Light From the Past

Dreams and Memories

The Next Day

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In the Round Room, Xemnas informed the assembled Organization members of Lelie and Xion's disappearance. He continued by prohibiting anyone from pursuing them. 

Unhappy with Xemnas's decision, Roxas argued that they should search for the two girls, but was told that all will become clear when the time came. Xemnas concluded the meeting with those words.

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====Time Skip====

The Next Day

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The days passed without Xion and Lelie.

Axel no longer came to the usual spot and Roxas sat alone, eating his ice cream.

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18 Days Later

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Roxas looked out to the ocean. He was on the beach, still sad about Xion and Lelie. He picked up a shell, and he thought sadly of Xion. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the waves and the gulls flying overhead. A different noise suddenly entered his ears.

"Roxas!" a voice yelled. Roxas gasped.

"Lelie? What are you doing here?" Roxas said quickly, watching the dark-haired teen walk up to him. "You and Xion disappeared, then Xemnas said we couldn't search for you... Wait. Where's Xion?"

Lelie frowned and looked past Roxas. Roxas turned to see Xion, hooded, only a short distance away. Roxas ran to her. When he got close, he stopped.

"Xion!" he yelled. The coated figure didn't answer. Roxas looked back to where Lelie was on the beach. She was gone. Roxas gasped and looked back to the figure. The figure turned toward him. As the figure pulled down their hood, the world seemed to glitch. 

Roxas gasped again. The figure wasn't Xion but....Zexion? Roxas blinked. Wasn't Zexion dead?

"Surely... you must have known that this was going to happen," Zexion said, talking to someone behind Roxas.

"Why would I know?" a voice snapped. Roxas turned to see a boy with silver hair. Lelie stood close to him. She wasn't wearing the Organization coat, but a short blue dress. Her blue eyes were narrowed at Zexion as she stood by the boy. 

Roxas's gaze darted between Zexion and the boy with Lelie. No one seemed to know he was there. 

"Because, in your memory, you've been to a number of worlds before you came to this one," Zexion said. All the voices seemed to mix together. "And of course, in those worlds, the only being you met were the dark kind." Roxas clutched his head, which was pounding. "That's all that's left in your heart: the darkest of memories. You're memories of home are gone- every one." Roxas fell onto the ground. The world flickered again.

"That's a lie! I remember everyone from the islands!" the boy protested, though the voices were still muffled and mushed together. Roxas's appearance changed, he looked like Xion.

"They're my...my...my closest friends....along with Lexi"

Lexi? Roxas struggled to think. He groaned. He changed again, this time looking like the silver-haired boy.

"And who threw away those friends?" Zexion sneered. "Maybe it's your own actions you've forgotten. It was you who destroyed your home!" 

Roxas changed once more, into a boy with spiky brown hair and blue eyes.

====Time Skip====

???

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Xion was still as limp as when the silver-haired man first found her.

"Who am I?" Xion muttered weakly. "What am I...here for?" The man became uncomfortable as he remembered his talk with Naminé.

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"We meet again," Naminé said calmly.

"You made me a promise," the man reminded her.

"I remember. It was to look after Sora." Naminé looked down sadly. "I'm sorry... I'm not sure I've kept that promise very well."

"Can you tell me what's happening?" the man asked.

"Some of Sora's memories are missing," Naminé explained. 

The man was quiet for a moment. "How could that be?"

"Sora's memories are escaping through Sora's Nobody into a third person, and now they're starting to become a part of her."

The man thought. "Isn't there a way to bring back just Sora's memories?"

"If they're still separate... then I think I can take out fragments of it. But if her memories and Sora's memory fragments are completely weaved together..." Naminé picked up her sketchbook that was in front of her. "I would need to untangle them from each other and that would take more time. Which means it would take even longer before Sora can wake up again. And DiZ wouldn't tolerate that." 

"So what can you do?"

"If I just jump in and rearrange her memory, then Sora might make up only to find out that nobody remembers him anymore." Both of them went quiet. "That's a risk I just can't take," Naminé finally said. "It's too late either way. Sora's awakening has already been delayed. Sora's Nobody and the one that's absorbing his memory... None of us imagined that they would fight so hard to become their own people. Unfortunately, the only real solution... is for them both to go away." The man stayed quiet. "Did you know her face was blank at first? But now... there is a face that is clearly visible. I think that's proof that she has entered Sora's memories. Sora's memories, Sora's Nobody's memories, and her memories...They're all a jumbled mess now. And to put them back into one... I'm afraid there's no other way."

"Alright."

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The man now felt guilty. But he still knew what must happened. The man looked up to see Roxas running into a Dark Corridor, a different girl tried to stop him, but he was gone. The new girl's hood was up, and her face wasn't visible. She turned and walked deeper into the island. 

The man looked back at Xion, who was dreaming about the beach...

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Xion's Dream

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Xion sat on a tree on the small island. Roxas sat next to her, and Axel and Lelie stood on her other side.

"Is it that I'm not supposed to exist?" she asked, looking down. Everyone looked at her.

"Well, what do you want to do, Xion?" Axel asked.

"I want..." Xion started, "I want to be with you three." She clasped her hands together. Roxas sat one hand on top of hers.

"Then come back with us," he said gently, with a smile.

"I can't... Not the way I am now," Xion said sadly. Lelie closed her eyes like she understood. The boys looked shocked. "But... what would it take for me to be like you?"

No one answered.