Chapter Text
Lea froze mid-step, eyes widening. Three pairs of heads snapped towards the same direction and stared deep into the forest.
Flynn, the only one here unable to sense what just happened, looked at them in confusion. “What?”
His question either went ignored or it wasn’t heard. Lea exhaled shakily, “Did you feel that?”
“That was a powerful spike of darkness…” Isa frowned, “It felt like…”
Lea whipped his head around to stare at him. “No no, he’s long dead! Saw him float up into the sky like a firefly! There’s no way that’s him!”
“Who’s dead?!” Flynn looked between the three.
Clicking his tongue, Riku began heading towards where they sensed the increase of darkness. “We won’t figure out anything by just standing here.
He had a point. The others were left with no choice but to follow. They were all tense with apprehension so Isa’s warning for them to be careful wasn’t needed. The mounting dread reached a breaking point when they finally entered a shockingly familiar clearing.
“This is the cottage we found when we were lost,” Isa said with a frown.
With the moon casting light against the darkened clearing they could easily pick out the familiarity. However there were things that were different than the last time they’d seen it. For starters, the heavy shroud of darkness was coming from inside the cottage. And a more pressing matter was that one of the windows looked to be shattered. Collapsed several feet away was something resembling a person. It looked as if they’d been thrown from the window.
As the group drew closer they could hear soft groans coming from the body. They studied the woman and noticed she was covered in injuries. Her body was littered with cuts, probably from the glass. However those were just superficial scratches, the real eye catcher was the ring of bite marks on her calf. Crisscrossing the teeth marks and raking down her arms and sides were vicious claw marks. The wounds were still sluggishly oozing blood, almost like they’d been made somewhat recently.
Flynn, the closest of the four, hesitantly reached out before pushing away the hair blocking the woman’s face. He gasped, “That’s the women that led them away!!”
Riku’s face darkened and his hands clenched into fists. “This was the woman who took us to the city…”
A silent thought passed between the four men. They suddenly realized how easy it would’ve been to figure out the kidnapper’s location if one of them had stayed behind at the table with Flynn. They would’ve recognized the woman, they could’ve pointed the search parties towards the cottage. It was a wonder none of the guards had searched this area yet. Maybe they just didn’t get to this section of the woods.
Flynn pulled out some rope from his satchel and nodded his head towards the cottage, “Go inside and check out the place. I’ll tie her up and then come in after.”
With three sets of nods they made their way inside. The door opened with an ominous creek and a breeze of chilled air wafted out. Suppressing a shudder, they stepped over the threshold only to freeze in their tracks.
All the air left Lea’s lungs as he breathed out a shocked, “Holy…”
“Shit.” Riku finished.
Around them looked as if a very one-sided battle had been fought. Small amounts of blood were splattered around, an alarmingly large puddle near a corner of the room. Deep claw marks littered almost every surface and strewn about the room were broken bits of furniture. It wasn’t just chunks of wood knocked all over the room, but several people as well. The rest of the bandits most likely. They were all unconscious and suffering from wounds similar to the woman outside, minus the glass cuts.
Lea cursed, “What the Hell happened here?” He stepped over the remnants of an upturned table and didn’t hesitate to summon his Keyblade.
Riku and Isa followed suit, summoning their weapons as they cautiously moved around the room. Riku pressed his fingers to the nearest bandit’s throat, feeling for a pulse.
“Nothing good. Keep your guard up and fan out. Make sure they’re all still breathing while we look for signs of Xion and the others being here.”
By this point Flynn had entered and seen the destruction inside. He whistled, “It looks like the big bad wolf went to town here before going to grandma’s house!” He went over to inspect the large blood pool, noticing that there were smears that led towards the cottage’s side room. The door was cracked open only slightly, the shadows in the room making it impossible to see anything inside.
Flynn took a step towards the ajar door to try and get a better look when he froze. The moment he got close almost instantly a deep growling from the shadows broke out. Everyone tensed as Flynn cleared his throat, “I stand corrected. The big bad wolf is still here.”
