Those Who Dreamed Chapter 8 - Conflict, a kingdom hearts fanfic

Chapter 8 – Conflict

"Isa! You can't hide from me!" Even as Lea said the words, he feared he was wrong. He raced through an endless swirl of color, searching for where Isa had disappeared.

There. Up ahead. He went through the portal after them right before it closed. Neon lights blinked on the signs surrounding the familiar streets of The World That Never Was. Isa had stopped and thrown Roxas to the ground. They were surrounded by Nobodies, slinking and dancing and otherwise keeping Roxas from escaping.

"You're going to walk from here," Isa said dully.

Roxas glared up at him. "Are you kidding? What makes you think I'm coming with you?"

Lea smiled. It was good to see Roxas still had the same fight in him as ever.

"You don't have the Keyblade anymore. You're helpless without it."

Roxas staggered to his feet. "We'll see about that."

Lea clapped and approached them. "Well said, Roxas. And he might not have a Keyblade anymore, but guess who does?" He sent his flying, red-hot flames licking the air and taking out the Nobodies keeping Roxas trapped. Roxas darted out of the way, and Isa blocked the attack with his Claymore. When he looked at Lea, his golden eyes were blazing.

"You're choosing him over me again?! After all we've been through together? After all I did for you?!"

Lea caught his Keyblade. "I don't want to fight you, Isa. It doesn't have to be like this. Just let him go."

"No. I have my orders. I cannot disobey our master."

"Our master?" Lea scoffed. "Speak for yourself. I'm through working for Xehanort. That goes for every version of him."

"You really think you can escape him that easily? You're naïve! You always have been!"

"Shut up!"

"Xehanort will have you in the end. He'll have you both."

That did it. Lea refused to let Roxas fall into their clutches again. He grabbed his jacket and tossed it to him.

"Roxas, get out of here." He guarded Isa's bludgeoning attack. Then he cast fire magic that completely surrounded Isa. There. That should buy them some time.

Roxas stayed rooted to the spot. "No, I won't leave without you!"

Tch, loyal as ever. "You can't fight right now. Sora wants to give you a Keyblade of your own, but you have to actually talk to him for that to happen."

Roxas's eyes went wide. "He does?"

"Duh. We need all the help we can get in this fight. Sea salt ice cream's the key. Got it memorized? Now go!" Lea opened a portal and shoved Roxas through it.

I just have to distract Isa long enough for Roxas to escape. That's all.

He watched as Roxas's face disappeared amidst the swirl of black. Godspeed, buddy.

"X… It started with an X…" Sora frowned and slumped against one of the lumpy couches in the Old Mansion. A cloud of dust puffed out of the sheet covering it, and Kairi and Riku coughed. The rest of the name just wouldn't come, no matter how hard he tried.

"You'll remember, just give it some time," Kairi said, trying to be encouraging.

Sora turned to Riku. "Do you remember?"

"Not yet. Naminé's doing her best," Riku replied. His voice was strained, his patience nearing its limit. To be fair, Sora had been nagging him about it for a while, and Naminé really needed some rest—

A swirling cloud of darkness appeared before them, and they all jumped to their feet.

"Oh no!"

"How did they find us already?!"

A hooded figure emerged, the cloak it wore oddly big for its size. The hood fell away from its face, revealing a shock of spiky blond hair and piercing blue eyes. The three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"Roxas!" Sora tackled him with a full body hug. Thank goodness he was okay.

"Ooomph, not now!" Roxas said, untangling himself from Sora's embrace. Sora pouted but gave him his space. Roxas wasn't all that different from Riku when it came to physical affection.

Just who's Nobody were you, anyway? You act more like Riku than me sometimes.

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked. She looked behind him and frowned. "Where's Lea?"

"Oh, you mean Axel? That's why I'm here. He sent me back. He needs our help!" Roxas whirled on Sora. "Sora, I need a Keyblade, and quick!"

"Uh…" Sora turned helplessly to Riku. It was true, Sora was a Keyblade master now, but no one had ever sat him down and explained how to bequeath a Keyblade to someone else. That little detail had been overlooked in their rush to move on to the next stage of the plan. So had a lot of knowledge that Keyblade masters were supposed to be told, for that matter.

"In your hand, take this Key," Riku began.

