A/N-Sorry for the delay. Animal Crossing it eating away my life. (And work, always work). It's shorter but the next one will be longer, I promise! Also, if you notice spelling errors, please let me know so I can fix them. They can be funny but I know how much they can ruin a reading experience. So, um, enjoy!

Roxas was dropped off at the outer limits of the main city. He passed through a series of checkpoints before he was cleared to enter the large wall that protected those who lived inside. He went to the sandlot to check in with Seifer to find he wasn't there. He was out protecting another part of Twilight Town from a raid. So, Roxas reported in to another captain and went off to find something to do.

He found himself making his way over to the medical center, which meant another ride across Town on the train. As he passed by the clock tower again, he noticed Hayner was no longer there. Roxas wondered where his friend had disappeared to.

He boarded the first train at the station and headed to the other side of Twilight Town. The car was mostly empty since it would be turning dark soon. There were only a few citizens riding as they returned home for the night. Roxas disembarked when he reached the station and headed for what used to be sunset hill. Now it was the base of operations for the medical center. There were still hospitals and clinics scattered around Twilight Town, but they moved the main hub to the hill. It was closer to the outside of the city so they were the first to get the injured.

Roxas climbed the hill and found a group of nurses milling around. One of them stopped and gave him a wave. Roxas gave a small wave back. The girl rushed over with her arms full of bandages. She wore the white nurse's uniform.

"Roxas! Oh my gosh, you're hurt!" Olette exclaimed.

"I'm fine. Only minor injuries, which is more than I can say for the other soldiers," Roxas replied. Olette frowned.

"I still think it's brutish to kill people. I mean, they have families too, right?"

"Olette, this is a war. We're not going to win by politely asking enemy soldiers to leave."

"I know but it's still unnerving."

"That's why you're up here. You make a great nurse and everyone loves you."

"Well, almost everyone."

"Are you talking about Hayner?"

"I don't get what his problem is! Every time I see him he's the world's biggest jerk."

"He's been like that towards you since we met, so what's new?" Roxas reminded.

"I know but…it's hard to explain. Sometimes he seems really nice or sincere but then he'll turn around and be this huge dick!"

"Maybe he's trying to make peace with you and doesn't know how."

"Then he's going about it the wrong way. Boys!" Olette exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "Er, no offense Roxas."

"Eh," the blonde replied with a shrug.

"So what brings you out here then?" Olette wondered.

"Seifer was away so I was left without a job. I already met with Hayner and Pence today so I thought I'd come see you."

"You saw Pence?! How is he?! I haven't heard from him in weeks!"

"He's doing great. They've just been very busy since the G. Ships were taken out."

"I guess that would eat up a lot of time." Roxas turned at the sound of footsteps and found Hayner strolling up the hill. At the sight of his friends, the elder blonde grinned.

"Hey guys! Didn't think I'd find you up here," Hayner stated.

"I work here, Hayner. Where else would I be?" Olette remarked.

"Oh, right. So what are you doing up here, Roxas? Rough day?" Hayner asked.

"It could have been worse," Roxas replied.

"He saw Pence today!" Olette brought up. Hayner was taken aback.

"What?! No way! How's he doing?" he pressed.

"He was doing good. They're busy with the G. Ship repairs," Roxas restated.

"Cool. That kid could use a break. I don't know what motivates him to work so hard but he just keeps on going."

"He really shouldn't push himself too hard," Olette commented.

"He's a big boy; he can handle himself," Hayner argued.

"I know that. I was just saying…"

"Stop being so motherly, 'lette." Olette turned to Roxas with an angry countenance, her eyes saying 'see?!'. Roxas wasn't sure how to diffuse the situation.

"Let it go, guys. It's been a long day and we're all tired," the younger blonde tried.

"Tired? I just started my shift an hour ago," Olette protested. Roxas mentally slapped himself. He forgot Olette worked the night shift.

"Go easy on him. He's been up since 6 a.m. running around," Hayner defended. At the reminder, Roxas felt his body get washed over by a wave of exhaustion. He suddenly wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep.

