Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He’d expected oblivion to be silent and empty. Or maybe it would be more like the power of nothingness that Xemnas wielded, his dominion over it strong enough to reach into an unnecessary Nobody to wrench that nothingness that formed each of them until he reshaped them into a mindless Dusk. Maybe oblivion would be like that. Or perhaps it would be more like that aching, desperate, and unending numbness that consumed all of them in the aftermath of losing their hearts. Axel didn’t really know what oblivion would be like, but he doubted that he would be aware of it. At least not for long.

Nobodies weren’t supposed to exist. And when that fragile and tenuous grasp on non-existence failed, there would be nothing left. His body dissolving away back into the nothingness and no heart to remain behind. Nothing would linger after he was gone.

When he used every shred of energy that he had left in one final fiery blast, the Limit Break to end all Limit Breaks, he knew that there would be no coming back from that. Fueling those flames with everything. His magic, his willpower, and body. If he had a heart, he would have probably added it the pyre. He’d already been running on fumes by that point, held together by stubbornness and hi-potions. But Axel still made the choice and sacrificed every shred of himself to fuel the flames.

Which left him too exhausted to truly feel the pain as the damage and utter collapse of any fragment of his soul left him dissolving away into nothingness, his body incapable of holding itself together any longer.

Not surprising. Nobodies only lingered after the loss of their heart because of stubbornness, magic, and a soul refusing to extinguish. When all of that was burned away… it only made sense to finally disappear like they should have originally.

He wasn’t alone when everything ended though. That surprised him since his friends were long gone: the nameless girl locked in a cell who disappeared over a decade ago, Saïx viewing him as a traitor and changed too much from who he used to be, and Roxas returned to Sora’s heart, hating and distrusting him even after the young Nobody remembered him briefly at the end. There shouldn’t have been anyone left to even care that he was fading. But Sora kneeled next to his smoldering body, regretting Axel’s fate and even trying to encourage him to survive long enough to deliver his apology to Kairi personally. Those bright blue eyes, the same innocent eyes that Roxas had, never left him as he dissolved away into nothingness.

A dream, a fantasy, or a hope of a final farewell flickered through his fading mind. A last conversation with Roxas. Impossible… He was with Sora now and Axel… Maybe it was just what he imagined his friend would have said. But it felt like a connection. He accepted the fiction because he wanted to believe it. A glimpse of the person that made him feel like he had a heart again and a sunset before the fall of the waiting night.

Oblivion, nonexistence, death… A night without end. Dreamless sleep.

Everything disappeared.

He disappeared.

Oblivion should be eternal and endless. He shouldn’t be aware to perceive it, but oblivion was not a temporary state. There should be no passage of time because there was nothing and no one for it to affect.

Except it did end. Because eventually he was on the clocktower again. The warmth of the setting sun on his face and the salty-sweet taste of ice cream in his mouth. And a comforting presence next to him. A muddled dream, but too soothing and welcoming for him to question. It made his chest ache with sensations that he could barely name or remember. The details blurred and faded, but a promise echoed through him.

“You made us a promise. That you’d always be there… to bring us back. Got it memorized?”

He clung hard to that promise. Focusing on that thought through the fuzziness wrapped around his mind. Letting it pull him out of the oblivion of his destruction. Leading him back. He couldn’t let his friends down.

After the dream slipped away like sand between his fingers, almost immediately the next thing that hit him was pain. Sharp, throbbing, and all-consuming pain. Strong enough to take his breath away. Pain that had been waiting for him to claw his way out of oblivion and would happily kick him back into it if given a chance. He couldn’t tell if it was physical or emotional pain, only that the worst of it was jammed deep into his chest and radiating out from there. Agony that throbbed steadily and blocked out everything else for the moment with the intensity.

Some of it was emotional. He realized that as his breathing hitched and he tried to think through the pain. Even over a decade later, he could almost identify some of those impossible sensations. Loneliness, grief, loss, and hope. It didn’t make sense, but he didn’t have the strength to deny what those sensations were. He was too tired and in too much pain to figure how what was happening. Echoing memories of past emotions from before he became a Nobody?

Maybe it was like how Roxas and even Sora made him feel like he had a heart.

“Where…” The word came out in a faint rasp, barely audible. “What happened to me? Roxas?”

It still felt like Roxas had been there. Sitting with him. Asking him to keep that promise.

Whatever was happening, he knew that he wasn’t dead. He felt too much pain, felt too heavy, and too weary for him to still be in that waiting oblivion. He reluctantly pried his eyes open.

The world seemed bright and painful at first, the light stabbing into his eyes. But his blurry vision settled on a smooth, dark, metal floor that he seemed to be sprawled on. The chill of the floor pressed against his cheek and tried to sink through his thick black coat and gloves. He didn’t want to move, but he could hear some groaning nearby and he didn’t like the cold. And he was starting to recognize that floor. He knew that room and hated the idea of being there again.

Hate. Another emotion that he shouldn’t be feeling, but did.

Taking a deep breath to brace himself as much as possible —oh, even breathing hurt more than he expected— he slowly pushed himself to his knees.

Panting and shaking from the effort, every movement sending new flashes of pain through him, he tried to take in some more of his surroundings. The secret hidden underground lab beneath the castle of Radiant Garden. The exact place where his original existence ended years ago, his heart lost to the darkness. And he wasn’t alone. He could see others on the floor in varying states of awakening. He was wearing one of the familiar black coats, but the others were in lab coats or guard uniforms. Their old clothes.

At least his chest didn’t hurt quite as much when he wasn’t pressed against the floor.

He managed to make it to his feet and immediately stumbled to the window above the console, his hand reaching out to catch himself for balance. And froze as he caught sight of his reflection. His fingers brushed against his cheek after a moment, studying the image. The marks under his eyes, the reversed purple teardrops, were gone. They had been there his entire time as a Nobody and now they were gone.

The marks. The others in their old clothes. The sensations that seemed like real emotions. The fact that he was even there at all after his act of fiery self-combustion. It all added up to one possibility.

“That’s me,” he said, his voice a little stronger. “Dilan, Aeleus, Even, Ienzo…” He swallowed against the overwhelmed tightness forming in his throat. “We’re people again. But only the ones who joined the Organization here.”

The memory of how exactly he was “recruited” into Organization XIII hurt nearly as much as his aching body. He didn’t want to dwell on it.

Still muttering under his breath, he said, “I guess Xehanort doesn’t count, but where are Braig and… Isa?”

Panic, worry, and horror hit like a tsunami, cold and hard as those emotions tried to wash him away. Lea fought to keep his head above the crushing weight of it and his breathing steady. A tight force squeezed in his chest. A new pain or was it the same as the rest of the pain? Where was the line separating physical and emotional agony? He was too out of practice to tell the difference anymore.

Maybe Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saïx weren’t defeated. Those three and Luxord were still Nobodies and alive when he was destroyed. But he’d sent Sora directly towards them. Giving the boy a safe path to the World That Never Was. And with Kairi captive, Sora would have cut through everyone to save her. He knew that kid could get brutal when someone he cared about was threatened; that was the whole point of the Naminé situation at Castle Oblivion. They would have been destroyed. And judging by what happened to the rest of destroyed Organization members in that room, they should have returned too.

Isa should have been there, waking up on the metal floor next to him.

“Vexen?”

Lea turned at the strained and confused voice, trying not to gasp at the unexpected pain from the black coat brushing across his body with the movement. Zexion— Ienzo was crouched next to the motionless scientist. Ienzo’s clothes were straining to fit his older body, only his once-comically-oversized lab coat not on the verge of splitting apart. Dilan was pushing himself up slowly, moving gingerly and at least one visible bruise on his cheek. Aeleus was moving even more carefully, clutching his side protectively.

Where Riku’s sword sliced through his Nobody.

Taking an unsteady step in their direction, Lea saw Iezno cautiously roll Even onto his back. He was still unconscious, pale, and no longer dressed in his black coat. But there were burns peeking above the collar and out the edges of his sleeves. Red, moist, and blistered burns that could only be worse closer to the center of his body. Lea tried not to flinch at the reminder that he flambéed the man. Which was harder to do as Ienzo loosened the cravat around his neck and exposed even more burns further down. Deeper, drier, and nauseating burns.

Lea didn’t normally have to worry about being burned, especially by his own flames. Diving into them was not an uncommon part of his fighting strategy. It took something pretty impressive for flames to leave a mark on him. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t aware of exactly how much damage fire could do to a body. He knew how badly he must have burned Vexen with that ruthless execution. And that knowledge made the storm of guilt and regret only worsen.

“No, Even,” said Ienzo, his voice rough. He looked up, which let Lea see the bruises around his throat. “Someone help, please. He needs medical treatment now.”

Dilan was moving a little easier than anyone else, but it wasn’t as if any of them knew where to find anything after over a decade. But there must be some type of medical supplies in their creepy lab. Even some bandages were better than nothing. Lea tried to get closer in case there was something that he could do, but Ienzo flinched badly. Nearly jerking himself away in a brief moment of panic before forcing himself to stay put by Even.

He couldn’t blame him. As Axel, he did burn Vexen to a crisp and provoke the replica version of Riku into strangling Zexion. Having Lea around had to be terrifying. Especially if his emotions were just as overwhelming and intense as what Lea was currently suffering. It might be better for everyone if he found some other way to be helpful.

Guilt sliced at him. Vicious and cruel. Everything hurt, aching deep down. He wanted to crawl away from the sensation. And considering everything that he’d done, once Lea let that guilt in, the flood would never stop. He had to block it out for as long as possible. At least until they were done taking care of more important matters. He could let the guilt cut him to pieces later.

“You guys take care of Even,” he said. “I’ll see if I can find the others.”

Nodding, Aeleus moved to try to lift the scientist off the floor. Judging by the way that he was favoring his side, he would probably need Dilan’s help and possibly some medical treatment himself. But Lea knew that they could handle the situation. He would be better off out of the way.

Burns on Even. Bruises around Ienzo’s throat. Possibly a sword wound on Aeleus. And some more general bruising on Dilan, probably quite similar to what being beaten to a pulp by a Keyblade would cause.

 All of them carrying the same injuries that destroyed their Nobodies. That might explain why Lea’s body hurt. Despite being very flame resistant, he must have burned himself a little with his final attack. Certainly not as badly as what Even was suffering. With his normal resistance, he doubted that it would be more serious than what a mild sunburn would cause. Nothing worth worrying about when there were others much worse off, at least two of them because of him. Lea was mildly surprised that he’d even noticed his own undoubtedly minor injuries; he normally had a very high pain tolerance.

It must be a side effect of being a person again. Everything just seemed more intense. It would pass. He was fine. It wouldn’t slow him down. Lea had to keep going. He had friends to bring back.

Finding Isa would be the first task to accomplish. Braig was more of an afterthought, but Isa was important to find.

Tracking down Sora would be next on his agenda. He didn’t know if he could separate Roxas from Sora without harming the kid and he didn’t really like the idea of hurting Sora in the process. He was a decent kid and it was hard not to like him. Not to mention he was already trying to shoved down a mountain of guilt without adding more to it. But Lea could at least keep an eye on Sora. If he could keep Sora safe, maybe someday they would find a way to retrieve his best friend from that heart.

Not that Sora really needed any protection. He could take care of himself.

It took Lea a little while to notice that he was wearing a different black coat than the one that he wore when he was destroyed as Axel. Like Ienzo in his overly small clothes straining to fit him or the others in their uniforms, he was in the older one. The giant black coat that they’d shoved a scrawny teenager into in order to test the limits of their protective material before wearing it themselves; Isa succumbed first, so Lea’s exposure to impossible and unnatural levels of darkness was more to prove the replicability of the experiment. He’d gone through numerous black coats over the following years. He tended to be rough on them.

But the reason that Lea knew for certain that it wasn’t the same black coat that he wore in Betwixt and Between was the lack of a long tear that he’d melted back closed.

Lea grimaced at the memory, but did not reach for his side. He already hurt enough without poking at it. He’d gulped down every hi-potion in his possession in order to keep himself together in the aftermath. But that one had been bad enough as a sturdy Nobody. Since his more human self insisted on treating some minor burns like it was killing him again, he didn’t want to know what a half-healed gash nearly splitting him in twain would feel like.

He'd gotten careless. Lea could admit that. He’d been frantic, desperate, and impulsive from the moment that Roxas left the Organization. Any attempt to reclaim control or fix the situation only made it worse. Trying to kidnap Kairi as bait for Sora was a disaster from the start. She escaped him twice. But the second time, when Saïx grabbed her and dragged her back to the World That Never Was, something in him nearly panicked.

The sight of her unconscious, in the arms of a dark figure carrying her away, felt familiar and wrong. Like something awful would happen to the girl once they took her and he would never get her back and that it was his fault and she would disappear and why did the idea hurt nearly as much as losing Roxas. All thought and reason had promptly vanished. He’d warned Sora of what happened and that someone else had her now, but he was already trying to plan how to retrieve the girl. Sneaking back into the Castle That Never Was after his own betrayal was foolish. He’d known that. But sneaking into places that he wasn’t supposed to be was something that he had experience with. And something in him had wanted to protect her from the others.

