Did Master Yen Sid tell you?
Merlin has used his magic to bring us to a place where time doesn't matter. We can take as long as we need to complete our training. He's an amazing wizard.
Oh, and by "us," I mean me and Lea. He's really sorry for all the trouble he caused. I told him it's fine, but he won't stop apologizing. I'll admit I was a little scared of him at first, but I've gotten to know him better. All he ever wanted was to help his friend. Honestly, it's hard not to like him.
Every now and then, I catch him staring at me. When I ask what's wrong, he says, "I'm not sure. I think I'm forgetting something. Don't know what." Sora, I think it may have something to do with you. Your journey is all about helping people: some that you've never met before, and some like Lea that you have. They're all counting on you. It won't be easy, but I hope you'll remain the happy and cheerful Sora that I know. There's no heart your smile can't reach.
The day's lesson was now over and Kairi was writing a letter to Sora.
She always came to the hill here to watch the sun set after she finished training for the day. Sometimes Lea joined her, and sometimes he didn't. Today, she sensed someone coming behind her, and she turned around.
"What's wrong?"
Lea looked a little out of it and scratched his head. "Nothin', sorry."
"Lea... You're doing it again."
He was always saying he was sorry; by now it was almost habit. She'd told him he didn't need to so many times, but he kept doing it. The thought had crossed her mind that he was apologizing for more than just what he'd done to her as Axel in the past. Sometimes—I wonder if some of those apologies aren't meant for someone else.
"Ack, sorry."
Kairi couldn't help but smile, even as he did it again.
Lea sat down on a stone a short ways away from her as she went back to writing. "A letter?" he asked.
"Yup."
"To Sora?"
"Mmm, technically yes. But I won't send it. It's more for me."
A letter she didn't plan to send— This wasn't the first. She hadn't really expected him to get that other letter, either. Thinking of you, wherever you are...
"Ask Merlin. He'll deliver it for you."
"Yeah, but it's okay. I just like talking to Sora, even if it's on paper."
"Okay," Lea said, observing Kairi's face the entire time. He always did that. Lea didn't seem like the type of person to stare at others, but when they were together, he couldn't take his eyes off her for some reason. Somehow, Kairi knew he needed to—that it was part of helping him recover an important memory.
"Oh." Lea gasped before pulling out two sticks of blue ice cream. Sea-salt ice cream, to be exact. He offered one to Kairi. "Here."
"Ice cream? Really?"
"Yeah, I asked Merlin to pick these up. Ya know, we did both summon Keyblades. Gotta celebrate."
"You're sweet, Lea."
He had gone back to staring at Kairi once she started eating her ice cream, only this time he seemed a little happier.
"What?" she asked him, puzzled.
Lea averted his eyes awkwardly. "N-nothing, I just..."
"You're trying to remember what you forgot?"
"Well, I, uh... Yeah... Yeah."
Flustered, he turned back toward the sunset, perhaps recalling something. Something deeply meaningful to him.
"So, tomorrow—you and me in the ring. You ready?" Kairi asked, waving her stick of sea-salt ice cream around like a Keyblade.
They would have to fight tomorrow for real.
There was a hint of melancholy in his voice when he answered. "'Course."
"Don't hold back, Lea. Promise?" Kairi said. She had no doubt that Lea was the better fighter between them.
Lea still had his eyes on the sun. There was no telling what was on his mind.
Lea turned toward Kairi and froze, eyes wide.
That girl!
The face of Kairi had...changed. Well, no, not exactly. She still had the same face. But she had dark hair and was wearing a black coat like his.
The sea-salt ice cream slipped from his hand, and then silent tears suddenly spilled down his cheeks.
"Huh? Are you okay? Lea!"
Startled, Kairi hurried over to him. She had never seen a man older than her cry like this before. Not this hard, certainly.
"Yeah... Sorry..."
"You're crying. What's wrong?"
Lea wiped his eyes and got to his feet, the barest trace of a bashful smile on his lips. "Something in my eyes."
"Lea..."
He shrugged. "I'm...gonna go. Sorry."
At Kairi's feet, the fallen bar of sea-salt ice cream was resting among the four-leaf clovers.
