look at me go! chapter seven already, im on fire! -blame axel-

i WAS going to start quoting songs for this, but i decided to MAYBE save that for the sequel cause that one is going to be more serious than this one. What do you guys think about that? plus i wouldnt want to start quoting halfway through :'(

i have most of this story prewritten, but major changes have caused my binder to remain three chapters behind, so its kinda hard to keep track...

Disclaimer: You know, I almost forgot this part.... I don't own anything that Square Enix has rights to. If I did, it would be a sad day for Sora and Kairi (but not Riku, cause he's S.P.I.F.F.Y). I also don't own Dairy Queen, lol.

CHAPTER 7

Marluxia's room, it was safe to declare, was filled with nature. There was a giant plant blocking her view from much of the space, but from what she could observe, there were flower petals and plant pots everywhere. It smelled fantastic and the actual flowers looked amazing, not to mention the array of colors they seemed to be portraying. Pretty didn't cover it.

Suddenly the plant in front of the vent cover bent down and Marluxia stood with a glare in its place.

"Speak, woman."

...

Rixah tried to control her voice, after all, she had to earn brownie points with this guy somehow. "Axel blocked the door in Zexion's room after tricking me inside. Could you get me out, then help me move whatever's blocking it? ....Please?"

Marluxia grinned evilly. "Why of course not. Little girls shouldn't hit their peers."

Suffice it to say: Rixah was practically foaming at the mouth. Curses flew out of her mouth non-stop at the Assassin like bees to a flower.

"Silence." And Rixah shut up. "I will assist you, at a price."

The bolts were unscrewed, yet Rixah was skeptical. "Price?" she asked and climbed out of the vent.

If Zexion had such allergies, why wasn't his vent closed off? What a liar.

Something curled around Rixah's ankle and she looked down to see a think, green vine. How was that possible? Vines didn't move that fast, did they?

She cussed, then attempted to kick it off, but it was cutting the circulation off and lifting her upside down. Once she was four feet up in that air, she shouted, "Zexion, your such a-"

The brunette cut off and screamed a high C as a giant venus fly trap revealed itself from a darker corner of the room. By now, of course, Larxene had appeared and was madly cackling.

"D-damn it to hell!" She struggled, then tried to reach for her ankle. Not to get the vine off just yet, no, but to unhook the pocket knife from her anklet. What could she say? She was paranoid. And for good reason, it seemed. Unfortunately she couldn't reach, so she resolved to just hanging there and glaring daggers at the two evils.

"Damn. It. To. Hell." She repeated with reiteration.

Larxene gave another freaky giggle, then pointed to the vent. "Ohh, look, its the Schemer. Ha. What a joke. Are you gonna read me a story, shorty?"

"Larxene," Zexion said, jumping down, "do not tempt me to do just that. XI, put the girl down."

"Zexion," Marluxia said, putting on a horrified look, then reverting in an instant, "she's a Somebody. I should think that you of all people would like to see her suffer."

Zexion replied with venom lacing into voice, "Obviously that is not the case. Set her down. That is an order, Number XI."

Marluxia grumbled something incoherent, then nodded.

And the plants released their grip, leaving Rixah to fall onto Zexion.

"This is starting to be an issue," Rixah uttered, then got up quickly.

Zexion stood and glared at the chuckling Nymph and Assassin. "Obviously so. Marluxia, this particular collection of greenery is prohibited, therefore when we return I will be reporting this."

"Do what you want. Just leave."

So they did. When they got out into the hallway, the door shut behind them, and they were left alone.

"I hate him."

Zexion nodded in agreement. They decided to bother with the plant pot later, after some breakfast. Or lunch... or... dinner.... Well, just food in general. Rixah, of course, had to use the bathroom first. It took Rixah eighteen minutes to finish in there, and, him, ten to ask himself why he was waiting for her and to move on.

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"This is taking longer than I had first thought," Xemnas said slowly.

"It's that ingrate, Number VIII," Sai'x practically spit the numeral.

Xemnas shook his head and declared, "the fact that they can withstand each-others company will be enough for now."

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After that meal, Rixah went back to her room and showered.

She hadn't seen Axel yet, but when she did, oh he was dead.

What had that idiot been thinking? That couldn't have been more embarrassing. Well, it could have, but it was better not to dwell on that right now. The horrible part was that it made her hyper for some reason.

Ah, teenage hormones.

Rixah cursed them, then got ready for a hectic day and snatched her I-pod and cellphone up -putting her cell in her pocket-. Then the violet-eyed brunette shoved the ear-buds into her ears and turned her I-pod on. It was already as loud as it could go, much to her disfavor. She then proceeded to mentally admonish herself.

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Axel, on the other hand, gave a triumphant smirk and a shake of the head at the girl's ignorance as to what they really were. Or was it what they weren't? The latter, definitely.

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Rixah's cellphone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out to check and see who it was. Her cell was sleek and black. It had little grey hearts decorating it, too.

It was Tanya Twinite.

Rixah flipped it open. "What is it, mom?"

"Have you made new friends, hun? The butler is keeping an eye on you all, right?" She asked frantically.

Rixah's eyes softened; a rare occasion, even if it was a tad bit ironic. "Yeah, mom. He is." She completely ignored the first inquiry, though.

"Great! Look, sweety, are you finished getting ready for the funeral yet? I'm downstairs waiting."

"What? Who died?" And why should I care?- was the silent addition.

"Great-grandma Rita died last week! Oh my god, I didn't tell you? I'm so sorry!"

"N-no. Its alright. I'll be right down." Well, Rixah was already wearing black anyways...