But he’d known the potential consequences would be more serious than Dilan and Aeleus tossing him out of the castle.

It took time, but he’d found a way back inside that he thought no one would sense or notice. He’d even managed to work his way down to the dungeon cell that they’d locked Kairi in, the girl still out cold on the floor. But Saïx knew him well and had been waiting.

Fighting Saïx was always dangerous. Especially in his Berserk Mode. Brute force and raw power were Saïx’s greatest advantages and made a direct confrontation deadly. And yet, despite previously choosing to retreat at Hollow Bastion at Saïx’s arrival, he had chosen to risk fighting. Because some impulse deep inside screamed that he needed to protect the girl or she would be lost.

That had been where it went wrong. He’d knocked Saïx down, a lucky opening in the Nobody’s defense, and spared a second to glance at Kairi. He’d wanted to see if she looked close to waking up. But something about the way that the shadows fell across her, darkening her hair and her clothes, had made him pause. He didn’t know why. He had just… stopped. A moment of unknown pain and want at the sight that he couldn’t explain. The indescribable familiarity that pulled at an empty blankness. He had let it distract him and Saïx seized the opportunity.

Lunatic, the vicious claymore that his old friend wielded, had cleaved deep into his body. Slicing through his right side, just below the bottom of his ribcage. The horrifying sight of a large object embedded into him before Saïx ripped it back out in an act that was just as agonizing. He would have died almost immediately as a human and barely survived long enough to retreat. Even burning through every healing item that he carried didn’t leave him in great shape by the time that he ran into Sora and he decided to risk everything to help the kid.

Of course, he hadn’t known at the time that destroying himself as a Nobody might recomplete himself. No one had known that. No one that fell at Castle Oblivion had reappeared as a person in the year since their destruction. There was probably a complicated scientific reason for why they were only showing up now. Maybe their old hearts were among the ones that Roxas had collected and they were stuck in Kingdom Hearts until Sora and his friends disrupted everything.

But yeah, despite believing that he would be gone, his last act as a Nobody was to try and help the boy. Sora was a decent kid on his own. But he was also the only thing left of Lea’s best friend. And he was the only one left to save Kairi and fix that entire mess. All three were good reasons to burn himself out. Besides, why should he still be there when everything that ever mattered to him was already gone?

Ugh, guilt was the worse. And it made everything else feel worse too. Maybe that was why he hurt so badly. He vaguely remembered being upset would feel like something was squeezing tightly around his chest, like there was a huge lump in his throat, his eyes would burn, and everything was awful. Whatever mild burns that he’d managed to cause himself probably felt worse than they actually were because of the storm of powerful emotions that he was barely barricading himself against.

After all, Lea couldn’t be that badly hurt under his black coat. Especially compared to what he did to Vexen. Or even what he goaded the replica into doing to Zexion. Any minor injury that he’d suffered was nothing in comparison. And he deserved far worse. It wasn’t fair. Why should he even be there, alive and whole, when someone like Roxas was still gone?

Yep. Guilt was definitely not his favorite part about having a heart again. No wonder it hurt to breathe, his whole body hurt and throbbed with pain, and he just wanted to collapse in a hallway and sob. But he couldn’t just surrender to the awfulness. Lea remembered enough about emotions that he knew that guilt wouldn’t go away on its own. He would need to help fix things. Starting with finding their missing members.

And keeping that promise.

“Do you know why the sun sets red?” he whispered to himself under his breath, eyes burning as every part of him ached with grief from the memory.

Because out of all the colors of light, red traveled the furthest. Reaching out from the sunset and continuing long past the point that the others gave up. It kept going even as the night approached, holding back the darkness for a little longer. No matter how far it must go.

Lea would keep going until he could bring them all back.

One of the first parts of the castle that he staggered off to search were the rooms that he and Isa were assigned when they first joined as apprentices. Ansem the Wise had already been distant and distracted by the changes with the others, worrying that there might be something off about his previous apprentices, but he was a fairly generous man. In addition to munny, he had offered the pair lodging within the castle. Rather nice rooms close to each other. They could have easily headed home every evening to their families. But Isa had pointed out that it would be easier to search at night after everyone slept. They would have a better chance of finding the missing girl if they accepted the offered rooms and simply told their respective parents that they were taking full advantage of the educational opportunity of the apprenticeships.

It had seemed to work at first. Until Ansem the Wise vanished and their nocturnal explorations ended with two teenagers as new test subjects.

After falling to darkness, Maleficient using the ruined castle as a stronghold for years, and then gradually getting rebuilt as Radiant Garden was reclaimed, Isa’s old room was in better shape than he expected. The door creaked loudly as he pushed it open and a decade of dust covered every surface. But everything looked untouched. The large bed still neatly made since Isa would never start the day without straightening everything up, even if cobwebs now collected around the tall bedposts. Old clothes, far too small now, remained folded in the drawers. The white lab coat that Isa wore during his duties as an apprentice during the day hung in the wardrobe, waiting for his return. Even the curtains remained intact, letting in only a thin sliver of sunshine.

But Isa wasn’t there.

Lea pressed his eyes shut, a fresh wave of powerful emotions trying to overwhelm him again. He couldn’t panic. Isa was fine. He would find him. He would get all his friends back. He just needed to focus. Just slow and even breaths. He didn’t know if it was the roiling emotions after over a decade without a heart, the tightness of a waiting panic attack, or maybe some physical damage, but his chest was practically killing him. He couldn’t afford to fall apart.

He had promises to keep.

The other reason that he chose Isa’s room to search first was a practical one. He’d kept a box under his bed. Lea could barely climb back to his feet after retrieving it; kneeling down, dragging it out, and then pulling himself up again were movements that stung and burned. He made a mental note around his pained hiss to stay upright for now on. If his restored heart was allowed to be overly intense about everything, then apparently his body took it as permission to be sensitive and unpleasant after returning from the dead.

He would be fine though. It couldn’t be that bad.

The box was the result of Isa’s nature as a planner. He liked to be prepared for even the worst-case scenario. Lea opened the dusty metal box to find his friend’s stash of more-than-likely-extremely-expired potions, hi-potions, a handful of panaceas, and a single mega-potion in case of a true emergency. Not that either thought that they would ever get hurt badly enough to need a mega-potion. That was for serious injuries, like someone was actively dying. A regular potion would be enough for most standard scrapes, cuts, and bruises. Something to kickstart the healing process and reduce the pain.

Lea pulled out an ancient potion, eyeing the glowing liquid carefully. But the sharp, throbbing, and exhausting pain won out over any doubts about wisdom of consuming something that old. He was willing to risk it. He downed the not-exactly-minty liquid and hoped that it hadn’t lost all of its potency over the years. After a moment, he could feel it taking the edge off the pain. At least enough to make it easier to breathe. The rest of the potions slipped into the pockets of his black coat. Anything more potent stayed in the box.

There were people who needed it more than him. People who deserved it more.

Tucking the box under his arm, Lea turned and left to continue his search of the castle. He didn’t look in his old room. He doubted that Isa would go in there without leaving the door open and it was already hard enough making himself face the memories of Isa’s room.

He tried to figure out where Isa or Braig might go upon awakening. Not that Lea honestly believed that his oldest friend would have left him on the floor, regardless of how their relationship had eroded away. But it was better than considering the alternative: that Isa might not have returned at all.

But despite his slow and thorough search all the way up to the top floor, including the half-hidden spot on the roof that Isa had found that they whispered would be perfect to take the girl to see the stars once they found her again, Lea couldn’t find a single hint of where they might have ended up. Isa wasn’t there. And all he could do was either collapse into the increasingly intense waves of emotions trying to batter him down or he could head back down to the basement to check on the others. He nearly made it to the hidden lab, but a light from one of the small side rooms caused him to detour. Lea poked his head inside it. Just in case.

The other apprentices had clearly quickly converted the room into a makeshift infirmary. Collecting equipment from all over the lab and possibly the hidden underground cells that Lea remembered, the space filled with screaming test subjects that he also didn’t want to dwell on. Still unconscious, Even had been moved to a narrow bed, his lab coat and clothes carefully peeled away, and dressings loosely applied to his burns.  Lea saw at least one empty hi-potion bottle sitting on the pile of broken furniture that had been shoved into the corner to make room, possibly stashed in to get the mess out of the way during reconstruction. There was an IV attached and some type of monitor that occasionally made beeping sounds, though Lea didn’t know if it was recording the status of the man’s physical body, his restored heart, or both.

Next to the bed, Aeleus had pulled up the jacket of his uniform enough to let Ienzo try patching up the long thin cut seeping sluggishly. If Lea had to guess, moving Even probably pulled it back open since he wasn’t actively bleeding when they woke up. Maybe cuts sealed during their recompletion? Or maybe they were lying on the floor long enough for any bleeding to stop until they began moving around again. At least the deep gash in his own side wasn’t torn open searching the castle; all those hi-potions that he swallowed as Axel did their job.

Both of them glanced in Lea’s direction when he stepped into the room. Aeleus also let his uniform settle back down as he moved slightly in front of Ienzo and the unconscious Even in a defensive stance. At least Ienzo seemed to be wearing some better-fitting clothes now. Someone must have raided Even’s old closet or something.

“Hey,” he greeted awkwardly. “Even’s still out cold?”

Nodding, Aeleus said, “It is probably for the best. We could only find a half-empty first aid kit. He would be in a great deal of pain if he awoke now. It will take him time to recover.”

“Dilan is checking the kitchen for anything that might still be edible," said Ienzo in a rough and half-choked voice.

The painful sound made Lea wince in sympathy. Ienzo needed something to help his throat if he intended to keep talking. Ice cream might be perfect to sooth the damage, but even the thought of the treat made his chest hurt even more.

“I’ve turned the castle upside down,” he said, “and there’s no sign of the others. I did find this though.”

He held the box out. Aeleus, who had far less traumatic experience with him, took the offering. He frowned slightly in confusion before opening it. Then his eyebrows rose in surprise.

“I don’t know how well any of it will work after a decade, but maybe some of it will help,” said Lea, starting to shrug before a sharp ache made him stop partway through. “Panaceas work great on burns.”

Hesitantly, Ienzo said, “Thank you.”

“Yeah.” Uncomfortable, Lea looked away. “So… The others… Do you think they were blasted off to some other world or what?”

“I highly doubt that,” he croaked. “When someone who’s lost their heart is recompleted, they should return to where it happened.”

Sounds like someone had been theorizing while he was gone. It wasn’t like any of them had known it was possible to be recompleted previously. But while their former relationship had drifted apart during the last decade, there was a time when Ienzo and Even were very close. If anyone was going to be working out the details of how they managed to return, it would be one of those two.

When Ienzo tried to elaborate further, he suddenly collapsed into painful and rough coughs. Hard enough to nearly knock him off his feet if it wasn’t for Aeleus reaching out to support him. The larger man braced him firmly as Ienzo struggled to breathe past the swelling and the coughing. Lea kept back, giving Ienzo some space, and trying not to make it worse. He was probably the last person that the young man needed around while fighting to breathe.

Another crushing wave of guilt and regret. Lea did his best to swallow it down. It was getting harder to keep his head above the flood of emotions that his heart’s return had unleashed.

“Okay, look, let’s keep it limited to short answers,” said Lea when Ienzo’s breathing began even out again. “The fact is… we’re here. We’ve been recompleted, right? So they should be here too, plain and simple.”

“I agree.” Ienzo’s voice sounded even worse than before. “It is strange.”

Lea took a deep breath, which still hurt more than it should. A tightness and a deeper pain than what it should be, but not quite as sharp as before he swallowed a potion. He just waned to find somewhere to curl up and sleep for while until the worst of it and the exhaustion passed.

But he had things that needed to be done. People that needed finding. Mistakes that he needed to fix and atone for. He could rest when he was finished. And he couldn’t be that badly hurt anyway, even if it felt like it sometimes.

He needed to start searching further than the castle grounds. Either Braig and Isa were not destroyed by Sora after Axel sent the boy towards the World That Never Was, they managed to recover first and ran off somewhere, or someone grabbed the two of them and dragged them away. Lea doubted that Sora left the two of them alone, so that eliminated the first option of them still wandering around as Nobodies. That meant that they left or they were taken. And he was leaning towards another person being involved.

Regardless, Lea needed to find Isa. And if his old friend was taken by someone, it would probably be someone strong. It would be too much to hope for that it would be easy. And Lea clearly wasn’t as strong as he was as a Nobody. He would need a new power to keep his friends safe. He needed to be strong enough to bring them back and to protect them.

That gave him a crazy idea. One that was absolutely insane to consider. But he was supposed to be gone forever by this point, faded away into the absolutely nothingness that was the fate of destroyed Nobodies. They clearly didn’t know as much as they thought they did, so he might as well try anything.

“You know what?” he said, trying to inject a little energy into his voice. “I’ll bring them back myself. Can’t be too hard. And I should check on a few other familiar faces while I’m looking.”

