Groaning, your eyes flutter open as you start to take in your surroundings. It looks like you're in a gigantic backyard filled with trees and shrubbery, right next to a beautiful fountain. Something wet suddenly hits your face, and you fully roll over onto your back. You let out a tiny shriek as you find yourself face-to-face with a tiger that's staring down at you. It gently nudges your cheek, and you shakily reach out to give it a tiny pat on the head.
"Er... Hi?" you mutter awkwardly as you slowly crawl to your feet.
You turn around, your heart racing when you recognize the palace in front of you; you're back in Agrabah. You start to limp forward, absentmindedly grabbing your shoulder. You soon lose your balance, but the tiger gently catches you from behind and pushes you forward with his nose.
"Thanks," you tell him (or her?) as it starts to lead you towards the door leading into the Palace.
"Rajah, are you out here?" you hear a female's voice call out.
Suddenly, a beautiful woman wearing blue pants and a short blue top comes running out of the Palace, and her eyes immediately land on you. She takes a step back, frightened at your battered appearance.
"Who are you?!" she asks in a hushed voice.
"Jasmine, what's wrong?"
Your eyes dart to Aladdin, who walks out of the Palace and comes to a stop besides the woman, placing a hand on her shoulder as he follows her line of vision. He gasps when he spots you.
"[Name]! Oh my gosh, they've been worried sick about you!" he exclaims as you start limping towards them again, the tiger still gently pushing you. "This is the girl who went missing," he adds to Jasmine.
"Did someone say [Name]?" Zack asks as he strolls outside.
His bright blue eyes dart to you, and his mouth drops open.
"[Name]!" he cries out as he runs forward, grabbing you in his arms as your legs start to give out from under you. "What the hell happened to you?"
"I got shot," you tell him simply as Leon, Riku, and Xion run towards you as well.
"Who did this to you?" Leon asks as he starts to study the cut on your cheek.
"Some guy named Vanitas..."
"Vanitas...?" Xion repeats.
"As in the infamous Vanitas? The guy who tried to take over the worlds forever ago?" Riku asks in disbelief.
"I don't think this guy was alive forever ago, he looked like he was around Zack's age... But he looked exactly like Sora, just with darker hair and these really weird, yellow eyes."
Leon, Riku, and Zack all glance at each other.
"That's... exactly what Vanitas looked like. Dark hair, yellow eyes..." Leon finally says, looking back at you.
"So what, this guy never died? Or aged?" Xion asks.
"No, the original Vanitas died ages ago when he was killed by the Keybearer before Sora," Zack explains.
"Maybe they resurrected him somehow?" you suggest.
"Or it's a replica," Riku adds. Everyone gives him a skeptical look and he rolls his eyes. "Vexen can create replicas out of DNA; he made one of me a few years ago. My replica looked exactly like me, except he was much stronger and acted like a murderous monster."
"Well that's... horrifying," Xion mutters.
You grimace again as your shoulder suddenly stiffens up in pain.
"Can we get back home? There's still a bullet in my shoulder," you remind them through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, let's get out of here," Leon agrees as Zack lifts you up in his arms.
"I can send you guys home now, so you don't have to worry about flying," Genie offers.
"Thanks!" Xion tells him.
"We can't leave the ship here, though," Riku points out.
"How about you guys fly, and I'll get her home?" Zack suggests. "After all, since I'm 1st Class, I'm kinda in charge of this mission," he adds with a smile.
"... So am I," Leon points out with narrowed eyes.
"Too late, I already offered," Zack argues quickly before facing Genie. "Alright, we're ready."
"Thank you," you add to the Genie as he grins and touches your and Zack's shoulders.
In the blink of an eye, you're teleported back to Headquarters and appear in the middle of the living room. Zack sets you down on the couch, and quickly rips off the sleeve of your shirt covering your injured shoulder. He leans closer to you, studying the wound.
"The bullet's not very deep, I'm gonna try and pull it out," he tells you as he takes out a first aid kit from under the living room table.
He quickly puts hand sanitizer on his hands before pulling out cotton balls and hydrogen peroxide. You let out a yelp of pain as he dabs the wound with the peroxide, applying pressure to your shoulder.
"Guys, a little help!" Zack cries out as the cotton ball quickly becomes drenched with blood.
Roxas and Yuffie come running in, their eyes widening when they see you squirming on the couch and Zack kneeling over you.
"What happened?!" Yuffie asks as Roxas drops down onto his knees next to you.
"She got shot," Zack says as you bite down onto your lower lip in pain.
The hydrogen peroxide stung horribly, but at least the bleeding was finally starting to come to a stop. You glance over towards Zack, heart racing when you see a pair of tweezers in his hand.
"What's that for?!" you ask in panic.
"It'll be over before you know it," he replies as Roxas gently grabs your hand in his.
Your resulting screams were loud enough to wake the dead.
>> ONE WEEK LATER >>
"You're awake!"
You raise a hand up to your eyes and groggily rub them before you blink once, turning your head to the side. You immediately smile when you realize that you're surrounded by everyone as you nap on the couch.
"You guys do realize it's been a week since the attack, right?" you ask as you sit up straight.
"It's just nice to see you up and moving," Reno says.
