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Axel sighed. He hated these outings. But Xemnas insisted the only way to being whole was to steal innocent hearts. It was some stupid ritual to Kingdom Hearts. Axel shook his head. He thought the whole Kingdom Hearts deal was a load of crap, but he couldn't get a word in with Xemnas. Axel walked through the town, twirling his chakrams around. Suddenly, he heard a crash of trashcans and whirled around, ready to attack. A little boy, dirty, ragged, and about nine years old, was staring up at him, scared. Axel stared back, then sighed, letting his arms drop to his sides.

"Forget it," he said, letting his chakrams disappear. "I can't go against a kid like you." The boy sneered up at him.

"Who're you callin' a kid? I'll be ten in a few months," he said. Axel sighed again and knelt down until he was eye-level with the kid.

"What's your name?" he asked curiously.

"Sy," the boy said. Axel smiled.

"Well, trust me, Sy, you wouldn't want me to fight against you. Not if you want to keep your heart," he said. He looked Sy over. The dirty face, aggressive attitude, and sad eyes told him everything. "When'd they leave you?"

"Huh?" Sy asked.

"When'd they leave? Mine left when I was about eight," Axel said.

"D'ya mean my mom and dad?" Sy asked. Axel nodded. "They didn't leave me. They died in a car crash." Axel nodded again.

"Ah...no relatives nearby?" he asked. Sy nodded.

"Hey, how do you know all this?" he asked. Axel shrugged.

"Kid named Myde went through the same thing," he said. "He turned out okay. I think you will, too. Nice meeting you, Sy."

"Yeah. You, too, um..." Sy trailed off, not knowing Axel's name. The redheaded Nobody smiled.

"Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" he asked, then took a portal back to Castle Oblivion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at Castle Oblivion, Axel was absently twirling his chakrams. Ever since he had met that kid, he had been bothered about his childhood. His parents had abandoned him when he was really young, leaving him to fend for himself. But what happened after that? Larxene walked in.

"What's your problem?" she asked. Axel looked up.

"What do you want?" he snapped. Larxene laughed.

"Ah, ah! Is someone a little cranky today? Oh! No, he can't be, because he doesn't have a HEART!!!" she said, then she started laughing so hard she was on the verge of hyperventilating. "Ah...you crack me up, Axel, and you don't even do anything." Axel smirked.

"Glad to hear it," he said sarcastically. "But what is it you want?" Larxene wiped away a tear and composed herself.

"Nothin'. Just wanted to bother you," she said. She looked around, then smiled at Axel. "Y'know, I think the Superior has had his way with the Organization too long. What do you think?"

"I think..." said Axel, "...that I don't care." Larxene's smile died.

"Fine," she said, then stomped out. A few minutes later, a blond Nobody, only about fourteen or fifteen, poked his head in. Axel smiled.

"Hey," he said. "How's the freshman doing?" Roxas shrugged.

"Okay, I guess," he said. He grinned at Axel. "Dude, Demyx did the stupidest thing today."

"Oh, do tell. I love hearing the miseries of that 80's reject," Axel said. Roxas cocked his head, but still smiled.

"80's reject? When I came, you and him were friends. What happened?" he asked. Axel laughed.

"Nothing. It's just bad things always seem to happen to him. It's really no wonder he's become a bit of a pessimist," he said. Roxas laughed.

"Sad thing is, you're right. Well, okay, so here's what he did..." Roxas continued to tell the story of Demyx's stupidity in great detail. At the end, Axel was laughing so hard, tears were coursing down his cheeks.

"H-he...seriously said that to Xemnas?" Axel asked, wiping away tears. "That...that's right up there with proposing to Larxene..."

"What?!" Roxas asked. "He did that?!" Axel shook his head.

"No.../I/ did," he said. Roxas burst out laughing.

"Wh-why w-would you do something that /retarded/?" he asked, gasping for breath. Axel grinned.

"Well, before you came, me and Demyx kept ourselves amused by betting each other every five minutes or so. So, this one particular bet, I said that the loser had to propose to Larxene, which, as you can guess, is suicide. But then Demyx got to decide the bet. What was the bet? 'Which power can take out the other, fire or water?' So I lit a fire, and he put it out. That evening, I get dressed up, get down on one knee, and asked Larxene to marry me. And then she slapped me."

"How hard?" Roxas asked.

"Well...let's just say I couldn't taste anything for about...oh, I'd say three months," Axel said. Roxas started howling with laughter.

When he could breathe normally again, he asked, "Hey, Axel, I know this is kinda random, but...do you remember what your life was like when you had a heart?"

