Hook interrupted Smee with a snarl of frustration. “Confound it! If we don’t find the right one soon, someone else could walk off with me treasure!”
Something felt off about this, in Roxas’s opinion.
“That gold will be mine! No one else can have it!” Hook stamped his foot, and for a strange moment, some kind of dark mist enveloped him.
What was that?
“C-Captain?” Smee said uncertainly. He must have noticed it, too.
And then, as if the mist had summoned it, a Heartless appeared.
“Gah!” cried Hook. “More Heartless?! Run, Smee!”
“Eek! Aye-aye, sir!”
Hook and Smee were running toward Roxas. But they passed him by without even seeing him.
Now he wouldn’t have to reveal himself to take out the target. Roxas charged at the creature creeping around the treasure chest with his Keyblade.
A dream… That’s right—I’m dreaming.
I know this is just a dream. So I don’t have to be so scared.
After all that, Roxas figured that if he followed those two, he might run into more Heartless. After finishing off the one at the empty treasure chest, he headed after Hook and Smee.
But before he could find them, something small and sparkly flew up into his face. “Whoa!”
It was a girl—a very tiny girl, no bigger than his hand, with fluttering wings at her back. Her name was Tinker Bell, but she had no way to tell him that.
She seemed about to dart away, but after a considering stare, she circled him a few times and came to a stop, hovering in front of his eyes.
“Um… Can I help you?” Roxas asked.
Tinker Bell replied with a great deal of gesticulating, clearly trying to tell him something. She pointed with both her slender arms to a ship anchored out on the water.
“You…want me to go to that ship?”
She nodded emphatically.
“But how? It’s too far.” He had no way of getting all the way over there. He doubted even the Corridors of Darkness would work for that. “I’d never make it unless I could fly or something… Huh?”
She gestured and twirled, circling him again to scatter glittering dust all over him.
“Hey, what is this stuff? It’s glowing…” Roxas blinked, bewildered, and Tinker Bell pointed once more—off the island’s rocky edge, across the water. A dead end for him. “Y-you want me to jump?!”
Tinker Bell nodded.
“Wait… Are you saying I can fly?”
Again, she nodded.
“Well, all right. I believe you.” Roxas took a step toward the edge of the cliff and cast himself off.
Just as he was sure he’d plunge straight into the ground, he felt himself float.
He was rising, free of gravity.
“I did it! I can fly!”
It was such an odd sensation, a little like when he’d looked at the ocean…but not quite the same. This had to be his first time flying, and yet, he felt like he’d done it before.
Roxas whirled and looped and then paused midair. That sparkling dust was bright all around him.
“Fly! Just believe, and you can do it!”
Who told me that?
“If I keep believing, we’ll meet again. I know we will.”
Who made that promise?
I can hear the ocean…
Where is it coming from?
“I can’t wait to see you. There’s so much I want to tell you.”
Tell who?
Who is it I want to talk to so badly…?
Yet again, Axel found not a hint of a clue that might lead him to Riku. There was nothing, not even the vaguest rumor, and he began to think he must be somewhere beyond their reach.
So what was the point of searching aimlessly like this?
He called it off early and headed to the clock tower. To his surprise, Roxas had beaten him to it. “Hey, done already?”
“Yup!” Roxas was strangely cheerful. Was it still the lie Axel had told him that morning?
Just as Axel was about to sit beside him, Roxas blurted out an explanation. “Axel, you’re not gonna believe this. I flew today.”
He was right—that did sound a little out there. Axel gave him a serious look. “You did what now?”
“I flew! Like a bird! Well, not quite like a bird. I’m not really sure how. But I did it!”
“…Sounds pretty neat,” Axel replied, though he wasn’t sure why it merited that much excitement. Maybe it was lost on him because he’d never done any flying himself. But Roxas’s expression as he tried to describe it was as bright as Axel had ever seen.
“It was better than neat. It was amazing! I’ve been waiting all day to tell you.” Roxas gazed out at the sky, as if he was imagining himself soaring off the clock tower right now. The breeze ruffled his bangs. “And it felt so familiar somehow. Like I’ve done it before… Like a good memory. Isn’t that weird?”
Like a good memory. It was the first time Axel had heard Roxas describe anything that way.
Then, as if the fever of his enthusiasm had broken, Roxas fell into another of his pensive moods. “I wish Xion would wake up, so I could tell her, too…”
Who is it? Who’s calling me?
“Wuh?!”
Roxas was here. But he wasn’t the one she’d heard calling to her.
“Xion… Good morning.”
“Oh. Hi.” Xion blinked and sat up.
“Um, I just— You startled me. You woke up so suddenly.”
“S-sorry.” She looked down apologetically and saw the pile of seashells beside her. “Oh… Did you bring me these?”
She picked one up and held it to her ear. Maybe the ocean waves in her ears had really been seashells the whole time.
“Can you hear it?” asked Roxas.
“Yeah… The sound of the waves.”
But why? Why did that sound give her such a strange feeling?
She didn’t know when she’d closed her eyes, but she opened them again and asked Roxas, “How long was I asleep?”