Sora Donald, and Goofy were all standing in front of the haunted mansion in Twilight Town. Sora had gotten a call on his Gummiphone from Hayner and headed straight to Twilight Town. Pence, and Olette were also there.
Sora was piecing all the info he got from the trio. "So, the fake Ansem must've brought the real Ansem here."
"Yeah," said Hayner. "They were talking about bringing Roxas back."
"We'll have to give Ienzo a call." Sora took out his Gummiphone and was about to push a button.
But before he could, Hayner interrupted. "Wait. There's something else we should tell you."
"Huh?"
The three kids looked at each other, then Hayner answered what all three of them were thinking.
"We all remember Roxas."
This time, Sora's trio looked at each other. "HUH!?"
Olette nodded, affirming Hayner's story. "It's true. It was the strangest thing. All three of us remembered him at the same time."
Pence, too. "Suddenly, we all remembered another lifetime we shared with Roxas. Like in some kind of parallel universe or something."
Sora scrambled to make sense of what they were telling him. "But how is that even possible? Roxas lived in the other Twilight Town. The Hayner, Pence, and Olette that live there were made out of data."
Olette shook her head. "I have no idea. But it happened while we were sitting up on the station tower."
"Apparently, that's where alternate-us used to hang out all the time and eat sea-salt ice cream," said Pence.
Sora folded his arms in thought.
Goofy tried offering some helpful advice. "Remember what Ansem's code was all about, Sora."
"The heart is the pathway to memory," quacked Donald.
Sora glanced up at the haunted mansion one last time. While he slept in that mansion, that's when Roxas lived his life in the other Twilight Town. That's also when Ansem the Wise put the data inside of his heart.
Roxas's friends now remembered him. Sora had a feeling he probably shouldn't leave town just yet. Maybe something in this world would awaken Roxas's heart.
The sun was setting over the Secret Forest.
A cloud of sparkling magic swirled around, until it coalesced in the shape of a human.
"Gah!" Lea instinctively jerked away.
The mysterious woman smiled. "Oh! Excuse me, dear. I certainly didn't mean to startle you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Cinderella's Fairy Godmother.
Merlin continued the introduction. "She is a very powerful fairiy, here at Master Yen Sid's request. She's here to prepare you for your Mark of Mastery examination."
The Fairy Godmother turned to Kairi, then to Lea. "You two are nearing the end of your training. Correct?"
Both of them affirmed with nod.
Merlin continued, "Master Yen Sid conducted Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam in the Sleeping Worlds. If you are to become true Keyblade masters, you must learn about the power of dreams."
They two trainees exchanged a look with each other.
The Fairy Godmother finished for him. "Listen carefully, dears. A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep. Legends say that in ancient times, the world was blanketed in darkness."
Merlin covered this. The Keyblade War, thought Lea.
She continued her story. "Before the great battle, the legends say Keybearers escaped to another world, as if they fell asleep and awoke in a dream. They wished with all their hearts to keep the light alive. And of course, you can't erase what lives on in the hearts of children—worlds and their stories, and most of all, light. The power of those children's dreams is what kept the light alive and rebuilt the lost worlds."
What the Fairy Godmother said sounded familiar to Kairi.
"The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of light survived, in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world."
"My grandma's story."
The elderly Fairy smiled at her. "Yes. It's just like the fairy tale. Each star in the sky is the dream of one of those children." Then she turned to Lea with a frown and her voice became more serious. "Lea. I can sense that you have a very precious dream, one that you nearly gave up on."
Lea was a bit taken aback. But she was right. It was the impossible dream of an obstinate child. Yet, somehow it still smoldered in his heart.
"What's wrong" asked Kairi.
It was a little embarrassing, and he shook his head. "Nothing."
"Lea, do you believe in your heart that your dream can come true?"
"Well..." Lea looked away briefly, then offered an answer. "That's why I'm here, right?"
His answer didn't inspire much confidence. The wise old fairy remembered a certain young man.
"Terra, in your heart, do you believe that dreams can come true?"
"I do. But I also believe you have to make an effort to make them come true."
She continued to address Lea. "I know that you are very focused on your training. But you mustn't forget. The most important thing is to believe."
