Kingdom Hearts: All Good Things 2
Dec. 2nd, 2012 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumelleFor story summary, warnings, pairings, etc, see the first chapter.
Chapter: 2/25
Chapter title: The Unfairness of It All
Chapter rating: PG-13 (for mentions of injuries and self-harm)
Chapter summary: Everyone is having a party. Lea doesn't feel like celebrating, but tries to cheer up for Xion's sake.
It's not like he can blame them for wanting to party.
It's been a long fight, one with too many sacrifices, and it's about time that they have good news. The shadow of Xehanort is now gone for good, gone from their lives and their worlds, and if everything goes well they won't have to fear another Keyblade War, not in their lifetimes. The wounds have been patched up and the sleepers have woken up, and by the time they get to the Disney Castle the whole place has been decorated and a feast has been set out.
Sora attacks the food like he's been starving for a month, and Donald and Goofy aren't far behind him. The others act somewhat less ravenous, but they're hungry, too. Lea catches sight of Terra as he starts to eat. The man seems almost surprised at the taste. Well, it's been quite a while since he's managed to eat anything.
Everyone seems interested in Xion, surrounding her with questions and comments. Most of them didn't even know she existed; hell, even Lea didn't know about her until the moment she came back, and he's the only one alive who saw her before she disappeared. Sometimes he sees her looking at him, but he turns his gaze away. He knows it's unfair of him, she is his friend too after all, but at the moment she is here and Roxas isn't and there's nothing fair about that.
He doesn't feel hungry, but they insist he eats. While he might actually stand a chance at resisting if it were merely Kairi, he knows better than to tell the queen no. Besides, he figures he's worried them enough, fainting like that from the blood loss and pain. Might as well try to do something to calm them down before they try to tie him to a bed.
Not that he feels like going anywhere, anyway. He has no doubt that Yen Sid's healing magic is quite remarkable, but at the moment he's still too weak to even stand, the wound on his side now scarred over but still tender whenever he moves wrong. He's been cleaned and clothed again, the ruined shirt now gone, his face clean of the blood.
His injured eye is still hidden from sight, a black scarf tied over it until he can find something a little less ridiculous. He has been told there's not much that can be done. Apparently magic is very good at stitching together muscle and skin, but eyes are a trickier matter; they're a much more delicate structure, and magic doesn't work well with fiddly stuff. There might be a chance for an experienced healer to do something about it, someone with more finesse than Donald's and Yen Sid's raw power, but even that is questionable.
Lea more or less ignores them. The eye isn't his greatest worry at the moment in any case.
He knows they worry, even Sora in his hunger sometimes glances at him with a weird look on his face, but he ignores them. They can keep each other company while he sits down for a while and gathers his strength.
He's not sure when Xion manages to slip away from everyone else, but she walks up to him at some point, holding out a plate with some cookies on it. "Try these," she says, her voice quiet. "They're good."
"I suppose I could." He reaches out to take one, biting off half of it. It doesn't taste too bad, he supposes. A bit too sweet for his tastes, though.
"How are you feeling?" And here comes the worry. At least she found some excuse to approach him instead of going straight to fussing. He supposes that does earn her some points.
"Numb." There's no point in lying to her. Well, he probably could fool her, but that wouldn't really accomplish anything. She'd just question it anyway, not that he can blame her. She knows far too well how close he was to Roxas.
It's funny, how this girl he couldn't even remember before the battle knows so much about him, except for the part where it's not.
"I see." She sits down next to him, obviously looking for words. "I'm sorry."
"For?" Far as he's aware, she has done nothing to apologize for.
"For, ah. Coming back." She hangs her head. "I know you wanted him instead."
"Oh, shut up." He sighs, leaning back in his seat. "Far as I now remember, I made a promise to drag both of my friends back. Just because I was only aware of seeking Roxas doesn't mean I'm going to get upset at you for turning up."
"It's not the same, though." She takes a cookie herself, nibbling on it like a nervous rabbit. "You're my friend, I know that. But you always liked Roxas better."
"Oi, no putting yourself down, kid." He ruffles her hair. Now he can actually manage it without wincing.
"I'm not." She turns to look at him. "Don't try to deny it, Axel."
"Lea." His gaze wanders away. Somehow Donald seems to have managed to get angry again, yelling at Goofy. He probably has some solemn, serious reason for his rage, being the royal wizard and everything. Maybe Goofy ate the last doughnut. "My name's Lea."