"Hm? Oh...um....lemme see...I...I think I can...yeah..." Axel said. That was the thing about Roxas; he always knew what to ask and when.

"What happened?" Roxas asked. Axel closed his eyes.

"Hang on, gimme a sec," he said. Axel searched his mind for the broken fragments of his past. How did his story go again?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lae!" A little boy of about nine ran through the streets, holding a handful of coins. "Lae, help!"

"Hey, you, get back here!" A large, burly man chased after the little boy. "You don't have any right to steal change from customers!"

"Lae!" the little boy cried out desperately.

Suddenly, two trashcan lids came flying from a darkened alleyway, hitting the man. The little boy ran into the alley, then was pulled to the side. He turned and grinned at a boy of about two years older than him. Two identical scars were under his playful blue-green eyes, and his messy red hair was always a giveaway of who he was.

"Lae! Am I glad you came! That guy would've murdered me," the little boy said. Lae laughed.

"You can't do that, Myde," he said. "Too risky. Wait until it's night next time." Myde nodded.

"All right," he said. He and Lae did their secret handshake to seal the deal. Lae gave his crooked grin.

"I'll go with you next time. After all, we gotta stick together. We're the closest thing we've got to family," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Axel opened his eyes as he stopped recounting his story. Roxas was staring at him, open-mouthed.

"You mean...you didn't have parents?" Roxas asked. Axel shrugged.

"I did. They just didn't love me and forced me out to the streets," he said.

"Well? What happened next?" Roxas asked. Axel closed his eyes again, trying to remember. This memory came more clearly, and it was much longer than the first.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Punk! I'll teach you to mess with me!!" Myde, green eyes shining, laughed as the older man chased him. He wasn't a little boy anymore, not by a longshot. No, now he was sixteen, almost a man. Almost.

"Catch me if you can, you bas--" Myde started, but was quickly pulled aside.

"You moron!" Lae hissed. He was much taller now, his flame-red hair was longer, and he was quite handsome, but his blue-green eyes were still as playful as ever. Myde had changed, too. Just a few inches shorter than Lae, he was slight and quick, and always had at least a few strands of light brown hair falling into his eyes.

At the moment, a look of exasperation crossed Lae's face. "Please tell me you got it this time."

"Of course!" Myde said, holding up a loaf of bread. "And that's not all. Take a lookee here!" Myde brought his other hand out from behind his back and held up a carton of milk. Lae grinned crookedly at his best friend.

"That's great! Treia hasn't been looking so good lately, and I think she really needs it," he said, taking the milk. The two friends quickly maneuvered in the shadows of town until they got to an old, abandoned house. Lae opened the door, and was soon mobbed by three kids.

"Lae! Where've you been?" one little boy with black hair asked.

"We were getting worried, you haven't been back since yesterday!" a little girl with ragged blonde curls exclaimed. Lae laughed.

"Sorry, we were having some issues," he said, pointing a glare at Myde, whose bright green eyes widened innocently.

"Excuse me, Lae, are you pinning this on me?" he asked. Lae grinned mischievously as he set the carton of milk down.

"I say you stand condemned," he said. Myde looked shocked.

"Fine...fine, I see how it is," Myde said dramatically. Then he grinned. "Hey, where's everybody else?"

"Oh, they're upstairs," a little boy with dark blue hair said. Myde nodded.

"Oh, okay," he said, then went to the stairs. "YO!! EVERYONE DOWNSTAIRS ON THE DOUBLE!!!" In a moment, a group of about eleven kids ranging in age from seven to fifteen hurried down the stairs. They lined up in front of Lae, who walked down the line like a drill sergeant. After he had passed each kid, they ran over to go get some bread from Myde. Lae stopped at one boy of about eleven and sighed.

"What'd you do today, Pyr?" he asked. Pyr's baby blue eyes widened.

"What do you mean by that, Lae?" he asked. Lae rolled his eyes.

"What I mean is that bruise on your cheek," he said. Pyr shook his head.

"It's not a bruise! It's dirt!" he insisted. Lae gave him an exasperated look. Then he licked his thumb and tried to rub the bruise away. Pyr winced and stepped back. Lae laughed in triumph.

"Dirt doesn't make people wince," he said. "What'd you do?"

"Got in a fight with this one really rich creep. He told me that everyone who lives here has no hope in their future," Pyr said. Lae shook his head.

"That's wrong, Pyr. Very wrong," Lae said. "Don't let those types of people get under your skin."

"And you shouldn't judge anyone by appearance!" Myde called from the sidelines.

