A/N: Ok so I know I have a lot of stories that need worked on, but I find that starting other stories helps me work on my other ones. And my friend 4thespada-ulquiorra and I decided to start a Kingdom Hearts story. So I really hope you like it cause we really like writing it!!^_^

Disclaimer: We do not own Kingdom Hearts.

A girl stared out the window of her room, into the black darkness of the world around her. Her topaz colored eyes were filled with longing, longing to get away from this place. It wasn't that she didn't like it here, this was her home. She was just sick of it being dark all the time. She wanted to see other worlds, meet other people. Other people who might actually like her, unlike the ones here.

"Lexi, Xemnas wants to see you."

The girl turned to the person in her doorway. "What for Xigbar?"

"Don't know." Xigbar said shortly, and the girl sighed standing up.

"Alright." She smiled slightly and followed the older man down the hall.

Lexi was a sweet girl, around 16 years old. She had beautiful topaz eyes, and medium length white hair that was up in a ponytail. She wasn't very tall, only about 5' 4", and she didn't really fit in with the others around here. Lexi wasn't really a Nobody, like the other Organization members. She was only a half Nobody. That's because her father fell in love with a normal person-though how that happened, she still didn't know, since Nobodies can't really feel emotions. Her mother had died after giving birth to her, and she's been living with her father ever since.

Finally after a few minutes of silence, Xigbar opened a huge white door and walked in, Lexi following right behind. He walked up and stood in front of a few other people wearing black cloaks, the same as Lexi and Xigbar. "Xemnas."

The man in the middle turned swiftly. He had long gray-ish white hair, and the same color eyes as Lexi. When he saw her, a small smile appeared on his face. "Ah Lexi."

Lexi smiled slightly. "Hello Father. Xigbar said you wished to see me?"

"Correct. We were just discussing a problem that we would like you to clear up. Saix." Xemnas nodded at his second in command, cuing him to explain.

Lexi turned her gaze to where the Luna Diviner sat, and nearly shrunk back under his resentful stare. While most of the other members disliked her, Saix seemed to hate her very being (or whatever semi-being she may have). At least he was bearable while Xemnas was around, but that look never left his eyes.

"There is an impostor who has taken to wearing our coat. Roxas failed to bring him down, so it is up to you and Axel to take over the mission." Saix explained, his voice cold. "The target is powerful, so caution is essential."

Lexi snuck a glance at her friend and found him smiling at her in his usual confident way. Obviously the threat of a powerful target didn't faze him too much. After returning the smile, she shifted her gaze back to her father and chose her next words carefully before speaking up.

"I'll do the mission, of course, but if I may ask...Father, why summon me just to pass on orders?" Not to mention he had gathered some of the other members as well.

Xemnas' mouth twitched into a half smile at his daughter's careful tone. "There is more. I had hoped to tell the entire organization, but as Demyx, Zexion, and Luxord have yet to return from their missions they can be informed later." He paused and scanned the crowd before finishing. "Kingdom Hearts has appeared to us."

There were some sharp intakes of breath and a few confused glances between the younger members, Lexi being one of the former. If Kingdom Hearts had appeared in the sky, then it was much closer to being completed than they had thought before, at least halfway. No doubt this was thanks to Roxas, but other than Lexi and Axel grinning at their friend, he received no recognition from the other members.

"Therefore," Xemnas continued over the conversations that had started up throughout the room, "I expect your performance on missions to improve from now on, and there will be more work assigned as well."

Lexi nodded, willing to take the extra work for more time outside of the dreary white castle. This mission to hunt down the impostor would have been fine-since it was bound to take awhile-if it didn't involve killing someone who could be nothing more than a skilled fighter with a liking towards trench coats. Still, she knew better than to refuse her father's orders, and waited patiently for Axel as they were dismissed and the members began to clear out.

"Be careful now. We wouldn't want Daddy upset if anything happened to his little girl." The voice-and its taunting sarcasm-was all too familiar to Lexi. She turned around to face Larxene-and Marluxia beside her-with what she hoped was nothing more than a mildly agitated expression.

"My father has nothing to worry about. Well, at least not with me anyways. There is an issue that's been bothering him...something about some suspicious activity at Castle Oblivion." She pretended to think it over, noting it when the Nobodies paled slightly. This was a little meaner than Lexi preferred to be, but Larxene tended to get on everyone's nerves when she wanted to, and even when she didn't.