You slowly glance down at your shoulder, frowning at the five stitches now on your arm. Zack had done a pretty good job at sewing you back up, but it was still swollen and bright red. For you, it wasn't just a scar; it was a reminder of your weakness.
"Feeling better?" Sora asks, sitting next to your knees on the couch.
"Just a little sore, but besides that I'm fine."
"Your cheek looks a lot better," Roxas agrees with a small smile.
"Thanks," you tell him, grinning up at him. "So, what have I missed? Anything interesting?"
"Not really. We ran into Xaldin, but he was able to get away," Cloud responds.
"The Organization has been pretty quiet," Genesis adds.
"That's too bad," you mutter with a frown.
Suddenly, you start to feel extremely drowsy. You raise a hand to your forehead, closing your eyes so as to steady your vision. You can feel Sora resting a hand on your knees before you fall back against the couch cushions, all of a sudden trapped in a deep sleep.
~-~-~-~-~-~ ♥ ~-~-~-~-~-~
All that's surrounding you is a blinding white light. You blink a couple of times, narrowing your eyes as you spot a black spot in the distance. Raising a hand to block the light from blinding you, you start to walk towards the darkness. Before you know it, you're standing in the middle of a long, narrow, all-white hallway, but the light is less blinding. You make your way down the hallway, glancing around you for any sign of life.
"Hello?" you finally call out.
You're greeted by silence. With a sigh you continue to walk, doing a double-take when you realize you had just walked past what appears to be a jail cell. You take a couple steps backwards, turning around to face the cell. Gingerly, you reach out and place a hand on the cell bars, peering inside. Your hands fly to your mouth when your eyes land on a redheaded man sitting inside of the cell, wearing black Organization robes. His feet are shackled together, and placed inside of a huge tub of water. His body is covered in bruises and scratches, and he looks absolutely defeated.
"Axel!" you cry out, pounding on the bars.
He continues to stare at the floor, his head in his hands. It's like he can't even hear you...
"Axel!!" you repeat even louder this time.
You start to frantically look around for an entrance into the cell, but there doesn't appear to be any way of getting in. You reach down to grab your sword, only to frown when you realize you're weaponless.
"What the hell?" you mutter angrily.
"Sorry, couldn't allow you to be armed."
You quickly snap around, your eyes landing on Zexion, who's standing behind you.
"Zexion?! What's going on? Why am I here?" you ask hurriedly.
He smiles sadly as he takes a step closer to you, his eyes darting to Axel.
"Sadly, this is only a dream. If I were to actually bring you here, I'd be killed in a second. But I want you to see what's happening, with Axel."
You glance back at the redhead and sigh.
"I thought he said he was indestructible..." you murmur.
"Not as long as they keep him in water. He can't use his element this way," Zexion explains.
"Well, why can't we help him? Or, more importantly, why can't YOU help him?!"
"Because I'm not about to be killed," he replies simply. "But we both know he doesn't deserve this fate."
"What fate?"
"... He's going to be killed, at midnight. For treason and betrayal. But you can help him, [Name]."
"How??" you ask, reaching a hand out to touch his arm. "Please, I need to know. This is all my fault..."
Zexion smiles slightly as he places a hand on your shoulder.
"Tell Roxas that Axel's imprisoned at the Castle. He'll know what to do. Good luck."
~-~-~-~-~-~ ♥ ~-~-~-~-~-~
You sit up with a large gasp, heart racing as your eyes land on Roxas. So it had been a dream...
"What the hell was that? You had just finished talking and all of a sudden you passed out!" Noctis exclaims.
You quickly stand to your feet, brushing off Zack as he tries to get you to sit down again.
"Zexion just came to me, in my dream, and... Axel, he's in big trouble!" you exclaim, walking towards Roxas before you grab the blond's hand in yours.
"... Are you hallucinating?" Roxas asks, holding a hand up to your forehead.
You smack his hand away before glancing around the room.
"I hadn't told you guys this because I didn't want it to be true, but the only reason I'm standing here now is because Axel arrived and saved my life... He fought off Vanitas, but then he returned before we could get away, with Vexen..."
"I knew Vanitas was a replica!" Riku interrupts as you shoot him a glare. "Sorry," he adds, dropping his head.
"Anyway, Axel created a portal and shoved me through so I wouldn't get hurt. He told Vexen that he was switching to our side, and leaving the Organization," you continue.
"He did?!" Roxas asks breathlessly as you nod.
"Yes! And now he's in a prison cell, in some castle. Zexion told me that you'd be able to help..." you tell Roxas.
"I'm so confused," Reno mutters as Sora nods in agreement.
"Roxas... Please, take me to him! It's my fault he's in there," you beg, ignoring the others as you continue to hold onto his hand.
"But-"
"Listen, I know you guys have a bad history or something, but you guys used to be best friends, right? You can't just let him die, can you?" you point out.
He sighs, shaking his head as he finally raises a hand and creates a portal.
"Fine, but I'm going with you," he agrees.
"Whoa, you're still healing from a bullet wound! You're not going!" Xion orders.
You gently bite on your lower lip before darting to the portal, dragging Roxas behind you.
"We'll be back before you know it!" you call out before the portal disappears, along with you and Roxas.
"She's so damn stubborn!" Yuffie complains as all of the guys shake their heads.