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

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

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....

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"Not exactly," he said once she'd settled into her new position. "Though that in itself is kind of a long story."

He paused there just a moment as the waiter returned, setting a glass of lemonade in front of each of them, along with two straws. He flashed the waiter a quick smile of thanks which was returned before the waiter left again. He unwrapped his straw and stuck it in his glass before turning his attention back to the girl. "So, since I'm guessing that 'long stories' are going to be the order of the day here," he asked, "the question now is, do you want to go first, or should I?"

She had pushed herself back into the booth again when the waiter returned and remained that way until he left. At Axel's question, she took a breath, then raised her hands, shaking slightly, and for the first time, pulled down her hoot, looking up at him, seeming unsure. Would he see her, or...would he see Sora?

Lea watched as the girl finally lowered her hood to reveal a face that was at once familiar and not. "Huh...", he said. "You know, you look a lot like Naminé. And kinda like Kairi too. Just with shorter, different colored hair. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were related to one of them. Though I'm guessing that might tie into your long story, huh?"

"Sort of," she said, then he frowned. "I understand why you think I look like Kairi, but not why you think I look like Namine. I suppose I'm just glad you see me, instead of seeing him...." she said, settling her hands on the table top, and staring at her gloves. "I'm not supposed to exist any more. But then, I was never supposed to exist. I was an experiment. And a mistake."

"Naminé is the shadow of Kairi," Lea explained. "When Sora and Kairi's world was destroyed, Kairi lost her heart. But because her heart had no darkness at all, it couldn't turn into a Heartless. And because her heart was then protected by Sora, connecting them, her body and soul couldn't become a Nobody. Naminé was created out of that unique set of circumstances and is sort of in a class by herself, though it's probably easiest to think of her as a unique kind of Nobody."

Lea frowned, though, as the girl went on. "I'm guessing by 'him' you mean either Sora or Roxas," he said. "But why would I see someone else when I look at you? And why do you think you were a mistake?"

She took a deep breath. This was nt going to be easy. But then, her life never was. She closed her fingers around each other. "Namine is the reason you don't remember me." Though knowing Namine was connected to Kairi was a little odd. And more than a little confusing.

"Like Roxas, I am a part of Sora. When I was supposed to rejoin him, Namine said that no one would remember me. But I was supposed to vanish then.... so it wasn't supposed to matter, wasn't supposed to hurt..." That last was whispered. She shook her head, staring at her hands.

"The Organization wanted a second Keyblade... a backup in case Roxas wasn't what they wanted him to be...." she said, softly. "What we didn't know, not for a while... was that as I got stronger, he got weaker. They decided they only needed one of us," she whispered. "I was the mistake, the failure. More often than not, I couldn't even summon my Keyblade. You and Roxas covered for me, the two of you protected me. More times than I could count. There were so many times I was sure they were going to turn me into a dusk..."

She closed her eyes.

Lea listened, frowning thoughtfully. "It sounds like we were pretty close," he said. "Feels like it too; I mean, I don't know who you are, but there still something... weirdly familiar about you."

"Not sure why Naminé would make it so no one remembered you, though," he said. "I mean, I know she hated what the Organization made her do, but she never really struck me as the 'revenge' type."

"But yeah, that sounds like something the Organization would do," he said, the frown taking on a touch of anger on her behalf. "Though I'm still not sure how you could be a part of Sora, other than apparently being connected to Roxas somehow. I mean, a person can't have two Nobodies; it doesn't work like that. And it doesn't explain why you thought I'd see someone else when I looked at you."

"They apparently used Sora's memories of Kairi to create me. I only know some of the details," she whispered, looking at her gloves again. "A lot of them were hidden from me. But at the end, when I finally knew it was time to return to Sora...." she took a breath, then looked at him. "Roxas didn't see my face that last day... he saw Sora. There was no waiting then. I think he saw me again after, as I... As I was unmade. He tried to help me, even not remembering who I was."

She looked back to her hands again. "I thought... I thought Namine had to take away everyone's memories of me in order to do it properly. I thought she was going to have to do that to Roxas too," she said softly. "And I was worried... what would happen to you, if you couldn't remember either of us ever existed."

She swallowed hard, trying not to cry now. Which was weird, because... how could someone without a heart cry? She saw her hands trembling.

"You're a Replica," Lea concluded. "I knew there had to be more than just the one, but I never thought..." A Replica of Roxas, based on Sora's memories of Kairi to give it form and turn it into her. That made things make a lot more sense, but at the same time made the consequences of the Castle Oblivion mission much broader than he had thought...

He was drawn from his thoughts when he noticed her fighting not to cry. Instinctively, he reached out to lay a comforting hand over her trembling ones. "Hey... It's OK," he said. "I'm OK, Roxas is OK, and you're going to be OK too. I'm still not sure I understand everything that's going on here, but I can tell you that for better or worse, I didn't forget about Roxas. And now that you're here, we've got a chance to figure things out without the Organization looking over our shoulders."

"Though first... I should probably get to my half of the explanation, shouldn't I?"

Edited 2017-07-17 05:34 (UTC)

She nodded as he identified her as a replica, small in her misery. It wasn't like it was news, but there was a fea r in her that now that he knew, that was how he would see her. the way Sïax and the others saw her.

She stared at his hand over hers, feeling that small knot of fear loosen. And when he said that he was okay, and Roxas was okay, it was like sitting in the setting sun, an odd sort of warmth. When he said that he didn;t forget Roxas, she offered him a small shaky smile, relieved. The reminder helped.

"What is there to figure out?" she asked, softly. In order for Sora to be whole, she had to not be at all any more.

At his question she nodded mutely, watching him, waiting for the words. She trusted him. Whatever he was going to say wouldn't ever change that.

It was weird trusting someone he didn't actually remember. Weirder still- from his perspective- that she trusted him. Or trusted Axel at least, which arguably made it even weirder. Had he really looked like such a trustworthy person to her? When his and Roxas' last big argument before he'd left the Organization had been about how much Axel had been lying and how much he'd hidden from Roxas, it was pretty hard to imagine. What had he done right with her that he'd done wrong with Roxas, or vice-versa depending on one's point of view? He wished he knew...

