Isa

by eiahmon

Side Story to Burning Heart. Because being tossed into a dark cell to die a slow, agonizing death would leave anyone traumatized. After his rescue, even as his health improves, Isa had to learn to cope with the awful memories of his imprisonment and the scars they left behind.

Not mine, don't own. If I did own, I would fix some of the plot holes.

A/N: Merry Christmas, Lita. :)

ईश – Isa - Sanskrit – Lord

عيسى- Isa - Arabic - God saves

׀ - Isa – Old Norse - ice

OOOOOO

He was alone again, trapped in the tiny, lightless cell. He could see nothing, but he could hear his own gasping breaths and feel the weight of the shackles on his wrists and ankles. He tried to call out for Lea, for someone, for anyone, but his vocal chords were frozen, and he could make no sound. Bugs crawled through his hair and across his face, but his chains prevented him from reaching up and brushing them away.

Fear constricted his chest and squeezed the air from his lungs. He couldn't breathe! He couldn't see! No, please no! Don't leave me here alone! Please let me out! Please, I won't hurt anyone! Please let me go!

"And may you rot there!" Ansem's voice echoed in his ears, condemning him to a slow, miserable death, and Isa shuddered with the remembered horror of being thrown into the cell, fully aware that he would never leave it alive.

Lea! Please don't leave me here!

"Isa is dead." His mother's voice, refusing to acknowledge him as her son once she had learned of Saïx's actions.

Don't let them lock me away!

"Isa," came Lea's voice, and he felt someone shaking him. "Isa, you're dreaming again."

Lea, don't leave me.

"Isa, it's time to wake up."

Lea?

The darkness of the cell faded and dissolved, and Isa opened his eyes to find himself in his bed in Xavier's house, with Lea sitting beside him.

"Where are you?" Lea asked quietly, upon seeing that he was awake and no longer dreaming.

Isa took a shuddering breath and leaned against Lea, who wrapped his arms around him comfortingly. "I'm at Xavier's house."

"And?"

"I am safe." he continued, finishing the little ritual that they did whenever he had a nightmare or flashback "No one will hurt me here. No one will lock me away again."

"Very good, Isa." Lea said quietly with a slow nod of his head, and he smiled gently "I'll keep you safe, I promise. I won't let anyone take you away from me."

"Only Roxas and Even know where we are at."

"That is true."

"And they won't tell."

"No, they won't."

Isa sighed and allowed Lea to hold him for a bit longer, before he carefully pulled himself away and laid down. As much as he enjoyed it when Lea held and comforted him, he was bound and determined to move past what had happened to him. Though, as he closed his eyes and felt Lea tucking the blankets around him, that was much easier said than done.

OOOOOO

As was normal for him after having a nightmare, Isa slept until nearly noon, which unfortunately told Xavier very clearly what had happened over night.

"Isa," the apprentice physician said gently as he helped Isa sit up on the edge of his bed "this is the fourth one this week. These nightmares are interrupting your rest, which you need if you're going to get better, so you need to tell me when they happen."

Isa shook his head. "It's not important."

"On the contrary, it's very important. If you do not get enough rest, you will sicken again, and I don't think that you want that, do you?"

Isa shook his head again; he most certainly did not want to get sick again. He had already been warned that his lungs were very frail still and that any new infection could be fatal. He had been lucky to survive the first time, he likely wouldn't be able to cheat death a second time.

"If they continue," Xavier said "I'll talk to Taylor about giving you something to help you sleep without dreaming, okay?"

Isa nodded silently, and he sighed as Xavier began his daily therapy, a series of range of motion exercises to loosen up joints that had stiffened during his long imprisonment and strengthen muscles that had atrophied from disuse. The exercises were uncomfortable and sometimes painful, but Isa only bit his lip and tried to ignore the pain. The pain of the therapy was nothing compared to the agony of dying slowly, alone in a dark, tiny cell.

After an hour, when the exercises were done, Xavier picked him up and carried him to the bathroom, where a hot, soothing bath was waiting. After assisting him with using the toilet, Xavier carefully undressed him and lowered him into the bathtub and began to help him bathe.

"Where is Lea?" he asked as Xavier washed his hair. Normally the red head assisted Isa with his bath, and he was curious as to where his friend was.

"He, my father, and my brothers went to help out Celia and Jacob with their barn. The roof was torn off during that wind storm yesterday, and it needs fixed quickly before the snow flies."

Isa nodded in understanding and was silent during the rest of the bath. He allowed Xavier to scoop him out of the tub, dry him off, comb out his hair, and rub wintergreen oil into his arms and legs to soothe and ease the pain from sore muscles that were unused to being worked. He was then dressed in his day clothes, a heavy robe was slipped on over them, warm socks and slippers were put on his feet, and then he was picked up and carried back to his room

Xavier gently sat him down in a heavily padded chair, since he didn't move from it much, and then he disappeared downstairs for a moment and came back with a lunch tray for him. It was a small meal, consisting of light foods in small portions, since he was still getting used to eating again. He ate slowly and carefully while Xavier built a fire in the fireplace and changed the sheets on the bed.

