It was the 75th day.

Time didn't really flow in the Secret Forest, at least not like how it did in the outside world. But Lea had been counting the days ever since Kairi first arrived. Roxas had done the same thing back when he was part of the organization, so it just felt like something Lea should do, too.

"So. No luck yet, huh?" asked Lea.

Kairi could only swivel her head sadly. "No. No matter how hard I try, it just won't come to me."

"You mean you can't wield the Keyblade anymore?" That doesn't seem right. Someone couldn't just lose their ability to wield...could they?

"Well, no. I can wield one. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"That time, Riku just...handed it to me. I actually haven't summoned it on my own yet."

Lea folded his arms, unable to offer any help.

"Without the Keyblade…I'm useless." Kairi wore a pitiful expression.

Lea had no words to offer her. Instead, his eyes glazed over, and mind unconsciously wandered into the past.

Two voices could be heard in the hallway of the dungeon, located in the lower portion of the castle. Lea and Isa had been locked up here after entering Ansem's Study without authorization.

The first voice spoke. It was deep and masculine. "What is it?"

"We lost a few more of our subjects, you know," responded the second voice, which was breezy and casual. "Dilan and Aeleus locked 'em up in those underground cells, like you said."

From the dungeon, Lea and Isa could overhear a bit of their conversation.

"...S-subjects?" Isa whispered.

Lea felt his heart plummet. Maybe there was some truth to those creepy rumors, after all.

"It can't be helped," said the low-pitched first voice. "Even has found no effective treatment once the heart collapses. I assume they will become Heartless soon enough. That is why they must remain underground."

"Heart...less?" Lea mumbled under his breath. The heck is that?

"Speaking of the Heartless, how's your research on them going?" asked the second voice.

The first voice answered clinically. "They appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've shown no response to the latter."

Lea couldn't believe what he was hearing. His breath left his lungs. NON-living samples? Does he mean...dead!?

Voice number one continued with his findings, "They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. And their prey vanishes without a trace."

Isa's eyes grew wide with horror. They vanish!?

The first man went on, "The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves. However...that is all I can say at the moment. Perhaps further study with living samples will shed some light on these creatures."

The sound of footsteps approaching became louder and closer.

Living samples? Does he mean...us!?

Soon, an unfamiliar man stood in the doorway. He had silver hair and was wearing a long white lab coat.

Isa stared frozen in place, while Lea was scowling at him angrily.

Shortly after, the second man appeared before their cell, too. He had dark hair and and wore a patch over one eye.

The two men stood side by side.

The first thing Lea noticed was their eyes. Although it was hard to see, those bright golden eyes almost seemed to glow in the dark. He instantly recognized the man with the single yellow eye and eyepatch as the castle guard that locked him and Isa up. He charged at the door indignantly. "YOU!"

"Lea..." A nervous Isa tried his best to calm him down, but to no avail.

He was shouting and stamping his foot. "We haven't done anything! Let us out of here! NOW!"

The guard seemed to be having fun. "Oh, we can't do that. You trespassers have seen just a little too much."

This only agitated Lea more. "What the hell do you plan on doing with us!?"

The man, Braig, only smirked. "You're about to find out."

It was to the underground tunnels that the trespassing boys were taken. Orange pipes lined the purple granite walls as steam sometimes emerged. Blue crystals were strewn about. The cave-like area had a somewhat somber atmosphere. It was almost...haunting. The pureblood Heartless currently congregated here in the underground depths, which were connected to one of the computer labs where Xehanort was studying the Heartless.

"We'll be back for you later to record your observations," said the silver-haired man, Xehanort.

"...Observations!?" Lea snapped. "Of what!?

"Of the Heartless," the researcher replied coldly. "Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying even as we speak. However, we cannot have their numbers grow out of control. You will thin them out."

And with that order, Xehanort and Braig walked away and the large white doors slammed shut behind them. Lea and Isa were now left all alone in the faintly lit cavern.

"Well, it looks like they're gone." Lea couldn't help but notice Isa's downcast expression. "What's the matter?"

The reason was obvious, Isa thought. "I... don't know how to fight like you do. They're gonna get rid of me once they find out I'm useless. I'm... gonna turn into... a Heartless..."