"Right." She hangs her head again. "Sorry. I... forget."
"Don't." He sighs. "It's not like it's your fault you don't remember. Hell, you only just got back into existence. I'm not going to yell at you for not managing to keep that in mind right away."
"Still." Xion nibbles at her cookie again. "It just... it must be strange, being human again. I mean, I am one, but... I never was one before. So, um, I wouldn't know what it's like, having a name before the Organization."
Well, damn. Now he's gone and depressed the kid. "Xion, stop that." He touches her shoulder. She's so small, kind of like Roxas, and yet not at all. "I should be sorry, insisting on my old name when you never had one." He isn't, he's not to blame for how she came into being or that it was different from his own origin, but at least he'd have more of a reason than she does.
"No! No, that's not what I meant at all." Xion seems a bit flustered. "I, ah... thank you."
"Can't remember what I've done to be thanked for." He shakes his head, though it still makes him the slightest bit dizzy. "Riku's the one who got you out of there. Riku, and Namine." He's not entirely sure if the girl is actually Xion or some weird combination of her and Kairi's heart, but if there's any truth to Kairi's dream, he knows for sure who it is Namine needed to help.
"Except if it wasn't for you, there never would have been a chance for them to do that." A few strands of dark hair fall around Xion's down-turned face, obscuring her expression. "Without you, Sora would have died much earlier."
"Eh, I doubt it. Sora's tougher than he looks. I acted out of pure selfishness." He shrugs. "I figured that either I'd keep Sora alive, which by extension would keep Roxas alive... or at least I wouldn't have to keep looking for Roxas anymore. It's easy, not missing people, when you don't exist."
"I know." Damn, again the wrong words. However, before he can say anything, she seems to realize something, head suddenly whipping up. "Axel -- Lea. You aren't going to --" She trails off, a somewhat scared look on her face. It's pretty clear what she's getting at, though.
"You think I'm going to end myself again." He doesn't even bother to mask it as a question. "Yeah, not going to happen, don't worry."
"But Riku couldn't find Roxas." She bites her lip. "You did all this to find him. And now he's still not here..."
"No, he's not." He closes his remaining eye. "I'm not going to claim it doesn't hurt, because that'd be a pretty obvious lie. I mean, he's basically the one who helped me grow a heart, not that he probably even knew it, the idiot. But no, I'm not going top myself off because of that." Because if he even tried, Roxas would get mad at him, and that would be just annoying.
"Do you promise?" The same scared, quiet tone.
"If it makes you feel better, then yeah, I promise. I'll do my best to stay alive. And you know I never break my promises."
"I know." Finally, Xion manages a faint smile. "You even helped bring me back... even though I never even existed."
"Exactly." He ruffles her hair again. It's soft under his hand, so much softer than Roxas'. "And I'm going to bring Roxas back, too."
"Huh?" She blinks in surprise. "You are?"
"Of course. You think I'm going to give up just because Riku couldn't find him?" Like Hell will he give up on Roxas. "For one thing, the rest of us woke up where we first became Nobodies. I know his case is different, since he technically wasn't completed, but there's still a chance he simply got back together somewhere outside Sora."
"Do you know where?"
"Eh, no idea. But I'm sure Sora knows. Or Riku, if Sora's forgotten or something." He doubts Sora has. It's not something that easily slips your mind, losing a heart. "And after that, if I can't Roxas there, I'll check the other places Roxas went to, and then the other worlds Sora's visited. Pretty sure nobody's going to mind me shoving my keyblade into any remaining Heartless." And this time, if the Heartless were defeated, they might not come back. This time, the worlds might be restored.
"That's a lot of worlds to go through."
"Yeah, I know." It wasn't exactly easy to miss, what with Sora running about saving every world he came across. "I've got time, though."
"You're going to go alone." She doesn't bother to make it a question. What do you know, she really does know him pretty well.
"It's my mission." He glances at her. "I'm sure the others will keep you out of trouble even if I'm not here to look after you."
That tempts a small laugh out of Xion. "You're not exactly good at keeping people out of trouble, though."
"Guess you've got me there." He gives her a small grin. "You'll just have to trust these idiots, then."
"Oh, don't say that. They're good people." She looks over to where everyone else is mingling. Even Ventus and Aqua have seemingly gathered the courage to leave Terra's side, if only for a moment.
"Hey, never said they weren't. Just that some of them don't always think very much before they act." He squeezes her hand. "We're not in the Organization anymore, Xion. Time to figure out what exactly we want from our lives."