Lea crept closer in order to shield Flynn in case something attacked. His brows furrowed when he saw something like glowing red eyes peek from the shadows of the open door. They almost reminded him of a Heartless’ eyes. Just as he had that though, the growling broke out into a shriek and the thing suddenly lunged forward.
“Shit!”
There was a clash and sparks flew as something scraped against his Keyblade. Lea stumbled back from the unexpected attack and barely missed dodging another swipe of sharp claws. He leapt back and brandished his Keyblade defensively only to freeze when the moonlight caught on the shadowy figure.
“… Xion?”
Indeed it was Xion who was crouched in front of Lea. Only it wasn’t the Xion they were familiar with. She looked as if she was a new kind of Heartless. All the colour on her was washed away and replaced by an all-consuming black, almost like she’d been stained by ink. Wisps of dark shadows emanated from her body and dissipated in the air not a moment after. The only substantial colour to her form was the swirling white markings on her clothes and the threatening red glow of her eyes.
It was hard to tell if she even recognized Lea. She was staring at him impassively from the ground, body arched and ready to spring forward at a moment’s notice. In Lea’s moment of hesitation to study Xion he missed the other shadow darting at him from the open door.
“Lea!”
An attack on his side was barely blocked by Riku. Clawed hands were pushed away from making a swipe at Riku’s face. He knocked back his opponent and watched in horror as the other figure skidded back on clawed hands before ending in a crouch similar to Xion.
Riku lowered his Keyblade in apprehensive confusion, “Sora!”
Sora’s response was to hiss at Riku and charge at him for another attack. Xion darted from the other side with the aim to flank. The two were moving fast, rushing on all fours before leaping into the air.
Flickering like a waning flame, Sora and Xion disappeared. Not a moment later they reappeared, swiping down with their claws at Riku and Lea. Both attacks were blocked and the two were knocked back once again.
Isa rushed to their side, the three of them making sure to keep Flynn out of harm’s way. “What happened to them?” The blue haired man asked, brows drawn as he studied the two shadowy figures.
“Hell if I know. They look like Heartless!” Lea cursed, “You don’t think they are… Right?”
Riku shook his head, “Impossible. They’d have to lose their heart for that and if that happened then Xion would just turn into an empty Replica. And the last time Sora lost his heart he turned into an actual Heartless. Not… Whatever this is. This is something way different.”
“Well whatever it is, it’s freaking me out.”
Isa frowned for a moment before his eyes widened. “Wait. If they’re here, then where’s Roxas?”
At the mention of Roxas’ name both Sora and Xion perked up. Sora let out a chirping sound, turning around and scuttling on all fours back into the side room. Xion backed up till she was directly in front of the door, growling at the four men and threatening them to try and get near.
“I’m guessing he’s in there?” They all shared a look and Flynn visibly grimaced. “Look, I don’t want to freak you out but that huge blood pool has drag marks leading into the other room. So if he’s in there, it isn’t looking good.”
Lea cursed and tried to step towards the room but he was met with resistance from Xion. She snarled at him, darting forward and snapping her jaws, just barely missing Lea.
He stumbled backwards into Isa and Riku to avoid the warning bite. Forcing down a growl of frustration, Lea tried to plead with her, “Xion please! Roxas might be hurt! We need to get in there!”
She bared her teeth as if to say “not happening”. One of the bandits near them shifted. Confused and pained muttering slipped from the woman. Xion jolted, her growl increasing and she looked ready to charge the semi-conscious woman and attack. However when soft groans came from inside the room she stiffened. Swiveling her head over her shoulder Xion tilted chuffed before heading back into the room.
Flynn gave them a nudge, already moving to the bandit gaining consciousness. “You guys go and check out the damage. I’ll get these guys tied up and go flag down some guards.”
Lea didn’t need to be told twice. He practically ran to the door, Isa and Riku hot on his heels. The air in Lea’s lungs were wrenched out and his Keyblade nearly slipped from his hands when he caught a glimpse of what lay in the room.
“Oh Gods, Roxas…!”
Laying in the middle of the room was Roxas. He was resting on his stomach, face turned to the side and a pillow crudely tucked under him. Over his back was a blanket stripped from the lone bed in the room. But even that didn’t do much in hiding the blood trail his body had made. Even the blanket had splotches of blood soaking the fabric from where it was pressed against his already stained clothes.
