Xion lifted the bottom of her black coat up to her knees, swaying in front of the mirror. She was frowning, staring intently at her own reflection. Black leggings, black boots, black coat, black gloves. These were all she had ever worn.

With a quick and sudden movement, Xion proceeded to take off her gloves, throwing them behind her. She then kicked off her boots. All the while, the sounds of distant chatter came in through the open window; townsfolk going about their days.

Before proceeding to take off her leggings, Xion took in a deep breath to steel herself. Exhaling, and still watching her figure in the mirror, she slowly slipped out of them one leg at a time. As she fumbled slightly, she had to take hold of Olette's bedpost behind her as a way to steady herself.

Taking her Organization clothing off meant taking the very first step towards her new life. She felt nervous, but determined.

After discarding her leggings on the floor, Xion began to unzip her coat. She felt the need to turn away from the mirror this time, feeling a sudden heaviness in her chest. Despite the heavy feeling, her fingers continued to guide the long zipper down until it reached the end. Then with slow deliberate movements, Xion began to fish her arms out of each sleeve.

Taking off the coat was the hardest part, as the coat was symbolic. Everyone in the Organization had one, after all. As it shifted further down her arms, Xion felt herself unburdening. She began to feel lighter, and lighter...

Although it felt like a lifetime, the heavy coat eventually fell to the floor with a thud.

Xion took in another deep long breath, looking at her old clothes that now lay abandoned on the floor. Her past life lay there, and Xion was slowly unburdening herself from it.

"Hey Xion, how's it going?" Xion looked up, suddenly jolted out of her thoughts. It was Olette waiting outside the door.

Xion stopped for a second, remembering the dress hanging up beside her, "I'm trying the dress on now!" She called out, reaching towards it. She took a moment to feel the soft fabric with her fingers. Cotton, Olette said it was called. It felt light and soft.

"Can't wait to see it," Olette called out from outside the room.

Xion smiled, admiring the dress for a moment before taking it off the hanger. Olette had found it in her closet earlier and offered it to Xion to try on, as she thought it suited her better. The grey pleats at the bottom were what Xion noticed immediately - she liked them a lot.

Turning to face herself in the mirror again, Xion began to step into the dress, pulling it up towards her shoulders and slipping both arms through. Her arms moving behind her, she began to pull up the back zipper. It took her a moment as she was not quite used to the movement, and her fingers fumbled awkwardly at first. After a couple of seconds however, she successfully managed to pull the zipper up to her shoulders.

There.

Pulling at the pleats at the bottom, Xion spun to the side, watching the dress sway in the reflection of the mirror. The fabric was light. Cotton! A much more comfortable fabric than she was used to.

The dress was mostly black like she was used to wearing, but the grey pleats at the bottom stood out.

"Oh, Xion! Try these boots on too!"

Content with the dress, Xion opened the bedroom door to see Olette waiting outside. She watched Olette's eyes go wide.

"That dress looks great on you!" Olette smiled, admiring her new friend. "It really suits you! Oh, wear these with it!"

Xion couldn't help but smile back at Olette, and gratefully accepted the boots, placing them on the floor before stepping into them. She bent down, fingers pulling up the zippers to the top. Once they were on, Xion walked around in them for a couple of steps, noticing the clicks they made as they hit the floor.

"They're perfect!" Olette said excitedly, clasping her hands together. She pointed towards the mirror in the bedroom, and Xion followed the movement towards her reflection there. Xion stepped closer to herself in the mirror, this time with a smile on her face. She did a quick spin again, her dress swaying, her boots clicking against the floor. She felt like smiling.

Turning back around, Xion reached out excitedly, clasping her hands around Olette's. "Thank you, Olette! I love everything!"

Olette gave Xion's hands a happy squeeze in return. "Oh, we have got to take a pic," Olette chimed, quickly reaching into her pocket and taking out her phone. "How about we show Roxas?" She asked with a grin, pointing the camera towards Xion.

"Oh," Xion let out. What would Roxas think of this outfit? "Well I was going to hang out with him and Axel right after this!"

"Great!"

Olette gave Xion a moment to feel comfortable before she readied her camera.

Xion took a deep breath and clasped her hands together in front of her, smiling shyly towards the camera. Closing her eyes for a second before opening them again, she took another big breath in and out and eventually felt more comfortable.

"Okay, big smile!"

After a few seconds, Olette snapped the photo. Her eyes lit up as she looked down at her phone. "It's great!" Olette excitedly held out the camera towards Xion, gesturing her to come look at the photo.

Xion slowly stepped towards her, taking a moment to look to the side for a moment, her old clothes still lying in a heap on the floor. Looking at them there, she felt like she was finally saying goodbye to the Organization days.

She turned back towards Olette, who was still holding out her camera. Olette had a large smile on her face, and her emerald eyes were beaming. Nervously, Xion looked at the photo…

Oh.

She was smiling in the photo, just as big as Olette was now.

"It's a perfect photo," Olette gleamed. "I'll send you this picture so you can have it too. I bet Roxas and Axel will be absolutely surprised when they see you."

