Heart to Heart

by eiahmon

Sequel to Burning Heart and Earth's Rebirth. A special assignment from Ansem sets Dilan's conscience on edge, and he reaches out to the only person that he knows can help, the one person that he though he would never speak to again; Xehanort.

13. Chapter 13

A/N: Not long after I posted Chapter 12, my imagination vanished on me. The other day, it came back, bearing a tan and a suitcase full of suspicious looking paper umbrellas...

A/N 2: This is it folks, the final chapter of Heart to Heart. Thanks to everyone that read, reviewed and stuck with me during the long gaps between updates! You're all so awesome. :)

13.

It was early in the morning when Xavier pulled himself out of his warm bed and began to get ready for the day ahead. He tried not to think about what he was going to have to do later on as he took a bath and got dressed for the day. He then walked the short distance to Xehanort's room to find him still sleeping in the predawn darkness, curled up on his right side under his quilt. He stepped up to the bed and gently shook him awake.

"Time to get up, Xehanort." The boy mumbled something and snuggled down further under the quilt. Xavier smiled faintly and pulled it away. "C'mon, time to get moving, little one."

Xehanort blinked his eyes open and sat up. "It's too early." he mumbled as he rubbed the sand from his eyes.

"I know, but we have a busy day, so get up and get dressed. I'll got see about breakfast."

Xehanort nodded sleepily, and after making sure that he was up and was not going back to sleep, Xavier went downstairs to the kitchen. To his surprise, his mother was already up and had cooked breakfast just for the three of them. His father was at the table, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Was Xehanort planning to leave without saying goodbye?" he asked.

"How did you know?" Xavier asked as he sat down at the table as well. His mother put a plate of bacon, eggs and biscuits down in front of him.

"We knew that you were looking for a way to send him home." Elissa replied as she set a plate down in front of her husband. "It was easy to guess when you led him out of the room yesterday and how both of you were so somber the rest of the evening."

Xavier sighed. "Yes, we're sending him home today, and yes, he was planning to leave without saying goodbye."

"Why?" Jascha asked.

"For the same reason I left the Destiny Islands without a backward glance when Master Limahl offered to take me on as an apprentice: it was best just to go. If I had gone to tell my parents goodbye, I don't think I would have been able to leave."

"Do you regret it?"

"Do I regret leaving with Master Limahl? No, even with everything that happened, the years that followed were the best of my life. Do I regret leaving without saying goodbye? Sometimes. I know that it was ruled that I had drowned, and I am sure that they were devastated by the loss of their only child."

Xehanort wandered into the room then, still rubbing his eyes now and then, and he stopped short when he saw Elissa and Jascha at the table. He sent a hesitant glance at Xavier, and then he sat down at his usual spot at the table and started on his breakfast without a word.

"Are we leaving soon, Xavier?" he asked after a few minutes.

"As soon as you finish your breakfast."

"Aren't you going to take anything with you?" Elissa asked. Xehanort looked down at his plate and said nothing.

"He can't." Xavier replied for him. "He can't take anything from the future back with him, because there will be no explanation for its appearance in the past, though..." He looked at Xehanort. "Did you grab your Wayfinder?"

Xehanort nodded silently as he finished eating. "Can we go now?"

"Yes, we can. Why don't you head over towards Even and Vexen's; I'll catch up with you in a moment."

Xehanort nodded again and hopped out of his chair. He turned in the direction of the front door, but then he paused, turned around, and walked over to Elissa. He gave her a hug and allowed himself to be hugged in turn before he stepped over to Jascha and repeated the procedure. He then walked out of the dining room, and a few seconds later, they heard the front door open and shut. Xavier turned to follow him, but he paused when his mother spoke.

"He's never coming back, is he?" Elissa asked softly.

"He will." Xavier replied quietly. "I'm standing right here. Look at it that way." He then walked out of the dining room, and out of the house, following Xehanort.

The walk to Even and Vexen's was silent, save for their footsteps crunching on the gravel road. Xehanort held tight to Xavier's hand as they went, while Xavier tried to ignore the fear and anxiety coming from the child next to him. They reached their destination quickly, where they found Even waiting to let them in. Inside the house, they found not only a sleepy eyed Vexen waiting on them, but also Lea and Isa.

Isa stood up from the chair he had been sitting in when they walked in and held his arms out. Xehanort walked into the offered embrace without a word, and Isa leaned down and whispered something into his ear.

"I wonder," Even said quietly from where he stood beside Xavier.

Xavier looked at him. "Wonder what?"

Even looked at him for a second and then looked back at Isa and Xehanort. "Vexen, Xigbar, Xaldin, Zexion, and Lexaeus often wondered why Xemnas picked Saïx for his second instead of Zexion. I wonder if this had anything to do with it?"

Xavier looked over to where Xehanort was still holding tightly to Isa, seemingly afraid to let go. Isa was gently running his hand down the boy's hair, while Lea watched them with a sad smile.

"It is possible." he replied. "Sometimes I can't help but wonder how many of my past decisions were influenced by my time here. Promoting Saïx ahead of Zexion could have just been one of many that were influenced in such a way."

"I wonder how different things could have been?"

"I try not to think about it. After all, if things had been different, it might have been Ienzo dying in that cell instead of Isa."

Even shuddered at the thought, but he replied anyway. "Or the Organization may not have been formed at all, especially since it seems as though you acquired your drive to leave the Destiny Islands from being here. What about then?"

Xavier shrugged as Xehanort stepped away from Isa and walked over to Lea. "Then I would have stayed on the islands, married, raised a family, and taken over my parents' general store once they retired, and I probably would have been content with that."

Lea patted Xehanort on the head, and the boy then turned to Vexen, who threw himself at Xehanort with a sob. Even stepped forward, and Xavier followed him as Xehanort was nearly knocked to the floor by Vexen's weight.

"You can't leave!" Vexen sobbed. "I don't want you to go!"

"I have to." Xehanort said quietly. "I need to go home."

"But you are home!"

"No, I'm not."

Vexen stamped his foot. "You can't leave! I.. I won't let you!"

Xehanort tried to pry himself away, but Vexen wouldn't let go. "Let go, Vexen. I have to leave."

Xavier and Even gently pried Vexen's hands open, and Even pulled him away from Xehanort. Vexen wailed, and Xavier saw Isa and Lea give each other a knowing look.

Xehanort looked up at him. "Can we go now?" he whispered.

Xavier spotted the tear tracks on the boy's face and nodded. "Yes, let's go." Xehanort stepped closer to him, and he wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He waved to the others in the room, and then he portaled them both out.

They made their usual series of jumps before stepping out onto Master Yen Sid's lawn, and Xehanort took a deep breath before he started towards the front doors. Xavier followed close behind, and in short order they founds themselves stepping into the study at the top of the tower, where they found Master Yen Sid and Merlin waiting on them.

"Master Xehanort," Master Yen Sid said with a nod. "Are you ready?"

Xavier looked down at Xehanort, who nodded with a weak smile. "We're ready." he replied without looking up.

"It would be best, I think," Merlin said, "if the boy were asleep for this."

Xavier nodded in understanding, and then he knelt down to better look Xehanort in the eye. "Are you sure that you're ready, little one?"

