Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Behind the Smoke Screen ❯ Noticing ( Chapter 13 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Note to Disclaimers: I do not and nev er will own Kingdom Hearts 1, 2 or Chain of Memories
soâ€¦please do NOT sue me. I have absolutely nothing&n bsp;to give you, should you decide to.&nb sp;
A/N: Chapter 13 has been posted!! I apologize for taking extremely long to ;come out with
this chapter. Lifeâ&euro ;¦just happened so quickly. Amongst other&n bsp;things. However, it is finally
here for those of you who are still following it. There is still boy/boy love, sexual assault,
domestic violence, rape, molestatio n, cutting, drugs abuse, etc. Therefore, the& nbsp;warning
completely applies. If you find& nbsp;it offensive or inappropriate, I suggest ;you stop reading
immediately and no bla me any bullshit on me or the website.&nb sp;Thank you. On with the story.
Word coding: 'Thoughts' , "Speaking", Random flashbacks or other stuff,Everything else
:THERE IS SUPPOSED TO BE A LINE BREAK HERE:
NOTICING
The ;night was warm but the sky had definite ly darkened some hours ago. Larxene strolled& nbsp;at an
even pace though her body&nbs p;was anything but calm. Tension coursed thro ugh her veins like a bad
habit as&n bsp;she made her way towards Sunset Hill.&nbs p;The fact that she'd even allowed Marluxia&n bsp;into
her private domain of comfort w as something she did not understand, let ;alone think about when
it happened. But now, the aftermath was making her wonde r if she should have thought better of&n bsp;
it. Her eyes wandered, darting quickly&nb sp;at people as they passed by her in&nb sp;the evening air, thinking
that perhaps,&nb sp;there could have been a better time t o show Marluxia the place that she dread ed so
much. She knew, though she wo uld show him that she would not tell&nbs p;him her exact feelings on
the place.&n bsp;But the nagging that he needed to kn ow these things had not gone away and&nb sp;she was
sure now, mostly after Demyx' s confession that he too was somehow con nected to the
disgustingly perverted and ;twisted web that her step-father had weaved& nbsp;over so many years ago.
"Soâ€ ¦why, if I may ask, are we here,& nbsp;Nymph?" Marluxia's brown hair shone brilliant silver at the
crown in the magnifi cent moonlight. His sapphire eyes were dark&n bsp;but focused as she leaned
against th e wall across from him, her hands to&nbs p;the granite like her back. His mind po ndered their
interlude, as she remained quiet. Not usually so impatient, he found&nbs p;himself slightly agitated that
she wasn't&n bsp;being more forthcoming with her weird rea soning and explanations. Larxene's sea
green& nbsp;eyes flashed menacingly as she directed her eyes back toward the twinkling sky, glad that
the sun was gone so they& nbsp;were semi-shrouded by the dark night. "I told youâ€¦there's something I& nbsp;wantâ€¦that you should see," she replied somewhat nastily
though her eye s appeared far away. "Godâ€¦you're&nb sp;an impatient person."
"It's midnight. I&nb sp;have a life, incase your pretty little&nbs p;head seems to have forgotten!" He snapped&n bsp;
with an air of arrogance. "And, if&n bsp;I may be so bold as to say, Mis s Larxene, your sour attitude
and compla cent mien does everything but make me wa nt to help with your plight!"
She r olled her eyes again. "Yeah, yeahâ€&brv bar;whatever. Don't have a heart attack, cryb aby.
Anywayâ€¦follow me."

G ingerly, he followed her over the edge o f the hill that looked like it dropped&n bsp;off into a dark
depth of oblivion.&n bsp;He could see the trains going by as& nbsp;he climbed after her, annoyed that his&n bsp;
favoriteâ€”and almost only pair&nb sp;ofâ€”pants were starting to get&nbs p;grass stains. He was still mentally
ra ving about his jeans when he felt someth ing tugging at his shirt. Aghast, he pee red up only to
realize that his shi rt had a rip in the shoulder where a jagged weed-like branch had dug in
through the cotton. Furious about his cloth es, and the fact that Larxene was alread y more than
halfway down the hill, he wrenched the branch from the feeble m ud where its broken root once
existed.&n bsp;For a moment he felt a tinge of ;distress for the plant but vowed to giv e it a proper send-
off for his lack of composure. He hardly ever harmed pla nts, being the poster-boy for "literal
l ove of nature." With a sigh, Marluxia ma de his final descent of the hill to ;where Larxene was
tapping her foot and& nbsp;looking utterly annoyed at his distraction;&n bsp;she said nothing about the root in his hand. However, he felt that her look of irritation and disgust said enough&nb sp;to last the night. He
made a dis gusted noise of his own as he thought&nb sp;about her look. Up ahead, she rolled her eyes as
they made their way to& nbsp;the undermost parts of the Traverse Town /Twilight Town Bridge that
connected the ;two polar opposite cities.
Marluxia scrunche d his nose at the putrid smells and ;odors that drifted up from the wet dirt that
lay beneath their feet. The s tone walls of the bridge looked stained with piss and they could both
see s ome homeless and junkies lined up against&nbs p;its surface in the distance. Suddenly, he&n bsp;felt like
they weren't in Twilight T own anymore. 'Traverse Town?' He thought.&n bsp;'Why the hell did we just
go ;to come back?' Aggravated, he sprinted, as gracefully as possible, towards Larxene on ly to
grab her shoulder and whirl h er around. She responded with an automatic&nb sp;punch to his nose,
which he blocked&n bsp;deftly, that should have sent him flying. He smirked as her fist stayed
conn ected to his forearm. She narrowed her s ea green spheres at this, flashing slight&nbs p;malice.
"What gives, flower?"
"Why, as it seems I must constantly ask you ;questions, did you have me come to Twil ight Town
in order to simply cross right back?" He demanded this of her, hi s blue eyes burning.
"The only way to where we're going is under this bridg e, Moogle Bridge. There is no access
topside and Xaldin's gang will be waiting&n bsp;for us. Listen, I know where I'm goi ng, what I'm doing
and I'd prefer i t if you just shut up and followed, ;understand?"
His eyes turned to immediate&nb sp;slits as he shoved her fist off his&n bsp;forearm, moving with a finesse
and s trength and speed she hadn't known he po ssessed. It was only slightly alarming for&nb sp;her to
find her back pressed against& nbsp;the rancid wall, her arms stretched stra ight outwards to their full
length with& nbsp;his hands holding them in place. Feeling devious as his cobalt hued eyes burned& nbsp;into
her own iridescent pair, Larxene&nb sp;gave a small sigh in response to his& nbsp;threat. Her arms throbbed as
he pre ssed his knuckles closed as his grip tig htened on her flesh. Her chest heaved wi th strange
exhilaration that seemed to s tem from the rush of his sudden bouts&nb sp;of authority and challenge;
the heat building from strange excitement spilled over ;the top of her tank top. Marluxia watch ed
with odd interest as a bead of&n bsp;sweat slid down the side of her face only to continue its journey
down her neck until it ended somewhere between&nbs p;the valley of her breasts. Sucking in a breath,
he was surprised to hear Larxene's breath leave her lips, shaky in&nbs p;its wake.

"Youâ€¦are truly&nbs p;a special young woman, savage as you a re," he whispered, lips next to her ear& nbsp;as
she breathed on him in return.&n bsp;
The sensations she caused to course through his body were not completely foreign& nbsp;to him, as he
was a healthy yo ung male with a healthy sexual appetite long before he'd met Larxene. However,
t he fact that she was even able to a rouse those long dormant feelingsâ€”sh allow as they may beâ€”
was a feat in itself. Not very many people,&n bsp;and not very much of anything for th at matter, were
able to get past th e exterior wall and shell of his outer&n bsp;protective fort. But they way she was&nbs p;
looking at him in that moment caused&n bsp;something to stir as their staring match& nbsp;continued, her
green eyes steady to ;his own deep blue pair. They were so&nb sp;close now, too, with his lips just inches from hers and the stillness of ;her figure seemingly aiding in the queer&nbs p;silence settling over
them. Even the h eat, which was a direct result of Twilig ht Town, appeared to add to the
atm osphere as Marluxia moved in closer, their&nb sp;noses scant inches apart. The coolness und er the
drafty bridge could not quell&nbs p;the heat, either, as her eyes slid clo sed. His did the same as their
brea th intermingled. 'So closeâ€¦' ;Larxene thought as she felt heat rush t o her cheeks; she could
almost taste&nbs p;his sweat, the sweet aroma of flowers creeping into her mouth through his along&nbs p;
with the scent of eucalyptus. 'He t ruly is a man of nature,' she mused& nbsp;quietly as his hands moved
from her arms to interlace his bare fingers with her own gloved pair.
She inhaled s harply at this, her chest heaving with a drenaline fueled anticipation as his hair
brushed the pale skin of her cheek, hi s lips traveling slightly down her cheekbone. She felt the
white, hot fire cours e through her veins as his scent, also&n bsp;slightly musky, washed over her senses. Their lips were practically touching when ;a loud boom resounded from the end of&n bsp;the tunnel.
And just like that, the& nbsp;moment was, seemingly, lost.
Marluxia je rked away as a sigh made its way th rough his lips, practically silent and utterl y
disappointed. For her part, Larxene wa s aggravated beyond all belief as she la y against the wall,
staring murderously up at where the loud noise had emanated. Her body was crawling with
disappointed expectation as their interlude left her ;in a state of frustrated arousal. As fo r
Marluxia, the brown haired man was&nbs p;biting dangerously hard on his own tongue&n bsp;from the
interruption. How he wanted ;her, every fiber of his being tingling as he closed his eyes to relive
the moment that was shattered. She was digg ing her own nails so deep into the palm of her hand
she thought she mi ght draw blood sooner than later. The si lence couldn't reign much longer and
Lar xene let out a string of almost whispere d curses as she made her way back t owards their
original destination. Just as&nb sp;quiet, Marluxia resumed his pace behind he r by more inches than
previously left.&n bsp;The tension did not seem to ease no& nbsp;matter how long they walked or how much
noise seemed to spring from the&nbs p;dredges of Traverse Town.
They were al most to the end of the overhang they'd&n bsp;been walking towards when she stopped. Marluxia, who had, thankfully, been lagging&nbs p;behind in thought, barely managed to stop&n bsp;a good 3
or 4 feet away. Nevert heless, he could still see the view she& nbsp;was pointing to with her gloved
fin ger, her posture hostile and face pale s et stone in the moonlight. He glanced do wn at what
appeared to be a rather& nbsp;large, luxurious mansion clearly located on&n bsp;the outskirts of town and
secluded l ike no other. It was painted a great,&nb sp;bright white with what looked like 7 stories. Each

