Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy © to Disney and Square Enix!

Kraig and TJ © to YamiChaos27!

Iunia and Nico and other OCs © to me!

Joy © to Njoy!

Akira © to Lucywind!

Cowey and Sally © to my students!


Chapter 19: Wayfinders


"Are you sure?"

"Of course!" Axel grinned. "We have plenty of room here!"

"Alright. We'll be there tomorrow morning." Aqua, on the other side of the gummi phone, nodded. "Thank you."

The call ended.

Axel stood up from his usual chair in the library before stepping outside. He could hear Xion and Isa cooking in the kitchen. Roxas was out taking photos at a soccer game.

"Hey guys." He walked in as Xion closed the oven. "So, Aqua, Terra, and Ven are coming over tomorrow. When Roxas gets back, I'll ask him to help me set up the guest rooms."

"We can work on some dinner plans for everyone."

"Yeah!"

Axel smiled as they began to chatter on with new ideas.

Within an hour, Roxas came back, only to find Axel sweeping the entrance. "What's up?"

"Aqua, Terra, and Ven are coming over tomorrow? Think you can set up the guest rooms?"

"Yeah. Do we want to set up the couch as well?"

"Probably a good idea."

"I'll get started on that."

"Great."


"Whoa! This place is cool!"

"It looks so warm."

The front door opened and Xion stepped out, smiling at the three who approached. "Nice to see you again!"

"Good to see you too, Xion." Terra smiled warmly at her as she took a few steps toward them. "How are things?"

"They're going well. You're coming to see Jiminy, right?"

Aqua nodded. "He wanted to check in with us. And we're probably due for a mental health check-in."

"More like 10 years too late." Ven smirked.

"Did you cut your hair?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah. I did."

"Then we're not totally doubles anymore." Roxas smirked as he stepped outside.

"Yeah, but we still look really similar."

"True."

Ven ran a hand through his shorter hair. "We also figured we'd get some new clothes, since we've been wearing the same stuff for 10 years."

"Hard to believe it's been that long."

"Yeah…"

After 10 years, Roxas could see why they wanted a change.

Ven, whose very clothes were similar to Roxas's before, now wore a long shirt with gray sleeves; the shirt itself faded from a soft blue to a soft lavender, with clouds covering the design, like a morning dawn fading into the blue of the day but with a golden collar. Under that, he wore black pants, long black gloves, and a pair of brown boots.

Terra's hair seemed longer, now pulled into a ponytail, with parts of it braided along the sides. He wore a black shirt with the right sleeve being longer than the left. Tan gloves covered his hands and a bandaged part on his left arm; did he get injured? Over the shirt he wore a tunic with a tan part that faded into a soft pink on one side, and a emerald green on the other. And his brown pants tucked neatly into his black boots.

Aqua wore her hair up in a bun. Under a blue cape that hung to her knees, she wore a sea-green dress over black leggings. Her boots, which looked like swirling flower petals, were white with pink on the inside of some of the petals. Shimmering holo-white sleeves covered her arms, with black gloves underneath.

"Hey guys! Welcome to our abode." Axel and Isa exited the house. Kosho followed, immediately running to Aqua, sniffing her leg.

"Puppy!" Ven reached out, only for the dog to pull back.

Isa walked over, patting the dog's head. "He is shy around men for the most part. Give him some time and he'll warm up to you."

"Aw, ok."

As the guests came inside, Xion hurried to the kitchen to check on her latest culinary creation. "Isa, I think it's almost done!"

"Let me come look." He came, peaking into the oven. "I think so. I hope it comes out right. And if it doesn't, we'll find a way to make it work."

"Ok."

Aqua poked her head into the kitchen as Xion reached into the oven. "What are you making?"

"I made a chocolate meringue pie!" The girl pulled out the pie tin, with the swirling, toasted top poking over the edges. "It's my first time making meringue."

"It's a tough thing to get right. I messed up my first few times making it." Aqua looked at the pie. "Do you bake a lot?"

"Mostly cook savory stuff. Isa has been teaching me."

The woman smiled warmly. "I love baking myself. I can send you some of my recipes if you want to try some more desserts. And I have some great bread recipes."

"I'd like that!"

Isa patted the younger girl's head. "Let's let the pie cool for a bit. Why don't you go check on the others?"

"Ok!"

As she ran out, Aqua turned to Isa. "How are they settling in?"

"Well. They've been going to school and are involved in club activities. There's been a bully problem, but the teachers are keeping a close eye on Roxas and Xion. And if we have any more incidents, Axel and I are going to have a meeting with the parents of the bullies; we've got some choice words for them. How about you three? I'm sure going back into the Realm of Darkness wasn't easy."

Sitting in a kitchen chair, the woman let out a long sigh. "It wasn't, but not being alone was wonderful. We also made the plan to only stay in the Realm of Darkness for short durations at a time- a week or two. Then, we'd come home and rest for a little bit. And Jiminy checking up on us has been nice. He insisted that we come see him during our rest."

"Jiminy is a saint. He's been doing counseling for all four of us as well."

