#i just... feel like Marluxia only remembers bits and pieces

[storm-driver]

kh4 fanfic scenario where roxas somehow manages to meet up with subject x and she calls him ventus over and over, but every time roxas tries to correct her, she sinks a little further into denial, insisting he must remember his past and the sacrifice he made for them.

and roxas, not really knowing who ventus is besides having a close tie to sora, has to start putting pieces together himself since the wayfinder family is in the realm of darkness

#im listening to 'Foretellers' on the kh ost rn #and it's giving me so many 'Truth revealed' vibes #like this is the song im gonna be imaging when Ven learns about his past #and he has to stand there in horror as it slowly dawns on him that there's nothing he can say to defend himself #i just... feel like Marluxia only remembers bits and pieces #and it's gonna make him pursue Ventus for the rest of those answers #either in a fit of rage because he only remembers Strelitizia's death #or in a sorrowful prideless begging because he KNOWS better now that Ven didn't mean to do it #im just so sunk into the idea that Roxas cannot escape his similarities to Ventus #no matter how much this boy wants to scream that he is only himself #there's no denying where he came from #who he has connections to #i refuse to believe Roxas' story ends with kh3. he still has some answers he needs to seek. #kingdom hearts #stormy weather #it's 1 am and im wanting to write tonight.

[recusant-s-sigil]

Imagine you’re Luxu for a second. Your master/father (figure?) has told you that your role is to watch over the future until you die, pass on the Keyblade he gave to you, and keep tabs on a box. He also told you that you couldn’t interfere with events. Except you’re clearly the wrong person for the job, being as impatient and concerned about others as you are. So what do you do?

Violate the Master’s direct order and body-hop through the ages, learning to imitate—no, to become your current body to such a degree that you start losing your sense of self, just a little. Your personality is made up of bits and pieces you’ve collected over the eons. You brush it off, you would’ve changed over time anyways with new experiences and interactions. That’s what you tell the mess that is “yourself”, anyways.

Your current body was a loner, standoffish. Kept to himself. Perfect target. You’d started possessing the outcasts and abandoned, easier to assume their roles or invent an entirely new persona for them that way. You still had to observe their mannerisms to pass as them, but it wasn’t as much work.

His Your name was Braig, before you had your heart ripped out and the Sigil placed in your anagram. You, as Braig, somehow managed to get into Ansem the Wise’s good graces and became a guard and apprentice. These days they call you Xigbar.

You wouldn’t be able to fulfill your role if you’d actually become a Nobody; that (non)existence defeats the whole purpose of possession. So you waited until the opportune moment to insert your heart back into “your” body.

“Mar” something had a familiar air to him. The youth’s heart was ancient, like yours. You’d gotten a feel for how different hearts shone in the many you had to release from your victims. It had been an age since you felt that special light of a Daybreak Town wielder. Well, there was Ventus, but he didn’t count. Based on what the old coot had told you, it was obvious he was from the Age of Fairytales.

Same with the only lady of the Organization at least until Poppet came along. It was odd that they found Larxene in the same world as Marluxia, but you put the thought aside. No need to focus on such coincidences when your role was nearing its completion. The scapegoat was finally here in the one thought to be the Child of Destiny, and that meant the Keyblade War would happen again. And you would live to see it again, but not before your “death” and subsequent recompletion at the hands of the true Child of Destiny.

The Graveyard was the same as when you’d left it over a decade ago. Of course it was. Why wouldn’t it be? Time does not touch this place.

You told Luxord to find the Box. Not because you’d lost it, that’s just silly! He’d confronted you in Thebes later, immediately calling your bluff. That’s what you get for dealing with a gambler, you thought to yourself. But you took comfort in the hope knowledge that the Box would be safely back in your care by the time or directly after the Keyblade War was over.

Your old companions, in all their colorful, animal-themed glory, coalesced from the dust and wind. They gathered around you. All were exactly as you remembered them in personality and mannerism, from Aced’s insistence he knows what’s going on to Gula’s quiet and pointed observations. It was nice to see everyone again, but you’d changed. Ira pointed out as much: “Is that you, Luxu? You look different.” Looking back on it, if your Master had simply given you all roles which matched your strengths, none of this would’ve happened. But he chose the wrong roles on purpose, you recall with a roiling in your chest, in order to create conflict and allow Darkness to feed on it.

“I hope you like long stories,” you’d said, before explaining everything as concisely as possible. You conveniently left out the Master’s true intentions. They didn’t need to hear that part. When the tale was done, the horror settled on your friends’ faces behind their intricate masks. They hid their identity with them, as you had with your semblances through the years.

“It’s still me, underneath it all,” you’d told Invi. But was that really true anymore?

#Moon Speaks #Meg Writes #Luxu #Braig #No. II #Xigbar #Master of Masters #Ira #Invi #Aced #Gula #Whoops didn’t mean for this to be a fic #It was just gonna be some character exploration! How’d it turn into this #Sadly no Bragi but he wasn’t really important for this #Maybe I’ll do a final mix of this and add Luxu’s time as him in somewhere #character exploration

[chibi-mushroom]

Hey everyone! Finally get to post my piece for the memory of promises zine! check out the link here if you want to grab one of your own copies in the leftover sale! I was so happy to be able to join in on this zine, and I hope you guys enjoy all the work that went into it! (Also keep in mind this was written before MoM.)

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Namine rubbed her temples and looked at the clock. Midnight already. DiZ was not going to like this. The next time he came into the white room would bring on some lecture or punishment of some kind. She had been working furiously all afternoon trying to get past this one section of memory, but there was something that was keeping her back. Her pulse began to race. She was feeling sick. The door to the white room opened and with a squeak, Namine ducked under the table, fearing the familiar stride of the man in red.

"It's okay, it's just me. You can come out now." A soft voice sounded in her ears. "You're safe. DiZ said he needed to run an errand and wouldn't be back for a couple of days."

Slowly looking up, Namine could see the outstretched hand of the only comfort she had in this lonely place. "Riku. You're back."

She took his offering and stood up. He hadn't let go of her hand just yet, blindfold still covering those beautiful blue green eyes he had. She was glad it stopped him from seeing things like her girlish blush. He was only offering his hand as a friend. Besides, it was wrong for her to want to be with him- nobodies weren't supposed to feel anything. So why did she?

"You're shaking." Riku stated simply. "Have you eaten anything today?"

So he could even feel the slight tremor in her hands. "No, not exactly."

"Do you want me to get something for you? I think there are some leftovers in the fridge."

"No, I'm alright. I have to get back to work." Namine tried to take her hand from his, but he held onto it all the tighter, leaning down a little to be at eye level with her. 

"You were working when I left, and I can tell you haven't gotten any sleep. How are you expecting to take care of Sora when you can't take care of yourself?"

Right. Namine thought. He's just like DiZ. All he cares about is getting Sora restored. You're just a tool.

Still, she couldn't help but notice the way her breath caught in her throat as his blinded eyes sunk to meet her tired ones. Maybe she should take a small break. All of this stress was making her read too much into small gestures.

Namine simply nodded, and Riku left to warm her up some food. Sensing that going back to Sora's memories would be futile, she grabbed her sketch pad and turned it to the very last page. This was her secret page, covered in things she thought about. Mindless doodles she drew when she was waiting for the computer to check on Sora’s physical well-being.

The sketch pad was not necessary for her magic to work. She could rearrange memories- crush the hearts of her poor unsuspecting victims- without it. She used it though to help her concentrate. By visualizing the memories, she was able to make a more convincing edit or capture the feelings that were hiding beneath the surface. So many times she had drawn Sora, Riku and Kairi together. And sure there were strong feelings of both love and jealousy, but had she not had her sketch pad, she might have missed Sora's emotions of gratitude for two stalwart best friends, confusion about school topics they had recently studied, and hope that Kairi would want to go with him to the first school dance, even though he knew they would just go together and bail early to hang out on the play island like they always did whenever the school had some social.

"Here you go. It's nothing special, but it's better than nothing." Riku interrupted her thoughts with a plate of food.

With a gasp, Namine hurried to cover her sketch pad. Even though she knew he couldn't see it, he moved so gracefully that she sometimes wondered if he really was blind. Although those first couple of days made the mansion quite a bit louder with his cries of annoyance as he bumped into furniture. He even fell into the secret compartment that hid the computer lab, but luckily managed to land safely.

"Drawing something you don't want anyone to see?" Riku smirked. 

"No!" Namine replied a bit sharper than she thought. "Maybe."

Riku laughed as he set their plates down and pulled a chair over. "I'm only kidding. You don't have to be working on Sora nonstop. If you want to take a moment for yourself, then do it."

"No, I need to be working on Sora. It was my fault he's like this in the first place. I want to keep my promise." Namine picked up the white plastic fork. For once would it hurt to have some color around here?

With a sigh, Riku held his hand out for her to hold. "We've been over this, Nam. What happened wasn't your fault. You were being used." Softly Riku muttered "you still are."

Namine looked at him for a moment and then looked down at her food. She picked at it for a few moments before softly sliding her hand in his and taking a couple of bites. She ate in a comfortable silence, simply feeling the pressure that came from the gentle touch. This sort of thing wasn't unusual for them. They could usually be found in silence with their hands connected. But the mountain of pressure from the recent block in memories and lack of self care was threatening to squish Namine with its enormous weight.

"How's the restoration going?" Riku asked.

Namine's stomach began to twist around itself. "I'm….not sure." 

Riku squeezed her hand, urging her to explain. Namine sighed, unsure of how to continue. Would he get mad if she told the truth? He had slowly been becoming more like DiZ, after all. He used to be there with her when she was getting told off. These days, Riku was never usually in the white room for more than five minutes unless it was late at night.

"You remember what Sora's mom used to tell him all the time, right?"  Riku recalled.

"Never talk to strangers on the play island?"

Riku chuckled, remembering a secret promise. "A problem shared is a problem halved. If you tell me, it might relieve some of the pressure on you."

There was no avoiding it, not as long as he held her hand. 

 "It's just that, well-" Namine fumbled for the words. "There's been a bit of a roadblock. I've been doing my best to sort it out, tracing the connections, but it's like the memories slip away as soon as I think I have a grasp on them. I may have gone through half a notebook trying to find a solid piece."

There was a pause, as if Riku were considering what to say. 

"I'll go get you a new notebook tomorrow, then. As for the memories, we'll get it figured out. You need to take a break, anyway."

"No!" Namine swallowed back further emotion. Maybe she really did need some sleep. She was being more irrational than she expected. "No, it's fine. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong."

"Don't say stuff like that. If there's anyone who can make this situation right, it's you. Please, just take a few hours to rest tomorrow, okay?" Riku squeezed her hand again.

"I don't really have a choice here, do I?" Namine sighed.

"You always have a choice. I'm just asking you as someone who cares a lot about you."

Someone who cares? Namine thought. She slowly nodded in reply. Maybe a break was exactly what she needed.

"Thank you, Riku."

One Year Later

Again Riku tried to beat Marluxia, and again he was defeated. He only had this last battle to finish, having started against the organization members he recognized or had personally fought against. Which, admittedly wasn't many, but after several attempts, he was down to the last. It frustrated him that he still wasn't quite used to the keyboard controls, and Sora's moves were much less based in strength and relied much more on magic. Riku had never been very good with magic, focusing on perfecting his cure and dark firaga spells instead of learning the large array of magic that his friends had mastered. 

Some keyblade master I turned out to be. Riku thought, sitting back in his seat and folding his arms. I can't even stop my two best friends from leaving me again. This is just like back then…

His mind began to drift away with thoughts of Castle Oblivion and Twilight Town. He heard the door open and gentle footsteps move toward him.

"Hey Aerith. We can work on that scarf in a minute. I have to get some more ethers for data Sora first."

"I take it the fight didn't go well then?" A soft voice walked closer.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. Not Aerith. 

"Hey Namine. How could you tell?"

Namine placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "You're really tense. Besides, I could feel your frustration from a block away."

What anger and annoyance had once plagued Riku's mind had since washed away. All he could register was how reassuring Namine's hand on his shoulder felt. She smelled nice, too. A faint blush warmed his cheeks. Ever since Kairi had insisted on going to sleep and Terra had left for the dark realm with Aqua and Ven, Namine was the only person Riku shared everything with. She had heard him vent several times, and she had been helping Aerith teach him how to knit. It was her delicate fingers that had lead him through the steps of a cable.

"I guess I need a little bit of a break." Riku said with a sigh. "Wanna go get some ice cream or something?"

"Sure." Namine smiled, stepping back so he could get up and stretch. They began to talk as they walked to their usual ice cream shop. 

Since Scrooge, Huey and Dewey had returned home, the ice cream shop had been manned by one of the local citizens. He usually gave Riku a discount, so Riku usually put some munny in the tip jar. It had become routine over the past year to go whenever Namine came to visit from Twilight Town.

"How is everything going with Roxas and Xion?" Riku asked, sitting down and unwrapping his fruit bar.

"Slow." Namine replied, taking a small lick from her chocolate cherry ice cream cone. She wanted to try all of the flavors, and this was the last one. "Not too bad, but I think I preferred the strawberry cheesecake the best."

"That was a flavor Kairi always liked." Riku smiled softly. 

When he saw the way Namine looked for just the hair of a second, he realized that was probably the wrong thing to say. He inwardly cursed himself and his inability to be the suave guy all the girls had thought he was growing up. Kairi and Namine didn't get much of a chance to talk after she got her replica body, as Kairi had almost immediately asked to be put under. Riku wondered what it was like living inside a heart of pure light. Just like Castle Oblivion, she didn't talk about it much.

"We should get some for her when she wakes up." Namine continued to eat her cone. There was an uncomfortable silence for just a moment before Namine spoke up again. "Who were you fighting when I came in?"

"Marluxia. He was the head of the castle, right?"

Namine nodded.

"I never really got to meet him as I was down in the basement back then. I'm sorry you had to deal with a guy like him."

"It's alright. I...had some support. There was Sora and Donald and Goofy. And despite everything I did to him, there was your replica, too." Namine spoke slowly, choosing her words with care. "But don't feel bad. He made his decisions, like everyone else."

This time, it was Riku's turn to nod in agreement, taking a bite from his treat.

"After the data battles are all said and done, what happens next?" Namine asked softly.

"I...don't know. All I know is that I've been having these weird dreams lately."

"I wondered. You look tired." Namine grabbed on to Riku's hand, intertwining their fingers.

Maybe it was a reflex, maybe it was a force of habit, like how they used to sit back in the old mansion. Either way, the touch on its own was enough to pull Riku away from the dark thoughts that usually sat at the horizon of his mind. He squeezed her hand in response.

"Don't hesitate to call me if you ever need someone to talk to. I miss our little midnight chats." Namine admitted.

"I do too." Riku smiled softly. "They really helped clear my mind back then."

"A problem shared is a problem halved, remember?" Namine was glad she could actually see his eyes as she recalled back to his words that helped her through her time at the old mansion. "Care to share anything?"

Riku paused. He sighed before starting to speak. After he told her of the recurring dream he'd been having with the buildings and the feeling of being watched, he also admitted to the weight that had been pinned on his shoulders. 

"I know it might sound silly, but I can't help but wonder if these dreams are connected to Sora somehow. I just wish I could understand it more." Riku finished his bar and set the popsicle stick on the bench beside him.

Namine had just finished her ice cream as well, wiping her face with the napkin. "Maybe it's time you take another journey."

"With the data battle still to fight and Kairi still asleep? I can't leave now."

"Maybe not now, but after the last battle is won." Namine gently pulled his hand close to her and began massaging it. "But that means I can't follow you. Will you be alright on your own? Maybe you can check Kairi's dreams."

"I...don't know. I haven't used my dream eater powers in a long time and the process is still kind of fuzzy for me." He could feel his muscles relax as she worked at his weary hand.

Doubt was rising in his chest. Maybe she was right. Who was he kidding? He wasn't ready for this kind of thing. He wasn't like Sora or Kairi who could follow their hearts at a moment's notice. He couldn't always feel the way it was trying to lead him.

But as he saw Namine patiently working on his hands, the stiff muscles being brought to relax against her fingers, a light shone through the storm of his doubt. How he hadn't realized it before was a mystery. Ever since they had met, she had been the light in the dark, just as he had provided shade for her in the brightest situations. As she finished the massage, she tenderly squeezed his hands, reassuring him that she was there and willing to help. Surely that was love.

He felt love for her, no question. But with Sora and Kairi gone and asleep, there never seemed to be a good moment to tell her what his heart really wanted to say. 

"We...we should be getting back." Namine sighed. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"No, but then, I'm not really all that sure of anything anymore."

"If there's anything I know, it's that things will get better. We'll find Sora. I don't know how or when, but we will." Namine took his hand again, standing before him.

Namine took a quick breath and then leaned over, placing a quick kiss atop his head. Ordinarily, she wouldn't be able to reach, but since he was sitting down, she could offer a small token of her affection and confidence in his abilities.

She and Riku's faces filled with blush, although a smile tugged at her lips. Namine didn't have enough courage to kiss him on the lips like she had wanted to for so long, but this was safe. He couldn't spurn her for a harmless kiss to the head. After all, what was some reassurance between friends?

"Thank you, Namine." Riku had a hard time looking at this angel of a woman without his heartbeat increasing.

