Jessica's Point of View

I had three beautiful months of peace. Lea and Isa had put away childish things and worked their way to becoming apprentices to Uncle Ansem. Little did I know that their first day would be just a couple days before Radiant Garden's biggest catastrophe. I was so happy the day they became apprentices. As I was a playful child, I decided to bother them almost immediately. First, I went to the lab. I frequented it quite often as that was where my father, uncle, and best friend often were, along with the person I was supposed to be watching for Master Yen Sid. Isa was also there for the day with Uncle Ansem, showing him what they had been working on. Daddy and Ienzo were taking notes on a different desk, with Ienzo standing on his stool so he could reach. Though Xehanort was often in the lab with the others, he was oddly missing. "Don't even try it. He's working. He doesn't have time to be bothered by you," Daddy said without looking up from the notes he was taking.

I had been busted without saying anything, but I tried to play it cool. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, you think me a fool, do you? I know your nature. You're here to be an irritant to our newest recruit. Well, that's not happening so long as I'm here. Off with you," Daddy insisted.

"Fine," I grumbled.

I went outside to see what Lea was up to. I started to wander around the gate in search of him but found Xehanort and Braig talking instead. I didn't understand why Braig seemed drawn to Xehanort. Xehanort was always so cold and closed off, while Braig was irritating and chatty. It was always clear that Xehanort was not immune to Braig's annoying effect, but they continued to stick around each other. Though Xehanort still scared me, I knew he was smart enough not to hurt me with Braig around, so I put on my most innocent smile as I approached them. "Whatcha up to?" I asked.

I watched Xehanort closely for any hints of recognition. From what I knew, he still hadn't regained any of his old memories from either Terra's life or Xehanort's. My smile faltered as I noticed Xehanort's eyes widen slightly, though he returned to his stoic expression immediately after. "I don't see how that is any of your business," Xehanort replied.

"I was just asking. You don't have to be so weird about it. Aren't you supposed to be in the lab?" I commented.

"He's allowed to take breaks, you know. Speaking of, what are you doing out here? You bored or something? You usually spend most of your time in the lab," Braig commented.

"Mr. Even kicked me out so I wouldn't bother Isa," I explained.

"Yeah, I guess we can't exactly have you distracting the newbie. Still, probably not a good idea to have you just wandering alone..." Braig trailed off, seemingly thinking about something. "Hey, I know! You should ask Dilan if you could have the other newbie take you on a walk around town. It'll be good for you to get out of the castle." It seemed strange for Braig to be so concerned about my well-being. He never had taken a true interest in what I had done before. Still, I felt that it was a good idea and thought little of it.

I ran to the gates to talk to Mr. Dilan, who was guarding the gates as usual. "Hi, Mr. Dilan," I greeted. There was a time when I would have shied away from Mr. Dilan since he was tall and had a scary face, but I had grown fond of him, and he had of me. I felt more than comfortable enough to ask him to borrow Lea for a while.

He looked down at me and smiled. "Jessica. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Mr. Dilan wondered.

"I have a request. Mr. Even made me leave the lab because I'm not supposed to mess with Isa, so now I don't have anything to do. I was wondering if I could borrow Lea for a while so I could take a walk around town," I explained.

"Hm. Well, I suppose that would be harmless enough. Aeleus, keep an eye on things. I'm going to see that the boy understands his assignment," Mr. Dilan decided. Mr. Aeleus nodded, and I followed Mr. Dilan until we came across Lea. "Have you been doing your rounds as I've instructed, boy?"

"Yes, sir," Lea answered.

"Good. Stop doing them. You are to take Jessica away from the castle for today. She may do what she wants within reason. We just need you to keep an eye on her," Mr. Dilan ordered.

"Wait, what?" Lea gasped. He turned to me. "Jess, what's this about? I was working."

"You're still working. We all have taken Jessica out of the castle walls. Now it's your turn. Get to it," Dilan insisted.

"Why do I get stuck with babysitting?" Lea grumbled. He started walking away. "Come on, Jess." I ran to catch up and walked outside the gates with him. "Where do you wanna go?"

"I wanna play with Kairi," I declared.

"Right. Should've guessed. Alright then. Come on," Lea sighed.

"Wait!" Braig's voice called out. We turned to see him heading toward us with Ienzo in tow. "Take him, too. He could use the sunlight."

I shot Ienzo a confused look. He just shrugged in response. "Yeah, sure. Field trip. Sounds great," Lea groaned.

Braig gently shoved Ienzo toward us, prompting him to move faster. "Thanks. See you guys later," Braig smirked.

"Come on. Let's get you two out of here," Lea huffed. He took my hand. He tried to take Ienzo's hand, but Ienzo pulled away from him and ran to my side.

"I can walk by myself. I don't need you dragging me anywhere. I'm not a baby," Ienzo remarked.

"Fine. Do what you want. I really don't care," Lea snapped.

I hadn't expected him to take that tone with us. My feelings were a bit hurt. "Lea, are you mad at us?" I whimpered.

Lea took a deep breath and let it out slowly as we headed to Kairi's house. "No. I'm not mad at you, and I'm sorry if I gave that impression. I'm just frustrated. There's something I wanted to do today, but I'm stuck doing other things. It doesn't make much of a difference. I just hope Isa's having a better time than I am."

That night, Daddy came to my room. "I missed you today," I began.

"I missed you as well, but Isa was having a difficult enough time without any distractions," Daddy sighed. He shut the door and sat on my bed beside me. "I heard that you and Ienzo had Lea take you to see Kairi. Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah. We played tag and got ice cream, and Mrs. Hikari let us play with Kairi at her house when it started to rain," I replied. I waited for Daddy to say something else or do something, but he was frozen in place. "Daddy, are you alright?"

Daddy seemed to snap back into reality. "Yes. I'm fine. Jessica, I need to tell you something. Something happened to Ansem." The words were slow and careful, as though something terrible had happened.

"Is he okay?" I asked.

"No. He is not. He became mad. Raving about... well, I'm not sure. He abandoned us," Daddy explained.

"He just left? That doesn't- that doesn't sound like him," I said.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes reality is strange. We haven't told Ienzo yet. I wanted to let you know first," Daddy mentioned.

Tears rolled down my face. "What will we do without him?"

Daddy held me close. "Don't you worry about that. It's not for you to figure out. I have some business I need to take care of in the lab, so I do have to go, but I'll see you in the morning."

"Mr. Ansem just left, and you're going back to work already? Can't you stay with me tonight?" I pleaded.

Daddy kissed my cheek before tucking me into bed. "I would if I could, Jessica, but I have come too far and risked too much to stop my research right now. I need to go and check on things." I rolled over and cried myself to sleep.