Let's toss these kids in school. What's the worst that can happen? After all, it isn't like they have no life experience to prepare them for this, right? Not to mention having to explain away some serious knowledge gaps.
As an energetic and impulsive teenager and someone with a deep desire to be memorable, Lea spent a rather large portion of his youth in the principal's office. Generally it involved dragging Isa into trouble as well. But sometimes he managed a little chaos on his own. Regardless, Lea couldn't count the number of times that he sprawled in a chair while the principal lectured him about the latest misadventure while threatening to contact his parents, both of them perfectly aware of how little good that would do. He spent more time squirming under the principal's unwavering gaze than he did actually learning in school.
It turned out that uncomfortable, exposed, and intimidating feeling didn't just disappear because he was on another world, facing a completely different principal, and wasn't even a student anymore.
The principal was a black-haired woman who sat in her well-lit office filled with bookshelves and her desk, both carved from dark wood that contrasted with pale yellow walls. She sat there like a queen surveying her kingdom, completely poised without a single doubt of her control and power. Her hair was pulled into a fashionable ponytail and she wore a black skirt and a maroon blouse. She peered through her glasses as she looked over the forged birth records and other paperwork that Ienzo sent over.
Lea was mildly amused by the names that Ienzo and possibly Ansem came up with for the nonexistent parents. Apparently Roxas's fake parents' names were Sora and Aqua while Xion's parents were named Kairi and Even. Clearly no one had the creativity to make up any new names and simply picked some random familiar ones.
The other records that listed Lea as their guardian didn't so much amuse him as it formed a lump in his throat and a feeling of warmth in his chest. He knew that they weren't any more authentic than the birth records, but it somehow made the situation feel more real.
Lea sat quietly across the desk from the woman, trying not to fidget. Did they teach all principals how to induce guilt with their mere presence? It seemed like a shared skillset. At least she let Roxas and Xion wait outside in the hallway, listening to the distant sounds of students and teachers in their various classrooms. They didn't have to face her inscrutable expression, but they were still close enough that he didn't have to worry about them. They were just on the other side of the door.
He silently went over his story in his head. He would stay as close to the truth as he could for most of it. That would make it easier to keep track of things and avoid contradicting himself later. He'd alter what he needed to, but only enough to keep things plausible. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best that he could come up with.
"According to this, you've only been the children's guardian for a short span of time," she said finally, straightening the small stack of papers. "I am surprised to find someone as young as you are as the recent guardian for a pair of teenagers. I feel like there is a bit of a story behind that set of circumstances."
Scratching the back of his head, Lea said, "Yeah, you're right. It is a bit of a story, Ms…"
"Ileana."
He nodded and continued, "But sometimes things happen and you end up with a couple of great kids who look up to you and don't have anyone else. And you know it is a lot of responsibility, but you accept it anyway because you know that they deserve better than what they've had so far and you want to give it to them." Lea took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "They've been through a lot in the past. And what Roxas and Xion really deserve is a chance to be normal kids. That's why we moved to Twilight Town. It's somewhere safe and where they can be happy. And being normal kids means going to school, making friends, and probably complaining about homework eventually."
"And I'm to assume that their previous homelife wasn't a happy or healthy one?" asked Ileana.
Lea couldn't help the bark of laughter that escaped at her question. That would be an unbelievable understatement. The Organization was practically the definition of an unhealthy homelife. Of course, trying to explain about them would take some creative interpretation.
"I'm going to be completely honest about this," he lied. "Until recently, they were being raised in a cult."
Ileana's eyebrows shot up. And Lea thought it was a rule for all principals to always act like they'd seen it all. But apparently his explanation was a new one for the woman. Her eyes darted towards the door briefly, as if she could see the pair waiting in the hallway. As if she would see them covered in weird tattoos, chanting ominously, or other clear signs of cult influence. Then she seemed to shake it off, probably reminding herself that it wouldn't be that obvious on the surface.
