I woke up, yawning and stood up, stretching.
"Time to go on more missions. I'm tired of searching." I muttered, walking out of my room. As I walked down the hall, I slipped my cloak on and zipped it up. I didn't bother to flip my hood over my head like I normally would. I entered the Grey Area to see Roxas and Axel sitting there. They were in the middle of a conversation. I noticed Demyx playing his sitar quickly on the opposite side of the room, and Luxord just sitting there relaxing. Quickly, I walked over to Saix.
"Oh, it lives." He muttered, sarcasm present in his voice.
"Hit me with some missions." I demanded. He shook his head.
"You're to go and talk with Vexen today. That's the only mission you have." He told me. I watched Axel look up from the corner of my eye. I shook my head.
"No." I told him. Saix looked at me, his eyes lowered into a glare.
"Excuse me?" I heard him ask.
"I'm not going to talk to Vexen." I told him. Saix took a step toward me. He was much taller than me.
"You will do as your told, Nobody." He said with a stern voice.
"No." I repeated. Everyone in the room was looking at us now. No one was allowed to backtalk Saix. He was second-in-command.
"You will go to Vexen." He told me once again.
"Why? So you guys can perform tests on me. I don't think so." I told him. He was getting angry, I could tell as he took another step towards me.
"Is that defiance?" He asked me.
"No, not defiance. I refuse to be a lab rat." I told him. I heard Axel chuckle and Saix turned to him.
"Something to say, Axel?" He asked him.
"No, but I'll take her to Vexen." He spoke up. I turned to Axel, glaring.
"Very well. Get going. Maybe she'll listen to you." Saix growled, turning to face the moon of Kingdom Hearts. I watched Axel walk over to me and he grabbed my arm, dragging me out of the room.
"How dare you!" I snapped at him, shoving him hard against the wall. Axel groaned and looked at me.
"Jinx..." He started. I didn't let him finish. I kicked him hard in the shin and glared at him.
"How could you do this to me?! You're supposed to be my friend!" I shouted. He looked down at the ground, not making eye contact. I didn't care.
"Jinx... would you listen to me?" He asked me, his voice soft and low.
"No! I trusted you! You were my friend! I did as you asked! I've been careful for one whole month, and then you turn around and do this to me! You bastard! How can I even call you my friend anymore?!" I continued shouting at him as I saw Roxas walk down the same hallway. He stopped to look at us, noticing Axel was upset.
"Jinx..." Axel muttered.
"Shut up! I can't believe this!" I snapped at him again. I was so upset. All I wanted to do was hurt Axel and then run. Run from the Organization and never come back.
"I... would you please just listen?" He asked me again. Roxas continued to stand there.
"No! You know what Vexen will do to me! You know that he'll run all those goddamn tests on me! God knows what he'll do to me! If he finds out anything about me, he might turn me into his goddamn lab rat! Is that really what you want?! I can't believe you would do this to me! Send me to that monster to become a goddamn test subject, a fucking lab rat!!" I screamed at him. I took a step toward him, raising my hand to hit him. I felt a hand grab my arm.
"Jinx. Stop it." I heard the blonde speak up. He held my arm tightly.
"Roxas... mind your own goddamn business." I snapped at him, shoving him away from me so that he let go of my arm. Roxas stood there, shaking his head.
"You need to let Axel talk and stop your yelling. If Saix hears you, he'll come out here and things will just get worse." He told me. I glared at him.
"So what?! Let that bastard come out here! I don't care anymore!" I snapped. Axel took a step forward, pinning me against the wall so I couldn't move. I began struggling to get free.
"Jinx! Shut up!" He demanded. I glared at him and spit in his face. Axel looked away from me, wiping the saliva off his face. I continued struggling.
"Let me go, you bastard!" I shouted at him. At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in the side of my face. My eyes widened as I looked at Axel. He had hit me, and it had made my whole body freeze up.
"I'm not sending you to become a damn lab rat! I'm taking you to Vexen but I will not leave you there alone. I will be with you the whole time, whether Vexen likes it or not. If he has a problem with it, I will tell him to shut his face and do his goddamn work. I will not abandon you with that thing." He told me. I looked at him, and he let me go. I fell to my knees, my whole body shaking.
"I don't want to go.... I know he'll perform tests on me... he'll treat me like he does the replica." I muttered. Roxas was staring at us. Axel backed away from me.
"Just come with me. I promise that I'll be there with you the whole time. Maybe Vexen just wants to talk to you about why you've been avoiding missions the whole time. I hope he doesn't do anything drastic 'cause I'll have to kick the shit out of him if he does." I watched Axel's hands clench into fists, and then I saw Roxas' eyes widen as he stared at Axel. Could he be thinking the same thing as me?
"Axel... I..." I didn't know if I should even bother to ask him, but I stood up and touched his cheek with my hand.