"Isa. Listen to me. I won't let that happen to you. You're not gonna turn into a Heartless."

Isa looked up at Lea and held his gaze.

"I'll just defeat all of them myself. Okay?"

Lea will have to do my share of the work, too. "I'm sorry..."

"I don't mind! I can do it!" Lea gave Isa a warm bright smile. "Just leave it to me, okay?"

Merlin took Lea and Kairi back to his house. The three of them sat down at the table and drank some tea.

"So, we're not gonna practice magic again?" asked Kairi.

"No. Today, I believe a lesson will suffice. Education is just as important as training, you know."

Lea glanced over at the chalkboard and globe. Education, huh? So, it's like school. His mind was brimming with questions, and he raised his hand like a child at his desk. "Alright then. I have a question for you. What exactly IS that world, anyway?"

He was referring, of course, to the secret forest. Although 96 days had passed there, almost no time had passed in the real world.

"I was expecting that question sooner or later. The three good fairies and I changed the flow of time there, so we could hasten your training. You see, that world remains frozen in the distant past."

Kairi and Lea weren't sure they were following, but continued listening.

"After the good king of that world had died, the world was torn apart by war. No one could decide the rightful heir. The only thing the king left behind was a sword in a stone, and its inscription":

"Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise the king born of all England."

"Though many tried for it with all their strength, none could move the sword nor stir it. So the world was still without a king. That was a dark age indeed."

Lea and Kairi just stared at him, enraptured by the story.

He continued his tale. "So, who should be the one to pull that sword from the stone? Why, a scrawny young boy named Arthur. And on that day, he will become the new King. That forest was his training grounds, back when he was but a squire."

"I had no idea," Kairi marveled. "No wonder you took us there."

"My point is this: that sword was particular about its wielder. It responded to the wielder's strength of heart. The Keyblade is no different."

Kairi looked down at the swirling contents of her teacup. The Keyblade chose me, didn't it? So, why can't I summon mine?

"Higitus Figitus!" Merlin used a spell to transport his pupils back to the forest training ground, then departed for the day.

Silence fell over the pair of redheaded trainees. Birds could be heard chirping from afar.

Lea didn't exactly know what to say. Kairi was being unusually quiet.

At length, she finally spoke. "You said you had trouble summoning your Keyblade at first, too, right?"

Lea affirmed with a nod.

"So, then, how did you do it? How'd you summon yours for the first time?"

During their Mark of Mastery, Lea planned on swooping in, Keyblade in hand, to help Sora and Riku. But, he couldn't get it to materialize. Not until after he returned to the Mysterious Tower.

"I just...remembered an important promise I made to my best friend," he answered, intentionally vaguely.

Kairi reflected on that answer. An important promise.

"Well, let's go," she said, determined.

But Sora shook his head. "You can't go."

"Why not?"

"Because it's way too dangerous."

"C'mon, Sora. We made it this far by sticking together. You can't go alone!" Kairi shot back.

"Kairi, even if we're apart, we're not alone anymore. Right?"

At Sora's earnest look, she smiled brightly and put her shoulders back. "I can't help?"

"Well, you'd kind of be in my way."

"Okay. You win," she relented and took something out of her pocket. "Take this."

It was a charm made of thalassa shells, five of them tied together in the shape of a star.

I don't want to be left behind anymore. She closed her empty fist.

There was a brief flash of light. And…

Kairi stared agape at the Keyblade in her hand. Her Keyblade.

It came back to me…

She closed her hand around her weapon. It felt comfortable in her hand. Almost like she'd fought many times with it before.

"Impressive!"

When she turned around, Lea was giving her a round of applause.

"Lea! I...I did it!"

"You sure did!"

"It's all because of you!"

Lea knew she meant it, but he looked away.

"Me? I didn't do anything," he protested with a wry laugh.

"Of course you did! If it weren't for you, I might not have remembered how to summon it," she added.

She looked directly at him with a huge smile on her face. It felt uncomfortable somehow to have anyone grinning at him with such a happy look.

"Thank you, Lea."

This is why… this feeling is so hazy.

Scratching his head unconsciously, he looked away from Kairi.