The bedroom that he and Lea shared was only one of two in the house that had a fireplace, with Elissa and Jascha's room being the other. The room had been Xavier's at one time, since he had needed the warmth of a hearth during his own illness and recovery two years before, but he had moved out of it once he had been well enough. The house, like nearly every other building in Haven's Bridge, had no central heat, something that Isa and Lea were still adjusting to. The world had limited electricity, but only in a few places, like the hospital. People seemed fine with the idea of going without it. Lea had been flabbergasted at the idea of no electricity and only fireplaces for heat, but to Isa, who had spent two years locked in a prison cell, just being in a house and sleeping in a bed was luxury.

Of course, Xavier had admitted that, during the winter, Alexander slept in his parents' bed, and on the really cold nights, Xavier and his brothers often dragged their blankets into their parents' room and slept huddled together on the floor in front of their fireplace.

"It's getting really cold out there." Xavier said as he stood up from the crackling fireplace "We should be seeing the first snow soon."

"Cold..." Isa said quietly looking down at the tray on his lap. "Getting cold..."

Cold...

Cold...

I'm cold...

It's so cold...

"Isa?"

Isa blinked and shook his head slightly to see Xavier kneeling in front of him, looking at him in concern. "Another flashback?"

Isa nodded faintly. "I wish I could make them go away."

"I know, Isa. I understand. They will fade with time." Xavier stood up and gently stroked his hair before he took the empty tray and took it downstairs.

OOOOOO

Lea returned in the late afternoon, once the sun had dipped low enough that it no longer provided enough light to see by.

"Man, does this weather suck." he grumbled as he peeled off his extra layers of clothing "Winter's not even officially here yet, and I already can't wait for spring."

Isa smiled weakly and reached out, and Lea gently pulled him out of the chair and held him close. "I missed you today." Isa mumbled as he rested his head on Lea's shoulder.

Lea chuckled warmly. "I missed you too. I was thinking about you all day. Did Xavier take care of you?"

Isa nodded. "He did."

"Good, now are you ready for some food? I'm starving."

Isa laughed quietly. "You're always hungry, and now you can't use the 'I'm a growing boy.' excuse that you used when we were kids."

"Sure, ruin my fun." Lea grinned and picked Isa up. "Now let's go downstairs and get some dinner. I'm starving."

"You've said that already."

Lea began to carry him out of the room and down the stairs. "I'm just trying to get across how hungry I am."

"How can you eat like you do and stay such a stick, I'll never know."

"I'm just lucky that way.

"Lucky? How in the hell -"

The pair continued their banter down the stairs and into the dining room, and by the time dinner was over, Isa was ready for bed. Lea carried him back into the warm bedroom – the fire was kept going constantly – dressed him in his night clothes, and tucked him into bed.

"Stay with me until I fall asleep?" Isa asked meekly, even as he cursed inwardly at how weak he sounded.

"Always." Lea perched on the edge of the bed as Isa snuggled into his blankets "Goodnight, Isa."

"Goodnight."

OOOOOO

He was so hungry.

He had no way to keep track of time in his lightless cell, so he had no idea how long it had been since he had eaten last, but if his stomach's complaints were any indication, it had been a while.

His chains clanked and rattled as he turned over onto his left side to face the door and curled up in a ball. It was cold in the cell, and he shivered. His rotting clothing did nothing to hold warmth, and he couldn't stop the whimper that slid past his lips as his shivering only made his stomach cramp worse than before.

Footsteps approached the cell door, and a small metal flap in the bottom of it opened, and a bowl was shoved through.

"This is more than you deserve, you monster." a voice growled as the bowl tipped over and slopped most of its contents onto the stone floor. He dragged himself over, and he had just enough slack in his chains to reach the bowl. He greedily slurped down what little was inside, and it was barely a mouthful. He licked the bowl clean, and whined in hunger. Desperate, he lowered his head to the stones and licked the split soup off of them.

Hungry...

So hungry...

I'm hungry...

OOOOOO

"I'm hungry!" he wailed, and the sound of his own voice startled him awake. He looked up at the flickering light from the fireplace playing across the ceiling and sighed in relief. It had been just another nightmare.

"Isa?" came Lea's voice from nearby "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Lea. It was just another dream."

"I beg to differ." Xavier said, and Isa raised his head from the pillow to see the physician standing in the doorway, dressed in his dressing gown and slippers "You cried out loud enough to wake me, so I doubt it was an ordinary dream."

