A/N: If Nomura is going to give me one line about some girl Lea and Isa were searching for then I'm not going to write her into this fic so he can shit all over me when the next game comes out. So in this fic that line was never uttered. Other than that I do try to adhere to canon. Please enjoy this fic that started out with me claiming not to ship these two (this fic is essentially me realising I ship them haha).

The first person he sees when he wakes is Lea. It shouldn't be a surprise, but the sight of the redhead makes him feel like someone is squeezing his heart. It's been so long since he felt something so powerful that he can't help but clutch at his chest.

"Are you okay?" Lea asks – that bright smile he'd woken to now a face full of concern.

Isa nods as he sits up. He'd been waiting days for the chance to have a proper conversation – not just answering questions posed by Ansem and Ienzo. And how strange it was to have Zexion fussing over him… He seemed suited to Somebody-life, just as Lea did.

"How are you feeling?" Lea asks when it seems Isa doesn't know where to start.

But he doesn't know how to answer either. His mind feels like a whirling storm most of the time he's awake, and more than once it's occurred to him that he could always give into the darkness again and just live as a Nobody, but without answering to any form of Xehanort this time.

Before he can put this into words for Lea he feels his emotions pricking at his eyes as they overwhelm him. Quickly he hides his face and tries to pull himself together, but any hopes he had of recovery are dashed when he feels a hand on his shoulder and Lea telling him 'it's okay.'

It's not okay. I'm not okay. The things I've done were not okay. And like that he's crying for the first time in a decade.

Lea had expected something like this, but maybe not this. Isa who never cried, Isa who always made fun of him for being a cry-baby, Saïx who had only days ago called him out. But Lea was prepared, his time as a Somebody having taught him a few things he'd forgotten about feelings. His hesitation is momentary before he puts his arms around Isa and hugs him tight, able to feel the way Isa's shoulders shrug as he struggles against letting out louder sobs.

His embrace isn't met with immediate rejection which pleases him; it helps to remind him that Isa isn't Saïx. It's about a minute later, when Isa realises Lea isn't going to let go, that Isa gives himself fully into the hug, hands creasing Lea's shirt as he holds on tight.

Lea waits for as long as Isa needs, wondering if there is anything he could say to help. He thinks about the last time he saw Isa cry, but that was physical pain – something he could at least tend to. This was the first time he'd ever witnessed Isa burdened with such emotion.

"Everything…" Isa finally manages.

"Huh?"

"Everything, Lea." He pulls back, wiping at Lea's shirt where his tears have dampened the fabric. "I'm feeling everything."

"That's… That's a lot to feel."

Isa nods. "It is."

Lea is tempted to make a reference to the stone cold Nobody he used to be, but thinks better of it. He was sure the last person Isa wanted to talk about was Saïx.

"Jealously, regret, remorse, guilt, a seemingly endless list of sad emotions I never thought I'd feel again. And neither did I ever imagine I would feel them in such magnitude." Isa takes a breath, seeming to compose himself as he speaks, "Yet, I also feel…happiness. Perhaps I'd even go as far as to label it as 'joy.'"

Ah! Something to work with! "What's making you happy?"

"You. Ienzo and Ansem. People seem to be making me happy. Despite everything I did… Even though I know each of you loathed me for various reasons, so far everyone has treated me with kindness." Isa pauses to reflect on how Ienzo had lingered for a minute after his usual check-up just to offer support if Isa needed it. Ienzo didn't have to offer anything more than he was already doing, and yet he did. "I don't deserve it."

"Isa, we know what you did. For Roxas and Xion. You do deserve every good thing that comes to you."

Isa looks away, not sure he can stay composed if he looks at Lea. "Perhaps the others see that as reason enough to be amicable, but you… I treated you like shit, Lea. I certainly haven't earnt the privilege of your company today."

Lea gives him a playful shove that forces Isa to look his way. "It's only thanks to you that all my best friends are back today."

"Yes, and with that act I can maybe feel like I've atoned for something. Does one act really equal everything I did before?"

"It's enough for me."

