Archive of Our Own

Many years ago…

It was early evening and there were many engaging in a yearly festival that commonly occurred towards the beginning of spring. Many kids had even run off to entertain themselves away from their parents, going from booth to booth, or just to play with each other. All could agree that there wasn’t a shortage of activities to partake in.

Two children had gone off with each other, and now one of them was dragging the other practically towards one of the stands. Though, an older woman’s voice calls out to them. “You two, there. Would you like to have your future read?”

The blue-haired young boy pulled away from the red-haired boy, who pouted. “Come on Isa, gettin’ fortunes read by old women is really boring! What about—”

Isa interrupted and said simply, “We can do what you want to do after we listen to her. It’s what I want to do anyway. Maybe you can just go without me, Lea.”

Lea pouted. Then he scrunched up his face; he was a bit selfish and he wanted to do things his way, so he took a moment to debate this. Then again, he didn’t want to do it alone, so he acquiesced. “Fiiiiiine.”

“I knew you’d see it my way.”

Lea huffed at Isa’s words as the blue-haired boy smirked.

The older woman revealed to them a crystal ball. When she finished performing the divination, it seemed nothing happened, and then she looked at Isa. She said, “You’ll have a life which will be full of tragedy … ahead of you. But you will spend your last moments with the one you love.”

She gave a wave of her hand, and Isa blinked.

All before him turned into a field of grass, and above him he could clearly see the thousands of stars hanging in the night sky. He felt a strong breeze blow, pulling some loose strands of grass from the ground into the air, and encircle all past or around him. He also witnessed the falling of those once-unmovable stars, watching them traverse into the sky until they disappeared in the distance. Then, there were some that began to just blink out of existence.

Isa looked down to see that there were now bushes and a wall of trees standing in front of him; he began to walk forth, brushing aside the branches and vines in his path. He came to a small ledge, and he looked to see that there was someone lying down on the clearing below.

Out of curiosity, the blue-haired boy clumsily came down the hill’s edge, stumbling a bit, and as he came closer, he saw a man approach the other – now clearly another man in black but with long hair with the same shade of blue as Isa’s. Then, the man knelt down next to the blue-haired man, taking his hand within two of his own – and now that Isa thought about it, this other man had hair as red as Lea’s, but seemed a little too older to be the one he knew. He saw the red head speaking words, but he couldn’t hear them; the red head also seemed distressed, but his companion didn’t even seem to look half as concerned.

In fact, the other man was smiling. But, in the next moment his grasp on the red head’s hand weakened and then he closed his eyes. Then, he was completely still.

Isa watched the red head break down, yelling his name.

He could read the name from the red-haired man’s lips.

Isa.

The blue-haired boy blinked, watching blankly as the wind picked up all around him, and the world seemed to tilt until the ground was in the sky and he was falling into an ocean of stars beneath him.

When he came to he looked to see that Lea was complaining about his future being read. “…Did you hear what she said? She said that I’d be able to save many people, but I wouldn’t be able to personally rescue the person I love the most. What does she know!”

Isa said quietly, “Yeah. Let’s get going.”

“See? I told you it’d be a bust!”

Isa allowed Lea to drag him along.

However, Isa’s mind was on what had happened.

In his family, there were many who had the ability to see or divine the future. They didn’t share it with outsiders, of course. Though Isa had mentioned it to Lea by accident on offhand, and the red head had told him that he wasn’t interesting in knowing what the future had to tell him. That he’d make his own.

Now Isa preferred the idea. But he didn’t think it’d be possible.

So, he’d spend as long as he could with Lea by his side. If he made the most of it, maybe even the times before the end could be sweet enough to make unforgettable memories out of.

…

One day before Lea met “him” again…

Isa crumbled to the floor, and Xigbar stepped away from the blue-haired man, rubbing at his neck. The room was temporarily covered in laser marks – from the Superior himself who had intervened at Isa’s switch into an aggressive state. Needless to say, it didn’t take very long, though it took longer than Xemnas had thought it might. He came closer to the blue-haired man, and asked, “Have you had enough, Saix?”

Isa’s fingers clenched into fists, but his body was hurting all over – his clothes were singed from the fight that had ensued with the other man. He had lost it almost immediately when they had brought him back – and he supposed it made sense. They still need him for their absurd plans.

It didn’t matter now, what he should have done or what he could. He felt himself slipping unconscious – this time he was unsure if it was their doing or due to his wounds.

What mattered is that once again, Xemnas could tell that the darkness within the man was growing once more, and he’ll be under control.

There was just one loose end they’ll need to have taken care of. And what better target than one who wasn’t to be one of the several lights?

…

Something was wrong. Aqua could sense it almost immediately when the blue-haired male made his presence known, and it was exacerbated when he neared the red head. Said red head seemed to appear to be oblivious and so she spoke up, saying, “It’s good to have you back. But, if we’ve all managed to meet up, we should head back.”

She watched the man’s reaction carefully, and she thought it was rather unfortunate that the words between the two had decreased exponentially after Saix’s less than stellar greeting. Then, she felt a sinking feeling in her chest as the red head turned to them, saying, “We’ll catch up with you guys in a bit. Isa just wants to talk to me about something in private.”

She couldn’t just let this go, though she remembered her experiences last time she had attempted to be eager in her want to help. Still, she asked, “Are you sure that’s alright? We don’t know who else might be around, so it could be an idea for us to stick nearby just in case.”

The red head just shrugged, and that caused Roxas to frown. But then Lea said, “Yeah, it’s fine. We won’t go too far.”

With that, the two headed off. Roxas asked, “So am I the only not comfortable with letting him go with Saix like that? It just seems too convenient for him to come back like that and what he said sounded…”

Aqua asked, “Off?”

Ventus then said, “Maybe you guys are worrying too much. I’m sure it’ll be fine – last time Isa escaped them when they tried something and just by being around us seemed to help. So, we just need to be more vigilant this time and…it’ll all work out.

I’m sure.”

Roxas then said, “Sometimes things don’t work out the way you expect them to—”

The other blond snapped, “Well, this time it’s going to be different!”

Aqua then put a hand on Ventus’ shoulder. “Ven, you shouldn’t shout at him. Let’s try to all figure out something together instead of arguing. We won’t solve anything otherwise.”

Ventus looked down at his feet and replied, “…You’re right, sorry.”