"I'm fine." Isa insisted as Xavier walked into the room and helped him sit up.

"Remember what I told you earlier about not getting enough rest?" Xavier said evenly as Isa noticed the bottle and spoon he was holding in one hand. "I spoke to Taylor earlier, and he said to give you a small dose of a sedative if you woke up again."

Isa shook his head. "I don't want it."

"But you need it." Lea said as he sat down on the bed beside him. Isa blinked; he hadn't seen him get out of bed. "You've been having these too often, and you need a break from them."

Xavier poured out a dose into the spoon, and Isa shook his head again and scooted back. "I don't want it!"

"But as Lea said, you need it." Xavier replied evenly as he held the spoon up. "C'mon. Open up."

"No!" They were ganging up on him; he hated it when they did that.

"Don't be difficult, Isa." Lea said as he wound his arms around him to hold him still "Just take it, so you can go back to sleep."

"No, I don't want it!"

Xavier sighed. "I don't want to force you, but you seriously need the sleep, so you have two choices. Either take it by spoon, or by shot. Which will it be?"

Isa whined and tried to wiggle out of Lea's arms, but the redhead's embrace was too strong to escape. "Why are you doing this to me!"

"Because you must get some sleep." Xavier replied "Do you want to sicken again?"

Isa began to cry then. "Please don't make me. I don't want it!" He vaguely heard the bottle and spoon being set down on the nightstand, and a second later, he felt Xavier sit down on the bed beside him.

"Isa," Xavier said gently as he carefully pulled Isa out of Lea's arms into his own "Please don't cry. I know that you hate feeling helpless because of what happened to you, and I swear to you that all the sedative will do is allow you to sleep without dreaming. It won't prevent you from waking up, it won't stop you from moving around. You will just sleep a dreamless sleep, that is all." Isa cried quietly into Xavier's dressing gown as the latter soothingly rubbed his back and said nothing. Xavier sighed quietly. "You're safe here, Isa. No one will lock you up, no one will take you away, and no one will ever chain you down again. Now please, take the sedative so you can get some rest."

Isa wiped at his eyes as he was handed back over to Lea, and Xavier held up the spoon in front of him.

"I will be right here with you." Lea said softly "No one will take you from me."

Isa looked down at his lap for a moment, and then he obediently opened his mouth and took the sedative. He grimaced at the foul taste as he swallowed, and Xavier set the spoon down on the nightstand again.

"It should take effect soon." he said "So just lie down and rest."

Isa nodded tiredly and allowed Lea to lie him down and tuck him in, and he fell asleep quickly, holding Lea's hand in his own.

OOOOOO

Isa shifted in bed as awareness slowly filtered back to him. He opened his eyes, and the weak light in the room told him that it was already close to sundown. How long had he slept? He slowly sat up, noting that he was much more alert than was normal for him after waking, though he still felt a little tired.

Lea was on the other side of the room, kneeling down in front of the fireplace. "Lea?"

Lea turned around. "Afternoon, sleepyhead."

"Afternoon? What time is it?"

"Nearly five. You slept for nearly 15 hours."

"Fifteen hours? How? Why?"

Lea walked over and sat on the bed beside him. "You were tired. Be honest, when's the last time you got a full uninterrupted night's sleep?" Isa looked at him and didn't answer. "That's what I thought. You really needed the sleep, and as Xavier put it when I asked him, once the sedative went to work, your body shut down from exhaustion, hence the reason you slept so long."

"I didn't dream either." Isa said quietly.

"Yeah," Lea scratched his head. "Xavier said that the sedative put you into the deepest sleep, where you don't dream, and your body was so tired it kept you there."

"I'm still tired though."

"He said you would be, because one good night is not enough to make up for all the sleep deprivation. He left another dose for you if you want it tonight."

"He left a dose? He's not going to be here?"

Lea shook his head. "No, he's off gallivanting around the words. Said he had something to look into. He said he'd be back in a few days at most." He reached out and playfully ruffled Isa's hair, which resulted in an irritated growl. "Ready to get up for what's left of the day?"

Isa slapped Lea's hand away and smoothed his hair out. "I suppose. I really could go back to sleep though."

"Yeah, but you need to eat something, and I'm sure that you need to use the bathroom too, am I right?"

"Fine, fine." Isa grumbled. "Help me up." Lea carefully scooped him out of bed and carried him to the bathroom, and Isa silently counted the days until he could walk again. He had only recently been able to stand without assistance, so he knew it would be awhile before his legs were strong and coordinated enough to walk.

Once that was taken care of, Isa refused to go downstairs to eat.

"I'm just going to go back to sleep soon anyway," he grumbled "so there's no point in going down there if I'm just going to come back up here."

