A/N: Umm…yeah, I wouldn't blame you guys if you hate me for allowing Zexion to die. I hate me too. But! I have a brilliant plan and I will tell you this: It involves Zexion, ok? That's all you need to know! Ok, so I feel as if I speeded this chapter up a bit, so…yeah. I'm sorry, but this cold I have is really messing me up. Enjoy.

'Ugh…everything hurts. My body aches everywhere. What happened again?…Oh, that's right. I went against Marluxia, and….I lost. Axel was probably right. Going against Marluxia was the worst idea I ever had. Axel…I wonder if he's alright and if he found the chamber? I hope he comes back soon. But…where am I? And how long have I been asleep?'

Slowly, I let my eyes flutter open, only to shut them quickly again, due to being blinded by bright lighting. This time, I opened them slower, allowing my vision to adjust to the light. I turned my head to the side and realized I was back in my room at The Castle That Never Was. Question was…how did I get back here? I don't remember. I sat up, wincing a bit as I felt the pain in my left side as I moved. I lifted up the side of my shirt, grimacing when I saw the scar Marluxia's scythe had left. It wasn't too big, but it wasn't exactly all that small either. It was a crescent shape sort of. After taking a good look, I lifted it back down and slowly swung my legs off the side of the bed, letting them touch the cold tiled floor. Carefully and without causing myself as much pain as possible, which I successfully managed to do. I put one foot in front of the other and slowly walked to my bathroom, flicking on the switch. I looked at myself in the mirror and it wasn't what I would call pretty.

I had clearly visible bruises all on my arms and cuts to go along from where Marluxia had attacked me with razor petals. I had a nasty looking bruise on my left cheek, and a small cut on my forehead. My hair….Oh, the horror. It was all choppy and uneven. I decided that I would get Axel to help me fix it when he got back. Not that much, but still…Eww. All in all: I looked like I was used as a punching bag. I decided a shower would do some good so that's what I did first, changing into something clean afterwards, and exiting my room and opening a portal to Twilight Town on my own.

0o0o0o0o0o

Axel walked around the last floor searching for the chamber that he was supposed to be searching for while staying at C.O., but instead, Hope had done most of the work in doing that, yet she never found a thing. Axel was wandering around when out of the corner of his eye, he saw something laying on the floor. Earning his attention, he walked over to it to investigate. He looked down and realized it was a book. He bent over and picked it up, flipping the cover open and reading the writing on the very front of the page.

Happy 8th birthday, Sweetheart! I hope that you will write about everything you do and all your adventures in this diary. The first entry you write will be just the beginning of your story, and the rest will continue on, until your story ends. Don't stop writing until that happens. I love you, my Little Hope!

Love, Mom

Axel smiled at the note. He motioned his hand to turn the page, but stopped. This wasn't his story written in this, it was Hopes. Axel shut it and placed it in his pocket, opening a portal and walking through it, heading back home.

Hope rounded the corner of the clock tower and moved over towards the edge, carefully crouching down and swinging her legs over the side, taking a bite of her ice-cream. She stared out at the horizon, her thoughts wandering to Zexion. He was gone, and her best friend had allowed it to happen. But Hope couldn't find it in her heart, no matter what how much space there was inside of it, to hate Axel for what he had allowed to happen. As much as she had loved Zexion-No- Ienzo, she knew that she could not alter ones fate. Perhaps it was that thought that made her a bit saddened by it. If she couldn't help one person, did that mean she couldn't help anyone else? But…there was an odd feeling in her heart. One that suggested that she would see her lost one again someday. And like she always has, she believed in that feeling.

"What's that stuff falling from the sky, Hope?" Ienzo asked, tugging on the sleeve of Hope's coat. She directed her attention to him and saw him point a finger at the sky. She followed and happily laughed.

"It's snowing!" Hope exclaimed, giggling like a little child. It was the middle of December, and winter's in Radiant Garden were always cold enough for snow. Almost a whole year Ienzo had been living with Ansem the Wise and Hope, enjoying living with them and the other apprentices. But this "snow" confused Ienzo? What reason did it have for falling out of the sky? What did people use it for?

"Hope, what do you do with it?"

Hope looked down at him, "Do what with what, Ienzo?"

"The snow. What do we use it for?"

Hope stared at him with a blank expression for a few minutes before laughing a little. "We use it to make snowmen and snow angels, oh, and snowballs!"

Ienzo made a face that clearly said he still didn't get it, so Hope decided to show him. Together, they made a snowman once there was enough snow on the ground to build one with, and then she made a snow angel. Ienzo decided that snow was a toy that all children loved to play with every winter. The two stayed outside until Dilan was sent to get them back inside before they both caught pneumonia.

