Ambrex emerged from a portal inside of Hollow Bastion. After looking around carefully, she started walking towards the large battlefield on the outskirts. There was certainly hearts lying around there after the large battle. And knowing that there would be security, she slinked by undetected. Finally, she reached the battlefield where the numerous hearts were hidden. Her eyes searched carefully across the seemingly bare wasteland.

“Where are you, little hearts?” Ambrex giggled. “I wish to collect you…”

She hopped over a stray boulder and landed with an “Oof!” onto something softer than the ground. But that something Ambrex landed on also made a noise. It was Azaelus; he was resting on the ground. But his nap was quickly ended when Ambrex landed on him. With a groan and a yawn he sat up. That’s when something much unexpected happened. Their faces got so close to one another, from the wrong angle it would’ve seemed they were kissing. Ambrex blushed deeply and her green eyes were wide open. Their lips were so close together, almost touching. Ambrex could feel Azaelus’s breath on her lips. Their foreheads were touching and they could feel each other’s heat building. It also didn’t help much that Ambrex was in Azaelus’s lap.

Azaelus was just as surprised as Ambrex was. His thick and messy black hair easily draped over some of Ambrex’s face, but that didn’t stop him from seeing her. His orange eyes glowed fluorescently and stared directly into the emerald-colored eyes in front of him. Either of them could’ve moved, but it was as though they were frozen together. His mind blanked as he stared at Ambrex’s face. He swallowed hard and kept his eyes locked with Ambrex’s. She backed off a little and laughed nervously.

“Sorry…” Ambrex managed to say.

“Red-haired beauty…” Azaelus whispered. “Has fortune smiled on me today?”

Ambrex blushed even redder this time. No one has ever said that about her. Despite all of this, she had completely forgotten about her mission. As Ambrex tried to find the right words to say, Azaelus brought his hand up and moved his fingers through her red hair. Ambrex’s face after the caress was a lush red, almost as red as her hair.

Little did Azaelus know…Ambrex had friends looking for her. Ryeadux appeared on the battlefield just as Azaelus made his comment. Confused and completely unaware of the current situation, she walked around the boulder and saw the two together on the ground. For nearly three seconds, she stood there speechless.

“Ambrex…what the hell are you doing?!” Ryeadux asked.

Ambrex looked at Ryeadux in confusion and surprise for a moment before summoning her marker and nailing Azaelus in the head with it. Azaelus fell backwards unconscious on the ground, allowing Ambrex to get up and escape with Ryeadux into a portal.

--

Back at the usual hideout, Ryeadux and Xil questioned their fellow Organization member about Azaelus.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” Ryeadux asked. “You were in that guy’s lap and red as a beet! AND he had his fingers in your hair!”

“Ryeadux…calm down…” Xil said. “Ambrex, tell us exactly what happened. We want to hear everything.”

“Well, I was looking for the hearts from the Hollow Bastion Heartless attack, just as the mission specs instructed.” Ambrex began. “I hopped over a rock and I…I landed in his lap…”

“You landed in his lap?” Xil asked. “And then what?”

“I-I…our faces touched…and we almost kissed.” Ambrex said before turning red again. “I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

“Ambrex, you can’t FEEL anything…you don’t have a heart…” Ryeadux said. “It’s just your mind playing tricks on you.”

“Or that guy was playing mind games with you.” Xil adds. “Trust me, it happens a lot.”

“But he…” Ambrex began, but didn’t continue. “Sorry…”

“No, it wasn’t your fault Ambrex.” Xil sighed. “It’s just that you have got to be careful around people. Even though it was a strange event in itself that the guy was out there in the first place…”

“Get some rest.” Ryeadux said. “We’ll go to the battlefield together tomorrow.”

“But…” Ambrex protested.

“No ‘buts’ about it.” Xil said. “We don’t want you to get distracted again.”

“Ok…” Ambrex said.

--

On the battlefield, Azaelus awoke from his unconscious slumber and rubbed his head in pain.

“Ow, what a pain.” Azaelus said to himself. “Was she just a dream…or was she reality?”

Azaelus sat back and looked up at the sky but all he could think about was the “red-haired beauty”.

“She was DEFINITELY real…” Azaelus told himself. “I was touching her…and we almost kissed…and then she hit me…what a day.”

Azaelus got himself up and walked back to the main area of the castle. Realizing the sunset he sat down on the roof of Cid’s house. Not too long afterwards, Yuffie came to join him.

“Hey there, what’s up?” Yuffie asked.

“There was this girl that I saw today…she had the most beautiful red hair, green eyes, and the cutest face.” Azaelus answered. “I met her on the battlefield, but she disappeared before I could even get her name…”

“Oh really? I didn’t know you had a thing for red heads…” Yuffie said.

