Kingdom Hearts: Sixth of Seven

[lumelle]

Title: Sixth of Seven
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Pairings: Mentions of Sora/Riku, Lea/Roxas, Mickey/Minnie
Rating: PG
Summary: They need seven lights to gather to fight Xehanort. Lea isn't sure they can find enough. Mickey, however, has good news for him.
A/N: This is the far, far less cruel version of how All Good Things happened. >_>


There was someone in his study.

The guards hadn't informed him of any visitors, but then, not any visitors would have walked by them in any case. There was no hint of malicious intent, though, allowing him to walk up to his desk, waiting for his visitor to make himself known.

"Good evening, Your Majesty." Despite the polite words, the tone of the voice almost made it sound like a joke, or an insult. That was fine. He could have expected a lot worse from this particular man.

"Ah, Lea." He smiled, looking up at the red-haired man. "I was wondering when you would return from Radiant Garden."

"Well, it's not like I was going to stay there. Just had to check a few things at first." Lea shrugged, pushing himself away from the wall. "Like whether Ienzo and the rest had managed to get themselves into trouble again while I was off dragging Sora's ass out of the Xehanort mess."

"I do hope there was nothing wrong with them."

"Would I be here if there had been?" Lea rolled his head, one hand behind his neck. "You guys must be contagious or something. I'm seriously developing some kind of a hero complex."

"That's just because you have your heart back, now." Mickey fought against a smile. "It does seem to be quite the heroic heart."

"I blame Sora, mostly. He seems to have that effect on people." Either Lea hadn't listened or was just pretending he hadn't heard. "I'd say he could be all cheerful and happy and pure even when faced with the end of the world, but I'm pretty sure that's already happened."

"Not even Sora is happy all the time," Mickey pointed out, his tone soft. "However, he is indeed very pure. It is to all of our fortune that he is."

"Oh, I'm well aware." Lea walked closer now, his steps soft and almost soundless. "So. From what I gathered, we're heading to a battle."

"So it would seem, yes." Mickey sighed. "Much though I'd like to avoid it, Xehanort is determined to clash with us to forge the X-blade, and he will keep plotting and scheming until that happens one way or another. At the moment it seems to be our best bet to gather the strongest seven lights we can find and prepare for the battle. If the blade does appear, we absolutely have to seize it, and we cannot do that without all growing stronger."

"Right. Our seven lights against his thirteen darknesses." Lea nodded. "You have any ideas on the seven, yet? Well, aside from the obvious, of course."

"I'm afraid I'm not entirely sure who you would consider to be obvious choices." Mickey finally hopped onto his chair, taking a seat. "The effort will be led by Riku and me. I am the most experienced current keyblade Master, and Riku has the kind of power even I have been unable to achieve. If we are to have any hope of not destroying all the worlds as light clashes with darkness, it's going to be through him."

"Right, right. Balance and everything." Lea nodded. "And then there's the oh so pure Sora, of course."

"Of course. He has fought the most formidable foes one could imagine. More importantly, Riku needs him, just as much as Sora needs Riku." He allowed a faint smile to curl his lips. "Those two really bring out the best in each other."

"Oh, sure they do. And I hope I'm there to see their expressions the day they realize just why that's so." As Mickey give him a sharp glance, Lea spread his hands. "What? I don't think I've ever seen two people more oblivious about their mutual attraction than those two."

"They'll get around to it eventually. They're younger than you, you have to give them some time. It's not like they've had much time to just sit down and think about their feelings."

"Well, they should figure it out sooner rather than later." Lea perched himself on the corner of the huge desk. "If they're all uncertain and unsure about what they're feeling and whether it's mutual, that's a weakness the bad guys can exploit."

"Perhaps you're right. But even then, I'd rather see them come to the conclusion by themselves." Mickey shook his head. "And either way, there is an incredibly strong bond between them. I refuse to believe that such a thing could be turned into a weakness."

"Aw, you're so cute when you're all idealistic." Again, from someone else he would have taken that as an insult, but then Lea was peculiar. That, and he had saved Minnie's life. He'd more than earned his right to tease Mickey a bit. "So who else are you gonna recruit?"

"Well, Kairi has already started her training. She should be a real asset to our side, being a princess of the heart. As such, her heart cannot be corrupted no matter what Xehanort may try."

"That's still only four." Lea raised his eyebrows. "Where are you going to find three more?"

"We've already located Aqua. Another keyblade master," he added at Lea's questioning glance. "We should be able to bring her back pretty soon. She also knows where her friend Ventus is located, but it would probably be too risky to try to bring Ventus out. We know Xehanort's schemes have hurt him before, so it would probably be better to allow him to rest until after the threat has been dealt with. Terra… well, I don't think we can reach him just yet." Hopefully, they could free him eventually. Hopefully.

"So where are you going to get two more?"

"Well, I do have some thoughts." Mickey paused. "Lea, I want you to fight as one of the seven lights."

"You've got to be kidding." The answer came a bit faster and a bit more disbelievingly than he had hoped, but nothing impossible. "Sure, I've done a few rescue trips now, but nobody trusts me yet. Nobody should trust me yet. I've pretty much established that I'm only loyal to my own cause."

"Oh, that may be true." Though Mickey very much believed that was simply what Lea kept telling himself. "However, I think I can be absolutely certain that you will stick to our side to the end."

"And how can you be sure of that?" Lea snorted. "As far as you know, only reason I'm sticking around and helping your side is because Roxas is inside Sora."

"Oh, I know that all too well." Finally, Mickey could actually grin. "However, that is no reason for me not to trust you."

"Uh. You feeling all right, Your Majesty?"

"Quite so." He chuckled. "You might like to know that Riku made a little trip just last night."

"A trip? What do you mean?"

"He dived into Sora's heart once again." Mickey paused. "He didn't return alone."

Lea's eyes flew wide. "You don't mean —"

"Our seventh light, counting you as the sixth, is Roxas." Mickey smiled. "He is still somewhat weak, so he is resting in a guest room. I can get someone to —"

Lea didn't even listen to the rest of his offer of help, disappearing from the room in a hurry. Oh, well. Mickey was sure he would find Roxas without a problem anyway.

A small smile touched his lips as he settled back into his seat.

Their seven lights were going to be absolutely brilliant.