"We need to figure out what we're going to do now," Lea said. "The worlds here aren't like any of the ones back home; we can't leave of our own free will. Dark Corridors don't work here- that was the first thing I tried-, and you can't get back out through the Bay where you arrive either. Basically we're stuck here for the foreseeable future, so unless something changes, there no way for you to get back to Sora from here even if you wanted to."

"As for me, from the way you explained things, it sounds like you remerged with Sora before Roxas did," Lea said. "For me, that all happened months ago. Roxas had left the Organization... well 'left' is really too mild a word; more like 'kicked the Organization to the curb and gave Siax a beating on the way out'. I tried to convince him not to go, but we'd had a big argument before that and he wouldn't listen to me when I told him what that would mean. He was determined to find out about who he was and why he had the Keyblade."

"If I was smart, I'd have gone with him," he said. "Or if I was smarter yet I'd have just told him about Sora and everything when he asked me, instead of hiding it to try and keep him there. As it was, though, all I did was stand there like an idiot and watch him walk away. I knew I'd be the one sent out to bring him back, or failing that, make sure he didn't get in the Organization's way. That was my job, after all taking care of 'traitors' to the Organization."

"I held off for as long as I could, got them to try sending Dusks to retrieve him a couple times, but you know how Dusks are," he said, gesturing dismissively with his free hand. "They're not really bright enough to pull off something like on their own, and I knew it. Only reason they stood any kind of chance was kind of indirectly because of Naminé."

"See, at some point after Roxas left, he got captured by a guy who called himself DiZ," Lea said. "DiZ was working with Naminé to restore Sora's memories, but he had his own agenda too. DiZ hid Roxas in a digital copy of Twilight Town, and had Naminé alter his memories so he thought he was just a normal kid living in the town in order to buy time for her to use the parts of Sora he had to reconstruct Sora's memories properly."

"When I was finally sent out after him and found Roxas in the virtual Twilight Town, he had no idea who I was." A bit of a wry smirk touched his lips. "So I have a bit of an idea what this must be like from your side too. When I failed to bring him back that time and reported back, the Organization handed down the order I'd been afraid they would; if I couldn't bring Roxas back, I was to eliminate him. I tired to convince them otherwise, but it was no use, and they made it clear that if I didn't follow orders, I'd be the one eliminated. So I went out one last time, hoping to hell I could find a way to convince him."

"He didn't really remember anything at first," Lea said. "Somebody- I'm guessing Naminé, though she never mentioned it- had given him a little information, but it was clear he was just repeating what he'd been told. I was going to try 'convincing' him the hard way like I had the first time I found him, but DiZ stopped time in the simulation long enough for him to get away from me. I didn't catch up to him until he'd almost reached Sora. By then he really did remember me and the Organization, but it was too late for talking. We fought, and unlike the first time, I wasn't holding back."

"Not that it made a difference; he still kicked my butt," he said. "Somehow he had two Keyblades; I didn't know anyone could do that. At least we parted on better terms the second time around; after the thrashing he'd given me, I didn't have the strength to stay in the simulation for much longer, and we said we'd see each other again somehow before I was forced out. Roxas remerged with Sora not long after that."

It was a difference of Roxas and Xion, more than anything else. She would have told him as much had he asked. To her mind, Roxas had been wanted by the leadership from the first, and he was treated as though he belonged. A Junior, yes, but far closer to an equal. She had been treated as a thing, and a broken one at that. She had come to expect the lies, so they didn't hurt when they came. She had to learn to be better at seeing what was behind them. She was pretty certain that Roxas was the only one she knew who was so open about his goals and his agenda. But Axel was a schemer. She saw it when he came up with the plan to keep the leaders from realizing Xion was useless. He helped them form a lie and a partnership to save her. She knew some lies could help. And she trusted that Axel always had a reason for lying, and for acting as in a way that was its own lie, even shorn of words. She trusted that even if those lies and acts were self-serving, he considered her and Roxas to be HIS. And thus those lies would protect them, because he wanted to keep them around. That was what friendship was, right? Wanting to keep the other people around, no matter what it took? So yeah, she would always trust Axel. He could literally stab her in the back, impaling her on his weapons, and she would trust that it was either to save Roxas, or to save her herself from a worse fate. He knew she would rather die than be a dusk, after all.

But for all she trusted his motivations and intentions... She was pretty sure he was wrong. Even if their dark corridors didn't work here, even if he was trapped here... she was certain she wasn't. She was sure that given that Namine had started the process, all she had to do to return to Sora was to die.

But... But Axel was here alone. Was it so selfish and horrible of her... if she wanted to keep living to stay with him? At least... at least until he could get home? And even knowing it was selfish and horrible and that Sora might suffer... she wanted to. She wanted to stay with him. And she listened to what he had to say raptly, though much of it confused her. Some of it made her sad, and some shocked her....

Because how could Roxas have joined Sora months ago? She had JUST been with Roxas. Just before she arrived here. That couldn't be more than an hour, the time it took her to stumble to the kiosk and be spotted by Axel. Months made no sense. But she was determined to hold all her questions until he was done speaking.

Her jaw almost came unhinged at the thought that Roxas had done so much damage to Sïax... How much of Roxas' power had she been leeching? How could she have done that to Roxas for so long? She was thrilled for Roxas at being so powerful, but also horrified at herself for standing in his way for so long...

She winced at hearing about Roxas arguing with Axel, and leaving him behind. That made no sense to her. What had happened to them? They had been friends long before she was even created, so it wasn't like it was her absence that had done anything, yet she couldn't help but feel like if she had been there maybe she could have done something, could have helped them...

She did agree that Axel should have gone with him, but she could also understand why he might not have. Leaving the Organization was a terrifying thought. Turning against them worse. She had done both... but in a way that meant she would have been able to escape the consequences, a coward's last stand compared to the bravery of Roxas... but she didn't think it was fear that kept Axel back, at least... not fear for himself. If Axel stayed behind, he was right, he would be the one that would be sent after Roxas. That meant that no one else would be, which would keep Roxas safe. If he had gone with Roxas, Axel would have no way to know what the Organization was plotting. So she wasn't buying his hindsight change of mind. She was sure she knew why he stayed and that even knowing what happened, he would do it again if he had to. Because for whatever reason, keeping them safe mattered to Axel. It was one thing she knew about him for sure. No doubts in her mind about that.