Xehanort nodded again, wrapped his arms around Xavier, and laid his head down on his shoulder. "I love you." he whispered.

Xavier smiled faintly and returned the gesture. "I love you too, child, so very much." He wanted to say more, to assure the boy that no matter how dark things might become, they would get better, or some other pointless drivel, but he stopped himself. It would do no good to tell him something that he would forget in the next few minutes anyway. He felt Xehanort's arm tighten around his neck, and he ran his hand down the boy's hair.

"Go to sleep, Xehanort." he whispered as he let his magic flow through his hand into the child in his arms. "Things will be better when you wake up."

There was a soft sigh, and then he felt Xehanort relax in his arms as the sleep spell took hold. He felt his eyes burn as he stood up with Xehanort in his arms, but he blinked away the tears before they could form; he could cry later. Right now, he had more important things to do.

"Now what?" he asked the two wizards.

Master Yen Sid stood from his desk and gestured him over to a series of runes and circles drawn in white chalk on the floor; a ritual circle. He'd seen them before on various worlds, but he himself had never had need of one.

"Are you sure that you want to go back with him?" Merlin asked, and Xavier merely nodded. "Then sit here in the center of the circle, and hold him on your lap."

After taking a second to securely nestle Xehanort in his arms, Xavier walked over to the circle and stepped into the center, careful not to disturb the chalk. He didn't want to think of the consequences if one line was out of place. He sat down and cradled Xehanort on his lap and waited. The two wizards came to stand on either side of him, and after a second they began to chant in some language that he had never heard before. He closed his eyes as the words ran together and seemed to echo off the walls and ceiling of the study, and then he felt something pulling on Xehanort, as though it was trying to yank the boy out of his arms. He held on tighter and felt himself being pulled backwards as Yen Sid's and Merlin's voices began to fade, like they were moving away. The floor seems to vanish from underneath him, and a loud roaring filled his ears. He then felt himself falling, falling, falling...

… only to stop abruptly when he landed on something soft, accompanied by the sound of wood stressed to near breaking.

He opened his eyes just as the sound of crashing surf fell on his ears, and he saw a ceiling above him. He carefully sat up, with Xehanort still asleep in his arms, and even though the light was dim, he still recognized the bedroom around him.

"I can't believe it," he whispered. "It actually worked."

He looked around the room, and he easily recognized the light wood furniture, the desk under the far window, the dresser in the corner, and the bed on which he was sitting. There were the gray curtains that his mother had made him hanging over the windows, and his long, sleeveless black jacket hanging on the back of the door. His boots, he knew, would be sitting by the front door out in the living room.

A slight tug against his body prompted him to shake off the memories and stand up. He carefully laid Xehanort down, and then went to the dresser to find clothing for him to sleep in. He couldn't leave the coat here after all. He quickly found a shirt and pair of shorts, and he dressed the boy for bed without waking him. The coat he rolled up and tucked under his arm, while he banished everything else into a dark portal. He then tucked Xehanort into bed and stood there for a moment to watch him sleep. He would wake in the morning like normal and remember nothing of the four months he spent in the future, but he would have a drive to leave the world that would be so strong he would jump at the chance when it came, leaving with a complete stranger without saying goodbye.

Xavier sighed; his parents must have been devastated.

"Xehanort?"

Xavier felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of that familiar voice, and he slowly raised his head and turned around to see Riki standing in the door. She looked just as she had the last time he had seen her, with her fair skin, sea blue eyes, and the white hair that she had passed on to her son. She was looking at him, puzzled, before her eyes flicked down to Xehanort. She then looked back up at him and smiled.

"Mom," he said in a near whisper.

She smiled at him again, "Hello, Xehanort." and the sound of her voice sent a surge of emotions through him. She stepped into the room, and he backed away, but the bedroom was small, leaving him with nowhere really to go. He bumped up against the desk as she walked up to him, reached up, and ran her fingers through his hair like she had during his childhood.

"I don't know how this is possible," she said quietly. "But here you are, all grown up." She smiled at him again, and he looked away. "Xehanort?"

"I'm not.." He stopped himself before he could finish the sentence. She didn't need to know that he refused to go by the name she had given him because he loathed the person that he used to be. No mother needed to hear that her son had become a madman, even if he had managed to pull himself out of it later. "How did you know who I was?"

"It's not hard for a mother to know the child that she carried, birthed, and raised. I know your heart as well as I know my own."

Xavier lowered his gaze to the floor. "Mom..." He felt her arms go around him, and he tried to step away. "Don't-! You don't understand!"

She placed her fingers against his mouth, silencing him. "I understand that there is something that you're hiding from me. I won't ask you what it is," she said when he went to say something. "but nothing you could say or do is going to make me stop loving you. There's no reason to be afraid of me, Xehanort."

Xavier looked over at the bed, where his younger self was still sleeping. "He's going to leave." he whispered. "A few months after he turns fourteen, a stranger will arrive on the islands, and he'll leave with him. It'll be said that he drowned out at sea, but it won't be true."

"Where will he be?"

"Seeing the universe. It'll be the happiest time of his life, and he'll never come back here. You'll never see him again."

"Do you have a place to call home?"

Xavier looked at her through the hair that was hanging in front of his face. "Yes,"

"Do you have a family that loves you?"

He gave her a small, yet genuine, smile. "Yes."

"Are you happy?"

"I am."

She tucked his hair behind his ear. "Then I am happy, knowing that you are enjoying your life."

He felt another tug against his body, stronger this time. "I have to go soon." he whispered. "I can't stay here for long." He lowered his gaze back to the floor. "I'm sorry." For leaving without saying goodbye, for never coming back once I had passed the Mark of Mastery, for letting you believe that I had died, for becoming a person that you would be ashamed of, for so many, many things.

"Don't apologize, Xehanort. I think that, once you return home, you need to make peace with what ever it is that's bothering you. There is something that you're afraid to tell me, something that you don't want me to know. I'm not going to ask whatever it is, but I think you need to find some way to deal with it, so it will stop haunting you."

"I don't know how."

She gave him that knowing look that he remembered so well. "I think you do." she said gently. "I also think that you're afraid to."

The tug on his body became a steady pull. "I have to go," he whispered.

Riki relinquished her grip on him and stepped back to stand by the bed, where her son was still lying asleep. She then blew him a kiss and waved. "Be happy, Xehanort. Don't let it destroy you."

Xavier went to say something: apologize again, tell her he loved her, anything, but the words caught in his throat. He felt his eyes begin to burn as he raised his hand and returned her wave, and then he felt himself being pulled forward away from his boyhood home, away from his mother, away from the past that he had long ago sought to leave behind. Then he was rising, like he was coming up through deep water.

He seemed to fall upward to land hard on the floor of Master Yen Sid's study. He knew he should get to his feet because an attack could be waiting, but he just couldn't at first. Something was slipping away from him, and though he tried to grab a hold of it and keep it close, it slipped out of his grasp and vanished.

Why was he crying? He wiped the tears from his face and looked at his wet fingertips in confusion. What had happened? Why was he upset? Why was his heart aching so?

"Master Xehanort?" came Master Yen Sid's voice from his right. "I see that you succeeded."

