*Axel*

"The kid's a jerk! He got into a fight with me and broke up with his girlfriend, my best friend, while in the fight! You're just going to let him go?" I demanded. Come on, Terra, side with me. Roxas can't get away after what he did to Xion!

"Yes, I'm letting him go. He didn't harm anyone. I will report this to his father, if that makes you feel better," Terra said calmly.

"Bull!" I stood up and brought my fist down on the table with anger. "I want that kid locked up!" I yelled. I know I'm being harsh, but I seriously hate Roxas.

"Axel, if you keep this up, I'm going to ask you to leave," Terra said, staring coldly at me. "This is my house," he reminded me.

"I know," I replied, looking around. Terra lived alone, in a small apartment. It was surprisingly simple. I'm not sure what I expected, but it was definitely more elaborate than this. Almost nothing was on the walls, and there were very few pieces of furniture, only the necessary ones.

"You haven't stopped looking around since Roxas left. Are you interested or surprised by my apartment?" Terra asked playfully.

"Both. I think I expected you to have samurai stuff or something," I admitted. My anger had mostly drained for some reason. "You do seem like the martial arts type."

Terra laughed loudly. He seemed to be releasing something – stress? - when he laughed.

"Terra, do you…have a… girlfriend?" I asked.

"What? Axel, are you…?" Terra was taken aback by my question, obviously. It took me a second to realize what he meant.

"No! Not at all! I'm just asking because you seem really lonely," I said.

"Oh." Terra looked down sadly. "I did, but she broke up with me shortly before I moved here."

"Will you tell me about her?" I asked. Terra seemed lonely, and that made me feel bad for him, and want to be his friend.

His eyes lit up. "She's absolutely amazing and beautiful. She's so kind, and she'd risk everything just for her friends. Her little sister is the cutest, too. What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No," I admitted. "The girl I like will never like me that way."

"So I guess we can understand each other a little," Terra said, smiling at me. I nodded.

"Xion, I'm coming in," I said, opening the door to her apartment. I came to check on her because after the way Roxas treated her, she was probably a wreck.

The apartment was silent, which meant it was empty. Why was the door unlocked? Xion and Kairi always lock it before they leave. Oh, my gosh, is Xion okay?

"Xion!" I shouted. Where is she?

"Oh, hello. Who are you?" a voice asked. I turned to see a tall, blue-haired, blue-eyed woman staring at me with a confused expression.

Not knowing what to do, I just stared at her. She and Xion have the same eyes. Now that I think about it, they do look quite a bit alike. Are they family? Maybe this woman is her mother? No, she looks too young to be a mother.

"Where's Xion?" I managed to come up with.

"She's…resting. Who are you?" The woman asked slowly, obviously suspicious.

"I'm Axel, Xion's friend. Can I go talk to her? I need to make sure she's okay," I said. The woman's eyes widened.

"How did you hear?" she whispered, stepping towards me. She looked angry, but still confused.

"What? I was there when it happened. How would I not know?" Who is this lady? Is she sick in the head?

"How were you there?" The woman was shocked.

"Um…what are you talking about?" I asked.

"Xion and I… Our parents died last week," the woman said while looking away sadly. She seems dramatic.

"What? Oh, my gosh. The poor girl! Her boyfriend broke up with her today, too," I said. How is Xion going to get through this? I need to help her. I need to talk to her!

"Thank you so much for coming to see me, Axel," Xion said, hugging me.

"No problem, buddy," I said, smiling at her. The blue-haired woman had turned out to be Xion's older sister, and her name was Aqua. She finally let Kairi - who had come home right after I had talked with Aqua - and I see Xion.

"Xion, tomorrow's Saturday, right? Do you want to do something together? Or maybe the four of us could go somewhere!" Kairi exclaimed nervously. We were all nervous. We didn't want to trigger any unpleasant emotions in Xion.

"Yeah, that'd be nice," Xion said, smiling. "You know, you guys don't have to be so stiff and nervous. Yes, I'm upset right now, but you don't have to be so careful. I'm still the same me."

"What? How'd you know we-?" I began, but couldn't finish.

"I know you two, Axel and Kairi. You're really laid-back and Kairi doesn't invite me places," Xion pointed out with a laugh.

"Do you feel as dumb as I do right now?" I asked Kairi. She nodded.