Isa briefly flicks his eyes at Lea, long enough to realise that Lea means what he said. "Why?" he whispers. His mind is whirling as he pieces it together; this is forgiveness. "Why don't you hate me?" Perhaps he hadn't meant to say it aloud, but that is the conclusion he always assumed. I don't deserve to have you back.

"Because you're one of those best friends I mentioned." It's that simple for Lea.

"I don't deserve this. Not yet. I haven't done enough." His expression hardens as his fists clench.

Lea notices the change from sadness to anger, placing a reassuring hand on Isa's shoulder in an attempt to ground him. "Don't worry, buddy, there are a couple more things I'd like to ask of you." That seems to release a bit of tension.

"Anything. As soon as they allow me to, that is."

Ienzo appears in the doorway, as if on-cue. "That will be soon – Lea's agreed to look after you."

"I don't need looking after!" Isa scoffs.

"Perhaps not, but we feel much better releasing you knowing you'll have emotional support." Ienzo steps into the room. "But maybe Lea isn't the person for that if he's going to make you cry."

Isa wipes his eyes. "It was nothing."

"Nothing to be ashamed of," Ienzo assures him. "It's a very healthy way to release emotion, and I'm sure reporting back to Ansem with this will only hasten your departure."

"Why are you keeping him here?" Lea asks.

"Isa is the first person we've seen that has been recompleted twice – and will allow us to run tests."

Lea laughs, "Yeah, can't imagine Vexen would allow himself to be a lab rat."

"Even," Ienzo corrects him. "But also the difference is that Even came back to our side more willingly. Ansem is also interested in a few more things regarding Saïx's role among the 13 darknesses which he hopes Isa's heart may have some answers to."

333

It's several long weeks in Radiant Garden's castle before Isa is picked up by Lea. He half wishes they hadn't told him because it makes him impatient beyond belief. Isa had always thought himself patient, but maybe he'd just never had to wait for something he desired so much. Ienzo suggests he go out and explore the town now it's been done-up again, but Isa doesn't want to. Part of him fears the memories he'd uncover by wandering the streets. Deep down he knows memories of outside the castle will be better than the ones of inside, but at the same time he doesn't want to remember them alone; he'd rather have Lea with him to reminisce together.

A few days after Lea's visit he asks about when Lea will come back for him. Even gives him a vague 'when he's ready' answer. After a week passes – Isa keeps careful track of the days now he has something to live for now – he asks Ienzo the same question. He gets the same answer. However, Ienzo offers more, explaining that they're still settling into their new home and life. That's when Isa realises he's not just moving in with Lea. Looking back he doesn't understand how he didn't realise that of course Roxas and Xion are living with Lea too. Ienzo says they're going to school and Lea's waiting to confirm his job in town before Isa joins them.

Now Isa's impatience is sated for several days. He spends more time holed up in his room – just when he'd started eating breakfast with Dilan and Aeleus he suddenly disappears back into solitude and raises concerns. Sure, he and Xion had made amends recently, but he has doubts about how much she remembers of her time in the Organization when those amends were made. She had fought alongside him against Lea at first… Had she forgotten? Would she hate him again now?

As for Roxas… He was the one that made Isa anxious about living with them. He couldn't remember a time when they'd ever really got on. The word 'tolerate' comes to mind. The last time they saw each other Saïx was going berserk, watching as Xemnas tried to kill… The memory is painful. Before that the last time he saw Roxas was when he was trying to stop him from leaving the Organization. Again, not one of their finest moments of tolerating each other. He could only hope Roxas didn't have any of Sora's memories of him. But surely Lea's asked Roxas about this? It must be fine, right? Or maybe Roxas has been forced to accept it?

Every day Isa dwells on how Roxas and Xion will react to him. He thinks about how they must be having the time of their lives now they can live together and be best friends all day long without people like himself and Xemnas watching over them. It must be nice, he thinks. Before he knows it two weeks have passed since Lea came to visit, and Isa worries that Lea has retracted his offer – maybe due to Roxas outright refusing to have Isa in the house – and that the others haven't told him yet.