He didn’t even know why he shouted like that… he just suddenly felt really agitated at the moment. Maybe he just let it get to him.

Xion looked a little relieved at the tension dying down a bit and asked, “…How long should we wait before we run in swinging?”

Roxas said, “Five minutes.”

Ventus shook his head and he took out a banana from his snack pack (he brought it along with him just in case okay?) He then said, “We should give them at least twenty.”

To that, the other blond just gave him an incredulous look.

…

“How long are we going to keep walking, huh? You know, if you wanted to have me all to yourself later on we could’ve just head back with the rest and spend some alone time in our room.”

Lea followed Saix, hands behind his head, looking bored. The golden eyes didn’t dissuade him – why would they? They seemed to have come and gone, something that he was sure to get rid of completely once he had a chance to completely rid him of Xehanort’s influence. He was pretty sure he did it just fine the last time, but it was also his first time trying anything…so maybe he shouldn’t be surprised he didn’t do it right.

The red-head rose one small eyebrow when his supposed lover ignored him, and so he stopped walking, causing Saix to do the same. “Axel—”

“—Oh come on. Sure, I don’t mind people calling me that since at this point might as well because people can’t be assed to remember otherwise. But the way you’re sayin’ it now makes me want to revoke your Axel name-calling privileges because that it sounds like we’ve just taken a step back. Which is NOT what I hoped happened, but then again I’d totally accept it did a little because—”

Saix began to interrupt, “Axel—”

“—and there you go again! I can’t believe this. You really need to stop doing that because that’s really bumming me out. But anyway, before I was rudely interrupted, I was just sayin’ that yeah, I get it if you’re kind of pissed at me for you getting your ass kidnapped when I was standing right over there because that kind of really sucked. Also, I guess that it’d be totally all on me—”

The blue haired man pinched his nose between two fingers and snapped, “Axel—!!”

“—who’s Axel? I don’t even remember who that person is. All I know is that it’s just you and me here – two sane people with hearts named Isa and Lea, who are definitely going out on one hot date because I think I still owe you one. Or maybe it’s going to be two now, considering that I’m definitely making this up to you—”

Saix growled, “—Lea. Shut up.”

Then he sighed, before he summoned his Claymore. He had a whole speech meticulously prepared. However, Lea’s nonsensical rambling and attitude dashed every single memorized word out of his head so now he could barely string it all together. He wanted to make him completely and utterly miserable, but it looks like he needs to brute force it the entire way to even achieve that.

When the bluenette turned around finally to face the red head, to his dismay he found that the man had slunk off into the wilderness. Maybe he shouldn’t have underestimated him – just because he could act like an idiot doesn’t mean he was one. Saix knows that Lea couldn’t have gone far, however, and took a glance over at the dirt, finding footprints that lead towards one tree. The man probably wasn’t hiding behind that one in particular, but it was a place to start.

He heard something like a branch crack and saw one fall to his left, so he turned in that direction. “Over here, Isa.”

Saix turned again, growling in annoyance and expecting to see the red head in front of him, having come out of his hiding place. Which he did, but he didn’t expect for the red head to be holding back a branch and then let go of it, so it’d literally smack him right in the face, causing him to land on his bottom in a very undignified manner.

Lea immediately took advantage, as he literally went in for a tackle, and then forced the blue-haired man to lay in the dirt due to holding a Keyblade against his throat. He leaned in and asked, “How about we try this again, huh?”

“If you knew what was best for you, you would finish it now, Lea.”

For a moment, the red head feels an intense wave of frustration – How did it come to this again? – before swallowing it down as he snorted and said, “I don’t think so. Remember my promise? I said I wouldn’t abandon you – and ending it like that? Counts as abandoning you.”

Saix’s expression seemed to have baleful forever etched onto his face – and his eyes glowed yellow as he growled and reached out with a hand to grab the red head by his stupid scarf.

His scarf.

Voices of laughter – distant and recent past – echoed in the blue-haired man’s head, causing yellow eyes to widen at the overwhelming feeling of nostalgia that had just come over him.

…

Ventus angrily trekked through the foliage, to where he was sure Lea and Isa had headed off – sure he had been the one to tell the rest that they should wait the full twenty minutes, but he was impatient to prove (on his own mind you) that he was right. He was still immensely agitated from his row with Roxas, and maybe, deep down, something else was bothering him – unrelated to Isa and Lea, of course.

The blond halted in his step when he heard the sound of something nearby and he looked around, finding the presence he felt familiar.

“Finally, we meet again, you pathetic waste of space.”

Vanitas stepped out from behind a tree.

He couldn’t foresee Ventus tossing a banana at him at warp speed and having it splatter all over his helmet. That being said, this might be why he still wore it, besides a whole list of other reasons that aren’t being get into at this time. It didn’t make it less convenient and by the time he took it off, looking pretty pissed, the blond had taken off.

…Okay, that didn’t go as planned.

A black-haired girl suddenly tiptoed into view, and then stopped to give him a look as he was wiping banana residue off his helmet. “What are you looking at?”

“A weirdo.”

She quickly went off before Vanitas thought to give her a real reason to be staring strangely at him, and he continued to furiously rub at the residue instead, smudging it further. He growled in frustration… he so was going to kill Ventus next time he saw him for sure.

“Damnit!”

…

Saix’s fingers curled in the cloth, tightly clutching onto the fabric as if letting it go would spell the end of the world, pulling the male’s face closer. Then the man’s golden – yellow eyes narrowed. “You should give up while you still can.”

Lea snorted and said, “You know me. Never knowing when to give up – already did that once before, and like I said I’m not going to do it again. I’ll chase you to the ends of the universe just to bring you back.”

“It doesn’t matter. Your idea that you can bring me back to by your side is outlandish and frankly nothing but wishful thinking.”

Lea countered, “Oh yeah? And what makes you think that?”

Saix hissed, “No matter what you do, they’ll keep bringing me back to where I truly belong. If you want to do yourself a favor, you will put an end to me once you have the chance.”

Green eyes widened and before the red head could protest further, the blue-haired man forcibly tugged Lea closer so his lips could meet with Lea’s. Saix couldn’t think clearly around Lea, this has always been the case, but his thoughts were more muddled than ever – he both hated and loved him. It only seemed that those feelings had grown stronger – but his wish to kiss Lea was undoubtedly Isa’s and yet the intimate moment on his part lacked any soft qualities.

