This is my first ever attempt at a one shot. I'm sorry if it's just like everyone elses. My friend Kateracks made me write it, so I at least hope you'll think it's good.

Nope, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. In fact, I've just barely played the game once. I don't even own a copy of it, or a playstation to use a copy on. All I own is my mind (or at least part of it) and the crazy words that come out on paper, whether the words form sentences about people I don't own or not.

Enjoy! D


The young man stood, eyes closed, on the dark city street. Like that, he could better feel the rain gently tapping on his skin, the cool breeze that blew his hair across his face. He was waiting for someone, someone he expected would enter the plaza any minute. Until then, he intended to continue taking in the surroundings through all senses excluding sight.

Finally, he heard the faint patter of shoes meeting a puddle of rain water. These were, however, not the footsteps of the person he awaited, being rather the sounds of an approaching female. Curiously, he waited for the girl to come closer. Smells gradually began to reach his nose: first, new gummi ship; then sea water; berry sundays; and death. He whirled around, forming a weapon from thin air as a warning, and knocking off the hood of his black cloak.

"Who are you?" He demanded threateningly.

"I am merely a girl, traveled here from another world on a quest," the female responded with a soft voice. She was not afraid of his threat, only surprised by his sudden reaction and interested in why he was standing in the middle of the street blindfolded.

"That much I knew," the boy stated forcefully, "by the way you smell. What is your quest? And how did you find this place?"

"I've come to avenge the loss of my father. He led me here through a series of clues to rescue him from a man in a black cloak like yours. If you are he, I am prepared to kill you," she said as if she'd practiced that speech several times.

"I'm sorry for your loss, but I do not know your father," Riku apologized, the Keyblade disappearing from his hand. "They've taken someone from me as well."

"So you are posing as one of them until the moment arrives for you to gain your revenge," she supposed. "That's an idea that takes some courage, patience, and deception." Her mellow voice almost showed a hint of a laugh.

"Well, no—" Riku began to counter.

She quickly interrupted, "And how does this cover over your eyes fit into the plan?"

Before he knew it, her hand was pulling down on the cloth covering his eyes. He swatted it away quickly, ordering, "Don't."

She backed away, surprised by his harsh tone. She wasn't sure what to do, how to apologize, or even if she would apologize. She hadn't felt so unsure, so gullible since she started this journey. The fighting she had done to this point had left her worn and calloused. Somehow the boy before her maintained a calm, warm, and inviting face even being in the lair of the enemy. It made her feel the same. He would have to teach her how.

Riku reached up to readjust the blindfold after the girl moved it. Eager for the chance to finally see again after so long, however, his eyes naturally drifted open. The vision he accidentally caught sight of was so amazing, that he was unable to prevent himself from looking twice. A hand that had originally gone to his face to re-shield his sight now pulled the cloth completely away from the restricted teal eyes.

There she was, black hair that shimmered an almost violet in the light of the world's unique moon. Her eyes were almost invisible in the dark, except for the small sparkle in the top corner of each. She wore a black strapless shirt that criss-crossed around her torso, leaving a gap between her breasts, over her belly button, and at each of her hips. The two latter almost resembled holsters for guns she didn't possess, and the tilted belt she wore beneath her waist seemed to serve the same purpose. Her loose fitting pants and solid arm band were also black. That left only the ribbons tied to her arm band and the sash that rested on one him under her shirt and below her belt to add a color—lavender—to the ensemble.

All that really mattered to Riku, though, were those eyes. She was somehow the visual expression of how he felt inside. Looking into her eyes that night, it almost felt like the whole world had halted to give them a chance to enjoy the moment longer…the whole world except the ever-present rain.

Only a short distance away a friendship was ending with the promise of never returning. "So your mind's made up?" A redhead asked, leaning against a wall of a building on another dark street.

His blond friend had been walking by. He stopped with a sigh. This conversation was supposed to have ended that morning. They had already said goodbye. Why was Axel making something he had to do so much harder? Supposing he had no choice but to try to explain again, the boy asked, "Why did the Keyblade choose me? I have to know."

Axel was somewhat frustrated that his best friend couldn't even look at him to say goodbye. In one last effort to make Roxas stay, Axel burst out, "You can't turn on the Organization! You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you."