At least she seemed to be accepting the story.
"Is that what happened with their parents?" she asked quietly. "Are they're still in the cult or are they…?"
Avoiding the question, Lea said, "Roxas and Xion were there their entire lives and never knew anything different until recently. They are out now and safe. But it means that they don't know about a lot of normal everyday things. They missed out on learning and experiencing them because that cult didn't give them the chance. They have that chance now." He shifted slightly in his chair. "That's why they need to go to school. Maybe it would be easier to catch them up with everything with some homeschooling and private tutors. I'd love to keep them close and safe. But they need a chance to be normal and that means spending time around other normal kids. And they're both smart and pick things up quick if you give them a chance."
"I'll have to let their teachers know," she said after a moment. "If there ends up being any problems or issues, they'll need to be warned ahead of time so that they can be prepared. I'll try to place them with some of our more patient and experienced teachers, though Roxas and Xion will still need to take a few placement tests to give us an idea about their education levels to ensure that they end up in the appropriate grade." Giving him a careful look, Ileana said, "I assume that their therapist suggested that they attend school to help them integrate into normal society. Did their therapist make any other recommendations that I should pass onto their teachers?"
A therapist. Lea resisted the urge to laugh again. Even if he could find a therapist who could handle the tangled mess caused by Organization XIII, Nobodies, replicas, and getting trapped in Sora's heart after giving up their own existences, that person wouldn't have the context for those problems. And it would be difficult to explain it all to someone. Most people didn't like having their views of reality shattered.
At best, a therapist wouldn't believe them and would think that Roxas and Xion were making it up in order to deal with their "real" problems. At worst, they would try to take the two half-pints away for treatment because the therapist assumed that they were seriously deranged. Not that locking them up would work since, you know, Keyblades. But that would still be the end of them living in Twilight Town.
Occasionally it might be smarter to listen to the barely coherent duck and protect the world order. At least when it came to authority figures like a school principal or a therapist.
"If at all possible, keep them together," said Lea. "Keep them in the same class. And there's as trio of local kids that they've already made friends with. Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Everything is already going to be new and strange to them. Having someone familiar will help. And tell the teachers not to ask Roxas and Xion about their pasts or why they don't know about certain normal and obvious things. If the kids have questions, just answer them plainly without complaining about how everyone knows about it already."
"Because it'll remind them about the cult?"
"Essentially, yes. And it'll just remind them about how different they are from everyone else and don't fit in. They don't need that."
Nodding thoughtfully, Ileana stood up from her desk and straightened her skirt. She stepped over to a filing cabinet and, after a little searching, pulled out two stacks of papers. Then she moved towards the door and opened it.
"Roxas? Xion? Could you come in here for a moment?"
The pair stepped into the office with wary looks. But when Lea gave them an encouraging nod, they relaxed a little. Just enough that he didn't expect them to summon Keyblades to defend themselves immediately.
Roxas had somehow recreated his look from the simulation of Twilight Town. The clothes that he wore when he first formed in the real Twilight Town when Sora temporarily lost his heart, before Xemnas gave him the black coat and the boy was a complete blank slate. When he was at his most zombified. Roxas wore a black, high-collared jacket with a zipper that somehow resembled part of the Nobody symbol. Lea didn't know how that happened, but apparently even the most oblivious people in Twilight Town had eventually noticed a few Dusks and such on their world. And rather than getting disturbed about it, used them to inspire fashion. People were weird.
Over that black jacket, he wore another jacket. An unzipped and white one with several black block designs and a gray hem on the end of each sleeve. The outer jacket's collar was red and pleated and folded back. Neither jacket had very long sleeves, which suited the comfortable temperature of Twilight Town. He also wore a pair of two-colored pants; the legs of his pants were beige with several of what looked like buttons on the hem that appeared to attach the legs to the rest of the dark-colored cloth. Roxas's shoes were colored in shades of gray and black with red straps in place of laces. Finally, Roxas wore a wristband with a black-and-white checkerboard pattern on his left wrist and a pair of rings. A plain black ring on his left index finger and a plain white ring on his left middle finger.
