( A/N: So something that came to my mind a couple days ago... Thought I'd write it out. Contains spoilers for Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance.

Written in Lea/Axel's perspective. )

My Friend

If there was something I had been known for, it would be having a big mouth.

It'd get me in trouble left right and center, especially because people weren't fans of being shown up by some spunky kid. And the pranks I would pull probably didn't help matters either, and it would get me into some pretty sticky situations. But, it also was what landed me my best friend. I'd seen him around the garden a few times, often sitting alone reading something, or just keeping to himself. He seemed nice enough, but not my kind of kid.

So you could imagine my surprise the day I got jumped for one of my 'pranks' and he saved my ass. They'd gotten me down into an alleyway, one of them with a baseball bat, and the other with brass knuckles. Weren't those illegal? I don't really know. But seeing as my eyebrow was bleeding and my lip was swollen, the guy didn't care much for it either.

"Where are your jokes now, funny man?" The boy hissed, rolling his fist and bringing it back to hit me again. I closed my eyes and braced myself. I heard something make contact with – what I assumed to be one of their heads because of the loud curse that escaped him. Slowly, I opened an eye and saw them turning to face the exit of the alley. Standing there, was the azure haired kid, tossing a small stone in his hand.

"Three against one, don't you think that's a little unfair?" The kid tested – what was his name again? I'd have to go ask him. The guy with the bat hissed at him and brought it back, going and running at him without any warning. I watched through my half opened eye to see him weave past the bat, and stick out his foot to throw him off balance. He grasped the bat and managed to get it out of his hand and hitting him in the back to knock him to the ground.

I winced as I tried to sit up, glad that the attention had been shifted away from him. The two remaining attackers looked at him with pure amazement; apparently they were as surprised as I was. The kid didn't seem like the violent type from what I had seen of him, but I guess even I could be wrong about appearances.

"Who do you think you are brat!" The knuckled kid asked, while the other looked around for something he could use as a weapon, obviously afraid that he might get hurt now that the balance of power was shifting. "We're trying to teach this kid a lesson!"

"For what?" The boy tested, bouncing the bat against the palm of his hand. "Trying to get a cheap laugh at your expense?" He took a step closer, and I could have laughed at how the guys flinched. Was I really scared of a few kids that could be so easily frightened? "Leave the kid alone, you've bruised him enough as it is. Now get lost."

But they didn't; everyone knows imbeciles don't listen to reason. The brass knuckled kid ran at him in a similar fashion as the first one, but this time the blue haired kid wasn't as lucky to avoid him completely. He stumbled back as the brass knuckle made contact with the side of his cheek. I saw a small bit of blood come down his cheek, only to watch the blur the bat swing around and hit the attacker in the gut.

Wiping the blood of his face, he gave him a shove so that he would join the other on the ground. The only remaining kid stumbled back and the blue haired kid simply gave a tilt of the head, gesturing for the kid to get his still grounded friends and get out of there.

Of course, the kid looked as if he might have just pissed himself and was not about to deny the chance to flee. I gave a weak chuckle as I saw him run off. I closed my eyes and tried to get myself together, before I heard footsteps approach me. Slowly cracking my good eye open, all I could see was slightly dirty beige pant leg. Looking up slowly, I saw a hand outstretched to me, and the blank face of the boy was… Surprising. I think I saw some concern in there, but his face wasn't that easy to read.

With a toothy smile, I took it – man, his grip was pretty damn strong. What was up with this kid? For a quiet kid he sure seemed to be decently strong. He was my age too.. I wouldn't think a small kid would be able to take on those guys. Huh. Maybe I'll have to keep this kid around. At least until I can repay him, anyway.

"Thanks, kid," I smirked. To my continuous surprise, he just rolled his eyes and turned away from me, starting to walk away. Frowning, I instantly started to trail after him, watching him wipe his brow, probably trying to get rid of the blood. "Hey, wait a second!" I shouted after him, earning a cold look from him. Jeez, what was with this guy?

"What is it?" He hissed.

"I uh, I just wanted to say thanks," I muttered, wiping some of the dirt off my face. He gave a nod and made a move to leave again and I scrambled to try and get my thoughts out. "What's your name?"

He turned his full body toward me this time, an eyebrow risen. "You've pulled pranks on me, yet you don't know my name?"

I gave a nervous grin, scratching the back of my head. "Uh… Yeah?" I quickly changed the expression on my face to a smirk, pressing my index and middle finger against my temple, leaning in towards him. "My name's Lea. Got it memorized?"

He rolled his eyes and spoke with obvious irritation. "I know who you are Lea. You drilled it into my head already."

"Then how do I not know who you are?" I asked again, getting a bit annoyed that he was avoiding the question.