"Hang on!" Sora said. He summoned his Keyblade and held it out to Roxas, who put his hand on it. Riku sighed and began again.

"In your hand, take this Key…"

"In your hand, take this Key," Sora repeated.

"So long as you have the makings…"

"…then through this simple act of taking…"

"…its wielder you shall one day be."

"Could we change that to right now?" Roxas asked.

"…its wielder you will be right now, because yes, we don't have time for this!" Sora said. "Roxas, I give you the power to wield the Keyblade. No heart is more worthy than yours. Now, champion your friends and fight for what is right!"

Roxas clutched his chest, a strange glow emanating from underneath his hand.

"That's a good sign, right?" Kairi said, chewing her lip.

"I think so," Sora replied. He'd never given anyone a Keyblade before, so it was hard to say.

"You guys go with him and provide backup," Riku said. "I'll let the others know what's going on."

The Corridor was still open, thankfully. Sora put his hood up, his clothing providing him protection from the darkness. Kairi didn't need it, with her natural immunity, and Roxas had what Sora assumed was Lea's cloak. Together the three of them went through the portal in search of their missing friend.

Lea panted and wiped his face, the flames from his latest attack finally dying down. "Isa, talk to me. Why are you still working for Xehanort? After we became human again, you should have been free from him."

"You understand nothing." Isa summoned a Corridor of Darkness, black smoke swirling behind him.

Stop him! You've got to stop him from leaving!

Lea clicked his tongue. "Sounds an awful lot like something Xehanort would say." He casually twirled his Keyblade in his hand. Isa eyed it, and Lea grinned. He knew he had him. "Careful there. Your eyes might go back to their natural green."

The Corridor disappeared. "How did you of all people get a Keyblade?"

Lea swallowed. This was good. Isa was talking to him instead of attacking or leaving. Maybe he could get through to him. "You could have one too, you know. All you have to do is switch sides."

"No. I can't."

"Why not? I did. They're good people, Isa. I had to earn their trust, but I'm their friend now. Kairi even forgave me for kidnapping her. No one is beyond saving. Not even you."

Isa was silent. Lea let his Keyblade disappear and held out his hand. "C'mon, it'll be like the old days."

"I… I can't."

Lea's temper flared, and he clenched his fists at his side. He'd been so close to getting through to him. It was like there was this block in the way, stopping his efforts.

"It's because of Xehanort, isn't it? I know what happened to Terra. He's controlling you, too, isn't he? He's forcing you to do what he wants!"

Isa frowned, finally letting his Claymore clatter to the streets. "I… don't know..."

"Isa, listen to me. Riku knows how to fight off possession, or whatever it is that Xehanort's done to you. He can help, I know he can. You just have to come with me."

"I want a Keyblade of my own."

Lea nodded. "We can get you one." Whether that was true or not didn't matter. He needed Isa to come with him. That was the important thing.

Isa took a step towards him, and Lea offered his hand again.

"Come with me, Isa. Please. I want my friend back."

Isa inched his way forward. Their fingers were mere inches from touching.

Just – a little – closer—

"Axel!"

Lea whirled around. Roxas was back. Kairi and Sora were with him, Keyblades in hand. Roxas summoned one, too, and Lea stared at it. The hilt was twisted into the Nobody's emblem. A seashell charm dangled off of it, and the blade was white with silver engravings. The teeth, checkered with black and white and red, formed the symbol for a heart.

So he finally had a Keyblade of his own. Man, Sora was good. And fast, too.

"Roxas! Sorry, buddy, but now's not really a good time," Lea said. Roxas looked from him to Isa, comprehension dawning on his face. But it was too late. The damage had already been done.

"You set me up! You traitor!" The look in Isa's eyes meant there was no getting through to him, but Lea tried anyway.

"No, Isa! This isn't what it looks like!"

Sora let his Keyblade disappear. "Isa, you—"

A group of Berserker Nobodies rushed Sora. He dove towards one of the Claymores they'd dropped. Kairi put a barrier around them, and Lea parried Isa's attack.

"I'm sorry."

"Too late for that. You never wanted to help me. You were just waiting for your backup to arrive."

"That's not true! I didn't know they were coming!"

Isa's Claymore caught him in the chest and sent him flying. He tumbled onto the streets and wound up slamming into one of the skyscrapers. Kairi was by his side in an instant, healing him as Roxas helped him to his feet.

