A/N: Ok, so officially, starting with this very chapter, we get into the plotline for days! Yay! So, because I cant contain my excitement, I am already finding myself thinking ahead to the plotlines of the other games in this series, and it's kinda hard to not be tempted to write any of it out, but I will commit myself to getting through with the day's plotline and on to Kingdom Hearts 2 plotline! Ok, so go on ahead and read my wonderful readers!

The Next day-

"Missing? What the hell do you mean she's missing?"

"We sent her on a mission and she never RTC'd. It's not that hard to comprehend, but seeing as who I'm talking to, I should've known you wouldn't be able to process that kind of information." Saix said, smirking at Hope as she tried to reach for him, only to be pulled back from him by Axel, who sent a glare his way.

"Lemme go!" Hope exclaimed, trying to get free of Axel's grip, but he did no such thing. "I said let me go!" He didn't release her until they were far away from Hope's source of anger. She crossed her arms across her chest, an upset frown on her face. "Can you believe him? The nerve of that guy!"

Axel sighed, letting Hope vent. He watched her in slight amusement, always finding it funny when she got mad at someone that was not him. The way she would puff up her cheeks made her look so cute. 'Cute?….Heh, yeah, really cute…' Axel's wandering thoughts were interrupted by the footsteps of Roxas entering the Grey Area, a tired look on his face. Axel waved, smiling at the blond. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

Hope frowned when she noticed Roxas's glum appearance, "Hey, you ok?"

"Sorry…I was up late. Couldn't sleep." Roxas explained, frowning sadly. Hope moved in front of him, patting his head gently while Axel did the talking.

"We asked Saix about Xion."

Roxas looked up at the two, surprise on his face, "And?"

Axel shook his head frowning, "Your friend was sent out on a mission, but never RTC'd."

"But…why not? Shouldn't the mission be done by now?" Roxas asked, frustration clear in his voice.

"I dunno. But we'll find out what happened soon enough."

"Why's that?" Roxas asked, confused as to what the pyro meant.

Hope smiled at him, "Because you, me, and Axel get to go search for Xion today as our mission."

"You mean it!" Roxas asked, not believing his ears.

"No, we made it all up. Go back to bed." Axel said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "…Yes, we mean it! Hurry up and get ready will, ya?"

Roxas nodded, moving off to prepare, while Axel and Hope moved over to the and waited. "So, where do they think Xion is?" Hope asked, leaning against the wall.

"They think she's somewhere in Twilight Town, so we could be spending all day there just looking, seeing as how large the area is. We may not even be able to do this in just one day either."

"If that's the case, then Roxas wont be too happy to hear it."

"You got that right…."

As soon as the trio exited the portal and stood in the alley way of Twilight Town, Roxas was the first to ask the most important question, "Where do you suppose Xion is?"

Axel scratched his head in thought, while Hope put a finger to her chin and began tapping it lightly. "Well, the mission in question was to take out a giant Heartless."

Roxas looked down and frowned upon hearing Axel's words. "That could be anywhere."

"The let's start by digging up info around town. If we can find that Heartless, there's a good chance we'll find Xion, too." Axel stated.

Hope and Roxas both nodded in agreement, "Right."

They moved out of the alleyway and towards the sandlot, stopping a few feet away when they saw two kids standing in the middle of the sandlot, talking. Hope recognized them to be Hayner and Olette. "You sure you heard that right?"

"Yes, I'm sure! I told you!" Olette exclaimed, waving her hands around.

Hayner smirked at her. "And you heard it where again?"

"The tunnel! I was just there, and I heard a weird, low moan." Olette explained once again.

"Did ya see what was making it?" Hayner asked her.

"Are you kidding? I was scared! I got out of there as fast as I could." Olette stated.

"A low moan?" Roxas asked aloud, putting a hand to his chin.

Axel looked down at him, and then over at Hope. "Could be our Heartless."

Roxas looked up at him, a worried expression on his face, "Or, it could be Xion-injured, unable to make it back to the castle."

"Roxas, now's not the time to jump to the worst possible conclusions." Hope stated, hoping that the boy would calm down.

"I'm sure Xion is just fine. C'mon, let's go check it out." Axel said, moving out of the sandlot, Hope and Roxas right behind him.

0o0o0o0o0o

We made our way through the town and into the underground tunnel, running every which way, fighting a couple a Heartless along the way, until we were down into the very lower level tunnel, which was a lot bigger than the rest. We just stood there, looking around to see if we could find Xion anywhere, and eventually we realized she wasn't here.

