Hey everyone, I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long even after I promised I wouldn't do it again. Forgive me! Anyways, I hope this chapter is good with the wait and all and plus this chapter I'm pretty sure is the last...but I need you to tell me if it was good enough to be the last, this is the first time I've had to end a multi-chapter story so please tell me if this ending was good and solid. And tell me if it wasn't, it would help alot :) Hope it's not lame!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts and/or any of the characters, they belong to Square Enix and Disney.

One thought that is Axel's and it's in italics.

ENJOY!

.::Picture To Burn::.

Chapter 9: Glow...

She was painfully aware of the cold tendrils that encased her small body, slowly choking the life from her like a razor wire. Why couldn't it just end already! Why couldn't they just end it…she didn't want to have to suffer. She wasn't sure she could take it…she didn't think she could handle the pain.

Hadn't she been through enough?

She could feel the weight of her eyelids drain the remainder of her strength, she could barely believe she was just trying to keep her eyes open. She had no choice but to let her lids fall upon her deadening eyes…and she knew they might be falling for the last time.

But then she saw it.

Spotted it out of the corner of her eye, the smallest but sweetest glow of light…or at least she thought that's what she had seen. Maybe she was fooling herself…her vision was blurry and completely dappled by dark shadows.

But she couldn't help but think, or maybe pray that it was a bit clearer than before.

She found herself taking a shaky breath…she thought it was kind of strange that she was able to.

Had it been her imagination…were the tendrils not quite as tightly coiled as they had been?

She didn't even feel quite as cold as she had, had her body eventually succumbed to numbness…no longer prone to the chill that bit into her very bones. That dulling pain simply a thing of the past?

Then, that same flicker of light captured her strengthening blue gaze, it was so small she had almost missed it.

But then she saw it again, except it was stronger…brighter…closer.

It felt so familiar, almost comforting. And she found it brought a strange but welcome sensation in her chest. An even more personal warmth that she knew she had felt before. She could feel it spread through her limbs like it had many times before, give her back her senses and ignite something deep inside that the darkness had almost killed.

What was going on? She knew she hadn't done this…but he couldn't of heard her, could he?

She couldn't keep a smile from tempting the corners of her lips. She just couldn't ignore the feeling that light had left with her, the impression that it left on her heart…or the one it brought back. Powerful aggression; yet, the softest tenderness.

It was too familiar for her to miss, she could practically feel him right there with her.

"You did hear me didn't you…" she whispered to herself.

Even when she had thought he'd never hear that last whisper on her dying breath…he had. He'd cared enough to be there when she needed him, when she needed to be saved. She felt stupid for not realizing that he saw her as someone worth saving…that he had always seen her that way.

And she knew she couldn't let him down now…she would always need him, and he just might need her.

She blinked away the vacant stare that had held her gaze and stuck her chin out in determination. She repositioned herself with some difficulty before shoving away the dead coils that clung to her pales legs, mouth set in a grimace as she struggled under their weight.

She rose from her position on the floor, wavering slightly from her recovering strength. She couldn't help but feel, somehow, a little bit safer. Wherever she'd end up…he'd be there, at times only in her heart but there all the same. And there was really nothing else she needed.

Maybe listening to your heart wasn't such a hard thing to do after all…especially when the voice of another's was calling out to you and rejoicing with your own with each step you took.

Steps that brought you closer to home.

She knew it would keep her going, at least until she could hear every single beat of her heart in time with his.

At least until she could reach out and touch him again.

So she brushed her bangs from her shining eyes, fierce with a hope and resolve she never thought she'd get the chance to feel again. Her first steps were shaky, as most are, but she'd never let her head fall. She wouldn't let herself and he wouldn't let her either.

And her stride grew strong, headed in the direction her heart knew was the right one.

It wasn't long before she felt something shift inside…pieces fall back into place where they had once been missing. Her movements seemed to slow, almost come to an abrupt stop. She had an idea of what was happening and she knew she wasn't afraid of it. She was glad it was happening, it brought her one giant step closer to being whole again…well as whole as she had been before she had fallen apart.

She could feel her body and soul work in unison to sew themselves back together, they wanted to be rejoined just as much as she did.

She was so close now. She could actually feel it…feel every single imaginary stitch that slowly mended her wound.

It had taken her such a long time…or at least, that's the way it had felt but, she had finally put everything back just the way it was.

Just the way it had been.

Every smile, every laugh, every tear…everything that eventually made up the person she was.