A dark blot on the floor materialized into a cluster of three Shadows, which sprang up. Soon, more and more appeared. The jet-black Heartless each had yellow eyes, and a pair antennae. They were not that large. About half Lea's size, in fact. But they were multiplying rapidly.

Isa stared in disbelief. "Okay. That's... a lot of Heartless..."

Lea jerked his chin towards the direction behind them. "Go. Hurry."

"What? But…"

"I said go."

"No! You can't take them all out by yourself!"

"Look, Isa, if you stay, you'll just be in the way!"

Isa lowered his head, unable to argue with that.

"I'll catch up with you later, after I thin 'em out!" With that declaration, Lea took out his favorite pair of frisbees.

Isa slowly raised his head. "Can you really handle this many?"

"Of course I can. I'm tough." The redhead flashed a cocky smile. "Got it memorized?"

With that bit of coaxing, Isa finally turned around. He looked back at Lea one last time and then ran off.

Lea was now all alone with all the Heartless. "All right, losers! Let's go!"

I'm confident that I'm fast enough to make a break for it if I have to.

Meanwhile, Isa put as much distance as possible between himself and the Shadows as possible.

It's all my fault. Because I'm so useless!

He clutched his fists tightly.

What if the Heartless got him already?

Every time the thought struck him, he couldn't bear to stand still, and he found himself pacing back and forth. It had probably only been an hour, but it felt like a lifetime ago that they split up.

Suddenly, he felt a presence.

"Ah—"

A group of Heartless appeared out of the floor.

Does this mean he couldn't stop them?

They began to surrounded him.

It's all over for me...

Isa fell to his knees.

Lea vanished. I'll...I'll never see him again.

He had nothing left, anyways. Perhaps it was better for him to just disappear.

Just then, a frisbee came launching through the air, destroying the Heartless.

Isa whirled around and saw—Lea.

"That was a close one, eh, Isa?"

Lea casually strolled toward him in no particular hurry. He was grinning, just like always.

But Isa couldn't bring himself to move or mutter a word. He could barely even breathe. He stood as still as a statue, staring at Lea like he'd seen a ghost.

Noticing this, Lea shrugged playfully. "Ohhh, I get it. You thought I'd finally be outta your hair for good, huh?"

The scowling Isa finally responded, in a rather loud voice. "That's not funny at all!"

Lea was taken aback by his dead serious reaction and froze up.

"Why would you even joke like that!? I really thought you had...vanished..." His shaking voice could barely squeak the final word out.

Isa was normally so calm and collected. This was the first time Lea had seen him lose his cool so badly. He was completely distraught.

He was really worried about me, huh?

For some reason, that fact made Lea really...flattered.

"Hey, hey, hey. I told you I'd be all right, didn't I?" Lea puffed out his chest. "I'm tough."

Isa's expression instantly softened into a sincere smile. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here. Thank you, Lea."

Seeing Isa smile at him like that, Lea turned away, scratching his head sheepishly.

I feel so happy right now.

152 days had passed since Kairi began her training with Lea. Ever since she summoned her Keyblade, the two began sparring every day.

"Focus on your defense, too, not just your offense." Lea pointed at his head. "Got it memorized?"

"I do have it memorized! Just because I know something in my head doesn't mean it's easy to make my body do it!"

Lea could tell by the look on her face that she was getting frustrated.

"You used to be a member of Organization XIII." Kairi took another glance at her training partner. Despite being a novice Keyblade wielder like her, he just seemed so much more capable and reliable. "That's why you're so much stronger than I am."

Kairi couldn't help but remember those days, when she used to stand at the shore, watching the tides as the waxed and waned. In her mind, she could still hear the sound of the waves.

Back then, all I could do was wait.

Even now, she wasn't making as much progress as she would have liked.

The way I am now, I'll just get in the way if I fight by Sora's side. I have to work twice as hard from now on.

"Lea." She looked up at her training partner with a deep sigh.

"...W-what?" he asked apprehensively, sensing her disapproval.

Talking to girls was never really Lea's strong suit. He had a general impression that all it took to upset them was pushing the wrong button. Or even gently tapping the wrong button. And for some reason, Kairi seemed to be pretty moody today.

He's going so easy on me. "I think that's enough for today," she said with a sigh.

