The sunlight streaming in through the windows rudely prodded Lea into awareness. He opened his eyes and then immediately shut them with a groan. His hands grabbed at his stomach. Why did he have to get sick today of all days? It's not like there was a good day to get sick, but if there were, the last day of school until spring break would not be it. Opening his eyes again, he stood slowly. Lea stood still for a moment, trying to push back the urge to vomit. Once the crisis was averted, he shuffled to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he emerged, stomach quite a bit lighter than it had been when he'd entered the room. He very carefully made his way to the kitchen. The thought occurred to him that he should be thankful for the school day. It would give him time to rest and sleep while Roxas and Xion were learning. Maybe then he could be back to normal in time for the half-pints' spring break to start. . . Not that that would happen, of course—but a man can hope, right? he thought. Man, Isa would so kill me if he knew. Good thing he should be in a different world for a few more days.

When Lea reached the kitchen, he bent down to get the kids' lunch boxes from inside a cabinet. The motion alone seemed to turn his stomach into knots (well, knottier than before, anyway) and cause his head to throb. He lifted up his eyes and sighed. When Roxas and Xion came down for breakfast, he needed to be able to hide how sick he was. If they knew about it, they'd spend the whole day worrying about him instead of trying to learn. Heaven knew Xion needed to pay attention in science class and that math was a subject Roxas was struggling to master.

Once the lunches were packed, Lea sank into a chair and reached a hand up to rub at his aching temples. The headache had formed behind his left eye and warred against the churning feeling in his stomach for the title of the Most Uncomfortable Part of Today. He just needed to close his eyes for a second. That way, he could be fully alert when the kids came downstairs. Yeah, that's a good idea. . .

~\*/~

Roxas stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen, his listless gait normal for any morning. As was common for him on school days, his mission was to find something quick and easy for to eat for breakfast. He found the cereal and milk almost with his eyes closed and poured himself a bowl. Three bowls of cereal later, his eyes were beginning to open all the way. Roxas stood up to put away the remains of his breakfast and then froze.

Slumped over in a chair by the counter was Axel, his face hidden in his sleeves. Roxas gasped and ran to him. "Axel! Axel, are you okay?" He knew Axel was usually a light sleeper, and to see him sleeping in the kitchen was concerning.

The only response he received was a soft moan from Axel. Okay, that tears it. Something's got to be wrong with him. Maybe Xion will know! He yelled, "Xion! Xion come quick!" She would already be mostly down the stairs by now.

Xion ran down the remaining steps. "What's wrong, Roxa—What happened to Axel?" she cried, eyes wide with shock.

"I—I don't know. He was like this when I came down for breakfast, I guess. What if something's wrong with him?"

Xion bit her lip. "Did you try waking him up?"

"I tried, but it didn't work! What do we do?"

Roxas's panic had begun to spread to Xion. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Who do we know who could make sure he's okay?" Her voice wavered.

They both paused. There was only one person who knew Axel well enough to help. "Isa!" Xion exclaimed.

Roxas grimaced. Back when they were in the Organization, Isa's Nobody Saïx had been a real jerk to Roxas and even worse to Xion. His sharp words and condescending attitude toward her had hurt her deeply. It was like he went out of his way to shatter any hope or happiness he saw in her. But they needed to call someone, and Isa seemed the most likely candidate. It wasn't like they had any other choice, not if they wanted to help Axel. Besides, since being recompleted, Isa hadn't acted like the cold, cruel Saïx.

Actually, now that all that was behind them, Isa almost looked like he was trying to be kind to Roxas and Xion, weird as that thought was. And they could tell that he truly cared for Axel. The two of them had been best friends, after all, before becoming Nobodies. Right now, if anyone could help Axel, Isa could.

Roxas glanced at Xion and nodded slightly. She whipped out her Gummiphone. Within minutes, Isa's voice could be heard from the small device.

"Xion? Is anything the matter?" He didn't sound . . . annoyed, per se. If anything, he actually sounded worried. Saïx would've been frustrated at them for interrupting his mission, for sure.

