Wings of Avalon: Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it!

coolmegan123: Ha yeah, rather awkward, at least for poor Lea! He's not sure what on earth is going on at this point.

Jake Hallows: I was a little tired of writing the searching and figured you guys would be getting tired of reading it! Besides, it made sense to me that Twilight Town would be one of the first places she'd start to remember, whether consciously or not. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Hope everyone has had a good week!

Chapter 17

Perspective – Riku

We were well on our way back to Port Royal when my Gummiphone rang, the screen reading 'Axel/Lea'. I bit down on my lip, trying not to let my hopes start rising already.

"Kaj, you wanna take over for me for a minute?"

He jolted out of his window-staring reverie with a dubious look on his face. "Wait, what?"

I laughed. "Come on, you'll be fine. Between you and Kairi I highly doubt we're going to crash into anything in the span of one phone call." Without waiting for a reply, I stood and tapped the screen of the phone, leaving him to scramble into the pilot's seat and nervously clutch at the controls as I brought it to my ear.

"Hey, Lea."

"Riku!" Even over the phone, I could tell that his voice was uncharacteristically high-pitched. He sounded...nervous? "Hey! Um, how's it going? Have you...have you seen her yet?"

His use of the word 'seen' instead of 'found' struck me as odd. "Um, yeah, actually..."

"Oh, good!" He was definitely relieved, but it still seemed off from the reaction I would have expected. "So, you're here, then?"

I blinked in confusion. "Here? What do you...?" Realization dawned on me. "Wait, are you saying that she's in Twilight Town?"

That outburst definitely caught Kairi and Kaj's attention, but I turned my back on their surprised, eager faces in favor of listening hard to what Lea had to say.

"Yeah! So, you didn't know where she was. Okay, I'm definitely glad I called, then. Yeah, um, she's here in town, or at least, she was a little while ago when we saw her. Hopefully she hasn't bolted."

That was the big question. But at least we had a better starting place. To think, if I had followed my other instinct, maybe it would have been us who found her, instead of... "Who do you mean by 'we'?"

"Um..." Lea cleared his throat, clearly stalling. "Me and...me and Isa."

That's exactly what I had been afraid of. Anger began burning in my chest, and I clenched my teeth together from letting it spill out my lips. Deep breath in, let it out slowly. "What happened."

"Nothing! I mean, nothing bad, at least not for Meli, it didn't seem. She was fine. She remembered both of us, and, um...she showed us her scars..."

"What?" The Meli I knew didn't let anybody see her scars, especially not those two.

"Yeah, she was saying that they're what made her remember him, I guess. Anyway, the whole thing was actually pretty surreal. She was just standing there, completely chill, which of course is to be expected since she's a Nobody but was still weird to see, and Isa was the one who ended up having a panic attack and running off."

"What?" I repeated stupidly. Surreal was one way to put it. I could not for anything make that scenario plausible in my head.

Lea's voice was quieter, more subdued, when he spoke again. "He's been getting a lot of those, ever since he was recompleted. When I first saw Meli have one, I was so clueless, but now...I guess I've had to become a bit of an expert. The one right after he first woke up was definitely the worst, but...the one today came pretty close. For whatever that's worth."

I honestly wasn't sure what it was worth. I supposed that it was at least further evidence that the remorse I had seen a few weeks ago was real. For a moment I stayed silent, unsure of what to say to any of that. "Alright. Um...thanks for letting me know. We're gonna head that way now."

"Okay, we'll see you soon, then. I'll keep you updated if I happen to see her again."

"Okay. See you soon."

I didn't even get the chance to collect my thoughts before turning back to the front of the ship. Kairi was on me in an instant, practically tackling me from behind. "Meli's in Twilight Town?"

"I don't know how to change the navigation!" Kaj yelled from the pilot's seat, almost frantically. "Somebody come fix it!"

After punching in the correct coordinates, I filled the two of them in on my conversation with Lea. Kairi, like me, was furious when Isa's name was first mentioned, but turned pensive when she heard about his panic attacks.

