This is pretty much a direct sequel to Without Question, and at the very least exists in the same universe. You don't have to read WQ to understand it, though. Basically all you need to know is that it's post-KH3 (so SPOILERS for that I guess), and Lea, Isa, Roxas, and Xion are trying to settle down in Twilight Town
Also these kids probably have PTSD
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"Geez, how many more hills are you gonna make us climb, Isa?" Axel puffed, dragging his feet as they neared the top of Market Street.
"You were the one that picked this world," Isa countered unapologetically. "I'm simply making do with what I have to work with. And one of the available properties happens to be at the top of Market Street."
They'd been back in Twilight Town for three days now. So far all they'd done was follow Isa around looking at vacant houses. Roxas didn't really understand the point of it. Couldn't they just pick one? Why did they have to look at every single one in person?
Axel, apparently, was of the same opinion. "We've already looked at three other places. Do we really need to look at this one, too?"
Isa scowled at him in the way he only ever scowled at Axel. Like he was exasperated, and wondering why he put up with him. Roxas wondered that, too. Axel had told him and Xion that he and Isa had been friends a long time ago, and that now that Isa had his heart back they would like him, too. Roxas had decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he wasn't quick to forgive. And Isa certainly wasn't making it easy; he acted more or less the same as Saïx had, except instead of being hostile to him and Xion, he just acknowledged them as little as physically possible. Roxas hadn't decided if being ignored was better or worse. If he didn't like them, why didn't he just leave?
"I thought you would be excited at the prospect of living somewhere so close to the clock tower."
Roxas glanced up at it, poking over the tops of the surrounding buildings. They hadn't been back up there yet. Axel hadn't mentioned it, and neither he nor Xion had asked. Roxas was secretly grateful; he didn't think he was ready to go back up there yet, and certainly not with Isa.
"Yeah, but most of the shops and things are down in Tram Common," Axel complained. "Do you want to climb this hill every day?"
"You would still be climbing it regardless."
The other places they'd looked at had been over on the other side of town, in Sunset Terrace. They would have to climb the hill to take the train every day.
"Why not just use the corridors?" Roxas asked. He didn't really mind the slopes (they could be fun, even, if he could find a skateboard), but the corridors were still faster and easier.
Isa's eyes might have been green now, but having that heavy gaze directed at him still put Roxas on edge. Maybe being ignored really was better. "Normal people can't use them," he said, tone carefully neutral. "If you were seen, it could cause problems."
He already knew that; Vexen had made sure to drill it into him when he'd first started doing missions. But he still didn't see what the issue was. "Then just make sure no one sees you," he shrugged.
Axel raised a brow. "He's got a point."
Isa considered them both, and apparently didn't like what he saw. "If we get chased out of this world because you were careless, don't come crying to me."
Roxas found himself smiling in grim amusement. "I think if a literal word being stolen and the town being overrun by Dusks only made people annoyed, they're not going to care if they see a couple of dark corridors."
He only realised what he'd said when he noticed the other three had stopped walking and were staring at him. Isa's face was entirely unreadable, but Axel looked pained.
"When did that happen?" Xion asked, face scrunched up in confusion.
Roxas froze. "I…" Why had he said that? That Twilight Town wasn't real. And while the people who had inhabited it had been based on real ones, he couldn't assume that they would behave the same way. Suddenly not able to meet her eyes, he turned to stare up at the buildings lining the street. "It didn't."
Axel ran a hand through his hair. "Roxas–"
"Don't we have to go inspect that place?" Roxas cut him off, continuing their march up the hill. He didn't want to talk about it.
The other three followed him in heavy silence.
There was already a small group of people waiting outside the house. It had been the same at the other three places, and many of the ones here had been at them, too. He recognised all of them, and could even name half of them, but he had never met them – the real them, anyway. It only increased the bubbling… something sitting in his chest like a dead weight. Roxas stepped a little closer to Xion, grateful for the way she automatically pressed her shoulder against his.
The real estate agent arrived mere seconds after they did, and before long the front door was unlocked and they were allowed inside. Roxas let Xion tug him along, the two of them breaking away from Axel and Isa, who'd lingered to talk to the agent (something about making a good impression).
They did a quick lap of the ground floor before heading upstairs where the bedrooms were.
"I think I like the second place best," Xion said as she stuck her head into the bathroom. It was significantly smaller than the Castle That Never Was, but that was to be expected. And there were only four of them now; they didn't need as much room.
"This one has bigger bedrooms," Roxas pointed out, walking into one of the empty rooms.
"Yeah, but the second one had a really great view."
True, he thought, glancing out the window. This one only overlooked the buildings on the other side of the street. But it was closer to the main hub of town and the clock tower, like Isa had said. It reminded him of the place he'd lived in the fake Twilight Town. The weight got heavier.