Crouched next to him were Xion and Sora, the latter tucking the blanket around Roxas and chirping softly. Roxas’ brows were scrunched up and he was sweating. He shuddered, another pained moan slipping out of him.
Lea jerked forward and the movement had Xion and Sora’s heads snapping up. They hissed at him, Sora crouching over Roxas’ body in a protective manner. Before anyone else could make a move Isa had grabbed Lea, yanking him back. The moment he was no longer stepping over the threshold of the side room the growling died down.
“Lea, calm down.”
Lea’s head snapped towards Isa and almost let out a growl of his own. “Calm down?! How can you expect me to-?!”
“Lea!” Isa’s grip on Lea’s arm tightened to the point it was beginning to hurt. “Xion and Sora are like this for a reason. I think they’re in this form to protect Roxas. And they’re going to protect him from anything that might be a threat.”
“Even us.” Riku frowned and after a moment he dissipated his Keyblade. Then he took a step into the room. As expected Xion and Sora began growling in warning. However instead of taking a step back or forward, Riku instead crouched down towards their level.
He inched forward, settling on his knees before the two. “Sora, Xion. You have to let us get to Roxas. He’s hurt. We need to get him back to Even.”
Xion growled and tensed, however she hesitated when Sora crawled over Roxas and began to approach Riku. He crouched down in front of the silver-haired man and tilted his head to the side. Sora sniffed at him, wisps of shadows coming off and brushing against Riku’s face. Somehow Riku managed to keep a straight face even when a clawed hand came up to touch his cheek.
Sora tilted his head and let out an inquisitive sound. Slowly Riku raised a hand and lightly cupped the one pressed against his cheek. Staring directly into Sora’s eyes, Riku tried to get across as much feeling as he could from look alone.
“Sora,” Riku squeezed the hand he was holding, “You guys are safe. It’s ok now.”
Riku’s words seemed to take a moment to register in Sora’s mind. His eyelids drooped for a moment before finally closing and his body slumping forward. With a whoosh the shadows were blown from his body and a normal looking Sora fell forward into Riku’s outstretched arms.
Almost like she was taking Sora’s transformation as a sign, Xion too let her eyes close and collapsed as the darkness was washed away from her body. The moment she fell to the ground both Isa and Lea leapt forward.
When Lea peeled back the blanket to get a better look at Roxas’ wound he let out a choked sound. “Oh Gods oh Gods…! There’s so much blood. Why is there blood?! Can Replica bodies bleed?” He wasn’t really expecting an answer. He pressed lightly against the wound and winced at Roxas’ pained whimper. He whispered an apology before casting a quick Cura on the blond. “I don’t know how good a Cura is going to work right now, but hopefully it helps enough till we get him to Even.”
Lea was beyond gentle as he slipped his arms around Roxas and gradually raised him from the ground. Roxas’ soft gasp of pain had Lea pausing, whispering more apologies and words of comfort.
“We’re gonna get you to Even, Roxy. He’ll make you all better.” Lea swallowed past the lump in his throat and adjusted the blond in his arms. With Isa’s help he was able to transfer Roxas onto his back. Isa made sure Roxas was being held securely before he dipped down and gently lifted Xion.
Riku adjusted Sora in his hold before nodding towards the other two. “Let’s hurry back. We don’t know how long Roxas has been injured.”
The three left the side room and ran into Flynn just as he was dragging the last bandit against the wall. He wiped the gathered sweat from his brow and worriedly looked at the three unconscious Keyblade Wielders.
“Are they ok? How’s Roxas?”
“Injured. I hopefully got Roxas stabilized, but we don’t know for sure. We’ve gotta take them all back to our friends, they’re more qualified to handle this.” Lea said in a rush, clearly eager to get going.
Flynn grimaced, “How long will that take? You sure our doctors can’t help?”
Lea hesitated, trying to figure out a way to explain that Roxas’ body was technically not a normal one. Thankfully Isa was quick to come to his rescue. “Both Xion and Roxas are unique cases. Like Rapunzel’s magic hair, they have bodies that are in their own way, magical. They require a specialist to examine them.”
