/DISCLAIMER/
I don't own any of the following characters, locations, items, or any other Square Enix or Disney objects. These stories are based off ideas from the game and in my head. BTW, Org. 13's names were anagrams of the original person's names with an x added. For example, Roxas is an anagram (mixing up of letters) of Sora with an x added. Ex 2, Zexion Ienzo + x. Found this info through wikipedia,org, very helpful
Sora met Kairi and Riku in front of their houses the next morning. Thrilled with the fact that their parents had given them plenty of spending money since it was their first day back in town in a long time. The walk to town was filled with laughter and joyous talking. Add a bit of jumping on each other, dancing, and skipping, and the threesome arrived in town. The first stop in the adventure was Gohan's bakery for some donuts or other sugar confectionary. Munching on candies and pastries, the trio slowly made their way through town, greeting old friends and neighbors, often stopping for long periods of time to talk to others. Eventually, the sun rose high in the sky and they all knew they were getting hungry.
"Oh!" Kairi exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I was exploring the farther out parts of town with Selphie once and we found this charming cafe. You guys would love it!" She glanced between the two boys, neither of whom looked very excited. Pouting, she stuck her hands on her hips and tried the whimpering, adorable girl move. Sora was the first to break, sighing and nodding his head in defeat. Riku slapped his friend on the side of his head for giving up so early, but he too headed with them through the maze of streets.
Hey, something inside of Sora said. This looks like home. I bet at sunset, it's just the same. Sora looked at Riku and Kairi, to see if they were hearing the familiar voice as well. Riku continued to saunter untouched, but Kairi exchanged a look. Their Nobody counterparts were recognizing Destiny Islands to be similar to Twilight Town. For a few days, Sora had been completely unaware of Roxas, but now...now he could almost feel, well, himself inside his head again. Kairi, obviously, was also having some Namine thoughts of her own. Riku? Blissfully unaware.
The Cafe was called "Merrieto's", apparantly they served many sandwichs and lemonade. Sora was easily excited while Riku tossed the idea off as something childish, but seemed to like the idea all the same. They sat down inside near one of the windows, quickly picking up menus. Sora opened up his menu with the others, but was more interested in looking around. The cafe seemed nicer than most of the businesses around this area, and he was curious by nature. His wandering gaze led him to look at the counter, where a girl with firey red hair, pulled up in a messy bun, was writing something down on a pad. She was wearing a black hoodie, almost similar to the Organization's cloaks, and a ruffled pink skirt. Sora gently nudged Kairi, who looked up quickly.
He barely raised his finger, not wanting to make it obvious that he was pointing the girl out. "Kairi," he hissed. "Who's that?" Kairi turned around in her seat, as her chair was the one in the middle facing the window directly. She shook her head.
"I don't know," she answered softly, and bent her head over again to read the menu. Sora studied her some more. He could've sworn that she looked...familiar...
Lireal. Sora jumped in his seat, causing Riku to raise his eyebrows at him before returning to the menu. Sora. Her name's Lireal. I know her...at least...I know of her.
How? You've never been here before. I've never been here before either.
Axel. He...he knew her. You know. When he was still...whole. He hunted down pictures of her once. The way Riku...the way Riku looked for me to get you. He missed her. A lot. Talk to her. Please.
Sora didn't have time to answer Roxas's voice in his head, which surprisingly wasn't freaking him out at all. The redhead had already approached the table, pulling out the pencil that was tucked behind her ear.
"What can I get for you guys?" she asked. Kairi looked up and smiled, ordering a muffin and some sort of soup. It took Riku a moment to reply, he was staring at her. Sora coughed, kicking his friend underneath the table. Riku shot a glare at him.
"Stop it," he growled. Nervously, he turned back to "Lireal". "H-hi," he stuttered, clearing his voice. "I mean, hi." Sora knew the look that swept over his face. It was the "I'm-a-stud" sort of look. For some reason, he thought that the look seemed a little unsteady, unsure. For once. "I'll uh...have...a sandwich."
She raised her eyebrows. "Any particular kind?"
"Oh. Whatever you like the best."
"Okay." She scribbled something down.
"What, you're not going to tell me what it is?" Riku teased.
"Ha!" she said. "You'll find out in a little bit." She turned to Sora. "And for you?"
"Fish. Sandwich, I mean," he said. She nodded and started to walk away. Abruptly, Sora jumped up after her, almost knocking over his chair in his attempt to chase after her. He caught up with her half way through the cafe as she started to meander through the different tables.
"Lireal," he managed to get out. She spun on her heels, a surprised look on her face. "Uh, hi. Can I talk to you for a minute?"If
She turned as she said quickly, "As long as you don't mind me doing my job as well." Sora started to follow her around the cafe, speaking snatches over her shoulder.
"So, I, uh, think I know a friend of yours."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. In fact, you sort of look like him. I mean, I never knew that he had been here before."
"You've got to give me a name here buddy."
"Of course of course. So. You sure it's okay if I talk about this now?"
"Yeah yeah get on with it, I've got a lot of work to do."
"Okay...know any guy named Axel?"
She froze. They were standing near the counter, and she had just placed her notepad on the counter. Not looking at him, she started to rearrange the salt and pepper shakers on the counter. "Axel...almost. Almost. Lae. His name was...Lae."
"Was?"
In a biting voice, she whirled on him. "About a year and a half ago, really big storm. Remember that? He got...hurt. He...changed. As a result of protecting me. And know he's gone. Never saw...Lae...again."
"But did you see Axel?" Sora said, continuing. She turned away again, fiddling with the pencil now.
It wasa few minutes before she responded. "Mhmm..." she said softly. "Only a few weeks ago. He gave me this," she touched the jacket vaguely. "It was only for a few minutes. Said he had to pick up somebody. Another one of his 'plans'. He was always coming up with something. Mischevious, clever. You could never play cards with him, because you'd never know if he was cheating or just playing really, really well. He was good at games. Good at games where he could play both sides."
"Axel...or Lae?"
"Axel, Lae, what's the difference. Lae's gone forever, I'm sure Axel is too. Too...too quick and...ha, firey, for his own good. Axel wrote letters, Lae never had to. Axel had strange assistants who fetched photographs, Lae had a dog who fetched shells."
"Who...who was he?"
Lireal smiled a strange, painful smile. She almost giggled, or maybe scoffed. "He...he was my brother."
And now, notice 5 is coming into practice. :) I'll try, I think I might edit this later, I'm sitting on the floor of my uncle's house using his laptop while people mill around me, so not concentrating well. Have a nice summer!
