Chapter 29: Home Again

A/N: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It is owned by Square Enix. Nor do I own any of the characters from Walt Disney Studios. And I do not own Father Forthill, he is the property of Jim Butcher, author of TheDresdenFiles. This is a creative project that I do not profit on in any way.

Ah, Twilight Town was a sight for sore eyes, Lea thought as they walked back through the sleepy streets of town. Judging from how deserted everything was, it was either late at night, or else very, very early in the morning. They hadn't reached the clock tower yet, and Lea's watch was pretty much useless after being on three different worlds' worth of timezones for the last week or so. He was looking forward to getting home though. He could almost feel his soft bed now…he could sleep and sleep and sleep some more.

It was high time that he and the kiddos get a proper day-off. What had they been planning to do before this whole adventure started? Getting some books? That was right, Hayner and them had lent Roxas and Xion a few books and Pence's old computer to make their house look more like a home. That could be a good idea to do for real.

When they got to their little house, Lea pulled out his key to unlock the door, but was startled to see that the door was unlocked. What the heck?

"Somebody's been in our house," Isa said, holding his hand to the side, ready to summon his claymore should the need arise. "Somebody…vacuumed the carpet?"

Lea blinked. Somebody had been in their house? And vacuumed the carpet? Lea walked over to the pantry—it had been fully restocked, and then some…and everything had been alphabetized? Bags of beans, cans of fruit and vegetables, boxes of pasta and rice, shelled walnuts and pecans, three kinds of healthy cereals, two kinds of sugary cereals—mmmm, Rainbow Rings—it was practically their own personal store.

"Somebody ate all the ice cream!" Roxas shouted from the kitchen. "All the ice cream…all the milk…anything perishable."

So they had been burglarized by some neat-freak who restocked the pantry but cleared out the fridge? Lea pressed his fingers to his forehead. No, that was a stupid idea. C'mon, he was the Flurry of Dancing Flames, an assassin—or a reformed assassin. He was smarter than this.

The sudden sound of the front door opening made Lea's hair stand up on end. He turned around quickly, battle-ready senses honed. Standing at the door was…Olette? Wait, what was she doing here this early? And wearing thick yellow rubber gloves?

"I've done the laundry three times…the carpets…the counters…I dusted most of Xion's seashell collection…" Olette muttered to herself. "What's next…what's next?"

"Olette!" Roxas called from the kitchen. "We've been robbed!"

"Hi, Roxas…" Olette said. "The garden then, that can be tended to. If I find the—Roxas!"

Olette flung herself at Roxas, wrapping her arms around his neck. Lea chuckled. He'd been on the receiving end of a few of those kinds of hugs from Kairi. Roxas looked a little taken aback.

"What's going on?" Xion called from upstairs. "Is there something wrong?"

"Xion! You're home!"

"Aaah!" Xion squealed and bolted down the staircase. "Olette?"

"I've been so worried!" Olette cried, hugging Xion as soon as she got downstairs. "Your jacket, it's so nice!"

"Forgive me for interrupting the reunion," Isa said. "But what, pray tell, are you doing here, Olette? It's far too early for a social visit."

What was Olette doing here in the first place? That's what Lea wanted to know. They had come straight from Master Yen Sid's Tower, and so far as he knew, neither Roxas nor Xion had had the time to call any of their friends. Why bother coming over, if there was nobody to hang out with…unless…

"You've been coming here," Lea said slowly, realization dawning on him. "And you've been cleaning our house?"

"Er…yeah…" Olette said, blushing. "See. I'm not good at fighting. And Father always taught me to serve others. And you've done so much for me, i wanted to do something for you. Serving is the one thing I really know how to do…and well, I figured I'd take care of the laundry first—I got the ice cream out of Xion's blouse—and after that the house needed to be kept clean."

"You've done a bit more than just keep it cleaned," Isa said. "The pantry?"

"You guys were gonna need food," Olette said. "And look at it this way, Isa. You don't have to do the shopping for…a while, I guess."

"And the refrigerator?"

"That was Hayner. He said the ice cream was going to go bad anyway, and he couldn't let it go to waste."

"But the early hour?" Isa said. "It's not even five in the morning. We've been traveling, and you know time works differently on other worlds, so for us, it's more or less early evening, but there's no reason for you to be here now."