Though it was clear he still had some questions Flynn understood that time was of the essence. He nodded and gestured towards the door. “Alright. You go and get them fixed up. I’ll handle things here and let everyone know that they were found. You’d better come back and update us when they’re fine!”
With promises to return the three quickly left the cottage and departed to their Gummi ship. Though they knew they shouldn’t really leave Sora’s ship behind they didn’t have time to waste. Riku promised he’d come back to fetch it when he wasn’t trying to blast through space towards Radiant Garden.
Lea, while he cradled Roxas in his arms, was panicking as he dialed Even on his Gummiphone. He cursed at the thing as it kept ringing. “Come on pick up!! Even I swear on King Mickey’s name if you don’t pick up I’m going to shove my foot so far up your ass you’re gonna be able to taste the bottom of my shoe. Pick up Even!!”
He let out a frustrated cry when the call went ignored. “I swear if this is a personal thing because I killed your Nobody, I’m going to be pissed!”
“Just call Ienzo! Even doesn’t answer when he’s lost in a project!” Maybe it was the lack of sleep that was making Isa far snappier than usual. Still, it was hard to be intimidated by his volatile glare when he was supporting Xion’s head so gently against his chest.
Thankfully Ienzo was better at answering than Lea. He was trying to pay attention to the phone while shoving away Demyx’ face from peeking over his shoulder.
“Ienzo!! We’ve got a situation!! We’re flying back to Radiant Garden now but we need you to get Even and three stretchers and meet us at the landing zone!” Lea said in a rush. He bit out a curse when Riku jerked the ship to the side. “Oi!! Drive more carefully!!”
“You try and dodge asteroids while at this speed!” Riku yelled back over his shoulder.
“Lea!” Ienzo snapped his fingers in an attempt to get the redhead’s attention. “What do you mean by “a situation”? Why do you need Even?? Who’s hurt???”
“Roxas is! Xion and Sora too, but mostly Roxas! He’s got this huge slice down his back and there’s so much blood and I’m freaking out right now!”
Ienzo’s brows furrowed and he turned to push Demyx. “Go and get Even please. And if you run into Aeleus or Dilan send them to come help us as well!” To Lea he said, “Please remain calm and take some deep breaths! Is Roxas the only one with physical wounds?”
“As far as we can tell, yeah!”
Ienzo nodded and set down his Gummiphone. Despite being able to only see the ceiling, Lea still heard the sounds of Ienzo moving around his room and shifting things. “Right. Is he still bleeding?”
“I cast Cura on him and that helped stop the blood, but there’s so much on him I don’t know how much he lost.”
“So we’ll potentially need a transfusion bag… But Replicas are different than normal bodies… I’ll have to ask Even when he gets here.” Ienzo’s mumbling trailed off as he got further from the phone. Then after a moment he called distantly, “How far are you from Radiant Garden?”
Riku shouted, “At this speed about two minutes!”
The screen jostled as Ienzo picked up his phone again. He was staring off at something just beyond where the phone was positioned. “Alright we’ll meet you at the landing docks! Dilan please get one of the stretchers, you too Aeleus! Demyx come help me with the third one!”
“What in the world did you drag me out of my office for? It’d better be important!” Even’s voice came from the background.
“Even I will inform you on the way. Ah Lea I’m hanging up now! See you when you get here!” And with that Ienzo dropped the call.
Lea chewed on his lip and stowed away his phone. Looking back at how Riku was piloting the ship, it was rather admirable how quickly he was weaving through the colourful void; especially when he had an unconscious brunette in his arms. But of the many things Riku excelled in, multitasking was one of them.
True to his word they landed in Radiant Garden just slightly over two minutes. The moment the door opened and the three were descending the landing pad, Demyx, Aeleus, and Dilan swept over and took their baggage.
Even, in the midst of checking over Xion, froze when he saw the gruesome scene that was Roxas’ back. He let out a cry, rushing to Roxas’ side as he was placed on the stretcher.
“What did you do to the Replica body?! Don’t you know how much care I put into making them?!”
Ienzo moved past, picking up one end of Roxas’ cot. “Not the time, Even. Grab the other side please.”