Lea rested his hands on his hips and shook his head. "Fine, I'll be back with something for you to eat." He then plopped Isa down into his padded chair and walked out of the room, while Isa stared at the dancing flames in the fireplace, lost in thought. Where had Xavier gone? And why? For that matter, why was he so curious about it? What the keyblade master chose to do was not Isa's business.

He sighed as Lea returned, carrying a tray.

"Are you alright?" Lea asked gently.

"I'm fine!"

"My, you are touchy today."

"Just leave me alone."

"Sorry, no can do." Lea said patiently, and his calm tone seemed to only aggravate Isa further, but he held his tongue as the tray was set down on his lap. "Like it or not, I have to stick close to you until you're stronger."

Isa growled; he hated it when Lea hovered around him nearly as much as he hated it when they ganged up on him, but he ate his meal without complaint and made short work of it.

"Can I go back to bed now?"

"Are you sure? I mean, sure you don't wanna go downstairs for a spell and relax with everyone?"

"I'm tired, Lea. I want to go back to sleep."

"Well, if you're certain then..."

"I am certain! I want to go back to bed now!"

"Hey," Lea scolded him as he scooped him out of his chair and deposited him back in bed. "No need to be such a grouch."

Isa growled again as he laid down and made himself comfortable, and he was nearly asleep when Lea spoke again.

"Do you want the dose of sedative that Xavier left for you?"

"No," he growled shortly, and he rolled over onto his other side, facing away from Lea, and went to sleep.

OOOOOO

He was alive.

Saïx sat up from where he had been lying on the lab floor and looked around

He was alive.

How? How was it possible? He remembered facing Sora/Roxas and knowing that he and Xemnas were the only members of the Organization left. He remembered being defeated and begging for his heart as he faded away.

"Isa?" Saïx turned around to see Axel standing behind him. "Isa? Is that really you?"

"Who else would it be?" Saïx snapped, feeling irritated at the question.

Wait...

Irritated?

He didn't have a heart; he could feel irritated. Yet...

Saïx, no, was he Isa again? felt Axel – Lea's – warm arms engulf him in a hug as he looked within himself.

"I'm whole." he whispered quietly

"Yeah," Lea whispered back "We have our hearts back. I don't know how, but we're complete now, and we can pick up where we left off."

Isa laid his head on Lea's shoulder as the redhead held him tight. "We're... we're complete again?" he whispered. "I... I can't believe it. We're finally complete."

"Saïx has appeared." came a voice from nearby, and before Isa could contemplate what that meant, he felt hands, multiple hands, grabbing him by his coat, arms, and hair, and pulling him away from Lea.

"Lea!" he demanded "What's happening!" He was pulled roughly to his feet and dragged out of the room.

Lea stood up and brushed off his coat. "You didn't think that you could get away with what you did, did you Isa?" he said evenly "Now you're going to get the punishment you deserve."

"Lea, don't let them take me away!" Lea only stood and watched with a smirk on his face. "Lea! LEA!"

A hand struck the side of his head. "Stop your sniveling, you monster, or we'll give you something to wail about." Isa turned to his right to see that it was Lea that was holding onto his right arm, helping to drag him along. "You deserve this, you know."

"Please, don't." Isa pleaded as he looked at his former best friend "I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Please don't do this!"

"Shut up!" came an angry voice from his left, accompanied by a vicious yank on his hair that ripped a hank of it out, and Isa turned that way to see that Lea was holding his left arm too.

"Lea, please..!"

His friend (friends?) ignored him as he was dragged down a corridor that darkened steadily as they moved down it, until it was nearly pitch black. Ahead he could see a lone cell door, and he renewed his struggles.

"No! I don't want to go in there! Don't lock me away! The grip on his arms only seemed to tighten as he struggled. "Please! I won't do it again! I'm sorry!"

The cell door opened, and it was pitch black on the other side; he could see nothing beyond it.

"Wait!" he wailed "Stop! Don't put me in there!" He was picked off of his feet, and then he was thrown into the cell. He landed hard on the damp floor and the door slammed shut behind him before he could get up. He heard metal clinking and clanking, and then cold shackles clamped down around his wrists and ankles. The chains tightened, and pulled him down to the floor onto his back, with barely enough slack to raise his arms, but not enough to sit or stand.

"Let me out!" he screamed "Let me out! Don't leave me here! Lea, come back! Lea!"

"LEA!"

"Isa? Isa, wake up, you're dreaming again."

"Let me go! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please let me out!"

Hands grabbed him by the wrists, and he screamed again.

"Isa, I'm here, it's just a nightmare. You need to wake up."

"Don't lock me in there!"

Something wound tightly around him, and he struggled to get away. "Isa, wake up. Is Xavier back yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Stop! Let go of me!"

"Shhh, Isa. No one is going to lock you up."

