Gravity

by Black Rose of Wilmington

High School AU Lea & Isa have been best friends for years but when Ienzo pushes Isa to start dating. The one Isa finds himself falling for uncontrollably is Lea and not his new girlfriend. Lea finds out later that it's not their relationships they need to worry about but a new Teacher who's got his sights set on Isa. Mainly LeaXIsa and some XehanortXIsa. Rated M for later Chapters.

8. Apprentices and Growth

Chapter 8

Radiant Garden Hospital

Isa slept soundly as Lea nervously sat beside the boy gently placing a hand over his friend's, "Hey..I heard from Xehanort you woke up yesterday. Be a pal and open your eyes for me at least..?" Lea weakly joked before sighing sadly at Isa still being asleep, "..shit Isa..when my parent's told me what happened a couple days ago..that we'd almost lost you..I..h-hell I almost lost IT myself.." Isa pulling his hands away as his finger tips lit on fire.

"I-I panicked and I almost thought it was an accident when this happened to me but..my Dad said hormonal changes can surge growth..it's probably why I'm starting to get taller.." Lea weakly laughed before sighing at his hands being on fire. Lea frowned at Isa still being fast asleep before hiccuping sadly as his tears gently extinguished the flames on his hands, "Fuck Isa..I love you..that means..I really, REALLY don't want to lose you.." Lea took a shaky breathe, "..open your eyes please..just let me know you're alive..!"

"I..I am alive..a-and I love you too..Now stop that before you set off the smoke alarm.." Isa weakly chuckled against the bed as Lea sat up blinking at his friend being awake before scowling, "You JERK! I thought you were asleep..Why didn't you wake up sooner? You had me stressing SO fricken much!" Lea began pacing nervously.

"And I thought you were normal not hormonal..Er, Lea I never thought you could control fire like that though.." Isa weakly sat up as he smiled gently, "..That's amazing." "Yeah I know right?" Lea chuckled good naturedly, "Only my Dad knows about it though..he said he didn't want me giving my Mother a heart attack so not to tell her or anyone else about it. But I figured over the years you probably figured it out."

"Obviously..who leaves scorch-marks on plastic and walls after hitting them..?" Isa chuckled fondly before sighing, "The Doctor says I can leave home tomorrow..that I've healed up nicely." "Really? Weird..I figured they'd keep you here for a week for 'observation'.." Lea shrugged as Isa embaressdly blushed, "What? Like hell..my Mom knows I HATE hospitals and I've already driven the nurses crazy with trying to get out of bed so much." Isa gesturing to the restraints on his ankles.

"Huh..Hey Isa..are you 'special' like me..?" It would be nice to know Isa's special like me..it'd be another reason I could tell my Dad why I love him.. Lea curiously standing beside Isa as he murmured, "If you really did struggle so much..I figured you'd be bleeding on the floor by now. Plus with the damage done to your body, nobody heals that fast in 4 days."

"No..I'm not special.." Isa embaressdly blushed, "Xehanort gave me some new science concoction to drink..and well, now I'm better.." Isa blushing at the memory, "Though..now I have to become his Apprentice regardless if I want to or not."

Flashback

"Alright Little Isa..I can't have you dying on me again so here.." Xehanort poured a strange greenish blue fluid into a cup before holding it out to Isa, "Is this..poison..?" Isa frowned distrustfully as Xehanort rolled his eyes, "Honestly, it's a healing serum I call a 'potion'..it'll help heal your wounds rapidly but it needs to be ingested.." Xehanort frowned at Isa, "And don't expect me to feed it to you like you're some sick puppy."

"I'm not a damn animal and help me sit up if you're so damn concerned.." Isa blushed embaressdly as Xehanort gently helped Isa sit up wrapping an arm around the boy as Isa took the cup before drinking the concoction, Isa trying not to choke at the taste.

"Drink ALL of it brat..I don't want you wasting precious materials.." Xehanort frowned sternly before taking the cup away once Isa had downed the drink, Isa groaned weakly at the sounds of bone's cracking against his side with a pained wince as Xehanort gently leaned forward deeply kissing Isa to calm the boy.