The conversation brought a vague recollection to Kairi. She remembered meeting Lea, then going by the name 'Axel'.
"Maybe waiting isn't good enough..."
"Exactly! If you have a dream, don't wait. Act. One of life's little rules. Got it memorized?"
Kairi's curiosity was definitely piqued. What could Lea's dream possibly be?
The Fairy Godmother's admonishment reminded Lea of his good friend, Roxas.
"Aw, give it another try. Believe me on this!"
"All right... I believe you."
He closed his eyes. And then he felt himself rise off the ground. Roxas was right. He could fly. All he had to do was believe he could.
It brought to mind his childhood with Isa. Back then, they believed they could do anything. They thought they could rescue that girl together.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy were sitting on the clock tower with Hayner, Pence, and Olette.
It felt like Sora had been here before. Maybe because Roxas had come here with his friends.
"We all remembered him while we were sitting up here." Hayner held up his trophy gem to the sun.
Olette did, too. "It was like some long-lost memories just...came back to us."
Pence did the same and recalled all those times eating ice cream with Roxas. "Yep. And we suddenly remembered this friend we had all along, but we just didn't remember until now."
"Remember that trophy that Seifer gave you? In the other Twilight Town, I promised Roxas that once we won the tournament, we'd all go to the beach. But we never got the chance to go..." Hayner sounded so depressed.
Sora took the trophy gem he'd been holding on to and held it up to the sun along with the others.
Suddenly, his heart felt so hollow and empty.
It had been a long time since Lea and Kairi began their training with Merlin. 255 days, to be exact, although in the real world barely any time had passed.
The three good fairies—Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather—took Kairi to the wardrobe in Yen Sid's Tower. There they helped dress her in her new outfit.
An image of you overcome by the power of darkness flows into your mind.
Afterwards, she was face-to-face with herself in the mirror.
"I wonder if I've changed at all. If I've been able to face my fears."
On her bed sat a suitcase from Yen Sid, delivered to her by Merlin. The case was open and empty, and next to it was the dress she always used to wear.
Kairi did a little twirl in front of the mirror. Her new outfit was the same color as her old dress, but this one had a belt and a hood. On the left side of her skirt was a frilled section with a checkered pattern, while on the right were solid black pleats. There were also two big pockets.
She surveyed her new outfit, then took another look at herself in the mirror and grabbed a little bit of her hair.
Riku cut his hair recently, didn't he?
Her own hair had grown some in the time she'd spent training with Lea.
Which way would Sora prefer it? Short or long?
Kairi took a pair of scissors from a desk in the corner of the room and studied them, opening and closing the blades experimentally. She then went back over to the mirror and took hold of the ends of her hair.
Hmm, maybe shoulder length. Let's just hope I can cut it right!
The setting sun stung his eyes. Lately, he'd been just a bit of a crybaby. Could it be because the upside-down tears had disappeared from his face?
"Hey, Lea!"
He turned to look, squinting a bit. "Hey. Liking the look. Cut your hair, too," he said somewhat distantly. This was his first time seeing Kairi's new haircut.
"Mm-hmm. So you gonna try yours on?" Kairi asked.
Lea seemed at a loss for a moment, then shook his head. "Uh...I dunno. Maybe later."
"But you always wear the same thing."
That's right. I've been wearing this black coat for ages now.
Almost as if he were dodging the subject, he answered, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. This is how you pick me out of a crowd. I make myself easy to remember."
"How thoughtful," she said.
Lea laughed off the comment, slightly embarrassed. "Nah, not really..."
I don't want to take this off... Not until I keep my promise...
Kairi sat down next to him and watched the sun make its descent. "Our training's almost finished."
"Yeah..." Lea blinked and turned back to the sunset.
"Still trying to remember what you forgot?"
Lea scratched the back of his neck. "Well... Maybe..."
"You know..." She looked like she was deep in thought. "There was a time when I forgot something important, too."
"Really?"
"I'm Roxas."
"Okay, Roxas, but can you tell me HIS name?"
"You don't remember my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi! Okay, I guess I can give you a hint. Starts with an 'S!'"
