CHAPTER 8

All's Right

"You!?" Sora and Riku exclaimed simultaneously, both staring in disbelief at the fire-haired previous Nobody keyblade-wielding wannabe. One minute fire-hot Nobody, the next a keyblade wielder? Well that just happened, Riku thought as he compared Lea to Axel. Sora, though, had thoughts that may not have been entirely his own. He wanted a keyblade the whole time? Why didn't he ever ask to borrow mine?

"Hey, thanks for the vote of confidence," Lea remarked, staring at the two bewildered keyblade wielders. "You know I was going to come swooping in, keyblade in hand!" he insisted, illustrating his statement with the waving of his arms around before crossing them again, leaning against the bookshelf. "But I just couldn't get mine to materialize," Lea said unhappily, staring at his hand in disappointment at its ability as if it were a separate sentient being. "Must be in the snap of the wrist or something," he thought aloud, remembering Merryweather's rebukes and finally taking her advice. He was as surprised as everyone else when a keyblade popped in his hand with a quick flame and a sweet-sounding zing. "Oh."

"WHOA!" everyone exclaimed, jumping at Lea's sudden success. Donald had seemed to jump a mile high, and even Master Yen Sid had leaped from his chair to get a closer look at Lea's new weapon. The blade itself definitely fit its hot-headed wielder appearing like translucent yellow-orange flames with sharp hook-shaped teeth. Everyone studied it in disbelief, Lea especially. This is mine.

"You did it!" Mickey exclaimed in his happy, cheery tone. He recalled the first time he had summoned his keyblade and how excited he had been; Mickey could only imagine how much more excited Lea was.

Lea's first emotion wasn't excitement, but instead self-criticism. "Wow, it was that easy and it took me THAT long to learn it?" he said, turning over his blade and studying it in the light. "I've got some serious work to do to make up for lost ground," he insisted, holding to his previous statement of catching up with Riku.

"Nice keyblade, though! Sora commented, still in awe at the blade's powerful appearance. "A lot like your other weapons," he remarked, studying the guard and the token hanging at the end of the chain.

"Chakrams, you mean," Lea said assuredly, now becoming more excited as being the center of attention raised his ego to a new extreme. Exhilaration took him over as he studied every little detail of his keyblade from the mini chakrams composing the chain to how the red in the flames were the exact shade of his hair.

"I am pleased that you finally learned to wield it," Master Yen Sid praised the reckless student in his smooth scholarly tone. A small nod accompanied this compliment, but Lea was too self-consumed to fully accept the kindness of his supporter.

"And I'm mad I was stupid enough to miss my dramatic entrance!" Lea exclaimed, trying to again be critical of himself and failing due to his bubbling delight. "Seriously, look how cool this thing is! Wouldn't it have been awesome?" the thrilled apprentice asked, brandishing his weapon to reflect the light.

"Hey, you'll get other opportunities," Riku insisted, assured of this and accepting Lea's new role in their circle of fellowship. He had never considered Axel's Somebody becoming a friend of his, but considering his past with Axel he figured this would be an interesting and beneficial friendship. Especially since having another warrior would be helpful when fighting Master Xehanort and his army of Seekers.

"I'll hold you to that," Lea insisted, motioning his keyblade at Riku like an extension of his hand. He took a few steps closer to the others, dramatically expressing himself as he continued. 'You guys need to be in danger more so Mr. Dark Rescue can swoop in and save the day!" he insisted, pumping his chest at "Dark Rescue" and swinging his blade like an airplane at "swoop in". He is certainly illustrative, Riku thought with a laugh.

"Hey, just you watch," Sora insisted, immediately defensive at Lea's comment. "I'll be the one saving you're butt next time!" he proclaimed assuredly, sending all of them into a laughing spell. A though quickly came to Sora's mind, and he asked it without hesitation. "Hey, Lea I've got a question; how did you know I was in trouble?"

