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The flowers in the fields dance with the wind in the early morning, sweet aroma filling the air as dew slowly slides down vibrant petals. The world is still asleep. This, right here, is the beauty of Radiant Garden. And out of all the worlds he lived in, it may be the one that’s closest to home . Maybe that’s why he keeps coming back to its inhabitants, Xigbar thinks as he walks through the land. They remind him of peaceful times.
His duty has been fulfilled and now, there is no reason for Xigbar, for Luxu , to seek eternal life. He can settle down somewhere, enjoy the decades he has left and make amends with his past. And it starts with one thing, waiting for him in the middle of the domain.
They owed him a favor, Isa and Lea had said before he left to retrieve the black box that haunted his dreams for centuries. A favor for what, he wasn’t sure exactly (he vividly remembers he was the first one to throw oil onto the fire), but he wasn’t about to let it go to waste. And so, almost five years after the War, he contacted them about that favor.
“He deserves a chance at life too,” he had told them without any other explanation.
He had soon heard words that he had awaken, lost on the reason he had been brought back but asking for Xigbar , of all people. They had had an adventure before it all went down and fire ran across sand and rocks, the clash of keyblades and the shouts of friends promising they’d “bring Axel home” echoing between walls. And, yes, maybe, in a moment of weakness when golden eyes saw past the smile Xigbar plastered on his face, he might have said -- not promised, though, never promised -- he’d bring him back after all of this was over, would give him a chance to be.
And there he was, now.
After a few minutes, a figure appears on the horizon, bent down in the middle of the flowers. The light of the sun rising behind him conceals most of the colors, but Xigbar doesn’t need them to recognize the long straight hair, the deep scar on his nose, the jade eyes that glow gold in the light.
There’s a smile on his face Xigbar has never seen before. It’s directed at something small, by his feet, in the flowers, that Xigbar can’t quite make out. Nonetheless, it is blinding.
Xigbar can’t believe his eye.
For all Saïx is Isa, their smiles have nothing in common. It isn’t the gentle and discreet smirk Isa often adorns when he looks at his apprentices, nor the longing one he wears at the thought of past friendship and love recovered; no, this one is completely different and new and it flips Xigbar’s stomach upside down.
Saïx did not smile. Not when he was created, not when he first saw Axel, not when he was set free that very first time. Saïx does not smile, and so, the stretch of his lips and the dimples it digs onto his cheeks appear crooked and unusual, almost out of place. Saïx does not smile, but when he does, it’s all open mouth and teeth showing, a giggle on the tip of his tongue, and it reaches his eyes like a kid’s first Christmas morning.
Saïx does not smile, and so when he finally does, Xigbar feels his world crashing down.
He stops where he stands as a quiet sound reaches him, a voice he longed for despite his best wishes to forget. The laugh that rings in the field around him flows like waves along the land until it caresses Xigbar’s feet, prompting him forward.
But the sight glues him to the spot and his heart swells and swells until it feels like it’s ready to burst. The passing thought that he longed for him strikes him and stays in the pit of his throat until it’s the only thing he can think about.
I missed you , he doesn’t say.
And then the world stops again when green eyes look straight at him.
They pierce into his soul which whispers the deepest of his secrets to them. Most of all, it shouts, Let’s live ! And Xigbar has to bite his tongue before his lips follow. But it doesn’t matter, because Saïx redirects his smile at Xigbar and the ground suddenly disappears under his feet and Xigbar is falling. And falling. And falling.
I love you , the flowers sing.
He shakes his head and takes a step forward. His body feels shivery, his mind is hazy, the feelings locked up in his heart yell for him to run, run, run, please . It’s almost too much.
Yet, he keeps a calm demeanor, because what he feels is too unlike him -- or so he wants to believe.
“I thought you had forgotten about me,” Saïx says as he sees him approach.
“As if! I was just busy messing with the universe one last time.”
The man hmms as he gets to his feet, holding in his arms the object, creature , Xigbar now realizes, of his prior attention. He raises an eyebrow as the two round black eyes looking up at him.
“Ah,” Saïx looks away for a second, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. “He followed me here, so I thought I’d keep him.”
Xigbar sighs, scratching the back of his head. “Never had a pup’ before,” he replies after a bit. He remembers a black haired girl saying Saïx was ‘ fond of dogs ’ once. “Fine by me,” he obliges.
He is met with a smile so sincere and thankful his heart skips a beat. He feels the heat starting to rise to his face too and he averts his gaze before the other catch up on what’s happening. Xigbar clears his throat before snapping his fingers and opening a Corridor of Darkness, the black color a sharp contrast to the colorful fields of the world.
To divert Saïx’s attention, he slaps his ass as he passes by him and motions toward their exit. “Come on, we gotta find you some better clothes if we wanna live a little. Can’t stay forever in that cloak.”
A nod and Saïx follows suit, a discreet smile on his face as the puppy yap enthusiastically in his arms. The saccharine air ruffles his hair one last time as the corridor closes behind them and leaves the fields empty saved for the myriad of flowers that inhabits the land.
“I would like to cut my hair,” they hear him say as he disappears. And they know he is on the brink of reclaiming his identity, as his fingers intertwine with gloved ones.
At dawn, they leave .