I am a child

of the moon

being raised by the sun

in a world walked by stars

and a sky drawn with flowers

-Zara Ventris

"Liar."

"I'm not lying! That's honestly what she told me!"

"She said, in her own words, that I would make a good dad?"

"Yes! Why is that so hard to believe?"

"In what context would she ever tell you that?"

"Well, we were talking about maybe having kids someday…" Sora reeled back.

"Why were you talking about that?" Lea scoffed, incredulous.

"We were getting ice cream, and there were these little kids in line in front of us, and we both love kids, so we started discussing who among us would be good parents. She said you would probably be, and Riku too, though you'd be wildly different kinds of parents. It was totally casual."

"Well.. then.." he stammered, "why even bring it up?" The keyblade wielder had gotten himself good and flustered.

"You said," Lea mimicked Sora in a voice pure as a lamb, ""some kids didn't have their parents around, so we looked after them." Then I said "Kairi said you'd make a good dad," and, well, here we are." Lea gestured to the present.

"Why are you getting so worked up, Sora?" Donald teased, his snicker threatening to burst from his beak.

"Yea, I'm a Dad," said Goofy, completely unheard.

"I thought it was a compliment!" Lea said innocuously. "I didn't realize it would derail you like this." In truth, he hadn't expected the reaction to be as explosive as it was. Sora always did so much to brighten his mood.

"Your face is all red," said Goofy, his smile unabashed.

"It is not," Sora replied, vexed. Lea gained control of his features and let the moment die, generously allowing Sora a second to shrug it off. "Well, what about before?" He asked, "The dream I told you about?"

"How am I suppose to know what I was doing in your dreams?" Lea had decided he would rather not know why he only existed around violet imagery in others' memories. This I how I'll live forever.

"Hey, it's just a question. I thought maybe figuring out what happened to Naminé might solve our Roxas conundrum," said Sora.

"How so? You didn't even mention Roxas."

"Maybe they were his memories."

"Don't think so."

"How can you be so sure?" Sora challenged.

"Because I think I would remember setting Roxas on fire by snapping my fingers," Lea replied obstinately, "and Roxas didn't know Naminé while she was with us."

"With 'Us?' "

"Yea, you mentioned a big white room. That would be Castle Oblivion."

"Castle Oblivion?"

"Yes…?" Lea said slowly.

"Where you and I met."

"Correct."

"Which I have no memory of," Sora quizzed. Lea sensed a trap. "Or do I?"

"Gosh, how should I know? Do you remember?" Lea's patience had become thin ice. "We had a few laughs, threw a few punches, they were good times! Did-you-get-them-memorized?" Sora went silent. A group of children in his peripheral vision had stopped whatever it was they were doing and stood gaping at Lea, whispering to one another. Lea folded his arms and waited.

"No," Sora admitted, "I don't remember fighting you at all. Not as me, anyway…" Lea ignored the stabbing pain in his chest and moved away from the topic.

"Well, Roxas was never in Castle Oblivion, so you can put your nightmares to rest." Sora computed his words but had no response to them.

"Maybe Kairi would know," he said. Lea scratched the back of his head. "She said she has dreams of her."

"I could ask her for ya, but I don't know when you'll get an answer. My schedule is kinda up in the air these days," he lied.

"Then there must be a way I could ask her myself. If I could just see Merlin, maybe he could-"

"I'm sorry buddy, but it's not possible." Lea shook his head. He had real sympathy for the kid, but it wasn't as if he'd be able to talk to Kairi anyway. Knowing the truth on the matter would only upset him further- and they wouldn't want that, of course.

"I just don't understand. There are other Princesses just out there in the open, and they are fine. Why does she have to be imprisoned like that?"

"Whoa, imprisoned? Where do you think she is, in a basement somewhere?"

"All I mean is-"

"You're right. You don't understand." Lea unfolded his arms. "Not only does Kairi have a pure heart and a keyblade; she has you-" he took a step closer to Sora, his eyes fixed down on him "…and you don't seem to realize just how much danger that puts both of you in." A wretched image appeared in Lea's head: of Roxas desperately trying to reach the end of a vast, glaring white hall, screaming in the throes of a complete, systematic breakdown in the same way Kairi had.

