Full Circle

Chapter 1: New Orders

As the weary Sairu rose to a sitting position in his familiar bed in his familiar room, noticing that time had hardly ravished his personal sanctuary, he was greeted with a sight he never expected: to be with Genevieve, his closest friend in his own bedroom in his true home. The very thought made Sairu smile until he felt a sharp pain in his back. "Sairu" Genevieve said worriedly as she helped him sit in a more comfortable position. "You need to be careful. You're still recovering" she stated sternly which admittedly took Sairu by surprise, but he heeded her words, and kept his movements slow and steady as he rose to his feet. By this stage, he noticed his top half was bare, exposing his well-defined physique, and was dressed in black baggy trousers with the black boots he wore with the cloak he wore before...

Recalling how he fell unconscious before, he instinctively reached for the scar his last battle had given him, a thin, pink burn that ran from above his eyebrow down to his cheek. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he lowered his hand and turned to face Genevieve, both confused yet excited to see her. "I'll be alright now. Thanks, Gen" Sairu said gratefully, which earned him an affirmative nod from the now smiling Genevieve. "But uh... when exactly did you come here?" Sairu asked in his confusion, folding his arms. At this Genevieve's cheeks flushed a light pink as she looked at him, noting his stature with admiration before locking eyes with his and responded "I-I have only been here for a few months, b-but when I saw everyone fighting those Heartless, I thought you'd be with them, but they said you left. I... I was so scared something happened, and when you came back unconscious, I..." She paused as a tear ran down her cheek and she momentarily broke eye contact, before suddenly running at him and pulling him into a tight embrace. "I... I thought you... you were..." she struggled to say as she sobbed into his shoulder, which only made Sairu return the embrace with a small smile.

"Well, I'm here now. No need to worry" he said warmly, and for a minute, time seemed to stop as they held each other, and after they released each other, the door opened, and in walked a familiar face: the same emerald eyes that shone kindness and wisdom, long brown hair braided behind her, bangs framing her face, and abundant joy as Aerith ran at Sairu herself and pulled him into a tight embrace, but Sairu returned it in his lack of breath all the same. As soon as she let go, she locked eyes with her not-so little brother and said "Are you alright? When Master Yen Sid found you, you were out cold that we almost thought you-" "I'm okay, Aerith. A little sore, light-headed-" But as Sairu spoke, his stomach gave a loud rumble, causing him to blush in embarrassment as he held his stomach with a sheepish grin. "Well, put on a shirt and come downstairs. I'll make you something special" And with that, Aerith practically skipped out of the room, whilst Sairu scoured the room and found a light grey short-sleeved T-shirt.

Once dressed and ready, he and Genevieve made their way downstairs, with Sairu overcome with nostalgia as he walked down the familiar stairs into a familiar scene with familiar faces: Leon, looking as uninterested as ever, Yuffie, with some new clothes and practically bouncing off the walls, classic Cid with his trademark goggles and toothpick, and the wise yet surprisingly comedic Merlin the Wizard, and to Sairu's astonishment, a small brown owl perched atop the support beams overhead. As soon as Sairu entered the room, everyone charged to look him over and after breathing a sigh of relief, more bone-crushing embraces and a few noogies from Cid and surprisingly Leon, they bombarded him with questions about how he was, what happened, and being introduced to Merlin's owl, Archimedes, who was rather grouchy yet polite and well-mannered.

Once interrogation was over, Sairu moved to the back room, to a kitchen with a large round table placed in the centre and placed atop it, were a number of Sairu's favourite foods: chicken noodle soup for appetizers, Aerith's special stew with some mystery ingredients she never shared, topped off with his favourite dessert, soufflé and a jug of orange juice. And as soon as he sat down, he was greeted by another familiar face: a small, winged dragon proceeded to glide over and perch themselves atop his shoulder. "Sairu, you are alright" Lunar Bahamut greeted warmly, with Sairu giving his winged companion a firm nod in gratitude. "After your coma, you must be ravenous. Please, enjoy" Lunar Bahamut stated as he flapped over to rest on the table top as Sairu tucked into his food, which he regretted as he noted Sairu's obviously uncouth behaviour towards his food, but after what happened, he let it slide.

Once Sairu finished his banquet, he rose to take the plates for cleaning, but Genevieve insisted she would clean up, so he decided to leave her to it. "Well well, can't keep a good kid down, can they?" a voice spoke up and standing in the doorway, stood none other than Cloud Strife, dressed in all black, with a single sleeve on his left arm under a shoulder guard with a wolf insignia, and some sort of cape over his left leg as well. "Cloud, long time no see, pal" Sairu called happy to see the warrior again, with Cloud giving him a curt nod with a barely noticeable smile. "What are you doing here? Last time I saw you, you were working with Hades to find someone. What happened since then? Did you find them?" Sairu asked curiously. "Whoa, settle down. Cid brought me here about a year ago, after you guys left. I've been here ever since, waiting for him to find me... so we can settle the score" Cloud responded in his stoic voice.

