A/N: Hopefully another chapter will keep my reviewers happy, like a late Christmas present, or something. I've been neglecting review replies for a while, but I'll go ahead and do some now.

Dustie-chan: Ooh, why am I even replying to you?

Clow12391: Can do!

Readergirl-290: Yeah, I totally understand.

RubberDuckiesWhoLikePieAndCake: Thanks! And here's an update for you!

Wow, that was boring.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Updates may be slow for a few days, because my parents bought me Final Fantasy XII and I'm currently obsessing over it. Don't worry, I won't slow down for very long.

ANNOUNCEMENT: After much thinking and an hour and a half conversation with Dustie-chan up there, I have decided to turn this into a trilogy. Yes, trilogy. Three stories. Numero threeo. Keep watch for the next and last one soon, as it will be called The Beginning of the End.

ANNOUNCEMENT: (my god, what is with me today?) I'm pondering a penname change, so you may not be able to find me. So, if you have my profile bookmarked as I suggest you change it to my permanent one, just in case I change it.

Alrighty then.

Next to Nothing:

Chapter Seven:

"Reminiscence"

"I know I said I'd never go back, but…" I said, trailing off. It was true. I had sworn that I would never return to The World that Never Was, only to turn back on my words again.

"We understand, Larissa." Aerith said, her voice filled with the usual understanding.

"I mean, after all, we're Sora's friends too." Yuffie said meaningfully, looking at Leon, who nodded with agreement. "So, naturally, we're coming."

This was not quite how I imagined things. I didn't expect the rest of them to come with us. I had expected them to offer an airship, maybe even drop us off, but I didn't think they would want to come look for Sora, Riku and Kairi in the very place that Death itself feared. The city of non-existence. Was Sora really that important to them that they would travel to the World that Never Was just to save him?

"Alright, then," I said, quite unsure of what to say. "I guess that's that. Let's go."

Moments later, Axel and I sat silently side-by-side in the cabin part of Cid's airship. He just stared straight ahead, so I assumed he was deep in thought, and I probably shouldn't bother him. I looked down at my feet, sighing slightly.

"Catássa contacted you, didn't she?" He said suddenly, waking me from my trance-like state. I smiled guiltily back at him.

"Yeah, she did. Many times, actually. Visions, dreams, apparitions. Has she contacted you?"

"No."

"Well, that doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?" I said, thinking, "You guys always seemed like best friends back—back when—well, back in Starlight." I couldn't quite bring myself to say 'back when we were alive'.

Axel grimaced. "Well, it wasn't always that way. I've never told you about how things were before you came, and I'm assuming Catássa didn't either."

No, she hadn't. She hadn't even suggested that things had been different before I came. What was being hidden and guarded so secretly?

"It started, well, it all started with my mother. I barely remember her, but I know from looking at the old photographs that she was very pretty, with long red hair, tall and thin with a willowy kind of figure. I do remember how kind she was, and how she never had a negative word about anyone. And she had the prettiest name, everyone said, for her name was Catássa.

"When I was five years old, we found out that she was going to have another baby. Of course, I was terribly excited, at the thought of a little brother or sister. A companion. Someone I could play with when I was lonely. When we found out it would be a girl, we picked out an old family name for her. Ari. It seemed like all was well then, but some things went wrong, and when my sister was born, my mother died. So, instead of naming her Ari like we had planned, my father chose to name her Catássa, after my mother.

"I hated it. It felt like my father was trying to replace my mother. I refused to spend any time with the new baby, because my new sister had taken my mother away. And even as I grew older and grew to love my sister, I still wouldn't call her by her name."

"And that's why you always called her Tassa?"

"Yeah. Just let me finish, Rissa.

"She never really understood why I always seemed to be mad at her. If she—if there's a chance she spoke to my mother, she might understand. If she finally understood why I had hated her so much in life, then, I figured she would torture me and the people I loved in death."

Axel looked like he was in so much pain, the pain of remembering something so awful. As my eyes welled up, I realized that I would do anything to put a smile back on his face.

I glanced across the table, at Avery. His big emerald eyes flitted across the pages of a manga as he leaned back in his chair, so it was standing on only tow legs. I rolled my eyes as I realized that he had his feet on the table, and I momentarily entertained myself with thoughts of what our wicked librarian would do to him. I decided to try and make small talk, and ask him about what he was reading.

"Hey, Avery," I began, turning back to my book. Hopefully, he hadn't noticed that I had been staring at him.

"What?" he said, slightly startled. At once, one of his feet slipped, and he went crashing to the floor, manga and all. I blinked for a moment.

"Oh, Avery…" I sighed, smiling to myself as I walked over and offered my hand to the red-haired guy laying on the floor, still clutching his manga. He stared blankly at my hand for a moment, as if deciding whether or not he was going to take it. After his short moment of hesitation, he took my hand and I pulled him off the ground. His hand didn't quite feel like I had expected, for his grip was strong and sure, both comforting and nerve-racking at the same time, so warm but it sent chills down my spine.

All at once, I realized that I didn't want to let go, and I had half a mind not to. The all-too-familiar blush was creeping up my face, and all at once, I was ambushed by another realization. I had never been this close to Avery before. I shuffled through all of my memories, but never had I been this close to him that I thought I could feel his heartbeat. Or was that mine? Everything seemed fuzzy, all my thoughts running together and colliding with one another, but it didn't seem to matter. And at that very moment, I realized a number of things:

The library was deserted.

The manga that was in his hand had suddenly disappeared, and the hand in question was now on my waist.

And I still hadn't let go.

"Larissa," Axel shook me lightly, just enough to wake me from my flashback, "Rissa, what did you remember?"

I said nothing, but I looked into his eyes and told him everything.

Yuffie burst back into the cockpit, and immediately cried, "That one Axel guy is making out with Larissa in the back of the passenger compartment!"

Aerith rolled her eyes. "I thought it had gotten a little quiet back there."

"Should we tell them we've arrived?" Yuffie asked, giggling to herself.

"Nah," said Leon. "They'll figure it out."

A/N: Not one of my longer chapters, but it was pretty high-density if you ask me.