"Yea, but…"

"How many Organization members have you run into on your travels?" Lea asked. Sora's eyes darted to the side. "I rest my case."

"I could protect her…" Sora mumbled.

"What were you saying before? About fighting Marluxia all night?"

"Alright, alright, I get it. And I didn't fight Marluxia, it was a horrifying, massive, statue-monster."

"Ah yes. I can just imagine you and Kairi against thirteen of those." Sora looked away with a barely concealed eye-roll.

"Sora?" Goofy asked with droopy eyes.

"Well, if she has any information, let me know, okay?" Requested Sora, defeated. Now Lea had done it. The kicked puppy look on an actual puppy's face took away any fun Lea may have been having.

"Sure thing," Lea replied. Who was Sora to act as if Lea was being defensive? Of course, he was lying. He knew full well he wouldn't get any information for Sora. Still, the distrust stung.

"I thought I told you not to use the darkness as means of transport anymore." The master cast a beam of pure light magic over him, alleviating the rapid throbbing feeling in his veins.

"I had no choice. Sora caught me, again." Lea's arm felt as if it had just been put out of fire. He stumbled across the foyer, bracing himself on the stair rail.

"Sora?" Merlin stormed around him. "You saw him in Twilight Town? Why didn't you say so immediately?"

"I did... I- I'm telling you right now." Lea was in no mood. "I also ran into my dear old friend Saix. He says hi."

"Is that a jape?"

"Oh! That's what you sent me for, right? To make sure the Organization and their pesky little friends weren't terrorizing the city, eh? Shoot.." Merlin also apparently wasn't in any mood. "Relax, it was much earlier. Sora is taking care of it."

"Are you sure you weren't followed?"

"I get the feeling they didn't want anything to do with Sora and co." Not yet, anyway, at least from what Lea could glean. "They left well before he got there."

"Did they try to attack you? Did you find out what they were doing there?"

"No and no." It's not as if Saix was ever very forthcoming with his, ahem, "plans." Though he had been tasked to gather information on the Organization, (an ironic job, considering his resume,) Lea wasn't feeling particularly chatty. The old man had berated him for weeks on end- he deserved it, no doubt, but he was tired. Truly living a full human existence again was exhausting, and having any and every emotion, or person, sneak up on him at any given moment, overwhelming. How did people like Sora and Riku deal with it all? The disgruntled wizard hung over him like a storm cloud, extinguishing his flame at every turn, but that was the least of his concerns if Kairi didn't wake soon. "So, we gonna tell our little hero about his little princess, or...?"

"Have you taken leave of your senses? We will do no such thing." The wizard turned and ascended the stairway leading to Kairi's room, Lea followed. Weeks ago he'd sprinted up nearly identical steps at the sound of awful, agonized shrieks when he found Kairi. She had one of Naminé's drawings clutched to her chest and was lying on her side, sobbing.

"Her heart is vulnerable," the wizard continued, "and she is incapable of guarding it herself. Now more than ever we must keep all knowledge of this between us and Master Yen Sid, alone." They entered the room where Kairi lay lifeless and perfectly still, her brow ever so often tensing and releasing. "Oh my dear," Merlin said despairingly, "what have you gotten yourself into?"

"I just thought he might know how to wake her," Lea said with a shrug. Merlin waved a small wooden chair into existence and sat with an exasperated sigh. Lea might've thought the old man was having some sort of aneurism had he not acted this way at every sign of conflict.

"And if he can't? Do you think that boy will not go rushing to her immediately? Then comes the Organization to attack him and steal her heart. And then what happens?"

"The universe collapses into darkness, or something. Yes, yes, I know."

"And how do you think he will react to…well, to this?" He gestured to Kairi.

"I imagine he'd be a bit... annoyed... but, Sora is solid. It was her idea, anyway," something he had reminded Merlin of more than once, "I'm sure he'd get that."