"Huh?" He seemed to snap out of his daze.
"Let's go." I nodded, a smile on my face.
We walked into the basement where Vexen's room was. I knocked softly on the door, wincing when the man I despised opened it to look at me.
"Ah, you've finally decided to come down here, and you brought the pyro with you. How lovely. Do come in." He told us, opening the door. I entered carefully with Axel right behind me.
"What do you want?" I asked him, rather rudely.
"Saix has asked that I run some tests on you." He told me. I glared at him, my hands automatically balling into fists. I was ready to hit him.
"I'm not a goddamn test subject!" I snapped at him. Axel placed his hand on my shoulder as Vexen spun around to look at me.
"Hmm... and that's exactly why he has asked that I do these tests. He believes that there is more to you than meets the eye." Vexen informed me. I glared at him.
"I refuse to be a damn test subject, some damn lab rat that you think you can run tests on. Forget it!" I snapped again. Axel moved closer to me, as if he were protecting me.
"Calm down, Jinx." He whispered. I took his hand and held it tightly.
"I'm sorry, Axel." I whispered back as Vexen went through his stuff and opened a door that led to a lab.
"In here, please." He told me from the other room. I entered it with great hesitation.
"Ugh, this place is horrid. Is this where you made the replica?" I asked him. Vexen looked at me.
"Oh, the Riku replica. Yes. I created him..." I didn't let him finish.
"From the real Riku's memories. I already know." I told him. Vexen eyed me with curiousity.
"Sit on the table please." He told me as he grabbed some strange device. I looked at Axel, my eyes focused on him.
"I'll be right here." He whispered. I nodded my head and sat down on the table. Vexen walked over and examined me. I glared at him the whole time and when he touched me, I shoved him away on instinct.
"Now, now, now. You need to relax as I record the results and finish the examination." He told me as he continued the tests.
I walked out of the room, my anger spiked beyond belief. Vexen wouldn't tell me what he was writing down, and I had the urge to kick the door down and take it from him. I wanted to know what the tests were about. I was becoming more and more frustrated. I was rushing out of the basement as fast as I could before the urge was something I acted on. I felt a hand grab my arm and stop me.
"Would you slow down?" I heard the fiery pyro ask me. I didn't look at him.
"I'm sorry...." I whispered. I felt him loosen his grip and in that instant, I raised my hand and summoned a portal, running through it.
I felt the wind on my face, the smell of the salt in the air stung at my nose and I walked out towards the water. I stood there, the water washing itself over my boots as I stared out at the ocean. I felt bad that I just ran off on Axel after he stayed with me, but my anger had been getting the best of me. I continued to stand there, letting myself fall back against the sand. I heard the seagulls above talking to each other, their sound becoming familiar. I loved the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, the feeling of the warm wind against my skin, the smell of the ocean. This island was becoming my paradise, my sanctuary. I would run here from now on when I needed to get away from the darkness.
"Enjoying a day at the beach?" I heard a voice ask me. I sat up and noticed him standing there. I jumped to my feet and poked him hard in the chest.
"I have been searching for you!" I snapped at him. He raised an eyebrow, looking at me.
"Searching?" He asked. I nodded my head.
"Yeah, are you deaf?" I asked him. He took his blindfold off, and took a step towards me.
"Now why in the world are you looking for me? Your friend seemed to want you to stay away from me the last time we met." He told me. I looked back out at the ocean.
"Axel's just... protective. He's worried he'll lose me, Riku." I told him, sitting down on the sandy beach again. I watched Riku sit next to me.
"Was there something in particular that you wanted with me?" He asked me, his eyes focused on me.
"Yes. I want to know about this girl that you knew. I want to know everything about Jine." I told him. My eyes were focused on the ocean.
"Oh, I see. Well, there's a lot I could tell you." Riku told me. I looked at him.
"You must have been close to her. Please, Riku... I need to know. You told me that I look like her. I want to know if I could possibly be her Nobody." I told him, almost begging. I needed answers, and he was the only one who could give them to me. I would do anything to get the answers I needed.
"Well, I was really close to her. She was... special to me." He told me, looking out at the ocean now. I didn't look away from him.
"Then tell me. I'll do anything for the answers I need!" I begged him. He looked at me, smiling.
"Okay, what do you need to know?" He asked me. I smiled at him.
"Everything." I whispered.
We spent a long time talking about this world, and I decided I needed to start asking the questions.
"So, this was home to everyone?" I asked him.
"Yes. This was home to Sora, Kairi, Jine and myself. Destiny Islands. We were building a raft to explore other worlds because we believed that there were others out there." Riku smiled, thinking back on those memories.
"What did Jine look like?" I asked him, staring at the ocean.