Xion took a deep breath. As she began explaining to Isa, Roxas reached out and grabbed her hand. It made him feel comforted when either she or Axel would do that to him, so maybe it would have the same effect on Xion. When she flashed him a quick smile, he was certain it had worked.

"So, can you come?" Xion said. Isa nodded and ended the phone call. Immediately, there appeared a Corridor of Darkness in the kitchen.

~\*/~

Isa made his way to Lea, trying not to worry. He held a hand up to his friend's forehead and noted that, although Lea usually ran a bit hotter than most people, he seemed incredibly hot now.

Lea stirred and began to sit up. He squinted at the light but seemed lucid. "Huh? What's the matter, Isa?" he said. His voice was thick with sleep and somewhat quieter than usual.

Roxas and Xion rushed past Isa to hug Lea. The redhead blinked and instinctively returned their hug. He looked up at Isa and raised a brow as if in question.

Isa shrugged. "They found you unconscious in the kitchen and called me. What happened?"

Lea suddenly seemed incredibly interested in the floor. His hand drifted up to his stomach. "I, uh, was . . ." He froze then, and his face took on an odd green tint. He stood, disentangling himself from the limbs of his small ones and then started to shuffle to the downstairs bathroom.

Naturally, Roxas, Xion, and Isa weren't far behind. They were just fast enough to hear the sound of Axel emptying the contents of his stomach. Roxas and Xion looked confused by the sound. Isa only sighed.

He placed a hand on their shoulders and whispered, "Lea isn't feeling well. You need to hurry so you won't be late to school. I'll make sure he doesn't get any worse."

Immediately, their eyes locked onto his. Roxas shook his head. "We can't! What if something happens to him while we're at school?" He sounded almost angry. Of course, Roxas had every right to be angry, Isa thought sadly, what with how he had treated them back when he was Saïx. Roxas sniffed then, and Isa was reminded just how small the boy was. Roxas's voice broke. "We need to be there for him."

Isa shook his head. "It would be better for you to be at school."

Xion grabbed onto his sleeve. Her eyes were large and impossibly blue. "But," she started to say, "what if he needs us? We can't leave him all alone!"

Isa was shocked at the emotions he could feel her exuding. She looked so heartbroken. Was this why Lea had such trouble telling the kids no? He was hit with another wave of regret. Perhaps she'd felt this way when. . . but no. That was in the past. What's done is done, he reminded himself with a shake of the head. You can never fix the past, but perchance you can atone for it.

Isa leaned down so he was at eye-level with the two. "Lea needs to rest. I promise he will lie down and sleep most of the day. I'll see to it that he has hot soup whenever he's hungry." He raised an eyebrow at them. "And isn't today a half-day of school? It's only 7:45. You'll get off from school at 12, and you can come right back here as soon as you're done. I'm sure he'll feel much better knowing that you're where you need to be."

"He's right, you know." A voice sounded from behind them.

Roxas and Xion gasped and turned around. "Axel!"

Lea leaned against the door frame, arms crossed. His skin paler than normal and his eyes half-lidded with exhaustion, he truly appeared quite ill. Isa made a mental note to force Lea to lie down the moment Roxas and Xion left for school.

"You heard Isa. Now get your backpacks on and head to school. Don't forget your lunchboxes." He eyed their looks of sadness. "But first, come here and give me a hug."

Their eyes lit up. The two of them raced over to him and were enveloped in a warm hug. After that, they sighed and grabbed their stuff for school. Choruses of "Bye, Axel!" "Please feel better when we get back!" and "Isa, take good care of him!" rang out as they left.

As soon as the door shut, Lea sank down to the ground, holding his stomach. "Ugh, being sick is so not cool."

Isa rolled his eyes and slung one of Lea's arms around him. "Why you insist on pretending like you're well is beyond me." He helped Lea settle on the couch and then left for the kitchen. "I'm going to prepare something for breakfast. Would you like anything to eat?"

