Chapter Twenty: Wonder

Journal: Day Six

Today was Naminé's first day of training. She really seemed to pick it up really quick, especially with magic. Not that surprising since she's so smart. Though it might have been nicer for the training session to end on something besides Ansem barging in and almost killing us.

Not that Marluxia and Larxene seem to care, they just want results now. They want to try and have Naminé get close to her other half to get her to summon her keyblade. I don't think it's going to be easy.

Well, at the very least, I'll be there on the mission to help her along with Axel and Zexion. It wasn't a hard choice for me to make anyway. Of course I'd help Naminé. She's my…

Best friend?

It's strange. I'm only just understanding what it means to be friends.

But I think Naminé's become something else to me.

Something bigger.

I just wish I knew the word for it.

Roxas was about to head out after Marluxia left to get Axel and Zexion, but no sooner had he walked out the door than he had seen Axel leaning against the wall outside. A bit surprising since he usually spent his mornings sleeping in. "Hey. You ready to go?"

"Almost, I need to grab one of your cloaks." Axel quickly walked inside before Roxas could react.

Watching as Axel began to rummage through his footlocker, Roxas was dumbfounded, "Wha…? But none of my stuff fits you."

"It's not for me." Axel answered as he pulled out a spare set of robes, but as he reached for the lid, he paused. He glanced over to Roxas who had made his way over to him. "You still haven't gotten rid of your outfit from before you joined."

Roxas put his hand on the lid and moved to shut it. "I haven't found the time, alright?"

Axel raised an eyebrow, still holding the lid open. But eventually he let go with a shrug and a smile. "Fair enough, things have been pretty crazy lately. Just remember you can't hold onto it for too long. You're with the Organization now, you know?"

A feeling of unease came over Roxas as he answered back, "Yeah, I know." He knew his friends were a part of the Organization. But there was a lot about the other members of the Organization that made his skin crawl. The way Vexen seemed to only care about him as a test subject for potential dissection. How Marluxia and Larxene held Naminé captive in the name of their own pursuits.

And that wasn't all.

Something about Xemnas told him that he was hiding even worse secrets.

He couldn't say exactly what it was. But something inside of him was screaming not to trust him.

When he first woke up, he joined the Organization because they promised him answers. But the more he thought about it, it seemed more like he was just one more number to add to their ranks.

But for now, he had to set that aside. He had to focus on the people he could trust.

Zexion was up by the time they arrived at his door, using a hand to brush aside messy hair into something presentable. He seemed a bit more grim as he walked beside them. As they arrived at Naminé's door, he looked to Axel. "This mission is not going to be simple."

Axel sighed as he rested his hand on the doorframe, "When is it ever?" Raising his fist, he knocked on the door before pulling it open and calling out cheerfully, "Wakey, wakey, Naminé!"

The sudden arrival caused her to jump to her feet. "A…Axel, it's you. Good morning."

Roxas frowned as he looked over to Axel. "You don't have to be so loud."

He was unperturbed, simply shrugging. "Eh, I need a loud alarm clock sometimes, so it's my baseline."

"If we could focus on the matter at hand." Zexion's voice got everyone's attention as he waved a hand over the crystal ball. "Our mission today will take us to a simulacrum of Agrabah that the princess of heart is travelling through." The image of Kairi in Castle Oblivion holding a card before a set of double doors came into view.

Axel clapped his hands together and rubbed them together as he summarized, "Simply put, we need to get Naminé close to Kairi for a bit to try and get a better look at her keyblade, and then get her out. And of course we can't get too rough with Kairi or let her learn too much about the Organization." He glanced around the four of them as he asked, "Any ideas on a master plan to pull it off?"

Roxas racked his brain to try and come up with something before his eyes lit up as he suggested, "Maybe if there's a big enough fight with the heartless, we could use the confusion to take the keyblade from her and get it to Naminé?"

Zexion and Axel looked at him with raised eyebrows before Axel held out his hand. "Roxas, summon your keyblade."

Roxas hesitantly called the weapon to his hand, unsure where this was going. Axel taking the weapon from him was about as expected but why? In a flash the weapon vanished.