"He's always welcome to take a nap here," Olette offered. Roxas nodded blearily. He tried to stay focused but the exhaustion from fighting was catching up to him. That and he missed supper…again. "Are you sure you're okay, Roxas? Why don't you go lie down?"

"Yeah…" Roxas muttered. He started to feel dizzy.

"Roxas? Hey!" Hayner called. He leapt forward and caught his friend as he passed out.

"Get him over to the tent! I'll get an IV ready," Olette ordered. She scurried off to find her supplies while Hayner pulled Roxas onto his shoulder.

"Sixth time this month, buddy. You've gotta stop pushing yourself," Hayner murmured. He lay Roxas down on a cot and Olette went to work setting up an IV in the blonde's arm. Then she checked Roxas for his pulse, breathing, and responsiveness.

"Roxas needs to stop pushing himself. He doesn't have the endurance Pence does to keep going for hours on end," the nurse stated coldly.

"He's doing the best he can. Seifer works us into the ground," Hayner replied softly. Olette shot him a cool look. The elder blonde was being strangely nice again. "I bet the idiot forgot to eat again. He was probably too concerned with checking up with you to think about food."

"Staying healthy is more important than seeing me at work."

"Some think otherwise," Hayner replied under his breath. He watched Olette as she rubbed a damp cloth over Roxas's face to remove the dried on sweat. 'Some things are just far more important to us.'

XxXxX

The morning brought heavy rain. It poured over Twilight Town, turning the entire world an ugly shade of slate. The sun refused to shine through the torrents of water and layers of thick clouds amassed in the sky. The fields outside the city walls turned to four inches of mud and clay.

Roxas woke under the flimsy tarp tent of the medical center. The fabric echoed as the rain drummed against it. His head pounded in his skull as he blearily opened his eyes. He sat up and rubbed his temples with his fingertips.

"Oh, Roxas!" Olette rushed over under the protection of a large, blue umbrella. "You're awake!" Roxas filched as she shouted over the rain. She found him a bottle of water and a plate of lukewarm eggs. The blonde nodded his thanks and devoured his meal. He stood and looked out into the rain.

"How long has it been pouring?" Roxas shouted as Olette passed by.

"About three hours! We're getting drenched and visibility is almost nothing! It's a good thing the G. Ships can't fly or they'd fly right into a wall," Olette shouted back.

"Do you know where Hayner went?"

"Um, I think he went down to the sandlot. He was here this morning to check on you. I think something happened last night but I'm not one hundred percent on the details."

"Thanks! I'll see you later!" Roxas jogged out into the rain and was soaked within the minute. His armor plinked each time a rain drop struck the metal, making it sound like he was standing inside a tin can. He was rewarded a moment of reprieve when he entered the train to head back to the main station.

As he stared at his reflection in the window, he tried to rub some of the water from his hair. The wet strands were sticking to his face and neck like paper Mache. A bolt of lightning cracked in the distance. The lights flickered on the train.

Roxas felt his heart seize in his chest when he saw someone was staring at him. He whipped around, his hands on the hilts of his swords. His pulse raced as he prepared to face the stranger.

Who wasn't there.

Roxas stood up straight, his face a mask of confusion. Several of the train's patrons started to whisper. The blonde blinked several times. He turned back to the window to see the image of the stranger's face was gone.

'I'm getting delusional.' Roxas thought.

The train arrived at the main station and he jogged through the rain to the sandlot. He found Hayner amongst a group of fellow Twilight Guards. The elder blonde nodded as Roxas joined the circle.

"Bad news, Roxas. Seifer never got back last night," Hayner explained.

"You mean he's still out in the field?" Roxas asked, raising his voice over the rain.

"We assume so. The group he was with, only half came back last night. The rest are still missing. We're sending out search parties for them now."

"Have we found anyone?"

"Two, but there's still six missing, including Seifer. I personally like the thought of him rotting in the rain, but he's a good soldier and we need him to help protect Twilight Town. Even ass holes can be helpful."