“About twenty days.”
“That long?”
Xion knew she’d been sleeping for some time. She just hadn’t expected to hear such a high number.
Anyway, she couldn’t even remember why she’d fallen into such a deep sleep— No, she’d fainted. The last thing she could recall was thinking, I won’t lose to him. I won’t let Riku beat me.
But why had she collapsed like that?
“Yeah, it was a while,” said Roxas. “Me and Axel were getting worried.”
“I’m sorry I made you worry…” It bothered her that she’d missed almost three weeks of action, but not as much as realizing she’d left Roxas and Axel to worry about her for so long. Something painfully tight clenched in her chest. “Strange, huh? We don’t even have hearts to feel with.”
Why does it hurt so much, if I have no heart?
But she knew no one had an answer.
Xion looked up at Roxas. “Don’t you have work today?”
“Huh? Oh…I’m about to head out.”
“I want to go with you,” she told him in no uncertain terms.
A slight frown of concern came to his face. “Don’t you need some more rest?”
Maybe he was still worried. But she wanted to get going. “I’ll be fine. C’mon, let me tag along.”
Roxas took a few reluctant moments before giving in. “All right.”
Xion immediately jumped out of bed.
Now they just had to persuade Saïx.
They discussed it briefly and stopped their superior just outside the lobby. “Saïx!”
He glanced sidelong at Xion. “Well, well. Look who’s awake.”
She faced him directly and took a deep breath. “I want to go with Roxas on his mission today. Two of us can gather more hearts, right?”
Saïx seemed to consider it briefly. “You shouldn’t be up and about yet.”
That was not a reply she’d anticipated. He sounded…well, w
orried was the wrong word, but at least somewhat concerned for her health as a member of the Organization.
As she tried to formulate a response, Axel showed up. “Oh, hey, Xion! Finally awake.”
“Morning, Axel.” A smile came to her face when she turned to him. He would help them out.
“Roxas will team up with Axel today, as scheduled,” Saïx told Xion. “I’m afraid I didn’t know you’d be available.”
Apparently, he was also relieved at Axel’s interruption.
“Let me go, too,” Xion entreated. “I could use the exercise.”
A pause turned into a silence just slightly too long.
“What’s the problem? She’ll have me looking after her, too,” Axel finally said.
Still, Saïx made no reply. He and Axel appeared to be in a staring contest—and not an entirely friendly one. It made Xion nervous.
“Fine. Go, if you’re so determined.” Saïx capitulated.
He retreated to his post in the lobby. The other three watched him go and exchanged glances, then broke into grins.
This would be their first mission as a trio.
The mission was in Twilight Town, the home of their usual spot.
“This should be fun, huh? We’re tripling up!” Xion giggled.
Roxas grinned back. “Probably for the first time in the Organization.”
“C’mon, guys. It’s a mission, not a game,” Axel chided them half-heartedly.
He was right, though. This was work.
“Yeah, yeah. Still, it’s nice to be back.”
Axel gave her another warning, seriously this time. “Just don’t push it, okay?”
“I know.” Xion nodded. “Thanks.”
She wouldn’t go too hard. If she passed out again, she’d lose everything for sure.
But that wouldn’t happen—not with both Roxas and Axel to help. If anything went badly, she knew, they would have her back.
“So the mission… Eliminate the giant Heartless of the day.” Axel rubbed the back of his neck. “It sounds like a tough one.”
“But we know it’s big. At least that makes it easy to guess where it’ll appear,” said Roxas. “I’m guessing the sandlot or the station plaza?”
“Sounds good to me,” Xion agreed.
There were some large open areas at the tram common, and in front of the haunted mansion, too, but chances were good a giant Heartless would try one of the other two places first.
“Well, let’s take it out and have ourselves some ice cream.” Roxas set off with purpose.
Xion wasn’t far behind. “Yeah, and we’re already in Twilight Town! It’ll be right there once we’re done!”
“You’re not wrong…but don’t let your guard down,” Axel told them, bringing up the rear.
“Quit being such a worrywart, Axel.”
“Maybe I could if you two would quit giving me so much to worry about,” he retorted.
Xion and Roxas exchanged a look and laughed.
“So…where are we headed first?” Axel asked.
“Station plaza,” Roxas replied.
“Any particular reason?”
“We want to be able to get back to the tram common to get ice cream, right?”
“Huh?” Axel wasn’t following.
“So we’ll start at the farthest point away from the tram common and work our way toward it. That’ll make it easier once we’re done.”
“That’s smart, Roxas!” Xion exclaimed.
“It is…?” Axel mumbled.
Axel isn’t getting it, she thought. But that doesn’t really matter. Working together as a trio, here in Twilight Town—it just makes things more fun.
But then…
It happened as soon as she stepped into the station plaza. The world…tilted.
Everything spun and swam and went dark.
What’s happening? What is this? I don’t know…
“Promise.”
Who are you?
“It’s my lucky charm. So you have to bring it back to me!”
Lucky charm…? The seashells……?
“Xion!”