She also understood why Axel didn't tell him about Sora. Because if Roxas knew, if he had learned what she had learned, he would have gone back to Sora like she did. Like he was supposed to. And then Axel would be alone. Another reason to stay here with him now as long as she could get away with it. She figured she had two months at best before Namine or Riku came looking for her, but maybe she could get them to help Axel. Stay with him. Be his friends in her and Roxas' place. He needed someone to look after, and Namine seemed like the type to need looking after, and Riku seemed to be the sort to look after people as much as Axel did. She and Roxas were very similar, and friends, so he and Riku could be, right? Maybe not. Maybe he wouldn't be able to forgive Riku for taking Roxas from him... Would Sora... would he want to be Axel's friend? If she and Roxas were part of Sora... would that make it easier for Axel to be his friend? Or harder? Would he resent Sora for taking Roxas away?

She did know how Dusks were. It was why the idea of becoming one scared her so much worse than dying did. But she understood why he sent them. Buying time for Roxas. Looking our for him, even after they had parted ways so badly. Because he was and is and will always be Axel. It was just who he was.

Wait, why would Namine do that? Who was this DiZ and how did he get Namine not to just put Roxas back into Sora? Why drag out his torment? Or... Or was it because Roxas, like herself, had no memories of being a person? Of having a heart? But what good was it to make pretend and let him build false memories when he still wouldn't have a heart, and wouldn't be able to remember anything once he joined with Sora?

Oh. To buy time. But... why didn't she sent Riku to Axel? Let Axel join the illusion? For the same reason Axel stayed back to begin with.... so Axel could keep Roxas safe. Still, she felt upset at this, somehow. Why had everything gone so horribly wrong? Why couldn't Roxas understand how much Axel did to keep them safe?

Roxas... couldn't remember Axel? Why would Namine do that? It seemed too mean to Xion. Namine could have left that somehow, couldn't she have? But even with that, by Axel's own admission, he was still working hard to keep Roxas safe. Speaking back to the leadership, and even talking to Roxas himself. Xion wished she could go back and talk some sense into Roxas. She didn't know who this DiZ was, she really didn't, but she was starting to get the sense that if she ever met him, he would remind her way too much of the leadership of the Organization. She already didn't like him.

She remembered when Axel had gone all out against her. And why. He saved her doing that, bought her a little more time. Time that she shouldn't have had, but was glad for all the same. So she just nodded.

Roxas... beat AXEL? Somehow that was more shocking than his beating Sïax, honestly. But part of that was that Roxas would be willing to go after Axel. Part of that was also, admittedly, that there was this tiny part of Xion that couldn't even imagination Axel ever losing at combat except intentionally. Yes, that had to be it. Obviously Axel ha.... TWO KEYBLADES?! Roxas..... Roxas could use HER Keyblade too? She... she really had been holding him back. She swallowed hard. Poor Roxas. Maybe she should have left when she first tried to. What had she done to him, out of her own selfish wish to still be with her friends?

She closed her eyes at the end of Axel's recitation. It hurt. Why did it hurt? She had a ton of questions. So very many questions. But first she had to learn from Axel. She had to lie. She nodded a bit and opened her eyes. "You're right, if we can't use the dark corridors, we're both trapped here." Riku would understand, wouldn't he? He'd forgive her? He'd let her stay just a little longer, so Axel wouldn't be alone?

The girl listened attentively as Lea told the first part of his story, not speaking again until he paused to collect his thoughts for the next bit. He smiled slightly, but there was a sadness to it. Both because of how the first part of the story had ended- he remembered the confusing hurt himself- but also because of what the girl said. He got the feeling she didn't quite believe him on that one. Not that that really mattered in the end; whether she believed it or not, the two of them were still stuck there.

"Yeah we are," he said. "Not really much for it, unfortunately." He was going to have to start thinking long term once they were done here, now that there was more than just himself to worry about, he realized. And that in itself felt weird; he was planning for a future with a girl who's name he didn't even remember. Though really, it was hardly the strangest thing he'd ever done.

"Anyway...", he said, picking his story back up, "after I got booted out of the simulation, I was back in the real Twilight Town DiZ had flown the coop, but he left Riku behind to 'take care of' Naminé and me. It was weird interacting with them, but oddly enough it was pretty peaceful. My coat had gotten torn pretty badly in the fight with Roxas, so Naminé had to sew it for me; it didn't turn out very well, but it'd be enough that I could get to another world. None of us said very much, til we saw the train leaving with Sora and his friends on board."

"None of us had any reason to stay there after that," he said. "We both knew what Riku had been told to do, but instead he let us go. Where could we go though? I couldn't go back to the Organization having failed my mission and really at that point I didn't want to. Naminé pointed out though that even if neither of us had homes to go back to, we both had places we wanted to go. After that we split up, and that's the last I really saw of Naminé; from what I've been told, though, she merged back with Kairi, just like you and Roxas did with Sora."

"On my end, I had to get a new coat before anything else, so I snuck back into the castle to swipe a new one," he said. "Lucky for me it was laundry day and no one was around when I got there. Once I had a workable coat, I left again. At first I tried to keep track of Sora without letting him see me while I tried to think of what to do next. I knew I wanted to get Roxas back, but I didn't know how; I figured that the only way would be to turn Sora back into a Heartless, but well, that's a hell of a lot easier said than done, and I was kinda stumped."

"Then I got an idea," he said. "In hindsight, it was stupid. I was so sure of it at the time, but really it barely qualified as a plan. I was starting to get desperate though; the Organization had realized by then that I'd gone rogue and were after me, so I had to come up with something fast. I'm not sure when the notion of bringing Roxas back to the Organization turned completely into just getting my friend back, but I think some crazy part of me was still convinced at that point that if I just brought Roxas back the Organization would spare us."