"Mm-hmm. Back when Sora was asleep, I forgot all about him. I couldn't even remember his name. I felt so awful about it, I couldn't even bring myself to go to our little island until I remembered. It was thanks to Roxas that I finally did."
"You met Roxas?"
"Well, maybe it wouldn't be quite accurate to say that I've met him. It was in a dream."
"A dream...?"
"A letter... I wrote it yesterday, to the boy I can't remember. I said that no matter where he is... I'll find him. One day. And when I stopped writing, I remembered we made a promise, something important. This letter is where it starts. I know it."
"Yeah. In my dream, Roxas and I spoke. And when I woke up, I wrote Sora a letter."
Thinking of you, wherever you are...
We pray for our sorrows to end and hope that our hearts will blend. Now I will step forward to realize this wish. And who knows... Starting a new journey may not be so hard. Or maybe it has already begun. There are many worlds, but they share the same sky. One sky, one destiny.
"After I finished writing it, I remembered his name and the important promise we made."
"Hey, Axel. You haven't forgotten?"
"Hm? What?"
"You made us a promise."
"I did?"
"That you'd always be there...to bring us back."
Just like my dream...
The sun was almost completely set. But Kairi understood now. She knew the sky glowed faintly red for a while even after the sun was gone, creating a moment between light and darkness—when the sky was most beautiful.
I've never talked about Ventus before. I was always afraid that if I talked about him to anyone else, that I would never meet him again.
Lea gradually began to speak. "Way back when I was a kid, I met this other weird kid. Somehow we became fast friends. Never saw him again—nearly forgot about him, too. Then I met Roxas. Couldn't believe it. The two of 'em were identical. Oh, I didn't tell Roxas. Didn't want him to go vanishing on me, too."
That had to be a secret Lea held dearly. He hadn't even told Roxas, after all.
"The kid's name was Ventus. He's one of the lost Keyblade wielders we're looking for. Think he's still got me memorized?"
Lea wasn't referring to just the play date they had a decade ago. He was desperately hoping that he'd remember him as Axel, and all the days they spent together in Organization XIII.
Ah, I see. Lea met Ventus a long time ago. They were connected this whole time—all of us were.
Kairi put a finger to her head and smiled: "Oh yeah. Very memorized."
Lea laughed at her imitating his pose.
The two of them had spent almost an entire year together and become good friends. But now that time was coming to an end.
"Wow. The sunset is beautiful." There was sincere admiration in Kairi's voice.
Lea stared at Kairi, like he often did. Then he blinked and turned back to the sunset.
Everything became distorted. The world blurred around Sora...
"What!?"
Suddenly, there were no buildings. There was no sky or sunset. All his surroundings were black.
"What's going on!?"
Eventually, he looked down to see he was not in Twilight Town. He was on top of a platform.
"...Is this my heart?"
On the platform was a picture of himself. Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi surrounded him. All those dearest to his heart. It was his Station of Awakening.
Sora turned around and noticed a shadowy figure standing there. "An Organization member? Here!?"
He instinctively brandished his Keyblade and took fighting stance, then charged.
But the figure produced a Keyblade and deflected the attack—and the Keyblade was identical to Sora's.
Sora couldn't contain his shock. "Wait... That Keyblade... It's just like mine."
The figure didn't respond. It only began to violently slash at Sora.
Sora immediately blocked the savage repeated blows. This is so similar to that time.
"Are you...?" Sora faltered. "Roxas?"
The figure only kept up the assault.
I can barely keep up!
Soon, the hooded figure pointed the directly Keyblade in front of his face.
Sora could sense deep pain in this hooded stranger. "Don't do this," he said as he gently took hold of the Keyblade.
The figure gasped, and Sora could tell that they clearly had a girl's voice. She looked away from him and shook his hand off her Keyblade. Then, seeming to push something down inside herself, she spun around and swung her weapon at him.
But...it seemed almost as if she was fighting herself more than Sora. She hammered her Keyblade against his over and over, and he simply weathered the storm.
"Wait..."
Under the vicious barrage, memories came pouring into Sora all at once.
"Roxas... This is him. It's Sora."
With her hood removed, I saw that her face changed into someone I'd never seen before.
"You're next Roxas, Don't you see? This is why I was created."
