Resolution

Tears of sadness welled up in his eyes. Since he was reborn as Lea, every day he'd go to Twilight Town and have Sea-Salt Ice Cream by himself, and almost every time he cried. He had gotten over wanting to turn Sora into a Nobody so he can get Roxas back, and when he was with Sora he always felt like he was actually with Roxas. He had always kept up his façade in front of Sora. He didn't want the brunette to know of his aching heart. Sometimes Lea even wished Sora had never woken up, and that Roxas stayed alive long enough for Lea to tell him how he really felt.

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he sat down on the balcony of the clock tower, hanging his feet off and watching as the seemingly endless sunset grew redder and redder with each passing minute. In his mind he could picture Roxas, his eyes sparkling in the light of the sunset, that cute smile of his making Lea smile as well, that warm glow Roxas always possessed to make Lea happy. But now he was unhappy.

And to make things worse, this day was none other than New Year's Eve, the one day he wishes he could forget. Over ten years ago, he and his old friend Isa had always spent New Year's Eve together and often got into some serious trouble by all of Ansem's apprentices. Sometimes even by the old man himself. But one particular New Year's Eve, they had snuck into Ansem's castle and were caught up in something that shouldn't have concerned them. It shouldn't have happened. But by chance, it did happen. That was the night he and Isa had become a part of the Organization. The day they were Nobodies.

Lea cringed at that memory. Maybe if they hadn't snuck in the castle that day, Lea wouldn't have had to endure all of this heartache. And if Lea remembered correctly, that was also the day he had lost his best friend. Isa…

"Hayner, wait up!" yelled a male voice that Lea recognized. If he remembered, it was one of those kids who always came up here and Lea would have to disappear as quickly as he could to avoid being seen. He raised his hand to summon a Corridor of Darkness, but before he could a boy stepped onto the balcony as well. Behind him appeared another boy and a girl. The boy who spoke before muttered, "Uh…have we met?"

Lea sighed. He was slightly angered that he had been spotted. It shouldn't matter now, right? He wasn't a Nobody anymore…he was human, like these three. Lea looked in each of their hands. All three held Sea-Salt Ice Cream bars as well. He chuckled. It was funny how they came up here to eat them just like how he and Roxas did way back when. He remembered their names…Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

"Wait a minute," Olette muttered, staring at Lea as if studying his face. "Black coat, red hair…you're the one who kidnapped Kairi! You're a criminal!"

"Kairi's fine," Lea replied, holding his hands out in defense. The sky began darkening, and Lea was finally seeing what Twilight Town looked like at night. Why had he and Roxas never come here at night? Oh yeah, the stupid curfew Xemnas had to put on them. "And my criminal days are over. I wanted to kidnap Kairi to lure Sora so I could use him for something…but I have no more use for the kid. And now I guess you could say the two of us are friends now." A tear ran down his cheek. Every time he tried thinking of Sora's face, it was replaced by Roxas.

"How's Sora doing?" Pence asked, trying to let their loathing of Lea go. "And Kairi? What about that Riku guy, or Donald, Goofy, or the King?"

"They're all doing fine," Lea replied.

"So what are you doing back in Twilight Town?" Hayner asked, waiting for a response from the redhead.

"Remembering the old times, trying to get them memorized," Lea said, hanging his head down in sadness. Suddenly, he couldn't hold his feelings back anymore. He wanted Roxas back He had to get him back. And…that other girl, too. "I loved someone and had to lose him…and Sora was my only way of getting him back." Olette nodded in understanding, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "My greediness got the better of me and I took Kairi to lure Sora in…but in the end I realized that I just couldn't do it. Me and…Roxas…always came out here to watch the sun set. Now that's over."

Loud crackling sounds filled the air, splitting through Lea's eardrums like a gunshot. Lea missed that sound. Standing to his feet, he stared up at the bright red, white, and blue fireworks exploding through sky. Several more explosions in a spectrum of colors lit up the whole dark sky. There were so many fireworks, and it wasn't even midnight yet.

"Wow!" Pence screamed at the sky.