"My brilliant idea was to kidnap Kairi," he said. "Not to hurt her or anything, just to use her as bait to draw Sora out into the open so I could turn him into a Heartless and get Roxas back. But she got away from me, and Siax caught her. He tossed her in the castle's dungeon and used the threat that he might hurt her to try to bring out Sora's anger; keep him destroying Heartless so the Organization's Kingdom Hearts would keep growing."

"After a big battle at Hollow Bastion-which later got its original name, Radiant Garden, back-, I spoke to Sora," he continued. "Told him who the Organization's leader was and that they were using him to collect hearts, though not what they wanted them for. He'd also found out about Kairi from some kids in Twilight Town and asked me where she was. I started to explain, but then Siax showed up and I had to get out of there fast."

"After that... after that I laid low for awhile, keeping out of the Organization's way, and doing some serious thinking," he said. "I probably should have done that a lot earlier. After talking to Sora, seeing how upset and worried he was about Kairi... I knew then I wouldn't be able to turn him into a Heartless. Not even to get Roxas back. And I realized that Roxas was better off with Sora than with me; and for the first time in awhile, I realized that what was best for Roxas meant more to me than what I wanted, and that that was what friendship was really about. It means doing what's best for someone you care about, even if it means removing yourself from the picture." He gave the girl another sad smile. "Something you seem to have understood a long time before I did."

"I'd really made a mess of things," he said. "So I decided to do something right for a change and tried to fix it. And none too soon too; I found Sora in Betwixt and Between, getting mobbed by Dusks. He'd been trying to get to The World That Never Was, but didn't know how to open a Dark Corridor to complete the trip. I jumped in to help, telling him that Kairi was in the castle dungeon and to go save her. Talking to him distracted me though, and I got swarmed by Dusks. Sora got them off me, and I had time to explain a bit more before the Dusks closed in again."

"We ended up fighting off the Dusks together, back to back." He smiled a bit. "It was almost like fighting beside Roxas again. But I was at the end of my rope by that point. Weeks of running from the Organization, dodging Heartless and Nobodies and everything else... I knew I wasn't going to make it out of there. Course I'd known I was a dead man walking the moment I decided to help Sora; no way the Organization would let me live after that. And with us still surrounded by Dusks... well, there was only one thing I could do if any of us was going to make it out of there."

"I put everything I had left into one massive explosion," he said. "Enough to wipe out the Dusks, but targeted enough to leave Sora and his friends unharmed. Difficult at the best of times, but running on fumes the way I was? That was it. I was fading away. And Sora came over and looked at me with that sad little spikey-haired face, and you know? It was worth it. I explained about how I'd only been after him cause I wanted to see Roxas again, and apologized for kidnapping Kairi. Then I used my last bit of energy to open the portal to The World That Never Was for him before I faded completely."

"That was the last thing I did as Axel," Lea said. "Thought it would be my last thing ever. But as you might have guessed, fate hat other plans."

Xion didn't realize that he was planning a future for them, or that would have felt even more odd to her than it did to him. After all, she had long since come to terms with the fact that she wasn't going to have a future. She was a mistake. She wasn't supposed to exist. She was part of Sora and had to return to him. But that could wait, she hoped. Axel needed her. It couldn't be too horrible of her to be here still if he needed her, right?

She listened intently again. It was... peaceful with Riku and Namine? Peaceful was not a word Xion would have ever used for time with them. But then she still had some lingering hurt from her first encounter with Riku, and she knew Namine was the one who would unmake her. So maybe it was different for him. Peaceful. What was peaceful like? She thought of their evenings watching the sunset. Was that what was meant by peaceful? If so... she rather liked peaceful, and missed it. But she wasn't sure that was the right use of the word....

Somehow the mental image of Namine sewing Axel's coat just struck her as a bit odd, and she couldn't quite picture it. But then picturing anyone in the Organization wearing anything other than their coat just didn't work in her brain. And that included herself. Had she ever worn anything else? she didn't think so. But then, she was a replica. It's not like she actually had a past....

Still, she kind of wished she could have been there to see that. Of course, if she had been there, she rather doubted anyone would be able to use the word peaceful to describe the scene that would have resulted.

If Namine merged with Kairi.... Did.... Did that mean that Kairi was the one with the power to send her back to Sora then? Or was that power gone? Something almost like hope flared within her for a moment, but she snuffed it out swiftly. No. There was no hope for someone like her. Besides, she was pretty sure she knew how to finish what Namine started. She just had to die, as she was meant to, to go back to Sora. And if Axel wasn't here, that was what she would have to do. But... But she was going to wait, if she could. At least until Axel wasn't quite so alone. If she could help him make new friends, ones with no connection to Sora, she could go without worrying about him. He could go back to forgetting that she existed, and the only one to suffer would be her. Which was as it should be, because she had a way to end that suffering. Doing what she was supposed to have done from the first.

Somehow... Somehow where she couldn't see him getting his coat repaired, she could totally see him sneaking back home, swiping a new coat from under the leadership's noses, and getting out again without them realizing he had ever been there. And that thought amused her. It was a very Axel thing to do. She wished Roxas could have heard that story, she just knew his reaction would be fun to watch. Her own was more subdued, but then that was usually the way of things with her and Roxas and Axel. She was content to let them both be so much bigger and grander. It was enough for her just to be with them. She wished she could have been with them forever....

That dream on the beach still haunted her. Even now that she knew that she and Roxas were more alike than she had thought then... She still wished she and Roxas could have been more like Axel, so they could have stayed together.

However, her wistful imaginings came to a grinding halt when Axel said he tried to turn Sora back into a heartless to get Roxas back. She gaped at him a bit, stunned. "You..... wh....what?" she stuttered out, as she tried to process that. "You tried to undo... everything?" she whispered. She looked down. Away from him. Her sacrifice. Roxas' sacrifice. Axel tried to undo that? Didn't he understand? He had to understand... she and Roxas... they were never meant to exist....