"He might be upset we didn't have a better way of protecting her…" the wizard lost himself in a thought.

"...and?" Lea asked, perplexed. "Are you afraid of a little tantrum?" Merlin shot Lea a look, but he was no longer paying attention to his pupil.

"I'm going to see him," said the wizard, standing, "hopefully I'm not too late. Look after her, alright?"

"Just like always. I got it." Merlin nodded at him before throwing his arm up and vanishing in a cloud of twinkling silver dust. Look after her. The words echoed in his mind. I'm doing my best.

Lea sat in the small wooden chair Merlin had created. Looking after Kairi was no small feat, as it turned out. It had been relatively easy for him to kidnap her before. If she was awake, she could have been a formidable force by now. He couldn't argue with the old man about her state of vulnerability, and he was not about to advertise her to his old "friends."

He hadn't been a very good body guard for her body double, either. He was too resigned with life to concern himself over Naminé's fate. Ansem the "Wise" cared a lot less. If Lea ever thought about her survival, it was when it benefited him. He couldn't bother himself to care for most things, save for Roxas, by extension Sora, and once upon a time Isa, and now Kairi, and-

And...

Tears were in his eyes again, he wiped his face with his sleeve in disgust. He was such a leaky somebody. It was these- ugh- these feelings that he had to navigate again. It had taken him all his life to figure it out before, now he was like a newborn baby with the reasoning of a nobody.

Wake up, damnit.

Deja vu, he thought, he had been here so many times that it felt familiar in relation to the past- to Roxas, particularly. Sometimes he dreamt of Kairi in a black coat asleep in Roxas' bed. Sometimes it was Roxas himself, and there was still nothing to be done. It was almost too real, this memory of willing her to wake. Just thinking about it made him feel weak, inadequate. He had failed both of them, and his dreams never missed a chance to remind him.

"What's wrong?" He asked the dormant red head. "Where did you go?"

The real world yielded no answer. Lea was only looking for some peace and quiet and a little personal indulgence, a single moment to ponder atop the old clocktower with a bar of cyan ice cream. He used to come up with all of his best plans that way. If only Saix hadn't ruined it…

"I wasn't the one who betrayed our ideals," His once most trusted companion had told him, "I've remained loyal to what we once were since the beginning. You were the one who forgot. You betrayed the Organization. You chose the side that brings nothing but imbalance, which is actually rather fitting." It wasn't as if Lea was the one betraying humanity, though looking at a lifeless, guileless Kairi and knowing he could've prevented her current state made him feel otherwise.

"You're crazy," he told her, laughing despite himself, "I think that's why we get along."

He couldn't blame her for impetuousness. This redundant existence topped with constant apprehension would drive anyone to recklessness, and Kairi had already been restless long before she got there. The thrilling, glittering, varying worlds had remained clandestine only to her. Lea was older. He should've known better.

"I don't know what's going to happen if you don't come back. I wish I could be of some help."

What ideals, Isa? We were just a couple of kids in over our heads. And now you're someone else entirely. Soon there will be nothing left- and for what end, exactly? You, Kairi, Roxas and everyone else will be gone if Xehanort has his way, along with all your pretty ideals. And you speak of betrayal.

"Well, that oughta hold the lads off for a while." The wizard announced, having appeared in silence without Lea noticing.

"What did you do?" Lea asked.

"I did what I do with all petulant young people. I gave him activities."

"Why didn't I think of that? I could've picked up a coloring book and some crayons." Merlin gave Lea a rare, halfhearted smile.

"How is she? Any change?"

"Same as always," said Lea. The wizard sighed.

"At least she's safe for now. I sensed none of Xehanort's presence." Lea stood and let the Master sit. "I hope she isn't long in waking. We are far behind schedule."

"How do you know she will wake?"

"I can't be certain on her timing, but she will wake. She is completely intact. She has to."

"Then, what's wrong with her?" Typically by this time Merlin would have sent Lea off on some other task or exercise. He had figured that if the Master had any notion about Kairi, they would have found a way to bring her back by now.

"Naminé," Merlin answered, "she woke up."