"I see, so... Wait, have you seen Sora, Donald and Goofy? Did they wake up yet?" Sairu asked, realizing he must have been asleep longer than he thought. Cloud merely shook his head, and said "No, I didn't see them. But... they were here a short while ago, Leon said. Plus, now that I think about it, you got a visitor in the front room" "Who?" Sairu asked, genuinely curious. But Cloud smirked and turned away to walk out of the kitchen, at which an irritated Sairu gave chase and emerged in the front room to see a figure dressed in a black cloak,, but Sairu could tell by their size and the size of their ears who it was: "Your Majesty!" Sairu called, and as luck would have it, the figure lowered his hood to reveal said King Mickey, beaming a great smile as a happy Sairu walked up to him. "He he, glad to see you're back, Sairu. I was really worried about you, Riku and Naminé too" Mickey said. At the mention of their names, Sairu's high spirits deflated as he remembered them.

"Say, Leon. Do you mind giving us a minute?" Mickey asked turning towards him. "Sure. Come on guys" Leon ordered and on that note, everyone proceeded to walk out into the kitchen, leaving Sairu alone with King Mickey. "Sairu, there's a lot I gotta explain to you and I think you should hear this alone in case... they're listening" Mickey stated cautiously, as Sairu knelt down lower. "I got it. So, what's been going on? Cloud said Sora and the others were here a little while ago" "Yup, they're back and better than ever. I guided them to Master Yen Sid's tower, where he filled 'em in on what they've gotta do next, and they know about what happened to you. They were worried, but they knew you'd pull through" King Mickey explained at which Sairu nodded for him to continue.

"Anyhoo, DiZ and Riku brought Roxas back to Twilight Town and kept him in a data replica of the town until he was ready to return to Sora. It took some time and there were some problems, but only yesterday, Roxas and Sora became one again, and then they came here after seeing Master Yen Sid and paying you a visit. But then, everyone just up and disappeared; I don't know where they've gone or if they're alright. But, right now, I'm gonna need your help" "Why me, Your Majesty?" Sairu asked curiously. "It has to do with that Ansem fella you, Riku and Sora took care of and the leader of the Organization, and their connection to Ansem the Wise. Even if we defeat the other members of Organization XIII, there's still a big mystery about what they want now that Sora's awake, and I think Ansem will know the answer. So we've gotta find him whilst Sora, Donald and Goofy take care of the other worlds and keeping them distracted from what we're doing"

"But still, if all of that is true, wouldn't it make more sense for me to go look for Sora and stick with him like before? With my strength, I bet I could take down a member or two" Sairu remarked in rebuttal. King Mickey however shook his head and replied "I know you wanna help them, but of all of them, you're the only one who knows Ansem well like me. If we stick together and find Ansem, it will make it easier for us to talk to him. The information he has may be very important and it could help us to stop the Organization. For now, I'm going to need you to stick with me. Okay?" Mickey asked, and while Sairu's spirits were deflated at hearing this, he understood what his friend was saying and somewhat nodded reluctantly. After rising to his feet, Sairu then said "All right. But before we leave, there are some things I need to do" "Like what?" Mickey asked. "Having spent all that time lying down, I need to get my instincts back so that I can be ready for whatever we face. Plus, there's something I need to say to Gen before it's too late" "Alright, do what you have to. Oh, and your new clothes are waiting for you upstairs. I'd put 'em on if I were you" Mickey agreed, with Sairu heading upstairs.

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After a couple of minutes, Sairu returned downstairs in new clothes: a darker grey V-neck T-shirt unbuttoned on the neckline, black trousers with solid black shoes, and a navy blue jacket that was strikingly similar to Leon's in many ways, except for long sleeves and no fur neckline, as well as a series of pouches attached to the belt running the course of his waistline. As he emerged in the front room where Leon and the others were, he turned to Leon and with an exchange of nods, both proceeded out back accompanied by their family and Cloud. Emerging in a familiar training room, Sairu, Leon and Cloud all drew wooden swords from the number on display, Cloud's easily being twice as long as Sairu's and Leon's . Whilst everyone else stood against the wall watching, the three stood in a triangle, each adopting their respective battle stances, and after a moment of silence, Leon and Cloud both lunged at Sairu, who surprisingly kept his eyes closed at the beginning.

Dodging Leon's strike from his right, he then proceeded to block Cloud's strike with a single hand on his sword, and as soon as his eyes flashed open, Sairu had thrown Cloud's strike back and launched a retaliating strike that almost cut cleanly across the two, but both were prepared and blocked accordingly. After which, Leon prepared a spinning attack, and with Cloud circling behind him ready to charge forward, Sairu quickly leapt back, allowing his opponents to cross swords. Soon, recognising an opportunity, Sairu soon lunged at Leon with a powerful downward swing and quickly sent him staggering backwards and subsequently turning to face Cloud and block his attack from behind, and repeatedly struck him with a string of combos. However, his attention on Cloud gave Leon an opportunity to mount an attack from behind as well, leaping into the air like Sairu and pulling off an overwhelming downward swing of his own, which caused Sairu to stagger, allowing Cloud time to get some strikes in.

