~Day 7~

"Xar, come on, wake up," the sound of Larxene's voice echoed through Xarki's mind as left the world of sleep.

She blinked her eyes open and rubbed them as her friend came in and out of focus through her blurred vision.
"Morning," Xarki said in a husky voice as she pushed herself up and stretched.

"Did you sleep alright?" Larxene asked in a sympathetic tone.

Xarki rubbed the back of her head, "Yeah I did, actually."

Larxene smiled and breathed a quiet sigh. "That's good. I convinced Saïx to get us paired up for a mission today in Twilight Town. We'll figure out where you're gonna go next from there."

Xarki wasn't sure what Larxene was talking about at first; her brain was still waking up from its peaceful rest. But after a few seconds, she finally understood.
"You're helping me escape…today?"

"Of course! We can't waste any time, right?" Larxene extended a hand and helped Xarki get out of bed.

"But I…I don't know if…" Xarki couldn't even process her own thoughts.

"What is it? You're not saying you want to stay here, do you?" Larxene sounded concerned.

"It just seems you're finding it a little too easy to get rid of me," Xarki said.

"No! God no! I mean…it's killing me inside that I'll have to say goodbye to you! But…knowing that you'll be safe and away from this horrible place with these horrible people is all that matters to me right now," Larxene assured her.

Xarki could hardly believe any of this way happening. She'd pushed herself to get used to this new environment for a whole week now. Even though she had been crying about how badly she wanted to leave just the night before, the fact that it was actually happening was a terrifying thought. But she managed to pull herself together and gave Larxene a determined nod.
"Alright. You can wait for me in the Round Room if you want, I just need a little more time to get ready."

As soon as Larxene had gone, Xarki threw open her bedroom door and sprinted down the hall, past the other member's bedrooms. There were no numbers or name plates on the doors, so she had to work on in her head which one was which by numbering each room in her head. Her bedroom was number 14, then there was number 13, number 12, 11, 10, 9…
She stopped at the 6th door, grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open. Just as she'd hoped, Zexion was still there. He hadn't left for his mission yet; he was sitting on the edge of his bed, reading a book. Probably procrastinating.

"Zexion…I need…to talk to you!" Xarki had become breathless from running and using up adrenaline.

Zexion looked up slowly from his hard cover and lowered it to rest it on his knee. He greeted her with his usual smile.
"Xarki, what brings you here so early? Or more accurately, what brings you here at all?"

Xarki turned and closed the door behind her.
"I'm going to tell you," she said as she finally stopped panting.

"Hm? Tell me what?"

"You know! The thing you've been trying to get me to tell you since, like, the first day I got here!"

Zexion stared at her with a blank expression.

"How I got my heart back?" Xarki pressed.

"Oh, that!" Zexion laughed.

"Yes, that! So are you ready to hear it?" Xarki smiled as she started to walk towards him.

Zexion placed the book beside him on his bed and stood up. "Oh, you don't have to tell me. I've lost all interest in knowing, actually."

Xarki stopped walking and froze completely, her mouth open slightly.

"WHAT?! After all that…! No, I am going to tell you! And you are gonna sit there and listen!" she marched towards him in hard stomps.

Zexion breathed a laugh and placed a hand on Xarki's shoulder once she was close enough to him. "It's okay, Xarki. I realised something important yesterday…it's difficult to explain, but I now know that I don't need to worry about getting my heart back. Of course, I can't tell the Organization that. I'll just have to lie and go along with Xemnas' plans to complete Kingdom Hearts for as long as I need to. But obtaining a heart will be a much lesser goal to me, now."

Xarki was completely confused. "I don't…what are you talking about?"

"And besides, you're always saying that the way you came to get your heart back wouldn't help me anyway, right? So there really isn't any need to tell me," Zexion smiled.

"Well, yeah but-"

"Wait, why were you so suddenly determined to tell me now after spending so long being stubborn and refusing to even talk about it at all?" Zexion suddenly realised that Xarki's outburst had been quite strangely out of the blue.

Xarki opened her mouth to say something, but quickly realised she had no reply. She felt an unexpected lump in her throat. Xarki knew that she would probably never see Zexion again, and although he had been rude and moderately creepy at times, she had somehow allowed herself to get quite attached to the older teen. She had originally planned to tell him her secret as a kind of parting gift, but that had backfired on her completely.
"Well, you've earned my trust, that's all," she said finally.

Zexion stayed silent as he thought for a second. "Who would have guessed? Hard work and perseverance really does pay off in the end," he laughed quietly to himself.

Xarki nodded slowly and absently; her mind was completely blank. Zexion waited patiently for her to say something. Realising that she was being quite awkward, Xarki laughed and rubbed the back of her head.

