"Hey Kairi! Check this out!" Lea cheered as he threw his keyblade like it was a projectile, having it cut straight into a chair splitting it in two, then he flicked his wrist and the keyblade vanished from the chair and reappeared in his hand. "Awesome!" he grinned.

Astounded Kairi looked at him… It wasn't fair. Lea was already so much better than her at this, he had complete control over his element, fire. And he seemed to have so much fun figuring out all the possibilities for a keyblade. To him it almost seemed like a game while Kairi struggled to even keep up.

"Cool huh?" Lea asked excited turning to her with excited green eyes.

"Yeah." Kairi nodded. "That's really cool."

Lea blinked. "You all right?" he asked.

"Yeah." Kairi assured offering him a light smile. "I'm fine."

"Then what is up with the sad face?" Lea asked. "Man, you are bumming me out now."

"Sorry." Kairi blushed.

"And now you're making me feel guilty to." Lea sighed deeply then stood up.

"Sorry." Kairi repeated.

"Geesh." Lea sighed. "It was not meant like that." he muttered. "Just… erh… erhm." ones again he was lost for words.

Lea and Kairi had trained for a few days together now, they seemed to do mostly well accepting each others company and Lea true personality had soon come through again, like just now when he had figured a new trick and wanted to show it.

Kairi did appreciate his enthusiasm, Axel had been very nice and very helpful. There was absolutely nothing wrong with his company or behavior. Still, it was quite an adjustment to make.

Just then a yell sounded outside, and another. "HEARTLESS!"

Lea eyes widened. "Oh shit."

Kairi blinked. "Heartless here?" she asked.

"It happens from time to time, they slip through." Lea commented. "No worries, there is the radiant garden protective squat and well, with me on their side. This is soon over." he blinked. "Excuse me Kairi, see ya in a bit!" he grinned and ran out.

"Hey wait! Lea!" Kairi shouted as she ran a few steps towards him then halted. She swallowed, just as an old wizard stepped beside her.

"Lea will be fine." Merlin assured.

"I know." Kairi nodded. "He is so strong… Me though, I would be in the way."

Merlin glanced at her. "Let us go outside and observe." he suggested and Kairi looked up.

"This is yet another learning opportunity, it would be a shame to waste it." Merlin stated as he took Kairi by the shoulder and together they stepped out.

Quickly Merlin guided Kairi up some stairs to a roof top and looked down to where a red haired man in a black hood stood. Axel.

Kairies eyes widened as she saw heartless coming at him from all sides. "LEA!" she shouted.

"It's going to be fine Kairi." Merlin assured. "We have his back, if he is in over his head. You can step in."

Kairi looked up and Merlin offered her a smile then she looked down at the red haired young man with all the heartless moving in on him.

Kairi looked at her training partner and didn't even know if she should be surprised when she saw that he was smirking then he reached out a hand and his keyblade appeared. "You ready for this?" he asked. "LETS DANCE!" and suddenly a wall of flames erupted burning several heartless at ones, obscuring Lea in their light only for him to appear again as he jumped through the flames. "WOHOOO!" he shouted sounding like he had actual fun as he jumped from one heartless to another, smashing and shooting fire then made a twist in the air and fell down again.

Kairi gaped, it was… incredible! Leas agility and speed made him look incredible elegant yet he was deadly, easily he swapped between physical attacks and magic reaction on instinct as a heartless came from a new direction. Him saying they should dance seemed so appropriate, it actually nearly looked like he was dancing!

This was so different from the way Sora and Riku had been fighting, those two now seemed so clunky in comparison with their big brutal swing that lacked any of the finesse Axel showcased here.

"Oh yeah! Burn baby burn!" Lea grinned as he made a kick thrusting another heartless away and hit the heartless that thought that could get the drop on him, then he stood up straight and grinned pointing his keyblade at the one remaining heartless firing a precise burst of fire and they were all gone.

Kairi gaped by the sight, then Lea blinked and looked up, then he brightened up as he waved up at her. "Cool huh?" he asked from below.

Kairi gasped. "That was…" she breathed then her heart sank, how was she ever going to match that.

Before she knew it Lea came their way, simply grabbing the wall and both climbed and jumped up before he landed next to Kairi with a grin on his face. "You saw all of that? I sure showed them didn't I?"

"Yeah." Kairi nodded. "You did." she glanced away.

Lea blinked. "Hey now what's with the face?" he asked then he turned to Merlin. "Did I do something wrong?" then he groaned. "Oh no I did something wrong didn't I?" he asked.

"No." Merlin did. "Your fighting skills obviously lack nothing at all." he stated. "How-ever, being a key wielder means more than just fighting heartless and destroying things. If this is your only focus you will never be able to call yourself a keyblade master."

"Ah." Lea realized. "That erh… erhmm." he swallowed.

"Kairi, you may not realize it." Merlin then said kindly. "But fighting is only half of it, less than half even. That you don't match Leas skill level in a fight doesn't count as much as you think."

"But." Kairi looked up. "If I don't get stronger i'll just be a burden to Sora and Riku!"

Finally Lea seemed to realize what all of this was about and he smiled. "Heh that's why you're here isn't it?" he asked. "So no sweat, both Merlin and I are here to help you, you know?" he asked. "And… I hope I can learn a thing or two as well." he glanced down. "I am really good at destroying stuff but also… That's all I know. Heh, kind of pathetic really." he glanced away.

Kairi glanced at him then she smiled. "That's definitely not true!" she stated. "You're also really good at saving people and keeping the city safe!" she stated. "So don't be to hard on yourself, all right?" she asked giving Lea a slight elbow in the side.

"Auw, heh." Lea grinned. "You to then."

Just then Kairis eyes widened as she saw a dark shadow behindLeas xels back and she shouted. "WATCH OUT!" as her own keyblade appeared and she launched, wide-eyed Lea jumped aside just as Kairi pierced the Heartless that had been hiding behind him.

Wide-eyed Lea looked behind himself. "Wow." he commented. "I must be slipping. Thanks Kairi." he looked back.

Merlin chuckled. "A partner you can trust is worth more than the greatest weapon." he stated.

"Having a partner can be life saving." Lea agreed and Kairi looked at him.

"Heh." Lea blushed. "In the organization, we went on these reckon missions. And we were always ordered to go in pairs simply because… Going alone was way to dangerous. Still, we didn't' trust each other. How could we?" he asked. "Something tells me… We would have been so much more powerful if we actually did trust each other. I mean, two partners not trusting each other but working for the same goal is still better than going solo. Imagine what two partners trusting each other could do?"

Kairi nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense." she had to admit. "So Lea, do you trust me?" she asked.

Lea looked at her. "Well… yeah." he admitted. "You think you can trust me?"

"Not yet." Kairi shook her head. "But… I think we are getting there. I want to learn how to trust you!" she beamed. "So lets keep this up!"

Lea smiled then he nodded. "Sure."