floor was complimented wit h strange symbols and shining fluorescent lig hts that seemed to light
up anything&nbs p;within a quarter mile radius. Luckily, they were much farther away than that.
Larxene remained perfectly still as she stare d; Marluxia raised an eyebrow at this, t hinking the
cautious approach was best.
"So, savage nymph, what is the glorious& nbsp;occasion for this lovely yet irksome vie w?" He asked
with a perfect gentleman&nb sp;voice even though the blood wouldn't seem& nbsp;to quit rushing to his groin
for&nb sp;a good few minutes before deciding to ;re-circulate. She didn't so much as move.&nb sp;"Miss
Larxene?"
"Hereâ€¦this is where it happened. This is whereâ&eu ro;¦both our lives changed," she replied,&n bsp;solemn
but serious. "Myâ€¦step-fa therâ€¦that bastardâ€¦this is where he changed everything. This is wh ere
the birth of Kingdom Hearts Incorpor ated began, almost 10 years ago." Larxene&nbs p;tried her hardest
to keep her cool&nbs p;composure as the blood continued to course& nbsp;through like an endless fire, like
electricity lighting her body to new temperat ures. The mere presence of Marluxia was enough to
drive her crazy as she tr ied to control her thoughts and focus th em on why she had brought him
there in the first place. "This place, my&nbs p;old home, is where he started his sadi stic, disgusting rise
to power, the sick fuck. Weâ€¦were some of the&nbs p;first pawns, some of the first experiments,
Flower man. Demyx wasn't lying. His&nbs p;dad sure as hell was in cahoots with&n bsp;this loathsome piece
of shit. I thin k that maybe, according to what Demyx re vealed, that you're family was one of th e
many "sold" into medical experimentation&nb sp;for my step-father's business to grow, one of the first
few at that."
Ma rluxia felt the color drain from his fac e at the finishing of her sentence, his& nbsp;eyes widening
against their own accord,& nbsp;his composure failing him in her wake&nb sp;though she didn't bother to look
at&n bsp;him. 'One of the first fewâ€&brv bar;' He dug through his memory in o rder to remember something that
might re semble that he and his family had been&n bsp;sold into this hell but could pull n othing from his
mind. Jacob had died&nbs p;awfully young but he was sure that it& nbsp;had everything to do with the
const ant beatings from Lionel. Then, suddenly, he& nbsp;remembered something, a painful memory
t hat shot through to the core of his ;being. His body shook as he stumbled ba ckwards and
managed to grab hold of ;a tree branch before he fell. Larxene w hirled around to face him, truly
surpris ed as she saw him leaning against the&nb sp;tree with a pained expression on his finely chiseled
features. She would have ;rushed to his aid had she been any ;other person; but being Larxene had
its self-inflicted disadvantages. Therefore she stood stone still in her spot as she lis tened to his
heavy breathing. He looked& nbsp;magnificently handsome in the beam of mo onlight drifting through
the clear sky a bove, but he also looked pale and wan,&n bsp;not tan and dark as he usually did.& nbsp;
Curiosity got the best of her, as&n bsp;always.
"Flowerâ€¦?"
"I reme mberâ€¦" he trailed as he sighed shakily. He wasn't sure he wanted to&nb sp;actually reveal
anything to her, not just yet. Even though they were, technically, working together, he wasn't
sure he&nbs p;was going to let her know so much ;about him. He knew they didn't consider ;each other
friends or trustworthy partners;& nbsp;so he was personally ill-advised to tell her much more. Shaking
his head, h e stood up straight again and made his&n bsp;way towards her side. She gave him a curious

look over but when he ;said nothing, he shrugged and returned her&n bsp;stare back to the brightly
shining m ansion with its glimmering 7 floors. He shifted his weight from foot to foot as& nbsp;he
awaited the continuation of her story. "Is thereâ€¦more?"
"Of th is place?" She gestured towards the place.&nb sp;"Possibly. I never was allowed past the&nb sp;1st
floor. There may be a basement&nb sp;levels. But I can't be sure myself. I â€¦never wanted to venture
down& nbsp;there either." She let out a heavy sigh as Marluxia walked closer to the ed ge of the ledge,
his body tense and his face apprehensive as he looked down with her. Larxene was sure that her&nbs p;
own absent-minded response was not satisfyi ng him. Not that she was particularly co ncerned.
However, she did feel as though she had successfully shown him what she felt he needed to see.
This is&nbs p;what they needed to take down and he&n bsp;had to see it. "I know you're going& nbsp;to ask me some
smart ass question&n bsp;Flower Boy, so let me just spit it&n bsp;out before I don't feel like it." Ma rluxia gave
her a sordid look, his mind seemingly elsewhere. "If you're history is intertwined in this mess,
and you're& nbsp;really willing to help me, then you ;definitely needed to see this. All of i tâ€¦this is what
we're up a gainst. Thisâ€¦disgusting, perverted excus e for a human beingâ€¦he is ;who I have to
keep away from my&ac irc;€¦life. Iâ€¦"
He nodd ed quietly, his own thoughts drifting in ;and out of her statements and his memor ies. It
was like a horrible chain o f pain, sadness, illusion and ugly truth ;that he didn't want to
remember, ever.& nbsp;"It doesn't, I'm afraid, ever go away.&n bsp;Even after you've dispatched him from
earth, or whatever plan you're formulating, ;unless you can move onâ€¦he wil l never go away."
His eyes closed s lowly as he tried to heed his own w ise advice but failed miserably. 'Who am&n bsp;I
kidding? I sound like a cop-out&nb sp;loser who runsâ€¦I'm not living&nb sp;up to my namesake,' he thought as ;
Larxene turned away from the mansion. H e could feel her somberness, the discomfort&n bsp;and anger
coming off her in thick&nb sp;waves as he brought his attention back&nbs p;to her face, which was slightly
hidden by her stance. Yet the moonlight did&nb sp;cast an eerie but beautiful shadow across& nbsp;the pale
expanse of her cheekbones and eyes. Her shoulders were not hunched ;though her posture
signified a possible ;breakdown of tears. 'And who will soothe& nbsp;her? Certainly not myselfâ€¦unless&nb sp;I
fancied ending up without a limb.'
"We should get back. I suppose you have work tomorrow?" She started making&n bsp;her way back up
the hill towards&nbs p;Twilight Town, her eyes scrunched in slight depression. She wanted to give in,
oh how she did. But as they came c loser and closer to the upward slant of& nbsp;the hill Larxene
realized that a si ngle tear had managed to escape. Mortified,&n bsp;she quickly wiped her eye while
Marl uxia held his face to the dazzling sky&n bsp;above. He didn't appear to have noticed&n bsp;anything as he
walked behind her, si lent and absorbed in his own thoughts. A s Larxene gripped the edge of the
b rick wall she felt the tears well up&nbs p;even more now that one had already lea ked out of her
eyelids; she shook h er head. 'I can't let them come out,& nbsp;I can't!' Pushing aside the terrible ;
thoughts of her past, she quickly grabb ed onto the nearest tree branch and bega n to climb. She
could hear Marluxia ;following suit although he was grumbling ang rily as they ascended
upwards. However, she didn't have time to dwell on it ;before he was walking away from her, silent and without so much as a goodb ye as he headed back towards Traverse To wn. She stood to
watch him go, hidd en behind the pillars of her mansion gat e as he vanished into the darkness of&nb sp;
the woods surrounding her house. Once ;he was nothing more than a mere speck&n bsp;in the distance
Larxene fell back ag ainst the surface of her sanctuary, her home that kept the rest of the world&nbs p;