No. XII narrowed her eyes slightly, but was cut off by Marluxia before she could speak up again. "Those plans never went through, something you well know."

"Xemnas still wouldn't be happy to hear that he was right about his suspicions, now would he?" Coming up behind Lexi, Axel sounded amused. "Maybe I'll actually be allowed to do my job this time."

Roxas, with his best friend of course, nodded his agreement. "And taking every opportunity to bother Lexi won't inspire her to cover up for you guys again, if it would even work a second time around."

Lexi watched to see if there would be any more trouble, and Larxene had even started to snap a comeback back at them when Marluxia snapped at her to be quiet, then turned and left. The blonde girl glared at his back, but it seemed even she knew when it was a better idea to stop, because she followed after shooting the trio one last nasty look.

"What a way to thank you for saving their asses back at C.O. I still say you shouldn't have made up all those excuses for them." Axel complained, turning back to his friends after the pair had left the room.

Lexi gave him a smile that was both patient, and grateful. "They wouldn't have been able to do anything, and I didn't want them to be killed."

The amount of trouble she'd gone through with convincing her father had almost not been worth it, but it wasn't like anyone else would (or could, for that matter) get that group off the hook, so she put up with it all.

"I don't know, it's pretty tempting sometimes." Roxas mused in a mock-serious tone. "I'm pretty sure nobody would complain. I know I wouldn't."

"Yeah, can't you just tell your dad you were wrong or something?" The puppy-dog look Axel gave Lexi was almost convincing. If he weren't a Nobody she might have fallen for it.

She pretended to think it over for a few seconds, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Weeell... maybe, if you're a good boy." She teased, reaching up to pat him on the head.

The momentary laughter that followed halted as a blue-haired figure approached their little group. "If you have time to waste with foolishness, it is better spent on your assignment. Set out if you are prepared." Saix snapped, directing this more at Lexi than either of her friends.

People seemed to enjoy sneaking up on her today. "I just have to gather a few things from my room, then I'll be ready to leave." Trying to ignore the man's rough tone, she inclined her head in a semi-respectful gesture, hoping he wouldn't take it as sarcasm.

Axel, for his own part, didn't waste time with things like that. "Fine, fine. We'll leave soon, so don't go getting your panties in a bunch."

Saix's expression darkened further, but he didn't say anything about it. "Don't take your time." He snapped, heading back inside to speak with Xemnas once the three had started to walk through the hall.

Sighing, Lexi's gaze turned towards the ground. "He really hates me, doesn't he?"

"Don't take it personally, he's just a naturally annoying person. Like some Oscar the Grouch werewolf cross-breed." Axel said, smiling slyly at his friends.

Roxas covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. "Don't let him hear you say that."

The taller boy just waved it off indifferently. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"No…." Lexi agreed with a bright smile, "but what he does know might hurt you."

"... That is true." Axel admitted, shrugging again. "So I'll just stick with the not letting him find out thing."

She laughed again, pushing aside her worries about the Saix problem for the time being. If she was going to have to stress herself out by fighting some possibly-innocent 'impostor' soon, she may as well enjoy the time beforehand.

Worlds away-and that is meant quite literally-a girl of about 17 years sat on the branch of a low tree atop a miniature beach-side 'island', swinging her long legs and watching the sun set. She hummed to herself with mild amusement, brushing back some of her chin-length black hair that had fallen loosely in front of her too-white skin, and wondering how someone could possibly find amusement in this. Her cream-white, almost colorless eyes scanned the beach for a familiar face, but saw nobody who would be any use in clearing away her boredom.

Looking down, she noted that the lack of company on the beaches below was most likely a good thing. The red dress she was wearing didn't exactly cover a lot of skin, and the usually mid-thigh length garment had pulled back up to about 7 inches below her hip when she had sat down. Not that too much exposure was really a problem in her book, but that and the low-cut chest-which showed off what was plenty obvious already-did tend to get her into some trouble with the adults. It was like all the material had been taken from her mostly bare back and thin straps and used to make the ridiculous black bow strapped around her waist.

"Kurai!" Hearing her name, the girl turned around to watch a teenage boy running towards her from the direction of that 'secret' cave a little ways off the beach. His spiky brown hair wasn't really affected by the windy weather, and his blue eyes were as bright as ever.

Kurai forced herself to smile upon seeing her friend. Really she was wishing for some alone time, or maybe just time without Sora, almost anyone else wouldn't have been so bad. "Hey. What do you want?"