To think she was willing to be by his side after all this. He decided there and then that he would listen to his heart and tell her of his feelings...after they set everything right. Once Sora and Kairi were home and together, then they could sort out their own relationship. It would give him yet another reason to bring his best friend home. 

He could still feel the kiss on his forehead, and it brought a genuine smile to his face. He stood up and began walking away from Merlin's house.

"Don't feel like you have to stop working on the data battles on my account. I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright." Namine stopped for a second.

"We can get back to those soon enough. I need a little longer before I get back into it." He took his trash and threw it into a nearby can. "There are some fountains that are really pretty this time of day nearby if you want to check them out with me."

A smile formed on Namine's lips. "I'd love to, Riku."

#RikuNami #namiku #mopzine #kh fanfiction #riku #namine #post Re:Mind #Pre MoM

[minijenn]

HI I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL AND @oblivionsrebirth-posts EGGED ME ON SO HERE’S THIS DRABBLE I WROTE IN LESS THAN HOUR PERTAINING TO THIS ANGSTY ART I POSTED JUST A LITTLE WHILE AGO ENJOY MY SON SUFFERING SOME MORE BYE: 

Sora’s learning more and more that his Master’s favorite method of torturing him is emotional. Beatings, while leaving his body bruised and bloody, ultimately won’t break him, and Xehanort knows that. Just as he knows the worst kind of pain he can possibly inflict upon his newest vessel comes from deep-cut scars that no one can even see. From the scars that linger upon his long-torn, very close to shattering heart. 

Today’s torture unfolds in front of most of the other members, all of them more than eager to see their foe-turned-slave taken down yet another peg. Ansem finally relinquishes his iron-like grip on his arm, throwing him hard to the ground right at the feet of the Master himself. Xehanort doesn’t even have to command him to stay put; Sora can simply feel the unspoken command surging through his caged heart and imprisoned body all the same. 

“There’s no need to bow, boy,” his Master says, essentially contradicting himself. “In fact, I’d say it’s more appropriate for the rest of us to be doing that instead. After all, it’s come to my understanding that we just so happen to be standing in the presence of royalty.”

A round of confused murmurs ripple through the other members as Sora is forced to stand. He shares the palpable bewilderment of his fellow vessels as he watches Xehanort approach him, grinning coldly all the while. “Have you already forgotten, my thirteenth?” he asks, eventually stopping right behind his newest vessel. An all too familiar sense of fear starts swelling up in Sora as he wonders what unknown horror awaits him this time. “Allow me to remind you then, of a night not so long ago. A night when you were nothing less than the epitome of a prince…”

His master’s hand lightly skims his shoulder, yet strangely no pain sparks from his touch this time. Instead, Sora notices a different kind of shift, one that settles over his clothes. The dreary black coat they’d forced him into when the first brought him here is gone. Instead, he’s clad in a much more familiar ensemble, one that makes his heart fold with nostalgia and grief when he sees it. 

It’s the same, elegant suit he’d worn the night of the ball, one that had been lovingly, magically crafted by Fairy Godmother before, but by Xehanort, it’s been cruelly corrupted in just about every way imaginable. The vibrant touches and trimmings of the outfit have been drained of their color completely, leaving dull, lonely shades of whites and blacks in their place. His gloves are torn and tattered, his crimson claws tearing out of them easily. The only ounce of color that’s allowed to remain is his cape, but even then, the ruby red cloth is largely leeched of its cheery shade, half of it drenched in a fading, lifeless grey. A mirror suddenly shows up in front of him, allowing him to see the full result of his twisted attire, as well as how his eyes, gleaming garish gold, and his hair, white as frigid snow, make him look like a meager mockery of how he had on that perfect night so long ago. A night that can only ever exist in nothing more than his memories now. 

A few of the other members lightly chuckle as they take in the despair of their thirteenth member’s face. But even so, their master’s latest round of torment has only just begun. “What an honor it is to bask in your presence, ‘your highness’,” Xehanort sneers, his condescending tone clear. He suddenly places something atop Sora’s head that makes his heart sink even more: a heavy silver crown that, at one time, might have been impressive and immaculate. But instead, it's old and tainted, with just as many cracks marring its metallic surface as there are upon his own Keyblade. “There,” Xehanort steps away and for a moment, Sora foolishly thinks that might be it, that he might leave him be. By this point, he also knows he should know better. “A broken crown for a broken prince. My vessels,” he says to the other members, who are eager to get in this humiliating display. “Why don’t you take the time to show our thirteenth the proper… respect that’s due to him.”

The other vessels do so eagerly, pouncing upon him before he can even hope to prepare. Their weapons are drawn, and upon their master’s permission, they show little restraint on taking their sadistic delight out on the newest among them. To add insult to injury, each of their brutal blows come with the same sort of topical teases: 

“We are truly humbled by your ‘radiance’, your grace,” Vexen mocks as his shield slams into Sora’s back. 

“You sure are looking sharp there, ‘your majesty’,” Larxene laughs as she digs her knives into his arm. 

“But not sharp enough,” Marluxia comments before he slices his scythe across Sora’s cape, trimming it down to a short, ragged length. “Isn’t that much better, ‘your eminence’?”

“Aw, c’mon fellas,” Xigbar chuckles as a barrage of his arrows tear across Sora’s face. “I think our poor little princey here gets the point.”

And on and on it goes for what feels like an eternity until Xehanort finally commands them to stop. Until Sora’s lying on the ground, his falsely regal attire in tatters, his blood staining their black cloth red. Until his master decides to dig the knife of this awful torture even deeper, just like he always does. 

“While you certainly look the part,” Xehanort forces him to look up, even despite the black eye and bloody nose he’s sustained. “But don’t you remember, my thirteenth? There’s one thing no prince is complete without. Or in your case, two things....” 

He steps aside and suddenly Sora sees them. He sees them and his heart breaks all over again at the mere sight of them, and how much he misses them, how he knows he’ll never get to be with them again. His heart breaks even more somehow when he sees what they’re wearing. Kairi in her stunning pink ball gown, Riku in his well-trimmed suit vest. Both of them looking every bit as beautiful as they had on that night. That one, single solitary night when, for just a brief moment, he had thought everything might just turn out alright. 

How incredibly wrong he ended up being. 

Neither of them say a word to him, but the looks in their eyes say enough. They stare down at him in disgust, as if he’s a grotesque, distorted, despicable creature not worthy of their time or attention. Any trace of love that either of them might have once carried for him is gone, replaced with derision and disdain and hatred for the darkness he’s fallen into, for the monster he’s become. He reaches a shaking, clawed hand out to them, desperate for their presence, longing for even just a single gentle touch. But as they swiftly turn away from him, he’s left with nothing. No comfort, no affection, not even a single shred of dignity as he sits there, bleeding and broken, inside and out. 

“Let this serve as a reminder to you, my thirteenth,” Xehanort’s voice speaks somewhere behind him. He hardly hears it, hardly cares. But he knows that every word his master says to him is nothing less than the truth. “Let it remind you of what you used to be, and what you now are. A prince of light… fallen from his throne to become nothing more than a servant of darkness. That’s all you were ever meant to become, and now,” The edge of master’s Keyblade pushes his crumbled crown off his head. It shatters into countless broken pieces on the floor, just as his very own heart does the moment Riku and Kairi leave him, just as he’s reminded of just how much he’s lost, of what he’ll never get to have again. “That is all you’ll ever be.”

#HHHHHHH WHOOPS I DID A SAD #fuck this is me getting excited about entering Keys second half otherwise known as #bunch of goths bully a baby for a bunch of chapters #so basically this #anyway fuck every single last member of organization XIII i hate them all #and i hate myself most of all for writing this #jen writes #keys to the kingdom #drabbles #plot bunny as they'll ever be one #kingdom hearts #sora #xehanort #organization xiii #blood mention

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 30

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 5,379

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

"Chorus?! That's bullshit! There must be some mistake, lemme see that thing," Lea snatched the paper off from where it'd been taped to one of the auditorium doors, causing it to rip a little as he did so.

Sighing, I stretched a hand out to try and retrieve the cast list from him, "Don't be silly, it's fine. It makes sense."

He yanked the sheet out of my reach, squinting at it with a perturbed frown before scoffing. "Makes sense my sweet ass. Where's Marluxia? Me and that cotton-candy-haired punk are gonna have words."

"You'll do no such thing," I finally managed to get my hands on the paper, prying it free of his fingers. Seeing it was now horribly wrinkled to boot, I grimaced and taped it back to the door, doing my best to smooth it back out. Then I slipped my hand into Lea's and started half leading, half dragging him back towards where he'd parked his car. "And it does make sense. They don't know me. They've never worked with me before. On top of that, I did choke a bit at the start of my audition. They can't trust a starring role to someone that's inexperienced and that they're unfamiliar with, not until I've shown them how I do in a background part as well as shown them that I'm capable and that they can rely on me."

"But you were the best one at the whole damn tryouts!" he huffed back. "What are those numskulls even thinking? I tell ya, if I were the director, it woulda been no contest. You'd be the leading lady like that," his fingers snapped.

"You're sweet and not at all biased," I rolled my eyes with a soft snort. "...honestly, I'm actually a bit relieved to be starting in chorus. I'd rather take it slow, ease myself back into theater and not take on too much responsibility right out the gate. It'll give me a chance to feel it out and see if this is something I really want to pursue. And if it is, I just have to put in the time, do the grunt work and by the next time they're putting on another production, maybe then they'll have enough confidence in me to give me a lead part."

Lea harrumphed. "They better. Otherwise I'm gonna kick Marluxia's stupid butt."

I hid a small grin behind my fingers, "He might not even be the one directing next time."

"Don't care. His ass will still be the one I kick outta pure spite."

A snerk escaped me, followed swiftly by a tiny, bubbling laugh. Lea glanced towards me, the corners of his eyes crinkling. As we came to a stop on the passenger side of his car, he tugged on my hand, pulling me up against him. He slipped one arm around my waist while his other came up to tuck some of my hair behind my ear as he ducked his head down, kissing me thoroughly.

Breath? Gone.

Knees? Jelly.

Brain? Mush.

As he pulled away and I struggled to remember how to take in oxygen again, I asked, "What was that for?"

"Just cuz I can," he winked, planting a light peck to my forehead. "You know this whole dating thing we're doing? Huge fan. Ten out of ten. Would recommend."

Face warming, I gave a derisive snort. "Sap."

"Yes, but I'm your sap," he nuzzled his nose to mine before releasing me to unlock my door and hold it open for me.

"Sap squared," I promoted him with a chuckle as I took my seat, reaching for the buckle. "Cliché sap squared."

"Too true. And you wouldn't have me any other way," he beamed before shutting the car door. My eyes followed him as he made his way around to the other side of the vehicle, one corner of my lips twitching up.

No. I suppose I wouldn't.

"Alright, next stop," Lea said as he plopped down into his own seat, retrieving his shades from where he kept them tucked in the sun visor and slipping them onto his nose. Thankfully, it was only his aviators. But I seriously doubted I'd seen the last of those ludicrous heart-glasses. "Lay that address on me, chica."

I fished the little piece of paper it was scrawled on out of my pocket and he tapped it into his phone as I read it off to him. Then the device began reciting directions in a bored monotone, his engine roared to life as he started the car and we sped off. We hadn't even been driving for a full minute before I heard a… peculiar noise coming from the back seat. I blinked, then glanced back over my shoulder. Had I imagined it? ...no, wait! There it was again! And it seemed to be coming from the floor behind my seat, where piled in a rumpled heap was…

"Um…" I quirked an eyebrow at Lea. "...your jacket seems to be barking…"

"Hm?" He was keeping his eyes on the road, but I didn't miss the hint of a smirk tugging at one side of his mouth. "Oh! Yeah, that. It does that from time to time. Needta train it to be better behaved."

My eyelids drooped. "...maybe you should feed it or take it for a walk."

"Nah, that'd only encourage it and then I'd never be able to get the damn thing to quit yapping," he snerked as he stopped at a red light. Then he was reaching behind me to shove his leather jacket aside, revealing a big box, its lid decorated with a frilly bow on top. He hoisted it up with a small grunt and deposited it into my lap. "Here. Was originally supposta be a Congratz-On-Landing-The-Lead present, but now it's more of a Congratz-On-Being-Glorified-Scenery present," Lea chuckled, scratching his cheek.

I lightly swatted at his shoulder. "There are no small parts, only small actors," I quoted with a shake of my head before directing my gaze back to the gift. I could feel it twitching and shifting slightly in my lap as it gave another couple of muffled barks.

Gee. What could it be? I really do wonder.

(Note the sarcasm.)

I was just glad to see several air holes poked into the lid. Come to think of it, Lea had been keeping his windows rolled down too. Sighing and smiling despite myself, I lifted the lid up. Sure enough, a puppy poked its head out to greet me, one that was a super white ball of pure fluff. The same one that's stolen my heart at the pet store when Lea and I had stopped by a while back. The one I'd dubbed Marshmallow. "Lea, no. I told you already that my complex doesn't allow pets." My chiding words were at odds however with my delighted chuckle as I picked the little guy up to hug close. "You shouldn't have gotten me a dog."

"I didn't," he said brightly as the light turned green and he stepped on the gas once more. "I got myself a dog."

I stared at him blankly as I felt the pup flicking its tongue along my chin. "...so wait. In essence, you got yourself a gift to celebrate me being glorified scenery in the play?"

"No, I got myself a gift to celebrate you getting the lead in the play. Not my fault you failed to live up to your half the bargain," he tsked before laughing as I gave his shoulder another smack, this one with more force behind it. Then as we shifted lanes, he flashed a smug grin, "'Sides, keeping the furball at my place gives ya an excuse to come visit me more often."

Petting the puppy's soft fur, I snorted, "Manipulative."

"Hey, what you call manipulative, I call incentive."

"You're right," I hummed as my fingers scritched behind Marshmallow's ear, a sly curve to my lips now. "You're definitely not enough of an incentive on your own for me to make the trip."

"Rude! You're lucky I think you're so cute," he reached over to pinch my cheek. I ignored him, holding the dog up in front of my face so we were nose-to-snoot. Marshmallow wagged his tail, licking the tip of my nose and I heard Lea grumble, "Oh sure. You he gives puppy kisses while all he ever gave me was tooth hugs."

"Tooth hugs?" I echoed, brow furrowing slightly.

"Lil furball's been tearing the shit outta my ankles nonstop," his face pinched sourly and I couldn't help a small laugh.

Once I'd sobered, I said, "I thought you said Saïx would murder you if you ever got a dog. How are you not dead?"

He flicked on his turn signal. "Oh trust me, it's not for lack of trying on his part, but bastard's gotta catch me first. The trick is to never stop moving when I'm home. Stay in one place too long and I'll get pulverized. Also got six different deadbolts locking my bedroom door now to keep him out, though I'm just waiting for him to get pissed enough to Kool-Aid Man his way through our shared wall."

"Hope I'm there to see that," I grinned, shifting to cradling the puppy in my arms in order to maximize belly rubbing efficiency. "Surprised the little guy managed to stay quiet for so long."

"Me too. Squirt was yipping up a storm the whole drive over when I was coming to pick you up. Was worried he was gonna ruin the surprise. But musta just wore himself out eventually and took a nap or something."

"Mm," I just hummed distractedly. "Also kind of shocked you were able to snag him. We saw him at the pet store, what… two weeks ago? Would have thought someone would've adopted him already in that time."

"Heh… well, I didn't exactly pick him up today..."

"Yesterday?" I glanced towards him and he gave a weak chuckle, shaking his head. "Then when?"

Lea scratched a finger behind his ear. "Er… same day we went to the roller rink?"

I blinked a couple times, then deadpanned, "...as in the same day we went to the pet store?"

"That'd be the one!" he nodded as he pulled up to a stop sign, his hand coming up to pluck at the short hairs at the nape of his neck. "After you left to go home, I went back. Ya just liked the lil mutt so much, I couldn't help myself. It was an impulse buy. Five seconds after I became a proud, new dog dad though, I felt like a total dumbass. But woulda felt like shit if I'd tried to give him back, so..." he shrugged, "I kept him."

My gaze returned to Marshmallow as my lips pursed to one side. He panted happily back up at me. "...I didn't see him that one time Saïx had me over for dinner. How'd you manage to hide him?"

"Stashed him away at Xion's for the night. Couldn't risk you finding him and realizing what a twitterpated bonehead I was," he snerked as the car propelled us forward once more.

I bit back a little grin. "But it's okay for me to find out now?"

"Well yeah, course! Since you're my girl and all now. Back before we were dating, me buying your dog was weird and possibly a lil creepy." He shot me a smirk, "But now it's just sweet and endearing!"

"If you say so," I murmured, only listening with half an ear as I smooshed and squished the pup's face.

His head turned slightly towards me and I could practically feel the slight narrowing of his eyes behind his aviators. "...crap, I'm gonna have to compete for your affections with that damn fleabag now, aren't I?"

I struggled to keep a straight face as my finger booped Marshmallow's cute little nose. "Is it really a competition if you've already lost?"

"Oh-ho, I see how it is," he snorted as he checked the rearview. "Well don't be too alarmed if next time ya see me, I'm down one dog and up one pair of a brand spanking new white, poofy earmuffs. The two things'll be totally unrelated. Pure coincidence."

I gave a tiny, amused huff and rolled my eyes. Then I leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you for the puppy. You're very sweet."