Despite his grumbling Even seemed to understand that time was of the essence. He took the other side and helped Ienzo carry Roxas in. Following after was Dilan and Aeleus carrying Xion’s cot, Riku and Isa carrying Sora’s.
Lea kept pace with Ienzo and Even, bombarding the two with incessant questions. “Are they going to be ok? How’s Roxas? His breathing was shallow on the ride here. Please tell me you guys can do something.”
Even clicked his tongue, “His clothes are covering the extent of the damage so it’s impossible to tell with just a look!”
“But what about blood loss? Roxas—he lost so much blood back there and if you need to transfuse blood I’ll offer mine!”
As they set the three inside what could only be considered a clinical office, Even gave Lea an exasperated look. “As if your blood would do any help. Roxas has a Replica body, remember? They may be a perfect replica of our bodies, but they’re made out of entirely different materials! Putting your blood in him would be like trying to replace a car’s fuel with water and expecting it to work! Not to mention the issue of blood types! Honestly did you miss primary school or something? Who in their right mind-?”
“Even, not the time!” Ienzo snapped before he started shoving people from the room. “I apologize but everyone who is not in a lab coat needs to leave. We need to do a thorough checkup and tending to Roxas’ injury is our main priority. We can’t afford distractions! If his body is damaged beyond repair then we need to do an immediate transfer of his heart into another Replica body!”
Even drew the curtain separating Roxas’ bed from the rest of the clinic. He dragged over a black trunk and popped it open behind the curtain. “I’ll get started assessing the damage then,” He said just as the sound of fabric being cut was heard.
“Wait what? Even me too??” Demyx’s pout practically radiated from his tone.
Ienzo gave a particularly hard shove, dumping all four men out the door. “Especially you! Dilan, Aeleus, the door if you would!”
Being the only two to not need shoving to leave, both of the guards stood in front of the door after it was slammed close. From their stance it was clear they wouldn’t be budging anytime soon. At the very least Dilan looked somewhat apologetic. He offered a short “sorry” before subtly implying that Demyx should take them to the guest wing so they could rest.
Both Riku and Lea voiced some protest. They wanted to be there for when Ienzo and Even finished, after all. But all it took was Demyx bluntly saying “Dudes, for one you look ready to drop dead. And for two you guys smell like nothing in this world has any right to. Go bathe before you invent a new breed of darkness from your stink” to get them to accept the offer.
While they each had an individual bath their clothes were also cleaned and ready for them by the time they got out. Wearing warm clothes and smelling fresh made the three of them feel a lot better. Though it didn’t last long as the events of the day finally caught up with them.
After getting a light snack to curb off their hunger, they all collected around a lounge, each of them flopped over a chair in some fashion. Isa and Riku were sharing one of the long chairs, Riku staring into space in a daze while Isa seemed to have passed out with his face pressed into the cushions and Riku’s bare feet propped atop his back.
Lea, slumped in his own chair, pushed his still dripping hair from his face. “When I had my dream… Roxas was going into a door of light and leaving me behind in the darkness. At first I thought it meant I was going to become a Nobody again or something like that… But then this happened and I think I was wrong. Maybe it isn’t that I’m going to fall to darkness again. Maybe the light Roxas was going to was…” He trailed off, rubbing at his face and trying hard to ignore the stinging behind his eyes.
“Lea,” Riku’s voice was as firm as his stare, “Don’t even finish that thought. Roxas will be fine. He’s strong, he’ll make it through this.”
“What even happened to them? Xion and Sora are limp noodles and Roxas looked like he lost a fight with a leopard. That was a lot of blood. More than I’ve seen before. I think…” Demyx frowned slightly as his eyes got a cloudy look, lost in forgotten memories for but a moment. The next time he blinked the look was gone and he seemed unaware of what he’d been trying to recall.
The look went unnoticed since no one was really looking at him and were instead melting in exhaustion. Lea sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Where do we even begin?”
“Uh at the beginning?”
Ignoring the answer to his rhetorical question, Lea sighed once more before he began the tale of when they departed Yen Sid’s tower and what led to now.