"Well, I…I guess that's all I came to say! I've got a mission to get to, so I should probably be off now," she forced a smile.
She turned as she was about to leave, but a sudden urge compelled her to stay. She couldn't leave just yet. Not without…

"Goodbye, Zexion."

She turned again quickly to face Zexion and threw herself into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her. He wasn't very tall, but neither was she, and so her face was able to lean into his chest; the part that wasn't covered by his coat. His warm, smooth skin felt nice on her cheek and she closed her eyes and smiled sadly.

Zexion slowly lifted his arms to wrap them around Xarki's waist and held her close to him as well, lightly placing his chin on top of her head. I don't need a heart to feel, he thought to himself. Or maybe…just maybe…I've had a heart all along. Either way, thank you Xarki. Thank you for helping me to feel again.

He raised a hand to the back of her head and stroked her hair, just as he'd done the night before. Her short purple curls felt so soft under his gloved hand.
"I won't be seeing you for a while, huh?" he said in a low voice.

"How…did you know…?" Xarki spoke without lifting her face from Zexion's chest.

Zexion was still slowly stroking her hair. "Long goodbye's like these are reserved for when someone is going away for a very long time. It wasn't too hard to assume…"

He felt Xarki's hand grip the back of his coat tightly. He suddenly felt something wet on his bare skin and quickly realised that she was crying.

"Wherever you're going, Kira…do your best to keep smiling."

Xarki's eyes opened quickly as Zexion's words etched themselves into her mind. Hearing her true name again after what had seemed like an eternity had a powerful effect on her. She slowly lifted her head and made eye contact with the silver-haired boy. Zexion stared into Xarki's wide amber eyes and smiled warmly.

"It's a pretty name, you should wear it with pride," he told her.

Xarki looked away, turning her head slightly. "That's not who I am anymore."
But then she smiled and looked back into Zexion's blue eye; the one that wasn't covered by his long fringe.
"But I will be, soon."

Zexion shared the smile with her and took his hand off the back of her head, placing in on her cheek.
"You will keep smiling for me, won't you?" he whispered softly.

Xarki exhaled slowly as she nodded.
"I'll do my best."

Zexion breathed a final laugh before placing his hand under her small chin. He gently tilted her face up. Then he took his other hand from her waist and used it to push her fringe to both sides. Closing his eyes as he leaned down. He placed his lips on her forehead and held them there in a long kiss.

Xarki stood there with her eyes open and her arms limp at her sides; her heart was fluttering in shock, but also in happiness.

...

Her footsteps were slow as Xarki dragged her feet along the floor as she entered the Round Room. She looked up at Larxene and smiled.

"Alright, I'm ready."

"There you are! Okay, let's go then," Larxene opened a Corridor of Darkness.

"Wait, just one last thing," Xarki ran up to Axel and Xigbar who were standing by the windows, talking to each other.

Axel gave a small gasp as she approached. "Xarki! I'm glad you're okay, that was a pretty big fall you had yesterday."

"Yeah, I'm alright. It was nothing, really," Xarki forced a grin.

"That's a relief," Axel rubbed the back of his head.

He's not being nosy and asking me why I freaked out and fell in the first place. That's actually quite nice of him.

"So, uh, I just wanted to tell you guys something!" she tried to hide her nervousness.

"Go ahead, I'm all ears," Xigbar put a hand on his hip.

"Well...Xigbar! I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, but I look up to you! You're awesome, okay!" Xarki said the whole thing in one breath and as fast as she could, so most of her words ended up running together.

But Xigbar understood what she was saying, all the same. "Well, geez, that's a little out of the blue. But thanks, I guess. You're alright, kid."

Xigbar lightly placed a gloved fist on Xarki's head.

"A-and, Axel?" Xarki turned to look at the red-head.

"Um, yes?" After hearing the sudden outburst she'd just directed at Xigbar, Axel had no idea what expect.

"Y-you're really cool! Well, technically you're really hot...but in the literal sense! Not in that kind of way! Cos, yknow, you control fire and stuff..." Xarki blushed deeply with embarrassment.

Axel laughed awkwardly and ruffled Xarki's hair. "Don't worry, I get what you're trying to say. You're pretty cool, too."

Xarki blushed even more, but she did her best to smile. She forced a giggle as she turned to leave through the Dark Corridor. Larxene, who had been waiting for Xarki in much amusement gave Axel a cute wink as she disappeared through the darkness.

Xarki turned and looked at the two Nobodies over her shoulder. "Well, I'll see you!"

"Later, Chatterbox."

"See ya, Xarki."

...

Twilight Town

The two friends stood facing each other in the Tram Common; Xarki had her head lowered and Larxene was staring off into the distance. They had known each other for a whole week now, but even though 7 days was hardly any time at all, somehow it had been enough for the two of them to form a strong friendship. Xarki knew this was goodbye, but she could hardly bring herself to say it. She wanted to be free from the in-between world in which she had been trapped in, and yet she wanted these last moments she had with Larxene to last forever.

