Please forgive me for the wait for this chapter. It has been a busy couple of months. Among other things, my brother got married. Due to the plague and everything, we watched it over the computer rather than attend in person, but I did bake him and my new sister-in-law a cake and sent it up to them. But hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter despite the wait.

With no school that day, they'd planned to spend it together. The five of them having a good time with one another. And the goal for that weekend was to make sure that everyone could skateboard. It wasn't as popular now, but Roxas loved it. And while Hayner, Pence, and Olette could skateboard with varying levels of skill, Xion had never tried it. That made her the focus of the impromptu lessons.

But despite her normal athletic skills and her knack for picking up new abilities, Xion was turning out to be horrible at staying on the skateboard.

After landing roughly on her back for the dozenth time, she groaned in frustration. She should be able to stay on the thing for longer than five minutes, but it just wouldn't work. No matter what she tried, it always ended with her tumbling off. Her balance was a disaster when she involved wheels.

Reaching down to pull her back to her feet, Roxas said, "I think you're getting better."

"Really?" asked Pence, earning a sharp nudge from Hayner.

Peering at Xion carefully, Olette said, "Maybe different shoes would help. Those heels probably aren't helping. Do you have any others? Something flat?"

Xion blinked in surprise. She'd vaguely noticed that Olette wore very different style shoes than her, but it hadn't really registered. She'd even noticed that Kairi's boots were very different than hers. But that never seemed important. It never seemed to apply to Xion. She'd always wore shoes similar to what she wore in the Organization. Even her new boots had the raised heels that her older narrower shoes did. Maybe part of her still believed it was what she was supposed to wear.

All the girls in the Organization wore and fought in heels like that. Though to be fair, that would only be her and Larxene.

After a moment, Olette glanced around at the entire group. Then she came to a decision.

"Okay," she said. "Change of plans. We grab a train over to Sunset Terrace and shop for some proper shoes for Xion. I know a place. And maybe we can hang around there for the afternoon instead. Poke around and see if there's anything new over there to try. Sunset Hill isn't paved, but it should work well enough to figure out the basics for skateboarding after."

Shrugging, Hayner said, "Sounds fine to me. I've got some spare munny. Might as well see if there's anything good in the shops over there."

Xion and Roxas exchanged brief looks. They'd told Lea when they'd be home. But as long as they made it back in time, it shouldn't really matter which part of Twilight Town they were in. And they'd learned that sometimes it was necessary to adjust the mission. It should be all right as long as they weren't too late getting back.

Hayner always assumed that the stereotype regarding girls and shopping for shoes was something that people made up. But it turned out that they really did take a long time. It felt like Olette brought over every single pair in the store. And it lasted long enough that the boys started stacking discarded boxes into mini-castles for lack of anything else to do.

It earned them some glares from the staff, which prompted them to try something a little less likely to get them kicked out. Hayner was surprised by how many games that Roxas and Xion's weird phones had on them.

Xion quickly rejected any of the more colorful options. Which Hayner had to admit made sense. Both Roxas and Xion still preferred to wear primarily black-and-white clothes. Even Xion's new apple blossom hairclip was white. She certainly wouldn't wear yellow or pink athletic shoes.

She tried the various styles of white sneakers. And while she seemed to like them to an extent, they didn't seem to suit her. She needed the stability of flat footwear, but she wasn't used to anything comfortable and light. Xion seemed to focus on the boots, but most of the ones in the shop were made to be more fashionable than practical. They weren't sturdy enough for her taste. It really made Hayner wonder how they'd managed to get through Roxas and Xion's first shopping trip as smoothly as they did.

She liked her black boots. But while they might be good for most things, they clearly weren't ideal for balancing on a skateboard. And that meant they couldn't give up.

Pence was the one that found them. Sturdy black sneakers with the tiniest scalloped frills around the top. Not as tough and durable as a pair of boots, but still practical. And to Xion's surprise, they turned out to be very comfortable. From the way that she reacted, she'd never worn comfortable shoes before.

Once again, Hayner wanted to ask for more details about their past. There was so much that they technically didn't know about their friends. Where they came from, where Sora and Kairi came from, how they were all connected, why so many things seemed to be new to them, and so on. Wearing comfortable shoes shouldn't be as surprising and new to her as they were. It was just another thing that raised questions. But as always, he kept his mouth shut. They would tell the rest of them when they were ready. For now, all that mattered was that Roxas and Xion were their friends.

Though the staff of the shop did make them clean up their mini-castles and put up the shoeboxes before they could go.