Yeah, someone went to a lot of trouble to recreate his old look.
Xion, on the other hand, had never worn anything other than the black coat and the very generic t-shirt and shorts that Lea had provided for her a few days ago. There was nothing for her to recreate. Not unless she wanted to start wearing pink like Kairi, which seemed like a horrible idea to him. Xion needed and deserved to establish her own identity just like Roxas did. But she seemed excited with what Olette helped her find.
She wore a black, sleeveless, double-buttoned, collared shirt with a black belt. The closest thing that it had to sleeves were these loose, flowy, and pretty little bits of fabric that covered her shoulders and gave the shirt a more feminine touch. She also wore a short, white, pleated skirt that appeared close to the length that both Kairi and Naminé seemed to prefer. Though, now that Lea thought about it, Naminé likely didn't get much say in what she wore either. But both the shirt and skirt were things that looked pretty, but wouldn't hinder her too much if she needed to fight. Rather like Kairi's outfit from the three fairies. And to finish it off, Xion had a pair of black boots with beige trim at the top that reached up to her mid-shin. They looked durable and even the heels were thick enough for stability while giving her a little more height.
Why were so many Keyblade wielders so short? Terra seemed to be the only other one around with any actual height.
"It is very nice to properly meet you both," said Ileana politely, "and we're very lucky that you'll be attending our school. I'm going to set you both up in the library with a few tests that I would like you to work on. Just answer the questions as best that you can. Our librarian, Jun, can collect them when you are finished. In the meantime, I'll have your guardian finish up some more paperwork. When we get all of that taken care of, we'll see which classroom that you'll be in."
Roxas and Xion both looked at him, silently questioning. Lea gave them a small smile and another nod. Reassured, they accepted their stacks of papers and pencils that Ileana gave them.
"You'll do great," he called after them as the principal guided them back towards the door.
"Thanks, Axel," said Xion.
At Ileana's puzzled look, Lea shrugged and said, "It's another long story. Just think of it as a nickname."
This time when she led the pair out of the room and towards the library at some unknown corner of the school, Lea managed to brace himself better for the immediate waves of dread and anxiety that washed over him. Unlike before, the emotions didn't manage to completely drag him down. He didn't collapse. He stayed upright and even managed to maintain a calm façade. Having a breakdown in a principal's office wouldn't work out very well.
He needed to stop freaking out every time that the Keyblade wielders were out of sight. It would be awkward if he was forced to lurk outside their classes once they started school.
"All right," said Lea, grabbing the empty bowls from the table. "You've got your backpacks?"
Smiling, Xion said, "Yep."
Their old backpacks from their Organization days. Tough, durable things that could hold more inside than it first appeared and could be hidden under their black coats to avoid Heartless snagging them in a fight. They'd emptied their usual supplies from the backpacks, leaving only a few potions for emergencies. Everything else inside them were new additions from their brief shopping trip that Lea dragged them on after their visit to the school. The same shopping trip where they picked up things that he assured them that they would need for school, some sturdy plastic dishes for their breakfast, and some boxes of cereal with varying amounts of sugar.
"You have your notebooks? Pencils? The books that they told you to bring?"
"Yes, Axel," said Roxas.
"And you remember the rules? No talking about other worlds. No summoning or using Keyblades. No fighting except with fists and only if necessary. You're both too good at it and it wouldn't be fair to any of the other kids. You've got to level the playing field a bit if you need to beat them to a pulp. And no magic. Apparently they never did much with it and not many people learn it here."
Rolling her eyes slightly, Xion giggled and said, "Don't worry. We know the rules. We've got it memorized."