He ruffled his hair, "Shit, if it's always gonna make you this happy, I'll have to buy myself more gifts!" I made a noncommittal noise in my throat, all my focus diverted once more to playing with the dog. Lea gave a defeated sigh but smiled. Then he asked, "So… how's Anna been doing?"

I frowned slightly. "...okay. She's… better."

The altercation with Hans had been a few days ago now. By the time Anna had gotten through with him, he'd staggered out of my apartment with a limp and a black eye. I hadn't heard from him since, though part of me did wonder if he was just taking time to lick his wounds before coming back to further profess his supposed love for me. Guess it just depended how much of a hard time his parents would give him and how easily he'd break under the pressure.

As for Anna, once she'd spent all her rage on rearranging Hans' face and had nothing left, she'd proceeded to bawl her eyes out. She never took breakups this hard, but apparently she'd really thought Hans was it. The One. After such a rude awakening to the fact that he wasn't and having her heart shattered, I didn't blame her for having a bit of a breakdown. She'd ended up staying over and Rayne and I had turned it into a sort of a girls night to try and cheer her up. We'd binge streamed romcoms until 3 a.m. which honestly, with Anna wailing through every single one, I had no clue if they were making things better or worse. But she was the one who kept putting them on one after the other, so I'd just let her as I hadn't had the heart to deny her.

In the days since, it was obvious Anna was still down, even though she tried to hide it behind sunny smiles and loud laughs. Still, she seemed to be on the road to recovery.

"She's strong," I added softly after a brief lull, fingers absently toying with Marshmallow's paws. "She'll bounce back. Just needs a little more time, that's all."

Lea's phone suddenly gave a small ding, announcing that we had arrived and our destination could be found on the right. Luckily a spot had just opened up on the curb for him to turn the car into. I unbuckled my seatbelt as the engine shut down and opened my door, stepping out onto the sidewalk. My arms were still holding the puppy and I unfortunately had to concede that I probably shouldn't bring him inside. Spinning one-eighty, I set him back down inside the car and he immediately tried to hop out to follow me. My hands shot up to block him and he retaliated with sad eyes and a whimper.

Oh, this little con artist.

Laughing, I stroked his head soothingly, "Now now, Marshmallow, no need for all that… we'll only be gone for a few minutes, I promise."

"Awfully presumptuous of you, naming my new pupper," Lea teased as he appeared at my side now, a paper shopping bag that he'd retrieved from the back seat on his way out of the car now dangling by the handle from his fingers. Rubbing a curled knuckle over his chin as he glanced skyward, he smirked. "I was thinking something more along the lines of…" now he stretched a hand out, dragging his splayed fingers through the air as if the words themselves were magically materializing in front of our very eyes, "...Imperius, the White Death and Destroyer of Worlds."

I shot him a dull look. "...bit long to fit on a dog tag, don't you think?"

"Not if we use really teeny font!" his grin twitched wider and my eyelids just drooped in response. "Fine, fine, ya have a point. Hm… compromise? How 'bout... Marshmallow, Destroyer of Worlds?"

One corner of my lips turned up, "I can live with that." Giving the puppy one final scritch under the chin, I cooed, "Be back soon, Mr Worlds," before locking and closing the car door. As I turned to fully face Lea, it came to my attention that he was now scrutinizing me with a squint and a little frown. My eyebrows knit together. "...what?"

Without a word, he abruptly bent forward and friggin' licked the side of my neck.

With a small yelp, I squirmed and jumped back, hand flying up to clamp over the now damp skin as my cheeks threatened to spontaneously combust. Lea's face twisted in distaste as he spat and razzed his tongue, "Yeck, concealer. Thought so. Knew there was no possible way my masterpiece healed and faded that quickly."

Ah. He was talking about the Mother Hickey. I nodded with a sigh, "Yeah, Rayne helped me figure out how to cover it up."

Stepping closer, he hooked a finger under my chin to gently turn my head to one side so he could take a better look, muttering, "Hmph. Nice job, Raindrop. Matched your tone perfectly, never woulda even known it's there. But also… so not cool. I'm an arteest! A maestro deserves to have his pièce de résistance on display for all the world to see."

"Not when your canvas is my neck, maestro," I snorted, getting on tiptoe to plant a quick peck to his lips as I took the bag from him. Inside it was a powder blue sundress, a pair of ankle boots, and a phone book.

He gave a tiny pout, but it quickly melted into a grin as he took hold of my free hand, lacing our fingers together. "So… you ready for this?"

I spotted the little store we'd come here for and started walking towards it. "Ready as I'll ever be, I suppose."

"Ya sure the dude even wants all this junk back? It's more than a lil used now."

"Well, it's a used clothing store, so I'm sure it's fine," I shrugged.

Lea chuckled, "That old phone book is rumpled from water damage and is practically a rat's nest. No, scratch that cuz calling it that sullies the good name of rat's nests everywhere."

"It doesn't matter," I exhaled heavily. "I told the man I'd bring it all back and that's what I'm doing. If he won't take any of it, then I'm happy to pay him back for it all with interest." On that note, we stepped through the automated sliding doors beneath the big sign that read Wandering Oaken's Trading Post.

The store looked the same as the last time I'd been here. The cluttered racks, the secondhand clothing all but bursting out of every nook and cranny, the rustic decorations on the walls and hanging from the ceiling… all of it exactly the same. It honestly surprised me a little. I would've expected some changes since it felt like my last visit had been absolute ages ago. I had to remind myself that in reality, it'd hardly even been two months since.

I hoped the man (employee? proprietor?) who'd assisted me back then wasn't also exactly the same as I remembered him. All angry and stocky and big. I gulped, feeling my breathing turn shallow as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. Surely, he wasn't still mad and wouldn't rip me limb from limb on sight, right? And surely, my memory had to be lying to me and exaggerating. No one, not even Lea, was that hulkingly ginormous… right?

"Hoo-hoo! Big summer blowout! Half off swim su-" the familiar voice immediately cut off as its owner, that same man I'd recalled, locked eyes with me from across the store. "You!"

Nope. He was exactly as terrifyingly ginormous as I remembered him.

Suddenly - and I don't quite know how exactly, because I didn't remember moving - I was hiding behind Lea.

Huh. Seemed like my latent surprise teleportation powers had activated to catch me unawares once again!

Taking a deep, steadying breath to settle my nerves and get a grip, I slowly creeped back out from behind him to respond to the man with a shaky smile and a tiny, "Me?"

He abruptly came charging at me and I swallowed a squeak, screwing my eyes shut.

This was it. The final countdown. The last roundup. I could already see the fabled white light. Was already watching my life flash before my eyes. Could hear an angelic choir singing somewhere. All but feel the-

Those giant tree trunks he had for arms unexpectedly wrapped themselves around me, crushing me to him in a spine-cracking hug that lifted me several feet off the ground and forced a surprised grunt out of me.

Um…?

"What is this?" I wheezed as I was swung to and fro like a ragdoll. "I don't understand what's happening."

Lea snerked, being absolutely zero help as he simply crossed his arms and watched the absolute epitome of bear hugs continue. "Apparently, this is how he deals with shoplifters. His own unique brand o' vigilante justice."

"Well it's cruel and unusual punishment!" I croaked out, kicking my feet and trying to wriggle free. "How do I make him stop?!"

Miraculously, he chose that second to release me of his own accord, shooting me a big smile that took up over half his face, "Oh thank you, deary! Thank you!"

...okay, not quite the greeting I'd been expecting.

Like, at all.

Both eyebrows shot up my forehead as my hand went to rub at my elbow, "You, uh… you remember me?"

"Of course, deary!" he nodded eagerly, tapping his fingertips together.

I squinted at him uncertainly. "...and you remember that I… stole from you?"

More enthusiastic nodding, "Ya, ya!"

...was I the only one totally bewildered right now?

My eyes darted over to exchange a brief glance with Lea, who just shrugged his shoulders.

Oh good, so it wasn't just me then.

Looking at the worker once more, I hesitated for a split second before awkwardly thrusting the bag out to him, heart thudding loudly in my ears as I began, "Well I… I brought it all back like I said I would… even the phone book! It's all still in decent shape… er, except for the phone book, that is. I can compensate you for that though and… and the dress and shoes too, of course! That is, if that's what you'd prefer... and I'll even pay inter-"

"Nonsense!" he gently pushed the bag back towards me. "Keep it all, it's yours. And your munny's no good here."

I stared at him blankly. "...I'm sorry, I'm confused."

The man beamed at me now, "Your dress, deary! The one you left behind in the fitting room and said I could have? I must say, that had to have been some costume party you came from! I sold that gown for enough munny to pay for all four of my sons' college tuitions! So I insist, keep those items! And please let me know if you see anything else in here that you'd like, ya?" A sudden low chime rang out overhead, signalling that another customer had walked into the shop. Gracing me with one final warm grin, he then plastered on his customer service face and walked past me, waggling his fingers in greeting, "Hoo-hoo! Big summer blowout!"

Frowning slightly, I watched him go before I heard Lea say in realization, "...you left your wedding dress here."

My fingers twisted and fidgeted with the bag handles. "Sort of… yeah."

He shook his head with a snort. "Shit, El, a gown like that made for your upscale, hoity-toity, blueblood wedding? You didn't shoplift, you way, way overpaid!"

Feeling heat creeping into my face, I gave a tiny scowl and huffed, "Well, it certainly felt like shoplifting, the way he was yelling and chasing after me when I ran out the store!"

"Babydoll, you just lost some serious street cred," he chuckled, pressing his lips to my temple. "Seriously though, just ditching it in some random fitting room? You coulda sold that thing for bookoo bucks and made this whole striking it out on your own thing way easier on yourself."

"You said the same thing about my car back at my parents' home. But just like with the Ferrari, that dress was bought and paid for with my parents' munny," I sighed, crossing my arms. "I don't want to accept so much as even a single cent from them if I don't have to… I don't want to feel like I owe them anything. And I just… I didn't know what else to do with the dress, really. I just wanted to be rid of the wretched thing."

He tsked, tapping a finger to my nose, "Oh you. Always gotta do things the hard way, huh? Silly." Reaching for my hand, he then started us meandering about the shop, idly perusing the racks and shelves as he went on, "If it'd been me, I wouldn't have thought twice 'bout pawning that dress for some quick cash. What's the big deal where the munny came from? All that really matters is how you spend it to give yourself a better, happier life. Turn bad into good, ya know? I- sweet!" he cried out abruptly, eyes lighting up as he happened upon a clump of feather boas draped across the corner of a chaotic, jam-packed shelf. Snagging one that was made of red feathers marked with black stripes, he wrapped it around his neck with a flourish before batting his eyelashes at me. "How do I look?"

I rubbed my fingers over my tiny smile. "Beautiful. Simply gorgeous."

"Damn skippy!" he chirped, now spotting a full length mirror nearby and moving to admire himself in it.

From insightful to kid playing dress-up in under two seconds flat. That had to be some kind of record.

Seeing that the employee had returned to his post behind the cash register, I walked over to him. "Hi again. How much for one-"

There was a sudden giggle at my ear that was distinctly Lea's, followed swiftly by a second feather boa being looped around my neck, this one comprised of blue feathers with white tips. With that, Lea zipped off once more, this time heading towards what looked to be the toy shelf.

I blinked in his wake, then shook my head with a soft hum of a laugh. "I'm sorry, how much for two feather boas?"

"Holy shit, this orca action figure comes with a tiny machine gun! And-" Lea gasped, running back now to excitedly show it to me, "-it also turns into a goddamn freaking robot!"

Patting him on the cheek, I turned back to the cashier with a sigh, "And the toy too."

"For you, deary?" he asked, still happily tapping his fingers together. "Free of charge!"

My head rocked back slightly. "What? No, but-"

"Oh hell yes! Thanks, big guy, and have a great day!" Lea cut me off, snatching up my hand and bolting out the store, forcing me to stumble after him as the cashier called out after us to do the same.

As we exited through the automated doors back out onto the sidewalk, I said, "Lea, wait!" I dug in my heels, bringing us both to a lurching stop. Then I frowned over my shoulder back towards the little shop. "I'm not comfortable with this. He's only giving us this stuff because of that stupid dress and I told you already-"

"Don't look at it as benefiting offa your folks munny," he grinned, taking the bag from me to tuck the toy and his boa inside with the other stuff. Then he set to work uncoiling mine from around my neck. "Instead, try this on for size: ya did a good thing with that dress. Maybe even the best possible thing ya coulda done with it. You donated it to the worthy cause of paying for the education of that dude's small army of kids. And if that's not enough for you, here's another way to look at it: ya traded in a wedding dress worth a sultan's ransom and all you got in return was a handful of cruddy, secondhand junk that altogether costs maybe twenty bucks max. On the divine cosmic scale of ethics, I think you can consider your conscience clear and your heart light as a feather."

Now fully freed from the feather boa, I released a tiny huff through my nose as I watched him slip it inside the bag too. "Well, when you put it that way…"

"It's settled then," he beamed, slinging an arm around my shoulders and guiding me back towards his car. "Now onto the next item on the list!"

My head tipped to one side. "There's more? But with this place checked off, I thought that was the whole list."

"Maybe your list, but we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of mine. And first up is immediately correcting one epic fail on my part."

"Oh?" I arched an eyebrow at him.

He nodded, "Mm-hm! For ya see, I've been grossly neglectful in my boyfriend duties. Can you actually believe I have yet to take you out on our first proper date since officially becoming a couple?"

A tiny smile fought its way onto my lips. "For shame. The absolute scandal."

"I know, right? People are already beginning to talk, my good name is being dragged through the mud," he puffed out an overdramatic breath, shaking his head.

I laughed. "Well then, what did you have in mind?"

As we came to a stop next to his car, he tapped the window glass where Marshmallow was pressing his paws up against the other side while barking his little head off. "For starters, how 'bout we take this lil fellah to a park somewhere for a few hours? Once he's all played out, we can drop him off back at my place. Make it real quick, in and out before Saïx wakes up and realizes he's been unknowingly volunteered for doggo-sitting duty." Setting the bag down on the roof the car, he then faced me, taking both my hands in his as he idly started toying with my fingers and murmured, "Then I was thinking I could take ya somewhere nice. Maybe Le Grand Bistrot? And after that…" he gave a lazy shrug, that dimple of his emerging, "well, guess we'll just see where the night takes us from there."

My eyes crinkled as I stared up the few inches that separated us. "Sounds perfect."

It'd been one wild and, at far too many points, absolutely absurd ride that had brought me here. And it was far from over for I still had a long road ahead of me. I'd yet to even determine what exactly I wanted the future to hold for me, and that was okay. I could hardly be expected to have the rest of my life already planned and mapped out after experiencing only a couple short months of freedom. Come now, that would be unrealistic.

But it didn't truly matter that nothing was really decided yet. What mattered was that I was the one who would get to decide, no one else. And for the moment, I was just deciding to focus on what was immediately before me. Today, I had a date with my boyfriend. Tomorrow would be a shift at my job in a mall ice cream shop. And the day after would bring the start of rehearsals for community theater. All in all, it was nothing grand, nothing fancy… but it made me happy. And for now, that was enough. More than enough. I could figure out the rest in my own time, and that sounded pretty good to me.

In fact, it sounded absolutely amazing.

THE END

…sorta?

Author's Note:  And thus we come full circle... it ends where it all began way back in chapter one... cheesy, I know XD Okay, I rarely finish stories and thus I don't have a lot of experiencing doing it, so factor that in however you will in judging this final chapter xD I know, it was stupidly, cavity-inducingly sweet and not a lot happened, but damnit it's my story and I'll end it how I want to! Oh, and the toy Lea found wasn't a reference to anything, it was just something stupid I found on the internet that I figured the goofball would go absolutely nuts over xD

So, you probably have questions about that "...sorta?" at the end there xD Well that, my friends, has to do with the good news I mentioned that I had for ya'll a couple chapters back! Although the big, main plot of the story is now complete, there will be *drum roll*... bonus chapters! Wooo! These are more like self-contained one-shots that generally have time passage between them anywhere from a few days to like a month with no real overarching plot connecting them, which is why I'm not considering them a part of the "main" story. However, I will still be just slapping them at the end of this story, keeping it all in one place as opposed to posting them as separate fanfics, just because I can! I do what I want, yo! These bonus chapters will cover various events (relationship and non-relationship alike) for our new happy couple - as well as some that are just for pure funsies due to random ideas popping into my head that I really wanted to write xD I just always write the "how they got together" story and have never written them as a couple, so I'm excited to finally have a good excuse to do that! Plus now I can share with you guys how things go from here - stuff like relationship milestones, fam drama, Elsa's further adventures in theater, and much more! If you guys have any ideas of your own for a one-shot you'd like to see, please let me know! I make no promises about actually writing it, BUT there's a very good chance I'll read your suggestion, the plot bunnies in my head will go wild and I'll have no choice but to write it anyway xD 

ANYWAY! I already have written and completed a few of these one-shots, so my once-a-week updates can continue for a little while longer! But fair warning - when (not if, WHEN) my updates catch up to as far as I've written, my once-a-week updates will be reduced to whenever-the-chapter-is-frigging-done updates xD

Whew! I think that's a wrap! Thank you so much for reading my lil story here, I super duper appreciate it! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far! Seeing those lil notifications pop up always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

See ya next week for the first bonus chapter, which is a silly, for funsies one-shot xD I'll give you a hint... helmets are involved! Ooooo, what could it be?! Stay tuned and find out!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

#kingdom hearts #frozen #elsa #axel #fanfiction #lea #fanfic #kingdom hearts fanfiction #frozen fanfiction #kh fanfiction #kh fanfic #frozen fanfic #kingdom hearts fanfic #axelsa #fluff #romcom #slow burn #kh3 #my writing #ice cream and fire oven pizza #rare pair #crossover pairing #humor #snark #fake dating au

[actress4him]

So, this isn’t DoD related, but some of my readers ( @nevquariel and @coolmegan123 , specifically) were interested in hearing more about the other KH project I have in the works. As I mentioned in the comments of my last post, I started writing it while editing Sorrow’s Promise, and have dabbled with it off and on since then, though not for a while. I’m not sure when it will get finished and posted, I may take a break from KH for a little bit after I finish DoD, but we’ll see.

