Jessica's Point of View

I woke up to Axel shaking me slightly. "Jess. Hey, Jess, wake up."

My eyes fluttered open, and I smiled before wrapping my arms around him. "I'm not dreaming, am I? You're really here?"

"Yeah, I'm really here," Axel assured me. I released him from my hug and sat up in my bed. Axel sat next to me and explained why he was in my room. "Roxas and I have a mission to go find Xion today. I know you've practically sworn off missions, but this is a different kind of mission. Will you come with us?"

"Is she okay?" I asked.

"We don't know. That's why we're going to go look," Axel replied.

I remembered how Xemnas had seemed to think that there was a chance that I would go on a mission. While looking for Xion was something that I had no problems with, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I had given in. "I... I'm sorry, Axel. I really don't want to," I sighed.

"Jess, please don't make this harder than it has to be," Axel begged.

"Let me guess, Xemnas ordered you to get me to come," I sighed.

"Yeah. I'm sorry that it has to be this way. Please don't fight this. It's not worth it," Axel tried.

I drew my legs to my chest and hugged them. "If I do this, he's going to expect me to go on another mission tomorrow, and the endless cycle will begin again. I can't, Axel."

"I know, but-" Axel started.

I didn't want to hear any excuses, so I cut him off. "But you don't know. Xemnas plays twisted mind games. I can't take it anymore, so I'm done playing."

"Jess, I was told that if I can't convince you to come with me, Xemnas will do it for me. For your sake, please don't let it come to that," Axel pleaded.

I knew Axel was just looking out for me, so I didn't want to let him down. "Alright. I will come with you today. Just know that I won't be joining you tomorrow, whatever your mission is," I agreed.

"I'll take what I can get, I suppose," Axel sighed. We went to the Grey Area to wait for Roxas.

Demyx approached me when he saw me. "Whoa, hey, Jess! Long time, no see. You okay? I've been hearing some pretty nasty rumors about you."

I wasn't sure how to respond. I didn't want to come off as cold or mean. I was indebted to him for allowing me to see my father and Zexion for the last time. "I'm fine, Demyx. Thank you for your concern," I said at last.

"It is good to see you out and about," Luxord commented.

"I don't really have much of a choice," I mumbled.

Roxas entered the room, and Axel went to talk with him. "You'll have to excuse me. I'm supposed to go on a mission with those two, so I better make sure I'm included in the loop," I mentioned before making my way to Axel and Roxas.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," Axel greeted.

"Sorry... I was up late. Couldn't sleep," Roxas apologized.

I was trying to be pleasant around Roxas, so I put on a fake smile. "Just be grateful he didn't wake you up. I wasn't so lucky. I'm his favorite, so he likes to pick on me."

"I thought I was your favorite," Roxas stated.

"Hey, you're both my favorites. Anyways, I asked Saix about Xion," Axel mentioned.

"And?" Roxas gasped.

"Your friend was sent out on a mission but never RTC'd," Axel explained.

"But... why not? Shouldn't the mission be done by now?" Roxas fretted.

"I dunno. But we'll find out what happened soon enough," Axel assured him.

"Why's that?" Roxas wondered.

"You, me, and Jess get to track Xion down. That's our mission today," Axel replied.

"You mean it?!" Roxas exclaimed.

"No, I made it all up. Go back to bed," Axel joked. It sounded like a better plan than going on a mission to me, so I tried to go back to my room, but Axel grabbed my hood to keep me from getting away.

"Aw, come on," I grumbled.

"Yes, I mean it! Hurry up and get ready, will ya?" Axel urged. Roxas nodded and went to talk to the moogle. Axel drew my back beside him by lightly pulling on my hood. "You knew I was being sarcastic."

"Do I really have to do this?" I groaned.

"Quit whining. It's not the end of the world," Axel stated.

My eyes widened as I remembered something. "Axel, what if he tries to take Luna again?" I realized.

"It's not like you can take it with you. You might lose it. Here, how about this? Go put Luna in my room. He won't think to look there," Axel suggested.

"Okay," I said. I practically ran back to my room. "Luna, I'm going to put you in Axel's room in case Xemnas comes back for you. Axel said it would be okay."

"Alright. Let's go," Luna agreed, jumping into my arms. I took her to Axel's room before heading back to the Grey Area.