He didn’t learn how to use corridors of darkness until after becoming a Nobody, but it was technically possible to use them as a person. Riku certainly used them to cause the Organization a bunch of headaches and he’s fairly certain that DiZ guy used them a few times. Unless that was just Naminé. But if he was already chasing crazy ideas, he might as well embrace all of them. As long as he kept his coat, Lea might be able to make it work.

“Be careful,” croaked Ienzo.

Lea hesitated a moment. Despite Ienzo’s continued unease around him, the young scientist was expressing concern for his well-being. The last time that anyone seemed to care about him was Sora watching him fade with regret in those blue eyes. And then before that, it was Roxas expressing relief that he didn’t get destroyed at Castle Oblivion with everyone else. The brief words of caution brought back memories and complicated emotions that twisted in his aching chest.

Remembering what he told Roxas to reassure him, Lea said, “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m tough.”

“Tough enough to outlast us all,” said Aeleus. “Dilan informed us of what transpired after the events at Castle Oblivion. At least until his own eventual destruction. We know that many things have changed since then.”

“Sorry about Roxas.” Ienzo rubbed his arm awkwardly. “He said that you were close and… did not take it well when he returned to Sora.”

Meaning Dilan told them exactly how off the rails that he went the moment that Roxas was gone. Because Roxas wasn’t like the rest of them. Axel and Lea might be the same person, plus or minus a heart and something resembling a shred of humanity, but Roxas wasn’t Sora. And Sora would never be Roxas, no matter how much he might wish otherwise.

“But he didn’t know what happened after that,” continued Aeleus. “What happened to you? What destroyed your Nobody?”

Looking away, Lea said, “Nothing much. I just burnt myself out. Sora was about to finish of the rest of the Organization though, so I doubt I missed much. Maybe Xemnas’s plan self-destructing since that kid was motivated. But we got hearts anyway, so who cares.”

“Well, be cautious. Dilan experienced the fewest injuries from his destruction and he was still battered. If you’re hurt, do not push yourself too hard.”

Lea waved dismissively as he turned to leave. He was fine. He could handle it. Besides, he didn’t have time to worry over some minor injuries when he had people to find.

Chapter Text

It turned out that summoning a corridor of darkness was not nearly as easy to do as a complete person as it was as a Nobody. While they were rejected by both the light and the darkness for being unnatural, they did tend to align more closely with the darkness in general. They first appeared within the worlds that straddled the line between the Realm of Light and the Realm of Darkness, but they gathered in the one nearly touching the Realm of Darkness. Traveling through those dark corridors came naturally to them. That natural skill no longer felt as natural though.

It took darkness within to open those paths. And it was hard enough to endure those new feelings. Channeling the right emotions, the darkness that dwelled in every heart, took more control than expected. And even after downing another decade-old potion to cut down on the pain, concentrating sounded impossible.

But he found those darker emotions. Hatred and fury over the last decade that he spent without a heart and the life that he could have had instead that was stolen from them. Sorrow and self-loathing for what happened with Roxas. Fear for Isa. And a growing dread that Xemnas, or rather Xehanort, might be involved in Isa’s absence. Lea managed to weave those powerful feelings together after a few tries, scrounge up some strength despite his exhaustion, and finally managed to pry open a corridor of darkness.

He ran some recon. Not merely for any sign of where Braig and Isa might be, but also to see where the other Keyblade wielders might have ended up. Some part of him needed to make certain that Sora made it back safe.

Sora and Riku weren’t on Destiny Island, though he did glimpse Kairi at the beach when he spied on things from a distance and felt a flicker of relief that she seemed to be all right. A quick look round Twilight Town revealed nothing. It only dragged up a collection of painful memories that made his eyes burn with unshed tears. But it wasn’t until he followed a feeling of a powerful darkness where there shouldn’t be one that he found anyone useful.

He ended up needing to interrupt a standoff by tossing his chakrams to block an attack from Maleficient and to free the mouse queen from Pete. Lea immediately regretted the move because throwing them sent a strong flash of pain through him, his body loudly protesting the movements involved. The half-healed gash through him pulled sharply and left him gasping, his vision almost whiting out for a second. But the retreat of the evil fairy and minion kept everyone distracted long enough for him to pull himself together before finally emerging from the dark corridor. And at least the injuries didn’t ruin his aim.

And it was very amusing to see their stunned expressions over his return. The king seemed to bounce back from it the fastest, but none of them had been expecting to see him again. Let alone have him save the queen. They needed a quick update on his name, but after the danger had passed, the castle was safe again, and he got the brief mini-lecture about how reckless it was to use dark corridors despite the fact that he probably knew more about them than anyone in the room, Lea found himself following the trio back to their Gummi Ship and catching a ride to the appropriately named Mysterious Tower.

Despite hearing numerous rumors about the place and the man who lived there, Organization XIII had never managed to reach it. If they ever caught a lead on where it might be, it always ended with a dead end. But apparently it had a tendency to migrate around, not permanently connected to any specific world. Which explained a lot.

It looked rather straightforward from the outside despite being built on a speck of floating land. He’d certainly seen stranger locations. But inside, the stairs seemed to weave in and out of various portals. They floated in disconnected fragments, occasionally connecting to a more ordinary area on each floor. King Mickey off-handedly remarked that the tower could add extra floors and rooms, depending on what was needed.

At the top of the tower was a room. Well, judging by a door to the right, there were two rooms up there. But the one that the staircase brought them to was a decent-sized space with windows shaped like large stars and a moon, several shelves of books, and a large wooden desk in the middle. The skull with the candle resting on the desk stared at them with an expression almost as grim as the old man sitting on the far side. Dressed in long blue robes, a tall blue hat with silver stars stitched on it, with a very long gray beard that split in two near the end, and staring at them with some rather unnerving eyes that seemed far too observant, he watched them file into the room. And he did not look nearly as surprised as he should have been.

Lea noticed the others bowing respectfully in greetings, but he didn’t bother with the gesture himself. He might want to make a good first impression since he did want something from these people. But he was finally free of Xemnas and the rest of Organization XIII. Respect and fear had been too closely twined for too long. If the old man wanted him to bow, he would have to show Lea that he deserved it rather than get it automatically.

Not to mention that trying to bow would probably reverse any good that the last potion was doing at cutting back the pain.

“Master Yen Sid,” greeted the king. “This is Axel. He was one of Organization XIII.”

Nodding, Goofy said, “But then he helped us and Sora defeat all those Nobodies and reach the World That Never Was. We thought that he was destroyed though.”

“He showed up just in time to help save Minnie from Maleficent and Pete,” continued King Mickey.

“Once again, the name’s Lea now,” he corrected. “Turns out a destroyed Nobody can apparently return as a person with a heart. Don’t know all the details on how it works yet, but here I am. I mean, it would have been nice to know ahead of time, but…”

He trailed off, giving the smallest shrug. Yen Sid nodded thoughtfully as he stroked his beard.

“A very interesting turn of events it would seem. It is good to know that those who lost their hearts have managed to become whole again, though this also means that some of our enemies can return the same way,” said Yen Sid solemnly. “And you have our gratitude for protecting Queen Minnie from harm when you had no reason to involve yourself in such a manner.”

“I have a feeling that I’ll be ‘involved’ in a lot of things moving forward,” said Lea.

“Another ally is always welcome and appreciated in these dark times. However, if you are no longer a Nobody, that leaves you more vulnerable than you were before. And I must warn you that this path is not the easiest or the safest choice. Consider carefully if you truly wish to involve yourself in the upcoming danger after just regaining your previous life. There are threats on the horizon and many things are occurring at the same time.”

“Yeah, they said that Sora and Riku are taking some kind of test,” he said. “Then you’ve got Maleficent trying to attack Disney Castle at the same time and a couple of our former Organization members aren’t where they should be. I don’t know about you, but that’s too much of a coincidence for me to trust.” Fighting the urge to cross his arms across his aching chest, Lea said, “Whatever’s coming, I don’t plan to sit it out. I’ve got my reasons to get involved and I think we’re all after similar things right now. If Xehanort is back like the rest of us and causing trouble, which I’m betting on considering what he did as Xemnas, then I’ll lend a hand however I can. I just need a couple of small favors in return.”

“I knew it,” muttered Donald, barely comprehensible.

Studying Lea carefully with his unnerving gaze, Yen Sid asked, “And what is it that you request in exchange for your offered assistance in this matter?”

“First, I need to get my friends back. Isa is one of the missing Organization members. Braig is… not really a friend, but he’s probably wherever Isa is and I did say I’d track down both of them. Getting Isa back is a good starting place.”

“Of course we’ll help with that,” said King Mickey, smiling brightly.

“And then there’s my second condition,” he continued. “I’ve been around long enough to know that if I want to stay relevant and have a chance of making any kind of difference in what’s coming, if I want to get what I really want, then I’ll need a bit of an upgrade. Can’t let myself fall behind. I mean, look at Sora and Riku. They’re taking that exam thing to get better, right? Same idea. What I need is for you to help me do the same thing. I need you to tell me how to get a Keyblade.”

“What?”

The absolutely shocked tone from King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy shouting all at once was not appreciated. It couldn’t be that unthinkable, could it? Lea knew that he’d made plenty of mistakes as Axel, but he wasn’t completely unworthy, was he?

Crossing his arms, Donald added, “Absolutely not.”

Lea ignored him. He doubted that the magician was the one who could make the ultimate decision. If anyone would know what it might take to earn a Keyblade, it would either be King Mickey since he wielded one already or Master Yen Sid.

“I sensed something amiss nearly the moment Sora and Riku departed,” said Yen Sid solemnly, not immediately addressing Lea’s short list of demands. “Xehanort must have known hat we were attempting before we even began.”

“But you do know where they are?” asked Goofy.

Stroking his beard thoughtfully, he said, “You must understand this examination is in no way how the Mark of Mastery is usually found. However, in light of what they must do next… it was a necessity. If Sora and Riku complete their test, by finding the seven doors corresponding to the seven pure lights, they will return home with a new power. At that point, they will both be true masters. However, the dangers make this more trial than test.”

Lea shifted his weight slightly. He didn’t have the energy for this. It turned out that the old man was as bad as Xemnas when it came to monologuing and not actually answering any questions. Yen Sid better get to the point.

Was there a way to get Lea a Keyblade of his own? And was Sora in danger?

“But are they safe right now?” asked King Mickey, focusing on the most important and immediate concern.

“Considering their ability, I would like to believe that they are. However, all my attempts to locate Sora and Riku end… questionably. Xehanort is a devious tactician. There is nothing we can do that he will not, to some extent, be able to predict.”

That absolutely reminded him of dealing with Xemnas. Planning for numerous possibilities and manipulating circumstances to his advantage. That didn’t keep the others from trying to pursue their own agendas, but it did keep them from succeeding. Or surviving when their plans crashed upon his more thorough preparations.

Taking a small step forward, King Mickey said, “So…”

“As you can see,” continued Yen Sid, gesturing towards Lea, “the Organization’s members are complete people again. Xehanort will be no different. We cannot afford another moment’s hesitation. We must consider any strategy to outwit Xehanort and catch him off guard.” He paused a moment before focusing solely on Lea. “I must warn you again. The road will not be easy.”

That sounded like he was finally agreeing to the terms that Lea laid out, if he was understanding the old man’s more indirect manner of speaking. Though he was certainly wasting his breath with another comment about how it won’t be easy. Lea wasn’t afraid of a challenge. Regardless of warnings, what the future might hold didn’t scare him. No matter how hard it might be or what threats tried to get in his way, he would find a way to get a Keyblade. It was his best chance of bringing his friends back and he wasn’t giving up on them.

The Organization had spied on Sora long enough for him to notice a tendency for the kid to pull off the impossible. Finding Isa (and Braig) might be difficult, but it was a reasonable goal. Trying to bring Roxas back? That was where he needed that impossible luck on his side. Which meant that Lea needed a Keyblade of his own. He would seize any opportunity to get his best friend back. No matter how hard the road might be.

Ignoring the pain trying to claw its way back towards full strength again, making him seriously doubt the effectiveness of the undoubtedly-expired potions, Lea drew himself up to his full height. Ready to face the challenge head on. Whatever it might take, whatever price that he might need to pay in order to have the power to bring back his friends, Lea would make it happen.

“Fine,” he said firmly. “Let’s jump right in.”

“How exactly would he go about getting a Keyblade anyway?” asked Goofy. “Sora told us it just came to him when the Destiny Islands were falling to darkness. And Riku never said how it worked for him.”

A very good question. Was being worthy of a Keyblade something innate? Or was it something that could be earned if he worked hard enough?

Roxas had one from the beginning, though Lea had a fuzzy memory of him losing it temporarily around the time that he came back from Castle Oblivion; probably due to all the messing around with Sora’s memories affecting him since he’d apparently also spent some of that time comatose. But he got it back eventually. Roxas even managed to have a second Keyblade towards the end. Maybe whatever Roxas did to claim another one, Lea could get his own the same way.

