My Heart's a Battleground

Sora, Donald and Goofy watched as Ren cried over Axel. They were completely surprised with what Axel said, especially saying that he loved her. Could Nobodies actually develop feelings? Even hearts? Sora frowned and placed his hand on Ren's shoulder.

"Ren... I'm sorry... I know what it's like to lose someone..." Sora replied, "But I'm going to keep my promise to Axel."

Ren looked at Sora with her reddened eyes, "Sora... I want to help you and your friends destroy the Organization. They are the ones that killed Axel. This is because of Saix and Xemnas!"

Sora nodded, "Right, you and I have a score to settle with them."

Ren wiped her eyes and stood up, "Then let's go."

All four of them then went towards the portal that led into the World That Never Was. As soon as they arrived, they were surrounded by a ton of Heartless. Ren saw Sora, Donald and Goofy fighting them off. She had no weapon or any way of defending herself. She wanted to help her new friends and she wanted to defeat Saix and Xemnas. She still wished that Axel was here with her. She bit her lip, not wanting to be helpless. She then looked at the Heartless in anger and held up her hand.

"Fire!" Ren casted at a Heartless.

Ren was surprised as she looked at her hands. Did she really do that? She saw that Donald, Goofy and Sora stared at her in amazement. Ren had no idea that she could cast magic like that. Donald then threw something at her.

"Ren, take this!" Donald quacked.

Ren caught a staff to see that it had a red heart and gold wings on it. She then turned to face Heartless that were about to attack her. She cast another Fire spell along with Thunder. All of this magic was just coming to her but she was glad she could help her friends. Once they defeated the Heartless, they made their way to the entrance of the castle. Ren was ready to fight the ones that took Axel away from her. She would never forgive them for what they did. As they entered the castle, they encountered countless Nobodies of different kinds. They ranged from low ranked Dusks to Gamblers and more Berserkers. They entered the room and looked up to see Saix, making Ren glare at him.

Saix looked down at Ren, "It appears that you still haven't been taken care of. Though, Axel was easily taken care of."

"How dare you! I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Axel!" Ren yelled.

"I'll deal with you in time," Saix replied, "I'll let the Heartless take care of you and deliver your heart to Kingdom Hearts."

"No! My heart belongs to me!" Ren shouted, "I'm going to make sure that you go down! We're not going to let you take over!"

Saix glared at her, "Thinking like that will make you lose faster."

Saix then disappear which made Ren even more angry. She had to focus though but it was difficult. She was full of rage and sadness right now. Sora placed his hand on her shoulder, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"We can do this," Sora reassured her.

Ren looked at Sora and nodded a little. She took a deep breath and tried to hold back her tears. She wished that Axel was with her right now. Even though she had Sora, Donald and Goofy, she wanted him by her side. She then began to follow her new friends to a different part of the castle. She then felt like the scenery was changing around her then a light shined. She closed her eyes from it but reopened them to see that she was on the clock tower of Twilight Town. Was this a dream? Was she home?

"You can't give up, Ren. Not now," a familiar voice said behind her.

She gasped and felt tears form in her eyes, "Axel?"

She felt him place his arms around her torso, leaning his head against hers, "You can do this without me, Ren. I promise you that."

Ren bit her lip as tears streamed down her face, placing her hands on his arms, "But... I miss you... I need you..."

"I miss you too but you can't lose sight of what you need to do," Axel replied nuzzling his face into her hair, "With Sora and his friends, you can beat the Organization."

"But after that... what will I do?" Ren asked, "I can't imagine living without you..."

"I'll always be with you, Ren," Axel said, "Nothing can ever separate us forever... I know... we'll see each other again..."

Ren slowly turned and looked up at Axel. He smiled weakly down at her. She wrapped her arms around him then felt more tears stream down her face. Axel wiped her tears with his thumb then placed his forehead on hers, "You'll find me... I know you will..."

"I promise..." Ren said looking into his emerald eyes, "I love you... and I will do everything to find you again... even if it takes me forever."

Axel smiled more and brushed his lips against hers, "I love you as well."

Ren closed her eyes then reopened them to see she was back in the World That Never Was. She saw that Sora, Donald and Goofy looked at her with wide eyes. She wondered why then were looking at her so strange.

"What is it?" Ren asked.

"You disappeared for a long time!" Donald quacked loud while jumping up and down.

"I... I did?" Ren asked surprised.

"Where did you go!?" Sora asked as he ran over to her.

"I... I don't know... I just remember seeing a bright light then I ended up in Twilight Town... I saw Axel..." Ren explained while bringing her staff close, "Axel told me not to give up and that... I can find him after this mess is finished..."

Sora looked back at Donald and Goofy and both gave Sora a worried look. They knew that once a Nobody disappears, they usually disappear for good. It was a possibility that some Nobodies went back to their somebody. That was probably what happened with Axel. Sora turned back to Ren and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You'll find him, Ren," Sora said smiling, "After all, you care about each other."

Ren smiled at Sora, "Thank you, Sora. You're right."

All four friends continued to their way through the castle. Sora told Ren that they defeated a few from the Organization while she disappeared. She didn't know that she was gone that long. She wanted to help her friends as much as she could. Sora was able to meet up with a couple other of his friends, Kairi and Riku. They went off to fight other Nobodies and to make their way to Xemnas.

They entered a new room to see Saix upon a platform, looking up at the heart shaped moon. He then turned to see Sora, Donald, Goofy and Ren.

"I'm surprised that you made it all the way here. Especially you, Ren. I figured your heart had been taken by now," Saix replied.

"I've had about enough of you," Ren replied pointing her staff at him, "I will be the one making you suffer."

Saix then summoned his weapon and jumped down from where he was, "I'd like to see you try."

Ren used a Thunder spell on him but he disappeared then reappearing behind her. She gasped and almost barely missed his attack. She fell back onto the ground and looked up at him. He raised his claymore to strike her. Ren closed her eyes then heard Axel in her head, "Don't give up!"

Ren opened her eyes to see Saix's claymore coming down on her. She raised her staff, "Firaga!"

Saix was knocked back but immediately got back up. He was suprised to see that she used a level three spell when she only knew level one. Ren got back up and glared at him. She wasn't going to let Saix get the best of her. Ren used countless spell as she fought beside Donald, Sora and Goofy. Donald used some Cure spells on her from time to time while Sora gave her some Ethers. She fell to knees, feeling tired. Saix didn't want to go down.

She wished that she had a spell that could defeat him. Ren then looked at Kingdom Hearts. For some reason, she felt stronger looking at it. She then looked back at her friends' she had a spell that could defeat Saix. She held her staff close then directed it to Saix, casting the spell Holy on him. Saix dropped his claymore then fell to his knees then hands. He then looked up at Kingdom Hearts.

"Why...?" Saix replied.

Ren watched as Saix began to disappear. She sighed softly then felt weak after casting Holy, making her sit down. Donald, Goofy and Sora ran over to her to see if she was ok.

"Ren, how did you do that?" Goofy asked.

"I don't know, to be honest," Ren replied looking up at them, "It just came to me."

"Better than Donald's magic," Sora chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Donald yelled.

"I'm kidding!" Sora laughed even more while holding his hands up.

Ren giggled slightly then tried to to get up but fell back down. Donald then cast Curaga on her. Sora then helped Ren up and they continued on their way. They were so close to Xemnas and Ren knew she was close to finding Axel.