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"Brilliant!" This was just brilliant. Xion kicked a rock across the cemetery and pulled at her hair in frustration.

One handcuff wasn't going to be enough to hold him. She wasn't an idiot, she knew that. She had just hoped it would slow him down enough to think things through and decide to wait for her. She hoped against hope that he would stay for HER. Well he didn't. Now what was she supposed to do?

The girl plopped down on a crumbling headstone and dropped her face into her hands.

She didn't know where Axel was or where he had gone. She couldn't follow after him. It was too much of a risk to be running around looking for him when he was looking for Sora and Sora was looking for Riku and Riku was looking for Naminé. Damn, these people need to get their act together. Could no one keep track of their friends anymore?

She shook her head and laughed humorlessly. It turned into a sigh half way through and she glanced up at the sky while she thought.

Funny how someone else's memories can effect a person… With Sora's memories, thoughts of the beach brought a smile to her face and a feeling of peace. It was where he felt at home so she felt the same way. Now, filled with the scraps of someone else's memories, the night sky cleared her mind of worries and nearly brought tears to her eyes. "You must have had one hell of an ending." She mused as she tried to contemplate the ghost of feelings lingering behind memories that she couldn't seem to hold onto. There was a lot of sadness weaved through out them.

That's as good a description as any. Do me a favor? Spare yourself and leave those ones alone.

Xion shivered in the cold. "That bad huh? I'm sorry." She said out loud again. The voice could obviously hear her thoughts but she felt obligated to speak her side of the conversation. The voice didn't reply this time.

The stars shone brightly in the sky above Halloween Town. A beautiful, familiar voice replayed in her mind. Her lips parted in a goofy grin as she recalled a memory of her favorite person. A memory that didn't belong to her. If there was ever a foreign memory that she was grateful for it was this one.

"I want everyone I meet to remember me." She would always remember him. He was the most important person in the world to her. "Axel, where are you?" There was no helping it. She had to return to the organization until she had more information. She needed to be some place where Axel could find her.

Please stay safe. She thought as she stood, dusted herself off, and opened a portal to RTC. Please don't do anything stupid.

"Xion? Hey Xion!" She had one foot in a portal when she heard the voice. Demyx was running down the hall towards her as she took a step back and closed the portal.

She had been hoping to run over to Twilight Town to look for signs of Axel. She really couldn't afford to be suspicious right now so she was glad that Demyx didn't ask where she had been going. She hadn't thought up a lie to sell him yet. This was getting to be a problem. She should just start preparing lies for situations like this in advance.

"Demyx, hey what's up?" She asked as he stopped right in front of her, completely out of breath. He held up a hand, motioning for her to give him a moment, as he rested his hands on his knees and heaved in and out. She rolled her eyes at him and swatted his hand aside. "Seriously, what do you need?" She asked. He straightened and took in one huge breath before he pretty much threw up the words.

"Saix wants me to take a mission to Agrabah and normally that would be cool and fine and everything but I mean, between the underworld missions and the trips with Xigbar to Hallow Bastion, I've just been totally swamped and I just needed a break and besides Agrabah's really not too great on the skin and I've got a fair complexion and I figured, you know, with you not getting as many missions because of Sora that maybe you would be willing to take this one since you aren't busy and stuff and you like that place and you wouldn't mind and I was just wondering if you could take this mission because of all of those things and also because you are nice like that and please, please, please I really don't want to go!"

He finished in one breath and was left panting again. He looked ridiculous and Xion laughed at him. He wasn't sure how to interpret the laugh. "So, will you go for me?" He asked, giving her a smile in hopes it would sway her decision. Xion laughed at him again and shook her head. Demyx's face fell. "Yeah, I've got it. Don't worry about it. Just don't get me in trouble with Saix, ok?" Demyx cheered and pulled Xion into a big hug that she secretly really needed.

He ran off to inform Saix of the change in plans and Xion stood in the hallway alone again. She shook her head with a small smile. What would all of this be like if the organization's plans weren't evil? Would they be friends? Xion let go of the thought before it could take root.

Agrabah huh? She hadn't been there in a while.

Reigning in heartless was simple enough. Sora must have been here recently. Xion took care of some overcrowding in certain parts of the city but other than that she was left with not much to do.

She continued to wander around, pretending to be looking for heartless when she was actually looking for someone much more important. She made it to the gates right outside the palace courtyard when she heard a lot of commotion from the other side of the door. She was about to reach for the large handle of the gate to pull it open when it flew towards her and she was nearly trampled by a huge, fat dog-like creature.