“Well, I usually like white-haired women more.” Azaelus said. “But this one’s just…you’d have to see her.”

“Who knows? You might see her again.” Yuffie said before standing up. “Sun’s going down, and Cid’s got an “assignment” for me. Ciao!”

Yuffie disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Azaelus alone once again.

“I hope I see her again…” Azaelus said as he stared at the sinking sun. “No…I will see her again…”

--

The next morning at the hideout, Ambrex and her allies are ready to complete the mission. They came to the battlefield to look for the hidden hearts in the ravaged landscape. Ambrex was a little occupied with thoughts about the guy from yesterday. She blushed radiantly as she thought of their bodies being that close to each other again. As she daydreamed, she didn’t see her friends stop and she bumped into Xil’s back. Xil turned around and stared at Ambrex questioningly.

“You’re getting red again…” Xil said.

“Really? It must be hot out here…” Ambrex said.

“You’re still thinking about that guy, aren’t you?” Ryeadux asked.

“A little…” Ambrex confessed.

“Just clear your mind.” Xil said. “You’ll be fine as long as we’re here…”

The three teammates walked past the boulder where Azaelus was before and stared out into the endless blue terrain.

“They’re around here somewhere…” Ryeadux said. “Spread out and search.”

They spread out into different directions and search the nearly endless blue landscape. Ambrex looked cautiously around a boulder to see if anyone was behind it. No hearts and no Azaelus.

“I wanna at least know his name…” Ambrex said. “I wonder if he even wanted to know more about me after I knocked him in the skull with my marker…”

Ambrex leaned against the rock, hidden in its shadow. Just as she got comfortable, a hand covered her mouth and an arm ensnared her body. Her screams were muffled as she fought against the binding force of the mysterious aggressor.

“Hey…it’s me, from yesterday.” Azaelus whispered.

Ambrex looked up at Azaelus’s form towering over her. Once again, they were in a really close situation.

“If Ryeadux and Xil find you, they’ll kill you!” Ambrex whispered back. “You gotta get out of here!”

“Not without knowing your name…” Azaelus replied. “I need to at least know that.”

“It’s Ambrex…” Ambrex answered. “And yours?”

“Azaelus.” Azaelus replied. “I didn’t ever think I’d see you again.”

“Same here…” Ambrex said. “I thought you forgot about me.”

“I don’t forget cute faces.” Azaelus said.

Ambrex, once again, turned a shade of crimson.

“If only I had a heart…” Ambrex said. “Then I’d be able to…feel…”

“Looks like we’re in the same boat.” Azaelus said. “I don’t have a heart either…”

“You…don’t have one either?” Ambrex said.

“No…it’s been like that ever since I was born.” Azaelus said. “Since I am Cantor.”

“So you’re a Cantor…” Ambrex said. “I can’t believe I’m actually looking at and…touching a Cantor…”

“Yes, we Cantors aren’t necessarily the ‘blood-thirsty beasts’ that history condemned us as.” Azaelus said with a sigh.

“I see…we Nobodies don’t consider Cantors a threat at all.” Ambrex said. “In fact…they’ve been helping us fight the Heartless lately…”

“So you’re from Organization Infinity?” Azaelus asked. “It’s very surprising to see you guys out here…”

“I can’t tell you why I’m here, it’s against my code.” Ambrex said.

“That’s great with me, I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble…” Azaelus said. “You’d better get back to your team before they get worried.”

“Yeah, that would be the best idea…” Ambrex agreed.

Azaelus was about to move his arms from around Ambrex’s waist (Yeah, they were around the waist!). But before he could, Ambrex turned around, stood on her toes and kissed Azaelus sweetly on the lips. Now it was Azaelus’s turn to blush as he stared at Ambrex’s bubbly expression.

“I’ll see ya later.” Ambrex giggled.

Ambrex left the shocked Azaelus in the shadow of the rock and came back out in the open to find Xil and Ryeadux talking. They both turned to welcome Ambrex as she came back.

“What took you?” Xil asked.

“Sorry bout that, something caught my eye…” Ambrex said. “…and it turned out to be a shiny rock.”

“Well, it turns out that there are no hearts out here.” Ryeadux said. “So let’s go home…”

The three started walking back towards the large black portal. Ambrex hummed a happy tune the entire way there.

“Someone’s in a bubbly mood all of a sudden…” Xil said. “What happened to that daydreaming about that guy?”

“Ah…he’s not my type.” Ambrex lied. “He’s too much like you, Xil.”

Xil glared at Ambrex for a while before walking a little faster. Ryeadux smiled softly at the idea and felt slightly amused as the three of them disappeared inside the dark portal.