Chapter Text
Isa sits on a ledge overlooking the town’s square. It’s a rare moment of silence and calm since his return. He’d been swept up in a flurry of emotions and Lea and being fussed over and Lea and a slew of awkward but necessary conversations. And Lea and everything that comes with that.
A gentle breeze carrying the scent of flowers blows through his hair, bringing with it memories of days so long ago that feel more like they are from a different lifetime than simply years ago. In all fairness, calling it a lifetime ago wouldn’t be far from the truth.
He hears his name in a familiar voice but unfamiliar tone. Isa glances over his shoulder as the footsteps approach and gives a small nod, gesturing to the empty space next to him before looking out to the vacant square below again.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Ventus takes a seat next to Isa, scratching the back of his head nervously. Ever since he was woken up, he’s had a slight paranoia about sleeping, or rather, oversleeping.
Isa shakes his head slightly, “I haven’t been here long. I was just reminiscing.” Beside him, Ven settles and looks at Isa.
“Did I disturb you?” Ven asks.
“No,” Isa replies. He looks out to the square and the slow waking of the city. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve had the chance to do this.”
Ven nods in understanding. “Yeah. Me too.”
They settle into a comfortable silence for a while before Isa catches Ven staring at him for the second time. “Is there something on my face?” The second he says the words he didn’t think through before saying he understands and the startled and pained flinch from Ven confirms it.
“N-no! I mean, well-” Ven stutters and bows apologetically. “I just…” He looks at Isa, who’s looking at him now and focuses on the scar across his temple. “I was thinking about when I met you and Lea back then and, you uh, didn’t have the scar.” Ven admits guiltily, “I thought about asking you but it seemed insensitive. I guess you caught me anyways.”
Isa looks at the boy in front of him who doesn’t look a day older than when he’d met him nearly a decade ago. Him on the other hand… well. It’s been over ten years. Of course, he’s grown. Of course he’s changed. And of course it’s hard not to be curious about the scar on his face. “It happened a long time ago. Right after Lea and I joined the Organization.”
Ven nods, noticing that Isa was choosing his words carefully to dance around the topic. A small part of him wants to know the story, especially with how reserved Isa was being. It can’t be a pleasant memory and he wonders if Isa’s talked to anyone about it. But a kid you met once, for barely half an hour, more than ten years ago probably isn’t the best person to be suggesting that.
So instead he asks, “does it hurt?” His voice is filled with concern. He almost regrets it when he sees the slightest flicker of something in Isa’s eyes. It’s gone in a second though and Isa smiles softly.
“It was a long time ago.” Isa says again, ruffling Ven’s hair.
Ven lets out a sigh of relief and smiles warmly. It doesn’t go unnoticed that Isa never answered his question. Maybe he’ll ask him again another day, when the wounds of the past aren’t so fresh in their minds. For now, the momentary peace and reclaiming of easier times is more important. “Speaking of a long time, where’s Lea?” Ven looks around the square, the red-head nowhere in sight. They’d agreed to hang out today, just them. It’s been far too long.
Isa sighs and smirks a little beside him. “He probably got distracted by something. He’s always picking up strays. He never grew out of that.” The way he speaks about when they were Lea and Isa and their past is always warm.
Ven chuckles and they end up talking about Lea and Isa’s misadventures from their adolescence. It’s refreshing to hear the stories. From as far back as his memories stretch, he can only remember the fall or the beginning of the fall and he wonders if there was ever a time, farther back in the haze of his lost memories where he had such friends or experiences such innocence.
.
“Isa! Ven!” The two of them nearly fall off the ledge when Lea throws himself around their shoulders suddenly. Isa scowls slightly but Ven can tell there isn’t much bite behind it. Somehow, they all manage to stay on the ledge, even with Lea draped around them. “Look what I brought!” With the expression of an excited puppy, Lea pulls out three bars of ice-cream and hands one to both Isa and Ven.
Ven thanks Lea for the ice-cream before scooting over to make room for Lea to settle in, staring in wonderment at the pale blue treat. Isa on the other hand, stares at the ice-cream with an unreadable expression. It’s something of a mixture between bewilderment and disgust as he slowly turns to Lea.
“Lea, it’s nine in the morning.”
“Yeah, so?” Lea takes a bite out of his ice-cream and ruffles Ven’s hair as he grimaces from brain freeze. Lea smiles, “it’s never too early for ice-cream.” Isa lets out a resigned sigh but takes a small bite all the same. “So what were you guys talking about? Didn’t even notice me coming.”
Isa and Ven share a look and Lea looks curiously between the two. Eventually it’s Ven that answers him. “We were talking about how cute you were as a kid.” Lea nearly drops his ice-cream.
They spend the next few moments sitting on the ledge overlooking the town and for a brief moment, Isa can imagine them back in the days before Radiant Garden fell. Of him and Lea and their new friend Ventus eating ice-cream on the ledge like the innocent teens they were and could have been. He thinks of Ven’s question, ‘does it hurt?’ and the scar throbs once. He feels bad about dodging Ven’s question but he’s not quite ready to open that floodgate yet. But he knows that Ven doesn’t have a malicious atom in him and in a way, the way he lights up the space around him reminds him a little of Lea. Perhaps one day he’ll confide in Ven and the thought fills his heart with warmth he thought he didn’t have space for and the dull ache in his temple subsides into nothing.