"So...should we go and take out that giant Heartless? I think it's supposed to be in the Sandlot, or something," Xarki didn't take her eyes off the ground as she spoke.

Larxene kept her gaze locked on empty space, "No, it's alright. I'll take care of it."

"Oh. Okay, then."

There was silence. A sad silence that wrenched at Xarki's dark heart until Larxene finally spoke up again.
"Do you know where you're gonna go from here?"

"There's this guy who lives in an abandoned mansion just past those woods. I think he might be able to help me out,"Xarki was still speaking to the ground.

"I'm going to miss you, Xar," Larxene suddenly looked down at her friend.

Xarki slowly lifted her eyes to meet Larxene's.
"I'm gonna see you again, though. Right?"

Larxene felt a bitter lump in her throat and see didn't know how to make it go away, so she just stood there for a few seconds as she tried to push the words out.
"Of course. I know we'll see each other again some day."

Xarki felt the same feeling in her own throat and she swallowed hard. But that only made tears form in her eyes. She lowered her head again and walked quickly towards Larxene, wrapping her arms around her in a warm hug.
"Don't forget about me, okay?" she croaked.

Larxene hugged back even tighter, "'Course not! You're my friend, remember," she tried to sound cheerful, but her voice was just as raspy.

Xarki slowly pulled back and looked at her friend, staring deep into her pretty turquoise eyes. Larxene looked away, suddenly; a distant look on her face.

"Xarki...I need to prepare you for something. I'm sure you've figured out that Organization XIII is pretty ruthless. Xemnas is planning to do some pretty bad things to good people. I'm...going to be a part of that plan."

"What are you going to have to do?" Xarki sounded worried.

"I'm...probably going to have to go after Sora," Larxene said hesitantly.

Xarki's eyes widened, "You're not going to kill him, are you?"

"I'll taunt him...toss him around a bit, maybe...but no, I'm not going to try and kill him."

Xarki breathed a small sigh of relief, but her expression quickly turned into one of corcern.
"But what if you end up getting into a fight that you can't get out of? Sora's not exactly a push-over. At least, not from what I've heard."

Larxene laughed, "Nah, I'll be fine. I'll have a little fun with him, and then I'll high-tail it outta there as fast as lightning!"

"Just be careful, okay?" Xarki smiled.

"I will. Just as long as you promise to stay tough for me, kay?" Larxene pulled her friend in for one last hug.

Keep smiling...stay tough. The last promises I'll make to Zexion and Larxene. No matter what happens, I have to do my best to keep those promises.

"No problem, I'm always tough," Xarki hugged back.

Larxene let her go and patted her head affectionately, smiling warmly. Xarki closed her eyes and smiled back, fighting back the tears in the corners of her eyes.
Taking a couple of backwards steps, Xarki waved.

"See ya, buddy~" she sang as she turned and ran.

Larxene watched Xarki disappear through the opening in the wall and run into the woods. She breathed out slowly and closed her eyes, trying to control the painful emotions inside of her.
"Good luck, Xarki."

As she turned to head towards the Sandlot, she came face to face with a hooded figure that she ended up slamming right into. Taking a quick step back, she looked up to glare at whoever had got in her way and Zexion's gaze met hers. Her anger turned into fear and she swallowed hard.

"My, your goodbye with Xarki was quite formal," Zexion pulled his hood back, revealing his face. "You were acting like you were never going to see each other again."

Larxene shuffled back a few more steps. "Please...please, Zexion. You can't tell Xemnas. She doesn't belong here, she has to leave. She has to go home. She-"

"Larxene, I know all about her. I know that she has a heart. And I have no intention of going after her or alerting the Superior," Zexion spoke in a calm manner.

The fear in Larxene's expression morphed into one of confusion, then into one of suspicion. "You're serious? But...why?"

"I want to help her just as much as you do," Zexion replied.

Larxene just stared at him with a very unsure look on her face.

"It's the truth. I only want Xarki to be happy," the Schemer insisted.

After pausing for a while, thinking it over, Larxene finally nodded that she believed him.

Zexion breathed an absent-minded laugh, "It's going to be a little lonely here without her."

Larxene put on a smirk, "And it's going to suck not having anything to get excited about or having anyone I actually want to be nice to. I'll have to go back to being my usual bitchy self."

"And my, that's going to be bundles of fun for everyone," Zexion shared the smirk as he turned and started walking away.

Larxene hurried to catch up, "Hey, where are you going?"

"Well, there's still a giant Heartless around here somewhere that needs destroying. I thought I might go and help finish Xarki's mission for her. Are you in?" Zexion spoke with a small smile and without taking his eyes off the path ahead of him.