“There are different ways to draw out a potential Keyblade from a person’s heart,” said Yen Sid solemnly. “The most common and traditional method would involve a Keyblade master choosing a potential apprentice, testing their worthiness and ability, and then performing a bequeathing ceremony to pass on the capacity to someday wield a Keyblade. That is how it has been done for generations and many believe it is the only possible way to produce new wielders. But while it has the benefit of ensuring that there will be a master present to educate and train the new wielders and that the power is given to those who would treat it with respect, it does not provide an immediate result. It can take years after the bequeathing ceremony for a Keyblade to manifest.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to work for me.” Lea shook his head slightly, which didn’t help the starting headache that decided to join the rest of the pain plaguing him. “I am assuming that you have a faster way in mind?”

Folding his hands on his desk, he said, “Though extremely rare and impossible to predict, it is possible to earn a Keyblade without any outside assistance. In the time when Keyblade wielders were more numerous, there were still only a handful of stories of it happening to the point that many assumed that such occurrences were made up. It was difficult for them to believe that those stories might be true. That someone could manifest that power and claim a Keyblade in a moment of need without being chosen by another. It is extremely rare and difficult to achieve. But it can happen in an instant. A benefit when time is of the essence.”

Yen Sid studied him carefully. As if judging Lea’s potential chances of achieving his impossible goal at all, let alone in time to be of any use. A more-likely-to-work method that could take years to give him a Keyblade or hope that his luck would be good enough to pull off a miracle?

Lea might not be Luxord, but he was willing to take a gamble.

“Regardless of how you seek a Keyblade, there are no guarantees that it will work for you. That is why a Keyblade master would test a future apprentice first to see if they have that potential. If a Keyblade remains in their hand, then someday they will hold one of their own. And if it does not—”

“Then I’ll keep trying until it works,” interrupted Lea.

Not looking even slightly surprised by the response, he said, “I doubt it shall be easy for you after your time as a Nobody. It takes a strong heart and an unwavering will to pursue what matters.”

Well, considering that he hadn’t had a heart of his own in years, Lea couldn’t really say if his heart was strong or not. Maybe once upon a time, but now? Having it back for only a few hours wasn’t much time to get used to it again. And with his luck, it probably held too much darkness in it. Between everything that he did as Axel and the experiments that caused him to lose his heart in the first place, he certainly wasn’t going to qualify for a Princess of Heart any time soon. He doubted that his heart was going to be prime Keyblade wielder material by any standard. All he could hope for was that it would be good enough.

But what Lea did know was that he had the unwavering will requirement covered. Nobodies, especially the humanoid Nobodies like those in Organization XIII, required a strong will to keep going despite losing their hearts. And he did everything possible to try and get Roxas back, to fix all his mistakes, and even to protect Sora at the end because keeping that kid safe also kept Roxas safe. Then he’d picked himself up, brushed himself off, and immediately ran back out there as Lea to chase after his lost friends despite the pain and exhaustion. No one was going to beat him when it came to sheer willpower. And perhaps that stubbornness would be enough to make up for his flaws.

Because he knew that there were so many reasons why he wasn’t worthy of a Keyblade. But he needed the power to save and protect his friends, so he would make himself worthy of one somehow.

Lea shoved down any doubts along with the rest of his twisting and exhausting emotions. It would work. He would make it happen. For them, he would find a way. For Isa. For Roxas. For all of his friends. If his heart wasn’t strong enough for a Keyblade, then he would figure out a way to make it stronger.

“If Roxas could wield a Keyblade as a Nobody, then I’ll manage it,” said Lea, putting as much determination into the words as possible. “Tell me what to do.”

Shaking his head briefly, Yen Sid said, “Unfortunately, it is not something that can be directly explained. There is a well-established tradition and method for bequeathing a Keyblade that has been passed down for generations. But claiming a Keyblade without being chosen by a master, earning that power by your own merits, is less well understood. A Keyblade is not like any normal weapon. It is a physical manifestation of your heart and a reflection of the person that it came from. If it is not passed down, it may instead deem someone worthy by a standard that we cannot hope to fully fathom. When Sora reclaimed his Keyblade from its original owner of Riku or when Riku became worthy of a Keyblade once more, they did not have any instructions to guide them. They proved themselves worthy in an instinctive and natural act, figuring out what was needed on their own. I fear that attempting to tell you directly how summon your own theoretical potential would only make your success less likely.”

Hesitating a moment, he said slowly, “So… Nothing? Not even a hint?”

“I think if you want a Keyblade this way instead of the normal way,” said King Mickey carefully, “it isn’t something that anyone can tell you how to do. I think it is one of those things that you have to figure out for yourself or it won’t work.”

Lea stared at him. That was absolutely useless. Why was he talking to these people if they weren’t going to offer anything useful? He might be better off just blindly searching worlds and hope to stumble onto Isa somewhere.

Though considering how tiring even opening dark corridors currently felt, he might not last long doing it.

“When Sora got his Keyblade back, he had decided to keep going to save Kairi and bring his friends home even if Riku wasn’t acting like his friend anymore,” said Goofy. “He was willing to fight alone and with no Keyblade.”

“We came back,” said Donald quietly, looking away with a guilty expression.

“He figured out what was most important, what mattered to him, and that he didn’t need the Keyblade because he still had his heart and he still had us,” he continued, slinging an arm around Donald’s shoulders. “He said that his friends were his power and that’s when his Keyblade came back. Does that help any?”

Sighing tiredly, Lea said, “I don’t know. But at least you’re trying. Thanks.”

Who would have thought that the royal guard would have better advice than the people who actually had experience wielding Keyblades? He wouldn’t be surprised if Yen Sid was trying to set him up for failure. Half the things that the old man said seemed designed to encourage him to drop the whole Keyblade idea. But Goofy was at least giving him a chance. It was still a little vague, but his explanation offered him something resembling a direction. And a starting point was better than nothing.

After minimal instructions on how to accomplish his impossible goal, Lea was directed to the neighboring room of the tower. Apparently Yen Sid had invited another wizard who was an expert on time-based magic in order to properly work out the mechanics and details for the Mark of Mastery exam since it involved sending the two teenagers back to the moment that the Destiny Islands fell to darkness. Lea didn’t even pretend to understand it. But the important part was that he found the visiting wizard and three fairies sitting in the room enjoying some tea and sandwiches while gossiping about more complex forms of magic.

The wizard dressed somewhat similarly to Yen Sid, but with no stars stitched onto his taller pointy hat. He still wore blue robes as well. His long beard was paler than Yen Sid’s and came to a single point. But the real surprise was that Lea vaguely recognized the old man from Radiant Garden. He was the weirdo that all the kid in the neighborhood said was crazy. Finding out that he was actually a real wizard explained a lot. But within seconds of speaking with Merlin, Lea was certain that he was considered a weirdo even by other wizards.

And then there were the three fairies, who also wore pointy hats. He was definitely sensing a theme. But the headgear and dresses gave off the impression of being old-fashion rather than necessarily mystical and magical. It was the wands and small wings that identified them as fairies instead of an ordinary trio of short middle-aged women. Lea got a quick introduction from the color-coded fairies. The one in red that seemed to be the leader of the group was Flora, the more absentminded one in green was Fauna, and the shortest one that kept scowling at Lea distrustfully and wore blue was Merryweather.

They’d swarmed around him like bees around a flower, but more suspicious and curious. Their primary goal seemed to be to see if he was actually planning to murder everyone the minute their backs were turned, but the secondary mission appeared to be focused on what he was wearing. One of the first things out of their mouths after the introductions was their attempt to let them provide him with a new set of clothing. Lea barely managed to wave them off; it took numerous refusals that they barely seemed to notice as they argued color schemes. Fashion was nowhere near the top of his list of priorities and he didn’t have the energy to play dress-up.

Besides, the castle was chilly enough that he didn’t want to give up the long sleeves and gloves that he was already wearing. Being sore and tired was already bad enough without freezing.

The three fairies eventually withdrew to a corner with their tea and sandwiches, muttering darkly amongst themselves after he made his rejection of the offer clear, while Merlin focused on his own project. Which at least seemed to be relevant to the current situation, unlike the trio disliking Lea’s fashion taste.

It took a little bit, but he conjured a door in the middle of the room among the covered mirrors and wardrobe. A wooden door covered in carvings that resembled a rather intricate design of a tree, the wood stained dark and one of the “branches” curving out to form the door handle. Merlin explained that the door would lead to another world, the Secret Forest, where time did not flow the same way that it did on other worlds. Lea could spend as long as he needed there to figure out the Keyblade issue and almost no time would pass for anyone else.

Unfortunately, Merlin didn’t have any advice either on how to actually go about convincing his heart to spit out a Keyblade. Or for a Keyblade to pop out of his heart. Lea wasn’t entirely certain which one made the call on the worthiness decision. And Merlin didn’t have a clue either. He could only wish Lea the best of luck before practically shoving him through the door.

Other than the door that remained in the middle of the small clearing, it looked like a rather ordinary forest. Vast, lush, and full of tall trees that stretched as far as he could see. There weren’t that many leaves scattered across the ground, letting the grass and clover grow thick. A warm golden light filtered down through the treetops and a gentle breeze stirred his hair. It vaguely reminded him of the woods that surrounded Twilight Town. It was peaceful, calm, and quiet.

It felt like a good place to sort out his thoughts and figure things out. He could take his time to work out what he needed to do. And maybe get better acquainted with his newly-restored heart. Getting used to it again would almost certainly help with his goal.

Except for the first time since he woke up on the floor of the lab, Lea could slow down. He didn’t have to rush and keep going. And that allowed everything that had happened to start sinking in. All the emotions and thoughts that he’d been shoving down? They now had the perfect opportunity to try bubbling up again. Trying to break through the barricade that he’d carefully constructed in order to keep going.

He swallowed hard against the waves of overwhelming emotions and the pain that kept pressing against him. And all the doubts.

Lea held out his hand and tried to call forth the potential Keyblade the same way that he would summon his chakrams. But he also concentrated on the unfamiliar sensation of his heart at the same time since that was supposed to be the source of the Keyblade. He focused hard, begging it to work. He needed it to work. But nothing appeared in his hand. There wasn’t even a flicker of light. Not a single sign that he was even on the right track.

He couldn’t think about it. He couldn’t let those doubts in or everything would break free. Lea tried to reclaim his focus. He needed to figure out how to summon a Keyblade and then he could deal with the rest. Lea highly doubted that these people would turn him into a Dusk for failure, but he needed to be useful. He needed to contribute or else they would have no reason to let him stay. Over a decade in the Organization drilled the concept into his head: being potentially useful was the only way to stay alive. He needed results.

He needed a Keyblade. Because without one, he would never get his friends back. He would be alone forever.

A crack appeared in the barricade as his breathing hitched. Lea stumbled back, his hand flailing until he managed to steady himself against a tree trunk. The tightness in his chest that had plagued him since he woke up only worsened.

Lea almost laughed or sobbed as everything came crashing down. He really didn’t have anyone left, did he? All the former apprentices hated or feared him to varying extents, for very good reason when he was responsible for half of them dying. The girl in the cell, Subject X, had been missing for over a decade and they were no closer than they were before to finding her. Isa was gone, their relationship had drifted apart and frayed so much that Lea barely recognized Saïx as his childhood best friend, and the last time that he’d seen him… Saïx had been staring coldly at him as he ripped the claymore from Axel’s body. Not the best parting of ways. And then there was Roxas.

Another wave of grief, sorrow, loss, guilt, self-loathing, and heartache washed over him. Suffocating, heavy, and exhausting. And painful. Lea was having trouble ignoring the agony in the middle of his misery.

Despite his dying dream or revival dream or whatever he wanted to call it, Lea didn’t even know if Roxas would ever want to see him again. Everything had ended in disaster. He’d lied to Roxas repeatedly, which blew up in his face and destroyed any shred of trust. That led to Roxas turning against the Organization, believing that no one would miss him or even care. That Axel wouldn’t miss him. Then Roxas was taken and his memories were lost. He’d no longer known his best friend, those bright blue eyes not holding even a flicker of recognition when he looked towards Axel. Which had been awful and wrong in ways that Lea still couldn’t describe. And then at the end, after being ordered to eliminate the boy or risk being turned into a Dusk for his failure, Roxas did remember. He’d known Axel in that moment, but it didn’t change a thing. They fought ruthlessly against each other. Fire, chakrams, and Keyblades flashing in their dance of violence.

In the end, Roxas wanted answers more than anything else. He’d wanted the truth and for the lies and secrets to be over. And he’d known that Axel couldn’t give him that. He didn’t trust Axel.

Even if he found a way to bring Roxas back, if he could be separated from Sora and exist somehow again, would he actually want to see Lea? After everything that he did? Or would he still hate Lea for all of his mistakes?

He wouldn’t blame Roxas if he did. Lea couldn’t think of a single reason why Roxas would forgive him. He certainly didn’t deserve it.

Another half-sob clawed its way through him. He could barely breathe. It was too much. The loneliness. The loss and misery. The crushing guilt. The sheer enormity of what he was attempting to do. The full implications of being a complete person again when he expected to be gone. The delayed reaction to his decision to burn himself out of existence in a final explosion of flames. And the exhaustion and disproportionate amount of pain that he couldn’t seem to shake. All of it was washing over him like crashing waves. There was too much for him to bear.