"Because you're too busy acting a fool to learn anyone else's name."

"… Y'ouch dude, that hurts."

"But is it untrue?"

I had to admit, his words did sting a bit, but how was I supposed to admit that? it was a pain. "Uh… Well…" He rose an eyebrow, and I swore for a moment I saw him smirk. Well what do you know, he was trying to be funny with me. Or something, like I said – he's hard to read. "So… Are you going to tell me your name?" I tried again, and frowned when he rounded a corner into another alleyway.

"C'mon!" I shouted as I stalked after him, refusing to leave until I at least knew his name. After all, I did owe him something.

"My name is Isa." He said after a moment, and I stood at the entryway, watching him crouched over in front of a knocked over box. I stepped closer, trying to see what he was doing.

"Well nice to meet'cha Isa," Even if he had said we'd met before, and now that I was getting a good look at him I was starting to remember who he was, but I guessed it was too late to say anything like that. "Uh, what are you doing?" I crouched down next to him and smiled meekly at the sight.

Isa was pulling small pieces of bread out of his pocket, feeding a small pup that was curled up in the box. I couldn't help frowning, looking between it, and the boy. "Why're you feeding this little guy?" All I got was a small shrug, and after a moment Isa finally turned to look at me, his eyes giving me a small once over.

"The same reason I saved you I guess; I don't like seeing the helpless get hurt." He shrugged a bit, offering more of the bread to the pup. I frowned a bit, and bit back a retaliation about not being helpless. Considering that I could barely see out of one of my swollen eyes at the moment, I wouldn't have much of an agreement. It didn't help my pride though.

"So you just like helpin' them stray puppies huh?" I teased a bit, and I caught Isa smile before rolling his eyes again. Maybe this kid wasn't going to be so bad.

"That would mean you'd have to be a stray too," He pointed out as he gave the last piece of bread to the small guy. I felt a bit bad that he poor guy was stuck in a little box like that. Holding out my hand, I let him get my scent before I started to pet him, feeling his patchy fur. "I guess I'm a bit of a stray then," I muttered, earning a small laugh from him.

"Well right now you kind of look like one," He pointed out, reaching into the pocket of his sweater. I turned a bit and saw he was getting out some bandages. I couldn't help grinning, until I nodded toward the wounded pup. "What's his story?"

Opening one of the bandages, Isa looked at me for a moment before looking down at the pup, who looked perfectly content with getting petting after his little meal. "I found him not too long ago, but my parents didn't want to keep him. So I just come here and feed him and make sure he's fairing okay," He explained as he put one of the bandages on my face. I flinched a bit, too engrossed in petting the dog to realize he was actually trying to treat me.

"Come on it's not like I'm going to bite you," He remarked before getting out another bandage. I let out a small laugh and shook my head a bit, but didn't offer any other resistance as he started covering me with bandages. At least my mother wasn't going to have to see all the bruises.

"What about you?" I asked, nodding toward the small cut on his brow. Isa blinked, before reaching up and touching the mark, as if not believing it was there. He flinched back when his fingers made contact and I could have laughed, what could I say? The reaction was funny. He held out another bandage to me and I couldn't help wondering how many of them Isa carried around with him.

"Would you mind?" He asked, turning his head a bit so I'd have better access to his face. Seeing as I was going to owe him more than this I couldn't very well say no. I opened up the bandage and carefully put it on his brow, smiling a bit. "There you go, Is'."

"Isa." He immediately corrected, a frown coming onto his face.

"Awe c'mon. Don't you like nicknames?"

Straightening up, I watched him start to walk away again. "Oh come on!" I shouted, chasing after him to try and get him to at least say something more. I was going to repay this kid, even if it killed me.

Befriending him was harder than I thought it would be. He was pretty quiet and would normally not be the type of guy that I would befriend but... Something about him was drawing me in to stay around, and the fact that Isa wasn't really pushing me away was encouraging. Slowly, he warmed up to me and I did the same right back at him.

Despite being quiet, he could be quite outgoing; and he was pretty damn smart. You should have seen my face the first time he actually agreed to pull a prank with me. Damn, it was unexpected, but not unwelcomed. After that, the two of us progressively got closer, until it became abnormal for the two of us to be separate.

Maybe that was why becoming a Nobody hurt so damn much.

I had noticed the change in Isa before we even lost our hearts. He was becoming even more cold than he had been in the first place. Maybe the first thing that got my attention was the fact that he had stopped taking care of that little pup (who, you know, wasn't that little anymore at this point). We'd finally managed to sneak our way into that castle, that damn castle. And the second we did, I instantly regretted it.

