A/N: originally posted on AO3, January 30th, 2020, under the username ladybug114. Written because I really loved Kairi and Lea's friendship in kh3, but I thought it needed more development, especially after everything that happened between them in kh2! So here are a few missing scenes to try and close that gap. Enjoy, and please review!

On the journey to Merlin's house, Kairi thought about a lot of things.

Riku heading into the Realm of Darkness, Sora heading to another journey across worlds, far away from her and from each other. They'd be fine, she knew they'd be fine, but…

They had been through too much already.

Worrying about Sora and Riku also helped her to worry less about herself. She was ready for the training, ready to learn how to fight, how to defend herself and her friends. But whenever she had pictured this type of training, she had pictured Sora and Riku by her side, not…

It was going to be fine. Riku had nodded at her, signaled that he was okay with this, and Kairi knew that he had a protective streak a mile wide when it came to her and Sora. And Master Yen Sid had explained everything to her, everything Riku and Sora had gone through and the people who had helped them get past it.

No matter how Kairi felt, Axel was part of why Sora was still okay, and she couldn't ignore that.

Or, no. Not Axel.

Lea.

She wondered if the new name would help, help her forget the feeling of fingers gripping her wrist just a little bit too tightly, of seeing Hayner and Pence sprawl across the floor, of watching Olette grip a baseball bat with trembling hands.

She didn't like being scared.

That's why she was doing this, though. Learning to fight, learning to be strong, learning to stand in the face of evil and say come get some.

She was going to be fine.

When Master Yen Sid finally dropped her off at Merlin's house, Kairi didn't know what she expected to see, but it certainly wasn't this. Merlin was puttering around the room, working on and inspecting who knows what, and Axel, bright red hair a stark contrast against his black cloak, was sitting in a chair that looked too small for him, drinking from a steaming mug of tea.

Kairi entered quietly, easing the door closed behind her, but Axel - Lea - noticed her immediately, set down his mug, and stood up, the chair scraping against the floor behind him.

Kairi flinched.

Lea noticed.

"Sorry," he said, quickly, hands up, and Kairi blinked in surprise. "Before I say anything else, I'm sorry."

Kairi didn't answer.

He sighed, running a nervous hand through his hair, and continued, "Look, I know that I did horrible things, not just to you, and I'm sorry. I promise you, I'm not that person anymore. I want to help, and I know… I know that doesn't erase any of the things that I did."

"No," Kairi said quietly, "it doesn't."

Lea crumpled, his shoulders slumping and his gaze falling to the floor, and Kairi's heart broke for him, just a little bit.

"But," she said, letting a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth, "it's a good start."

Lea's head snapped up, and when he saw her smile, he let out a breath of relief that was almost a laugh. "I don't think we've been properly introduced," he said, stepping forward and sticking out a hand. "I'm Lea."

Kairi stepped forward to meet him. "Kairi," she said, and when he shook her hand, his grip wasn't even close to being too tight.

She still flinched around him, sometimes.

Not during training - fighting was normal and expected there, and it was easy to get caught up in the movement of her Keyblade and the sound of metal clanging on metal. But outside those moments, if he stepped too close to her, or moved too quickly, or if she saw that stupid black cloak out of the corner of her eye without realizing who was wearing it…

They made quite a pair, the two of them. Kairi flinched and stepped away any time he surprised her, and Lea flinched and apologized any time she did.

Both of them were getting better, but old habits were hard to change, and old memories were hard to forget.

As they got more comfortable with each other, Kairi started to ask questions. Like, for example, the cloak. Why he kept wearing it, why he didn't try to find something else.

The answers varied, and as long as they kept changing, Kairi kept asking.

"The material is surprisingly comfortable."

"You never know when I'll need some good old fashioned darkness protection."

"It's a lot more breathable than it looks."

"Black has just always been my color, don't you agree?"

It felt like Lea was trying to make her laugh, but also like he was trying to avoid the question, and Kairi was willing to let him.

Time passed - more slowly there than in the rest of the world, but it still passed. They got better, both at fighting together and existing together. They spent more time together, not talking very often, just sitting and watching the sunset.

Kairi knew Lea liked to do that, even if sometimes his eyes got distant and his gaze got unfocused and she could tell that he was remembering something else, another sunset.

"Lea," she asked one evening, when she could tell he was starting to slip away, "why do you keep wearing that cloak?"

His eyes stayed on the sunset, but his shoulders slumped. "The Organization was… well, you know what they were like. Part of me wants to forget all of it, forget that I was ever part of it."

Silence fell, and Kairi nudged him with her shoulder, letting herself scoot closer than she normally would. "But?"

"I'm not that person anymore," Lea said, but Kairi noticed that his hands were clenched into fists at his side, and she thought they might have been smoking slightly. "But the Organization brought me and Roxas together, and I don't want to lose that." He dropped his head, away from the sun, and said, "I'm scared that if I let go of that part of my life completely, I'll let go of Roxas, too."

