Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!
TJ and Kraig © to YamiChaos27!
Joy © to NJoy!
Akira © to Lucywind!
Iunia and Nico © to me!
Chapter 8: Friends and Rivals
"Any word?"
"Nothing yet, but we will keep you all updated."
"Thanks, Riku."
"No problem."
Isa ended the call before stretching. Two weeks of searching, and nothing so far. He'd been searching the computer with Pence for any leads, but they'd come up empty.
It took them a while, but convincing Roxas specifically not to run off to go search, was harder than one might think. Eventually, he and Lea managed to convince him and Xion that Sora would probably rather them hang tight and live out the lives they'd never had, rather than galivant among the worlds on a wild goose chase.
In those two weeks, Isa did get the job as Mr. McDuck's assistant, and Lea's first day of work at Ludwig's studio was in the morning.
Standing up from his desk in the new study that used to be Naminé's room, he headed down to his own bedroom.
They'd offered to let Naminé stay with them, but she refused.
Too many memories in this mansion.
Actually, he had no idea where she ended up.
Pausing, Isa heard some moaning coming from Xion's room. He paused, listening.
She seemed to be muttering something.
Probably talking in her sleep.
Best to leave her be.
He went into his own room and shut the door.
"Good morning."
"You're up early."
Xion sat in their new vegetable garden, pulling up some weeds from among the plants. "Yeah, figured I'd get an early start. I already watered all the vegetables and flowers, and I'm almost done weeding the garden."
She'd been up for a while.
"Want to help me make breakfast for the late risers?"
"Sure."
Xion pulled up the last few weeds before jogging after him. Isa smirked. "You've got dirt on your face."
"Really?"
He grabbed a tissue and handed it to her, pointing to her forehead. "Right there. So, what should we make?"
"Something new."
"How about, French toast?"
"Sounds yummy."
Isa smiled at the girl. She'd become his kitchen helper since they returned. He'd realized she really liked trying new things.
And he was willing to help her try as many as she wanted.
"Wow, that's not so hard."
"Want to make one by yourself while I get the toppings?"
"Sure!" She took the spatula from him and began making another piece of toast as he got out the toppings.
"Morning you two." Axel lumbered in, yawning. "Coffee ready?"
"Not yet." Isa pointed at the coffee maker. "It'll be done soon."
Roxas walked in a minute later, stretching. "Morning. What's for breakfast?"
"French toast!"
"Sounds good."
Axel got up as the coffee maker sputtered out the last bits of coffee. "Finally."
"What time do you have work today?"
"I go in around 9. Same time as Isa." He turned around, holding the steaming mug. "You kids have the day to yourselves, so just… don't cause any trouble."
Roxas laughed. "Who do you think you're talking to? We'll be fine. We went to places like Agrabah and Neverland by ourselves. We can handle Twilight Town."
Laying out a few plates of French toast, Xion sat down. "I think we'll be just fine."
"Alright then."
"Want to go find Hayner and the others?" Roxas turned to Xion the moment the adults left.
"I guess so."
"You guess so? What would you like to do?"
"I don't really know. So, let's just go."
The boy shrugged and went outside with the girl right behind him. They walked into town, seeing the streets already bustling with activity. Most shops opened a little before 9 here.
"They're probably at the usual spot or the sandlot."
"Which usual spot? Ours or theirs?"
"Theirs… I think." He smiled. "I get them mixed up sometimes."
"Not surprising." She giggled. "Let's check the sandlot first."
"Ok."
People waved at them as they walked. The whole town recognized the strange little family group outside of town.
"You're back!?"
"Yeah, so why don't you get off our turf?"
As they approached the sandlot, raised voices hit their ears. Turning the corner they saw Hayner, Pence, and Olette standing across from three older teens. Roxas recognized them.
"Seifer, Rai, and Fuu."
"Who?"
"Some jerks."
Olette crossed her arms. "You left! You don't really have turf anymore. And why can't we just share? It's a big sandlot!"
"I just don't want to look at your stupid faces more than I already have to."
"Hey!" Striding up, Roxas stepped beside Hayner. "Back off."
Seifer raised an eyebrow. "Who's this? New guy in town? Scram, this isn't your business."
"It is when you mess with my friends."
The older boy rolled his eyes with a laugh. "Wow. You really don't know how things work around here, do you? Well, I can teach you."
"You better back off! Seifer'll kick your butt, ya know!"
Xion stood off in the back, watching. She didn't like how this boy talked about her friends, but this seemed like it was heading for a fight.