But when he said the Organization was after her, pain cut through the confusion, and the hurt she somehow felt that he would do something like that. This pain was worse, because as upset as she was for herself, the thought that the leadership might come here and go after Axel... She knew she wasn't strong enough to protect him, and if he tried to protect her.... she'd just be in the way. He would get hurt.

She looked up at him, concern and fear on her face as she listened.

.....Kidnap..... Kairi? That made no sense. Axel was the smart one, the clever one.... if he knew what it felt like... to miss his friends... how could he do that to Sora? Even if he didn't know that she was inside him, he knew Roxas was. How could he do that to hurt Roxas?

But the answer came to her and it stuck in her chest and it hurt. Because Axel had been doing what he had always been doing. Trying to keep Roxas close. Keep him safe. Like he had once tried to do with her too. If he had somehow succeeded, would both of them come back, herself and Roxas? Or just Roxas? How could they go through the pain of saying goodbye again? Could she have helped to make it easier? Riku would never forgive Axel... one of them would get hurt. And... And somehow the thought of how badly Riku would get hurt made her sad. And she could almost see how much she would hurt, if someone had kidnapped Axel to use as bait to lure her out. How could Axel have tried to do that to someone that carried Roxas and her inside of him? It made no sense.

She actually shuddered at the thought of Kairi being held by Sïax. The few memories or dreams that seemed to be the girl were faint. It wasn't about Kairi. It was about anyone being treated by Sïax as badly as he had treated her. Perhaps even worse if he was trying to make Sora/Roxas angry. But... Sora was destroying Heartless, for the Organization? "That... that doesn't make sense..."

She seemed almost relieved as he continued, as he spoke about Axel knowing he shouldn't try to turn Sora back into a Heartless. But she didn't think that was the first time in a while that he realized that a friend's safety came above his own happiness. It was what Axel always did for her and Roxas. MAybe he never put it into words, but it wasn't something she ever doubted he knew.

She shook her head a bit, when he said she knew it before he did. "I learned that from you, Axel. You knew it first. Even if you seem to have forgotten it for a while." And then, because she couldn't resist, she added, "I thought that was a lesson you had memorized."

Do something right for a change? As far as she was concerned, he usually did things right. Though this last bit seemed... somewhat not. And she even smiled a bit at the thought of Axel and Sora fighting alongside each other. Even as he said it, she had already started picturing Axel fighting back to back with her and Roxas.

But there was a growing horror as he started talking about himself being a dead man walking, and knowing he wasn't going to get out of there. Without realizing she had moved, she found one of her hands gripping his arm, as though somehow she could use it to reach back through the past and pull him to safety. As if for that once, she could be the one to save him. She didn't realize she was holding her breath.

Her mouth opened in a soundless "no" as he described the explosion. She knew he could do it... but that cost was too high. There had to be another way, he was the one good at finding other ways, and figuring out how to keep the three of them alive.

"Faded completely?" she asked in a whisper. "Then... then you woke up here? Like I did?" she asked, softly. "Maybe... Maybe this is where Nobodies go...when we die... then?" Did that mean that she could stay? That she had done what she was supposed to do? "Then maybe Roxas is here too, somewhere." That... That would be wonderful. They could find a beach, and eat ice cream and watch the sunsets.... She never thought that she would have anything other than being part of Sora after she let Namine take her. But this... even if Roxas didn't remember her either... It would be worth it. They could make new memories. They could find a way.

Together.

"Sora didn't know that the Organization was collecting the hearts he released," Lea clarified when the girl stated her confusion. "Not until I clued him in. They just let him do what he'd do naturally- travel the worlds and defeat Heartless- while they reaped the results. Holding Kairi was insurance that he'd keep doing it even if he found out they were secretly using him." WHich was why a Keyblade wielder that they could control was so much more preferable.

He just smiled, though, when she claimed to have learned selflessness from him, as well as the use of his personal catch phrase. Things weren't always what they looked like, especially when it came to Nobodies, but he wasn't going to turn down a compliment. "If you say so," he said.

He reached over and covered one of her hands on his arm with his own free hand. Nothing could be done about it now of course; the past was the past, and not even Luxord's time magic could change that. He'd made his choice and accepted the consequences.

Though man, that hopeful look on her face at the idea that this was some kind of Nobody afterlife. He hated to take that idea away from her, but if there was one thing he'd learned it was that lying about things like that only made things worse in the long run.

He shook his head. "No," he said. "I did wake up, but not here. Not right away. I woke up back in Radiant Garden, in the lab in the castle basement. Back where I'd first lost my heart years ago. And I wasn't the only one either; Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo- that is, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion- were there too. All of us had somehow been recompleted; we'd gotten our hearts back and were completely human again. That's why I'm Lea, not Axel; Axel was my Nobody."

"Before I woke up though... I don't know if they were dreams or what, but... I remember sitting with Roxas on the clocktower. Just talking and eating ice cream like normal. The first one I don't remember quite as well, but I remember that it gave me a chance to say goodbye to Roxas properly. Before he faded into Sora completely, and before I faded away too. But the other one... the other one was right before I woke up as Lea. And Roxas reminded me about the promise I'd made; that I'd always be there to get my friends back. And I remembered that when I woke up."

"The only problem after we woke up was that there should have been two more of us there; Braig and Isa, the complete people of Xigbar and Siax," he said. "We'd all lost our hearts in that lab so we should have all been there. I turned the castle upside down looking for them, but they weren't there. That meant it was time to look for answers elsewhere."

"I met up with Sora's friend King Mickey, who took me to see his teacher, Master Yen Sid, a retired Keyblade Master who lives in a tower not far from Twilight Town," he said. "I knew if I was going to keep my promise and find out what had happened to Braig and Isa, I'd need to step up my game; I went to Master Yen Sid so he could teach me to use a Keyblade."

"In the end, it took a little more than just him to turn me into Keyblade-wielder materiel though," Lea said. "He had to recruit help from another wizard, Merlin, and three fairies and even then it took a little warping of the space time continuum to get me ready in time. Though I was lucky I finished when I did; Sora had gotten himself into another mess of trouble and I had to swoop in and save him."

