A/N: Sigh…I love this story :D! Not much to say, except to expect the time soon either later on in this chapter, or the next one. Also, the songs: Naraku no Hana and Kindle my Heart, are not mine. I only own the lyrics that I made to fit Naraku no Hana. If you're interested in hearing the song, in English, mind you, here is a fabulous fandub I found on /watch?v=a5_jPDSLN7w&feature=related

As soon as they were back in the castle, and Xion had been deposited into her room, Hope drug Axel down the hall until they were to her room, where she pulled him in and slammed the door shut, before grabbing Axel by the collar and slamming him into the wall. "What the hell, Axel? THAT WASN'T PART OF THE PLAN!"

Axel frowned at the lilac eyed girl. "What did you want me to me to do? Let her escape?"

"At least she wouldn't of gotten hurt if she'd escaped." Hope grumbled lowly.

"Oh, so now you're expecting me to not do my job? Disobey orders and let her keep associating with that impostor?" Axel asked, his tone harsh and bitter.

"I didn't say that, Axel…"

"But you meant it, right? You saw her summon her Keyblade on Roxas, Hope. You know what she was gonna do…."

"She didn't attack him like you did to her!"

"So you're saying that I should've let her attack him? Attack Roxas and hurt him!"

"No, of course not!"

"Then why are you so mad?"

"Because what you did was wrong!"

Axel glanced at her thoughtfully for a moment before stepping forward, stopping when he was towering over her. "You wish I'd just killed her then?" Hope closed her eyes and shook her head. "Then be grateful that I didn't, and brought her back safe and sound, just unconscious."

"Why? Why did you do it that way, instead of sticking to the plan of just convincing her to come back? Better yet…why did we even bring her back in the first place? Maybe we should've just left her…" Hope said, walking out of her room and out onto the balcony, looking up at the uncompleted moon of Kingdom Hearts.

Axel leaned against the doorway to the balcony, silently watching Hope as she kept her back to him, looking up at the sky. He frowned as he thought back to why he had brought Xion back.

"You're ordering me to do what?"

"Tell me what choice is left, now that Xion has had contact with that man in the black coat." Saix said, his face expressionless as he spoke.

"And if I don't?"

Saix smirked. "If you don't…then little Hope will have to answer for your actions."

Axel had only done it so Saix wouldn't hurt Hope for his wrongdoings. He wanted to tell Hope, but then she would question why he was protecting her, and he couldn't tell her because Saix threatened him. Sighing he looked back at Hope to see a little box on the railing, opened and music coming from it, Hope quietly singing along with it.

"Come now, and let us forget, what the future holds

And when, we look to the sky, we see the crimson rain

If a warm wind spirals all around you,

It is surely a sign.

You must run away, you must run away

From your far too tragic and sorrowful fate

I know that you're not a flower from hell like they say

In a place such as there

You must not bloom there, you must not bloom there

Don't let their weeds tangle you up in them

And so the shards of time fly by not making a sound"

The sadness in Hope's voice was so distinct, it made the empty place in Axel's chest constrict. Quietly, he walked up behind her and reached his hand to the little music box, shutting it and wrapping his arms around Hope from behind. "Can't you sing something…I dunno, less depressing?"

Hope let out a small laugh, leaning back into Axel's chest. "Like what?"

"That song that you sang at your mom's funeral. Remember?"

Hope smiled as she remembered the one he was talking about, nodding her head.

"as the moon kindles the night

as the wind kindles the fire

as the rain fills every ocean

and the sun the earth

with your heart kindle my heart

take my heart, take my heart

kindle it with your heart

and my heart cannot be

kindled without you

with your heart kindle my heart."

Hope turned around, and smiled at him. "Sorry for yelling at you…"

Axel grinned sheepishly, patting her head. "Nah, don't worry about it. We should probably go find Roxas."

"Right."

0o0o0o0o0o

Roxas walked out of the portal, instantly catching sight of Axel talking with Hope in the Grey Area. Growling slightly, he called the pyro out. "Axel!"

