Note from magik: SUPER SORRY! I meant to have this up... yesterday... but i did the class/work thing all day. I was DESPERATELY trying to finish my paper, and then my boyfriend thought it would be a great idea to surprise me with a balloon and candy. Which, the sentiment is sweet... but I wasn't home for two hours after he thought I was going to be. (Hint, if you want to surprise me, check with one of my other friends first to see EXACTLY where I am.) Anyway, yesterday was hectic. So... posting this now.

I don't think I have anything to say. Rar will give you her comments on the blog. 99.9% sure she wrote all of this.

"Vexen! Veexeennn!"

Vexen glanced up from what he was doing (checking through the security footage, though he hadn't found anything). There was a loud thud as someone hit the doorframe. He frowned, worried, but saw that it was only Joseph, using the doorframe to bring himself to a halt.

"If- I had known-" Joseph gasped, bent over, breathing hard. "That you- would- be up here-" He held up his hand, telling Vexen to wait. "Can't breathe."

"Did you run all the way up here?" Vexen asked, raising his eyebrows with amusement.

Joseph just nodded.

"Why didn't you use a dark corridor?"

"That's- what- I was trying to say!"

Vexen chuckled. "And why are you looking for me?" he asked.

"We find him?" Toby asked, coming around the corner at a much slower pace.

"Hold! On!" Joseph gasped. "Let me- catch my breath!"

Toby smirked. "That's why I didn't run," he said.

Joseph shot a glare over at him, but didn't say anything. When he finally caught his breath, he broke out into a grin. "He's alive," he informed Vexen, plainly.

"Who?" Vexen asked, though almost need not to.

"Who do you think?" Joseph asked, his grin widening.

"Ienzo," Vexen breathed.

"See! I told you!" Joseph said. "And you were all worried that he'd be dead. Well, he's not. He's alive, and well, and running a bookstore in Hollow Bastion. And Xehanort's dead, and been dead for a while, so you can go say hi to Ienzo now and stop being all… mopey."

"I wasn't-" Vexen began, but paused, realizing something else. "Wait a minute, you went to the other universe!"

"So?" Joseph asked. "We were there like, not even an hour. And, since time runs faster there, we were gone from here for only a couple minutes. Seventeen minutes, I'd bet." He nodded confidently. "And if 29 asks where I've been, and finds out that I've been in another universe, I will tell him that I was trying out if their Twilight Town's ice cream is better or worse than the ice cream from our Twilight Town. I've tried, and it's worse." He nudged Toby in the ribs, then, grinning at him. "See? He'll never find out!"

"Never find out what?" 29 asked from behind him.

Joseph paled. Toby scooted out of the way and for the most part out of sight. Vexen wasn't sure if he should laugh at 29's impeccable timing, or if he should feel sorry for Joseph.

"Uh…" Joseph said slowly. He cast a hesitant glance up at 29. "That depends, what all did you hear me say?"

"I heard you say that you were in another universe," 29 replied.

"Well, like I said, I wanted to see if their ice cream was better than ours. It isn't! How long was I gone, by the way?"

"Sixteen minutes," 29 said.

Joseph snapped his fingers. "Darn. So close! But I was only gone sixteen minutes! It's not like you really need to be worried, right?" He grinned.

"Nice try."

Joseph sighed. "Yeah, fine, I get it, I'm in trouble."

29 led Joseph off.

Toby watched them go, not saying anything, like he feared if he was noticed he'd be in trouble too. After a moment, he yawned. "I'm gonna go back to my nap…" he said, slowly, and started off.

Vexen stared at the doorway, unsure what to do now. Ienzo was alive. Should he go see him? Joseph would be mad if he didn't…

"Just one second! I need to tell Vexen-"

"Joseph!"

Joseph poked his head back into the room. "Bookstore. He runs a bookstore. I'd form a dark corridor for you or something, but I'm in tro—I'm coming!" He was off again before 29 was forced to come get him.

"Bookstore…" Vexen said slowly, and smiled. He wasn't at all surprised. He slowly opened a dark corridor, took a deep breath, and then stepped through.

xxx

He emerged in Hollow Bastion. He didn't have to do much searching to figure out if he was in the right universe. He'd lived here for most of his life. He knew this was the right Hollow Bastion. However, given all the changes in the past… years, he couldn't remember where the bookstore was. Had there even been a bookstore before Ienzo set one up?

"Excuse me, miss," Vexen said, stopping a lady passing by. "Could you possibly tell me where I might find a bookstore?"

She stared at him like he was crazy, but said: "Just around the corner. Right across from the Art Store."