"See, it's like this," Lea said. "Xemnas lied to us all." There was a dry smirk. "I know, big shock there, right? But he was lying about a lot more than any of us suspected, including the whole purpose of the original Organization and the Kingdom Hearts we were creating- both of which you'll be glad to know Sora and his friends took care of, by the way. Turns out, the whole purpose of the original Organization was to get thirteen empty shells, hook them up to Kingdom Hearts, and fill them all with copies of one man's heart and mind; a man named Master Xehanort."

"Master Xehanort is Xemnas' original human self," he said. "He wanted thirteen dark hearts because he needed them to create a weapon called the X-Blade, which would give him access to the one true Kingdom Hearts. Not one made from the hearts of people or even the hearts of worlds; the real, original Kingdom Hearts. With that, he could control every living thing in all the worlds. And he's gathered an new Organization meant to do just that."

"Out of the original Organization only Xemnas, Braig, and... Isa made the cut. But now that he's fully human again, he doesn't need people to be empty shells to put a copy of his heart in them. He's already got twelve of the thirteen he needs, and Sora was going to be number thirteen, til his friends and I saved him."

"And Xemnas had also lied about something else," he said. "The truth is, Nobodies are only born without hearts. They can develop new ones over time if we work at it. But Xemnas needed the Organization to be empty shells, so he lied and told us that Kingdom Hearts was our only hope, to keep control of us; we could have had hearts all along. Hell, some of us probably already had the beginnings of one by the end, including me, Roxas, and probably you too. Xigbar was in on it the whole time. Siax... I don't know how much Siax knew. Though I bet Isa knows now."

"We stopped Master Xehanort's plans this time," Lea said, "but he's still out there. And not having Sora for his thirteenth vessel won't stop him. So now we're all gearing up to take him on, and settle things once and for all. I was on my way back to Radiant Garden to check on things there when I was brought here."

"But I didn't forget my promise," he said. "Sora knows about Roxas, and once things are settled, we'll find a way to extract him from Sora without hurting him. And you too, now that I know you're in there. And then Master Yen Sid and Merlin can put their heads together to try and figure out a way of undoing whatever it is that makes you drain Roxas' strength. If anybody can do it, it's those two; they're kind of geniuses when it comes to this stuff."

"The point is," Lea said. "I made a promise. I said I'd always be there to bring my friends back. And I intend to keep that promise. Got it memorized?"

She processed what he said about Sora and Kairi, but she was still holding that hope. Until he told her no. She deflated a bit at that. She listened to him recounting his waking up in Radiant Garden and was troubled. She didn't ever remember a life before being a Nobody, because she didn't have one. But Axel did. He had memories, even if she and Roxas didn't. But... but what if who he was as Lea wasn't someone who would want to sit and talk with her while watching the sunset and eating ice cream? Axel and Roxas were her only best friends. Would Lea want to be her friend? Was he enough like Axel for that? He seemed to be, so far....

But why would anyone with a heart want to waste their time on a failure of a Nobody like her? Also... Axel WAS, he said. WAS. Did that mean that her friend was gone forever? Sleeping inside Lea? If Lea decided she wasn't worth the trouble, would she ever see her friend again?

She closed her eyes as he recounted the odd dreams that felt like memories but weren't. She... she had had some of those too.But hers were different. He... he got to see Roxas. Got to say goodbye. She was glad they had that. She was. But it hurt, all the same.

"You.... you wanted to save Siax?" she asked, eyes opening again, confused. Why? Why would anyone want to save Sïax?

"Wait," she pulled back, to look startled at him. "You... You can use a Keyblade?" So... she really had been unnecessary, right from the start. On one hand, she was glad he ever told the rest of the Organization, they would have been as hard on Axel as they were on her and Roxas, and they would have decided they didn't need both of them that much sooner. But... But couldn't Axel have trusted her enough to tell her? Had he really thought she would betray him?

She looked away, pain swirling through her. She didn't hear or process what he said about Merlin, or what it took to get him to be able to use it. If she had there would have been a million questions, given her own inabilities to use her Keyblade consistently. As it was, there was only pain. And it wasn't like he could even answer her, he couldn't tell her why he never trusted her... because he didn;'t even remember her.

At Sora's name, things started to process again, but slowly. He saved Sora. Which meant saving Roxas. She was glad about that, at the least. And she was glad to know that Sora destroyed Kingdom Hearts. In some small way, she wished she could think that by being part of him, she had helped. But if she was here.. how could she have?

She hesitated, then turned back around. "He... He wanted to use me and Roxas... to create Kingdom Hearts... so he could push you out of your own body?" she whispered, horrified. She and Roxas had been helping to betray Axel? For the moment the horror of the fact that she would have been one of the vessels if they had kept her didn't hit yet, nor that the same fate awaited Roxas, cause in her mind... they both escaped. But all the work they had done before they escaped. They could have destroyed Axel, never knowing until it was too late. If only she hadn't been selfish, if only she had gone to Riku and Namine sooner...

She listened, pain lodged in her throat. They were going to take Sora. Which meant taking Roxas. Which meant that she had almost betrayed them both. Almost destroyed the only two people who mattered to her. Who had ever mattered to her. For the moment, she refused to think at all of Namine or Riku, they were different, mattered in different ways. Ways she had never understood. But Roxas and Axel had been her friends. Had protected and defended her. Stood by her. Saw her as her. They hadn't ever called her useless. They helped her. And she had almost betrayed them. Utterly.

"And now you're stuck here, with me. Instead of there, helping Sora," she whispered.

"Except... I'm not there. Somehow I'm here instead...." she said softly, looking down at the table. A way to help bring Roxas back, without undoing Sora? And instead of being there to help... Axel.... Lea... was here wasting his time with a useless broken Nobody like her.

She gave a small meek little nod. "I know you'll save Roxas," she whispered. That she had no doubt about. None at all.

