"Hurry uuup," Lea whined as Pence fiddled with the Old Mansion computer system.

"Lea, let him concentrate," Xion said.

"Mph mm mphph -"

"Roxas, don't talk with your mouth full."

Roxas swallowed and placed his late breakfast on a nearby cabinet. "If you're bored, you can join Riku and Kairi in the Underground."

"Ha! No." If Lea ever had to walk through that stupid maze again, it would be too soon. At least Kairi had remembered to take Hayner with them as a guide.

"...there we go!" Pence tapped a few more buttons. "Connecting to Ansem's Lab in 3...2..."

The main terminal on the computer screen disappeared, replaced with a live image of Dilan and Aeleus. A close-up of their noses, at least.

"Oi! Wot's this then?"

"...?"

Good. Lea could handle talking to Dilan. It wasn't Ienzo or -

"Why aren't you two at your posts? Honestly. I hardly miss my Dusks, but at least they would stay on task."

On-screen, Even pushed Dilan and Aeleus out of the way. Lea had barely enough time to dash behind the cabinet - nearly knocking over Xion, who had somehow beaten him to the same hiding place.

Even's voice continued to grumble. "Now who would be calling this early in the - ah, Sora! I trust this is not a courtesy call."

Lea felt slight guilt as Roxas looked around, having just realized that he was alone in front of the screen.

Even shook his head. "Er, not Sora. Roxas. My apologies."

Roxas shrugged. "Common mistake. We're, er, I'm calling about the Heartless in Twilight Town."

"Ah yes. They have been disposed of?"

"Lea and I finished them off yesterday. Riku and the others are sweeping through the Underground one last time, just to be safe, but yeah. They're gone. Still not sure why they showed up in the first place though."

"That is a problem. Did you experience anything unusual during your search?"

"Uh..."

Roxas glanced behind him. Lea bent one arm at the elbow and waggled it up and down.

"...oh, yeah! There was a guy with one wing. Namine said his name was -"

"Sephiroth! Ah, that explains it!"

"You know about him?"

"Years ago, I spied on him for the Organization. Xemnas had an interest. Unfortunately, Xigbar blew my cover." Even shook his head. "Clumsy loudmouth. Xigbar never could keep a secret."

"...so how does that explain anything? Sephiroth didn't look like he was summoning Heartless."

"He didn't need to. He's so full of darkness, Heartless are drawn to his location naturally. I doubt he even realized it."

Roxas frowned. "Isn't Twilight Town still in danger then, even if the Heartless are gone? Xion drove Sephiroth away -"

"She did what!?"

" - but now we can't find him. What if he jumps from a ceiling and impales somebody?"

"I wouldn't worry. As I recall, Sephiroth is obsessed with tracking another fellow. Squall or somesuch. He has no interest in anybody else." Even gave what would be a reassuring smile on anybody else. "I consider the matter closed. Those children who alerted us are safe now."

"If you say so. Speaking of - Ansem mentioned he has children of his own? Do you know anything about that? He never talks about them."

"Indeed he doesn't. All I know is that they cut ties with him years ago, and he hasn't heard from them since. Unsurprising, given everything that happened to our world, but quite unfortunate. They could be dead, or worse, and our master would never know it."

Lea swore he could hear Dilan and Aeleus whimpering in the background.

"It's hardly unusual," Even continued. "I myself have several children - no, not you, Ienzo - and I never hear from them. Most of them were disappointments. But my youngest, my daughter...I...I denied her a childhood. Did nothing when she fell in with a bad crowd. Wasn't there for her when she needed me most. And yet she's grown into a fine young woman - even has her own keyblade, and is out saving worlds! I couldn't be prouder."

Lea looked down. Xion was sniffling. On the computer, Dilan and Aeleus were sniffling as well.

"...although I'm still uncertain about those boys she likes to spend time with. One of them is much older and clearly a delinquent."

Lea rolled his eyes.

"Why, I was informed he visited Radiant Garden recently, and he didn't even stop by to say hello! Most disappointing. I have feelings now, you know."

Roxas glanced back at a wide-eyed Lea and grinned. "Well, maybe others will bring out the best in him."

"I will admit to the possibility."

"Um, excuse me!" Xion walked out from behind the cabinet.