"Thank you," Vexen said, and started in that direction.

It didn't take him long to find the bookstore. Like he had been told, it was just around the corner. He paused outside it, suddenly feeling slightly… nervous? Oh, what was wrong with him? He shook his head and pushed the door open.

"A customer!" someone called, sounding excited.

Vexen frowned. That sounded a lot like—

"Wait a minute, Master Vexen?"

He turned and, sure enough, there was one of his Replicas.

"Uhm, yes," he found himself saying. He made a face. Oh, which Replica was this one? He should know… He should know…

"Pi, sir," the Vexen Replica said.

Ah, right! Pi had been the one who'd first discovered the parallel universe. Was Vexen surprised that Pi had apparently started helping Ienzo with his bookstore? Slightly. Did he care? Not really.

"You're here awfully early," Pi said, after a moment.

"What?"

"Joseph said it might be a while before you got here," Pi explained. "But it's only been an hour or so since he left."

"Oh," Vexen said slowly. "I left shortly after he spoke to me. Is this a bad time?"

Pi quickly shook his head. "No, I was just… mentioning it. Are things going well in the other universe?"

"For the most part, yes."

"Is that whole Rebellion thing still going on?"

"Yes." Vexen sighed. "Listen, Pi, can I speak with Ienzo?" He felt slightly bad for cutting the conversation short, but he really didn't want to talk about how the Rebellion was going.

Pi nodded. "He's upstairs. Do you want me to tell him that you're coming? Though, he is expecting you, since Joseph said he'd be sending you over."

Vexen thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, I think I'll just go up there myself." He paused. "Unless, of course, that's a problem."

"It shouldn't be, sir," Pi said. "Like I said, he is expecting you."

Vexen only nodded, and slowly made his way up the stairs. He paused once he reached the top, unsure where exactly Ienzo would be. He hadn't asked… Oh well, all the doors were open except one, and when he went to examine the closed door, he saw a "do not disturb" sign hung on it, printed in handwriting that he immediately recognized as Ienzo's.

He knocked on the door. "Ienzo?" he called, tentatively.

There was a long pause, long enough that he considered knocking a second time. But, then, he heard the faint sound of a book closing, followed by the sound of someone getting to their feet. The door opened.

Ienzo stood in the doorway, and stared for a second.

"Vexen," he said, finally, by way of greeting. He paused. "Unless it's… Even, now?"

Even. Now that was a name he hadn't heard in a while. Vexen swallowed, and then shook his head. "No, it's still-" He laughed slightly. "I couldn't change my name if I wanted too. They'd all still call me 'Vexen' in the other universe."

He wasn't positive, but he thought he saw a smile cross Ienzo's face.

"Parallel universe, huh?" Ienzo asked, a touch of humor in his voice.

Vexen nodded.

"I really shouldn't be surprised by the things you do, anymore," Ienzo sighed. "But why a parallel universe? How did you even discover it?"

"Pi did, actually," Vexen said. "And once he reported it to me-"

"You decided to go there to escape Xehanort," Ienzo finished.

"Well, yes," Vexen admitted. Of course escaping Xehanort was one of the reasons he went over to that universe. But there was more to it than that, and Ienzo deserved to know. "But I also went, because… Well, it turned out that my Riku Replica ended up in that universe."

"Really?"

Ienzo seemed intrigued and… Vexen couldn't quite distinguish the other emotion. Nor could he distinguish quite what the look on Ienzo's face was. Contemplation, maybe? If it was any other expression besides that, it was well masked. Vexen almost wished he knew what Ienzo was thinking, and considered asking, when Ienzo said:

"There really isn't any sense standing here in the hallway and talking." Ienzo then slipped past Vexen and headed into a room across the hall. Vexen understood that he was meant to follow, and did so.

Ienzo led them to what appeared to be a sitting room. After being told to sit wherever he wished, Vexen made himself comfortable on one end of the couch. Ienzo sat at the other end of the couch.

"Are you-" Vexen began, but paused. "How have you been?" he asked, instead.

Ienzo saw right through it.

"I'm fine, Vexen. Why are you so worried about me, all of a sudden?"

Vexen sighed. "I just… You've met Joseph, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Then you've seen how much he looks like you."

Ienzo nodded. "The resemblance is almost uncanny. But what else would you expect from a Replica who has some of my data? Or, the other universe's Zexion's data. He does have some of the other universe's Zexion's data, does he not?"

"I'd assume so," Vexen said. "Though, he must have more data than that in him. He acts nothing like you—and I expect nothing like that universe's Zexion, though I have not met him. Joseph is a lot more…" He trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Hyper," Ienzo said.