Xavier finally managed to get his feet, though his legs shook a little under him. "I assume so," he replied. "It's as you said, I can't remember what happened back there, though since I am standing here and have distinct memories of living on the Destiny Islands until I met Master Limahl, then I assume things worked out fine."

"Then there is one other matter to deal with."

Xavier looked at the elderly keyblade master, who was in truth only a few years older than himself. "And that is?" He had a pretty good idea of what the man was talking about, but he wasn't going to admit that.

"You have many crimes to answer for."

Xavier closed his eyes and nodded. "I do. I've committed many wrongs and hurt so many. I deserve to spend the rest of my life rotting away in a prison somewhere, but I've already left one set of parents worrying and wondering about me. I'm not going to do that again. I also have an apprentice that would very much like to take his Mark of Mastery soon." Xavier looked over at Master Yen Sid. "And yes, his heart is still in one piece. You'll meet him sometime in the future, I'm sure." Before the other could say anything, Xavier opened a portal where he stood. "Leave me be, Master Yen Sid. You have nothing to fear from me as long as you leave me and mine alone. Call off the search, announce that I died. It's the least you can do for your part in ensuring that I followed the dark path to begin with."

Master Yen Sid closed his eyes and nodded faintly, and Xavier mirrored it with a smile of his own as the portal closed behind him.

OOOOOO

He stepped out of the portal in the usual spot by the barn to find that it was still dark out, though he could see lights on in the house. He'd been gone longer than that, hadn't he? It certainly felt like hours had passed. He trudged up the worn path to the house and stepped through the backdoor. He could hear the chatter from the dining room of a family having breakfast, and suddenly he didn't want to be a part of it. He turned away from the dining room and went up the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. He didn't want to see anyone at the moment.

He sat down on the bed that had been Xehanort's, drew his knees up to his chest, and closed his eyes with a sigh. His heart ached with a dull pain that he hadn't felt since he had left the Destiny Islands all those years ago. Like any other normal child, he'd been homesick off and on, and there had been a few times where he'd almost asked Master Limahl to take him home. His mind knew, logically, that Xehanort was still with him in some form, after all, they were the same person, but that did nothing against the feeling that the room was too empty, too quiet, and too lonely.

Soft footsteps sounded on the wood floor, followed by the feel of the mattress sinking down under someone's weight as they sat down on it. "Xavier?" came his mother's – adopted mother's – voice from his left, and he felt something within him break then. He felt her arms come around him, and he leaned into the embrace as a soft sob escaped him. Hot tears ran down his face as he began to cry, grieving for the parents and home that he had left behind so many years ago, for Master Limahl, for Eraqus, for Master Ansem, and for all the others that he had hurt with his actions, but most of all, for himself, for that innocent child that had grown into the biggest threat to the worlds since the ancient Keyblade War, hated and feared by so many. It wasn't what he had hoped for when he had left the Destiny Islands with Eraqus and Master Limahl, it wasn't what he'd planned after passing the Mark of Mastery.

His mother held him, stroked his hair, and murmured soothingly to him as he cried himself out, and then she sat quietly beside him as he raked his hair back from his face and scrubbed at his red and swollen eyes. Then she asked him a question.

"What happened, Xavier?"

"I don't know." he whispered.

"You don't know?"

"I can't remember anything that happened in the past-"

"You went back with him?"

"I had to make sure that he made it safely. I wasn't going to hand him over to Master Yen Sid and Merlin and just hope they did things right. I had to go with him, but now I can't remember what happened when we went back. I remember the spell being cast, and I remember coming back, but nothing that happened in between, yet I..." He trailed off as more tears tracked down his cheeks.

"Yes?"

"Something happened, something more than just taking the boy that I thought was my own home. I don't know how I know this, but I know something happened back there. My heart tells me that something important happened, but I don't know what."

"The spell took you to the Destiny Islands, yes?"

Xavier nodded. "It did."

"Then maybe you should go back there. I know you've been avoiding it for years, but maybe it holds the answers you seek."

"It's not safe for me return there. Sora and Riku will attack me on sight."

Elissa gently turned his head to face her. "Normally I would never advocate one of my children going into a potentially dangerous situation, but between having to let Xehanort go, and whatever you experienced in the past, you're hurting. You've never admitted it to anyone, but you've been hurting as long as I've known you. First it was the pain of not knowing who you were, then it was the pain of knowing that those you once cared about hated and feared you. Now you're here, hurting again, and I can't do anything to help you but give you my best advice. You need to face what's bothering you-"

...make peace with whatever it is that's bothering you...

"- and hopefully find peace with yourself." She reached up and ran her hand down his hair. "You can't go on like this, Xehanort."

He looked away from her. "You've never called me that before."

"Because hearing it seemed to pain you, and you were in enough pain as it was, but when Xehanort was here, while everyone else saw a Replica, or your younger self, I saw you. I saw you in Xehanort's voice, gestures, speech, mannerisms, everything. Despite all the time and events that separate you from him, despite the possession, you and him are the same. I know you don't like to think about it, but it's true, and you need to face that."

"I can't, Mama, I just can't."

"You must, even if it means facing up to actions that you would normally never do. I know that the Darkness had influenced you and that you would never do such things now, but they are still part of your past, and therefore part of you. Use them as a reminder to never fall like that again, use them to drive you forward from here on, but don't deny them. Doing so is an insult to all the ones that were hurt, including yourself."

"I don't know what to do, Mama."

"I think you do, just like I think that you're afraid to."

Be happy, Xehanort. Don't let it destroy you.

"I need to go," he whispered after a moment, and his mother reached out and hugged him.

"Go," she told him. "Take your journey of healing, do what you need to do, and when you're ready, your family will be here waiting for you. Just promise that you'll be careful."

"I promise." He returned the hug and then stood up from the bed. "I love you." Instead of taking the Corridors of Darkness, he opened the Lanes Between and summoned his glider.

"I love you too, Xavier. Now go; we'll be here when you get back."

He nodded, and then flew through the portal without a backward glance.

OOOOOO

It was dark on the Destiny Islands as he flew over the main island, heading for one particular place. It had been 68 years since he had left the islands as a teenaged boy, and he was surprised by how little had changed. Houses had new coats of paint, while a few were missing here and there, but it was nearly the same as it had been on the day he had left. There was the general store that his parents had owned. (He wondered who had it now?) There was the house that one of his many admirers had lived in, one that he hadn't cared for because she had been interested in him only because of his supposed divine ancestry. There was the park where his mother had taken him to play when he was small. There was the small stretch of beach where he and a few other children had giggled madly while burying their laughing parents in the sand. There was the cove that he'd been pushed into by a few older boys after he'd been unable to control the ocean. (He almost wished they were around to dare him to try now.) And there was the narrow sandy path that led up to...

"No," he whispered as he touched down on the small beach that he had once built sand castles with his father on. The small, two bedroom house on stilts that he had lived in for the first fourteen years of his life was in ruins. He stared at it as he surveyed the damage, scarcely able to breathe for fear a stray breath would knock it down. Most of the roof was gone, and all of the windows were blown out. The front door was gone, while the back door was banging loosely on one hinge. The wood slat screens that protected the windows from the harsh tropical sun during the day and high winds and debris during severe weather were also all gone, leaving only scars on the exterior walls that at one time had been painted blue. The front porch and the stairs that led up to it had collapsed, while all that remained of the back porch were a couple of the posts that had once supported it. A few of the main stilts that supported the house itself were also gone, making it dangerous to be near the structure at all.