It was rough, though deep, and Saix growled into the kiss before he allowed Lea to slip his own tongue past his lips. Disturbingly, he liked it, and he wanted more – he wanted Lea.

Saix’s fingers still held tightly onto the man’s scarf – had he worn it on purpose? – and then before he knew it, the blue-haired male had practically tossed the red head off of him and straight into another tree. Lea had let his guard down and also simultaneously lost his scarf.

Saix rose to his feet, ignoring the fluttering sensation in his chest and the heat that seemed centered on his face. He then wiped his mouth and stated plainly, “Next time we see each other, it won’t be like this. I promise you.”

Then he summoned a portal of darkness, and stepped backwards into it, watching as the red head scrambled to his feet. But, he was too slow, and even though he made a sprint for the bluenette, by the time his hand reached out to him, it merely swung through the remains of dark smoke left behind by the portal.

Saix – no, Isa – was gone.

Lea had failed again.

He stood there for a moment, before he fell to his knees. He failed Isa, again.

Lea slammed his fist into the ground a couple of times, and he would’ve done it more than that if a hand hadn’t caught his on the third attempt. He looked to see a blond with blue eyes, but clearly not the same clothing Roxas had – Ventus looking at him sadly, and then Xion coming in soon enough.

Roxas and Aqua joined the three shortly after, though Lea hadn’t anything to say, and neither did they, until Lea finally said, “Let’s head back.”

Ventus began to say, “Lea—”

“—I don’t want to hear it.”

The blond fell quiet, before Roxas and Xion looked at each other. Roxas then said, “Axel—”

Lea suddenly snapped, “I don’t want to hear anyone calling me that name right now or ever again, got it?!”

He wasn’t even in the mood to say his usual, he was dejected, and he was pissed. He then rose to his feet and ripped his hand from Ventus’ grip, before Aqua said, “If everyone’s ready, follow me.”

When all returned, every single one of them were quiet, and most of them went their separate ways – likely to take in the disappointment of that trip – except for both Aqua as well as Ventus. The blond said to the blue-haired woman, “…Let’s let everyone else know how it went. Thanks for at least trying to help.”

She nodded, and though she smiled, it was a bit of a sad one. “Maybe we will have a chance to turn it all around soon.”

Ventus nodded. “Yeah…”

…

“Wow, nice going. Heard all about your failure to end your ex-boyfriend.”

Saix pretended that Vanitas had said absolutely nothing, as he kept walking, but in reality, he was about ten seconds before punching his face in and losing his entire shit. He could barely keep himself together as it is, and though he was (for now) loyal to the cause, some of the people here liked to literally keep him insane. He was starting to think it was part of the plan – as long as he was kept mentally unstable, it’d suit everyone’s best interests.

He decides it doesn’t matter what he thinks in the end, anyway. The sooner he achieves their goal, the sooner this will all come to an end.

That said, he probably shouldn’t have taken Lea’s scarf with him, but no one needed to know he was carrying it in the first place, and he also decided that he needed to get someplace alone.

Vanitas watches the blue-haired man basically ignore the hell out of him, despite the fact he just threw more than four other irritating barbs the other male’s way. He could only think, He sure knows how to tune someone the hell out.

But, that was fine. He had a plan to enact, especially after Ventus’ bullshit today. He’ll make him pay for treating him like he was just a mere nuisance.

As soon as Saix was out of sight, he headed into a room that was off-limits to most. But it wasn’t (surprisingly) the fact that it was simply “forbidden” that he entered it. Rather, it was because of who was within the room.

He smirked when he saw the man in front of him – said man had brown hair that seemed to hang a little more down past his neck and reach his shoulders. He definitely looked like he had seen better days, considering the lackluster state of his clothing and he looked pretty roughed up as well. The brunette looked up, blue eyes tired but defiant. “If you think I’m going to join your side with that old man, then you have another thing coming.”

Vanitas snorted. “Oh please, I’m not going to bother with that. I have something even better.”

He then summoned a dark portal and Terra looked at him like he had two heads. Vanitas then reached his hand out to him and replied, “Look, my portal’s the only way out of here since you’re too weak to even manage. So, make a choice:

Come with me and you’ll see your friends again or rot in here until the final battle.”

“…Why are you doing this?”

Vanitas shrugged. “Like I said, it’s up to you; make it quick, though. We haven’t got much time until Master Xehanort drags himself down here for the usual fun stuff. Obviously, I’m not doing this out of the good of my heart, if you have to be reminded.”

Terra stared at the hand and then took it. Without his helmet, the brunette could see the smirk that made itself across Vanitas’ lips. He hoped he made the right choice.

…

“I know I’ve done some horrible things; maybe you’ll never forgive me. I’m fine with that – I know I’ll never forgive myself. I just don’t want to go back to Xehanort – “

Lea couldn’t forget the look on the male’s face when he had said that – how frantic he was, and how both desperation and hopefulness intermingled on his expression. Compared to the look in his eyes were now…there was nothing but coldness with a hint of resignation. As if he had given up, when he had been so close to being free. It frustrated him to beyond no end, and he swore if he got his hands on Xehanort and all of those people who supported him, he’d make sure there’d be nothing, but their ashes as remains.

A knock at the door caught his attention, and he quickly got up from his bed despite feeling like a miserable pile of shit. He opened it to see it was Xion and he suddenly recalled his earlier outburst, which made him rub the back of his head. “Hey, Xion.”

“Hey, Axel.”

The black-haired girl then suddenly flushed, saying, “I mean—”

“—Nah, it’s fine.”

Lea sighed and just let her in, closing the door behind them, watching as she just sat down on the bed. He went to lean against the dresser and said, “I didn’t mean to flip out like that. So, looks like I might have to make it up to someone or two before the end of the day.”

“…Oh, alright.”

The red head rubbed the back of his head. “Look, Xion…you don’t need to help me out with this. It’s enough you and Roxas were able to come back. Not to mention, I know you didn’t get along with Isa when he was kind of not himself, and I don’t want to lose you guys or have any of you two get…”

The red head’s words trailed off when the black-haired girl was giving him the biggest unimpressed look of the century. She said, “I’m not backing out of this. It doesn’t matter who’s involved and I think Roxas would say the same, because we’re here because we’re your friends. You needled the others constantly about getting us back – I heard it from the others – and that probably helped, besides Sora being…Sora.