Lea's explanation was short and to the point but still focusing on him as the star of the show. "I was trying to work on my mad keyblade skills in Castle Oblivion when the crystal started showing you were gonna be in trouble. So since you had already interrupted my lesson, I thought I might as well go get'cha out of there," he explained nonchalantly as if there was no emotional attachment to it – he conveniently 'forgot' to mention who he had actually seen in the crystal ball. "But I'm kinda glad you did," Lea continued, "– now all of you saw my awesome keyblade!" In a moment of spontaneous energy he took up a fighting stance holding his keyblade in front of him in his right hand and getting a firm stance, almost appearing like a fencer. "How do I look?" he asked, obviously egotistical and hyper with joy.

"Funny." Riku's monotone reply and serious face led everyone else to burst out laughing again, including Riku. Lea looked questionable for a second before becoming aware of his immense emanation of pride and ego. Standing straight and recovering from his silliness, he dematerialized his before crossing his arms, back to his normal level of cockiness.

"Ha ha," Lea said unamused, rolling his eyes in response to the joke at his expense. The firelocks was not short a comeback. "Look who's talking," he insisted when the laughter had died down enough for him to get a word in. He stared Riku down with eyebrows furrowed and a mischievous expression appearing almost as if he was challenging the newly knighted keyblade master to a staring contest.

Riku lost this nonexistent challenge, blinking the next second. "What do you mean?" he asked inquiringly, having no earthly clue to what Lea could be referring to. The others had settled down as well, waiting curiously for an explanation.

Lea smiled his devilish grin, again successfully the focus of the conversation. "If we're playing questionnaire, I've got one for you," he insisted, walking closer to the confused teenager. Remaining silent for a moment, he added a small amount of suspenseful tension before grabbing one of the locks of the silver-haired boy. "What happened to your hair?" he asked sarcastically, causing everyone to burst out again.

Sora wiped away a tear from his eye before answering the question for his best friend. "Ya, about that, it was kind of my fault," he admitted with no shame in his voice – this obviously was a joke between the two as Riku had joined in the fun.

"Not really," Riku said lightheartedly, putting an arm around his shorter friend. Both glanced at each other before laughing again briefly, Sora taking over the explanation.

"One day on the islands we were practicing together, but I accidentally cut off a lot of the hair on one side of his head," Sora explained, looking back at Riku again after scanning the crowd of listeners. "He looked so lopsided, Kairi and I just couldn't stop laughing," the keyblade wielder insisted, starting to laugh again, this time accompanied by everyone else.

The laughter was short, and Riku picked up the explanation. "I cut it so it looked at least partially normal. It won't take too long to grow back," he insisted, playing with a lock near his left ear.

"Hey, I think it's good," Lea insisted, causing everyone to be stunned. Not because they disagreed, but because for once Lea had given a serious compliment. This air was quickly broken when Lea finished his thought. "Makes you look less like a girl," he remarked, smiling smugly at his comrade.

"Oh, ya, like you don't look like a girl," Riku was quick to sarcastically comment, causing another eruption of laughter. "Okay, my turn," Riku insisted, settling down the others again. "Sora, this question's for you," he said, facing his best friend square on. Looking Sora straight in the eyes, he pointed firmly to the other side of the room, trying to appear as serious as possible. "…What is with that tea party?!" This was the final eruption and the volcano of laughter flowed freely, Donald laughing so hard he looked like he was about to collapse.

"Why? Do you want some cake?" Sora asked, retaining a naive expression when the glee had died down enough to talk. This comment resulted in another burst of laughing from everyone but Sora. "No, seriously, who wants cake?" he insisted, walking over to the tea table with a smile. Everyone in the room grinned from ear to ear as they sat around the table and Sora changed into his funny glasses and party hat before cutting and serving the cake to his friends. For the first time in a long time, all was right with the world.

While the gang sat down for their tea party a figure retreated from the spot she had stood by the window for the last fifteen minutes. Turning away from the scene, she continued to listen to the sounds of joy and happiness coming from inside the tower. Everyone had been smiling, even him. A tear of joy ran down her cheek as this new act of fun confirmed what she already knew. "Sora…it is you," she declared as loud as she dared, truly smiling for the first time in forever. "It always was." With that she disappeared.