"Please, no!"

"He's pretty hysterical. I'm going to go fetch Taylor."

"Hurry. I don't know how much longer before his fear brings his berserk self out. If that happens, he'll attack anyone and everything around him until he drops from exhaustion."

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I don't want to go in there!"

"Can you hold him for now, Lea? I want everyone else out of the room. Lea, if he loses it, get out."

"What if he hurts himself?"

"What if he seriously hurts you? I'd rather he destroy the room and wear himself out then hurt someone else. If what you and Xavier has told is true, then there's no way you'll be able to stop him from hurting himself anyway."

"Let me GO!"

The things around him vanished then, and Isa had only one thought: to get away. He didn't want to be locked up! He didn't want to be chained to the floor! Lunatic appeared in his hand, in response to his desperate call, and he lashed out blindly at those around him, trying to keep them away. He heard running footsteps, and then a door slammed nearby.

"NO!" he screamed in rage, fear, and confusion "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" He launched himself at where he thought the door was – he couldn't see anything in the dark – but Lunatic bounced off a solid barrier, which prompted another enraged scream. He barely noticed when he slipped fully into his berserker state, and he attacked the door and anything near it. They weren't going to lock him away to rot! He ignored the sounds of things breaking, intent of destroying the door that was blocking his path to freedom

But what was wrong with him? Why was he having trouble standing? Why was Lunatic not responding to him like normal. Why was he so tired so suddenly? He took one last swing at the door, before Lunatic's weight threw him off balance, and he fell to the floor. His claymore fell from hand and clattered to the floor beside him, and he heard footsteps approaching him.

"Good, he's tired himself out." said a nearby voice "Lea, I need you to hold him down on his stomach.

"Okay." He felt hands on him again, pinning him down to the floor as another pair of hands pulled his pants down.

"No!" he shrieked, and he tried again to get away. The guards had threatened to do that to him if he didn't stop fighting them; maybe they were going to make good on their threats. "No, don't! I'll be good!"

"Just be still, Isa, and it will be over in a minute."

"No!"

He felt a stinging jab, and the he fell into blissful darkness.

OOOOOO

His head hurt.

Isa groaned as he slowly woke up. His head was killing him, and his entire body ached like he'd been thrown down a few flights of stairs.

What had happened to him?

"Isa?" came Lea's voice, sounding quiet and concerned, from somewhere to the right "Are you awake?"

"Lea?" he groaned as he forced his eyes open and saw that he was in the hospital again "What... happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"No," He tried to sit up, but failed, so he had to settled for turning his head to the side to see Lea seated in a chair by the bed. Why were his eyes red and puffy? Had he been crying? Crying over what?

Lea gnawed on his lip for a moment. "You had a nightmare, and when I tried to wake you up you were so scared that you went berserk."

Isa couldn't stop the gasp that came out of his mouth. "I.. what? Did I hurt anyone?"

Lea shook his head. "Only yourself. When you lost it, Jascha dragged me out of the room and shut the door. I think you were dreaming about being locked in the prison cell, because when that door shut, you went crazy. You screamed at us to let you out, and then you attacked the door." He took a shuddering breath. "Leaving you alone in there is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I wanted to go in there and try and calm you down, but Jascha wouldn't let me. He told me that you might attack me, and asked me how I though you'd feel if you found out you had injured me."

Isa grimaced; it was something he didn't want to contemplate, but he knew the guilt from such a thing would have eaten him alive.

Lea continued. "Masa had gone to get Taylor, and he waited until he heard you collapse before he went in. You were lying on the floor, and he had me hold you down while he sedated you. Once you were out, we brought you here." He paused and gnawed on his lip for a moment. "Isa... when Taylor pulled your pajama pants down, you freaked out again, even though you were too weak to go berserk. Did somebody... did they...?"

Isa shook his head slightly. "No, they didn't. During my trial, the guards liked to beat the hell out of me at the end of the day. When I fought them, a few of them threatened me with that if I didn't stop. They never did though."

Lea sighed in relief, and Isa saw him visibly relax. "Good. I was worried about that." He moved from his chair to sit on the side of the bed, and he sat Isa up and wrapped his arms around him. "I'm sorry that I wasn't there. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you. During the trial, no one would tell me where you were being held, and I don't think really anyone knew but Ansem and a few of the guards. Sora, and later Roxas, kept telling me that you deserved to be locked up, but I didn't care. When I finally found out where they had put you, I so wanted to get you out."

"But you couldn't." Isa said, his words muffled by Lea's shirt "I never thanked you for all the times you visited me, and for all the food and blankets you brought, even if they just got taken away after you left."

"I know they hurt you for that, which is why I stopped bringing stuff down."

"Thank you for trying. No one else did. Not even my family..." Isa paused to wipe at his eyes. "No one else cared."