Upon hearing his name being called out, Axel turned around, smiling as if nothing was the matter when he caught sight of Roxas running towards him. "Oh, hey, Roxas."

Of course, Roxas did not return the smile, instead, glaring at the pyro. "Where is she?"

Hope stepped in between the two, putting a hand on Roxas's shoulder. "Calm down."

"Safe." Axel explained.

Roxas shook his head, growling and trying to lunge at Axel, only to be pulled back by Hope. "How could you do that to her?"

"Do what?" Axel asked, innocently.

"You didn't have to use force."

"Didn't I?"

Roxas shook his head sadly. "No…of course not! We're supposed to be best friends."

"This isn't about friendship!" Axel yelled angrily, surprising Hope and causing her to flinch slightly. Instinctively, she pulled Roxas back, hugging him slightly while frowning at Axel, who only scratched the back of his head. "If that's all, we gotta go. C'mon, Hope."

Hope opened her mouth to say something to get Axel to stop, but no words could come to mind. "Roxas, I'm sorry about him. He's just a little on edge today…"

"C'MON, HOPE!"

"Coming!" Hope shouted, pressing a quick kiss on top of Roxas's head, running after Axel, and leaving Roxas to mope around.

Day 299~

"Really now?"

"You're sure things are better this way?"

Saix frowned slightly, his arms crossed across his chest as his back faced Hope and Axel. "I never expected you to question it." Saix said, the words directed to Axel. "If you could save one of them, why would you choose the puppet?"

Axel grunted slightly, while Hope glared. "She's not a puppet!"

Saix frowned at her. "I'm not talking to you, now am I? Or put it this way, Axel. Which would you rather suffer the loss of: some make believe friendship, or a real one?" Axel grunted again, looking off to the side, while Hope stared at her feet. Saix began to walk away. "Things are finally right again. Of course, we're better off this way. Xemnas is exasperated from all the "fixing" we've had to do. We have to set things right. There's simply too much on the line…Lea."

Hope gasped quietly as Saix uttered the name that Axel had called himself so many years ago. She took a glance at Axel, noticing the sad look on his face before closed his eyes and walked off. She turned around to find that Saix had not yet left. "Why?"

"What?"

"Why are you so intent and making everyone choose?" Hope asked, her question more of a demand to know.

"Like I said, there's too much on the line to take anymore chances." Saix replied coolly.

"You're making him choose between something that there used to be that isn't there anymore, and something that's replaced that. What…..what happened to you, Isa? You used to be so nice, and….friendly."

"Things change. And I think that this change was for the better." He left on that note, leaving Hope behind.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Dear Diary,

We got Xion back, but now…things have been getting much more weirder. Saix has been talking about how she doesn't belong here with us, but I don't understand. Heh, I'm not really understanding ANYTHING anymore. I don't think the peace will last much longer now with the way things are going. I'm not sure if I can hold onto my sanity much longer if someone doesn't explain to me what's happening.

The feeling of something bad to come…it's finally sunk in.

0o0o0o

End of Day 300~

Hope smiled as she and Axel walked over and took their seats next to Roxas, Xion soon arriving afterwards, all of the sitting in silence, just enjoying the sunset.

Probably the last one that they would ever enjoy with peace.

0o0o

"Oh no…" Namine mumbled as she stood in front of the pod that held the sleeping Keyblade master inside.

DiZ walked up and stopped next to her, "What has happened?"

"It's Sora…His memory has stopped."

"Stopped?"

"Unless something is done, he'll never awake from his slumber." Namine explained sadly.

"Then so be it. The gloves must come off."

"But…what'll happen to…"

"Those Nobodies had no business existing in the first place-as you know fully well, Namine."

Namine looked down and nodded sadly, "Yes…"

A/N: Not the best I could've done, but it'll have to do for now, I suppose. And I will probably use Naraku no Hana alot in this story, so expect to see it again. Ok, so, next chapter there shall definitely be a time skip and a very lovely surprise for yall *Cough-Axel and Hope-Cough* Hehe, later taters!