One thing was for sure, training every single day like this Kairi had never been sleeping better in her life!
She had gotten a little room to call her own in Merlins house, right next to Leas room. Every night Kairi had managed to fall a sleep immediately and sleep through the entire night until morning, resting her sore body after a full days training.
This night though, Kairi woke up by the sound of grunts. Kairi blinked as she sat up in her bed, hearing the hiss's.
What was that? Then Kairi realised, it came from the room next to hers. Leas room.
Kairi hesitated for a bit, but finally decided to get up and go check. Just to make sure.
Kairi stood in front of Leas door then gently knocked on it. "Hallo." she asked. "Lea, I just heard noises. Are you all right?"
There were only more noises and finally Kairi pushed open the door only to witness the red head tossing and turning in his sleep as he hissed. "No… No don't."
"Lea." Kairi breathed.
"Isa! Where are you. I can't see, it's to dark." Lea hissed. "Roxas… Please don't… " he cried.
Kairi walked closer reaching out a hand. "Lea." she breathed. "Lea you're dreaming."
"No, we shouldn't go there. It's bad.. Don't." Lea hissed and Kairi at last grabbed his shoulder only for Lea eyes to fly up as he sat up straight, grabbed Kairis throat with one hand and made his keyblade appear in the other.
"ARGH!" Kairi screamed now being held tight by the throat and having a keyblade pointed at her.
Wide-eyed Lea looked at Kairi and then quickly let go as his keyblade vanished. "Arh! I'm sorry."
Kairi swallowed as she reached up holding her throat. "That.. That's okay. I'm sorry I startled you."
"You startled me? Isn't that the other way around?" Lea asked.
Kairi glanced down then up again. "Did you have a nightmare?" she asked.
"Huh?" Lea asked.
"You were… shouting in your sleep." Kairi admitted. "And you were tossing and turning… Are you okay?" she asked.
Lea sighed deeply as he laid back. "My past isn't exactly pleasant." he then admitted. "You think your friend Riku had his brush with darkness? That's nothing… trust me on that one."
"Do you… want to talk about it?" Kairi asked.
"Njah." Lea stated. "It's not like the past can be changed, it is what it is. Now I just want to help protect Roxas… I'm sorry Sora."
Kairi looked at Lea then smiled. "All right, get up!" she stated grabbing his arm.
"Wow! Hey now! What's this about!?" Lea asked.
"You're giving me lessons in combat right?" Kairi asked. "Time for me to give a heart lesson, get up!" she asked.
Lea blinked then sat up. "All right, i'll bite." he said. "Sooo… We're going where?" he asked.
Kairi though just smiled. "You'll see." she stated walking some steps away. "Come on."
Soon after that both stepped outside into the city of radian garden, Kairi closed her eyes as she breathed in deeply. "Ah, this is the stuff."
"Well, the air is nice I suppose." Lea agreed.
"Look, the sky is clear. You can see all the stars." Kairi looked up and Axel looked up as well glancing at the carpet of glittering stars.
"Each of those stars is an entirely different world." Kairi continued. "The island I grew up on. It's one of those." she reached up a hand. "And so many other places. And they are all connected. Each and everyone of them. Just look."
Lea looked up trying to take it all in. "Makes you feel kind of small huh?" he commented.
"It makes you feel small?" Kairi asked. "That's funny, it makes me feel big."
Lea blinked then turned to Kairi whom was still looking up at the stars. "Just think, everything is connected. We are connected to it too, to all the worlds out there and all the people in it. What we do can affect entire worlds. Isn't that amazing?"
"Putting it like that, that sounds scary as shit." Lea plainly stated and Kairi chuckled. "What you don't find that scary?" Lea asked. "Do the wrong thing and send an entire world to its doom!"
"That seems very unlikely." Kairi pointed out.
"It happened before!" Lea replied and Kairi looked at him.
"Oh?" Kairi asked. "Something you know something about Lea?"
"Well… Erhm. That is.. erh." Lea looked away.
Kairi smiled amused then kept walking.
"Hey wait up." Lea ran after her. "Where are we going anyway?"
