Kairi closed her eyes as she sucked in a deep breath, trying to comprehend what she was about to do…
She was right in front of Merlins house. She was here to train with the keyblade. She wanted this! She wanted to be strong enough so Sora and Riku wouldn't have to always look out for her. She wanted them to be able to rely on her not having to protect her. She was looking forward to be able to train and she wanted to train hard. That wasn't the issue.
No… behind this door. Was a person whom was going to be her training partner, a person Kairi already knew very well.
It was hard to forget, his long flaming red hair, those bright green eyes, that constant smirk on his face and his laid back attitude. Yet, in spite of how easy going he had seemed, that attitude had never reached his eyes which had always looked hollow and without any emotion. Something Kairi had learned to recognize in all the nobodies.
They always acted like regular people, but look at their eyes and it was clear to see. They only acted the way they thought was right, not what felt right… Those deep feelings that usually guided people were denied the nobodies.
Kairi remembered Axels grin that wasn't happy but cold, he would actually laugh and make all the correct motions for laughs yet clearly it was not from the heart.
She remembered how he had grabbed her and pulled her into a dark hole, then kept her prisoner. It still made her shake.
How-ever… It wasn't Axel in there, it was Lea. Axel had just been Lea's nobodie.
And if Kairi was to be honest with herself… She felt for the nobodies. They all looked like they had been in such pain.
Lea… What was he like? Was he anything like Axel at all? Did he even look alike? Would Kairi be able to recognize him? Or would she be unable to look past what had happened?
He had saved Sora, that is what Mickey and Riku had told her… So she owed him that at least. She owed him a chance!
He wasn't even Axel, he was Lea! Another person.
Kairi took in another deep breath then finally walked over and opened the door, then she halted. Right there, on the other side of the door, he was right there! Standing in the middle of the room, holding a keyblade!
His blazing green eyes were in deep concentration as he swung his keyblade and released a flame at the floating tables. And then another. "Hah, Hah. HIYA!" he shouted and Kairi gasped memories floating back to her, a man looking exactly the same fighting heartless with flames just like this. He swung his key, his black coat, the same as always, following his movements. "Is that all you got old man? Come on! Give me a challenge!" he asked in a voice filled with sass, exactly the way Kairi remembered him to be. And he continued, looking like he enjoyed himself as he send flame after flame after the target, smirking as he turned around. "Hah, hah.. HAH!" he turned to Kairi and then he froze, his eyes widening in shock as they landed on Kairis face and Kairi equally wide-eyed looking back at him.
In an instance, his smirk had been wiped off, his easy going sass had vanished, and he just stood there in seemingly utter shock.
For some time they just stood like that face to face, completely frozen wide eyed starring at each other before finally an old wizard stepped between them.
"Ah Kairi! You finally came, how absolutely wonderful!" Merlin beamed. "I hope you had a nice travel."
"Oh… Yes. It was fine." Kairi nodded.
"Lea my boy, would you mind putting on a kettle?" Merlin asked the man in the middle of the room. "Kairi had a long journey, we should offer her a cup of tea."
"Oh.. yeah. Sure." The bright red haired man blinked then finally tore his eyes away as he turned around and darted towards the stove merely letting go of his keyblade so it vanished into thin air. His former boasting self completely absent.
Kairis eyes were festooned on his back as the guy was buzzing around at the stove, Merlin how-ever just flicked a wand to make the tea table arrange itself at the place Lea had beforehand trained.
"Wont you sit down Kairi?" Merlin asked. "It must have been an exhausting journey."
"Ah, yeah. Sure." Kairi nodded finally removing her eyes carefully sitting down at the tea table.
"Did you have lunch?" Merlin asked.
"Yeah it's okay, I got a sandwich." Kairi informed. "Thank you Merlin." she kindly added.
"Well then, then we don't want to spoil dinner." Merlin chuckled. "We are going to have chicken and gravy. Between you and me, I have been looking forward to it all day." he blinked. "All though, it is not everyday a new person joins us. LEA!" he called. "Can you put some cookies on the tray?" he asked and the young man nearly stumbled in shock over being called out.