"I…um…I couldn't sleep," Olette said. "So I figured, might as well get started."

Lea glanced at Olette and noticed she wouldn't meet Isa's eye. He glanced at Isa—hmm, he didn't look that intimidating. Something else might be bothering her though. Still…he'd worry about that later.

"If you guys just got home, I can leave," Olette said quickly. "I don't want to be a bother."

"I'm not tired," Roxas said. "I don't mind you staying."

"Yeah," Xion said. "It'll be fun."

"Well, if you two want to stay up," Lea said, "I guess that's alright. Nothing's open right now, and Isa and I need to rest, but—"

"I brought a book," Olette said quickly. "And we can go to the Usual Spot."

"Alright," Lea said. "You run along. As for me, I have a long over-due date with my pillow. Going to sleep, sleep and then sleep some more."

Olette peered at him curiously, then shrugged and led Roxas and Xion out of the house. As the door closed behind them, Isa raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You cannot tell me that you don't find this somewhat peculiar."

"Sure, it's kinda weird," Lea admitted. "But when has that ever not been the norm for Twilight Town? Everything is kind of weird here, even on a normal day. And it's not that weird really—I bet Sora and Kairi would do their friends' chores, without being asked."

"She shows up before five o'clock in the morning?" Isa said, crossing his arms. "Open your eyes, Lea. Something is seriously bothering her!"

Lea bit his lip. Okay, it was weird that Olette would show up at this unnaturally early hour. Even weirder that she'd show up to do chores. He'd pull a couple all-nighters before, with Isa, back when they were kids in Radiant Garden, but there was usually a real reason. The festivals celebrating the founding of the city; studying for end-of-year exams…though Isa had always been quick to point out that had Lea studied regularly during the school year, he would not need to study so urgently; staying up all through the night on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa Claus…

Okay, he'd look into it. Isa was right—there had to be something up.

oooo

Roxas inhaled deeply as he looked around the Usual Spot. It was just him and Xion and Olette. It was a little surprising. With only the three of them, the Usual Spot didn't seem quite so small.

"I'm so happy you made it home safe!" Olette said, smoothing her pants. "Xion, your new clothes look amazing! And that necklace, didn't Roxas make it for you? What did King Mickey want? Were you able to help him?"

"It's kind of hard to describe," Xion said. "You know the whole…Power of Waking thing right?"

"Yeah, it's a power to restore lost hearts," Olette said, though from her tone, Roxas could tell that she wasn't quite sure about what she was saying. "And Sora used it to rescue Kairi."

"I guess he used it for more than just that…" Roxas said slowly. He paused, unsure how to continue. Olette had been there at Destiny Islands, when Sora faded away. And she had been there to rescue Ansem the Wise from the Real Organization XIII. And all the Heartless and Nobodies she'd seen… So…really, given everything else she had seen, a little more intel on what he and Xion had been up to couldn't hurt too much. "Well…basically, the doors to the realms of death were opened."

"Realms of death?" Olette frowned. She pressed a hand to her chest, her fingers tightening against her shirt. "Like Heaven and Hell?"

"King Mickey said something about how when people in his world die, they're supposed to go to a place called Heaven," Roxas said. "But he also said that people had been showing up, people who had died a long time ago."

"And while we were there," Xion said, "We met a man named Whitmore and he pretty much dared Roxas to be as good a hero as Sora was. And then we fought this…giant wolf man."

Olette's eyes were so wide, Roxas was afraid they might fall out of her head. But it felt good to talk about what happened with someone who hadn't been there. A lot of it had been scary, but now, it didn't seem nearly so scary.

"And then what happened?"

"We fought off the Big Bad Wolf—that's really what they called him," Roxas said, "And then King Mickey gave us a Gummi Ship."

"Does it run on happy faces?" Olette asked, with a laugh. "I still don't know how that works."

"Neither do we," Roxas shook his head. "But to answer your question, it runs on sea salt ice cream sticks."

Olette blinked once, twice, three times before bursting into a fit of giggles. Roxas grinned. Olette's laugh was almost as nice as Xion's.

"Enough about us," Xion said. "What have you been up to? How's Vivi?"

"He's doing so well, Xion," Olette said, pressing her hands together. "He's taken up Grandstander. He can bounce the ball twenty-two times without letting it drop. I know that's not much compared to you guys, but it's better than I could do when I was…how old is he, eight? Nine?"

