In vague honor of 1/7 day - which it still is for another two and a half hours - and done this way because I fail at pairings. Companion piece to The Lost Two, and yes it really is a KH fic. Unspoilery, though speculation on the pre-KH identities of two Organization members. Ais and Izenu are not mine, while Knosis is.
One month of absence stretched into a year, and then threatened to become two, before Knosis called Ais into his office and informed him that he was officially his brother's guardian now. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but the young Chaser still had to take several moments before regaining his composure enough to return home.
Izenu wouldn't return from school for another half hour, giving Ais the time to decide how he would say this. He was still sitting on the couch deep in thought when the front door opened and his brother walked in and set his books down on the closest chair. Ais frowned. The boy had only been eight when they left; how much of them would he actually remember?
"Ais? Are you okay?" Izenu asked.
Ais let his breath out slowly and beckoned him over. "C'mere, Moonlight. There's something I need to tell you." He waited until Izenu was seated next to him, tucked under his arm, before he spoke again. "I- There's not really a good way to say this, but Knosis thought it would be better if you heard it from me..." Izenu was looking up at him expectantly, his large eyes the same shade as their mother's were. Had been. Ais considered taking him over to Knosis anyway, then dismissed it. This concerned their family, no matter how close Knosis was (had been) to their parents. He took a deep breath. "Izenu, Mother and Father haven't been heard from since they left on their last mission. The commander doesn't think they're coming back."
He felt Izenu's breath hitch, though the boy didn't say anything. After he'd cried himself to sleep, Ais carried him upstairs and put him to bed, absently noting that he'd have to speak with Izenu's teacher about letting him out of school for a while. He stood by Izenu's bed, looking down at him. With their parents gone, Ais's world now consisted only of his young brother.
As long as they were together, nothing worse could happen.