"Well, Xion is pretty smart, you know," Aqua said, walking into the room with a glass of water.

"Oh, I get served, too? Why don't you stay forever, Aqua? I could use a few more servants!" Xion said sarcastically, smiling.

"Oh, Xi, you're so funny," Aqua laughed. She'd been tense this entire time, and I knew that she wasn't going to give it up just because Xion said to. I knew that their history wasn't good, for Xion had never even mentioned Aqua, and Xion loved to talk about those who made her happy, even if it was just a bum on the street that smiled at her.

Just what have they been through? They're both so tense around each other. While Aqua looks like she loves and cares about Xion, Xion just stares at her sister with a faraway look in her eyes that's almost hostile. That look isn't natural in Xion.

"Either way, we should still do something tomorrow, Xion! What do you want to do? Should we go somewhere?" Kairi asked, breaking the silence that had formed.

Xion nodded.

Xion came to me crying after school on Monday. I pulled her into a quick hug, then helped her calm down before asking her to explain what had happened.

"Can we talk about this in private, please?" she asked, her voice cracking and her eyes glossy with the oncoming tears.

Crap, this is serious. Xion really needs me. What place calms her down? It's not warm enough for the beach, is it? Let's see, it's mid-February. No, it's not warm enough. We could go to town? Uh, no. Aqua's waiting back at her place, so we can't go there. Oh, I know!

"Xion, I'm going to take you somewhere to talk about this, okay?" I said calmly.

"W-what? Where are we going?" she asked between sniffles.

"You'll see," I said, smiling. I hoped I was comforting her. I hated seeing her like this. It broke my heart.

I was nervous to knock on the door once I got to it. Before, I had this all figured out, but once we got here, I had lost my courage and felt myself go weak.

I knocked on the door once, lightly. Then three times, harder.

Xion and I stood there, waiting. She was sniffling and I was mentally panicking.

The door opened and Terra peered out. I saw Xion's eyes widen.

"Axel? What are you doing here?" Terra asked, looking surprised.

"Um, well, can we come in? Please?" I asked, considering getting down on my knees to beg.

Terra paused, studying Xion and me. Eventually, he relaxed and gestured for us to come in.

Xion and I stepped inside, and I noticed her looking around, like I had been the first time I came here.

"Do you guys want anything to drink?" Terra asked.

"Just water, please," I requested. "One for her too, as well, please."

Terra brought us two glasses of water, told us to sit down at the table, and left. I guess he knew I wanted to talk to her alone.

Now in private, she explained that it was several things coming together to upset her. First of all, her Roxas problem was an issue. She had not finished a huge assignment on time for one class and was really stressed about that. Also, Aqua showing up and reminding her of her horrible past upset her. She felt like she was a failure for not being able to face her past. She said that wasn't the only reason. She felt she wasn't good enough for Roxas, her honors classes, me, or anything else. She had begun crying and sobbing loudly after pouring her heart out.

I stood up, walked over to her, and hugged her. I let her sit there and cry on my shoulder for a little while. I finally stepped back and looked at her.

"Xion, don't give up on yourself. I know it gets hard. It really does. But you always have me, I promise. I love you and will help you in any way I can. You are not a failure. I believe in you, Xion," I said slowly and calmly, hoping to soothe her.

She had gone dead quiet. She was staring at me, tears still silently running down her face, her hair pressed against the wet tracks her tears had left. Her hands were close to her face, hovering. She looked genuinely shocked and surprised.

She stood up and threw her arms around me. I returned the hug, hoping to calm her even more.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much. I don't know how to tell you what this means to me, Axel. What would I do without you?"

"Well, that's what I'm here for: you," I said, glad I could help her feel better.

I looked up and saw Terra leaning against the wall, staring at us, smiling. He wasn't staring at us, but instead seemed to be staring into the past, at some cherished memory.

"Did you really mean everything you said?" Xion said. We were once again sitting at Terra's table.

"Of course, Xion! In fact, you're so much better than what I said. I'd really like to crush Roxas's puny face for you right now," I said, smirking.

Xion laughed. When she did so, I realized it was the first time in a while I had seen her smile at all, let alone laugh. However, there was still evidence of her crying, so it kind of ruined my realization.

"Thanks, Axel. I wasn't sure how I was going to deal with my problems, but I now know that everything will be okay, as long as we're best friends," Xion said, smiling. I nodded in agreement.