Used to the careless phrasing of her words, Sora didn't react to what some may consider a rude tone and simply slowed his pace to join the older girl. "Have you seen Riku around?"

"You talk to him more than I do. Haven't seen him in like two weeks. Did you check that Radiant Gardens place yet? Or maybe he's off wasting time and talking with that mouse again." Kurai shrugged it off and began turning back to watch that dull sunset again.

"I tried. Leon, Mickey, Cloud-none of them have seen him." Sora complained, drawing her attention back to him. "Do you think he might be in trouble?"

"We're all in trouble, at least until those heartless clear out. At least he's got that cheap-ass darkness stuff." She grumbled, tone resentful as she thought of all the advantages to having an element that stayed the same. "He's probably just pulling off another vanishing-act moment. Did you seriously run all the way here just to ask about that?"

"It's not like it's not a big deal." Sora sighed, but went on anyway, "and no, I actually didn't. Do you want to come check out Radiant Gardens tomorrow? Leon thinks we should check out that old castle. He and Cloud keep finding swarms of heartless nearby."

Kurai thought this over, weighing the lure of fighting against the downside; having to put up with Cloud, Leon, and probably those annoying girls Yuffie and Tifa. "Who else is coming?" she asked at last, figuring that for her this would be the deciding factor.

Sora beamed, for some reason seeming to take that as a yes. "Cloud, Leon, Cid, Yuffie, Riku if we can find him, Tifa, Kairi, and I think basically everyo-"

"Count me out." Kurai sneered, lip curled in as much distaste as her tone implied.

"Come on! Why not?" he sounded disappointed, and somehow surprised. Did he really not expect that reaction?

Rolling her eyes, she put her hands on her hips and continued in an impatient tone. "Because that list included Kairi, who apparently has yet to take my advice and leap off a cliff." Maybe she should try pushing her.

"That's unfair, Kairi's really nice!" He protested, as always defending his pathetic little girlfriend who had yet to do anything useful with her life. "What have you got against her anyway?"

"She's an annoying little wannabe brat who doesn't seem to realize that she's not only weak and really whiny, but that she's nowhere near as pretty as she thinks she is." A tinge of color began to take over the usually stark white pupils, leaving a barely noticeable bluish undertone. "Plus, she'll only get in the way. You're better off leaving her here. Actually, take her, maybe we'll get lucky and she'll die."

"Kurai!" Sora sounded less angry than he probably would have been normally. This was a conversation they'd had more than once, but it rarely caused enough genuine annoyance or stress to trigger water.

"'Kurai' nothing. If she goes I stay, if she stays I go. Simple as that, and don't pretend you weren't looking for an excuse to keep her out of the danger." Kurai dropped off the branch and landed cleanly on the sand, leaving a deep imprint of her feet where she hit the ground. "She probably wouldn't have the time to summon that prissy keyblade before you got her out o' there. Tell 'em I wouldn't let you bring her, not the first time that's happened."

It was true, oddly enough. It wasn't that Kurai literally forced her to stay behind, more like nobody wanted to leave her when there was the other option available. Plus, she was right that Kairi usually got sent home before the first heartless showed up, whether she liked it or not, so refusing not to bring her meant two allies out of the fight instead of just one. Though the younger girl was never happy with being sent home, and even less so being told not to come along at all.

Sora knew all this, and he was always eager to change it. "She'll want to come; I can't just tell her we won't let her!"

Shrugging, Kurai started to walk past her friend and off the platform of the land. "Then don't. I can't put up with that much idiocy. Yuffie will be bad enough, so I just won't go."

"Jeez, you're like a little kid!" Sora whined sounding resigned.

Smirking back at him over her shoulder, the blue left Kurai's eye as the annoyance passed with it. "See ya at the castle."

"You know, I've never actually been here at night before." Axel mused, mostly to himself, as he surveyed the dark streets of Twilight Town. "I like it better during the day."

Looking around at the sleepy town, Lexi could see why her thrill-seeking friend might not like it. "Really? I like it, it's kinda nice." That, and the fact that every darkness user preferred the advantage of night life.

Aware of this, her companion shot her an amused look. "Right. Don't get used to it, because the minute we find this guy things are gonna get crazy."

"How did he get one of our coats anyway? Come to think of it, I've got no idea how Father gets them either." She hadn't really thought about it before, but she couldn't imagine Xemnas in casual clothing buying a bunch of trench coats from some tailor.