"Hm. So the tables have turned, huh?" She tucked her knees in underneath her chin, staring out the window. "I'm...not sure if my brain knows what to do with that information."

"Yeah, same here." I sighed heavily. "We'll have to deal with all of it anew once Meli is back to normal. It's impossible to say how that situation is gonna turn out."

"It might be for the best if the two of them just...avoid each other for the rest of their lives."

I huffed a half-hearted laugh. "Maybe."

Kaj glanced over his shoulder at the two of us, hands still firmly on the ship's controls. "Can you guys not tell me anything at all of what happened? It seems like this is gonna keep coming up, and I'm really in the dark here."

Kairi and I exchanged an uncertain look. "Isa's Nobody, Saix, kidnapped...both of us, actually," she began. "After that, well...Meli's experience was much worse than mine. But we really shouldn't say anything else. None of us really know the details, anyway, it's mostly just pieces here and there that we put together."

"I know the details."

Kairi looked surprised at my quiet statement. "Did she finally actually tell you?"

I shook my head. "When I dove into her heart, to break the control of the darkness, I saw some of her memories. So...I know most of what happened." The pain and fear that I had felt there, even muted as it was, would probably haunt me forever. Shaking that away, I looked back up at Kaj. "But like we said before, it's not really our story to tell. Suffice it to say, Meli ended up with PTSD, which is what led to her giving into the darkness."

Kaj's expression was troubled, but he only nodded slowly. "Well, Lea said that she remembered both of them, right? That's gotta be a good sign."

"Yeah, maybe seeing us triggered the rest of her memories. It would definitely be a lot easier to talk to her this time around if she actually remembers us."

We landed in Twilight Town that night, though the late hour was misrepresented by the hazy glow of sunset. "Let's split up," I suggested when our feet were all firmly on the ground. "The town's not too big, we should be able to cover it pretty quickly with no problem. Everyone keep their phones on them so we can let each other know if we find her."

Kairi pulled hers out of her dress pocket. "I'm gonna call Xion. Maybe she and Roxas will want to help us look."

I nodded. "Okay. Someone will need to take the train to the Sunset Hill area, while someone else stays in the main part of town. I'm gonna head out to the mansion, just in case she happened to remember that. If she's not there I'll come back and join you in town."

With a few last words of agreement, we set off in our separate directions. It had not been that long, a few months I supposed, since I had last made the trek through the woods, but this time felt much different. Instead of grief, I was filled with determination, and an inkling of hope that I was trying my best to ignore. Hope was dangerous. There was no guarantee that she was here, that we didn't still have weeks of searching left to go.

Coming up to the front gates of the mansion made me realize that it actually had been quite some time since I had made it this far. So many important moments had happened here, ranging from fantastic to horrible. Shoving all of that out of my mind for now, I took in a deep breath and walked through the overgrown courtyard and up the front steps, hoping that the familiar loud squeak of the door wouldn't alert anyone inside to my presence too soon.

The foyer was exactly how I had last seen it, when Meli and I had come to retrieve her belongings. Layers upon layers of dust coated everything, from the marble floors, to the horse statues, to the shards of glass that littered the room. The place probably had looked quite nice in its prime, but it was hard to imagine anything but this forgotten mess now. Meli had talked while we were living here about fixing it up someday, making it livable again. I wasn't sure if she actually thought she might like to live in it, or if she was just intrigued by the idea of what it could be given the proper care.

There were plenty of places inside to search, but instinct led me out the glass doors in the back of the room and into the back half of the house where the bedrooms were. The first door on the right had been my bedroom, chosen simply because it was the very first one I had come across. The second was Meli's, and it was cracked open slightly. I froze in place when I saw it, the hope swelling up in my chest despite my best efforts. It could be from last time she was here. She could have come here any number of times before the war. Creeping forward, I placed my hand against the door and gently pushed it open, my heart pounding.

A head of auburn and purple hair was peeking up over the covers in the bed. My heart tripped over itself, my breath catching in my throat for an instant before releasing in a sigh of relief. She's here. She's here she's here. Nearly boneless with the realization, I sagged back against the doorframe and shut my eyes for a moment before getting out my phone and opening the messaging app.

