Author's Note: Here's chapter 2, as I promished.
I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to both Disney and Square Enix.
CH2: Homecoming.
Later in the morning the next day, after sharing a fond goodbye to Sora, Riku and Kairi as there had been tears and promises to visit soon, thanks to Mickey making a telepathic call to Yen Sid to retrieve the Gummi Ship from Twilight Town, he, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, Roxas, Lea, Xion and Namine were on their way to Radiant Garden where the latter four will be residing to restart their lives. Earlier on, the eleven of them had been talking and chatting, about all the good and the bad and the adventures, and they even had a mini funeral for Ansem the Wise to honor in his memory for his sacrifice, which Mickey still saddened as Ansem's demise had finally kicked in.
Lea couldn't blame him. Losing a friend is always heartbreaking. That had made him think about Isa when he killed Saix. It wasn't fair. Why did Xehanort have to go and do that? What was his purpose?
The redhead shook his head as he was seated in the gummiship with his friends, the king, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy. It didn't matter now. Isa was gone. So were everyone else in the Organization. Lea, Roxas, Xion and Namine were all very much lucky to have become full humans and Sora and Kairi remained whole. None of them or Riku knew how it was still really possible, but maybe they'll figure it out in time.
'Wonder what would've happened if I didn't get my heart back? Would I still be a Nobody by now?' Lea thought as he gazed at the stars blazing past, something that he'd never seen before. He was so used to using the Corridor of Darkness to traverse to other worlds, that seeing them pass by was strangely comforting.
But as his mind thought on the possiblities, in his reflection of the glass in the cockpit, a figure slowly materalized as though standing or sitting next to him. Lea's eyes widened before turning rapidly to his right, but didn't see anyone other than Roxas, Xion, Namine, Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Jiminy.
"Is something wrong?" Roxas asked, noticing the startled look on his friend's face, as did everyone else.
"Uh...yeah. I'm fine." Lea replied, "Don't worry about it."
He turned his attention back to the window, thinking about what he just saw. What was that about? Was it his imagination? Must be. But then again, he'd seen Axel in that dream. What did it mean?
'You're getting paranoid, Lea. Get a hold of yourself.' Lea scolded himself in his mind. Of course he was seeing things. It would probably take a while to used to being whole again.
But then...why did he feel like he was missing something?
"Wow! It's bigger than I thought!" Xion remarked after she and everyone else disembarked from the Gummiship. Sure she's seen it through Sora's eyes, but to see it in person was more amazing.
"You know, I'm actually glad to be able to walk around this place on my own." Roxas commented.
"I heard that Radiant Garden used to have gardens and waterfalls." Namine said as she glanced around.
Lea shrugged, "You heard right." as he gazed at his old home. "This place used to not only have gardens, it also used to have fountains that were almost as tall as the castle. It even had a Water Reactor Facility."
"Water Reactor what?" Roxas asked, confused.
"It's a long story. Basically, it used to help run things around here, keeping the water and the air clean." Lea replied with a smirk. "Got it memorized?"
"What does that mean?" The blonde-haired teen inquired.
The redhead shifted awkwardly, before gazing at the Disney Trio who watched the preformance, "Uh...a little help?"
"Nah! You can tell them." Donald said stubbornly while looking away as he folded his arms.
"Ah, c'mon. You're still not mad at me, are you?" Lea groaned, though he couldn't blame the mage for still being distrustful. Sure Donald had cooled off a little after Xemnas was defeated, but he still didn't fully trust the former Nobody for the wrong doings. This was getting just a little ridiculous, though.
"Gawrsh, Donald. He's not like Iago and Xemnas is gone. We can trust him." Goofy pointed out to his still skeptical friend.
"Speaking of which." Lea quickly remembered, gazing at King Mickey, "You sure this Leon guy and his group will be okay in lettin' me, Rox', Xi' and Namine to live here?"
Mickey smiled, "Aw, don't worry. Once they know the whole story, I'm sure they'll trust ya's. They should be at Merlin's house right now."
Despite the King's optisim, Lea still wasn't sure, and from the slight uncertain looks in the eyes of Roxas, Xion and Namine, they obviously felt nervous about this moving in thing. But where else could they go? The redhead knew of one place-he hoped it was still intact-that could be used as their home. Sure it probably needed renovation, but at least it was for free...ish.
