They told me Roxas was coming back.
I felt the joy surging through my chest, overwhelming and stifling and terrifying in its intensity. Riku rested a hand on my shoulder, grounding me, assuring me that it was okay, the tears spilling down my cheeks were okay, the choking sensation in the back of my throat was normal.
I didn't pay much attention to the extraction of Roxas from Sora's heart - of everyone from Sora's heart, it seemed, as I was not the only person eagerly anticipating someone's arrival. Xemnas - no, Terra, I reminded myself, as he returned to himself much the same as I had - stood tall and composed, much like he would during private meetings in The Castle That Never Was, except now his long silver mane was rich brown, his yellow eyes turned to crystalline blue, and his eyes remained downcast, tortured and ashamed. He gripped a woman's hand, a woman who Kairi knew from her childhood, a woman who had such an intense fear in the back of her own eyes that it hurt to look at her.
And between them rested a motionless body, breathing but doing little else, and I recognised him as Ventus. He looked identical to how he did when I met him in Radiant Garden all those years ago. Seeing him again, now as an adult, with his windswept blonde tousles and impish face, features nearly identical to Roxas's, except his was darker, his hair slightly more honey-toned and his skin a shade more tanned… seeing him was the hardest.
Kairi, with Namine's consciousness in control, had to delve into Sora's heart, and with Riku by the bedside to ease his best friend into an unconscious state, the process began.
Then, next to me, Ventus rustled.
Xemnas - Terra, I reminded myself - began weeping. Aqua leaned over Ven's pale face and laughed through her own bubbling tears.
I stood up but braced myself, grounded myself, listening to the reunion next to me with bated breath as I waited for Roxas's light pad across the stone floor of the tower, but when the door creaked open, it was not the blonde hair and blue eyes I was waiting for that greeted me.
Her name popped into my head without a second of delay: Xion. And just as quickly, I felt my legs give out like jelly, and she was smiling at me with her wide blue eyes. So small, so fragile - Xion, her petite body pressed into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and held her, my face pressed into her black tresses as memory after memory barraged into me, and suddenly I felt heavy, heavier than ever before with regret and shame, and I felt I could rival Terra in how much I fucked up.
But then a light pad crossed the floor and Roxas was upon us, his eyes haunted as he embraced Xion but warm as he looked at me.
"Maybe now we can go to the beach, yeah?" Roxas joked, and somewhere in the midst of my crying and Xion's laughter, Sora, Riku, and Kairi stepped out.
I looked at them with bleary, irritated eyes. Sora was pale, and he held on to Kairi's neck for support as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Riku locked eyes with his newest pupil, Terra, before meeting my own eyes and nodding shortly.
"We can give you all a few days to settle, a week max," he proclaimed, "but we can't put off the inevitable." He looked at Ventus, who was watching Riku with stony eyes. "Ventus - you, Roxas, and Xion will need to be updated on the situation. Terra and Aqua can explain that to you whenever you're ready." He looked between Roxas and Xion, finally settling on me. "Lea, if you need time, or if you need any of us to help, we're more than willing to -"
"Thank you, Riku," I interrupted, nodding, and Riku paused before addressing the group at large once more.
"This is war. We need to be prepared, we need to train. Aqua, Mickey, and I will oversee training but…. we need to be prepared," he repeated lamely, sitting down and facing Kairi and Sora, murmuring to them privately.
Xion, across from me, smiled with her wide blue eyes shining. "It's been a while, Axel," she said.
I ran a nervous hand through my hair, pausing at the back of my neck for a second. "It's Lea, actually. Didn't you get the memo?" I joked.
"Guess we should get that memorized, huh?" Roxas laughed, and I smiled.
Yes, this is war, but we're ready.