Lae rolled his eyes. "Wrong lesson, Myde!" He turned back to the eleven-year-old. "Still, don't listen to jerks like that guy. Got it memorized?" he asked, rumpling Pyr's lapis-colored hair. Pyr laughed and nodded.

"Will do, sir!" he said. Lae nodded, then continued down the line. He finally stopped at one sickly looking little girl of about nine, her silvery-blonde hair falling limply at the sides of her face. Her big violet eyes looked up at Lae, who smiled. He picked her up and spun her around, and she giggled.

"Hey, Treia, we got something for you," Lae said. He sat her down at the table and grabbed a glass from one of the cupboards. After cleaning it a little with his shirt, he poured some of the milk into it and placed it in front of Treia. "Drink it down." Treia gulped it down quickly, then set the glass back on the table.

"Thank you, Lae," she said softly. Lae grinned.

"Hey, I wasn't the one who stole it. I believe that thanks should go to our mud-haired friend, Myde!" Lae announced. Myde bowed, then stood up straight.

"Hey! Did you call my glorious chestnut locks mud colored?" Myde asked. Lae snorted.

"Dude, if you call your hair your 'glorious chestnut locks' you're either conceited...or gay ," he said, then took the carton of milk and passed it around. "All right, everyone, one gulp. If we have any more, we'll pass it around again." The carton went around without whining or complaining. No one asked why Treia got a whole cup, because everyone knew from eavesdropping that she was sick.

After everyone, including Lae and Myde, had had a gulp, Lae said, "All right, there's still some left. Do we want to pass it around again?"

"I want to give my gulp to Treia," one fifteen-year-old boy with silver-blond hair and golden eyes, Ashe, said.

"I do, too!" a twelve-year-old girl with deep violet hair, Ryluu, said.

"Me, too," a small, seven-year-old blond boy, Cyrian, said.

Soon, the entire room offered their gulp of milk to Treia. Lae poured the remaining milk into the glass, and Treia gulped this glass down, too.

"All right, time for bed!" Lae called. The entire household groaned. Lae smiled. "Come on. Who actually went to sleep last night?" he asked. No one raised their hand. Lae laughed. "See? We'll take a quick roll and get on to bed. Ashe?"

"Here," Ashe said.

"Dytrii?"

"Here," a fourteen-year-old girl said, shyly tucking her brown hair behind her ear. Everyone rolled their eyes. Via eavesdropping, they had all learned that she had a huge crush on Lae.

"Oryen?"

"Here," Dytrii's twin brother replied.

"Jyren?"

"Here," a thirteen-year-old boy said, his messy forest-green hair his most prominent feature.

"Rii?"

"Here," a depressed-looking girl with dark silver hair said. She was definitely the Emo of the group.

"Ryluu?"

"Here!" Ryluu said enthusiastically. She was by far the all-out optimist of the household.

"Pyr?"

"Right here, boss!" Pyr cried. Lae and Myde exchanged glances. The kid acted like a Turk.

"Kyl?"

"Yo!" an orange haired boy said, giving the peace sign.

"Stop acting stupid, Kyl.
Milya?"

"Here," a ten-year-old girl with cerulean eyes chimed.

"Vycet?"

"Here!" a ten-year-old boy with sea-green hair called. He was Jyren's younger brother.

"Treia?"

"Here," Treia said softly.

"Caireyen?"

"Here!" the blue-haired kid, who was roughly the same age as Treia, said.

"Nisa?"

"Here!" the blonde, eight-year old girl who had mobbed Lae said.

"Zyre?"

"Here," the black-haired boy, also eight years old, from earlier said.

"Cyrian?"

"Here," Cyrian said quietly.

"All right, everyone! Upstairs, pronto!" Myde called, marching them upstairs.

"Myde...will you sing for us?" Nisa asked. Myde gave her a gentle smile.

"'Course I will," he said, herding the others upstairs.

As Ashe began to follow, Lae caught his arm. "Huh? Lae...what's up?"

Lae sighed. "Ashe...your birthday's in a few weeks, right?" he asked. Ashe nodded.

"Yeah, the eighth," he said. "I'm gonna be sixteen." Lae sighed.

"That's the thing," he said. "That's how old Myde is right now. We can't take care of you anymore." Ashe's eyes widened.

"You're not forcing me out, are you, Lae? I've spent most of my life here. I...I can't...Lae, this is my home," he said. Lae smiled.

"I know it is, Ashe. I know it is," he said. "You were the first one me and Myde took in. Here, let's wait for Myde to come back before..."

"Ya don't have to wait, Lae," Myde said. A teasing smile grew on his face. "Still, I'm flattered that you would actually think of waiting." Lae punched his arm. "Hey! I know I'm late. Pyr was being a pain."