After that, which took even longer than expected, they headed up to Sunset Hill. As Olette suggested, it turned out to be a nice place to continue Xion's lessons and they could watch the trains somewhat while hanging out. Hayner and Roxas focused mostly on helping her with skateboarding. Pence and Olette alternated between offering moral support and playing more of the games on the weird phones until the batteries ran down. It took time. But the new shoes seemed to really help her actually stay on the skateboard.

Once she stopped falling off every time, Xion picked up the basics amazingly fast. Her natural athletic capabilities served her well, just like when they were learning about Struggle battles. She wasn't quite as smooth as Roxas, but it didn't take too long for her to start picking up some easy tricks.

But after a while, the excitement began to die down. The group moved together until they were sitting near the edge to watch the distant horizon and the occasional train running along the rails. Lazy conversation gave way to comfortable silence as the warm afternoon coaxed them into a state of drowsiness. Eventually Hayner reached the point that he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

He rather liked it. Sometimes friendship meant having adventures and excitement. Other times it meant dozing off on a hill as sunset approached.

Shifting slightly, Olette asked, "What time is it?"

"I don't know," he said, not really wanting to wake up enough to find out.

They were far enough from the clocktower that they couldn't rely on their most common method of finding out the time. And Hayner didn't wear a watch. If he wanted to find out what time it was, he'd probably have to head down the hill and find someone to ask.

"I told my mom I'd probably be out late, Pence's parents don't have a strict curfew on the weekends, and I know yours are used to you missing yours. What time do Roxas and Xion need to get back?"

Hayner glanced over at the pair. While Pence lay sprawled on his back, snoring softly, Roxas and Xion were sitting up just enough to lean against each other. Side by side with their heads lolling slightly. Relaxed and drowsing peacefully. Lulled to sleep by the warm sunlight.

"Let them sleep a little longer," said Hayner.

"And what about Lea? What if he starts wondering where they are?"

He couldn't help scowling at the reminder of the man. Hayner still didn't know what his angle might be or what he was up to. He didn't completely trust him. Hayner needed some real proof that the man had changed. He was giving Lea a chance because Kairi, Roxas, and Xion vouched for him. But that didn't mean that he liked him. Until he saw proof with his own eyes that Lea wasn't the same guy who kidnapped Kairi and dragged her into one of those weird dark portal things, Hayner was going to hold onto his suspicions.

"He'll be fine," he said. "He can deal with some annoyance for a bit."

Lea had gotten better when it came to being separated from the half-pints. Or at least he thought he was. When they were at school and he knew exactly where they were and when they would be back, that feeling of anxiety seemed more distant. Easier to bear and no longer overwhelming. As long as Lea knew they were safe and would be home soon, he could handle it. He thought that he was getting past his problem.

When Roxas and Xion were five minutes late, Lea tried to remind himself that there was no reason to worry and that five minutes meant nothing. When they were ten minutes late, he tried to remember that they were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves and that there weren't that many threats in Twilight Town that they couldn't handle. And when they were fifteen minutes late, Lea was struggling to remind himself that they used to go on dangerous missions alone all the time and came back unharmed. That didn't stop him from nearly hyperventilating and it didn't banish the anxiety that left his skin crawling as he struggled to stay in the apartment.

Then he tried calling their Gummiphones. Such wonderful devices. They were supposed to work even if they were scattered across multiple worlds. That's how the devices were explained to Lea. They needed to be recharged occasionally with either a Thunder spell or by connecting them to some source of electricity, but the signal could reach almost anywhere. They could always make a call. But when Lea tried to reach either of their Gummiphones, the calls refused to connect.

As if they were gone. Like they didn't exist.

He knew their normal places. And it didn't take him long to check them. The Tram Common where they did odd jobs for munny, the Sandlot, Market Street where they went skateboarding, the spot under the train tracks that the other kids used as a hideout, and even the clocktower. And with each failure, his anxiety and panic mounted.

Lea couldn't block out the voices in his head screaming at him. Telling him that Roxas and Xion were gone, that he'd lost them again, that he'd failed them, and that he would never see them ever again. It wasn't logical or reasonable, but Lea couldn't stop it.

He had to find them. He had to get them back.

Lea couldn't seem to breathe. His chest felt tight, like a metal band wrapping around him. Constricting tighter with every second. He could fee the racing beat pounding against his ribs. And he couldn't think. Everything just felt awful.

Roxas and Xion were missing. He couldn't lose them again. He couldn't forget them. He needed to find them.