"Naminé?" He should've seen that coming. "But, how is that possible?"

"Damned if I know." He waved his wand and absentmindedly formed a second chair for Lea. "I have concurred with Master Yen Sid. It's remarkable; all the evidence suggests that Namine's heart was conscious for a time."

"She does have a heart, then," Lea affirmed, taking a seat next to the old man, "like Roxas did?"

"Yes."

"Couldn't Sora just dive into her heart? Give her a shake?"

"No, it is not the same as it was with him. Sora went into his slumber willingly whilst Roxas' heart remained asleep. In this case, he would only crowd the vessel."

"What's to stop the same thing from happening to Sora?"

"I'm not sure," Merlin admitted, "But what is evident is that Naminé's heart responded to something from the original Twilight Town. And when roused, and without a form to claim for herself, she seized Kairi's body, overriding mind and consciousness with her own. I imagine it must have been far too painful for either of them to bear. She fainted, and.." Lea remembered perfectly- the horror on Merlin's face as he emerged from the teleport, Kairi in his arms within a complete state of comatose.

"Don't you think it's a little dangerous for our champion to be out there with a self-destruct switch that could go off at anytime?"

"This situation is rather unusual. We had thought what Namine has done impossible. Roxas and Naminé's cases are indeed both unique to history, but I know the things that girl has done. She is truly something extraordinary. Even I lost all memory and recording of Sora! Eh.. ahem…" Merlin pressed his fingers to his mustache and shook his head in disbelief. "Me, the man who exists sovereign from time and space! I've never seen anything like it in all the worlds! I can't explain how she woke. I can't explain her, and it is maddening." Merlin folded his forehead beneath his hands.

"So, there's nothing we can do?"

"That remains to be seen." He stood abruptly and crossed to the massive window. The happy, bluejay colored velvet curtains added pleasantness to a formally melancholy room. Never lacking in light, and far more grand than the library, Lea had no desire to sleep here when he had arrived first to the Mansion. Kairi made the entire suffocating house breathe with some magical assistance from Merlin. Any decorative suggestion, and the wizard would comply on whim; replacing uninviting, uncomfortable old furniture, painting over gloomy, enclosing dark walls and turning brass touches into gold. The nest she made for herself still had its blinding white walls, yet everything else was shaded in violets, pinks, or blues that glowed in the luminosity.

"What's this?" The Wizard asked, picking up a drawing from the top of the mauve tower of drawers that stood next to him. "This is what you found her with, yes?" Merlin, in his blind old rage, hardly seemed to register a word of his account at the time, instead cycling from distress to fury in front of Lea over and over again.

"Yea, why?"

"There's magic in this paper."

"What?" Lea stood, crossing to Merlin and looking over his shoulder. "Are you sure?"

"I'm certain. I didn't notice it before, I thought it was Namine herself I sensed, but…" Lea had stared at the drawing for hours the day Kairi fell asleep, though he hadn't picked it up since. The image made him joyless, despite the simple, innocent beauty of it.

"Namine was always drawing," Lea recalled. He had seen Naminé's nose stuck in her sketchbook countless times. We literally gave her crayons.

"Oh, that poor girl." Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Namine. One of those things was not like the other. The lines on this drawing in particular seemed bolder, drawn deeper, and the colors were vibrant, burning passionately into the page. The faceless figures were held hands. "I can feel her despair." He should have known. Of course she had a heart. Of course Roxas had a heart, and Xi-

Saix. He must have had one too.

"Where are the others?" Merlin asked.

"They're still over there, why?"

"Oh, no reason." Naminé's drawing disappeared into the wizard's sleeve. "We have work to do."

"Are ya sure? Seems like you're onto something there."

"No, no. It's likely nothing."

"You wanna go over there and check it out, don't you?"

"No, it could be dangerous. And your training comes first."

"Alright..." Lea said, unconvinced. He followed Merlin out into the hall.

"Oh, whatever," said Merlin, stopping in his tracks. "I won't be able to focus and you won't be able to focus if I'm not able to focus on you focusing."

"Of course. Let's go."