This story is multi-chap but stand alone, not a series. It’s really unlike anything else I’ve written. I generally stick with at least partially canon-verse in my fanfiction, but this one is definitely an AU, and not just by being canon-divergent or having an original character. Nope, this is set in a completely different world, in my own, made-up era, and only the characters (and a few fun parallels to canon here and there) stay the same. I’ve tried to keep everyone in character as much as possible, though Sora is the most changed just because of his circumstances. We see more of the real Sora in the flashbacks at the beginning of every chapter.

TL;DR, aka the tagline for the story - 

In which Sora is Roxas, Xemnas is a mobster, Kairi is an actual princess, Axel is everyone's slightly unstable big brother, and Riku just wants to fix his mistakes...but what's new about that?

Starring Sora and Riku, with Axel and Naminé in primary support roles, Xion, Kairi, and Saix in secondary support roles, and pretty much every other KH character you can think of as the ensemble.

And now, because I love to spoil you guys, a sneak peek at chapter 1, below the cut. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Chapter 1

Sora stumbled off of the train car and into Central Station, bumping right into Riku's back.  The older boy had halted in his path and was gazing around at the grand building, and Sora followed suite, eyes wide with wonder.  There were so many people everywhere.  They had never encountered a crowd quite like this one back at home.

As they began moving forward again, Sora reached out and clung to Riku's shirt, afraid that they might get separated.  Soon they found themselves being swept out the front door and into the sunshine of Twilight Town.  We made it.  We're actually here.

“Where do we go now?” 

Riku glanced back at Sora, scratching the back of his head.  “Uh...why don't we just walk around for a while, get a feel for the place?”  To anyone else, he would have sounded like he knew exactly what he was talking about. Only Sora had known him for long enough to detect the hint of nervousness in his voice.

“Yeah, okay.”  Sora swallowed, trying not to feel too nervous, himself.  This is what we wanted, remember?  A new town, new people...anything but what we had.   

Riku led the way through the unfamiliar streets, pointing out various shops that they passed along the way, obviously doing his best to make them both feel at ease. Sora tried his best to relax and enjoy the sights, but his rumbling stomach wasn't doing much to help in that area.   

“Can we get something to eat? I'm starving.”

Riku stopped walking and turned to face Sora, a frown on his face.  “Well, we don't have a lot of munny left.”  Digging the pouch out of his pocket, he tugged it open and peered inside.  “The train tickets cost more than I thought they would.  So, we can get food, but only a little, okay? We've still got to figure out where we're gonna sleep tonight, too.”

Sora nodded.  “Yeah, I'm really tired.”  He stretched his arms above his head and yawned as if to prove the point. Laughing, Riku knocked Sora on the head.  “I told you you should've slept on the train.”

They started to head into a nearby cafe, but were interrupted by someone calling out, “Hey, kids!”

Wrinkling his nose, Sora turned to see a couple of older teens, one with bright red hair and one with blue, walking towards them.  “Are you talking to us?” he asked, pointing to his chest.

“We're not kids.”  Riku crossed his arms and glared at the newcomers.

“Right, right.”  The redhead waved his hands apologetically.  “I'm sure you're much older and tougher than you look.”

“I'm Isa, and this is Lea,” the one with the long, blue hair and a strange scar between his eyes spoke up.   

“You can call me Axel,” the redhead countered.

Riku studied them for a moment longer before dropping his arms.  “Riku.  That's Sora.”

“Great.  Look, we couldn't help but overhear a little of your conversation,” Axel commented.  “You guys new to town?”

“Just got here,” Sora piped up.

“Where are you from?” Isa questioned.

Riku shook his head.  “Doesn't matter.  We're never going back there.”

Axel and Isa exchanged a look that Sora couldn't read before Axel spoke again.  “Listen, if you're looking for something to eat and somewhere to stay, we know a place. There's this guy we work for, along with a bunch of others just like you, and he lets us all sleep and eat at his place, too.  It's a pretty good deal...a bit of work for him, in exchange for a bed and free meals.”  He smiled earnestly and looked each of the boys in the eye.  “What do you think, sound good?”

Sora cut his eyes over to Riku.  It sounded great to him, but as the oldest, Riku was always the one to make the decisions.  He could tell his friend was mulling over the offer.  Finally he nodded to Sora, then smiled at the two older boys. “Sounds good.  Lead the way.”

.o.0.O.0.o.

“Hey.  Wake up, sleeping beauty.”   

A hand was pummeling Sora's head down into his pillow.  Instinctively, his fist shot out and made contact with something hard, prompting a stream of curses from the human alarm clock.  Much more awake now, Sora rolled over, shaking his hand and glaring at Axel, who had retreated to his own bunk across the narrow room to whimper and rub his jaw.

“Serves you right,” Sora growled. 

“Hey, I'm just trying to do you a favor and keep you out of trouble.”  Axel gestured towards the rest of the bunks with the hand that wasn't holding his face.  “You're the last one up.  Again.  They're not gonna be serving breakfast for much longer.”

Groaning, Sora pried himself up off the hard mattress and fumbled for his black boots underneath the bed.  A moment later, he was up and shuffling sleepily towards the door.   

“You know, a 'thank you' wouldn't kill you!” Axel called after him.

The thought of food was enough to prod Sora into a jog as he made his way down first one stark white hallway, then another.  When he finally reached the mess hall, the usual din of clanging plates and murmuring voices met his ears.  Axel had been right, everyone else was already here. Hurrying over to the kitchen window, Sora cleared his throat to catch the attention of the server.  The response was a side eye, a snarl, then thankfully, a piece of bread and a spoonful of mush slapped onto a plate and shoved across the counter towards him.  Sora breathed a sigh of relief.  Just in the nick of time.  I really should thank Axel later.   

As Sora turned to look for a place to sit, he found himself face to, well, chest with one of his least favorite people in the world.  He lifted his chin to meet Marluxia's stare with a scowl.  “What do you want?” 

“Heard you had issues in Agrabah yesterday.”  The tall, muscular man shook his pink mane.   

“What's it to you if I did?”   

“Personally, I'm hoping that means you'll get kicked off that mission and I'll get it instead.”  This comment came from Larxene, who had walked up just out of range of Sora's peripheral vision.  He whirled around to glare at her instead.  “I'm getting really tired of Wonderland, after all,” she continued, chewing idly on a piece of bread.   

Sora's eyes narrowed.  Wait, that bread... It only took him a second to make the connection.  “Give it back, Larxene!”  He lunged forward to snatch it out of her mouth, not even caring that she had contaminated it.   

She ran a few steps back, smirking.  “Come and get it!”

He would have done exactly that, had he not felt a pull at the plate in his hand. Marluxia had a hold of it, and though Sora was pretty strong, he was no match for those muscles.  The older man wrenched it out of his grasp in a matter of seconds.  Gritting his teeth, Sora gave up the mush for lost and chose to go after Larxene instead, hoping to salvage whatever bread might be left.  He ran straight into her, tackling her to the floor.   

Before either of them could get in any punches, however, a loud voice rang out across the room.  “No fighting!”   

Eyes going wide, Sora scrambled off of the blonde and stumbled away as fast as he could.  No crust of bread was worth getting punished for fighting. His stomach wasn't exactly sure it agreed, however.  It protested its emptiness harshly enough to make him grimace as he sank down to the floor in an empty corner of the room, watching with clenched fists as Marluxia and Larxene sauntered away to find their next unsuspecting victim.

“Here.”  Sora had been so engrossed in his anger that he hadn't even noticed Axel enter the room and plop down next to him.  “Take this.  It's from last night.  I was saving it for later, but you need it more than I do.”

Sora stared down at the proffered food for a moment, then turned his head away.  “I don't need you to take care of me.”

Axel sighed loudly.  “No, I know you don't.  But you also don't need to go out in the field today not having eaten since yesterday morning.  I'm well aware that you didn't get dinner last night because of whatever went wrong in Agrabah.”

“It's not my fault that some towns actually have decent government in place.” Sora shook his head slightly.  “People see somebody like us skulking around, they tell the authorities.  I'm lucky I saw them coming and got out of there without being questioned or imprisoned.”

“Yeah, you are. I know it's unfair, Rox, you don't have to tell me that.”  Catching sight of the daggers that Sora was shooting from his eyes, Axel put up a hand in apology for the name blunder.  “I mean Sora, sorry. Now would you just take the food?  Neither of us really want to know what the penalty is for passing out and not making it back from a mission.”

Sora snatched the small bundle out of his hand with a grunt.  “Fine.”  The food wasn't much, but it would certainly be better than nothing.  Maybe, if he was lucky, he could pilfer an apple or something while on the job later.  “Thanks,” he mumbled with his mouth full.

“No problem.” Axel ran a hand over his wild red hair, the flattened spikes immediately popping back up into place.  “Try to play it cool with Saix when you see him.  Confident, like you know you're capable of doing the job, but not too cocky.  He'll probably dock you down to something more menial than territory expansion, but you'd better not show him one speck of attitude about it or...”

“Or I'll regret it, I know the drill.”  Sora finished off the food and licked a crumb from his finger.  “You ready?  Might as well get it over with.”

“Yeah.”  Axel pushed himself up to his feet, then held out a mass of black fabric. “Here, I brought these.  You forgot yours in your rush.”

Grunting his thanks, Sora took the cloak and fastened it around his neck.  On the other side of the room, most of the other soldiers, as they were unofficially called, were already lining up to receive their assignments.  When his turn came, Sora stepped in front of Saix, meeting his cold gaze but trying his best to keep his own expression neutral.   

“Roxas.” Saix's eyes flicked down to the clipboard in his hand, then back up to Sora's.  “Debt collection.  Twilight Town, east side.”

Sora blinked, the familiarity of that name sending a jolt through his brain, but forced himself to nod stiffly and pull his hood up over his face.   

“You don't need a portal for Twilight Town,” Saix sneered after a moment of silence.  Sora glanced back up at him, and he pointed to the door. “Go.”

Right. Nodding silently again, Sora stepped out of line and headed back across the room and out the door.  So, this really was more punishment.  Not only was he stuck with his least favorite task of debt collection, but he had also been relegated to the town that was so close by, you could walk to it rather than being sent by portal. A fabulous trek on a nearly empty stomach.

In another half hour, the walls of Twilight Town came into view, with the clock tower in the center of town poking out up above.  That jolt ran through him once again.  Several years ago, when they had first joined The Organization, he and Riku had often worked Twilight Town together.  But that had been a long time ago, back before they had gotten promoted to bigger and better locations.  On occasion after that, each of them would work a shift here, but Sora had not been back in a while.  Not since Riku...

Shaking his head violently, Sora stamped out those thoughts before they could fully materialize.  Stick with the present.  Dwelling on the past never gets you anywhere.  With a sigh, he walked through the gates of the city and surveyed the quiet streets.  Well, this munny isn't going to collect itself.

DO NOT REPOST OR REBLOG WITHOUT CREDIT!

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts fanfiction #kingdom hearts au #fanfic #fanfiction

[floriswrite]

Even stilled when Lauriam held a red rose out to him. "I thought you couldn't make these anymore."

"I cannot. I visited the World of an old friend and they were kind enough to let me take one." Lauriam explained.

Even slowly took the rose from him. "An old friend?"

"A World I saved long ago."

"Would you take me there some time?" Even questioned and brought the rose up to his face to smell it. It felt too real in his fingers.

"He's trying to get better about guests, so I should be able to manage that." Lauriam gave a small nod. "We should put it in water."

"He?" Even felt his stomach tighten. Had Lauriam given him someone else's token of affection? "I could freeze it."

"The prince of the World. Apparently Organization XIII tried to give him trouble years ago. From what Belle said it sounds like Dilan's Nobody was there." Lauriam stepped a little closer to him. "Save your magic, Even."

“Belle?” Even questioned and looked away. “/You/ told me to work on my magic, Lauriam.” 

“I do not believe they have gotten married by this point in time.” Lauriam explained and reached up a hand to place on Even’s cheek and draw his attention back to him. “A touch too honest of a memory, is all. It was an ill chosen gift.” 

“Right, the whole past future matter.” Even frowned down at Lauriam. “You want it back?” 

“Right.” Lauriam gave a small nod. “No. It is yours. But I should have thought it through better. My intention is to build foundation on who we are now. To give you a gift that is so thoroughly Marluxia was ill chosen.” Lauriam swallowed and withdrew his hand. “But I found I could not help myself.” 

Even grabbed his hand and held it awkwardly before him. “Once then. For old times sake.” 

“You’ve never been one to stop at once.” Lauriam whispered. “Perhaps I should take it back.” 

“Experiments need proper testing.” Even whispered back and leaned down. “No, you said it is mine. Perhaps we could use it as... closure.” 

“Closure?” Lauriam hummed. “We’d need to set it on fire afterwards.” 

“How did you die?” 

“Exhaustion, mostly. Desperation. Sora would have done such a lovely job if only his rage had been directed properly. But it does not matter now. Pieces are back where they are meant to be.” 

“It has been... odd, getting to actually know Riku.” 

“Seeing Ienzo socialize, you mean.” Lauriam laughed a little. 

“Yes.” Even sighed. “So. Fire.” 

“Full closure.” Lauriam nodded. “And then, we go on a date. Just us. No cloud of Vexen and Marluxia.” 

“Do you forgive yourself then?”

“Oh, never.” Lauriam shook his head a little. “But I don’t have to forgive myself to move on. So let’s set up our little experiment.” 

“Set up?” 

“Fire, Even, Fire. Unless you learned fire magic after Esuna?” 

“...Don’t make fun of your elders, Lauriam.” 

Lauriam hummed and turned away. “Only you.” And then he smirked over his shoulder. “Besides, I’ve technically existed longer than you.” 

“You’re terrible.” Even laughed. 

“You knew that already.” Lauriam laughed back. “Fire. I have no idea how to work your lab, Even. I am much more used to synthesis.” 

“Right. The Moogle like you.” Even walked past him. “I’ll teach you how to work a Bunsen Burner. Actual science.”

“There is plenty of science behind synthesis.” 

“There is more magic than science.” 

“One and the same at the core.” Lauriam held a finger up to silence Even’s next complaint. “Are you a scientist or a mage? You are both, Even.” 

Even heaved a sigh. “You are correct, but my original point still stands.” 

“Science. Yes. Show away.” 

Even lead Lauriam over to a table with said Bunsen Burner along with various flasks and test tubes. “Lauriam?” 

“Hmm?” 

“You truly want to forget?” 

“I never said forget. I want to move on. I want to feel like I am living my life. Not a shadow of Marluxia’s.” Lauriam sighed. “I recognize that the division between Vexen and Even was slim. That Vexen allowed you a moral slip that this life does not. But I am not Marluxia, and I refuse to act as if I am.” 

“Okay.” Even gave a small nod and finally coated the rose he held in ice. “A date?” 

“We can go wherever you like.” 

“Where- where would you have gone before?” 

Lauriam stared at him, eyes slightly wide. “Even you know my home world is destroyed.” 

“You can travel to other Worlds I-” Even heaved a sigh. “No. Of course you would want to stay in familiar territory. I’m sorry.” 

“Tact has never been one of your strong suits.” Lauriam gave him a small smile. “There’s a few Worlds I have not explored fully yet. I thought we could just walk around and find somewhere nice.” 

“That would be nice.” Even agreed. He set the rose to the side and turned the flame on. “Tell me about back then. Your thought process.” 

“Vexen had shown that he could not be loyal to me. Axel wanted to prove he could be. I was foolish enough to believe that Axel’s motives and mine would work together.” Lauriam explained softly. “I think about it frequently, Even. What would have happened if I had never told Axel the truth. That mission was not supposed to have causalities.” 

“You blame yourself and not Lea.” 

“The more I learn about Axel and Lea the more I understand he has always followed his heart. Axel’s loyalty, just like Vexen’s, was never Marluxia’s to hold.” Lauriam picked up the ice covered rose. “But more than anything else. I regret not doing it myself. Deep down I did not expect Axel to go through with it. I was not aware of how strong his conviction to Saix was, nor how much he wanted to see Roxas again.” 

“I forgave you.” Even stated. He had never truly cared about the politics. He had been mad with Marluxia because that castle should have been Vexen’s. But the more he heard about what happened after the more it sounded like a trap. Like they were sent to slaughter. 

“I know.” Lauriam sighed and held the icy petals over the open flame. “How did it feel? I remember the feel of death. That feel of unraveling. Of your emptiness finally being set free. Of your soul leaving.” 

