diatu | You've got a piece of me (Closed)

You've got a piece of me (Closed)

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!

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It had never been necessary to say it quite that way before, since he was usually addressing both Xion and Roxas when he mentioned it. That, and he hadn't really had any other friends in the Organization, so there hadn't been a need to specify.

Right now, he was just relieved that she seemed to be settling at least a little. There was clearly still a lot bothering her though. "I can tell you've still got a lot on your mind," he said gently. "A lot of questions you probably want to ask. But you're gonna have to at least give me a hint as to what they are. I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a mind reader. I wanna help you however I can, but I can't do that unless you let me know what you need."

He rubbed her back gently. "But until you're ready to talk, we can just sit here like this. Whenever you're ready, I'll be here."

The problem was that she still didn't know what to say or how to say it. She didn't trust Saïx, and was sure he was lying to Axel, but thought that saying as much would only hurt Axel if she didn't have proof. And even if she had proof... she couldn't hurt him like that. Axel worked so hard to protect her and Roxas.... she had to protect him now. Somehow. She just... didn't know how to do that.

If she just avoided Saïx maybe his frustration at not being able to get to her would show through, and Axel would realize the lie on his own. Would that hurt less...? She... wasn't sure. But she didn't think that was something she could ask him. Not at all.

She didn't know how to ask any of the questions that she had without hurting Axel, and that was the problem. And she had no one else to ask. Even if Roxas were here, she couldn't ask him...because he'd just turn around and ask Axel. And then they would be in the same hole as if she asked him herself. So... most of these questions... she had no one to ask.

Was this like when Riku told her to do the right thing, and she couldn't ask Axel or Roxas what the right thing to do was?

Was... the answer the same again this time? That she needed to be forgotten and vanish? She didn't think so. Or... was it that she didn't think so because she didn't want that to be the answer so she convinced herself it wasn't? She didn't want it to be the right answer when Riku asked her that, but clearly it had been. Because Sora woke up and Axel was okay and they were going to save Roxas. So was it the right answer now? Another question... that she couldn't ask Axel.

If Riku were here... she could ask him. He had a heart and understood all of this stuff, but he wouldn't be hurt by her questions and wouldn't repeat them to Axel. So Axel wouldn't have to be hurt by them at all.

But he was waiting for her to ask something. And she wasn't sure what she could ask him that wouldn't hurt him. She had to protect Axel, because when Saïx's lie was exposed it would hurt him a lot. She couldn't hurt him too. Not again. Not after how much she hurt him trying to do the right thing before.

But... that had never been their relationship. He had always protected her and Roxas. He had always been the one putting himself out there to keep them safe. Even from themselves. It was something Roxas didn't seem to understand. That sometimes Axel had to hurt them to protect them. But.... could she do that here? With Saïx? Could she be strong enough that if she found proof of his lies to bring it to him?

"How... how do I protect you?" she found herself whispering. it didn't even occour to her that he might be confused by her train of thought, or she wouldn't have said that... since she had already decided not to share any of the thinking that led up to that.

Of course, her face was still buried against his uniform and coat, so it was possible he didn't hear her atg all. Which was probably for the best.

Lea sat quietly, holding Xion and rubbing her back soothingly. He wondered what all could be going through her head? A few things he could guess, but most of it? He didn't have a clue. Not that that was any different than usual; Xion was one of his best friends, but he as discovering more and more how little he understood about her. And how little she understood about the world. Maybe he should try and see if he could do something about that; explaining everything on the fly just wasn't practical.

The moment of relative quiet also let him look at where they'd ended up. It looked like they were in back of one of the smaller buildings, next to what looked like some sort of storage shed; probably where the gardeners kept their equipment or something. Either way, with most of the school at lunch or heading there, there was no one around, for which Lea was grateful. This was difficult enough without having to worry about gaining an audience.

He almost missed it when she spoke again, her words quiet and muffled, but he managed to make them out, if only just. "Huh?", he said. "Protect me from what? Honestly, with no Heartless or creepy old guys bent on world domination around, you and I are both probably safer here than we've been in a long time, magical mishaps notwithstanding."

"Though if it comes down to it, I guess...", he trailed off slightly, thinking. "I guess, just be there for me. Like I'll be there for you and Roxas if you ever need me. Really that's all you've ever needed to do, in the end. I don't need big grand gestures or anything like that. Just... keep being my best friend, and the rest'll kinda come naturally."

Protect him from Saïx. And from herself. Not that she could say that without hurting him. Which, of course, was the whole problem, wasn't it?

But when he said be there for him...? Did that mean that if she stayed around him all the time, that would somehow protect him? That she should never leave his side to go off on her own for anything?

Except that sometimes he went off on his own too. But... was it that Saïx being here changed things? Was... this his way of saying that if she stayed with him all the time that somehow.. Saïx would just... leave him alone? Was that what he wanted. She looked up at him, so confused.

And she was looking up at him in confusion again, obviously not having understood what he meant. How to clarify it though? He thought hard about it for a moment before responding.

