You've got a piece of me (Closed)

[afterthemoon]

Who: Lea and Isa (with a cameo by Xion later)
When: Early April, same as the intro log
Where: Around the Great Hall, probably.
What: Old friends reunite
Other: Isa's general intro will be in the intro post.

[To say that Isa wasn't thrilled to be brought somewhere against his will, and enrolled into a school he wanted nothing to do with was probably the understatement of the century.

However when he sees an all too familiar head of spiky red hair pass by in the crowd, whatever reservations Isa had were momentarily forgotten.

He turns to try and catch up with him.]

Lea? Hey Lea, wait!

Comments

[hotheadwarmheart]

[Lea had been on his way back to the dorm, when he heard it. Just about the last voice he'd expected to hear under the circumstances, but one that would almost never fail to get his attention.

He stopped, someone behind him nearly colliding with him for his trouble before he stepped out of the main flow of foot traffic to look around for the source of the call.]

What the...? Isa?!

[afterthemoon]

[Isa comes running up behind him.]

Oh, Lea, am I glad to see you.

[hotheadwarmheart]

[Lea turned to face him, though he didn't look nearly as pleased at the reunion as Isa was. Though part of Lea did note that he could still immediately tell when Isa was genuinely pleased when it might not be obvious to a casual observer.]

Yeah? Well you sure didn't act like it last time I saw you. The heck were you doing helping Xehanort and his cronies? And attacking me after I pulled off that great nick-of-time rescue?

[His words made light of it somewhat, but his tone made it clear how much the perceived betrayal had hurt. They also indicated a rather significant discrepancy...]

[afterthemoon]

"Nick-of-time rescue"?

[Isa seems genuinely confused for a moment.]

You mean in the castle? That was some time ago.

[Of course, if Lea's observant, he should notice a distinct difference in the color of Isa's eyes compared to how they had been.]

I had to make them believe I was loyal to their cause.

[hotheadwarmheart]

[Lea did notice the change in eye color, the Xehanort-gold changed to Isa's own blue-tinged green. That alone wasn't enough to set him at ease, under the current circumstances though.]

Yeah, because that sort of plan worked out so well last time.

And you could've given me some kind of hint. I didn't know what to think, or why you were there, if you were there willingly or if Xehanort did some kind of crazy mind-control spell on you or something, nothing! I didn't even know whether I'd be coming to save you in the end, or if I'd have to...!

[Lea trailed off, unable to quite complete the sentence. But the meaning was clear. He hadn't known whether Isa would be the kind of former friend you saved... or the kind that you stopped.]

[afterthemoon]

... I wanted to tell you.

[Isa looks away, his expression pained, guilty.]

I was never actually on Xehanort's side, Lea, I was using their resources to help Roxas and Xion.

But I should apologize... for everything.

[hotheadwarmheart]

[Darnit Isa, stop looking like that! You're making it a lot harder for Lea to stay properly mad at you.]

Yeah, you should. To them as much as to me, though good luck getting Xion to stick around long enough for you to do that.

[Yeah, just casually revealing that Xion was there too.]

But if you wanted to help with that, you could've just stayed and worked with Ienzo; that's what he's doing after all. What the heck did you go back there again to try and do it for? I'm supposed to be the one with the hair-brained ideas here, remember?

[afterthemoon]

Xion's here?

[Things aren't adding up here.]

Because I didn't have much of a choice, when I woke up in Radiant Garden, Xigbar and the younger Xehanort were already there to collect me. I didn't want them to hurt you, or Ienzo or anyone.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Yeah, she is. It's... complicated. And between that situation and this one I'm starting to really hate time travel. Or whatever the heck is going on here.

[He was also becoming aware that the two of them standing in the middle of the courtyard arguing was starting to draw the attention of passers by.]

Might have known Xigbar'd be involved...

[He sighed.]

Look let's... find someplace to finish this conversation that's not gonna have us drawing a crowd, at least.

[He glances around briefly before indicating a bench set up against the wall of a nearby building.]

That ought to do.

[afterthemoon]

Lea, you manage to draw a crowd just with that hair of yours.

[The snark happens sort of automatically as Isa heads over to the bench with Lea.

Notably, when Isa sits on the bench, he doesn't close in on himself by crossing his legs, like Saix would have.]

I have to say, when I died in the final battle and we promised to meet again, this wasn't at all what I had in mind.