Thinking of how all the others had responded to his inquiries as to where he came from and why he wielded a Keyblade, Roxas decided, "No one would miss me." He didn't know anyone who truly existed anyway. At that, he continued walking away from Axel.

"That's not true!" Axel called after him. It had no effect on the determined boy, however, and the redhead could only let his shoulders slump, muttering, "I would." Roxas was already gone.

"Roxas," Riku gasped suddenly.

"Roxas?" The girl repeated in confusion, not sure what the word signified. All she knew was it had caught his attention when their lips were only inches from touching.

"Roxas is going to help me find my friend," Riku clarified. "I was waiting for him when you showed up. I have to go back, or I might miss my only chance."

She didn't release the grip on his hand she had held for the last few minutes as he tried to pull away. "Let me help," she stated, her free hand forming into a fist to mean she was ready to fight. Riku should have noticed the warning sign that something about her was best to avoid when small wisps of darkness squeezed between her closed fingers, escaping into the air like the flames of a fire. But he didn't.

Instead, he asked, "What makes you think I'm going there to fight him?"

"You were on guard when I first approached you," she answered, showing her observatory nature. Riku still seemed uncomfortable letting her join, so she added, "I can make it easier for you."

At that he agreed, still somewhat reluctantly, and they hurried back to the plaza. The shortest path there led to the roof of a surrounding building. From there, they would easily be able to see Roxas nearing the area from any direction.

"Are we too late?" The girl inquired.

"No, he's still coming," Riku said certainly. Then, since he had time, he wondered, "How will you make this easier?"

Strands of darkness weaved around her wrist, through her fingers, and across her palm as she slowly passed her hand over the square below. Riku noticed it this time and showed only the slightest concern, and that because she had only been in the world of darkness for a day. Where had she learned to use it like that? Then, the real result of her dark heart presented itself as over a hundred heartless at her command emerged from the water puddles on the street.

He shuddered inside, but ignored the instinct, forcing a small smile and a, "Thanks."

"Anything for Sora, right?" She replied, clearly not aware of the evil controlling her, and repeating something Riku had said only the moment before.

"Right," Riku agreed. He reached up to replace the blindfold from before, seeming as if he would have done it with or without her surprising addition to the battle. His eyes were going to miss seeing her, yet he swore to never more remove the cloth.

"Why are you putting that back on?" She questioned.

"Believe me; I've seen this before, and it won't be pretty," Riku answered. Then he added, "And my eyes can't lie." Then once again he stood, eyes closed in the dark and rain, awaiting the arrival of a certain boy.

"Dang, she's with that one boy," another blond—this one with a mullet—complained to a nearby shadow heartless that was picking at something shiny in the dirt. "What's his name?" When the heartless didn't answer, the boy continued, "Yeah, I don't remember either. But he is not fun—no, no fun at all—to fight. How in all of the eternity of nonexistence am I supposed to follow Superior's orders to capture her if he's around?"

Again, the heartless made no reply to Demyx.

"Well you're no help at all. I guess I'll have to think of something on my own." He plopped down on a rock and rested his chin in his hands to think.

It was easy to tell when Roxas had arrived. Even without his vision, Riku could clearly hear the sounds of battle below. It was a while longer before Roxas noticed his true opponent upon the rooftop and decided to run up the building toward him. Riku thought it a good idea to jump off the roof—not generally a good idea in any case—to meet the other boy for a one-on-one, mid-air battle.

When he did that, Demyx exclaimed excitedly, "Yes!" Then, he hurriedly covered his own mouth, hoping he hadn't been heard through the portal connecting where he was to the dark city where the others were. He whispered over to the small black critter still next to him, "Quiet now." Gently, he began playing soft chords on a giant sitar-like musical instrument. The quiet music in turn caused three bodies made of water, shaped exactly like him to appear.

Demyx sent them through the portal to retrieve the girl, and they returned so silently Riku never noticed they were taking her. The only clue he got was the sudden disappearance of her heartless. She came back through the portal kicking and screaming upon the shoulders of Demyx's water clones—though, the screams were covered by the water creatures.

Looking up at her from the boulder he was seated upon, he was not nearly as effected by the astonishing beauty. After just listening to her muffled complaints for some time, he asked with a laugh, "What did you say?"