Lea reached over to ruffle their hair. Xion shoved his arm away while Roxas tried to duck, but she was still smiling at him. She tried to ignore her nerves as they seemed to flutter around her stomach. That morning would be their first official day at school and she didn't know what to expect. But it couldn't be harder than some of her missions for Organization XIII. They didn't have to even fight any Heartless. They would be fine. And it was what she wanted: the chance to be a real and normal girl.
The tests that they'd taken were different than the various assessments and challenges that the Organization gave them to determine their various combative capabilities. They were less physical. All that they did was write down answers to different questions on paper. Which, according to Lea, was closer to what school was normally like. But according to those tests, they were both reasonably competent when it came to reading and writing, they'd picked up a decent amount of science from Sora the same way that they did their fighting skills, Xion was better at math than Roxas, and both of them would need to take "remedial history." None of them had ever been judged by those subjects before. If that was what they would be learning at school, it would be a new and interesting experience.
"Don't forget. I'll meet you two afterwards," said Lea. "Stay close to the school and keep your Gummiphones. I don't want to chase you all across Twilight Town."
Slipping his backpack on, Roxas said, "We'll meet you then."
"Come on," said Xion, grabbing his hand. "We don't want to be late."
Even as they hurried out of the apartment and scrambled down the staircase, Xion took a moment to glance back up. Lea stood at the top, watching them go with a complicated expression on his face.
All day. They would be gone all day. Anxiety and dread twisted in the pit of his stomach, reaching up to choke him. Lea was quickly growing to hate the feeling that struck whenever Roxas and Xion were gone.
They wouldn't disappear. They would be fine. They would come back safe and sound. He knew that. He knew that nothing would happen, but part of him refused to get with the program.
He stalked around the apartment, trying to distract himself and burn off his nervous energy. But nothing could hold his attention for long. He started making his bed before stopping halfway to wash the plastic dishes in the sink. Next, Lea summoned his Keyblade, giving Flame Liberator a few practice swings before banishing it once again. He pulled out his Gummiphone, not certain if he wanted to call the kids or Isa. Then he tucked it back away.
He wanted to go after them. Lea wanted to chase after Roxas and Xion to make sure that they were safe. But he couldn't do that. They used to go on missions all the time on their own; they could take care of themselves. They needed to have this independence. It wouldn't be fair to hover over them constantly now.
A distraction. Lea needed a proper distraction. Something productive and useful that would keep him busy and away from the school. Something that wouldn't give him any time to think or dwell on everything that could go wrong.
Lea brushed his hands briefly along the fabric of his new clothes. Fabrics enchanted to protect his heart just as thoroughly as the thick black coat. No darkness would sink into him and consume his heart, even if the clothes felt much lighter and ordinary. It still didn't seem possible to be as safe with them. But he knew it was true. He'd traveled this way already and nothing happened. And with that brief reassurance, he opened a dark corridor.
It wasn't immediate teleportation. They were paths. Hallways. Corridors. He still needed to walk along the strange and impossible passages. Paths used by Heartless and Nobodies to move between worlds. Betwixt and between everything else.
It was along one of those paths that Axel faded into nothingness. Lea couldn't help wondering if the dark corridors should bother him more after that. But they still didn't scare him. The dark corridors were dangerous without protection, but they didn't make him uncomfortable like he felt when he was in Radiant Garden.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Lea slipped back out into a round room with a short hallway. The cozy space was familiar. He remembered the strange neighboring room with the sentient narcoleptic doorknob and a pair of bottles that could change someone's size. A room that could be flexible with gravity depending on how he entered. Beyond that was a hedge maze, an oversized forest with unique flowers, and a deranged queen who ruled over her playing card soldiers.
Wonderland was one of the weirder worlds that Lea knew. And more importantly, even after everything Sora and the others did to protect the worlds and ensure that they didn't fall to darkness, there were still some Heartless lurking in dark corners. Not in huge numbers, but enough.
If he had trouble finding an apartment, Lea couldn't even imagine how hard it would be to find a job for someone who never finished school and his only "work experience" was with Organization XIII. His skills as an assassin didn't exactly translate over to working in customer service. But he needed a source of income because his stockpile of munny wouldn't last forever. And the only thing that he was good at was fighting.