"She looked a lot like you. Silver and black hair, lime green eyes, perfect skin, and a beautiful smile. Her voice was soft and calm, soothing. She loved the ocean, too. You could see how much she adored it in her eyes." He smiled. I found myself smiling.
"Did she have a personality like mine?" I couldn't help but know.
"Well, she was pretty calm most of the time. She would always stay quiet except when I talked to her, and even then she was quiet. She blushed a lot, especially when I was around, or talking to her. She was really close to Sora. They were like brother and sister, almost inseparable. It was pretty funny, actually. When she was angry, she was uncontrollable. I remember her older brother upsetting her, and I found her here just fuming. She flew off the handle, cursing up a storm and then she would just relax listening to the ocean. It was her calm, her peace of mind." He grinned.
"Oh, then she's nothing like me. I'm not really quiet, and I'm always angry. I can't stand being with the Organization anymore." I muttered. Riku laughed.
"Well, maybe you're the other half of her." He told me.
"Well, what was the deal with you and her? You said she was really special to you." I told him. I saw him look at me.
"Yes. I... loved her." He whispered. I looked at him.
"Loved... her? Uhm, excuse me for asking... but what is love?" I asked him. He looked at me, grinning.
"That's right. You don't know emotions. You don't have a heart." He chuckled. I glared at him.
"Oh, thanks for reminding me, asshole." I snarled. He put his hands up in front of him.
"No, no. I didn't mean it in a bad way. I was just saying that it slipped my mind that you didn't know about emotions." He told me. I calmed down, giggling.
"I guess it slips my mind every now and then, too." I laughed. He smiled at me.
"Well, love is when you really care about someone, and you'd do anything for them. You want them to be happy, and you can't seem to get them off your mind. It's an amazing feeling." He smiled, staring at the ocean.
"Really? I'd like to know what love is. Are there any special parts to it?" I asked him. Riku looked at me, nodding.
"We used to hold hands, cuddle, stay close together... and we used to kiss." He told me, the sun setting now. I'd spent hours with him now, and it felt so nice. I wished I could do this with Axel.
"Kiss?" I asked him. The word sounded strange.
"Mhm..." He muttered, smiling. He was thinking about it now. It was easy to tell.
"What the hell is a kiss?" I asked him.
"I can't tell you. You have to see it or feel it for yourself to understand it." He told me. I stared at him, curiousity getting the best of me.
"Then show me." I told him. I wanted to know what this was. I wanted to have a heart again, and I'd do anything to have that happen.
"What?" He seemed shocked as he looked at me.
"I want to know. Please show me?" I asked him. Riku stared at me.
"Are you serious?" He asked me. I nodded my head.
"Dead serious. I really want to know, Riku." I told him. Riku sat there, staring at me for a moment before he motioned for me to sit closer to him.
"Come. If you're serious, then I'll show you." He told me. I moved closer to him and I could feel the warmth of his body on mine as I sat there. He looked at me.
"What?" I asked.
"You're really sure you want me to show you?" He asked again.
"Yes." I told him, answering immediately after he asked. I watched him carefully. He raised his hand to the side of my face, turning it towards his. I was looking straight in his eyes, and I felt scared again. I didn't know what he was going to do to me, and the thought frightened me.
"Alright, I'll show you... Jinx..." He whispered, moving his face closer to me. I watched his eyes close as his face got really close to mine and then I felt his lips brush against mine. I froze instantly, his lips resting against mine. After a moment, he pulled away from me and looked at me.
"That's... a kiss?" I asked him. Riku nodded his head.
"Yeah, that's a kiss. Now you know." He told me. I giggled at him.
"That's different. Is that a sign of love?" I asked him.
"Mhm. It's a sign of affection." He smiled at me. I touched my lips with my fingers. His lips felt so soft against mine, and I looked at him.
"I want to try." I told him. Riku raised an eyebrow.
"What?" He asked me.
"I want to try it. May I?" I asked him, the darkness surrounding us. The sky was beautiful as the stars lit it up, the moon shining. He looked so different in the moonlight, and I smiled at him.
"Uh, sure. If you really want to." He told me. He looked confused but I gently touched his face, leaning closer to him. I froze for a moment but regained my mindset, moving closer and gently, I pressed my lips to his. He let out a soft mumble and I felt his hand against the back of my head. He pulled me against him, pressing a bit harder and I felt my eyes close as if on instinct. I sat there, kissing him and I quickly pulled away.
"What was that?" I asked him, confused.
"Oh, I'm sorry... it just felt so familiar." He told me, his cheeks going a bit red as he looked away. I smiled at him, and stood up.
"Thank you, Riku. I gotta go home now. Can I see you tomorrow?" I asked him. Riku stood up and nodded. I grinned, taking a step towards him and gave him a quick kiss. Raising my hand, a portal appeared and I disappeared through it.