Hi everybody! Sorry for the long wait. I apologize a lot. Now, I have some fanart of Raene on my profile. I should be getting another one soon. Also, sorry for this chapter being out of order of the game sequence. Yes, there is a death, it's sad…actually I'm not all that sad about it. I just wanted this guy to die so I could go and get it done with—instead of later. Man, that sounded bad, didn't it? Oh well. Enjoy!

PS I noticed I haven't put this on any chapters but…

-----I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of that stuff.

But is that really necessary? How could a simple girl like me come up with it, right? RIGHT?

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Axel and I were sitting in one of the many lounges in the castle. We had been sitting there for the past hour or so just talking. It had been a few weeks since Demyx and I had seen Sora. It turned out that the potion Demyx gave me for my wound was, in fact, expired. I was out of the infirmary in two days. Xemnas had been observing Sora and Xaldin had gone off on some mission yesterday to continue trying to turn one of Sora's friends into a Heartless. Everything was going normal.

Axel and I sat cross-legged in two large, white, plush chairs facing each other. We had been talking about the past few weeks and how my progress was going. I explained that I truly couldn't feel anything now. None of the nerves under my skin picked up touch and neither did any emotions pass through my mind.

I also had found out that I had a different element. Very strange. I had always thought it was weird to have the elements of Fate and Destiny. But it turns out that my true element linked to those two things. My gift was similar to Naminé's in the way that she could alter the memories of others. I had the somewhat ability to alter people's decisions. But since I had never known this before, I wasn't very good at it. Apparently, if I concentrated really hard I could make a person consider a decision and maybe even pull through with it. Xemnas had told me that this ability was not so much a gift as it was a curse. The way he described it was a lot like I had heard DiZ tell Naminé that he thought her gift was a curse and that making her a witch. He said that my gift would bring turmoil, death, and destruction instead of good things. He said that this gift was a way to bring upon someone's fate or destiny.

It had been quiet for the past few minutes but Axel spoke up again. "Have you seen your sister lately?"

I was puzzled by his question for a while before I understood what he meant by it. "Actually…" I giggled slightly but not in a funny way.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing. It's just…I now realized that the last time I saw my sister was the last time I probably ever would—and I didn't realize then."

"What do you mean?"

"Every time I had those visions, I wasn't actually seeing her. I was seeing the world through her eyes. So unless I was looking in a mirror or my reflection in the water, I wasn't really seeing Kairi. The last time I had had a vision like that was more than a year ago—back before Sora went to sleep—right after Kairi had gotten back to the islands. When we were in Twilight Town a few weeks ago, I had a different vision. I saw Kairi as a different person that time. I just realized that that was probably the last time I would ever see Kairi again. Being a Nobody, I don't have a heart that's connecting us."

"You'll see her again," Axel said looking at me with a small smile.

"Hmm," I said.

"You don't seam so upset about it," he said.

"Nobody…" I said not having to finish my sentence.

"You don't feel sad that you're fading away? That sooner or later you'll be gone forever?" he said.

"You're not making it sound any better?" I said coldly looking at him.

"I didn't mean it like that," he said apologetically. "It's just that, even the other Nobodies have been able to feel some sadness, as well as anger and happiness. Why is it that you can't—at all?" He looked away and stared at the fireplace that was flaming to his left.

I waited, thinking about my reply before speaking. "I know I should feel those things right now—the mere sadness and all but I can't." I said.

"Not anything?" he said still not looking at me.

"Nothing," I replied staring at him deeply wanting his eyes to meet my gaze. "It's strange…"

"What is?" he said suddenly turning his green orbs from the orange flames.

"Don't take this personally but—well, I know that with you—and Roxas, and Naminé—and Kairi and the others—I know that I love you guys more than anything. But—if I think about it, and truly try to feel that emotion I can't. It's like—it's like you and the others are nothing but acquaintances and that I don't love you," I said.

Axel's eyes fell back to the flames. They seamed to be dancing enchantingly within the bright colors. Almost mesmerized by them. "Like I said, don't take it personally," I said quietly.

"I wish there was some way I could help," he said quietly from across the room.

