A/N: Hey there, guys, so you would think I'd learn by now not to juggle two in-progress fics at once yet here I am! This one was begging to be put out-well, the prologue and this first chapter anyway. I'll give credit where it's very much due to Bighead98 who came up with the request prompt of a fic of Org. XIII getting their hearts (or, rather, humanity, and there's Nomura with the retcon) back. That old chestnut-HOWEVER, with KH3 being out and with a story that has...well, plenty of room for improvement, I think it's a great time to explore these characters around and post-Xehanort Saga. And besides, I actually have never done a full-length fic (even if it's still going to be 15-16 chapters, likely, one chapter per Org. member excluding prologue and epilogue) involving these characters post-War. So, this will actually be quite the ambitious undertaking for me. I hope you will enjoy going along for the ride.

Oh, and of course, I can't resist the inclusion of song lyrics before every chapter. I've come up with quite the soundtrack for this one so far. *This set might seem a bit basic, but I couldn't get this song out of my head when thinking up the prologue*.

Without further ado...

Whenever I step outside, somebody claims to see the light

It seems to me that all of us have lost our patience

'Cause everyone thinks they're right, and nobody thinks that there just might

Be more than one road to our final destination

-"Same Direction", Hoobastank

Prologue

Second chances have never been guaranteed to those who've sought them. Whether to cancel out a troublesome mistake in the hopes that it can be swept under the rug or out of a genuine desire for improvement, they often come in many forms. Not so much results of black-and-white morality, a sort of overarching law governing everyone, but the shades of gray that reside within every heart. Perhaps because the second chance in mind often varies from person to person, with the added complications of second-guessing and the need to be validated. The need to be proven right.

The eve of the Battle of the Keyblade Graveyard was emotionally fraught, as most involved heavily weighed this idea of second chances…especially if the chips fell in their favor to where they could fulfill them after the melee, should they survive. And no matter how far apart they all were at the moment, whether they were Keepers of Darkness or Guardians of Light, they were united in apprehension for the future. Would there even be a future? Was there hope for them, no matter the outcome? Would they enjoy the freedom they were longing for?

In one corner of the universe, the three Destiny Islands heroes were sitting on their favorite tree, savoring these last moments of bonding together before the dawn. In another, two of the Wayfinders stayed up in the guest room of Yen Sid's tower, trying to cheer themselves up with stories of the third friend who had yet to rejoin them. In still another, Xehanort regaled his less-than-enthused collective with war strategy and how they were to crush their opponents. All sitting around a deceptively cozy campfire, while a small, hooded figure stoked the flames with her Keyblade and suppressed shudders and sobs at the idea of being forced to hurt her friends again.

And in Twilight Town, Lea perched on the edge of the clock tower, watching his melting sea-salt ice creams drip off their sticks. He reeled from his interaction with Isa, replaying their conversation over and over in his head. Or was it still Saix? Oh hell, he didn't know. There were moments, like the touch of dry humor quirking his lips and the soft, rather serene glow of his eyes, that had been very reminiscent of his childhood friend Isa. But, in contrast, there were also the callous jabs from someone going full asshole that were undoubtedly Saix. So, which version of the guy had he just finished talking to? What did it matter? Why should he care about any of this? They weren't even friends these days!

Right?

Lea sighed, shaking his head. Just when he'd thought he had finally shaken off Isa, here he came again like they hadn't been communicating like two particularly hostile junkyard dogs for the past couple of years. Didn't he know that there was going to be a battle tomorrow, after which one of them would probably never see the other again? And oh, there was the off-chance that there was some unspoken…thing…that was just going to have to remain unresolved.

Loathe as he was to waste ice cream, Lea bitterly threw one of the melting sticks down, not even caring if it landed on someone's head. He suffered from a ruined appetite, and certainly, his stomach wouldn't hold room for two ice creams. Nonetheless, he started licking at the one stick remaining, trying to salvage what he could from this agonizing day. And luckily, it could still be saved. The town was as beautiful as always, filled with the chirping of songbirds and the idle, pleasant chatter of people with far less drama going on in their lives. The warmth of the setting sun touched his face, bringing him some measure of peace as he closed his eyes and tried to shunt the very real possibility of potentially killing his former (with an asterisk) friend out of his mind. And daydream of happier times with Roxas and the girl he could almost recall, though her presence in his memories was nothing short of fuzzy.

By the time he was halfway finished with the ice cream, he could feel the gummiphone vibrating in one of his robe pockets. Setting the steadily melting stick aside, he answered it.

"Yeah?"

"How are you feeling?"