"Shut up. This is serious, remember?" Lae snapped, then his expression softened. "Still...Pyr is always a pain. You know that by now. Now be serious." Myde laughed.

"Lae, you were the one who told me that seriousness is over-rated," he said.

"Well, this time it's important," Lae said. Myde grinned.

"I know, I know. We've talked about this for weeks," he said. Lae shook his head, then turned back to Ashe, who was staring at them.

"What were you talking about?" he asked. Lae and Myde sighed at the same time. Myde was the one to speak.

"Well, Ashe, you're getting on in years, and...well..." He trailed off, and Lae picked up.

"We want you to take over for us."

Ashe stared. "What?"

"We can't stay," Lae explained. "They're looking for us."

"What?!" Ashe repeated. Myde shook his head.

"I told you you sent the wrong guy for that one," he told Lae. "I got distracted by the music store."

"But yeah, we ran into some trouble," Lae said, turning back to Ashe.

"You guys didn't rob a bank, did you?" Ashe asked warily. Lae and Myde laughed.

"Us?" Myde asked. "As in, me and Lae?"

"Myde would trip the security, and then we'd be caught because of my hair," Lae added.

"But it's not that," Myde said when he stopped laughing. "Apparently, what we're doing is 'illegal'."

"What's so wrong about taking care of us?" Ashe asked.

"Well...for one, we're trespassing on private property. And the government isn't happy that we didn't have any adults in the house," Lae said.

"But you're eighteen!" Ashe cried, indignant. Lae smiled.

"I wasn't a few months ago," he said. "And we were looking out for all of you way before then."

"In short, they want us to go to jail, and all of you to wind up in an orphanage," Myde said.

"Wouldn't you go to an orphanage, too, Myde?" Ashe asked. "I mean, you're still only sixteen."

"But I did assist in 'harboring children in a hostile environment'," Myde said with a shrug. Ashe sighed.

"But...everyone's gonna be heartbroken," he said. "I mean...Lae, everyone knows about Dytrii's crush on you...and Caireyen's convinced that you're his big brother. And Myde, Nisa can't get to sleep at night when you don't sing to her. And Jyren, he's only comfortable when you're there, ever since you got that dog away from him when he was seven. Pyr totally idolizes the both of you. That's why he acts like he does; he wants to grow up to be like you guys. And the only thing keeping Rii from suicide is your grin, Myde, and your laugh, Lae. Cyrian says he's always acting brave, because that's what you two do. Zyre mobs you every time you walk through that door. And why is Ryluu always happy? Because she knows that Milya will be fine as long as you two are there. Remember how she always used to cry when she first came? Now she's just as happy as her sister. Oryen practices martial arts all the time so he can help you two defend our family. Kyl's been acting like a punk because he always wanted more attention from you two. And with me...you guys took me in. And...and...what about Treia? What about my little sister? She's sick...and it'll kill her to see you leave forever..."

Lae and Myde were silent for a moment, looking to the ground. Finally, Lae looked up.

"That's...the second thing we wanted to talk to you about, Ashe..." he said. Ashe paled.

"She isn't going to die, is she? Please, Lae, Myde, tell me she isn't going to die! She's the only family I've got left!" he cried, grasping the front of Lae's shirt in a panic. Lae put his hands on the younger boy's shoulders, then gently, but firmly, pushed him back.

"At this rate, we don't know," he said. Myde met Ashe's eyes.

"How much do you care about her?" he asked.

"I love her more than the entire world," Ashe said truthfully. Lae and Myde met each other's eyes, then sighed.

"Ashe...let's be honest. When it comes to health care, we suck. And that's dangerous. But we just don't have enough of anything," Lae said. Myde took a deep breath.

"So...we've decided...to have her live somewhere else," he said. Ashe gasped.

"But...but..." he sputtered, and Lae put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know it's hard...but, Ashe, she's gonna die if she stays here," he said.

"I had to do that with my brother," Myde said softly. "He had a fever. I was only about eight when I had to get him somewhere healthy. I've actually spotted him a few times. He's looking fine, but he doesn't remember me at all." A renewed fear entered Ashe's eyes.

"You mean...Treia won't remember me?" he asked. Myde shook his head.

"No...no. That's not it. My brother was three when I had to have him taken in. Now he's about eleven . But Treia, she's nine. She's spent the first nine years of her life with you, and that's a long time. She'll remember you. Trust me." Ashe didn't move for a moment, then nodded.

"You two are right. If she stays here...she'll die for certain. But...if we get her into a good home, she'll be fine. And...and I'll take over for you when you leave. When will that be?" he asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Lae said. "We'll leave you a map to the new location, all the instructions you need..."