//
When they were finally allowed back in to the medical room it was during Even giving a rather intense lecture to the three bedridden patients. Most of his ire was directed towards Roxas and specifically his reckless actions.
Despite the small amount of bandages on Xion and Sora, they looked perfectly fine. Roxas, even when laying on his stomach, didn’t look as bad as before. His upper torso was wrapped in bandages with only a blanket offering him some shred of decency. But other than that and a few blooming bruises he looked just as fine as Xion and Sora. It was enough to coax a sigh of relief from the three men.
“I mean honestly! Your body may be a Replica’s but that doesn’t make it indestructible!! I made them to mimic people!! Of course they bleed! And of course an injury like that is going to cause some damage!! You’re lucky it was me who made your body and not some other Organization member that isn’t here!” Even angrily waved his clipboard at the blond. Apparently sometime during treatment they cleaned the blood from his body and hair so he wasn’t looking like a horror show.
Roxas scowled, failing in his attempt to glare at Even with his face squished against a pillow. “Ok! I heard you already!! You literally started lecturing me the moment I woke up!”
“And I’ll keep lecturing you if you ever damage yourself like that again! The same goes for you as well, Xion! Don’t pull any reckless stunts like this!” And with a righteous ‘hmp!’ Even turned up his nose and stomped out of the room, muttering the whole while about reckless idiots and not appreciating his work.
Ienzo offered a somewhat strained smile. He looked down at his clipboard, “Don’t mind Even. I promise he’s just worried about you all.”
“He’s not the only one.” Lea finally made himself known, nabbing a chair from who knows where and practically slamming it down on the floor next to Roxas’ bed. The blond flinched, making a point to look anywhere but at Lea’s piercing stare.
Riku rolled his eyes, dining to sit at the edge of Sora’s bed. “How are you guys feeling?”
Roxas snorted, “Like my fucking back was split open.” He yelped when Lea pinched his arm. “Hey!! Fucking injured party over here!!”
“Then don’t make jokes like that!!”
Xion bit back a sigh and slumped against her pillow. She offered a small smile, “I feel alright. A little dizzy but Sora assured me that’s normal.”
“Normal?”
This time Sora was the one to speak up. He nudged Riku with his foot from under the blanket, grinning when a hand came to rest on his ankle and squeeze it lightly. “Yeah! For entering what I call “Rage Form”. First few times always leaves you feeling dizzy.”
He received a few curious looks from this admission. The only ones who seemed to already be aware of such a form was Xion and Roxas, though they were a “special case”.
Isa, from where he stood leaned against the wall, was frowning in thought. “This… “Rage Form”… It is similar to the form you took when you were reduced into your AntiForm. However while in that form you were consumed by darkness, in this form you were overcome with-.”
“Anger.” Xion blinked, looking down at her hands and flexing them unconsciously. “When Roxas got hurt… When they touched him and wouldn’t leave him alone… There was so much anger. I wanted them to stop hurting Roxas. I wanted them to leave us alone.”
Sora nodded, “Rage Form channels anger kind of like darkness, but in a way that I don’t lose myself to it. I’ve used Rage Form before. The first time wasn’t consciously but after that I grew used to it. Just ask Donald and Goofy, they’ve seen me in that form plenty of times. Though in that form I usually have a one-track mind which makes it difficult to reason with.”
“Fascinating.”
Everyone looked towards Ienzo who was scribbling furiously at his clipboard. He paused when he realized he’d spoken aloud. Blushing slightly he offered a sheepish smile, “Sorry, but this form sounds so interesting! I’d love to study it further. Ah… Although that begs the question. If Xion is also able to enter this form and Sora says he frequently entered it before then does that mean Roxas is also able to enter the form? Or for that matter, is anyone whose heart resided in Sora’s able to transform? Can Ventis turn?”
Lea clicked his tongue and waved a hand dismissively. “You can test your theories later! How bad were their injuries? Anything permanent?”
“Axel…” Roxas sighed.
Holding up a hand, Lea gave him a pointed glare. “You hush. I’m currently pretty mad right now.”
“You’re mad? I’m the one who got cut with a sword! I should be mad!”