“Dreadful.” Even whispered and watched as normal fire tried to melt magic ice. Their plan might have had a hole in it. But that might have been the point. They could never let go. “I remember the smell, mostly. I remember feeling betrayed. I remember Sora looking confused. And who could blame him?” Even placed a hand to his chest. “I remember being worried. And then Axel did have the Riku Replica kill Zexion...” 

“Vexen’s dying thoughts were Zexion?” 

“Even’s had been Ienzo.” Even’s voice was small. “In the end I should be thankful, but the scars make it challenging.” 

“Understandable.” Lauriam drew the flower away from the flame. “Perhaps we could put it in the freezer instead.” 

“Not working?” 

“Not in any capacity that is satisfying.” Lauriam turned the flower, a small bit of ice was gone, but the point was for their to be flames. 

Even turned the fire off. “Soak it in water and put it in the freezer it is. Do I only get that date after it is gone?” 

“It does sound like this experiment will need to be picked up tomorrow. But I think you still deserve a date today.” Lauriam hummed a little. “For talking.” 

“Good.” Even smiled and took the flower from him. “Tell me about the World you want to go to.” 

“It’s called San Fransokyo. It’s a very technologically based world. Tall buildings. Curious transit system. And apparently it’s own team of heros.” Lauriam leaned against the table while he watched Even. 

“I think some version of the Riku Replica went there. I tried to keep track of where the vessels got to.” Even waved a hand at him. “But at the same time did not truly care.” 

“Where do your loyalties lay these days?” 

“They’ve always been to Lord Ansem and Ienzo. /My/ king and prince.” Even dismissed his magic and turned the sink on. The rose only looked sad as he ran it under water. The freezer would only make it an awkward chunk of flower. Nothing of the intricate designs Vexen had practiced only to impress Marluxia. But that was for the best. 

“Right.” Lauriam looked away. “And me?” 

“What about you?” 

“Are you loyal to me, Even? Can I finally hold your loyalty?” 

Even looked at Lauriam’s fragile expression for only a second. “We’ll see after our date.” 

“Fair.” Lauriam let out a heavy breath. “My loyalty has never been to you, after all.” 

“No, you are only loyal to yourself.” 

“No, I once had many people I was loyal to. But times change. Marluxia’s loyalty was Larxene. I sent her to her death as well. You are far from the only death that is heavy on my heart, Even.” 

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Even questioned as he turned off the sink and walked the dripping red rose over to the freezer. He’d put a note on it later. Ienzo would ask. 

“No. Not at all.” Lauriam shook his head. “Only stating facts and reminders.” 

“A reminder to never forgive yourself.” 

“That is correct.” 

Even sighed and closed the freezer. “I understand.” He walked back over to Lauriam and placed his hands on the table behind him, pinning him in place. “I want dinner and dessert.”

“Of course, Even.” Lauriam gave him a small smile. “Anything you want.” 

“I want you to forgive yourself.” 

“Anything but that.” Lauriam turned his head away. 

“Then I want ice cream.” 

“That I can manage.”

#*Even #*Lauriam #MarVex

[tina-nina]

Memoriam Dolorum but Sora, as part of his abilities, can also hear in-game themes. So whenever Marluxia approaches him, he hears the low choir and drums of Lord of the Castle, Namine's theme starts to overtake Kairi's as he ventures further in. Then there's the strings from Ven's theme, something he's been hearing as early as he can remember. All the while he just wants to hear Riku's cello again. And somewhere, buried in his mind, are the rising notes and clash of blades from the Graveyard.

............

This is amazing. Hey Anon? You are a flipping genius. When If I write this I would probably revamp Sora’s heart sensing ability to be focused directly on music instead of in MD where it’s more feeling, just to balance it out a tiny bit. Instead of sensing hearts, he’s hearing them, which comes with its own set of pros and cons.

Taking this to the logical extreme, not only can Sora hear the Music of People’s Hearts, he can hear the music of Worlds. Imagine trying to get through Castle Oblivion, but you have to constantly listen to Scent of Silence and all the other unsettlingly beautiful music pieces native to the Castle (CO’s field theme has a drum backing that sounds like a heartbeat, it’s very eerie).

............

Damn I wanna write this now.

Hey @snowflake-of-destruction I have a new AU wanna talk about it?

#Memoriam Dolorum #What Makes a Heart ‘Verse #new AU #I will think on these things #Instabilis Melodiae

[thirteenthspirit]

Not a Very ‘Organized’ Organization (XIII)

I thought hard about this week’s topic of choice. Brexit was on my mind - I pondered about doing a comparison between parliament’s never-ending struggle with delays and failed agreements, vs Harvest Moon’s unending gameplay, farming and shipping and eventually marrying and digging in the mines and COLLECTING ALL THE DAMN SPRITES in that DS one. But that’s as far as it goes… I didn’t think I’d be able to milk it like those cows (hey!).

Speaking of Hey, I still want to get Space Channel 5 in there somewhere, those Chu’s and Hey’s have been on my mind like crazy…

So I settled on writing about one of my favorite topics – Organization XIII!

Organization XIII was always one of my favorite parts of the Kingdom Hearts series. They are cool and mysterious and (debatably) heartless, ranging everywhere from the mute heavyweight champions (*cough* Lexaeus *cough*) to the twink rockstar wannabes.

So, Organization XII is, like the name implies, a group of 13 nobodies – wait, scratch that – a group of 14 nobodies (eyeroll) who have banded together to… um… depends on who you ask. And in which game. Their primary goal was to be whole, to be granted a heart/soul, even if practically EVERY ONE OF THEM had a different agenda and there was a whole underlying separate reason for the creation of the Organization. NO WORRIES, let’s stick with that, because it’s more fun.

Ok so, breaking down the members, should we go by number? Order of appearance? Relevance? Element of choice? Maybe click (you know, high school clichés)?

Well – first you have the Mains. Roxas (no. XIII), is the counterpart of Sora, the main character in the whole series. So you know he’s gotta be pretty high on the list. The most interesting thing about Roxas is surprisingly NOT that he’s voice by Jesse McCartney, but the duality of elements he controls. Light and Darkness are everywhere with this guy – his outfit has chess squares on it and he wields both Oathkeeper and Oblivion, not to mention having an incredibly sad and traumatic origin story! He’s like, a slightly smarter and moodier Sora. I like Roxas, I’m sad they didn’t give him anything to do in KH3. Dual-wielding keyblades is pretty awesome and his light attacks can hit pretty hard. One of my favorite moments of the series will always be his fight with Riku in the secret ending of KH1, over 10 years ago! Seeing Roxas clash with Riku in mid-air in front of that clock tower (not to be confused with the one from Neverland – I mean England) really made my heart race as a kid. He can also boast to having shared quite a couple of awesome struggles (go Vivi), with Sora in that “Station of Awakening” place where Destati usually plays, and then with both his best friends - while trying not to be kidnapped by his “Flurry of Dancing Flames”, best friend Axel, and when dispatching Xion.

Xion (no. XIV) is a “puppet”, made to take over Roxas’s place and role in the Organization, should anything happen. She is an interesting character, tragedy befalls her and her journey with coming to the realization that she must sacrifice herself for Sora’s behalf (in order for him to become whole again) is a beautiful one to see. Vector to the Heavens plays when you’re fighting Xion for the last time, ending with Roxas effectively killing her and is a beautifully crafted piece. Xion suffers a bit from that ‘unintentional retcon’ where she didn’t really have a place, story-wise, and was created solely for 358/2 Days. So she was effectively written-out of the main storyline until the later games, with every character practically forgetting about her (literally losing their memories of her).

Rounding out the trio is one of everyone’s favorites – bad-guy good-guy Axel (no. VIII). Axel’s portrayal changed throughout the series. In CoM, he is responsible for unmasking a conspiracy and dispatching rogue members of the organization. He is the de-facto assassin. With not a hint of remorse. As his friendship with Xion and Roxas builds, he regains access to some degree of emotion – perhaps it’s caused by the (stick with me on this one) Lea-Ventus-Sora-Roxas-Axel connection, or perhaps he grows a heart, sitting on that clock tower overlooking the (ALWAYS SETTING) sun of Twilight Town and eating sea-salt ice cream. Eventually he turns on the organization, proving his loyalty is to his friends and even joins the main cast as a Keyblade wielder, turning the tides on some occasions (he really makes the end of DDD worth it). It helps that he has a wicked-cool design. His element is Fire and he wields twin Chakrams, boasting two tear tattoos and incredibly spiky hair. His relationship with Kairi is a cute element to the story, I wish (aside from some more combat or like ANY AT ALL) they had more scenes together and overall relevance to the main storyline. My favorite moment, aside from him rescuing Sora from his peers in DDD, has to be when he executes Vexen in Castle Oblivion.

From Axel, the most closely linked member, aside from Roxas and Xion, is SaÏx (no. VII). SaÏx is a warewolf. The moon sends him into a trance and he is often plagued with anger management issues. Berserk is his Nirvana. Him and Axel go way back and there is still a storyline to be uncovered there, judging from the secret reports found in KH3. In the end, his motivations aren’t really clear and fully explored, so his presence is not much more than Axel’s right arm, who happens to have a big “X” scar on his face. Sorry SaÏx – maybe see a therapist. At least you got a happy ending! SaÏx was one of the last Organization members to fall, in KH2. One of the last defenders of the Castle in (one my my all-time favorite KH worlds), The World That Never Was.

Another of the final defenders and members of the Organization to be vanquished at Sora’s had is – *drumroll* arguably MY FAVORITE OF THEM ALL, the incredibly hot and suave Luxord (no. X). Now – this guy is blonde. Has facial hair. Earrings. A British accent (maybe that’s just in my mind) and makes me look up his voice actor just to drool over that sweet sweet voice. He is the “Gambler of Fate” and shows up in the POTC world to basically taunt you and play a few games. Everything’s a game to this guy, even fighting. Which I can’t say he is great at… For someone able to control the element of Time, he’s kind of a pushover. But he’s still got a place in my heart – and maybe we’ll get to see him again, since he was the one who gave Sora that “wild card”… “Parlay!” more like “Let’s play strip poker pls”.

Who next… well let’s round out the oddballs with this guy. Ladies and gents, fans of the underground metal, garage bands and mohawks – I give you… Demyx (no. IX)! The Melodious Nocturne! …although there is nothing ‘nocturnal’ about him. This guy irradiates happiness and excitement and joy. I suppose he is just pretending, since Nobodies can’t really feel, rather they remember what it was like. Dem-dem too is a fan favorite. He is very young and has a different disposition than the rest of the members, he’s just your lazy, average Joe that just wants to spend his days jamming out on his Sitar. He is the first Organization member to fall in KH2, and is considered “not much of a fighter”. I would obviously disagree with this BECAUSE DANCE WATER DANCE MOTHERF***** is hell. Hell! Still, Dem-dem brings some lightheartedness to the game and the entire group, so he is a welcome addition. He is shunned even in KH3 but that’s just a side note of his… personality traits, I suppose. Never forget when he ‘drops the act’ just before turning on Sora, before what would be his final battle. Demyx controls the element of Water.

And since when it rains, it pours; and when it pours, usually it thunders (at least here in Portugal), that seems like a decently-crafted segway to the next member – Larxene (no. XII). Larxene is… a bitch. I don’t say that lightheartedly, I consider myself a feminist and I never forget that quote “when a man is assertive, he’s called a Boss. When a woman is assertive, she’s called a bitch.” But Larxene is just MEAN. She’s the mean girl of the bunch – together with her GBF Marluxia. Larxene poses some of the hardest fights in CoM but sadly, and like most female characters in this series, she’s shunned in favor of other members. This is a critic I have with the entire KH series – Aqua is virtually my favorite character but she’s really the only female character that is given storyline, relevance and overall strength. And like most fans I was DYING to see Kairi kick ass in KH3, but… we all know how that went. Not much to say about Larxene, her lightning-fast attacks and knives give her a pretty sharp demeanor and she’s not afraid to play every trick to her advantage. Standout moment is, unfortunately, her demise in CoM, fading into darkness. Oh and that laugh.

Larxene’s ‘somebody’ appears in KH: Unchained, together with Marluxia’s somebody. Marluxia (no. XI) controls the attribute of Flowers.

Yes.

Flowers.

He also boasts pink hair and – the best part – a huge pink scythe. His nickname is “The Graceful Assassin” but aside from plotting to overthrow the Organization and posing as the main antagonist in CoM, he doesn’t really do a lot of killing. The fights against him in KH2: Final Mix are among my favorites, especially with that countdown as he swings about the field. It seems he has quite a role in the Mobile game, so maybe we’ll get to see more of his backstory in the future. His final parting words were somewhat mysterious. Together with Larxene and a sneaky Axel, Marluxia betrays the Organization and his fellow members in Castle Oblivion, for his own agenda.

The assignment to Castle Oblivion introduces us to 3 other members of the organization – Vexen (no. IV), Lexaeus (no. V) and Zexion (no. VI). And 3 character tropes. The mad scientist, the jock, and the emo kid.

Vexen, aka “The Chilly Academic”, controls my favorite element, Ice. He is, ironically, killed by Axel in a flurry of flames, in a very dramatic moment in CoM. Vexen merely wants to conduct his experiments in peace – he doesn’t care who rules, what happens to the worlds, even who might or not be possessing him. He only cares about his “Replica” program. The Replica program consists on the creation of “puppets”, bodies able to function who are only missing a heart. He plays quite the role in KH3, effectively redeeming himself. Vexen is one of the creepiest characters around – he has long blond hair and green eyes, but really that ‘mad scientist’ vibe is all that transpires. Shout-out to his English voice actor, Derek Stephen Prince, for giving him a creepy vibe. He’s not much of a fighter, with his weapon of choice being an icy shield called “Frozen Pride”.

Zexion is one of the younger members of the Organization – perhaps even younger than Demyx. He is also arguably one of the smartest. Like Vexen, he cares mostly about his research and specific topics of interest *cough* Riku *cough*. However, his young demeanor reflects some innocence – he is the only member you don’t fight against in CoM, ending up murdered at the hands of Axel (with a little help from a Replica…). I really like Zexion, to battle he wields a book (the Lexicon) and would rather dazzle the opponents with some crafted illusions than hit them hard. He is one of the most prominent figures in KH3 and his reunion with his Master, Ansem the Wise, is very touching and reveals once again his innocence. He is often accompanied by Lexaeus, who is essentially a shadow of Zexion, a silent guardian to the smaller member. It is suggested he has been protecting Zexion since the latter was a small child.

Lexaeus fights Riku at one point, effectively forcing Riku to unleash the darkness in his heart just to defeat him. The Organization member is a towering figure and barely ever talks – he is just muscle, but emanates a safe and caring feel outwards, especially in his interactions with Zexion. To battle he wields a huge hammer-like weapon (which totally reminds me of Rikku’s weapons from FFX) called the Skysplitter and commands the element of Earth.

These 3 members are one half of the initial 6 apprentices, who formed the Organization. These founding members all worked together under the tutelage of Ansem the Wise and range from the scientists like Vexen and Zexion to the guardians like Lexaeus and Xaldin.

Xaldin (no. III) is very much… wasted. His virtually only appearance is in KH2, in his vain attempts to turn The Beast into a heartless. His most evident feature is his sideburns. Xaldin’s sideburns are thick, dark and intimidating. He also wields a lot of lances – like, more than 3, which he uses his wind powers to attack you with. He has a really cool attack where he forms a dragon out of wind and blows you to pieces with. Other than another “werewolf” look, that’s pretty much it. Mickey to the rescue!

Then we get to Xigbar (no. II). Xigbar, or Braig, or Luxu, OR ONE-EYED PIRATE, I’m not sure there is much of a difference, became a usual presence throughout the series. Apparently he’s been around for a loooooong time, ever since the forgotten time of the mobile game. He is a cool dude. His “As If” will go down as a pretty cool quote. Xigbar’s nickname is The Sharpshooter and he immediately stands out from the bunch. We are still unaware of his agenda and interests, not knowing to what extent he is controlled or, rather, he is controlling the narrative. He is overall an awesome character, essentially sniping you from afar with his stylish gun-like weapons. He even fakes his own death in KH3! In what is one of the best moments from the final act. His interactions with the rest of the Organization are always funny to watch, especially with his on-and-off younger lover, Demyx. The standout moment against him is undoubtedly that moment during his fight where he corners you and forces you to run around trying to avoid the millions of blue bullets being aimed at you. One of the best members overall.

And then there was I. Mr. Xemnas (no. I) aka “The Superior of the In-Between” (seriously bro, that’s the nickname you’re gonna pick?) aka “MANSEX” among the fans, aka “Xehanort’s nobody”. He is the man behind the Organization, the one really pulling all the strings. I’m gonna skip the part behind his motivations, they’re murky and the writers decide to change them between games, and I’ll get right down to the cool bits – THE SWORDS. Yes, Xemnas wields two red lightsabers. No, he is not Darth Maul, just a fan. He is calm and has a raspy voice, never really getting too flattered (that one’s yours, Axel). The coolest interaction with Xemnas is the final battle against him. Besides his black and white coat, he eventually summons a plethora of red projectiles which surround Sora and Riku, as they (in a very realistic, grounded and believable moment), deflectem with their respective keyblades. Xemnas ends up falling a bit short when compared with Ansem, Seeker of Darkness… He was just never that menacing of a villain, especially with his always calm behavior.