Then again, what if the Restoration Committee just attack him and Xion, or force them, Roxas and Namine to leave? Maybe they should've taken up Sora's offer to live in Destiny Islands. But it just didn't...feel right, especially after what Axel had done. And Twilight Town didn't come for free, unless they would count the old Mansion since no one lived there. But that probably filled too many uncomfortable memories on Namine's part.
Disney Castle was out too, since no humans lived there.
Sighing in defeat, Lea shrugged, "Well, might as well get this over with. No point in standing around here."
The others nodded, as they made their way through the Marketplace, which was getting a bit better despite the Heartless and Nobodies invasion a while ago. As they walked, and trying to avoid the local's slight suspicious stares which Lea was certain was on him due to his-or Axel's-Organization coat, Roxas asked a question that was on his mind since yesterday.
"So, is it true that your old name was Lea, Axel?" Roxas asked, though he was careful for only the group to hear.
"Yep. Pretty much. So, that's who I'm gonna go by now that I got my heart back. So, you guys better get it memorized." Lea replied with a shrug.
The former Nobody of Sora chuckled, "That'll take a while in getting used to."
"Then let's practice." Lea suggested, "L-E-A. Got it memorized?"
Roxas was about to reply when an idea formed into his head and grinned, "L-Tea!"
"Hey, you did that on purpose!" Lea pouted childishly, quickly having figured out his friend's game which made Roxas laugh. The kid's smile was contagious, however, as Lea quickly joined in the laughter. Man, he sure missed this. He just wished Isa was with them. The more the merrier is what they say.
"Wonder what they're laughing about?" Goofy thought, while Donald snickered after hearing what Roxas called Lea.
Xion couldn't help but giggle as she explained, "Before I came, Roxas at first called Axel "Axess" during his first week in the Organization."
"Axess?" Donald repeated before he bursted out into hysterical laughter while even Namine giggled and Mickey and Goofy both tried not to laugh.
"Oh, sure. Make the fun outta me, why dontchas?" Lea responded sarcastically, but decided that he didn't care. Thinking back now, it was a bit funny. Though he hoped it wouldn't go against him constantly.
"A-ha! I did it!" A familiar voice suddenly shouted next to the group who jumped in fright, before realising that the voice belonged to none other than Scrooge McDuck who was holding a familiar ice cream bar in one hand while holding his cane in the other.
"Did what, Uncle Scrooge?" Donald asked to get his uncle's attention after having briefly forgotten that Scrooge had still been here. He was also a bit miffed for nearly having a heart attack due to the latter's outburst.
As though realising that he had company, Scrooge looked and smiled, before realising that Donald and Goofy were here without Sora and instead with a familiar face and four new commers, one who looked like Sora. Or rather, two familar faces and three new commers, one who looked like Sora. Because he was certain, gazing at the tall red haired young man in the black coat, he looked strikingly familiar.
"Why, your Majesty! It's been quite a while!" Scrooge chuckled as he greeted the King who smiled happily in return.
"It's great to see ya too, Scrooge!" Mickey replied, before asking, "What're you doin'?"
"I've been tryin' to to recreate my favorite old-time ice cream, and I finally succeeded. Aye, Sea-Salt Ice Cream is back!" Scrooge declared happily.
"You actually made Sea-Salt Ice Cream?" Roxas asked, eyes wide as he, Xion and Namine looked amazed.
Lea smirked, "That flavor used to be one of the famous around here 'till ten years ago. Twilight Town's not the only place that has it. I'm actually surprised this guy managed to re-create it. Then again, at least we'll have our favorite flavor around here."
That's when it finally hit Scrooge in the head as he gazed at Lea, realising, "Ach, you're that lad who used to live 'ere. Ya certainly 'ave grown fast, lad."
"You remember me?" Lea asked caught off-guard, eyes wide in disbelief.
"You know each other?" Goofy asked, confused.
Feeling uncomfortable as memories of his teenage days crept up, and hesitating due to Roxas and Xion not being on the best terms with Saix even though he was aware that they'd seen everything that happened when they were still inside Sora, Lea awkwardly replied, "Y-yeah. It was back when me and Isa were kids. Eleven years ago, this guy came and was selling Sea-Salt Ice Cream. We don't actually know each other. I just happened to be one of his costumers."
"I thought anyone couldn't get to other worlds until last year." Roxas frowned.
Mickey suddenly gulped before whistling sheepishly as uncomfortable memories filled his mind. He shouldn've known something like this would happen. It had been eleven years since...something else happened. He didn't even notice Namine's uncomfortable look as she gazed at him. She knew what he was thinking, because it concerned Sora.