Axel opened a dark corridor as soon as I entered. "Let's go," He prompted.

"Right," I agreed before I followed him and Roxas through.

We stepped out in Twilight Town. "Where do you suppose Xion is?" Roxas wondered.

"Well, the mission in question was to take out a giant Heartless," Axel answered.

"That could be anywhere," Roxas grumbled.

"Let's start by digging up info around town. If we can find the Heartless, there's a good chance we'll find Xion, tool," Axel suggested.

"Right," Roxas agreed.

When we entered the Sandlot, there were a couple of local kids talking. It was a boy and a girl. "You sure you heard that right?" The boy asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. I told you!" The girl insisted.

"And you heard it where, again?" The boy questioned.

"The tunnel! I was just there, and I heard a weird, low moan!" The girl answered.

"Did ya see what was making it?" The boy inquired.

"Are you kidding? I was scared! I got out of there as fast as I could," The girl replied.

"A low moan?" Roxas mused.

"Could be out Heartless," Axel mentioned.

"Or it could be Xion- injured, unable to make it back to the castle..." Roxas fretted.

"And they say I'm dramatic," I commented.

"I'm sure Xion is just fine. C'mon, let's go check it out," Axel assured him. Roxas moved on, but Axel pulled me aside. "Look, I know you don't like your situation, but Roxas hasn't done anything to you. There's no point in taking it out on him."

I knew Axel was right, and I felt terrible. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Axel. I know you're just looking out for me," I apologized.

Axel gave me a quick hug before catching up to Roxas, who was waiting for us. We made our way to the tunnels through the entrance nearest to the Clock Tower. We searched all around the tunnels, but our search ended in vain. "No Xion..." Roxas mumbled.

"No Heartless either," Axel sighed.

"Huh? What are you guys doing down here?" Said a boy's voice. I turned to see it was one of the local teenagers. He approached us. "You lose something?"

"You could say that, yeah. We heard rumors of a strange moaning sound?" Axel inquired.

"Strange moaning..." The boy trailed off, thinking about what Axel would be talking about. "Oh! Are you talking about that vent up there? The wind coming through it creates a lot of echoes. It sounds kind of like a moan."

"What? Ugh, for crying out loud..." Axel grumbled.

"So, you guys said you lost something?" The boy reminded.

"We're looking for our friend. She has short black hair and is dressed like us. Have you seen her?" I asked. Axel elbowed me in the ribs, and I shot him a confused look.

The boy thought about it. "I haven't seen anyone like that. Sorry. I hope you find her."

"Thanks," Roxas smiled.

"So, what's your story? Why are you down here?" Axel wondered.

"Me?" The boy chuckled to himself. "That's a secret. Hey, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Pence. If you ever need anything, I'm always happy to help."

"Um, thanks," Roxas replied.

"Sure, I'll catch you later," Pence stated before leaving.

"Well, that was a dead end," Axel groaned.

"Yeah, all we really learned was that guy's name," Roxas grumbled.

"But you gotta admit, being in contact with an outsider was super refreshing," I commented.

"Too refreshing, clearly. You can't just describe a member of the Organization to just anyone. You know better," Axel scolded.

"He was just a boy. What was the harm in telling him?" I scoffed.

"Jess... Never mind. Time to hit the town again..." Axel prompted. We came out in the side street and went back to the Sandlot. Those two teenagers from before were still there.

"Olette, what's Pence up to?" The boy asked.

"He said he was off on another of his investigations today," The girl, Olette, answered.

"He's been acting pretty dodgy lately- all this sneaking around? I wonder what he's up to," The boy commented.

"Beats me. He freaked out when I swung by the usual spot yesterday. Whatever he was looking at, he hid it in a hurry," Olette shrugged.

"Hmm, now why would he do that?" The boy mused.

"I wonder where their usual spot is," Roxas brought up.

"I think I accidentally stumbled on it once on a mission. It's through that gate in the side street. Come on, I'll show you," I mentioned. Roxas and Axel followed me to the small hideout, and we started looking for clues. I looked around with a twinge of envy. "Axel, do most normal teenagers have usual spots like this?"

"Some do, I guess. It's not that big of a deal. No sense in thinking about what you can't have, right?" Axel sighed.

"You think I should be content?" I questioned.

"I think you should focus on what you can do instead of what you can't. Right now, you can help us look for Xion," Axel insisted.