And that’s it. That’s the full list of the organization members. This turned out to be more of an exposé on each of the members, than anything else. I thought about trying to find real-life personalities to match each of the members, but eventually came up short on that. Organization XIII’s struggle to “be whole” and regain the part of their humanity they had lost – their soul, the ability to feel, always struck me as a really interesting motivation. For quite some time, the idea that you could shed the part of you that is able to “feel” struck me as something good, something to be envious of. I was, of course, wrong – even the dark feelings within us are what gives us the ability to connect and empathize with others.

So be sure to deflect those projectiles, and someone PLEASE give my number to Luxord,

                                                                                               -João A. (Pachiren)  

#Kingdom Hearts #Oranization XIII #Sora #Riku #Kairi #Roxas #Xemnas #Xigbar #Xaldin #Vexen #Lexaeus #Zexion #Saix #Axel #Demyx #Luxord #Marluxia #Larxene #Xion #Mickey #KH #Gaming #Square Enix #Disney #Ansem #Jesse McCartney #Lea #Isa

[angelspigeon]

Moar angst? Maybe with a happy ending. Saix is dying in Lea's arms and he doesn't know whether or not he will come back. He tries to tell himself it's okay because Lea has found true friends that will make him happy, but Saix doesn't want to go because he also wants to be reunited.

Hi!!

YES ANGST!!!

Your angst was something I actually headcanon and needed to write for the vol 02 of my fanbook so THANK YOU!!! I finally got the occasion to write it down!!!

Maybe I got a bit carried away? I put in a lot of others relationship (and piece of a fanfic I couldn’t post but filled with headcanons) so I hope this will please you anyway!!

I won’t post it on AO3 because I think I will need to rework it a bit and just throw it in my fanbook later ya know so no AO3 door BUT those 3 205 words are all for you!!!

 When he died, it seemed to be the right thing…

Dying, be with Lea in Kingdom Hearts. Forever. Being by Lea’s side… It was the dream. The only thing he really wanted.

So why was he there? Why was he listening to Xemnas’ nonsense… again?

Why…

He hated every of his ideas. He hated the sound of his voice. He hated…

“Moony?!”

A hand moved in front of Isa’s eyes. No… Saïx. He hadn’t the luxury to be Isa. Isa was something lost, forgotten… He didn’t think he could only come back that child. He wasn’t sure he wanted. The name they called him had just really little importance when he was by Lea’s side…

The thing was that… he wasn’t in Lea’s side.

So Saïx looked up at Xigbar who had moved his hand in front of him.

“You’re with us?” he asked.

Was it being with them like sharing their view of what they will do, the conquest of the Worlds, or listening to them?

“I am,” he replied.

“Yeah… It didn’t seem so. But if you’re in! Come on! We need to find more friends! Or… how do you say when you use them, whatever if they are killed or not, in the end?”

“Object?”

“Yes! We need to find more living object!” Xigbar said. “Xemnas wants lot of them.”

“What will happen to us?”  he asked.

“You really want to know?”

He had something in his tone. Something telling that, exceptionally, he cared.

“Am I the kind of people who would waste his saliva?” Saïx wondered.

“You’re doing it, there. And every time you speak to me,” Xigbar smirked. “Though… Honestly?” he said with a grave and dull face. “Don’t expect to life old.”

“This doesn’t afraid you?”

Xigbar shook his head.

“No! Surely don’t! I’m a big boy and I will do great! But you…” Xigbar grabbed Saïx’s cheek, pressing them between his hands. “… I know you. Don’t die too fast, ‘kay?”

Saïx nodded.

But he didn’t know.

This battle was forcing them to walk on a path so different from Lea’s. And if he had to be against him?

He wasn’t made for that.

He had intertwined his life with him and could accept to be on a different path of him but he couldn’t accept to hurt him.

Even one second…

Though… giving up on his life to avoid hurting him… wouldn’t it hurt him even more? If Lea had forgotten him, that would be the worst for him because he wished to always live at least in his memories, but wouldn’t it be better?

For everybody.

  The sound of the pen against the paper was reverberating in the room.

As always, Saïx had to be there, helping Xemnas with the things he thought useless. Keeping order in his thoughts was his work. It was annoying. But it helped. He had managed to climb all the stairs to finally arrive there. He had the confidence of his Chief, one of the most important members of the new Organization, and he had access to every of his plan…

Of the whole Organization plans.

Like the last time, he had every way to destroy everything he wanted at default to success what he wished the most.

He couldn’t access this.

He was unable to do what he wanted.

His only wishes, at this exact moment… was to make sure Lea could be happy. If his life was about to end… Of course, it was about to end. Any Xehanort really thought they could win? When they have so many powerful people against them? And no one in their side…

And what he expected…

“We could use the Replicas…”

“The Replicas, Sir, are you sure?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Xemnas walked toward Saïx. “We don’t have the time to convince people to follow our lead but we can bring back people sharing our ideas. This would offer us an opportunity to win over the Light. Especially because, as for you, I can trust them.”

Saïx looked down on the papers he had. Every information needed stocked and stacked just right in front of his eyes. They had gathered a few members. Xigbar, Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene… him, of course. This was showing a little obsession of the man. And, yes, Saïx could understand the need to turn back even more toward trustable people. Another past, because it was obvious Axel… Lea, wouldn’t come back and Roxas couldn’t come back. Yet… it wasn’t impossible.

But…

People were missing.

A lot of them.

They needed Replicas.

To fill what was missing and, as Saïx was passing through those who could complete the equation…

“My Lord… Do you remember that puppet we used to have with us? Xion.”

She wasn’t supposed to vanish from memories. It wouldn’t follow Vexen’s plans. He wanted his work to be remembered! Lot of those who saw her just didn’t care much about her and the others… Axel… Saïx begged for make it vanish from his memories. To protect him from everything. He had lost Roxas, he couldn’t lose more… suffer.

He knew he was doing mistakes but they have the way for that.

But now… Now, Axel, or Lea, couldn’t forget something. Not completely and he knew… He knew he would remember her one day. He knew he hadn’t forgotten her for real…

“You want us to use this puppet?”

Saïx nodded. “If we managed to have Vexen by our side, we could have Replicas and he would bring her back. She owns a Keyblade so she is fitting the role more than… me, for example,” he said.

“You own a part of me since so longtime, I think you perfectly fit the role. Anyway, if this idea seems interesting… Will Vexen accept to join us?”

“I can convince him, if you allow me to try, Sir,” Saïx offered.

“Very well.”

“Thank you,” his Second replied, bowing in front of him.

  Saïx couldn’t understand how Vexen had accepted to let go on his Humanity for the sake of the plans. He didn’t understand how he could abandon his Heart… But he did it. Only to fulfil their goals. His goal. Vexen wanted to have his revenge, to redeem himself… next to his son, Ienzo.

For that, he needed to step in the Devil’s Lair and give them a bit of what they wanted.

Only to fulfill his desire.

They all were ready to make sacrifice.

Saïx was ready for them to.

All of them…

“What will you do when the moment will arrive?”

Vexen didn’t look up when he heard the question behind him. For now, they were eleven. And they will be, certainly, thirteen when Xion will be made. But Saïx didn’t want her to share his fate. Maybe she could overgrow this. Maybe he could find someone else to replace her. Even if it has to be Sora? Unless Lea had affection for him?

He… he didn’t care about disappearing. He didn’t think Lea would really miss him. He didn’t think he still deserved Lea’s love but… Vexen?

“I’m the one who create the Replicas. I don’t think I risk anything,” Vexen said. “I will make sure they are enough so I don’t have to fight and die.”

“But what will you do for…”

Saïx showed his eyes.

Vexen smirked. “I can live with that. Maybe it will disappear when everything will be done, though. I’ll see.”

“I see…” Saïx whispered.

“When will you be done with…”

The door opened. Saïx immediately went quiet. But his eyes widened.

It wasn’t that surprising to see Xigbar, even if he had that smile.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

But what he had under his arm…

“Hi, Saïx!”

Just in front of his eyes, Demyx was waving his hand.

Vexen had nothing to do with this discussion. He had so many works left to finish with Xion. And the Replica for Roxas. He needed Xemnas for Xion but for Roxas, they only needed Sora. And so, this will bring more difficulties in all of this.

“We’re trying to have enough Replica for the Darkness’ plans. What Demyx is doing here?”

“I couldn’t stay dead and away from you!! I couldn’t believe it when I was alive! But couldn’t reach to you! I’m so sorry. I should have come back to you. But it was hard to know if I was welcome?”

“Of course, you were,” Saïx replied.

Why not? Except the creeping fear that he would be killed again by the Light… Creeping fear becoming worst again  when he noticed Demyx’s eyes…

Yellow.

“Enough Replicas, uh?” Xigbar asked as he walked toward the inanimate puppet.

“It’s going to be big,” Vexen replied. “Everything we can wish for and more!”

“I wish a lot of things!” Xigbar smirked. He moved his arm away from Demyx and approached the Replica, only to turn toward Saïx and press his cheeks between his hands. “I wish you make him smile.”

“I never said I can do Miracles,” Vexen replied.

Saïx frowned even more.

Demyx jogged to Saïx, hugging him.

It was just the shadow of a smile, but he managed to make the Second-in-Command smile anyway.

Very few where those who knew the affection Saïx had for Demyx. He always seemed to hate him, not care at all, and even despised his presence. But that didn’t mean it was what he truly thought. When you were someone as important as him, it was crucial not to show your true feelings.

Lea, Axel, seemed already to be an easy target. But Demyx… he always frightened that it would be an easier target…

At this exact moment, he preferred not to think about that. He preferred looking at that Replica and hope. Hope that it meant everything will be alright…

  In his bedroom, Saïx was laying on the mattress. He didn’t need to sleep but sometimes, he didn’t want to work…

He heard a sound at his door and turned his head, not welcoming anyone though. Either that person will leave, either it was someone who will enter anyway so… he preferred to be quiet, to let the thoughts swirl in his head and invaded him.

The door opened.

“Hey, Saïx, can I come?”

“Even if I say ‘no’, you will.”

“Right!”

The door closed and, just a few seconds after, he could feel a body against his. He moved his arm so he could lightly embrace the one who was snuggling against him as if he wasn’t a living threat…

“You don’t mind, right?”

Saïx moved his head toward Demyx. As if it was really the kind of things he would worry about… Demyx had a Heart filled with light and Saïx often wondered how he could have been with them. As much as for Roxas, probably.

Roxas…

Saïx wondered if they could success…

“Can I say something to you?” Demyx asked.

Saïx nodded slightly in the Darkness of the room.

“I was surprised when Xiggy mentioned you. I heard Lea joined the Light and… I thought he was the love of your live…”

“I don’t have the luxury to choose,” Saïx replied. “I’m only waiting for…”

He closed his eyes. There were two wolves within him. One still had hope and the other was less idiot and know the truth.

“You can wait for him with me,” Demyx smiled, trying to cheer him up.

“And if he doesn’t find me?”

“More time together!!” the boy burst with joy.

Saïx clamped his hand on his belly. Demyx bit his lower lip, seeing this, and hugging him tightly.

“Please, don’t think about this,” he said in the hollow of his ear. “You’re doing really fine.”

“Thank you…”

Those words Demyx had said to him wasn’t something Saïx was used to hear. At least not without being like a bone throw at a dog…

“Do you want something?” Demyx offered.

“No. It’s fine,” Saïx replied.

“Tell me if you need anything.”

Saïx wasn’t surprised the boy tried to do so much for him. He almost expected Demyx to propose him to play music for him… Thank God, he didn’t. Though Saïx could remember the time where his music was the only thing he could bore. And when he was so desperate because Demyx disappeared and there was no more music in The World That Never Was. Because their empty lives were even more empty. Because he felt so left alone…

Even Xigbar tried to cheer him up but everything had shattered, little by little when Axel left them. Left him.

And after that… he was just taking the longest road to his own Doom. This was supposed to be his salvation and now…

Somehow, he was happy to be there because he really liked Demyx even if he didn’t show it much. He really had been with him in the hard time when his whole existence had shattered, piece by piece. When he needed to grab on something and the Promise on Kingdom Hearts became less sure, when his hate was so strong… Without Demyx and Xigbar, he didn’t know what he would have become.

So… being there, being with Demyx once again finally… wasn’t it the most logical end?

  A few months before, for the sake of Axel, Saïx had hoped this puppet will never move anymore.

Now, for the sake of Lea, Saïx hoped this puppet will move…

Vexen had no fear for a random Replica and he swore that, as soon as Roxas will touch his Heart, he will be complete again. In a Replica, yes, but he would be there and his own being. As he always had been. He could live his life as he deserved it.

But for the puppet here…

Saïx walked like a wolf in a cage, waiting.

“Will you be able to do it for Naminé, too?” he wondered.

“Yes,” Vexen replied, fixing the last details to call back Xion.

He had very little information about her and her own being was so strange. It was more difficult.

“I will manage to have you pushed on the side but make sure it will be the same for Demyx. I will give you the opportunity to leave and do what you want. Don’t fail on me.”

“Silence, Saïx,” Vexen said.

Saïx folded his arms.

“You want to redeem yourself, I want it too. You will have what you want and so me too,” the scientist said to him.

“I don’t want to redeem myself,” Saïx replied.

It was only selfish.

In fact, Vexen could understand it too. They weren’t that different. But Xemnas wasn’t that different than them neither…

Saïx kept walking, glancing at the puppet.

He stopped.

Her fingers had moved.

He saw them move. Just at the right instant…

He approached the table with hope.

Vexen ignored him. Ignored her.

“Xion?” Saïx called.

The hand moved. A relieve bathed Saïx. Roxas and Xion will be there soon… Once this will be done…

“One last thing,” Vexen said.

“Yes?”

Saïx wasn’t looking toward him because Xion was sitting just in front of him.

“She will not be Xion as you remember her until her Heart could connect with Sora.”

Saïx turned his head toward him.

“So… I will bring her to the fight.”

He was annoyed because Lea couldn’t remember her and risked to hurt her. And if it happened, Lea wouldn’t forgive himself. But he will make sure this wouldn’t happen. He didn’t plan to let Lea be sad. Soon, he will be reunited with Roxas and Xion. And he will be happy…

What could he hope more than this?

  The day of the big battle arrived.

Too soon.

Saïx knew that Vexen had brought a Replica for Roxas. He knew that Demyx was in a safe place. He knew Xion will soon be her again… She will be alive.

Everything will be alright.

He just needed…

“Moony?”

Saïx turned his head toward Xigbar who walked toward him.

“What will you do?”

“What do you mean?”

He groaned when he felt Xigbar’s hands on his cheeks. The man was always forced to touch him like that?! It was annoying…

And yet… the gesture was tender.

He always was happy to receive that affection from him.

Wasn’t it the worst that him, who had grown up being alone and avoiding to be touched, he ended up being very close of people who needed to show their affection that way?

“I know for Demyx and I know for the two others… You will leave?”

“Why would I?”

“You will join Lea, right? I wish you my best wishes!”

Saïx shook his head, looking down.

“Why?” Xigbar asked.

“I belong to Xemnas. I’m stained by him and there is nothing for me. No one who could care…”

“I…”

“You will forget me, Xigbar.  I knew this was what will happen to me months ago… I suppose I have to thank you? For having let this time less painful? The day I lost my Heart was the last time I was allowed to have one… I accepted the fact. My Heart is…” Saïx’s fists were shaking. “The only Heart I need is Lea…” he whispered.

“Is that what you want? It’s over?”

Saïx nodded.

“You know you have a chance to come back if you die.”

“I don’t think it will happen.”

Xigbar pressed his hands over his cheeks and leaned to press his forehead against him.

“Then, I will hope for two…” he whispered.

  “See you, Isa…”

Hope…

They all talked about hope. Saïx never had this hope. He just had will. Will to pursue. Will to fix things… Will to make Lea happy…

From the beginning, it always had been what he wanted. The very beginning. The first day he saw him, at the window of his house. The day when his Heart met the only one…

Hope seemed so dull. So vain…

Why would he hope?

He didn’t believe there was a right place to die and yet… he was dying in the best place in the World… In the warm and soft embrace of the one he loved. The man who will be surrounded with those he loved, finally…

Lea would be happy.

Why having hope when his sole purpose in life was finally fulfilled.

Lea would be happy…

But… the green eyes were filled with tears. He hated see them like that… He regretted the old spell, the upside-down tears.

He didn’t want Lea to be sad.

He didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to be somewhere else than in Lea’s arms. It wasn’t fair… He wanted to be there to see him happy. He wanted to wake up every morning next to him and to kiss his face. He wanted to hear his voice.

He didn’t want to leave him alone.

Roxas and Xion could really fill the hole he will create in Lea’s Heart? He wanted to believe it because he was nothing and he wanted Lea happy but those eyes on him were saying something else.

And…

And he didn’t want to leave.

He wanted to come back. He wanted to hope…

He wanted to hope he will come back and see Lea’s smile every day…

“… See you, Lea…”

#Imagine #Imagine KH #Imagine blog #Imagine leaisa #Imagine akusai #akusai #Leaisa #Lea #Saïx #Lea KH #KH #Kingdom Hearts #KH3spoilers #Vexen #Xigbar #Demyx #Lot of my headcanons here #Mention of Xion #Mention of Roxas #Angst #Love

[imagine-organization-xiii]

Hello there,can you imagine the organization members meeting there female s/o who is deaf but can use sign language and teaches them how plus is also a sweetheart

I guess that this could be a companion piece to This Post about a blind s/o. Fun fact: one of my best friends in the whole world is deaf.  I’m actually in the process of perfecting my own sign language skills, but I’m really terrible at it.

