Forgiveness

I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It is the property of Square Enix and the Walt Disney Studios. This is a creative work that I do not profit off of in any way.

Salutations my dear readers! Please enjoy this latest vignette!

As Keybearers, Axel and Roxas and Xion had a responsibility to the worlds at large. They were to light the darkness, and make others happy. And fight against any threat—Heartless or Nobody. Part of this meant maintaining regular training exercises, and this meant traveling to the tiny world called the Land of Departure, where Keyblade Master Aqua and her two closest friends, Terra and Ventus lived.

"I feel…funny," Xion said, one evening after training. "It's hard to describe."

"Try us," Axel said, wiping his face with a towel. Keyblade training was exhausting. But he did have a nice warm towel, so it balanced out. "Something Master Aqua say confusing you?"

"It's not Master Aqua. It's Terra," Xion said. "I think he feels guilty."

"About what?" Roxas asked. "He's never done anything bad. And Aqua's a tougher teacher than he is."

"I think…the way he looks at us sometimes…it's almost like he's afraid," Xion paused. "Do you think he remembers stuff from the Organization? Stuff from being Xemnas?"

Oh…right. Sometimes, Axel forgot that the connection Terra had to their old boss, Xemnas. Which was weird, given that Xemnas had been Terra's body…it was complicated and way icky to think about.

"Huh," Axel said. "I don't think so. Xehanort had taken over Terra's body, completely. And when all that stuff first started at Radiant Garden, he didn't have his memories. That's what Ienzo told me anyway."

"I remember bits and pieces from being inside Sora's heart though," Roxas said. "When you think about it, how different is that compared to what happened to Terra?"

A fair point, but as Axel recalled, Terra's heart had actually been stuck inside that weird Guardian…thing that Ansem used. Riku had used it too, come to think of it.

"I want to talk to him," Xion said. "I want to let him know he's forgiven. I don't like that he doesn't feel comfortable around us."

Forgiveness…now there was a concept. As a little kid, Axel's parents and teachers had always said that he had to forgive the other kids who broke his toys by playing too rough with them. He'd had a classmate, Petro, who held a grudge against him for two years when Axel had blabbed the punchline to a joke Petro had been telling. But that stuff was small potatoes compared to a lot of stuff that'd happened in the last few years.

Every person Axel had killed serving Xemnas…only Ienzo and Even were alive now, due to how Nobodies could be re-completed. But most of them he couldn't apologize to now. No matter how badly he wanted to. He'd never be able to be forgiven for most of his crimes.

"Axel…are you alright?" Xion asked. "Should we call Isa? You want to talk to him?"

Ah…Isa. Axel's best friend from childhood. Who Axel had followed into the Ansem the Wise's castle—Ansem had already been banished, but they hadn't realized that at the time. They both lost their hearts to Xemnas…they were forced into the Organization. Isa had been branded with the name Saix. And Saix had been frightening cruel and calculating. Absolutely callous, and he had been horrific towards Roxas and Xion that last year.

There was a lot of other stuff to it—Saix had been jealous of Roxas and Xion and their budding friendship with Axel. And when Saix had been re-completed and become Isa again, he had immediately began organizing things to allow Roxas and Xion to return, and live in Replica bodies.

He was still a bit of a stick in the mud and they didn't see each other much these days since Isa didn't have a Keyblade and politely declined Terra and Aqua when they offered to perform an inheritance ceremony.

Isa had been afraid, though. Afraid that Roxas and Xion would still hold, in his words, "completely justified, well-earned grudges of resentment," against him. Which proved that as much as Isa had lorded their grades over him as kids, he was dopey when it came to half-pints. Roxas and Xion had forgiven him everything.

Xehanort was a sick bastard, no matter how you sliced it. He wasn't driven by revenge, which explained Ansem the Wise's actions. He wasn't driven by a need to help his friend, like Riku had been. And Terra had been a pawn with no say in what had happened to him—most of which had been done by Xehanort.

"It might still be weird for Terra," Roxas said. "Riku and I…mostly understand each other now, but it's still kind of weird."

"Sometimes people just don't mesh well," Axel agreed. "But…yeah, sometimes the best thing you can do is forgive someone. Hatred and grudges…they burn you up inside."

Was there a part of him that refused to forgive Xehanort? Axel wasn't sure. The bastard was dead now, so what was there to hate? And though he wouldn't admit it to Master Aqua or Terra, how many of the good things in Axel's life were because of Xehanort's actions? Roxas and Xion. Sora and Kairi and Naminé. Everything he had now…he wouldn't have it if it weren't for Xehanort.

Maybe, maybe, he could be forgive him for that. But he'd still keep a drawing of the old goat on a dartboard.

Here we go, my readers! Hope you enjoyed!

Forgiveness is one of the most sacred of all virtues, and thus, I felt it appropriate to dedicate a vignette to it.

Thank you for reading my dear, dear readers. Leave a comment if you're so inclined! I appreciate each and every one of you!