I continued to look around the room but soon became frustrated. "I need some air. I'll be right outside if you need me," I huffed.

"Don't leave the side street. I don't want to be the one to track you down, but if you disappear on me, you know they're not going to let you go," Axel warned.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not going to leave you guys," I assured him before stepping outside. Axel and Roxas came out shortly after.

"We've got a lead. You coming?" Axel declared.

"I need a break. You guys go on without me. I'll be right here," I replied.

"You know that's not how this is supposed to go," Axel stated.

"Just for a little bit?" I pleaded.

"Okay, fine. We're going back to the tunnels to talk to that Pence kid again. We'll come back for you right after. Don't go anywhere," Axel decided. They left, and I leaned against a wall and sunk to the ground with my head buried in my hands.

"Are you alright, miss?" A deep voice asked. I couldn't place it, but it sounded familiar. My head snapped up, and I saw a man dressed in a black outfit and red cape hovering over me, his head covered in red bandages to the point that all that showed was his mouth and a single orange eye. He held out his hand to me. I knew Axel would disapprove of me accepting any help from strangers while I was unsupervised, but I took the man's hand anyway, and he helped me up.

"Yes, thank you, sir. I'm worried about my friend. She's missing, and my friends and I have been looking for her all day, but we still haven't found her," I explained.

"Is this friend dressed like you?" The man inquired.

My face broke into a smile. "Yes! Have you seen her?"

"I do recall seeing someone dressed like you in the forest by the mansion. You could check there," The man suggested.

"Thank you, sir. You have no idea how much that means to me," I thanked.

"You're welcome, my dear. I hope you find your friend," The man mentioned before walking away.

It was shortly after that Axel and Roxas came back. "I got a lead!" I exclaimed excitedly.

"So did we," Axel added.

"People have felt a strange presence in the forest outside of town even though there's no one there. We think it might be the Heartless that Xion was after. What did you get?" Roxas wondered.

"A man just told me he saw Xion there," I answered.

Axel's face went from carefree to completely irate in the blink of an eye. He got up in my face. "I thought I told you not to talk to outsiders! You got a listening problem or something?!" I blinked back tears. Axel had never raised his voice at me before. His shoulders started to sag. "Look, Jess, I'm sorry. This isn't one of those things you can just go against. Talking about the Organization with regular people is really bad and can have serious consequences. Not just for you, but for all of us, including the person you tell things to." I put my hood up so they wouldn't be able to see me cry and headed to the forest. "Jess, I'm just looking out for you is all. You know that, right?" I didn't respond. Axel began to talk to Roxas. "You get a head start. I need to have a chat with Jess for a second."

"But, Axel-" Roxas grumbled.

"We'll catch up. I owe you one," Axel promised. I stopped, and Roxas walked on ahead of me. Axel stepped in front of me. "Okay, look, you said I'm like a big brother to you, right? Well, sometimes, a good big brother has to tell his little sister off because if he was going to just let her do it again, she would screw things up for both him and her. That's all there is to it. Do you understand, Jess?"

"Yes, I understand," I rasped. My voice sounded weak because of my tears.

"Crap, are you crying?" Axel asked, taking off my hood. "Oh, gosh, you are. Okay, okay. You cannot stay like this. We don't have time. Can you pull yourself together?"

I wiped my tears off, but it's not always easy for me to stop once I start. "I'll try."

"Nope, not good enough. I'm not about to let you get hurt because you can't see clearly. You wait at that hole in the wall outside the forest until you have yourself under control, and then you can come in after us. Sound good?" Axel decided.

"Fine," I sighed. I followed Axel to the hole that led to the forest and focused on stopping my tears while Axel went to catch up to Roxas. When I finally felt ready enough, I ran into the woods. When I got to the gate in front of the abandoned mansion, Axel and Roxas were fighting a large lizard-like Heartless. I also saw something on the ground, and it took me a minute to register that it was Xion.

"Jess, do you think you can get Xion to safety?" Axel requested.

"Yes," I agreed. I went around the Heartless to Xion and did my best to carry her on my back to get her away from the battle. When I set her down, she stirred. "Hey, you okay?"

"Jessica? What happened?" Xion mumbled.

"I guess you were trying to fight that Heartless over there that Roxas and Axel are taking care of, and you got knocked out," I explained.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Xion brought up.