"Not sure," Roxas said. "It's never come up."

"Well, Vivi's doing better—Seifer and the others aren't being mean to him anymore," Olette said. "And Hayner's been working with Granny at the ice cream shop. And Pence has been working with the computers in…the Mansion…"

Olette ducked her head and slid onto the couch. When she looked up at them again, Roxas was shocked to see her eyes brimming with tears. He felt very uneasy. What could have caused Olette to start crying? Had he said something that pushed one of her buttons?

"I told them not to. I said this was something we shouldn't be doing. That there were other ways we could help you. But after everything that happened, even here…after Sephiroth…Hayner and Pence were worried. And we thought that maybe Master Ansem had recorded one of the bad guys on the cameras."

Roxas and Xion looked at each other. It made a certain sort of sense to Roxas. Ansem the Wise had that really complicated computer system, so he had to have some cameras somewhere on them.

"But I knew that you two didn't want us snooping in your past," Olette said. "But we did it anyway."

"It's not that necessarily," Xion said. "It's that…um…well…"

"You like that we're your friends and we're not really part of the fight," Olette said. "That we're part of what makes Twilight Town home."

That was a good way of putting it, Roxas thought. Hayner and Pence and Olette were a huge part of his life in Twilight Town. And it was nice that they didn't know all of what had happened…but Olette was still his friend.

"It's not something I like to think about…" Xion said quietly. "Back in the Organization, I…I did so many terrible things."

"I did worse things," Roxas muttered. Xion was always too hard on herself, and looking back on it, his actions had been worse. He had done just as much spying…or "surveillance," or whatever the heck as Xion. He had harvested just as many hearts for Xemnas's version of Kingdom Hearts as Xion—heck, he'd probably harvested more, since Xion kept getting ill. And when he had destroyed Xion, and tried to free Kingdom Hearts…as angry as he had been at the time, Roxas honestly wasn't sure he'd have been able to do it. And then what would have happened?

"Both of you stop it!" Olette said sharply. Roxas's mouth fell open. It wasn't often he heard her raise her voice like this. "I don't care what you did in the past! I just want that to remain the past!"

Roxas glanced at Xion and then back to Olette. Olette blushed, as if just now realizing what she'd said. Xion rubbed her arm, almost unconsciously.

"Did…um…did you see anything?" Xion asked. "Anything at all?"

"We didn't," Olette said. "Not anything past the last few weeks, anyway. Two of the bad guys tried to scare Sora, right around the time we first started really looking for you, Roxas. But other than that, nothing."

Roxas let go a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It was funny, really, once you got to think about it, just how much

"How are you, really?" Olette said. "Ienzo said…that you were struggling with some things but drawing strength from each other. Did something bad happen when you were away?"

"I…" Xion glanced at Roxas, her brilliant blue eyes glassy. "It's…Olette, have you ever done something wrong, when you didn't realize it was wrong at the time?"

"Other than your diary? No…not really…" Olette admitted.

"That doesn't count!" Xion said. "I mean, I…I made a mistake with my magic…it's kind of hard to describe, but basically…I copied some magic that's really, really dangerous.

"That wasn't your fault, though," Roxas said. "And remember what Goofy said, you weren't actually in trouble…"

He trailed off—even if Xion hadn't gotten in real trouble, it was still pretty clear that what Master Yen Sid had said was bothering her. And the idea that she might be harboring a piece of Xehanort's heart, even unknowingly? What could he do to help her with that? It wasn't true, it couldn't be true, but it had still been said.

"You don't have to talk about it," Olette said. She checked her watch. "It's nearly seven now—we can get something for breakfast at Mister McDuck's bistro."

Xion gave a fervent nod. Roxas walked over to her and took her hand. It was soft and warm and Xion smiled at him, grateful. Olette linked her arm through Xion's at the elbow and together they walked out of the Usual Spot.

oooo

Spying was not as easy as it used to be, especially considering the ones he was spying on were people who knew him. Lea walked through the streets of Twilight Town, towards the plaza where the best shop were. That was where the ice cream shop was, and it wasn't far from the bistro either. Those two were Roxas and Xion's favorite places, and if Lea's instincts were right, and they usually were, that's where they would have gone with Olette. Lea felt a twinge of his conscience.