Her head felt sluggish. Just another sign that she was flowing back into her old body, her real body. She was pretty sure she'd fall asleep…it was supposed to ensure a safe transition. Or at least she was pretty sure that was why, she was still learning the curve of her abilities.

Her azure gaze began to blur and she found she could just barely control their focus. Her eyelids began to inch their way over her softly glazed irises. A pretty spectrum of light left dazzling fractures on her vision as it seeped through the thin skin of her lids.

Then, the bright light began to dull. She felt herself being pulled away from her sub-conscious, blackness spreading across her eyes to take the place of the light's last fading rays.

It wouldn't be long now…

.::.x.::.

Then, she felt another tug. Except this one pulled her back to consciousness. Her eyes were still veiled by her lids, but she found that a penetratingly bright light still permeated her vision.

Had she done something wrong? Was she still stuck in her sub-conscious?

Would she ever get out?

She forced herself to lift her lids away from her azure orbs, wide-eyed and expecting the worst. She couldn't help herself, her mind immediately panicked at the thin, filmy layer that surrounded her tense body. In that moment she couldn't calm down and really look and analyze the situation with a clear head.

"No…" she whispered in a voice breaking with despair.

Her slender fingers trembled as she reached out and pressed her palms against the warm surface. She couldn't of gotten this far just to end up as some hopeless cage bird forever imprisoned in her mind. It wasn't fair…she had been through so much just to find her way out and find her way back to him.

To somehow end up back in his arms…

She'd give anything to be with him. Feel safe at least once more.

Feel…loved.

She knew it was possible, she'd like to think that believing in it was enough.

And she'd never let it go.

But, was this really as far as she'd be able to go? She didn't want to except it…she wasn't sure she could.

A sob clawed it's way up from the depth of her soul and wracked her small frame. Her fingers curled into tiny fists before they pounded against the resilient layer that held her prisoner. She threw back her head and cried out as loudly as her small lungs could allow.

"LET ME OUT! Just…let me out…"

She pushed her back against the unyielding barrier and let her body sink to the floor, her spine sending tiny jars through her frame as it collided with each groove in the material. She watched as her breath made a little cloud in front of her face as she let out a heavy sigh. Her arms hung limp by her sides, willowy fingers carefully tracing meaningless designs in the milky layers that encircled her.

Then something about the texture registered in her head…it seemed somehow familiar.

She'd felt it before, she knew she had.

"It can't be…"

She sat up, arms tense with trepidation where they had been lifeless just moments ago. She couldn't believe she hadn't recognized it earlier. She blamed her fear for that, but she was beginning to feel really…stupid.

Her cheeks grew almost unbearably hot and she knew a bright blush was creeping along her cheekbones. Her lips broke into a sheepish smile and she just couldn't hold back a nervous giggle from escaping her mouth at the whole situation. She couldn't help but feel glad that no one was there to see her self-implode, she felt really embarrassed.

She's been in the restoration pod the entire time.

"Way to keep cool under pressure…I'm such an idiot."

She brought herself to her knees before rising back to her feet. She hoped she could remember how to do this…she was positive she'd gotten at least far enough in her studies to know how to leave the chamber. She pressed her hands back against the cloudy surface; this time with purpose, not desperation. Her eyelids fell slowly and she lured the will from deep inside her soul.

She felt that will within her grasp and pulled at it like a loose thread until it the strength flowed throughout her body. She felt the energy pool in her palms where it swirled gently. She drew a long breath before releasing the energy where it had been pulsing at her fingertips.

Her arms gradually lowered to her sides and all that was left of that energy was a faint breeze that tickled her face as that last dying gust dissipated into the air. She heard a quiet click and watched with glistening eyes as the petals of the pod began to gently unfold around her.

"It worked…" she whispered slowly, disbelief evident in her quiet voice.

She stumbled down from the pod's center and as her feet finally hit the floor of something solid and real, she got a chance to take in her surroundings.

White walls, white furniture, white equipment, a black cloaked man, …wait!

Her wide blue eyes snapped back to the man slumped on one of the monotonous white couches. The man with his telltale and raging head of scarlet hair. But, there was something that wasn't right about him…he didn't look like himself.

"Oh no…Axel…"

Her steps quickened as she closed the distance between them. She crouched to get a better look at him. Her knees hit the floor hard and a sharp pain shot up her legs…she didn't care. She fumbled as she tried to lift up one of his sleeves to feel for a pulse…but then she stopped, remembering that he wouldn't have one.