"..m-mmph..mn.." Isa blushed before shyly coping against the kiss as Isa panted weakly once the tremor's in his body stopped, "Ah..hah..ughn.." Isa embaressdly groaned against Xehanort's shoulder as Xehanort undid the back of the boy's hospital gown.

Xehanort lowering the material as he sighed in relief at seeing Isa had healed perfectly, his skin almost as flawless as the man remembered, "Perfect.." Xehanort absently ran a hand over where Isa's broken rib had been as Isa blushed heatedly feeling his heart skip a beat from the man's touch as Xehanort chuckled, "Having inappropriate thoughts about your teacher again Little Isa?"

"N-No..I'm not.." Isa shyly looked down at his skin sighing in relief at being healed, "Thank you..again Mr. Xehanort." "Of course Little Isa.." Xehanort affectionately pecked the boy's lips once, "Now get your rest..you're useless to me in a hospital bed."

Flashback End.

"Wait..XEHANORT? You mean THE Xehanort who pushed you down the staircase healed you?" Lea staring in disbelief as Isa embaressdly sighed, "..Yes..he felt bad for what he'd done and I assume healing me was his way of making amends."

"Doesn't make amends for the rest of the crap he's pulled.." Lea scowled to himself, Touching and molesting what's mine? Like hell if I'll ever forgive him in a heartbeat.. "Wait Lea..how'd you know it was Xehanort who pushed me down the staircase at school?" Isa curiously asked as he moved to sit up.

"Huh? Oh um..Caitlynn told me.." Lea nervously bit his bottom lip, "She saw him push you down the staircase and punch you..she said she had a video of it but she can't find it in her phone..she thinks when she dropped it carrying you it might've accidentally been deleted."

"Shit.." Isa scowled to himself before pouting nervously, "So..now Caitlynn knows that Xehanort's the one bullying me..?"

"Yeah..but she wants to help us.." Lea smiled slightly, "She really does love and care about you Isa..it's why I picked her..aggressive woman are typically the most caring."

"Good to know but what if Xehanort hurts her..?" Isa nervously bit his bottom lip as Lea chuckled, "Relax Caitlynn can handle herself..Plus I'd rather have her at your back then no one else."

Lea gently sighed before murmuring, "Hey..corny as this sounds, If I kissed you would that make you feel better..?" Isa blushed heatedly at that feeling his heart skip a beat nodding once as he said, "A kiss from you..Actually sounds nice..Lea."

Lea gently leaning forward before kissing his best friend with a pleased groan at the feeling as Lea ran his tongue languidly over Isa's once, I've missed him so much..his touch, his taste, his warmth.. Lea gently chuckled when he heard a tug and a wince from Isa before sighing, "Don't worry Isa..I'm sure the nurse's will be gentle when they untie you."

Isa rolled his eyes before blinking at seeing his backpack on a chair, "Lea..hey why's my backpack here?" "Oh..uh..your schoolwork er..I didn't know if you'd need anything to do while you were bored at the hospital..so I figured you'd like something to do.." Lea handing the backpack to his friend.

Isa reached his arm into the backpack before he gasped in surprise at finding Xehanort's tape recorder, "Stupid me..I took this thinking I could have evidence on Xehanort.." Isa playing the tape recorder with a frown at hearing nothing but static, "The damn thing doesn't have a tape..?" Lea asked as Isa opened the player blinking in surprise at finding a tape inside of it.

"What the hell..?" Lea headed over inspecting the tape having a label before blinking confusedly, "..'Heartless Notes -Braig'..who the hell's Braig?"

"I don't know..but it looks like the tape was played through all the way..that's probably why it didn't record anything.." Isa putting the tape back in to rewind it as Lea asked, "Isa..what're you hoping to find on a tape Xehanort left in his desk?"