Also, I didn’t mention this in the other post, but it deserves to be said: just because a person has a disability, does not mean that they are not capable of anything that everyone else is.

Below the cut because it got longer than I expected.

Xemnas

Tries his hardest to learn sign language for two reasons: 1) it’s the best and easiest way to communicate with you and 2) none of the other members know sign language and it’s an easy way to talk to you without anyone else knowing what you’re saying.  Picks up the language fairly easily, but he’s always been good at that sort of thing.

God forbid someone attempted to say something about your disability within his earshot.  If they see you both talking in sign language and assume you’re both death, but then they say some sort of bad comment about you??? Damn, Xemnas would go absolutely ballistic.  Meanwhile, you literally wouldn’t know what happened.  To you, it’s as if Xemnas randomly attacked some people, but he doesn’t bother explaining what they said about you.  Instead, he simply takes you by the arm and leads you away to continue whatever it was that you were doing in the first place.

Xigbar

Tries not to be helpful but he’s a real softy on the inside.  Learns Sign Language in secret and surprises you one day when he signs, shakily but still correct, You’re So Beautiful.  It pretty much brings you to tears because it was such a big surprise.

Knows that sometimes you can’t tell when people are actually talking to or when people enter the room or something, so he’ll gently tap your hand to get your attention.  It’s a good, subtle way of helping you out, but you’re sure he doesn’t realize how important those small gestures are to you.

Anybody who mocks you definitely wouldn’t last very long.  There’s literally no way to say it nicely.  Where Xemnas would kill you and be done with it, Xigbar would make it a slow death until you were begging for mercy and giving an apology through broken teeth.  Making fun of you is absolutely unacceptable.  Keep in mind that you have no idea that this ever happens because if you did then you would probably do your best to stop it.

Xaldin

Very protective of you naturally, so if you had a disability, he would be even more protective than he already was.  Doesn’t want anyone to try and take advantage of you, so he kind of shelters you until you have to put your foot down and explain to him that you’re capable of taking care of yourself.

It is extremely hard for him to learn sign language.  For some reason, he just has trouble picking it up.  But you are very patient and help him practice super often, so there are some phrases that he knows really well. Other things, he learns to just let you read his lips or he’ll write it down to let you read it.  It makes communication a little difficult, but the two of you are determined and it ends up working fairly well for you.

You like it when the two of you sleep near each other because, while you can’t necessarily hear him speak, you can feel the vibrations of his chest move when he talks.  When you lay on his chest, you love hearing the hum and rumble of his chest or even the way you feel his lips move against your neck.

Vexen

Already knew sign language because he had a friend in his youth who was mute.  They communicated with sign language, so it basically takes a small refresher course before he becomes decently fluent and is able to communicate with you fluidly.

Wants to do whatever he can to help you hear things.  Makes you these really fancy hearing aids to help you out, but you don’t like to wear them.  Firstly, even though it was a sweet gesture, you don’t like the feeling of something in your ear like that.  Secondly, it’s kind of noticeable and you don’t like people staring at you.  Besides, you’re so used to not being able to hear things that having noises attack your brain is really jarring and uncomfortable.

Lexaeus

Learns sign language with some difficulty - gets both you and Zexion to help him sometimes just for the extra practice.  It kind of works for him because he’s not much of a talker anyway, so speaking with his hands is right up his alley.

Would try to make things easy for you as much as he possibly could. Will touch your arm when someone is trying to get your attention, always has your back when you’re overwhelmed, and take you out to do things that you wouldn’t normally do by yourself. Will watch movies with the subtitles with you, definitely, and glares at anyone who tries to mention it.

Hesitant to spar or brawl with you even when you ask.  You don’t let him go easy on you.  You have your sight, of course, and Lexaeus is a big guy, so sometimes you can feel the vibrations of his heavy steps on the floor.  He’s happy to see that you’re a very challenging opponent!

Zexion

Always likes a challenge and gets all kinds of books on Sign Language as well as books and information packets on how to act around people who are deaf because he doesn’t want to accidentally do or say anything offensive that might hurt your feelings.  Will definitely go to you for daily sign language practice sessions so you can show him what he’s doing wrong.

Becomes so good at sign language that sometimes you have to stop him and tell him to slow down because he literally goes through them so fast.  It becomes another part of him, basically, where he just signs as he speaks.

Saix

Has a notebook for all of his sign language notes, tips, tricks, etc.  He tries his best to study up and manages to get used to the new language fairly easily.  It’s really nice to be able to practice it while he speaks.

The man respects the hell out of people who live their life doing hard work and you are no different.  To be able to be as powerful as you are plus being able to do as much as you can - as much as the other members if not more - he’s very impressed by you.  Knows that you had to come a long way to get to where you are, so he definitely respects the struggles you’ve had.

Axel

You aren’t so much as completely deaf as you are Hard of Hearing (HOH).  You lost most of your hearing during your time as an organization member when an explosion happens like right next to your ear and basically destroys your hearing.  Axel feels somewhat guilty because he wasn’t there to help you or prevent it from happening, but you know that it isn’t his fault and you never blamed him for it.

It’s difficult for you to to deal with and there are a lot of nights where you lock yourself in your room and refuse to be seen by anyone.  You are desperate to hear something so one night you actually scream your head off and scare the shit out of Axel, who literally thought you were being murdered.  After you get that out of your system, you become determined not to let this rule your life.

Axel is a big supporter of you.  He will definitely keep telling you that you’re amazing and still powerful, etc.  The two of you learn sign language together and he literally refuses to let you give up on yourself.

Demyx

Immediately tries flirting with you when the two of you first meet and get disappointed when you literally just ignore him.  He usually gets a response, at least, even if it’s negative, but then he realizes that you’re deaf and he’s like “oh damn, I’m such an asshole.”

Does his best to communicate with you through really exaggerated charades, but definitely learns sign language on the side to be able to communicate with you easily.  Likes to pretend that it’s your own little secret language and he loves being able to share that with you.  Also likes to be able to talk shit about the other members without them knowing about it.

Loves being around you because you don’t mind if he sings 24 hours a day because you literally can’t hear him.  Sometimes you want to know what he’s singing, though, so he’ll let you put your hands on his throat to feel his vocal chords move as he speaks.

Luxord

Had no idea why you never really spoke to others until you had to explain that you were deaf and you were slightly embarrassed of the way your voice sounded.  You preferred not to speak at all and read lips, though it was difficult for you in large groups of people when you were trying to keep up with a conversation.

Luxord is surprisingly helpful.  In large group meetings, after he learns sign language - and he’s pretty good at picking up the language - he’ll pretty much sign non-stop so you can keep up with what’s going on.  Then he’ll translate your own words to the rest of the members who can’t sign like you can.

Marluxia

Puts a lot of mirrors up around the castle.  Tells everyone that it’s because he likes to look at himself and wants to make sure that his hair is always immaculate, but he really put them up because he knows it helps you figure out whenever people are walking up behind you.  He’s surprisingly thoughtful that way.

He picks up sign language just as well as anyone else - not the best but he’s certainly not the worst.  Picks up the alphabet almost immediately, but some of the longer phrases take a bit to remember.  Eventually, though, he can easily communicate with you with only a few corrections here and there. You never knew how much he practiced, but apparently he had a book in his bedside table where he would practice a bit after you went to sleep every night.

Since you can’t hear, he knows that your other senses are twice as powerful.  Always makes sure to keep a sweet-smelling bouquet of flowers next to your bedside table to brighten your day, but has to make sure that the smell isn’t super overwhelming.

Larxene

Was reluctant to learn sign language, if only because she knows she’s not good at picking up languages, but it turns out that sign language is a bit easier for her than actual speaking languages.  Incredibly impressed at your talents and her own and pleasantly surprised at how well she can implement sign language into missions.  It’s easy to sign across long, noisy distances when you can’t hear each other, and it’s also good for stealth missions, when the two of you are trying your best to be silent.

Consults Vexen and the others who are fairly knowledgeable about sign language to find ways that she can accommodate your disability without letting you know what she’s trying to do. She knows you’re very independent and that you’ve lived a long time without her making things easier for you, but that doesn’t change the fact that she wants to find some ways to help you.

Roxas

Thinks that you’re one of the strongest people he’s ever met because you manage to be so wonderful, smart, and powerful despite the fact that you can’t hear anything.  You were born deaf, so it’s really hard to miss something you never had.

You grew up without hearing things and you’re fairly good at reading people’s lips, so you don’t feel too bad when Roxas turns out to be terrible at sign language.  He learns it, yes, but the pace is slow.  He often forgets certain words and phrases and it takes him a while to get the hang of basic letters, so you’ve managed to find other ways to communicate by writing notes, lip reading, and charades.

Xion

Definitely doesn’t judge you for having a disability.  In fact, she thinks you’re extremely impressive and loves to watch you sign as you teach her.  Sometimes she gets distracted because she’s so busy watching your hands that she doesn’t really learn the actual signs.  Pretty clumsy with sign language because her fingers aren’t really used to moving that way, but she gets used to it fairly quickly.

Tentatively asks whether or not you’ve ever thought about getting hearing aids or one of these new, fancy ear implant machines that help a deaf person gain some of their hearing back.  You aren’t offended, but you’ve spent so much time as a non-hearing person that 

#organization xiii #organization xiii headcanons #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts headcanons

[pandadoesawrite]

hüzün (turkish, n.) - a melancholy resulting from inadequacy or failure and weighing so heavily that it becomes communal, resigned, and even curiously poetic for vexen and/or ienzo in father/son depression solidarity

me, finishing a prompt from months ago and also putting it on ao3??? its more likely than you’d think

When Ienzo came into the castle’s kitchens, still littered with debris but clean enough to function again, he saw Even pouring himself a cup of coffee. “Good morning, Even.”

It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary; Even’s terrible habit of working long hours hadn’t been lost on Vexen, and with the Organization’s world being trapped in a perpetual state of night, time lost whatever vague relativity it had for them in the first place. Watching one of his guardians abuse his daily caffeine intake was just rudimentary by this point, and Even knew that as well as Ienzo did--so much so that he did not acknowledge Ienzo with more than a simple nod, hand over his mouth mid-yawn.

“Are you sure you should be having that much so soon?” Ienzo spoke with a quiet amusement, but with fair concern. It’d been troubling to have Even and Dilan bedridden for so long, but Even forcing himself to stay awake wasn’t going to do anybody any favors. Least of all him. But Even acknowledged the worry with a slight shrug, and a sigh.

“It’s not ideal, I admit. But I don’t think I could stand staying as lax as I was for much longer, either. Far too still--you understand.”

“Mmn.” Ienzo did, in fact, understand. And despite the context clues, Even knew his limits, that he was in no condition to work himself ragged, so he supposed it was alright. And to that end… “Would you pour me a cup, as well?”

“You’ll stunt your growth, child.”

Ienzo was hardly a child anymore, but even he could feel the way his face scrunched up like one. “You and I both know that’s just a myth,” he paused a beat, and added, “And we’re almost the same height, anyway.”

Even gave him a silent, curious look--and if Ienzo didn’t know better, he’d say Even looked puzzled, almost alarmed, by his retort--but he was quick to relent after a brief debate with himself. “A fair point. Here, take this mug.”

“Thank you.” And so he did.

While Even retrieved another mug for himself, Ienzo cleared off a space at the kitchen’s island table. It was much easier now than it had been, only now needing some dust cleared off the counter and chairs, but Even had been right about one thing--keeping busy was helping.

Speaking of which, behind him, Even chuckled to himself. “Strange.”

“What is?”

When Ienzo turned around, he saw Even glancing out a kitchen window. The view fell upon one of the many castle gardens--renewed of life, thanks to the efforts of Aeleus and a young lady from the restoration efforts--and Even looked out on it with a face that betrayed both fondness and self-deprecation.

“I never thought I’d be so glad to see flowers again.”

Ienzo followed suit, with a smile and a sigh, as he took his seat at the table. It wasn’t a very difficult double meaning to deduce. “He did have that effect on people.”

“To put it mildly.” A pause followed, and then Even managed to pry himself away from the window, new mug in hand. “Well--never mind that for now. There’ll be time to reminisce later.”

“Is that what we’re calling it, now?”

“If only to keep the all-consuming resentment at bay.”

He’d said it casually enough, and Ienzo couldn’t deny that Even was more composed than Vexen was, but there was enough lingering distaste in all their mouths at the mere mention of Castle Oblivion that he couldn’t imagine that as just a simple hyperbole.

Well, if nothing else, small victory that Marluxia wasn’t from around here, at least.

Even took a seat at the table, stifling back another yawn. “I trust cleanup has been going… as smoothly as possible.”

It was meant to be a statement, but he’d left his tone hesitant enough where it could have been heard as a question. Ienzo took a sip of coffee, and answered. “As well as can be expected, I would think. The Restoration Committee really did most of the heavy lifting, before our arrival.”

“The gardens notwithstanding.”

“A matter of priorities. As I understand it, their first objective with the castle was to forge a way into the study. Aesthetics could wait.”

Even brought a hand to his chin, deep in sudden thought. “Understandable. There’s an abundance of valuable information and resources about the town here. Accessing that would have only benefited the restoration process.”

“If anything, it’s a testament to Lord Ansem’s coding that Tron had still been operational all these years.” Granted, they had used the MCP to power the laboratory in the short time before the world’s fall, but that hardly meant computers were infallible. Even didn’t seem too surprised by that, though.

“Mm. It would take more than the apocalypse to stop the processes on that piece of hardware, I can assure you that.”

The tone of that sentence gave Ienzo the impression there was a story behind the computer--highly probable, there was still much about the castle’s lore he hadn’t known when he came here as a boy--but when he thought to ask for clarification, he was distracted by the more sullen expression that had come across Even’s face. It was a face Ienzo knew well at this point, one that had much more to say and ask, but withheld its comments for reasons unknown.

But a scientist wasn’t exactly known for a lack of curiosity, mind you. “Is something wrong?”

Even paused, and breathed in deep. It wasn’t very often that he seemed a loss for words, and this was not that, but rather, he was choosing those words carefully. In retrospect, that was something else that perhaps Vexen might have benefited more from.

“Before I came here, I stopped by the study. Just to check on things.” Even paused again, and then added, “I saw the portrait had been covered.”

“Ah.”

It would only have been a matter of time before it was noticed. Ienzo knew that. Aeleus, no doubt, had seen it already, and kept quiet, as was his nature, but just the same it was in Even’s nature to question, and to fret. Ienzo knew that as well. Still… that didn’t mean he was necessarily prepared with an answer for his actions.

When he was a child, he had shown extraordinary talent in conjuring illusions. Master Ansem had been delighted (if not concerned, over why Ienzo would have developed that skill to begin with), and part of his rearing in the castle had been to better understand and control this magic of his. As a test of his growing skill, Ienzo had turned that portrait--once a portrait of the true Ansem the Wise, into one of the man they knew as Xehanort.

It had been a perfect enchantment for one so young to produce, but inexperience left Ienzo unable to revert the painting back to its original state. For the short while there had been seven people in the castle, it had been something of a joke among his guardians, a tease for Ienzo to pout and have his hair ruffled over. And despite all odds, it had stayed transformed for all these years.

Now that he was older, Ienzo was sure he could revert his magic on it now; he was no longer a greenhorn, after all, and had long since mastered his gifts. It stood to reason he had the power. But power was nothing without will or resolve, and sadly, he was not skilled enough in his craft to be able to place those illusions on his heart.

So he covered it with a tarp instead. Like a child, trying to hide broken glass from a parent. He glanced down at his reflection in his coffee, mug clenched tightly between his hands, and suddenly, he felt so very, very small.

A hand fell on his shoulder, and Ienzo jumped slightly from surprise. Even’s grip on him was firm, and a bit cold physically, as was natural of him, but the look in his eyes was gentle, and understanding. Perhaps even, if Ienzo was seeing things correctly, the slightest bit sad.

“You needn’t worry so much.” Even’s voice, too, sounded so… soft. Soft, and laced with the most distant traces of guilt and heartache. “Not that your worries are inconsequential or irrational, of course. Rather… you’re alright, and ultimately, that is what matters. It isn’t something you need to work yourself into an early grave over.”

Ienzo, still shaken from his earlier anxiety, paused to let the words sink in, before finally letting his emotions settle on a short sigh, and a wry smile. “It’s perhaps a bit too late for that hyperbole, isn’t it?”

“You stop that, Ienzo.” The hand on his shoulder was quick to turn into a finger pointed in his face, the command sharp in the way Even’s reprimands always did, melting away as soon as it came. Ah, that was more like the Even he knew, forever with a word or two against Ienzo’s smart mouth. “Our circumstances notwithstanding, but we’ll get nothing done feeling sorry for ourselves.”

“With all due respect,” Again, Ienzo’s voice came out dry. “It’s arguably better to feel sorry, as opposed to nothing at all.”

If it were Vexen, Vexen would have sputtered, agog, aghast at his ward’s rebuttal, and gone on ad-infinitum to assert himself; Ienzo remembered that well, and also that Zexion found such banter between the two of them more enjoyable than he probably should have. Even though, ever more composed now whole, gaped for but a moment, before shaking his head, smiling despite himself.

