Welcome to Gaia! ::

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His handsome figure very visibly stood out from the rest of the thirteen members. Though he was shorter then the rest due to his age, he had an air of confidence around him that out did every single one of the others; and it allured me. His brilliant blue irises held more promise in their depths than the ocean and his frail-looking, but sturdy, golden-blond hair shimmered brilliantly even in the darkest rooms.

As soon as I saw him... I knew I wanted to be his. But he would never like me for who I am...

...What I am.

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Chapter 1:

"And what is your power?" Xemnas asked. His emotionless orange eyes gazed with utter disinterest at the figure before them.

"I-I’m not sure, y-yet, actually," Stuttered the figure, swirling a lock of his long golden hair around his index finger.

He strangely appeared to be quite nervous; strangely, since he claimed he was a Nobody.

"And what is your real name?"

Sky blue depths quickly stole a look at the man before him before wandering off again to avoid the stolid amber stare.

The boy hesitated. He couldn’t possibly tell him his real name. It would just be really... weird, especially considering who his other was. "I-I don’t know."

"You don’t know? Ah... a special case then. Just like our number thirteen, right Saix?" Those orange eyes inverted their direction to the X-scarred man across the room.

"Yes Superior," Saix simply replied.

"Hm, then tell me your name," Xemnas purred, seemingly growing amused with the situation.

The boy swallowed, though there was nothing in his mouth but air. "Well... I’d rather not be called by that name... so..."

"Then what name do you want to be called by?"

"Namine."

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"Hey, hey Roxas, did you hear? Apparently there’s a new guy joining the Organization!" Axel chatted energetically; perhaps too energetically – it seemed the red headed man was only giving the blond a headache. "I wonder what they’re like," he continued anyway.

"Does it look like I care Axel?" Roxas sighed in a resigned manner.

"YES! Because if it’s a girl, we might have some REAL FEMININE PRESENCE AROUND HERE!" The volume of fiery man’s voice rose intentionally with each word so he could be heard by a certain barbaric blond antenna-haired woman down the hall.

"Oh, I’ll give you some ‘feminine presence’ all right, chicken s**t," Larxene muttered murderously as she stormed straight for the two.

"Oh s**t, run!" Axel cried in a very mocking manner as he grabbed his friend’s arm, pulling him along as he dashed in the direction they had just come from.

It was times like this that Roxas wanted to punch his older, red-haired friend square in the face.

They ran through the maze-like halls of the Nobody Castle for at least ten minutes before Axel came to a halt and checked behind them. "Hah! She gave up!" Axel said pridefully with what breath he had left. "That makes it 9 to 2!"

"Well damn," Roxas growled as he collapsed to the ground, to recover from the outrageously long distance he just had to run. "I was kind of hoping she’d catch you to give you the proper punishment you deserve."

"You know I wouldn’t have let you escape if I couldn’t get away." He smiled mischievously. "It happened the last two times, so why should I let you get away with a ********," the blond hissed and reached over to punch his red-haired friend in the arm.

Axel laughed and crawled over to slump beside the boy. He extended his arm to wrap around Roxas’ shoulder and pulled the kid close, cuddling him in a gentle embrace. Sighing, they both smiled as they leaned into each other.

"Um..." A small voice mumbled in an annoyed tone. "Sorry, but you’re in my way."

The two guys looked up at the sound. There before them stood a fragile looking girl, probably around Roxas’ age, staring down at them with annoyed sky blue eyes. Her pale golden hair was draped over her right shoulder, and a brown sketch book was held firmly under her left arm. She was almost unhealthily skinny. A snow-white sundress adorned her slight frame. It came halfway down her thighs and swayed slightly as she tapped her left foot in obvious irritation.

However, as Axel soon realized, her displeasure was actually aimed at him.

"Well, so- -rry, missy," Number Eight fired back in the same tone she had spoken with earlier. "But you don’t own these halls. You could have simply stepped past, like everybody else."

Sticking her nose up in the air, the girl quickly took a look at Roxas and continued on her way, clearly ignoring the fiery haired man.