away. The gates were closed now a nd she could stop pretending. All the li ghts in the house were
out too, sig nifying that all the other occupants had ;gone home or were sleeping.
She mumbled angrily to herself as she stared up&nbs p;at the moon as a semi-warm breeze blew past,
tickling her skin in the nig ht. Everything she had come to know, all the protective barriers she's
erected, all the hard work she did to appear ;tough had crumbled with one look of him and his
damn enchanting sapphire blue&n bsp;eyes. She hit her head against the c olumn as she scolded herself
for being&n bsp;so silly, for allowing a man to brea k her downâ€”again. This time the breaking was
immensely different but no netheless, she felt the anger and despair&nbs p;well up inside her as she
realized&nbs p;that Marluxia was nothing like anyone she&n bsp;had ever come in contact with, not i n so
many years. Sure, her bastard of a step-father was a piece of work&nbs p;as were all associated with
him; but&n bsp;Marluxia was, too. It irked her, the ;strange mystery he held, and the enigma ;that he was,
in general. He had re vealed very little in the months he'd be en around and Demyx had all but
giv en her better explanation. She knew he h ad a brother, courtesy of the musician's ;fear of his
friend. Other than the ;fact that his past was intertwined with ;her own sick "step" family, she
knew&nb sp;nothing more about him. She didn't even&nb sp;know if she wanted to find out more&n bsp;information.
Her genuine interest in him& nbsp;might end up becoming a weakness, a ;hindrance in her grand plans
to take&nb sp;down Mr. Sumitse once and for all. Sh e'd been waiting for the perfect opportunity& nbsp;to rid
the earth of his foul e xistence. That the circumstances in which the opportunity was presented
were so dire& nbsp;was something that drove her desire to&n bsp;kill him even more.
"Fucking asshole&acir c;€¦he's going to die, and I'm go ing to enjoy killing him," she muttered as she
pulled a kunai from his pock et, holding it up to the shining moonlig ht just as thunder boomed
and lightning& nbsp;cracked in the distance. It was almost&n bsp;as if the elements heeded her call a s she
turned to walk back into the& nbsp;house. She could feel the cellular phone in her pocket buzz madly
and she&n bsp;was suddenly annoyed that she'd gone to&n bsp;buy a new one in the first place.&nb sp;'I should've left
the piece of shit&n bsp;broken.' She quickly fished it out of&nbs p;her pocket, with some difficulty due to&nbs p;her
pant pockets being so tight, and&n bsp;flipped it open without a second thought. "Hello?"
"Ah, lovely Larxene, what is&n bsp;it that fascinates you so that you c ome to stare at my abode so late at night?"
She gritted her teeth as&n bsp;her temper flared from 1 to 10 in&nb sp;seconds. "You were spying on me, you
sick fuck?"
"But it seems you were& nbsp;spying on me with your little pink-haire d friend," he snapped back, his
voice&nb sp;holding sinister sarcasm. "I daresayâ€&br vbar;is heâ€¦your boyfriend? I would& nbsp;very much hate to
have toâ€&b rvbar;get rid of him. But if you continu e to bring him around with you, I w ill have to do so
most emphatically."&nb sp;
"What the fuck are you talking about& nbsp;you crazy bastard?" She hissed as she&nb sp;fell into the shadows
of the mansion& nbsp;porch just as a light flickered on from Axel and Roxas' side of the house.& nbsp;"You
leave him out of this. He's&nb sp;no one. You've done enough!"

A c huckle followed her outburst and Larxene winc ed, though he couldn't see. "My, oh my,& nbsp;
dearest Larxeneâ€¦I highly doubt that Marluxia Shimoto is a nobody, as&n bsp;you so delicately put it.
In fact,&n bsp;he isâ€¦quite a somebody to this company. You know why, I presume. Y ou can play
dumb all you'd like. Yo u can try your hardest to catch me, ;to maim me and the reputation of this&n bsp;
company." He laughed again and her i nsides churned. "But I warn you, only be cause I care for
you so much, deare st girl. If you do anything that goes&nb sp;against my liking I will have all you r little
friends punished. And Namineâ& euro;¦will be ours for the taking. See that you heed this advice."
There was a click that signaled the end of&nbs p;the conversation and Larxene felt her body& nbsp;go slack.
'Heâ€¦knowsâ€ ¦about Marluxiaâ€¦? Who isâ&e uro;¦ours?' She puzzled over this for&n bsp;a minute when the
door to the h ouse was slowly opened and she could mak e out the faint outline of Axel's figure
with his arms crossed. "What?"
"Yo u came back awfully late. Tsk-task Larxene.&n bsp;Running off with Flower Boy in the m iddle of
the night could be dangerous.&n bsp;We don't know him that well," Axel s aid, his face neutral.
"Shut the fuck&nb sp;up," she spat. "I can take care of&nb sp;myself. What the hell are you doing u p?"
"I'm getting some fresh air," he&nbs p;replied. "Namine spent most of the night&nb sp;crying. Riku went
home. Someone had t o take care of her and she doesn't trust too many men right now."
"So whatâ€¦" Larxene trailed though the&n bsp;sadism in her voice didn't fit, nor did it reach her eyes.
"She needs y ou, you know," Axel whispered sadly. "When&nb sp;are you going to understand that
you' re all she has leftâ€¦and that,& nbsp;truthfully, she's all you have left, too ?" Larxene paused at this as
she lo oked at him from the corner of her turquoise eyes, seeing him sigh more than&nbs p;hearing it.
"Anywayâ€¦Dr. Lockhart& nbsp;called. She needs to meet with you and Namine. If they're going to
make&nbs p;this happen for her, you need to be&nb sp;a part of it."
"You deal with it ," she answered quickly and without thought.& nbsp;She didn't have time to take care of the logistics. She had bigger fish&nbs p;to fry. When Axel narrowed his eyes, s he waved him away.
"Listen, as much ;as I loathe saying this to youâ€& brvbar;you'reâ€¦better at that stuff,"&nbs p;she said,
grudgingly. Axel raised a br ow at this, surprised. She shook her hea d. "I'm not in the mood to
fight&nb sp;with you, not tonight, flame boy. We made a deal, and even though I'd like&nb sp;nothing more
than to make you suffer& nbsp;and fightâ€¦I can't, not right&n bsp;now. I'm helping," she said softly. "The& nbsp;only
way I know how. Goodnight." Axel watched her leave again, her figure&n bsp;disappearing into the forest just as Marl uxia' did earlier.
He'd be lying if ;he said he wasn't watching them from th e window. It was the only reason he ;
came downstairs. He knew she'd be alone and he needed to tell her the news . Dr. Lockhart and
her assisting nurse&n bsp;called after Larxene had left with news&n bsp;about the case. It seemed that
Attor ney Kosaka had requested a meeting date but they expressed interest in Larxene coming as
well. That she wasn't going to& nbsp;would be a major disappointment but he&n bsp;knew that Namine needed
to file a&nb sp;police report and he, plus Roxas, would&nb sp;need to accompany her. It was a lot&n bsp;to take in
when he hadn't actually&n bsp;informed Namine of anything other than he r having an attorney and a

case.&nb sp;She'd been curious but he'd asked, more&nb sp;like adamantly demanded, she focus on scho ol and
healing. Namine herself had not&n bsp;wanted to see a counselor right away&acir c;€”she said she wasn't
readyâ&eu ro;”but had said she would like to ;soon. He had looked around for one but& nbsp;hadn't found one
he thought was sui table. In a way he had become her i mmediate caretaker where Larxene seemed
incap able. He imagined it had a lot to d o with her past that he didn't know ;that much about.
Namine held all the&nb sp;secrets to their past and even though ;Axel and Roxas had been around for
some years, neither of them knew both g irls past a surface faÃ§ade. And the seemingly distorted
and fake information& nbsp;both females supplied.
The red-head susp ected that Namine's words were more truthful& nbsp;than Larxene's but even then, he
wa sn't sure exactly what she was hiding. I t was clear she was uncomfortable sharing&nbs p;certain parts
of their past yet when&n bsp;pressed both females shut down and withdr ew. Namine less than Larxene
but both&nb sp;all the same. Sighing, he made his wa y back towards his room where Roxas was& nbsp;
slumbering peacefully. As he passed Nami ne's door he could hear her television s et blaring but
he was sure she was& nbsp;sleeping and so proceeded into his room& nbsp;where he snuggled up to his
boyfrie nd, trying to forget everything that had ;transpired. Outside in the forest Larxene wa ndered
around aimlessly as she pondered how her step-father knew so much, how he knew Marluxia's
name and that they ;had been there that night. And she coul dn't, for the life of her, figure out&nb sp;what
he meant by "ours." She now ;knew that there was definitely more than&nbs p;one person involved aside
from his lac keys. Xaldin had proved to be a reasonab le threat though she seemed to have a&nb sp;
strange immunity to him that she chal ked up to his given orders by her b astard step-father. 'And
what of the rest of those disgusting perverts who were&nb sp;working with him back then?' She
wondered if they still did work for him, those "doctors" he had sent her to ;for special
examinations and the like. She was pretty sure that they did and&nb sp;she was more than willing, and
happy, to take them down as well. 'Dr. ;Vexenâ€¦that wretched excuse for a&n bsp;human beingâ€¦' she
shivered& nbsp;in detest as the name brought back memories she'd rather have never remembered.
'And what of Dr. Vexen? I wonder ;what happened to him.' The grotesque doc tor was her
"personal" doctors who exami ned her whenever she and her step-father ;got into their spats and
battles in&nbs p;the past. He had chosen Vexen because the man was one of his top scientists&nb sp;who was
conducting the experiments, and&nb sp;happened to be the head scientist of research for the chemicals
KH International&n bsp;used. Her step-father had made sure that& nbsp;the confidentiality of Larxene's files
w as kept due to the heinous nature of&nbs p;how she acted, how he retaliated and h ow he ended up
subduing her. She fe lt a chill run down her spine at th e sickening images of it all, her mind&n bsp;trying
to block them out as she ;suddenly found herself standing on the borde r, Moogle Bridge, which
led to Traverse& nbsp;Town. She didn't understand why she kept ending up in the same place, staring&nb sp;
off into the distant lights and heari ng the loud shouts of hookers and the&nb sp;like. She knew, just over
this bridge , Marluxia was, most likely, working in the cafÃ© with Xigbar. A sigh esc aped her lips
as she leaned against ;the bridge rail, thoughtfully looking down t owards the cement landing
where she'd, o nly moments ago, almost let the chestnut ;haired man kiss her. Although the
encou nter had been anything but romantic she found it extremely exhilarating and his prese nce
full of a teasing nature. It ha unted her to the point where she figured it was the reason why,
partially, ended up where she currently was atâ&eu ro;”on the bridge connecting the two to wns,
connecting their lives.

