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i.
The air was clear and crisp in Radiant Garden, soft wisps of mist slowly melting away under the drops of sunbeam.
“C’mon, Isa! Let’s go see if those two guards are slacking off today,” called the red-haired boy, gesturing to him furiously. Lea’s eyes were bright, and they glowed as if they were shards of starlight, twinkling with glee and dauntlessness. He picked at the edges of his frisbee restlessly.
Isa caught up to him, smiling a little to himself. “The castle again? Aren’t you sick of getting kicked out by now?”
“No way,” Lea exhaled. “For a chance of getting into that castle? Totally worth it. If only we could get past those two buff guys. Damn it!” He shook his fist angrily at the towers.
“Alright, alright. We’ll try again today.” Isa said, unable to resist his friend’s blazing enthusiasm. When had he become so susceptible to Lea’s antics?
“Aw yeah!” Lea latched onto Isa’s arm, trying to drag the taller boy closer in the direction of the fortress that loomed so ominously over Radiant Garden, casting a menacing shadow over the town. “Isa, you’re slow,” he complained, fingers digging harder into his bicep.
The touch burned a sorrowful mark into Isa’s heart.
He ignored the jolt of pain in his chest and followed Lea towards the castle. At least for now, Isa could bask brazenly in the warmth of his presence.
ii.
Axel barged into his room without so much as a knock.
Saïx’s gaze flickered to the man for a brief second and turned back to his work. The reports he received today were of exceptionally poor quality. He’d have to report this to Xemnas—no, Lord Xemnas—later.
“What brings you here, Axel?” he said, sliding a report into his out-box. “It seemed clear to me you much preferred the company of your little… ‘friends’.” Contempt dripped from his voice.
“Why, did Lord Xemnas forbid me from visiting? I can go wherever I want.” Axel crossed his arms. “I just wanted to see my best friend again.”
Saïx stood and pulled out a folder of documents from the bookshelf across the room, pointedly ignoring Axel, who tapped his foot on the tiles impatiently.
“Saïx.”
He continued flicking through the papers, scanning names, locations, numbers. Deaths.
“Saïx!”
“Can you not see that I’m carrying out my responsibilities? Or have your pitiful friendships addled you?” Saïx snarled.
Axel was in front of him in barely a blink. “Just listen to me, Isa.”
“That’s not my name.”
Saïx hadn’t realised that he was moving backwards, away from Axel, until the sharp corners of books began to dig into his back, and Axel’s arms surrounded his body, braced on the shelf behind him. The folder he held slipped between his fingers, spilling its flimsy contents all over the floor. The plastic file landed with a clack.
Axel murmured, “Do you still love me?”
Saïx lowered his eyes, unable to meet Axel’s earnest gaze.
He said, “I remember when I did,” and captured Axel’s lips in a blistering kiss, biting and bruising. Saïx’s gloved hands stroked (too gently) over Axel’s chest, feeling the silence under his muscles and ribs like chains through his mind, shackling him to the reality of their lives. There was no love in the kiss, only perfunctory actions mimicking their lost affection.
It felt like hours before Saïx gathered up the courage to push him away, and bent down to tidy the clutter of reports scattered throughout the office as if nothing had ever occurred. A portal was summoned, and the red-haired man stole away, leaving him with mountains of disorganised paperwork and the searing warmth of Axel’s touch on his lips.
iii.
“Welcome home.”
Those words keep echoing in Isa’s mind, even weeks, months after his return to humanity, and his reunion with Lea.
“Home” was—and still is—a foreign concept to Isa. His joyful childhood in Radiant Garden feels more than a lifetime away, and there was certainly nothing homely about the chilling stronghold that Xemnas commanded as his seat of power. Isa supposes that was a side-effect of losing his heart.
Where is Isa’s home?
“What’re you thinking about?” Lea whispers, nudging him with his elbow.
Isa closes his eyes, listening to the soft rumble of trams and voices far below them. “Thinking about how beautiful the sun is.”
Lea laughs and presses closer to Isa, leaning against Isa’s broad shoulders. “You’re not even looking at it,” he protests, but there was no bite in his words.
He turns his head ever-so-slightly and nuzzles into Lea’s hair. It’s always softer than it looks.
“I wasn’t talking about the sunset, you know,” Isa chuckles, knowing he doesn’t need to look to see Lea’s cheeks turn as fiery red as his own hair. He lifts a hand, caressing Lea’s mane, smiling at the waft of sandalwood shampoo he always insists on using.
“You’re lucky it’s never nighttime in Twilight Town,” Lea says indignantly, “or I’ll be waxing moon-relating poetry about you all the time.”
Isa wraps an arm around his boyfriend’s waist. “You could do that regardless.”
Lea turns to him, eyes burning with excitement as if Isa’s made a mind-blowing epiphany. “Genius…” he sighs, pulling Isa even closer. They sit now, pressed together from shoulder to thigh, a hot line of contact between them.
He reaches over, and grabs Lea’s hand, squeezing it so, so tightly, putting all his unsaid words of love and adoration into the touch. I love you, his hands say.
I love you too, Lea answers, lacing their calloused fingers together, roughened from battle.
Where is Isa’s home?
Sitting beside the man he loves, Isa thinks, home is where the heart is.