The question of why he- or anybody, really- would want to save Siax was a legitimate one and he frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not sure I do want to save Siax," he replied after a moment. "But see... Isa was my best friend when we were kids back in Radiant Garden; he was a lot different back then. I hadn't really noticed how much he'd changed and how cold he'd become, even by Nobody standards until I started spending time with Roxas and probably with you too. I want an explanation from him; how much he knew and when, and whether he took a part of Xehanort willingly or not, among other things. After that, whether he becomes someone we can save or someone we have to stop depends on him. Either way, I don't think he'll ever be the Isa I used to know, but I'll give him one chance for old times' sake."

"And I can use one now, yeah," he said. "Master Yen Sid had his doubts about whether or not I had the chops to wield a Keyblade, but I talked him into letting me at least try. In the end it took some help from his friend Merlin and three faeries, plus a little warping of the space time continuum to get me a Keyblade in time to be useful. Even then, I had problems getting it to materialize; I wanted to show it off when I went to rescue Sora, but it just wouldn't work, so I had to stick to my trusty chakrams."

"Course, that just made seeing the looks on everyone's faces when I finally did manage to get it to materialize that much better," he said. "Even Yen Sid's jaw dropped, which I'm willing to bet is some kind of record; he's the real stoic type; kinda like a much older, nicer Lexaeus."

Lea could hear the horror in her voice at what Xehanort planned to do. "I don't know if we'd have been forced out or not," he said. "Braig was still acting like himself, and Isa was still actin like Siax, but it's likely they went willingly. Not sure what would happen to someone who was forced or coerced into it. It probably wouldn't have been good, though, so I'm glad we all avoided having to find out."

"Though don't you go blaming yourself for any of that," he said. "That's Xemnas' fault and Xehanort's by extension; they tricked all of us, used all of us. It was their plan, not yours; got it memorized? And Sora wrecked it anyway, so all their planning didn't get them anything that time."

Lea blinked in surprise as she expressed her dismay at his being stuck there with her instead of helping Sora. He'd known there'd been something he'd been forgetting (outside the obvious). "Hey, no need to worry about the time," he said. "While we're here, time doesn't pass back home. We can't leave on our own, but if we get sent back, we'll end up back at the exact time and place we left from. So you'll wind up back inside Sora waiting for me to rescue you, and I'll be on my way back to Radiant Garden. None of our friends are going to be without us when they need us. SO don't worry about the time you spend here; we've got as long as we need to work things out."

"And speaking of working things out, " he said, giving her a knowing smile, "don't suppose you know anybody who might be up for giving a rookie Keyblader a few lessons? Cause I could really use the practice."

You... You could have a best friend... then not be friends anymore? She... she didn't know that could happen. A whole new sense of horror washed over her. She knew that with her, because Namine made him forget that... that he wouldn't consider her a best friend, but... but that she could ever not think of him and Roxas that way? That Roxas and Axel could ever stop seeing each other as best friends? That scared her... maybe even more than the thought of being made into a Dusk. The few things that have ever been good in her mistake of an existence had been their friendship. She hadn't realized she had come to think of it as immutable...until she heard him speaking of Sïax, of Isa, that way. How much change was too much? He had a heart now, was that too much change? If Isa changed when he became Sïax?

This time she actually heard and processed as he talked about how much it took for him to be able to use his Keyblade. Could this Yen Sid, this Merlin, these fairies... could they have helped her? Or would their help just have made things worse for Roxas? Every time she got stronger, it only seemed to hurt him, but she hadn't understood that soon enough. Would learning from them have been different? Would they have taught a puppet like her? Probably not.

His wanting to show off was just so him that her lips twitched upwards despite her dark mood. She could just picture it too. Axe..... Lea. Standing there with his jacket flapping, flames dancing around him as he made an entrance. And she didn't know what Yen Sid looked like, but the thought of him making someone so stoic react like that.... without even realizing it, she was smiling.

"I'm glad we avoided that too," she whispered. "I had no idea that they would use what we were doing to try to hurt you, I swear I didn't know," she whispered, desperate to be believed. Yeah, too late. She was already blaming herself for it. "But I still... every heartless I destroyed..." she whispered. "I was so... so happy when I could make my quotas, because it meant I could stay with you and Roxas," she whispered. "Because they wouldn't turn me into a Dusk if I did my job."

"I'm glad Sora stopped them. I bet Roxas helped with that," she said with a trembling smile. Roxas saved Axel, Axel saved Roxas. Even as Sora and Lea. She liked that. Even if there was no place for her in that.

Okay, now he had her full attention as she stared at him. "What... what do you mean, time doesn't pass?" This was desperately important. She grabbed his arm with both of her hands, staring up at him. "My being here with you isn't selfish? I'm not taking you away from Roxas? I'm not... I didn't fail? I did go back to Sora?" She had to be sure, because that sounded too much like... like a good thing. Like something happy and positive. And she didn't get happy and positive things... Nobodies didn't. Especially not failures like her.

She swallowed a bit at his question. "I'm not as good as Roxas is..." she warned him. Her hands closed tighter on his arm. And then she couldn't help herself, she smiled and added, "I never thought there would be a day I could teach you something..."

It hadn't been just losing his heart that had changed Lea's best friend Isa into the Siax Xion had known. Time had almost certainly been a factor; they'd always known they were playing a long game, but neither of them had anticipated how long. And Lea couldn't help but wonder if somewhere deep down Siax hadn't blamed him for the loss of their hearts; it had been Lea's idea to go to the castle that night, after all. But beyond that, he wasn't sure. Was it just Xehanort's influence? Or was there more to it? Could it be that he'd misjudged Isa all along, and his true nature was closer to that of Siax? No way to know. Not without questioning Siax himself.

"You couldn't have know," Lea assured her. "No one did, aside from Xemnas and Xigbar. Well maybe Siax, but I won't know what he knew until I ask Isa directly. Point is, you did your best given the information you had, which is all anybody can really do. Though yeah, I bet Roxas did help somehow." He smiled in return; Roxas would have found a way, somehow.

Lea was slightly startled when she grabbed his arm, but still smiled and nodded. "I'm not sure if time actually stops while we're here, but anybody who goes home gets put back at the exact place and time they were brought from so it amounts to the same thing," Lea said. "So no, staying here isn't selfish, and you still went back to Sora." At least as far as he knew, but the knowledge felt right so he was going with it.