She'd had enough of those for one lifetime.
"I bet I can take you." Roxas grinned.
He could handle this.
Hayner cheered. "Yeah, Roxas!"
"Roxas, huh? Well, then let's settle this then."
Seifer picked up a blue and yellow Struggle bat as Roxas ran and grabbed one from a box of them against the wall. "The rest of you, back off."
Pence grinned. "Your funeral, Seifer."
"There's no way, Roxas will lose!"
Rai turned to them. "Seifer's gotten a lot stronger, ya know!"
As the two squared off, Xion sat down on a bench by herself. The others seemed too excited and engrossed in the fight to really notice.
All but one.
"Hey." The girl from Seifer's group sat beside her, silver hair hanging over one eye as she held out a hand. "Fuu."
"Xion." She sighed. "Why do they have to fight… why can't we all just get along?"
The older girl leaned back. "Boys."
"Huh?"
"Competition."
Xion smiled. Fuu seemed to be literally a girl of few words. But she seemed nice.
"How old?" She pointed at Xion.
"Oh, me? Um, fifteen."
Fuu nodded. "Seventeen."
They sat there, watching Seifer and Roxas battle it out. Roxas absolutely had the upper hand and seemed to be almost toying with Seifer at times.
He enjoyed this.
"Bored." Fuu stood up, looked down at the girl. "Wanna ditch?"
"Huh?"
The older girl pointed back toward the plaza. "Want food?"
"Sure."
The two stood up and walked off. A moment later, a set of footsteps approached from behind. "Hey?" Olette jogged up beside them. "Where are you two off to?"
"Food."
Olette smiled. "Sounds good to me. Hey! Why don't we go see a movie while the boys are hashing it out? I heard there's a new one."
"Sounds fun."
"Sure."
They walked to the movie theater and Olette bought them some popcorn. The main character looked suspiciously like Mickey, but considering Donald's uncle had a hand in this, this movie might be based off a real story.
"Why'd you leave?" Seifer and all the boys approached them after about 20 minutes.
"Bored."
"Seriously?"
Olette giggled. "Who won?"
"Roxas!"
"He just caught Seifer on an off day, ya know."
"Sure."
Fuu leaned back, eyes still on the movie. "Let's go." She stood up, but paused to hold out a hand to Xion. "Friends?"
"Friends." Xion shook her hand with a smile.
Fuu walked away, Seifer and Rai alongside her.
"Hey!" Seifer turned around, pointing at Roxas. "I'll be expecting a rematch. And you won't win that one."
"Pick the time and place! I'll be there."
Seifer pointed at a poster. "Struggle prelims are next week, let's settle this in the tournament."
"See you there."
Xion cocked her head as Roxas smiled. "Are you two friends now?"
"No way."
Pence patted Roxas on the shoulder. "They're more like rivals I guess."
"I was his rival," Hayner added, "but I think Roxas took that spot now." The boys sat beside them, Hayner reaching for some of Olette's popcorn. "Can I-"
"Buy your own!" She playfully slapped his hand away.
"Aw, come on Olette!"
Xion smiled as Roxas sat beside her, silently enjoying the movie together. She yawned, her eyelids growing a little heavy. Before she knew it, she'd leaned over onto his shoulder, barely awake.
Roxas blinked as her head hit his shoulder.
She was asleep?
Pence gave Roxas a thumbs up with a slight nod. Hayner nodded to him as well, both smiling.
What was that about?
"You slept through the whole movie."
"Did I really?"
"Yeah," Olette looked the girl over, "how much sleep did you get last night?"
"Enough."
"Yo!" The boy who helped out at the mansion, TJ, ran over, grinning. "How are things?"
"They're good."
The boy turned around. "Come meet those people I told you about!"
An older boy with violet hair that just covered one of his green eyes, came walking over, hands in his pockets, keeping his eyes lowered slightly.
TJ smiled warmly. "Roxas, Xion, meet Kraig(1). Kraig, this is Roxas and Xion."
Kraig looked up, nodding slightly. "Hi."
"Nice to meet you."
"Same to you."
TJ grinned. "What have you guys been up to today?"
"Roxas kicked Seifer's butt today."
"Really!?"
"About time." Kraig smirked.
Roxas rubbed the back of his head. "It was just a little sparring match. He called for a rematch at the Struggle prelims."
"You're joining that too? Kraig and I are signing up too!"
Pence blinked. "Really? I'm surprised. Kraig doesn't normally do stuff like that."
"It took some convincing, but I got him to agree."