“Yeah, well you didn’t see how you looked when we found you! Do you know how terrified I was that you’d die?!”
As the two divulged into heated bickering, both Riku and Isa decided to ignore them and instead turn their attention on Ienzo. Looking down at his clipboard and flipping through some of the papers, he tilted his head. “Well Even and I aren’t professional doctors, mind you. We’re scientists, not surgeons. But we did what we could. Sora has a few bruised ribs and a split lip. He doesn’t have any cut marks like Xion does, though if what he says is to be believed then I think that’s because he was more used to his Rage Form so he was able to dodge attacks easier. Thankfully Xion only has bruising on her arms and a few nicks from a sword, nothing too serious. Roxas of course suffered the heaviest injury. Even was able to repair his back and assured me that he should suffer no lasting damage. At the very least he may just get some scarring. Ah, he did have a ring of teeth marks on his ankle but those were extremely light. My guess is that either Xion or Sora tried dragging him while in Rage Form.”
“See!” Lea exclaimed, gesturing towards Ienzo while still glaring at Roxas. “You could’ve suffered irreparable damage! What would you have done if you weren’t able to walk? A Cura sure won’t fix that!”
“What did you want me to do?! Let them hurt Sora?! Xion?!”
“Of course not!”
“Then I did what I had to!”
Lea stood so abruptly from his seat that the legs screeched against the tiled floor. “You always do this!” He snapped. Lea’s anger was palpable, flames dancing along the edges of his shoulders. His clothes remained unaffected by the magically conjured flames, the fabric enchanted to survive the pyromaniac’s tendencies for the burning flower.
The room was silent as Lea planted his hands on the edge of the bed and loomed over the blond. “You always throw yourself into danger and sacrifice yourself for the sake of others!! You think you’re doing something good when it happens but you’re not always there to see the aftermath! Did you think that we wouldn’t miss you if you were gone?! Did you just forget how hard I fought to get you back?! If you think I’m just going to let you constantly put yourself in self-sacrificing situations then you’ve got another thing coming!”
Roxas’ hand snatched out and grabbed the front of Lea’s shirt, pulling him close enough to growl in his face. “You can’t control what I do, Axel.”
“That was never my idea! I’m just not gonna let you sacrifice yourself like this ever again.”
“Oh?” Roxas quirked a brow, “And just how are you going to do that?”
Lea smirked, “I’m just going to have to stick by your side to keep you from being so reckless.”
Roxas returned Lea’s smirk with one of his own. Then, in an act absolutely no one was anticipating, Roxas yanked Lea forward and promptly connected their lips in a searing kiss. The flames on Lea’s shoulders were instantly snuffed out, mirroring the shock the redhead was feeling.
Silence reigned supreme as everyone stared at the stupefied pyromaniac and the wincing blond. The angle Roxas was twisted in to meet Lea’s lips probably wasn’t comfortable for his back but still he persisted. Lea, in his state of shock, forgot to even close his eyes and was too focused on staring at Roxas during the kiss.
Sora blinked at the scene, vaguely wondering if they were even breathing. He looked to Riku, gesturing to the two. “Is anyone else confused how they went from yelling to kissing? Like what is this?”
Riku merely shrugged, unable to form a response that would satisfy the brunette. Out of courtesy for Roxas’ abrupt action, they all pointedly looked away from the kissing two. They only looked back at them when Roxas finally let go of Lea.
No longer being held forward, Lea fell back into his chair and stared in a daze at Roxas. The blond, though flushed in embarrassment, was grinning widely.
He laughed, “I look forward to it.”
Lea remained frozen in his seat, clearly still trying to process what happened. Isa, tired from the entire ordeal and not in the mood to deal with a braindead Lea, moved over and grabbed him by the arm. Lea was pliant, not even registering that he was being pulled out of the room.
“Since we’ve confirmed you three will be fine, we’ll leave you guys to rest. Lea can deal with this when he’s functioning again.”
And with that the two left the room. Ienzo was the next to leave after doing one last check up on the three and promising to return in a few hours. Finally it was just Riku being the only uninjured party of the group. He sighed through his nose, standing up after patting Sora’s leg.