As he was forced to regroup to the window where he could watch their moves carefully, Cloud also took the time to mount an attack from the air as he leapt and primed his wooden weapon for the ground where Sairu stood, but Sairu took to leaping in the air to avoid it, only for Leon to charge at him in midair and send Sairu crashing into the wall. As Sairu proceeded to recover, Leon threw his sword aside, and gestured with his hand for Sairu to come at him, his stoic face locking eyes with Sairu's own. Sensing the challenge, Sairu also threw the sword to one side and as Cloud retreated to give them room, Sairu and Leon began.

Sairu threw perfectly aimed punches for flesh injuries only for Leon to continuously dodge and parry his strikes, but Sairu was prepared and leaping into the air whilst revolving a full three-sixty, he attempted to kick Leon from the side, but Leon quickly ducked and grabbed his leg to pull him down to earth. Sairu smirked however and quickly standing on his remaining leg, used his captured leg to turn Leon over and throw him to the ground. Lying on his back, Leon smirked before he performed a sweeping kick to try to knock him down, but Sairu easily sidestepped the kick but was not prepared for Leon using his free arms to propel himself into the air and strike with a double kick. The force was so great that Sairu fell backwards until Leon noticed Sairu's form rippling like water before fading completely. The real Sairu had in the meantime appeared behind Leon and gestured with an open hand near Leon's neck, suggesting a chop to the neck would have been his next move. Sairu instead lowered his hand whilst Leon turned to face him, smirking.

"Not bad for having been in a coma for seven days. I'd say you're back in top form" Leon stated proudly, as they clasped hands in sportsmanship. "Well done, Sairu" King Mickey chirped up proudly. "Now, I'll be waiting outside when you're ready" he then said, walking out the room whilst pulling his hood over his head again. After looking at everyone with confidence, he left for the main room, where Genevieve sat at Merlin's table, as she was never one for fighting, practice or not. "Hey, Gen" Sairu said as he approached her. Seeing him, she rose to her feet and asked "Are you alright?" "I'm fine. In fact, I've never felt better. Except..." he trailed off, as he looked away from her. Sensing something was wrong here, she then asked "What? What's wrong?" "It's just that... I never got to say... I'm sorry" "For what?" she asked, confused. "Don't you remember? There was something you said you were going to tell me, that day when I left with my friends to look for Kairi and Ienzo. But I took off without hearing what you have to say, and it was too late to apologize and settle down to find out what you had to say. I feel really bad, and... I honestly don't know if I will find the chance to tell you face to face"

After hearing his confession, Genevieve recalled that day, and she had been angry he left so fast, but when she was told why, she let it go, knowing he would go no matter what if it meant he could keep the promise he made her. "I-It's okay, Sairu, really. You made me a promise... a promise that Kairi and Ienzo would be our friends, the four of us together. When I remember the promise, I can never be angry with you because this was a chance to fulfil that promise. I... I'm just happy you're safe now" she stated, red cheeks blazing, looking bashfully away from him. Hearing this, Sairu's regret brightened and he smiled gratefully at his friend. "Thank you... I will see you soon, I promise that" Sairu stated as he headed to retrieve his sword, propped up against the doorway.

"Something feels different about this sword" Sairu noted as he held it, and as he looked closer, he noticed it seemed a more luminous white than before. "That was my doing" Lunar Bahamut stated as he flew to Sairu's shoulder. "I have endowed your sword with a sample of my power. That new power you were trying to attain before can now be accessed momentarily, as opposed to a prolonged use. Your body couldn't handle the strain before, but this approach is more suitable to prevent overexertion on our travels" "I was hoping you'd come. Think you could give us a lift?" Sairu asked, happy to know what his draconic companion implied. "Certainly" Lunar Bahamut stated as he flew outside, and in a burst of white radiance, had grown to his full size.

"Well, it's time to fly. Tell Leon and the others not to worry about me" Sairu stated, waving goodbye to Genevieve who returned it gratefully, and Sairu and King Mickey mounted their transport and flew into the sky, disappearing in a blink of light in the distance. As Genevieve watched the sky, Aerith approached her, following her gaze before turning to Genevieve. "He's coming back. I know he will" "Mm-hm. So do I" Genevieve heartily agreed. "And Gen?" Aerith then asked. "Huh?" "He will know soon enough. You just have to find the courage to tell him. Alright?" "Hmm... Yes. You're right"

A/N: Here we go! Welcome to my next instalment of my series, Full Circle! This story took some figuring out on how to keep close to the original Kingdom Hearts 2 and still give Sairu a major starring role. But don't worry, I will be adding Sora and his journey alongside Sairu's as the story progresses. I hope you enjoy this story because I think it started well.

Please enjoy and review!