Yuki smiled sweetly at the woman who handed her the stick of ice cream. It had been a long day of searching again for a safe place. It was starting to seem like no world would be quite as safe as Castle Oblivion. Naminé had once again insisted she could handle the day alone. Yuki did believe her, it just seemed wrong. Nami was always alone. She shouldn't have to be. She would have to spend the next few days with her.

Yuki aimlessly wandered Twilight Town. It was the first time she really didn't have to worry too much about who else saw her. When they had been part of the organizations they only talked to shopkeeps. No one else in town was supposed to see them. Now it didn't matter.

She used to love hearing the whispers of the town. Talk of the ghosts on top of the clock tower. Xion had laughed when Yuki had told her about that rumor. The thought of Xion caused Yuki's stomach to twist as she looked at her half-finished ice cream. Suddenly she wasn't so hungry.

She still didn't know, why she remembered when no one else did. Even Naminé couldn't explain it, and she was an expert in memories. Maybe she could get rid of the memories for Yuki. Then it wouldn't hurt as much. She had already lost Roxas, but at least there was someone else she could talk to about that. But no one remembered Xion to grieve with her.

Yuki disposed of her ice cream and stuck her hands in her pockets. She felt her hand brush against the seashell in her pocket. Xion's seashell. The cool shell sent a shock through her arm. She had almost forgotten she had it.

"Hey, Yuki!"

Yuki jolted from her thoughts turning to see who had called her. She smiled briefly seeing Sora and his two companions, though still no sign of X. Sora waved at her with a broad smile. He didn't drop his arm until Yuki walked over to join them, tightly gripping on the seashell as if holding Xion's hand.

"Sora, hey. What brings you here?" Yuki asked. Sora smiled as he crossed his ankles and put his arms behind his head.

"This worlds been kinda weird on our map for a while, so we thought we'd check it out now that it's back," he explained.

"Weird, I haven't had a problem getting here," Yuki said, frowning lightly. Twilight Town had been a pretty regular stop. Though she didn't like it as she knew DiZ was close by. That's where Y was working right now.

"Do you come here often?" Sora asked tilting his head to the side. Yuki smiled and nodded looking away from the brick road and back up to Sora.

"This is my favorite world. It's, it's almost like home," she said.

"What about Destiny Islands?" Sora asked with a pout. Yuki chuckled.

"Don't worry, that's a close second. I just have a lot of good memories here. This is where I met all my friends," she explained. She glanced over her shoulder to where the clock tower was. As she turned back to Sora they were interrupted by a small figure running past.

"H-help! The sandlot! It's Seifer! Somebody please help us!" the figure yelled. They were dressed in blue with a hat falling over their bright yellow eyes. Yuki watched them go before turning back to Sora.

"We're going to put this conversation on hold to go help whoever that is, right?" she asked. It was a pointless question. The day Sora decided not to help someone would be quite the day.

"Yeah, but where's the sandlot?" Sora asked. Yuki smirked.

"This way, come on," she said turning her back and running to the Sandlot. She had remembered its location well enough. It was the first place she had seen Roxas and Xion. A mission taking out deserters. This time the Sandlot was filled with Dusks that seemed to be surrounding three teenagers. One wore a beanie and seemed to be trying to push himself up. Sora jumped in front of them drawing his keyblade.

"We'll take it from here!" Sora said. Yuki sighed calling Heartless Keeper to her hand.

She hated fighting Nobodies. They were twisting around and bent out of the way of every attack. It was more of a headache than it was ever worth. But she couldn't just stand on the side while Sora did the work. She joined in he fight, eventually exterminating the Dusks.

With the twisty white Nobodies gone, and the Beserkers that had followed after them (much to Yuki's annoyance), Yuki looked around. There had to be a reason the Nobodies were here.

"Impressive," a dark voice said. Yuki shuddered, turning as a dark corridor opened. A hooded figure stepped out clapping his hands slowly. Yuki glared, her grip on Heartless Keeper tightening. "By the way, have you seen a man named Axel? I expect he's here somewhere," the man said. Saix. Yuki knew his voice, somehow.

"Like I care," Sora said. Saix turned his gaze from Sora to Yuki.

"Perhaps you know of his whereabouts little princess. He was fond of you," Saix said. Yuki narrowed her eyes even further, straightening her posture as she tried to appear to be looking down at him. It was difficult as he was much taller than her.

"That's queen to you. Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you," Yuki said firmly. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at Yuki with wide eyes, but she didn't react. She kept her cold glare focused on Saix. He only sneered at her.

"You see, Axel's no longer acting in our best interest," Saix said calmly.