He needed help.

Lea didn't know how he managed to rein in his panic enough to look like he was even slightly in control, but he did. Years of having no heart and pretending to have emotional responses, at least until certain Keybearers coaxed his new budding heart into developing enough, meant that Lea could put on a decent façade. He could hide how much he was mentally and emotionally freaking out. Or at least appear slightly less freaked out than he really was. And once he shoved down his panic enough, he took a dark corridor straight to the Old Mansion.

"Isa," he called as soon as he stepped out.

In hindsight, appearing without warning might not have been his best idea. Rather like his attempt to grab Kairi when he needed her help. While he startled Isa into swinging around the piece of wood he was carrying and forcing Lea to step sideways to avoid it, Lea was very lucky that his friend didn't instinctively summon his claymore instead. But Isa did drop the board and fell out of his defensive stance when he recognized Lea a second later.

Brow furrowing slightly, Isa asked, "What happened? What's wrong?"

Well, that figured. While Lea was hiding the worst of the anxiety and fear scraping his nerves raw, he couldn't hide all of it. Especially from Isa. They'd known each other for too long.

Swallowing past the tight knot in his throat and trying to slow his breathing down, Lea said, "I can't find them. Roxas and Xion. They're almost an hour late and I can't find them."

The words didn't come out as frantic and desperate as Lea felt. Just somewhat worried. He would call that a success.

"Did you try calling them yet?" asked Isa, always the practical one.

Lea nodded sharply. His skin and nerves felt like they were buzzing. He needed to move. He needed to find them. Standing in the foyer of the Old Mansion, surrounded by signs of construction and repair from Isa's efforts, Lea wanted to smash something or set it on fire. Anything to deal with the nervous, frustrated, and frantic energy. Keeping still and in control was almost torture. He needed to do something. Anything to drive out those fears screaming that Roxas and Xion were gone forever.

"I tried calling, but it won't connect," he said. "I can't reach either of them."

Taking a step closer, his hand opening and closing at his side as if debating with himself about trying to reach out to Lea, Isa said, "I doubt they've left the world, which means that they must be somewhere in town. And while I'm certain that they are safe, we'll go look for them. I assume you've checked the closest locations to your apartment. I'll start looking farther away if you want to go and leave a note for them back at your home in case they come back while we're out."

Lea tried to smile, but it wasn't his best effort. But at least with Isa to help, they could cover twice the area in the same amount of time. Maybe that would be enough to get them back. If Roxas and Xion were still in Twilight Town, one of them should be able to find them.

It had to work. It had to be enough. He couldn't lose his half-pints again.

He lingered long enough for Isa to head for the door of the Old Mansion before summoning another dark corridor. Not back to the apartment, but the clocktower. He didn't really expect to find them there since he'd already check there. But it gave him a semi-private spot to collapse, shaking and trying to breathe as he emotionally fell apart.

A heart and all the emotions that came with it could still hit hard and catch him off guard. He was getting better at existing properly again, but he'd been a Nobody for over a decade. Sometimes the intensity could still surprise and overwhelm him.

Get up. He needed to get up and keep looking for them. Lea's rational mind knew that. Just like he knew that they were probably fine.

But his rational mind didn't have a chance in this fight. Not when he was drowning in the awful feeling of loss, desperation, and fear. As if he knew that they were already gone forever. As if he already knew that he'd failed them both and lost them again.

Lea scrubbed the wetness from his face, trying to reclaim some measure of control. Trying to breathe properly. He needed to get going and find them. He couldn't give up. He would always be there to bring them back.

Groaning as she stretched slightly, Xion asked, "What time is it?"

Hayner shrugged awkwardly. He shoved down the odd spark of guilt, trying to look innocent. He'd actually dozed off briefly and now he had a feeling that they'd stayed even longer than he actually intended. While it initially seemed like an amusing way to annoy Lea, he was starting to have second thoughts about it. What if Roxas and Xion got into trouble for being late? He didn't want that. He should have thought things through a bit more first.

Well, they didn't get in much trouble even when they got in a fight at school. He couldn't imagine Roxas and Xion being a little late causing a worse reaction.

"No idea," mumbled Pence, rubbing his eyes.

Roxas climbed to his feet and stretched his arms above his head. But when he glanced towards the horizon and the setting sun's relative position to it, he froze. A moment later, he snarled something under his breath and frantically dug out his weird phone.