Apparently, neither could Axel. "We don't question these things."

Lexi smiled and nodded quickly. "Agreed." Though in all honesty she was tempted to ask her father about it once they returned to the castle.

They found nothing in the sandlot or the tunnels, and the station plaza was empty too. By the time they'd run back and forth through the back streets a few times she was beginning to think they should have brought Zexion on this mission (to use that creepy power where he smelled people or something. Weird, but effective.) After checking a place called Sunset Hill, and some out-of-the-way place with some beaten up couches and a dart board, they doubled back to re-check an intersection that led to most of the town and contained one of their favorite ice cream shops, which was closed at the moment.

"Dammit, this place is huge." Axel complained as they walked along. "Come on, we've still got to check a few places."

Lexi nodded and took one step to follow before she whipped around and threw one of her razor-sharp fans into the shadows nearby. It didn't hit the target she'd sensed there, so she had it fly back to her in a stream of darkness. Axel recovered from his confusion and showed a quick blast of flame in that same direction. Whoever it was-and the fire made it easier to tell-was wearing their coat, and he rolled out of the way quickly to dodge the fire. He didn't summon a weapon like she'd expected, so he probably wasn't looking for a fight, which didn't make her feel much better about the mission. It didn't appear to bother her partner, whose chakrams were ready and aimed.

"Hey there. Any reason you're dressed like one of us?" Axel asked, though it was probably more procedure than actual curiosity.

The boy didn't answer, and even with the hood hiding his expression Lexi could tell by the way he tensed up that he'd noticed who they were. Without a single word he spun and dashed towards the train commons.

"Hey!" Axel shouted after him, sounding annoyed now. "Come on, Lexi!" They ran after the impostor, who was almost down the slope that led to their 'destination'.

Lexi knew now that this wasn't just some guy who'd seen the uniform and decided he wanted one, or he would have explained himself by now. At least they weren't chasing down some innocent bystander.

"He's pretty fast." She complimented, a little surprised.

Axel nodded reluctantly. "They should've sent Larxene." he complained, though the two of them were plenty fast themselves and their target was never out of their sights as they pursued him through the streets.

Eventually he turned a sharp corner and ran straight for a moment before fleeing through a large gap in the wall. They came through into a small forest-which made Lexi wonder how people had gotten through there before the wall broke, since she could see a house nearby- and she nearly panicked. It wouldn't be too hard to hide here, even if it was a really tiny forest. However, the boy didn't swerve behind a tree or any of that, and was already running out the other side once she and Axel had taken a quick moment to look around.

"Jeez, it's like playing a game of tag." Axel sighed, though he looked more worked up than annoyed.

"... Tag, you're it!" Lexi nudged her friend's shoulder playfully and set off before he could tag her back, trying to resist the urge to laugh.

The game was short-lived-though it did continue through the entire run through the tiny grove of trees-because as soon as they entered the clearing with that mansion they saw the impostor, with a weapon at last. An interesting weapon.

"You've got a keyblade?" Lexi wondered in surprise. Though the weapon was nothing like the ones Roxas used, it was still unmistakably one of the special blades that collected hearts.

Instead of honoring her question with its obvious answer, he stated a different equally obvious fact. "You're not Roxas. They usually send him."

"Don't ask me, I don't give the orders." Axel shrugged. "Why'd you finally stop running?"

"Didn't want to draw attention in the town." The boy replied, a problem they hadn't thought about themselves until now.

"And once again, why are you wearing our coat?" Lexi cut in, hoping it would be something simple that would let them take off without having to hurt him.

"You don't need to know that." Not a useful answer, but the best she should have expected.

"True, we don't." On that note Axel threw his first chakram, coated in fire, and attacked with the other-still holding it-when that was deflected.

The guy deflected the chakram back, and Axel's arm with it, then swung his keyblade, which was blocked by the first chakram, sent flying back to its master in wisps of fire. Lexi watched the two clashing with each other-neither getting much lead on their opponent yet-and calculated the impostor's strength. He seemed to be pretty good, and there was a chance he would probably be able to beat either of them on their own. But Lexi and Axel were a practiced team, and he didn't stand too much of a chance against the two of them together.