"I think I'd prefer to live in Sunset Terrace," he said.
"You and me both, buddy," Axel appeared behind him. He slung an arm across Roxas' shoulders. "No hills."
"Maybe you should go train with Aqua," Xion snickered. "It's only been a few days and you're already out of shape."
Axel flicked her. "I get all the exercise I need trying to keep up with you two!"
"And yet you're still beaten by a hill," Roxas laughed. Axel shoved him.
"Alright, Rox-sass and Little Miss Snark," he put his hands on his hips. "Let's go see what Isa's up to."
They found him scrutinising the kitchen cupboards downstairs. Roxas had no idea what he was looking for, but from the expression on his face, he apparently hadn't found it.
"We've decided that Sunset Terrace is better," Axel said by way of greeting.
Isa turned to face them. He seemed unimpressed, but Roxas was starting to think that was just his default expression. "We should still apply for all of them, in case we aren't accepted," he said. "Unless you would prefer to live in the hotel indefinitely."
"Ah, don't be such a drama queen," Axel rolled his eyes. He gestured to the other people milling around the house. "There's, like, two other families here. We're guaranteed to get one."
"The applications require ID."
"What's ID?" Xion frowned. Roxas was glad he wasn't the only one who didn't know.
Surprisingly, it was Isa who answered. "It's short for identification; something that none of us currently have."
Axel pulled a face. "Damn. We're gonna need birth certificates and stuff, too, huh?"
"Birth certificates?" Xion echoed.
"When people are born you get a receipt," Axel told her.
"Ignore him," Isa immediately countered. "It's not a receipt. It's a record that can be used as a form of identification."
"A record is a receipt, Isa."
"If it was a receipt I might have returned you a long time ago."
"Ouch."
"But we weren't technically born," Roxas cut in. Xion had been created in a lab, and he'd just kind of… spontaneously come into being. And then they'd both disappeared for a while and come back as replicas. He did not remember ever being given a receipt for either of those times.
"Don't worry about it," Axel waved flippantly. "Isa and I can get ours from Radiant Garden, and I'll just have Ienzo make some for you two."
"Fine," Isa agreed. "I'll retrieve the application forms from the agent." He turned on his heel and stalked out of the kitchen.
The whole process sounded way too complicated. "Why do we even need identification?" Roxas asked.
"It's to prove we are who we say we are," Axel shrugged.
He frowned. "Who else would we be?"
Axel made that face again – the one that Roxas didn't understand. "No one," he said. "You're you. Don't worry about it." He pulled his gummi phone out of his pocket. "I'm gonna go call Ienzo."
He disappeared deeper into the house, leaving Roxas and Xion on their own.
"Wanna head back outside?" she asked.
"Sure."
Market Street was more or less deserted now. Roxas couldn't see Isa anywhere. Maybe he'd decided to head back to the hotel without them. Xion looked up wistfully at the clock tower looming above them.
"I know it's only been a couple of days," she said quietly, "but sometimes it's hard to believe we're really here."
Roxas followed her gaze. It was a familiar feeling. Twilight Town had always been his favourite world, and for the entire first year of his existence the only thing he'd wanted was to sit up there on that clock tower with Axel and Xion. And then everything had gone wrong. He'd killed Xion here. He'd had his memory wiped and been imprisoned. He'd fought Axel here the last time he'd seen him in person, and had his only friends walk right through him like he didn't even exist. He'd learned he wasn't meant to exist. He'd lost everything in Twilight Town, including himself.
And now he was back here again, under very different circumstances. He never thought he'd get the chance. He was happy. He'd finally gotten what he'd wanted for so long. So why did he hurt?
Part of him wanted to tell Xion what he was feeling. But as he looked up at the clock tower, all he could see was her fading into nothing in his arms, and the words died with her. He didn't want to remind her. He didn't want to acknowledge it out loud, as if keeping it to himself might somehow make it as fake as his lingering memories of living in Twilight Town.
Xion caught his eye with practiced ease. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he replied automatically. His voice was steady despite the lie. He didn't want to hide anything from her or Axel, not after lies and secrets had defined his entire life. Back then he'd thought that telling the truth was easy – hadn't understood why they'd constantly danced around it. Now, with his hands balled into fists in his pockets, and something a lot like fear curled in his chest, he realised how hard it really was.
Xion, always more perceptive than anyone gave her credit for, didn't look like she believed him. He was spared from whatever she'd been preparing to say by three people running past them from the direction of Station Plaza. Roxas recognised them instantly, and suddenly decided he would have preferred to let Xion interrogate him.