"Information..something we could use against Xehanort so I don't have to become his Apprentice.." Isa absently remarked as Lea scowled, "What? That Bastard wants to make you HIS Apprentice after all the crap he's pulled? Like hell I'd let him do that to you."

"I know Lea.." Isa hitting the play button to listen as he heard a voice saying, "..Man..I'd love to be at a shooting gallery right now instead of babysitting these things. Anyways..heartless subjects appear as they did yesterday, they don't eat or sleep and hardly ever stop moving..The only thing they seem to react to are the heart shaped lights we've put in the cages. I kind feel sorry for those buggers not being able to tell the difference between a real heart and a fake one. Anyways that's most of my report for the day..Oh yeah..Xehanort when're we going to get the new Apprentices so I can finally get some time off?"

Isa blinked confusedly at the tape ending as Lea frowned slightly, "So..he's trying to make you become his apprentice so you can baby sit these..'heartless' things?" "I don't know..but something that doesn't eat or sleep but chases after hearts can't be a good thing to be around..right..?" Isa nervously gulped before sighing, "Lea..I think it's time we returned this tape to it's rightful owner."

Laboratory

Evan scowled when Xehanort returned before asking, "Honestly you're showing up later and later..I heard a student of yours was sent to the hospital but I didn't think it would affect you."

"It doesn't..the students are merely gossiping much more and getting into even more trouble..you know how tragedies lead to pointing fingers..But I heard a rumor the boy would be returning to school soon. So I should have less trouble maker's to deal with.." Xehanort shrugged to himself as he sat down at his desk.

"Xehanort.." Evan seriously stood in front of the man, "I know you've never involved work with your love life. But is there some woman distracting you? Because honestly I see no other logical explanation for you forgetting to review notes and also not going forward with your apprentice program, just what on earth is going on with you man?"

"..I..am in control Evan and you'd be wise to watch your tone.." Xehanort abruptly stood with a glare at the other scientist, "..just because I haven't gotten to your research doesn't mean I haven't been busy. You forget I have 4 other Scientist's and 1 Apprentice besides you."

"Yes I know that..but..we aren't moving forward at ALL.." Evan sighed heavilly as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "..I'm starting to lose my faith in this project..I feel like your heart is no longer as in it as it used to be."

"Don't be a fool or I'll show you how much my heart is into it! Evan..In order for people to 'vanish' you need to make 'alibi's..I'm currently working on several..we'll have our experiment soon enough. I've laid out the groundwork..now it's time to start building.." Xehanort smirked to himself, That one look I love on all experiments..I want to see that look on Isa's face when he finds out he's lost his heart..It will truly be worth the effort I've put into him.

Train

Lea and Isa had left the hospital earlier leaving a note telling their parent's they were going out for ice cream and that Isa was fine to walk around according to the Doctor. "Isa..you seriously want to go to where Xehanort works? I mean what if he finds us before we find this..'Braig' guy?"

"He won't Lea..I mean you can sneak around easily and if anyone catches us you could use that fire thing of yours to make a diversion..?" Isa shrugged as Lea scoffed, "I knew it..you only love me because I'm a flamer.." Lea mock pouted as Isa rolled his eyes.

"Get real..I love you because.." Isa blushed heatedly as he shyly kissed Lea once before murmuring, "Because..I love everything about you."

"Good to know.." Lea gently clasped Isa's hand in his own before frowning when a passenger scoffed in disgust at the two boy's. "..hm.." Isa nervously bit his bottom lip as he gazed down at their clasped fingers, Could I handle..people constantly disapproving of us being together?

Lea flipped the passenger off before deeply kissing Isa as Isa blushed heatedly before chuckling at the passenger's scoff of disgust and the man moving away from them, "Heh..as if I'd let some jerk disapprove of us.." Lea gently kissed Isa's neck once, "I love you Isa..fuck anyone else's opinion..got it memorized?"

"Yeah..Thank you Lea.." Isa nuzzled comfortably against his friend sighing at hearing their train stop coming up, I guess it wouldn't be so bad..so long as I have Lea with me.. Isa gently clasping his finger's with Lea's, I wonder..if that wish I made on the shooting star..is starting to come true?

