A few days had passed since the personal meetings and all of a sudden it seemed, it was mission time. Demyx had spent the last few days training. His wound was almost completely healed and his element was coming back to him more each day. His water clones had grown greatly in number. He was very pleased with himself, the water clones couldn't attack really but more the better if he wanted to keep his promise to Axel.

Axel in the meantime had been memorising his line. Demeaning as it was, he'd even been given a script, exactly what to say. Apparently every detail was essential.

Demyx walked into their room, panting slightly after training with Xigbar to see Axel sat on the bed mouthing words to himself with his eyes closed. Demyx stood and watched. Not a single stutter, Axel knew his lines by heart. He opened his eyes and looked up at Demyx.

"Ready?"

Demyx nodded with a small smile.

"As ever, let's go."

The two headed to the meeting room where Saix had set up their dark portals to their separate destinations in Hollow Bastion. Demyx looked towards his doorway with a worried look. Axel's hand fell gently on his shoulder.

"Remember, I promised you'd be alright."

Demyx turned with a big grin on his face, the kind that gave Axel… what was that word? Hope.

"Right. And I'll keep my promise too."

Demyx leaned forward and kissed Axel on the lips before walking boldly into his portal. Saix coughed slightly at the corner of the room, not keen on the public display of affection. Axel blushed and hurried into his portal.

*

Demyx tried to gather himself as he was sucked through the darkness. He hadn't been totally honest with Axel. On his last mission, yes, he'd ran away from Cerberus. But after that he'd come across Sora, Roxas' somebody. He'd also lied a little to Axel about his element. He had managed to summon water, but only water clones, not a single attack. It had pained him so much. That Sora kid beat his clones easily and Demyx had made a hasty retreat. But like Axel, he'd had a script, he was meant to say word for word. He couldn't learn it like Axel had, so he'd wrote it on flashcards.

This time wasn't going to be much different. Demyx still was weakened, he still feared Sora and he still didn't know his lines… he'd make it up on the spot. Someone else should have done this job. No, this was different. He had Axel's promise that he'd be alright. The fire elementalist did know what he was talking about most of the time.

Light appeared and the darkness began to fade. Sora and his friends stood right in front of Demyx. Right, improvisation time.

"Hey, you guys are looking lively."

That was the best he could come up with? No wonder they got scripts.

"Scram."

"Didn't we catch you messing around in the underworld?"

Damn it, now with the questions. This wasn't covered in the script.

"How'd a wimp like you get into organization XIII?"

Ouch. He was very weak last time, there was no need for words like that. Demyx stumbled back a step. This Sora was a lot stronger than the one he'd met before.

"I bet you can't even fight."

"Yeah, but we can"

Such goading words, but true. He could fight, but not in the way Sora wanted him to if he wanted to keep his promise to Axel. He might look weak but when he was at full power, he'd been a force. Not that he ever liked to fight. He stuck out his arm with an almost scolding finger, like a parent telling off a child.

"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance."

Sora summoned the keyblade and his friends looked ready to fight. No, no he wasn't ready yet. Demyx turned round, he had to gather himself.

"Oooh, I told them they were sending the wrong guy…"

Demyx's ears picked up part of the conversation behind him. At least this Sora was decent enough to not attack someone while his back was turned.

"…Organization's made up of nobodies."

"Right, no hearts!"

Demyx straightened up. That wasn't true. If they had no hearts, they wouldn't be able to love, and Demyx knew for a fact that he loved Axel, more than anything. But then, what else could it be that made nobodies different from others. No, he wouldn't believe it. He turned back round.

"Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad…"

"You can't trick us!"

A slight anger fell over Demyx. Who were these to say whether or not he could feel. How could they ever know. At least he remembered the last line of his script.

"Silence, traitor."

He pointed deliberately at Sora, as he'd been told to. He felt his element surging around him at water droplets rose from the ground. He had to keep himself from smiling proudly, his training was paying off. Last time he'd needed an object to summon his sitar, hopefully this time he wouldn't need one. He shot his arm into the air and felt the cold water swirl around his fingertips, slowly forming. He broke the weaving and his sitar appeared above his hand. He caught it and twirled it in the air, not helping letting out a smirk. This. This was what he'd missed so long. But nonetheless, he had to remember his promise.

"Dance, water, dance!"

Water clones sprung up around him. A worthwhile shield. Sora and his friends leapt into action, slicing away at his clones, zapping them with magic and occasionally managing to break other clones using one of their own. Demyx tried to concentrate on his sitar playing but it was harder with a real opponent. The instant the last water clone was gone, Sora leapt at Demyx and hit him hard on the shoulder with his keyblade. Demyx reeled back slightly. That hurt. He held his sitar in front of him a little, hoping it could suffice as a shield too. Sora ran at him again, hitting him with a combo. Demyx screwed his eyes shut and let out a yelp.

Water surged up around him in a line of towering torrents. Sora gasped and jumped back a step. At least it kept him from attacking, but it didn't hurt Sora, the promise remained intact. Water didn't hurt as much in torrents and bubbles as it would in a sudden flood. Demyx let some water bubbles fall around Sora to keep him at bay. One of Sora's friends hit him from behind and he lost his concentration. Immediately Sora was back in there.

Demyx felt cuts and bruises appear where ever he left himself open to them. His sight waned slightly and desperation forced him to repeat his defences. Demyx sent up a tight circle of water torrents around him. He panted slowly to himself as he felt consciousness waver. Surly Sora couldn't reach him now. A splash made him turn as he saw Sora slicing through the torrents and right towards him, not stopping. Too weak now to fight back, Demyx let out a whimper as Sora slashed the keyblade across his chest.

Demyx stumbled backwards, something… something important, clenched at his… heart? He panted and fell to his hands and knees. His left hand gripped his sitar tight but it felt like it was slipping away. He slowly began to bring himself to his knees. In that instant, it was gone. His sitar, his element. Suddenly, half of him was gone. It felt like he'd been torn straight down the middle. He let out a retched gasp and let his hands fly to his head, almost checking he was still there.

"No waaaaayyy!"

He slumped forward, everything was gone, leaving. Axel. He felt his heart… it was a heart… right? Felt it ache. A sideways glace at his arm saw black, almost flakes, drifting up away from him. He was fading. He let out a small, gurgled cry as a bright light engulfed him, his element embracing a last goodbye. Darkness began to fade and light appeared. And in that instant, Demyx was gone.

Author here… don't kill me please. I promise, it's not the end yet. *hides from angry fans* er… since I may not live to make another chapter at this rate… I'm going into hiding for a few days till the heat cools off… basically I'm off on holiday. I le ave a peace offering of chocolate brownies. *runs*