'Maybe now isn't the best time to ask him. I mean, I should be gone and inside Kairi. I didn't think I can be here to ask King Mickey.' Namine thought to herself.
"Well...something kinda happened during that time." Mickey finally admitted, causing the four former Nobodies to glance at him, before he quickly added, "But don't worry! It's already been taken care of!...You know, before Maleficent and Xehanort attacked."
"Whatever." Lea waved it off.
Unknown to the group, a suspicious looking figure who looked like a jester in multiple colours, manly yellow, stood on the roof top near where they had emerged from the Gummi Ship, watching the four highly anthropomorphic animals and the four humans. Yet, the jester knew, there was more to the humans, because he can sense it.
"What's this? Four highly anthropomorphic animals giving an assassin, a key of destiny, a witch and a puppet a tour of this rundown city used to be full of light to call home?" He inquired to himself, and as though finding this both amusing and infuritating, he snickered to himself, "Oh this is rich-so rich it gives me gas! Gives me gas, I say! Hahaha!"
Which a second later he, er...gave out a bit of gas.
"And I give it back." He added, before growling softly to himself. "This. Won't. Do."
The man then noticed the group giving their farewell to Scrooge before they continued on towards the Borough, and continued to himself with a smirk before suddenly teleporting to one side and then the other, eventually standing on the arch while well out of sight of the group.
"These pititful younglings, think they can rebegin their lives and not fully accepting the Darkness in the path they rightfully belonged to. Not to mention they falsefully believe they are human! That pyro maniac doesn't even have a clue that his fusion isn't fully completed, and both those two nobodies of Sora and Kairi believe they are whole and the Puppet-it thinks it has a heart of it's own now? Completely pathetic and disillusioned fools!"
He paused before teleporting to another hiding spot when the group came a bit too close, knowing that they could sense and hear him, before an idea formed in his mind; a wicked idea.
"Perhaps that pryo's Nobody would be a good use if he continues giving into the fear of fading away once he sees this. As for the King, no doubt the Witch has her eyes on him; he has been here in another crisis. They could be quite useful...to get to Sora's Nobody. Or even...that brooding swordsman and his manifested darkness..." He continued.
With this plan in mind, he laughed maniacally before disappearing to begin carefully filling up his plot that would involve the group.
Xion froze up just before the went around the corner where Merlin's house was located and spun to see where this feeling she had came from. She looked up at the roofs of the buildings, but didn't see anything or anyone. She could've sworn she sensed something.
"You okay, Xion?" Roxas asked as he and the others noticed their friend stopped before they approached her.
"I...I thought I sensed someone watching us." The former Replica replied.
"Like who?" Donald asked, as he and the others shared concerned glances.
"I don't know..."
"Organization XIII?" Goofy asked, worriedly.
But Lea shook his head firmly, "No. Other than me, Rox' and Xion even though we're not Nobodies anymore, everyone else are gone. I should know, because the first five to go were Lexaeus, Vexen, Larxene, Marluxia, and Zexion."
"This was before I returned to Sora." Roxas remembered, thinking back of his memories that had returned.
"They wouldn't...happen to have been at Castle Oblivion, right?" Mickey asked, frowning.
"Yeah." Lea nodded. Mentally, he was feeling uncomfortable again. He actually thought he wasn't there at that moment, and even though it already happened when he was Axel...something else...strange. 'Why do I feel...like I wasn't there?'
"Oh, right. Riku was there too, right?" Roxas asked.
"It was also the place where I was born." Namine added, lowering her head. "After Sora saved Kairi."
"That's also the place where Vexen created me." Xion added.
"Huh? You were at Castle Oblivion too?" Mickey asked, surprised as he gazed at the former Replica.
"There was more to that place than the fact that it was a giant maze with some kind of power that makes people get lost and not being able to figure out it's mysteries. 'People who step into it are forever lost into Oblivion, unable to solve it's mystery'." Lea explained. "That's what Xemnas once said."
The King frowned, "But what would Xemnas would want with Castle Oblivion if he even wanted Kingdom Hearts?"
"Who knows?" The redhead shrugged. No, it wasn't time to mention about his and Saix's secret plot to figure out Xemnas' secret agenda yet. Not even about the Chamber of Waking.
Suddenly his eyes widened as another memory came into his mind, hitting him like someone threw a brick right at his forehead.