Lea summoned his Keyblade to his hand, giving it a quick spin. Heartless didn't always leave behind a lot of munny, but he could build up a tidy pile and reduce their population at the same time. And if they dropped rarer items, he could try selling them later. A few hours of hunting could be very productive if he was lucky.
Not to mention that throwing himself at the largest and strongest swarms of Heartless would keep him from thinking. He wouldn't have time to worry. He could keep himself busy until school was finished. It would keep the tight knot of anxiety in his chest from suffocating him. And he was being productive while he waited.
With that decision held firmly in mind, Lea headed deeper into the insanity of Wonderland.
Roxas shifted slightly in his chair, trying to copy down what the teacher was writing down on the chalkboard. The teacher, a blond man named Tackett, told them that it was important to take notes because what they were going over would be on a quiz. Which was apparently another kind of test. And Lea told them that taking notes meant writing down everything that the teacher wrote or drew for them so that he and Xion could look over everything again later. School was turning out to involve a lot more writing than he ever did for his reports to Saïx or in his journal.
While he'd vaguely understood what school was during the simulation, it was a distant and imperfect understanding of the concept. He'd only known enough that Roxas could understand what a summer vacation and homework were supposed to be. Now that he was actually experiencing what school was like, he didn't know if it was good or bad. But it was unmistakably normal.
After a short introduction that morning, one that seemed more relaxed and casual than when they'd been presented to the members of the Organization, Tackett sent them to a couple of empty desks near the back corner. Their seats were thankfully close to Hayner, Pence, and Olette, the girl claiming one a little closer to the front. From there, other than some questioning looks from the other kids in the room, there hadn't been much time for anything to really happen. Tackett simply started talking about one of the books tucked in their backpacks and asking various questions of the students, moving forward with the lesson as if everything was normal. And everyone acted like Roxas and Xion joining them was normal too.
Normal. Everything was normal to the point of verging on boring. And in many ways, that made the experience stranger and more surreal. Outside of the fake version of Twilight Town, Roxas had never experienced normal.
The classroom was filled with small desks facing the teacher's desk and the blackboard near the front. The walls were white, but they were also covered in colorful posters that alternated between being educational and simply being encouraging. And along one wall was a long line of windows that looked out across the open street in front of the school. And there were other kids. Fifteen of them other than Roxas and Xion, though he knew there were more in other rooms. It felt a little weird to be around that many people at once and having none of them be Keybearers or Organization members.
School was different than anything else. There were more people. There was a lot of writing and sitting quietly for hours. Even the way that Tackett taught them about things was different than how Lea did it.
If Roxas was honest about it, he preferred asking Lea questions. He didn't have to raise his hand first. A mistake that the teacher gently corrected and that caused a couple of kids to snicker until both Roxas and Hayner glared at them. It would take a little adjustment to get used to basically getting permission before he could ask about something. It would be simpler to just wait and ask Lea.
But even with everything that was different and new, it didn't seem bad. It would just take some time to get used to it.
As Tackett finished writing down another jumble of numbers and asked if anyone could solve the equation, Xion's hand slowly crept up. He gestured towards her.
"Is it… one point three?" she asked timidly.
Nodding, he said, "That is correct, Xion. Very nicely done."
Tackett turned back to continue the lesson, but Roxas was watching Xion. A slightly surprised look shifted towards a small proud smile. Olette twisted around briefly to flash her a grin and Pence reached over to nudge her excitedly. The happy and increasingly confident expression on her face from someone in authority praising her instead of insulting her truly proved that school was absolutely nothing like Organization XIII.
And if it made Xion that happy, confident, and proud of herself, then Roxas officially liked school.
Thus, the kids begin attending school. After Lea concocted an appropriate story about them being raised in a cult in order to explain anything weirdness that pops up. To be fair, the Organization was fairly cult-y.