With her coat thrown off, Xion was a puppet. I didn't want to fight her. But she attacked me.
"Please Roxas—end me."
As I was fighting, I began to lose what I knew. Who was I fighting? I was rapidly forgetting things that were important to me. And before I knew it, an unfamiliar girl with black hair was collapsing in front of me.
"Who are you...again? It's weird. I feel like I'm forgetting something really important."
"You'll be...better off now...Roxas."
The girl slowly opened her eyes. I held her up.
"Am I...the one who did this to you?"
"No...It was my choice...to go away now. Better that than to do nothing...and let Xemnas have his way."
The girl put her hand on mine.
"Goodbye, Roxas. See you again."
A small smile appeared on her face.
"I'm glad...I got to meet you. Oh...and of course, Axel, too. You're both my best friends. Never forget. That's the truth."
In that moment, I remembered. Xion.
"No! Xion...Who else will have ice cream with?!"
But she was disappearing.
"Xion..."
All that remained of her was a thalassa shell.
Sora was crying. Or rather, it was the heart of Roxas—Ventus—crying through him.
"It's all right! You can stop now! It's all right..."
"Xion."
The girl froze as the name left Sora's lips.
He said my name—not Sora, but someone else. I know that voice. I'd know it anywhere.
Xion grabbed her head and screamed. Tears fell down her cheeks as the Keyblade dropped from her hand and she toppled over.
Sora caught her just as the wind blew her hood off, revealing her face. It was the same girl he encountered in the Sleeping Worlds.
She felt like she was finally home, nestled in his arms. She looked up at him, seeing another boy's face.
"Now I remember everything. I remember you, Xion."
"Roxas." She gently caressed his face. "There were so many things I wanted to tell you."
Sora placed his hand on top of hers.
"On the day you first called my name, it made me feel like I had a heart. If I hadn't met you and Axel, I wonder how my everyday life would've been. Day after day, I spent my time going to the same place with the two of you. The days were the same as every other. Even so, the red, setting sun, the taste of ice cream. Those days when nothing happened were the most precious to me. All of them are my treasure. I wanted to tell you that."
Xion smiled softly.
"Thank you for calling out my name. Thank you for inviting me to the clocktower. Thank you for picking up shells for me. Thank you for coming to bring me back. Thank you for letting me be your friend. I wish...those same old days could have continued on longer... We wanted to go to the sea..."
Roxas, Axel...and Xion.
These memories—they don't belong to me. I need to give them back. That's the only way to end this hurt.
Xion closed her eyes. She was smiling as she disappeared in Sora's arms, and the stained glass of the Station of Awakening returned to normal.
There inside his heart, the stained glass began to dematerialize. Suddenly, Sora was surrounded by Roxas, Axel, and Xion's most treasured memories, which took the form of countless photographs. They floated up and away.
"The memories...are returning..."
"Axel..."
Huh? That was the first time that Kairi had called him by that name since they'd been training together. It was the name Xemnas had given him, by taking his old name and adding the Recusant's Sigil to it. It was a name he'd discarded, along with Xemnas.
He slowly turned to look over at her. And sure enough, it was the face of that other girl again. After a few moments of staring, he remembered her name this time. It was—
"...Xion..."
He only had to blink once and she was back to normal.
Kairi began to recall another life that she didn't remember until just now. "Do you remember? The three of us loved watching the sunset like this. I always wondered why it was so beautiful. We ate sea-salt ice cream and had silly conversations." She smiled fondly. "It really was fun."
Kairi was still looking out at the crimson horizon.
Lea couldn't believe it, but he really did remember. Another lifetime that he didn't remember until just now.
"When I sit here watching the sunset with you guys, I get the strangest feeling...like I used to watch the sunset and talk about nothing with someone else. It's the same when I watch the sea. Someplace by the sea...where I hear the sound of the waves... I get the feeling that I was talking with someone.
"So you mean that...you have memories of your past?"
"No... It's not quite like that. Well, I dunno. What do you think? Are these memories?"
"Huh... I wouldn't know, either."
"It always felt familiar when I'd watch sunset with you and Roxas. It's because I used to watch it with Sora, back on Destiny Islands."