FlashBack: During the events of "KH: 358/2 Days"...
Axel had no idea why Xion was being stubborn or what she was talking about. Dreams, memories...with him in them. Sure he'd been here, but he sure as hell knew he never encountered Xion in this place. Only Sora and his two companions. And Namine.
"You can't fool me. We've met before, Axel, right here in this castle!" Xion yelled, both in desperation and in anger. Two things that Nobodies should not have.
"No, we have not." Axel told his friend calmly, placing his hands on the girl's shoulders. "Let's go home, Xion. Don't keep Roxas waiting."
Xion shook her head, and as far as she was concerned, Roxas was the last thing on her mind right now. "Please, Axel...you've got to help me! I need to know who I am." squirming out of the redhead's hands and ran past him, much to his shock.
"Stop! Stay out of there! Xion!" Axel yelled out, quickly giving chase as his friend enters through the golden doors at the end of the hall. "Wait, Xion!"
But before he could enter the room, something suddenly blasted right at him causing him to scream while he skid and hit the wall hard. The redhead hissed in pain, wondering who managed to attack him out of the blue for. When Axel looked up, his eyes narrowed in shock and anger, as a figure, younger than himself but slightly older than both Roxas and Xion, stood there with a bat wing-like sword, silver hair and a blindfold.
"Don't stand in the way." The figure warned, darkly.
End of FlashBack:
Lea blinked, as though he'd been briefly electrocuted by a Thunder Spell or something. Where'd that memory come from?
"Lea? Are you alright?" Mickey asked, worriedly.
"Sorry, what?" The redhead asked, vaguely confused. He was suddenly aware that everyone was gazing at him, most with worried gazes, and Donald with a suspicious look.
"Ya looked like you blanked out. Is somethin' wrong?" The King added.
Realising that the memory-Axel's memory-hit him out of nowhere, Lea placed a hand to his head, eventually replying, "No. I'm fine." but in truth, maybe he wasn't fine. He seemed fine yesterday, even after Xemnas had been destroyed. What was going on?
'Wait. Why am I thinking like this? Axel's me and I'm him...' Lea thought, but something wasn't adding up. 24 hours ago, he believed he did everything as a Nobody and as a human beforehand. So why was he thinking like he was different from his other half?
"...thing's...not right."
"What?" Lea blinked, looking around as a voice echoed. It sounded...very familiar.
"Ax-Uh, Lea?" Roxas blurted out, correcting himself while wondering what his friend was saying.
"Did you guys hear that?" Lea responded.
"Did we hear what?" Goofy asked, confused.
"Didn't you hear someone speaking?"
Roxas, Xion, Namine, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and even Jiminy shared confused glances, before turning back to the redhead and shook their heads. Lea blinked, confused, glancing around again.
"I coulda sworn..." He began, before shaking his head slightly and finally muttered, "Maybe it's just my imagination."
At least he hoped it was.
All of the sudden, the group found themselves surrounded by Shadow Heartless that appeared, alarming them.
"Heartless!?" Mickey exclaimed.
"Again?" Roxas grunted, and automatically attempted to summon his Keyblades, but found, to his and everyone else's surprise, not only could summon one, but it wasn't the Kingdom Key he, Sora and Xion all shared and replicated. Instead, this Keyblade was different; it was Oblivion. One of the twin Keyblades he used to wield in his last battle against Axel in the virtual Twilight Town.
"What?" The former Nobody muttered.
"Look out!" Donald cried out, as a Heartless leaped at Roxas who reacted just in time and slashed the Heartless into Oblivion with his, well, Oblivion Keyblade.
Xion followed suit, and to her and everyone else's surprise, like Roxas's Keyblade, her Keyblade was different; It was the other Keyblade he'd used in his dual-wielding; The Oathkeeper.
"What's going on?" She asked, stunned, before quickly slashing at another Heartless that attempted to attack her.
Grunting and summoning his Chakrams, Lea informed the group firmly, "Let's worry about that later! We gotta take these things out first!" before blocking two Heartless before slashing them into pieces and then hissed when one managed to catch him off-guard, sending him to the ground. Thankfully, Mickey, who had summoned his Keyblade, leaped and destroyed the Heartless that covered the redhead who was surprised before nodding his thanks after the King nodded to him.