He collapsed to his knees, the impact sending an agonizing jolt through his body that made him gasp. He’d forgotten how hard it was to have a heart. Everything hurt. He couldn’t even describe where the pain was coming from. Lea didn’t know if he could endure it. Even breathing hurt, though the tightness in his chest and throat didn’t make it easy. Everything was just crashing down on him at once.

It took him a moment to realize that there were tears rolling down his face. The sensation was almost as foreign as the overwhelming emotions themselves.

Lea couldn’t fight it. He couldn’t force those feelings down any longer. On his knees in the middle of a beautiful and peaceful forest where time was essentially meaningless, he had no choice except to ride them out. To weather the storm as best that he could and hope that he didn’t drown in the emotions. He didn’t have the strength to resist them.

Exhausted and hurting, his arms curled around himself as he sobbed. Crying raggedly in a way that Lea hadn’t been able to since before he became a Nobody.

Chapter Text

Warm golden light. A beautiful sunset slowly shifting towards orange and red. The drowsy and relaxed town stretched out below him, his legs dangling over the edge of the clocktower. The salty and sweet flavor.

He felt calm. Comfortable. At peace.

He didn’t look away from the horizon, but he knew that Roxas was sitting on the ledge next to him. He could see his black coat and blond hair out of the corner of his eye. It wouldn’t be right to be up there alone. It was their spot. Hanging around the clocktower with ice cream was supposed to be something that they did together.

“It’s been a long day,” said Roxas. “And a rough mission.”

Shrugging, he said, “Not like we ever get any easy jobs.”

“I know you can do it. But you need to be careful, Axel. We don’t want you to get hurt again.”

“Don’t worry about me. You know I’m tougher than that," he said, keeping his tone casual and confident. “Whatever I need to do to keep my promise, I’ll make it happen.”

A breeze stirred his hair. The clock chimed the hour as they sat there, balanced on the verge of another beautiful sunset. His eyes remained locked on the horizon as Roxas slowly climbed to his feet. He knew that it was only the two of them up there, but for a brief moment… he thought he glimpsed another figure sitting on the far side of the boy. But when he finally turned to look, there was only Roxas staring out at the sunset with an unreadable expression.

There was a slight chill that made him pull his coat around him tighter. A cloud must have passed in front of the sun because the world seemed to dim slightly.

“I wish that we could stay up here forever. All of us together,” said Roxas. “But we can’t. Not yet.”

Reaching for Roxas’s hand and missing, he asked, “Wait, why not?”

It took a moment, but Roxas finally turned his head. Those familiar blue eyes, once vacant and blank like a zombie, stared back at him. Not with confusion, uncertainty, or a lack of recognition. Not with fury, hatred, or mistrust. Only a sad smile that tugged at an aching sensation deep in his chest.

“If you want to find us,” said Roxas softly, “you’ll need to RTC.”

He tried to climb to his feet, but it was too late. Roxas was already gone. He was alone on the clocktower, the sun already vanishing below the horizon. Shadows stretched and spread with the falling night. The only light remaining in the sky was red, reaching further into the darkness than any other color. Refusing to fade just yet.

Lea didn’t intend to fall asleep after his breakdown, but he found himself reluctantly waking up. He couldn’t even tell how long he’d spent sobbing, let alone how long he might have been unconscious afterwards. All the emotions, pain, and everything else had left him too drained to even think. But he was waking up and he wasn’t certain that was an improvement.

His first realization after figuring out that he’d passed out at some point was that he was curled on his side on the hard ground. Not his right side. The left side that didn’t have a recently-healed gash. At least he was smart enough not to risk lying the wrong way.

But when he tried to move, every muscle screamed at him. If he thought that his body ached before, it felt much worse now that he could add stiff muscles to the situation. Everything had tightened up while he slept. It added to the sore and raw feeling already bothering him. His body hated him and no amount of a high pain tolerance was going to counter it. He didn’t know if he felt worse overall than he did when he woke up in the castle basement, but he certainly didn’t feel any better. All the sharper throbbing left him scrambling blearily for his pocket and the ancient couple of potions that he had left.

And annoyingly, despite the golden sunlight still pouring down on him, he felt chilly. Like his coat and gloves weren’t quite enough at the moment. A minor detail in comparison to the rest of it, but he didn’t need more help feeling miserable.

Lying on the ground clearly was a horrible idea. He’d ended up as a stiff and painful mess of sore limbs and an aching torso. And despite… sleeping? Passing out? Despite being unconscious in some form for at least a few hours at a minimum, Lea didn’t feel rested. He didn’t feel any less exhausted than before. He had no energy for this. But that didn’t stop Lea from gritting his teeth and forcing himself to sit back upright. A brief scream tried to escape as every muscle protested the movements, his body locked up by his time on the ground. But he managed to collapse back against the tree trunk when he was done.

Panting quietly and trying to get his aching body to cooperate properly, Lea held his hand out. Concentrating hard and silently begging a Keyblade to appear. He thought about every time that he’d seen Sora summon his Keyblade, that he’d seen Roxas summon his, that he’d seen Xi—

The thought slipped through his fingers, fuzzy and indistinct. He couldn’t remember what it was. All that mattered was that his hand remained empty. Not a flicker of light. No weapon appeared. Lea let his arm drop with a weak chuckle.

He should have known that it wouldn’t work right. Things never went smooth or easy for him.

But even if he might prefer it when things were easy, there were some people who were worth the risk and effort. Isa. Roxas. His friends were worth it. His friends were worth any amount of effort and any price because Lea was going to bring them back. No matter what it took, he would bring them back.

Maybe Isa would still blame him for turning his back on everything that they worked towards, not fighting harder to hold onto their dying friendship. Maybe Roxas, assuming that they could separate him from Sora, would still hate him. But that didn’t mean that Lea would give up on them. He had to make sure that they were safe. If they wanted nothing to do with him afterwards, at least he would know that they were all right. At least he could fix some of his past mistakes.

A Keyblade would make it easier, but things were never easy for him. And he’d never had a Keyblade before. That had never stopped him. If a Keyblade didn’t want to show up in time to be useful, then he would figure out how to make it work without one.

Forcing stiff and aching muscles to work, Lea managed to pull himself to his feet. His chest still felt too tight and painful, but the potion helped. He could handle it. His no-longer-as-durable-as-a-Nobody body needed to stop overreacting to some minor burns and things. He was fine.

But Sora wasn’t fine. Him and Riku’s whole exam thing was going wrong. That’s what it sounded like. Yen Sid said that he couldn’t track them and that Xehanort might be involved. And if Sora was in danger, then Roxas wasn’t safe either.

Lea had no idea where to start looking for Isa, but…

“RTC,” he muttered under his breath.

If Xehanort was anything like Xemnas or even the apprentice version of him from before, there were only a handful of places that he might try dragging the kid. And if it was part of an important plan, he wouldn’t have the grand finale at some backup location like Castle Oblivion. He would want the appropriate settings.

He would be at the Castle That Never Was.

Lea took a slow and deep breath, ignoring the ache. Then he raised his hand. Not to call for a potential Keyblade that refuses to answer, but to summon a corridor of darkness. And despite the Secret Forest apparently having a weird relationship with time, he didn’t have any particular difficulties opening one. Just the normal trouble of being a person again and worn out. He stepped through the portal of roiling darkness.

Time to head back and see how the place was doing since his demise.

The World That Never Was had certainly seen better days. Lea didn’t know what exactly Sora did in the aftermath of his temporary demise in Betwixt and Between, but the collapsed skyscrapers that almost looked like something sliced through them painted a rather unique picture. The kid knew how to make an impression; the destruction could absolutely be his fault. But Lea probably wouldn’t know for certain unless he could find Sora to ask him. At least the local Heartless and lesser Nobody population didn’t immediately pounce on him before Lea could use another corridor of darkness to sneak closer.

The advantage of spending years as part of Organization XIII as their assassin, lurking around and keeping his eyes open, was that he knew all the ideal places to open the other end of the dark corridor that were unlikely to draw notice. And he had better luck than he did when he tried to break out Kairi. No one had any reason to expect him, after all. He was supposed to be dead.

He suspected that his best bet would be either at the top of the castle where Xehanort could bask in the glow of the constructed Kingdom Hearts— which Lea was mildly surprised to realize was no longer in the sky overhead— or the Round Room. Either location would be suitably dramatic. Since the latter turned out to be closer, that’s where he decided to stealthily check first.

And was immediately proven right.

Keeping out of sight, Lea managed to get a quick glimpse of the surprisingly large number of figures in the chairs that once belonged to Organization XIII. Most of them with their hoods up, but he saw numerous silver-haired men ranging from an older teenager to what looked like Xehanort’s Heartless and Xemnas. Which should be impossible, but Lea wasn’t questioning it. Nor was he thinking about the implications of Braig sitting with them. He focused on the rest of the gathering. Riku and King Mickey in the center of the ring of chairs, a creepy bald old man standing in one of the thrones with the most ominous Keyblade that Lea had ever seen, and Sora.

Sora, slumped unconscious in what was once Roxas’s chair raised up until it was even with the old man’s perch straight across from him. The boy helpless and the sharp Keyblade aimed in his direction.

Lea missed most of the monologuing as he tried to get a quick assessment of the situation, but obviously things were about to happen because everyone suddenly sprang into action. King Mickey leapt up, trying to reach Sora. Xemnas moved even faster, pinning the king hard against one of the towering thrones halfway up. Xehanort’s Heartless launched himself towards Riku, pinning him facedown on the floor. Leaving the old man free to do whatever he wanted. Which was apparently aiming the creepy Keyblade in Sora’s direction, forming an orb of malevolent light at the tip.

Yeah, there was no way that could be a good thing. For Sora or his heart.

Lea didn’t think. Not enough time. He reacted instinctively to the threat. The old man fired the orb at Sora, but Lea leapt through the shortest corridor of darkness in order to get up there. Chakram materializing in his hand as he flung himself into the throne, blocking the attack with his weapon in a fiery flash. Flames and smoke erupted upon impact, pain stealing his breath away and driving him to his knees. But the smokescreen gave him a moment or two in order to force himself to recover, gasping quietly with his head bowed and Sora’s limp body tucked under his left arm. Angling his body to shield both the boy and the former gash in his side. He couldn’t afford to show any weakness in front of an enemy.

The impact, the fire magic, and the speed required to get into position in time. All of it took a lot out of him. More than he expected, leaving him shaky, briefly lightheaded, and sending his pulse racing. But no one else needed to know that.

“He made it,” shouted King Mickey, sounding both surprised and thrilled.

Glaring and filling the word with a lot of hatred for a Nobody, Xemnas snarled, “You!”

Lea took a slow breath and tried to straighten up without trembling. He couldn’t show any sign of weakness. He needed to be steady, in control, and unconcerned. But he made certain that he kept himself between Sora and the collection of silver-haired creeps. Lea was on the defensive for the moment.

“Axel,” shouted Xigbar, also sounding unhappy about his return.

Giving them a cocky grin that he didn’t actually feel currently, he said, “Axel? Please. The name’s Lea. Got it memorized?”

“You’re not supposed to be here!” he yelled.

“Promises to keep. I’ll always be there to get my friends back.” The words were coming out more strained and tired than he intended, but it was the best that Lea could manage while smirking at the old man. “What? Bad timing? You had your perfect little script, but you kinda forgot to write the sequel.” He shifted slightly to keep his balance as his energy tried to flag, but disguised it by raising his chakram to point at the bald guy with the Keyblade. “Now let’s find out what happens.”

He was bluffing. He was bluffing so hard. Why was he having such a hard time as a person compared to being a Nobody? He was exhausted, hurting, and absolutely outmatched. Especially if he had to fight what looked like a dozen hooded figures. If it came to it, his best bet would be to retreat through a corridor of darkness.

But Sora didn’t have a black coat. The kid wouldn’t be protected. He couldn’t risk it.

Slamming his hand on the armrest and glaring towards the man in charge, Xigbar asked, “What now, you old coot? Our time is up.”

Any shock or surprise that he might have felt at the interruption had disappeared quickly. The old man grinned and turned his attention towards another hooded figure in the circle of chairs. That was all the signal necessary for the figure to launch towards Lea.

Lea threw up his single chakram instinctively as a defense as the figure summoned a weapon mid-leap. He didn’t even have time to recognize what it was until the claymore hit hard enough to drive Lea to his knees, pain shooting down his arm to his body from the jolt. Gasping for breath and blinking as he tried to clear his sight, he could barely keep his own weapon up. Pain caused a haze across his vision. But he managed to barely make out the blue hair after the hood slipped off.

Eyes widening, he whispered, “Isa…”

He should have known when he spotted Xigbar, but seeing Isa on the other side of their engaged weapons nearly tore his restored heart out of his chest. It was wrong in an emotionally agonizing way that he couldn’t even comprehend. Not when Lea could barely hold back Saïx’s claymore.