Ah, Kairi, his sparring partner in crime. Lea hadn't been sure if he wanted to talk to anyone after Isa, but if anyone could remedy his turbulent mood, it was her.

"In all honesty? Like shit," he admitted with self-deprecation, even cracking a shadow of his customary smirk.

She laughed on the other end. "Can't say I blame you. I can understand how you feel, considering this is going to be a big day tomorrow."

"Tell me about it, princess. But, uh, it's not just that." He started tapping his fingers against the edge of his perch. "I had a talk with an ex-friend, you might say. Or old friend, I don't know. It's complicated."

"Hm, so he's fighting on the other side, then? I knew there was a reason I called. I figured you needed someone to talk to."

The levels of emotional intelligence ESP on this girl could not be denied, something about her that Lea continued to be amazed by in their relatively brief acquaintance. It had to be a Princess of Heart quality, or maybe she was just that skilled at playing the nurturer who brought her friends comfort. Whatever it was, it drew all the emotions and words out of him as he launched into his story of what took place here earlier. He avoided saying Isa's name, either to protect him or himself, he did not know which. All he knew was that saying those two syllables into the ether was bound to make the ache in his chest that much sharper, as if a blade was being twisted into him.

When he finally finished, out of breath and trying to blink back tears, Kairi took a few quiet moments to deliberate. That silence on the other end was going to drive him insane if she kept it up.

What she did say threw him for a loop regardless. "I think he wants a second chance with you."

"What?! Oh, you've got to be kiddi—"

"Settle down," she laughed. "Listen to me. Opportunities like this don't present themselves every day. He wouldn't seek you out if he didn't want you back in his life. And, if I had to take a wild guess, he's working to make sure that whatever bridge got burnt between you two is going to get rebuilt. Don't take that for granted."

Lea shook his head in disbelief, although Kairi would not be able to see it. "And what makes you the authority on forgiveness?"

"Let's just say I know from personal experience." He could hear a wry smile in her voice. "If this friend really cares about you—and I suspect he does—and shows he's willing to prove that you can trust him again, give him that second chance. That's all I'm saying."

"Yeah. Sure. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Kairi."

"Any time. See you on the field tomorrow?"

He let out a breathy chuckle. "Heh, yeah, let's see if we can keep up with the big boys, huh?"

"Definitely!"

As he stuffed his phone back into his pocket after the call, Lea spared one last glance at the twilight he might not see again for a while. And he, for the first time since his reversion back to Lea, mulled over his time in the Organization and the lessons learned. He thought of the former members, most of whom he hadn't seen since his rebellion, and the various paths they had all set out on since those days. How some had already returned to their old selves before their fall, working in Radiant Garden. How others had likely chosen to tie their fate with Xehanort's in the hopes that, once again, false promises would somehow be fulfilled. However, if Isa was one example, he wondered if these individuals (even, dare he say it, Xemnas) operated more in shades of gray for the time being, for survival's sake. He thought that maybe the light of redemption could still show them a different path, one that branched out away from Xehanort.

And he thought about second chances.

A/N: I think I've worn myself out mentally already just agonizing and polishing this fic all day, between chapter one and then the prologue I went ahead and added, as I wasn't sure I initially wanted one. However, I'm decently satisfied with my efforts. I hope I can be, considering I was being painstaking over 5 Word Doc pages for two hours, heh!

Some notes:

I might be hitting the theme a bit over in the head, but I think a good prologue should at least be a decent set-up for the core theme of the story. That and me desperately trying to tie this in with Chapter 1. Another thing, yeah, in case it isn't obvious, I am most definitely planting the seeds for a Lea/Isa ship! There'll be another couple or two, but this will probably be the main one. However, there's another reason I started with Lea, since he as Axel was one of the first characters to rebel against the Org. and the one with the major redemption arc in 2. So, I wanted to call back to that by having strictly his POV in the prologue. That and I didn't want to juggle around so many characters right off the bat, it is just a taste after all, not the whole fic.

I loved the Axel and Kairi interactions in 3 and don't think there were quite enough of them, so I wanted to throw in another one. I think they have a good sibling-like rapport going on and wanted to touch on that further.

OK, you might have caught me with the GotG 2 inspiration with the "unspoken thing" as a phrase! I latched onto that when I watched the movie for the first time a couple years ago, and it's stuck with me whenever I think about unresolved sexual tension in...really about anything.

With all that out of the way, I'm leaning more towards putting Chapter 1 out tomorrow (no thanks to me having to get up EARLY for work...). And...that's all I got so far as far as stuff being written down/typed out. But, I will def. do my damndest to see this to completion, especially since I always wanted to do this kind of fic with the Org. anyway.