As the portal gradually faded away behind her, so did the clones' grip on her mouth, and she blurted out, "Put me down!"

"Oh, were my friends not nice on your short trip here?" Demyx wondered. She only glared in return. Reeling confident in his success, Demyx compliantly released her. Stopping his music abruptly in the middle of a chord caused the clones to lose their form, dropping her instantly to the ground.

She grunted loudly upon hitting the ground, but quickly regained her feet. Growling angrily, she held up her fists to fight him for kidnapping and dropping her.

"Ooh, feisty," Demyx mocked. "But seriously Lurei, don't you at least want to know what I brought you here for before you try to kill me?"

She didn't seem fazed in the least that he knew her name, simply responding, "You're the one that took my father." Darkness once again began to swirl around her hand, and—unlike Riku—Demyx noticed it.

"I am," Demyx agreed, "though it wasn't all together unwilling on his part."

"My father would never voluntarily allow himself to be captured by you fiends," she insisted stubbornly. As she shouted that at him, around twenty more heartless joined the one harmless critter at Demyx's side.

"So you won't believe me then," Demyx asked, raising an eyebrow. "Too bad. Now, you'll be forced to take me down before I try to repay you." He suddenly stopped and scratched his head. "That was what the told me to say, right? It doesn't sound quite right…Oh yes, I'll be forced to take you down before you try to repay us."

While he pointed dramatically to accompany the corrected statement, she just looked at him curiously. And somehow he managed to defeat my father? Was the obvious thought. She decided she would end things quickly by sending her heartless to destroy him. Not only did they go towards him more slowly than she expected—for obvious heart-lacking reasons she wasn't aware of—but they were all easily held off by a second round of his look-alikes.

Demyx had started playing his music again, and it surprised her how he fought. She retaliated with more ineffective heartless, and he effortlessly blocked them all without ever leaving his seat on the rock. After he gave her a short chance to fight, for dignity's sake, he ended it quickly by trapping her within a large, round wall of water, similar to a huge bubble.

"I've been ordered not to harm you," Demyx concluded. "Please stand by while we wait for your official escort."

Of course, she couldn't hear him through the bubble now surrounding her. She didn't seem intimidated, only resortless as she pressed herself against its wall. Demyx just continued gently plucking away on his sitar to keep the bubble there until another member of the Organization arrived.

Finally, a splotch of black appeared to his right, gradually growing into another portal. "You're late," Demyx complained, now playing a slow ballad. His fingers had become sore from playing so long.

"Since when do you care?" The other one asked. He did not seem to be in a good mood and left the hood of his cloak pulled over his head.

"Since you left me here to wait for an hour."

"This isn't the most important mission Number 9. Got it memorized?"

"So what were you doing during our designated meeting time, Ax-el?"

"Something so top secret you don't get to know. Only for the superior Nobodies," Axel replied vaguely.

Demyx mocked him slightly as the redhead inquired, "What are we kidnapping this beautiful girl for anyway?" He pointed to her over his shoulder with a thumb.

"Beats me. Last time it was the girl or her father. We got the father, and now we need the girl too. I assume they fit into the ultimate plan somehow. I don't ask about missions anymore. The explanations are too complicated."

"I still don't see why I have to do this part for you."

"Only superior Nobodies are granted authority over those in the castle dungeon. One of the perks of the job, I guess. Congratulations on the promotion, now that everyone in Castle Oblivion is gone."

Axel rolled his eyes and turned to the bubble. Poking it once, he questioned, "How do I get her out of that?"

Once again, all it took was for Demyx to stop the music and the water come tumbling down. The falling water soaked Lurei to the bone, making her clothes cling to her skin. It also came down with enough force to push her into Axel's unsuspecting arms, which in turn knocked his hood back. Looking into his mesmerizingly green eyes, Lurei felt the same way Riku had felt looking into hers: addiction.

Like Demyx, Axel was without heart and thus unconcerned with the love-struck feelings of instant infatuation. In fact, he could only imagine this would be the right moment to feel remorse for a wicked deed. Shrugging off the fact that Roxas would at the moment be saying, You should be ashamed of yourself, Axel grasped her arm forcefully and portaled back to the castle.