Even's face softened. "Ah, Xion!"

"You had mentioned before that you were worried about my well-being? I might be willing to, um, send status reports? Like, once a week?"

"That would be most welcome, yes!"

"In the interest of Science, I mean."

"It does my newly-restored heart good to hear you say those words. And I just so happen to have been working on - I'm sorry, I'm going to have to call you back. Dilan! Aeleus! Why are you two bawling?"

"You mean we went through all that trouble because Sephiroth summoned a bunch of Heartless by accident?"

"Look on the bright side," Kairi said. "It wasn't a Xehanort this time. That makes everything better, doesn't it?"

"I guess so." Namine still looked like she wanted to scream, and Riku couldn't blame her. After walking through the Underground for a third time, Riku felt like screaming himself. But that wouldn't be a very Masterly thing to do, so he settled for eating lunch instead.

Pence had been kind enough to make lunch after fixing the computer link. Riku, Kairi, and Hayner had returned from the Underground to find everybody enjoying the meal at a table set up in the Mansion front yard.

Kairi nudged Riku. "And the Underground is officially clean. That's good too. We didn't see any other Heartless this morning, right?"

Riku nodded. He knew better than to talk with his mouth full.

"That's right!" Lea gestured dramatically. "And they'll think twice before coming back! Not with Lea's Angels on the prowl!"

Riku swallowed his food, then glared. "We did see a surprising amount of fire damage."

"Er...we ran into some Scarlet Tangoes yesterday."

"Those little guys burned entire corridors, all by themselves?"

"Terrible, isn't it? No respect for public property. I don't know what the worlds are coming to these days."

Xion was confused for another reason. "What are 'Lea's Angels?' "

"That's right! You guys never got to hear my entrance music!" Lea stood up and placed one foot on his chair, then started singing:

Three intrepid heroes

Led by Lea! Their leader Lea!

Lea's Angels! Mmm mm mmm

Lea's Angels! Mmm mm mmm

Harnessing the power of the keyblade

With stuff like light and friendship! and hearts and ice cream!

Mmm mm mmm

The leader's hair is red -

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Lea, if you call me an 'angel' again, I will harness the power of my keyblade at your face."

"What's an 'angel'?" Xion said. "Is it something bad?"

"Mmm mm mmm!" Namine bopped in place. "I thought it was catchy!"

"Thank you!" Lea preened. "Roxas, you just don't understand art."

"Riiight. And you do? You've been taking lessons from Demyx?"

"Hey!"

Okay. Roxas was in a good mood. Which made what Riku was about to do easier, but only slightly.

Roxas hadn't had the chance to apologize to Riku the day before - Riku had had his arms full with Namine, so to speak - but he had apologized first thing in the morning. Which had left Riku with no time to decide what to do with him. Riku wasn't holding a grudge, and he'd made that clear to Roxas, but he couldn't just let it go either. He was a Master; letting his students decapitate him would set a bad example. After mulling over Roxas's punishment all morning, Riku felt he had a good solution. Maybe. Possibly.

Well, he was about to find out. Riku cleared his throat. "Roxas."

The lunch table went quiet.

"You are hereby suspended from training for one week, starting today. You may attend practice, but you will not participate."

"So you're forcing Roxas to take a break without calling it that? How clever!" Kairi said.

"Neat! I won't be sitting by myself at practice now!" Namine said.

"Man, you're getting a vacation? I'm so jealous!" Lea said.

"You're not going to turn Roxas into a Dusk? You're such a good Master!" Xion said.

"You can still do other stuff, right?" Hayner held up a foam bat that had appeared out of nowhere. "Up for some Struggle?"

So much for judgment. Riku wasn't sure why he was surprised. Maybe it was for the best; Roxas did look embarrassed, but he wasn't having another nervous breakdown.

"Speaking of practice," Riku said. "We're not returning to Destiny Islands until this evening, but there's no reason we can't get some training in today."

"I finally get a chance to fight our vaulted master!" Lea cheered.

"Lea, you're going to help Kairi learn Fire Dash."

"...you did that on purpose."

"Xion, you're with me. One-on-one."

"Yay!"

"Now I'm sure you're doing that on purpose."