"Oh. Uh, okay." Lea scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Kairi walked away, leaving Lea by himself.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Lea muttered to himself, "Sheesh. Girls are pretty complicated."

She must be upset about something that I don't understand the reason for. An emotion somewhere in my memories.

The two kids were taken back to the same caverns as before. Lea was helping Isa get some more practice in and let him borrow one of his discs.

I-I actually did it. They're gone.

"Huff, huff..."

Then Isa heard the sound of someone clapping.

"Very impressive, Isa! Fight, fight, fiiight!"

He turned, and Lea was giving him a round of applause.

"Sheesh..."

"Hey, you've gotten pretty good at this. I'm just praising you for you hard work."

Though he tried not to let it show, it felt amazing to be complimented like that.

Lea took a huge stretch and cricked his neck. "Ugh. That jerk woke us up in the middle of the night. Again. Look at these bags under my eyes," he whined. "I need my beauty sleep."

Isa could tell that Lea was getting burned out from all the late night fighting.

"I wish they'd give us a day off or something at least." He closed his eyes, absorbed in the fantasy. "When we get outta this place, I wanna take a nice long vacation."

He's sleep-deprived. Plus, he's been doing my share of the fighting, too.

And that's what prompted Isa to make the following suggestion.

"Let's split up from here."

"What?!" Lea's slightly loud voice created a bit of an echo in the cave.

Isa sighed heavily. "C'mon, Lea. We'll get the work done much faster if we cover more ground."

Lea thought splitting up was a bad idea, but Isa seemed convinced it would be more efficient.

He's working really hard to stand on his own. I don't wanna rain on his parade.

Lea agreed and the two went their separate ways.

In the middle of a fairly mundane battle against the Shadows, Isa raised his disc to fight. Just then—

"Don't worry, I got this." Lea put an outstretched arm in front of him.

"Lea! I thought we agreed to split up?"

"I already finished my half. We can get the rest of the work done faster by teaming up."

Isa realized that Lea must have have pushed himself to finish up twice as fast, just so he could help him.

The whole time, Lea hovered around him and would barely even let him touch a Heartless. Every time he tried to take one out, Lea was right there to do it for him. He wound up doing almost all the work himself.

After all the Heartless were gone, Lea slumped down onto the ground, clearly exhausted. While catching his breath, he jokingly complained, "I always get stuck with the icky jobs."

He was laughing as he said it, but Isa couldn't.

"Huh? What's the matter?"

But Isa only shook his head. He still wasn't saying anything.

"Hey, you in a bad mood or something?"

"I just told you. I'm fine." His tone of voice was a bit icy.

Being given the cold shoulder kinda stung, especially without even knowing why. Lea hung his head in defeat and pouted. "...Okay..."

The duo of apprentice Keyblade wielders had now been training together for 172 days.

For the past few weeks, Kairi had been pushing herself pretty hard during their sparring matches.

Lea could barely keep up. "Man, I'm beat. How about we call it a day?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." She seemed a little dazed. "See you."

Lea hesitated for a second, then called out, "Kairi!"

She froze, not even turning to look at him. "Oh… Yeah?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. She didn't bother to meet his eyes.

"We haven't had ice cream in a while."

"…Huh. You're right."

"We've been at this all day. Let's sit down and relax."

"Sorry, but I want to get a little more practice in."

Kairi continued swinging her Keyblade. She was so drained, she could barely stand. She nearly keeled over, but Lea immediately grabbed her arm, holding her upright.

"Hey." He peered into her face, which was white as a sheet. "Are you feeling okay?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing… Sorry."

Lea's eyes were glued to her back as she walked away.

"A day off?" Lea echoed, unsure if he heard that correctly.

"Yeah," Isa confirmed. Finally, he seemed to be in a really good mood. "I've been causing you a lot of trouble lately. So you should take a good long rest today."

For the record, Lea certainly was exhausted. All he'd wanted lately was a chance to relax and sleep. But, he had his reservations. "But what about YOU!?"

"I'll just have to work hard enough for both of us."

Isa seemed happy with that. After all, that's what Lea had been doing all this time for him. Now he could finally return the favor.

