Light From the Past

Xion

A few days later, Lelie snuck out with Roxas and Axel to look for Xion. She had her pole in a holster under her coat, hidden. Though she was still a newbie, she was more than capable of handling Heartless. She still let Roxas and Axel handle the bigger Heartless though.

After a few hours of searching, they ended up fighting a giant lizard-shaped Heartless in front of a large mansion. A girl with short black hair and light blue eyes ran toward the Heartless. 

Roxas gasped. "Xion!"

The girl turned to him. "Roxas?" The Heartless knocked her aside.

"Xion!" Roxas yelled. He started to run towards her, but Axel stopped him.

"Roxas! We have to take that thing out first!" he said. Axel held up his hands and summoned two chakrams. Roxas summoned his Keyblade, which Lelie knew now was a very special weapon, and the two males charged at the Heartless. Lelie ran to Xion and summoned a large shield, protecting them while Roxas and Axel defeated the Heartless.

When the Heartless collapsed and disappeared, everyone allowed their weapons to vanish. Roxas ran over to Xion and Lelie. Xion was still laying on the ground. 

"Xion! Are you okay?" Roxas asked, distressed.

The girl groaned and sat up. "Roxas?" she muttered. 

Roxas bent down to help her up. "Easy. Are you hurt?" 

Xion stood up. "I'm fine... Thank you. It's just..."

"You can tell us all about it," Axel interrupted, "but why don't we head back first?"

Lelie nodded. "That sounds good."

====Time Skip====

A little while later, they were all sitting on the top of the tower. 

"There ya go," Axel said, handing the others a bar of ice cream.

"Thank you..." Xion whispered shyly. 

They all sat in silence for a while, slowly eating their ice cream. Lelie kept on glancing at Xion. Sometimes she would have her hood off, showing blue eyes, black hair, and a sad expression. But sometimes she would have her hood up and be expressionless. It kept changing. She didn't eat her ice cream. 

"Eat up. It's gonna melt," Roxas told Xion gently.

"Yeah..." Xion didn't look up.

"What wrong?" Lelie asked.

"I thought you'd wolf it down," Axel said, looking at hooded Xion.

"Did something happen?" Roxas asked.

"We're here for you if you want to get it off your chest," Lelie told her.

"Yeah. Right, Roxas?" Axel agreed. Roxas nodded.

"They're right. That's what friends are for," Roxas said. 

Xion looked at him, hood down. "I can't... I can't use the Keyblade anymore. And without the Keyblade, I can't do my job."

"What happened?" Lelie asked softly.

Xion didn't looked at them. "I don't know. But if I don't defeat Heartless with the Keyblade...the hearts they release will just find their way into other Heartless instead. I swat them in one place and they just pop up in another." She slowly turned to look at them. "My mission is to go out and collect hearts. If I'm unable to use the Keyblade...I'll...I'll be useless."

Roxas looked pleadingly at Axel. "Is there anything you can do, Axel?"

Axel frowned. "I wish there was, but... it's just like she said. Without the Keyblade, she can't collect hearts."

"And once they find out, they're gonna turn me into a Dusk," Xion whimpered.

"Really?" Lelie gasped. 

Roxas's eyes narrowed. "We can't do anything?"

Axel shook his head. "I already told you, there's nothing we ca-" He stopped, like an idea dawned on him. "Hold on..."

"Did you think of something?" Lelie asked excitedly.

Axel smiled and looked at them. "Roxas, you can work double duty!"

"Huh?" Roxas said.

"What do you mean?" Xion asked, hooded again.

"Xion, make sure your missions are with Roxas- until you can use the Keyblade again," Axel explained. "That way, he can collect the hearts, and no one will know that you can't use the Keyblade."

Roxas grinned. "That's it!"

Axel nodded. "But, that means you have to collect twice as many hearts."

"Yeah, I can do it," Roxas promised.

Xion's hood was off again. "Would you?"

"Of course I would!" Roxas said happily. 

"But-" Xion started.

"No buts! Friends need to lean on each other every now and then," Lelie insisted. "Isn't that right guys?"

Axel nodded. Roxas smiled even wider.

"We're friends..." Xion said softly, hooded again. "Axel...Lelie... does that mean you two and I are friends, too?"

"I don't see why not," Lelie said with a closed-eyes smiled, twisting a strand of her hair in a black-gloved hand.

Axel thought for a moment. "Well, if you're friends with Roxas, the yeah, of course you're my friend."

Xion didn't have her hood. She gave a small smile. "Thank you... Roxas, Axel, Lelie!"

"Just eat your ice cream," Axel told them. 

Lelie giggled as they all ate.

Even as something turned uneasy in her gut.