Kraig rolled his eyes, but the edges of his lips curled into a smile.
TJ turned to Xion. "You joining too?"
"Probably not."
"Aw, really? We don't have enough girls that sign up. And this town is full of tough girls that could probably kick all of our butts."
Olette laughed. "Don't tempt us."
"See what I mean!"
Xion shook her head. "I just… I've had enough fighting for one lifetime. I'm done."
TJ and Kraig looked at one another in confusion, but both seemed hesitant to ask for details.
"Then, that makes sense to me." The boy gave her a gentle smile. "Oh, guys." He looked at Hayner, Pence, and Olette, you know who Roxas and Xion might get along with?" He pointed behind them into the crowd of people near the bistro.
Xion looked but didn't really see anyone in particular.
"Oh, you're right!"
"Y-yeah." Pence turned around quickly, his face a little redder than before.
Walking over to Xion, TJ grinned wider. "Follow me! You too, Roxas." He led them past the bistro. "Joy! Akira!"
A girl with fluffy brown hair and soft brown eyes looked up. She sat on a bench, a sketchbook in her lap, and an open bag of colored pencils beside her. Sitting in a wheelchair beside the bench, another girl, this one with almond-colored eyes and very long, slick black hair that faded into a bright sea-foam green.
"Hi, TJ!" The girl in the wheelchair waved, her grin revealing a pair of braces shining on her teeth.
TJ grinned. "What are you two up to?"
The girl on the bench nearly dropped her sketchbook, a few pencils rolling onto the ground. "Oops… um, well, we're planning an art project together. We're thinking of combining my drawings and her photographs to make some sort of collage."
"Yeah," the girl in the chair rolled over, picking up some of the pencils, "we're both in the advanced art class next school year, and we'll have to do some big project, so we're planning it in advance."
TJ nodded. "Awesome! So, we have some new people in town. They'll probably be in class with us. This is Roxas and Xion."
The girl in the chair smiled. "Nice to meet you! My name is Akira!"
The other girl sheepishly took back her pencils, putting them in her bag. "I'm Joy(2)."
Roxas smiled. "Nice to meet you."
"Hi." Xion smiled softly.
"I think you guys might get along well, so I wanted to introduce you."
Joy grinned slightly. "Well, I'd love to get to know you guys better."
"Me too!" Akira wheeled forward, pulling out a camera. "Mind if I snap a pic of some of our new residents?"
"Not at all!"
"Sure!"
Akira snapped a photo, waiting a moment as the photo printed out of the camera. She waved it a moment before smiling. "Here you are." Holding up the photo, it faded into view. A photo of a perfect smiling Roxas and Xion.
"I've never… I've never had a photo of myself before." Xion looked down at it. "I've seen myself in a mirror but…"
The girl put her camera down with a gentle smile. "Then you can have it. If we hang out, we'll probably have plenty of time to take more photos."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Take it."
Xion took it, holding it gently.
It was a memory.
But a memory you could hold in your hand.
"I'd like to stay, but I have a previous engagement." Joy waved to some other people to their left. "Hey, you should meet them! Guys, over here."
Two other people came walking over. A girl with chocolate-colored skin, auburn eyes, and very curly red hair that faded to orange, wearing a baggy plaid sweatshirt over gray sweatpants; a bulky purple backpack hung off one shoulder. A boy with cinnamon-colored skin, dark green eyes, and long maroon hair tied into a high ponytail came closer, dressed in bright, stylish clothing; he held a large leather notebook and sketchbook.
The girl waved, her hand poking out from the oversized sleeve. "'Sup Joy! You ready?"
"Always." She jogged over. "Oh, and there are some new friends you should meet."
The boy looked at the two. "Hey, are those the two we heard about at the mansion?"
"Yeah, they've been the talk of the town."
Xion stepped back a little.
There were a lot of people.
New friends were pretty cool, but this was a little overwhelming. Xion stepped back again as the new girl approached her. "Hi there…"
"What's your name?"
"Xion."
"And yours?"
"Roxas. What about you?"
The girl softly smiled. "I'm Iunia and this is my best friend, Rico."
"Nice to meet you guys." Rico held out a hand to Roxas. "Happy to have you in town."
"Love to chat more, but we have a boss fight ahead of us." Iunia grinned over at Joy. "You ready?"
"Am I ever!"
"Boss fight."
Iunia's smile brightened. "It's a game we have. It's called Dungeons and Dragons. Maybe you can join us some day. Let's go you two."
"See you guys later!"
"Bye!"
