diatu | Kingdom Hearts Catch All

Roxas statement summing up the situation was so casual that Lea couldn't help but chuckle slightly, even if it cam out a little rough. "Yeah... guess we are," he said. "I'd have brought some ice cream, but no food in the library, and..." He couldn't quite get farther than that before he had to stop and take a deep breath.

He then stepped around the table to intercept his two young friends placing a hand on each of their shoulders. Just to confirm to himself that yes, this was real. The both might notice that his grip was trembling slightly. And then it became more obvious when he pulled them both into a hug. "Sorry...", he managed. "Sorry if this is weird cause of the time thing... but man... I missed you, Roxas..." He'd missed them both, really but he'd had enough time to get over the initial shock of his reunion with Xion. This was gonna take a moment.

Xion was... not sure what to do with this, really. But she found herself leaning against Axel, arm pressed into Roxas' arm. It was odd but.. not unpleasant. Her eyes closed as she just breathed, feeling them both close. Both real. Both there. It was the closest thing to a perfect moment she had ever had. Nothing ever was perfect, but... but she could almost understand how things could be, maybe. A brief ephemeral thought.

She almost wondered what she would feel if she could feel things, if she had a heart. But she didn't, so she shoved the thought away and just remained in the moment.

They may be in a weird new world, but just being there with his two friends made the weight of confusion lift a bit. He lets out a soft chuckle as the hand comes to rest on his shoulder.

“It’s alright. I’m glad to see you, too.”

It didn’t feel long to him, given he just arrived, but he was glad nonetheless. He turns to Xion, offering her a smile as well. “Xion’s been getting me caught up with some of what’s going on here. It’s a strange world, by the sounds of it.”

Isa watched Lea reunite with the kids, suddenly torn between the feeling that he should leave and give them space, and the feeling that he should stick around...

For the moment, he would just quietly watch from the side.

"Yeah...", Lea said quietly. Oh right, he should probably say more than that, shouldn't he? He took a deep breath and tried again. "Yeah, it can get pretty weird here. And given our lives, that's saying something. But for the most part it's not bad."

He lifted his head and pulled back slightly, though he didn't quite break the hug just yet. "Speaking of catching up though... when are you from?", he asked Roxas. "Cause so far all of us are from different times; Xion from right after she rejoined with Sora, me from partway through my training with Kairi, and Isa from right after we finished kicking his butt on the way to fight Master Xehanort." Please tell him he's not gonna have to try and explain everything again.

Cion gave Roxas a small smile when he mentioned her catching him up, but waited for him to answer Axel.

“Right... Xion mentioned that.”

At this, Roxas’s face fell somewhat. Hearing that his other best friend was from a time when she was destroyed, by his own hand nonetheless, was heartbreaking to hear. He looked over to Isa as Lea explained where everyone was timeline-wise.

“Really? Then, I’m further along than Isa is.” Then, directing his question to the blue-haired man in question, he asked, “You don’t remember meeting back up in Twilight Town, do you?”

"No, I woke up here upon recompletion, and not in Radiant Garden like I had expected."

There's a hesitant pause before Isa continues.

"So did Sora do it? Has Xehanort been defeated once and for all?"

And then Isa asked the million-munny question. The one they all probably wanted to know the answer to and that would almost certainly affect everything going forward. Given that Roxas had mentioned meeting back up in Twilight Town and a victory by Master Xehanort would almost certainly mean the end of the world, he suspected he already knew the answer, but at the same time, needed to hear it confirmed.

The fact that Roxas had basically just confirmed Isa's story for Xion was put aside for now, as he waited expectantly for Roxas' answer.

Yeah... that... was something to think about. And to talk to Roxas about. Later. Away from the others. If he ever wanted to be away from Axel, that was. She wouldn't blame him if he clung to them both for a while. She knew she didn't want Roxas out of her sight for a long time.

Roxas couldn't help but feel pinned by all their gazes, but really, he couldn't blame them; if what they're saying is true, he's the only one who knows what happened in the Graveyard, and what happened after that last battle. So, he nods.

"Yeah. Sora did it. Xehanort was defeated."

And though it ushered in a peace after a hard-fought battle, his gaze briefly flicks downward. Xehanort was defeated, yes... but then Sora made one last sacrifice. It was a victory, but one that was more bittersweet than happy.

Isa catches that falter in Roxas's gaze, it's the sort of thing that makes him hesitant to start celebrating right away.

"... At what cost?"

It was good news, or seemed to be. But like Isa, Lea could hear the huge 'but' that Roxas' downward glance had left hanging in the air.

"Did... something else happen?", he asked a bit tentatively. He didn't really want to know, but knew he needed to. He just hoped that the answer wouldn't be that they were going to be thrown into another huge crisis so soon after finding each other again.

At the thought that something else had happened, she froze for a moment but then... she realized what it had to be.

Incorrectly, as it turned out. Roxas was about to tell her that they couldn't both use their Keyblades that it had to be him or her. She realized that a while ago, here. And already accepted that now that he was here, she would never use her Keyblade, oir her magic, again. So what they were all so worried about was really nothing after all. So as soon as Roxas aid that, she could tell him it was alright. She could make things better for him. For once she could do something good for her friends.

"...yeah." Of course Isa would be the first to notice; rarely anything had gotten past him, even as a Nobody.

"During the battle, Kairi was captured by Xemnas. Sora didn't want to clash with Xehanort to make the X-Blade, so Xehanort..."

He glanced at Lea and Xion for a moment, not knowing how they would react; they had a connection to Kairi, after all. But after a brief pause, he continued.

"...he struck down Kairi, to get to Sora. After we finally defeated Xehanort, Sora used the Power of Waking one last time, to rescue Kairi. But after he did, Sora... vanished." He frowned, a hand unconsciously going up to hover over his chest.