The tr uth was that, no matter how she denied&n bsp;it, their lives were intertwined from lon g ago. Not
in the fairytale sort of wayâ€”unless medical experimentation and sexual assault could be
considered f airytale. She snorted at the thought. But&nbs p;it was true. Their lives were held tog ether by
sordid pasts, by atrocities cau sed by her stepfather and his cronies. S he, with scars so deep she
wasn't s ure how she could ever get rid of t hem, and one damaged little sister who s he couldn't
even save. Marluxia, though she knew little, had a story too disturb ing to tell her though she
couldn't ;imagine what it was. 'Is itâ€&brvba r;worse than mine?' She knew some were;&n bsp;but those people
were no more. Hardl y any families or their children had sur vived the experiments let alone the
init ial testing phase. She felt the bile ris e to her throat, threatening to spill ou t of her, when
someone's hand landed&nbs p;on her shoulder. She spun around, thinking& nbsp;it might be the young man
she'd&nbs p;been thinking of, but instead came face&nbs p;to face with Demyx. She rolled her eye s as she
returned her stare back to the burning fire in the garbage can&nbs p;below. Demyx settled next to her,
quie t. Larxene was uncomfortable, to say the ;least, but didn't quite know how to rea ct as she
wasn't quite up to par.&n bsp;The prior conversation with her step-father&nb sp;had left her somewhat drained
and str essed though, remarkably, it didn't seem to&n bsp;show to anyone else except Axel.
"La rxene?"
"What the hell is it?" She replied, her voice barely above a whisper.&nb sp;
"I'm sorry, really, I am," he said,&n bsp;his voice genuine. Larxene felt her stoma ch turn over. She
hated it when peo ple were emotional. She didn't know how to deal with that. Demyx seemed to
sense this as he shifted his weight so&n bsp;that he was now facing the opposite side of the bridge.
"How is Mar?" "How the hell should I know that?" S he spat, annoyed. Demyx shot her a withe ring look, which
surprised her. Grumbling&nbs p;in aggravation, she hung over the rail.&nbs p;"He's fine, I guess. Shouldn't
you be& nbsp;more concerned? He's your friend."
"Yeah , and I am. But he won't talk to&nb sp;me. You know why." The musician was f orlorn as he
stared across the bridge.&n bsp;"So, he's been staying in Traverse Town.& nbsp;My phone miraculously
appeared in the&nb sp;mail from some address. I looked it u p, and it was in Traverse Town. I w ish I'd
known he was here, so close , this whole time. But nowâ€¦I&n bsp;can't even go see him. I screwed up.
But it was an accidentâ€¦"
She was tired, her eyes attempting ;to close though she refused to go to&nb sp;bed just yet. Not knowing
what to&nbs p;say to Demyx she simply shrugged and l ooked the other way. She could see figur es in
the distance, one she recognized&n bsp;as Sora and the other as Kairi. Sigh ing again, she grumbled as
she saw them coming towards her and Demyx. "We've&nbs p;got company."
The dirty blonde waved a s Sora and Kairi came to a stop bef ore them, ice cream in both their
h ands as they smiled. "Hey Sora, Kairi. W hat are you doing out here so late?"&nbs p;
"Late? It's only midnight," Sora commented& nbsp;as he gave Larxene's sagging figure a&nb sp;nervous
glance. "Larxene, you dead?"

"Can it, hair boy," she snapped.
"O bviously not," Kairi supplied as she giggled, her hand squeezing Sora's. He blushed. "We're
getting ice cream, silly. And you , Demyx? Why are you out here so la te?"
"I was just on my way to meet Zexion. He gets off work in 10 ;minutes. I ran into Larxene."
Sora nodd ed. "And you, Larxene? Why are you out&n bsp;here so late?"
She growled. "I'm try ing to figure out how to throw Demyx&nbs p;over this bridge."
Kairi giggled again.&nbs p;"Well, good luck with that, Larxene. Sora,& nbsp;I need to get home or uncle
Le xaeus will flip! And then he won't let&n bsp;us go out again!"
The brown haired&n bsp;boy agreed as he leaned over and gav e her a kiss. She laughed again as they
both waved bye to Demyx and La rxene before disappearing into the distance. Demyx stared after
them, wide-eyed. Larxene&n bsp;didn't even bother to look or say go odbye so she continued to stare at
the dancing flames of the homeless communal&n bsp;garbage bonfire. The flames danced to and fro,
reminding her very much of Ax el's hair when he was running around the house during their tiffs.
She smiled&nb sp;a littleâ€”he was so her type. But he was also flaming, in the ga y sense. Demyx
interrupted her thoughts as he leaned over and whispered in her&n bsp;ear.
"Hey, did you know they were&nb sp;going out? When did THAT happen?"
"Wh y are you still talking to me?" She ;groaned. "And like I care of hair boy&n bsp;and seashell girl get
together. Come ;on, Demyx! I don't care about that shit ! I'm worried about my sister, for fuck' s
sake!" He gave her an incredulous ;look before he clapped his hands over h is mouth. Larxene felt
the heat rush&nbs p;to her face as she realized what she'd just said. But Demyx kept quiet, hands& nbsp;still
over his mouth. "Shut up or&n bsp;I'll kill you. This won't happen again.&n bsp;I have to go. You coming for
di nner tomorrow?" He nodded, a smile on hi s face. She shook her head as she s ensed the fatigue
creeping into her bein g. "Bye."
"Ok. Goodnight, Larxene." Demyx&nbs p;stood there a few moments later, watching&n bsp;her vanish into the
darkness, her wi sps of hair bouncing back and forth like lightning. Once she had completely
fade d from sight he sighed, too, and made&nb sp;his way to Zexion's work. "Now, just to get Mar to
talk to me again&acir c;€¦"
Ahead, the trek back to&nbs p;the mansion was tiresome and lonely. Only&n bsp;in the moment of seeing Sora
and&nbs p;Kairi together did Larxene realize how alon e she truly was. In her own house s he was alone.
Axel and Roxas were a lways together. Namine seemed to have Riku&nb sp;now though nothing was
official. Zexion&nb sp;had Demyx, Sora had Kairi, etc. Even friendship-wise they all had someone:
Namine& nbsp;and Roxas; Axel, Demyx and Zexion; Demyx and Marluxia. She paused again as his&n bsp;
name popped into her mind. 'I sou nd desperate,' she mused as she stopped&n bsp;for a moment. Her
readings of The&nb sp;Marquis de Sade had not really taught ;her anything about friendship and love but&n bsp;
more of sex and herself. 'But wha t about love? I would have to have a heart for that, right?' She

s cowled to herself though it was tinged w ith a sadness that she could feel resona ting in her entire
body. 'But I don't have oneâ€¦I'm damaged goods,&n bsp;right? That's what you used to say, isn't it,
father?' The last word was thought with such malice that she manag ed to break the skin on her
palm&nb sp;for the millionth time in her life. A s a result of the self-inflicted injuries&nbs p;from her temper,
her palms were no&nbs p;longer smooth. They were still pale but&nbs p;scarred with indentations and marks
from&nb sp;her masochistic behavior. Whenever she thought& nbsp;of him she hurt herself. 'And I can't stop
itâ€¦because itâ&eur o;¦feels good.' That one thought alone& nbsp;made her lean over the nearest bush ;and
wretch violently. Her whole body sh ook as she expelled her dinner and much& nbsp;more.
'I need it to surviveâ&eu ro;¦I thrive off of itâ€¦I&nbs p;am pain and pleasure wrapped all in on e!' The tears
she'd held back for&nb sp;so long spilled over her eyelids as s he cried and wretched over and over into
the bushes, not caring if anyone s aw though she was sure no one was a round. Her skin was cold
and clammy ;in the musty, warm air that blew by,&nb sp;the air that was common in Twilight T own.
She was glad she'd rid herself ;of Demyx's presence. She would've been far&n bsp;too embarrassed had
anyone seen her in this state. 'I am pathetic,' she&nb sp;thought bitterly as she curled into hersel f, the
flickering street lights telling her not a soul was aroundâ€”the&n bsp;way it had always been.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~
Xigbar watched as Marluxia stomped, t hough gracefully as ever, into the cafÃ ;©, 10 minutes early
for his shift. As much as he enjoyed making fun o f the young man he found himself refrain ing as
Marluxia pushed passed him withou t so much as a hello before getting ;straight to work. Hayner
and Olette had busied themselves with their own tasks while Xigbar stood watch at the doorâ&e uro;”he
was really just waiting for&nbs p;Luxord. His one good eye scanned the c afÃ©, noting a few customers in the late hours. His mind drifted back&nbs p;to the key he'd given the flower lovin g man. Larxene had
accompanied him, whic h seemed strange, and they had yet to&nb sp;return the key. He knew he'd be in&nb sp;
big trouble for giving it to them&nbs p;in the first place but he also knew&nb sp;why they'd needed it.
Pretending not to know Larxene's history, as well as Ma rluxia's, was harder than it had appeared&nbs p;
to everyone on the outside. He'd known a lot about both young people; after&nb sp;all, he'd been
helping in destroying their lives. 'Funny how I end up here helping Flower back on his feet,' Xigbar thought. 'It's ironic. I helped ;ruin him.' He tried to erase the th oughts as he recalled
Luxord coming. 'Speak of the devilâ€¦' he t hought as the gambler strode into the ca fÃ©, his
piercings glinting in th e neon light of the cafÃ© sign.&n bsp;Xigbar waved.
"Hey! There you are ma n! Did you bring what I asked?" His ;previous thoughts drifted into the
back ;of his mind as he focused on the b londe.
"Really, Xigbar, what else would you expect?" Luxord said as he sauntered ;over to the counter,
grinning madly. "T his set of cards should be enough to&nbs p;win you even more antique guns than th e
last time."
"Is it rigged?"
"How insulting," Luxord answered as he doted& nbsp;on his new card deck, his eyes alig ht with
affection. "You know I never&nbs p;rig anything. I just gamble with fate."&nbs p;