Two weeks and four days have passed. He asks Ansem directly. It's not that he doesn't trust the others to tell him the truth, but he worries that they themselves haven't been informed. Ansem chuckles as if it's nothing to fret over, as if his every waking moment hasn't been focused on the fact Lea will get him out of this prison. It's not a prison – they say he can go outside after all. In fact nothing is stopping him from portaling out of here – nothing but himself and a fear he's been able to ignore in favour of thinking about his new life in Twilight Town. Ansem tells him Lea will come on Saturday, and Isa knows that's two days away. He'd been theorising that if Lea gets a job that he's more likely to come on a weekend, and so every Saturday and Sunday had been as long as the rest of the week as he sat there wondering if that would be the day.

Isa finds it difficult to sleep the night before – a mixture of nerves and excitement keeps him up. But in the end it's for the best because he wakes late in the morning when Even knocks to make sure he's still alive, and tells him Lea will be there in an hour. Of course Isa has already packed up the few belongings he has, the most important being a journal given to him by Ienzo. He looks at the clock and sees that Lea's meant to be here before noon. For a moment Isa doesn't believe it, but if Even's right then he needs to start getting ready.

The hour passes slowly once he's out of the shower and breakfasted. There isn't much to do but make sure he hasn't forgotten anything and then look out the window again. How would Lea be arriving? Will Roxas and Xion be with him? The clock strikes 12 and Isa finds himself tapping his fingers on the windowsill. Any moment now… He looks at the door, hoping it'll open.

The minutes pass and he wonders if Lea is running late. It wouldn't be the first time. He still hasn't seen anything from his window to suggest he's arrived, but what if he has? Is Even or someone keeping him somewhere else in the castle? Lea was always chatty – what if he's at the gate trying to get a few words out of Aeleus? Isa wants to go and search for him, but what if he misses Lea on his expedition? It's so easy to pass people in this castle, and the last thing he wants is to miss Lea.

The knock at the door almost makes Isa jump out of his skin. He can feel his heart trying to escape his ribcage as he calls for his visitor to come in. It takes every ounce of restraint not to rush over and squeeze all the air from Lea – it's like seeing an angel come to deliver him. He wants Lea to know how much he appreciates all this, but he doesn't want to seem desperate and not like himself.

Lea's face doesn't mirror Isa's own beaming one. "Jeez, didn't you guys give him any other clothes?"

"We did," Ienzo says. "But no instructions on how to dress."

Isa feels embarrassed as he realises this is a bit strange. Of course he'd been wearing the clothes given to him around the castle these past few weeks, but wearing them outside? He hadn't worn anything other than this coat outside for a decade… His natural response to knowing he was going out was to just put on the coat.

"Well, I brought you something just in case this happened." Lea holds up a bag. "I'm not taking you home like that." He puts the bag on the bed and closes the door.

"I haven't seen him wear it since he got here," Ienzo said. "We can confiscate it if you think that's best."

"If I think?" Lea laughs. "You guys are the ones that have more to say about that kinda stuff. Although, I think he'd feel left out if he knew we all have our coats back home."

"See, you do have the right answer."

"It's not like we're sitting around in them though. Besides, if you thought it would be a problem you'd already have taken it off him." Lea looks at the door. "How's he been?"

"He seems to be doing well, although quite impatient to see you again. I think he may need some reassurance about going to live with you as the time between your last visit and now has given him ample time to think about all the things that could go wrong. Otherwise he has behaved much like Saïx did – keeping to himself and being antisocial. Of course we didn't hold that against him, knowing he was always that way, but eventually we got him to eat with us now and again."

"Didn't say he missed having people to boss around?" Lea jokes.

"I think Isa is quite aware that the shoe is on the other foot here."

The door opens and Isa stands there in the black jeans and blue shirt Lea picked out for him. "These doors aren't that thick, you know."

"Well, it's nothing you don't already know," Ienzo says. "Or would you prefer us to have a hushed conversation about you?"

Isa says nothing as he readjusts the bag on his shoulder.

"Ready?" Lea asks.