At her command the shadows around the boy began to shift, cuing Axel to throw both flaming chakrams at once. The impostor had to jump back while blocking because of a fireball that nearly burned his feet. Lexi spun up behind him and let her fans grow huge, blowing a gust of wind at the boy's back. Wind filled with shadow that morphed with her help into the shape of giant hands that snatched at the boy. Usually she managed to catch the person here, but the shadows grip kept faltering, so Axel jumped in with their plan B. He set a ring of fire around them, surprising the boy further, and threw a chakram way off course. Once the two were at it again Lexi leaped up and blew the weapon back at the impostor, now not just covered in fire but blended with some shadow as well. Still dealing with Axel, the strange boy barely noticed the chakram before it grazed his shoulder and returned to its master.

The cut was shallow, but it drew blood and let Lexi's darkness seep into his body, which was all she needed. Before her attack could start the boy had whirled around when he felt the chakram cut him, and the sudden movement knocked off his loose hood to reveal his face. The light didn't allow for details, but it was easy to see his long, wavy, silver white hair, pale skin, and a blindfold hiding his eyes from Lexi's view. She faltered for a moment at suddenly seeing his face (he could have been her age!) but the shadow's possession didn't. As always it took barely twenty seconds for the boy to completely freeze up, and another two or so for his expression to darken when he caught on. From here, Lexi could make him do anything she wanted, short of talk, but with Axel there it was safest just to hold him still and let the other member do his job.

Sorry... She would have liked to say it out loud, but hopefully her expression conveyed the message.

"Man, what are you on kid?" Axel rolled his shoulders and rubbed his arm with the hand that wasn't holding his weapon. "I'll be feeling that in the morning. Anyway, you've got one last chance to tell us why you're wearing that."

The boy remained quiet-not unexpected- but from what Lexi could tell he didn't seem too worried, even with Axel spinning the chakram as if he was testing how best to throw it. THAT was unexpected. No matter how good of a fighter he was it wasn't like he could dodge when he couldn't move. It was when Axel was already pulling his arm back to attack that something else unexpected happened-

The impostor resisted.

It wasn't like no one ever did, but this boy really resisted. Most people tried to force themselves to move, while the boy worked on the darkness and seemed to push it out of his body. Caught off guard, Lexi stumbled back in surprise and her possession faltered enough for him to break free. Axel hadn't noticed-the boy still hadn't moved-and threw his weapon at the exposed area of his back. There was some pretty obvious shock involved when it met the keyblade instead.

"Sorry, but I can't afford to die here." The impostor said as he opened a dark corridor and vanished before they even had time to recover.

"What the hell just happened?" Exclaimed Axel, turning sharply to face Lexi. "You let him go?"

"No! He just…he broke it. That was the first time anybody ever used darkness back at me." Lexi stammered, staring at her hands as if she expected her power to be vanishing from her. "I wasn't ready for it."

Still apparently frustrated, her friend shook his head and dismissed the chakrams. "Then be ready to fight it back next time around. Oh, dammit! Now I've got to put up with Saix whining again!"

"There's nobody there, idiot." Kurai snapped, unaware that her words were quite true in a different sense. "Can we just go in already?"

Yuffie shot the other girl yet another angry look. "I swear I saw someone! Just because you never pay attention doesn't mean I don't! So shut it, melon girl!"

"Melon-?! Is that the best you can do, shrimpy?" Being tall did have its advantages sometimes, though it sucked when you were taller than the guys. (Luckily some of the boys here were practically giants.)

"Guys, cool it! This is a town; somebody probably came to see what the giant castle in the distance was all about. We just have to make sure we kill the heartless fast then, if people are coming near here." Leon snapped before the two could really get at each other's throats.

Both girls brightened at the killing heartless concept, so the subject dropped for the time being. Truthfully, Kurai figured people would come by all the time, but she wouldn't agree with that ninja brat for anything. She was almost worse than Kairi, but just almost.

"Good, then lead the way, Sora." Kurai grinned sarcastically at her friend. "You're the only one who's been here before, or at least searched it enough to be of any use."

Rather, the only one who's searched it thoroughly to everyone's knowledge. But finding out that she had been along, as one of the people trying to stop Sora, would have been bad. Things all worked out though, so they figured it was better to keep things quiet about that.

"Okay, I'll show you that weird chamber that took me to the fake Ansem last time. Though that portal thing probably closed when we defeated him." Muttering a few of the directions under his breath as he walked, the boy was no longer up for conversation. Not that they could blame him, the entrance had had way too many doors, and further in things got even weirder.

"Can you imagine having to deal with all these ridiculous puzzles every time you come home?" chuckled Kurai as they waited for poor Sora to work with some books in the library that he swore must have moved back on their own.