That’s Roxas. I can hear his voice.
What’s happening to me?
Axel caught her just before she hit the ground.
“Xion!” cried Roxas—and a growl came from behind him.
That would be their target. He whirled around.
“I’ve got Xion,” Axel called to him. “You take care of that thing.”
“Right!” Roxas nodded, summoning the Keyblade to his hand as he charged the Heartless.
Once Roxas had it under control, Axel hoisted up Xion and darted toward the shelter of the station in the giant Heartless’s blind spot.
“Xion!” He called her name, gently setting her down, but she was unresponsive.
He’d been so careless.
He had no idea exactly why Xion seemed to collapse so often. But he knew that she did, so why would he let her go on a mission immediately after she started to recover?
As he berated himself, something occurred to him.
Saïx kept telling him not to concern himself too deeply, but the warning could be interpreted another way: Don’t ask questions. I have no intention of divulging anything more to you about Xion.
So the only thing to do was to find answers for himself.
She stirred in his arms.
“Xion?”
An instant later, he saw Roxas deal the finishing blow to the giant Heartless. The heart it released vanished into the sky.
Then Xion uttered a weak murmur. “Sora…”
Axel stared down at her, not sure he’d heard correctly. Sora…? How did Xion know that name?
“Xion!” Roxas came running to them and peered at her anxiously.
“It’s okay. She’s not hurt,” said Axel.
“But, Axel—”
Roxas was only going to fret more. Axel stood up with her in is arms. “Let’s just get back.”
He didn’t give Roxas a moment to argue before he set off.
They returned to the silent halls of the vast castle. Axel was carrying Xion with Roxas glued to his side. Her face was so pale it seemed translucent—not a comforting sight.
“Did it break again? That didn’t take long.”
Only Saïx would make such a callous remark. Rage surged up in Roxas, and he spun around. “Don’t call her an ‘it’!”
He was on the verge of throwing a punch, but Axel stepped in between them, still holding the unconscious Xion. He didn’t look at Saïx, but he did have one thing to say.
“Keep your mouth shut.”
Roxas had never heard him speak so coldly to anyone before.
Saïx made no reply.
He spent one more moment glaring daggers at Saïx before following Axel out of the room.
“Axel!”
“What?”
“…Was it okay to talk to him like that?”
“Talk to him how?” Axel’s voice sounded just a bit lower than usual.
“I mean…you and Saïx are usually on pretty good terms, right?”
“Not that good. But I’m not the one who was about to deck him.”
“Well, yeah, but…”
Something just felt wrong about it—Axel was putting distance between himself and Saïx. Just like Xion did with him.
And not just that…
“Open the door, would you?” said Axel, stopping outside Xion’s room.
“Oh—right.” Roxas fumbled to open it, and there was her room, no different than it was this morning.
Axel set her down softly on the bed.
“Mm…,” she groaned. Maybe she wasn’t quite unconscious after all. Axel watched her carefully.
“Are you worried about her, too, Axel?”
The question slipped out before he could stop it.
Axel eyed him in mild surprise. “Of course I am.”
But his voice was still oddly low. Running into Saïx had brought out a different side of him—and t
hat side was a little scary.
“This just doesn’t seem like you,” said Roxas.
“What do you mean?”
Roxas found he couldn’t quite put the answer into words. What can I say…? “You don’t like things to be complicated.”
That was the best he could do. It wasn’t quite right, either…but he didn’t know how to describe this.
As he was trying to find the words for another attempt, Axel spoke instead. “Look, Roxas… Why do you think the three of us meet up to have ice cream every day in the same spot?”
“Huh…?” Roxas couldn’t tell where this was going.
“It’s not like I have to. If you think about it, it’s just one more chore on the pile, right?”
From that angle, it did seem like a chore. Except it wasn’t a chore—it was fun, having ice cream together after work. That was why they went to meet up. What made it so much fun, though?
“You wanna know?” Roxas quietly waited for the answer.
“It’s because you two are my best friends.”
Axel had said before that he didn’t have a best friend, Roxas remembered. But now it’s us…?
“Got it memorized?” A smile played at the corners of Axel’s mouth. “The three of us, we’re inseparable. You’re my best friends.”
Roxas felt a grin come to his face. “Yeah… I guess we are.”
“Hee-hee.” It was Xion, awake—still lying down but laughing. “Thanks, Axel. You’re so sweet.”
Axel sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
“Feeling any better?” asked Roxas.
Xion nodded, brushing off his concern. “I just got a little dizzy. Sorry for worrying you.”
“Man, don’t scare us like that,” Axel complained.
“I’ll try not to.”
“You stay in bed, okay? Take it easy.”
“I will,” she said meekly and smiled at them. “Thanks, guys.”
Roxas and Axel glanced at each other. She might have to stay off her feet for a while, but she was okay.
The white room bore a slight resemblance to the chambers of Castle Oblivion.
This was her first time taking out the sketchbook since coming here to the mansion. Naminé drew her pictures in no particular hurry.
Kingdom Hearts 358-2 Days Page 20