"And what is it you want?"
"Isn't it obvious? I want Roxas." It's amazingly simple, in the end, saying that. It almost surprises Lea himself, hearing the words from his own mouth, even though he knew well enough they were true before.
"But what if you can't find him? What if you go through all the worlds and you still can't find a trace of him?"
"Then I'll have just one option left." Riku looks aloof as usual, standing with his arms crossed and watching Sora goof around, but even from a distance Lea can see the smile on his lips. "Become a Keyblade Master and go have a look for myself."
"You really think you can do that?" Xion's voice is hardly a whisper.
"As I said, it's the only option I've got if I can't find him otherwise." Lea lets go of her hand to reach his arm out, summoning his keyblade. It simmers with faint heat in front of him. "I've gone this far to get my heart back. No sense in stopping now."
"I hope you find him soon." Xion touches his arm, a light, fleeting brush of her fingertips. "Because I know that when you find him, you will be happy."
"Oh yeah." He grins before letting his keyblade go. "Soon as I punch him for worrying me like that."
"You wouldn't!" She sounds like she's not sure if she should be amused or scandalized.
"Eh, of course I wouldn't. I'll yell until his ears fall off, though." He tsks. "I damn near died a second time for the brat's sake while he's off light knows where. He's damn well going to hear just what I had to go through to get him home."
"And you know he'll happily listen to any complaints just because it'll get him back to you." Xion smiles again.
"Hopefully. It'd be damn awkward if he was disappointed to see me." He finally bites down on the rest of the cookie in his other hand. "Can you imagine that? I show up, having gone through every damn world, keyblade and all, and he asks me why Riku's not there, or something."
She snickers. "I'm pretty sure he'd prefer you to Riku."
"Eh, you never know. Riku's a pretty charming fellow when he's not bashing someone's head in. Makes a good leader, too, better than he thinks." He pauses. "And if you ever tell anyone I said that, I'm never going to speak to you again."
"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." She grins before her expression turns into a gentle smile. "Lea... I really don't mind, you know. That you're going off alone to find Roxas. As long as you promise to bring him back, I'm happy."
"Of course I will." There's no other choice. No choice except Roxas coming home.
He makes an awful human with his heart running off light knows where.
Chapter 1 - The Calm After the Storm
Chapter 3 - Still of the Night
Chapter: 2/25
Chapter title: The Unfairness of It All
Chapter rating: PG-13 (for mentions of injuries and self-harm)
Chapter summary: Everyone is having a party. Lea doesn't feel like celebrating, but tries to cheer up for Xion's sake.
It's not like he can blame them for wanting to party.
It's been a long fight, one with too many sacrifices, and it's about time that they have good news. The shadow of Xehanort is now gone for good, gone from their lives and their worlds, and if everything goes well they won't have to fear another Keyblade War, not in their lifetimes. The wounds have been patched up and the sleepers have woken up, and by the time they get to the Disney Castle the whole place has been decorated and a feast has been set out.
Sora attacks the food like he's been starving for a month, and Donald and Goofy aren't far behind him. The others act somewhat less ravenous, but they're hungry, too. Lea catches sight of Terra as he starts to eat. The man seems almost surprised at the taste. Well, it's been quite a while since he's managed to eat anything.
Everyone seems interested in Xion, surrounding her with questions and comments. Most of them didn't even know she existed; hell, even Lea didn't know about her until the moment she came back, and he's the only one alive who saw her before she disappeared. Sometimes he sees her looking at him, but he turns his gaze away. He knows it's unfair of him, she is his friend too after all, but at the moment she is here and Roxas isn't and there's nothing fair about that.
He doesn't feel hungry, but they insist he eats. While he might actually stand a chance at resisting if it were merely Kairi, he knows better than to tell the queen no. Besides, he figures he's worried them enough, fainting like that from the blood loss and pain. Might as well try to do something to calm them down before they try to tie him to a bed.
Not that he feels like going anywhere, anyway. He has no doubt that Yen Sid's healing magic is quite remarkable, but at the moment he's still too weak to even stand, the wound on his side now scarred over but still tender whenever he moves wrong. He's been cleaned and clothed again, the ruined shirt now gone, his face clean of the blood.
His injured eye is still hidden from sight, a black scarf tied over it until he can find something a little less ridiculous. He has been told there's not much that can be done. Apparently magic is very good at stitching together muscle and skin, but eyes are a trickier matter; they're a much more delicate structure, and magic doesn't work well with fiddly stuff. There might be a chance for an experienced healer to do something about it, someone with more finesse than Donald's and Yen Sid's raw power, but even that is questionable.