And she felt stupid for the second time that day.

She couldn't help but feel ashamed that she had forgotten the thing that plagued them all as she let go of his sleeve and instead focused her gaze on his chest. He'd at least be breathing…that's one thing Nobody's had the capacity to do.

Every second felt like forever, just waiting for his chest to rise and then fall. The movement was so slight that she almost didn't even catch it, but the one thing she couldn't of missed was the shallow sound that his breathing forced through his lips. Why wasn't he breathing right, it shouldn't sound like such a struggle…nor should it be.

The sound of him in pain broke her heart.

At least, it would have if her heart was whole enough to break.

She intertwined her fingers with his gloved hand, the texture against her skin sending a painful nostalgia that seared her mind like a burn she knew he could supply. Her eyes studied his features, tears pooling along her lash line like rain after a storm.

She stroked his cold cheek, her hand no longer trembling like it had the first time she had touched him. She knew she didn't have to be afraid of him…she could only hope it wasn't one of those things you find out once it's too late.

She found herself taking a seat beside him on the lonely, white couch. Nestling her body against his own, sad that their roles seemed to be reversed…she was offering him warmth…she was protecting him.

He probably would've laughed at the thought of someone having to keep him warm. Him, the Flurry of Dancing Flames. What a thought…but it wasn't just a thought anymore.

It was reality.

A cold, harsh reality.

She brought her lips to his cheek, leaving a soft kiss on his icy skin. She lingered inches from his face, gazing sadly at the glistening stain that her tears had left on his cheek.

"I can't lose you, I just can't let you become a memory…I need you." she whispered into his cloak, pressing her face roughly into the dark folds of fabric.

She felt her hair stir from a slow rustle of air…must've been a stray gust of wind, right?

She could've sworn she felt a slight movement close to her body…she dismissed it as her own shifting

She couldn't hear the serrated sound of his breathing…but she could still feel the rise and fall of his chest.

And then…she felt that feeling that she'd never forget, could never misplace. A warmth that started in her soul and spread all the way to her nose. The warmth she felt whenever he held her in his arms. His gloved hand twitched in her hand before gently squeezing back, his fingers joining hers as they entwined.

"I'm sorry Naminé…"

Her azure eyes snapped open immediately as the achingly familiar voice met her ears. She raised her gaze to meet the fiery emerald eyes she had almost forgotten.

"I should've been protecting you and I ended up hurting you…"

She placed a finger on his lips, making him stop before slipping into his arms and just holding onto him with every bit of strength she had left.

"It doesn't matter, you're okay…don't apologize for that." she said with a happiness so tangible, he swore he could hold it in the palm of his hand.

He felt her body relax against him as his arms encircled her, keeping her safe. The kind of promise that didn't need words, it just…was. And it always would be.

"Alright I won't…but I think I'm due for an apology for being a total asshole." he said with a smirk she could hear in his voice, but laced with a sincerity that his lips didn't convey.

"Apology accepted."

The fiery man pulled her closer to his body, but something was still bothering him. A thought that just wouldn't be laid to rest. He had to get it off his chest, tie up this last frustratingly loose end.

"I think you need to know something…about the way I treated you and all. I always get angry and defensive when I try to let someone in, when I really want to like someone," he paused, still second guessing if this was even right to say, "And these past few days…I've never been angrier, I've been acting out in ways I never thought I ever would. And it's because of you."

She searched his eyes, unsure of what this all meant.

"You make me feel things that I never thought I could…never thought I would. It makes me so confused because I don't know what to do and that means that I could let you down. And I know I could never do that to you.

It's now or never…

"Naminé…I love you."

He knew it probably wasn't the right thing to say, but he had to do it. He watched as her gaze fell, and he felt her faintly squeeze his hand.

"We both know that you don't…you can't."

He knew she'd say it, she had to…but, it didn't really matter to him. He lifted her chin with his hand and looked into her beautiful oceanic eyes, and he watched as her lips curved into a small smile.

"But if I could love you…I know I would."

Well that was the last chapter...please read and review! I need to know if it was satisfying enough, did you enjoy it, did I do a good job, was this story enjoyable? Stuff like that, it would really help and be appreciated beyond your belief! So hope you enjoyed your stay, and leave your comments in the ol' suggestion box by pressing the pretty blue button! I need you guys to tell me if this story ending now is good you know, did the chapter portray a good, end of story feel? Hope my first story ending was a good one!

Thank you, and lot's of love!

Michelle