And reappeared in Roxas' hands.

"Oh."

Axel shook his head as he began to pace. "Yeah, we can't just take it for too long. I was hoping some sleep might help me come up with something, but it's a total blank."

Zexion tapped his lexicon as his brow began to furrow. "Illusion magic has the potential to bring us close, but if she makes contact with anything I create the magic might break from her natural light."

The room was silent, and inside of Roxas his thoughts began to race. Larxene and Marluxia were pretty insistent that this mission get done, and Roxas really didn't want to know what would happen if they failed. Would they send Roxas back? Turn them into Dusks?

What would they do to Naminé?

"There is something we could try."

At her voice the three of them looked over to her, Axel and Zexion in surprise, and Roxas with a glimmer of hope. She looked at the image of Kairi now walking sandy streets in the crystal ball and began to explain, "I haven't been working much with Kairi's version of the floors, so she hasn't been seeing anyone but enemies." "If I show up and I'm not threatening, she might be caught off guard long enough for me to make a connection to my keyblade before she can do anything."

"And then I can use my magic to help with extraction." Zexion concluded, though he wasn't quite satisfied with the idea. "It's risky. Any touch from the princess will render my magic ineffective."

Axel sighed and shook his head. "This whole mission was risky from the start. But at least we're going in with a master plan." Walking over to Naminé, he held out the black cloth in his hand with a smile. "At least I've taken care of how to get down there."

"Oh, It's…"Though Naminé smiled at the gift she winced as she looked at Axel, "A little big. Besides, I thought I wasn't in the organization yet."

Zexion began to nod in understanding, as he saw the garment. "Of course. We need to go through the dark corridors to reach the princess' location. Since we don't have your custom uniform yet you'll need to borrow one of ours."

Naminé nodded, and glanced down at the floor. "If it's all the same, I'll only wear it through the corridors. I feel a bit more comfortable with it off."

"Suit yourself." Axel shrugged as he dropped the cloak at her feet. " I think it's great at adding a bit of mystery." He turned to conjure the dark portal downstairs.

Roxas walked over to Naminé as she put on the black coat over her white dress. Roxas couldn't help but ponder if the Organization's uniform was really protecting her, or if it was erasing her to be just another number. He placed a hand on her shoulder as she zipped up the garment. She paused and gave a small smile back in return.

Seeing the way her smile made her eyes that little bit brighter made the weight on his shoulder fall away. She wasn't just a number.

So maybe he wasn't either.

"Ready?" Axel called from the portal.

The two of them looked at each other and nodded. He answered back, "Yes. We can do this."

From the day Kairi had begun to wonder about other worlds, one thought helped to quiet her fears of the unknown. That she wouldn't be alone. No matter where she went, Kairi was certain that Sora and Riku would be right beside her. And in a way she did get part of that wish. Her time in Sora's heart had her see every sight and wonder that he did as well.

But this journey was different. It wasn't just a journey that had become something more. She stepped through the portal to find a way to save her friends. Not just the ones she had lost on her journey, but one that had vanished so long ago. And it was one she was walking alone.

She sighed as she glanced across the streets of Agrabah. The only company she had on her journey were the heartless and anyone that Sora had faced in his journey. Not exactly great conversationalists. The only other contact was Axel, and it didn't bode well that their first interaction was a fight. Why? What exactly was he hiding here in this castle? Were there others like him?

Either way she had to press on. Maybe this world might be different. It was one of the few times Sora had run into one of the other princesses of heart. She almost wished she had time to meet with them all at Hollow Bastion. Just to ask what having a heart of pure light really meant. But it was too dangerous for all of them to be in a single location, too much of a chance for someone like Maleficent or Ansem to swoop in and capture them all again.

So for now, she had tried to find their counterparts in these illusions. Wonderland was a bust, with Alice nowhere in sight. But there was something in Agrabah that felt familiar. What or who wasn't clear, she wasn't even sure it was one of the other princesses of heart. But whatever it was felt so similar to herself.