"What happened?" he said to himself, even as his mind supplied the answer. A hurricane had most likely come ashore, and the storm surge and high winds had done their part. Lack of occupants to repair the damage and time had done the rest. Had no one claimed the house once his parents had died? He sat down on the sand on the beach and stared up at the ruined structure. A cool ocean breeze, smelling of salt water and seaweed, ran through his hair, and he shivered. Spray from a breaking wave splattered against his hair and coat, which prompted him to stand and move away from the water.

When he stepped closer to the house, he spotted something hanging from a nail in one of the stilts. His breath caught in his throat as he reached out and picked up the Wayfinder that he had last seen hanging around his younger self's neck. Its leather cord was dried and cracked, and sand filled the etched lines of the center token and shells. As it had when he was a child, a strange calm seemed to settle over him, clearing his head and settling the ache in his heart as he gingerly brushed the sand off of it.

Before leaving with Master Limahl, he had taken the Wayfinder and left it lying on the seawall on the play island. Someone must have found it and returned it to his parents, and then someone had hung it from the stilt for whatever reason. How? When? Why?

He shook his head; it wasn't important. He had something bigger on his mind, like what had happened to his parents? Had old age caught up to them? Or had they died in the same storm that had damaged the house?

"What has come from the sea, has returned to the sea." he said softly as he looked at the Wayfinder, citing a belief from his mother's side, fitting considering that they were rumored to be descended from a sea god. He had to find out what happened to her, as well as to his father, and there was one place in town that might be able to tell him. Casting one last look at the sad remains of his former home, he summoned his glider and flew off towards the center of town, where he would hopefully find what he was looking for.

He landed a few minutes later in front of the town hall, which housed the birth and death records for everyone on the islands. A quick tap with his keyblade opened the doors, and he walked inside and upstairs to where the archives could be found. He remembered vaguely where death certificates were kept, but since surnames were not used on the islands, it took him some time to find his parents. He found his own first, and reading the paper, yellowed from age and rippled from humidity, about his believed drowning death made him shiver. Thankfully, families were kept together, so the next ones in the file belonged to his parents.

He read his father's first, and he was relieved to learn that the man had passed away of old age well into his 70's. His mother's was next, and she too had passed from natural causes less than a year after her husband. He sighed and put the certificates back in the box he had found them in, but as he turned away, movement on the other side of the shelf caught his eye. He turned back to face the file as his eyes tracked a white flash that seemed to run down the aisle on the other side of the shelf before vanishing. He sensed no one else in the building but himself, but he still moved around the shelf to check. When he did so, he heard something fall to the floor where he had just been standing. He quickly walked back to that spot, keyblade at the ready, to find an envelope lying on the floor where he had been standing while reading the certificates. He dismissed Dark Gaze, leaned down, and picked it up. The paper was old, older than the death certificates, and when he turned it over, he saw his family crest, a cresting wave, embedded in the wax seal. There was also faint writing on the front that he couldn't make out.

He walked over to the window, where the bright moonlight made it easier to see, and his breath hitched when he saw his name, written in his mother's handwriting. Blinking away tears, he carefully broke the seal, and unfolded the paper inside. The moonlight seemed to shine brighter on the letter, which allowed him to read it easily.

My son,

It has been many years since you left that I sit down to write this letter, in the hopes that one day you will come home and find it. You father has been gone for several months now, and I know that my time is nearing.

Many on the islands believed that your "death" had left me touched, as I refused to grieve for you, and I wouldn't say that you had returned to the sea at your funeral, as I said for your grandmother when she passed. You know this is custom in our family, but I couldn't say it for you when I knew that it wasn't true. I know that you left with the stranger that arrived on the islands, just as you said you would. Letting you visit the play island that day, knowing that you would never come back, was the most difficult thing I had ever done, but I knew. I knew that you would never be happy here. I don't know how is was possible, but I know you saw the outside worlds, and I know the drive to see them again was tormenting you, so I let you go.

I missed you, I cried for you, as any mother would do, but at the same time, I never wished you home. I knew you were happy and enjoying your life somewhere, and I didn't want to take that from you. My only hope is that sometime you find a love and family of your own. Don't spend the rest of your life alone, Xehanort. It is a lonely existence.

When I met you that night in your room, you were afraid of something, something that you didn't want me to find out. I told you then to make peace with it, and now I say it again. No mother wants to see her child in pain, even once that child has grown and seen the universe. Do what you must, and then enjoy the rest of your life, and never forget that your mother loves you.

Love you always,

Mom

A single drop of water fell to the paper, where it was quickly absorbed, blotting the old ink. Xavier quickly folded it back up and pressed it to his heart. He had met his mother in the past? He had spoken to her?

"What I'd give to remember it, Mom." he whispered in the empty room.

Another breeze ran through his hair then, even though the room was closed up, and he carefully folded the letter, returned it to it's envelope, and placed it in one of the pockets of his coat, along with the Wayfinder. He then opened the Lanes Between and summoned his glider. He suddenly knew what he needed to do.

"Goodbye," he whispered to the empty room as he flew through the open portal.

OOOOOO

He had never expected to be back in this room.

Xavier sat on the edge of the massive desk and looked around the familiar room. It was a little more cluttered than he remembered, and the jar of hearts that used to sit on the desk was long gone, but other than that, the room was the same as it had been when he had last seen it years ago. To his surprise, his portrait was even still on the wall. He would have thought that Ansem would have burned that thing at the first opportunity.

Footsteps approaching the door from the hallway broke him out of his thoughts, and he moved from the desk to stand by the door to the lab, where he wouldn't be seen immediately by someone coming into the room. This would only work if he could get Ansem alone for a while. Now he just had to hope that it was Ansem opening the door and walking in.

Xavier released the breath that he had been holding when his former adopted father walked into the study, staring intently at some papers he had in his hands. He didn't shut the door behind him as he walked towards the desk, and Xavier was able to see that the man's face was thin and drawn, like he hadn't slept or ate in days. Well, he could worry about that later; he had something far more important to attend to.

With a wave of his keyblade, the office door slammed shut, and the clicking of the lock sounded loudly in the room. Ansem spun around in surprise to face the door, and then he spotted Xavier leaning casually against one of the bookshelves that lined the walls. The old man's face darkened with rage as Xavier pushed away from the shelf.

"Xehanort!" he snarled. "What are you doing here! You have quite the nerve coming here after everything you've done!"

Xavier didn't bother to correct him on the name; being called Xehanort didn't bother him anymore. "I could say the same of you." he said evenly.

The papers in Ansem's hand were crushed as he clenched them in his fist. "How dare you! I never did anything against you! I adopted you, gave you my name, made you my heir, and you rewarded me by destroying my world and throwing me into the Realm of Darkness!"

Xavier didn't bother to raise his voice. "No, you just allowed your thirst for vengeance to consume you to the point that you thought nothing of inflicting my punishment on an innocent child that had done nothing wrong but be caught in a misfired spell." There were the heart experiments, but Xavier really didn't count those. Master Xehanort would have come back regardless.