"No Xion." Roxas said sadly.

I looked over at Axel, who looked at me for a moment before looking down and scratching the back of his head. "No Heartless either."

"Huh? What are you guys doing down here?" I turned around to see it was Pence who had asked the question. Seeing as how he hadn't exactly acknowledged me, I realized he didn't remember me from the last time we met, but I didn't bother to say anything about it as he approached us. "You lose something?"

"You could say that, yeah." Axel confirmed.

"We heard some rumors of a strange moaning sound." I explained.

"Strange moaning…" He put a hand to his chin and rubbed it thoughtfully before grinning like a child. "Oh! Are you talking about that vent up there?" He asked, are attention going to the vent. "The wind coming through it creates a lot of echoes. It sounds kind of like a moan." Indeed, it did, and it was awfully loud too, causing me to jump in surprise and scoot closer to Axel.

"What? Ugh, for crying out loud…" Axel mumbled, putting a hand to his head.

"So…you guy's said you lost something?"

"Some-ONE. A friend of ours." Roxas explained to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Hope you find them soon." Pence said, giving us a little encouragement.

Roxas grinned, "Thanks."

"So what's your story? Why are you down here?" Leave it to Axel to throw a whole bunch of questions at someone all at once.

"Me? Heh heh, that's a secret." Pence said, laughing a bit nervously before pointing out something. "Hey, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm pence. If you ever need anything, I'm always happy to help." Well, he's sure a nice kid.

"Um, thanks." Roxas said.

"Sure. I'll catch you later." With that said, we watched him as he left, just leaving the three of us alone.

"Well, that was a dead end." Axel oh so bluntly put it.

Roxas nodded in agreement with him, "Yeah, all we really learned was that guy's name."

"Guess it's time to hit the town again…" I stated, earning a nod from them.

As they approached the sandlot, Hope stopped, watching as Axel and Roxas continued to walk. Quietly, she backed away, until she was sure she was out of hearing range, before running off and back into the center of town, where several people and shops were. It wasn't that she was tired of looking for Xion, but that she was trying to find out more on where number XIV could possibly be. So, she figured that someone might have seen Xion around somewhere. She stopped and looked around, spotting the clerk of the nearest shop. She ran over to her.

"Um, excuse me?"

The clerk looked over at her and sent Hope a smile. "Oh! Welcome! How may I help you today?"

"Um, I'm looking for a friend of mine. She's about nay high," Hope explained, putting her hand in the air a few feet lower to describe Xion's height, "and…well, she's pretty much always wearing the hood of her coat up."

The woman put a hand to her chin before shaking her head, "Sorry but no one of that description comes to mind."

"Oh. Well, thanks anyway!" Hope waved goodbye before moving off to the next shop owner.

Meanwhile, with Axel and Roxas-

Axel and Roxas listened intently as Hayner and Olette both talked about Pence acting very dodgy lately, their interests being piqued as soon as the two mentioned their 'usual spot'.

"I wonder where their "usual spot" is." Roxas stated, thinking of places. "What do you think, Hope?" Roxas asked, turning to look to his left, only to find he had spoken to air. "Wah? Axel, she's gone!"

Axel turned toward the blond, "Who's gone?"

"Hope! She was walking next to us when we got here, but she's not here anymore." Roxas said, looking all around for the older girl.

Axel sighed, knowing that she had probably left them to do an investigation of her own, "Typical Hope…Ok, relax. She probably went to look around on her own for Xion."

"But…why would she go on her own?" Roxas asked as they walked towards the alley way.

Axel shrugged his shoulders, "She wanted to save herself the guilt of leaving us behind. She probably didn't want to make us feel bad."

"But…how can she feel guilty if she doesn't have a heart?" Roxas asked, surprising Axel. "Nobodys cant feel anything…."

Axel opened his mouth to say something, but decided he would explain to Roxas that Hope wasn't a Nobody later, "You know what? I'll explain later, but for now, let's just focus on finding that hangout."

Back with Hope-

"Sorry, but haven't seen anyone with that sort of description."