Lea more or less ignores them. The eye isn't his greatest worry at the moment in any case.
He knows they worry, even Sora in his hunger sometimes glances at him with a weird look on his face, but he ignores them. They can keep each other company while he sits down for a while and gathers his strength.
He's not sure when Xion manages to slip away from everyone else, but she walks up to him at some point, holding out a plate with some cookies on it. "Try these," she says, her voice quiet. "They're good."
"I suppose I could." He reaches out to take one, biting off half of it. It doesn't taste too bad, he supposes. A bit too sweet for his tastes, though.
"How are you feeling?" And here comes the worry. At least she found some excuse to approach him instead of going straight to fussing. He supposes that does earn her some points.
"Numb." There's no point in lying to her. Well, he probably could fool her, but that wouldn't really accomplish anything. She'd just question it anyway, not that he can blame her. She knows far too well how close he was to Roxas.
It's funny, how this girl he couldn't even remember before the battle knows so much about him, except for the part where it's not.
"I see." She sits down next to him, obviously looking for words. "I'm sorry."
"For?" Far as he's aware, she has done nothing to apologize for.
"For, ah. Coming back." She hangs her head. "I know you wanted him instead."
"Oh, shut up." He sighs, leaning back in his seat. "Far as I now remember, I made a promise to drag both of my friends back. Just because I was only aware of seeking Roxas doesn't mean I'm going to get upset at you for turning up."
"It's not the same, though." She takes a cookie herself, nibbling on it like a nervous rabbit. "You're my friend, I know that. But you always liked Roxas better."
"Oi, no putting yourself down, kid." He ruffles her hair. Now he can actually manage it without wincing.
"I'm not." She turns to look at him. "Don't try to deny it, Axel."
"Lea." His gaze wanders away. Somehow Donald seems to have managed to get angry again, yelling at Goofy. He probably has some solemn, serious reason for his rage, being the royal wizard and everything. Maybe Goofy ate the last doughnut. "My name's Lea."
"Right." She hangs her head again. "Sorry. I... forget."
"Don't." He sighs. "It's not like it's your fault you don't remember. Hell, you only just got back into existence. I'm not going to yell at you for not managing to keep that in mind right away."
"Still." Xion nibbles at her cookie again. "It just... it must be strange, being human again. I mean, I am one, but... I never was one before. So, um, I wouldn't know what it's like, having a name before the Organization."
Well, damn. Now he's gone and depressed the kid. "Xion, stop that." He touches her shoulder. She's so small, kind of like Roxas, and yet not at all. "I should be sorry, insisting on my old name when you never had one." He isn't, he's not to blame for how she came into being or that it was different from his own origin, but at least he'd have more of a reason than she does.
"No! No, that's not what I meant at all." Xion seems a bit flustered. "I, ah... thank you."
"Can't remember what I've done to be thanked for." He shakes his head, though it still makes him the slightest bit dizzy. "Riku's the one who got you out of there. Riku, and Namine." He's not entirely sure if the girl is actually Xion or some weird combination of her and Kairi's heart, but if there's any truth to Kairi's dream, he knows for sure who it is Namine needed to help.
"Except if it wasn't for you, there never would have been a chance for them to do that." A few strands of dark hair fall around Xion's down-turned face, obscuring her expression. "Without you, Sora would have died much earlier."
"Eh, I doubt it. Sora's tougher than he looks. I acted out of pure selfishness." He shrugs. "I figured that either I'd keep Sora alive, which by extension would keep Roxas alive... or at least I wouldn't have to keep looking for Roxas anymore. It's easy, not missing people, when you don't exist."
"I know." Damn, again the wrong words. However, before he can say anything, she seems to realize something, head suddenly whipping up. "Axel -- Lea. You aren't going to --" She trails off, a somewhat scared look on her face. It's pretty clear what she's getting at, though.
"You think I'm going to end myself again." He doesn't even bother to mask it as a question. "Yeah, not going to happen, don't worry."
"But Riku couldn't find Roxas." She bites her lip. "You did all this to find him. And now he's still not here..."
"No, he's not." He closes his remaining eye. "I'm not going to claim it doesn't hurt, because that'd be a pretty obvious lie. I mean, he's basically the one who helped me grow a heart, not that he probably even knew it, the idiot. But no, I'm not going top myself off because of that." Because if he even tried, Roxas would get mad at him, and that would be just annoying.
