How long ago was it when they played? Frisbees and rather sturdy sticks being clashed and thrown playfully with the occasional wimpy cry of "uncle"? A wounded gazelle gambit that was always fallen for? Twelve years, Lea recalled. Twelve years, he recalled, as he slammed jaw first into the ground. A metallic taste filled his mouth and his tongue felt on fire. He'd known the feeling enough from stupid dares in his earlier Nobody years to recognize it. His hand clawed at the ground for support, and he pushed himself up to at least a sitting position while his shoulder screamed at him to stop.

"AXEL! LEA! WHATEVER YOU'LL LISTEN TO!" He heard Sora yell, "I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T USE YOUR KEYBLADE ALREADY I'M COMING IN WHETHER YOU WANT ME TO OR NOT!"

Lea only rolled over and grabbed one of his quickly deteriorating chakrams as a claymore slammed into the ground where he was. He blinked a little blood out of his eyes and trained his gaze on Isa... or at least what was left of him. He held up his chakram with a shaky hand, then let it drop. He ignored the clamor of everyone trying to snap him out of his defeated thoughts or flat out save him, and just said shakily, "Hey... I-Isa..."

Isa only continued walking to him, golden eyes cold.

"Isa... you're getting a little overboard." he tried lacing his words with hints of the child he used to be. Now Lea was staring pleadingly up at Isa, too dizzy and weak even for a determined person like him to stand. Even if there was doom hovering right over his head, ready to crash in and kill him, he kept his green eyes locked with gold, "Please... stop."

To his surprise one of the eyes turned green; tears poured from both; the resolved grip on Isa's claymore faltered and shook. "Lea..." he whispered, "That won't work on me this time."

Lea let out a laugh. He was still in there! Isa was still fighting after all these years! Lea's hand had been hovering near his chakram just in case, but now he let it drop. He closed his eyes, continuing to laugh with bitterness. Might as well let himself die; he was way too critical anyways.

The rush and panic to save Lea came crashing to a horrified halt as he was sent flying to the feet of the heroes of light. Front and foremost being Sora. Sora stared at the limp body in front of him, then carefully knelt down with some sort of numbness in his heart as everyone began yelling in outrage, grief, and panic. Sora's fingers wiped up some blood; his mind locked out Kairi quickly going into team medic mode and summoning up every variation of cure she'd been taught as he stared at the crimson liquid that was still warm.

His fist clenched as his eyes darted up into a furious knot directed at Isa.

Sora stood and shoved Riku aside, "THAT IS THE LAST DAMN STRAW!" He charged at Isa with a fury few people knew he possessed, slamming his Keyblade into the moonlight diviner. It was clear his usual sense of combat chivalry was dead as he made cheap shots at already scarred eyes and weak points that made solid forms breakdown. The others who were riled up to avenge Lea were not only not needed anymore, they were stunned by the one man army Sora formed on his own.

Soon it was Sora with one foot on Isa's chest with tears flowing callously down his twisted features and a Keyblade at Isa's neck. Sora's body shook with sobs rather than exertion; or maybe it was both. Isa's usual composure was slipping into an odd mix of remorse and contempt.

"How. DARE. YOU." Sora managed to get past his choked throat. The line between what was his outrage and Roxas's was so blurred he just didn't care; this anger needed to get out, "How DARE you fight hard enough only to give such an empty apology!"

Kairi checked on Lea again before she held out her hand pleadingly to Sora, "Hey now, that's enough!"

Sora didn't listen; the blood rush in his ears drowned it out easily enough, "HE WAS YOUR FRIEND! HE WAS YOUR FRIEND AND HE BELIEVED IN YOU!" He spat at Isa's face, "He was your friend who believed you were strong enough and you repay the favor with killing him-"

"Sora he's not dead." Riku explained. He quickly realized a lot of these expressions were driving Sora over the edge, "Critically injured but not dead yet."

"Actually, he was your BEST friend!" Sora continued yelling, his voice getting hoarse and grating, "Even if I was in your situation I wouldn't be such a low life COWARD!" He was shrieking now, just going on like a broken record because he still couldn't believe it, "IF YOU COULD FIGHT THEN WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! WHY DID YOU HURT HIM?! WHY?!" he pressed his Keyblade down harder, his voice demanding, "WHY?!"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and his own darted out and wrapped around the neck of whoever dared approach him like this. He turned to find Riku, but he was too numbed and broken to express his surprise. Riku's hands grabbed at Sora's grip, but his glare was enough to get Sora to let go. He grabbed Sora's shoulder again and pushed him back, trading places,

"That is enough."

Riku looked back at Kairi, who quietly stood and took Sora away while Riku kept watch over Isa. Sora let his Keyblade drag on the ground while his other hand clamped over his mouth. Anger was drifting away and now it was just hollowness. He leaned into Kairi, trying to stop crying. Kairi wrapped an arm around him, holding back tears of her own.

HELLPPPP ME I SAW A HEADCANON ON TUMBLR AND I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO THE MEMORIA COVER OF VECTOR TO THE HEAVENS (hence the title) AND NOW I'M JUST REALLY SAD ;A;