A new arrival in the 'hood, action, OTA, Kingdom Hearts Spoilers are almost guaranteed.

[nobodys_puppet]

Xion had awoken, in the pod, terribly confused. She gave everything a quick glance, then shoved it in her pockets. Pulling her hood over her face, she made her way out, and got as far as the hologram. She stood and listened to what it had to say, her small back tense.

She shouldn't be here. She shouldn't BE. She somehow doubted this was where Namine was supposed to have sent her. Somehow... Somehow something had gone wrong. Very wrong. She took a map and looked at it, frowning. She shouldn't be kidnapped. Had someone tried to stop them? Was that why she was still here? Still existed as a separate entity?

She shook her head under the hood. She had to figure this out. But first, she had to find somewhere hidden. She didn't pull out the necklace, or the device, leaving them in her pocket, along with the pamphlet. She grabbed a map and shoved it in her other pocket, with the money, then turned to look around, looking for a place to hide....

Comments

A familiar face and familiar taste in one?

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea stepped out of the corner store he'd discovered on his first day in Genessia, eating a sea-salt ice cream bar and mulling over his thoughts. The past few days had been spent quietly exploring the area, checking out any locations of note on his map. He'd been debating checking out one of the other worlds attached to this one next, but couldn't decide which one.

Of course he supposed he really should be looking for a job and some place to stay other than the dinky apartment given to him on arrival, but that seemed too much like admitting to himself that he really was stuck here for the long haul. And also he really had no idea what skills he had to offer potential employers other than fighting and burning things. Or... how to even go about applying for a job at all, really. Why couldn't this place be like back home, where you could just go kill a few Heartless if you needed some extra munny?

Unfortunately, being distracted meant that he wasn't entirely watching where he was going, accidentally stepping out in front of someone who'd been coming around the corner, causing them to bump into each other. Luckily for him, the someone he bumped into wasn't very large, so there was really no harm done, but it was enough to snap Lea's attention back to the here and now.

"Oh hey, sorry about that," he said. "My bad; wasn't watching where I was go-" He trailed off in surprise though, as he saw what the person was wearing. "Now there's an outfit I wasn't expecting to see anybody else wearing around here. Especially in this heat."

Re: A familiar face and familiar taste in one?

[nobodys_puppet]

She stumbled back, shocked, when someone walked into her. She took an instinctive step back, even once she had her feet firmly under her, and had been starting to look up when she heard his voice. The familiar jacket was a relief, but not as much as the person wearing it. Her hood was still up, but her smile could be seen from under it as she saw Axel, with sea salt ice cream. Sure, his face looked different a little, but obviously whatever had gone wrong, Axel had clearly saved her. Or.... Or had he tried to save her from what she was trying to do. The smile faded as she considered that. She had thought he understood, but what if she had been wrong. Oh...

Oh, "Axel," she said softly, somehow relieved, happy and concerned all at once. Still, she couldn't be angry at him for trying to save her, and when she explained, he'd help. So she flicked her eyes to the ice cream. "And where are you hiding mine, then?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

Well if Lea had thought the outfit was surprising, what the person- apparently a girl- had to say was even more so. As was the vague urge to apologize for not having bought her an ice cream too, though that passed quickly in the face of sheer confusion.

"I'm not Axel," he said after a moment. "Well, not exactly. Name's Lea now. Got it memorized? The question is, though, who are you? And how do you know me?" Because given the comment about the ice cream, she clearly did.

[nobodys_puppet]

She had been about to pull down her hood, and her hands froze mid motion. She was so confused as she took another step back. "Axel, that's not funny..." she said, softly. He might tease about the ice cream. Maybe. But she didn't think he would given what was going on. And not remembering her could mean that what Namine had done had started to work before he saved her. After all, Roxas hadn't known who she was when she fell... though she thought he did at the very end. It was hazy, hard to remember. But that didn't explain Axel claiming a different name or...

"What happened to your face?" she asked, hands falling to her sides. "Where is Roxas?" He might try to play a game with her, but he wouldn't tease Roxas this way, right?

[hotheadwarmheart]

The girl looked as though she'd been about to pull down her hood before Lea's stated his confusion, but halted in mid-motion, dropping her hands back to her sides. She seemed almost... hurt, by his lack of comprehension, as if she thought he must be faking. Unfortunately, it was very real, and only increased due to what she said next.

"My face?", he repeated rather lamely, before realizing what she meant. "Oh, right... The markings disappeared when I was recompleted. And Roxas... as far as I know, Roxas is the same place he's been for the past few months: inside Sora. We're trying to figure out a way to separate him without harming Sora, but so far, no luck."