Olette grinned as they left. "They're super fun. Especially if you have class with them. They're all so creative."
"No kidding." Akira giggled. "Hey, want to go shopping for a bit? I need to go by the stationary store anyway."
"Shopping?"
"Why not?"
Hayner laughed. "Race you to the stationary store!" He took off.
"No fair! Some of us don't know the way!"
Roxas took off with Olette in tow.
"They're lively."
"You have no idea."
"We're home!"
"And we brought dinner!"
"I hope you brought a lot." Hayner called from the dining room.
Isa smirked. "I told you so."
"Shut up."
"We bought extra just in case." They walked into the dining room to see the three usual subjects sitting at the table with Roxas and Xion, as well as three new people. Well, two new ones and one slightly familiar one.
Axel set down a bag of food. "TJ right?"
"That's me! And this is my best bud, Kraig."
"Hi."
Isa laid the box on a table. "Good thing we got pizza." He looked over at the girl in the wheelchair. "And your name?"
"Me? I-I'm Akira."
"Nice to meet you, Akira."
The girl in the wheelchair looked over at the other girls and mouthed a sentence.
'You didn't say he was handsome?'
Isa?
Olette snickered a little.
Axel smiled at the new girl. "Hope the ride over here wasn't bumpy."
"Nah," she giggled, "there's a path and I've ridden over rougher terrain than dirt."
"Well, let's hear about your day. Sounds like you kids had more fun than we did."
"Was work that bad?"
"Nah. It was fun. But you guys seem to have made a lot of friends."
"We did."
"Good for you."
After a few hours of talking, the guests went home. Isa smiled as Roxas chattered on about his new friends and about the Struggle tournament.
Xion went to bed right after the guests went to bed.
Isa went upstairs to his office, smiling.
Today seemed like a pretty good day.
"That's all the files for today." Isa straightened the papers on his desk, slipping them into different folders.
Glancing at the clock, he nodded. Ten thirty. Not bad.
Standing up, going down to his room, he paused by Xion's door.
Mumbling.
She was talking in her sleep again.
This time, he listened.
"No… No… Please… stop! Please!"
He heard sobbing and gasping.
"Please! Don't make me! I…I don't… I don't… Please! I don't want to!"
"Xion?" Opening the door, he saw the girl thrashing in bed. "Xion!"
The girl sat up in bed, her eyes darting around in the darkness. Her gaze stopped on him. "I-I'm sorry! Please! Please! Don't make me Sïax! I don't want to hurt them! Don-"
"Xion," he turned on the light, kneeling down, looking her in the eye, "it's me. Isa. Not Sïax. Sïax is gone. It's me."
The girl looked at him, sweat dripping down her face, her breathing heavy. She blinked.
And blinked.
"I-Isa…?"
"You're safe. It's ok."
Slowly standing up, he took a few steps closer, watching her reaction.
She averted her eyes, shaking as she held the bedsheets.
"You're safe. I'm coming over to you. Tell me if you don't want that."
Slowly making his way over to the bed, he paused, watching for any sign of her not wanting him there.
But she just stared at the bedsheets, her lips moving without sound.
"Xion, I'm going to sit down on the bed. Is that ok?"
She nodded.
Gently, he sat down in front of the girl.
"You're ok. You're at home. It's o-"
Xion threw herself against him, sobbing. Tears and sweat staining his shirt as she shook.
He froze.
Was she so afraid that even he was a source of comfort?
"I-I didn't want to… I never wanted to… I never wanted to hurt anyone… I didn't…"
Slowly, he put a hand on her head. "It's alright now. You're safe. You're safe."
And we will see where this leads next time!
Footnotes:
(1) Kraig is an OC also created by my friend, YamiChaos27!
(2) Akira is an OC created by my friend Lucywind. Joy is an OC created by my cousin!
VAs:
Kraig Allaway- Yuri Lowenthal (Sasuke Uchiha, Yosuke Hanamaru, Suzaku Kururugi, Spiderman/Peter Parker)
Akira Hoshino- Skylar Davenport (Karen Jinryo, Azusa Aizawa, Rinoa Heartilly, Akane, Mero)
Joy Ortiz- Mandy Moore (Rapunzel, Mara, Aerith Gainsborough, Callie, Nita, Cassandra)
Iunia Knowles- Amber May (Barbie Brooklyn Roberts, Marguerite Valois, Xiza, Cui'er, Sansa)
Rico Anaya- Zach Aguilar (Aether, Tanjiro Kamado, Genos, Byleth, David, Arthur Pendragon)