"I did nothing of the sort!"

"So when your guards brought you a younger version of myself that they had found wandering the dungeon in a daze after the casting of Master Yen Sid's spell, you didn't throw him into a prison and announce to everyone that he was responsible for the worlds' destruction?"

Ansem's eyes widened, and though his mouth moved, no sound came out for a few seconds. "How do you know that?" he asked once he had recovered his voice.

"Simple, he told me. I found out about him about a month after he appeared here, and yes, Dilan and Even had a hand in helping me get him out of there. I smuggled him out and took him in, so he'd be safe and cared for." Ansem said nothing in response, and Xavier repressed a growl. "Aren't you going to say anything? You are responsible for what happened, yet you won't say anything about it?" Ansem still kept silent, and Xavier exploded. "He was just a boy, Master Ansem! A boy! An innocent child that you had locked up and tortured! How could you do such a thing!"

Ansem found his voice then. "It was just a Replica that someone created!" he snapped. "A Replica of you that deserved everything he got!"

Xavier growled and took a step forward, which prompted Ansem to step back. "No, he was not, and even if he was, he was still a child! No child deserves such pain! Hasn't living around Vexen taught you anything!"

Ansem flinched slightly at Vexen's name, but he carried on anyway. "And how many children did you harm, Xehanort? How many innocents did you drag down into the cells below this castle?" Ansem's voice rose again, becoming a yell once more. "How many died in your quest for answers! How many were lost when you gave into your darkness and destroyed this world!"

"Darkness that was there because you and others put it there."

"Excuse me?"

"He wasn't a Replica. Somehow the spell cast by Master Yen Sid and Merlin summoned my teenaged self forward in time from the Destiny Islands."

"That's impossible!"

"Apparently not. The darkness that would later consume me was there because you tossed me – a thirteen year old boy – into a prison cell and allowed others to do whatever they wanted to me. My future self rescued me and cared for me until Master Yen Sid and Merlin could reverse the spell and send me home."

"So I am at fault for the monster you became? Is that what you're saying?"

Xavier sighed and looked down at the floor. "No, losing control of the darkness within me was no one's fault but my own. I was a fool to think that I could control it so easily, and I can blame no one else for that. On the other hand, the darkness would not have been there to begin with if it hadn't been for your actions. I may have never left the Destiny Islands if I hadn't been taken offworld as a child. You are responsible for that, you and the ones who cast the damned spell to begin with!"

"Is this why you came here, Xehanort? To accuse me and try and shove some of the blame off onto me?"

Xavier leaned back against the bookshelf as the ache in his heart returned with a vengeance. "No," he said quietly. "I'm furious at you for what you did to Xehanort, but that's not why I came here tonight."

Ansem tossed the crumpled papers to the desk. "Then why?"

"I came..." Because I miss you, because I still love you and consider you to be my father, even with Jascha in my life, even after what you allowed to be done to me when I was a child, because it hurts to think that you hate me. "Because I needed to say something to you."

"Then say it and get out, before I summon the guards."

Xavier flinched at the loathing in Ansem's voice. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "For everything that happened."

"You're sorry?" Ansem said mockingly. "You're sorry? Do you think that a mere apology can make up for everything you did? You destroyed the world, Xehanort! There is no apology that will be good enough for that."

"I didn't mean for it to happen!" Xavier protested as tears began to burn in his eyes. "I just wanted to know who I was! I didn't want anyone to get hurt!"

"Well, people were hurt, thousands of people! Now take your apologies and get off of my world! I never want to see you again!"

Xavier felt his heart break at the angry rejection. He had expected such a reaction, but still hearing it... He began to shuffle towards the door, crying softly as he went. What had he been expecting? Ansem Hart had every reason to hate him and none to forgive him.

He tapped the doorknob with his keyblade to unlock it, aware of Ansem's eyes boring into the back of his head the entire time. He dismissed the weapon and put his hand on the knob.

"I'm sorry, Papa." he whispered one last time before he opened the door. He had barely started to walk out of the study however, when Ansem spoke up from behind him.

"Papa? You stopped calling me that a few months after we started working on your heart."

Xavier nodded; he remember that. It was right after Master Xehanort had started to regain control.

Ansem continued. "You started calling me that not long after I adopted you. You loved to say it, and yet it stopped suddenly with no explanation. It was a warning sign that we were on dangerous ground, and yet I ignored it."

"It wouldn't have done any good at that point." Xavier said hoarsely. "Master Xehanort was already waking up."

"Perhaps," Ansem paused, and Xavier started to walk through the door again. "Xehanort, wait." Xavier looked over his shoulder to see Ansem looking at him with an unreadable expression. "Shut the door, Xehanort, and come here."

Xavier wiped his tears off on the sleeve of his coat and shut the door. He then walked back to the center of the study, where Ansem was standing. A hand gently tilted his head up to look the man in the eye.

"Are you truly sorry, Xehanort?" Ansem asked quietly, and Xavier nodded and wiped at his eyes again.

"I never wanted things to go so wrong." he whispered. "I never wanted to hurt you."

Ansem produced a handkerchief from somewhere and handed it to him. "Here, dry your eyes. The saltwater isn't good for the books."

Xavier managed a watery laugh as he wiped his tears away. "You said that to me once before."

"Yes, I found you crying in the library late one night, because you were upset after being told that your memory likely wasn't going to return."

"That was when you offered to adopt me."

"And you practically leapt into my arms in your excitement." Ansem smiled faintly. "I took that as your agreement."

Xavier laughed again. "You gave me everything I could have wanted: a home, a family, a place to belong."

"Xehanort Hart, still has the same ring to it now as it did then." Ansem smiled sadly. "I should have been paying better attention. You were my son, my only child, and yet I ignored all the warning signs that we were playing with something that was best left alone. Even when your personality changed and you stopped calling me Papa, I just brushed it all aside."

"It wouldn't have changed anything, I still would have lost control to Master Xehanort."

"Maybe, or maybe we could have delayed him, or found a way to destroy him altogether, like you did in the Keyblade Graveyard."

Xavier looked up at him in shock. "How did you know about that?"

Ansem gave him a wry smile. "I have been... informed multiple times about your work to prevent such destruction again, by many people, people that have every right to distrust you. Do the names Master Terra and Master Aqua mean anything to you?" Xavier felt his jaw drop, and Ansem chuckled quietly. "Roxas has been quite vocal as well, though Sora and Riku have expressed disbelief with that. Naminé has also been quite insistent that you mean no harm to anyone any longer. Finding out that Even was in contact with you the entire time was another clue, as was your assisting in Isa's breakout. Roxas informed me of that one." Ansem sighed in defeat. "I know about the possession, about Braig's role in everything, about Master Xehanort. I know that you had to shear your heart in two to destroy him. I know everything."

"Then why...?"

"Why did I continue to lead the hunt for you? Why did I continue to hate you so strongly?"

Xavier looked down at the floor. "Yes, why?"

"I was torn, Xehanort. No parent wants to know that their child has become a monster hellbent on destroying the universe. No father wants to put out a death order on his only son, but, like it or not, you are responsible for the destruction of so many lives. I couldn't let you walk away from that."