He paused a moment, before continuing, his confusion evident. "Look... you obviously know me," he said. "And Roxas too. But believe me, I'm not trying to mess with you or anything; I just... honestly don't know who you are. I'm sorry."

She was obviously not from Master Xehanort's new Organization; aside from the young version of Xehanort, they were all clearly adults. But she couldn't be from the original Organization either, even if what she knew implied that she had been. Lea really didn't know what to make of it and could only look to the girl in hopes that she would provide some sort of explanation when it became clear that his confusion was no act.

[nobodys_puppet]

She looked down and to the side for a moment, as she processed that. Staring at her empty hand. "Roxas..." she finally repeated after a moment. She closed her eyes, letting go of a knot of tension. Roxas was safe. Roxas was where he was supposed to be. She didn't know what Axel meant by recompleated. But he seemed to be alright. And Roxas was where he was supposed to be.

"I'm... I'm supposed to be with him." With Roxas. With Sora.

She stretched out her fingers, then closed them, a Keyblade appearing in her hand. She looked up at him again, trembling slightly.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea watched as the girl seemed to relax a bit, as if some unseen weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Lea was glad that she didn't seem so upset anymore, but what she said didn't make much more sense than anything else about the situation... until a Keyblade appeared in her hand. A very familiar Keyblade.

"That's... Sora's Keyblade," Lea said. "And Roxas'." He paused. "So you're saying... that you're supposed to be inside Sora with Roxas? Man... must be getting kinda crowded in there."

"But the only way that could be true would be if you were originally part of Sora too, and I'm not sure how that could be. A person can't have two Nobodies after all..." He scratched his head in puzzlement, then noticed the girl's trembling, his thoughtful frown shifting to one of concern.

"...Look, maybe we should move this discussion somewhere with air conditioning, hmm?", he said. "Heat doesn't bother me, but you've gotta be roasting in that coat."

[nobodys_puppet]

She vanished the Keyblade. She hesitated, then nodded. Then she hesitated again. "If it is going to be a long conversation...." Another pause, she was almost afraid to ask. But she asked anyway. "Think we could get more ice cream? And find a place to watch the sunset?"

She dropped her hands to her sides, ready for him to tell her no. That it was something he only did with friends. She braced herself, sure that pain was coming, knowing she had been an idiot for even asking.

But he seemed concerned about her, and that was just... He was Axel. Whatever he meant by recompleating, no matter how his face looked or what he was calling himself... he was Axel. And together, they could fix anything if they discussed it at sunset on the clock tower, eating ice cream. That was how and when Axel had figured out how to keep her from being a Dusk. It was how she convinced Roxas. It was how they would solve this and get her back where she belonged.

It was best she didn't have a heart of her own, because she was certain it would shatter at the thought of saying goodbye to Axel again....

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Well if you want to watch the sunset while we talk, we're going to have to wait awhile," Lea said. "It's early afternoon here; sunset won't happen for hours yet. And frankly I'm not sure ice cream would last long enough for the kind of discussion this seems like it'll be. Especially in this weather."

He indicated his own partially eaten ice cream bar which was melting rather rapidly in the heat of the day, the remaining portion threatening to fall off the stick. He hastily finished it so it wouldn't go to waste, taking a moment while his mouth was full to ponder what to do next. Oddly, he found the notion of taking the girl somewhere to watch the sunset and have ice cream to be perfectly natural, even if practical reality made it impossible for the moment. But what to do instead to smooth over what was likely to be a long and complicated conversation?

"The ice cream and sunset plan might be a bust for now," he said thoughtfully, "but getting something to eat while we talk is a good idea." He paused, weighing his options. "You have any objections to pizza? There's a place a block or two from here I've been meaning to check out, and by all reports theirs is pretty good."

going with her having had only bland foods, for lack of knowledge, save ice cream with them.

[nobodys_puppet]

"Oh..." she said, looking up at the sky. She sighed a bit. Things would have felt right... talking atop the clock tower, with ice cream and the sunset. But she hadn't noticed the time. It had been late just before...

"I... I do not know what pizza is..." she admitted softly. "But... I'll trust you. If that is what you think we should do, we'll do it."

Works for me, since I figure the Organization was big on members fending for themselves.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"We can do ice cream some other time," Lea assured her, slightly surprising himself with the fact that he really meant it. "It's not like either of us is going anywhere, so we'll have plenty of chances."

He quirked an eyebrow in mild surprise at the comment about pizza though. "Well there's a first time for everything, I guess," he said. It was also a little worrying that she agreed to it just because he wanted to do it, but as she seemed to know him, he opted not to comment.