When he stepped out, into the hallway of the prison, the girl he clutched so tightly protested, "No wait. I didn't come here to hurt you. I…I came to join your group." She had decided that only because of meeting Riku. He had been a good friend to her, yet somehow she felt like that half hour of her life had occurred years ago.

"Right," Axel agreed sarcastically. "I might actually believe you if you had come to us, but you didn't. We captured you."

"But you weren't supposed to," she insisted. "What I mean is: that water boy didn't listen when I told him I was coming in willingly. Maybe you were ordered to capture me, but you didn't have to. I want to be here…with you."

"I'm not staying in the cell with you," Axel concluded, stepping out of the small, white room they had just entered. He closed the gate-like door in front of her and started to walk away. Once again Roxas came back to mind. Don't you feel sorry for her?

"What are you now, my conscience?" Axel muttered to himself. "I can't feel sorry for her."

But you should. Look, she's like a puppy in the rain.

"A puppy?" Axel repeated, clearly not effected by the image.

Yeah a puppy. You know, the adorable kind with the big eyes and floppy ears?

Shaking away the voice in his head—and the picture of this girl having floppy ears—Axel glanced back to her, plastered against the bars of the cell. "Fine," he gave in, "I'll see if I can convince Superior. No promises, though."

He left in the same manner he had come. Suddenly, she was alone and lost in the cold, white dungeon. She was scared and reconsidering her decision. Ever since she entered this world, nothing had been working. She had just discovered her only way of fighting had no effect on these people, and her chances of actually joining them were slim to none. It was likely she would get over the momentary breakdown, but for now, she just wanted to pull her knees in to her chest. She wanted Riku to save her.

Axel walked down the halls of the castle the group of cloaked people lived in, not incredibly excited about helping the girl he knew nothing about. Right then he should have been mourning the loss of his friend…on the other hand, he couldn't mourn, so maybe it would be best if he had something to keep his mind off the feelings Roxas made him pretend he had. He felt so confused, but then, could he really be confused?

He pushed all those lame thoughts of the meaning of life to the back of his mind and decided to focus on the task he had to do.

It actually came as a surprise to find out Xemnas had intended to make the girl an ally. She obviously couldn't be one of them—obviously because of her heart. But her connection to the darkness and ability to control heartless could certainly expedite the completion of Kingdom Hearts. However, Xemnas was far less inclined to make her one of them when he found out how quickly she had volunteered to do so.

"He thinks it's a trick," Axel told her instantly upon entering the prison once more. He casually approached the cell continuing, "He says, up to this point you've been fighting, even killing our underlings, allies, even members. Just admit it Lurei; you came here seeking your father."

"I did not!" She insisted, but then she asked, "What do you know of his well-being?"

Axel pulled over a chair that had not been visible previously because it camouflaged perfectly with the white wall. Leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, he commented, "Joining our ranks will not help you win back your father. This is not some sort of ransom exchange. You have no bargaining room. Got it memorized?" He lightly tapped the side of his head. "Now, that said, are you still begging to ally yourself with us?"

"I'll admit at times my thoughts wander to my father," Lurei replied. "But I know not who took him. I journeyed here to join you."

"What a coincidence," Axel said sarcastically. "The group you plead to let you in is the very group you seek to destroy."

"You…you took my father?" She questioned, attempting to sound surprised.

Even after having easily seen through that lie, Axel decided to explain, "There is one major flaw in that accusation. We fully intended to capture your father, but he came with us completely willingly. We contract him as a research advisor on occasion from his place in Radiant Garden. In fact, he's the one who informed us of your usefulness to our master plan."

"You want me to help you?" Lurei realized for the first time.

"Cleary, for it we did not, you would be dead by now. But in the end, the distress letter from your father was only a façade to lead you to us. Each clue brought you to a place where we would be able to bring you in. You evaded us each time, which can easily be translated as unwillingness to be one of us."

"No, no," Lurei protested urgently. She sincerely meant it when she said, "If my father is helping you, I will too." Then she added silently, and anything is worth seeing you again.

Axel stood, "I will tell the superior then." He left, and Xemnas awaited him just outside the portal. "It's done," Axel concluded.

"How much of what you said was actually true?" The leader of Organization XIII asked.

"Some," was Axel's only response.

"You look depressed," Demyx commented as Axel glumly wandered into the room he had been playing his music in.