"I...used to watch the sunset with someone else, too..."
"You have memories, don't you?"
"Yeah, sorta. Though it's not like they've ever really done me any good."
Kairi felt her chest tighten. "Axel. You were lonely, weren't you? We really are the same. On that day you kidnapped me, I was just...waiting. I'd been waiting so long for Sora and Riku to come home. I was staring out at the island where we used to play together. All I could do was worry. I missed Sora so much. I just wanted to see him."
"Yeah. I know the feeling..."
"Do you remember that day we all watched the sunset together for the last time?"
Lea nodded solemnly. "Yes... I do."
He felt incredibly sad. He told her to make her own choice, hiding the fact that, deep down, he thought it was probably better that a Replica not exist. And he figured she'd come to the same conclusion sooner or later, too.
"I knew I was going to disappear. I knew everyone would forget about me."
Lea looked at her pleadingly and offered her yet another apology. Although this one was the most heartfelt one she'd ever received. "I'm so sorry. For everything."
Kairi could only shake her head. "No, it's okay. Because you came back for me. Remember?"
As he stepped outside the dark corridor and in front of the old mansion, there was Xion, as he suspected. He shook his head. "Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs..."
"Axel..." Xion said, her voice hushed but otherwise normal.
Axel was a bit relieved to see that she looked like herself. "Xion...what are you gonna do?"
She answered plainly, staring at the ground. "I've decided that I have to go back where I belong."
"Well, to be honest, I always thought that was best, right from the very beginning," Axel replied. "But you know, it still really bugs me. Something about this just stinks." He clenched his fist.
"It's for the good of everyone," said Xion.
"But how do you know that?" Axel demanded. "Everybody thinks they're right..."
"This is right," Xion said firmly.
"They're gonna destroy you!" But when he finished, the face he was yelling at wasn't Xion's anymore.
Axel gasped. It was the face of—
Isa! Why!?
Xion responded to the memories of the person looking at her. Xion would take on a different form based on the memories of anyone strongly bound to Sora in some way. And Axel had now become someone strongly bound to Sora.
She raised the Keyblade against him. "Please don't hold back, Axel. Promise."
Axel jerked his head away. He felt himself getting more and more agitated. He looked up at her once more, but, still seeing Isa's face, he had to look away again. He chose to direct his anger at the grass so as not to look at her.
"What's your problem?!" he roared, then had to catch his breath.
Who was Axel yelling at? Xion in the present? The Isa from his memory? Or, perhaps he was addressing both of them at the same time.
"You both...think you can do whatever you want." Finally, he looked back up at her, still seeing the face of the person who was once most precious to him. "Well, I'm sick of it." He summoned his flame-wreathed chakrams to his hands. "Go on, you just keep running. But I'll always be there to bring you back!"
It was a plea, a cry, a bitter lament, and a vow.
Kairi stared into Lea's green eyes. "You told me to decide for myself, so that's what I did. But then you tried to stop me. I didn't understand why. But still, I was so, so happy that you came back for me. Thank you."
Lea looked her in the eye. "I just...couldn't lose my best friend. Not again."
She smiled at him. "Lea. Can I ask you something?"
"Hm?"
"What was your dream?"
It was more of a pipe dream, really. A childish fantasy.
Lea once again turned back to the sunset and answered, slightly embarrassed, "I just...wanted to be with my best friend forever."
I remember that I disappeared in Roxas's arms in front of the clock tower. Roxas went to sleep too, and only Axel was left. He really might have been the saddest one of us all.
Kairi recalled a specific conversation their trio had when Xion summoned her Keyblade again:
"As long as we keep each other in our thoughts, none of us will ever have to be apart. Got it memorized?"
"Wow, that was so not you."
"Roxas and I never realized it. But you were always worrying back then, weren't you?"
"Now that we're going back, I'm worried about everything." He heaved a breath that wasn't quite a sigh. His eyes looked moist—maybe he'd been looking at the light for too long.
You were always helping me. You always gave me and Roxas someone to lean on, but you had no one to lean on yourself.
"Well, you don't have to worry alone anymore, Axel," Kairi reassured him.
The sun continued to set. Just like back then.