They were conducting experiments, on people, on their hearts. How did that even work? I didn't… I couldn't understand it. The mere thought made my stomach twist. But Isa, Isa wasn't as disturbed. Fuck, he even agreed to help with it! I mean sure, he said he was only doing it so he could get on Xehanort's good side so we could figure out exactly what it was he was doing but… It was hard to believe at times.

And then his eyes changed. After one night when I couldn't seem to stay up, Xehanort made his move. I don't know exactly what, or how, it happened but Isa's eyes became polluted, left as a disgusting gold, the same gold that Braig's eyes were. I didn't trust it. Not at all.

As soon as his eyes were gone, the rest of his personality seemed to slip right out of my fingers. That could be what was one of the deciding factors that finally pushed me away from him, especially after we lost our hearts. Isa was my best friend, but Saïx, I didn't even know who he was anymore. Sure, we'd have small moments of trying to get close again and even times of intimacy but nothing seemed to fit right.

I'd be lying if I said that Roxas didn't remind me of him, at least a bit. If we weren't heartless, I could have sworn I missed him, and that my chest was actually hurting from longing to be around him. But we were heartless. I couldn't feel anything. I had to keep reminding myself of that; and insisting on it with Roxas helped matters. I buried down all the things I wanted to say to him. To Saïx, to Isa. Throughout my life, ever since he saved me, he was the only one I could turn to. I could always count on him to understand, but with him gone… It was as if I had lost everything. Not even Xion or Roxas could fill that void, no matter how hard I tried to hang onto them.

Sure, the three of us were still friends. The best of friends really. I had promised that I would always bring them back. I had given my word. Even if for a while, I had forgotten Xion when the memories of her went back to Sora… But that didn't change the fact. In the time that Saïx… Isa, in the time that he changed and left, had left me open to develop more friendships with these kids who were about as lost as I was.

I didn't abandon Isa. I just had nowhere else to go; or at least that's what I told myself to make up for it. My… Axel's, dying words constantly rang through my head.

"I wanted to see Roxas… He was the only one I ever really liked."

Had I remembered Xion… I would have said something about her. But I wouldn't include Saïx. Axel had despised the man; hated how our friendship hadn't transcended past losing our hearts. Petty, sure. But having the maturity of a teenage boy didn't help matters whatsoever. Out of the Organization, it was easy to say that I hated Saïx the most, perhaps because he was the sole reminder that I had that I had lost everything; that he had been my everything.

When I woke up, I had to admit I was… Surprised. I was still in that stupid coat, and to see the apprentices slowly raising to their feet… I was completely lost. For a moment, I thought it might have all been just some vivid dream; not seeing the tattoos on my face was enough to let me think that. But… The memories were too strong to be a dream.

I knew what I had to do, as soon as I figured out that Isa was still missing. Xehanort had to still had his hold on him. I couldn't abandoned him, especially if he too had regained his heart after all this. I mean, the rest of us seemed to, that mean he had to have it too… Right? What if he'd be back to normal, and was trying to figure things out like I was?

What if we could be friends again?

Then of course, I'd get stuck with the icky job of tracking down Sora and Riku, but at least as a plus that might mean I could find Roxas. Everything happened in a blur. My memories of Xion returned, and my drive to find Sora increased. But still I didn't find the one person I was trying so hard to find.

And when I did find him, I thought I was going to be sick.

I had managed to catch Master Xehanort going on about the Keyblade, or X-Blade, or something along those lines. I don't know, I was waiting for a better opportunity to get back in there. But what he was talking about… One being a failed X-Blade, the other falling into Darkness, and the third became one of his vessels? What did that all mean? After years of trying to figure out the man's plan, Saïx and I.. Axel, had never found out. Was this all it was coming down to now?

Seven princesses… Thirteen vessels of Darkness… Organization XIII… My stomach dropped in realization, and I felt as if I was about to be sick.
Isa was still stuck being his vessel. He was still trapped in the Darkness.

Sora was a protector of light, which meant he could save him. With that set determination I got myself ready.

"I'll split my heart into one last vessel-"

No. I wasn't about to let him take Sora away too.

As the seat rose and Mickey and Riku were pinned by the two vessels, I moved myself quickly. I summoned forth one of the Eternal Flames and held it out as a shield from the attack. Picking up Sora and tucking him under my arm I waited for the smoke to clear. Briefly I looked over at the hoods that were still drawn. He had to be here…

"You-" Xemnas hissed.

"Axel!" Braig shouted, hitting his fists against his chair's arm's rests.

"Axel? Nah. I'm Lea. Got it memorized?"

"Why are you here?" Master Xehanort insisted, and I simply rolled my eyes, glaring over at him.