"Snow…that had been his favorite thing to play in since that time…" Hope mumbled to herself. She wasn't sad about him being gone, but…it still made her cry. She smiled softly as tears silently fell down her cheeks, laughing slightly at how she was acting. Quickly she wiped them away and took a bite of ice-cream.

"Eating up here all by yourself, are you?" Hope didn't bother looking at who it was, just smiled brightly.

"Obviously, seeing as I'm the only one up here…" She turned her head to look over at the familiar owner of the voice. "When did you get back, Axel?"

Axel grinned, moving towards her and plopping down next to her, "A few minutes ago. Don't worry, I've already said hi to Roxas. He's getting us some ice-cream."

"At least you've already seen him since you got back. I don't even know how long I've been back, or when I even got back." Hope said, looking over at the red head, a small smile on her face.

Axel frowned as he let his eyes settle on Hope's face, noticing the visibly large bruise on her left cheek, and the cut on her forehead. He wasn't able to see any other noticeable bodily injuries because she had decided to where the bell sleeves that went with her outfit today. But…he did notice her how she was holding her side to her a bit. "Lift up your shirt."

Hope spat out her ice-cream, turning to stare at Axel in utter shock. "E-excuse me?"

"You heard me loud and clear. Lift it up."

She was about to scold him for asking such a thing, when Roxas walked up, a smile lighting up his face as soon as he saw Hope was there with Axel. "Hope, you're awake!" Roxas exclaimed, running over to the two and taking his seat on next to Axel, while Hope was on Axel's other side, handing the red-head an ice-cream.

Axel grinned happily, taking a nice big chunk out of the salty sweet treat. "I gotta check in with the boss, or he's gonna let me have it." Axel stated, his mouth full of ice-cream.

Roxas looked over at him in question, "You haven't RTC'd yet?"

"Hmm? Nah…"

Hope took a bite from her ice-cream, quirking an eyebrow at the pyro, "Then why come here?"

Axel shrugged his shoulders, "Guess I needed some time to sort out my feelings."

Roxas shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "Whatever, mister I-don't-have-a-heart." Hope giggled and Axel chuckled softly, and Roxas laughed loudly, before all three of them were laughing.

"Hey, Roxas, your ice-creams melting! Hurry up and eat it before it's all gone!" Hope exclaimed to the blond, taking the last bite of hers and finishing it up.

Roxas smiled over at the older girl, "Thanks." He did as she had asked and began to it, before turning back to look at the two, "You know, I started inviting Xion up here while you guys were gone."

"Xion? Really?" Axel asked the blonde.

Hope smiled at Roxas, "Well, that was nice of you, Roxas."

The blonde grinned, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah. I promised her the three of us could have ice-cream together-you know, once the both of you got back. Me and her are friends now." Roxas explained, a smile on his face.

'It's good that he's made a new friend since we've been gone. I was worried about him being lonely…' Hope said to herself mentally.

Axel abruptly stood up, "I should get back. C'mon, Hope." He began to walk away, Hope staring at his back as he did. Quickly, she made her way after him, but stopped to ask Roxas a question.

"Roxas, how long was I asleep?"

Roxas looked up at the sky, thinking. "Umm…about 4 days I think. I wasn't even aware that you were back until about 2 days ago."

"Oh…"

"C'MON, HOPE!"

"Coming!" With a quick goodbye, she ran after Axel.

0o0o0o0o

The two portaled into Axel's room, Hope immediately sitting down on Axel's bed, sending him a look. "Axel, how did I get back here?"

He froze, slowly turning around to look at the brunette. "I sent you back."

"Why?" It didn't take long to figure out that it had been him who had opened that portal and allowed her to fly through it.

His eyes narrowed a bit and he scoffed, "Whaddaya mean 'why'? Did you think I was gonna let the flower boy kill you?"

Hope frowned at his tone. "Of course not!"

"Then why do you need a reason?"

"I was just wondering why…."

Axel moved closer to her, standing right in front of her, an unhappy look on his face, "Why didn't you get away from him while you had the chance? Why'd you stay and fight him?" His voice rose in volume, causing Hope to flinch a bit.

"Why'd I stay? I'll tell you why: You let Namine leave the room she was not supposed to get out of, which was totally irresponsible of you. Did you not realize that Marluxia would hurt her once he found out that she escaped! I stayed, because I didn't want to see Namine get hurt because of your actions. She didn't deserve to be punished for just wanting to fix her mistakes…" Her tone was bitter and cold as she spoke. As soon as she was done, she brushed past Axel, heading for the door, only to be stopped when she was gently pushed into the wall.