Shooting Range

Braig scowled as he continued to shoot at the targets grimacing, "Man..are these guns defective? They shoot like they're made out of wood!" "For the last TIME.." Dilan pinched the bridge of his nose, "Would you stop coming out here and help me figure out why Xehanort hasn't gotten back to us about our research yet?"

"Whatever..Evan says Xehanort's chasing a piece of tail he can't grab.." Braig chuckled, "I doubt it though..Xehanort's not acting like a love sick puppy. He's acting more like a man who needs a vacation..or to get laid..you know what I mean?"

"Braig we're scientists not celebrities..I doubt Xehanort has woman chasing after him looking for sex.." Dilan stopping with a frown at hearing an alarm going off, "What on earth..?" Dilan gazing down at seeing two teenagers by the castle gates, "What are these kids doing here?"

"Kids..? Aw ain't that cute..? They're curious.." Braig put down the wooden gun before taking out a different gun, "Let's go say 'hi' to the wee fops."

Front Gate

"Alright Isa..I'm a bit lost here. How the hell do we get into this place and are you SURE this's a laboratory?" Lea raised a disbelieving eyebrow as Isa sighed heavily, "Of course..Isolation works best for lab experimentation..and besides I recognize this place from photographs in our science books."

"So where's the doorbell or how do we get someone's attention..?" Isa yelping in surprise at seeing someone coming before shoving Isa into the bushes, "Lea! W-What're you-Mmmph!" Isa blushed heatedly at his friend covering his mouth as Lea pointed silently to a man with long blonde hair entering a code in the front of the Castle Gate before looking around as if double checking to see if anyone was around.

"Xehanort..it's Evan, I need a word with you..I've made a new breakthrough about our project.." Evan smirking when the castle doors opened before heading inside as Lea grabbed Isa, "Now's our chance!" Lea quickly running in with Isa before the gates closed as the two quickly hid by a statue of swans making a heart with their necks.

"Hm..?" Evan looked around before frowning, "I could've sworn I saw someone..dammit I stayed up too late last night researching..I'll get some rest after the presentation.." Evan disappearing inside the castle.

"Well obviously that guy isn't 'Braig'.." Lea shrugged whispering to Isa, "If we're going to return this tape to Braig..how do we find him..?"

"Hm..there should be a list of staff inside somewhere..Just follow me Lea..?" Isa embaressdly holding his hand out for Lea to take as Lea chuckled fondly taking his friend's hand before gently kissing Isa once, "Lead the way..I'll watch your back."

Laboratory

Evan headed over before setting his paperwork down, "It's strange all this time I thought 'purity' was the one thing that separated the heartless from nobody beings..and then I discovered that it's not a matter of 'purity' but will. Beings with the stronger will survive the heartless and manifest into greater nobodies than those with weaker will's."

"..Purity isn't an option then..?" Xehanort raised an eyebrow cautiously before browsing through Evan's research, "Hm..odd..I figured virgin's would work better to make stronger nobodies than non-virgin's."

"Yes..we thought so as well..but this man as you can see had a criminal record of being a sex offender but because his will was so strong he transformed into a stronger nobody than that 'dusk' form..I'm a bit shocked honestly..I figured those who were 'pure of heart' would turn into stronger nobodies or stronger heartless..?" Evan murmured in thought.

"I see your point..This data changes things a bit..but I hope for your sake that you're right about this.." Xehanort lightly mulling over the thought, Hm..so young Isa doesn't necessarily have to be a virgin..he won't be 18 for another year and a half..he may be worth the wait though if he proves himself worthy a Subject.

Courtyard

"Isa, just because I love you doesn't mean I won't kick your arse if we're lost.." Lea grimaced as he looked around before Isa pouted softly, "Lea don't be so negative..We'll find this 'Braig' and he'll probably be thankful enough to have his tape back he'll show us a way out of here."