"And a few songs," Myde said with a wink.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Don't tell me you're telling Roxas that story," Demyx said, entering the room. Roxas looked up.

"Hey, Demyx. Has he told you this story, too?" he asked. Demyx grinned.

"Roxas, don't be stupid. I lived that story," he said. Roxas tilted his head.

"What?"

Axel laughed. "Who did you think Myde was?" he asked.

"And why do you think we're right next to each other in the order of the Organization?" Demyx asked.

"Well, I'm next to Larxene, and I'd never met her before I came into the Organization," Roxas said.

"But...you're not best friends with her," Axel pointed out.

"Well, why are you two best friends with me?" Roxas asked. Demyx flopped next to him onto the couch and grinned again.

"You're fun," he said.

"You're really happy for a Nobody," Axel added.

"You're close to our age. Well, maybe not Axel's..."

"I was eighteen when I lost my heart! He's only three or four years younger."

"And..." Demyx continued.

"...we both thought..." Axel started.

"...that you needed a friend or two," the two said together. Roxas shrugged.

"That's what everyone says when you first come somewhere," he said. "What made you stay so long? After all, I'm the rookie. You two have been friends for, like, ever."

"You grew on us," Demyx said with a shrug. Axel gave Roxas a light noogie.

"You're like a little brother," he said. Roxas laughed.

"So, what happened? I mean...after you guys left the house?" he asked. Axel shot a look over at Demyx.

"You always tell this part better than I do," he said. "Why don't you take over?"

"You sure? I think you might've picked the wrong guy," Demyx said with a grin.

"Shut up. Got it memorized?" Axel shot back. Roxas sighed.

"Aw...I don't have a catchphrase," he said. Axel laughed.

"Sure you do. Why and what. That's what we constantly hear from you."

"What?!" Roxas asked, surprised. Now Demyx laughed.

"He's right. You did it again," he said. "Now, I think it's about time I take over our story."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Myde whistled as he and Lae walked through the streets. Unfortunately, his mood didn't seem to be rubbing off on the redhead.

"What's up?" he asked. Lae sighed.

"Do you think...we were right? Leaving all that responsibility on Ashe? I mean, I know we were young when we started taking kids in, but we worked together. Ashe...he doesn't have any help..." He sighed once more. "And he had to say goodbye to Treia, his last family member. And who knows? That might've been the last time he'll see her again. What if the family moves? Or...what if...what if she...she..." Lae couldn't bring himself to finish his thought.

An awkward silence passed between the two, until Myde said softly, "You're thinking of Kaori, aren't you?" Lae nodded.

"Yeah...and...how I don't want that to happen to Ashe. At least you saw Aeire again. He didn't recognize you, but you knew he was okay..." he said. Myde sighed.

"I'm sorry, Lae, but we couldn't help her. Kaori was really brave through all of it, even though she was little. We got her to a home...but we both knew it was too late," he said. Lae nodded.

"I know," he said, then smiled at his friend. "'Least we have each other." Myde returned Lae's smile with a wide grin.

"Yeah. And you know what I've thought?" he asked.

"What?" Lae asked. Myde slung an arm around his older friend's neck.

"I think...that we've been through enough to be brothers. What do you think?"

Lae thought, then grinned. "I think you're right. And you know what else I think?"

"What?" Myde asked.

"I think that we are brothers. Not biologically speaking, but...you know what I mean," said the redhead. He stopped suddenly, and stood up straight, suddenly alert. "Did you feel something?"

Myde paused, his eyes closed, then nodded. "Yeah..." he said, opening his eyes. They widened as he looked around. "Woah! Is it me, or did it get darker?"

"It did..." Lae said. He and Myde stood still, tension rising every moment. Then the redhead whispered, "Myde...find a weapon.../now/." At "now", Myde bolted to the side of the road, where a bum was sleeping, his guitar unattended.

"Mind if I use this? Thanks!" Myde said, grabbing the guitar and running for it. No sooner had he gotten it, a strange creature stood in front of him. Myde thought for a moment. Music to subdue the beast? He shrugged, then began to play. The creature stared at him, and Myde knew it was going to pounce on him at any moment. He started slowly walking backward. The creature followed him, its golden eyes fixed on Myde's face. Myde stopped as his back hit a wall. He was cornered. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a water spigot. Ever so carefully, he raised his foot, then kicked the spigot with as much force as he could. The top flew off, and water sprayed full blast at the little creature. The force of the water sent it straight to the other wall, where it disappeared in little wisps of darkness. He looked over and saw Lae quickly squirting lighting fluid onto a few trashcan lids. Myde smiled as Lae lit the lids and did his age-old trick of sending them flying at the strange creatures. They, too, faded to wisps of darkness.