"I didn't say I was finished talking to you, Hope." Axel said, keeping a firm grip on her arms to keep her from causing him bodily injuries.

"But I am…." She mumbled looking over to the side, doing her best to ignore the fact that he was in her personal bubble.

Axel rolled his eyes, "Lift up the side of your shirt." She looked at him with frustrated lilac eyes that suggested she was about to protest, but he spoke before she could, "Now."

She sighed and did as she was told, wincing as she did so. Axel grimaced at the sight of the crescent shaped scar Marluxia's scythe had left there. "Are you happy now?" Hope asked, annoyed at Axel.

He looked back up at her face to notice she had her own turned away from his, trying to do her best to hide the fact that she was ashamed for her injuries. She was scarred for life, and there was nothing that could change that. Axel sighed, playing with a piece of Hope's uneven hair. "Do you want me to fix this problem?" He asked, gesturing to her hair, earning a small nod from her.

"Please…"

He smiled, patting her head, "Sure thing! Oh, here!" He pulled out her diary from his coat pocket. "You left it behind out C.O.. Don't worry, I didn't read anything, I promise."

She laughed at him and hugged her book full of memories to her, smiling as she did so.

30 minutes later-

After Axel had made her hair even and cleaned up their mess, Hope looked at her hair in the mirror. She had liked how it was growing long, but it would grow back eventually, so until then, she decided she was just happy with what she still had. Someone else walking into Axel's room caused Hope to turn around, just in time to see Saix walk in, a frown on his face as he approached Axel. "Why didn't you report in?"

Axel turned and looked at the man who used to call his friend, a playful smirk on his face. "Oh, good to see you, too. You're welcome, thanks for the kind words." His smirk was wiped off by Hope elbowing his side, sending him a warning look.

Saix turned his attention to Hope. "Xemnas wishes to speak with you now. Go." Hope sighed and quietly left the room, knowing that they were going to discuss something they didn't want her to know. After she was gone, they began to talk. "I'm told that Namine has gone missing."

"There one minute, gone the next. I don't know how she got out." Axel easily lied.

"You searched every room, I expect?"

"You're kidding, right?" Axel laughed, "That's like counting grains of dust in a building full of sneezing people."

"What about the chamber? Did you find it?" Saix asked, ignoring Axel's comment.

Axel looked at him with a hurt expression, "Come on, I would've told you that much. I gotta hand it to you…You were right about Marluxia, the traitors…You knew exactly what was up."

Saix turned his back to Axel, "Hmph. All I did was find a place to send everyone who was getting in the way."

"Well, it's nice to know where I stand! Sheesh."

"Did you come back in one piece or didn't you?" Saix asked, a little annoyed. As he began to leave, Axel spoke up.

"I disposed of Zexion." Axel said, earning a bit of Saix's attention, "That's how you wanted it, right? I'll play it your way…for now."

"Hmph, do as you wish. By the way…Who attacked Hope?"

Axel frowned, "Marluxia did it. Probably would've killed her too, had I not opened up that portal to here."

"…See to it that the next time something like that happens, she isn't being reckless." With that said, Saix left, leaving Axel alone.

Xemnas stared down at me from his chair, his face expressionless for a moment until a smirk found its way onto his face. "Your stay at Castle Oblivion was cut short a few days, correct?"

I gave a short nod. "Yes, it was."

He laced his fingers together, putting on his thinking face, "Did you find what I sent you there to search for?"

"No. I checked almost every floor for this chamber, but I found nothing. The only floors I wasn't able to check were the basements, but I assume that Axel checked them after I was gone. You did say that he was going to be looking too…"

"Did you find any clues that suggested it was there?"

I opened my mouth to say yes, but I quickly closed it. I didn't want to tell him about Ventus visiting me, though it didn't matter to him because he didn't know Ventus. He wasn't his friend like I was. Besides, what went on with me wasn't his business anyways. "Nothing."

He frowned, "I see…Mission failed. You may go now."

I turned around to move away, but I stopped, glancing over my shoulder at him. Although he was completely different from the Xehanort I had known four years earlier, there was something that wasn't familiar, Xehanort wise. Before I met Xehanort, I had met someone that had…similar features, but I cant remember who it was. Hmm…maybe I imagined it.

Or…maybe I didn't.

A/N: Oh, this took forever to finish…ugh, I didn't like how it turned out to be honest, but it met my standards. Well, tell me what you guys think! And now…We move forward and more into the 358/2 Days plot! LATER TATERS!