Xion smiled, thinking back to herself in the reflection of the mirror, remembering how happy she looked while swaying her dress around. Roxas and Axel would be happy to see her in this outfit.

"Yeah," Xion admitted with a soft giggle.

"Let's get you over to the clock tower!" Olette said excitedly. "I'll go find Hayner and Pence and meet up with you there later!"

…

After leaving Olette's home, Xion ventured out towards the clock tower where her best friends were waiting for her. With each step she took, Xion felt the grey pleats of her dress sway gently against her skin, and heard the sound of her heels clicking against the pavement. Kids skateboarded down the winding streets alongside her and she heard ordinary people chat about ordinary things.

There were no more missions or meetings. No more long days of slaying Heartless. Now, she could see Roxas and Axel as often as she wanted. They could go to the beach whenever they felt like it.

As she neared the height of the clock tower, Xion couldn't help but remember the last time she was there, with Roxas. Where they fought each other…

Xion tried concentrating on the sounds of her steps against the pavement, distracting herself from negative thoughts. She was getting closer to the top, where Roxas and Axel were waiting for her.

Closer…

Each step getting closer…

All of a sudden, Xion made it up the clock tower. She looked ahead and there was the sunset, greeting her with its brilliant, warm hues. It was a beautiful array of orange, red, and yellow painted delicately across the sky. She felt so warm under the sun's rays.

There was only one more turn, and a couple of steps left to her friends...

Why was she feeling nervous again?

She knew as soon as she made the turn, her friends would greet her with big smiles. She could picture their faces now.

She could finish this.

Finding her courage, Xion eventually turned the final corner, and took her last couple of steps towards them.

Roxas and Axel.

There they were, sitting on top of the clock tower. Sitting there, as if nothing bad had ever happened between them.

The sounds of her steps alerted them as she approached, and they turned towards her. Xion felt nervous all of a sudden, her cheeks growing warm. Her last steps towards her friends were more of an awkward jolt, and she sat down quickly beside Roxas, hanging her legs off the edge of the clock tower.

Xion smiled nervously, avoiding eye contact initially. Settling into her position, she took a small breath and eventually turned towards them with a smile.

Axel was the first to speak and break the silence. "Nice outfit, Xion! You look great," he said brightly with a wide grin, passing sea salt ice cream over to Roxas for her. Axel had on new clothes too.

Xion couldn't help but grin back at him. Looking away from Axel and towards Roxas, she noticed Roxas' mouth was wide open, and he had barely processed the fact that he was now holding another sea salt ice cream in his hand for her. For a moment, Xion swore she noticed Roxas' face turn pink. He also had a new outfit on.

A few seconds passed by before Roxas shifted awkwardly, passing her the ice cream from Axel. She couldn't help but let out a giggle at him.

"Xion," he let out softly, taking a moment before speaking further. "You look really nice." He was smiling at her now, his dark blue eyes gazing at her intently.

Xion smiled back at him, taking a moment to taste the ice cream he handed her. Ah, how she had missed the taste; the sweet and salty flavor. "Thank you, you both look nice too!"

Axel laughed, looking back towards the sunset. "Nice, is that all you can say, Roxas?"

"Yeah, Xion looks really pretty!" The trio looked towards the new voice, noticing that Olette, Hayner, and Pence had made their way up the clock tower too. Olette took a seat beside Xion, smiling at her friend and taking a moment to eye Roxas slyly.

Hayner and Pence sat down beside Olette, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, Xion, your outfit suits you," Pence let out with a smile towards her, taking a bite out of his ice cream.

"Mhm," Hayner let out in agreement.

Xion felt the heat rise up to her cheeks again, her fingers nervously playing with the soft grey pleats of her dress. She giggled before saying thank you and taking another taste of her ice cream.

Isa joined in soon after, taking a seat beside Axel.

There was occasional chatter here and there but for the most part, everyone silently took in the view before them; the brilliant, warm display of colors in the sky. Olette dangled her legs back and forth out in front of her, Pence took out his phone to take a picture of the sunset, and Hayner took more bites of his ice cream. Axel and Isa silently admired the sunset sky.

After a period of silence, Xion heard Roxas pipe up softly beside her. "They're right. You look really… pretty."

Pretty.

Slowly turning her gaze towards him, she noticed Roxas was smiling at her. His eyes were bright and sincere. She couldn't help but giggle softly, overcome with warmth and affection.

Xion stretched her legs out in front of her, noticing how easy and unconstrained the movement felt in her new cotton dress. She felt so light all of a sudden.

A new life for her...

Taking in the sunset view with her friends beside her, Xion wondered where the days ahead would take her. She wondered what choices she would make for herself, what paths she would end up going down. For a moment, it felt overwhelming to think about.

But as she looked over at Roxas, adorned in his new outfit, smiling brightly as ever at her, she knew that there were happier days, and even prettier sunsets to come.

"Thank you, Roxas!"

…

I started off with the intent of writing Rokushi but my brain ended up making this piece more Xion-centric along the way. She deserves the world! Also, Olette and Xion are bffs now, you can't change my mind. Thank you for reading :)