She let out a startled cry and landed on her back while the creature kept running; paying no mind to the girl he had nearly flattened. "Jerk!" She shouted after him, uh it? Didn't matter.

"Hey, are you alright?" A voice called to her, running up behind her. Hands gripped underneath her arms and pulled her to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I just…" Her voice was cut off when the stranger who had helped her gasped loudly. "You!" Xion spun around to face him.

Ah man… "Of all the people I could have run into…" She muttered, taking a step back and brushing the dirt and dust off of her coat. "Sora!" A squawk preceded the arrival of the keyblade wielder's animal friends.

"What… what are you doing here?" The brunette questioned. "Getting run over apparently." Xion grumbled, still wiping at some sand on her leg. Sora was silent for a moment and then let out a laugh. Xion just stared at him, bewildered by the outburst. He smiled at her.

"That was one of the first times you've actually answered a question. All of this really caught you off guard!" He explained. Xion nearly hurt herself with a severe eye roll. "Yeah let's not make a habit of that." She turned to walk away but he ran ahead of her, planting himself in her path.

"Wait, I want to talk to you." Sora said, his determination making it clear to her that he wasn't going to let her get away without a fight. She let out a frustrated sigh and crossed her arms in front of her. "Alright, talk." She ordered. Sora seemed surprised that his efforts were working. Xion watched him concentrate as he tried to figure out how he was going to word his questions. "You know where Riku is, right?" He asked, looking to her hopefully. "I've seen Riku." Xion said, not answering the real question. "Is he ok?" Xion opened her mouth to give a cryptic answer and then stopped herself. Was Riku ok? He didn't look like himself last time she saw him but she never got to ask him about that. "I'm not sure, but I know he's alive." She said, honestly. Sora displayed his gratitude with a smile. "Thank you."

That was all? He didn't want to know about the Organization's plans or the nobodies or why he had been asleep for a year? All he cared about was his friend. Xion could have smiled at that but Sora's was a bitter sweet presence. She wanted to smile at his warmth but she couldn't help but wish he was someone else.

"I haven't seen your friend. Sorry." Sora said, pulling Xion back to reality before she fell into her thoughts. Xion cast her eyes to the ground. "It's ok. I ran into him a little while ago, but I lost him." She explained. She wasn't sure why she was telling him this but at the moment Sora was the only person besides her who knew Axel was still her friend; the only other person looking for him. Sora apologized again and Xion shook her head. "It's not your fault." She muttered.

"Can I ask you one more thing?" Sora asked. Xion raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, that counts as a question right there so… if you want to ask me one more thing besides that, go for it. I've wasted so much time already, what's the harm in wasting a little more?"

"Why are you with the Organization?" He asked. Finally, he asked a question about them. Why did it have to be a personal question? "Everybody seems to want to know. I'm with them because it's the only way to keep myself safe right now. I don't really like what they are doing and I hate a lot of people in the organization but, hey, what do you do? It's stand with them and stay out of their way or stand against them and be eliminated."

Sora didn't like her answer. "I'm going to stop them and when I do, you won't have to be a part of their organization anymore. I won't let them hurt you." His passion to protect her was confusing. Was he like this with everyone or was a part of him, the Roxas part, remembering her?

There was no way to know for sure. "Seems like a lot of work to go through for a nobody." She said. Sora flinched at the word as though he had forgotten that was what she was. Silence stretched between them until Xion was sure the conversation was over. She tried to think of something she could say before she just disappeared on him again.

"You aren't like other nobodies." He whispered suddenly. She was sure she hadn't heard him right. "You remind me of someone, I just can't figure out who…" He pondered aloud. Xion shook her head and sighed. Of course, Roxas wasn't remembering her, Sora was remembering Kairi.

"I remind you of Kairi." She said aloud. Sora seemed surprised but as he thought about it he seemed to realize it was true. "Yeah, you kind of look like her." He muttered. Xion wanted to explain everything to the boy but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't subject him to the guilt that she knew he would take upon himself.

"But, even if you remind me of her, you are a different person and you are my friend. You are somebody to me." Sora announced. Xion was startled but recovered as quickly as possible. She offered Sora a smile and tried to resist the urge to thank him for his kind words. He held out his hand, ready to shake on the promise that he had made to her. He was going to defeat the organization, find his friend and save his new friend- the small raven-haired nobody.

She took his hand, grateful for the feeling that overwhelmed her as she looked into blue eyes that once belonged to her friend. It was a feeling of comfort as she discovered irrefutable proof that her best friend was still alive somewhere inside of Sora. It was an important promise that Sora was making to her. Everything about the future was uncertain but she wanted…no, needed Axel and her to make it out alive.

She was going to hold Sora to that promise.