"I bet you taught me a lot of things without even knowing it," he said. "But yeah, regardless, you've got a year's worth of experience with a Keyblade, and I've got zip. Having someone to practice with who knows what they're doing will be a big help."

And right about then, the waiter reappeared bringing their pizza, two individual plates, and some extra napkins. "Hey, alright, good timing," Lea told the waiter as he set their individual plates in front of them and the steaming hot pizza in the center of the table. "Thanks, man."

"You're very welcome," said the waiter. "Anything else I can get you?"

"Nah, we're good, thanks," Lea said. "But I'll let you know." The waiter nodded and left and Lea turned back to the girl.

"Alright, just in time to celebrate our official reunion," he said. "Your very first pizza. Might wanna wait a few minutes before you get a slice though; fresh out of the oven like this, it's really hot."

She gave a small smile when he agreed that Roxas probably helped. The rest... she felt like she should have known. The way Sïax treated her, like she was less than nothing... could she have used that to do recon on the Organization itself if only she had been brave enough? She didn't know.

She tried to absorb what he told her, and at first had trouble then she figured it out. It was like Stopga! She and he could move around freely at the center of the spell until time resumed outside, then they had to deal with it again. She didn't know whose magic was powerful enough to cast that spell to hit them both for even as long as they've already had.... but whoever it was.... so long as she never made them sorry that they brought her here... But knowing that for however long the spell lasted, she could stay with Axel, and that she didn't fail or run away.... It was more of a good thing than her life should allow for, if she could even be said to be alive. And still, she was selfish enough to have one more wish. Just one. Just... Just bring Roxas here until the spell ends. That would be perfect. Roxas' week off that he wanted. They'd go to the beach and eat ice cream.

She was knocked out of her daydream by the waiter arriving. She quickly pulled her hood up again and pressed herself into the back of the seat, watching. When the waiter left, she kept watching till she was sure he was gone, then she pulled her hood back down. "I... If you want to practice with me, we can do that." She'd like that. She really would. "Roxas and I would practice together sometimes."

She frowned when he said the thing about being careful because it was hot, then looked at her gloves, then back at him. And then another hint of a smile. "Since when was anything ever too hot for you, Axel?" she asked with a grin. And then guiltily her face fell. She swallowed. "Lea... sorry..."

Stopga was actually a good way to think of it; a powerful time magic spell holding things suspended until their return, while they could move freely here. If anyone else their world showed up, that might be a good way to explain things to him. And it would be perfect, having Roxas there with them. Le hoped he'd show up too, but at the same time, wasn't allowing himself to hope too much. Out of the seemingly infinite worlds and individuals there were, the odds that Roxas would be brought there were almost laughably slim. But still, both of them had shown up, so it was possible...

No sense dwelling on it though. "Wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to," he said, smiling. "That's if it cooperates and materializes when I want it; I swear that thing seems to have a mind of its own sometimes."

He chuckled at her grin, and then her guilty expression, reaching over and gently ruffling her hair. "Eh, don't worry about it," he said. "Sora and Riku did the same thing at first. And just because I'm immune to fire and heat doesn't mean anyone else is. Besides, if you try to eat it while the cheese is still really melty, you might lose some of the toppings, and they're the best part."

"I.... I wonder if your Keyblade... is like mine then..." she said, softly. But she hoped it wasn't, and if it somehow it was.... Who was the other half of his Keyblade? Was it someone he liked as much as she liked Roxas? If he was a Somebody now, could he even have been drawn from to make a replica? Who was his replica that was draining his power?

She blinked when he ruffled her hair, then grinned a bit at him a bit shyly. "Hey!" she protested.

"The... toppings are the best part?" she asked, looking at it. Which parts counted as the toppings....?

"I don't think so?", Lea said, looking thoughtful. "I figure Yen Sid would have said something if that was the case. It did take a lot of effort to get me one though, so I'm probably just still getting used to it; swords were never really my thing weapon-wise so I'm pretty much learning from the ground up."

Lea noticed her puzzlement regarding the pizza and smiled. "The toppings are the cheese and whatever's on top of that, in this case just pepperoni," he explained. "If the cheese and toppings slide off because the cheese is too melty, you're just left with what amounts to bread with a bit of tomato sauce on it, which isn't nearly as good as the whole pizza."

"Well, you can use it as a focus for your fire magic, if nothing else... that should help you get used to it?"

"Oh. So how do I know when to eat it?"

"Yeah that'll probably help too," Lea agreed. "But I'll still need the physical practice. The Keyblade's got a completely different balance than my chakrams and it'll take some getting used to."

"Well, we do what I like to call the 'stretch test'," Lea said. "You take a slice, and try to put it on your plate, like so." He took a slice of pizza, lifting it from the tray.The cheese stretched for a bit but the strands quickly snapped leaving him free to put the slice on his plate. "There, see? That means it's cool enough to eat. If the cheese keeps on stretching and doesn't break, then it's probably still too hot to eat and you should wait another minute or two."

"But this one's all good," he said. "So feel free to get yourself a slice, and tell me what you think."

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

I know this feel. X3

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And the first infodump away!

YAY! I've been so looking forward to this!!!!! :D

And infodump part 2!

YAY!!!!!!! Breaking a little of the Axel can do no wrong haze. But just a little....

And info dump part 3!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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So can't wait to get her a paid, lol.

I should get Lea one too, eventually. Maybe after Dragoncon. X3

For me it is after Ota, probably. I have a half dozen or so that need paids atm. Warcrack is cheeper

It is indeed. That's why I got out of Neopets; Neocash is crack. X3

Thankfully, never spent on that, but I've enough other things I do. >.<

I think we all have our 'crack is cheaper' money wasting things. X3

Oh I'm sure.

With backstory out of the way, I figure they can get into details about Genessia while eating.

Awesome! (Okay, apparently I'm mean)

Re: Awesome! (Okay, apparently I'm mean)

Totally had to watch an LP to remember how she uses her magic >.<

Ah, gotta love practical uses for magic. X3

yep. :D