"I don't know where he went, or what happened. I just know that my connection to him, it felt weaker, somehow."

Isa's expression went dark.

"I see." The measured, controlled tone his voice took spoke volumes. He never had a chance to call Sora a friend, but hearing what had happened to the boy still made his heart feel like it dropped out of his chest.

Anger flashed in Lea's eyes at the mention of what Xehanort had done to Kairi. For a moment, he wanted the creepy old man there, just so he could punch him in the mouth. He seemed to have been making an effort to be more horrible every time he or part of him turned up, and not for the first time, Lea wonder how someone with a heart could have so little empathy.

But he kept his mouth shut, waiting until Roxas had finished. And that gave him a whole other reason to be angry, even if that anger swiftly turned to sadness. He was quiet for a long moment, his eyes closed. But then he took a deep breath and stood back up so he could look at everyone properly, though he kept his hands on Xion and Roxas' shoulders.

His expression was determined and his voice unwavering as he said, "Sora will be alright. I may not know him as well as some, but I know one thing, and that's that he'd never leave his friends hanging. It might take him a little while, but he'll find his way back from wherever he disappeared to and will probably waste no time telling us all about the crazy adventures he had while he was away. Because he's Sora."

Xion had been stunned that it wasn't the answer she expected but listening she wondered if she wasn't that far off. She and Roxas were there, and Sora was gone. This... was familiar ground. "Is it because we are there, Roxas?" she asked him softly. Roxas said he felt a connection to Sora weaken. "Do we need to return to him," she asked in a near whisper, "so that he can return to the people who need him?"

It really was amazing, how many hearts Sora has connected with. Even if it was in a small way. He could see how each of them reacted to the news, and even Isa reacted. His hands clenched and unclenched, feeling the familiar anger himself; it wasn't fair, how Kairi had been taken, and how Sora had sacrificed even more just to ensure his friends were okay.

Funny, really, how before he had despised Sora so much, and now he felt sorrow at his Somebody's vanishing.

He nods at Lea's words, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Yeah. If anyone could do it, it would be Sora." And even with the sense of loss, he knew that Lea spoke the truth.

Hearing Xion's quiet whisper, he turned to her, shaking his head. "No, it's not. And we don't have to return to him, Xion. None of us who were in his heart do." Sora's heart had been both prison and refuge to many people, after all. "We have our own hearts now... and Sora's heart is strong enough to not need us in it anymore. We're our own people now."

"And even if Sora were to need help, he has plenty of friends to light the way back home," Isa adds, knowing that everyone who touched Sora's heart would do anything they could to guide him home.

He looks between Roxas and Xion, a part of him wants to insist that he didn't risk everything to get them proper vessels just for them to return to Sora, but he holds his tongue, knowing how unhelpful that would be right now.

Lea was immediately grateful to Roxas for pointing out to Xion that she had a heart. Hopefully coming from him, it would stick, finally.

He nodded his agreement to what both Roxas and Isa said. "Yeah," he said. "Our hearts will always be connected to his. Just... not quite that closely any more. Besides, like Isa said, we gotta be there to light his way back home, and you can't very well do that if you're inside him."

She shook her head. They were wrong. They had to be. She didn't have a heart, couldn't. She'd know if she did. And she'd be different. But she wasn't different. She was still Xion. She didn't want a heart if it was going to change her! Why couldn't they see that? She found herself breathing hard, but she wasn't sure why.

She closed her eyes, not aware she was shaking. No. they were wrong. It was happening again. Soon Riku would find her. Tell her what she needed to do. And this time... this time Axel wouldn't be alone. He'd have other people. She wouldn't make him suffer by fighting it or being indecisive. She wasn't meant to exist, and everytime she did in some form almost exist, something horrible happened to Sora. And Axel said it himself, lots of people depended on Sora. Needed him.

Roxas could see her breathing hard, and seeing her tremble made his expression fall. Briefly, he's reminded of a foggy memory that's not quite his; of seeing Xion's hooded form through Sora's eyes, trying desperately to reach out to her. He stepped forward, slowly raising a hand to rest it on her shoulder.

"Xion, it's alright. We may be have come from Sora, but you have your own heart, just as much as I do. It took me a long time to realize that, but it's the truth. And Sora, he fought hard so each of our hearts could be set free. I didn't know before, but I learned that having a heart... it doesn't change who you are. It makes you, you."

He may still be somewhat unfamiliar with emotions, but he's learned a lot about the heart while resting in Sora's. He gently squeezed her shoulder, hoping his words could reach her, and break through that wall of fear.

"It's all right, Xion. Trust me... I wouldn't lie to you. Not about this."

Despite his and Roxas' reassurances, he could feel Xion trembling under his hand. But he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why. Yes, the knowledge that Sora had gone missing was disheartening, but it wasn't that bad, especially given how resilient Sora was. And the only reason she'd need to return to Sora was due to the memories that gotten lost in her, which had already been returned. So why was she so afraid?

He nodded his agreement with Roxas. "Yeah," he said. "I know I don't have the best history with that, but I wouldn't lie to you about that either. So trust us when we say that you have a heart, just like Roxas and I do. You and Roxas are your own people now, and that's what Sora would want you to be."

Except she wasn't, she couldn't be. He was wrong this time! They both were. But she couldn't say any of that. Not in front of Saïx, maybe not at all. The part of her that didn't want to let Roxas out of her sight lost against the part of her that needed to get away. NOW. Swallowing hard, she broke and ran. They had each other. They had each other before she was created, and this time they'd take care of each other. This time they wouldn't need magic to forget her when she vanished.

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