Hey everyone,
Okay, so we got Godric's Hollow covered, now it's time to get back to the Garden and the whole thing with Lea and his parents. And while I won't be spending much more time on his mother other than to create a bit more of a backstory in regards to what Lea's upbringing was like, I do have plans for his father. Though while his mother was just some random OC, I have other plans for when it comes to his other parent.
Just wait,
Venquine1990
Chapter 42
The History Of Lea
1st of January 1996
Radiant Garden
Lea's POV
Harry had gone to bed only an hour after the New Year had started, returning to the Garden about ten minutes after midnight. And while he had joined in on the celebration with the Weasleys and the others for a bit, Ron and the others had been plenty understanding in why Sirius, Remus and Harry didn't really feel like celebrating all that much. Though to be honest, right now, I wish it was still the other day as I don't really feel comfortable with this.
Harry had, after breakfast, reminded me of how Master Ansem had asked me to meet with him today. And while I'd rather just forget that I met with my mother all-together, I also remember the man telling me that he has news on my other parent, my father who I never got to meet or know. A small part of me is wondering why I can't just enjoy the new year and my happy times with my mate, but I know Harry deserves to know this about me so I ignore this side of me.
We're sitting in the man's office, the man having done away with most of the test tubes in which he was studying a couple of crazy things back before I became Axel as well as the huge portrait of young Xehanort when he was using Terra's body and the whole office looks a lot better, more welcoming and even a little homey thanks to these changes. Even the simple desk chairs we're in have nice and fluffy cushions in them.
"Master, you said you have information on my father?" I ask as I open the conversation and the older looking blonde-haired man nods at me before he says: "I do, but why don't you first tell me what you know about him?" At this I sigh and mutter: "Less than Harry did about James, really. Mother never said anything about him. You see, I'm just the result of a one-night stand, nothing more." This shocks Harry and disgruntles Ansem and I continue:
"My mum comes from quite the high-society family and she definitely took that fact to heart growing up. She took her own future quite seriously and hardly ever did anything for fun while she was studying. She always told me that, between the time she started high-school and the day I was born, she only let herself go once and that was the week before she officially graduated. She just went out and flirted with whoever she felt like, including the man who became my father.
But she only met him that one night and found out that she was pregnant of him shortly after. She had no interest in telling him that I was on the way. She didn't even want me, but her father refused to let her give up on me. Instead, according to what I found out, they made a deal. Mum would become a stay-at-home mum and just raise me and her father paid her bills in return. But because she didn't want me, she was deeply against me meeting him – or anyone for that matter."
By now I wish that the master's office wasn't underground as I feel the need to stand in front of a window and look outside while talking, not feeling like looking at either the Master or my mate, who I am sure are both looking at me with concerned faces, while I speak. Yet at the same time it feels incredible and even a little uplifting to talk about this and so, while I am sulking with my arms crossed, I continue talking.
"She kept me at home at all times. The only light I ever got was from the few times a week she would open the windows. Though while my nursery was on the second floor, did she move it down to the ground floor when I grew too big for the room itself. Still, I wasn't allowed outside. Mum just made sure that her father paid for me to be homeschooled and that all my text books were delivered to the door, which she was always the one to open.
Still, over the years, because of how extensively she tried to keep teaching me, I learned to spot a few very valuable things about her, such as her insistent love to keep a structure in every little thing she did. Even if she suddenly had an unexpected appointment, she always made sure it only took as long as she wanted it to, which was usually half an hour. And by the time I was maybe seven or eight, I had learned to recognize when her schedule kept her out of home for longer periods of time.
I studied the stuff she wanted me to, but also learned how to order books she wouldn't want me to read, such as how to be a kid and how to sneak out. I learned how to pick the locks of the windows, how to replicate her movement when she would leave the house, how to hide the fact that I was gone when she was. And in those hours, I would roam the Garden, I met Isa and I got my friend. Then I heard about the whole apprenticeship and – I saw it as a way out.
Also yes, all of this is why it was so easy for little old me to let Xehanort help me denounce my heart and why I was such a lone wolf inside the Organization. I grew up unloved and the feeling of being without a heart was basically similar to me as to how I felt before I grew these skills. Yes, Isa and Ventus were friends of mine, but – well, you know the story." Both the Master and my young love give me understanding nods and I ask Ansem:
"So, what do you know of my father?" And the man utterly astounds me as he says: "His identity, which is why I send Roxas out to find him. Though Roxas doesn't yet know why I want to find the man in question, I promised I would explain once he found him. And I have good news for you, Lea. Earlier the other morning, Roxas actually spotted him in the Keyblade Graveyard. I asked him earlier today to return there and to inform me once he got close."