The cold winds swept through Lea's hair. Holding a hand over his heart he muttered, "Roxas…Isa…I miss you so much." He looked to the three teens that just stood there staring at him. Scratching the back of his head, he chucked while saying, "I guess I'll be getting out of your hair now."

"No!" Pence shouted in protest.

"Please stay," Olette suggested, making a pouty-face that Lea found somewhat adorable. "You're obviously really missing somebody…stay with us. We'll keep you company. Won't we?"

"Sure will," Pence replied.

Hayner paced back and forth. "Something still really bugs me…Roxas. Why does that name sound so familiar? Ah, it probably doesn't matter."

"Haha, looks like the gang's all here!" a voice yelled out. Great, more people, Lea though. From all the times he's been here, he recognized these four individuals quite well. Seifer, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi, members of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee. It was Seifer who spoke. "Who's the redhead?"

"The name's Lea, got it memorized?" Lea pumped his fist up in the air. At least he didn't forget his name this time. In Rai and Fuu's arms were bags of chips. In Vivi's hands were two boxes of Sea-Salt soda that Lea had never tried before. Vivi struggled to lift them up, so Lea did the honors and took them from Vivi, relieving him.

A few minutes to midnight, the entire gang was stuffed from all of the food. Lea had never known he'd become close friends with the gang from Twilight Town. Then again, on Christmas he'd become friends with the Destiny Island crew as well, so it didn't come as that much of a shock.

"I didn't think the four of you would show," Hayner said after a long silence. "You never hang with us on New Year's."

"I'd thought about it, and I realized I had to start being a better friend to you guys," Seifer said with a cocky smile.

"We aren't friends," Hayner snapped back.

"Who says we aren't?" Seifer replied. Hayner tried to say something back, but realized he didn't need to. Finally he said, "Fine, I guess we are friends. All of us could be friends."

And all at once, the sky lit up with thousands of fireworks ranging in every color imaginable. Shapes like the Sea-Salt ice cream bar and even a Paoupu fruit lit up in the sky. The fireworks created images of the clock tower, the old mansion, and many more things symbolic to Twilight Town. It was midnight. New Year's day. The group of eight stood staring in awe at the colorful sky. Lea suddenly felt a powerful presence near. He stared off of the balcony, looking towards the front of the station. A corridor of darkness had appeared on the ground in front of the steps to the station. Lea's eyes widened.

"I have to do something," Lea said to the other seven, and with a faithful leap, he jumped off of the clock tower balcony and landed gracefully on the ground below, directly behind the corridor of darkness. "Hey!"

The corridor vanished, and in its place was a familiar figure. The figure turned around, pulling off his hood to reveal his long blue hair, pointed ears and golden eyes. Lea's heart nearly sunk. What was he doing here? He was none other than Isa, Lea's old best friend from back in Radiant Garden.

"Isa," Lea muttered, reaching a hand out to his former friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I not stop by a few worlds to look at the fireworks?" Lea scowled at that remark, knowing fully well that Isa knew what this day was. "It's also the anniversary of when my journey began. The journey that started all of this…what made me a different person. What made me stronger than I ever was."

"The day our hearts were ripped from our chests by Xehanort!?" Lea yelled back in anger. "That's a happy memory for you? Your heart isn't even your own anymore…it's an old, old heart that belongs to another! Is that what you want!?"

"I don't have time to be criticized by you, Lea," Isa said, beginning to vanish into darkness. He snapped his fingers, and out of darkness came what looked like a photograph. "A parting gift. We found it in the Castle back in your room." Isa had vanished completely while Lea snatched up the photo.

Lea stared at the photo as the memories came rushing back all at once. When he and Roxas were still in the Organization, they had found a camera lying around and decided to goof off a bit. He smiled at the picture of him and Roxas making goofy faces at the camera. A tear trickled down his cheek, and this time he didn't bother to wipe it away. He simply pocketed the photo and smiled, looking towards the sky.

"My New Year's resolution…" he said with a loud voice as he felt fire dance in his hair. "Is to bring all of my friends back!"

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Hope you have a happy 2015! I know I will! Expect a lot more stories and chapters in the future! By the way, the minute this is uploaded it will be midnight so...have a good year and stay tuned for more of my stuff!