And…and…!”

Lea put up his hands and laughed, saying, “Alright, alright, I get it. Man, I feel bad about it though, you guys just came back and already you got caught right back up in my crap.”

At this point she said, “We would’ve eventually. So why not sooner than later?”

Lea snorted. “Woah there. Is it just me or are you using too much logic for me to handle right now?”

At that, Xion couldn’t help but laugh a little.

…

The sky was dark as usual, illuminated by the lights from the buildings and the strange energy emanating from the areas not covered in asphalt or buildings. Saix had thought to come out here by himself after running a few errands for the Superior and still held a few pieces of paper he needed to deliver to him. Since he had seen Le—Axel—again, the male had been feeling out of sorts.

But he easily reasoned that it’d fade with time. Axel wasn’t worth the thought—he did originally abandon him first.

Then Saix heard the thought, But we were in the midst of making up. We had a chance to start over—and make something even better out of it.

He scoffed and countered that thought with his own. And it wouldn’t matter anyway. This is how it’s meant to be – it’s too late to return to his side. It’s clear what purpose I was supposed to serve. Why fight it?

The small protest died inside of him as someone approached, and the blue-haired man turned to face who it was:

Xemnas.

“Is there something you need me for, sir?”

The other man simply said, “No, not at all. I was simply mulling over the report you had given regarding your latest encounter with your friend.”

Saix plainly stated, “And as you know, I wasn’t able to destroy him as you wished due to underestimating him. Which won’t occur again.”

At this, a silence hung between the two as Xemnas observed Saix curiously, and then he replied, “I imagine not. However, you have better matters to attend to other than wasting your time on him – the time has almost come upon us. Soon, all that we have tirelessly striven for will come to pass.”

The blue-haired man said nothing in response, nor did he feel the need to. However, somewhere deep inside of himself, he felt another (meaningless) struggle over the darkness that had once again successfully blanketed itself over his heart.

…

Roxas was apparently hanging out with Ventus by the time Lea and Xion arrived. As soon as they did, however, Lea looked sheepish, and he was about to say something that Roxas knew would be an apology of some kind. He held his hand out and said, “I’ll forgive you if we go out for some sea salt ice cream.”

Ventus laughed at that and said, “Looks like it’s ice cream time – thanks for paying for all of us, Lea.”

The red head put his hands on his hips and replied, “Don’t think you guys are going to be getting free ice cream out of this.”

Xion smiled and asked, “Are you sure we’re not?”

The red head tried to look like he wouldn’t budge but then he did a fake dramatic sigh before shaking his head with a smile. “Alright guys, let’s go.”

After his response, the three of them high-fived. Roxas then asked, “Is Aqua coming?”

Ventus shook his head. “She said she needed to take care of something. Maybe she went to see how Kairi was doing.”

Lea asked, “Because she has a crush?”

At that, Ventus snorted and nudged him. “No. Well…maybe. I wouldn’t know.”

“I heard that, you know.”

Both of them froze and then turned to face Aqua, who had her hands on her hips. Then she smiled, looking at the goofy expressions on their faces. “I have other things to do, so Ventus is right that I can’t come. But try not to get into trouble, alright?”

Lea did an exaggerated, lazy hand gesture. “Yeah, we’ll try but trouble seems to be all of our middle names.”

Aqua couldn’t dispute THAT one, unfortunately…

…

“It’s almost time.”

Terra looked over at the black-haired boy, who sat on the beach’s edge, watching the waves swim back and forth against the sand. The brunette had just finished a few rounds of swinging and some training exercises – he had managed to get better even with Vanitas’ clumsy attempt at trying to make sure he didn’t get worse. Well, then again, Terra had made sure to help him with that.

He asked, “Time for what? To spring your plan on the rest of them?”

Vanitas snorted. “At least you’re not as dumb as you used to be. Or maybe you are and I just can’t tell yet.”

When Terra didn’t respond, Vanitas frowned. It was strange for the man to not react to his barbs – he remembered when the brunette just today had reacted annoyed to him needling the brunette. He also didn’t like it when he got nothing in return for his poking, so he got up to his feet and lept onto the platform that the brunette stood on.

Terra was looking out at the sea, which easily surrounded the island they were on, and no longer at Vanitas. He had a thoughtful expression on his face.

The brunette said, “You know, if I’m like this, I’ll ruin whatever plan you have if you’re plotting something against my friends.”

Vanitas scoffed. “Oh please. Don’t underestimate me—I’ll have something prepared.”

“It won’t work.”

The black-haired male scowled. “Don’t be an idiot. Of course it’ll work!”

Terra turned to face him, smirking as he asked, “Just like the rest of your plans? Alright. If that’s what you think, I won’t argue anymore.”

Something about that irritated him, and that made Vanitas summon his Keyblade. So did Terra.

It looks like it was time for an impromptu sparring match.

…

Before they all knew it, the time for the final battle was upon them all sooner than they could’ve ever imagined.

However, instead of those aligned with the light bringing the final battle to the Seekers, it seems that it was the other way around. Fortunately, everyone at Radiant Garden was prepared – it helps that the world had been on he wrong side of a darkness invasion before. And, of course, that there were adequate Keyblade Wielders around to actually rise to the threat.

As far as Lea could tell, however, it seemed to him that the Seekers were short two on their side – and the thought’s cut short, because he notices a dark portal opens up. From within the darkness walk out two people – one he was expecting (Vanitas) and one he wasn’t (Terra). 

…That’s probably not a good thing.

Aqua and Ventus started at that; the blond ran off towards the duo before Aqua could stop him. Naturally she went to follow.

Master Xehanort turns to the black-haired male and states, “Good, you’ve come on time. Now, it is time for us to carry out our goal – by the end of this, let us see what lies beyond the door that is to be opened by the X-Blade!”

With that, most of them lept into action, light against darkness.

Aqua found that her route to the blond was blocked suddenly by a few shots that hit the floor from her. It was from a certain sniper she wouldn’t be forgetting soon, and she gritted her teeth as she brought her Keyblade to her hands. “Ven! Be careful!”