"Do you promise?" The same scared, quiet tone.
"If it makes you feel better, then yeah, I promise. I'll do my best to stay alive. And you know I never break my promises."
"I know." Finally, Xion manages a faint smile. "You even helped bring me back... even though I never even existed."
"Exactly." He ruffles her hair again. It's soft under his hand, so much softer than Roxas'. "And I'm going to bring Roxas back, too."
"Huh?" She blinks in surprise. "You are?"
"Of course. You think I'm going to give up just because Riku couldn't find him?" Like Hell will he give up on Roxas. "For one thing, the rest of us woke up where we first became Nobodies. I know his case is different, since he technically wasn't completed, but there's still a chance he simply got back together somewhere outside Sora."
"Do you know where?"
"Eh, no idea. But I'm sure Sora knows. Or Riku, if Sora's forgotten or something." He doubts Sora has. It's not something that easily slips your mind, losing a heart. "And after that, if I can't Roxas there, I'll check the other places Roxas went to, and then the other worlds Sora's visited. Pretty sure nobody's going to mind me shoving my keyblade into any remaining Heartless." And this time, if the Heartless were defeated, they might not come back. This time, the worlds might be restored.
"That's a lot of worlds to go through."
"Yeah, I know." It wasn't exactly easy to miss, what with Sora running about saving every world he came across. "I've got time, though."
"You're going to go alone." She doesn't bother to make it a question. What do you know, she really does know him pretty well.
"It's my mission." He glances at her. "I'm sure the others will keep you out of trouble even if I'm not here to look after you."
That tempts a small laugh out of Xion. "You're not exactly good at keeping people out of trouble, though."
"Guess you've got me there." He gives her a small grin. "You'll just have to trust these idiots, then."
"Oh, don't say that. They're good people." She looks over to where everyone else is mingling. Even Ventus and Aqua have seemingly gathered the courage to leave Terra's side, if only for a moment.
"Hey, never said they weren't. Just that some of them don't always think very much before they act." He squeezes her hand. "We're not in the Organization anymore, Xion. Time to figure out what exactly we want from our lives."
"And what is it you want?"
"Isn't it obvious? I want Roxas." It's amazingly simple, in the end, saying that. It almost surprises Lea himself, hearing the words from his own mouth, even though he knew well enough they were true before.
"But what if you can't find him? What if you go through all the worlds and you still can't find a trace of him?"
"Then I'll have just one option left." Riku looks aloof as usual, standing with his arms crossed and watching Sora goof around, but even from a distance Lea can see the smile on his lips. "Become a Keyblade Master and go have a look for myself."
"You really think you can do that?" Xion's voice is hardly a whisper.
"As I said, it's the only option I've got if I can't find him otherwise." Lea lets go of her hand to reach his arm out, summoning his keyblade. It simmers with faint heat in front of him. "I've gone this far to get my heart back. No sense in stopping now."
"I hope you find him soon." Xion touches his arm, a light, fleeting brush of her fingertips. "Because I know that when you find him, you will be happy."
"Oh yeah." He grins before letting his keyblade go. "Soon as I punch him for worrying me like that."
"You wouldn't!" She sounds like she's not sure if she should be amused or scandalized.
"Eh, of course I wouldn't. I'll yell until his ears fall off, though." He tsks. "I damn near died a second time for the brat's sake while he's off light knows where. He's damn well going to hear just what I had to go through to get him home."
"And you know he'll happily listen to any complaints just because it'll get him back to you." Xion smiles again.
"Hopefully. It'd be damn awkward if he was disappointed to see me." He finally bites down on the rest of the cookie in his other hand. "Can you imagine that? I show up, having gone through every damn world, keyblade and all, and he asks me why Riku's not there, or something."
She snickers. "I'm pretty sure he'd prefer you to Riku."
"Eh, you never know. Riku's a pretty charming fellow when he's not bashing someone's head in. Makes a good leader, too, better than he thinks." He pauses. "And if you ever tell anyone I said that, I'm never going to speak to you again."
"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." She grins before her expression turns into a gentle smile. "Lea... I really don't mind, you know. That you're going off alone to find Roxas. As long as you promise to bring him back, I'm happy."
"Of course I will." There's no other choice. No choice except Roxas coming home.
He makes an awful human with his heart running off light knows where.
Chapter 1 - The Calm After the Storm
Chapter 3 - Still of the Night