Larxene was silent; the comment he'd made gave her a bittersweet feeling inside. She decided to push it away.
"Bet I can take the Heartless down first."

That made Zexion turn to look at Larxene. He coughed in disbelief.
"I would have much pleasure in watching you try."

"Just try and keep up, Schemer!"

Larxene started to sprint down the tram tracks. Zexion gave a small 'hmph' as he jogged after her.

"But remember...I'm lightning fast!"

Larxene looked over her shoulder and beamed a cheeky grin at Zexion. He ran slow to let Larxene sprint ahead of him. After all, she absolutely hated to lose. And no one likes Larxene when she's in a foul mood.

...

It seemed to take forever before Xarki finally climbed the last step to the second floor of the mansion. She chose a door at random and ended up finding herself in a small library. It didn't take very long at all to notice that half of the floor was missing and opened up into a room below. Xarki jumped into it, ignoring the fact that there were stairs right next to her. Landing on her feet, she ran into the next room.
She recognised it immediately. She recognised it even more so when she saw DiZ there, sitting at his computer as usual. Hearing Xarki approach, he turned in his chair and greeted her with a surprised expression.

"Ki-?"

"Xarki," she quickly corrected him.

"A Nobody?" DiZ seemed to be talking to himself.

"No, not anymore. I have a heart, but only half of one," Xarki explained.

"And where is the other half?"

We haven't even actually said 'hello' to each other yet. DiZ really tries to avoid small talk, doesn't he... Oh well, I guess it'd be kinda pointless, anyway. I hardly even know him, after all.

"Roka should still have it. And wait, how come you don't know any of this? The last time I saw you, you'd been spying on my every move," Xarki suddenly realised.

DiZ leaned back in his chair a little way. "I'll admit, my study of you and your friends ended after our last visit. You will have to help me understand your current situation."

So Xarki recounted every important detail from how she lost her heart to the reason why she was there at that very moment. DiZ listened with great interest.
When she finished, he stood up and smiled through his red bandages.
"There are bedrooms downstairs. Choose one if you like and make yourself at home."

"Really? I can stay here?"
Xarki had only sought DiZ out to get his advice, but she never considered actually living there at the mansion. But now, as she thought about it, it was the obvious thing to do.

"You're more than welcome to," DiZ brought her out of her thoughts. "As long as you don't mind being by yourself for a while."

Xarki made a confused 'hm?' sound as DiZ stood up slowly. Xarki figured that his heavy clothes would have been quite a burden at times.
"I'm going away for a few days. There are some important matters that I need to take care of. I'm leaving right now, actually."

Xarki wasn't really sure she liked the idea of being alone in that abandoned mansion, but she didn't have much of a choice. "Yeah, that's no problem. Thank you so much, sir," she smiled gratefully.

DiZ nodded and disappeared into a Corridor of Darkness.

...

After leaving the library and going back down stairs, Xarki explored the whole ground floor. She had no luck in finding the bedrooms, however. Just the dining room on the left side and, once she had pushed away the furniture blocking the door, she found a hallway on the right side. The hallway only had two doors. She found a bathroom behind one of them. Xarki had a sudden urge to take a bath, but then decided against it. She really couldn't be bothered.
When she tried the second door at the end of the hall, she stopped short when it opened up into darkness. Looking down, she realised that there were steps leading down to another door. Xarki stepped down the steep stairs cautiously and opened the door slowly, as if she was afraid that a monster would jump out at her. But all that was behind it was another hallway. It was a dead end, but there were once again two doors; one on each wall. Making a more careful decision this time, Xarki chose the one on the left. She clutched the doorknob and turned, opening the door into a dim room. She managed to find a light switch and flicked it down with one finger. As the whole room lit up, Xarki breathed a sigh of relief to realise that she had found one of the bedrooms. The floor was wooden and the walls were bare and were painted a similar shade of brown. There was a double bed placed against the far left corner of the room and a single bed on the right wall.

Xarki walked across the hard floor until she was standing in front of a red wardrobe. She pulled open one of its doors with one hand while she simultaneously slipped her free arm out of her black coat. Swinging the other arm out, she lifted the coat up by the shoulders and hung it on one of the coat-hangers. She closed the wardrobe again and looked down at her clothes. Her green and blue vest, her dark blue shirt and matching shorts. She'd missed them a lot more than she realised. Xarki looked much like her old self now, but she knew that she still had to wait a little longer before she could call herself Kira once again.

Even though she had only woken up just over two hours ago, she was already getting tired. It had been getting worse with each day that passed; she exhausted herself more and more easily. Rubbing her forehead with her white fingerless glove, she took her black sneakers off and pulled back the white sheets on the double bed, climbing into it. She let her head sink into the pillow. Xarki fell asleep within a few seconds.