Ventus didn’t seem to heed her words, and no one can catch up to him. He summoned his Keyblade, so did Vanitas, and Terra – though the brunette moved to step forward to halt the oncoming battle between the two, he found himself blocked entry by a certain pink-haired man. The man tsked and wagged his finger at him, saying, “Not so fast.”

Terra narrowed his eyes at that. “Vanitas, don’t do this—”

“Don’t tell me what to do. I have only one purpose to fulfil – and this time, none of you are going to get into my way!”

It seems fitting that Lea would find himself standing not too far away from the person most important to him now, and he began to look him over. However, when their gazes connected, those golden eyes that looked into his were far from friendly.

The clock bell sounds;

Even if I found glass slippers like in a fairy-tale,

It’d be no good.

…

Lea crashed into the ground, rolling a few feet away from the man standing upon a wall constructed in the area – it seemed that their fight had taken them far away from everyone else and instead in a place that was essentially a few steps from entering the area near the castle’s door.

As a result, there were was rather quite a few trees in the area.

The red head stood to his feet, and he would honestly summon a wall of fire if there wasn’t so much green around. He could still settle for lobbing fire spells at the bluenette, however.

Saix lept over one, landing on the ground, on a level that was below where Lea was standing, and then he jumped over towards the red head, swinging his Claymore downwards, making the red head step to the side. Then, Lea swung his Keyblade towards the other man’s side, and his opponent managed to bring up his weapon to block the swing. However, Saix couldn’t counter the blast of fire towards him as a result at close range, and this made him stumble back.

His new black Organization leather coat was singed. Lea said, “You know, we’re going to need to get you new clothes when you come back.”

Saix growled and came towards Lea, swinging. “Don’t think for a moment that I will ever return to your side.”

“Kind of hard not to, seeing as I think about that every single waking moment of my life.”

Clang. Both weapons met again, and Saix’s eyes narrowed as he said, “Then you’re as foolish as always.”

Lea then snorted and asked, “Says who?”

“I’m not answering this ridiculous question.”

Saix prepared for another spell, so he drew himself back, but in reality, Lea simply slipped to the ground and swept his leg underneath the blue-haired man’s feet, causing him to fall hard to the ground with a grunt. This made said man feel like an imbecile. He hated it when his opponent got the best of him in any situation.

Quickly, he began to get up and saw that Lea was about to bring down his Keyblade on him. He smirked as he got an idea, throwing his Claymore at the red head to intercept the attack – his target being the red head’s hand. He watched as the Keyblade was knocked out of the other man’s hand and his lov—enemy held his hand with a pained expression. Lucky for Saix, he had recovered completely, and his Claymore lay nearby him, and was easy to retrieve.

 Then he turned towards Lea, that smirk still on his face as he declared, “It’s time to end this, Axel.”

Lea stared at him and said, “Yeah, sure.”

At this time, Saix growled, his eyes turning fully golden-yellow, before he charged towards Lea, swinging his Claymore at him.

Lea dodged around it a few times, but on the last swing, he was caught and flew into one of the walls behind him. He groaned and said with a shaky smile, “Man, that hurt. You’ve still got one hell of a swing, Isa.”

The man standing above him sneers as he brings his Claymore down. “It’s Saix now.”

From within the depths of darkness, Saix could hear his own voice screaming in his head, and his body almost outright rebelling, but it doesn’t keep him from managing to slam the weapon down on the red head’s shoulder.

Lea’s damn sure he probably broke something in doing so, because of the burst of pain and the pained gasp that escapes him – he’s pretty sure if he allows Saix to get another hit on him, that will be the end of it. But then again, he doesn’t charge into battles without a plan (or okay, sometimes he just does), so he’s prepared for the next strike.

As soon as Saix goes in for a stabbing strike, Lea quickly moves himself, so he has one knee to the ground and then pushes himself forward with the one foot against the floor.

Lea misses the deadly blow as he uses his quickness to maneuver by ducking past the blue – haired man as well as his weapon, Lunatic. Now that he’s standing behind the man, Lea grabs the man’s head with both of his hands, as well as uses the momentum that the man still carried due to being still mid-move and slams the blue-haired man’s head straight into the wall he was just sitting against a few moments ago.

To Lea’s relief, that knocks Saix out instead of making him angrier.

He honestly didn’t want to do that, but he knew that it was his only option.

But now that he has this chance, he needs to take advantage – he’s going to do this right and completely. So, Lea summons his Keyblade, pointing it at the man now lying against the grass, with Lunatic placed a few meters away. He takes a breath and then opens his eyes as he mutters to himself, “Remember your training.”

He will save Isa, no matter what it took.

At once, light began to emanate from his Keyblade, before it encircled the red head’s body, and then seemed to form into a small point of light, which shot straight into Isa.

When Lea opened his eyes again, he saw himself floating in a dark expanse of nothing, and he took to looking around to see if he could find anything that didn’t seem engulfed in darkness. He began to just move forward, finding that he could just simply … fly around. Which may make things easier, he supposed.

Then, he got the feeling he should stop and look down, so he did.

Below him there was a large circular platform, though he saw that there a great image sprawling along it, but since it was so darkened, he couldn’t tell what he was seeing. So, Lea got a grand idea to move himself right on top of it – and he idly wonders if he might need glasses in the future.

Once he lands upon the platform, he watches as half of the darkness peels away, and at first he can’t tell what exactly it is because it’s not completely easily visible. However, when he steps back some, he can decipher that it is a man with long blue hair in light blue and dark blue robes appearing as if he’s asleep. Next to him and behind him are spheres showing each cycle of the moon.

Lea took a look around, not knowing where to go next…and the Station he remained upon still was half-covered in darkness. “Come on, damnit, show me the way already!”

At that, stairs appeared out of nowhere elevating him somewhere he didn’t even know where, but he was pretty damn sure he knew it was to the right place.

It brought him to another station, but this one was completely submerged in darkness, which peeled away slightly to vaguely reveal a wicked looking man with yellow eyes. And no matter how dark his picture looked, there was no way Lea could be unable to identify who it was.

A deep voice suddenly spoke, “You must leave. Now.”

Lea turned towards the person who had spoken – it was a man in a black cloak. Lea shrugged his shoulders but was ready to summon his Keyblade if he needed to. “Sorry, no can do.”

“Then I’ll make you leave.”

At that moment, a door appeared, and he heard a voice whisper, Open it.

