School finished on the last day of July. There was a huge bonfire on Neminem Beach, a combined celebration with the girls' school. Everyone was in a good mood, a few portable stereos tuned to the only radio station they had in the area, so the music could be heard almost all over the sandy strip of beach.
Roxas was settled comfortably between Pence and Olette, Hayner on her other side, the four of them roasting marshmallows. Sora was on Pence's other side, Kairi and Naminé beside him.
"I'm surprised Lea isn't here," Kairi said, her voice loud over the nearby stereo. "Bonfires – seems exactly his scene."
"It does," Sora agreed. "I don't think the crowd is, though. He's probably holed up somewhere wit his boyfriend?"
Naminé frowned, leaning closer to them. "His boyfriend?" Her eyes strayed to where Roxas was sitting, confused.
"His old friend, Isa," Sora explained.
She paled. "… Saix?"
"Yeah, that was it," he said. "You know him?"
"Something like that," she replied evasively. Before long, she stood. "Sora, will you take a walk with me?"
Confused, he stood and followed after her. They walked in silence until they reached the pebbled part of the beach where it was quieter. "Sora, about Saix…"
"Lea's boyfriend?" He asked. Why was she so interested in Isa? "What about him?"
"He's not meant to be here," she said quietly. "He wasn't part of this."
"Lea said he's just gotten out of juvie. That's why he hasn't been around," Sora repied, shaking his head.
"No, Sora, that's not…" She gave a heavy sigh. "He's not a good person. Whatever he really wants with Lea…" she trailed off. "I think he's going to hurt him."
He patted her arm reassuringly. "It's okay to be worried about him, Naminé," he said carefully. "Lea knows what he's doing."
She shook her head. "You don't get it," she said sadly. "Just… mention it to Roxas, okay?"
"I don't think that' a good idea," he disagreed. "They had a big fight 'cause of Isa. Roxas won't care if Lea is involved."
She bit her lip. "That's even more suspicious, don't you get it?" She asked. "He shows up out of nowhere and puts a wedge between Lea and his friends. Please, Sora. I warned you that…"
"Okay," he interrupted. "I'll tell Roxas. I just don't think it'll help."
She gave a long, tired sigh. "I wish you understood." Shaking her head, she turned back around. "Let's go back to the party."
Sora followed, confused about her worry. He felt his toe knock against something, tripping him. "Huh?" He turned to look back and saw a glass bottle, now half-buried in the sand. He could just see his name on the tightly rolled paper inside the bottle. He recognised the handwriting.
He jolted with surprise, shoving it into his pocket and rushing back to his other's side. "I've got to talk to you about something," he said in a low voice. "Come for a walk?"
Roxas handed Hayner his marshmallow and followed Sora into the darkness of the beach. "If this is about Axel and Saix, you know I don't want to hear it."
"I know you don't," Sora replied. "Naminé wanted me to talk about it – Isa isn't supposed to be here, why is he driving Lea away, yadda, yadda, yadda. No, I found this." He pulled the bottle out. "It's from R.D."
Roxas was frowning, his expression serious. But he shook it off and focussed on the bottle. "Go on. Open it, see what it says."
Eager, he popped out the cork and tipped the bottle upside down, reaching in to get the paper out.
He unrolled the paper to see what was inside. It was a map. The map. The one he'd put in R.D's pocket the last time they'd fought. It was marked again, this time a smaller island a while out from Peninsular Nemo. And it said Come and find me.
He passed the map to Roxas. "He's here."
Roxas studied the map for a long moment. "We'll go tomorrow. Go and get him for you."
Roxas was surprisingly incompetent at sailing the boat, despite their memories of sailing together as kids. He got seasick and ended up needing to sit at the front of the boat, in the air and with a clear view of the horizon to keep him grounded.
They'd left at dawn, and the island came into view somewhere before noon. Sora jumped out of the boat as soon as they reached the sand.
"I'm here!" he called. "R.D!"
He left his other to pull up the boat, heading towards a small plume of smoke drifting through the sky. At its pit, he found a figure in a black hood sitting on the sand.
They turned, pulling the hood down. A curtain of silky silvery hair drifted in the breeze – momentarily obscuring refined features and crystalline blue-green eyes.
Memory and feeling exploded to life in his heart, washing over him like a tide.
"Riku!" he cried, rushing to him. He found himself enclosed in a desperate embrace. "I remember you now!"
