"First of all," I said to Ximh, "definition of a Nobody. You are...what remains of someone who lost their heart. When someone with a strong will to live has their heart taken away, their will takes on a life of its own."
Ximh stared at me mindlessly. "So...I'm dead?!"
I sighed. "Okay. Let me try to explain this in a better way. A person is made up of three things: heart, will, and soul. The heart gives one emotions, the soul gives one gives you a conscience, and will is the desire to live at all. Take away any one of these elements, and you're left with something not fully human, and not fully alive. Understand?"
Ximh nodded. "Heart, soul, will. Need them to be alive. Got it," he said.
"Alright. When a person dies, usually all of the parts die with them. But if, say, a Heartless attacks a person--"
"Hold on, Heartless?" Clearly, Ximh needed the full tutorial.
"Heartless: denizens of darkness who lack hearts. I'm getting there," I said. "So say a person is attacked by a Shadow--you know what those are, right?"
He nodded.
"Okay. So this person loses their heart. Depending on their strength of will and heart, either they simply die, their body turns into a Heartless, their body turns into a Heartless and their will turns into a Nobody, or their body just dies and a Nobody is created."
I let Ximh think about this for a minute in silence. It was a lot to take in. I only knew it so well from growing up with it. So many times had I seen a person succumb to the darkness and turn into a Heartless...
"Okay," he said. "So somewhere out there, I could have a Heartless of my former self running around?"
"Well," I said, "there's this other situation. Sometimes, if your body was turned into a Heartless, but you regain your heart soon enough after turning into one, your body can become whole again, but only when you find your Nobody."
"Hold on," he said. "If you lose your heart, how can you find it again? And that fast?"
"If you give it to someone," I said quietly. "But sometimes, that isn't enough. If the Heartless is strong enough, he can break your heart completely, even when it's tied to someone else's."
We were both silent. Finally, Ximh said, "So,to simplify things, either my Other is out there, looking for me, or my Other is dead or a Heartless?"
I nodded. "Pretty much. Only you can tell if your Other is still alive. Sometimes you might be able to feel them, see their thoughts, hear their dreams. It's up to you if you want to find them or not."
"What...what about you?" He asked hesitantly. "Do you still feel your Other?"
I laughed bitterly. "No," I said. "My Other died. She gave her heart to someone else, and when a Heartless attacked her, it broke his heart, breaking hers. She asked him to kill her physical body to prevent it from turning into a Heartless." My breath caught on the powerful memory of the moment, and I turned away. Why had I said that to him?
Ximh blushed lightly and looked away. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry," he muttered. "I'll just leave." He got up and tried to leave, but I stopped him.
"Don't go yet," I said. "I'm not finished." He turned around. "I know you know how to fight, so I don't need to give you that speech. But your powers are connected directly to you and your personality. Only you can unlock your true potential, no matter how hard anyone else trains you. Guard yourself carefully and trust no one completely; in our world, you never know who may betray you. But most importantly, never back down, and never give up. Always fight. You have nothing more to lose, after all."
Ximh nodded once, and then ran over to me and gave me a hug. "I'm sorry," he said. "Thanks for helping me out."
I nodded stiffly, unused to the display of affection. "If you ever have anymore questions, ask," I said, as he walked out the door. He waved once, and then left. I sat in the kitchen alone, feeling the weight of my memories once more.