"Hey, Axel?" Number Thirteen nudged his friend. "What was with that attitude? I thought you wanted to meet the new person. That was obviously her."

"I didn’t like her attitude, especially since we’re techniquely her superiors," Axel grumbled, watching the blond haired chick disappear down the hall. "For crying out loud, why do all the girls Xemnas recruits for this freaking organization have to be blond and bitchy?"

Roxas gave Axel a noogey, laughing as the redhead swatted at his hands. "Maybe he as a fetish for girls like that or something," he suggested with a shrug. "Come on, we’re going to be late for the meeting." With that, he stood and offered a hand to help Axel up.

And, of course, Axel couldn’t refuse the blonde’s act of kindness.

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"Just in time, Number Eight, Number Thirteen," Xemnas sneered at them as they erupted into the meeting room. They made it just as the clock struck the exact time their meeting was scheduled - 3:35pm.

The two quickly took their seats, Axel ignoring the glare Larxene gave him as he did.

"This meeting will be another short one, as there is currently not much to discuss," Xemnas said robotically, shuffling through a pile of papers in his hands. "First of all, I’d like to hear the report on Castle Oblivion."

Marluxia stood up from his chair. "As head of the Castle Oblivion project, I have been put in change of its construction and management. My report will be brief, but I assure you that the project is coming along extremely well. The upper levels are nearly complete; the basement levels are being filled to Vexen’s specifications, and are also almost complete. I am currently setting up the barrier in which the memory spell will be utilized, and it should be finished shortly after the completion of the castle itself. That is all." The florist then sat down and became silent.

"Excellent," the Superior nodded as he confirmed the oral report with the sheets in his hand. "Next, I’d like to hear about the activity of Sora and his friends."

Zexion sat up wearily. "As the Cloaked Schemer, I am able to exploit my ability of illusion to spy on the Keybearer and his movements. As of now, he is currently at ‘End of the World’ in pursuit of a Heartless by the name of Ansem. I suspect it won’t be long before they come into conflict. The boy has become exceedingly strong and I suspect he will definitely be a match for Ansem. However, his current actions will have no affect on our plans’ outcome. In other words, his interference will be of no consequence, everything is going smoothly. That is all." And with that, the schemer sat down as well.

"Good, good," Xemnas put the papers down on his lap and looked around at the rest of the Organization. "Now, finally, as many of you may have heard, we have a special guest at the castle." There was a slight stir in the crowd of nobodies and the Superior waited for everyone to settle. "From what I’ve heard so far, a few have assumed that this body will be joining our Organization, however, that is not the case," Xemnas intoned. "He – " Number One paused, rubbing his chin slightly as though he was contemplating something.

His arrogant, orange eyes narrowed. "You may come in now," he said loudly.

The blond haired girl that Axel and Roxas had seen earlier entered.

"This is Namine. As I was saying, she will be a special case and work along side of us. At the present time, she is as much a mystery to us as she is to herself. Therefore, I expect everyone to welcome her and help her discover and develop a special Nobody ability, until the time comes when she has decided what to do with herself." His eyes swept briefly over their faces. "This meeting is now adjourned."

Everyone stood up and gave a quick, polite bow to the Superior before heading out the exit.

Automatically, Axel ran over to Roxas as he left, dodging a few of Larxene’s kunais on the way. "Man! Isn’t annoying how formal we have to be at meetings?" He grumbled, lacing his fingers in his spiky red hair.

"Why are you complaining? You’ve never had to give a report." Roxas rolled his eyes and picked up his pace, trying to out-walk red head.

"But it’s hearing it that drives me insane," Axel continued to whine, keeping up with him easily. Seconds later he ran straight into the blonde’s back. "Ack! Why did you stop?" Peering over the boy’s shoulder, he quickly identified the new girl standing before them.

"Um, Hi..." She smiled and scratched her head.

Axel quirked his eyebrow as he realized she was looking only at Roxas, not to him.

"I’m sorry for my behavior towards you earlier, I’ve been kind of on the edge since I got here, I wasn’t sure if everyone would accept me or not. Please forgive me for my earlier rudeness." Namine’s head bowed slightly in apology.

