Sora woke up feeling weird.

He wasn't sure how else to describe it, even to himself. Something felt wrong with his head. He didn't feel like he had a head injury- he'd had enough of those to know the feel of one. But he did feel sort of... floaty. Like, he'd never tried drugs, but when he imagined feeling high, this was what he'd thought it might feel like.

He came back to full consciousness slowly. He was warm, and that made him want to sleep more.

He thought, maybe he was dead. Maybe Ansem had killed him. That was a sobering thought, and the panic it induced was enough to wake him up the rest of the way and open his eyes.

He was lying in rubble, covered in an Organization coat. The sky was turning a violent shade of orange. In front of him, sitting against the charred, broken wall, illuminated by sunset and embers, was Ansem.

Sora sat up fast, tried to back away- but apparently Roxas had just woken up, too. There was a moment where Sora relaxed, assumed Roxas would just take control- but instead of taking control immediately, Sora could feel a moment of switch-off.

He thought for a second he had to be imagining it. Roxas didn't take control from Sora. He always had control, and sometimes let Sora use it. But when Sora reached for that control, like he had a million times unsuccessfully-

The end result was that Roxas tried to stand, and so did Sora, and they ended up overbalancing and falling flat on their face without either having enough control to catch themselves.

Ansem looked at them, expression blank. Sora relinquished control to Roxas, who used it to scramble to his feet- and then he stoodgaping like an idiot.

"You didn't kill us," Roxas said, also like an idiot. He glanced around. "Where is Axel?"

"Hospital," Ansem said. "He'll be okay. I- I'm sorry." He looked sort of like he'd been crying.

Oh.

Oh.

"Sora didn't save you," Roxas said. "You were still evil when we passed out." He didn't say, what happened? But it was pretty heavily implied.

Riku said, quietly, "I let him take over. And when I realized Sora was still alive, I snapped out of it again."

Sora didn't understand.

Riku said, "Tidus came back with most of a day missing, and we used his phone to track where he'd been. It wasn't accurate enough to find you, though. And Ansem... he knew where all the safe houses were. So I let him take over, so that he would lead me to you… And when I thought Sora was dead... I lost control of him. I guess I didn't want control. I didn't want to deal with anything. When Sora healed, though- I knew he was in there somewhere. And I got control back."

"I thought Ansem was dead," Sora said, and that's when Roxas flipped out.

"What the actual fuck," he said. "Riku- that was out loud, right?"

Riku said, "Sora?"

Roxas said, "He can't do that. He's never done that except when I let him. He can only talk in my head- and that was bad enough-"

Take a deep breath, Sora advised internally.

"You're different now," Riku said.

"What?" Roxas said, glaring.

Riku cut him off. "I looked. At your soul. While you were sleeping. I didn't mess with it- I wouldn't trust me, either, right now- I just needed to see something."

"I don't have a soul," Roxas said. "Are you talking to Sora?"

Riku sighed. "I messed up big-time," he said. "Again."

Sora had a feeling he wasn't just talking about the Ansem thing.

"When I look at you," Riku said. "At anyone," he amended. "I see a garden."

Roxas was confused. Sora wasn't, though. Soul metaphors. He'd known the crystal thing wasn't what a soul really looked like. It was just the metaphor his brain had picked to make sense of it. Riku's brain had picked something else.

"You were a tree hit by lightning," Riku said. "Split all the way to the base, barely connected. I figured that just meant you were damaged, still. Healing, still. I guess. I was looking for something outside of you, an invader."

Now Sora was confused, too.

"There was no invader," Riku continued. "I think that's what screwed Ansem up, too. We were looking for the wrong thing."

Roxas said, "Then what am I?"

Riku said, "I thought Sora was acting weird, this past year, you know. He wasn't himself."

"That isn't an answer, dammit."

"I'm getting there," Riku said. "Just- there were these moments where he was quiet, or angry-"

"That was me," Roxas said.

At the same time, Riku said, "-like he used to be."

There was a pause.

"No," Roxas said.

Sora thought he might understand. He didn't want to, suddenly.

"There are things Sora always wanted to be," Riku continued. "He was quiet but he wanted to be more extroverted. He was shy but he wanted more friends. He was embarrassed of how smart he was, and tried to hide his grades... And then, suddenly- all the things he wanted to be, he was."

No, Sora thought. No, no, no.

"Everyone has a little bit of friendliness," Riku said. "A little extroversion. So my guess is, when Sora put himself back together, he only picked the parts he liked. I don't think it was conscious. I'm not sure how much consciousness Sora had, when he was in pieces"

Sorting through things and saying, no, no, not that, I'm better than that-

"But the thing is," Riku said, "what happened to the rest of him?"

Roxas said, "I'm not him! I'm me!"

Riku said, "No. You're half of him. A lot more than half, actually- Sora left a lot of himself behind. That tree I saw wasn't split evenly."