He could almost hear Lea's smile. "You're welcome. That's what friends do, right? And I'll always be there to get my friends back."

Isa smiled faintly and closed his eyes, allowing the feeling of safety to wash over him. "When can I leave here?"

"Tomorrow. Taylor wants you to stay here for a bit longer just in case you worsen. Now, are you hungry? Do you want to eat something? I think there's something edible stashed in the office for the two of us."

"Is Xavier back yet?"

Lea eased him back down and stood up. "No, not yet. I hope he gets back soon though." He reached out and ruffled Isa's hair, which prompted Isa to reach up and swat his hand away with a half hearted growl. Lea chuckled and walked out of the room, and Isa could hear him rummaging around in there, and he returned a few minutes later with two plates. He then elevated the head of the bed so Isa could sit up, laid a tray across his lap, and sat one of the plates down on it. He then plonked himself down in his chair with his own plate and started eating.

Isa ate slowly, his mind awhirl with thoughts. He hadn't gone berserk since that last night in Never Was, no wait, that wasn't right. He had gone berserk one last time, the night his trial had ended. He'd been sentenced to rot in the prison for the rest of his life, and as soon as he guards had dragged him out of the hall, they had beaten him again. He'd snapped and gone berserk on them, and they had responded by nearly beating him to death. He had woke hours later, chained to the cell floor, as Lea poured healing potions down his throat.

After that, he'd rarely seen anyone outside of Lea, and occasionally Roxas. The only time guards entered the cell after that was to take away anything Lea had given him, usually delivering a few nasty kicks to his ribs whenever they did. Once Lea had stopped bringing him things, they had stopped coming in.

Isa finished his meal, and he yawned as Lea cleared the dishes away and took them into small hospital kitchen to wash them.

"Sounds like you're ready to go back to sleep." the redhead commented from the kitchen.

"How long was I asleep?" Isa asked as Lea walked back into the room.

"About 23 hours. Taylor apparently gave you the potent stuff, so that coupled with your lack of sleep really put you down for a while." He lowered the head of the bed and pulled the blanket up. "Go back to sleep; I'll stay here with you."

Isa smiled sleepily as Lea leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. "G'night, Lea."

"Goodnight, Isa."

OOOOOO

Taylor allowed Isa to go home in the morning, and Heras picked them up in the wagon. Isa was still tired from going berserk, and he dozed during the ride and paid scant attention to Lea and Heras's conversation. It wasn't until he was carried back into the house and up the stairs to their room that he realized just how crazy he had gone.

The bedroom door was new, so was the door frame. Some of the floorboards had been replaced as well, and the new wood stood out in sharp contrast to the well worn pieces around them. The coat stand that once sat just inside the door was gone, and the table that once sat next too it showed signs of obvious repair.

He stared at the repaired damage with wide eyes as he was sat down in his chair. "What? I did that?" He looked at Elissa as she came into the room, bearing a load of freshly washed bed linen. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen!"

She gave him a gentle smile. "It is alright, Isa. You were frightened and not in control of yourself."

"But I destroyed part of the room!"

She leaned over to look him in the eye. "No one blames you for that. We were told before we offered to let you stay that you could do that and the damage it could cause. Jascha and I decided to let you stay anyway, so please, don't blame yourself for something that you couldn't control." She planted a small kiss on his hair and smiled at him again as she stood up. She started to make up the beds and turned to look at Lea for a moment. "We saved breakfast for you two, if you want to go downstairs and get it."

Lea stood up from the fireplace and brushed his hands off. "I think I'll do that. Breakfast sounds good right now." He started to walk out of the room. "I'll be right back, Isa."

Isa sighed and looked down at his lap. He had gone berserk, destroyed part of the room, and everyone forgave him for it. He supposed that he shouldn't complain, but he'd expected to be at the very least given the chewing out of his life, thrown out into the street at worst. Of course he hadn't intended to go berserk, but it wouldn't happened if he had taken the sedative that Xavier had left for him. He sighed again; he didn't want to, but it looked as though he was going to have to take it every night before bed to prevent another berserk episode and just deal with it

He was broken from his thoughts when Elissa finished making the beds and gently ran her hand down his hair. He managed a weak smile, and she walked out of the room just before Lea reappeared with breakfast. As usual, Isa's was laid out on a tray across his lap, and he only stared at it for a moment.

"Hey," Lea poked him in the arm "Are you going to eat it or stare at it?"

"I just have things on my mind."

"Would those things happen to be what happened the other night?" Isa nodded without saying anything. "Don't worry about it. No one was hurt, the damage was easily fixed, and no one blames you."

"I should have taken the sedative, and then it wouldn't have happened."

"No, it wouldn't have, but we all know why you don't like to take those, and I really can't blame you."