He glanced up for a moment, looking for the nearest street signs to check where exactly they were. "This way," he said, gesturing for her to follow once he'd located the proper direction. His lack of immediate familiarity might well be a sign that he hadn't been there all that long himself.

And even if they weren't, other than Axel and Roxas, noone much wanted her to do well.

[nobodys_puppet]

She gave a small nod. She didn't think that she would be there that long, once Axel knew everything. She knew he would be trying to get her back to Sora. Where she should be. Or rather, back to not being at all.

"There was a first time for ice cream," she agreed, softly. "A first time... and a last time," she whispered, hand slipping into her pocket to close around a sea shell.

She nodded when he told her which way, and face down, she followed just behind him, as though she were used to following him. Even when he was unsure.

Yeah. And Axel wouldn't share his food, cause he makes it too spicy for most anyone else.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Yeah," Lea said quietly. "For me too..." He found himself copying her gesture, slipping his hand into his pocket to close around a simple ice cream stick. Roxas' last gift to him, and a symbol of the promise he'd made.

It was oddly comfortable walking with this girl, even if neither of them were talking. She easily fell into step just behind him, as if they walked together many time before. She kept her hood up though, and didn't look up, watching his feet and the back of his coat to keep track of him. He considered a moment, then slowed down slightly sidestepping a bit to fall in next to her so he could rest a hand on her shoulder.

"There's no need to look so glum," he said. "I'm not leading you to to the principal's office or anything, and whatever we need to discuss can't be that depressing." Pause. "OK, you know, scratch that last bit; given my life, it probably could be that depressing; but still..." He tailed of with a slight shrug and a half-smile. He wasn't sure what the conversation would reveal, but was confident they could handle it.

ROFL. I could see that.

[nobodys_puppet]

Principal's office? She glanced up through her hood, giving him an odd look. Then she shook her head lightly. "When the conversation is over," she said softly, "you'll be doing everything in your power to unmake me," she whispered. "and saying goodbye to you was hard enough the first time. I didn't want to make you have to be part of it," she whispered.

Shifting this over because text squish. X3

[hotheadwarmheart]

"All that mattered to Xemnas and the other guys in charge, you mean," Lea said. "And given what they did and what I've found out about them, you can probably guess how much I care about their opinions these days." And even if she couldn't, his tone said it clearly enough; he didn't give a damn what Xemnas and the other leaders of the Organization thought any more.

"Personally, I think it's cool," he said. "And a lot handier than just being able to burn things on command."

And no, pizza was not sweet at all. Lea smiled at her reaction though. "Pretty good, huh?" he said.

No problem. :D

[nobodys_puppet]

"Cool? Because I used an ice spell, you mean?" she asked with a small almost shy smile. Her magic... mattered... to him. It was still hard to think of Saiix and Xemnas' opinions as not mattering, since they could have decided to destroy her, almost had destroyed her, several times for thinking her useless. She'd never thought of it any other way, really. So she was trying to use a small joke to cover the fact that his comment kind of shifted her whole world veiw and she wasn't quite sure of things any more. It was like standing at the edge of the clock tower, not sure which way was the proper way back, and which would lead to a terrible fall.

"It is different..." she admitted. It didn't melt, so she worked on chewing. Sadly, she had spoken before she had worked on chewing. Not like she had ever eaten much besides ice cream back home. She wasn't sure of the others had needed to eat or of it was because she was a replica, or what? But the only food she really remembered well.... was ice cream.

"What's it like?" she whispered, not even realizing she had said it.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea chuckled. "Well, I guess it's cool that way too, yeah," he said. "But you know what I mean." Xemnas might have been in control of them back home, but here was a different story. And Lea planned to show her that.

And they had indeed needed to eat, sleep, bathe, and otherwise take care of themselves; losing one's heart didn't eliminate basic physical needs. But aside from their sharing of ice cream, most everyone in the Organization took care of their own food and ate alone. Taking care of yourself was expected, after all; no one else was going to do it for you.

Lea suppressed the urge to laugh at her talking with her mouth full and took a bite of his own pizza, only to be caught off guard by the quiet question. "Hmm?", he said around a mouth full of pizza, then swallowed and clarified. "What's what like?"

[nobodys_puppet]

Most of her time when she wasn't on missions or with her friends was spent in a haze, so if she ate, it was mechanical more from need than thought. Much like everything she did in the early days at all. She only felt... like her, like something other than an automaton on missions and with them. Missions by the ocean were the best ones, well... missions with a friend were better, but those were the only ones that were.

She was as startled as he was and she pulled herself down into her coat as if trying to hide when she realized what she'd said. "Being... being a real person," she mumbled, looking away.