"That's what I'm afraid of," the pirate wannabe said. He suddenly got very&nbs p;quiet as he drew
Luxord close. "I've&n bsp;seen her. And the boy. Though both a re quite grown now."
Luxord felt all&nbs p;the color drain form his face. "Missâ €¦Larxene? You've seen her? When? Wher e?
Xigbarâ€¦if this is a jo keâ€¦"
"As if. I saw her&nb sp;a couple days ago. There's no mistake ;of their identities. You know why they're&nb sp;
here. I gave them the key." Xigbar&nb sp;leaned back to find Marluxia completely oc cupied with
stacking shelves. "Listenâ€ ¦they're going to find out. We need&nb sp;to have a back-up plan."
"That's not& nbsp;really your style," Luxord chuckled though&nb sp;he was slightly put off. "And what of...Sumitse's lackeys? Do they know?"
"I& nbsp;can only assume they've seen the kid.&nb sp;He's been here long enough. This pretendin g shit is hard,
Lux."
The gambler&n bsp;could only look at him with sympathy ;etched on his face. While he imagined t hat
pretending had to be hard for X igbar, he had yet to pretend since he&nb sp;hadn't been around. He spent
most of& nbsp;his time at the filthy poker joint in Traverse Town, earning his share of r ent and the like.
He hardly ever ve ntured outside of the apartment unless it&nbs p;was to meet Xigbar or play poker. He&n bsp;
knew that wandering around too much was certain death since they hadn't exactly&n bsp;parted on
mutually civil terms from their last boss. Their friend, Xaldin, remain ed where they'd left. He
never had said why he stayed but they, Xigbar and& nbsp;Luxord, had the sneaking suspicion that he
was being blackmailed though he never admitted it. He couldn't even remember that last time
he'd formally talked to&n bsp;the Whirlwind Lancer, as they referred to him. His uncanny speed that
left p eople in a whirlwind of confusion is wha t gave him the amusing nickname. They al l had
one. Xigbar's being the Free shooter as his obsession with guns and t he shooting range tended to
make him&nbs p;gun-crazy and happy. He wasn't a bad s hot either, Luxord admitted. Even he had ;his
own name: The gambler of fate. ;He earned it when they broke away from& nbsp;the company. He and
Xigbar had real ly gambled with much more than fate, on& nbsp;Luxord's whim. He had gambled with
fate many a time before that, too.
"Hey, he's coming!"
Luxord looked up to& nbsp;meet Marluxia's eyes. He was surprised a t how the boy had grown to look
so much like his mother but nothing li ke his brother. The young man stared at& nbsp;him, peeved.
"Hey. You must be Luxo rd, this gay man's lover."
The gambler&n bsp;almost spit out his whiskey at the c omment. Xigbar laughed. "Quite rude aren't you? And no, we are notâ€¦sig nificant others, as you so delicately state,& nbsp;young man. You are?"
"Marluxia," he ;replied, bored. "Look, I must get back to work. What did you want, you fake&nbs p;ass
pirate?"
"That keyâ€¦it's& nbsp;his. How long are you going to have it?"

"Until I get what I need ," Marluxia snapped, rolling his eyes. "Go&nb sp;away. I'm working."
With that said he moved back towards the back. Luxord chu ckled as he watched Xigbar shake
his&nbs p;head. "He's fierier than his brother ever&n bsp;was."
"He's also more dangerous."
Lu xord looked thoughtful. "We willâ€¦ha ve to discuss this more later. Talk to&n bsp;me when you come
homeâ€¦when ever that is. You keep such strange hour s, my friend. On another note, have you& nbsp;
heard from Xaldin or seen him recen tly?"
Xigbar looked harassed as their fr iend's name was spoken. "As if. Xaldin s teers clear of my shop
unless someone&nb sp;causes an altercation. But most people kno w to not do that unless they wanna
end up with holes everywhere in their&nb sp;body!"
Again, the other man shook his head. "You have a problem. I'll be ;at the apartment."
Xigbar waved as Luxo rd left before he slumped against the co unter again, feeling somewhat
disheartened. H e'd seen Xaldin plenty of times but that was mainly because he happened to see&n bsp;
him patrolling the third district; but&nb sp;he didn't dare go near there. They'd agreed on an unofficial
truce once Luxor d and Xigbar broke away. Xaldin stayed b ut Xigbar didn't believe it was to save& nbsp;
them; at least it couldn't be the&n bsp;sole reason. Even after Xaldin had stated , firmly, he would
continue because he&n bsp;loved it, no one believed him. Sighing,&n bsp;he went back to staring around the cafÃ© as the crowd had grown a little with Luxord's arrival. In the b ack, Marluxia tensed. He
hadn't exactly eavesdropped on the conversation but he had&n bsp;heard bits and pieces of it as he'd& nbsp;
moved around doing his job in the&n bsp;back. And he was overly curious now. ;But it wasn't exactly
his style to ;just go and drag Xigbar to find out.&nb sp;'Well, not yet anyway.' He stopped to think about
it, to think about a method on how to get the information&nb sp;from his boss without being seemingly
over bearing. 'Perhaps I should consult L arxene as it seems this information pertains& nbsp;to both of
us.' He reached for& nbsp;his phone but realized it was still ;in Larxene's garbage can from where he'd&nbs p;
thrown it earlier when he'd received n umerous phone calls from Demyx. 'Shit, shi t, shit! I can't
afford another phone!'
Growling, he threw his apron on ;the counter and began walking towards the&nb sp;entrance. Xigbar
gave him a curious l ook as he continued to the other side&nb sp;of the counter. When the pirate man made to stop him, he snapped. "Not r ight now, you fake. I need to get m y phone. Fire me, and I
will make&n bsp;your life painful. I can promise that,&nb sp;you pirate wannabe."
"You're so eloquent,& nbsp;Marly," Xigbar responded back with a chu ckle.
He whipped around in annoyance to& nbsp;answer the older man's statement. "My si ncerest apologies.
I'll remember to keep ;your displeasure of my speech and articulacy in mind the next time I return
to work, sir." Whirling around again he&nbs p;made his way towards the door, but sto pped short to yell.
"And you're still&nb sp;one horribly stupid fake ass pirate, eye-p atch man!"

He could hear Xigbar spu tter at the comment but didn't wait for& nbsp;any further reaction as he made
his way towards Moogle Bridge. Twilight Town&nbs p;looked sleepy and dreamy in the distance&nb sp;in
comparison to its sister, the ugly and grimy Traverse Town. But Marluxia h ad become quite
accustomed to it and,&nb sp;therefore, was always struck at how normal it seemed in comparison to the
ove rly cheery people and atmosphere of Twilight& nbsp;Town. All in all, he thought it sui ted Demyx
well. But not Larxene. Her&nbs p;upbringing didn't seem to resonate with the morals and standards of
the dream-like& nbsp;town and he was sure that she was&n bsp;hiding where she was actually raised. He& nbsp;was
sure that she was from somewher e like Traverse Town if not that actual& nbsp;town itself. But there
was no way&n bsp;he was going to ask her this or ;else he might end up with some missing& nbsp;limbs, or
even his own head. 'No thanks,' he thought sourly as he co ntinued on his way. He could see the&nbs p;
hole in the wall that led to the& nbsp;forest, which hid her large, dilapidated ;mansion from the rest of
the quaint,&nb sp;quiet little town. He couldn't understand why she was living there to begin with,& nbsp;
despite the information that he'd been&n bsp;given. However, asking such questions could&nb sp;mean pain
and certain death, which he was all but willing to welcome.
Up on arriving, he could see Larxene standing&nb sp;outside her mansion, leaning heavily against&nb sp;one
of the many pillars with her ;fingers around a barely lit cigarette. He&nb sp;figured she had just come
out or ;hadn't gone in at all. It'd only been&n bsp;mere hours since they'd parted and he&nbs p;wondered what
she had done in the ;meantime. Sighing, he made his way towards&n bsp;her. He could see her eyes, cat-
like in the dim lighting of her porch l ight, move with him as he approached. Sh e looked hostile
and volatile but made&n bsp;no move to address him or anything e lse as she inhaled a deep breath of ;
nicotine from the burning death stick.
"I have some information you might like& nbsp;to hear."
She shifted, nonchalant. "Oh?& nbsp;And what might that be, flower boy?"&nbs p;
He dug in his pocket until he tou ched the rusted key. He knew she'd been& nbsp;there when he'd taken
it but wasn't sure she understood its true purpose. R etrieving it, he dangled it in front of& nbsp;her for a
moment. She raised an&nbs p;eyebrow in boredom. "Do you know what this is for at all?"
She shook her& nbsp;head. "Not the slightest idea, really. W hat is the point of this?"
"It's th e key from Luxord. Don't tell me you&nbs p;don't remember him."
Her face went fro m slack to guarded in a matter of s econds as she practically shoved the lit ;
cigarette into his cheek. He caught her arm just in time as he twisted her wrist and the cigarette
fell to th e floor, going out a couple minutes late r. She quivered in anger and surprise as he stared
at her, his sapphire eye s grim. "Howâ€¦ do you know ;Luxord?"
"I don't. He knows me. And&nbs p;if you must know, he's my boss' boyfri end," Marluxia chided as he
threw his&nb sp;arm down, pushing her back a little b it with the gesture.