"No," Roxas said again. And there was that anger again. Sora thought, that had been his once? It suited Roxas better.

The ground around Roxas burst into flames, and abruptly the anger died.

"I-" he said.

"You have Axel's powers," Riku observed. "I guess that makes sense. He's your friend. I like what you've done with them. The light manipulation part of the power set. I wonder if Axel even realizes he can do that."

"They're my powers," Roxas said, but he no longer sounded convinced. The flames, not very high to begin with, went out. Roxas sat on the ground again.

"What happens to me now?" Roxas asked.

"Well," Riku said, "I mean, I'm not doing anything to you. Not now that I know what you are. Who you are. I know it's too late to just apologize. I've been horrible to you. I- I was so afraid for Sora that I wasn't thinking straight. But that's not an excuse. So I guess... what do you want?"

"You don't want to... to put us back together?" Roxas asked. "To fix the... the soul tree thing?"

"Do you want me to?"

Roxas handed control to Sora, who blinked at Riku. "Did I like myself?" He asked, after a moment. "Was I happy?"

Riku took a long minute to answer. "I think... no," he said. "Not really. You put on a good show most of the time, but there were moments... I wasn't in your head. I can't say for sure. But I think you kind of disliked yourself."

"I like me. Like I am now," Sora said. "And I like Roxas. He's my friend. Uh-" he looked at his feet, sheepish. "I think he's my friend, anyway. I tried to use his powers before and it didn't work. But I guess if his powers are my powers, that kind of makes sense?"

"We're friends," Roxas confirmed. "And I'd kind of like to keep living. As me."

Riku nodded. "Good. Because I don't have a single clue how to put you back together."

Sora looked at him. "The tree...?"

"It looks different now," Riku said. "You're not a broken tree anymore, when I look at your soul. You're two trees, wrapped around and around each other. From a distance you look like one, but up close it's pretty obvious."

Sora thought of that pain when he'd tried to connect to Roxas. It had hurt as badly as shattering, but it hadn't been a breaking sort of hurt.

"Oh," he said. "I think that's my fault." And then he shook his head. "What're we going to do about the Organization? I mean, I guess Xemnas is gone-" Riku winced- "but is someone just going to replace him?"

"I don't know," Riku said. "I can't access Ansem's memories. I don't know who the next biggest threat is. And honestly, I'm sick of fighting. I just want to go home."

"Me too," Sora said. He sighed. "I guess we'll find out when they start attacking us again."

"I need to see Axel," Roxas said. "I just- need to see for myself that he's okay."

Riku nodded. "He just had a broken leg, I think. He can probably go home by now."

Roxas said, "He doesn't have a home. He's leaving the Organization, and I'm taking him back with me."

Riku rolled his eyes. "You think Sora's mom is going to let you drag home your boyfriend?"

"I think my mom will just be glad I'm back," Sora said. "We'll sort out the rest later."

Roxas borrowed Riku's cell phone- Roxas's had not survived the fight- and texted Axel. Axel's phone had apparently been luckier, because he texted back right away. He was done with the hospital, just wrapping up paperwork. He ended his text with a heart.

Sora could tell this was going to be the sappiest relationship ever. He was kind of looking forward to watching it unfold.

They stopped by the safe house to get Sora a change of clothes- his were scorched and ruined. Riku was able to borrow a shirt but not much else. He was too tall for anything that fit Sora, and too broad for Axel's clothes.

There were no members of the Organization around anymore. Apparently the word had spread that Riku was back, and no one felt like messing with him.

They had to take the bus to the hospital. Riku had come in a car, but, he admitted, "I kind of stole it. Or, Ansem did. Let's just... leave it."

Axel was in the waiting room. He had a cast and crutches. His hair was caked in dust. Roxas ran up to him and tried to crush him in a hug anyway.

"You're coming home with me," Roxas announced. "Sora's house has a guest room, you can stay there."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "So we're all friends now? Everything is hunky-dory?"

"Yeah," Roxas said. "Riku is himself again, and I'm too tired to be mad anymore." Echoing Sora, he said, "We'll sort things out later."

Off the the side, the door to a restroom opened. Sora wouldn't have turned to look, except that he recognized the pale figure who came out.

"Namine?" Roxas said.

She smiled faintly. "Roxas."

"She came with me to the hospital in the ambulance," Axel explained. "She helped sort out all the insurance paperwork, too."

Quietly, Riku said, "Axel- no one was with you in the ambulance. I called it. I saw you leave- alone."

Namine's smile suddenly looked forced.

Roxas looked at her, confused.

"But..." Axel said, looking puzzled. "Namine called the ambulance. I remember that pretty clearly. She's been so helpful. She was even going to help me find a place to stay, and then you texted..."

Roxas's puzzled look solidified. "Hey, Namine," he said. "We're friends, right?"

"Of course," Namine said, now on more familiar ground.

It was weird, how Sora could feel Roxas reaching for power this time. And how he could feel him come up empty.