The strain of it sent pain radiating through him and made Lea grimace and his arm shake from the effort. He was already on his knees, but it was slowly pushing him down further. He saw the faintest hint of a frown on Saïx’s face, undoubtedly confused by how much Lea was struggling to cope; Saïx had always been the physically stronger of the pair, but Lea didn’t normally have quite this much trouble holding his own against him.

Tightening his grip on Sora’s unconscious body with his other arm, Lea suddenly twisted the chakram just enough for the claymore to slide across it with an awful screech of metal. Saïx’s blade buried itself into the chair as Lea shoved himself and Sora sideways, letting them fall towards the floor. It wasn’t his best landing, but he stayed mostly on his feet and adrenaline kept the pain of the act from overwhelming him completely. And he kept Sora carefully positioned so that no one could reach him. Lea would call that a success.

Pain could wait. The emotional upheaval from finding Saïx standing at Xehanort’s side could wait. All that mattered was keeping Sora safe.

King Mickey took advantage of the distraction from Lea’s actions to summon a golden Keyblade to his hand and swung hard, forcing Xemnas to retreat. Riku mirrored his actions seconds later, breaking free from the humanoid Heartless. Then the two Keyblade wielders withdrew until they were supporting Lea’s position.

“Why are you here, Axel?” asked Riku, holding his weapon overhead while never looking away from their enemies.

“No, I told you my name’s—” Lea groaned, both in frustration and from adrenaline-dulled pain. “Agh, whatever, Axel, fine. Now let’s get outta here.”

Nodding, King Mickey said, “Right.”

Unfortunately, Xehanort’s Heartless seemed to have objections to that plan. He summoned another Heartless, a dark and powerfully-built one that only existed from the waist up, that immediately flew towards them. It swooped down to snag Riku and King Mickey. Lea jerked back, but he couldn’t do anything to help them as the creature held them high. Squeezing them in its grip. Trying to free them would involve leaving Sora undefended.

As he quickly tried to figure out a solution, twin screams suddenly rang out overhead, yanking his head up. A twitching and jolting light jerked around like a bucking comet that resolved into Donald and Goofy as they fell, crashing onto the bulky Heartless. Causing it to vanish into darkness and free the others.

Woozy and confused from his place sprawled on the ground, Donald mumbled, “Were we supposed to do that?”

“I think so,” said Goofy, equally disoriented from the crash.

Riku chuckled quietly in response. Lea was simply thankful for any form of backup.

As the unsteady pair tried to climb to their feet, Lea noticed that Xehanort’s gathered numbers started fading. Not like Nobodies dissolving into nothingness. More like they were disappearing somewhere else.

“We are out of time,” announced the bald old man. “Neither the union of light nor darkness has been achieved and we must all return whence we came. But the gathering of the seven and thirteen is nigh.”

Lea was relatively certain that the man was supposed to be a version of Xehanort, but certainly not the apprentice that he’d known. But he was almost as dramatic about monologues as Xemnas. And vague. That didn’t keep Lea’s gaze from focusing on Saïx, his heart feeling like someone was squeezing it inside his aching chest.

“Let us finish this in the fated place,” he continued, “once your lights and my darknesses have joined together.”

And with that ominous invitation, they were gone. Leaving all the chairs empty and only their small group in the center. Lea waited a moment longer before letting his chakram vanish.

“Is Sora all right?” asked Goofy, turning towards them with a worried expression.

Letting his own weapon disappear, Riku said, “I don’t know. Axel interrupted what they were trying to do, but…”

“We’ll take him to Master Yen Sid,” said King Mickey reassuringly. “He’ll know how to help him. I’m sure Sora will be fine. You’ll see.”

Lea carefully shifted Sora from awkwardly dangling under his arm to something that should be more comfortable for the kid. Though not necessarily more comfortable for him. Cradling the boy in a bridal carry pulled at his side and left him resting against his aching chest, pressing against him in a way that threatened to send Lea back down to his knees despite the adrenaline still pumping through his veins. He mostly suppressed his reaction to a grimace that he hoped would be mistaken for annoyance with how much an unconscious teenager weighed.

Honestly, Lea was starting to vaguely wonder if he was a little more battered than he’d originally thought.

He could manage it though. And if he didn’t look down, he could almost pretend that the sturdy weight in his arms was Roxas instead. He’d carried the young Nobody like this before. It would be so easy to ignore the spiky brown hair and imagine that he was holding his best friend instead. Solid, warm like a furnace, and existing in reality instead of disappearing into someone else’s heart.

The burning in his eyes left Lea blinking rapidly. His heart ached sharply, wishing for what it couldn’t have.

But he couldn’t focus on that. Don’t think about how much he wished that it was Roxas in his straining arms. Don’t think about how Saïx was under Xehanort’s sway. Don’t think about any of it. Just get them back to the Mysterious Tower and then he could worry about the rest later.

And maybe he could hunt down a hi-potion since the expired potions clearly weren’t doing the job. Maybe an ether too if he needed to do any more magic in the near future.

“I hope you brought that Gummi Ship with you,” he said wearily, looking towards King Mickey. “I’m not taking him through a dark corridor like this. Not without some kind of protection for him. The only other option right now would be to check my old room in case there’s a spare black coat left behind.”

“Don’t worry. The Gummi Ship shouldn’t be too far after we get out of here.”

The king started leading them out of the Round Room, his loyal guard and magician following. Riku hesitated briefly, staring at the unconscious Sora with an expression that Lea recognized. It was the same look that he would glimpse in the reflection whenever things started going wrong with Roxas. Then Riku followed the others.

Lea brought up the rear, Sora’s head lolling against his shoulder. The boy’s warmth sank into him to combat the chill of the castle. Despite how heavy his limp body felt, he didn’t want to let the boy go. He wasn’t Roxas, but it felt like he’d finally done something. He’d gotten someone back when they nearly lost him. Lea was bringing him back.

Hopefully Yen Sid would be more helpful with Sora than he was when it came to Keyblade advice.

Lea really couldn’t bring himself to pay as close attention to proceedings as he should have as everyone tried to update Yen Sid on everything that had transpired over the course of the disastrous Mark of Mastery exam and the events in the World That Never Was. Nor did he listen fully to the explanation about what Xehanort’s apparent possession-based plan was supposed to be. It was hard to focus and the combat-related adrenaline had faded during the flight back, somehow leaving him more exhausted than before. Lea let their conversation wash over him as he dealt with Sora.

The room at the top of the tower didn’t offer him a lot of options. He ended up settling Sora on the floor, the ragdoll-like boy resting in a relatively comfortable position sitting against the wall. As everyone talked, Lea vaguely wondered if Yen Sid would accept suggestions about adding some extra seats or even a couch to his tower if he planned to continually have numerous guests show up there.

A couch would be nice. Lea wanted to collapse on a nice soft surface. He wanted to sleep for a week. Preferably wrapped in a quilt because the stupid tower also felt too cold. Or rather, chills kept washing over him in waves when he didn’t feel strangely warm. Heat didn’t normally bother him. Humidity, sure, but not heat. Regardless, Lea was exhausted and his body throbbed sharply in a way that might be more than a minor burn. But he couldn’t bring himself to leave yet to get some rest. He needed to make certain that they sorted out Sora first. He could worry about himself later.

At least there seemed to be a plan on how to proceed on helping the kid. Sora’s friends were crowded around him while Lea stood back slightly, not wanting to crowd them and yet not having the energy to attempt withdrawing to lean against the bookshelf out of the way. Even if he wasn’t fully listening, he could understand enough as Yen Sid explained that Riku would have to be the one to yank the boy of his unnatural slumber. And despite King Mickey’s attempt to volunteer, apparently Riku had the best chance of pulling Sora’s heart out of whatever dark abyss that it was trapped in because of complicated dream-related reasons that Lea was too tired to fully comprehend.

None of this seemed to discourage the teenager at all. In fact, Riku seemed rather optimistic and hopeful about the entire situation. Which was a surprise considering how serious and grim that he seemed in the brief glimpses that Lea caught back when Riku was hassling Organization XIII.

Lea still hated that Riku helped drag Roxas into that digital Twilight Town and his part in what happened to Roxas, but he couldn’t really blame him for wanting to save his best friend. Was it all that different than Axel’s attempt at kidnapping Kairi in order to turn Sora into a Heartless again? And Lea had to admit that he was quietly impressed with the teenager’s courage to dive back into whatever mess of darkness that was keeping Sora unconscious.

If only it was that easy to bring Roxas home, Lea would do the same in a heartbeat.

“And if the darkness gets you,” said Lea encouragingly, trying to put in as much energy into the words as he could, “I promise I’ll bail you out. ‘Dark Rescue’ is my middle name.”

Smiling, Riku said, “Guys, thank you. Sora and I will be back soon.”

He gave a brief bow to Yen Sid before summoning his batwing Keyblade. He aimed at the slumped boy, causing both Riku and Sora to glow faintly. A spiky sphere appeared, a portal that would have been a shade of magenta if it wasn’t for the swirling darkness within that only seemed to sharpen Donald and Goofy’s concern over their friend’s current state. A moment later, Riku dissolved into the light that vanished into the portal, which disappeared immediately afterwards.

King Mickey slumped and looked away with a worried expression, one that Lea couldn’t quite decide if it reminded him more of concerned friend or a protective parent. Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy took the opportunity to crowd around Sora’s unconscious body. Not reaching out to touch him, but clearly wanting to. All three of them silently waiting for those they cared about to return unharmed from where they couldn’t follow.

Lea took a few small steps until he could reach out to subtly brace himself against the closest star-shaped windowsill, trying to steady himself a little. He tried not to think about how much he missed and desperately needed his own friends back. There was already enough worry in the room without adding the complications of his emotional pain regarding Roxas and Isa.

It could wait. He was fine. When the entire mess was over, Lea could hunt down a hi-potion and sleep off the rest of the bone-deep exhaustion and pain. Then he could go back to figuring out how to get a stubborn Keyblade to show up and work on dragging all his friends back. It was a solid plan. But until then, he could handle it. Whatever was wrong with him, it couldn’t be that bad.

Besides, considering everything that he’d done as Axel and all his mistakes, he deserved worse. He could handle it.

Chapter Text

Lea wasn’t completely certain how long they waited around, watching patiently. The first real sign of progress was a bright flash of light that signaled Riku’s return, the boy lying flat on the floor on his back. Unconscious, but in a way that felt different than Sora.

“Riku,” called King Mickey, reaching for the boy’s wrist.

Watching from his desk, Yen Sid reassured him, “He seems unharmed by his efforts. Merely weary from the experience of the Mark of Mastery examination, the confrontation with Xehanort, and this final dive into the depths of Sora’s slumbering heart to awaken him. He should recover with some rest with no permanent harm.”

Rest sounded like a wonderful idea to Lea. He would love to get some rest. Especially since any effect that those expired potions might have had reducing the pain seemed to have worn off.

“But is Sora going to be all right?” asked Donald.

As if responding to the worried question, Sora groaned blearily and reached up to rub at his eyes. Everyone immediately froze. Drowsy and confused eyes slowly blinked open. The shade of bright blue that made Lea’s restored heart ache sharply, the exact same color as Roxas’s eyes. But those blue eyes quickly vanished as Donald and Goofy tackled him against the wall. Hugging, laughing, and shouting the boy’s name in unison.

“Sora!”

Wrapping his arms round his friends, he laughed back and said, “Donald. Goofy.”

“We were so worried about you,” said Goofy.

“I’m fine now.”

Then his head moved enough to see past the pair and spotted Riku on the floor. His expression immediately fell and Sora wrestled his way free of them, landing on his knees next to his unconscious best friend.

“Riku…”

Laying a hand on his shoulder, King Mickey said, “He’ll be all right, Sora. Master Yen Sid thinks he’s just tired. I’m sure he’ll wake up soon.”

“Both of you are tougher than you look,” said Lea quietly.

That made Sora turn his head towards where Lea still subtly braced himself against the windowsill. Shock and surprise slowly gave way towards something resembling relief. An expression almost identical to the look that Roxas gave him when he returned from Castle Oblivion despite rumors claiming that everyone was destroyed. Like a tiny glimpse of his absent friend. The similarity hurt his aching heart all the more.

“Axel?” he asked, stunned and hesitant. “You’re… here? But I saw you fade.”

Smiling faintly, he said, “Technically it’s Lea now, but yeah. I’m as surprised as you are that I’m still here. I even managed to get my heart back in the process.”

Sora’s face did something complicated. There was anger, but not directed towards Lea. But there was also far more relief and excitement to see him alive than the boy should have felt for someone that Sora barely knew. It was the kind of expression that Lea would have expected upon being reunited with Kairi or Riku after having one of them disappear. There was no reason for him to be on the receiving end of such an intense look. The kid had a big heart, but Axel was the Nobody that kidnapped Kairi. Sora shouldn’t look at Lea like he wanted to tackle him in a hug and the only thing holding him back was knowing that it would be weird coming from Sora.

He never did hug Roxas. Demonstrations of physical affection weren’t exactly encouraged within Organization XIII due to the whole “Nobodies don’t have emotions” thing. Lea regretted never taking the opportunity when he had the chance.

