Kingdom Hearts; The Heartless Keeper

Chapter XLIII; Goodbyes

Yuki sat up on the clock tower overlooking Twilight Town. She wasn't really watching the town like she normally was. Instead, she was trapping herself in her thoughts, not sure if she wanted to forget or remember.

After Roxas had left Yuki had a sense of crashing realization. Xion was dead. Gone for good. She would never get to see her ever again. And it hurt Yuki in a way she didn't think it was possible for her to be hurt. Her chest felt tight and the thought of breathing wasn't existent. It was almost as if Yuki thought if she held her breath she would be able to be with Xion again. Her eyes filled with tears that never seemed to dry out.

But losing Xion wasn't what hurt the most. What hurt the most was everyone else seemed to be forgetting her. Roxas was afraid he would forget her. And when Yuki returned to Castle Oblivion to tell X and Y what had happened, they could hardly remember there even being a sixth member of their group. It was like Xion had never existed outside of Yuki's memories. And it scared Yuki. Dying didn't seem so scary, but being forgotten, that was terrifying.

Yuki looked down. Beneath her, she saw two figures that must have been X and Y approaching the clock tower. She sighed, looking up.

"I'm sorry Xion. I promise I won't forget you." Yuki whispered to the air. There were so many things Yuki wanted to say to Xion. Words that she never got the chance to say. Xion was like a sister to Yuki, closer than a friend. And now she was gone. And it broke Yuki.

X and Y joined Yuki silently. They had realized trying to talk to Yuki wasn't going to yield much results. So they too wrapped themselves in their own thoughts.

The trio sat together for some time. None were sure how long exactly. They were too wrapped up in their thoughts. But eventually, X stood up and went toward the stairs.

"Night's falling." He said simply. Y nodded and stood up, walking to her twin. Yuki stood, not really thinking. Just moving on instinct. She followed the twins downstairs to the station plaza. Yuki didn't know where they planned on going, and really couldn't bring herself to care. She felt numb.

Out in the plaza, the twins froze. Yuki stopped behind them and peaked around to see who was blocking their way. X drew one of his daggers and pointed it towards the familiar red-haired figure in a black coat.

"Hello, Axel." X said. Yuki was briefly reminded of X's amazing ability to make such simple statements sound threatening before falling back into her daze.

"Hey." Axel greeted. He was leaning back against the wall overlooking the rest of the town with his arms crossed. He wasn't smiling like he usually was when Yuki saw him. It almost made him seem like an entirely different person. He sighed looking down. "You can all calm down, I won't force you back. It's your organization's problem. Not mine."

"What brought you here?" Y asked, stepping closer to the redhead. X followed her, lowering his dagger but keeping it at the ready.

"Roxas is gone." Axel replied simply.

"We knew he ran away too. Yuki saw him yesterday." X said, glancing back at Yuki. She was looking down at the ground, nervously moving her fingers. She was hoping that was all Axel meant. But part of her knew it was more.

"Did he mention where he was going?" Axel asked, looking around the twins to see Yuki. Yuki looked up at him slowly, trying to avoid making contact.

"To destroy Kingdom Hearts," Yuki replied softly. X's head snapped in Yuki's direction as he took a step to the side. Y gasped, looking in between Axel and Yuki stepping to the opposite side of her brother. Axel looked down sadly as if he had expected that answer. "They caught him, didn't they?" Yuki asked. By they, she, of course, meant Riku and DiZ.