"That sounds good in theory but what if he's a creep like Xehanort..?" Lea following Isa before yelping when an arrow nearly collided with his head, "What the hell?" Lea turning around before Braig whistled, "Hey kiddo's..you're trespassing, mind coming with me..?"

"We're not trespassing..we're trying to return something!" Isa worriedly stood in front of Lea to protect his friend as Dilan chuckled softly, "Hey Braig..I think these kids think they can take us."

"Oh you lovely little darlings are SORELY mistaken if you think that.." Braig chuckled fondly as he asked, "Hey Dilan..which one do you want to take?"

"Dilan..?" Isa blinked in surprise before turning around as Dilan murmured, "The blue haired one looks a bit easier..you take the red head Braig."

"Wait!" Isa quickly dug into his pocket before holding up a tape, "I only came to return this.." Isa feeling his heart pounding in his chest at the thought of fighting the two Scientists with one of them having a gun.

"What is it?" Dilan raised an eyebrow as Isa quickly answered, "I don't know..Xehanort left it in his classroom..it's labeled 'Heartless Notes' I assumed it belonged to someone named 'Braig'."

"Classroom?" Braig raised an eyebrow before laughing, "I know where these poppets are from..they're from that school Xehanort substitutes at."

"You snuck in here just to return this to Braig?" Dilan raised a disbelieving eyebrow taking the tape as Isa embaressdly cleared his throat, "Well..I have a passion for science..and I know if any of my notes went missing I'd be extremely nervous. So I figured returning this to it's rightful owner would be the proper thing to do."

"And they say kids these days don't have any respect.." Braig chuckled softly grinning at the two, They're cute..I wonder if Xehanort's going to make them work with us..?

"Yeah..we returned it Isa..now let's get the hell out of here.." Lea frowning distrustfully at Dilan and Braig, I don't like the look these guys are giving us..If they're as perverted as Xehanort the last damn thing we need is them eye-balling us.

"What's the rush? I mean if you two know Xehanort you'd want to meet him wouldn't you..?" Braig raised an eyebrow as Isa murmured simply, "I have no interest in seeing Xehanort..I see him enough at school."

"Oh so you're the little troublemaker Xehanort sometimes talk about..I didn't expect you to be so..well 'cute'..he describes you like you're some kind of malicious dog.." Dilan chuckled at the look of shock that crossed Isa's face as Isa glared darkly at that, He really does love torturing me even when I'm not around that jerk!

"All right that does it!" Lea glared darkly before abruptly punching Dilan once across the face sending the man to the floor, Like hell anyone talks about the one I love like that.. "Where's Xehanort so I can kick his ass next?"

"Whoa! Slow down there fop..we ain't taking you anywhere with an attitude like that.." Braig pointing his gun as Isa glared before kicking Braig once hard in the shin as Braig yelped, "Ow!" giving a soft glare at the boy.

"Lea run!" Isa quickly grabbing the red head's hand as they ran away, Dilan sat up with a scowl, "The hell are they feeding those kids at the school..steroids?" "I don't care..but I'm using that blue haired one for target practice today.." Braig scowled reloading his gun with rubber bullets before quickly moving to chase after the two.

Laboratory

Xehanort frowned slightly before looking around his desk, "I've been looking for Braig's notes on his heartless research..would you know where they are Evan..?" Xehanort gazing up at the blonde who murmured, "I wouldn't know..I never touch anything on your desk even-" "GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRATS!"

Evan stopped before raising an eyebrow, "What on earth is Braig yelling about now..?" Evan heading over to the balcony window as Xehanort did the same blinking in surprise at seeing Isa and Lea running away from Braig who was shooting at the two.

"Well..seems we have castle guests..Let's go and greet them before Braig turns them into Swiss cheese.." Xehanort weakly joked as Evan rolled his eyes following the man, Since when does Xehanort make jokes? Is there something special about those intruders..?

Castle Gates

"Dammit it's locked!" Lea scowled at the iron bars being closed as Isa murmured, "Then we fight our way out!" Isa bracing himself at hearing Braig and Dilan approaching the two.