"How are you doing? I know Roxas and Xion probably didn't trust you at first."

"I was going to ask the same thing." Terra stepped into the room with a soft smile.

Isa actually wanted to talk a little with Terra. They'd both suffered under Xehanort's control for longer than anyone else, and Terra far longer than him. But they had similarities the others didn't share.

Isa leaned against the kitchen counter. "It was interesting at first, but after I took guardianship of Xion, things started getting better. I think they trust me completely now."

"They do." Axel slipped in behind Terra. "We all do."

The four adults all smiled.

Clapping his hands, Axel grinned. "Well, I know Xion made pie, but we figured we could do dinner at the bistro and dessert back home. You're our guests after all."

"That sounds wonderful!"

About twenty minutes later, Xion came back inside, going straight to her pie. "Oh no! It shrunk!" The pretty meringue shriveled down to three-fourths the size it was when it came out of the oven, revealing the chocolate filling.

Aqua came over. "I'm sorry. It's hard to get meringue right. But I think we can fix this. Do you have any graham crackers?"

"I think so." The girl went and grabbed a bag of crackers.

"Why don't we crush them up and cover the chocolate and make it a s'more pie."

"That's a great idea!"

Roxas and Ven came into the room as Xion and Aqua began crushing the crackers. "So, dinner plans?"

"After the girls finish up with the dessert."

"And it won't take long."


"This is delicious."

Axel swallowed his last bite. "The bistro is the best. It's hard not to eat here every day, but we do have two great chefs in our house, so that helps."

Roxas paused, glancing past Xion. "Hey, Aqua. Can you come with me for a minute?"

"Sure."

Standing up, the two left the table, much to the confusion of the others. Roxas pointed. "Those are the kids I told you about."

Caden, Cowey, Sally, Matthias, and Marisa sat on a bench all talking.

"Guys!"

"Roxas!" The four younger kids hopped up, rushing to the teen. He smiled as they chattered up at him, with him barely being able to make out a word amongst the chorus of small voices.

"Guys, I want you to meet someone. This is my friend, Aqua."

Marisa gasped. "You're so pretty!"

"Why thank you."

Glancing over at her, Roxas watched. He could see her gaze focus for a moment as she looked across the children.

"Can you do magic too? My mommy doesn't believe it's real."

Aqua giggled. "Maybe I can show you some other time. Roxas and I have to get back to our friends. See you all later."

"Aw… ok bye!"

They headed back toward the table. "So?"

"I didn't sense the power in any of them, but they could have potential. So, be more careful with the Keyblade in the future. Honestly, Terra and I should give everyone a crash course. Do most of you not know about the many functions of the Keyblade?"

"I know it can be a sword, a magical focus, and it can unlock things and hearts."

"It does more than that."

"Maybe we do need a crash course, though I doubt most of us here plan to use it much unless the worlds need us again."

Aqua sighed. "And none of your chose this burden… well, Axel did, but for yours and Xion's sakes."

Roxas never considered that.

The Keyblade was always something he'd had, and it made his life harder.

But it was hard for everyone with this power, but in different ways.


"Well, Aqua is with Jiminy today, so what should we do?"

The next morning, Isa stood by Xion as she cooked breakfast. Aqua headed out early to get some quiet training time in before she went to see the cricket.

"I'd like to spend some time with Isa and Xion." Terra took a sip of coffee.

"You mean the ex-vessels?" Isa smirked.

"More or less."

Xion giggled. "Should we gather up the rest of us once a year and have a reunion where we hang out and bad mouth Xehanort?"

"Actually, we should totally do that."

"I'm up for it."

Roxas looked over at Ven. "Want to come hang out with me, Axel, and some of the other guys? We're going to do some sparring at the sandlot."

"Sounds fun!"

Roxas smiled warmly as the day's plans came together.

And plans for the next day.

And the next.

Ven and Terra looked so happy. He remembered seeing them first at the battle, after Kairi was killed.

They were somber.

Worried, but didn't want to show it.

But now, they looked so different.

Their eyes still held the lingering worry about Sora, as did everyone's, but there was a peace in them now as well.

Aqua said life with a Keyblade was hard…

But having people like this around certainly made things much easier.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

"Yeah!"


"We really need to come visit your world soon."

"Maybe that ex-vessel party can be there." Terra laughed.

He, Isa, and Xion sat in the back garden of the mansion. Kosho sat, his head on Isa's lap as Xion tended their little vegetable garden.

"We really do need to do that."

Terra smiled down at Xion. "How are things going for you?"

"Good. I'm in the drama club, and I got the lead in the school play."

"Really? How is that going?"

"Well. Right now, I'm just trying to remember my lines and learn my songs, especially the solo song I have."

The man's eyes widened. "Wow! You guys need to tell everyone when the play is happening. I'm sure we'd all like to see it."

Xion's face turned red at the thought of so many people coming to see her. "Really?"

"Really."

Isa leaned back. "You're going to see Jiminy tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah. I hope he has some advice on nightmares."

"You have nightmares?"

"Yeah. I see flashbacks of things Xehanort did while possessing me. It's not fun."