"Nah, they've got it. Besides, Axel wouldn't let us help even if we wanted to. It looks like we both have problems today," I replied.

"We do?" Xion inquired.

Axe and Roxas finished off the Heartless, and Roxas ran straight to Xion. "Xion! Are you okay?" Roxas questioned.

"Yes, I think so," Xion answered. She started to get up.

"Easy. Are you hurt?" Roxas checked as he helped her up.

"I'm fine... Thank you. It's just..." Xion started.

"You can tell us all about it- but why don't we head back first?" Axel suggested.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Roxas mentioned.

"That's right. Jessica, go buy us some ice cream," Axel ordered jokingly.

I punched him in the arm playfully. "I'm happy you're alive, but not that happy. Go get it yourself, and get me one while you're at it."

Axel laughed. "Alright. You guys help Xion to the Clock Tower. Ice cream is on me."

When Axel came to the Clock Tower, he handed out the ice cream bars. "There you go," He smiled.

"Thank you," Xion said before taking her ice cream bar.

Axel, Roxas, and I began happily eating our ice cream, but Xion just stared at hers. "Eat up. It's gonna melt," Roxas urged.

"Yeah..." Xion muttered.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd wolf it down," Axel commented.

"Did something happen?" Roxas wondered.

"We're here for you if you wanna get it off your chest. Right, guys?" Axel tried. Roxas and I nodded in response.

"He's right. That's what friends are for," Roxas added.

"Whatever it is, you can tell us," I assured her.

"I can't... I can't use the keyblade anymore. And without the keyblade, I can't do my job," Xion explained.

"What exactly happened?" Roxas pressed.

"I don't know. But if I don't defeat Heartless with the keyblade... the hearts they release will just find their way into other Heartless instead. I swat them in one place, and they just pop up in another. My mission is to go out and collect hearts. If I'm unable to use the keyblade... I'll... I'll be useless," Xion shuddered.

Roxas turned to Axel. "Is there anything you can do, Axel?" He wondered.

"I wish there was, but... it's just like she said. Without the keyblade, she can't collect hearts," Axel replied.

"And once they find out, they're gonna turn me into a Dusk," Xion stated.

"I won't let that happen!" I exclaimed. As much as I dreaded asking anything of Xemnas, I knew he would at least hear me out and be likely to agree to what I asked of him in exchange for my time or devotion or something of the sort.

"I don't think you have a choice on this one, Jess. You know the rules. There's nothing we ca-" Axel stopped midsentence. I knew the look on his face. He had an idea. "Hold on..."

"Did you think of something?" Roxas questioned hopefully.

"You guys can work double duty!" Axel suggested.

"Huh?" Roxas asked.

"What do you mean?" Xion inquired.

"Xion, make sure your missions are with Roxas or Jess- until you can use the keyblade again. That way, they can collect hearts, and no one will know that you can't use the keyblade," Axel said.

"That's it!" Roxas smiled.

My heart fell as I remembered what Xemnas had told me. I was the Princess of Light and Darkness, so I couldn't use my keyblade to collect hearts. Axel continued on. "But, that means you have to collect twice as many hearts."

"Yeah, we can do it!" Roxas declared.

"Actually, we can't. You can, Roxas, but my keyblade is useless. I still don't understand it, but mine doesn't work for collecting hearts. Xemnas told me once that it has something to do with me being some Princess of Light and Darkness. I still don't know what that means, but it's up to you," I brought up.

"Huh? I don't recall getting that memo," Axel mused.

"Alright, then. Just me. I know I can do it," Roxas decided.

"And if something goes wrong, I'll talk to Xemnas. I might be able to talk him down from doing anything like turning Xion into a Dusk," I mentioned.

"You would do all that for me?" Xion asked.

"Of course I would!" Roxas answered.

"But..." Xion trailed off.

"Friends need to lean on each other every now and then. Ain't that right, Roxas?" Axel mentioned.

"We're friends... Axel... does that mean you and I are friends, too?" Xion wondered.

"Well, if you're friends with Roxas, then yeah, of course you're my friend," Axel replied.

"And don't forget me! You can call me Jess because that's what my friends call me," I added.

"Thank you... Roxas, Axel, Jess!" Xion thanked.

"Just eat your ice cream," Axel remarked. He put his arm around my shoulder as we finished our ice cream.