So, Lea quickly went over to the white door and force the door opened by pulling on the door’s handles. He heard the cloaked man shout, “No! Don’t!”

Then, he heard the man scream as light came over the whole area, engulfing himself and Lea within it.

…

A few children were running in the middle of the castle town, faces Lea had seen sometimes when he was younger, and some he’s sure he’s never met. As he began to walk a little more, he stopped when he saw a young blue-haired boy with short hair sitting far away from the others with his legs pulled tight to him by his own arms that encircled them. He seemed a little sad.

It has to be Isa, thought Lea.

The red head came closer to the boy and asked, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

At that moment, the blue-haired boy stood up, and when he did, he looked Lea into the eyes – at first he was startled because he saw that “Isa” had those golden eyes. Then, the boy sprinted off from the red head, and Lea went after him, shouting, “Hey, wait a minute!”

When he reached out to grab a hold of his shoulder, Isa turned around and he looked a little older, a little taller, yet not even close to his current real age. The navy-blue jacket and those pants Isa wore were an indication of his teenage years and when Lea looked at himself, he saw that somehow, he had reverted back to his appearance when he was around that age.  But Isa’s eyes still shimmered that unnatural color and he asked, “Lea…why won’t you let me go?”

Lea’s about to say something, before Isa continued, “You can’t save everyone. There are people that even God can’t save.”

The red head snorted. “You think I’m going to believe that?”

Then Lea let go out of his shoulder, his own green eyes staring and seeming to shine with determination as he looked at Isa and continued speaking. “I made a promise, that I wouldn’t abandon you. Not again.”

Isa’s eyes widened at that, and suddenly some of the darkness peeled away, revealing some parts of Radiant Garden again. Then, he shook his head and said, “You’re a stubborn idiot as always.”

Lea grinned and said, “Yep, and proud of it. Now come on, take my hand.”

Isa shook his head again, and Lea sighed. “At least follow me, then. I’m not leaving you behind, remember?”

“Yes, because you’re so thickheaded you don’t seem to comprehend the idea of knowing when it’s time to leave it be.”

“Hey!”

But, as Lea began to walk through the place to where he was guided (by his own heart or Isa’s, he doesn’t know), Isa followed along at least, and with each step he took, more and more of the suddenly darkened world lit up.

“Lea…”

Lea stopped and when he looked at Isa, and asked, “Hm?”

Isa just shook his head, sighing. “…Nevermind. I don’t think I can really change your mind, can I?”

The red head looked at him, “Nah, not really.”

For a moment, Lea and Isa fell quiet, before the red head suddenly embraced the other, making Isa freeze at the feel of his arms around him. Then, slowly Isa moved to return the embrace, asking, “Do you really think this will work out?”

Lea pulled back a little before nuzzling his nose against Isa’s, which made the bluenette blush a little. “Yeah, of course. Before you know it, you’ll be back to normal and I’d actually get a chance to take you out on that eight’o clock date.”

Isa gave him an unimpressed look. “…You haven’t changed a bit.”

Lea shook his head and replied, “Of course not. Now, c’mon.”

The red head let go of him, and then moved forward with Isa tailing him close by, until they reached the outer part of Radiant Garden where there was a fountain standing. Before it was a door – the two of them looked at each other and then at the door in front of them.

Isa reached for the door, and once his fingers were wrapped around the door handle, he pulled. Once it crackled open, darkness came rushing out, and Lea shouted, “Isa!”

But he couldn’t see the blue-haired male, not anymore. He pulled out his Keyblade and held it in front of him and from it shot a spot of light into the darkness that made it disperse. He then noticed that Isa no longer appeared to be with him and he had returned to his real, current appearance.

He was also currently standing on the original platform once more, which seemed to still be at half-mast, and began to shout, “Isa! Can you hear me? Where’d you go?! …Damnit!”

Of course things couldn’t go smoothly.

…

Isa banged his fist on the wall of darkness in front of him. He could barely see Lea through it, but the most important thing was that he could see him at all.

“Lea! I’m right here, right in front of you! Can’t you hear me?!”

The red head continued to call for his best friend, not seeming to even hear a thing, which made Isa pound a few more times uselessly on the wall in front of him. For a moment he felt intense anger flow through him and he tried to summon his Claymore…but no matter how hard he tried, Lunatic didn’t come. He only let out a frustrated cry as he pounded his fist one more time against the wall, and then he fell to his knees.

Isa muttered, “This is it, isn’t it? No matter how hard I try, no matter what happens…”

He can’t even finish the rest…he was just so frustrated, and he just closed his eyes.

…

“You should leave.”

Lea starts at the voice – he recognizes it as the one belonging to the black cloaked man. He turns to face the man who is standing nearby a door that he was sure wasn’t there before. The man then gestured with his hands in a vague manner as he said, “Saix is in a place you can no longer reach. You have done all that you can, but it has clearly amounted to nothing. Why persist when your efforts can only produce failure after failure?”

At that the red head clicked his tongue in annoyance as he shouted, “His name’s ISA not Saix, got it memorized?!”

Then, said red head snorted as he spun around the Keyblade in his hand. “You KNOW I’m not a quitter, right? If you’re going to be in my way, though…”

At that moment, green eyes narrow as the red head spread his hands outwardly as he shouted, “…Then be prepared to be burned alive!”

At that moment, fire shot up around the two, surrounding them easily. The man in the cloak reached out with his hand, summoning a black Keyblade. He said, “If you believe you can beat me, then you are sorely mistaken; this vessel is bound to be mine to use as I see fit. Do not interfere.”

Lea shouted, “A little late for that!”

And with that, Lea leapt at the man, but it seemed that he was not having Lea’s challenge. It seemed over so soon when Lea hit the ground, rolling, and the Keyblade easily falling from his grip. He groaned, and the cloaked man was before him in an instant, bringing his own Keyblade down upon him.

There was the sound of glass breaking, and then when Lea opened his eyes, he saw the cloaked man hit the ground in a roll from him. Standing in front of him with long blue hair and in a similar cloak was Isa, holding Lunatic.

Some ways from him seemed to be a broken wall that lay on the dark side of the platform, with a general person-shaped hole in one section of it.

The cloaked man rose to his feet and asked, “How…? How did you—”

Isa then said plainly, “I took some steps back and ran into it.”