"We're late," he said sharply. Then, glaring at the device in frustration, Roxas added, "And our Gummiphones are dead. We've got to get back fast."

Biting her bottom lip, Xion muttered, "And no black coats mean no shortcuts."

Before Hayner could ask about the odd statement, Olette shot him a sharp glare. Then she grabbed Xion's hand.

"Come on. The way that you two run, the tunnels will be faster than the train. Let's get you back."

Shrugging off the remaining traces of sleep, the five of them raced towards the path down the hill. Fast enough that they nearly slammed into the tall, broad-shouldered, and blue-haired figure who was coming up the hill.

"Saï— Isa," yelped Roxas.

The smile from the man was a little awkward and couldn't quite be described as a happy expression, but Isa nodded as he pulled out his own weird phone. He poked at the screen a couple of times.

"Found them. They're over at Sunset Hill," he said before hanging up. Then, turning his attention towards the uneasy Roxas and Xion, Isa said, "Did you two lose your Gummiphones?"

"Sorry," said Pence. "We were playing games on them and that killed the batteries."

Then Hayner heard it. Distinctive, familiar, ominous, and unexpected enough to make him jump and spin around. The strange rippling darkness had materialized hind him. One that he'd seen before. And a tall lanky figure stumbled out.

Hayner caught sight of Lea's face in that split second after he arrived. Right before he managed to hide behind a mask of calm. And that moment was enough for him to recognize that look of blind terror, worry, and desperation for what it was. He'd seen it from his mother than handful of times that he pushed his luck too far as a kid and got into serious trouble. Lea immediately tried to hide behind that wall of control, but Hayner saw enough in that raw and honest moment to know one thing with absolute certainty.

Lea really did care about Roxas and Xion.

"There you two are," said Lea quietly. "I thought you'd be back earlier."

"Sorry, Axel,' said Xion, rubbing her arm. "We came to find me some new shoes and—"

"It's my fault they're late," interrupted Hayner. "I'm sorry. We accidentally ran down the batteries of their phones and lost track of time. We'll be more careful next time."

"Okay." Lea nodded, giving them a slightly shaky smile. "Okay. Just… give me a heads-up next time?"

Xion moved closer to Lea, letting one arm curl around her protectively. Roxas took up a similar position on his other side. And slowly some of the man's tension seemed to melt away."

"Okay, can only Lea open the weird dark portal things like that or can anyone try it?" asked Pence.

Crossing his arms, Isa said, "Those are corridors of darkness and they can be very dangerous without proper protection. If any of you ever try traveling through them, I will ensure that you regret it. Severely."

Something in the man's calm and even voice still had enough force to make Hayner flinch. A reaction that Roxas and Xion mirrored. Pence simply crossed his own arms in response.

"That doesn't answer my question, Isa."

Lea stared across the deep chasm. Far too deep and wide to cross without the aid of flight. And the chasm stretched out forever in either direction. There was no way around the impossible obstacle.

And standing on the far side was Roxas and Xion.

"How did you get over there?" he shouted across the vast distance.

Neither of them responded. They simply stood on the edge as mist rolled in. Dread prickled along the back of his neck. Lea couldn't help feeling like something awful was happening.

"Are you hurt?"

That time they managed to shake their heads. A tiny sliver of relief followed their responses. At least they could hear him. And they weren't hurt. Lea shifted back and forth, wanting to reach the pair and yet knowing that it was useless. Part of him wanted to move. He wanted to pace along the edge like a caged animal. But he refused to move away from Roxas and Xion to search for a solution. Something ominous was looming over them. He refused to let them out of his sight until he knew what was happening.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"We're going back," said Xion, her slight figure getting harder to make out through the worsening fog.

"Back where?"

"Where we belong," said Roxas.

That feeling of dread grew stronger. He knew what they meant when they said that, even if he was trying to avoid thinking about it. He clung to that denial hard, using it to push down the growing fear and panic. The fog making it harder and harder to see them wasn't helping his mental state either.

Eyes scanning desperately for anything that he might have missed, Lea said, "Just stay there. I'll find a way over and we'll go home."

No matter where they might go, he would always be there to bring them back. Lea held tight to that conviction. It had kept him going even when it seemed impossible. It would keep him going now as well.

"We're not going home with you," said Roxas. "But you already know that, don't you?"

"You knew it was too perfect," added Xion calmly. "You knew that you wouldn't get to keep your friends. Not after everything."