"OK how do I explain this...?", he said. "Look... I'm one of your best friends right? And if you ever found out that I needed help or even just someone to talk to, you'd be ready and willing to lend a hand, just like I'd do for you or Roxas, right?" He paused here, to show that he expected her to answer, even though he already knew what the responses would likely be.

"Of.... of course...." she said softly, confused. That part made sense. But had he meant he wanted her to act as some sort of odd Saïx repellant? IF that would actually work, she would be willing to of course... but she couldn't see any way that wouldn't end in Axel being hurt, possibly with her badly injured first....

"Then that's all I need you to do," Lea said, smiling slightly. "I don't need you to sacrifice anything or do anything big or elaborate, like say, following me around everywhere like Eleven's big friend does. I just need you to keep being my best friend. If I ever need your help, I know you'll be there. 'Cause that's what friends do. Understand?"

She hesitated then gave a small nod. Okay... that.. she could understand. She'd... just have to figure out the rest... on her own... somehow.

"Good," Lea said. "And I want you to know, you don't ever have to be afraid to ask me anything in the future, even if it seems weird or dumb. I might not always know the answers, but I'll do my best."

"And you can also ask Sora, if it's a friendship related question," he said. "Sora is... honestly kinda slow on the uptake about a lot of things. But when it comes to friendship, he's pretty much an expert."

"....Sora.....?" She asked, a little startled. She... would not have thought to ask Sora. And... actually... someone should probably warn him. Saïx had to know about Sora if he knew about her and Roxas... right?

"Yeah," Lea said. "You wouldn't think it to look at him, but well, when it comes to friendship he just gets things, instinctively. Stuff that look me months to figure out."

"Also? The kid's got no guile whatsoever. Seriously, he couldn't lie his way out of a wet paper bag. So you can be sure whatever answer you get? It's honest."

She nodded a little, considering that. "He's... Riku's friend. The one Roxas is locked inside of."

In other words... she should actually be able to ask him, right?

Lea nodded too. "You too technically," he said. "At least back home. Honestly not sure how that all works here, or how it will if Roxas ever turns up here too, but... well you get the idea. Point is, you can trust Sora. Especially when it comes to friendship stuff."

"He's here and so am I... so I couldn't still be inside him, right?"

It said so much that this was the less painful and easier topic.

"Well yeah," Lea said, "but unless I'm mistaken, Sora's also from a point where you're still merged with him. So I don't know if that means that there are technically two of you here, or not. Frankly, I try not to think to hard about it; this time travel stuff is already headache inducing as it is."

Another thing to ask Sora then to not upset Axel with. So she just nodded, looking down so that she wouldn't give in and ask him if he didn't want to talk about it.

Even if she did ask, it was unlikely that Lea would be able to provide much more information on that particular subject anyway, so it was just as well.

When she still seemed down about it though, he smiled gently and pushed her hood back so he could lightly ruffle her hair. "Hey...", he said. "It's gonna be alright. Maybe not right away, but eventually, we'll figure out how to work things out. Got it memorized?"

She looked up at him and nodded a bit. He was here. She... she would figure out how to protect him, somehow. Even from Saïx. This time it was her turn to figure things out and keep him safe.

Lea smiled a bit. "That's the spirit," he said. "Not much we can't solve, if only because we're too darn stubborn to quit until we do."

"For now though, what say we get some lunch?", he said. "And I'll buy the ice cream tonight. I owe you that much for the unpleasant surprise, at least."

Stubborn? Her? Could... she be stubborn? Did she even know how? Lunch sounded good, though. Except... "His showing up here today isn't your fault," she said softly. But she would let him treat.

She could and she did it by just being herself. Of course the things she tended to be stubborn about tended to cause more problems than they fixed, but they could work on that.

"Yeah, I know," Lea said. "But a lot of the stuff you blame yourself for isn't your fault either, and that doesn't stop you. So let me have this one, OK? Besides, I like treating you occasionally."

Her lips actually twitched the smallest bit towards a smile at that. She gave him a light push with her shoulder. "That's different," she said softly, but there was a hint of teasing hidden there.

"Oh, and how exactly is it different?", Lea said, also a bit teasing. "Because you're you and I'm me? Sorry, if we're gonna allow for self-blame, it's gotta be a two-way street."

"Anyway...", he stood up carefully, then offered Xion a hand up. "Let's get to lunch while there's still some left."

"Because you really couldn't control his showing up, that is why," she said, taking the hand offered.

Lea helped Xion to her feet. "Again, no different from you blaming yourself for things you can't control," he said. "But since I have a feeling we could go round and round with this and not get anywhere, maybe we can both agree to try and blame ourselves for things a little less, hmm?"

You've got a piece of me (Closed)

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Love that icon

IKR? Also, looks like this thread might be wrapping up.

Yep. Just in time for a ton more with Roxas... >.>

Lol yup. X3 And one more from Xion should wrap it up nicely. :3

Ty for the thread.