"What do you mean?"

"If I had spent two years chained to a floor, I wouldn't like anything that might leave me helpless too."

Isa sighed again. "I know that Xavier is telling me the truth when he says it woke stop me from moving or waking up, but I still..." He heard dishes being set down, and then Lea knelt down in front of him to look him in the eye.

"I know, Isa. I understand why it scares you, and I wouldn't want to take it either if I were in your place, but believe me when I say I won't let anything happen to you. I will watch while you're asleep, and anyone that wants to hurt you will have to go through me instead." Isa manged another weak smile, and Lea returned it as he stood up and went back to his own chair and picked up his half eaten breakfast. "Eat, Isa. Staring at your food won't make your fear go away, but it will make your stomach feel better. Besides you don't want to do your physical therapy on an empty stomach, do you?"

Isa nodded and picked up his fork, and he ate his breakfast without another word.

OOOOOO

Isa spent most of the day downstairs, with only Lea and Elissa for company, since Xavier still had not come home yet, and the rest of the family was out working on Celia and Jacob's barn, though they were almost done. Elissa bustled around the house and barn, and refused Lea's offer to help with the chores.

"Isa needs you more than I do." she told him. She made lunch for the three of them, which they ate together in the dining room, and afterwards, Isa settled down to read a book. It was an action/adventure story of a boy that finds a pirates' hoard of treasure and then has to defend himself and his family from the angry pirates in question. It had been one of his favorites as a teenager, and Lea had picked up a copy of it for him in Radiant Garden. The characters seemed shallower to his adult self, and the plot was much more campy that he remembered, but it kept him mildly entertained until dinner time.

Jascha and Xavier's brothers returned just before sundown, and everyone, save Xavier, sat down to dinner together. Lea had fit in with Xavier's brothers quite well and easily, and he shared in their banter and jokes over the meal, while Isa sat quietly nearby, eating his meal in silence. He was already starting to tire, so he knew that after dinner, he would have to go to bed, and he wasn't looking forward to it. He didn't want to have another nightmare like the one that had made him go berserk, but he didn't want to take any sedatives either.

There was no help for it though, and after dinner, Lea carried him up the stairs to their room and helped him get ready for bed.

"Do you want the sedative?" Lea asked him, and Isa hesitated. He didn't want it, but he didn't want to go crazy on everyone again. What if he hurt someone? What if he got out of the room and did serious damage to the house?

"I..." He paused and swallowed heavily. Lea was watching him, waiting for an answer, but then he was saved from having to give one.

He felt darkness fizzle across his skin, and he realized immediately that it was Xavier, using the Dark Corridors to come home. He heard the happy greetings from those downstairs, welcoming him home, and after a few minutes they heard him ascending the stairs and walking down the hallway. Finally, he appeared in the doorway, and he took a quick moment to look at the new door and door frame, before he walked into the room and up to Isa, who was sitting up in bed. He pulled up in chair and sat down in front of him.

"I have something for you." he said evenly, and he reached into a pocket of his coat and pulled out a small piece of a disk shaped, shiny black material, that was strung of some kind of cord.

"What is it?" Isa asked curiously as he looked at the thing in Xavier's hand.

Xavier smiled faintly. "When my original self was a boy, he had a Wayfinder that he'd been given as a infant. His mother insisted a sea god had given it to him, but no matter where it came from, Xehanort would often hold it when he was upset or frightened, because it could calm him down. He left the Wayfinder behind when he left the Destiny Islands to begin his life as a Keyblade Apprentice, but it made me think. If a Wayfinder could be used to calm and soothe, why not something else? During his travels after gaining the title of Keyblade Master, he visited many worlds, in including a very large one, one so large that many believed that it was an object of myth. On that world, magic exists in many forms, including magic for warding and protection." He held up what looked to be a small piece of black glass with etchings on it. "This is obsidian. It's a type of glass formed during volcanic activity. On that large world, there are many volcanoes, so it's easy to find, and it has the amazing power to hold magic very well, and magic users there prize it for that.

"One other thing that I find interesting about that world is that Isa is a boy's name in no less than three different languages and cultures. In those cultures, and others that practice warding magic, the name in its written form is commonly used for such wards and protections. They carve into obsidian, bone, any kind of material that is capable of carrying magic, and then they infuse it with magic. Once that is done, it can be used as part of a larger array to say, ward a building, or as a one time use thing to protect a person."

Xavier turned the disk around, which allowed Isa to see a single vertical line carved into the other side that was glowing softly. "This is Isa, written in the Old Norse language, and it means 'ice'. I have already charged that one, because of my natural affinity with ice and water, I though it would work best." He turned it back around, so the other etching, which was not glowing, was visible again. "This one is Isa written in Sanskrit, and it means 'lord'. I thought it best if Lea were to charge this one." He looked over his shoulder as Lea stepped forward. "Would you be willing to try?"