And just as he says this does the Gummi phone that is lying on his desk start to ring and buzz, moving ever so slightly across the desk as it does. Ansem takes the phone and accepts the call: "Great timing, Roxas. I just told Lea of having send you off. So I suppose you found him.""Yeah, he's just a few feet ahead of me, though he hasn't spotted me yet just like the other day. So tell me, Master Ansem, why did you want me to find him anyway?"
At this Ansem looks at me questioningly. I sigh and give the man a nod before taking the phone from him. "Hey Roxas. Thanks for finding him for me. You see – wait, is that – BRAIG?""Wait, you asked Master Ansem to have me find Braig, but you didn't even know that Master Ansem was looking for Braig at the same time? How does that even work?" Roxas asks, while my shocked gaze remains locked on the scarred man in the distance behind him.
That is until Harry takes the Gummi Phone from me and tells Roxas: "It's like this, Roxas. On the day that Lea proposed to me, we got confronted by his mother who is a really nasty piece of work. But she was also the only one who ever raised Lea and Master Ansem found out about it. It made him want to find out who Lea's father was and when he did, he asked you to find him. I guess the only thing left to do now is – find out if Braig ever knew."
"Do you want me to go up and ask him?" Roxas asks, but by this point I have recovered from the shock I felt over finding out who my father is and the fact that I have actually known him for years without knowing who he is to me and my mate's words have ignited my own curiosity. I shake my head and just focus on his location before raising my arm. A dark corridor appears and I look at Harry, who nods, but then Ansem says:
"Leave the Gummi phone here, Harry. And Roxas, keep the call going. I'm going to go call on Dilan and Aeleus and will want to hear his answer to Harry's statement myself. If he did, I will have him arrested for everything he did to Lea in the years he was Axel. If not, I will leave his punishment to how he responds to the news." I spot both Harry and Roxas, on screen, nodding in acceptance and Harry leaves the phone on the desk as we pass through the corridor.
We reach the Keyblade Graveyard, which is nothing more than a huge wasteland with clouds of dust and heavy winds of sand and grovel blowing all over, passing through all of the rusty-looking Keyblades that are partially buried all over the landscape. Harry covers his mouth a bit when he reaches through the corridor, but after a few minutes he gets used to the wind blowing dust all over and looks around, at all the mountains that also all show signs of being battle-worn.
He looks around as I hone in on Braig, who seems to just wander around the long path that is in front of the small mountain hill we are standing on. And to my shock, the man actually summons a very familiar looking Keyblade, his one good eye apparently fixed on the bright blue one that is set at the top of the hilt of the blade. "How – how did he get Xehanort's Keyblade?" I whisper in shock and Roxas whispers back:
"I don't know, but I saw him do the same the other day and just before I called Master Ansem. And look, just like the other two times he seems disappointed about something before he dismisses the blade again. It's almost as if he's expecting something to happen now that he has that thing.""Well then, let's make something happen for him." But while I say this, I silently think: "Or to him if I find out that he knew all along."
And while I already feel ready to just give up on the man, while I hear Roxas whisper: "It sure is strange. I thought Sora and Riku said that they saw him fall off one of the walls of the maze back during the Keyblade War. I wonder how he survived that. Or, do you think he just faked his own death so he could strike us later?" This makes Harry and me share a concerned and disgruntled look and I silently tell him to stay on his guard.
And while the man, back when he was Xigbar, seemed to constantly be in control and aware of what was going on around him, does he not actually notice us approach him until we are only a few steps away from him. And while Harry has his hands in his pockets, letting off an air of disinterest, I know that he is on his guard and that he has his wand in his hand at the same time. And thanks to how well he defended us against my mum, I feel confident in his skill.
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting to ever see any of you lot again. Huh, you're a new face." Braig says as he turns around to face us and he turns from Harry back to me as he asks: "A new friend of yours, Axel?" But I keep quiet and just tap myself on the face, my finger tapping the skin just underneath my eyes. The man's eye widens for a split second and he says: "Ah, I see. Sorry about that, Lea. Wait, does that mean that you and Axel actually separated? When and how and why did that happen?""Because of me. And now we have some questions for you, Braig."
Harry states strongly and while I feel glad that he keeps himself just slightly behind me to the side, I also feel proud of how demanding and yet respectful the boy sounds. And Braig notices this as well as he gives the boy a single nod. Harry sends me a short look, which I respond to the same way as Braig and Harry starts: "Nineteen years ago, do you remember spending the night with a young woman in her early twenties? Someone who was about to graduate?"
"What's it to you?" Braig asks confused and I answer: "It's the reason we're here. Why I'm here." And Braig turns to look at me. Yet while he keeps quiet, I can tell that he's slowly piecing it all together. And both his eyes widen this time around, which I can tell by how far one of his eyebrows raises itself above the eyepatch he's wearing. And yet it's the look in his eyes, the look of shock followed by dawning understanding that means the world to me.