Hope sighed dejectedly, giving the best smile she could form to the auto-shop clerk. "Thanks anyway." She said before moving away from the store. 'That's the 5th person I've asked, and still no clues on to where Xion may be. I wonder if-' Her thoughts were cut off by something hitting her in the head. "Oh!" She exclaimed in surprise, her hand going to where she had been hit, rubbing it thoughtfully. She looked down, and noticed a ball by her feet, figuring that it had been her attacker. She knelt down and picked it up, looking around to see if it belonged to someone. She found no one, but from the corner of her eye, she saw something moved behind a wall. She looked over just in time to see a little girl and boy duck behind the corner. She laughed quietly before letting a smile settle onto her face. "You can come out now." The two little children who looked to be no older than 6 or 7 both moved out from behind the corner, slowly moving to stand in front of the still kneeling Hope. "Does this belong to you guys?" Hope asked, holding the ball out in front of her.

"We're sorry for hitting you in the head!" The two both exclaimed at the same time, the little girl looking to be near tears.

"It was an accident! Honest!" The little boy explained, while the little girl began to cry, tears pouring out of her brown eyes.

Hope sat the ball down on the ground and pulled the little girl to her, patting her back as she cried, while the boy just stared in shock. "It's ok, there's no need to cry, or apologize." Hope pulled away, letting the little girl wipe her eyes.

"Y-you mean you're not mad?" The little girl hiccupped.

Hope shook her head, handing the girl the ball. "No. You didn't hurt me, so I have no reason to be. And the way you both came forth and told me the truth was very brave. Now then," Hope said looking at the two, "Can you tell me your names?"

"I'm Mattie and this is my sister, Luka." The boy, Mattie, introduced himself and his sister, who hid shyly behind him, "Go on, Luka, say hello."

"H-hello…" Luka said quietly, staying behind Mattie.

Hope smiled, "Such well behaved kids. Where are your parents at?" Hope asked, beginning to think that such young children shouldn't be out all alone.

"Oh, we don't have any. We live in the Twilight Orphanage." Mattie explained, pointing to a tall building several blocks away.

'They're both orphans?…How sad…' "How old are you, Mattie and Luka?"

"I'm 8, but Luka's 5." Mattie said.

'And so young too….Luka is only five and Mattie is only eight. Both are younger and older than Ienzo was when he first came to live with us in the castle…' "Oh. Have you two seen or heard about anything suspicious going on around here lately?"

"Umm…" Mattie looked up, staring at the sky.

"I heard one of the big kids in the orphanage say that he heard something moving around in the tress in the woods. He said that there were a whole bunch of leaves laying on the ground around one tree." Luka said, moving out from behind her brother.

'Something moving around in the trees, huh? Well, looks like I've located our Heartless.' "Well, you two have just helped me out a lot. Now then," Hope said, digging into her pockets and pulling out 2 munny and handing it to Mattie, "Since you two and I our now friends, I want you to go buy some ice-cream for the both of you as thanks for helping me out."

Mattie smiled at her, "Really? Thanks, Miss-Oh! We don't know your name!"

Hope giggled, ruffling their hair, "It's Hope."

"Thanks, Hope! C'mon, Luka! Let's go get some ice-cream!" Mattie exclaimed, taking a hold of his sisters hand, while she tucked the ball under one of her arms. "See ya around!" Mattie waved, running off with his sister in tow.

Hope smiled as she watched them get farther and farther away, until she couldn't see them anymore. Once they were out of sight, she turned around and moved towards the entrance of the woods, walking right through it and into the dark area. It was a bit too dark to see anything, but Hope could hear the loud rustling coming from one of the trees. She glanced up at the top of the one in front of her, confirming that it wasn't in this tree. With agile ease and elegance, she quickly climbed up it, sitting in one of the branches, and quietly glancing around. She remained like that, just surveying in silence, until she heard someone else enter the woods.

"Axel, shouldn't we have spotted her already? Or shouldn't she have already come back to us?" It was Roxas who had asked the question.

Axel groaned, running his temples, "Relax for the millionth time. She'll pop up sooner or later. And if we're lucky, maybe she wont…" Axel joked. Hope frowned at the joke, grabbing a pinecone from the tree she was occupying and throwing at the red-head. "Ow…" Axel mumbled, rubbing his head.

"That's what you get for wishing for me to no longer grace you with my presence." Hope laughed, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Why are you all the way up there?" Roxas called up to her, earning a shush from her.

"Go hit the tree that has the leaves falling from it with your Keyblade." Hope ordered.

Roxas and Axel decided not to ask, but to do instead. Roxas approached the tree that Hope had told him about, and hit it. The tree shook some, and leaves fell all around Roxas. Hope stared intently at the moving tree, waiting for whatever was in it to pop out.

"Is…is something there?" Roxas asked as he kept his eyes on the tree.

Axel smirked as he remained by the tree Hope was in, smirking as he saw the leaves fall from the one that Roxas had hit. "Heh, looks like we got a live one here."