"I was going to say energetic," Vexen said. "But he's definitely hyper, too. Anyway, we were in Twilight Town, and-"

"He told me," Ienzo interrupted, stopping him there. "You shouted my name before throwing yourself in front of him."

Vexen grimaced. Why did Joseph have to mention that detail? "It wasn't… quite like…" but he stopped. There was no use fussing over details. "He has the capacity to sound exactly like you. You don't notice it, because he's almost always speaking a mile a minute, but…" He shook his head, helplessly. There was no use trying to explain himself, either. He couldn't to Joseph. He couldn't to Ienzo. "I don't know…"

"He reminded you of me," Ienzo said. "And your brain confused the two of us."

Vexen nodded. He only wished he could've come up with a better way to put it.

"How, may I ask, did that lead to you coming and seeing me?"

"Joseph decided I missed you," Vexen explained. "And insisted I go see you."

"Except you were worried about Xehanort being alive and still wishing to kill you," Ienzo said.

"I was worried he killed you," Vexen replied. He was silent for a moment, before adding: "I'm sure Joseph mentioned that I didn't come myself because of Xehanort—though he wasn't supposed to come here, either. Joseph, that is—but, really, I just…" He paused. "I didn't want to find that you had been killed."

"Clearly, I am alive."

"And it still amazes me. How…?"

…did you survive? …did you escape? …did Xehanort not kill you?

But, somehow, Vexen was incapable of asking any of those.

Thankfully, Ienzo understood the unasked question.

"Bra-" Ienzo paused, blinked a few times. "Xigbar let me go."

Vexen stared. "Xigbar?"

Ienzo nodded.

"Has he gone soft?"

"I don't know," Ienzo replied with a shrug. "But I wasn't going to pass up my chance to escape."

"Surely Xehanort must've known—" Vexen began.

"That I was alive?" Ienzo finished. "Xigbar probably told him that I was dead, and would Xehanort disbelieve him? Unlikely. Besides, I hid where Xehanort wouldn't find me—even if he was looking—right under his nose."

Vexen started to ask another question, but Ienzo stopped him.

"Enough about me. You've been living in a parallel universe."

Vexen nodded. "Well, yes," he said. "I could come back here, though, if I'm needed. I'm not entirely useful in the other universe… I'm sure no one would protest if I wished to return. Well, Joseph would, but—"

"What about your Riku Replica?" Ienzo interrupted.

Vexen made a face. "He certainly wouldn't miss me. He'd probably glad that I left; he's not fond of—oh." He stopped, now that he realized the true meaning of Ienzo's question. Ienzo wasn't asking what Riku would think; he was asking if Vexen really wished to leave him.

Vexen sighed and rubbed his head.

"I… I suppose I wouldn't necessarily want to leave," he admitted. "But if I need to come back here…"

"It's fine, Vexen." Ienzo chuckled slightly. "If you wish to stay in the other universe, then you are certainly free to do so."

"Are you sure? Are there any problems over here?"

"Just some minor Darkness problems," Ienzo said. "Nothing Sora and his friends can't handle. What about the other universe? How are things over there?"

Vexen couldn't help but groan slightly.

"That bad?"

"Well…" Vexen rubbed his head, trying to think of how to put it. Ienzo would want details, but it would be best to start with the basics, would it not? But what were the basics? The Replica Program… Saix… "The Replica Program over there is extensive—there are about fifty Replicas in Castle Oblivion alone, and I'm not sure how many are in the World that Never Was. And all those Replicas are… at war, as Joseph likes to put it.

"See, the Replica Program—from what I'm told—was thrown into chaos when the Vexen of their universe died. Eventually, the Program was handed to Saix. And Saix… well, isn't necessarily kind to Replicas, and many Rebelled. I've been caught in the middle of said Rebellion."

Ienzo raised his eyebrows. "Have you, now?"

Vexen shrugged. An explanation adequate to this question wasn't hard to find—it only took three words—but he did hesitate for a brief second before saying them. "My Riku Replica."

"Ah." Ienzo folded his arms across his chest. "Is he leading the rebellion?"

"Yes and no…" Vexen said, slowly. "From my understanding, he's not leading it by choice. I believe they just declared him leader, and he just gave up on arguing with them."

"Any reason why they declared him leader?"

"I wasn't there when it happened," Vexen said. "But it might have something to do with the fact that he apparently killed a third of the Organization in two days."

"So they want him to get rid of Saix for them," Ienzo said.

"No one's mentioned such a thing, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did."