"Let's see how you deal with this!" Roxas waved his hand in the air. One by one, a huge group of Nobodies appeared, each wielding multiple swords. They unsheathed them and attacked the Berserkers.

Kairi stared at them. "They're attacking the other Nobodies?!" Sure enough, these Nobodies were ignoring them and focusing on Isa's Nobodies instead. Nobody after Nobody crashed against the walls of the buildings as they struggled against each other. Some of them had even started attacking Isa himself.

"Woah!" Sora looked from them to Roxas. "These are your Nobodies, aren't they?"

Roxas nodded. "That'll buy us enough time. C'mon, let's get out of here!"

Lea summoned a Corridor, and Sora and Kairi disappeared through it. Roxas was about to go through, too, when he noticed Lea still standing there.

"Axel, c'mon! We have to go!"

Lea looked from Roxas to Isa. He had a choice to make, one he knew might affect the outcome of this war. He didn't want to lose himself. He didn't want to become one of Xehanort's pawns, forced to fight all his new friends. But he wanted to save Isa, and the only way to do that was to regain his trust. And the only way to regain his trust was to stay with him.

But then Roxas's voice broke through his thoughts. "Axel, please! I just got you back. I can't lose you again!"

Sometimes, having a heart just plain sucked. Lea's was torn between his longstanding loyalty to Isa and his desire to be with Roxas. And Kairi and Sora too, and all of the other people he'd met because of them. They were all his friends now, and it wouldn't be right to abandon them.

Lea looked at Isa again, hoping he'd understand.

"Go with him. Go with your friend," Isa spat.

Lea jumped into the portal after Roxas and turned to face Isa one last time. "Isa, I'll always come back for you. I promise."

The last image he saw as the portal closed was Isa's eyes. For the briefest of moments, they flickered green. That alone almost made him turn back. But then Roxas grabbed one of his hands, and Kairi the other, and he knew where he belonged. At least for now.

Kairi's grip on his hand tightened. "Lea, I'm so sorry, we thought—"

"It's okay. You were just trying to protect me."

"This is all my fault," Roxas whispered, hanging his head.

Lea let go of their hands so he could put his on Roxas's shoulders. "Hey, wipe that frown off your face. You were awesome back there. You've even got your own Keyblade now. Thanks to Sora, right?" He glanced at him, eyebrow raised, and Sora nodded.

"Guess that means you're my apprentice now, huh?" Sora said.

Roxas finally smiled. "Guess so. But there's a thing or two I could teach you about fighting."

"Hey now!" Sora crossed his arms, but his lips were twitching. Roxas laughed – how long has it been since I've heard him laugh? – and Sora burst into a smile.

Lea grinned and ruffled Roxas's hair. "That's the Roxas I know. Welcome back, buddy."

Kairi cleared her throat. "Here, I want to try this again," she said. "The first time, I kinda brushed you off." She rubbed the back of her neck and gave Roxas an awkward smile. "Sorry about that. It's nice to meet you again, Roxas." She offered her hand, and he shook it.

"Nice to meet you too, girl-that-Sora-likes," Roxas said, a sly smile on his face.

Oh you little troll. His words had their intended effect, though – Kairi giggled and looked at Sora, whose face was slowly turning a deeper shade of red. He turned and glared at Roxas.

"Thanks a lot for that, by the way. You spilled the beans before I had the chance to tell her myself."

Roxas rolled his eyes and laughed. "It was obvious. Something tells me she already knew."

"I did," Kairi replied, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Sora turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "You figured that out, but you couldn't even remember my name?"

Maybe he was trying to tease her, but the hurt look Kairi struggled to hide had Lea almost consider telling Sora it was his fault. He was the one who'd marched right through the front doors of a place called Castle Oblivion, after all. Not always the brightest one, was he? But it didn't seem right to interfere, and Kairi could stick up for herself just fine. Which she did.

"Hey, sometimes the feelings are there even when the memories are gone," she said. "I may have forgotten your name, but I could never forget what you mean to me."

Such a declaration would normally have gotten a happier reaction, but Sora's response was strangely aloof.

Huh. Seems like they still haven't sorted through whatever was bothering them back at Disney Castle. Once again, Lea bit his tongue. If Kairi wanted to talk to him about it, she would.