As soon as he said that, whatever had been in the tree moved again, jumping into the tree Hope had been in, shaking it enough to knock her out of it, before it jumped again to the next, and to the next. Hope screamed as she fell, Axel immediately opening out his arms and catching her, knocking them both down. Both shook their heads before looking over at the way to the old mansion, where their target was currently headed. "Hurry, Roxas. Don't let it get away!" Axel yelled to the blonde.

"Right!" He took off after it, leaving Hope and Axel behind on the ground in a somewhat Awkward position. Hope was on top of his chest, her face burning red with embarrassment.

Axel smirked, leaning up towards her ear, "As much as I am enjoying this, we better go and help Roxas."

Without a word, she immediately jumped up and took off, Axel right behind her, laughing. Both caught up with Roxas, stopping in the clearing in front of the mansion. Just as soon as they had come to a stop, whatever it was that had fled appeared in front of them, like a giant chameleon, letting out a roar.

"You think that's the one?" Roxas asked his comrades.

"No wonder Xion had trouble. It was blending right into the scenery." Axel stated as he stared at the giant lizard.

"Just like a chameleon…" Hope mumbled under her breath.

"So, where's Xion?" Roxas asked.

"Still out trying to find it, probably." Axel said.

"What do you suggest?" Roxas asked the two adults, who, in return, both sent him a smirk.

Hope summoned Hope's Sky, while Axel summoned his Chakrams. "Well, a target's a target. Doesn't really matter who takes it out." Axel said, getting into a stance.

"I'd rather we take it out now before it vanishes again. I don't really like hunting down things that can turn invisible." Hope stated, getting into a stance as well.

Roxas looked at them both and nodded, summoning his Keyblade. "Right."

"Here we go!" Axel yelled, before running forward, Roxas and Hope right behind him.

Roxas and Axel took to slashing at it, while Hope stayed a few feet back, using magic on it. That's when she saw it's tail begin to glow. "Roxas, Axel! Watch out for it's tail!"

Axel jumped away, while Roxas blocked it with his Keyblade, only to be pushed back a few feet. Hope ran forward and hit it, jumping up onto its back and using thunder on it. It shook her off, sending her flying into the air, where she caught her balance and landed on both feet, just in time to see Roxas and Axel get pushed back again by it's tail. Hope was about to run forward, when she saw someone wearing the organization coat run past her, and heard Roxas shout.

"Xion!"

Said girl stopped and turned to look at Roxas in surprise. "Roxas!"

Because she had not been paying attention, the Veil Lizard took it as an opportunity to attack, shooting it's tongue out towards Xion. Hope, who was the closest to the black haired girl, and the one to notice what was going to happen, ran forward to Xion. "Look out!"

Xion looked forward in time to see Hope jump in front of her and the Veil Lizard hit Hope instead, who had grabbed Xion in time. Both flew backwards, landing with a loud thud, and both unconscious.

"Xion, Hope!" Roxas exclaimed, moving to run and help both girls, only to be stopped by Axel.

"Focus, Roxas! We have to take that thing first!" Axel exclaimed, running forward and attacking the lizard that had hurt Hope. He would take it out just for laying it's sick tongue on his Hope! 'Wait?…My Hope?' He ignored his thoughts and went back to focusing on the lizard, ready to burn it into ashes. Roxas noticed how Axel seemed to be stronger than he had been moments earlier, but he decided not to dwell on it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

"…You alright? Can you hear me?"

Hope's eyes remained closed as she heard the voice talk to her, nodding her head. "…Yeah…"

"Back then…You could get by with just skinned knees…"

She frowned at this. "…what do you mean 'back then'?"

The voice ignored her question. "What about now? Can you get up?"

"….What do you mean by 'that time'….what about now?"

The voice chuckled quietly, "…Don't worry about me. Just worry about yourself now."

"…I guess…it wouldn't hurt to give it a try…" Hope mumbled.

"-ope, can you hear me?"

"…How about that? Take it slow now. Little by little…"

"…I know. Hey, who are you though?"

"Hope, c'mon! Open your eyes!" Axel exclaimed, shaking her a bit as he held her in his arms.

"Ugh…" Hope groaned, opening her eyes to come to face to face with Axel.

"That looked like it hurt a lot…" Axel said, helping her up on her feet, allowing her to use his shoulder as support.

"Believe me…it did." Hope said, laying her head on his shoulder as she casted cure on herself, relaxing as it eased the pain some. She glanced around to notice Xion and Roxas weren't around anymore. "Where'd they go off to?"