"Because I promised. That I'd always be there to bring them back." I pointed my Eternal Flame at him, almost laughing at him. "What, you weren't expecting me? Didn't you say you knew everything? Everything is not all set." Twisting Eternal Flames in my hand, I pointed it at him, ready to attack if I needed. "So, what's your next move?" I challenged, almost mocking him. Again, Braig hit his fist against the arms of his chair, glaring up at Master Xehanort. "What do we do, old man? There's no time!" He demanded. But Xehanort looked more amused than anything.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. I shifted my weapon in my hand, blocking the claymore- Wait.

Claymore.

It made contact with my chakram, and the mere force knocked his hood over. My eyes were still on his claymore when it fell, and I couldn't help my eyes widening when I saw his face. His eyes were still gold, and his face was still scarred. For a moment, I thought that maybe he was still Saïx. But I knew by now… Now that the man before me was Isa, truly what my best friend had become. "Isa." I hissed, unable to keep the pent up rage from my voice. None of it aimed at him either. All of it directed at Xehanort. The bastard who took my best friend away.

We just stood there for a minute. Searching his eyes for any sign of my former friend. But nothing was there. His eyes were blank. Isa was nowhere within that being before me. Unable to bear this standoff, I pushed all my weight into the chakram to knock him off balance before flipping down onto the ground.

Using the distraction, Mickey and Riku managed to get themselves free of Xemnas and Ansem. Both of them reappeared back on their chairs, while the three of us held our weapons. Riku turned his head slightly, looking over at me. "Axel, why are you-?"
Rolling my eyes I rolled the Eternal Flames in my hand and leaned forward a bit. "Hey no, it's Lea – aw, whatever. Axel works too." Man, if people were just going to remember me for my Nobody, I was going to have to do something to get people to realize I was a Somebody again. "Whatever, let's hurry up and get out of here!" The longer we stayed, the more at risk Sora was in this state. The little mouse turned and gave me a nod. At least he got what was happening.

But before any of us could do anything, Ansem summoned forth his Guardian and it charged, grabbing both Riku and Mickey, holding them up. I brought my chakram back, trying to think of what I could do to get this under control, before I heard screaming.

Wait.

I know those screams.

Those two that Sora would often be with – Donald and Goofy? Something like that. The Guardian disappeared and the two of them were left on the ground with Mickey and Riku upright. That was… Unexpected.

"Did we beat 'em…?" Donald muttered.

"Looks like…" Goofy answered.

Mickey looked between them, and I almost rolled my eyes again. "You two came to help us, didn't you?" No, I'm sure they came to help Ansem. Damn mouse.

Before anyone could say anything, the twelve beings began to disappear. "The time has come." Master Xehanort muttered and all we could do was watch. My eyes snapped onto Isa. The two of us just stared at one another, and my stomach gave a violent flip. Fuck.

"We are each returning to our places, light and the dark still short. However, the seven and thirteen will soon be complete" Master Xehanort looked down at us, a smirk coming back onto his face, moving his hands around as he spoke. "So. At the dawn of completion of both light and darkness, let's face each other in that land!" As he outstretched his hand, he completely disappeared. Leaving no trace of himself or the other vessels.

It wasn't until after everything was over that I could finally start getting my thoughts together. I stood in the tower alone, as Sora made his way outside to continue on his journey. I knew I'd be joining him soon enough, so seeing him off was pointless. Closing my eyes, I focused, holding out my hand. A slight warmth went down my arm and as my eyes opened back up, looking down at the Keyblade in my hand.

When it had first appeared in my hand I had to admit I was just as surprised as the rest of them. I'd tried to summon it earlier - but like I'd said, it was harder than it looked to make it manifest. When it just jumped into my hand like that, well, I'd definitely be catching up to Sora and Riku soon enough. If it worked now, after all, I was sure I would get the hang of it fast enough. I had come here to become a master, and a master was exactly what I aimed on becoming.

So many questions came with this Keyblade, and I had no idea how to go about answering them. Did this mean that I was one of those seven guardians of light that Master Xehanort had spoken of? I was so confused. Turning toward the window, I looked out at the yellowish moon, frowning to myself. "Why couldn't you be here to help me?" I muttered, frowning.

But at the same time, I knew what this meant. It meant I was finally going to give Isa a piece of my mind. I'm going to save him. I'm not about to let Xehanort take complete control over him. Not again. He had always been there for me, up to the point where his personality had been stripped and the scar had been given…

"Soon my friend…" I whispered, looking down at the blade. Would he be angry if he saw that I could use this now? I wouldn't doubt it. But I would let him rage if it would help. I was going to get my friend back. My best friend. No matter what it took. "I'm not going to let him keep you. I'll free your heart."

(A/N: Well there you go. :) - Critics are welcome! )