He should have expected it, really. After all, Twilight Town wasn't exactly a big place. And he wanted to see them again. But he'd hoped for… more time? He wasn't sure, but he definitely hadn't gotten it. He stood as frozen as if he'd been hit by blizzaga.
Xion peered at him curiously. Of course she wouldn't know who they were; she'd never actually met them, and he was pretty sure she didn't even know about the digital Twilight Town. Roxas himself had only met the real versions of them once – Pence when he and Axel had been looking for Xion, and Hayner and Olette on their one vacation day. He wasn't ready to face them yet. Maybe if he was quick, he could slip into a dark corridor before they even realised he and Xion were there.
He never got the chance to try. Hayner skidded to a stop a mere few paces down the hill. Pence and Olette scrambled to do the same, and nearly tripped over each other in the process.
"Hayner!" Olette protested, leaning heavily against his shoulder as she regained her balance. "Why'd you stop?"
Instead of replying, Hayner spun around, gaze fixed intently on Roxas. Olette and Pence copied him, and in an instant their confusion transformed into shock. Roxas stared back wishing for the first time that he was invisible.
"Roxas?" Xion hedged and the same time Hayner cried, "Roxas?!"
Roxas felt like he couldn't breathe. The weight in his chest was suffocating him. Hayner… recognised him? Remembered him? How was that possible? The real Hayner had only ever spent one afternoon with him over a year ago. Roxas himself only remembered because he'd been catching glimpses of the three of them for as long as he'd been alive.
Hayner's face split into a grin, and he hurried to retrace his steps until he was standing directly in front of Roxas. Pence and Olette were hot on his heels. "It's you, isn't it?"
"Um," Roxas croaked. "Hi."
He didn't know how to act around them. It would be so easy to just slip back into the friendship he'd thought they'd had, like nothing had changed at all. Like he was still there…
"That's great!" Olette beamed. "They found you!"
"Man, and they didn't even bother to come tell us," Pence crossed his arms.
"Ah, it doesn't matter," Hayner grinned. "He's here now, right?"
Xion looked as hopelessly lost as Roxas felt. "Roxas," she said, "do you know them?"
Yes, he wanted to say. But he didn't. He never actually had. "Kind of."
"Oh, sorry!" Olette apologised. She lifted her hand in an awkward wave, attention fixed on Xion. "I'm Olette. These two dummies are Hayner and Pence. We're Roxas' friends."
Roxas stared at her. What was going on? They were… friends? But he'd never even told them his name, he was sure of it.
Xion was still confused. "I'm Xion," she said, but the way her voice lilted made it sound like a question. She turned to Roxas, her expression questioning. "You're… Roxas' friends?"
"Yep!" Hayner reached into his back pocket and pulled out a photo. He held it up proudly. "See?"
Roxas felt like he'd been run over by the Infernal Engine. That photo… It was the one they'd taken outside the Haunted Mansion, one of the ones the Dusks had stolen. One from the fake Twilight Town. He couldn't breathe.
Had he been wrong? Was this… was this somehow not the real Twilight Town? Had he somehow been sent back to the fake one? Did that mean that Xion wasn't really there, less than an arm's length away? Or Axel and Isa? Were his memories of the fight against Xehanort fake, too? Would he escape one day, only to find that Xion was still gone, that he wasn't allowed to exist?
Roxas felt his heart pound in his chest. He tried to focus on that, shoving every thought aside except for the one that took the feeling and said 'You have a heart. Can't you feel it?' If nothing else, he could be certain that that, at least, was true. He was his own person. Whether this was real or not, he wouldn't let them take that from him ever again.
There was suddenly a warm weight on his shoulder. Roxas' gaze snapped upwards to find Xion standing directly in front of him, her hand grounding him and her expression concerned.
"Roxas?"
Behind her, Hayner, Pence, and Olette were staring at him.
"I…"
"There you are!" a new voice called. "I was wondering where you two got t- Oh. I forgot you guys lived here."
They turned to see Axel emerging from the house, still in the process of shoving his gummi phone away. He'd paused just beyond the door as he caught sight of Hayner, Pence, and Olette.
Roxas focused on him. A door, not a dark corridor. Casual clothes, not the Organization's coat. No marks under his eyes.
His view was suddenly obscured by Hayner, Pence, and Olette, who quickly shoved themselves in front of Roxas and Xion protectively.
"You!" Hayner raised a fist. "You've got some nerve coming back here!"
What?
"Hey, easy," Axel did not seem at all surprised. "I'm not the bad guy anymore. The name's Lea. Got it memorised?"
"Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it!"
"Axel?" Xion neatly dodged Olette's attempt to grab her as she squeezed past.
"Be careful, Xion!" Olette warned. "This guy's bad news."
Xion looked up at Axel long-sufferingly. "What did you do?"
Axel looked offended.