Riku didn’t even manage to take one step away from the bed before Sora was shooting forward and grabbing his wrist. “You’re leaving?” He asked, blue eyes impossibly wide.
Feeling his heart soften, Riku smiled gently before taking Sora’s hand and holding it. “Yeah, but only for a while. You guys need sleep, you’ve been through a lot.”
“We need sleep? You look like you’re ready to pass out.”
Roxas’ unhelpful comment had Sora shooting him a glare. “We kept quiet while you and Axel had your moment, let me and Riku have ours!”
Riku snorted and barely managed to restrain his laughter. Still a few chuckles managed to slip past as he spoke. “Sora, sleep.”
“But-!”
He was cut off by the lightest brush of lips against his forehead. Sora was stunned from the action, though the kiss lingered long enough for him to quickly grasp what was happening. The smile that broke out across his face when Riku leaned back was the brightest one he’s ever had.
Riku’s smile was warmer than before, his eyes shining with the affection reserved solely for Sora. He lifted their clasped hands, kissing the back of Sora’s knuckles. “Sleep. We can talk when we don’t have an audience, ok?”
“Mmm,” Sora agreed with a dreamy smile.
He let Riku slip from his grasp, watching him leave the room with that dazed look. Even as the door closed he still continued grinning impossibly wide. Not even the pain from his bruised cheek could dampen his happiness.
Xion, having been silent for a long while, finally whistled and flopped down against the bed. She looked up at the ceiling, “Well that was unexpected.”
“What? The kidnapping or the kissing?” Roxas grinned when Xion rolled her eyes.
“Both.” She turned her head so she could look at Roxas. “Glad to see you finally worked out your feelings. Though you didn’t exactly tell him.”
Roxas shrugged, “I talk better with my actions. Less room for misunderstandings that way.”
Sora snickered and rolled onto his side, wincing slightly. “Riku and I don’t even need words to get our feelings across!”
Now it was Roxas’ turn to roll his eyes. “You’re the only one here who had a childhood where you could develop that kinda relationship. I literally popped into existence at 16.”
“On the bright side at least we skipped puberty.”
Xion had a point there. It was the little wins that count.
The trio fell silent after a while, each to their own thoughts. Though it didn’t take long for Roxas’ lips to quirk into a smug grin and his cheeks to darken with a prominent blush.
“Did you see Axel’s face, though?”
Sora blew a raspberry, “Did you really have to start arguing with him before kissing him though? What’s with that backwards buildup?”
“The tension’s hot.”
Both Sora and Xion let out sounds of protest, groaning as they turned their backs on the cot between them. Roxas’ laughter was obnoxiously loud over their distaste for his comment. His laughter stuttered out into a wheeze though when it put a strain on his aching body. Even being pumped full of numbing drugs couldn’t hinder all the pain.
Roxas sighed when he was done laughing, Xion sighing as well, followed by Sora. After a moment Xion hummed, rolling onto her back. “The trip was fun though. Could do with less kidnapping, but other than that I enjoyed myself.”
“Mmmm,” Roxas agreed, “We should do it again. The trip part, not the kidnapping.”
That got Sora to turn back around and face the other two cots. He grinned widely, “I know some other worlds we can go to that are a lot of fun!”
“We’ll have to take Riku, Lea, and Isa though! No more leaving them behind you two!”
Both Sora and Roxas rolled their eyes. They ran away the first time to avoid confronting Lea and Riku. Now that their initial issues were more or less solved, there wasn’t really a need for that. Still they let out duel sounds of agreement just to placate Xion.
Nodding her head in satisfaction, she fixated the boys with a grin of her own. “Shall we begin planning for the next adventure for the three musketeers?”
Roxas and Sora shared a look before they turned their attention back to Xion and nodded. “Yeah!” They cheered.
Xion grinned, sticking her arm out. Even though the cots were placed with enough room between them, they could still sort of reach each other if they stretched out. Roxas quickly got what she was trying to do, sticking both of his arms so he was splayed on his stomach like a starfish. Sora reached over on his end, wiggling his fingers till his palm settled atop of Roxas’.
“All for one,” The blond began, turning his head from side to side in order to flash his grin at his companions.
“And one for all!”