He was met with silence. "I know you don't want to hear this, but I did promise Roxas and Xion that I'd take care of you. You must keep up your strength." Isa waited for the inevitable retort about how Lea could handle himself "very well, thank you" but stopped when he heard nothing.

He turned around, ready to lecture Lea about how important food was when one was sick only to see Lea curled up on the couch, already sleeping heavily. "Well, I suppose sleep is even more important. . ."

It was a good thing Roxas and Xion had called when they did. The team in Radiant Garden could get along without Isa for a few days more. Once he was sure Lea was feeling well again, he could call Ienzo to see if his presence was still required.

With a glance at Lea, Isa turned to go back into the kitchen. He hummed to himself and got out the ingredients for his soup. When Lea woke up, he'd something to keep up his strength, after all.

~\*/~

"Axel! Axel, we're home!" Roxas and Xion raced inside the living room and shut the door. Their faces fell when they saw that Axel was still asleep on the couch.

With a sigh, Roxas let his backpack drop to the floor and began kicking off his shoes. He sat on the couch's arm.

Xion arranged her backpack and shoes neatly by the door before joining him. "I guess it makes sense that he's still sleeping," she said softly, "He looked pretty tired this morning."

Roxas shrugged. "But, like, scary tired. I know he said he could sleep for a day when we had our vacation day, but he looked like he hadn't slept in a week! And did you see how pale he was?"

A deep, throaty chuckle sounded seemingly from nowhere. The two almost fell off the couch in surprise. "What? I looked that bad?"

"Axel!" Roxas and Xion scooted down so that they were sitting on either side of him.

Xion gave him a hug. "How are you feeling?"

He shrugged, "Better than before. I'll live."

Roxas leaned up against Axel's arm. Xion recognized his expression as one that appeared when Roxas was too shy to admit to being worried about something. He'll change the subject soon, I know it.

Sure enough, Roxas exclaimed, "We learned cool things about lobsters today! Did you know that their blood is blue?"

Axel blinked, confused by the sudden change in topic. "Well, how 'bout that?"

Xion grinned. "And they can grow a new leg if one of theirs breaks off!"

"And they can be white or blue!"

~\*/~

Lea was so lost. How in the worlds had the conversation turned to lobsters? After a moment of thinking about it and still not figuring it out (all because of how his traitorous brain decided that if he was sick, he needed a foggy brain to go along with it, he was certain), he shrugged. That didn't matter.

He wrapped an arm around Roxas and Xion. The two melted into his hug. He had nothing to worry about. He was with his small ones, and nothing else mattered. Life would go on whether or not he was sick.

Lea frowned. Something in his brain was niggling, indicating that something was wrong . . . or that there was something he hadn't noticed. He glanced over his kids, ensured that they were all right and then quirked a grin. He knew exactly what the feeling was, what it could only be.

"You can sit down with us, you know," he said.

He heard a huff, and then a quiet "Well, if I did that, you might pass along your sickness to me. Besides, there wouldn't be quite so much room on the couch."

"Isa, get in here before I sic one of them on you," he drawled. "I know you can't handle Xion's puppy dog eyes."

A moment of silence passed before Isa joined them. Head lifted high, he pegged Lea with a look that communicated that Isa was here because he wanted to be and certainly not because he had any difficulty saying no to his ill best friend.

Lea snickered. Roxas and Xion, who had tensed upon seeing Isa enter the room, were beginning to relax once more. Lea grinned. Now he could enjoy his day. With his two small ones snuggled against him and with Isa sitting (however stiffly—He'd grow less stiff once the kids got to know him better) on the couch with them, there was nothing more Lea could ask for. Spring Break had begun, and his heart was full.


Hey, there!

I wanted to work on another chapter of One Sneeze, but then this plot bunny hopped into my head, and I couldn't get rid of it. I figured the only way to truly get rid of it was to write it, so I could enjoy the fluff my mind apparently needed to write. :3

But, like, wow! I didn't expect it to be longer than 1,000 words. O.O

Anyway, enjoy! I'll try to have another chapter for One Sneeze soon!

Soli Deo gloria! :D