She rubbed her wrist as she peered off into the n ight sky, her body feeling tingly.
"Look â€¦Luxord is most definitely not ;gay. And how does Luxord know you? He&a circ;€¦I haven't seen
him in year s. At least not for 5 years now." "How did YOU know him?"
Larxene sigh ed heavily as she leaned against another ;pillow. "I don't even know why I'm tell ing
you this." He waited for her ex plain. "He used to work for us, for ;my family. He used to be our
cook. "
"Your cook? That's quite random, actua lly." The chestnut haired man seemed slightly
disbelieving as he turned to lean against a pillar.
"Yeah, well, believe i t gay boy," she snapped in utter irritat ion as she continued to rub her aching&n bsp;
wrist. "He used to live with us,&nbs p;beforeâ€¦my parents died. I don't&n bsp;even really know why he left.
He&nbs p;made up some bogus excuse I never beli evedâ€¦and nowâ€¦nevermind. T he point is I haven't
heard from hi m or seen him in AT LEAST 5 years.& nbsp;The last timeâ€¦had to be i n that picture
frameâ€¦the one&n bsp;at Xigbar's, but I didn't know they were friends."
"Contrary to your knowledge,&n bsp;clearly, they are friends." Marluxia looked&nb sp;around for the fallen
cigarette before&nbs p;plucking it from the ground and inhaling&nb sp;deeply. "And good ones at that. I'd venture to say they're roommatesâ€&brvba r;and know Xaldin. How come you did not& nbsp;point out the
picture when we were& nbsp;at the cafÃ©?"
"That's impossible !" Larxene was on her guard immediately, ;kunai drawn as she stuck them so
c lose to Marluxia's face he should've lost&nbs p;an eye. Ignoring his question, she breathed in deep,
labored breaths as she wa tched him calmly inhale again, this time ;rolling his eyes at her. "Luxord
was&nb sp;a good man. He would never have been& nbsp;involved with the likes of Xaldin or&nbs p;my step-father's
treachery!"
The brunette&n bsp;laughed bitterly. "I suppose that shows h ow much you think you know people, am&nb sp;I
correct?" Larxene bit her tongue as she saw a glimmer of sadness pass through his sapphire eyes
right before h e mercilessly crushed the cigarette under his shoe, his body posture hostile. "Look,
I hate to burst your pretty little bubble, savage nymph, but I want answers ;and you and I need to
work togethe r, as pleasantly as possible, to get the m. Is that understood?"
"I'm not 5 years old you prick," she said venomously.&nb sp;"Talk to me like an adult, you jerk."
"Then talk to me like a lady,"&nbs p;he replied airily.
She bristled at the comment as she pushed the kunai closer& nbsp;to his face. He still had yet to&nb sp;appear
or become fazed by this as&nbs p;he rolled his eyes, yet again, before shoving them away and turning
on his&nbs p;heels to head back towards Traverse Town.&n bsp;She watched him start away, his gait ;swift and
powerful but graceful and ele gant as he made his way towards the ;gate. Just as he was about to
roun d the corner to continue to the concrete wall he whirled around to face her,&nbs p;one finely

chiseled brow rising in&nbs p;her direction. Her face felt a little hot as he sent a mischievous smirk her&n bsp;
way before beckoning.
"You are comin g, yes, Miss Larxene? I don't mean to&nb sp;be rude, but we won't have much time& nbsp;
before our sources are, as it's bee n said, separated." Blanching, she began to&n bsp;move forward as if
the beckoning of& nbsp;his fingers pulled her in against her&nb sp;will. Nodding she continued on, stopping right before him to look into his sa pphire eyes. His smirk never wavered as he nodded back at
her, looking down ;into her sea green eyes with a mysterio us expectation neither one could
explain.&nbs p;He suddenly leaned in so close she swo re her face was as red as a tomato& nbsp;and hot as
hell's fire. He smirked& nbsp;again as a chuckle escaped his lips ;into her ear. "You'll have to trust me,
I'm afraid, Nymph."
She would've s tuttered but she managed a low growl. "I trust no one, flower boy."
Another ;slow, lazy chuckle graced her as he lea ned away, this time staring right into h er eyes.
"Perhaps that was the case ;beforeâ€¦but you will have to l earn to trust me or this shall never&nbs p;end."
Larxene didn't know if she could do that, especially with how little she actually knew about him.
"I need c ollateral."
"What?" He looked incredulous. "C ollateral? Like a car? I hate to burst&n bsp;your bubble nymph, but
incase you ha dn't been informed, I'mâ€¦in a l ess suitable situation than you."
A blin k, followed by another roll of her eyes& nbsp;signaled that Larxene was far from finis hed with
her idea about collateral damag e on him. "You have to give me some thing, anything, so that I
know you ;are going to help and not betray me."&n bsp;
"For the love of all things, Nymph!& nbsp;Had it never occurred to you that I wouldn't be here if I
wasn't willi ng to help you? That I'm not leaving?"&n bsp;He appeared to have become rather miffed.
"Lookâ€¦I know how men are . Who is to say you're not expecting&nbs p;some type ofâ€¦.payment?"
He l et out a hearty laugh. "Oh, Savage woman that you are, have our past interludes& nbsp;made you
think such ridiculous thoughts? " When she blushed and turned away with& nbsp;a scowl on her face,
Marluxia made& nbsp;to pretend such things meant nothing. "S illy woman, I expect nothing from you. We hardly know each other. How could ;I expect anything from you, other than the hate you
harbor for your step-father ?"
Though this is what she wanted, the words still stung her as she scoffed ; hiding the fact that he
had hurt& nbsp;her. But he was right. They hardly knew each other. How could she think he& nbsp;would
expect anything from her? 'He's been playing with me the whole time&aci rc;€¦just like all the
others.'&nb sp;Disappointment settled inside her as she t urned back to him, her perfect sadistic mien in
place as she slinked up to& nbsp;him with her indifferent voice. "Yesâ&e uro;¦.how silly of me, gay boy. I ;
forgot you like menâ€¦and flowe rs." He seemed to prickle at this but&nb sp;she kept on her tirade. "I do
apologize to you, for making heinously dra matic assumptions about your carnal desires. Perhaps
Axel is in luck?"
He grabbe d her chin forcefully before taking in h er sarcastic expression. It dripped with
animosity and distaste, amusement and malice.&nbs p;She made no move to push his hands&nbs p;away,
instead smiling wider to show he r canines that glinted in the moonlight as it had only been a
couple hours& nbsp;since their last interlude. They seemed to keep meeting under these strange
circ umstances and Marluxia knew he was pushing&nb sp;his luck with her. Her eyebrows had k nitted
together thought she remained stiff&nb sp;in his hand. Her arms lay lifeless ne xt to her sides, feet
planted firmly&nbs p;on the ground as her fists remained op en and eyes stared straight into his. He
could see the challenge in them as light bounced off her blonde hair, maki ng her appear all the
more sinister ;despite her flawless, innocent face. He knew beneath that exterior lay a killer
waiting to break free. She was deception&nbs p;wrapped up into a beautifully, deadly packa geâ€”one he
wanted to tear o pen, if given the chance. Shoving the fe elings back down into the core of his&nb sp;
heart, he spun away from her, releasi ng her chin and slightly throwing her in the process He
heard her cough lig htly followed by a smug giggle as she&nb sp;brushed his side on her way to pass&n bsp;
him.
She turned back again, her ;sinister grin ever present. "Oh, Marlyâ&eur o;¦is anything the matter?"
'Yes,'&n bsp;he mused lightly as he ignored her. 'You, to be quite frank. But I wonder how well you are
holding up agains t me, Savage Nymph. Not many are known&n bsp;to escape the Graceful Assassin.'
He& nbsp;passed her without so much as another&nb sp;word; truly curious about how she was ;holding up
against his tactics. It was& nbsp;true that not many women were able to resist his teasing ways, his flirty nature that left them helpless and lost.& nbsp;But she was managing rather well, or&nbs p;was hiding it like an
expert. As before, he had yet to really contend wit h someone like her, a woman of her caliber,
and it frustrated him in ways&n bsp;he was not able to explain to his&nb sp;own mind. He supposed being an
enigma had its advantages and setbacks, too. I n his case, most were advantages. But af ter he'd
met her and dealt with eve n the small amount of crazy shit surroun ding her, he found that the
setbacks&nbs p;were beginning to pile up. He couldn't ;even begin to understand how she knew a bout
him at all, how ANY of them&nb sp;knew about himâ€”not at first. ;After he'd eavesdropped on Xigbar
and L uxord's conversation he knew that they were&n bsp;connected but he didn't know exactly how& nbsp;
deep. Sighing, he listened in boredom&nb sp;as Larxene's steps echoed behind him. It&n bsp;seemed that the
only thing they did& nbsp;together was play cat and mouse; he ;hated it. 'This Graceful Assassin chases
no one. What a terrible way to cont inue this evening,' he mused bitterly. Be hind him, the Savage
Nymph was staring,& nbsp;quietly and resolutely, at the stars in& nbsp;the sky. Her expression masked her
boredom but he was sure he could feel&nb sp;it rolling off of her in thick waves. Annoyed, he pushed
the thoughts from&nb sp;his head as he saw Traverse Town comi ng into view from the bridge.
'Here&n bsp;we go againâ€¦' He sighed&nbs p;again. It seemed like the nights were only about to get longer.