I smiled just before I heard a voiced coming from outside the lounge. "Xarene! Axel!" Both Axel and I straightened up and sat up in our chairs to see over the tall armrests at the door opposite the fireplace. Running footsteps became louder and louder until the double doors flew open with such force that the flames wisped away. Demyx stood with a disturbed look on his face.

"You!" he yelled. He ran up to me. I made to stand up but he grabbed my wrist before my butt left the chair. He yanked me from the seat and spun me around to grab Axel's wrist in his other hand. By the time I was done spinning, he turned the other direction towards the still open doors, yanking me with a crazy pull on my arm socket. The quick spinning reminded me of a sick game of crack-the-whip.

Demyx dragged us down the hall. Axel and I had managed to free our sore wrists from his grasp. Demyx, having free hands, began to intertwine his fingers together with the same disturbed look on his face growing stronger.

"Demyx, what's up?" Axel asked. When he didn't answer, Axel raised an eyebrow at me and asked him again.

Demyx gulped. "It's terrible," he said. All three of us stopped—Axel and I waiting for him to explain. "Sora…"

"Yes?" I said.

"He—and then Xaldin…" he paused again.

"Yes?" I said more impatient.

"Oh, it was terrible!" he said throwing his arms in the air. The next thing I knew, there was a loud, high-pitched cracking sound. I looked at Demyx after shutting my eyes from the sound. Demyx was thrown back on this butt and his face was thrown to the side and a large red handprint was planted on his cheek. I turned to Axel. He was breathing deeply, his shoulders rising with each intake of air.

"Damnit, Demyx! What it is?!" he said kneeling down by him.

I kneeled down as well. "Sor…Sora…he…he killed…Xaldin…" Demyx said quietly.

Axel and I both pulled back from the musician and stared blankly at him. I brought my hands up and covered my mouth with shock. "How…how could that happen?" I said. Demyx didn't say anything. He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly back and forth as if trying to pretend that it wasn't true.

"Xaldin was the best. How could Sora defeat him? No one could beat Xaldin," Axel said after a minute.

I just sat there completely still for the longest time. No one said anything either. Finally I spoke up after it had taken effect. "So what now?"

"We have to go tell Xigbar," Demyx replied.

Axel stood up and reached out both of his hands, helping us up. "Does everyone else know?" he asked. Demyx nodded. "Why do we have to tell him?" he asked also.

"Because that's what the others told me to do," Demyx replied.

"Well, we better get going then," I said quietly.

Axel raised a finger and placed it on the tip of his nose in an innocent way. I looked peculiarly at him and then glanced at Demyx who was looking at Axel. Demyx turned his eyes to me, smiled then followed Axel's gesture by placing his finger on his nose. Now I realized why they were doing this. "No! Not me! I can't!" I said backing away.

"You have to," Axel said taking his finger off his nose.

"Why me?" I asked desperate.

"One, because you were the last to put a finger on their nose. Two, you are the best person for the job. And three, we're your superiors and we order you," Axel said.

I looked at Demyx. He took his finger off his nose as well and smiled teasingly at me. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I have to be the one to break it to his best friend," I said.

"It's not just because you're a girl. It's because you really are the best person to do it," Demyx said.

"Wasn't Xigbar the one who practically raised you when you came here?" I asked Axel.

"Besides Zexion…yeah pretty much. What's your point?" he replied.

"You should do it then," I said not giving up this argument.

"No you should do it," Axel said, "You're good at handling bad news."

"Not true," I said.

"Oh really?" he said placing his hands on his hips in a rather girly way.

"You remember when Roxas and Naminé went away?" I said coldly. Axel's expression changed then. His hands went back to his sides and the smirk left his face. "Yeah. You came back from Castle Oblivion and told me that Naminé would be gone for a while. I was fine—I understood perfectly. Then a little bit later Roxas leaves. He says he has to learn the truth. It was hard saying good-bye to him, you know? I thought I would be ok with it because I knew that you would be there to comfort me as I would be there for you." I took a deep breath and continued. "But I was wrong. You fell apart after he left. I did too but I decided that I needed to be strong for you. You know why? Because you were better friends with him than I was. You had been friends for six more years than I had and I knew that I was going to have to be strong because you were the one who needed the comforting and not me. So I put all the sadness behind me and focused on being there for you. But you just pushed me away and wouldn't let anyone try to be close to you. After you wouldn't let me in I fell apart all over again. I became broken inside like I had before and had to pull myself together once again and it wasn't easy for me. So to answer your question—no…I'm not good at handling bad news, Axel—and I never have been. A little bit of me has been lost with each bad news."