Great-grandma Rita was one of the few people that didn't criticize Rixah for her decisions. She'd even tried to show Rixah how to make cookies. As well as that had worked out -badly-, Rixah never did take interest in cooking. Though she was a nice old lady, no digression there.

She was dressed in a thick black sweater and shorts, along with sandals. Her brown hair was left down. Not spiffy, but enough.

On the way to the grave, after the ceremony, her mom said, "now you are going to stay by me at all times."

That was new.

"I'm not two, you know," huffed a suddenly tired Rixah.

"No. But you ARE staying next to me," her mother ordered in a tone Rixah had never heard from the woman before.

When they did get there, Rixah was not surprised at the amount of graves. They got out of their black car and met up with a sobbing grandma Twinite. Rixah took this opportunity to slip away. There was something her mother didn't want her to see. Or at least someone she wasn't supposed to talk to. The last theory could turn out bad though...

The second to last grave shouldn't have stunned her, like it did. It'd always been on her depressing list of theories.

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//FLASHBACK\\

"Mom, I'm not going anywhere!" an eight-year-old Rixah practically screamed.

"Sweety," her mother attempted to comfort the girl, "we'll move to an apartment..."

"NO! I hate this! Dad wouldn't have made us move! We don't even have any pictures of him anymore! I can't even remember what he looks like. Its... like he's dead."

Tanya twitched.

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//PRESENT\\

If you haven't guessed what had befallen her father by now, then you have the intellect of a small elephant -no offense intended, though I do snicker at you for it. Hehe. There.-

Her father had been gone a long time; that didn't hurt as much as the fact that her own mother lied to her about it.

It wasn't that far back to the mansion. Maybe she could run back and try to forget this ever happened...

A solid whistle startled her from the left. Axel was inside of a truck, waving to her from the driver's seat, looking sympathetic sympathetic, but Rixah wouldn't put it past him that it wasn't for her because he was parked -not to mention holding up a line- on the Personnel Only road.

The brunette stumbled over to the truck, completely discarded the incident from earlier. Her fury then didn't compare to what she was going through now. Sometimes she wished she didn't have to feel at all...

"Hey, kid, sorry. Wanna get in? I won't bite, promise."

Rixah opened, then closed, her mouth. Not trusting her own voice, she nodded slowly but couldn't bring herself to level her gaze with his. She climbed in and he revved to engine, then drove off.

"W-when'd you get a car?" Rixah mumbled, leaning up against the window as the scenery flew by.

Axel leaned over to ruff up her long, brunette hair but kept his eyes on the road. "Hey," he repeated, then sat back, "I thought that was your dad's grave, but, uh, you know..."

Thought that was your dad's grave, but, uh, you know...

He was dead. Her only father was dead. He'd just been gone before, and she liked to believe he was dead to her. So much for not harboring any hope.

Before she had time to think recovering thoughts, Rixah finally broke down and her shoulders heaved with hysterical sobs. She couldn't hear what Axel said. Couldn't think. Couldn't focus. Wasn't even aware of her surroundings.

Didn't notice Axel look away, a replica of jealousy hot in his emerald eyes.

Axel pulled a tissue out of seemingly nowhere and handed it to her indifferently. Rixah was not a pretty crier, and her makeup was undoubtedly streaking down her face.

Rixah registered the window rolling down, and was vaguely aware of Axel's non-existent presence. A/N he just left... not to mean she figured out he wasn't meant to exist. :P

Somebody walked up to her window. "Your father died in a car crash, correct?" Rixah covered her ears in a half-hearted attempt to ignore him. His voice was cold and uncaring, filled with horrible, impenetrable steel. Yet her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly and she actually tried to quiet herself and listen. "Axel relayed to me the dates on the grave. If you are sixteen, you should not be capable of conjuring any sustainable memories of that man."

"She," Rixah got choked up again, "lied to-me, she LIED!" And the crying started up. More amplified than it had started out as.

Needless to say, Zexion felt uncomfortable. He could smell her salty tears and wet, running makeup over the scent of the perfume. When the vehicle had first pulled in and Zexion saw Rixah breaking down in the front seat and Axel step out, he was immediately suspicious of the Flurry of Dancing Flames.

Axel passed the Schemer moodily, saying, "she won't shut up. Be a good boy and buy her some ice-cream. Or at least get IX to do it, got it memorized?" And if you don't, you'll be ashes before you can come up with a smart-ass comment to go along with your decline- was what the mood he was currently displaying portrayed.

Naturally, Zexion was tempted to get Demyx, or even Marluxia to take the girl away. He'd heard on a radio about a place called a "drive in theatre" though, and decided -despite him not able to take well to motion pictures- that he would like to be a witness of their so called "entertainment". If it was bad, he would vow to never waste his time with anything such as that again.

Zexion sighed heavily and went over to the side in which you drove in.

Obtain ice-cream. Let her eat it. Drop her off at one of her friends'. Watch a movie. That was all on his to-do list and more, minus all of the big, "Zexion" words, of course.

They pulled into Dairy Queen and parked.

Meanwhile, Rixah had been controlling the liquid her eyes were exerting and was merely drawing shaky breaths. The Somebody was redoing her makeup in the mirror. Axel had somehow gotten up to her room and back to toss it through the window.

"After this, you can drop me off at this address..."

"Understood." He did a mental eye-roll and thought about all of the things he could be doing insted of this. He really should just leave her there.

OH, and be sure to review, lol. i had to redo this cause i forgot endnote. what are your opinions on my characterization of axel?