Xavier closed his eyes as tears dripped to the floor. "I understand." he whispered.

"And hating you was the only way for me to hide the fact that I still love you so much."

Xavier felt his heart skip as he looked up. "What?"

"Despite everything, despite the world's destruction, despite throwing me into the Realm of Darkness, you are still my son, and I still love you. I had planned to give you a quick death if you were caught. No prison time, no torture, just an immediate execution. You had to be stopped, but even with everything that you had done, I couldn't bear the thought of you in pain, so I wanted to end it quickly.

"I honestly believed that the child was a Replica of you, and I sent him to the prison, intending for him to be executed quickly. I announced that he was you and that he had used magic to disguise himself as a child to escape detection. I never intended for him to be locked up and abused, Xehanort. That had never been what I wanted to happen."

"But as you said earlier, it did happen, and you can never make up for it. He was just a boy, and you sent him there to die. Why?"

"Because I wanted to believe that somewhere within you was the son I loved and that everyone was telling me the truth. The only way that could happen is if you were allowed to live your life without the constant fear of being caught. The child would be executed, everyone would believe you had died, and the search would end, allowing you to go about your life. If it meant sacrificing what I believed to be a Replica, then so be it." Ansem reached up and gently wiped a tear off of Xavier's face. "I see now that they had been speaking the truth."

"I want to come home." Xavier whispered, which surprised him even as he spoke the words. "But after everything that's happened... I don't think I'll ever forgive you for what happened to me when I was a boy."

"And I will always carry the regret and the guilt for my part in your eventual downfall." Ansem lightly squeezed Xavier's shoulder. "I wish you could come home too, but it will never be safe for you here. Everyone knows what you did, and many would kill you on sight if given the chance."

"I can protect myself." Xavier said quietly, and he closed his eyes and bowed his head again as he felt Ansem run his hand down his hair.

"I know you can," Ansem said gently. "But you would have to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, and one lapse on your part is all that it would take. And of course, many here are angry at you and would never accept having you back. Even if you manage to forgive me, you can never come home, Xehanort."

"I miss you. I miss what we once had."

"And I miss you. I miss having a son. I miss our long talks about things going on in the world, about our latest work in the labs. I miss your lessons."

Xavier managed a smile. "Where you taught me the ins and outs of ruling a world."

"You were a quick study; it made me so proud to have such an intelligent son." Ansem stepped away then, which prompted Xavier to look up. Ansem stepped around the desk, opened one of the myriad drawers, and pulled a small box out of one of them. Xavier's breath caught in his throat; he recognized that box. Ansem took the lid off of the box and held the box out for Xavier to take.

"Take it, Xehanort." he said. "It is yours."

Xavier found himself scarcely able to breathe as he looked at the gold accented platinum ring with the Hart family crest. It was the heir's ring, worn by the heir to Radiant Garden's throne. At once time he had proudly worn it on his right hand, taking it off only to work in the labs. He had worn it everywhere else, even while bathing and sleeping.

"I can't, Master Ansem." he gasped after a moment. "I can't! I don't deserve -!"

"You can, and you will." Ansem said firmly. "It is yours. You are the heir to Radiant Garden still. I never disowned you or nullified the adoption. You may never be able to return, but if you ever have a child of your own, having this ring will allow them to claim the throne, even if I am long gone, even if a Regent is in control. I will announce that I have an heir, and that when that heir appears, they will bear the ring as proof." He took Xavier's hand, set the box in his palm, and then closed his fingers over it. "One day, the Harts will return to Radiant Garden."

Xavier lowered his head as he began to cry, and he felt Ansem's arms come around him and hold him close. "I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm sorry, I don't deserve this. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Shhhhh, don't apologize, Xehanort. I am just as much at fault as you are, perhaps more so. I am the one that helped plant the darkness in your heart to begin with. I am the one that caused you to be hurt when you were young."

"Papa..." Xavier squeezed his eyes shut, as though it could hold back the storm of emotions raging within him. He should hate the man that was holding him, he should make him pay for the pain he had caused to an innocent child, but... he just couldn't. He couldn't do it. He couldn't remember first hand what Xehanort had suffered, but he could remember the happy times he'd had in Radiant Garden as a part of Ansem's family like they'd happened yesterday. The feelings of being lost, alone, and frightened, in a strange place, with people that he did not know, with no memories to draw on were replaced with a feeling of having a safe place to call home, of having friends that cared about him, of having a father that loved him. Then came the terror of losing it all, of watching helplessly as it was destroyed in front of him, knowing that that loving father now hated him.

And it was all right here in front of him again.

He was faintly aware of Ansem humming quietly as he cried in the man's arms, and the sound brought back a rush of memories: of lying helpless in the infirmary and hearing that soothing sound from the chair by his bed, of lying in bed, terrified that he would never remember who he was, and Ansem beside him, humming softly as he soothed his newest apprentice to sleep, of crying in relief that he had a family and a home, that he belonged to someone, and again, Ansem – Papa - humming quietly as he rocked his new son in his arms and assured him that he would always have a place to call home in Radiant Garden.

Even if he no longer deserved it.

"You will always be my son," Ansem murmured. "You will always be Xehanort Hart. Nothing is going to change that. You may hate me for what I've done, but you will always be mine."

Xehanort Hart, that is who you are.

Voices from the corridor echoed down through the closed study door, and Xavier forced himself to step away from that loved embrace. He scrubbed at his eyes with the handkerchief that he was still holding in his left hand.

"You must go." Ansem said quietly. "It wouldn't be safe for you to be seen here."

Xavier nodded. "I love you, Papa."

"Do you have a family where you are living now?"

"I do."

"Does that include a father figure?"

Xavier nodded faintly. "Yes," he said quietly.

"Then love him. Love him as a son should. Love him as you once loved me. He won't be around forever, and I don't want you feeling guilt or regret after he is gone." Ansem gently swept Xavier's sweaty hair out of his tear stained face. "Don't ever come back here, Xehanort. I will announce that you died tomorrow, which should effectively kill the search for you, but if you're seen here, things will start right back up again." Xavier nodded sadly in understanding, and Ansem continued. "Tell the others..." He sighed. "Tell them that I'm sorry and that they're welcome to come back if they want, even though I know that they probably won't, especially Even and Vexen."

"I will tell them." Xavier whispered. "Though I know Even never intends to come back here."

"I can't say that I blame him." Ansem said with a sigh. "By chance.. do you know where Isa Qamar is?"

"I do."

"Is he well?"

"Well as he can get. He nearly died of respiratory failure, and he'll always be susceptible to future infections."

"Please convey my apologies to him as well. I was angry and needed someone to take it out on, and he was seen as an acceptable target by many."

"I will tell him."

The voices drew closer, accompanied by the sounds of multiple sets of footsteps.

Ansem enfolded Xavier in one last hug and then gently pushed him away. "Go, Xehanort. Go home, love your family, find yourself that special someone, and give me and your new parents some grandchildren. Live your life and be happy. "

Xavier managed a watery smile as he opened a portal where he stood. He kept his eyes on Ansem, watching the tears running freely from the man's orange eyes as darkness enveloped him and the portal closed.