He should have hugged Roxas before it was too late. Just like he should have done something when Saïx and him started drifting apart. Having a heart came with countless regrets and mountains of smothering guilt.

Finally, Sora seemed to sort out the tangled mess of conflicting impulses. There was no tackling hug, thankfully. He simply stood up slowly and gave a small smile.

“I’m glad that you’re back.”

“Me too,” said Lea quietly.

Looking away with a scowl, he muttered, “Xemnas lied. He lied to all of you.”

“He probably lied about a lot of things. You’ll have to narrow it down.”

Sora opened his mouth, but any clarification that he might intend to offer was interrupted by his stomach growling loudly. That set Donald and Goofy off laughing as they crowded around the boy again.

“You must be hungry after all the trials that you have faced,” said Yen Sid, raising a hand. “A small reward for your efforts and to help sate your appetite while waiting for Riku to recover.

A gesture, a flash and sparks, and suddenly there was more furniture in the room. A round white table and four metal chairs materialized, covered in what appeared to be a modest collection of desserts and some tea. All of which made Sora’s eyes widen.

“Oh boy, oh boy,” said Donald, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

Lea vaguely contemplated snagging something off the table. He probably should. When was the last time that he ate anything? When did he last drink anything that wasn’t a decade-old potion? But he didn’t seem to have much of an appetite. Not with everything else. Instead, Lea grabbed one of the white metal chairs and dragged it over.

“Hey,” complained Donald.

“Calm down,” he said wearily. “I was dead about a day ago, give or take. I’ve earned the right to sit down.” Lea turned the chair around backwards, carefully positioned so that he could easily keep an eye on the unconscious Riku, the table of treats that were drawing Sora in, and even the unnerving gaze from Yen Sid. “Enjoy your snack. I’ll keep watch on your friend.”

Sora hesitated, looking towards Riku again. The worry for his friend was palpable. But then he looked back towards Lea and seemed to come to a decision. He nodded at the offer and took a seat at the table, turning his attention towards the food.

Lea ended up straddling the chair when he practically crumpled onto it, crossing his arms on the back of it and letting his chin rest on top. He barely suppressed a groan as he let himself collapse. He was utterly worn out and everything hurt. He only resisted the urge to close his eyes because he said he’d watch Riku.

He told Riku that he’d be there if anything went wrong and now he’d told Sora that he’d look after his friend. He wasn’t breaking either promise.

He would absolutely be complaining about the temperature of the castle when it was over though. Yen Sid might have finally added a few more places to sit down, but he still kept it too cold. And the subtle shivers and trembling that occasionally hit from the chill didn’t help him at all.

Everything hurt. Moving especially hurt, which meant that sitting down felt better. Breathing too deeply hurt, his chest still feeling far too tight. None of it had improved since he first woke up in the underground lab on the hard floor. And now he didn’t have anything to immediately distract him and keep him occupied. Only sitting around and waiting for the sleepyhead to recover. And without any potions to cut through the pain, it was getting harder to focus on anything else. His head was in a fog from it all.

Once this was over, Lea needed to find some hi-potions. Then he could try to get some sleep. That dusty old bedroom in the castle of Radiant Garden might hold some painful memories, but it was the only place he could stay that wasn’t his room at the Castle That Never Was. Which would be an even worse option. He should be able to summon a corridor of darkness to get back to Radiant Garden, giving the other apprentices the bad news about their missing members before crawling off to sleep. He should be able to manage that.

Maybe.

No, he could definitely handle it. He was fine. Just a bit banged up, sore, no longer used to having a heart or being a person anymore, and worn out. Nothing that he couldn’t handle.

Lea didn’t know how long that he sat there silently. He couldn’t seem to keep track of the passage of time, a little too lightheaded and tired to focus on it. But Riku eventually woke up and started climbing to his feet. Which was immediately followed by Sora hugging his best friend like he might disappear. It was a rather heartwarming moment of them both expressing their mutual worry and relief for each other, neither of them particularly concerned about having an audience. It was the type of reunion that he wished that he could have shared with Isa instead of what really happened. But after a little while, Yen Sid called for their attention in order to announce the results of their examination and the pair instantly scrambled over each other to stand at attention in front of the sorcerer’s desk.

Lea didn’t move from his chair. He was in a good position to watch proceedings and keeping still hurt less. He didn’t want to move. Not even slightly. It would be easy to close his eyes. But he refused to fall asleep just yet. Even if it would give him a break from the pain draining away all of his energy. He needed to see this through.

He couldn’t bring himself to concentrate on what they were talking about at the beginning. Something vague about gratitude for safe returns. It wasn’t until he heard his name that he forced himself to listen properly.

“And I am grateful to Lea whose spontaneous actions turned the tides,” said Yen Sid, turning his head briefly to acknowledge him. “I am also deeply sorry for failing to perceive the danger and throwing you headlong into a perilous test. This experience has revealed many hidden truths and we must gird ourselves for the great clash with the darkness that lies before us. I believe we need a new Keyblade master, one with a new kind of power. Sora and Riku, you both deserve the honor. However, one of you braved the realm of sleep again to unlock the final Keyhole and save a friend. Riku, I name you our new true Keyblade master.”

There was a moment of silence where the announcement sank in. From his spot near the windows, Lea could easily see their expressions. Riku appeared completely stunned by the news. Sora broke into an excited grin.

“Way to go, Riku!” Slinging one arm around in a hug, Sora said, “I knew you were gonna pass with flying colors. This is just so awesome.”

“Gee, Sora,” said Goofy, “you’re kinda acting like it’s you that passed.”

In a faintly teasing tone, Donald said, “I told ya Sora still needed some practice.”

“Hey,” he complained.

Finally finding his voice in his stunned state, Riku asked quietly, “Really? I’m a Keyblade master?”

Sora nodded firmly, not a single hint of jealousy or regret in his eyes. Like he didn’t care that only one of them passed. Which was ridiculous because Lea knew that the kid deserved to be considered a master; he left enough bruises on Axel in Castle Oblivion to prove that. But Sora only seemed to care about Riku’s success.

Everyone crowded in to congratulate Riku, excited for the boy and his new title. King Mickey looked especially proud of him. It sparked a particularly celebratory mood that filled the tower. And despite not knowing Riku that well, Lea figured that he should head over and offer his own congratulations. After that, he could try to sneak out to get some rest.

Except as Lea tried to stand up from his chair, the movement sent a new flash of pain through him that made his head swim. Enough that he couldn’t keep from stumbling as he tried to regain his balance. A blur of motion as someone suddenly hurried in front of him, an arm reaching out to catch and steady him.

But the arm curled around Lea’s chest as he stumbled forwards. And that caused an explosion of pure agony that he wasn’t prepared for. A surprised yelp, his vision going white, and nearly passing out as his legs buckled under him. He couldn’t think or breathe as the pain rolled over him. It took a while for the worst of it to recede again. But Lea eventually regained some awareness to find himself on his knees, clammy, shaking, panting hard, and with concerned voices in his ears.

“Axel?”

“Are you all right?”

It took him far too long to understand the words, let alone identify who was speaking. His mind barely dragged itself back up enough to work. The first question came from a worried Sora, he and Goofy carefully tucked under Lea’s arms to support him and keep him from falling on his face. Both of them making certain not to touch his torso again. The second question came from Riku. The boy was crouched in front of Lea, his mouth a grim line as his eyes studied him. Donald and King Mickey were keeping back enough to avoid crowding him. Which was nice because he didn’t have the energy to deal with even more people.

Grinning weakly as he tried to reassure them, Lea said, “Don’t worry… I might be… a bit more battered… than I thought, but… I can handle it.”

“What happened?” asked Sora.

“You were there… for my grand finale.” Maybe Lea should have waited until he wasn’t panting as hard before explaining. “You know what happened.” He closed his eyes wearily for a moment, trying to shove back down the pain and weariness, before prying them back open again. “I told you that… I was dead about a day ago… Remember?”

He should be standing up. Lea knew that he needed to climb back to his feet. But he couldn’t summon up the strength to make the effort quite yet. Lea needed a few more minutes to catch his breath. When he felt less exhausted and the stabbing, throbbing pain lessened, he would get back up. He just needed a moment.

With Riku directly in front of him, Lea could see his concerned and suspicious expression. Not trusting the attempts to downplay the situation. He could also tell when the boy’s gaze moved from Lea’s face. Traveling down to the collar of his black coat, Riku’s brow furrowing briefly as he narrowed his eyes. Then Riku cautiously reached for the top zipper. Pulling it down slowly.

“What—”

Lea’s question cut off as he hissed sharply and flinched at the sensation of the coat peeling free from his skin, a particularly unnerving and unpleasant experience. And painful. Halfway down, enough was exposed for both the sight and the moist sound from it to make Riku’s eyes widen in shock as his hand dropped. The horrified expressions from the rest of the audience weren’t reassuring either. Not to mention the newly reignited throbbing across his chest, now exposed to the chill of the air.

He didn’t want to look. Lea honestly didn’t want to look down. It couldn’t be good. But he knew that he probably did need to see what was wrong.

At least Riku didn’t pull the zipper down far enough to expose the gash that Saïx left behind. Even partially healed, he couldn’t imagine it would be a pretty sight. They should be spared at least a little trauma.

Lea reluctantly tilted his head down and immediately winced. Raw, wet, covered in blisters that were long-since burst and oozing, a mottled mix of inflamed red, paler patches, and darker tissue that all seemed to grow more severe towards the center of the mess. And thanks to pulling the coat away, the burns were seeping again. He couldn’t tell how far it reached. Only that it extended further under his coat from what had been exposed. More alarming was the faint smell that he could now notice after it was unzipped and how some of the worst-looking parts of the burns had the unmistakable signs of infection.

It would seem that his assumption that he wasn’t seriously harmed was wrong. Badly wrong. Fire-resistant wasn’t the same thing as fire-proof. And there was absolutely a disadvantage to having a high pain tolerance.

“That… doesn’t look good,” he muttered. “Guess expired potions… don’t help that much.”

“I’m sorry, Axel. I’m so, so sorry,” said Sora, sounding devastated. “This is my fault. You were hurt helping me back then. And then you came to help me again today while you were already hurt.”

Trying to give him a reassuring look, he said, “Not your fault. I made those choices. Got it memorized?”

“Regardless,” said Yen Sid, stepping in front of him despite Lea never noticing that he stood up from his desk, “those were thoroughly foolhardy decisions. Ignoring your well-being and the state of your injuries will only cause further harm in the long run. And it will ensure that the path towards healing will be longer.” He paused a moment before continuing. “But we should have noticed that you were injured and suffering in the aftermath of your recompletion. I was already careless about not foreseeing the potential dangers that the Mark of Mastery examination exposed Sora and Riku to. And yet, I multiplied that mistake by being unobservant when we last spoke. I was distracted by the urgency of the threat that Xehanort presents, the disruption to the Mark of Mastery examination already in progress, and the unexpected nature of the request that you made upon arriving. But none of that excuses such obliviousness concerning your state. And I will ensure that mistake is rectified before your condition can worsen.”

Lea would have argued that taking care of himself was no one’s responsibility except his own. He’d been the one doing it for most of his life and he certainly didn’t expect Yen Sid to worry about him, especially when Lea tried to ignore and hide his injuries previously. Not to mention some heavy amounts of denial. But he was too tired for the entire rant on the topic. And Yen Sid didn’t seem interested in letting him argue.

The sorcerer gestured at him. A few sparkling lights and an intense new level of exhaustion hit with all the force of a charging Hot Rod. Yanking Lea down into the depths of a heavy slumber that only magic could achieve.

He was lying at the top of the clocktower, his legs resting on the short ledge that he would normally sit on. The heat of the sun-warmed stone floor soaked into his back. It was a position that he would occasionally relax in whenever he was the first one there and was waiting for his friend to show up. He’d been drowsing there for a while already, though he wasn’t exactly certain how long or when he’d arrived. Long enough that he didn’t want to get up. He felt too comfortable and relaxed to move. He barely wanted to keep his eyes open.

But he did blink his eyes open enough to glimpse the golden-orange sky of twilight. A soothing and familiar sight. He didn’t turn his head, but he knew that he wasn’t alone. Just out of sight was a figure— two?— that made him smile to have close. It meant that everything was all right.

He should get up. That thought gnawed at him. He needed to get up. He couldn’t seem to remember the details, but he knew that there was something important that he needed to do. He should get started.

But as he tried to sit up, a hand pushed down on his chest and forced him back down.

“Rest, Axel. You need to rest for now.”

For a moment, he wasn’t certain who spoke to him. It was a familiar voice, but he couldn’t identify who it belonged to. The answer seemed to slip through his fingers. But it had to be Roxas, right? There was never anyone else up there. He might not be able to see anything beyond a gloved hand and the black-coat-covered arm, but he knew he must be right.

“We’re not in any danger. We’re safe for the moment.” And that was definitely Roxas’s voice that time. “There’s plenty of time to keep your promise.”