"You'll see." Kairi chuckled as she kept walking and Axel walked after her, looking rather questioning as they left town and finally walked up on a greasy hill top that just had one bench. And Kairi sat down on the grass.
Baffled Lea looked at her as Kairi looked up at him with a innocent smile on her face, then padded the spot next to her inviting him to sit down.
Lea hesitated, but then finally did as he was told and looked forward and blinked. "Wow. That is… Quite the view." he had to admit.
"You like it?" Kairi asked. "This used to be my secret spot! When I was really small, before I came to the island where Sora was." she stated. "The sun rises from there, it's gorgeous." she pointed forward. "Now don't tell anyone about this, this is our secret." she blinked.
"Oh, you grew up here?" Lea asked.
"When I was very little." Kairi nodded.
"Wow." Lea blinked. "I grew up here too." he admitted.
"You did?" Kairi asked.
"Yeah." Lea nodded. "heh, maybe we ran into each other back then. And we just didn't know it."
"Maybe." Kairi smiled. "We are connected after all."
"Oh, yeah. Everything is connected and stuff." Lea commented.
"Well, we are more directly connected. We became connected a while back." Kairi pointed out. "You remember?"
"Erh." Lea halted.
"How did we become connected?" Kairi asked.
"I… Kidnapped you?" Lea asked.
"Why did you kidnap me?" Kairi asked.
"To lure out Sora." Lea admitted.
"And you wanted to lure out Sora because?" Kairi continued.
"I erh… I wanted to. To talk to.. To see Roxas." Lea admitted. "Soras nobodie."
"So you see. Sora and Roxas were one. You were Roxas friend and I were Sora's friend, and thusly. We were connected." Kairi held a hand over her heart. "And maybe, we were even connected before that. Before I fell down on that island and before you became a nobody."
"Maybe." Lea scratched his cheek. "That would be nice… Before all this mess started:" he sighed deeply.
Kairi looked at him.
Lea swallowed. "When I was a kid… Isa was my best friend. We did everything together. We promised to always be together. To leave Radiant Garden together and become important. Do a lot of stuff. We were offered a chance, to travel to other worlds… We didn't even know what we had said yes to before we stood in that lab with Ansem as he did his experiment… Except, that wasn't Ansem. That was Xehanort." he looked up. "Even then, he had this look in his eyes. I remember... It scared me. But I had promised Isa to stick it through with him. So I stayed. Then, there was this big explosion. I felt myself being torn into two, and thrust into another world. All of Radiant Garden became swallowed in darkness and became Hollow bastion as people who lived there were either swallowed with it or cast to different worlds. Everything was so dark, but I couldn't even feel… I knew I had lost something. Something important. At the time though... I didn't even know what. It was first later I was told that my heart was gone. I was just someones empty body without a heart."
Kairi looked at him in quiet and it was astounding her she wasn't even judging, just listening and that was probably what gave Lea the will to go on.
"I… I…" Lea swallowed and then suddenly he sniffed. "I never meant for things to go so wrong!" he suddenly stated and his voice broke as suddenly he seemed to burst and the tears came. "Everything. Everything went wrong! Isa, he was my friend, you know? We promised to look out for each other, I promised to always help him and I really meant it! I thought we were going to always be there for each other." he said. "Then suddenly, we were torn apart from ourselves. I was only half a person and so was he, I couldn't even feel myself… And I couldn't recognize him." he stated."Isa… I could not… It wasn't him anymore. And I wasn't me, nothing made sense." he dried his eyes. "My spirit, at first it felt numb. I felt nothing, I still had memories and thoughts but no emotions… I was asked to kill, and I just shrugged my shoulders and did it, I just didn't feel anything. And Isa... I guess, part of me.. Part of me hoped my friend was still in there. Even if he called himself Saix and acted nothing like Isa, I still hoped, deep inside. So I did what-ever he told me to do. What ever he needed me to do, I would do it. Hoping... We could still be friend somehow. Even if that word had lost all of its meaning." Lea swallowed. "I acted, I hoped... But felt nothing. That is until.." he swallowed. "I met Roxas… Roxas he… I felt something, and I knew I had to hold unto that feeling no matter what. I did just that and it brought me back into the light, made me whole again how-ever… in the meantime. All the things I did." he sniffed. "At the time I didn't feel but now I remember, it's all coming back to me… and Isa, he's still trapped like that. I... I think." Lea bit his lip. "Or is he really gone? The Isa I knew... I havn't seen him since that day. I don't understand this." he stated. "All these feelings… I know it's good, it's a sign I'm a real person again and still it… It just hurts so much… You know." he asked tears streaming down his face. "And that's not all, I still feel like... I forgot something! Something really important. But it is just out of reach. It really hurts but.. I have to remember." he hissed holding his head. "Even if it hurts so bad. I must."