Gotta ask him the hard questions, don't you? X3

[hotheadwarmheart]

The question caught Lea a bit off guard. "Hmm..." He made a thoughtful noise as he took another bite of pizza, using the moment that provided to ponder his answer. How to explain it? More importantly, how to explain it in a way that she would have any basis for comparison for?

"It's a hard thing to put into words," he finally. "It's like... the difference between the Castle That Never Was and Twilight Town. Technically, the castle had everything you need to survive; food, water, shelter, etc. So did Twilight Town. But the castle was all black and white and gray; cold and sterile. Even the Gray Area, which was mostly meant for relaxing, was like that. But Twilight Town had warmth, color, and life to it; you could tell people lived there, not just survived."

"So it's... sort of like Twilight Town, except that you can take that feeling with you wherever you go, cause its inside you," he said. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I dunno... did that make sense? I'm not that good at explaining things like this."

Of course. He's the only one who remembered it before, and now he's living it.

[nobodys_puppet]

"Which is the clock tower like? Being a person? Or was that something just for us...because that was all the colour we had, really?" She swallowed them took a bite of her pizza A bit of the wrong order there, but she was working on it.

Yeah. Sadly philosophy was never his strong suit. XD

[hotheadwarmheart]

"I know what it was for me," Lea said. "The clocktower was the place where I felt the most human. Just hanging out with Roxas- and you too, even if I can't remember- having ice cream and laughing about nothing. It was... warm. Like the colors of the sunset. It was the place where friendship became real when I thought that should have been impossible. So I think... that place is us."

"How about you?", he asked. "What does it mean to you?"

Ready to have your heart melt?

[nobodys_puppet]

That place... was them. She liked that. "Roxas told me once that one day I didn't come, you went on about why the sun sets red, and that he had wished I'd been there to hear it.

"What... does the clocktower mean to me?" she asked, thinking. She gave it some very serious thought as she ate, remembering their time there together. Remembering the ice cream, the laughs. Axel coming up with the idea that she and Roxas should partner up on missions. Sea salt ice cream and sunsets. A place where it was just them. No Sïax, no Xemnas. No heartless. No Dusks. Watching human children below and talking about summer vacation. Quiet and peace. Laughter. Plans to go to the beach, even though none of them ever thought they'd ever actually get there. And they didn't. Sea shells. Stories. Asking Axel questions. Talking to Roxas about the Keyblade.

It was somewhere where even when she was quiet and hurting, she could sit and feel less... less... empty. She tried to find a word to answer his question... but they all seemed so inadequate. Nothing fit until she realized she had exactly the right word. She set down the pizza she had been holding but had forgotten about eating while she thought, and she looked up at him. Answer finally ready.

"Friendship," she said softly. It was the one word that wrapped up everything neatly. The clock tower and sea salt ice cream. It was friendship.

D'aawww... <3

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea smiled. "I remember that," he said. "Though now that I think about it, I wonder why I brought it up? It always seemed sort of random." He thought for a moment. "Hmm... Maybe the reason had something to do with you, so I forgot it too. Heh... or maybe Roxas was right, and I was just being kind of a know-it-all."

Lea waited patiently, eating another bit of pizza while the girl considered her answer. It was a difficult question, especially for someone without a fully formed heart, so he let her take all the time she needed. When she finally did answer, his smile took on a softer quality. "Yeah," he agreed. "That just sums it right up."

"That tower and those sunsets... they're a symbol of our friendship," he said. "But lucky for us, we also carry it with us everywhere we go. That's how come I know you're my friend, even if I can't even remember your name. The connection is still there, even if the memories are gone."

[nobodys_puppet]

Why... would that have something to do with her? She hadn't been there. That had been right after... right... after... No. Odd, those were memories of being a Nobody, but they were still foggy and unclear. Something about Axel... and then her head just started to hurt whenever she thought about it...

She looked up at him, confused, but with fledgling hope. "It... it is?" she asked, softly. "Even.... even if you don't remember me... you... you are still... " So hard to figure out how to ask a question that means so much. "You... you and Roxas will always be my best friends... always. But even not remembering me, I'm still....a best friend to you?" she asked, finally, softly. "Not just that you want me to be...but that...I am?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea nodded. "I can feel it," he said, resting a hand on his chest. "Maybe it has something to do with the Keyblade or maybe it's just having a heart again, but being with you feels like the most natural thing in the world. This whole time, it's never occurred to me not to trust you, no matter how unlikely your story might seem. I even had the urge to apologize for not buying you an ice cream when we met on the street. Everything about this feels right. It feels like... what I feel when I think about Roxas."

"So yeah, I don't know what else to call it," he said. "Even if I have to get to know you all over again, I already know you're my best friend. My heart's got that memorized."