"No, we're not," Roxas said. He didn't even sound shocked. He sounded- resigned.

Namine's smile dimmed and disappeared. "Well," she said. "You'll remember that we are in a minute."

Roxas took a step back. "If you're not my friend," he said, slowly. "Why did you help me hide Sora?"

Namine shook her head. "I didn't hide anything, Roxas. It's not like I actually reported to Xemnas. More of the other way around."

Roxas said, "What?"

Namine sighed. "Boys," she said. "You think the more ability you have to fight, the better suited you are to lead? No. Real power doesn't come from fighting. It comes from... connections to people. It comes from everyone being more attached to you than you are to them."

She took a step towards Roxas, one hand outstretched. Axel whacked her in the ankle with his crutch, and she stumbled. She turned to him, instead- and Sora grabbed both her hands so that she couldn't do anything to Axel- or anyone else.

They'd attracted a lot of attention. One of the nurses, a man with a wide chest, came over. "Miss, are you alright?"

Of course, Namine looked like the victim here, with Sora grabbing her arms like that. She gave the nurse a pleading look and struggled a bit. Sora wouldn't have needed superstrength to hold her, but it was reassuring to know there was no way she could break free.

"She's a super," Sora said, being careful not to make sudden moves. "I don't want to hurt her, but if she touches anyone's head she can rewrite their memories."

"He's nuts," Namine said, and- god, she was crying now. "He won't let go of me."

"No, she's a super," Axel and Riku confirmed.

The nurse looked back and forth between them. "I'm calling the cops," he said after a moment.

The police showed up a moment later, handcuffed all of them, and brought them into the local station. Sora relaxed once Namine was in handcuffs, even though she kept crying.

They took everyone to separate rooms to get their stories.

"You said that that girl is a super?" the officer talking to Sora and Roxas said. "Tell me what's going on."

"We're all supers," Sora said. He figured honesty was the best policy here. "Can you take the handcuffs off me, by the way? I could break them pretty easily but I figure that would be rude. Also, could you call my mom? I feel like I should probably have her here. I'm a minor."

The officer sighed. "Superstrength?"

"And healing- just myself, not other people. And light manipulation powers, I guess? Uh. And I can breathe underwater, too." He didn't mention the soul powers. Those were too hard to explain.

The officer raised an eyebrow. "Really," she said flatly.

"Well, I'm not sure about the breathing underwater part, I haven't done that in a while."

"Are you trying to tell me you're a meta, kid?"

"Yeah," Sora said. "Uh- I can prove all of those powers if you want me to. I'm not nuts, I just have a really weird life."

She still looked skeptical. "And you didn't tell anyone until now? You aren't registered?"

"There was an evil league of super-villains after me and Riku," he said. "And I thought they didn't know where we lived, so I was trying to keep it a secret? Only it turns out they were spying on me the whole time so it was kind of pointless in the end. Namine is the secret leader of the Organization, but we just found that out."

The officer rubbed her head. "Kid, I don't know-"

Sora sighed. He yanked his hands out of the handcuffs. It was pretty painful- his hands gave before the cuffs did. But he'd had way worse in the past 24 hours. The officer took about five steps back with her face turning white.

"Sorry," he said. "Look, see? Superstrength."

He showed his hands as the bones popped back into place, which made her wince. "And healing."

He handed control to Roxas. Light show?

Roxas summoned a soft light, let it fade, and handed control back to Sora.

"So yeah," Sora said. "I'm a meta. Riku is too. It's a long story. Axel has fire powers and Namine has memory powers- but she's evil, so don't let her use them, okay?"

"I think this is outside my jurisdiction," the officer said after a moment. "Wait here. I'm going to call... someone. God, I don't even know the procedure for this."

Sora's mom got there about half an hour later.

"Sora!" she said. She stopped short of hugging him, standing just out of reach. "Riku said- is everything okay? The problem with... Roxas?"

"I'm fine," Sora said. "We sorted it out."

And then she hugged him.

Sora hadn't realized how much he'd missed her. How much he'd missed home, missed normality.

"You haven't done anything wrong," she said. (That the police knew of, Sora thought unhappily.) "So we're going to get you out of here. That Namine girl tried to use her powers on an officer in the other room, so they have her locked up now. You're safe, okay? I'm taking you and Riku home."

"Axel, too," Sora said. "The redhead. He doesn't have a place to stay, mom- he tried to save my life, and he's on crutches because of it-"

She rolled her eyes heavenward. "I'm going to end up with every superhero in the city staying at my house."

Sora gave her a look. "Please?" he said.

She smiled at him fondly. "Of course," she said.

There was still a lot to sort out. Sora would have to tell his mom what was going on with Roxas, and Axel, and everything. The time for that was whenever-they-weren't-in-a-police-station.

Sora had a feeling they were all going to need therapy, too. He wasn't sure how that was going to work, with him and Roxas, but they'd figure it out.

Things were going to be okay.