The cloaked man and Lea said simultaneously, “You did what?”

The blue-haired man coughed awkwardly and said, “I ran into the wall of darkness, because nothing else was viable at the time. Don’t think that I’d normally take an idea you’d come up with and run with it in the future.”

Lea looked offended, though it was an act. “Wow, tell me how you really feel.”

Isa rose an eyebrow and then said, “I could, but—”

The cloaked man shouted, “Silence! I won’t have my vessel break free.”

Sufficiently skilled at destroying a mood at any given moment as always, thought Isa.

Then Isa and Lea looked at each other, before back at the man, and Isa said, “It’s the end, Xehanort. I won’t allow you to do as you want in my own heart…as it’s no longer yours to control.”

Xehanort – or rather the part of Xehanort that dwelled in his heart – was silent for a moment before he chuckled. “But you see, you will always return to the darkness. It’s too late for you to reject what you’ve already accepted into your heart.”

Isa’s eyes narrowed, and he growled, “Don’t even start with that complete and utter crap. I never accepted this—you forced this into me. And now, I’m making you leave…as you have no place in here – nor any right to be!”

Lea reached over to grab a hold of Isa’s free hand, which the blue-haired man carefully had his own fingers encircle. The red head said, “He’s got a point. Might as well know when to lay it to rest and fuckin’ go beat it. You know, before we do some serious ass-kicking.”

The door nearby them creaked open, but beyond it seemed to be nothing but a vapid, endless shadow awaiting further awakening. At this, Xehanort chuckled and said, “You don’t have the strength of heart to. That Keyblade Wielder is a farcry from those who are far more experienced in the dealing of one’s heart, and when that door opens, your heart will only continue to be flooded in shadow as he makes his departure. There is no more light that can save you now.”

Isa fell silent and for a moment, Lea looked at him, worried as his expression fell to something unreadable. Then, the red head looked back over at Xehanort, pointing his Keyblade at him. But before he could say or do anything, the blue-haired man murmured, “And that’s where you have made your final mistake.”

Isa let go of Lea’s hand and then he threw Lunatic at the cloaked man, making him step to the side as the weapon was embedded into part of the Platform. The man scoffed and said, “You missed—”

“—I know now that my heart is filled with more than just darkness. When the door opens, it’ll shower everywhere right here—” Isa patted his chest with one hand and continued, “—with just enough light to dispel you from here and return everything – myself – to how I was before.”

Then, the doors slammed wide open, and the darkness began to spill out into the platform. Xehanort chuckled. “As I have told you what will come to pass will. You can’t fight it.”

The darkness then seems to brighten before light came to swallow it and pour out in unfathomable amounts, easily chasing back the darkness that had encroached on the platform, allowing the full painting to be seen in the rays of light. Xehanort protested, “No! How could this—”

Before he could finish, the light overwhelmed him until his presence dissipated and seemed to exit the area with drops of sparkles that was the piece of his heart forced in…which floated through the door.

Isa then turned to face Lea, and when the red-haired man looked at him…for the first time, he thought the other man was shining. His eyes seemed to glow, and tears slipped down his cheeks, even though it didn’t seem as if Isa meant to – Lea couldn’t help but reach over to wipe them from his face as Isa closed his eyes.

When he reopened them, there were no more tears, and his now were back to that blue-green color – and the two couldn’t even find the words as their gazes locked.

The light that is you,

Will find me,

In the middle of the night.

Then, Lea smiled as he said, “Let’s go back home. I still need to take you on that date.”

Isa snorted and asked, “Is that the only thing you thought about all this entire time? You keep bringing it up…you must be more singleminded than I thought.”

Lea then shook his head as he replied, “Ouch. You really know how to make someone feel loved.”

“Of course I do.”

Before Lea could say anything, Isa leaned in to press his lips against his.

…

Vanitas had a plan. Except, as Terra rightfully insinuated, they never go the way they want to…or maybe, this time, it did. Especially as he and Ventus stood over Xehanort, who seemed to be crumbling not unlike dust … only just into specks of darkness.

Before Ventus could say anything, the black-haired male said, “I didn’t do this out of ‘kindness’ – remember that. And I will be back.”

Around this time, he held out his hand, to summon forth a portal of darkness. Part of him expected the others to try something to stop him, but they didn’t.

Ventus only stared at him intently – and he was lucky that the battle had just ended otherwise he’d try to start something based upon how long he was looking at him.

Xigbar – or rather, Braig – knew that the old coot had failed as soon as something vaguely like a part of Xehanort’s heart had seemed to return to him when he was in the middle of the battle before the man had passed. He swore underneath his breath, and decided to step away from the battle, but before he knew it, he had made his way over to where things were quieter – an area one entered before getting close to the castle’s gates.

There they were – two unconscious men lying next to each other. He shakes his head and says to himself, “Must be my lucky day.”

He steps closer, and then holds out his gun.

Isa’s eyes snap open and he’s sat up in a flash, looking straight up at the other man. A breeze suddenly comes on by, and the blue-haired man looks up at the sky; it’s already gone from the afternoon to night. A few stars twinkle in the sky.

Xigbar then says, “Well, well, look what we have here—”

The blue-haired man coolly said, “Think about your options before you even dare to pull the trigger.”

There was a bit of silence on the other man’s side before he just shrugs and then summons a portal, walking back into it. “Right, right. I know when I’ve lost. But, maybe we’ll see each other around again, ya here?”

Chances are Isa bet the man didn’t want to see or deal with him again, judging how last time they came into conflict went.

“Ouch, man that sure hurts like a bitch.”

Isa rolled his eyes before casting a cure spell on the red head, though he said, “Your shoulder wouldn’t be hurting so much if you had thought to heal yourself before going in.”

Lea still apparently needed to not push it because he went so long before a heal spell and that is still a new broken bone that was just mended. So, the man was helped up by Isa, and he still assisted the red head in returning to the fray.

By the time they came to see what had happened, things were pretty much kind of a mess, but it looked like the fight was generally all over.

Isa then said, “Lea?”

The red head looked at him and asked, “What?”

“I think… back there—”

The red head grinned as he asked, “That we pretty much kicked ass?”

The blue-haired man gave him a look before the red head blinked and asked, “…Did I jump the gun again?”

