Kingdom Hearts 3 Countdown Challenge Ficlets

by PhoenixDowner

Series of ficlets for the KH3 Countdown Challenge. Focuses mainly on the friendships in the series but will contain some shiptease here and there (especially for Sora/Kairi). Contains spoilers for promotional material up through November 2018. Longer fics will be posted separately; fics from 100-1000 words will be posted here. Fics for Day 28 onwards are under Line The Pieces Up.

4. Chapter 4 - Clock

For Day 5 of the Kingdom Hearts 3 Countdown Challenge - Sea-Salt Trio (Roxas, Axel, and Xion)

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"C'mon, Axel, what're you waiting for?"

Roxas flashed Axel a grin and beckoned towards him, and he followed him up the steps of the Clock Tower, just like old times.

Twilight Town looked as great as ever as they sat down, the soft pinks and golds and blues of the sky casting a warm glow over the sleepy city sprawled out below them.

Axel might've grown up on Radiant Garden, but this? This was home. Roxas was by his side, just like he should be, and so was—

Someone else, someone wearing a black coat with the hood drawn over their face. Axel's heart pounded. Why was—

Roxas handed first Axel a stick of sea-salt ice cream and then the other person. Axel watched as Roxas took a big bite out of it and then flashed him a grin.

"Friends forever. Right, Axel?" He turned to the mysterious figure seated next to him. "Right, Xi—"

Lea's eyes flew open. His room was still dark and at some point in his sleep he must've accidentally kicked off his blanket, because it was crumpled in a pile at the foot of the bed.

He sat up and rubbed his neck. "Another dream, huh." He grabbed the blanket and draped it over his shoulders. The small cuckoo clock in the corner went off four times, its insistent little chirp reminding him it wasn't time to get up yet.

He collapsed back onto the pillows and sighed. Great. Another night of interrupted sleep. When his hand went to his face to rub his eyes, though, his cheek was wet.

He pulled it away and stared at the tears smeared on it. "I'm crying again? But why?"

He thought back over the dream. He'd been on the Clock Tower back in Twilight Town with Roxas… Roxas and…

Someone else, someone very important, why couldn't he remember—

He thought back to what Kairi had told him the last time this had happened.

"Sometimes, the heart remembers what the mind forgets," she'd said. "If you truly love someone… I don't think you could ever forget what they mean to you, even if the memories themselves are lost or scattered. You just have to have faith that someday, somehow, those memories will be returned to you."

Well, at least he still held his friends in his heart. Until he fully remembered, until he could see them again, that would have to be good enough for now.