It became silent in the hall then. No one made a sound; not even our breathing could be heard. Axel stared expressionless at me for the longest time until he said, "I'm sorry, Xarene." That was the first time he had called me that and meant it to be my name. I was rather surprised by it. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you—I'm sorry I didn't let you close to me and I'm sorry for everything else. But right now we need to deal with informing Xigbar of this misfortune." And with that he turned and walked down the hall.

Demyx followed him and left me alone in the white hallway. I waited a few minutes calming myself down before fast walking after the two towards the training room. A few minutes later we arrived at the large room. Inside was Xigbar floating high above the ground. He held his two snipers in his hands and was shooting bright purple beams at several Dusks scattered around the dirty tiled floor. I walked forward as the two brotherly figures stood by the doors still as stone.

"Hey, Xarene," the Freeshooter said landing on the ground after sending the lower Nobodies away. "What's up?"

"Well, I was wanting to talk to you, you gotta a minute?" I said trying not to sound too obvious.

"Yeah, sure," he replied. All of a sudden two chairs made of the floor tiles sprung out of the ground. I sat down in one as Xigbar sat in the other, his arms hanging loosely by his side, the snipers still in his hands. "So what did ya wanna talk about?"

"Well—I kinda have some bad news," I said. I had no other way to put it. I thought it would be the best to just say it.

"What kinda bad news?" he asked getting curious.

"Well…" I looked over my shoulder at Demyx and Axel who were still standing still by the doors a good fifty feet away. I then turned back to Xigbar.

His face was changed from a curious one to a somewhat shocked one. "This can't be happening…" he said. He slouched down in his chair and threw his head back closing his one good eye.

I stared at him, confused. "What?"

"It's way too obvious," he said still not opening his eye. "Why else would they send the youngest members here and, the only girl for that matter, to tell me some bad news?"

"I…I…" but I didn't get to finish.

"You know, Xarene? Xaldin was my best friend," he said. I was surprised that he figured it out without me having to say anything. All of a sudden he dropped the two guns in his hands to the ground with a loud clatter. "Long before the two of us even became Nobodies we were best friends. Back when the founding members all worked together under the same man, we were friends. We were always together just like you younger members." I smiled. I could tell that he was enjoying pleasurable memories of his past years as a real person with his best friend in the whole world. He sat up some in his chair and opened up his one golden eye. "Did you know that us founding members all lived in your hometown?"

"Really?" I asked.

"Mmhmm. We worked for your king—not your father, but the king that took over after your father's death," he said.

"I had no idea," I said quietly.

"We knew your father though and quite well. After all, he was still King when we lived there. This was before we became Nobodies. The six of us didn't become nonexistent until around the time your parents got married—a few years before you were born. Just missed you by a few years." I smiled and so did he. "At least he's in a better place now. He's with the others—his other friends and all of them. He's whole now."

"That he is," I said agreeing. He was after all in a heaven of some sorts, hopefully. He was with Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Marluxia, and Larxene. He was with the rest of his family. We would be soon to join him.

"So what now?" he said standing up.

"I dunno," I replied. I looked over my shoulder and motioned for Axel and Demyx to come over. They didn't move. I thought this was a perfect time to test out my element. I concentrated really hard and within a few seconds I heard their footsteps nearing. As soon as they arrived next to me, Saïx appeared through a portal right by us.

"Well then. Let us proceed," he said stepping next to his superior, Xigbar.

"What?" Axel asked.

"I'm going to take Xigbar with me. We're going to have a funeral. You all will dress accordingly and then Axel will bring you two there," he said pulling Xigbar into a portal with him with an arm around his shoulders.