"I like the flaming part," Myde called, walking over to his friend. Lae grinned.

"Cool, isn't it? Just thought of that right now," he said. "The only problem is..." He sent a look at the creatures, now surrounding them. "I'm out of lighter fluid, matches, and trash-can lids..."

Myde glared at the creatures, then began hitting them with the guitar. One of them grabbed the instrument, and it turned to black wisps. Myde backed up until he was back-to-back with Lae. The creatures were circling them, looking ready to pounce on the two boys at any second. They were multiplying every moment. As Myde searched the area for an escape, he heard Lae mutter, "Myde...run."

"What?!" Myde whispered.

"Run for it. I'll hold 'em off. You get to somewhere safe," Lae said. Myde turned his head and met Lae's gaze, determination in his green eyes.

"We're brothers," he said. "We just agreed on that a minute ago. If you die, I die, too."

"Myde..." Lae started, but Myde stopped him.

"No. If you don't get out of this, I'm not either. We've grown up together. The least we could do is die together, too. What future have I got? None. None at all. The only reason I'm not dead is because you've always been the voice of reason. Come on, Lae. You gotta understand..." he said. Lae looked at his friend, then grinned.

"What I understand is...how gay that speech sounded." Myde socked his arm. "Hey! I'm not done yet. But, you're right. We are brothers. And brothers need to stick together. So let's do this!"

The two quickly did their secret handshake, then began to fight as hard as they could. The creatures were barely scathed by the two boy's attacks. Myde's head quickly turned as he heard Lae let out a cry. He saw a creature leap up and dive its hand into the redhead's chest. It pulled out a strange light, which was as red as flames. Myde watched in horror as the light disappeared from Lae's eyes, and the redhead fell to the ground.

"YOU BASTARDS!!" Myde screamed, then ran to where his friend had fallen. There was no sign of the redhead's body. Myde felt tears sting his eyes, then begin slipping down his face. He looked up just in time to see a creature jump onto his chest, knocking him over. Its golden eyes met his for just a moment, then it dove its hand into Myde's chest. He felt it grip something deep inside, then saw it pull the thing out. He heard a beautiful song as he saw an aqua blue light in the creature's hand. His world faded.

My heart has the most gorgeous song...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That was seriously your last thought?" Axel asked, laughing. Demyx nodded.

"Yeah. Didn't I tell you?" he asked. Axel shook his head.

"No, you never told me all of your side of the story. I just knew you told it way more romantically than I did," he said.

"How do you tell it?" Roxas asked. Axel thought for a moment.

"We left the house, ran into some Heartless, and lost our hearts," he said simply.

"That's lame," Demyx said. Axel snorted.

"At least I didn't make a gay 'You're my everything' speech," he said.

"All right, two things wrong with that: One, if it weren't for that speech, you'd be here all alone. Two, IT'S NOT GAY!! Oh, and three, I never said 'You're my everything'. In fact, I made sure that I didn't say that, because I didn't want you thinking I was gay, but apparently it didn't work," Demyx said.

"And apparently, you don't know how to count," Axel teased. "You said two things were wrong with that, and you mentioned three things."

"Shut up!"

"Um...is that the end?" Roxas asked.

"Well, you want to hear how we handled being Members VIII and IX?" Axel asked. Roxas nodded. Axel grinned. "All right. I'll take over, cuz I was here longer."

"Yeah, like, two seconds longer," Demyx shot.

"Well, you know what? I got seniority. So there," said Axel smugly. "Now...here's where the fun starts."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello, Axel."

He opened his eyes. Axel? He didn't remember an Axel. His eyes focused, and he saw a man with silver hair standing above him. They were in a bright white room, and it was nearly blinding. He sat up and shook his head.

"A-Axel?" he finally asked, his voice breaking. How long had it been since he had used it? The man laughed.

"Like your name? I should hope you do," he said. "Welcome to Organization XIII." Axel laughed.

"Oh...I get it. This is a dream. I hit my head really, really hard, and now I'm having a freaky dream," he said. The silver-haired man didn't say a word, but Axel caught on quick. "This...isn't a dream?"

"No."

"What about a hallucination?"

"No."

"Um...hangover! Is it a hangover? Am I legal to drink? I can't remember."

"No, and no."

Axel sighed, then laid down and propped himself up on his elbows. "So, this isn't a dream, a hallucination, or a hangover. Is it Heaven?"

"No," the silver-haired man replied. Axel's eyebrows rose.