Kairi perked up as she heard footsteps on the sand. It was quiet, but facing so many heartless attacks taught her to pay attention to the details. She glanced around the abandoned marketplace, and spotted movement by one of the back alleys. Calling her keyblade to her grip, Kairi chased after the figure shouting, "Hey! Hold it!" Sand kicked up as she turned the corner, ready to face her opponent. "Now I've…"

But she wasn't ready. Not for this.

The sun of Agrabah illuminated the alley, yet even so she stood out. She had grown much taller than when she had seen her last. But her hair, her dress, so similar to when they were kids. Then she turned around and spoke with a fond smile, "It's nice to see you, Kairi."

There was no mistaking her.

"Naminé?"

After so many years, it was really her.

"Naminé!"

Her fears forgotten, Kairi sprinted forward and embraced her long lost friend in an instant.

In an instant, Naminé could see the plan fall apart. There was no time for her to react, no time to make Kairi stop what she was doing. As soon as she recognized her, Kairi just ran over to her and hugged her. Even now she was oblivious to the plan she had thwarted, Kairi continued to rejoice, "It's you! It's really you, Naminé! It's been so long!"

"Kairi…you can let go." Naminé tried to loosen the grip Kairi had on her, but it hardly seemed to stop her.

She shook her head as she began to collect herself. "Sorry, it's just…I've been in this castle for so long and haven't seen anyone friendly." Eventually, she loosened her grip and settled for putter her hands on Naminé's shoulders as she separated from her. "Seeing you again, after all these years. It's so hard to believe."

A friend? Kairi considered her a friend? She knew that she had inserted herself into Sora's memories as someone he grew up with. But for Kairi to feel so similar to how Sora did? To brave danger for a forgotten friend? Naminé slowly smiled as she somehow mustered the words, "I've…wanted to see you too." And admittedly, she truly did. Even if it was just for a moment to see who she came from.

To see what her other meant to her.

Finally, Kairi let go, clasping her hands together. "Where have you been all these years?"

"It's a long story." Naminé answered as her mind raced. Actually telling Kairi where she came from would be the worst idea. Marluxia or Larxene wouldn't hesitate to kill her. There was one way she might be able to salvage this plan and stay alive. To maintain contact with her until she understood her connection to the keyblade. "Maybe we could talk after we get through the city?"

"Sounds good. Get to safety before we catch up." "Naminé, there's so much I've got to tell you."

Some part of Naminé ached hearing that. While the revelations that Kairi had experienced with Sora on their journey were groundbreaking, it was nothing compared to the secrets the Organization was hiding. She wanted so desperately to talk about them, but knew that Marluxia would never have it.

Though she also wondered if Kairi simply wanted to talk about Sora. Perhaps then, she might have an easier time holding a conversation since she had been spending so much time with Roxas.

…

Was...was their relationship truly so similar? What was between her and Roxas? Last night she called him her best friend. But still it didn't seem like enough. There was one idea she could think of.

An idea that was taught to Naminé as impossible for her.

But the longer the days with Roxas went by, she wished more for the impossible.

She wished for love.

"What was that?!" Axel hissed from their vantage point above the alley on the rooftops. "She just hugged her on the spot!? We had a master plan!"

Roxas didn't truly understand it well either. But he knew that Naminé interacted with Kairi as well in those memories. Had it become so real that Kairi had truly cared for Naminé like a friend? Surely as someone of pure light, she would have picked up on the difference between a person and a nobody.

Or...was there any difference at all?

"One thing is certain, illusion magic is useless now," Zexion scowled as he snapped his book shut, "And with Naminé so close to the princess, that resistance will linger. We will need to take drastic measures."

"What?!" Roxas couldn't help it. Things were already bad enough, but a phrase like 'drastic measures' set him on edge. Naminé was someone he cherished of course, so he had to look after her. And while Kairi was a keyblader, she also wanted to look after Naminé too. So she couldn't be all realized however, that Axel and Zexion were staring at him in surprise. "I mean, what were you thinking? Because…we can't hurt Naminé or Kairi too badly."

Axel looked towards the towers of Agrabah's palace and began to smirk. "Simple, we get the help of the Grand Vizier."