Namine&n bsp;awakened to darkness as the curtains to&n bsp;her room were completely closed. Her eyes were
puffy from crying. There was a slight ache to them as she rubbed ;the last of the grogginess away.

A ll was quiet in the house and she v entured to think that it must have been& nbsp;early morning or late
night as she& nbsp;glanced around the room. Her eyes widene d as they landed on Riku's slumbering form, laying peacefully on the chase locat ed across from her bed. 'He'sâ€&brvb ar;still here?' Her thoughts
drifted off& nbsp;to reasons why he stayed. Like she'd&nbs p;assumed, it couldn't have been that late&nb sp;and thus,
if he stayed it would be no big deal in the actual morning.&nb sp;'But why stay here? I know home is n't
super close for him but he coul d've stayed at Kairi's.' His best friend' s house was, in fact, much
closer a nd more sensible of a place to stay ;the night if he was tired. She didn't&n bsp;dare hope that he
had stayed because he cared or something of like. Getting& nbsp;her hopes up had never served her o r
Larxene well in their past. While ;she had to admit that there must be&nbs p;some thoughtfulness to his
not leaving ;in the middle of the night, which it&nb sp;could very well still be. Sighing, she&nbs p;rubbed her
eyes again as she crept&nbs p;out of bed as quietly as possible. She was almost to the door, clad only in
her pajamas, when she heard a ch uckle. She froze instantly, her heart rate&nb sp;spiking as she heard
another chuckle followed by blankets being tossed from the&nb sp;other side of the room.
"Isukiâ&euro ;¦you sure are loud."
Blushing madly,& nbsp;she tried to shake off the embarrassment . "Oh, Riku, Iâ€¦sorry to have&n bsp;awakened
you."
He smiled though it&n bsp;was tinged with a bit of sleepiness that Namine found attractive on his pale ;
face. Hiding hers she made her way ;back to the bed, feeling a desperate ne ed to hide from his
eyes. Paranoia crept into her veins as she saw him ;get up and walk towards her before sitt ing on
the bed, though he kept a&nb sp;safe distance at the edge. She pulled ;the covers up to her chin,
successfully hiding herself from his wandering eyes. ;However, he didn't seem to really be looking anywhere other than her eyes at&nb sp;the moment. Also, he didn't appear to ;be interested in
anything else. She flu shed all over as he leaned a little ;closer, his smile wide but still sleepy.&nbs p;
Scooting back, she leaned against her headboard unsure of what to say or do&nb sp;with him in such
close proximity.
"Why are you so afraid of me?"
Sh e blanched as she tried to think of ;how to respond. "Iâ€¦I'm not af raid of you."
He shrugged. "It sure ;seems that way. You cower around me, st utter, blush and look away, run,
hide&nb sp;behind Roxasâ€¦the list really cou ld go on, Namine."
"I'mâ€¦I'm&nb sp;sorry. It's justâ€¦you intimidate me," she replied so quietly Riku had to& nbsp;strain to hear it.
She paused to&nb sp;gage his reaction. When he said nothing&nb sp;she decided to press on though she wa s
terrified and embarrassed beyond all b elief. "You'reâ€¦older and Kairi's be st friend and I
justâ€¦we're&nbs p;so different. I'm boring and you'reâ€ ¦" She began to realize what she was saying but
couldn't seem to control& nbsp;it. The words just kept tumbling out.&nb sp;"You're justâ€¦so popular and I&nb sp;
don't know youâ€¦and you don' t know me." She stopped again when she&n bsp;noticed Riku was giving
her an unrea dable stare, his eyes narrowed, brow knitted& nbsp;and his lips somewhat quirked. "I'm
sorryâ€¦thatâ€¦it doesn't ma ke any sense. I'm sorry, Kosaka."

" So we're back to a last name basis? ;That sucks," he breathed out as his sho ulders slouched and
he turned away. "Do& nbsp;you even have any clue why I'm here ?"
Her response was immediate as she&nbs p;scrunched the sheet in her hands as sh e slowly let them fall
from her chi n. She was afraid of his answer but ;she knew she had to ask. "Noâ€&br vbar;I don't. But," she
glanced up at&nb sp;him as his aquamarine eyes staring straigh t into her blue-amethyst pair. "Iâ€&brv bar;would,
if you don't mind telling me. "
He nodded, his face serious as sh e saw his cheeks turn a light pink. ;"I find you interesting."
Taken aback a nd unsure of what he really meant she&nb sp;cocked her head to the side. "You kno w,
Rikuâ€¦that's really vague." He laughed as he pushed off from the&nbs p;bed to go look out her window.
Sh e, too, slowly stepped from the bed once more, making her way over to him b ut keeping her
distance a few feet away, arms close to her chest as she&nbs p;stared at him. He leaned against the window frame, arm over his head while&nbs p;the other one dangled by his side. His hand flexed before
he shoved it in his pocket. Against all hope, Namine da red to ask him again. "Why, Riku? Why&nb sp;
are you still here? It's late. You&nb sp;should be home. If Larxene knew you w ere hereâ€”"
"She knows. She ;saw me." He cut her off but never turned to look at her. Somewhat dazed by the
quick response, Namine moved a ;foot closer. She could touch him if she reached out but made
no move to,&n bsp;instead opting to stare at him from where she stood. Finally, after what seemed&n bsp;like
an eternity of silence, he turn ed to look at her, turquoise eyes blazin g. "I'll tell you why I'm here."
Sh e didn't move as he came forward to ;close the inches between them. Yet he m ade no move to
kiss her and she&nbs p;held her breath as he reached out, pla cing his gloved hand on her head. The&nb sp;
gesture was both welcomed and unwelcomed;& nbsp;Namine flinched and Riku smiled sadly. " I'm
hereâ€¦because I want to&nbs p;know you, Namine. I want to know why&n bsp;you flinch, why you cower,
why you&n bsp;hide from me. I have to know you.&nb sp;I need to. I'm here because you intri gue me. I'm here
becauseâ€¦I&nbs p;like you."
The blush on her cheeks&nbs p;spread everywhere as she stumbled back a&nb sp;little, surprise washing over
her as his hands came up to catch her. She ;was stilled as his hands rested on her& nbsp;arms, steadying
her as she stared u p at him in shock, her eyes wide an d mouth half open as she grasped for&nbs p;
words. He chuckled again but made no&n bsp;move to kiss her or hug her. Instead , once he made sure
she was steady& nbsp;on her feet he moved his hand to&nb sp;her head once more, rubbing the crown ;of her
head softly as he smiled. S he was still too stunned as he led her to her bed before helping her into&n bsp;
it and tucking her under the warm&nb sp;quilt. She gazed up at him as he ;kissed her forehead. As he
made his&nbs p;way to the door she seemed to find&nbs p;her voice, however hushed it was, to c all out to him.
"Riku!"
He whirled& nbsp;around, a questioning smile on his face. "Yes?"
"Can youâ€¦just sit ;with me?" He gave her a surprised look& nbsp;but proceeded. He came to the edge
of the bed, cautious, testing where he&n bsp;could sit and what he should do. He& nbsp;was respecting her.
Namine felt her ;heart skip a beat as he sat at the foot of the bed and she shook her& nbsp;head before

moving over to make&nbs p;room for him to sit closer. He appeare d to understand this as he slowly
m oved up towards where she was perched, t he covers bunched around her like a prot ective
cocoon that he dared not enter.&n bsp;However, he did crawl up close enough&nbs p;that there was a nice
space between&nb sp;their shoulders. She gave him a small,&nbs p;nervous smile as she leaned against the&nbs p;
headboard. "Can youâ€¦tell me about yourself, Riku? I don't know anything&n bsp;about you."
"Ok," he replied.
~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When they arrived at Xigbar's&n bsp;cafÃ©, Larxene has mentioned something& nbsp;about needing a bathroom
break before&nb sp;she could continue on with him. Taking&nbs p;it as a golden opportunity to get
information out of the pirate, Marluxia quic kly strode to the back where his boss&nb sp;was leaning
over a pile of paperwork. Taking a quick glance up Xigbar waved&n bsp;at Marluxia's approaching
figure. "Oh, so you're back, girly man. What do you&nbs p;want?"
Without wasting any time he gra bbed the older man by his collar before& nbsp;dragging him to the
back of the&nbs p;care where the trash was located. Throwing& nbsp;him at the wall, Marluxia cornered him,& nbsp;
sapphire eyes malicious. Anything less t han a glare would have been completely u ndignified and
Xigbar had to curb his&nb sp;surprise at the younger man's show of ;daring. "What do you know about
her?"&n bsp;
Xigbar feigned stupidity. "What the hell& nbsp;are you talking about, flower?"
"Don't&n bsp;play that game with me, pirate. I he ard you both earlier." He spat in return . "I'm no idiot,
Xiggie. How do you know, Larxene?"
The older man sighed&nb sp;in exasperation. "It doesn't matter. You're&nbs p;not getting anything outta me,
girly m an. You're asking isn't going to make me cave."
"Who the fuck said I was&nb sp;asking?"
Xigbar laughed. "What the hell&nb sp;makes you think I'd ever be afraid of you? There's no way you'll
ever in timidate me or scare me."
Annoyed that&n bsp;his method wasn't working Marluxia sighed ;in irritation. "Wellâ€¦what the hell will
work with you, then?"
"I ;doubt anything you'd do could scare me, ;flower. I've lived through worse stints. You can't
even imagine what I've lived ;throughâ€¦it would haunt your dreams until death came for you."
Marluxia&nbs p;sighed again, this time in aggravation that stemmed from an actual loss for words&n bsp;and
such. Sensing this, the gray-haired&n bsp;man clapped him on the shoulder before&nb sp;pushing him inside.
"But hey, anything's&n bsp;possible, right? Maybe you should've asked&nbs p;before you bullied, Marlu."