"I doubt it was part of the design, Maleficent must have added a lot." Cloud muttered, ruining the girl's attempt at a joke.

She glared at him for a moment, about to tell him that she'd obviously known that, when finally a group of heartless appeared in the room. "Here we are." She smirked, unstrapping the two handed axe from across her back. It was huge-impractically so-but also very pretty. Most of it was black, but the metal was marked with veins of white all around the double edged blades.

"Decided to drop in then?" Tifa smiled excitedly, taking the swarm of Wyverns and Darkballs as a welcome sign.

They'd already set up what to do, so the three girls stayed behind to fight for now, while Sora and the other boys kept working at the castle's tricks. Tifa, Kurai, and Yuffie had no trouble with a few heartless anyway, and while the boys wouldn't admit it, they probably didn't want to get too close to any of them while a fight was going on.

Each of the white marks on the axe had already taken on a blaring yellow color, as had Kurai's white pupils. Lightning. "Duck guys!" Giving them just enough time to register the warning, she raised the axe high above her head and cast a reckless thundaga that hit a lot more than just heartless.

"Cool it with the zapping!" Yuffie complained, popping up from under the desk she'd used to avoid poorly controlled magic.

In a way of answer Kurai stuck out her tongue and used the axe-shaking with electric current-to block a wyvern's claws. "If you duck when I say to you'll be fine."

"That's not the point, Kurai." Tifa sighed, blasting a dark ball into the walls with her she-hulk fists. "It's not something you use in a room full of people you don't want to hit."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Uninterested in the discussion, the black-clad man gave up his post and stopped watching. Even if he did have to report that someone else had slain his targets, the good news would outdo that. After all, not every day that a non-keyblade released hearts from the heartless.

"Oh man, he seriously broke it?" Roxas shook his head sympathetically. "Sorry, I guess I forgot he could use that stuff."

Lexi shrugged softly, less upset that she'd failed the mission than she was embarrassed about Saix's not so well disguised insults afterward. "It's fine. I'll just be more careful if I get sent after him again."

"Count me out. If I have to deal with that guy another time I'll jump off the clock tower." Axel grumbled. "First time he actually fought though. Never did when I was with Roxas."

"Sounds weird to me. Why not at least say why he dresses like us?" Demyx wondered, strumming contentedly at his sitar.

"I wonder what his name is…." Lexi asked of no-one in particular. The images of his face flashed through her mind; even in that lighting he had been gorgeous.

"Doesn't matter, does it?" Something about Axel's tone made her look at him in surprise. "What?"

"You answered too fast." She pointed out, watching carefully. "Do you know him or something?"

After glancing hopefully at his other friends and realizing they weren't going to get him out of it, he nodded reluctantly. "Saw him at C.O. I should probably tell Saix or something, but it doesn't seem like it'll matter. His name's Riku."

"Riku? Hm... nice name." Lexi mused, missing the warning look Axel gave her until she'd already spoken.

The grey room was unusually full today, and over by the other couches Xigbar stopped explaining something he'd seen on his mission and swore under his breath. Vexen looked mildly annoyed at the name, both Lexaeus and Zexion look absolutely murderous, and Larxene and Marluxia just shared amused smiles.

"Riku? He's the impostor? That's interesting enough." Larxene chuckled. "Isn't that your toy, Vexen?"

"The replica was a failure. Disappointing, but not a problem." sighed the 'Chilly Academic'. "Riku, however, can be considered a problem. Xemnas will have to take more care when choosing who to send on those missions."

Lexi blinked in confusion and turned to see Roxas and Demyx looking equally-if not more so-as lost as she was. "What? What did he d-"

"This is not the time for story-telling." Saix snapped, cutting her off. "Many of you have missions, and some are urgent. Lexi, Marluxia, you will be off together today. Speak with me for details." Ignoring the looks a few of the members directed at him, the Luna Diviner turned and headed to his usual place by the gigantic window.

"Temper, temper." Axel muttered, narrowing his eyes. "The second Lexi asks a question it becomes a problem."

"I wish they'd just tell us what happened there." Roxas' tone was wistful, and he looked expectantly toward the fire user.

"Yeah, too bad. That would probably be cool, huh?" His friend quickly decided to act as if he hadn't seen the look.

Smiling slightly, Lexi got up from the couch before more of that could go on. "Well, I gotta go guys. Wish me luck."