OOOOOO

He stepped out of the portal aside the barn back on Haven's Bridge. It was dark, with the sun only a rapidly fading brush of light across the western horizon, and the crickets were chirping. A faint breeze carried the scents of the corn seedlings in the fields, and he could hear the horses whinnying to each other in the pasture. Lights were on the farmhouse, but he didn't want to go in just yet. Carefully putting the ring in its box in his pocket along with the Wayfinder and the letter from his mother, he turned and walked towards the barn.

Inside he found Hannah in her stall, and she whickered in greeting when she saw him. He walked up to stand in front of the stall door, and she reached out and nibbled lightly on his hair, which caused him to smile faintly at her and run his hand down her neck.

"Some things change, but you'll always be the same, won't you girl?" he murmured in the darkened interior of the barn, and she responded by tossing her head and snorting at him. He laughed quietly and scratched her head right between her eyes. He then dropped his arm and leaned on the stall door.

"How am I supposed to feel?" he asked after a few moments. "I walked in there fully prepared to hate him for what he did to my younger self, but I just couldn't do it. I never realized how much I missed having him as a part of my life until I saw him there, and to find out the hate was just a way for him to hide his own feelings?" He sighed and slumped against the wood under his arms. "I don't know what to do. All of this: letting Xehanort go, meeting my mother again, finding the letter from her and the Wayfinder, and then finding out that Ansem still loves me despite everything I've done?" He sighed. "What am I supposed to do now?" He lowered his head and rested it on his folded arms, and a second later, he heard Hannah snort again and felt her lip at his hair.

"Xavier?" came Jascha's voice, and Xavier raised his head to see him standing in the doorway looking at him.

Love him as you once loved me.

He patted Hannah on the nose, and then turned and walked towards his other father.

"Xavier?" Jascha said again, but instead of answering, Xavier only walked up to him and leaned against him. Jascha responded by embracing him. "Are you alright, Xavier? What happened?"

Xavier only shook his head as he felt the sting of tears again. He didn't know if he could voice what had happened without falling apart.

"Talk to me, son. Tell me what happened." A hand rubbed his back, and Xavier sighed in defeat.

"I went back with Xehanort, and I think I met my mother in the past." he whispered.

"Your mother? Your birth mother?"

"Yes, I can't remember though. I went back to the Destiny Islands, hoping to remember, and I found a letter that she left for me. She told me that she had known something was haunting me and that I needed to sort it out."

"Your mother here told you the same thing, didn't she?"

"She did, so I went to see Ansem."

"You went back to Radiant Garden? Oh Xavier, that's so dangerous. Why did you do that?"

"I had to! I couldn't keep going knowing that he hated me! I wanted to see him again! I wanted to tell him I'm sorry!"

Without letting go, Jascha walked him into the barn and over to a stack of hay bales, where they sat down. "What happened?"

"He doesn't hate me." Xavier said through his tears. "He said that I deserved to be punished for what I did, but that he still loved me. He wanted to give me a quick death if I was caught without any prison time or torture. He thought Xehanort was a Replica and was intending for him to die in my name, so the search for me would end. He didn't intend for others to abuse the boy.

"I should be furious at him for what he caused Xehanort to suffer, but I couldn't stay angry at him. I can't remember the time I spent in the prison, and all I could think of was the good times we had before everything fell apart. I want to go home, but between the people there that hate me and what he did to Xehanort, I can't. I just can't, but I still love him, but I love you and Mama and everyone here too, and I just don't know what I should do or how I should feel about all of this."

"Did he say anything else to you?"

Xavier swallowed a lump in his throat. "He said I could never come back to Radiant Garden because it could start the search up again if I were to be seen. He also said that I should love you like I once loved him."

He felt Jascha's arms tighten around him for a moment. "I can't tell you how you should feel, Xavier. All I can say is that I love you as though I had fathered you myself. I know you're closer to your mother because she was the one that cared for you after you were found, but that doesn't change the fact that you are my son. It was my idea to keep you when we realized that you had no one else to turn to." Xavier started in surprise; he hadn't know that. "I'm glad that Ansem was there when you needed him, and I'm happy to hear that he still loves you as a father should, but he is right. You can never go back to your old life on Radiant Garden, so you have to choose. You can spend the rest of your life pining for something that can no longer be, or you can move on, let Ansem and Radiant Garden go, and be happy with the family, home, and life that's right here in front of you. Whatever you do, it won't change how I feel about you. You are my son, no matter what happens, and I will never stop loving you."

Xavier closed his eyes and nestled deeper into Jascha's arms. "I love you, Dad." he said quietly.

He felt Jascha startle. "You've never called me that before." the older man said."Lingering feelings for Ansem?"

"I think so." Xavier replied softly. "But you're right, I have to let him go. I have to move on. I have a family right here," He looked up at his adoptive father. "including a father that loves me. It would be stupid to throw it all away." He laid his head down against Jascha's shoulder. "It's hard, you know?"

"I know. I imagine you're feeling very much how I felt when I lost my father years ago. I knew I could never have him back in my life, but that didn't stop me from wishing it. Only time can help you with that."

"He said that he never disowned me or nullified the adoption, and that if I had a child, that child would be the heir to Radiant Garden and could claim the throne once they were old enough. He even gave me the heir's ring to pass on."

Jascha laughed quietly. "Oh, does this mean you're a royal brat then? Wait until I tell your mother; I can't wait to see the look on her face when she hears that."

Xavier could just picture the shock, with a touch of horror, on his mother's face upon hearing such a thing, and he laughed as well. "Better not tell her that. She might come after both of us with her wooden spoon."

"Of course, for a child of yours to claim the throne, you would have to have one first, and you need to find someone to spend your life with first."

"Admit it, you and Mama just want grandchildren."

"I'm not going to deny that."

The two of them looked at each other, and then they both started laughing. After a moment, Jascha stood up and pulled Xavier up with him. "Come, it's late, and I know your mother saved you some supper."

"Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"I really do love you, and I'm sorry if I made it seem like I didn't."

"Oh Xavier," Jascha gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't apologize. I understand that you can't always control what you feel. You love Ansem; it's perfectly normal for you to want him in your life." He clapped Xavier on the back. "Now let's go inside and see if your brothers ate your supper for you."

"They better not have!"

The two of them laughed as they walked out of the barn and towards the house.

OOOOOO

Over the next few days, Xavier went about his business, seeing patients, working with Even and Taylor, caring for his family's animals, and he tried not to think about Xehanort or Ansem. To his surprise, the night he had returned home, he had found the quilt his mother had made for Xehanort lying across his own bed, and his parents had pointed out that since it had been made for his younger self, then technically it was his. He hadn't been able to argue with that.

It was strange, he thought, how quickly he had become used to the constant presence of a child. Alexander was around as always, and like any other child was constantly underfoot, but it was different from Xehanort's presence. A child that he had believed to be his own felt completely different from his little brother.

It had been spread around town that Xavier had only been fostering Xehanort until the boy's real family could be tracked down, so it was accepted that the boy had returned home, so no one bothered Xavier about him other than to ask if he was doing alright. To this, Xavier could answer truthfully that yes, Xehanort was doing as well as could be expected, which of course, he was. He sometimes searched his heart for any trace of the boy within him, but the many facets of his heart and mind (Minus Master Xehanort, of course) seemed to have merged fully back together into a single being, and no hint of the child could be found.