[You know, he's just going to casually drop that.]

[hotheadwarmheart]

I can't help it if people know style when they see it.

[Lea's response is equally automatic as he heads over to the bench and takes a seat.

In fact, he was almost starting to relax a bit... before Isa casually dropped a certain tidbit of information.]

You what?! You do mean like 'died with the potential to be recompleted' right, not just... you know..., right?

[Please, please tell him that's the case.]

[afterthemoon]

Of course, why else would we promise to meet again?

[He rolls his eyes, just a little, it's not like he was promising to haunt Lea.]

I'm myself again, and I'm--

[He looks back at Lea, genuine remorse in his eyes.]

I really do apologize, for everything. For our friendship falling apart, for being jealous of Roxas and Xion. I lost sight of everything and thought you had turned your back on me.

[hotheadwarmheart]

[Lea relaxes at that confirmation, slumping against the back of the bench with a sigh of relief.]

Yeah, I guess, but still... you can't just say that you died like that and not expect me to freak out a little, you know?

[Lea listens to Isa's apology, his resolve to be angry gradually ebbing away.]

I never forgot you. I just... you put me in a position where I had to make a choice, so I did. Still don't know if it was the right one, but... it was only one I really could've made at the time.

I couldn't figure out why you suddenly turned into such a jerk. I mean yeah, you'd always taken the whole 'no emotions' thing and run with it more than he rest of us did, but you were never like that before. And it was seriously because you were jealous?

For Xion and Lea/Axel

[nobodys_puppet]

She wasn't paying attention to where she was running. As fast as her legs were moving, her mind was moving faster, and it still couldn't spare any attention for her surroundings.

She just kept hearing Saïx and Axel in her head. Over and over again. Talking just now about being friends. Saïx very nearly saying best friends. She heard it. She did. And also.... from before. Older memories. Saïx talking about destroying her or Roxas. Treating her like a thing. speaking about her as though she wasn't there when she was. Axel when he brought her back over and over again.

And.. And Roxas' anger at Axel over hurting her.

She hadn't been angry then. She understood. She was sure she understood. Axel would lie if he had to, hurt them if he had to, in order to ultimately keep them safe and together.

So... had he been lying to Saïx then?

Her steps slowed ever so slightly as she turned that thought over in her mind. She didn't think he sounded like he was lying, but then lying wouldn't sound like lying. It wouldn't be effective if it was obvious. But friendship... didn't seem like something Axel would lie about. Would he? If he would... who had he been lying to, then? Her and Roxas? Or Saïx?

Or... was this because... because he had a heart now? So far Lea had been exactly the same to her as Axel. His face was a little different, but other than that.... he was still Axel. Still her best friend. Was it that... that with a heart he really had changed and she hadn't seen it? She had started to think that maybe a heart didn't actually matter all that much, since he was still the same as Lea as he was as Axel. But... what if he wasn't? What if Lea... prefered Saïx? What... what if he started treating her the way Saïx did? She didn't think she could take it... couldn't handle it.

She sped up again, running blindly, unable to see where she was going if she wanted to. She didn't know what was real any more. Couldn't figure out what was true and what was a series of lies. She was hurting all over like she had just fought a boss Heartless, and didn't know why.

No. She remembered the last time she had hurt like this. Twice. The last time she fought Axel.... and when she had fought Roxas. Just before... before they had forgotten her and she faded away. Was that going to happen to her now?

Was... that really such a bad thing if it did...?

But... if she faded away now... who would leave shells on Roxas' bed for him...?

[hotheadwarmheart]

Once again Lea was grateful for his much longer stride, but even so, Xion had a rather significant head start and it took awhile to close the gap. He wanted to call out to her, to tell her to stop or slow down, but needed all his breath for running at the moment. Really, the only reason she hadn't lost him early on was that she hadn't actually been trying to.

Her slowing down briefly had allowed him to make up a great deal of distance, however and when she put on another burst of speed he did too, finally managing to catch up to her. He reached out to snag the back of her coat then slowed down and dug in his heels, attempting to force her to stop too.

[nobodys_puppet]

She stumbled to a stop, not by choice. She was struggling in vain to try and get free. Not going do far as to push or hit at him, but still struggling, still trying to get away.

