Chapter 14

The Broken Tombstones

Roxie opened her eyes- but wished she hadn't. Axel stood nearby, watching her, with arms crossed. She was laying on his bed, and had been unconsious for she did not know how long.

"Roxie," he began, "I told you not go! Sora is fine- I told you he would be. Who knows what would have happened to you if I didn't come..." She sat up, and lowered her head. What could she say? Nothing she could say would fix this mess... she knew that, and Axel was mad enough as is. But she tried to say something, anyhow.

"Dad... I-" Roxie began, then paused, seeing the sudden look of concern on her father's face as he turned his head toward the door. "What's wrong?" she asked, curious.

"We have to leave," he replied.

"What?" she said, now confused, "Why? You just brought me back here."

"I know... but Saix..." he started to explain, then added, more urgently, "We have to leave because it's not safe here. I'm going to take you to Twilight Town."

"What about you?" she asked, and began to feel afraid. His look of concern changed to one of sadness.

After after a long silence, he finally replied, "I'm going to help Sora get here..."

"You are?!" she said, happily, as Axel walked toward her. Then she noticed something.

"You're limping," she said, then exclaimed, "You're hurt! How did you get hurt?!"

"Saix..." he answered with a sigh, then smiled and explained, "See, I'm not exactly an organization member anymore... Because I, uh, kinda made them mad."

"So you're taking me to Twilight Town to keep me safe from Saix while you help Sora..." she said. Axel sat down beside her, and he nodded.

"Then you'll come back to me, and we'll just stay in Twilight Town after that, right?" she finished. Axel's smile faded away, and he stood up again.

"Maybe, maybe not," he replied.

"What do you mean?" she cried.

"Roxie... Just... Just come on," he said, and a portal opened. Roxie quickly followed him into it. When they stepped out of it, she could see the beautiful sunset and the clocktower.

"If you see Saix, Xigbar, or Luxord, hide somewhere safe, and stick with your mom," Axel instructed, "she will know where to hide from them."

"What about Xemnas?" she asked him.

"Don't worry too much about him," he replied, "He'll be waiting for Kingdom Hearts." He started to creat another portal, but she stopped him.

"Dad?" she said, "about earlier... I'm really sorry..."

"Don't worry about that now, Roxie, just keep yourself safe," he told, her then leaned down close to her, smiled, and added, "Got it memorized?"

She grinned, and replied, "I got it memorized!" Axel quickly gave her a tight squeeze, then disappeared into the portal. Not long had passed, when she thought that Sora would be into The World That Never Was. Roxie became too excited at the thought of Axel returning, that she decided that she would hurry to his room in the castle. She created a portal, and entered it. She stepped out of it, and stood in front of the Flurry of Dancing Flames room. She entered it, and looked around. Axel was nowhere to be seen. As she looked around the room, many memories came back, of when she was little, playing with 'Demy'... and her dad. She picked up the little doll that he had given her. Roxie smiled at the sight of it, then carfully placed it into her pocket. She glanced over at the red sitar that Demyx had given her- she played horribly at first, until he taught her how to play- and couldn't help but grin at the memories. She sighed that Axel wasn't there, and exited the room.

Once outside, she looked back at the door. Her smile faded, as the door turned from blue to red. Then suddenly, it exploded. Roxie screamed and ducked. She then spun around, and stared at the pieces scattered on the floor. She picked a piece with each hand, and stood up. Realization struck her, hard. This happened only moments after Demyx was gone.

"No..." she whispered, and fell to her knees, dropping the pieces of the door, then began to cry. After a few minutes, she stopped, and glared up toward the doorway leading to the Superior.

"Xemnas," she growled, entered another portal, and sat down on the bars above above the pathway of the room she had just entered- Twilight's View. Another tear began to fall down her face, but she wiped it away. Just the sight of all the broken tombstones- or at least that's how they looked to her- bothered her. She waited for a while. First, she saw Saix, a girl she had heard about named Kairi, who was with Namine, and a man in black. After they all left, she finally heard more footsteps coming. It was Sora, with his friends, Goofy and Donald. Roxie remembered when Marluxia wanted to have Sora as an ally. She wondered if Xemnas wanted that, too.

Sora ran along the pathway, and stopped, when he heard a voice call, "Hello, Sora."

"Hello?" he called back.

"Your the Keyblade Master," it said. A girl jumped down. He held his new keyblade- called 'Bond of Flame'- in defense. The girl looked at it sadly.

"My name is Roxie," she said, "Are you with Organization XIII?"

"No!" he replied loudly.

"Good," she said, sounding relieved.

"Roxie, are you?" he inquired.

"No," she replied, "But my dad is- was, actually- the one who gave you that keyblade." Roxie nodded toward the keyblade in his hands.

"Axel was your dad?" he said, confused.

"Yes, he was number eight in the Organization," she said, then began to sob, "But your Roxas! You can defeat Xemnas! Xemnas... I hate him for what he's done! Oh, daddy..."

"Roxas...? Why has everyone been calling me Roxas?!" he exclaimed, then added softly, "Are you O.K.?"

"I'm fine..." she replied, "but you'll figure it out... Now, go! Go defeat Xemnas! Don't let him have Kingdom Hearts!" Sora nodded, and continued on. He glanced back at her, then vanished, followed by Goofy and Donald into the next room.

Roxie knew that Sora would win the battle against Xemnas.