"I'm not depressed," Axel grumbled, slumping into a chair. "I couldn't be if I wanted to."

"But you look depressed…or, er, like you would be depressed if you could be. What's wrong?"

"Not anything you should poke your nose in."

Knowing Axel meant back off by that, Demyx was quiet for a while, only plucking a quiet note every now and then. But the silence quickly became too much for Demyx to bear and he thoughtlessly mentioned, "Did you know Roxas left us?"

"No, really? I hadn't heard yet," Axel replied, very sarcastically.

"Sorry man," Demyx defended, throwing his hands in the air. "You haven't been this upset since that ol' geezer Merlin confused you with his granddaughter Lea."

"Hmm, I wonder why."

"Maybe you need to get a new friend." Then Demyx realized what it sounded like he had just said and corrected, "Not like to replace Roxas or anything. Just to keep your mind off him until he comes to his senses and comes back."

"Who am I going to befriend in this forsaken place?"

Demyx shrugged. "Dunno. You just looked like you needed advice."

"Thanks," Axel said, but it was clearly not sincere. Growing tired of the conversation with Demyx, he stood up and left the room. One thing Demyx had said was true, though. He did need some way to occupy his mind. Maybe he did need a friend…and Lurei was the only one he didn't already hate.

Axel once again found himself sent into the prison to care for things. "I've got keys," echoed through the dungeon before he appeared in a portal. Then, teasingly he dangled the keys in Lurei's face, asking, "Do you want out?"

"Mm-hmm," she agreed.

"Because, you see, I've been given permission to release you," Axel continued, snapping the key ring away right as she reached for it. He turned to pace as he spoke, glancing over his shoulder at her to say, "But I'm not sure I'm ready to. Why should I let you go?"

Lurei instantly picked up on his joking attitude and knew he was playing with her. So she answered, "Because you like me."

"Do I?" Axel questioned, stepping closer.

"Because I'm funny," she added, pressing herself against the bars.

"Really?" Axel maintained his skeptical impression while moving within her arm's reach.

"Because I'm pretty, and you think I'm sexy." She whispered the last word seductively, having already taken hold of his cloak right beneath the neckline.

Axel all but ignored the comment, mentioning instead, "If you can get the key from me, I'll let you out." The ring of keys was instantly held out to her, easy to grab. She reached for it, but missed as Axel pulled the keys away. She grabbed for them again and again, but Axel seemed to be enjoying the game of keep-away.

When he was so amused he couldn't contain his laughter, Axel fell back where Lurei could no longer grasp the keys. It was then that she got an idea. While her cloaked captor attempted to regain control, Lurei formed just one dark creature. The heartless popped out of the floor and easily stole the keys from an unprepared Axel.

"Wha—? A heartless? What does it want?" He wondered, watching as it wriggled off. Then he ordered, "Give my key back."

The creature stopped and looked at Axel, knowing he had authority over it, but the kind command, "Bring it here little one," from Lurei somehow overpowered his. The heartless continued scurrying to the girl.

"What?" He began to ask again, and she just smiled back. Forming an unusual, circular chackram in each hand, Axel repeated, "I said, give it back!" The heartless was just reaching the bars of the door to her cell when one of the chackrams sliced directly through its midsection, dissolving it and dropping the keys to the floor.

Axel ran to grab the keys at the same time as Lurei sent another heartless for the same thing. How relieving it was for Axel to arrive first, giving him just enough time to stuff the keys down his cloak before the dark creature pounced on his back. It was one of those awkward places impossible for Axel to reach, no matter what angle he came at it from.

Lurei couldn't help but laugh as she watched Axel run manically around the prison, trying to lose the heartless she had sent after him. It still perplexed her that the creatures would never attempt to attack the hearts of these cloaked men. But that was far less important at the moment than Axel rolling around on the floor because the heartless was tickling him as it tried to access the ring of keys.

Finally, the heartless was successful, at which point it instantly left off tormenting Axel to return to its master. Axel leapt to his feet furiously and flung another chackram at it. Just in the nick of time, it ducked into the inaccessibility of the floor, not to come back to the third dimension until it was on the girl's side of the wall. It handed her the keys, and she had just moved to unlock the door when Axel also appeared within her cell.

From behind he warned, "Those aren't the right keys." She whirled to look at him as he held out the single correct key. He finished, "Only this one works."