Lea, on the other hand, wasn't comfortable with the idea. At all. Isa was better at fighting lately, but Lea wasn't convinced he was ready to be left all alone with the Heartless.

"No way. What if something happens to you while I'm off taking a nap?"

Isa got really quiet for a moment. But he looked Lea right in the eye. "You're not taking proper care of yourself and you can't keep going on like you are. You need to get some sleep if you're gonna keep fighting. What if there's a really tough Heartless and you collapse?"

Lea said nothing.

Isa sighed. "Look, I'm just…worried about you, okay?"

Lea couldn't bring himself to argue any further. "Just don't push yourself too hard, you hear me?"

"I won't."

"Don't let your guard down," Lea warned him again, then handed Isa both of his discs.

"C'mon, Lea. You don't have to worry so much. I can handle myself."

Lea spent about an hour trying to sleep. He really was dead tired, but his mind kept racing, which kept him awake.

Is he really gonna be okay on his own? What if I fall asleep and something happens?

He of course remembered what happens to those who are preyed on by the Heartless. The person vanishes without a trace.

A shiver went down his spine.

If that happens to Isa... he'll be gone forever. What if he's gone by the time I wake up?

The thought of losing someone so precious and never seeing them again. It was so...scary.

Lea waited. And waited. It felt like he was waiting forever.

A lone Shadow appeared out of the floor in front of Isa.

There's something strange about the way this Heartless is acting, he thought.

Its antennae wiggled, as if sensing a target. It crept closer toward him, and he took a step back. The Heartless inched closer every time he stepped back. Then, its antennae began vibrating.

"Huh?"

As if in response, a dozen more Shadows appeared out of the floor. They all seemed to be...honing in on him.

There are so many Heartless. Where did they all come from?

The Heartless began rapidly multiplying right before his eyes. It made it hard to eliminate them, but that didn't stop him from trying.

No. I have to let Lea rest today.

He kept fighting, and fighting, and fighting.

Until the world around him began to spin and go dark—

Lea rocked back and forth, like a restless child.

He said he wanted to give me a day off, where I get to do whatever I want...

...Whatever I want, huh?

Lea immediately hopped up out of bed.

By the time he found him, Isa who was lying on the ground as Shadows surrounded him.

"Noo!"

I'm too late!

The frisbees were lying next to Isa and Lea immediately scooped them up and took out a few of the Shadows. Then he collapsed to his knees and lifted his friend. "Isa!"

This is all my fault! I knew he wasn't ready to fight by himself!

As Lea berated himself, Isa slowly began to open his eyes. "Mm?"

"Ah—! A-are you okay!?"

The first thing Isa saw was Lea's panicked face. "Uh...yeah... I just got a little dizzy, that's all."

"See!? I knew this was a bad idea!" His pounding heart began to feel less tight. "I'll get rid of the rest of these Heartless!"

Isa wobbily tried to stand up. "I'll help."

"No!"

Isa was taken aback by the forcefulness of his refusal.

"You stay back and let me handle this! In your condition, you'll just get in my way!"

Isa looked down at his shoes. He put up no argument and did as he was asked.

Filled with adrenaline he was itching to burn off, Lea finished off all the Heartless rather quickly. After he was done, he walked back toward Isa.

He had his his back turned to Lea, just like that time before. I was pushing myself twice as hard...but... "I'm a failure..." was all he managed to utter.

Failure? Lea put his hand on his shoulder from behind, peering into his face. "I know something's been bothering you. C'mon, you can tell me."

You're always going out of your way for me. I'm always just IN the way. I thought I could finally be useful to you, but—

Isa turned and looked up at him. He spoke up in such a small voice. "You don't need me anymore. For anything."

Those words knocked breath out of Lea. He grabbed both of Isa's shoulders and forcibly turned him around to face him. "That's not true, Isa!" The words practically spilled out of his mouth. "You're my best friend."

Isa finally turned around, looking Lea in the eye. Finally, he smiled.

It was now the 193rd day.

Lea carried Kairi back to her bedroom, then set her down softly on the bed.

She was completely still. It was a bit of a worrying sight.

Lea stood over her bed and watched her carefully, staring at her face.

For some reason, the air in the white bedroom felt chilly, and a shiver ran up Lea's spine.