I send the man a grateful and relieved smile and gently whisper: "You never knew, did you?" And instantly he starts to rant: "Know that you're my son? OF COURSE I DIDN'T! Did you think I would just leave you to your mum to raise if I had? That, as Xigbar, I would have treated Axel the way I did if I had known? That I would have stayed here almost all this time if I had known? AS IF!" And just the way that he emphasizes his own catchphrase proves everything for me.
I smile at the man and wrap an arm around Harry, pulling him closer and letting him take that final step to make sure he's beside me before I say: "I'm glad to hear you say that, Braig. Now allow me to introduce you to Harry Potter, my soul mate. Harry's not just from another world, he's from another universe, so Destiny needed a little bit of help in getting us together. Braig, I didn't just want to find you because you're my dad, but because Harry's pregnant – of your grandchild."
And while Roxas sends me an annoyed look as he probably was hoping that I would reveal the gender now that I was introducing my newly found dad to my soul mate, does Braig's good eye zero on in how Harry has his arms happily and lovingly wrapped around his slightly rotund belly. The man walks over, yet he seems to hesitate every few steps and I realize that he must be in the belief that we are still wary of him.
But his reaction to the news I just brought him makes me know he won't do anything to hurt my mate or child. Braig reaches us and bends down through his knees as he lies both his hands on top of Harry's stomach and asks: "Is it true? Is there really life in here? Are you really expecting my future grandson or daughter?" I notice Roxas looking excited, but snicker as Harry only nods to confirm the man's questions while keeping a gentle smile on his face.
"What's up with you, kid?" Braig asks, noticing Roxas' look of annoyance. Harry and I laugh and I answer the man, my father: "We're keeping the gender a secret from everyone. The only thing they know is that Harry's only expecting a single child. Harry and I did find out the gender a few days ago, but we just don't want anyone else to know until the baby's born." At this Braig laughs and he says: "Yeah, you're my son, alright." Making all of us beam at him before Roxas says:
"To be honest, you just gave another hint that, if we had been paying attention, we could have realized this years ago. After all, you and Axel were the only ones in the entire Organization who had catchphrases. Oh and yes, Lea and Axel did separate. They did after Harry's baby started calling out to Lea, when Lea used Phasing to get over to him back at the end of September last year.""Wait, last year?" This question shocks us all and the man says: "Well, time kind of stands still around here, you know." We nod and I say:
"It's the first of January, Braig. Harry and I have been together for little over three months now.""So you two have only been together for as long as little dusky over here has been pregnant, is that right?" Harry raises an eyebrow at the nickname, but Roxas just laughs and says: "Just get used to it, Harry. That was the one thing that set Xigbar apart from the others. He gave everyone in the Organization a nickname. Xion was puppet, I was either kiddo or tiger."
He then laughs and says: "I'm pretty sure he even had a nickname for Axel." And because I remember the nickname and consider it more Axel's than mine, I share a smirk with Braig and we chorus: "Flamesilocks." Making the other two laugh before I ask: "Care to join me and return home? There are a lot more people who will be happy to meet you, friends of Harry's as well as his adopted father and brother. His parents died when he was young."
Braig winces at this and stands up as he says: "Count on it. Sounds like this family has been separated for more than long enough." And I definitely can't agree more, which just makes me feel a new level of resentment for the woman I have to call my mother. Braig comes to walk between Harry and me and he happily wraps an arm around each of us as we walk, Roxas happily following behind us as we return to the corridor.
Yet just before we reach it, I see something sharp and blue shooting for us, only for it to be turned into a cloud of smoke as it gets intercepted by a bright pink light. I turn to Braig and see that he has one of his two rifles out and has already shot the being before it could reach us. "Kind of surprised that those Unversed are still around. I thought they were part of Vanitas, but even with him gone they still seem to hang around. Not that I'm going to give them the chance to attack my kids, as if."
All of us smile at the man warmly and Roxas says: "You guys go on ahead. I'll stay behind to make sure no other Heartless, Nobodies or Unversed try to take over the corridor and close it behind you guys. After that I'll just head back to Twilight Town and let Axel know what happened." The three of us nod at him and we wave at him as we head inside. Yet before we can reach the other end, Braig stops us, reaching out his arms and whispering: "I hear voices. They sound – angry."
Who could they be?
To be honest, they are going to be people that, at first, I hadn't planned on bringing into the story. I wanted to keep this little family between Lea, his rude and demanding mother and his mysterious father. I do plan to give Braig quite a bit of a backstory, but I won't bring his own parents to life in this story, just have Braig talk about them. And to be honest, I'm still unsure what role the other set of grandparents are going to play.
Wait and see,
Venquine1990