That didn’t mean that he should waste that time. He should do something. But he was comfortable, warm, and not alone. It was hard to motivate himself to move when he felt so relaxed. Especially when Roxas was asking him to rest. Maybe he should listen.

“Didn’t you say that you would like to use your vacation to catch up on your sleep? Don’t waste the chance now,” said Roxas in a teasing tone.

He chuckled faintly. It was hard to argue with that. As the hand left his chest, he let his eyes close again. He lay there quietly as he listened to the breeze, the rustle of a black coat as Roxas shifted position, and the faint sounds of the inner workings of the clocktower beneath them. It would be easy to give into the drowsiness. The warm stone under him and the remaining traces of sunset encouraged him further.

“You need to take better care of yourself, Axel.” Roxas kept his voice low. “We care about you too much for you to disappear again.”

Disappearing. That’s what they always did. Everyone disappeared eventually. The girl from the underground cell vanished without a trace. Roxas left Organization XIII and then disappeared into Sora’s heart. Saïx was pulled back into Xemnas and Xehanort’s clutches. And even he’d faded, destroying himself as a Nobody.

But they were together at the top of the clocktower. His best friend was with him again. For now, that was enough. The rest of it could wait.

He wasn’t alone.

For the third time in the last few days, Lea found himself waking up when he didn’t really expect to and his body aching. But at least the surprise of regaining consciousness wasn’t due to the fact that he was supposed to be dead. It was mostly because he hadn’t planned to get knocked out in the first place. And it wasn’t the sharper pain from before. It was a duller ache of healing. And he was waking up on a more comfortable surface than a metal floor or under a tree. He felt a soft mattress, a pillow under his head, and a warm blanket carefully tucked around him. There was something else wrapped around him too. Firm, but not too tight.

Lea eventually opened his eyes and saw a smooth ceiling. Not one that he immediately recognized. As he looked around, he spotted stone walls of the same tan color and a few shelves. One of them held a strange crystalline lamp giving off a warm glow that filled the room. It gave the space a cozy feeling that faintly reminded him of childhood for some reason.

He was tucked into a spacious bed under a thick blue quilt covered in the silver embroidery of comets and constellations. When Lea reluctantly shifted, he figured out that his black coat and gloves were gone. His boots being missing made more sense; there was no reason to wear them in bed. But his entire torso seemed to be wrapped in a layer of gauze that glowed faintly green with what he suspected was a powerful healing spell. Strong enough to still be in effect.

When Lea carefully pushed the blanket down and tried to sit up, he didn’t see any of his injuries. Just a solid layer of gauze. He couldn’t even spot the end, the material practically woven onto his body. At least it covered up the burns and what remained of the gash in his side. And he still seemed to have his pants.

There was a small table next to the bed. A pitcher of water and a glass were waiting for him. The sight of it made him abruptly aware of how dry his throat felt. Lea managed to pour himself a drink. It was still icy cold, but he suspected that was due to magic rather than someone bringing it in only a few minutes before he woke up.

He almost wanted to go back to sleep. Not because of the previous overwhelming exhaustion that had been plaguing him since his recompletion, though he remained drowsy and could use more rest to recover. It was because he was cozy, warm, and in an actual bed. A selfish part of him wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to stay like that a little longer. He wanted to sleep in like he was on vacation.

But he knew that he should at least figure out what happened after Yen Sid hit him with that Sleep spell. Not to mention that someone still needed to tell everyone at Radiant Garden what happened with Xigbar and Saïx.

Lea was pleasantly surprised to find out that he wasn’t nearly as unsteady as before, swinging his legs around and pushing himself to his feet.  But a quick search of the room revealed a distinct lack of black coats, gloves, or even boots. He was lucky that they left his pants because the rest of his clothes were missing and he did not like the idea of wandering around with only a blanket to protect his dignity.

He did find a pair of blue slippers next to the bed though. Lea reluctantly put them on. The floor was too chilly to wander around in bare feet, even if the rest of the tower seemed to be a more reasonable temperature. He just wished that the slippers didn’t look as ridiculous.

The door to the room led out to one of the floors of the Mysterious Tower. Though Lea was absolutely certain that the extra door that he came through hadn’t been there when he first arrived at the tower. There had been no extra doors when he climbed those physics-defying staircases. But an extra room appearing out of nowhere couldn’t be that unusual in the tower of a sorcerer. Maybe it would stick around for a while instead of disappearing immediately after he looked away. He might want to return for a nap later.

He headed back up the stairs slowly. It gave him time to appreciate how much better he felt. Not perfect, but improving. He was healing. And that healing meant that he was starting to realize how badly he was actually feeling previously. Even some of the emotional distress seemed to be calming down, though he could still feel it lurking below the surface.

When he reached the top floor, he heard voices through the closed door. Which made him pause rather than immediately going inside. Old habits were hard to break. And after years of recon missions for Organization XIII, Lea couldn’t help the urge to listen in a bit without drawing attention to his presence.

“Who’s this new Riku and where’s the old one?”

That was Kairi’s voice. Even if her tone was cheerfully teasing, he still recognized it from before. When did she arrive?

“New me?”

“Yeah.” Kairi chuckled at Riku’s confusion. “You’re more like Sora.”

“Should I be flattered?” She laughed again as Riku continued, “I try too hard to be the role model. It’s more fun to just listen to my heart. Which is Sora-esque.”

“Well, we still like you.” There was a brief pause. “Master, I came here because I wanted to help somehow. What can I do?”

The slow and deliberate voice of Yen Sid said, “I have entrusted the wizard Merlin to oversee the training for our new Keyblade wielders, yourself and Lea.”

Lea couldn’t help himself from blinking in surprise. Kairi was a Keyblade wielder? Somehow the idea of the girl swinging a Keyblade in battle felt… right. Almost familiar for some reason.

Though he was grateful that she didn’t have one when he kidnapped her. That entire mess was bad enough without her clobbering him.

“Lea?” she asked.

“He means Axel,” said King Mickey’s voice cheerfully.

“What!?”

Kairi’s shocked outburst was loud enough that even through the door, Lea winced at the volume and tone. Not that he could blame her for the reaction. They didn’t have the best first meeting.

On the bright side, he would have the chance to actually apologize to her.

“He’s a regular person now,” reassured King Mickey. “He even saved Sora for us. You can trust him.”

The room fell silent for a moment or two. Not a single word was spoken. Lea almost felt tempted to open the door a crack to try and see what they were doing now.

“He has given us no reason to doubt the validity of his decision to ally himself with us since his return,” said Yen Sid. “He intends to become a Keyblade wielder and, in addition to the others that we plan to retrieve, his presence will bring our numbers up to seven. Lea will be training alongside you to master the Keyblade. After he is recovered sufficiently.”

“Recovered?” asked Kairi slowly.

“It would seem that when a Heartless is destroyed by a Keyblade to release the captive heart and then their Nobody is destroyed, the two halves can reunited to form the original person. But since the Nobody was created by the physical body enduring after the heart is lost, they will reform as a person carrying the marks from the Nobody’s destruction. The injuries received as Axel remained when he returned as Lea, though he tried to hide and deny their severity. I found it necessary to cast a Sleep spell and a particularly strong healing spell on him once we learned of his state.” There was a brief pause before Yen Sid pitched his voice louder. “Because he clearly will not allow himself time to rest and allow those injuries to heal fully unless forced by magic. Choosing instead to listen at the door rather than remain in bed. Is that not true, Lea?”

He grimaced as he dropped his head briefly. Busted.

Lea reluctantly opened the door and stepped inside. Yen Sid was back behind his desk while the other three stood in front of it, turning to face Lea. Kairi shifted her weight, as if preparing to attack or run away, but then she seemed to actually notice his appearance. She didn’t seem comfortable with his presence, but she didn’t seem that afraid. Not that she ever seemed very scared of him. But the slippers and wandering around half naked probably reduced his intimidation factor.

“Hey,” he greeted awkwardly, raising a hand. “I guess I should start by apologizing for the kidnapping. Though I never intended for Saïx to drag you off like that.” Scratching the back of his head as he looked away, grateful that it only caused a mild twinge, Lea said, “It wasn’t exactly my finest moment. But if you want, I’ll give you a couple of free hits for what I put you through.”

Hesitating a moment as her eyes traced over the gauze bandaging his torso, Kairi said, “Not right now. It wouldn’t be right.”

“You were trying to get your friend back,” said Riku, not meeting his eyes. “I can’t blame you for that.”

Lea nodded and said, “I went too far, but I was fairly desperate and motivated.”

“Yes, we have seen how far you can push yourself when properly motivated,” said Yen Sid. “Your assistance was invaluable in keeping Sora out of Xehanort’s grasp, but you also ignored your own wellbeing long enough for those injuries to worsen. That is why the spell is taking longer to fully heal you. Your body is recovering from the effects of infection, dehydration, and the burns themselves.” Studying Lea closely for a moment, he added, “Your fever appears to have broken, though it would still be wise to allow yourself more time to recover before joining training.”

Gesturing vaguely, Lea said, “Really? You refuse to offer any real advice on how to summon a Keyblade, but you have plenty to say now about my health? Look, I’m grateful that you patched me up. And I won’t push myself too hard this time. But I’m done laying around.”

“Axel,” said Riku carefully. “You look better than before, but there’s no hurry. You’re still healing and you can’t even use a Keyblade yet. Listen to Master Yen Sid and focus on resting for a while.”

While the advice was sound, it felt too much like Lea was being pushed to the side. What if he took too long resting and doing nothing and they found someone else who could already use a Keyblade? Then they wouldn’t need him anymore and would have no purpose to keep him around. Not like Yen Sid or anyone had seemed that eager for him to get one. He needed them to understand that he wasn’t giving up on this. Moving a bit more energetically than he had the last few days, he waved a hand in Kairi’s direction.

“You heard her. She’s here because her friends are in this fight and she wants to help. First time I met her, she was already tired of standing on the sidelines doing nothing. Well, I’m here because of my friends. I promised to always be there to bring them back. Maybe I need to take better care of myself if I want to help them, but I’m not going to stop.” His hand gestured sharply in front of him to punctuate his point. “And if figuring out this Keyblade thing will help me do that, then—”

A flash of sparks and cinders. And a sturdy weight materialized in his hand. Not one of his chakrams, though he saw some of the familiar shape in his grip. The weight was wrong. Longer. A solid flame-like structure that stretched out from the handle. And there was an energy burning through it and into him, bright and strong. A power that was new to him and yet he immediately recognized.

A Keyblade.

“What!?”

A question shouted by a stunned Riku and King Mickey in unison, Yen Sid restraining himself to merely surging to his feet at the unexpected sight. Only Kairi didn’t react to it beyond blinking in surprise.

“Oh,” said Lea dully, trying to wrap his mind around it actually working.

Looking over his fiery Keyblade, Kairi said, “It suits you.”

He smiled faintly as he turned it slightly and tried to get a feel for it. He suspected it would take him a while to get familiar with the new weapon and how different it was from his chakrams. But there was something about the Keyblade that simply seemed right in his grip. And of course it ended up looking like fire and his chakram rather than anything closer to a normal key like what Sora wielded. Or what Roxas once used before he started wielding two of them at the end. Or like Xi—

He shook his head briefly. It wasn’t quite the same as most of the Keyblades that he was familiar with, but Riku’s Keyblade looked odd and Xehanort’s looked creepy. And somehow, Lea knew that his Keyblade would be perfect for him.

“Well, training should work better with one of my own,” he said. Looking back towards the others, Lea said, “If I promise to get some rest before starting that Keyblade training, could one of you swing by the castle at Radiant Garden and tell the other former Nobodies what happened to Xigbar and Saïx?” Gesturing vaguely with his free hand, he said, “Preferably not Riku since he did kill Lexaeus at Castle Oblivion.”

And there was a brief wince from Riku. He definitely recognized the awkwardness of the situation. That wasn’t even considering how he beat up Zexion and then his replica destroyed the kid. There was no way to know how badly that would affect Ienzo; the kid spent more of his life without a heart than with one, so there was no predicting his emotional state. At least Lea could delay speaking to Even and his own uncomfortable apologies for a little longer.

Except for his apologies to Kairi since they would be training together. Guilt was still gnawing at him. Should he apologize again? Or maybe he should wait until there was less of an audience.

“Don’t worry,” said King Mickey. “I can let them know before Riku and I head out.”

“And once you’re better,” said Kairi, gesturing towards the gauze around his torso, “I will be taking you up on that offer to hit you a few times. Once you can fight back and not hurt yourself, all bets are off.”

Smirking faintly, Lea said, “Sounds fair to me.”

He didn’t know where Sora might be, but hopefully he would get to see the boy before Yen Sid sent them off to train with Merlin. Not that he really expected the wizard to be any more helpful than he was before. But if he couldn’t comfort himself with the idea of Isa being safe, because still being stuck with those people was not safe, then he would at least like to know that Roxas was safe in Sora’s heart. He would take what reassurances about his friends that he could find.

Looking around briefly, he said “Well, it seems like we all know what to do next. I just have one question.” Turning his head towards Yen Sid, Lea said, “Do you have anything to eat around here?”