"Gee, Hayner. You're starting to sound like a captain yourself," Roxas teased. Hayner gave his friend a shove.

"Just you wait! I'll be a captain yet and I'll be the coolest captain Twilight Town has ever seen."

"Good luck with that! Where should we start looking?"

"We're heading out to the fields now. We have a transport G. Ship up and running again. Fuu will fly us out there and we'll spread out."

"And hopefully not get ambushed along the way."

"Relax, Roxas! We have the home court advantage."

"And they could have hostages." Hayner made a sour face but quickly discarded it when the group of soldiers was called to the transport. They met up in the courtyard outside the train station. The transport G. Ship was long and flat and only armed with basic weaponry. It was meant to move soldiers, not withstand a cannon. The soldiers hopped aboard and hung onto the straps along the open sides. Fuu's voice crackled to life on the intercom.

"Departure," she stated. The ship rose off the ground and made a wide arc as it headed towards the fields. Roxas tried to survey the carnage to Twilight Town's exterior but the rain was too thick to see anything.

"Think we'll find them?" Roxas asked, shouting over the wind and rain to Hayner standing next to him.

"I hope so. I'm more concerned about getting out of the fields alive ourselves. Watch your step out there Roxas. The clay's slippery and if you get caught face down in the mud, you're armor will pin you down."

"Thanks for the vivid picture of drowning in the muck," Roxas remarked.

"Just trying to lighten the mood," Hayner replied sarcastically.

The ship slowed and started to lower towards the ground. The soldier's tensed, waiting for the call from the pilot. "Disembark!" Fuu called over the intercom. The soldier's leapt from the G. Ship and landed knee deep in mud. Roxas pried his feet out of the ground and could feel water leak into his boots.

"Alright, spread out! Keep in contact!" Hayner shouted. The group nodded and split. Roxas gave Hayner one last smile before heading off himself.

Pressing through the mud and rain was one of the more miserable things Roxas had ever done on the battle
field. It wasn't his first time dealing with the muck. His first battle, at age thirteen, was knee deep in mud. The field was drenched from rain the night before. Roxas lost both his boots that day and nearly drown in the mud. Luckily, his comrades were there to pick him up again.

Roxas wiped his eyes and struggled to keep his inner voice in check. His brain pestered him to scream out Seifer's name in case the captain was close by. Then Seifer could respond, if he heard. But Roxas's senses told him to keep his mouth shut because any sound he made, enemy soldiers could hear also. He didn't feel like gambling his chances either.

Roxas wavered as a gust of wind bashed into him. He sank to his knees and his left hand sank deep into the mud and clay to brace himself. His eyes stung from having water constantly thrown in them. Then the sky grew a shade lighter. It wasn't much, but Roxas could see a little bit farther. He spotted a lumpy figure farther ahead.

'There!' He shouted in his head. Roxas picked himself up and tromped over in the direction of the shadow. As he neared, he noticed there were actually two figures. One was lying on his back and the other kneeling in the mud beside him. Roxas raised a hand and filled his air with lungs to shout over the rain.

Then he choked on it.

The figure was a Hollow Bastion soldier. They wore the signature black cloak to keep out the rain. Roxas figured either he was stupid to be out in the fields without armor or he was a magic user, one of which could easily get Roxas killed. He knew mages had a spell to instantly kill someone: death. It was difficult to use because it require complete concentration and it could only be used on one target at a time. Sadly, Roxas was the only target present so if the mage knew the spell, Roxas wouldn't last very long at all.

He trudged forward through the mud. Then he realized the mysterious figure didn't know Roxas was there. 'How can he not know I'm here? My armor's a death give away in this rain. That or he's pretending not to notice me so I get tricked into getting closer.'

The blonde slid his swords from their sheaths and brandished them in front of his torso. He decided to take a gamble to see if he had the upper hand. The four beams of light appeared next to Roxas and he slashed his swords, sending the light forward. The kneeling figure looked up, the hood covering his face. They leapt back as the light crashed into the place where he was kneeling seconds before.