It wasn't that he was opposed to spying per say, but Olette had been good to the kiddos. Well, most of the kids in Twilight Town had been good to Roxas and Xion, but Hayner, Pence and Olette were different. It was funny, really. All those evenings on the clock tower, eating sea salt ice cream and watching the sunset, Roxas had seen those three running around the plaza. It had been his first real taste of what friendship looked like.

And talk about kids who stepped up to the plate. While Sora and Riku had been drawn into the whole Keyblade wielding stuff when they were just little kids—Terra had given Riku the Inheritance Ceremony when he was like five and Sora had that weird heart stuff with Ventus around the same time—Hayner and Pence and Olette pretty much got drafted into this when he, as Axel, had kidnapped Kairi. They could have gone back to their normal lives, but they didn't. They had been crucial to restoring Roxas in the first place, and if they hadn't…Lea didn't want to think about what would have ended up happening to him and Sora and Kairi and Xion in the Keyblade Graveyard.

But Isa had a point too—it was weird that Olette had shown up so early. Had she known they were coming home? It was possible Ienzo had called them ahead of time and yet…something did feel a little off.

Lea stopped at one of the stands, where bunches of fresh vegetables were on display. Carrots and celery and were those radishes? Lettuce and leeks and cucumbers, too! Huh, they looked great!

"Anything catch your eye?" The vendor, a big-belled man with brown hair, asked. "These are straight from my community garden!"

"What?" Lea asked. Roxas had mentioned building a community garden for Mister Yanushi a while back, but it hadn't been nearly enough time to harvest vegetables.

"You're Roxas's guardian aren't you? Nice kid," The vendor—who had to be Mister Yanushi—said. "Helped me out a lot. I swear, that boy does the work of ten."

"Work of twenty, I'd say," Lea said. "Sure, I'll buy some."

He pulled out some munny and paid for enough vegetables to fill a large paper bag. Perfect, now he had vegetables for his family, and a convenient excuse for why he was here if Roxas and Xion got suspicious.

Assuming he ever actually found them. It was still early enough that most of the shops were only just opening.

"Hi Axel!"

Figured the very minute he'd start to get impatient, he'd wind up finding them. Roxas and Xion and Olette were walking over from the bistro. There was a smear of frosting on Roxas's lip.

"Let me help you with those," Olette said, taking the bag of vegetables out of Lea's arms. "The trams don't let you take food on, and the Underground's still closed, so we'll have to take the long way to get these home. Is there anything else we need?"

That was it! Olette had called their house "home." Maybe it was something, maybe it was nothing. But come to think of it…she'd done that before hadn't she? Back at Doctor Sweet's office—when Xion had been splashed with that hot coffee by those teenagers, Olette had mentioned that they had aloe at home. And again on the clock tower, Olette said she'd take care of Vivi until they got home from their missions.

Huh, that wasn't really much in the way for spying and surveillance, but it made sense to Lea. And it wasn't the least bit icky.

"Er, Axel?" Roxas said, wiping the last bit of whatever pastry he had eaten from his mouth, "You didn't answer. Anything else we need?"

"Um…" Lea said. "There's nothing else, I just wanted to check on ya. And get some vegetables…"

Now that he was paying close attention, Xion and Olette both had red, puffy eyes. Ah, crap. That meant they most likely had gotten into the icky stuff, at least a bit.

Oh well, he'd figure out the details later.

oooo

Roxas and Xion were here. Roxas and Xion were home. Thank God for it. Olette had lit nearly a dozen candles at church, praying for their return. Father Forthill had lit some too, though he never pushed for more information about her friends.

The responsibility of the Keybearer was to fight the darkness. Olette understood this. But that didn't mean she didn't wish there were more tangible ways to help them. She had kept their home clean, though. That was something, if nothing else. And she felt better around them now than she had in days. This felt real.

"So Olette, you gonna stay for lunch?" Axel asked. He was smiling at her, but it wasn't the same sort of smile she'd seen him give Roxas or Xion. He seemed almost nervous. She bit back a frown. Her friends were back. And Axel was her friend too…well, mostly.

"Yes," Olette said. "If you would have me, I'd love to. I can help cook, if you like."