Isa then snorted. “Yes you did. But, you weren’t exactly wrong.

This time.”

He then looked off, to where some people reunited with each other in a literal embrace (Terra, Aqua, and Ventus) and some were just kind of talking (Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Sora). Xion and Roxas were coming up to the latter of the two groups, which suited Isa just fine. He wasn’t ready to speak to most of them – especially Xion and Roxas.

Isa thought about what the woman had showed him, those years ago, and then said, "Lea, you were right."

The red head had a questioning look on his face as he asked, "About what? I mean, I'm right about a lot of things, but I want to know what it is this time so I can kind of lord it over your head for awhile."

At that the, blue-haired man stopped walking for a moment to give Lea a look which seemed to straddle the line between extremely unimpressed and now feeling completely unwilling to divulge anything. "...What?"

Isa then shook his head. "Nevermind, I decided I'll just tell you later."

"Oh, c'mon!"

Isa ignored Lea's complaints, moving forward and spotting that there were a few unconscious individuals in black coats – Xehanort’s would-be seekers, no doubt. Isa also caught a certain black-haired boy disappearing into a black portal, but he didn’t have time to worry about that. Rather…

As the two came closer, Isa took note of Xehanort’s lack of presence. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for a certain white-haired man in a black coat who was still conscious – Xemnas, that is. But at the present time, it seemed that he was bound by some kind of Keyblade made chains, holding him in place, and he looked like he had seen better times. His amber eyes flickered over to Isa, and then stopped onto Lea – when they did, he simply said, “It appears I have made the mistake in underestimating you.”

Lea smirked and said, “Yeah. You have.

You’re lucky they didn’t find a way to end you again.”

Xemnas replied, “Of course they wouldn’t. Unlike with Xehanort, who had a immersed himself so profoundly in darkness and his Heartless, who was a being of darkness itself, my existence is more difficult to put an end to. That is simply how it’s come to pass.”

Isa supposed it made sense. A Nobody could replace their heart…an infuriating revelation he had learned in the few days of his earlier stay in his previous reunion with Lea. So he supposed that it could lie somewhere in that, and when Xemnas looked to him again, he seemed about to say something. “Lea, let’s get going.”

He didn’t have them move too far on account of the red head’s condition, but he wanted to leave the man’s presence as soon as possible. But they were sitting comfortably upon some grass, watching the others sort things out. Lea didn’t have patience for that and Isa sure wasn’t in the mood to play nice, so it worked out as far as they were concerned.

Lea then said, “Well, I could always just kill him in whatever dungeon they stick him in.”

Isa turned to look at the red head, who gave him a knowing smile. “Look, he put us through hell and if it’d put a smile on your face, murder’s not too much of a bad idea to think about.”

The blue-haired man looked kind of amused as he said, “Careful, you’re supposed to be one of those who were aligned on the side of Light.”

Lea replied, “True, but that doesn’t mean I get the title of being extremely naïve or a goody two shoes. Jokes aside, if you really wanted, I’d do it for sure—or we could do it together.”

At that, Isa’s expression kind of turned into something unreadable as he considered it. It made him feel uncomfortable and kind of…strange but not in a good way, either. He then said, “No—just let us … leave it be. It’s better for him to rot in there for what he’s done.”

That sounded better to him, anyway, and at that, Lea just nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

Then, the two heard people approach and looked to see it was Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. The brunette smiled and said, “Hey, Isa. Looks like we did manage to find a way out and back to our friends again, didn’t we?”

Isa felt himself smile a little at that. “…Yes, we did. Though, I had thought you hadn’t had my luck when I saw you fall into darkness.”

Terra grimaced as he said, “Xehanort tried his best to ensure I didn’t escape. But as you can see, it landed him straight in a well-deserved place to the grave.”

Ventus looked at Terra and said, “Wow, I never thought I’d hear you say something so harsh.”

Aqua smiled sheepishly. “…It’s just been a long decade or so. I can’t really fault him for it.”

After all, she had been thinking it too. Lea snorted as he said, “Well, I’m definitely not and Isa’s not either, so that’s that.”

Ventus shrugged and then said, “Well, I’m not saying I disagree with it. He kind of really deserved it.”

Terra looked back at him, at first a little surprised, but then it dulled as he looked back at Aqua, whose gaze was meaningful but generally understanding.

…

A few days later…

It was summer time, and though it was not quite 8’clock, Isa made sure that he was dressed well for his and Lea’s date. He had painstakingly gotten his long blue hair done so that it was one long braid, and he wore the fanciest robes he could’ve found. Isa didn’t care if Lea had decided to look casual, he just wanted the red head to look at him and think he had seen him at his most beautiful.

… That sounded so stupid, but the thought made a self-assured smile come to his lips for a second.

Isa also did his best to fix the scarf a little and made sure his crescent-shaped earrings looked okay.

Once he was done, he hurried out of their shared room in the place that Lea had gotten them back in Twilight Town. That’s right, after all was said and done, they had both decided to make their personal residence here. Of course…they planned on visiting Radiant Garden, but it was quieter out here, which seemed to suit them just fine.

Finally, he reached to the front of the house where Lea had just walked in, wearing something he thought was “cool” – a black leather jacket with spikes on it, a black sleeveless t-shirt, and black pants with boots. The red head’s mouth nearly dropped. “Isa…you…”

Isa smiled, his bluish green eyes seeming to sparkle a little in anticipation as he waited for Lea to further embarrass himself. Lea then shouted, “You look FUCKING AMAZING!”

Isa still feel himself blush, before he leaned in to kiss Lea on his lips real quick. He was amused at the semi-surprised look on his boyfriend’s face, though. “You don’t look so bad either, Lea. Though somehow I doubt you spent hours picking out your wardrobe.”

After Lea’s silly look disappearing from his face, both of them began to walk out of the door (with Isa closing it behind them.) “That’s because I picked it out way in advance.”

Isa blinked. “Maybe I underestimated your excitement over our date.”

Lea passed the bluenette a smirk as he said proudly, “I mean it’s our first one, so I kind of already got everything ready just in case, and it worked out.”

“Hmm…so I suppose I didn’t make the wrong choice of becoming your boyfriend after all.”

“…Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!”

The blue-haired man then moved to have his arm locked with the red head, and for the rest of the evening, they spoke, laughing, and shared moments that they would cherish eternally.