"The Clock Tower. I told them to go on ahead while I waited for you to wake up. And now that you are, we should probably go join them. Can you walk?" Axel asked. She nodded her head, walking forward with ease, Axel right next to her the entire time. The went straight to the tower, only stopping to buy ice cream for everyone before going up and plopping down on the edge with Roxas and Xion. Axel handed the two their ice-creams. "There ya go."

"Thanks." Xion mumbled as she took her ice-cream from the redheads hand.

Hope smiled at everyone before taking a bite of her own, followed by Axel, then Roxas, who then looked over to notice Xion wasn't touching hers. "Eat up. It's gonna melt."

Xion looked at her lap sadly, "I know."

"Are you not hungry, Xion?" Hope asked the younger girl, a concerned expression on her face.

"…" Silence was Xion's reply to Hope's question.

"You wanna talk about what happened?" Roxas asked, causing Hope to smile at how he was such a good friend.

Xion was silent again, and this time, Axel spoke up. "We're here for you if want to get off your chest. Right, Roxas, Hope?"

"Mmhm!"

"Yeah. That's what friends are for." Roxas said, smiling at Xion.

Xion looked away from the three sadly, "I cant…I cant use the Keyblade anymore." Roxas gasped while Hope and Axel gave her a surprised look, causing Xion to look at them all, "And without it, I cant do my job."

"What happened, Xion?" Hope asked, listening intently.

"I don't know. But if I don't defeat Heartless with the Keyblade…the hearts they release just find their way into other Heartless instead. I swat them in one place and they just pop up in another. I'm supposed to be collecting hearts. Those are my orders. Without the Keyblade…I'm useless."

Roxas turned to look at Axel and Hope, a pleading expression on his face. "Is there anything you two can do?"

Axel frowned, "Wish there was."

"We're not miracle workers. It's just like she said: No Keyblade, no can do." Hope stated sadly, looking down at her lap.

"They're gonna turn me into a Dusk once they find out they don't need me."

"No, they wont! I wont let them!" Hope exclaimed, doing the one thing Axel did not want her to do: Putting the wellbeing of others before her own.

"C'mon, Axel, think of something!" Roxas ordered.

"Hey, I'm racking my brain here, and there's just no way to-" He paused, a light bulb going off, "Wait."

"What? Tell us." Roxas said, waiting for an answer to come from Axel.

Axel turned to Hope, winking at her and causing her to cock an eyebrow at him before he looked back at Roxas, "What if you worked double duty, Roxas?"

"Huh?"

"What do you mean, Axel?" Xion asked, curious as to what this idea was.

"Yeah, what do you mean, Axel?" Hope asked, worrying that the idea Axel had was stupid.

"Xion, stick with Roxas until you can control the Keyblade again. Make sure your missions are with him. Then, he can collect the hearts…and nobody will ever have to know that you're not doing the same." He finished with a sly smirk on his face.

"Axel, that's brilliant!" Roxas explained happily.

"Wait, Roxas…that means you'll have to collect twice as many hearts." Hope said, pointing out the one flaw in Axels plan.

"I can do it." Roxas said, his eyes shining with determination.

"You don't mind?" Xion asked.

Roxas grinned, "Of course not!"

"But-"

"Hey, friends have gotta be able to lean on each other now and then," To prove his point, Hope leant on Axel's shoulder, sending a smile to Xion, "Aint that right, you guys?"

Roxas nodded, while Hope spoke. "Of course. It's what makes the bond of a friendship stronger."

"Thanks…So…Axel, Hope, does this mean that you two and I can be friends?"

Axel looked away and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Well, yeah. Was there ever any doubt? Any friend of Roxas's is a friend of ours."

Xion laughed a little before sending a smile to them. "Thanks…Roxas, Axel, and Hope. Thank you!" Hope smiled at Xion, as did Roxas and Axel, until Axel told them all to the rest of their ice-cream. As soon as she was done, Hope stood up and looked over at Xion.

Hope's theme begins-

"Because we're friends now, this is for you." Hope pulled out a pink and black heart-shaped charm and handed it to Xion. "It's a good luck charm that is connected to our friendship. It represents the bond of it, and it serves as a good reminder too."

Xion smiled at it before placing it in her pocket. "Thank you, Hope."

"You're welcome…Xion."

A/N: Good gawd…21 pages total typed up in this chapter. Longest chapter I've ever written for this story…Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed and leave a review! LATER TATERS!