"Are you serious?" Lea stared in disbelief at his friend before gently clasping his hand with Isa's, "I love you..but I don't want you hurt Isa.." Lea worriedly gazing into his friend's eyes.

"Don't worry about me Lea..I'm not as helpless as you think.." Isa pecking his friend's lips once before walking forward as Braig and Dilan caught up to the two, "S-So..decided to stop running..runts..?" How the hell are these damn kids so fast?

"Yeah..we decided to kick both your asses instead.." Isa kicking Braig once in the face moving to get the gun away from the man as Dilan scowled moving to grab Isa before yelping when he was tackled by Lea, "..don't think you can hurt someone when their back's turned!" Lea punching Dilan once across the face as Dilan scowled moving to shove Lea off.

Braig scowled at losing his gun before shoving Isa to the ground trying to pin the boy's hands down, "Bad move poppet, I ain't useless without a gun.." Braig giving a pained wince when Isa shoved him off with the heel of his foot scowling, "And I'm not helpless without a weapon either!"

"Braig get this brat off of me!" Dilan scowled with a wince when Lea gripped Dilan's wrists, Dilan feeling like his wrists were on fire before wrapping his legs around Lea's waist and squeezing as Lea gasped with a wince at the wind being knocked out of him struggling to get Dilan's legs to release him.

"Lea!" Isa worriedly moved to help his friend before yelping when he was tackled to the ground by Braig who scowled, "Never take your eyes off your opponent!" "Good advice!" Isa threw dirt into Braig's eyes as Braig scowled before pulling away with a grimace, "Ow! Dammit..You little brat!" Braig trying to wipe the dirt from his eyes so he could see.

"Lea!" Isa quickly kicked Dilan once in the kidney as the man gave a pained grunt releasing Lea who panted breathlessly moving away from the man, "Lea..Lea are you alright?"

Isa stopped with a yelp when Braig's gun clicked against the back of his left shoulder, "Alright brats..Playtime's over."

"Indeed it is.." Xehanort smirked from a few feet away as Dilan sat up with a wince, "Xehanort..? What're you doing out here?"

"Observing my new Apprentices interacting with my old ones.." Xehanort shrugged as Braig raised an eyebrow, "New Apprentices? These twerps?"

"We're not twerps!" Lea scowled as he stood to dust himself off glaring mildly at Xehanort, "Also I'M not interested in being your Apprentice."

"I don't care..I've already chosen you and Isa both as Apprentices as well as your friend Ienzo.." Xehanort stated calmly as Lea rolled his eyes, "Control freak.." Lea inwardly scowling, Bad enough this guy wanted Isa, now he wants Ienzo and ME too? What the hell's going on..?

"Braig honestly would you point your gun away from that boy's heart? You'll kill him if you shoot there from behind.." Evan huffed but surprised by the two boy's fighting skills, Odd..not many people can get in a brawl with Dilan and live to tell the tale..or outrun Braig. I guess Xehanort has been wise in choosing candidates. These two either have very strong hearts or very strong will's..but they'll be good test subjects when the time comes.

"I ain't interested in being near any labs..as you can obviously tell I have better things to occupy my time with.." Lea glared slightly as Xehanort smirked, "It IS your choice after all..though Isa has already agreed to be my Apprentice for the next couple of years.." Xehanort gently ran a hand through Isa's hair as Isa awkwardly looked away Xehanort asking Lea, "Didn't Isa tell you?"

"Of course he told me.." Lea grit his teeth to keep from punching Xehanort as he clenched a fist, Dammit..This bastard's tricky..how the hell'd he know I'd stick with Isa no matter what? Lea trying to weigh his option's, I can't leave Isa alone here..Ienzo sucks at noticing when something's wrong..And..I love Isa too much to leave him to suffer alone.. "Fuck it..I guess I'm in.." Lea scowled at Xehanort.