Kairi as well looked over her shoulder but only saw the back of the red head.
He stood still, being quite for a second then nodded. "Sure." as he headed for the cupboard.
"Strange." Merlin blinked. "That young man is usually not so timid. It is not like him at all. I didn't know you were so nervous about meeting new people Lea." he spoke.
Kairi lowered her head as she blushed deeply and the young man kept buzzing around.
"My this truly is a special time." Merlin continued addressing Kairi. "New keyblade wielders appearing, it's so exciting." he smiled.
Kairi looked at the old wizard. "There used to be a lot of keyblade wielders right?" she asked.
"Yes, it used to be an order." Merlin nodded. "Almost like an order of knights! Protecting the connection between different worlds!" he smiled as Lea was arranging the tea tray complete with tea pot and cookies and finally he turned around holding the tray in his hands.
Kairi looked up finally seeing the young mans face, his green eyes looking nervous… Genuinely nervous not just an imitation of it and Kairi blinked. That was different.
Slowly Lea moved towards them holding the tray. "Erhm." he hesitated. "Tea?" he asked.
"Yes please." Kairi replied and Lea picked up the tea pot pouring a cup for Kairi then for Merlin before he put down the tray and sat down in the only unoccupied chair left, his hands in his lap as he looked away.
"Thank you Lea." Merlin smiled. "Kairi, this is Lea, he is going to be your partner while you practise. And Lea, this is Kairi." he presented her. "I told you about her."
"Yeah." Lea nodded still not looking at Kairi.
Kairi swallowed. "So erh… Lea." she looked at him. "It's erh… Nice to meet you." she commented.
"Oh, yes. Sure. Nice to meet you to Kairi." Lea nodded.
Merlin smiled. "This is most fortunate circumstances indeed!" he beamed.
"It is?" Lea asked sounding honestly confused.
"Yes!" Merlin stated. "Lea, you are a skilled fighter. Very much so, there is barely anything I can teach you when it comes to combat. How-ever being a keyblade wielder means more than being good at fighting! It means having a strong heart!" he stated. "Your heart is what is lacking, you need to let it grow! Only then can you become a keyblade master!" he stated.
Lea blinked.
"And Kairi, she is one of the true princess's of heart!" Merlin beamed. "A heart doesn't get any stronger than that. Her fighting how-ever, needs training. That is her weakness so you see?" he asked. "I want you to to learn from each other! Lea, I want you to help Kairi learn how to fight and Kairi, I want you to help Lea train his heart! Use each other! Learn from each other, this is a a glorious opportunity. Do not let it go to waste!"
Stunned the two looked at each other finally catching each others eyes.
"Well, I will leave you two to get acquainted." Merlin stated as she stood up holding his own tea cup and walked out the door to his left into his study, then the door closed leaving the two looking at each other.
Painfully aware they were now the only two in the room… Together… All alone… No one else.
"Erhm." Lea swallowed. "It's erh. Ahem." he cleared his throat. "Nice to see you again." he averted his eyes.
Kairi looked at him. "You're Lea right?" she asked. "Not Axel."
"Yeah." Lea nodded. "Though if you want, you can just keep calling me Axel." he glanced back. "Sora and the rest does, it's just easier that way I guess."
Kairi frowned. "You remember being Axel?" she asked.
"Yeah." Lea nodded. "I remember. Everything." he glanced down. "I erh… I'm sorry… For what I did and erh." he halted. "I don't know." he admitted.
"Well." Kairi glanced down. "From what I heard, you saved Sora's life." she commented. "So, I owe you that at least."
Lea glanced up looking at Kairi with his piercing green eyes. Ones again, they seemed genuine, his being seemed full. The emotions from him, seemed confused, complex… real. A whole person not just a shell.
Kairi smiled lightly making Axel blink confused. "I'm looking forward to work with you. Lea." she smiled.
Lea blinked. "Seriously?" he asked.
Kairi nodded. "I think I could learn a lot from you. Will you teach me?"
"Sure." Lea nodded. Then he frowned. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" he asked. "I mean, I did kind of… you know. Kidnap you and stuff."