She wasn't even sure who had her, just that she had to escape.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Well this was off to a stellar start. "Xion... stop!", Lea managed, while trying to catch his breath. "It's me! I'm not... gonna... hurt you! I just... wanna talk!"

[nobodys_puppet]

"Let me go, Axel," she pleaded, nearly at a shout. She needed answers, but she also needed to get away. She needed to understand, but she wasn't sure she even wanted to. She didn't want to hear him say that he chose Saïx over them. She didn't want to hear that now that he had a heart he had no use for a puppet like her... She wanted to put her hands over her ears and not hear any of it.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Not if... you're just gonna... run off again," Lea said. "At least... let me explain... before you go... jumping to conclusions..."

As he began to catch his breath again, he was able to speak a bit more coherently. "Look... I get why you're upset," he said. "But can you at least hear me out? Please?"

[nobodys_puppet]

She stopped fighting, sagging some. "Are you lying to him, or to us?" she asked in a whisper, starting to shake now that she was no longer struggling.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"I'm not lying to anyone," Lea said. "Not now. I'll admit, I did keep some things from you and Roxas back when we were with the Organization, but now, I'm done with all that."

He shifted his hand from her coat to her shoulder for a more solid and comfortable- for both of them- grip and relaxed somewhat from his braced stance. "This... really wasn't the way I wanted you to find out about Isa being here though," he said. "I was actually trying to figure out how to explain everything to you when I saw you run off, since I know how you feel about Siax, but since you overheard us, I guess that's out the window."

"Look, the truth is... Isa and I were best friends back when we were kids in Radiant Garden," he explained. "We even ended up joining the Organization together, though that bit was kinda unplanned. And I guess we were sort of still friends while we were in the Organization, until you and Roxas showed up. After that... well, you know how Siax was. The more you and Roxas helped me feel like my old self, the nastier to you two and the more distant from me Siax got until what was left of his and my friendship just kinda... fell apart."

"I missed the way he used to be, but I could never figure out why he was acting that way, not until now," he said. "Turns out? He was jealous of you and Roxas. He thought because I was spending so much time with the two of you and making other friends that I'd forget all about him." He gave a bit of a huff, trailing off slightly. "That idiot... Like I'd ever forget about any of my friends... I mean not even Naiminé's magic could pull that off completely, right?"

[nobodys_puppet]

So many questions, and she was almost certain that she didn't want the answer to most of them. But she was pretty sure someone was lying somewhere... because... jealousy was a feeling, wasn't it? She wasn't sure. But she thought it was from the way Axel said it. Maybe she misunderstood? That... That had to be it because...

How could someone feel something without a heart? They were constantly reminded of that. The three of them even joked about it sometimes. The ghosts of remembered emotions. Not that she had even memories of her own.

Another part of her brain was trying to process Isa vs Saïx, putting that up against Axel being called Lea now, and Sora and Roxas. She pushed aside for later the thought of the fact that there were no names that she had ever heard of that used just Ion...

But among all the other questions she didn't want to ask - because she was sure he would answer - one shoved its way past the others, and she couldn't stop it from escaping her lips. "Friendships can... break....?"

She regretted saying the words even as they came out. Because she didn't want to hear the answer.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea waited quietly, while Xion processed what he'd told her. It was undoubtedly a lot to take in, so he didn't want to rush her. When she finally did speak, though the question wasn't one that he'd expected.

He considered how to answer for a moment. "Yeah," he finally said. "Like any other kind of relationship, they take some effort. If one or both of the people involved stop trying, or actively work against the friendship- by lying, betrayal, or in the case of Siax treating others cruelly-, friendships can be harmed or even break down completely."

"But the good news is, that even if that happens, they can still be repaired. It can take time and effort, and probably some sincere apologies, but friendships are pretty resilient things. They can heal from most anything."

[nobodys_puppet]

"...Apologies....?" she asked. Mostly to stop herself from asking what she almost had...

Because if he and Saïx were friends again....

What did that mean about him.... and her? And Roxas?

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I don't know how long you were listening, so you might have missed it, but Isa apologized for all the crap he did as Siax. And after I'd told him he had a heck of a lot to apologize for, both to me and to you and Roxas, I accepted. He'd like to apologize to you and eventually to Roxas too, and to try to make things up to you, but... I understand completely if you're not ready to hear or accept it, and so does he."

Lea honestly wouldn't blame her if she was never ready. But he hoped she would one day be.