"You'll need it if you're with Marluxia." Roxas said, once again using a sympathetic tone.

Axel nodded his agreement and shot her a sly smile. "Better be quick. Sounds like Sailor Moon's getting impatient over there."

She smothered a laugh at the nickname, keeping it to a bright-eyed smile in return before crossing the room to join No. XI and No. VII.

Saix gave her a cold look, no doubt ready to use her 'lateness' as an excuse. "When I tell you to speak with me for a briefing I do not mean once you feel you have spent enough time on idle chatter."

"I'm sorry, Saix." She apologized politely, deciding not to mention that it hadn't even been a full minute; he would just point out that Marluxia was already there. "What are our orders?"

"Xigbar spotted a young woman on his last mission who released hearts from the heartless she defeated without the use of a keyblade. Find her, either turn her into a heartless and bring her Nobody back, or capture her as is. Whichever seems to be the most convenient." He ordered bluntly, ignoring Lexi's efforts to stay respectful.

"And where will we find her?" Marluxia wondered, looking more enthusiastic about the mission than his partner was.

"Radiant Gardens. Avoid being seen, and do not cause those infernal residents to come running. I doubt you could handle as much." The blue-haired Nobody's tone held an insulting undertone, that once again Lexi tried to ignore.

"Of course. We'll be careful." She promised, hoping there was no sarcasm in her voice. "Is that all?"

"You have your orders. Avoid the keyblade bearer while you are there and since your target's strength is unknown, proceed with caution." He smirked openly now before continuing. "And try not to let her run away. You've already managed to fail once this week."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Marluxia didn't bother hiding his disappointment in being partnered up with Lexi, though he did welcome the assignment. Finally, they were letting him do something more than re-con or collecting hearts with that damn kid. Besides, much as it killed his pride to admit it, she had more or less saved his life, and he didn't really hate her that much. He didn't want her company, but when he wasn't putting up with her reluctance to fight she wasn't intolerable. Still, her of all people on a mission to attack some little girl? He'd go insane.

"Leave this to me, make heartless appear or do whatever you need to to turn her into one herself, but don't go letting your softness get in my way." he said at last, giving up on ideas like trying to slip away and find her himself.

Lexi gave him a surprised look, but recovered and shook her head. "We're assigned to this together, I have to help out. I won't like it, but you don't have to worry about me." She assured, not sternly, but the message was clear. Xemnas' little girl was in charge if she wanted to be.

Marluxia settled with glaring at her before purposefully walking in front of the girl on their way through that ridiculous town. There weren't many people around, yet the girl wasn't among them. Black hair and a red dress. That's what Xigbar had been telling them earlier, not that it was much help. Still, the only girl they'd seen had had brown hair and a pink dress, mostly it was just men they came across.

"Not here." Marluxia sighed. "Come, we'll check the outside of the town."

Lexi gave him a confused look. "But wait, what about the girl with the ribbon?"

Remembering she hadn't heard the 'story' he decided not to snap at her just yet. "Look for a girl in red with black hair, simple enough for you?"

If he'd expected to bother her then he was sorely disappointed. "Yeah, thank you."

He sighed. Either she was ignoring the sarcasm or she hadn't heard it in his tone. Most likely the first one. They didn't talk too much after that, though Lexi made a few polite attempts at a conversation, which Marluxia ruined with semi-polite one word answers. Yet still, the walk was awfully boring, and eventually the two did talk a little about the mission.

"She fights heartless, so we probably can't count on surprising her with our powers or anything." Lexi pointed out as they quietly continued along.

"True, but not a problem." Marluxia agreed with a half-smile. "I could always do with a real fight, and some child will hardly be a problem."

They didn't find her for another hour, exploring the rocky area not far from that strange castle. Marluxia and Lexi had paused behind two of these rocks to stay out of sight, still unnoticed.

Well, it seems I was wrong. She's certainly not a child. Marluxia thought as he watched.

The girl, almost a young woman, looked about his age, and to a non-Nobody she might appear pretty. To him, the only thing that caught attention was the battle axe in her hand.

"Ugh! Who in God's name makes friends with animals? I should roast that duck and force-feed it to the dog freak." She was complaining, sounding pretty stressed out. "These idiots are going to drive me crazy!"

The two Nobodies shared a curious look, but didn't waste any time dwelling on it. They had to capture or change her, not understand her. The problem was doing just that. Lexi could summon up the heartless in a moment's notice, but they would have to get her quickly enough that they wouldn't get destroyed first. So Marluxia got his fight, at least.