"Oh, Lea," Kairi whispered, and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Roxas would be so proud of you right now. I don't think you could lose him if you tried."

"Yeah," Lea said, leaning his head against hers. "Maybe you're right."

They sat quietly for a minute, and then Kairi nudged him again. "Black is your color, though."

Lea laughed, quiet and low, but he laughed. "And hey," he said, "at least Roxas isn't my only friend anymore."

"Definitely not," Kairi agreed with a smile, as they watched the sunset together.

"Tell me about him," Kairi said, a few nights later. "Roxas, I mean."

Lea startled, caught up in his own thoughts. "What?"

"You're scared of losing him, aren't you? Let me help you remember him."

"Y… yeah," Lea agreed, hesitant. "Yeah, okay." He breathed deep, leaning back on his hands and looking up at the setting sun. "Roxas was… Roxas was an idiot, most of the time."

Kairi laughed, surprised, and Lea shot her a grin before turning his eyes back to the sky.

"He wanted to do everything by himself. Solve all our problems, figure everything out…" He closed his eyes, remembering. "He was too brave for his own good, too. Talked back to Xemnas and Saix, asked questions when it was safer to just stay quiet."

"So he knew," Kairi said, quietly, "that something was wrong."

Lea hummed, thoughtful, and opened his eyes. "Yeah, I think he did. There was something else, though, another reason that he…" He trailed off, his gaze becoming unfocused.

"Hey," Kairi said, nudging him.

"Sorry," Lea said immediately, shaking himself out of whatever thought he had just had. "Sorry, I… I can't remember what I was going to say."

That had been happening more, recently. Lea's gaze would get distant, like he was trying to remember something, and Kairi would have to pull him out of it. "It's okay," she said, smiling at him.

Lea smiled back, but his eyes still weren't focused completely on her.

"Did you ever have time to hang out?" Kairi asked, trying to guide him back to conversation, back to the present. "The Organization doesn't seem like the kind of thing to give you a lot of free time."

To her relief, Lea laughed. "Oh, we figured it out," he said. "We were both pretty good at our jobs, so we'd finish with work early and meet in Twilight Town, up on the clock tower. We sat up there almost every night."

"That sounds really nice," Kairi said, thinking about all the times she had sat on a tree until sunset with Sora and Riku.

"We talked about the stupidest stuff," Lea said with a grin. "Roxas was brave, and independent, and strong, but he was also a goofball, especially when it was just the two of us."

Kairi hummed, thinking about that. "Sounds like Sora," she smiled.

"Yeah," Lea agreed, running a hand through his hair, "I guess it does."

Kairi was crying. She didn't even know why she was crying, not really. She was sitting alone tonight, and she started thinking too much, and everything just built up, and…

"Whoa, hey," came a voice, and Kairi looked up, rubbing at her eyes.

Lea was standing behind her, looking concerned.

"Hi, Lea," Kairi said, attempting a smile, but she didn't think it was very successful.

Lea fidgeted, seemingly caught off guard. "I, uh… do you… need something?"

Kairi almost laughed. Earlier that day, they had sparred against each other for hours, one of their most intense training sessions yet, and now Lea looked like he didn't even know what to do with his hands. "You can sit down, for starters," she said, still sniffling, but her smile was more genuine now.

"Uh, yeah," Lea said, and he still looked unsure of himself, but he stepped forward and sat down next to her.

Almost immediately, Kairi leaned her head against Lea's shoulder. "You're always warm," she said. "It's nice."

Lea was quiet, but he let Kairi lean against him until the tears stopped falling. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked after a few minutes had passed.

Kairi hummed, thinking. The sun had sunk below the horizon, and the sky was full of stars. "I'm homesick," she admitted, quiet. "I'm glad that I'm here, I'm glad that we're doing this, but I miss the island, and I miss my friends."

"You'll see them soon, I promise," said Lea, and his tone of voice made Kairi realize that he would do everything he could to keep that promise.

"I can't believe I used to be afraid of you," Kairi said, almost without meaning to.

Lea chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, a nervous tic that Kairi noticed came out whenever they had conversations like this one. "Well, you had a pretty good reason."

"You were just doing it for Roxas, though, weren't you?"

"Yeah," Lea said, and huffed out another laugh. "Not that any of it helped."

Kairi sat up and turned to look at him, her eyes shining with determination. "We're going to get him back," she said, voice firm. "I'm going to see Sora and Riku again, and you're going to see Roxas again."

"I appreciate the confidence, but…"

"Lea?" Kairi interrupted. "Shut up."

Lea blinked.

"We're going to get him back," she said again, and her tone offered no room for argument.

Slowly, Lea grinned. "Xehanort is gonna have no idea what hits him, huh."

Kairi grinned back. "Our friends are idiots, but at least they've got us now."

"Yeah," Lea laughed, and pulled her close with an arm around her shoulders, "at least they've got us."