"A funeral?" Demyx said.

"Where?" I asked.

"I know where. It's in Xemnas' private quarters. I followed Luxord in once and saw the place where Saïx is talking about. Where to for clothes? I thought this would be good enough—they're all black," Axel said motioning to the clothes he was wearing.

"I have clothes, follow me," I said stepping through a portal. I always had the feeling that we would need funeral clothes one day. It wasn't that I was looking forward to it, but this was our first one and I wanted to see what everyone looked like in a different outfit. We arrived in my room. I went over to my bed and reached under pulling out one of the dozens of boxes below it. I placed the box on the sheets and took the top off. Inside where fifteen outfits one for all thirteen members, Naminé, and myself. They were all black, but more formal nonetheless. I pulled out two normal suits and handed them to the two boys next to me. They took the outfits in their hands and stared at them, since they never really had worn anything besides the Organization's uniform. I pulled out mine and stepped into a portal that led to another part of the castle to change. I returned a few minutes later through a portal to find the two changed as well.

They both had on the simple black tuxedoes. Axel, with his back facing me, was straightening Demyx's tie. Demyx poked him on the shoulder, telling him to turn around. They looked me up and down and I must've turned a bright shade of pink because they didn't take their eyes off of me for quite some time. It wasn't that different. It was a simple black, long-sleeve dress. The sleeves were somewhat poofy at the shoulders but not too much. The skirt part of the dress flowed out and came half way down my thigh. The waist was rather corset looking and tied in a big bow on the back. I had on black stockings that stopped right before the bottom of my dress and there were a pair of short black boots on my feet.

"So…let's go then. We don't want to keep the others waiting," I said trying to forget the fact that they were still staring at me. Axel got some sense knocked into him and walked over by my side, dragging Demyx over too.

"Ok. Now, listen—once we get there, you can't go walking around. This place is basically still forbidden, so stay in the area, ok, you two?" Axel said. We nodded. Axel pulled me to his right and Demyx to his left and escorted us through the portal.

We arrived in a room unfamiliar to Demyx and me. The first thing I noticed was a red panel on the ground. Engraved on it were a few spears and the words "The Whirlwind Lancer" written next to it. It was a lot like a grave to me. Saïx and Xemnas stood to the right of the grave while Luxord and Xigbar stood to the left. All of them were dressed almost identically to each other—a full black tuxedo.

I quickly glanced around to realize that we were in a rather small place. I was sure that the room we were in was bigger, but there were white curtains around the space to block off the rest of the room. Through the curtains I could see several blue and red lights shining from the ground. Were there more graves like this one? I asked myself. My thoughts were put on hold as Saïx began yelling.

"What are you doing here?!" he asked stomping the three feet distance over to us.

"Uh, you told me to bring them here…" Axel said.

"Not them! You! What are YOU doing here?!" he yelled.

"Uh…umm…" he stuttered. "Am I not supposed to be here?"

"No." He replied blankly. It was quite. Xemnas walked over with no expression while Luxord and Xigbar stood by the grave. "Oh, don't tell me you don't remember," he said. It was quite again. "You're not a member of the Organization, Axel!"

"What?" Axel spat.

"You were kicked out, Axel. You're but dust to the rest of us," he said angrily.

"Not true! I wasn't kicked out! I'm still a member but…"

"But you can consider yourself an outcast!" Saïx interrupted. "I'm fully aware of what your punishment was—I sentenced it along with Xemnas. One more mishap and the maximum punishment will be carried out," Saïx threatened.

"Just because you're one above me in superiority doesn't mean you get to boss me around, Saïx!" Axel yelled.

"Oh, I think it does, Number 8!" he yelled back with equal loudness. "I'm your superior whether you like it or not and I can easily sentence you to that punishment we dare not speak. Come now, Axel—you wouldn't really leave Xarene and Demyx here…" Saïx pulled us two said people to his side. "…Without a big brother would you?" Axel said nothing. He was defeated with this argument. "Good. Now, not another word. Get out; I'll bring these two back later."