"You little sneak," she replied, separating each of the words with another step towards him. She had quickly pressed him against the wall in her attempt to grasp the key. From that close, Axel suddenly recognized the presence of a feeling he hadn't thought he possessed. Yet, it remained, as it was not affected by his lacking a heart, simply caused by his manliness and her femininity.

With a mischievous smirk, Axel placed his hand flat against the wall, creating a portal behind them, and noted, "But this is the real way out."

Lurei was now only microscopically separated from Axel's face. Knowing exactly what the look in his eyes meant, she whispered, "Oh really?"

Before they knew it, both were topless on the floor of Axel's room.

Such soon became the favorite pass-time of each of them. Axel sometimes had other tasks to tend to, but their leader Xemnas was so preoccupied with worries of some boy Sora, he rarely had time to tell anyone what to do with Lurei. Both were thus left with not much to do but whisper into each other's hair, stroke the other's face, and dream of the moment they returned to Axel's room and those breasts were his.

It was after those breasts were his and Lurei drifted to sleep that Axel often found his mind wandering back to Roxas. Sure, everyone hoped the youngest member would come back, but Axel knew he really wouldn't. One day as they lay in bed, Lurei dozing soundly on his chest and his arm resting securely across hers, Axel decided how best to conclude his plan. Not wanting another painful goodbye, like the one he'd had with Roxas, but clearly not emotionally tied to Lurei, he chose to leave while she slept. By the time she woke, he was worlds away.

"You can take that to Kairi for me, right?" Riku asked a waggy-tailed, yellow dog that responded with a bark. Lurei had shown him one thing: he would have to help his friends if he ever expected them to reach the place he was now. "And don't forget to come back for what I have for Sora."

The dog agreed with another bark. Afterwards, he let go a couple more and set a purple sash at Riku's feet.

Even blindfolded, Riku instantly recognized it and knew the owner. "Lurei. You have news?" He muttered, picking it up. Then, feeling holes and smelling fire, he continued, "Axel. Is she all right?"

Once again, the dog barked a couple times, somehow causing Riku to react with, "In love? How is that possible?"

Lurei frantically searched the castle for anyone that might know where Axel had gone, but only found Saix. Still, she was desperate enough to ask him.

He answered with half a chuckle, "He left? Probably after Roxas."

"Roxas?" She repeated, curiously tilting her head to the side. Would all her romances be ruined by that boy?

"Oh yeah, you weren't here for that. They were friends…closer than any two people I ever saw. Big surprise he left you for that kid."

Unable to stand there against the harshness of the cold words without bursting into tears, Lurei ran back to Axel's room, where she did just that. At least it wasn't public. And there she cried, cuddled up against Axel's bed until her eyes contained no more tears. Then, she took a deep breath and started over.

Finally, "Hey Axel, guess what," called into the room. Demyx appeared in a portal with an excited look on his face. Seeing Lurei, he apologized, "Oh, I thought you were Axel…um, there was only one life signal in here, so I just…" The look saddened, and he faded off. "Are you crying?"

"Axel left to go find Roxas," Lurei sobbed.

"Oh," Demyx replied, slightly shocked, for he knew more of what that meant than she did.

"I…I don't know what to do anymore. I," she complained, but then changed her mind to, "Will you take me to Radiant Garden?"

"Radiant Garden," Demyx repeated. "No one's called it that in ages, since it's no longer radiant…or a garden even. Why do you want to go to Hallow Bastion?" He hardly gave her a chance to respond before he realized, "Oh, you want to talk to your dad. I have to warn you. That place isn't safe."

She said nothing in return, but her pleading eyes said it all.

"Um," Demyx tried to resist. "Go on," he gave in, forming a portal for her.

"Really? But Xemnas said he requested not to speak to me."

"Get outta here. There's no reason you should be around when Sora comes to fight us. Heartless aren't really much to him either. And it's not like you're doing anything here. If any of us are alive at the end of this, we'll come get you then."

Lurei smiled the biggest smile to that point and jumped into Demyx's arms. "Thank you so much! Will you come with me?"

"For a short while, I suppose," he agreed, and they both walked through the portal. Demyx asked, "So what is your father's name?"

"Tron," Lurei replied, her voice distant as the portal closed.