"Is he with the Organization, too?" Goofy asked.

"Yes," Saix said.

"You havin' a fight?" Donald asked puffing up his feathers.

"Not a very organized Organization," Sora said mockingly. Yuki snickered at Saix, bring her hand up to cover her mouth as she looked away from him. She held back her smirk as she looked back at him.

"Maybe you should have actually listened to him. You guys were friends, right?" Yuki said. She again earned looks of surprise form Sora and his companions. But she ignored them focusing on the souring expression on Saix's face underneath his hood. He turned his glare from her onto Sora as he pointed at him.

"Don't let your guard down. Axel will stop at nothing to turn you into a Heartless," Saix warned.

"Gee, thanks for looking out for us, mister. But I'm sure we can take care of ourselves just fine," Sora responded. Saix lowered his arm and stepped back from them.

"Glad to hear it. Axel aside, it would break our hearts to hear something happened to you," Saix said. Yuki frowned as Donald stepped forward.

"Hearts? You don't have any hearts!" the duck objected.

"True, we don't have hearts," Saix said lowering his hood. His long blue hair fell down his back and his yellow eyes narrowed at the group. "But we remember what it was like. That's what makes us special." A portal appeared behind him and he slowly began to step back into it.

"Whaddya mean?" Goofy asked.

"We know very well how to injure a heart. Sora, you just keep on fighting those Heartless," Saix said coming to a halt inside the swirling smoke.

"Let's jump in after him!" Sora whispered to Donald and Yuki, hiding his mouth from Saix's view. Yuki suspected it did little to help the situation.

"How come?" Donald asked.

"I'm not sure, but maybe he'll lead us to the Organization's world," Sora suggested. It was likely he was right. The dark corridors usually connected to locations as they opened. But there was no way to guarantee, maybe Saix was counting on Sora following him.

"Sora-" Yuki began, only to be cut off by Saix.

"Don't be reckless. Do you want to end up like Riku?" Saix asked. Sora turned on him quickly fist clenched so tightly Yuki was certain he would summon his keyblade back in moments.

"What!?" he shouted. Saix smirked as he bowed back into the dark corridor and vanished. Yuki frowned glancing to Sora again. "Hey wait!" Sora cried, reaching out to Saix. He dropped his arm and frowned when it became clear he was too late. He crossed his arms, tapping his chin "What did he mean, end up like Riku?"

"I don't know. But those portals are dangerous. If you go through them without protection you can get swallowed by the darkness," Yuki said, hoping to ease Sora's curiosity. His face immediately became panicked, eyes widening and his mouth falling open.

"You don't think Riku's been swallowed by the darkness!" Sora yelled. Yuki waved her arms in front of her.

"No, I'm sure he's fine. Saix was just trying to confuse you," she said. Sora nodded but frowned, looking away from Yuki for a moment. She let out a relieved breath dropping her arms. She had forgotten how quickly Sora could jump from topic to topic. Or how quickly he could draw conclusions.

"Do, you know those guys?" Sora asked curiously tilting his head to the side. Yuki looked away and nodded, rubbing her shoulder nervously.

"Some of them. It's all part of that long story I promised to tell you later," Yuki said. She could feel the tension filling the air. Little of it actually came from Sora, most came from Donald and Goofy. She was spared having to explain by the blonde with the beanie interrupting.

"Hey, how 'bout you get out of my town now? You've caused enough trouble," he said stepping forward. Donald ruffled his feathers and turned his back on the blonde and his companions. A girl with silver-blue hair and a boy with brown hair.

"Have it your way! C'mon guys," Donald said leaning the way out of the Sandlot. They hadn't taken a step when the blonde spoke again.

"Hold it!"

"Make up your mind," Donald complained as they turned back to face the blonde. Yuki could see red dusting his cheeks as he stared down at the ground, holding a trophy out to them. If she remembered it was the one from the struggle match that had been sitting off to the side.

"This goes to the strongest guy in Twilight Town," he said. Sora blinked in shock and pointed to himself.

"Thanks, but, we don't really need it," Sora said with a nervous laugh. The blonde ignored them, shoving the trophy before walking away his two companions trailing after him. Yuki watched them leave with her head tilted to the side. Somebody's were very strange at times like this. She wasn't sure it was something she would ever get.

"Oh! Sora!" 

Yuki turned again to see a heavy set dark haired boy entering the Sandlot. Yuki remembered him from ages ago. The day they had had off to do whatever they liked. Her and Roxas had just goofed around with him and his friends for a bit.

"Um, Pence, right?" Sora asked. The boy nodded.