Donald summoned his Staff and casted Firaga at the Heartless while Goofy, realising that Namine couldn't fight, kept her close to him and smacked Heartless away with his shield before Roxas, Xion and Lea realised the same thing before hurrying to her side, pushing her and Goofy out of the way when one of the Army Heartless nearly attacked the duo from behind.
"Try and stay in a safe place 'til things calm down!" Lea ordered to the young blond-haired girl who nodded and hurried to hide behind nearby crates. He then turned his attention back to the Heartless that nearly attacked her and Goofy before tossing his weapons at it where it had no chance of escaping.
Roxas by then tossed his Keyblade the same way Sora always did and as promised, despite both of them being seperate people now, it seemed some skills could still be shared. He dodge-rolled out of the way as more Heartless swiped at him or casted spells of Fire, Ice or Thunder at him and his friends who also dodged the attacks.
The group continued to fight until the Heartless were defeat. Or at least they thought, until ten more appeared, once again trapping the group to the corner where Namine was hiding, and the fighters grunted, tensed and very annoyed.
"Ugh! Where are they coming from?" Roxas grunted, frustrated.
"Hey, go away!" Donald yelled, agitated.
The Heartless then leaped to attack again, and Lea was about to blast a fire ball at them when suddenly a Shuriken appeared out of nowhere, elimating three while a familiar man appeared, wielding a gunblade and slashed at the remaining Heartless, accompinied by a familiar seventeen year old ninja girl who went to retrieve her Shuriken and helped the man to finish off the rest.
"Hey, it's Yuffie and Leon!" Goofy exclaimed in relief.
"Hey, guys!" Yuffie greeted as she turned to face them, before asking Mickey, Donald and Goofy, "Where's Sora? And who're these guys?" while gazing at Lea, Roxas, Xion and Namine who rejoined them.
Before anyone could answer, as Leon turned, he then pointed his gunblade at Lea who froze, as did everyone else. "If you're holding the King and our friends hostage, think twice before you end up caught yourself."
"What?" The redhead asked.
"You're with Organization XIII, right?"
'Oh, that's right.' Lea thought, realising that since he was still wearing the coat, this guy-whom was somehow familiar-thought he was still a member of the Organization.
"Hold on, Leon." Mickey quickly told him as he approached the gunblader. "He's a friend and he helped us and Sora to find Riku and Kairi and to stop the Organization. Not only that, he and the other three are human now."
"Huh?" Yuffie asked, surprised, glancing back and forth between the trio and the new commers, two(Lea and Xion) who were wearing the Organization Coats, which she never saw before, but had heard from Leon and Sora.
"But he and that girl used to be part of the Organization, weren't they?" Leon pointed out.
"When you put it that way, yeah. But we ditched the Organization since they wanted to destroy us." Lea answered, trying to ignore the fact that the gunblader's weapon was aimed to stab him. He then suddenly remembered who this guy really was and added, mocking a pout, "And is that a way to treat an old class-mate at high school, Squall?"
"How do you-" Leon cut himself off when he expected more closely at the redhead before his eyes widened slightly, muttering in disbelief, "...Lea?"
Lea grinned, "Bingo! And just so you know, I used to be a Heartless and a Nobody, but as luck would have it, I got my heart back."
"Class-Mate?" Roxas asked, confused. He gazed at Xion and Namine who both shook their heads, not having a clue what their best friend meant either.
"Leon and Lea used to go to the same High School?" Goofy asked, confused while gazing at Donald who groaned due to his friend's stupidity and facepalmed himself in annoyance.
"They don't mean any harm. You can trust them." Mickey ensured.
Despite this, Leon was still hesitating even though he now recongised Lea back in their childhood days, and while neither of them or Isa had been friends, they did attend the same school together, and for a long time, the lone-wolf man always did find the redhead's personality and quirks to be loud, annoying and obnoxious.
"Fine." Leon finally replied, lowering his weapon. "Let's head inside Merlin's house so you can explain everything."
He then lead the group to the house, while Lea sighed in relief, but he paused when he saw a glimpse of red and black around the corner. Gasping, he whirled around but saw no one. Furrowing his brows, he then shrugged and decided it was his imagination again before he followed the others inside.
But there was more to that then the redhead had thought.
A/N: I know this is such a slow start and I'm sorry for that. But at least I managed to update this again, though I probably won't be able to for the next few days(or the next week or so the more likely) but I intend to finish this story like I try to do with the others(And I know that I'm taking forever with them, but I can't help it).
See you in the next chapter!