There's no big fanfare for his departure – Ansem doesn't come down to say bye and Even waves him off through his lab's window. Ienzo and the two guards see him off at the castle's main entrance, inviting him back any time and trading numbers with Lea. Then the pair of them are finally alone as they walk down to the town together for the first time in many, many years.

"You're quiet," Lea says as they descend the stairs.

"I always was."

"Maybe, but we haven't seen each other for ages, and given what's about to happen I thought you'd have loads of questions."

"I do."

"Well?" Lea pauses and spins round to look at him. "Ask away!"

Isa shifts uncomfortably and looks away; he doesn't know where to start. For all his thinking, he'd never paused to consider which question he'd like to ask first.

"Alright, let me ask you one first then," Lea says when Isa takes too long. "Do you wanna live with me? I mean, I just kinda offered and they said yeah, but did they actually ask you?"

"They didn't need to. After you left that day it became obvious to everyone that I wanted nothing more for you to return for me."

"Aw, that's sweet."

"But Lea, I'm not just going to live with you, am I? They said Roxas and Xion will be there too."

"Yep!" Lea's smile is as bright as the sun to Isa. "Oh, I guess I didn't run that by you… I mean, we used to live together, so I didn't think much of it."

Isa wants to laugh – there will surely be a huge difference living with these three in a house in Twilight Town compared to the massive castle they once inhabited. Why, back then he could spend days seeing no-one if he so desired – and if work permitted it. "But are Roxas and Xion okay with me coming to live with you?"

"Of course they are!" Lea says it as if Isa shouldn't have spent two weeks worrying about it. "I mean, you're probably not going to be best friends at first given our history, but neither of them turned round and said no."

Isa wonders exactly how that conversation went, but he doesn't think he'll get the full truth out of Lea – not today at least. But he appreciates that Lea isn't sugar-coating it and pretending the other two are excited for his arrival.

"Oh, did you want to spend some time in town?" Lea asks.

"Not particularly." Right now he just wants to go to Twilight Town and get the re-introductions over with. Staying here will only prolong his agony.

Lea continues on, passing by places they'd visited as kids, only now they had a new lick of paint, or in some cases new owners. A gummi ship comes into view and now Isa knows how they'll be travelling. Of course he didn't expect dark corridors to be the accepted mode of transport for a keyblade wielder, but he'd heard of several other ways to travel between worlds in his time. For a moment he worries that Roxas and Xion will be waiting in the ship. He sees a shock of blond hair and his heart skips a beat before realising it belongs to someone much older than Roxas.

"Sure you don't wanna buy it?" Cid asks Lea as he climbs out of the cockpit.

"Don't think we'll get much use out of it."

Cid shrugs. "Good thing to have in emergencies."

"I got a house to rent, two kids to feed and an unemployed lodger." Lea jerks his thumb at Isa. "I can't afford a car too."

"Fair enough. If you ever change your mind, you know where I am." He holds out a hand and helps Lea up into the ship, followed by Isa.

There's a moment of confusion when Isa sees Lea in one of the passenger seats, and before he can figure out if Lea expects him to drive, Cid budges past him and takes the helm.

"Chop, chop, lad, I don't got all day."

Isa sits in the other passenger seat quickly, and before he can locate his seat belt, Cid is lifting off.

Cid's style of driving isn't to Isa's tastes as he zooms through the lanes between, dodging rocks and debris as if he's playing a game, but he's good at it, and clearly won't be getting them killed today. Isa tries to enjoy the view as much as he can, not having realised how beautiful travelling between worlds can be. The serenity he feels dissipates as soon as he feels the ship plunge through to Twilight Town and he remembers every anxious thought he'd had about coming here. He barely hears Lea giving Cid directions to the house.

"Was my driving that bad?" Cid asks as he helps a wobbly Isa out onto solid ground again.

Isa says nothing – can't even thank the man for the ride because he feels like his heart is in his mouth. And when Cid takes off and he sees the gummi ship becoming a speck in the distance he wonders how he'll get back if this is a mistake.

Lea pats his back and gestures to the front door. "Come on."