"Don't cal l me Marlu," he hissed through gritted t eeth though he let himself be jostled ba ck
inside by his boss. They both we re entering the customer area just in ti me to see Larxene
harassing Olette about the way her Irish coffee tasted. Marlux ia wanted anything but to be there
as he made to avoid her but she had already laid her eyes on them, turquois e orbs blazing as he
walked up to&n bsp;them.
"How in the seven levels of&nb sp;hell do we keep ending up here, of&nb sp;all places?" Larxene snapped in
annoyance& nbsp;as she glanced around Xigbar's cafÃ&co py;.
The evening crowd had died down&nbs p;quite a bit since Marluxia's earlier depart ure and she was sure
there would be less people in a few more minutes. ;Sighing, she ignored the dirty looks the&nbs p;
brunette kept shooting her way as he&n bsp;and Xigbar talked. She had called Sora&ac irc;€”to the teen's
surpriseâ€&rd quo;and asked if he could sneak out to&n bsp;meet them at Xiggie's CafÃ© in&nbs p;Traverse Town. He'd
been hesitant at f irst, not really having ever been across ;the Twilight Town Bridge; but he'd
even tually consented under a condition. She'd pra ctically gagged when he asked if he coul d
interview her for a school project.&nb sp;Marluxia had been the one to accept, for her no less, and Sora
said he'd be over soon. It was nearing the t ime the young boy was to arrive and ;Larxene was
counting the minutes until they could get the process moving. The k ey in her hand, rusted and
heavy, h ad no grooved edges that she could see,& nbsp;which told her it was definitely not&nbs p;used to open
anything. If it was truly Luxord's key, then she had an idea what it might have been for after all.
A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she continued to&n bsp;listen to the two men next to
h er speak in hushed whispers. She'd known ;Luxord since she was 13 or so, and ;the thought that
he had something to&nb sp;do with her Step-father made her want ;to vomit. She was so deep in thought&nb sp;
that she hadn't even realized that So ra was sitting next to her until she&nbs p;heard him.
"I'll have a Paopu Latte&nb sp;with an extra shot of espresso, please."&n bsp;
"It's late for you to be drinking&nb sp;coffee," she said, her voice sarcastic. "I sn't your brother going to
kill you?"&nb sp;
"Who cares," came his flippant response&nb sp;as he paid the cashier.
"No need,&nbs p;little man. Coffee's on me." Xigbar gave&nb sp;him a curious look-over. "And you are&acir c;€¦?"
"Name is Sora Leonhart. Yo u?"
Xigbar smirked. "Leonhart, huh? Name ;is Xigbar. You must be Squall's little brother. That guy
always has a stick&nbs p;up his ass."
"You're telling me. We're related," Sora muttered as he nursed hi s drink for a moment before
swiveling&nb sp;around to face Larxene and Marluxia, both& nbsp;who were giving him disbelieving looks.
"What the hell am I doing here? Lar xeneâ€¦you're the one who called."&nb sp;
"Yeah. Take a look at this key, a good, hard look kid."

Sora stared at the rusted key with mild interest.&n bsp;"Does this key really have anything to&nb sp;do with
why you called me? It's rusted and cracked. If you opened a box& nbsp;with it, it'd break!"
Xigbar and La rxene laughed though it was anything but ;funny. "My step-father has a bizarre
ta sted for old, antique puzzles and furniture.& nbsp;I'm sure it's a key but not in ;the literal sense."
"So you place it&nb sp;in a depression or something," he stated.& nbsp;"And thatâ€¦" It suddenly dawned on
him. "That's why you need Leon' s access codes. Ahâ€¦I don't kno w guys. I haven't had any luck
yet& nbsp;from the last time you asked me to& nbsp;retrieve them, Larxene. The things isâ& euro;¦Leon is hardly
ever home so ;getting his bag is hard, if he brings&n bsp;it home at all." Sora bit his lip,&n bsp;seemingly deep
in thought as the ten sion in the room eased. "I would prefer& nbsp;to just ask but he and I are n ot
exactlyâ€¦close siblings."
Ma rluxia made a sour face at them mention& nbsp;of sibling, turning his back to them&nbs p;as he asked
Olette for a shot of& nbsp;Crown Royal. The pirate wannabe made a&n bsp;face at the order before he returned ;
to his conversation with Larxene, which ;was hostile to say the least. Sora took the opportunity to
learn more about&nbs p;Marluxia. He quickly strode over to the&nbs p;older brunette and sat next to him. "Why can't you look at me?" Not one&n bsp;to beat around the bush, Sora narrowed&nb sp;his eyes as the
older man frowned.&nb sp;"I want to know why you can't ever&nb sp;look at me straight. I want to know&n bsp;why
you had that pained expression w hen we first met. Who do I remind y ou of that you can't look at
me?"&n bsp;
The older man simply responded by ge tting up and walking towards the back of the cafÃ©. Both
Larxene and ;Xigbar happened not notice this but said&nbs p;nothing as they ignored him. Sora jetted&nb sp;
after him, almost mowing Olette down and slipping on a puddle of spilled coff ee. He skidded to
a halt right befo re Marluxia slammed the door in his face , lucky enough to grab the handle and&nb sp;
throw it open in time to catch M arluxia lighting up a cigarette. Sora made&nb sp;a peeved face at this as
the old er brunette blew a cloud of smoke straig ht at him, causing him to cough a b it. Annoyed,
Sora waved the cloud out&nb sp;until it had evaporated into the air as he gave Marluxia another
narrowed loo k. Sighing, the older man turned away, b riefly, before bringing his sapphire gaze to& nbsp;
the younger boy's. Again, the younger&nb sp;boy persisted in finding out why Marluxia& nbsp;was so
secretive and guarded when h e looked at him, why it pained the older man to even be around
him. Th e night Marluxia and Larxene had crashed ;at his house Sora knew that something w as up.
Marluxia had all but recoiled&nbs p;in obviousness as Sora had spoken to t hem and agreed to help
them.
"Why?& nbsp;Just tell me why. I don't know that I should even bother helping you when&n bsp;you haven't
been honest. You're a co mplete stranger asking for MY help, help ;it seems only I can provide
since my brother works for this company. So wh y don't you come clean?" Sora's eyes wer e hard
but pleading all the same as he stared.
Letting out a heavy sig h, Marluxia smashed the cigarette on the ;wet ground. "Jacob. You remind
me of&nb sp;Jacob."
"Who is Jacob?"

"You mea n who WAS Jacob." Tilting his head to&nb sp;the sky, Marluxia leaned back against the& nbsp;wall.
"He was my little brother. No w if you're satisfied, I'm not inclined to share anymore."
Sora watched in shock and awe as Marluxia disappeared into th e night. Confused but not willing
to&nbs p;follow him, he simply stood in his spo t until he heard the door open to h is left and a voice drift
through. He glanced over. "What?"
"I asked if&nbs p;he went for a walk." Xigbar's eye patc h was visible even in the dark lighting.
"Ohâ€¦yeah, I think so," S ora replied. "Do you think he'll be back ?"
Xigbar nodded. "Sure. As if he w ould leave. He ain't got anywhere else t o go, damn flower boy.
Now, Sora, w as it? You'd better get inside. Larxene and I need to talk to you."
"Okay&a circ;€¦" Sora trailed, his eyes drifti ng back one last time to see Marluxia.&n bsp;The fading figure of
the older man&n bsp;told Sora he was just taking a walk. Nevertheless, Sora felt his insides twist&nb sp;
uncomfortably as he went back to the& nbsp;cafÃ©. 'What are you hiding?'&n bsp;
:Again, imagine said line break insert ed here:
(I would like to first,&nbs p;and foremost, apologize for the enormous am ount of time I spent NOT
having thi s chapter up. Sincerely, I do feel bad.& nbsp;I had a hard time writing it and&nb sp;I hit a few road
blocks, writing/idea -wise in this story, as well as other.&n bsp;However, BTSS is my first priority so&nbs p;
hopefully this won't happen again; or at least not for THIS long. In this ;chapter I hope I was able
to revea l some more but it was mianly a cha pter between Larxene and Marluxia since they& nbsp;are
the main characters. Please, let&nbs p;me know what you think. I welcome all& nbsp;criticism, though flames
are a less ;effective formâ€”so keep that in ;mind. If you have questions please ask. ;I will answer
them to the best of& nbsp;my ability. Thank you for still reading, reviewing, etc. Love you all. Peace
out, until next time.)
Sadistickunais&nbs p;