"Never thought I was that bad in life," he said. The silver-haired man laughed.

"No, you're not there either," he said. "You're currently in Castle Oblivion. My name is Xemnas, Member I in the Organization. And, since you are Member VIII, I'm your Superior." Xemnas looked up. "Member IX is here, too? My my, if more people come, we'll have to turn them into Dusks."

Axel jumped up. "Mind if I join you, Xemnas?" he asked. Xemnas shot a glare at him.

"It would do you well to call me 'Superior', Axel," Xemnas said. Axel smiled and nodded.

"Right, of course. One more thing, though. Your name...is it spelled X-E-M, N-A-S?" he asked. Xemnas nodded, looking thoroughly unamused. "All right, I got it memorized." He thought for a moment, then followed Xemnas out of the room, muttering, "At least my name isn't Mansex rearranged..."


Member IX's door turned out to be right next to Axel's. The redhead walked into the room, looking around. Exactly the same room as his, just in a slightly different area. He'd have to fix that. He looked at the kid on the bed. He was only around sixteen, with light brown hair that, Axel realized with a laugh, was in a mullet. Xemnas shot a glare at him, then turned back to Member IX. Member IX's bright green eyes opened, and Axel's eyes widened. Member IX bolted up and stared at Axel. Axel pointed at him.

"I know you!" he cried.

"I know you, too!" Member IX replied.

"But I...have no clue who you are!"

"Me, neither!"

"I'm not understanding this!"

"Neither am I!"

"But we're friends!"

"Yes, we are!"

"If you two don't mind," Xemnas cut in, sounding annoyed. "Welcome to Organization XIII, Demyx."

"Demyx! That's your name!" Axel cried. Demyx grinned.

"Yeah! And I still have no clue what yours is!" he cried back. Xemnas sent cool glances to the both of them.

"Introduce yourselves in a bit. I--"

"Well...we can't really introduce ourselves if we know each other," Axel said with a shrug. Xemnas sent a glare at the redhead.

"Then reaquaint yourselves later," he said sharply, then turned back to Demyx. "I'm Xemnas, but you'll call me 'Superior'."

"But he likes to be called Xemmy by his friends. And if he really likes you, he'll even let you call him Mansex," Axel whispered, dropping next to the younger boy on the bed. Demyx grinned, trying hard not to laugh.

"How long have you been here?" Demyx asked under his breath.

"Five minutes."

Demyx bit his lip hard, trying even harder not to laugh. Xemnas didn't even notice, which made it all the harder for Demyx.

"Now, since this is probably the only time you two will be in the same room, let me explain what's happened," he started. Axel rolled his blue-green eyes.

"Just what we need, an educational video. Didn't we outgrow those?" he whispered. Demyx, growing red in the face from not laughing, socked his arm.

"Shut up!" he hissed, still struggling not to laugh.

"You two are the newest members to Organization XIII, which is an Organization of Nobodies," Xemnas explained. Axel raised his hand, looking like a good little school boy. Demyx fell backwards onto the bed, clutching his stomach, still trying with all his might not to laugh.

"If I may ask, Superior, what are Nobodies?" he asked, his voice faking innocence. Demyx looked like he was going to explode.

"Nobodies are beings like us who lack one thing: a heart. That is why we have formed the Organization. We want to open Kingdom Hearts and get back our hearts to be whole again. Unfortunately, the side effect of being a Nobody is not properly being able to feel emotions," Xemnas droned. Axel looked at Demyx, who had tears rolling down his cheeks from the stress of not laughing.

"Looks like he's got emotion," Axel muttered. Xemnas turned to go out of the room.

"All of Organization XIII will be in our meeting room, ready to let you in as members," he said over his shoulder, then walked out of the room. Demyx started howling with laughter. For a good five minutes, he couldn't speak, then he looked up at Axel.

"You...suck...so...much..." he gasped between laughs. Axel smiled.

"Hey, couldn't let that speech get boring, now, could I?" he asked. Demyx laughed for another five minutes or so, then sat up, wiping away tears.

"Ah...so, what's your name?" he asked.

"Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" Axel asked with a grin. Demyx grinned and nodded.

"Oh! That's right! We were best friends when we had hearts, right?" he asked. Axel nodded.

"I think so. Hard to say, though. Do you remember what we were like?" he asked. Demyx grinned.

"I remember I was sexy," he said smugly. Axel smirked.

"Ah yes, back in the days before your mullet," he said. Demyx looked confused.

"Mullet? Wha--?" He felt his hair. "Crap! I never wanted a mullet! Still, it's better than hair that could impale small mammals."