The girl was pacing now, so he watched for a moment and decided to judge her times when she was turned around opposed to the times when she was able to see him if he attacked. Eventually he sent out a flower vine attack after her, but she didn't even turn when she moved that axe in a swift movement to deflect in one easy motion. When she did whip around he caught a glimpse of her eyes, which seemed to be a mix between red and blue-a murky purple.

"So, who the hell are you?" She growled, gripping the handle of her weapon and exposing the lines on the blades that were turning red as well. "Come on out, there's no way that was a natural thing."

"Would have been odd if it were." Marluxia agreed, summoning his scythe and standing straight, no longer hidden by the rock.

"...Pink?" The girl snorted back laughter. "You dyed your hair pink? Scratch that, you're a Nobody, it's probably natural. Better yet, why didn't you dye it something else?" Before he could protest she went on. "Well, doesn't matter, and I don't care, so don't actually bother me with answering that. I don't care why you're fighting me either, so don't waste time there. Get that flowery pretty-boy ass of yours over here and we can skip the formalities."

Marluxia was actually a little stunned for a moment. This girl was weird, even by his standards, but he just shook his head to clear it and stepped around the boulder and closer to her, brandishing his admittedly flowery scythe and preparing to battle.

Happily Kurai-though the name was unknown to him-decided that was good enough and ran at him with surprising speed considering the size of her weapon, wasting no time before sidestepping at just the right moment to maximize her momentum and increase the power in the attack. Marluxia smoothly flicked his wrist, barely requiring any energy to twirl his scythe in a graceful 'circle' to deflect the weapon. Usually this is where he would follow up with a counter attack, but he found himself-to his surprise-having to struggle to actually keep the girl's axe at bay with all the force she was putting behind it. He pulled away and pivoted immediately, so that Kurai's axe slashed the air and gave him a good position to swing in a violent arch at her legs.

Lexi found herself, once again, watching a violent, fast paced battle that she could hardly keep up with on yet another mission she didn't want to be on. This was amusing actually, because she couldn't help notice the bursts of fire occasionally shooting off of the axe indicating a fire element, which was ironic because of how Axel had used the same power yesterday. (Unknown to the Half-Nobody, this girl's power never stayed the same for long.) Yet this was incredibly different, both of the combatants involved now seemed to be battle-crazed equally, which made it very hard to understand what they were doing at any particular time.

The girl noted that this meant she was likely completely out of Marluxia's mind while he fought, and that Kurai wouldn't have ever noticed her, so now was as good a time as any to carry out their plan. It took awhile, but eventually she noted that careful attention could help her distinguish where to aim her shadows without accidentally catching her fellow Nobody by mistake. At a quick mental command the darkness in the area sprang forward, ready to bind the unaware girl's legs. Lexi quickly got to her feet first, making herself easily visible, and summoned then threw one of her fans in a well-practiced motion, calling it back when Kurai noticed it and ducked to avoid the weapon.

"Two of you? Cool." The older girl apparently thought this meant more of a fight, but Marluxia caught the warning, and reluctantly jumped backwards, out of the way of any sudden attacks.

Kurai seemed to be annoyed by this, and stepped forward to continue their little match, when Lexi allowed the shadows to get going and watched as the strange girl fell flat on her face, obviously expecting free movement of her legs.

"Go on!" shouted the Half-Nobody as Kurai swore and lifted herself off the ground, turning her neck to try and get a glimpse at what had caught her.

Marluxia-sure he would be feeling the wounds he'd gotten back there for awhile yet- wasted no time before kicking that damn axe further out of the girl's reach and, while she was angry and distracted with that, he hurriedly resorted to the simplest method, slamming the handle of his weapon against the girl's temple, rendering her unconscious pretty quickly.

"Do we...?" Lexi trailed off, not sure what they were doing-turning this girl into a heartless or bringing her back. "What do you think?"

She watched as Marluxia leaned down and casually lifted the tall girl off the ground, carelessly swinging her over his shoulder, which would leave a nasty bruise when Kurai awoke-no doubt this was No. XI's intention. "Get her axe, there's something about this girl. We wouldn't want to risk losing whatever she's got that actually let her land a hit on me. We'll take her back."

A/N: Ok so please review and let me know what you think!! Try not to be too mean though ok? ;p Oh and I'm not updating until i get some reviews! I need at least five!!^.^