"You're not going to find him that way," Even told him patiently one day while they were riding between towns, during their rounds.

"What do you mean?" Xavier asked. He had mentioned to Even about his heart searching, but that hadn't been the response he had been expecting.

"All you need to do to find him is look in the mirror, Xavier. I saw you in every move that child made, in every word he spoke. I believe now that you aren't a new personality created when Master Xehanort was sealed away, but your original self before your corruption by Darkness."

"But Xehanort said -"

"I know what Xehanort told you in your dreams, but remember, he suffered from amnesia and didn't remember your life before the possession. To him, it would seem as if he had just been born as it were, but I believe it's more likely that your original personality was able to come back with Master Xehanort gone. You are the child that was here, just grown and with years of life experiences to draw on."

Xavier nodded silently in understanding, and they rode in silence for a mile or so, before Xavier spoke again. "Have the others given any thought to Ansem's invitation to return?"

"They're of two minds about it. On one had, they would like to, but on the other hand, they are settling nicely in their new home, and they're afraid of any repercussions they would face since it was found that they knew about you the entire time. Ansem may not do anything to them, but others might. Of course, they know I do not ever intend to return. Vexen is happy here, which is all I need to justify my decision to stay. And that reminds me. How did Isa react when you told him of Ansem's apology?"

"He just shrugged and said it was too little, too late. I know he never wants to return to Radiant Garden anyway, though Lea's thinking about paying a visit."

"I think Lea misses Radiant Garden more than he'll ever admit. He stays here for Isa's sake."

Xavier nodded in agreement. "Isa's family disowned him and never attempted to defend him, so he has no reason to return. Lea on the other hand is still friends with Sora and company, plus he has friends from before the world's destruction that survived that he wants to touch base with."

"And what about you, Xavier?"

"Huh?"

"Any plans to return to Radiant Garden?"

"No," Xavier replied with a shake of his head. "Ansem was right that it would be too dangerous to risk being seen, and I believe that I were to go, it would make it that much harder to stay away. I love it here, I love my friends and family here; I don't want to risk it for something that I can't have."

"Wise decision."

"Enough about me." Xavier grinned, and Even gave him a wary look. "The Spring Festival is coming up, and I've noticed a couple of women from town eyeing you. Don't be surprised if they pounce on you at the dance."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Very much. You're an unattached man, and apparently raising a child makes you more appealing to them. I heard them gossiping about your handsome self the other day."

"That's it, Vexen and I are staying home. I will not be 'pounced on' like I'm a side of beef."

"Oh, but Vexen was looking so forward to going. You don't want to disappoint him don't you?"

Even looked at him with a sour expression. "Then you can take him. I want nothing to do with women."

"Men then?"

"Xavier! I do NOT like men! I just like being single!"

Xavier laughed out loud. "Awwww, Vexen is going to be so upset. He was chattering to me the other day about all the fun that he was going to have with Daddy at the festival."

Even sighed in aggravation. "Fine! I'll go, but you're going to be there to deflect their attention away from me."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I'm not the only one they gossip about, you know."

"Oh lords, and my mother will attempt to set me up, I know it."

Even cackled. "You're young -"

"I'm 82 years old!"

"Not in that body, you're not, and there's all these young women that would love to get their hands on you. Try not to kill any of them."

"Mega Flare, I'll use Mega Flare."

"I said not to kill them!"

"It might not!"

"No, it'll just roast them alive. Seriously Xavier, you're young still. Go find someone."

"Now you sound like my father."

"He's a smart man, you should listen to him."

"And my mother, both of them."

"How did such smart people produce such a dense son then?"

"Hey! I am not dense!"

"Dense AND stubborn."

"Even!"

"Oh relax, Xavier, you know I'm only teasing you."

Xavier looked down at the saddle. "I'm just not ready for such a thing, Even. It's too soon after everything..."

"I think you are, and you just don't want to admit it, now let's hurry or we're going to be late." With that Even urged his horse into a canter before Xavier could reply. Xavier shook his head, grumbled about matchmaking friends, and nudged Hannah into a canter to follow him.

OOOOOO

The Spring Festival happened every year in Haven's Bridge, though its exact date changed from year to year, as it took place to celebrate the planting, so the planting had to be done before it could happen. People would gather in the largest town, the one Xavier and his family lived by, to sell crafts and baked goods, gossip with their friends and relatives, play games, sing, make music, and dance. It went on nearly around the clock for three days, and once it was done everyone would return home and count the days until the Harvest Festival in the fall.

Xavier never particularly enjoyed the Spring Festival, because it was a fraction of the size of the Harvest Festival, which was just more fun in general, yet he still attended every year. He listened to the bands (Whose membership changed from song to song.) chatted with people, enjoyed pastries from the vendors, and drank a lot of iced tea. (Ice courtesy of himself and Even.) He heard some of the single women talking about him, but he ignored them. He wasn't ready for that yet. He wasn't interested in that...

…. wow.

Just because he wasn't interested didn't mean he couldn't look and enjoy the view, he told himself as he looked at the pretty girl standing on the opposite side of the dance floor from him. He remembered her as being from one of the other towns, but he had never gotten her name. She was about to his chin height wise, and her brown hair was sun bleached to a dark red in multiple areas. She glanced over at his direction, and their eyes met for a split second. She smiled at him, and he returned it and waved a small wave.

Oh dear, was that his mother standing there? And she had spotted their smile and wave. Wonderful...

Sure enough, a few minutes later, in a break between songs, Elissa led the lady over to him. Was it too early for him to go home? Maybe he could beg off saying he had work to do at the hospital.

"Xavier, I'd like you to meet someone." His mother's voice broke him out of his thoughts, and he found the two of them standing right in front of him. "This is Mary. Mary, this is my son Xavier."

"One of our doctors," Mary said with a small smile, and Xavier couldn't help but notice how the smile was reflected in her hazel eyes.

"That would be me." he replied with a smile of his own, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother grin in triumph.

"I'll leave you two to get acquainted." she said, and then she skipped off. Off to his right, he saw Masa standing there with Akim, and they both gave him a wink and a thumbs up.

Don't spend the rest of your life alone, Xehanort.

Find that special someone.

You need to find someone to spend your life with first.

Seriously Xavier, you're young still. Go find someone.

Oh why in the hell not?

"Would you like to dance?" he asked as he offered her his arm.

She took it with a mischievous smile that made his heart do strange things. "I'd love to. Lead the way."

He couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face as he led her onto the dance floor just as a new song started up, and as they caught the beat, he saw his father standing on the edge of the crowd, watching them with a pleased smile.

Xavier turned back to his dance partner as the song hit its stride, and he felt that constant ache in his heart finally begin to ease. Finally, he felt as though everything was as it should be. Xehanort lived on within him, Ansem did not hate him, and he had the love of his current family.

That was all fine by him.

OOOOOO

A/N 3: Aaaaaaaaaand we're done! For those that are curious, the Hart family crest can be seen in the first Kingdom Hearts game in the castle chapel in Hallow Bastion. It's on the wall above the dark gateway to take to fight Dragon!Malelificent. I'll post a link if my profile.