He was definitely asleep, but Lea went up to the bed and murmured his name. "Isa…"

Of course, he didn't reply.

Lea grabbed his shoulder and shook him gently.

Nothing.

His slumber was so deep and quiet that for a moment, Lea wasn't sure if he was even breathing. But upon closer inspection, his chest was moving.

Isa's face was so pale it seemed translucent. On top of that, there was a large X-shaped scar carved onto his forehead. It looked like a symbol of death itself, which made Lea even more unnerved.

He thought back to what that scientist, Xehanort, said.

"Can't you see? That specimen is a failure. It is broken. Defective. It will not wake up. Take it to the Chamber of Repose."

'Chamer of Repose'... That's what he called it.

Lea had no idea how long Isa had been locked up in the 'Chamber of Repose'. But it was clear that he was still asleep, just as he was back then.

He began to doubt whether Isa would ever wake up. Fear began welling up in his chest; so much that it was making it hard for him to breathe.

Kairi opened her eyes and took in her surroundings.

"...What...?"

She couldn't even remember when she'd fallen asleep.

No, that's right. I fainted while we were sparring.

"You're finally awake, huh?" a familiar voice said cheerfully.

There was Lea, at her bedside, sitting in a backwards facing chair. He must have carried her back.

"Did you carry me back? I'm sorry…I must have gotten a little dizzy."

"You shouldn't push yourself so hard, you know. When you just collapsed like that, I freaked. You trying to give me a heart attack?" There was levity in his voice, but it was clear that he was deeply concerned.

It bothered Kairi that she'd passed out, but not as much as realizing she'd left Lea to worry about her. Her voice was shaking rather noticeably now. "I'm...sorry."

"H-hey." He had no idea how to handle a girl who was about to cry.

"Everyone's always coming to my rescue. Sora, Riku. And now you, too."

I get it now. So, that's what's been bothering her.

"Kairi, listen. Friends gotta lean on each other now and then."

She stared at him for a few moments.

Friends... That's right. Lea isn't just my training partner. He's also...my friend.

"Right now, you need to rest." He pointed at his head. "Got it memorized?"

Kairi meekly smiled at him and nodded.

Some time passed and it was now Day 255.

Today, the three good fairies were in the secret forest.

"Kairi!" Flora, the red fairy, seemed elated. "Did you receive the new outfit we designed for you? It's so lovely! You really do look wonderful in pink!"

New outfit? "Oh, yes. That briefcase Merlin gave me. Thank you!"

"Of course, my dear."

Fauna, the green fairy, notuced that Kairi seemed a bit distracted. "What's wrong, dear?"

"I'm just worried about how everyone is doing back in the real world. I wonder if Sora has figured out a way to use the power of waking yet."

The mild-mannered Fauna suddenly spoke in a rather authoritative tone. "What the young Sora needs is a connection."

"A...connection?"

"Why, yes. It's really quite simple. All a heart needs to be awakened is the right spark. Someone that person once cared for and who cared for them, who can show them the way home."

Merryweather, the blue fairy, clasped her hands together. "It's just like our dear Princess Aurora. Her heart was taken from her and she was put into a deep slumber by Maleficent. But when Prince Phillip arrived, the kiss of true love was able to break the spell and awaken her."

Flora smiled. "Ah, yes. Love. Even the forces of darkness are no match for that kind of power. When the heart's connection is powerful enough, that is when there's real magic. More powerful than even ours."

Lea watched the sunset from the top of the hill. The usual spot.

"Today is number 255..."

The sunset today was burning red again.

I remember speaking with Roxas about this on the 255th day when we sat on top of the clocktower. It was the first day of summer. The longest day of the year.

"It's been that many days since I joined the Organization. Man, time flies."

"Got the number memorized, do you?"

"Yeah. Have to hang on to something, right? It's not like I have memories from before the Organization. Don't you remember? I acted like a zombie."

That day, I remembered something. It was one of my most precious memories. But I had completely forgotten all about it, until that day.

He recalled something he told Sora in Castle Oblivion.

"Our most precious memories lie so deep within our hearts that they're out of reach."

The more precious the memory is, the further it regresses into your heart, making it hard to remember.

