middleofsomewhere | Jema'grethy: Memory Cave

Roxas' face scrunches up with irritation. "Well then he's definitely not the right person to listen to." Even though Roxas knows that Axel has made more than a few mistakes himself. But telling someone not to listen to their friend is still dumb. It's not like Axel would ever tell them something wrong on purpose.

(Except for the time he did, but that shouldn't be a reoccurring thing now that Xemnas was out of the picture.)

Xion nodded, on firmer ground. "Exactly. Axel is always the one to listen to. He knows more than anyone," she said with a bright smile admiration beaming through.

Roxas gives a wry look. "Well, I don't know about always. He's still figuring out stuff too. But he does know a lot. And he's good at knowing where to look for the stuff he doesn't know."

"Exactly! Much better at it than us." She nodded. "If I have to do this whole memory share thing again, I'm glad it's with you," She said with a smile. "We can ask Taiki after about the whole bond thing. He and Axel should know."

He smiles back a little. "Oh yeah, I met Taiki. He seemed nice—Wait, I didn't ask you what you saw just now. It looked like it hit you pretty hard."

She nodded. "Taiki has someone he is supposed to take orders from also, but he doesn't seem to be hurt by it like we were..." She was still worried about that. "Last time I was here, in thee caves, it was with Taiki. We have some sort of weird bond now too. Axel says it isn't like the bond between you and I... but I still worry sometimes. Especially since he gets sick after missions sometimes..."

Yes, she was failing to answer the question.

"A different kind of bond?" At least the topics has distracted him for the moment. "What does it do?"

She nodded. "I'm not sure everything about it. But Axel and I kind of had a fight a little before you came ba... before you showed up on the platform and somehow he just... knew and came to help."

"A fight? What kind of a fight?" They shouldn't be fighting anymore, right? They didn't have anyone messing with them and forcing them to make ugly decisions.

She looked down at her gloves. She didn't want Roxas to argue with Axel again and stop coming to have ice cream with them. But she also didn't want to lie to Roxas. She regretted that she had said anything at all.

Her shoulders hunched.

This was why she kept things from them. She didn't want to hurt her friends. But Axel and Roxas' words from Diatu kept swimming in her head. Even Saïx's. From that day when she couldn't stop talking. No matter how much she wanted to. They told her that bottling things up hurt them worse. But how could telling Roxas why she and Axel were fighting be better than just... not?

Because if she told him, he and Axel might fight. Might...

"I just... got you back..." she whispered.

She didn't want to lose him again. Not so soon. Not ever.

Roxas face falls, as he takes his own understanding from her response and he reflexively reaches for her shoulder. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you think of something painful. We can talk about it another time. After things settle more." He knows Xion is already upset about him not being the Roxas she was waiting for. He doesn't want to make things worse by digging up memories that clearly bother her.

"We should probably keep going. There might be others in here too.."

She looked up and almost replied. But while she was trying to think of what to say, he continued. She hesitated a moment longer, then nodded. "I'm... not sure we'll be able to leave yet, though..."

Roxas blinks at her. "What do you mean? Is something keeping us here? I know we're supposed to be helping the train. But I thought that was part of navigating the caves."

"The last time I was in caves like this... we couldn't escape for real until we had shared memories three times," she said softly. She looked down at her gloves again. "I... don't want my memories to hurt you," she added in a whisper. "But I don't know what you'll see."

He brings his other hand up to her shoulder as well. "Xion, your memories can't hurt me. Because they're yours. Even if they make me sad or angry, they're still an important part of you so they're important to me too." He pulls back again with half-smile. "It's still kind of weird when you're the one worrying about me. I'm supposed to be the more experienced one."

She gave him a small smile. He understood. Her memories were important to her, because that was all that was left of her. All that she actually was.

But then when he said the rest, she blinked. "I always.... was afraid you and Axel wouldn't be okay, that you'd be hurt because of me," she said softly. "I just... was never able to protect or help you, like you always protected and helped me...."

"You did help me though, Xion. Without you and Axel, I wouldn't be who I am. You're the reason I have a heart." Not to mention that fighting for her helped him unlock his true strength. As well as his true Keyblades.

"Huh...?" she asked, staring at him confused. "How... are we the reason...?"

"Axel explained it to us, well the other you, when we were brought back. He said Nobody hearts can grow based on their connections with people around them. Xemnas lied about that. He lied to everyone." He looks pretty pissed about that, despite Xemnas being gone now.

"But... we weren't people...?" She still wasn't one hundred percent sold that she was a person now, but she was probably more of one now?

"He lied about that too. We were. We are. He wanted us to believe all of that so we'd just do what he said to become human. And then that other guy... DiZ or Ansem, he was so desperate to get Sora back, that he didn't care if it was true or not." Is Roxas still a bit salty toward Ansem? Maybe. "Everything they told us was a lie. So we'd keep doing what they wanted. And they used Naminé too."

"DiZ or... Ansem...?" she stared at him, confused. That other guy...?

"He's the guy who was messing with Naminé. Telling her what to do. Telling Riku too." He's trying to be less bitter about that last part. But it's... hard, given Riku's influence on their trio fight.

"I... don't understand..."

She sat down on the ground, so she could focus on what he was saying. She was... so confused.

He sits down next to her, not quite brushing against her shoulder. "I know it's a lot. It was a lot when Axel explained it too. And I learned some of it in person. Mostly the stuff with Ansem." Roxas turns to her again, trying to work more reassurance into his expression. "But the good thing is we don't have to worry about it any of it any more. We can be our own people now. And you can here too."

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