Xion glanced back. "I had nightmares too, and still do sometimes. Jiminy has me keeping a dream journal, and Isa got me something that helped." Jumping up, she ran inside, coming back a few minutes later with her teddy bear, Stella. "See!"

Handing the bear to the young man, she went back to the garden.

"Don't know if stuffed animals are your speed, Terra."

"Actually, when I first came to stay with Master Eraqus, I had a toy bear too. I think I got rid of it when I thought I was too grown up for it. But, I guess you can never be too grown up to just need something to hug."

"I know where you can buy one! I've been saving up for a big one anyway!"

"She's become a bit of a collector." Isa smirked. "How many do you have now?"

"Seven! Stella the bear, Shelly the turtle, Missy the skunk, Marie the cat, Wally the alligator, Berry the pig, and Candy the pink bear! I want to get a giant bear! They have one that's almost four feet tall!"

Shaking his head, Isa chuckled. "Roxas collects random things and photos, and Xion collects stuffed animals."

"I used to collect crystals." Terra admitted. "Around the castle there are so many mountains, and if you look carefully there are tons of crystals. They're not really worth much, but they look really cool. I'd pick up some from different worlds I visited with the master when I was younger."

Isa went inside as Xion looked back at Terra. "You could start it up again. Maybe we could find one around here. I wouldn't know where to look though. I could ask my science teacher on Monday. He might know."

"Maybe."

Coming back out, Isa held a tray with three glasses of lemonade. He handed one to each of them before sitting down.

"Thank you!"

Terra held up his glass with a playful smile. "I propose a toast. To not being a vessel of Xehanort and to new beginnings!"

"I'll drink to that."

"Me too!"

"Cheers!"


"It's like looking at twins!" TJ looked between Ven and Roxas.

"You should've seen me before I cut my hair."

Roxas nodded. "We were nearly identical."

"Cool."

"Hey!" Seifer stepped into the sandlot. "I don't know if you forgot, but this is our turf!"

Axel rolled his eyes. "Get off your high horse, Seifer. This is a public space, and just because you're older than these guys that doesn't give you the right to be a jerk."

Sitting on the sidelines, Kraig's eyes glanced up from the book in his hands. "Not to mention practically all of them can kick your butt, Seifer."

"Shut it, wallflower."

Kraig smirked.

Ven narrowed his eyes at this older boy. Who the heck was he?

"And what the heck? Chicken-wuss, where'd you get a double?"

Chicken-wuss!?

"Hey!" Ven stormed up to Seifer. "If you think I'm just going to let you talk to my friend like that, you're sorely mistaken."

Roxas stepped up, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's ok, Ven. He's just sore because he can't beat me."

"You wanna back those words up!?"

"Only if you want to eat dirt again."

Ven blinked.

He'd heard about Roxas and the pain he'd suffered.

But, the boy before him stood strong in front of a bully, ready to back up his words with actions, and not back down to anyone.

Ven grinned happily, crossing his arms while gently nudging Roxas, letting him know Ven was with him all the way.

If this guy was going to back down, Ven would be there, and if they were going to fight, he'd be there too.

"Whatever." Seifer stepped back. "I've got stuff to do." He walked away, his head still held high.

"Gosh, it's the best seeing him get his just desserts." Hayner smirked. "Years of dealing with his bull. It just feels great."

TJ spun his struggle bat. "Now that he's gone, wanna do a sparring tourney?"

"That would be awesome."

Axel walked over and sat beside Kraig. "You want in or no?"

"Do they want me in?"

He pointed, counting. "We're ok. If you don't want in, I'll sit out too."

"I'd rather sit this one out."

"Sounds good then." The young man stood up. "Kraig and I will sit out and watch."

"Alright."

Going back to the bench, Axel sat down, watching as Kraig put on a pair of headphones. "What's that book?"

"It's a classic novel called Invisible Spring. It's about a young man who is trapped in a magical garden. One day a girl finds her way in. She comes to visit him, and they fall in love."

"I didn't take you for a fan of romance novels. But it sounds interesting."

"It's part of a series. Each of the characters is named for a flower. The characters are all connected in some way. Don't know if you'd be interested, but I've got a copy of the first book in the series. It's called Spring in the Window."

Axel smiled. "I'd love to read it."

Kraig handed him the book as the others began sparring.

Starting with Ven vs TJ.


Jiminy sat in his office with his tiny coffee cup.

Thank goodness for toy stores that had stuff his size.

He'd spent the last three days taking time with Terra, Aqua, and Ven individually.

Hopefully, they'd come up with plans for each of them to help them through their trauma.

He'd be checking up on them.

These in-person meetings certainly helped. He'd been meeting weekly with the four in town.

Now…

Who next?

Going to his gummi computer, he typed up a message to two people.

'I think it would be helpful for you to come and see me in person. When is a good time for you both?'

Waiting, he smiled as he saw replies from the two.

Riku and Naminé.


So, I do still plan to write individual stories for each of these groups, but that will be a ways off. I figured this was a good way to set it up.