Lea shrugged. "Sure, but how will this work? How do I charge it? And what good will it do?"

"It will have a two fold function. It will act as a one time protection if anyone tries to harm him. We will have to recharge it after every use. It will also, if we've done it right, help calm him, like the Wayfinder used to calm my original self, and I think we can all agree that anything that helps with the nightmares would be welcome." He looked at Isa. "Am I right?"

Isa nodded and looked at the tiny piece of black glass as he tried not to get his hopes up. Something to stop his nightmares without resorting to drugging himself every night? He'd try it, but, even though he was capable of some limited magic himself, he didn't put much stock into things. He knew that wards existed – when he concentrated, he could feel the ones that Xavier had placed around the house – but that didn't mean that he trusted them.

"The worst that happens is that it doesn't work, right?" Lea said with another shrug "So let's try it. What do I need to do?"

"Pull up a chair; this will leave you a bit tired." Xavier waited until Lea had done so, and then he continued with the instruction. "Now think of Isa. Think of how much you care for him. Think of keeping him safe, of keeping him calm, of soothing his nightmares away. Now hold onto those thoughts and feelings and gather your power."

Lea closed his eyes, and Isa could feel his power building, and when the redhead opened his eyes after a few minutes, his eyes were glowing faintly. Xavier smiled in satisfaction. "Now focus that power and those feelings, and direct them down into your arm, through your hand, and into the tip of your finger. When you're ready, touch the rune." He held up the obsidian piece, and Lea reached out and lightly placed the tip of his right index finger against the etching.

Isa leaned to the side to get a better view as the power flowed from Lea to the etching. The etching began to glow, faintly at first but steadily brightening, until it was almost painful to look at. Finally, Lea took his hand away, and the glow faded, leaving only the rune, glowing softly. Lea then slumped back in his chair.

"Damn!" he exclaimed "I feel like I've taken out a couple thousand Heartless without a break."

"You just did serious magic." Xavier explained "So it's to be expected."

"Did you feel this tired after charging the other rune?"

"No," Xavier seemed almost smug, and Isa smirked in amusement. "It pays to have a lot of magic at one's disposal sometimes."

"Yeah, yeah, brag it up."

Xavier grinned and lifted up Isa's left foot to rest on his lap. "Now, you just have to put it on." He quickly tied the cord in a knot, leaving the obsidian dangling from Isa's ankle.

Isa put his foot down on the floor and frowned. "I don't feel anything different." he said after a moment.

"No, you won't, at least not right now. Now, you're calm and unafraid. You won't feel any effects from it until they are needed."

"So I should just hope it works?"

Xavier smiled at him as he stood up. "It will work, trust me. Now let's get you to bed, shall we? Though," he glanced over at Lea, who was dozing in his chair. "Maybe I should put him to bed first."

Isa laughed quietly. "He's a big boy. He can put himself to bed." He reached up to Xavier. "Help me up?"

Xavier pulled him to his feet and held him up while he reached out with one leg and kicked Lea's chair. "Get up, Lea. I most certainly am not putting you to bed."

Lea jumped. "Huhwha?" He then looked up at Xavier, who was grinning, and Isa, who was laughing. "Oh fine, laugh at me when I'm down." he grumbled as he stood up and helped Xavier lie Isa down and tuck him in.

Isa curled up under his blankets with a sigh, and he nestled down into the mattress and closed his eyes. "Goodnight. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Isa." Xavier said from nearby "Get your rest, and we'll be downstairs if you need us."

He heard clothes rustling, and Lea kissed him on the side of his head. "Goodnight, Isa."

Isa yawned. "G'night." He heard their footsteps walking out of the room (while leaving the door open) and Isa smiled to himself as he began to fall asleep. Things weren't back to normal, but they were getting better, and that was good enough for now.

He slept the entire night through, without a single nightmare.

OOOOOO

A/N 2: Part of me feels that I ended this too abruptly, but I really didn't want to go any further. Isa is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and that just doesn't go away with the snap of someone's fingers. It fades gradually over time (for about 90% of the sufferers of it; the remaining 10% are stuck with it for years, sometimes for the rest of their lives.), and I didn't want to write the entire length of time it took for Isa's to go away. It does get better for him though; if you read Surprise you can see that he sleeps fine, and being closed in a room no longer bothers him. And yes, his family did disown him before his imprisonment.

A/N 3: This entire fic was inspired by a single line in Bobmin's "Sunrise Over Britain". In that scene, Hermione is using premade warding stones to create wards outside her and Harry's home. One of the runes mentions was the Old Norse rune "Isa", and the fic just sort of sprouted in my brain from there.