"Do you know a girl named Kairi?" Pence asked. Sora's eyes brightened as a smile crossed his face.

"K...Kairi!? I sure do!" he agreed.

"Then you better come to the station!" Pence said. Sora nodded before turning to Yuki.

"Yuki, are you coming too?" he asked. Yuki sighed putting a hand on her hip, raising her eyebrows in question.

"Sora, that is my sister. Of course I'm coming," she said.

Pence led them to the station plaza, though Yuki didn't need the guide. She supposed she would allow Sora the time to be with his friends from other worlds. Not to mention who knew what was waiting for them. They probably needed Pence to get the information. But every second Yuki was near him her stomach tied itself into tighter knots. Just seeing him made her think of Roxas, laughing, playing a stupid game. Of times they had lost.

"Hey!" 

Yuki had hardly realized they had reached the station plaza. She only stopped because Sora had, his attention now focused on a blonde boy and girl with brown hair. The other two that were always with Pence. 

"Hey, so how do you guys know Kairi?" Soar asked, quickly passing by usual greetings. The two looked between each other sadly, their faces quickly falling. Yuki clenched her hands tightly. That couldn't be a good start.

"Well, we were in the usual spot when Kairi fell through this portal with a dog," the girl began to explain. Searching her memory Yuki thought her name was Olette.

"She talked to us for a while," the blonde boy, Hayner, if Yuki could remember correctly said.

"Kairi was really here?" Sora asked hopefully.

"Yeah. And...she said she was looking for you," Hayner said. Yuki frowned hearing the hesitation in his voice.

"Tell me where she is," Sora said. His fist tightened as he looked between the three others. They all looked at each other, seeming to silently decide who would deliver what terrible news they had to give.

"Well..." Hanyer began.

"After she was with us for a while, and told us her story, this guy with red hair and a black cloak came through another portal and took her!" Olette finished. Yuki felt her breath catch in her throat, her mouth hanging slightly open. Her fist unclenched as she looked down to the brick ground. It made sense now, why Saix had been looking for Axel, and what he had meant. But why Kairi?

"Kairi," Sora said looking down at the lucky charm in his hand. He frowned as he slipped the charm into his pocket.

"Ya think it mighta been Axel?" Goofy asked. Yuki was surprised it had clicked so soon with any of them, but she couldn't bring herself to confirm it. She needed to hear what Axel had to say first.

"Sorry..." Hayner said dejectedly.

"Hey, it's not your fault. C'mon, cheer up!" Sora said, forcing a smile. It quickly dropped as he looked at the ground. "Like I can even say that," he sighed. He was only looking down for a moment before he straightened up with new found motivation. "I gotta help Kairi!" he shouted.

His shout startled Goofy who dropped the trophy he was still carrying. The crystals the trophy held fell from their places rolling across the ground and landing at the feet of Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Sora. They all bent down to pick up the crystals and held them toward the light.

"That was close!" Pence said with a chuckle. Yuki nodded glancing at Sora. Her breath caught again as she fought the urge to cry out. Where Sora should have been standing she saw a blonde boy staring up at the sky. He glanced at Yuki and smiled softly. Yuki couldn't move to return the smile.

"Sora!?"

"Sora! Are you ok?"

Yuki blinked and shook her head. Looking back it was Sora, seeming to come out of a trance. Brown hair and black clothes, not white. The same blue eyes.

"Huh? What?" Sora asked, not seeming to realize anything was wrong. Goofy frowned looking at an orange pouch in his hand. Olette seemed to want to say something but was stopped by the crystal in Sora's hand glowing. He made a motion with his key, something Yuki didn't fully understand, but Donald and Goofy didn't look surprised.

"Wh-what just happened?" Pence asked.

"A new road is open. And Kairi and Riku are waiting somewhere along it," Sora said with a nod, looking away from the sky.

"You better hurry, then," Olette said with a smile.

"You comin' back?" Hayner asked.

"Promise!" Sora confirmed. He turned to Yuki with a hopeful smile. "Are you coming too?" he asked. Yuki smiled at him softly. Half of her wanted to say yes, and the other half screamed to end this now. She was becoming very good at ignoring that half of her mind. Her heart.

"I'll meet up with you later. There's something I want to check first," she said calmly. Sora nodded.

"Ok. See ya later," he said.

"Right," Yuki agreed hollowly. If Sora knew where she was going she doubted he would be so eager to see her again. But she needed answers, and very few people could give her those answers.

Yuki wandered away, but not for long. Just long enough the group o Twilight Town kids would be gone and Sora and his friends would have left. Long enough that she could get to the top of the clock tower without drawing any questions to herself.