Riku had barely practiced with Xion for twenty minutes when Namine walked up. "Namine, is something wrong?"

Namine held up a Struggle bat. "You said you'd start me on basic training. Can we begin today?"

"Sure. Xion, can you -"

In the distance, fire blazed up, following by shouting.

"- help Lea teach Kairi Fire Dash?"

For several seconds, Xion looked like she wanted to say something. Then she abruptly pouted and stormed off.

Riku frowned. "Did I say something wrong?"

"I'm sure she's fine. Xion's still getting used to feelings. That's all."

"You mean like how she declared her love for me yesterday?"

Namine blushed. "I know Xion's adorable, but somebody really needs to explain things to her."

"...oh. It's my responsibility, isn't it? I'm her Master."

"That's not what I -"

"Makes sense. I'm not really qualified, but this is important. Yesterday's love declaration was bad enough; what if Xion starts kissing people?" Riku blanched. "She hasn't kissed anybody, has she? I really need to -"

"No!" Namine all but shouted. "Don't teach Xion about kissing!"

Namine, raising her voice? That was new.

"I - I mean, boys and girls have very different perspectives. If somebody's going to explain romance to Xion, it should be another girl. Maybe Kairi? Xion looks up to her. Besides, you're already really busy with your Master stuff."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Nice of Namine to look out for him like that. "Speaking of training..." Riku gestured to the bat that Namine was holding.

"Oh! Right. I tried playing Struggle with the others, but I didn't do very well. Hayner said I was holding the bat wrong?"

"How were you holding it?"

Namine grabbed the bat at the middle and held it up horizontally. Hoo boy. This was going to take a while.

Kairi gritted her teeth and dashed for the millionth time. Still no fire. "Why isn't this working!?"

"Maybe you need to visualize," Lea said. "Concentrate hard on how much you want to set everything on fire."

Kairi dashed again. Nothing.

"Concentrate hard on how much you want to set me on fire."

Kairi dashed again, further this time. Nothing.

The desire to set things on fire was getting stronger by the second. Kairi dashed again. Nothing.

Kairi dashed again and smacked straight into Xion.

"Aah!"

"I'm so sorry!" Kairi helped Xion up. "I wasn't paying attention. I was focused on, um, burning things."

"It's fine. Riku asked me to help. It seems you have Fire Dash working now, though?"

"She's halfway there," Lea said. "All dash and no fire."

"Maybe the problem is motivation?"

"That's what I said. Kairi, you're too nice for your own good. Sometimes the world needs to burn."

"That's not what I meant. Just running a few feet with no target doesn't have any urgency to it...I know! Kairi, pretend that Lea is kidnapping you again."

Lea smirked but said nothing.

"Um...okay..." Kairi thought for a moment, then dashed.

Nothing.

Long arms suddenly wrapped around Kairi's waist, picked her up, and swung her around.

"Eeek!"

"This is the greatest idea ever," Lea said, grinning from ear to ear. "Ready to try again?"

After another hour of dashing and not setting things on fire, Lea decided Kairi needed a break.

"Lea, put me down!"

Whether she wanted one or not.

Walking to the table in front of the Mansion where Roxas and the others were hanging out, Lea finally took a protesting Kairi off of his shoulder and sat her on a chair. Kairi folder her arms and pouted.

Xion sat down next to Roxas. "You guys done with Struggle?"

Hayner shrugged as he idly tossed one of the foam Struggle balls in his hand. "Turns out Roxas and me aren't on the same level. At least we know who's gonna take the title from Seifer when he gets back."

Lea sat next to Xion. "Is there anywhere in town that sells Struggle equipment? We should take some back with us. Don't want Roxas to get bored this week." Lea scratched his head. "Say, if I attacked Riku, would I get days off too?"

"Lea, why would you even need a break?" Xion said.

"Hey, chasing girls is hard work. And I gotta be in top form when my little buddy is back in action." Lea looked over Xion's head and grinned at Roxas. "We're gonna show Riku our new group attack, right?"

The grin didn't escape Xion's notice. "Group attack? What are you -"

Roxas grinned back. "Right, that. Trinity Move -"

"- Xion Sandwich!"

"Aah!"

Kairi giggled and uncrossed her arms. "We should go shopping later. Buying some Struggle equipment is a good idea."