"I've got her."

Almost immediately the screen lit up with replies from both Kairi and Kaj.

"Omg yay! Thank goodness!"

"That's great. Everything ok?"

I tapped out a reply. "Yes. She's sleeping, though, so maybe we should call it a night? I'll stay here and make sure she doesn't run off, and we'll all meet in the morning." I knew they wouldn't be too happy about that, but I didn't want to wake her up and risk freaking her out again.

Sure enough, Kairi's reply included a couple of sad faces. "Ok I guess that's fine. Hope everything goes well when she wakes up. Tell her I can't wait to see her."

Kaj's was, of course, more subdued. "Alright, see you then. Let us know where to meet you."

"Will do." I figured that worked as a reply to both of them.

As I was sliding my phone back into my pocket, a rustle of fabric caught my attention, and I turned my head quickly to see a pair of blue eyes staring at me. I really hadn't wanted her to catch me lurking while she slept, and half-expected her to jump up immediately. Instead, she just held my gaze steadily.

"Riku."

A thrill ran through me at hearing her say my name, even though my nickname would have been much better. "You do remember," I stated once I could make my voice work again.

She merely hummed in answer, then pushed herself up to sit. I noticed that she had taken off her jacket, leaving her shoulders bare for the first time I had seen since pre-Saix. "Why did I call you Grim?"

I laughed quietly. "That's a long story." I walked a little further into the room, encouraged by her calm behavior. "Do you remember what I call you?"

Her brow furrowed in thought, and after a moment she shook her head. "No."

"Sunshine," I smiled. "Not all the time, not as often as you call me Grim. It started out as kind of a joke, just like Grim did. I would mostly call you that when you were being particularly obstinate."

"Obstinate?" Looking away across the room, she pulled up her knees and draped her arms across them. "Is that what I am?"

"The most stubborn person I know. Though Kairi likes to fight you for that title some days."

Meli still seemed lost in thought, as if trying to recall what kind of person she had been and coming up short. Stepping closer, I leaned one arm against the bedpost, just drinking in her presence, trying to convince myself that this wasn't a dream. She turned to look at me, and a flash of recognition crossed her face.

"We used to live here. You and me. Back when you were...emo." Before I could respond to that, her already serious expression deepened into a frown. "What...happened to me? Why did I lose all of my memories?"

I sighed, running a hand through my hair, unsure of how much detail I should give her. In the end, I decided the truth was best. "You...died. Kinda. You got turned into a Heartless, and therefore also a Nobody. Apparently memory loss is a pretty common side effect"

"So then I...came back to life?"

"No, um..." Ugh, this is awkward. "You're still a Nobody. That's..." I waved a hand to indicate her body. "That's what you are right now. You have a body, a mind...but no heart."

"Oh." The confusion on her face cleared. "That's right. That's what Axel and Saix were."

The mention of Saix's name automatically set me on edge, but true to Lea's word, she didn't seem at all agitated. "Yeah. They were. But they're not anymore, they have their hearts back."

I was inwardly cringing, expecting questions about how that process worked and not really wanting to explain, but she changed the subject instead. "Kairi and Sora and Kaj aren't here?"

"Uh, no. Sora had to stay behind to help with the Heartless. Kairi and Kaj were looking for you in town. I told them we'd meet up with them in the morning, since you were sleeping." At the mention of sleep, she broke into a large yawn. "I didn't mean to wake you. Feel free to go back to sleep if you'd like." I really wasn't ready to stop talking to her, but I would be fine for now with just being able to see her and know she was okay.

She quirked an eyebrow at me. "Are you gonna sleep, too?"

"Mm, maybe." I shrugged staring over at the bedside armchair and wondering how long I could keep myself awake in it, and whether or not Meli would be weirded out by me keeping watch over her while she slept. "I...I kinda want to be able to keep an eye on you."

Her expression shifted into the closest thing to a smile I had seen from her so far. "Afraid I'm going to vanish again?"