"Thank fuck," Riku murmured, holding him tight. "I thought I'd be stuck on this island forever."
"It's okay. I'm here now. So's Roxas. We have a boat, we'll take you home. Sephiroth won't remember you, but I'm sure Lea will be happy to let you stay. You'll have to put up with Isa, but—"
"Isa?" Riku repeated, pulling away to frown at him. "You mean Saix?"
"Yeah," Sora said brightly. "Did you ever meet him?"
"No." He looked worried. "He's not good news. Didn't anyone say something about him? Naminé?"
"Uh…" Sora scratched the side of his face. "I guess she did. She said he was a bad person, that he didn't belong here. She's worried about Lea, I think.
"… Sora, we should go." Riku looked anxious. "I want to meet Saix – ask him some questions myself."
Roxas was lying in the boat, yawning – one hand draped over his eyes. He lifted his arm as he heard them approaching. "Oh, good. You found him. Can we go back now?"
"I missed you too, Roxas," Riku replied, rolling his eyes.
"Well, I don't remember you," he corrected, as they prepared to launch the boat, "but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't agree."
Riku only laughed.
The sun was setting by the time they got back to Peninsula Nemo. Twilight in the Peninsular was not nice like in the city. The town was shadowed, everything looked dingy and grey and gross. Not that it looked much better in any other light.
"Hey," Riku said, amused, "my car's here." He pointed to an old, beat-up sedan on the curb by the docks.
"Great. You wanna give us a ride home?" Roxas asked, tired and grumpy after a full day in the sun.
"After," Riku corrected. "I'm going to see Lea."
The blond grumbled. Sora chuckled at his other's sulky attitude. "e and Lea aren't getting along right now."
Riku snorted as they settled into the car. "So, what's new?" He teased.
"They were getting along," Sora added, smiling at Riku. "They were practically dating before their fall out."
"Shut up, Sora," Roxas grumbled from the back seat. He was still touchy about that. "Can we just hurry up and get this over with? You two can have your private reunion and I can get some sleep."
Sora pulled a face at his other in the rear-view mirror. He knew Roxas didn't want to talk about a 'private reunion' any more than Sora wanted to talk about it in the vicinity of his brother. But if Roxas wanted to shut him up, that was fine.
It wasn't long to get to Lea's place. They all clambered out and let themselves through the front door of the apartment building.
Sora knocked eagerly on the door. "Lea! Guess who we found!"
He waited a few moments, grinning back at Riku and his other. Then a whole minute had passed, and there was nothing. His brows knit together in a frown, and then he knocked again. "Lea?" He called. "It's Sora, come open the door!"
Another minute passed. Still nothing.
"Maybe he's at his cart?" Sora suggested.
"His lights are on," Roxas replied. He nudged his brother aside and started pounding his fists on the door. "Axel! Saix!" He yelled through the door. "Open up!"
Riku touched Sora's arm. "I'll check if his neighbours have a key."
He nodded and followed the pale-haired guy over to the door on the other side of the corridor.
In a moment, the door was opened by a beautiful man with petal-pink hair. "Good evening, Sora," he greeted. "Ah, Mr Dawn. It's been quite some time."
"Marluxia," Riku greeted, giving a polite but cold nod. "Axel doesn't seem to be answering his door. Do you happen to have a spare key?"
"No," the neighbour replied. "Though I'm not surprised he doesn't feel like company. Not after the fight he had with that arrogant tyrant earlier today."
Axel's as fragile as he is strong , Riku had said once.
His eyes widened, and Sora watched as he rushed back to Lea's door. "Move," he commanded Roxas, who quickly stepped aside.
Sora had a brief image that flashed across his mind – of Riku lifting a key shaped like a dragon's wing and a flash of light unlocking the door.
The reality was different. Riku lifted one booted foot and slammed it against the door. On the second kick, the wood splintered and the door crashed open. Roxas rushed ahead of them, and Sora brought up the rear.
Lea was lying in the middle of the floor. His face was twisting in pain, one hand fisted in the fabric of his shirt above his heart. He looked worryingly pale, even his hair seemed to be a paler shade.
Roxas gave a shaky gasp as he took up Lea's other hand. "He's cold," he whispered, anxious.
"Shit." Riku handed Sora his keys. "No time to wait for an ambulance. Sora, I need you to go start the car and open the doors." The brunet nodded, rushing out. "Roxas, help me carry him to the car…"