"It’s okay, it’s all cool," Roxas smiled kindly. "If you need any help, please don’t hesitate to ask." He patted her lightly on the head and continued on his way, Axel following a step behind.

"Dude, she SO digs you," Axel nudged the boy and chuckled as soon as she was out of sight.

Roxas looked at the older man vacantly. "Axel, we can’t technically feel, so it’s impossible for her to like me."

The red head huffed and draped his arms about the blonde’s shoulders, hugging him loosely. "Then what about me?" He muttered huskily in the boy’s ear. "Surely you feel something?"

Roxas’ face turned red.

"I-I don’t know what you’re talking about," he stuttered, shrugging out of the fiery man’s embrace, and set off down the hall at a speedy pace.

Axel laughed to himself and quickly tailed after his friend.

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"These walls are so incredibly white," Namine said to himself as he stumbled over to his new bed. "It’s unbelievably painful to look at." He reached out a hand, testing the softness before declaring it fit for him to sleep on. Namine jumped onto its heavenly cloud-like feel and sighed as he flopped onto his back. "At least they have good taste in furniture."

The blonde huffed angrily as he suddenly thought of his first encounter with the one that he liked, and frowned. "Who the hell was that red haired guy anyway?" he muttered. "Why was he hanging around my Roxas? I wouldn’t have given such a bad first impression if he wasn’t there."

Deciding to take his mind off that thought, before it only irritated him more, Namine lifted his brown sketchbook over his head. He studied its dark cover and blank tea-tainted pages. "Just looks like a regular sketchbook to me," he mused. "But since it was with me when I woke up as a Nobody, Xemnas said it has to be linked to my special ability. Hmm..." Namine sat up to look though the contents of the nightstand beside his bed. After shuffling though the contents for a brief moment, he found the object he was seeking - a pencil.

"Here we go." He smiled and flipped the book open to the first page.

He bent over the sketchbook, concentrating as he flicked his wrist, filling the blank pages with lines. Several minutes later, he sat back to look at what he had drawn and frowned. "It’s not that good... but..." Namine’s lips then stretched into a small smile.

With his first attempt, Namine had drawn an almost identifiable Roxas. The boy in the drawing was smiling, and there was a word bubble next to his head, filled with careful script. They read:

"I love you~," Namine sang the words aloud and kissed the page lightly.

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"I love you."

"Say what?" Axel sputtered sharply, caught off guard by the sudden phrase. Surely he must be hearing things, because he was pretty sure Roxas would have never said anything like that. Ever.

The blond quickly covered his mouth with both hands. "What the hell? W-Where did that come from?" he stammered quietly, his face turning beet red.

He glanced up at his red haired friend, only to find the man staring back with a shocked look... and a blush painted across his cheeks.

"Uh... I... I have to go," the flustered blonde got out, before taking off in an obvious run down the hall.

"Hey! Wait, Roxas!" Axel exclaimed in alarm. He instinctively ran after the boy. Half of him didn’t like to see the boy upset, another half of him wanted to just confirm what he had heard, though it had already been partially established by the blonde’s frantic reaction. "I said hold on!" he hollered.

"Just leave me alone!" Roxas yelled back. He pushed past Xigbar, who was innocently walking down the hall, and skidded around the nearest corner.

"What’s wrong with the little dude?" The free shooter asked as Axel passed by.

"We’re playing tag," he replied quickly. "Which way did he go?"

"Down that hallway." Xigbar scratched his head and shrugged. "Have fun, I guess. Let me join in too next time. There’s nothing better to do - It’s freaking boring around here."

"Yeah, sure, okay." And the fiery man was off.

"I think he was on his way to his bedroom! Crappy place for a hiding spot if you ask me!" Number Two shouted after him.

Gotcha. Smirking, Axel came to a halt. He waved his arm in the air, opening a portal, and ran in.

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Roxas slammed the door behind him and leaned against its frame.

Where had that come from? One minute he was thinking about what was for dinner... and next thing he knew he had spouted those three little words.

‘I love you.’