"Yeah, actually." I stood up straight, stuffing my hands into my pockets. "I don't think you quite understand yet...you've been gone for months. We all thought you were dead...thought we'd never see you again. Having you here, right in front of me..." I stopped and swallowed past the lump in my throat. "Yeah, I'm afraid you're going to vanish. I haven't quite convinced myself yet that you're really here to start with." It didn't help that she wasn't acting anything like the Meli I knew, and that she was so...distant. I hadn't been able to get within arm's reach of her so far, much less actually touch her like I was dying to do.

She studied me for a moment, face unreadable, then abruptly slid back down onto her back, head landing on the pillow with a plop. I thought she was just going to go back to sleep like that, without another word, but then she reached over and lifted the side of the blanket, looking up at me. Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow at her, seeing what looked like an obvious invitation, but assuming that I must be getting a wrong signal.

"Well?" she asked after a short stare-down. "You're not gonna want to just stay awake all night, and you don't want to leave the room. Since you're so worried I'm gonna disappear, then you might as well be close so you'll notice if it happens."

I opened my mouth to question it, but something stopped me. Would normal Meli ever be this bold? No. Would her parents kill me if they found out about what we were going to do? Probably. Did everything in me ache to accept, just so I could finally be close to the girl I had lost and found once more? Oh, yes.

So I did. I kicked off my boots, dumped my jacket onto the chair with hers, and slipped underneath the blanket next to her, despite the heat that rose into my face. Meli settled in on her left side, and we lay there, hands tucked underneath our heads, face to face, only just over a foot apart. So, so close, and yet I knew I still couldn't bridge that last gap. Not yet.

"Were we boyfriend and girlfriend?" she asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had fallen.

"Yes, we are." I didn't even try to be subtle about the tense correction.

"But we've never...done this before?"

A small smile played at my lips. "No. Not really something...that we were ready for."

She sighed through her nose. "I wish...I could remember who I was. A lot of things have come back to me, but there's so much that's still missing."

"Give yourself some time. You've only started remembering today." Impatient, especially with herself. That was definitely my Meli. "The most important thing you should know is that...I love you. Very much." I blinked away the sudden tears that formed, obviously not done with tormenting me despite Meli now being here. "And I know that you don't have a heart right now, so you can't feel the same way for me. But that's okay. You used to, and hopefully you will again someday."

"Am I really all that special?"

And unfortunately, that was my Meli, too, though this time the question didn't carry as much self-deprecation as it did simple curiosity. Unable to hold back any longer, I tentatively reached out my hand and brushed back a strand of hair that had come loose from her braid, tucking it behind her ear. Just that simple touch set the tips of my fingers tingling.

"Let's see. You're only...everything I ever dreamed of. How about that?" Emboldened by the lack of an adverse reaction, I stroked my thumb across her cheekbone. Her eyelids fluttered shut, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Are you always this cheesy?" One corner of her mouth lifted as she opened her eyes to look at me again.

I smiled back. "Only on special occasions, Sunshine."

We watched each other in silence for another minute or so, my hand having dropped back down on the mattress between us in an effort not to overstep my boundaries. Drawing in a deep breath, she shifted and snuggled further down into the pillow.

"Goodnight, Grim."

My heart nearly leapt out of my chest, and all I could get out in reply was a whispered, "Goodnight."

I didn't fall asleep for a long time. Meli's eyes shut, and her breathing slowed, and I just lay there watching her peaceful face and the gentle rise and fall of her chest. She's here. She's alive. She remembers me. For now, those three things were all that mattered in the universe. I hadn't really had a chance since we had first happened upon her in the woods to really let it sink in – that we had done it, that we had actually found her, and that she was actually not dead. But now it finally did. Now I let the tears come, silently soaking my pillow with evidence of my abject relief and joy.

After what had to have been at least an hour, I finally felt my eyes losing their battle to keep watching Meli. So I scooted myself in a little closer, close enough that I could hear her quiet breaths and feel them ghosting over the pillow and onto my face, and let myself drift off into the most peaceful sleep I had had in months.

A/N: Awwwwwwwww. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to write another romantic moment between these two after so long.