They were just dark shapes in the fog. Barely visible. Lea needed to reach them. He knew that he couldn't just jump the chasm. He couldn't even see where the far side might be. Trying would be a guaranteed way to break his neck. But he desperately needed to get over to them before it was too late.

His voice sounding faint, Roxas said, "Don't worry about it too much. We were never meant to exist in the first place."

"You'll barely remember us when we're gone," said Xion, so quiet that it was barely a whisper.

"That's not true," shouted Lea. "Roxas! Xion!"

A breeze stirred, pushing away at the fog until a large gap opened. And Lea could see the far side of the chasm again. But there was no one there. Just an empty space where his best friends were supposed to be.

"Roxas! Xion!" he yelled, his voice echoing across the emptiness. "Where are you? Roxas! Xion!"

His voice strained as he screamed for them. But there was no answer. No sign. Nothing at all. As if they never existed. They were gone and he didn't know how to save them. All he could do was scream himself hoarse.

It took him a few moments to notice. Far too long. But then he realized that his memories were slipping away the same way that they'd vanished into the fog. The sound of Xion's laugh. Roxas's annoyed glare when he wasn't really that annoyed. The way that they both moved on the battlefield, natural as breathing. Those tiny pieces were disappearing before he could even recognize their loss. Lea clung hard, trying to remember. He couldn't forget them. He needed to memorize them so he could find them again.

What did they look like? It was getting hard to picture them both in his mind. Roxas was Sora's Nobody, but he wasn't identical to the other boy. He knew there were differences. Wasn't he also similar to Ventus? And Xion… She was a blur of other people. Kairi, Naminé, and Sora, but not any of them either. Was her hair dark or light? What color were their eyes? Lea couldn't remember their eyes. Their faces felt like blanks in his memories. Vague shapes taking up space in the background of the last few years. Indistinct and unimportant.

Which was wrong. They were painfully important. His heart ached sharply as those pieces of memory fell away into the empty abyss. He was losing them in every way, not just in reality.

…What were their names? He knew their names a moment ago. He'd already lost their appearances, but he couldn't forget their names. There should be an X in their names somewhere. Xemnas would have ensured it.

Why? Why would Xemnas have anything to do with those two? Why did Lea have anything to do with them? Who were they?

He couldn't remember. He could feel the strange empty spaces in his mind and in his heart, but he didn't know who or what was supposed to be there. All he knew was that it hurt.

Gone. They were gone. Whoever they were to him, he'd lost them. And even without knowing anything about them, Lea knew that they must have been important to cause him so much heartache.

He fell to his knees, gasping at the pain in his chest and the emptiness. It felt like something had been carved out of him. Loss and grief tearing through him, even if he could no longer remember the source.

"Come back," he whispered, arms wrapping around himself. "I need you back."

He took a deep and shaking breath that turned into a broken sob. And that awful and jagged sensation of grief managed to shake him awake. Lea lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. He was in his own room in Twilight Town. And he hadn't forgotten the half-pints currently sleeping in their rooms down the hall. He swiped at the forming wetness on his face as he laid there, trying to breathe through the sobs without making a sound.

Another nightmare. A heartbreaking one. They were becoming more common since Roxas and Xion's nights grew more peaceful. They didn't need him as much anymore.

Lea wanted to get up and check on them. A part of him desperately needed to see them safe. But he forced himself to stay in place. They were sleeping. Roxas and Xion didn't have as many bad dreams now and could make it through the night. He couldn't disturb their sleep. Not for some dumb reason. As much as he wished to hold them until the awful sense of loss faded enough to let him sleep, Lea would be fine. He could handle it on his own.

Pressing his eyes closed, Lea pulled the blanket up further. Everything was fine. Roxas and Xion were in their own rooms, not gone forever. They were quiet because they were sleeping peacefully, not because they disappeared. He should be happy that they could sleep without him needing to comfort them. They were fine. It was completely fine. He just needed to force himself back to sleep for a few more hours. As upsetting as the nightmare was, it was over now. Lea didn't want to spend the rest of the night, or Twilight Town's version of it, staring uselessly at the ceiling until the first hints of daylight returned.

Unfortunately, based on previous experience, he suspected that he either wouldn't fall asleep at all or would just stumble back into a worse nightmare than before. Neither would be a fun option. But Lea would just have to deal with it and try because he couldn't keep operating on next to no sleep.

He was fine. He would be fine. Everything would be fine.

Bright side, Hayner is getting over his issues with Lea. Unfortunately, Lea is having some different issues that he's purposefully ignoring. But he thinks everything will be fine and we should totally believe him, right?