Roxas saw a shimmer around the man and knew he had cast protect. Another shield wavered in front of the cloaked man as he turned and ran. Roxas launched another set of light beams at him but they bounced back at the blonde. He leapt aside as they sailed past him into a skeleton of a jeep.

"Reflect," Roxas cursed. He hurried over to the figure lying on the ground. "Seifer!" He knelt and lifted the captain's head. He was unconscious and badly battered.

"Over there!" he heard Hayner cry. The rain was starting to let up a bit. Roxas looked up but didn't see the cloaked man. They had vanished into the storm's void.

"We need a medic!" Roxas roared as Hayner neared his position. One of the other soldiers picked up a radio and requested an extraction from Fuu. The G. Ship flew overhead shortly after and Seifer was loaded on board. Two other injured men were placed on the ship.

"I'll stay out here and keep looking. It looks like the rain it going to let up for a bit," Hayner stated as the sun attempted to peak through the clouds. The sky was considerably brighter but the rain was still rather heavy.

"I'll help," Roxas offered.

"No, you get those injured back to Olette. She'll take care of them."

"Her shift was over hours ago. I was surprised to see here there when I woke up."

"That's because she cares about you, Roxas. It would kill her if she had to leave when you were unconscious."

"Hayner," Roxas interrupted. "You know I wouldn't take her from you and I'm well aware she has a small crush on me, but that doesn't mean she, you and Pence have to go out of your way to worry about me. I'll be fine!" Hayner gave his friend a weak smile.

"Then get going! Seifer might not last much longer and you're holding up Fuu." Roxas nodded with a grin and climbed aboard the G. Ship. Fuu took off and they sped toward the medical center on sunset hill. Roxas looked over the field and saw the skeletons of war staring back at him. It chilled him more than the rain ever could.

The three injured were lifted down the medical center and Roxas slid down the rope after them. Olette was still present, dark bags under her eyes from overworking. Roxas mulled around and tried to help the nurses running about. Seifer was eventually sent off to a hospital for further assessment.

Olette wandered over to Roxas, who was wrapping bandages, and sat down heavily next to him. "Go home, Olette. You deserve a break," the blonde stated, glancing at her. She ran a hand through her wet hair.

"I think you're right. The nurses said I can come in late tonight if I want. We'll see how I feel after a power nap," the girl replied.

"Don't run yourself into the ground." Olette frowned.

"Speak for yourself!" Roxas smirked and started wrapping another bandage. "You're lucky you found him when you did. Any longer and Seifer may not have made it. You did good with your first aid." Roxas fumbled the gauze and it was sent rolling across the pavement.

"Wait…what did you say?" he pressed, turning to her. Olette was taken aback.

"I said you saved Seifer with the first aid."

"I never gave him first aid."

"Oh, well then who did?"

"No one. We didn't have any supplies in the field." There was a dark pause between the pair. Then Roxas shifted his gaze, as if he was staring at someone else who wasn't present. "There was someone on the field."

"I wonder who it was," Olette pondered. Roxas's face grew dark.

"Olette, it wasn't just some guy. They were from Hollow Bastion." The brunette gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

"You can't be serious!"

"I wish I wasn't."

"How do you know?"

"They were wearing the cloak."

"Maybe you were imagining it with the rain."

"Olette, I know what I saw. He ran off before I could do anything. All I know is he was a mage and he has had some training. He used protect and reflect flawlessly."

"Those are both middle ground spells though. Maybe we just got lucky and an ally picked up a cloak from a fallen soldier to keep out the rain," the nurse suggested. Roxas ran a hand through his hair and picked up the wet gauze.

"Perhaps…"

"I mean, why else would they give Seifer first aid? If they were from Hollow Bastion, they would have killed him, wouldn't they?" Roxas remained silent. The turned his gaze to the sky. The rain was turning into a sad drizzle and the clouds were thinning out to a sheet of light grey. As the sun rose higher with the morning, he watched the clouds tint with scarlet mist before returning to their ashen state seconds later as the clouds thickened.

Something was coming.

It was only a matter of when.