Author's Note: Wow, that's gotta be record time for a new chapter! I just felt like writing, I guess. You should tell me what you think of Xaldin in this chapter. It would make me happy. Like red balloons make me happy. (Inside joke that absolutely no one would get.)

Disclaimer: -insert fancy way to say "I don't own KH" here-

Drixana

Drixana's blue eyes snapped open. Her breathing came hard and fast as she stared into the two o'clock darkness in her room. She closed her eyes tight and opened them again, trying to slow her breathing. Eventually, she succeeded. She was still badly shaken; it had seemed so real.

In her dream, she had been Adrian again. She had been walking along her old street in her old city. She had come to the spot where her house was, but it wasn't there. Instead was the vast darkness. She turned and tried to run but it had followed her and it had caught her. In there, she was completely alone. She didn't even have the other Nobodies of the Organization. Not even her own heart for company. She had been utterly alone.

But she was back in the World That Never Was.

"Hardly an improvement," she muttered to herself. She heaved a sigh.

She was too shaken up to fall asleep again. She hardly would have believed it before she had gone to bed that night. After training she had been so worn out that she had fallen asleep at 6:00 without even getting undressed.

She didn't want sleep anyways. It seemed to trick her brain into feeling regardless of the fact that her heart was gone. She was rather annoyed with herself that the emotion her mind chose was fear. XIV sighed, staring at the blank ceiling above her.

Then, promptly, she rolled out of bed and landed softly on her feet. Drixana rolled her shoulders and her neck- she was very tense- and started towards the door. She still felt a little shaky. Maybe a bit of walking would help. Maybe she should eat something. That seemed a good idea. She could really accomplish both, because the kitchen was a ways from her room.

Drixana opened and closed the door softly before starting towards the kitchen. The rhythmic sound of her footsteps was soothing, and Drixana could some of the tension fading from her. Not all of it, of course, but some. Her breathing became steadier as she walked.

Number XIV paused in the hallway leading to the kitchen. There was a light on inside. Cautiously, curiously, the young Nobody stepped into the room. Xaldin was leaning against a counter, drinking coffee. He looked up when Drixana entered the kitchen, his violet eyes surveying her over the top of his mug.

"What are you doing up this early, Number XIV? You're just asking for trouble."

Drixana, who had been rather wary of The Whirlwind Lancer since she had first seen him, took a step backwards, wondering if that was a threat. "What do you mean?"

The smallest of smiles touched the corners of Number III's lips. "Axel won't take any pity on you regardless of how much sleep you had. You should realize this by now."

Drixana relaxed a little. "I guess so…"

For a few moments, they stood in silence, Xaldin taking another drink of coffee. Drixana was considering turning around and waiting in her room for breakfast time to come when Xaldin spoke again. "Drixana, right?"

Number XIV nodded but did not reply.

"I wonder, Drixana, what you are doing up so early."

Drixana tried to think of a lie to tell him, but nothing came to mind. She muttered, barely audible, "Nightmare…"

Xaldin nodded before finishing his drink and setting the mug down on the counter with a soft click. "I remember those."

The young Nobody tilted her head a little inquiringly. "Really?"

The Lancer was walking around the counter to the sink where he began washing his mug along with various other dishes. "Everyone has them. They're part of this poor excuse for a life. They don't come as often after a while."

Drixana let this sink in before asking a question of her own. "What are you doing up this early, Number III… uh… sir?"

Xaldin laughed a little to himself. Sir? "I just returned from a mission."

"How did it go?"

"Well enough."

Drixana nodded, glanced at the coffee mug in the dish drainer and asked, "Why are you drinking caffeine this early in the morning? It seems like you'd want to sleep…"

"Soon, yes. Caffeine doesn't keep me up as it does most." Xaldin dropped a few forks into the dish drainer and wiped his hands on a towel before heading towards the hallway leading out of the kitchen. He stopped next to Number XIV and put a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Come on, you really should try to get some sleep."

Drixana, who had stiffened slightly at the contact, relaxed a little and nodded, resigned to the terrible world that she might well be casting herself into.

Xaldin flicked off the light in the kitchen on his way out. He paused to let Drixana catch up with him. "So, is Axel a tough mentor?"

Drixana gave a humorless laugh, "You've no idea."

"I imagine he takes after his own teacher."

"And who was that?"

"Xigbar."

"I can kind of see the connection."