"Huh?" Axel's hand went to his own hair. It was much longer than he had remembered it, and spiked, too. Axel's eyebrows rose. "You got a mirror in here?"

"Uh..." Demyx jumped off the bed and opened his closet, where black cloak upon black cloak hung. "Guess this is our uniform. Ah! Mirror..." He looked into the mirror, then sent a smug smirk over at Axel. "Even with the mullet, I'm sexy." Axel rolled his eyes.

"Vanity is one of the seven deadly sins," he stated simply. Demyx scowled, and Axel took a look in the mirror. He couldn't clearly remember what he had looked like before, but his eyebrows rose once more, and he ran a hand through his flame-colored hair.

"Hm...it's a lot softer than it looks," he mused, then shook his head. "Whatever."

"Hang on, Mans...I mean...Xemse...I mean..." Demyx started, but he and Axel started cracking up.

"Maybe you should actually call him Superior," Axel said, wiping away tears of mirth. "Apparently you have issues with Xemnas." Demyx nodded.

"Yeah, good idea. It should make him feel special, too. He's our boss after all," Demyx said with a shrug. Axel gave him a glance that read "Man-you're-so-stupid."

"I remember one thing from my past life, and that's this: No one's my boss. If I like this Organization thing, I might cooperate, but if I don't..." Axel's blue-green eyes flashed, and he grinned wickedly. "Well...I can be a convincing liar."

"What do you mean by that?" Demyx asked. Axel's grin widened.

"Well...if they believe I'm for them, let them. They'll just be wrong," he said. Demyx's eyes widened.

"You mean...you'll turn on the Organization?" he asked. "Axel, that seems kinda stupid. I mean, the Superior looks really powerful, and if we're Members VIII and IX, then there are probably others." Axel's smile became teasing.

"Relax, Demyx. I'll only turn on them if something big happens. But if they want me to, like, kill someone, I'll lie about it. Otherwise, this seems like a pretty cool place. I could get used to living here. What about you?" he asked. Demyx thought, then nodded.

"Yeah. I could," he said. "Now let's go see what the Superior wants."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hang on a sec, hang on," Roxas said. He ran and grabbed a piece of paper, then wrote down "Xemnas". Carefully rewriting it several times, he finally got what he wanted. "It does work out to be Mansex!"

Demyx and Axel started laughing. Roxas grinned.

"Why didn't you two tell me that earlier?" he asked.

"We didn't want you perverted too young," Axel said.

"Our lives had already slipped so far, it couldn't hurt us," Demyx explained. Roxas's mouth gaped in faux horror.

"Did I really seem that innocent?" he asked. Axel let out another laugh.

"Dude, you're the picture of innocence. What with your big blue eyes, blond hair, and shy smile. Seriously, you're so cute it's almost sickening," he said. Demyx nodded.

"Yeah, and whenever you're in trouble, you got this trick of making your eyes really wide." He tried to demonstrate by making his eyes as wide as possible. Axel and Roxas started laughing. "Well, when you do it, you look like a little kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Haven't you noticed you get away with everything?"

"Oh, come on. Not everything," Roxas said, rolling his eyes. Axel snorted.

"Roxas, you could kill Larxene and no one would get mad at you." Axel thought for a moment. "On second thought, that was a bad example. Anyone could get away with killing Larxene."

"What did the Superior want?" Roxas asked. "I wanna know." Demyx shrugged.

"Nothing really major. Showed us our weapons, gave us our nicknames..."

"I had to be stuck with stupid 'Flurry of Dancing Flames'," Axel complained. "I mean, that's not even a real nickname, is it?"

"Beats 'Key of Destiny'," Roxas said. Axel shrugged.

"No, not really. But Xemnas told us an interesting fact about ourselves. Apparently, your weapon and element is based upon what you were using before you got your heart stolen. Flaming trashcan lids turned into flaming chakrams, " he explained.

"Guitar and water spigot is now sitar and...the lamest power in the world." Demyx sighed, then shot a little stream of water at Axel.

"Cut that out!"

"Sorry...I needed something to cheer me up," Demyx said, grinning. Roxas, meanwhile, was thinking.

"So...I must've been using something like the Keyblade, and...what else?" he asked. "How did you two remember your past?"

"That's easy," Demyx said. "Once your Heartless is destroyed, you remember your past. We hold on to our personalities, but our Heartless have our memories."

"Your Heartless probably just hasn't been defeated yet," Axel said. "Don't worry." But Roxas's look didn't lighten.

"Still...why did the Keyblade...choose me?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else. "I'm gonna head up to my room for a bit, okay?"

Axel and Demyx nodded. "Okay."