Roxas could barely make sense of what was happening. Hayner, Pence, and Olette… knew Axel? Whenever Axel had shown up time had frozen, so did that mean this was the real Twilight Town? But then why did they know him? Pence, maybe, since he'd helped them, but the other two? Almost on autopilot, Roxas tried to reach Axel, but was stopped when Hayner immediately threw out an arm to block his path.
"This guy kidnapped Kairi!" he growled.
Roxas and Xion looked up at him sharply. Axel rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and pointedly did not meet their eye.
"Would you believe we're actually friends now?" he tried.
"You kidnapped her?" Roxas asked.
"Why?" Xion added.
Axel glanced briefly at Roxas before looking away. "It's… complicated."
Roxas ducked under Hayner's arm and moved to stand beside Xion. Axel fidgeted under their combined scrutiny.
"Can we talk about it later…?"
"What does it matter why he did it?" Hayner cut in. "All that matters is that he's a bad guy! He's probably working with that other guy we saw!"
They turned to face him, Axel awkwardly and Roxas and Xion in surprise. Hayner, Pence, and Olette's glares were fixed on Axel. Roxas got the feeling they were just waiting for a reason to attack him, regardless that there was no way they'd win.
"I don't really get it, but Axel's our friend," Xion frowned.
"You're friends with this guy?" Pence asked incredulously.
"Best friends," Roxas corrected. He punctuated his words by stepping closer to the two of them.
"Aw," Axel said. "I love you guys, too."
Hayner seemed to deflate a little at that, and even Olette and Pence were more unsure now than vengeful. They shared a silent conversation. Pence was the one to finally break the silence.
"I mean, if Roxas is friends with him he can't be all bad, right?"
"I guess," Olette shrugged.
"Okay, Axel," Hayner narrowed his eyes. "We'll let it go for now. But you're on thin ice."
"How gracious of you," Axel drawled. "And it's Lea."
What was happening? Roxas didn't think he'd ever been more confused in his life. They knew Axel because he'd kidnapped Kairi? How did they know Kairi? He was almost certain that this was real, so how did they know him? Where had they gotten that photo? He was starting to get a headache.
"Where's Isa?" Xion asked, pulling him from his thoughts.
Axel glanced around the street briefly. "Who knows? Why don't you call him? Tell him we need to go see Ienzo for the receipts while you're at it."
"You know Ienzo?" Pence asked as Xion reached for her phone and walked a short distance away.
Axel raised a brow. "You know Ienzo?"
"Of course we do!" Hayner crossed his arms. It was the same standoffish behaviour the fake version of him had often used when he was forced to deal with someone he didn't like. "He was helping us look for Roxas."
Axel glanced between him and Roxas, and Roxas took heart in the fact that he was now as baffled as Roxas himself was. "You guys know Roxas?" he asked, and there was something wary in his tone.
Olette fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "Kind of? Sora told us about the us in the other Twilight Town, and that they're friends with him. So we figured that means we're friends, too, right?"
Sora. Of course it was Sora. Roxas felt some of the tension leave him. This was definitely real, then. It was just Sora's influence at work. It might have annoyed him once. Now, he wasn't sure how he felt. He hoped Kairi and Riku found him soon.
"Hey," Hayner suddenly chimed in, attention on Roxas. "We were gonna go get some ice cream. Did you and Xion wanna come?"
They were so ready to just accept him as a friend because Sora had told them data versions of them had been? He didn't understand it, but it felt… good. He'd been worried that the real versions of them wouldn't want anything to do with him, or wouldn't even acknowledge him, and he had a feeling he would never have taken the initiative to approach them first. And now they were asking him to have ice cream with them, like they'd been friends for ages and hadn't just properly met ten minutes ago.
I want to, he admitted to himself, looking up at Axel. But…
"You can go," Axel said fondly, nudging his shoulder.
But he couldn't yet. They hadn't had any ice cream at all since they'd been brought back. He missed it, and he wanted to, but the first ice cream he shared was going to be with Axel and Xion on that clock tower, as soon as he could work up the nerve to go up there. He wondered briefly if Axel still had that winner stick.
"Thanks," he said to Hayner. "But maybe next time."
The three of them drooped a little in disappointment, and Roxas felt Axel watching him.
"We'll hold you to that!" Olette told him. And then she, Pence, and Hayner were chasing each other down the hill again, calling out goodbyes and making him promise to hang out with them when he was free.
"Why didn't you go?" Axel asked him, staring after them.
Roxas shrugged, not really knowing how to put it into words. He was spared from trying to explain when Xion wandered back over, phone still in hand.
"Isa says to meet him back at the hotel," she informed them. Then, sounding like she had no idea what she was saying, "And that if you call them receipts again he's going to try and claim you on warranty."