"Splendid..Now let me make introductions..Everyone this's Lea and Isa..they're two bright young students from the Radiant Garden High School..You all already met Ienzo so it's only fair you meet these two as well.." Xehanort chuckled softly to himself.

"Well shit if they were Apprentices all they had to do was say so.." Braig scoffed to himself before murmuring to Lea, "You got balls Poppet..I might have to think up a new nickname for you."

"I don't do nicknames..I give them out..for instance.." Lea grinned as Isa embaressdly blushed, "Don't you dare!" "I call my buddy Isa here a 'constellation' nerd..he's obsessed with the moon and-" "I'll kill you Lea!" Isa embaressdly tackled his friend as Dilan only chuckled, "A lively couple these two are."

"W-We're not a couple!" Isa embaressdly blushed as Xehanort chuckled, "Isa has a girlfriend..though Lea's single."

"Hey! It's not nice to single me out like that when you're single too control freak!" Lea frowned as Braig raised a brow biting back a chuckle, Control freak? Well..Xehanort does fit that profile.. "Well this kid's got a mouth on him..I think he and I'll get along just fine.." Braig clapped Lea on the shoulder once good naturedly, "My name's Braig..I'm the second scientist who joined this project. Dilan was the third and Evan was the 4th."

"I only joined this project because I was interested in Xehanort's research of the human heart.." Evan scowled lightly at Braig, "And since you seem so keen on being friendly to these neophytes, why don't YOU be the one to give them a tour..?"

As long as I'm not left alone with Xehanort I'd be fine with that.. Isa nervously blushed to himself as he tried not to glare at Braig holding Lea so closely, Why..do I feel so jealous? Is this how Lea feels when Xehanort touches me..? Wow..Lea has greater self control than I thought.

"I have no problem showing the kid's around but they just have to keep up and not dawdle.." Braig shrugged releasing Lea at Isa's glare, Wow..overprotective kid..? Weird..well at least these two have a personality to fight back when push comes to shove, unlike Ienzo.

Lea headed over to Isa gratefully murmuring, "Thanks for the save Isa but you almost got us killed.." "Shut up..I-I worry about you too.." Isa embaressdly looked away as Xehanort cleared his throat, "Well then..Braig give these two kids a tour and then send them home..I don't want these minors walking around after dark.." Especially with the wild heartless wandering around the grounds..they'd kill these two before anyone noticed.

"Alright then..c'mon poppets!" Braig chuckled dragging Isa and Lea away to lead them on a tour of the castle as Dilan headed over to Xehanort, "Those kids must have strong hearts..they didn't realize when they were running how many heartless were trying to chase after them..it's like the heartless went into a feeding frenzy."

"Hm..Interesting data.." Xehanort absently put a hand to his chin in thought as Evan cackled, "That's Fantastic! Those kids don't even realize how much 'potential' they have for nobodies..Xehanort this's great news."

"Of course it is.." Xehanort lightly sighing to himself, "..Lea and Isa both have very strong wills and seem to be entwined by something strange..I wouldn't want to call it fate but where ever one goes the other follows. It's almost tragic how true that will be even toward the end.." It's like Ienzo told me..those two are like magnets constantly drawn to each other and can only be stabilized when together..Like a gravitational pull.

"Xehanort..are you still talking about nobodies and heartless or something else..?" Evan raising a brow as Xehanort chuckled darkly, "But of course after all..I'm speaking of events that will pass..think of it as my hypothesis for when those two become heartless or even nobodies."

Train

"Man..what a long day..we didn't even get a chance to get ice cream.." Lea sorely pouted as he sat down beside Isa gently clasping his friend's hand in his own asking the blue haired boy softly, "You alright?" "Hm..? Uh yeah..well..no not really.." Isa embaressdly answered as he looked away from his friend.

"C'mon buddy..tell me.." Lea gently nudged Isa's shoulder before gasping in shock when Isa deeply kissed him. Isa giving a soft groan as he felt his own possessiveness take over, "Lea.." Isa panted embaressdly before whispering, "..I-I couldn't stand..B-Braig touching you."