"Well." Kairi put down her tea cup. "Let me put it like this, I can't trust you. At least not yet." she stated. "But, I want to give you a chance. And I hope I can learn to trust you. I think you deserve that chance." she stated. "Also, you are Lea. Not Axel, you said so yourself. So that is what I will call you."
"Well." Lea scratched his cheek. "I appreciate that, really I do. Axel though, is still part of me. You know?" he asked. "He is... right in here." he held a hand over his chest.
Kairi looked at the place he held his hand.
"All his experiences, all his pain... And yes, he had emotions too. Those are now mine." He informed as he looked up and Kairi was stunned just how sad his eyes looked.
Astounded Kairi looked at him. "I see." she breathed. "That's... Well. We are alike like that I suppose. Naminee is with me now. I don't have her memories though."
"Yeah I figured as much." Lea admitted.
"You protected her as well." Nami commented in a slight smile. "No one told me, I just know." she commented as she glanced up. "Merlin said we should help each other right? I help you and you help me, that seems fair right?"
Lea nodded.
Kairi smiled. "I hope you don't mind me asking." she then stated. "But… What made you want to become a keyblade master?" she asked.
Lea smiled amused as he glanced away then looked back. "Well." he stated. "There's someone I want to protect." he admitted. "And someone I want to safe. The way I am now, I wont be able to do either. I have to become stronger, somehow. This seems ideal."
"You already seem plenty strong to me." Kairi pointed out.
"It's not enough." Lea shook his head. "Back when I tried to protect those close to me… I was useless. It tried, but it wasn't enough." then he looked up. "So, what makes you want to be a keyblade master?" he asked.
"Easy." Kairi replied. "Sora and Riku… they risked so much for me. They are always the ones whom has to protect me and safe me. No more." she shook her head. "I don't want to drag them down any more! I want to be someone they can rely on, I want to help them not keep them down! I want them to know they can rely on me!"
Lea smiled amused. "I see." he nodded. "That's pretty cool Kairi." he commented, his former confidence finally starting to return to him.
Kairi looked at him. "You're still wearing your organization coat." she pointed out.
"Yeah, well you see." Lea hesitated. "There are a lot of bad guys looking for me, and this coat. It actually shields me from darkness. It's the only thing shielding me from them… and from the darkness in myself. It is what prevented organization members from being consumed in spite of being nobodies. I hate to admit it, but I still need it or I could loose my heart again. I don't want that to happen. Loosing myself ones was bad enough, not again."
"Is that what it feels like?" Kairi asked. "Being a nobody, like you lost yourself?"
Lea nodded. "It's like… You remember who you were, you remember what you are supposed to feel… But you can't feel, not at all. There is just… this big gaping hole inside of you and it's empty. Organization members, we were… Willing to do nearly anything just to be able to feel. Just a little bit."
Kairi looked at him, urging Lea to go on.
"I." Lea swallowed. "I had a friend. For some reason… He made me feel, I can't explain why. But he made me feel, something! And I was desperate, to be able to feel again, to just… Figure it out you know."
"And what now when you have your heart back?" Kairi asked. "You still need to feel?"
"Heh, now I got way to many feelings." Lea smirked amused. "Lots of regrets." he sighed deeply. "Well, no use being stuck in the past is there?" he asked.
Kairi looked curiously at him. "I don't know, maybe."
"Okay enough now." Lea stood up. "You don't want to hear of little old me! What about you? You want me to teach you some tricks? I can teach you a trick or two!" he offered. "With my help, you wont be a princess in distress no more! If you can handle it that is."
Kairi smiled amused. "Well, you better put me to the test then." she stated as she stood up. "I can handle it." she stated.
"You sure princess?" Lea asked.
"Oh I'm positive. Try me." Kairi challenged and Axel grinned.
Unknown to both of them, an old wizard had followed the whole conversation from behind the door, and Merlin couldn't help but smile.
It was to perfect! Already Kairi by her mere presence was starting to work on Lea heart, and now Lea was instructing her in fighting stances!
This really was better than perfect! If these two used each other right, they would be able to do so much!
Did they even know? The potential they had if they worked together?