"Superior!" I said out of nowhere. I released myself Saïx's grasp and turned to Xemnas who had been listening this whole time to the bickering. "You won't really let Number 7 send him away will you?"

"Superior, you know he should not be allowed here. Send him away or carry out the maximum punishment," Saïx said.

"You're not his superior, Saïx—he's yours," I said to the blue-haired Nobody. I directed my attention back to the highest of us all. "Xemnas, sir, please let Axel stay for just this once. I understand why he shouldn't but this is a special occasion. It is a time of mourning and we should all be together for this. Please, Superior."

"Superior?" Saïx said.

"Superior?" I said with the same tone.

"Xemnas?" Saïx said with more greediness.

"My Lord?" I said just above a whisper.

Xemnas looked back and forth between us. I thought he was gonna take Saïx's side when all of a sudden he said, "I'm going to have to agree with Number 14 on this one Saïx. It is a special occasion an we all be here for it."

Why we had all been calling each other by numbers instead of our names was the first thing that came to my mind when I realized that Xemnas had allowed Axel to stay. I smiled and walked over to Axel's right side and Demyx returned to his left.

"But…my Lord? He…" Saïx began to stay but Xigbar interrupted him.

"Could we please just get on with this?!" the sniper said from his position next to the grave. "I've heard enough bickering for one day. Saïx, stop trying to get Axel kicked out! Why you're always at each other's throats is a mystery to me. But, right now I just want you to shut up so we can go on and have this funeral. As your superior, I order you to zip your mouth and get over next to this grave right now!"

It was quiet for a while. Xemnas smirked and took his original place next to the grave. Saïx followed and the rest of us walked up to the front of the grave and bowed our heads as Xemnas started to talk.

"Well, this is a bit new to us all. We have lost five members in the past but this is the first time we actually have had a funeral of some sorts. It was because of certain circumstances that we didn't for our departed former members." Xemnas said is a serious tone. "We all are gathered to pay respect to Xaldin, Number 3, The Whirlwind Lancer, Master of the element Air and Wind, Lord of the Dragon Nobodies, and one of our best fighters. He was killed early today by Sora, the powerful Keyblade wielder. Sora is, as of Xaldin's death, an enemy to Organization XIII. He never was, he was just a pawn in our game but now we will push him to his limits until his broken to the point that he will just give us what we want—hearts." There was a long pause. "Xaldin will be missed dearly. But we must think of him knowing that he is with the rest of our members in our heaven—the place where us heartless, soulless, being-less people go. He is with Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion—all good friends from his past life as well as this life. He is also with Marluxia and Larxene. Even though his is gone we will continue to work for our goal. Once we become whole again, we can find a way to bring them all back and make them whole as well." We all sat quietly taking in his words.

Xigbar stepped in front of Axel, Demyx, and I and bent down on one knee on the ground in front of the grave. His non-gloved fingers carefully grazed the top of the lit-up panel as he squeezed his eyes shut, letting a single tear flow down his scarred cheek.

I moved to go over next to him but Axel placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him. He just gave me a look saying 'stay here, he needs to be alone'. But I didn't listen. I shrugged his hand off and kneeled down on the ground curling my legs under me. Xigbar was quiet as a second tear trickled down his cheek. I raised a hand up and placed it gingerly on his back. He opened his eye and turned to me. He could feel that? I wouldn't be able to if I were him. He smiled at me saying a silent 'thank you'. I smiled back, answering a silent 'your welcome'.

Luxord bent down on Xigbar's other side. "Come on, Xigbar. Let's get ready to leave. It's been a long day," he said. Xigbar nodded and stood up. I stood as well and went back to Axel's side. Axel put his arms around Demyx's and my shoulders with a slight hug.

Everyone slowly disappeared in black portals. Axel summoned a portal. It slowly grew larger around our feet, quietly swallowing us. As the room became unrecognizable by the black colors around my vision I whispered the words, "Goodnight, my brother."

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Ow, my hands hurt. Like I said…sorry for the wait. Hope you all enjoyed this one. Check my profile often for updates and such. This chapter is title thanks to Megan. Thank you! I couldn't come up with a chapter name. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Love, Sarah