"Well..I-I can see that.." Lea weakly joked before soothingly running a hand through Isa's hair, "Hey, I love you..you know that right?" "Um..yes.." Isa embaressdly blushed as Lea chastely kissed his friend once, "That means you NEVER have to worry about me loving anyone else."

"T-Thank you Lea.." Isa relaxed instantly as Lea soothingly held Isa close gently relaxing at feeling his friend's heart beating so closely to his own, It's good to know that Isa can get possessive over me..though I'm surprised he got riled up so easily just because Braig hugged me.. Lea chastely placed a kiss against Isa's forehead, Isa's like a puppy..he can be so affectionate one moment but overly protective the next..He's so loyal..I hope he stays that way when he gets older.

Lea sighed embaressdly at realizing his power over fire getting stronger would be dangerous, Dammit..I'd never want to accidentally hurt Isa..especially because I'm getting stronger.. Lea soothingly moved to kiss Isa once more, I want him SO much..but he belongs to someone else..story of my life.. Lea sighed heavily to himself.

"Hey..Lea..?" Isa shyly gazed up at his friend feeling his heart beating rapidly, "I..I think I might break up with Caitlynn in a week?"

"..Wait..what?" Lea blinked in surprise, "Did something happen? Or why'd you decide not to wait the month..?" Lea gazed down nervously at his friend.

"Lea..I..I want to be with you and I..I don't want to hurt Caitlynn anymore..ever since she's been with me..she's had to endure me being hurt over and over again. I don't think it's fair to let her go through all this with me..and to drag out our relationship when I'm only going to hurt her in the end.." Isa sighed shakily to himself.

"Isa.." Lea blinked in surprise before sighing heavilly to himself, Dammit..this guy's way in over his head for relationships..I almost feel bad for stealing him from Caitlynn. "Isa..are you sure that's really what you want to do? I mean..you said yourself that you needed time to figure out your sexuality and everything."

"Lea..I don't care anymore I just..I want to be with you.." Isa gazed up at his friend desperately as Lea sighed heavily, "Isa..I can't do this to you..maybe we should take a break from each other..just until you can figure things out?"

"What? A..A break? Lea we're not even dating and you want to take a break..?" Isa blinked confusedly to himself, I thought that..Lea loved me..?

"Isa..look I know you, and you're not thinking straight..right now you're scared shitless and you know I'm always going to be there to save you. Isa I can't save you forever though..you need to figure out who's first in your heart..because if you can't figure that out in an instant then you'd be destroying your relationship with Caitlynn for nothing..alright?" Lea nervously sighed to himself, Dammit..this's going to kill me to be away from him but I'm not doing the right thing by jerking his heart around like this. Isa's only been out of the hospital for one day..he's probably not thinking straight anyway.

"Lea..I..I don't want to be away from you though.." Isa feeling his shoulders sag as Isa bit back tears at his heart clenching painfully from the thought of being away from his best friend, "Please..I..I love you."

"Isa..do you even know what you're saying?" Lea grimaced slightly in irritation before gently sitting Isa up straight, "Where's the logical person I knew? You have one near death experience and suddenly you want to change your whole world in a week? Isa..you have time..Use it..start well, t-thinking straight."

Lea sighed heavilly when the train got to his stop, "I'll see you at school..I gotta get home and your parent's are probably worried sick about you.." Lea awkwardly left trying to keep his heart from clenching painfully at the look of grief on Isa's face at being left alone, Shit..what's wrong with me? I'm the one who needs a life re-cap..but I need Isa to grow stronger for himself. I wanted to protect him but..sooner or later Isa's going to need to be able to protect himself.. Lea sighed shakily as both of his hands lit on fire, Especially to protect himself from me..Isa..I never want to hurt you. You have a chance to be happy..and that's all I want for you..to be safe and happy.

End Chapter 8.

Authoress's Note:

Please Review XO Reviews make me happy and let me know that someone's interested in this story/actually reading it. -Rose.