Olette, all smiles, pointed into the distance. "It looks like Namine is really into it!"

Everybody looked. Namine was holding a Struggle bat. Riku was standing directly behind her, with his arms around hers, guiding her through some basic sword motions.

"They've been like that for an hour now," Olette mock-whispered.

"Aw man," Lea said. "Roxas, you're not going to miss much. Riku has a new favorite." He pouted. "I'm never gonna get my turn. I thought this week was my big chance to get some training in with our legendary Master. What's the deal?"

"Namine's cuter than you," Kairi said.

"Really?"

"I don't understand either," Xion said. "Why is Namine a 'favorite' now?"

"I think it's wonderful!" Olette said. "There's something sweet, and almost kind."

"Riku was terse, and a big dork, and unrefined," Kairi said. "But now he's dear, and so unsure! I wonder why I didn't see it there before."

"She grabbed a bat," Hayner explained, "and then just ran. And now she's in his arms - I think she had a plan?"

"Nah, that can't be. I'll just ignore," Lea said. "But then, she's never looked at him that way before."

"It is new, and a bit alarming," Roxas said. "Who'd have ever thought this could be?"

"Yeah, Riku's no Prince Charming -"

"Lea, I'm gonna tell him you said that."

"- but there's something in him that I simply didn't see. Well, who'd have thought?"

"Who would have known?" Kairi said.

"And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own?" Olette said.

"We'll wait and see a few days more," Roxas said.

"There may be something there that wasn't there before," Pence said.

"...seriously, what are you guys talking about?" Xion said.

"Y'know, perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before," Hayner said.

"What's 'there'?"

Olette nodded. "I'm sure there's something there that wasn't there before!"

"That doesn't help at all!"

Lea chuckled. "I'll tell you when you're older, half-pint."

"That's not fair! Why is everybody smiling? Lea! Lea, I'm older now, so tell me!"

Kairi yawned as she finally landed the Gummi Bus on Destiny Islands. Riku had said he'd pilot the last leg of the trip, but he'd never returned to the cockpit. Maybe he'd fallen asleep? It had been a big day, and the ride home had taken hours.

Or maybe Riku had worn himself out by keeping his arms around Namine all afternoon? Kairi smiled to herself. She could imagine the fit Selphie would throw when she found out.

Kairi was looking forward to tomorrow. Travelling was fun, but it was good to be home again. She even had a plan for a 'local' group activity - namely, lock all of her friends in a room and leave them there until they talked their problems out.

...which wouldn't work, since they had keyblades that could undo any lock. But they'd get the point. Maybe.

During the ride home, Kairi had called Ansem to see if he had any pointers on helping former Nobodies - several of them worked in his lab, after all. Maybe there was some kind of support group? Unfortunately, the call had been interrupted - Dilan and Aeleus had suddenly grabbed Ansem in a bone-crushing hug, with Dilan crying and calling him 'Daddy'. That was...probably fine.

Kairi shut down the Gummi Bus engines and left the cockpit for the passenger area, all the while trying to keep any lingering guilt in check. She wasn't going to lie to herself. Dragging her friends through different worlds may have brought their problems to light, but it hadn't magically fixed them. Roxas, Xion and Namine still had a ways to go. So did Lea and Riku. And so did Kairi herself, if she was being completely honest. Really, their little bonding sessions had done as much harm as good, and Kairi was lucky that nobody was mad at her for -

Kairi stopped in the entrance to the passenger area.

Riku was indeed asleep. So was everybody else. And they were all sitting on the same bench.

Lea was in the middle with his long arms across the back of the bench. On his right, Roxas and Xion were huddled together underneath Lea's coat. On his left was Riku. Namine was between them, tipped over slightly so her head was just barely resting on Riku's arm.

Kairi put her hand over her mouth so she wouldn't squeal, then pulled out her Gummiphone and took several photos.

It had worked. The plan had worked. Barely, and certainly not in the way Kairi had intended, but everybody was together. Except for Sora, but they'd fix that soon enough.

Well! No need to wake anyone up just yet. Kairi very carefully nudged Namine over - nearly onto Riku's lap - then settled down between Namine and Lea before drifting off to sleep.