Chapter Text
Remember, Remember
Sometimes, Luxu remembered.
It had come as a shock: the first time he’d been touching the Master when they’d rewound time, and he’d seen for himself how everything and everyone went silently backwards in speeded up motion. The Master had returned time to normal to just before Ira had unwittingly triggered the explosion that had killed him, and nonchalantly moved the chemicals out of the way before Ira could touch them.
The skin of the Master’s wrist was warm where Luxu held it, and the Master, feeling the tug of someone attached to them, turned toward Luxu, puzzled.
By all rights, at this point in time, Luxu should have been just entering the clock tower, not here in the Master’s study.
In the original timeline, Luxu had been knocked over by the aftershocks of the explosion. When he’d picked himself up, he’d rushed up the stairs, frantic to make sure that the Master was okay.
When he’d entered the study, he’d found Ira, mangled almost beyond recognition, and the Master, seemingly having just arrived as well, walking toward the body.
He’d grabbed the Master’s bare wrist as they had reached out to Ira, preventing them from fruitlessly trying to check Ira’s pulse. The Master had muttered to him, “At least it wasn’t you, this time, Luxu,” before starting to rewind time.
And here Luxu was, not at the bottom of the clock tower, and very much remembering the explosion that would no longer take place.
The Master had been intrigued and decided to experiment. They quickly found that Luxu remembered the different timelines only when Luxu was touching the Master directly when they used their time travel powers and that he remembered those alternate timelines forever. No amount of time rewinding would get rid of those memories. The only way he stopped remembering is when the Master returned to a time period before Luxu ever experienced the time rewind, but eventually the memories would always return at the appropriate date.
Say, for example, the Master rewound time with Luxu touching them on 2/9. Then, the Master would rewind time to 2/8, while Luxu wasn’t touching them. Luxu would indeed forget the alternate timeline, that is, until 2/9 when the memories would come rushing back, unlocking themselves in his mind like a puzzle box that had finally been opened.
It only worked when they touched skin to skin, so the Master had started insisting that Luxu wear the same coat and gloves as the Master. Only once Luxu had been bundled into said coat and gloves, did the Master realize that the same problem existed with the other apprentices. Rather than make them all wear the same black coat and gloves—“That would be too confusing!!”—the Master gave the apprentices their own outfits, even going so far as to insist they wear masks to prevent accidents.
Luxu didn’t mind not getting a personalized outfit; he got to look the same as the Master, after all. Besides, the Master had worn this coat and these gloves at some point. He wasn’t sure what his jealousy might make him do if the others had been allowed to wear the Master’s clothes.
Apparently, when the Master had first arrived in Daybreak Town, they’d discovered that the closet and bureau in the bedroom they’d stumbled into was full of a few sets of coats, gloves, and other necessities, identical to that which the Master had already magically been wearing. One half of the Master chalked it up to Kingdom Hearts and decided not to look the gift horse in the mouth, the other half of the Master was always uneasy about the matter, and wanted to give all the clothes to Luxu. The first half put their foot down, exclaiming, “There’s no way we’re giving away all our underwear, pervert!” They scolded themself. Luxu wouldn’t have minded. No, really… If he was disappointed that the first half won the argument, well…
The two halves of the Master were a little strange. Usually one personality was in control, while the other just observed within their mind, making comments that only the forefront personality could hear. But, in order to respond, the controlling personality would need to speak out loud. It led to some bizarre behavior by the Master, to anyone looking at the situation without knowing what was going on. Not to mention, the personalities would switch places whenever they felt like it. You could be conversing with a happy-go-lucky Master one moment, a depressed Master the next, without knowing why they switched in the first place.
Sometimes, one personality would get bored or tired of the conversation and fall asleep within their mind. When that happened, the Master would physically change, turning either completely male or completely female, depending on the controlling personality.
The apprentices all had extreme reactions the first time they’d witnessed this. Ira had given a stern warning that he was taking the “thief” into custody, Aced had charged at the “intruder,” Invi had asked politely if they were a new apprentice, Gula had offered tea, and Ava had rushed off to find the Master.
Luxu… Luxu had found himself even more attracted. It turned out that it didn’t matter to Luxu whether the Master was male, female, or both. Luxu just wanted the Master.
Too bad the Master didn’t feel the same.
One night, when the other apprentices had returned home, Luxu returned to the clock tower to pick up a forgotten notebook, when he saw it: two figures stood, one hand each holding a key of the x-blade, dressed in identical coats, kissing. Luxu had ducked behind the wall and stayed still, recognizing the figures as the Master, although he’d never seen them both at once before.
He endured listening to the kissing noises for several minutes, wanting to burst in and be a part of it, wanting to slink away and save himself the torture of hearing what he couldn’t have. Eventually, the blonde female half of the Master pushed the brunet male half away.
“Danny,” she said sadly, the one word conveying the frustration of countless conversations they’d had before. Luxu allowed himself to slightly peek into the room.
The male Master used his free hand to tug her into his grasp. “Emma, I can’t. I love you, but I just can’t. I’m just a normal, straight guy. Stop asking me to accept us like this.” He paused, hoping for some reaction, but she remained silent, stiff. “I don’t know why we’re like this, but I’ll figure it out, I promise. I’ll get us back to normal someday. And we can be together again then.”
“...” Luxu could see the female Master clench her jaw, her lowered gaze flickering with something akin to despair. The male Master didn’t notice.
The female Master removed her hand from the x-blade and it vanished, along with the male Master. Where the female Master had stood, was now the regular Master Luxu saw everyday.
Luxu snuck away, deciding his notebook wasn’t that important after all, and wondering whether there was a way he’d be able to remember this conversation.