The top of the clock tower was the safest place she could think of. Despite the risk of falling, which had happened before, nearly. It was the place everything slowed down enough Yuki could think. And she wasn't the only one who seemed to think that.

Axel was perched at the edge of the clock tower, his leg pulled up to his chest like it often was. His bright red hair matched the suns rays as it fell below the horizon. Yuki held back a chuckle seeing him.

"And I'm the predictable one," Yuki said calmly. Axel looked over his shoulder at her lazily, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"Snowy, what a surprise. Thought you were down there with Sora," he said nodding towards the station plaza below them. Yuki shrugged as she sat down beside him, leaving spots open for Roxas and Xion, as if they would join them as soon as their missions were complete.

"I was, and I found out something interesting from that," she said.

"Really, what might that be?" Axel asked. Yuki could hear the bitterness in his tone. Did he blame her for being near Sora? Did he think she wasn't trying to save Roxas just as hard? Yuki shook her head. None of that mattered. She had to focus on what she could do. And she could get some answers out of him.

"Where's Kairi?" Yuki asked.

"What? Axel asked, seeming confused.

"Where is Kairi? I know you're the one who took her. Where is she?" Yuki asked turning to look at Axel with narrowed eyes that looked like shards of ice. Axel met her glare with surprisingly wide green eyes. He swallowed and looked away.

"I don't know," he said.

"You don't know? How can you not know?" Yuki asked, feeling anger surge up in her. He was the one who took her, he didn't deny it. And he hadn't offered an explanation either. But he had somehow lost sight of her.

"Saix tracked us down. He took her," Axel explained. Yuki clenched her fists.

"You let her get taken by them?" Yuki asked. It was bad enough she had been taken. At least if Axel had her Yuki was fairly certain she wouldn't get hurt. Axel was not some kind of vicious person who delighted in others pain. He would at least be sure she wasn't hurt. But Saix, Yuki didn't trust him. He would torture her if he thought it would help the Organization get to Sora. He was a true heartless.

"I don't see why you're so upset," Axel said, frowning.

"Axel, she's my sister! Why wouldn't I be upset!?" Yuki snapped. Axel's head whipped to look at her, his eyes wide. He blinked a few times before lowering his gaze.

"I-I didn't think you remembered that," he muttered.

"Remembered what?" Yuki asked frowning.

"Nothing, it's nothing," Axel said quickly trying to brush it off.

"No it's not! Tell me! What do you know?" Yuki asked, leaning toward Axel. Were they always so far apart? Axel glanced over his shoulder at her and sighed.

"Kiu."

Yuki froze as the name left his lips. She stared at him in shock, blinking as her mind reeled. He couldn't have said what she thought he did. That just wasn't possible. Her hearing was failing along with her vision today. It was just constant weird thing after weird hallucinations.

"What?" Yuki asked.

"Kiu," Axel repeated, confirming Yuki hadn't misheard him. "That was your name, wasn't it?" he asked looking at her sadly.

"How did you know that? I haven't told anyone what my name was," Yuki asked. Axel sighed and looked away rubbing the back of his head like he always did.

"When I was a Someone, Kiu was practically my little sister. That kid could run all over town, and I was always the one watching her. Never bothered me, I liked the kid plenty. She was something else. When I met you, I thought you were familiar. I didn't know right away. I knew the letters of your name fit, but it could have been something else. I was never sure. But I always hoped," he explained quietly. Yuki stared at him in shock. She couldn't remember much about Kiu, just a few things. And Axel, he had almost known the entire time. 

Yuki sighed looking away. She couldn't blame him for not saying anything. She didn't know until rather recently. And she never saw herself as Kiu. She wasn't Kiu.

"Axel, what are you trying to do?" Yuki asked.

"If Sora loses his heart, Roxas will come back. What better way to get to his heart than through one of his friends?" Axel asked. Yuki sighed again. He wasn't wrong. Sora's heart was tightly bound to his friends.

"She's my friend too," Yuki pointed out.

"Look, I wasn't expecting Saix to take her from me. I didn't mean for her to get hurt. I just want Roxas back," Axel explained. Yuki nodded, glancing at the space between them. The place for Roxas.

"So do I," she said. Axel looked at her hopefully. She looked away before continuing. "But, Y's right. A life is a life. We'll find a way to save Roxas, just not that way."

"What other options do we have?" Axel asked, desperation creeping into his voice. Yuki swallowed tears filling her eyes.

"I don't know," she forced out. "What are we supposed to do?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"Wish I knew Snowy, wish I knew," Axel said softly. Yuki sighed and closed her eyes, ignoring the tears falling down her cheeks.