Then Kairi leaned over and wrapped her arms around Lea and then she hugged him tight. "You're right, all these feelings… They proof you are a person. So don't be ashamed, hold unto them." she asked. "Those feelings, they are what makes your heart strong. Don't be ashamed."
And Lea sobbed as his tears fell freely, normally he was not into this kind of stuff… He was fine with comforting others but having others comfort him? That wasn't his style at all except… With Kairi it felt fine. Was this because she was one of the princess's of light? Lea couldn't help but think that was it… Though there was something else as well, a presence that felt so much like her, in the past. A female voice... Sea-salt ice-cream... Sunset... It was just out of reach! Kairi... She had no darkness in her, she was pure light.
"I miss them." Lea then admitted. "Isa… Roxas… and the others to, that person I..." he halted. "But they are gone." he exhaled. "I guess I better just accept that. Those people... I am never going to see them again. Not Isa... Not Roxas... Not." the last name lingered on his lip, it felt important to include that one, even though he didn't even remember a name.
"No." Kairi stated making Lea looked up. "As long as you remember them they are with you, you are connected to them, through your heart. And not only that… nothing is ever truly forgotten. So, for as long as you're alive. Those who's hearts touched yours, you will be connected, always. I'm afraid that's why it hurts when you know you can't see them but… It also means they will never be gone, not really."
Lea swallowed as he looked up. "Man, coming from anyone else I would call that a load of bull." he commented then sat up and dried his eyes. "I think you're right though." he admitted and Kairi smiled.
"Of course I am, I am the one teaching you about hearts, remember?" Kairi asked. "So you better listen to what I have to say."
"I gotcha." Lea smirked amused, then dried his eyes again. "Thanks Kairi."
"No problem, what are friends for?" Kairi asked. "I must admit, I would never have thought you would be one of my friends to."
"Yeah?" Lea asked. "You think you can trust me now?" he asked.
"Yeah." Kairi smiled. "I know I do. I trust you, Lea." she smiled.
"Heh, that's good to hear." Lea smiled.. "So the day you and Sora gets married i'll be invited too?"
"Wait WHAT?!" Kairi shouted and Lea laughed out loud.
"Gotcha." He blinked. "I know you're to young to think that kind of stuff, gotta experience the world first." he stated as he laid back.
Kairi pouted. "We are not even together."
"No, but you wish you were." Lea stated. "And so does he, that much is obvious."
That made Kairi silence. "You… Really think so?" she asked.
"Oh so you do wish it?" Lea asked.
"SHUT UP!" Kairi shouted then pouted. "Tell me about Sora! What does he think?"
"You're the most important person to him in the entire world." Lea commented. "You and Riku… Sora cares about all of his friends. But you two… He cares about a little bit more than everyone else and you… You're special to him." he stated in a light smile. "Got it memorized?" he asked.
And Kairi pouted but then she smiled as she laid down next to Lea also looking up at the stars.
"We are all connected now." Kairi commented in a smile. "You are as important to Sora as me and Riku… and as important to me as Riku and Sora… And through us you are now connected to all of ours friends, and through you we are connected to yours, even if they seem lost… We can help bringing them back. I'm glad we became connected like this."
"Yeah… Me to." Lea admitted as Kairi reached out a hand and Lea grabbed it.
For some weird reason, just laying like this on their backs looking up holding hands… Felt really nice.
It was hard to believe Lea had felt so devastated and alone just a short while ago, now he felt… at peace. And like he had friends… His heart needed to grow strong huh?
Man, Kairi sure was an amazing teacher!