeeper's right, Xemnas would not hesitate to kill me on site! Why have I not thought of him before?

"And, one more question, Larissa/Relena, if you would so give me the honor."

"Knock yourself out…"I responded sheepishly.

"What do you know about Sora?"

"Sora?" Another pang went through my stomach. Of course I knew about Sora! Sora killed me! Or Sora had killed Larxene. Surely the Keeper of Death knew that. "Well, he's missing, isn't he?"

"Yes, yes he is." The Gatekeeper sounded like he hadn't expected me to answer that way, and he probably had his eyebrows raised under his cloak. "The point I'm trying to make, Larissa/Relena, is that right now, Axel is the least of your worries."

Despite his warning, my mission had not changed. I was here for Axel. The Gatekeeper let me through the Gate, to look for Axel, so here was the hard part. Finding myself had been hard enough, let alone finding someone that I barely knew.

"Axel!" I called out experimentally. The word seemed to echo endlessly, carrying on into empty space. "Axel, where are you?!" I turned around. The Gate was gone, but there was something else in it's place. A mass of color? No, it was clearing up, gaining definition, until I realized what it was. Or rather, who it was.

It was Catássa.

"Catássa!" I ran up to her. Yup, it was Catássa. The classic smirk on her face, flaming red hair to match her brother's, only longer, her face betraying signs of pain and age, and a scar coming from the top of her left ear down to her chin. "What are you doing here?"

"Axel went that way." She pointed into the distance, totally ignoring my question. "And I came to warn you. Now that you have your heart and your body back together, you'll start having," she searched for a word, "flashbacks. Uncontrollable flashbacks. But don't be afraid, Larissa." And she began to fade away.

"Catássa?" I cried, "Where are you—"

"Larissa, Larissa." She smiled, and shook her head sympathetically, "I was never really here."

And so I continued walking in the way that Catássa had pointed, while thoughts of the things she had said haunted me in the back of my mind. Flashbacks? Could I handle flashbacks back to Larissa's lifetime? My lifetime? And what was Catássa up to? Where was she? And where did she get that scar.

Someone familiar in the field of idioms might say I stumbled upon Axel when I didn't expect it. I, well, I would say I tripped over him.

I realized that I had found him when the world of blackness seemed to flip and fall, and I got a face full of the solid, black ground. "Axel!" I cried out when I realized what had made me fall. And I was right.

I pulled myself up off the ground, brushed myself off and took a good look at Axel. He looked nearly the same as always, yet something was different. He looked—peaceful. For once, nothing was bothering him. Nothing was stressing him out, and nothing was trying to kill him. Could I really bring up the courage to pull him out of such a trance…?

Yes.

A/N: Not a very long chapter, but it sure took me a while. Kudos to my lovely reviewers!!