Jessica's Point of View

I awoke to a foot nudging my leg. I crawled out of our massive makeshift fort and saw Saix staring down at me with his stoic expression. "Good morning, Saix. Beautiful day, isn't it?" I smiled.

Even Saix couldn't hide a small smile, but it was gone as soon as it came. "Get them up and take it down."

"Can't I let them sleep just a little bit longer? I don't see anyone else around, so it must be pretty early. When we did it, even the others gave us some extra time to sleep before yelling at us," I tried.

"Those were different times. It was you, me, Axel, and Zexion. Now it's you, Axel, and them. It's ridiculous that you would still behave in such a manner," Saix scoffed.

I noted how he referred to Roxas and Xion, and it registered that something was off in his voice. "Wait. You wouldn't happen to be... jealous, would you," I smirked.

Saix turned away from me. "Don't be ridiculous," He grumbled unconvincingly.

"Oh my gosh! You totally are! You're jealous," I teased.

"Fine. Do as you wish, and I'll have someone else deal with it," Saix growled before leaving the room. I went back into the blankets.

"We should probably wake them up before Xaldin gets in here, or worse, Saix gets Xemnas and tears into us himself," Axel advised.

"How long have you been up?" I wondered.

"Just woke up," Axel replied. He sat up and groaned. "Man, I must've forgotten how bad the floor is for my back. I don't remember being this sore last time."

"You must be getting old," I giggled.

Axel playfully shoved me, and I bumped into Xion. "Huh? What? Oh. Good morning, you guys," Xion greeted.

"Hey, Xion. Sorry about that," I apologized.

"That's alright," Xion smiled.

"Too early," Roxas mumbled.

"This again?!" Xaldin exclaimed from outside our makeshift tent. Roxas jumped slightly, and his eyes opened wide.

"Hey, calm down, Lance-a-lot. It's just a fort. We'll get them up and make them put everything back. No real harm done," Xigbar assured him.

We emerged from the tent one by one, took it down, and put all the furniture back in their former positions. Xaldin was fuming, while Xigbar was minorly amused. I was worried that Roxas and Xion would be upset that we got in trouble, but instead, the four of us kept sharing smiles at each other until we finished.

Saix came back into the room as we finished and approached me. "Lord Xemnas would like to see you. He's in the Altar of Naught."

"Oh, come on. Did you seriously go whining to him? That's pathetic," I scoffed.

"While he's aware of the incident, it's not about that," Saix said.

"Is she in trouble?" Axel inquired.

"No. He just wants to speak with her," Saix replied.

Axel winced, knowing I would much rather get yelled at by Xemnas than have a conversation with him. "Well, good luck, Jess. I'll come to see you after work."

I approached Xemnas in the Altar of Naught and noticed he was holding a box. "Good morning, Jessica. How are you faring?"

As much as I would rather we skip the pleasantries, I responded as a normal person would under normal circumstances. "Fine. What do you have there?"

"I realize you have been left with much time on your hands and not many ways to fill it. Though I realize you will eventually tire of it, I brought you a gift." Xemnas handed me the box.

I took the lid off to reveal a more colorful box labeled Sailor V Portable. "This is..."

"Yes. It took me some time to track down. I figured you would appreciate it. I'll work towards finding other ways to fill your time, of course, but I thought this would be a good start."

I looked to the heart-shaped moon, as I couldn't bring myself to look Xemnas in the eyes. "Thank you." I looked down at the box and felt an urge to try reasoning with Xemnas to allow me to go out and solve my personal issue of finding the Sailor Guardians. "Did you know that the Sailor Guardians have been scattered across the worlds?"

"I am aware."

"I've been trying to find them, which has been near impossible while working for the Organization." It was only a half-truth since I hadn't been going out of my way to find the Sailor Guardians, but looking for one was what got me grounded, so it wasn't a total lie.

"And what is the point you are making?"

I allowed my eyes to meet Xemnas and held eye contact. "Now that I'm not working for the Organization, shouldn't you allow me to work toward my own goals?"

"No." Xemnas's refusal was to the point and final, but that didn't stop me from trying to get my way.

"Why not?"

"You will have time to find your friends once I have completed my own objectives. Until then, you have no need to look for them."

"Xemnas, if Xehanort really was my brother, you would understand how important this is and that I've already waited too long. Don't you understand? I need to do this."

"My answer is no, and that is final. We can talk in circles all day, or you can return to your room, enjoy your toy, and accept that this is your life now."

I knew that I wouldn't be changing his mind anytime soon. I didn't have any other plan. "You're right. I'm sorry. Thank you for the game. It will give me something to do, and I truly am grateful." To show how complacent I was pretending to be about the situation, I set the box down to hug Xemnas. At first, he seemed slightly surprised by the action but hugged me back soon after. "I really am sorry. I don't mean to cause you so much trouble. I know things have been strained between us lately, but maybe we can patch things up while I'm stuck at home."

Xemnas hugged me slightly tighter. "I think that's a good idea. I would be happy to spend more time with you, little Jess." He let go, and to my surprise, I saw he was smiling. It looked so genuine that it made me question if he really was pretending to show emotion. "Now, run along. I'm sure you would like to spend some time with your new game."

"Yes." I picked up the box and was slightly excited to play it. It had been so long, and I was eager to get back into it.

"So you tried to get Xemnas to allow you to search for the other guardians, and he said no?" Luna asked.

"More or less. He gave me this game, though. I'm trying to get on his good side so he'll let me go out sooner. If I can get him to restore my ability to use a corridor of darkness, I can leave for good and start searching for the others," I replied, my eyes staying glued to the screen.

"We need to find another way. We've already wasted enough time."

I messed up and the Game Over screen appeared on my device. I roughly set it on my bed. "I know, Luna, but what do you want me to do?! I've played my whole hand! I don't have any cards up my sleeve anymore!" A thought came over me at my choice of words. "Cards... Luna, I have an idea."