"Yeah," Roxas said, a heaviness to his tone. But why he was sad, and why Lea felt the same way – neither of them could say.

"Well, anyway," Kairi continued, "we should get going." She gave Lea a concerned look. "Since you don't have any protection against the darkness right now and all."

Roxas examined the people around him. "Thanks, guys. It's… it's good to be here."

"Good to have you back," Lea said. And he meant it, with all his heart.

When they arrived back at the Old Mansion, Kairi pulled Axel aside to repair any damage traveling through the darkness might have caused him, leaving Sora and Roxas to themselves. Roxas took a moment to look around. He'd had no time to pay attention to his surroundings when he'd first come back here.

The place looked as run-down as ever, broken furniture littering the foyer. The digital version he'd been stuck in for a week had done a pretty good job of capturing the, uh, charm of the place.

"We chose this as our new hideout?" he asked Sora, then shook his head and grinned. "You know, I'm beginning to think you like hanging out in dumps."

Sora turned around, his eyebrow raised, then saw the teasing smile on Roxas's face and returned it.

For so long he'd wanted to meet Sora. It still felt unreal, that they were here together. No longer did they have to fight for control over Sora's body. Instead they could stand side by side as friends.

Sora really was something. He'd refused to listen to all the people who'd told him Roxas didn't deserve to exist and had found a way to make it happen instead. And not only that. He'd gotten enough people to help that saving Roxas went from being a mere possibility to becoming a reality.

Roxas could only hope he would be as good a friend to Sora as Sora had been to him.

"Roxas!"

Roxas looked up. Standing there at the top of the stairs, leaning over the rickety-looking railing as if she hardly cared if it gave out and sent her tumbling to the ground so long as it brought them closer together, was Naminé.

Warmth flooded his chest. Sora had been the one to make all this possible, but Naminé had always been there for him when he needed her. And now she was here again, and there was so much to say and not enough words to say it in.

He looked to Sora for help.

What are you waiting for, dummy? You don't have to say a single thing. Just go to her. Roxas jolted. Sora's voice was there inside his head, and it took him a moment to realize Sora hadn't said a single thing out loud. As Roxas put it all together, Sora's grin lit up his entire face.

Right. Roxas turned back to Naminé. She smiled, and his heart fluttered because as corny as it was, he couldn't help but think she sort of looked like an angel, the way her golden hair framed her soft features and violet eyes.

Well, in a way he supposed she sort of was. Popping in and out of the digital Twilight Town to tell him what was really happening. Appearing in his heart dive to pull him out of the darkness. Seeing him as he truly was so that they could talk to each other when Sora and Kairi had finally been reunited.

She was always looking out for him. And now she was really, truly here. He could reach her without having to go through Sora and Kairi first. It was with that thought that his legs carried him up the stairs and closed the distance between them at long last.

His arms went around her, and when she hugged him back, it felt even nicer than he'd imagined.

"Welcome back, Roxas," she said when the hug was over, giving him the most angelic smile.

This mansion might be a dump, but it was where it had all began. If he and Naminé had a home, this was it. So it was with complete sincerity that he replied, "It's good to be home, Naminé."

A/N: The Nobodies Roxas summons in this chapter are called Samurai Nobodies, and they are indeed controlled by him. While he isn't technically a Nobody anymore, I figured he might still be able to control them because of the nature of his past existence. Plus it adds a unique combat style to the mix.

Whether Roxas would still be able to wield a Keyblade or not is something that hasn't really come up in canon yet to my knowledge, so I figured I would have Sora make it official. That way Roxas could get a unique Keyblade based off of his own heart instead of Sora's.

Also, since we don't know what said Keyblade might look like, I came up with a design of my own. The Japanese character for heart 心 makes up the teeth of the Keyblade, much like the character for light 光 makes up the teeth for Oathkeeper and darkness 闇 for Oblivion.

As always, thank you for reading!

SPOILER WARNING

Please read no further if you want to avoid spoilers, but one of the other pairings that will be featured throughout the story consists of...

SPOILER WARNING

... the two characters who were reunited at the end of this chapter. Unfortunately FFN limits the number of characters I can tag and I didn't want to spoil their return in the summary, so in the end I decided to mention the actual pairing itself in the author's notes instead.