He sank down to the ground, curling into a ball as he wrapped his arms around his legs. Why? Why? He thought furiously, when a certain blurry memory suddenly crossed his mind.

A faint whirling noise hardly penetrated the fog of thought that had descended upon him.

Axel jumped out of the dark gateway. He spotted his friend and ran over, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Are you okay?" he asked urgently.

The blond jumped up and flung the hands away. "I told you go to away!" he yelled as he turned around to exit the room again. He tried to get out, but a hand fell against the door to prevent him from opening it.

"Roxas, just relax, don’t worry about it," Axel whispered softly. He brought his other hand up to his chest and clutched the cloak there.

There was a small pulsing in his chest, and it felt weird... felt like... it hurt. It hurt. Why? If felt like he was being rejected or something, and it hurt. It hurt so very much. Clearing his throat, Axel continued, "Just take it easy, it was nothing. I’ll forget I heard anything."

"I can’t," Roxas stated, turning to look into those emerald depths. "I can’t, I just can’t."

"Why?"

"Because... once..." The blond looked away.

"We kissed?" Axel finished, frowning. "Roxas, we were both drunk."

"I wasn’t... entirely." The blond haired boy turned, pressing himself against the door, wishing that he’d just sink into the white paint and disappear. His head tilted back, his eyes closing in misery. God, just let me die...

"What?" Axel abandoned the door, and gripped the boy’s shoulders with shaking hands.

"I can’t help but like you Axel, I just can’t!" Roxas blurted as he shook his head violently, the blue depths of his eyes coming in contract with the fire wielder’s intensely green ones. "Whatever I say about not feeling anything is a lie. I feel something when I’m with you! I’ve tried denying it because I’m supposed to be a Nobody, I shouldn’t be able to fe—."

The boy was cut short as his mouth was suddenly covered by another. His heart thudded in his chest as he felt Axel’s lips on his. This time, there wasn’t the pretense of alcohol... It was just the two of them, admitting they both felt something for each other.

Nobodies could care.

Roxas’ eyes drifted closed as the redhead’s lips moved against his. Everything they had been told before was a lie, this was proof... How could he have believed that Nobodies were nothing more than empty husks? He felt his face flush when Axel’s tongue swept delicately against the seam of his lips, asking for permission to enter. The touch sent tingles racing through him, all the way to his toes.

Roxas’ eyes fluttered open.

"May I?" Axel asked softly.

Roxas nodded nervously, his hands reaching up to rest against the redhead’s chest, as Axel’s arms slid around him. He closed his eyes, and waited, feeling butterflies in his stomach. Lips brushed his gently, making him catch his breath. His heart was beating so loudly, he wondered if Axel couldn’t hear it. Then he felt a warm mouth descend upon his, and he stopped thinking at all as he parted his lips, and allowed Axel to kiss him more deeply.

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With their heart and minds wrapped up in the feel of each other, they weren’t aware of a third party listening in from the other side of the door. Xigbar straightened from his leaning position against the wall. The dim light reflected briefly over the silver streaks in his long black hair.

When Axel flew by him, in pursuit of Roxas, he’d decided to follow. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but the two of them were acting so strangely, he felt it was his duty to determine the cause. He could hear shouting, though he couldn’t make out what was being said until he reached the door that hid them from view. Roxas’ room.

"I can’t help but like you Axel, I just can’t!"

There, that was Roxas speaking. He sounded upset. But there was no problem in just ‘liking’ someone... it made sense, even. The two of them had been best friends since-

"Whatever I say about not feeling anything is a lie. I feel something when I’m with you! I’ve tried denying it because I’m supposed to be a Nobody, I shouldn’t be able to fe—."

Oh.

The little blonde had just condemned himself with that overwrought confession. Xigbar wasn’t sure, but from how quickly his words were cut off, it sounded like Axel might feel the same way. And that was a problem. If word of this got out...

I’m gonna have to report this to Xemnas, he realized. He touched the patch over his right eye solemnly, a look of regret on his face.

"Sorry, kiddos," He whispered under his breath and disappeared within a hole of darkness.