Lea had taken a liking to this spot. It was his own little hideaway. For the last seven days, he had been bringing Isa here, too. He led Isa up the staircase and sat him on the ledge of the clock tower.

He sat right beside him, then looked to his side at the profile of his face.

He hasn't spoken a word to me since he woke up.

He sighed heavily.

"He is of no use to us."

That was what Xehanort had said. Isa's only value to them was as a research specimen. A thing. Looking at him, that's what he'd been reduced to, in a way. A mute shell of his former self, with no will of his own. All he was capable of was mindlessly obeying orders. He stood up, sat down, and followed when Lea asked him to. But that was all.

Lea's eyes stung a little.

The soft warm glow of the red sunset was thankfully there to offer him comfort. He squinted under its brilliance, and it somehow soothed him. It felt like, under that light, the pain he felt might be bearable, after all.
The sun sank lower and lower as he watched, his mind wandered.

Isa stared ahead, as blank and unaware as ever.

The clock tower's bells chimed the hour, signifying the end of another day.

I wonder how everything is gonna be from now on. What am I going to do?

After a few minutes of silence, Lea glanced over at Isa, still as expressionless as ever.

"You don't need me anymore. For anything."

Isa's previous words echoed in his mind.

Lea smiled gently at him. "You must be wondering how I found you, huh? Well, they released me. Can you believe it?"

Isa, of course, didn't respond.

Lea knew he probably wasn't aware of what he was saying. But just thinking out loud, voicing his thoughts to another person; it felt nice. He could say whatever he wanted to, without holding anything back.

"But...you were gone. I had no idea where you were."

Back then, Lea had been filled with so much anger, sadness, and regret.

"Then, the strangest thing happened. A dark portal appeared out of nowhere and it led me here, to you."

He didn't even hesitate. He immediately charged into the portal, having no fear of the darkness. The next thing he knew, he was in a strange new world called "Twilight Town". And he found Isa at an old abandoned mansion.

Lea stared down at his hand. "Darkness of the heart, huh. Maybe that's what gave me that power."

After pouring his heart out, Lea turned toward the sun again. He could feel its gentle warmth on his face. He couldn't tear his gaze from it. It was so beautiful. He continued absentmindedly talking to Isa—or probably more to himself.

"The sun sure is out late today, huh? I figured it'd be getting dark by now."

As Isa sat beside Lea on that midsummer's night, his consciousness slowly came into focus, like he was waking up from a dream. The haze was being lifted and the dawning light of self-awareness fell upon him. The first thing he saw was the glowing red light of the sunset. It was so bright he squinted under its brilliance. At the same time, he heard someone beside him talking.

"Ya know, I never really noticed it before, but the sunset... It makes everything look red, you know? I wonder why that is. Why the sunset is red..."

"It's because light is made up of lots of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest."

Lea jolted his head towards the owner of the unexpected voice that just responded to him. He stared at him in disbelief. He didn't even know what to say. "Y-you just...! How did...?" He couldn't help but fumble over his words.

Seeing his astonishment, Isa looked at him with a boastful grin.

At that moment, Lea began to chuckle loudly. All the tension he had been feeling melted away instantly. He couldn't stop laughing as his chest swelled with happiness. He felt like it was about to burst. Soon Isa began to laugh along with him. They both laughed and laughed as it echoed through the station plaza.

That know-it-all. I bet that was part of the summer homework I slacked off on or something. It's just like him to brag like that. He...hasn't changed a bit.

Lea wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He stuck his hand in his pocket, dug out a little bit of munny, and counted it. 400 munny.

"All right, smart aleck. That was pretty impressive. For that, you deserve a little something extra. Wait here, I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, he returned from the Sweets Shop with two sea-salt ice creams in hand. He handed one to Isa. "Here ya go. Your icing on the cake. You definitely earned it."

Isa turned his head and looked directly into Lea's eyes, wearing a soft warm smile.

Seeing that smile again after so long, it felt like nothing else in the world mattered. Lea knew without a doubt that he would never forget this day.

While Isa was slowly eating his ice cream, Lea looked over at the profile of his face. He was gazing at the sunset, his features enveloped in a warm crimson glow. It almost looked as though he had a red aura.

I just wish...that things could stay like this forever...