"Or I can help cook," Xion piped up. "Axel, aren't you late for sleeping anyhow?"

Axel gave a bark of laughter and reached out to thump Xion upside the head. Xion giggled and tried to hit him back, but Axel was so much taller and had such longer arms, he was able to hold both her hands above her head with just one hand. Xion squirmed when Roxas reached over to poke her in the ribs. Olette couldn't help but smile. It was rare to see them so carefree.

"Olette, my dear!"

Olette blinked and shifted the bag of groceries in her hands. Father Forthill was walking towards them, his robin-blue eyes shining.

"Hello, Father," Olette said politely. "These are the friends I was telling you about."

"Ah, yes, she was most worried about you," Father Forthill said. "She told me that you might be in a fair bit of trouble. Might there be anything I can do to assist?"

"My goodness!" Father Forthill said, "That's quite a memory."

"We're working on it," Axel said. "But thanks for your concern, Father."

"Father?" Roxas asked. "Axel, why are you calling Olette's dad 'Father'? He's not your dad…is he?"

Olette bit back a laugh, but Father Forthill chuckled heartily. Axel's eyes widened and he smacked himself hard on the forehead.

"He's not my…that's his…that's his name, Roxas."

"Your parents named you 'Father'?" Xion asked. "That's…well, it's not any stranger than my name, I guess."

Father Forthill laughed harder and Axel groaned so loudly, it drowned out Forthill's laughter. Roxas and Xion both blushed—Olette had known they had certain gaps in their knowledge…but nothing quite like this before.

"It's a title, Xion," Olette said. "Like 'Doctor' or maybe 'Master.' Father Forthill is a priest at my church."

"Yeah, yeah," Axel said. "I'll explain the specifics to you later, guys."

"I'd be happy to answer any other questions you might have," Father Forthill said with a nod. "Goodness knows, I doubt you'll be asking me anything I haven't already heard."

"Er," Xion said. "Thank you…um…Father?"

"Man, that sounds weird coming from you," Axel muttered.

Knowing what she knew about Roxas and Xion's pasts, it did feel strange to hear them say the word 'father,' regardless of context. Axel was great to them, to be sure, but Olette wasn't sure she would call him a 'father.' 'Family,' sure, he dearly loved Roxas and Xion. And thinking about that made her think of other parents. Kairi was adopted, though Olette had never met her parents. And Sora's parents…dear Lord, what sort of torment must they be going through right now? Olette felt a rush of guilt. Of all the thinking she had done about all of this, Sora and Kairi and Roxas and Xion and Keyblades and Heartless and Sephiroth…what Sora's parents must be suffering hadn't ever really crossed her mind.

"I best be off. Take care, children," Father Forthill tipped his hand to them and set off again, whistling something that sounded like one of the hymns he liked singing, but Olette wasn't quite sure which it was.

"He seems nice," Roxas said. "So, he isn't related to you?"

"My priest," Olette said. "And the best man I know."

"You didn't tell him anything, did you?" Axel asked. "Look, I don't put a lot of stock in the World Order, but I don't want you getting in trouble."

"No," Olette shook her head. "I just told him you were in some kind of trouble, and I hoped you were gonna be okay."

"Huh," Axel said. "You know that's actually pretty sweet. Thanks."

They walked along, taking the long paths—Axel picked up a few more things, though he passed them off to Roxas and Xion, so he didn't have to carry anything heavy. Olette didn't mind though, it gave her time to think. And time to answer some of Roxas and Xion's questions. It was nearly noon by the time they made it back home.

"Alright, let's get this cooked," Axel said. "I'm hungry and tired. I'm gonna sleep, turn over and sleep some more."

While Axel took his long-overdue nap, Olette helped Roxas put away the vegetables, while Xion fixed sandwiches for everyone.

Her father (not Father Forthill) was away on a business trip…again. She'd have been eating lunch alone, if she weren't here. Eating meals like this, with friends…with a brother and a sister…This was what she had always wanted. She just hoped it would last.

A/N: Another chapter is complete, my dear, dear readers. It's a bit shorter than the last few, I'm afarid. I will be taking a break from "Rise Above the X" in order to finish a half dozen one-shots I've started. But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this newest chapter.

Thank you for reading, my dear readers. Please leave a comment, if you're so inclined. I appreciate each and every one of you!