Leon crossed the kitchen and flung the refrigerator door open, pondering his options for a few moments before finally speaking. "So what's on your mind?"
"Okay, this may sound weird, but just hear me out. The Heartless are multiplying, plus on top of them Nobodies are showing up everywhere and I can't be in fifteen million worlds at once, and not all the worlds are as lucky as Hollow Bastion to have people who know how to fight living there," Sora said in a rush, wanting to get his idea out before Leon could run away.
"Whoa, slow down and breathe. I agree with that huge run on sentence, I think. So what do you have in mind?" Leon asked as he made himself a sandwich.
"I want to give those other worlds a chance, as well as lighten the load on my shoulders, which is selfish yes, but I'm a teenager. People seem to forget that," the younger man continued as Leon sat down at the table.
"And?"
"And I want to start a school so we can teach people how to fight against these creatures. Open it up from like fourteen and up. Those who can afford it can give us tuition money, those who can't can help around the school, keeping it clean and stuff," Sora said, eyeing Leon for his reaction.
"You've been talking to Merlin. I'll tell you what I told him. If you can figure out way to make it work, I'll do what I can to help out," he said, amused that the old wizard had drafted another to his plan.
"Good. We need teachers. We have permission to use the Olympus Coliseum for the school, its teachers we need," Sora said hopefully.
"Me? A teacher. I think I'd probably scare the kiddies," Leon said with a slight chuckle.
"Maybe an advanced class? You'd probably have fun with it," he offered, unconsciously pouting slightly when Leon started to protest.
"Okay, fine. Who else have you got roped into doing this?" he asked, throwing his hands up in surrender.
"Just you. Maybe you could help me work on the rest?" Sora asked, his face lighting up when it registered that Leon had agreed.
"Sammie's upstairs. Go pester her, she wanted to talk to you about something anyway," Leon said, smiling at the look of joy on the Key Blade Wielder's face.
"Great," he said, bouncing out of his seat and heading toward the kitchen door.
"Wait, Sora. What Sammie is going to tell you is going to come as a huge shock, just hear her out before jumping to conclusions, okay?" Leon said, stopping the younger man in his tracks.
"Yeah, okay," he said without bothering to look back. Something was up, something he had a feeling he wasn't going to like.
Sora knocked on Leon and Sammie's bedroom door softly, when there was no answer, he looked around before noticing the door across the hall was slightly ajar.
"You wanted to talk to me about something?" Sora asked, opening the door and finding Sammie sitting in the floor beside an old chest.
"Come on in and shut the door behind you," Sammie said without even looking back at the younger boy. "You deserve to know what I'm about to tell you and it won't be easy for me to tell or you to hear, but just hear me out, okay?" she said, her hands running over the surface of the chest.
"Sure. What's going on?" Sora asked, sitting down on the floor beside her.
"The whole thing starts when I was sixteen, almost five years ago. I had an emotionally unattached mother and an abusive father. Luckily Cloud lived down the street to keep me sane and safe most of the time, but he couldn't always be around," she started as she opened the trunk and felt around for something as she continued the story. "After a particularly violent outburst from my so-called father, I took off. I ran, I had no clue where I was going, all I know is that I wanted away from that place. I was kneeling in an alley, bleeding and sobbing when I met someone who offered me sanctuary. He swore that I would be safe and that no one would ever hurt me again and to make sure of that he'd teach me to fight and defend myself against whatever I might come up against," she paused and pulled something out of the trunk, tossing a black robe at Sora. "That man's name was Xemnas," she said, awaiting the outburst she knew was coming before continuing.
"Xemnas? But you aren't a Nobody.. how?" Sora asked, more than a little confused as he examined the soft robe in his hands.
"Xemnas didn't start out with Nobodies. The organization started as troubled teenagers until Xemnas realized that the Nobodies would be easier to control. He bathed us in darkness and when we awoke we found ourselves more powerful that we ever imagined. Much to Xemnas' delight, I soon developed the ability to heal with just a touch. The others were weak and were killed during training, it was then that Xemnas decided to use the Nobodies and then when I met a certain red-head that would quickly become confidant, friend, and sometimes lover…"
"Axel," Sora said, interrupting the story with the name of an organization member he was familiar with.
Sammie nodded. "Yeah, Axel. Things were fine at first, until Xemnas became obsessed with opening Kingdom Hearts. He turned us into a group of assassins, killing everything that stood between him and his goal. It was about that time that Cloud found me," she paused, realizing that tears were streaming down her face. She quickly wiped her eyes before continuing. "I was eighteen when I started spying for who I later learned to be King Mickey. The only ones who knew besides myself and the king, were Cloud and Axel, although I suspect that Cloud told Leon everything back then."
"You told Axel?" Sora interrupted once again, his mind struggling to process this new information.
"I told you that Axel and I were close. Axel's smart, he figured it out on his own and it took almost a year and a half, but Xemnas figured it out too. Axel tried to warn me, but it was too late. He was punished for the attempt by Xemnas, who would never kill his favorite assassin even though that should have been his fate. That night soon became the worst night of my life. Xemnas revealed me to the rest of the organization, then tossed me to the dogs. I lost count of how many times I was beaten and raped that night, when they finally left me for dead, I somehow managed to make a portal. Although I suspect I had help even though neither Axel nor Demyx would ever cop to that fact. All I remember is wanting safety and I found myself in the house that the guys used to share in Traverse Town. I lost everything that I had worked so hard for that night. The only thing I have left is my healing ability, and part of me worries that it's going to be taken away too. There, I just laid all my cards on the table for you, you know what I am. Please don't hate me," she said softly, glancing over at they key blade wielder, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
Sora scrambled to his feet. "I have to go," he said hurriedly, looking at her like she had grown another head before bolting from the room.
"Well, that went better than I expected," she said to herself as she carefully folded the robe and placed it back in the trunk.
"How'd it go?" Leon asked when she walked into the bedroom.
"He took off, as I expected. He just needs time to process everything," she said, looking over at Leon who was cleaning The Gunblade. "Guess I need to do that too huh?" she said, kicking her shoes off.
"Already done and put away," Leon said, setting the sword aside before standing up.
"Thanks," she said, giving him a small smile as he walked over and gave her a hug. She froze and jerked away. "Don't touch me, please. Just… I just relived everything for Sora, I don't want anyone touching me right now," she said, walking away from him.
Leon sighed and held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry. I'm gonna go find Sora, you okay?" he asked, noticing that she was shivering slightly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. See if you can explain it better than I did," she said, watching as he left the room.