“Clever boy. I’ll concede to that.”

“I thought you might.” Unlike Vexen, Even could accept defeat with a tad more grace. “Though I also suppose all we did then was feel sorry for ourselves, however detached it may have been.”

“It was rather hasty of us to take “no heart” at face value.” Even spoke in a tired mumble, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Five of Radiant Garden’s leading researchers, and not one of us raised a brow over our condition. It’s very telling of Xehanort’s prowess for manipulation, if nothing else.”

“How do you suppose he managed to do it, exactly?” It was a question he hadn’t planned on asking, but now that Even brought it up himself, Ienzo couldn’t help himself. “As you said, it’s strange that none of us ever asked questions about it.”

The thought crossed his mind that perhaps Braig never needed to ask questions in the first place, but he pushed that thought away as quickly as it came.

“I would assume,” Even didn’t seem to notice his brief contemplation, and answered, “that Xehanort took our early stages of only base coherency as Nobodies as an advantage. We’ve seen it plenty of times on others, what blank slates a newly born Nobody is. Come in at the right time, and you can condition someone to believe anything.”

Even paused a moment, taking another sip of coffee, then continued, “I considered it once, when Namine became a factor, that a heart’s true form lay within memories--and again, we saw it happen with Sora in real time. Alter a memory or two, and the person you are now could change entirely as a result. But even then, it was never more than a fleeting possibility, and I never dared to question it further. That, too, I believe, is proof enough of the trick.”

“I agree, it is odd; it isn’t like you to just drop a hypothesis like that.” Even was, with certainty, the most persistent of the apprentices in his studies, and Vexen had only been more so. Biased as the proposition was, it was sound. “But how would Xehanort have conditioned us so? He wouldn’t have had the time.”

“On the contrary. As the one who actually turned us all, comparatively, he had all the time in the world.”

Even’s voice sounded so distant, yet bitter, and his eyes were off looking somewhere far, far away from the castle kitchen, as he said, “Someone had to be coherent in order to exile His Lordship, after all.”

Something about that sentence gave Ienzo pause, and then all at once, the realization hit him. For ten long years, it was a truth they’d all accepted without much thought: Ansem the Wise’s six beloved apprentices, turning coat and banishing their teacher to the darkness. It was a fact of the situation, and their mutual sin to bear. And perhaps, at the time, Ienzo just attributed it all to being young, but with Even’s theory at hand…

“Even,” He heard himself say, before he could stop himself, “do you remember sending Master Ansem away?”

“As a matter of fact, I do not.” Even was confident in his answer, as though he’d been mulling over it for much longer than Ienzo could imagine. “By the time I fully came to--as Vexen, mind you--he was already gone, and all of us were just going through the motions. Our behaviors and beliefs for the next decade were already ingrained in us. Brick roads laid out from the start.”

The room went silent while Ienzo processed the proposition. His leg bounced quietly under the table, hopefully hidden from Even’s eyes. “...when you say ‘us’--does that include Master Ansem, as well?”

Even exhaled heavy once more. His shoulders seemed to sink along with his breath, and he ran a hand through his hair, as though trying to stave off having to confirm the obvious answer.

“...In order for the ruse of a Nobody’s perpetual state of incompletion to work, particularly with the subjects used as the control and their environment… a state of newly formed incompletion had to be witnessed by an outsider. So that the assertion that a Nobody was, in fact, a lifeless husk, could not be disputed. Master Ansem was banished sometime between us being turned, and sometime between us coming to a sense of self-awareness. Without having the memory ourselves, I can only hypothesize on what he saw in all of us then, but…”

Even trailed off, but the implication was plain as day. “While his path of revenge was wrong, and wronged many, I can’t say I don’t understand how he reached that point.”

“Right.” Ienzo said, a little too quickly, a little too quietly, “Of course.”

He clutched his mug in his hand like a vice grip, and on reflex brought it to his mouth, and chugged whatever coffee remained.

It burned his throat, and he coughed when he came back for air, but it was numbing. Ienzo couldn’t bring himself to care about the scalding of his tongue. It was simply another reminder now that he was alive, and was feeling, because he’d seen what Ansem saw all those years ago. He’d seen the soulless eyes of a newborn Nobody, seen a shell of a human that could only do as it was told. He’d seen it on Demyx, on Luxord, on Marluxia and Larxene and Roxas, so many times, over and over, again and again and again--and Zexion had never had any reaction to them.

And why would he have? Blindly following orders, until they were the ones to blindly give orders, and so on and so forth--what was happening to them was all they knew. It was unnatural, but natural all at once. The perfect deception before he’d even recognized his own talents in creating deceptions, and for ten years, he’d sacrificed his childhood to a delusion he’d never known it was in.

The thought made his stomach churn.

“Ienzo--”

“They were just words.” Ienzo cut in, disbelieving of himself. Even’s voice sounded even further away now, drowned out by the sound of Ienzo’s heart beating rapidfire in his ear. “Empty syllables, carried on whispers. That’s all they were. They said much, and meant nothing, just like every other illusion.”

Xehanort had always taken interest in his powers as a child. Had he done all that on purpose? To see what he was possible of? To learn from that, and devise the one thing he wouldn’t question, to prevent Ienzo from seeing through the trick?

‘The Cloaked Schemer’, Xemnas had dubbed him. A title meant to lift Zexion’s ego, and leave him confident in his abilities. Empty praise, artfully placed onto a child, to keep him quiet, and complacent. And it worked.

Ienzo let his head fall into his hands. He felt dizzy, short of breath, unable to swallow. One insignificant ripple in an ocean far beyond his comprehension.

“How did I--how could I not see that?”

And then he felt Even’s hand on his ear. And then that hand tugged hard.

Ienzo yelped; whether it was from the cold of Even’s skin or the force of the tug, he didn’t know, but it was enough of a distraction to pull him out of the throes of despair somewhat. His heart still pounded, and his mouth was still dry, but the room wasn’t spinning anymore. Ienzo was back on earth, and face-to-face with his guardian, who was looking at him not without sympathy, but also with the logic that was eluding Ienzo now.

He blinked. “E… Even?”

“Calm yourself, child.” Another command. Given the circumstances, Ienzo didn’t feel like correcting him this time. “What you’re thinking now is nothing the rest of us haven’t dwelled over ourselves. You are not the only one at fault here. This is a cross we all have to carry.”

“But for me to only notice just now?” Ienzo retorted. “It doesn’t… there’s no excusing that, Even. I had so long to notice something was amiss--anything at all! It just doesn’t add up.”

“Hm. And that is where you’d be wrong.”

A part of Ienzo almost wished it was Vexen speaking to him here. If nothing else, Vexen might at least reprimand him for his lacking observations, even if they were both guilty of the same crime. Ienzo wasn’t sure he could handle such understanding from Even right now, but unfortunately for him, it was all Even continued to offer.

“There’s a pivotal difference here, Ienzo, between you, and the four of us.” It was hard to discern any obvious emotion in Even’s voice, but he was clearly troubled. Less at Ienzo, and more at himself. “You were… and frankly, still are, the future of this world. We were supposed to be the ones who would guide you and your heart to that future, and instead, we led you astray. Irrevocably, I might add.”

Something in Even’s scent stilled his breath. It was far too similar to how it was before, when he was still bedridden. Wildly fluctuating. Unstable. And it was only then that Ienzo realized that Even truly was just as shaken by these revelations as he was. Perhaps, even more so. He was just better at hiding it.

“If you truly believe that you should have seen through Xehanort’s lies all those years ago, then the fault for that is on our heads, not yours. Your only crime is that you were a child that wanted to learn.”

He said it with such firmness and with such sorrow, Ienzo didn’t think he could argue it if he tried. As much as he tried to not let his age excuse everything, it was the only thing that made sense. Children were simple, one-track in their thinking, and while his memories of his youth were scattered and repressed in places, one thing was still true: Even wouldn’t lie to him. If Even told him learning was his only reason, then that was the only reason. If Even told him he was not at fault, then no matter what his mind told him, he was not at fault. It set Ienzo’s heart at ease.

Of course, all of that didn’t mean Even had to put himself down to make it true.

“...’Irrevocably’ might be bit too harsh, don’t you think?” Ienzo wasn’t used to seeing Even be so self-reflective, so remorseful, so… apologetic. He wasn’t sure he liked it. “You said it yourself, more or less, that we’re all bearing the same sin. And isn’t our being here again proof of that hope, in and of itself?”

Even snorted into his mug. “A normal childhood certainly couldn’t have hurt you.”

“I was to grow up in a castle, raised by a group of researchers.” He meant to say that with a bit more bite, alongside the humor, but even Ienzo couldn’t hope to hide the fondness in his voice. “My childhood stopped being normal long before we did anything morally repugnant.”

“Hm… I suppose so.”

Even paused for a moment, mug still at his lips, as though contemplating his movements--then placed his free hand atop Ienzo’s head.

He made no move to ruffle his hair, like Dilan or Braig would have done, but patted his crown once, and left his hand there like a weight. Confused, Ienzo let it happen; it pushed his gaze downward slightly, but Even made no sound, no sign of pulling back. It felt strangely intimate for reasons he couldn’t quite place. “Even?”

“Conscience is a burden.” Even said at last, and when Ienzo glanced up through his bangs, he saw that it was with a tired, fond smile. “But all worthwhile gifts have their price.”

Ienzo opened his mouth to speak, to clarify if that double meaning he heard was truly there, but decided against it, and closed his eyes once more. The hand on his head was a welcome weight, and as his heartbeat began to still, he sighed, at peace, and smiled.

If there was a secret hidden in Even’s words there, it was one he could afford to keep hidden.

-

Outside the room, on the other side of the open doorway, out of sight, Demyx waited, and he listened.

It was so weird, looking in on the room like this. Had Vexen ever been so gentle, or wise before? Had Zexion ever broken down, or smiled like that? He couldn’t think of a time for any of those things, and it only made what he had been sent to do all the more reproachful.

When first given this assignment, he thought it’d been a boon. Sure, he didn’t want to do it--who would want to be the one to blame for this dirty work?--but it wasn’t combat, so it should have been… not okay, but not… this.

The first Organization may not have been model citizens, but they hadn’t been this bad.

He’d been waiting for a chance to cut in, but every passing second watching the two of them talk only made it harder and harder; he regretted not stepping in and getting this over with before Ienzo entered the kitchen, but that was his problem. There would be other, safer times, he supposed. A castle this big was going to have plenty of dark corridors he could follow a white coat into, and whisk them away without much thought. He had… some semblance of time on his side for this task.

Not that it made it any easier. Maybe Xehanort had a hold over Demyx now, but not even that hold could change the way his chest tightened and twisted, watching Ienzo and Even air their grievances to one of the few people who could understand them.

“...I can give them a little longer.” He muttered, and ducked into a different hallway, giving father and son one more hurrah.

#there's a whole lot of headcanons in here #and also an appearance by one (1) soundcloud rapper #there's some formatting i need to edit in here later but. right now just take it kjhgfgh #succubused

[queen-ofsunflowers]

Queen Plays KH3 Pt. 4

FINAL TIME: 32 hrs. 32 minutes. 33 sec.

FINAL LEVEL: 40

DEATH COUNTER: 69

WORLDS COMPLETED:

Olympus

Twilight Town

Toy Box

Kingdom of Corona

Monstropolis

100 Acre Wood

Arendelle

The Caribbean

San Fransokyo

The Final World

The Keyblade Graveyard

Scala Ad Caelum

The rest is under the cut to avoid spoilers. And oh my gosh... just... read at your own risk while I go and speculate what just happened.

AND NOW THE ENDS REALLY BEGINS.

should it really be a surprise that I go to help Riku first?

RIP XIGBAR. Literally this time. Like... damn. It was just.... sad to watch that.

AND REPLIKU (I had to look up who it was) IS DOWN FOR THE COUNT. And they confirmed it was the replica just now. Okay. I got very confused at the beginning.

And now we have a body. That makes two. One for Roxas, and one for Naminé apparently?

FUCK LUXORD. Hate his card game. Glad I got him. And he gave me a card? Okay? Is this gonna be useful later on? Love how Sora's nice to him though as he's dying.

AND THERE GOES LARXENE. AND STOP MAKING ME FEEL SAD FOR YOU. DAMMIT. Stop making me feel sad! SHE LOOKS OVER AT MARLUXIA WHEN ASKED WHY SHE HELPED THE ORGANIZATION. Lord... I need to play some Union X.

AND THERE GOES MARLUXIA. DON'T MAKE ME CRY. HE REMEMBERS. HE REMEMBERS WHO HE USED TO BE BEFORE BECOMING A NOBODY. I CAN'T--

Gonna go save redhead squad.

HE'S JUST... ISA. AXEL DONT DIE.

OH YMG GOD OH MY GOD. IS THAT. IS THAT?! OH MY GOD XION!!!! MY SWEET GIRL!!!

Who... wha...

OH MY GOD. ROXAS!!!!!!!

LET HER GO. NO.

Isa's death scene was too emotional for my liking. And I loved it. THE SEA SALT TRIO IS BACK TOGETHER. NOW FOR THE WAYFINDERS.

And there goes Vanitas. I feel kinda bad for him.

Just... "ow" as I finish off Terranort. Nothing special just... “ow”.

TERRA. SAVE HIM.

NO. DID THE GUSRDIAN JUST?! YES. IS THAT TERRA? IS THAT-- IS THAT TERRA!? ITS TERRA BBY. THE EMOTION I CAN'T

NOW FOR THE XEHANORTS.

YOUNG XEHANORT IS DOWN. ... is Sora gonna die? Please don't let him die.

DIE SOB.

Then there went Xemnas. ALL THESE DEATHS ARE MAKING ME SO SAD.

NOW ONE REMAINS.

NO KAIRI. AHHHH. MY GOD... NO!!!

DONALD! GOOFY! We gonna kick ass and take names. LET'S GO KICK THAT OLD MAN'S ASS.

MY FRIENDS. Love how Ven noticed the resemblance between him and Roxas like that while no one else did.

Roxas clapping his blades together.

TAKE HIM DOWN. FUCK YOU XEHANORT. YOU HAD THIS COMING. YOU ONLY HAD YOURSELF TO BLAME.

Now NOW we take him down. Or at least... start to.

Holy crap this world is BEAUTIFUL. But what is going on???

Oh, this can't be good.

A long battle with many deaths. Seems like this is right.

World name drop. “Scala Ad Caelum” Wonder what it means. (A quick Google Translate later, and I discovered it means “Ladder to Heaven”. Kind of pretty, isn’t it? And a bit cryptic? Or foreshadowy?)

WHATBIS GOING ON!??

Xehanort is a dirty cheater.

GET WRECKED.

NOW I'M GONNA GET WRECKED.

Jokes on him. I've perfected the Rage Form.

YES. FUCK YOU OLD wait what's happening

OH MY GOD. GO SORA GO. MY BOY. HE'S DOING IT. HES DOING IT!!! AND SQUAD COMES FOR THE FINALE. YAS.

I forgot Eraqus's heart was in Terra.

"Checkmate". Just that one scene with the chessboard... you know what's going to happen to them and it hurts. So much.

I love how Xehanort knows that he's beaten, and doesn't try to fight it. He goes down with decorum. Nicely done. He put up a fair fight, and killed me about 30 or 40 times, but it was a fair fight. Its interesting. I didn't expect it to turn about this way.

THEY'RE ALL HUGGING ERAQUS. AHHH MY GOD. It hurts!!!!

WHY ARE THESE DEATH SCENES SO EMOTIONAL?!

And with that, Kingdom Hearts is sealed. Hopefully for good this time... it's kinda beautiful.

Huh? ...such a brave boy...!!!

AND SIMPLE AND CLEAN IS PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND IM CRYING.

EVERYONE IS SAFE AND SOUND. EVERYONE IS BACK TOGETHER. THEY’RE ALL HAPPY. THIS IS EVERYTHING THAT I’VE WANTED OUT OF THIS GAME. JUST... YOU GOTTA SEE IT FOR YOURSELF MAN. I CAN’T DESCRIBE IT... not right now, at least. I mean... I have a fanfic that I’ve been working on for about two years now that I need to finish up. I’ll post it here at a later date.

Um... what was that? WHY DID SORA JUST... WHERE DID SORA GO?!

After credit movie time, and I’m still trying to figure out what happened.

Huh? That voice... WAIT. DOES THAT MEAN. HOLY CRAP. ooooOOOH MY GOSH?

Is that... the white piece... is it... Sora... my heart hopes it is.

Okay, I know there's a secret ending. I didn't get it, but I'm gonna look it up because I wanna watch it.

...Sora? SORA?! WHERE IS HE?! RIKU?!! WHERE ARE THEY?!?!?!

...??? Who are these guys???

Even though the game might be over, the story isn't. Not by a long shot. And I can't wait to see what happens next. There were a lot of question left unanswered, such as with the card that Sora got from Luxord... what happened with that one cutscene between Even and Demyx... WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO SORA. And how Kairi got back. And the secret ending only brings up more questions about what’s going on. But either way...

I can only hope that our boy returns home.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 3 #kingdom hearts spoilers #kh spoilers #kingdom hearts 3 spoilers #kh3 spoilers #sora #kairi #riku #namine #xion #axel #lea #roxas #saix #isa #xehanort #eraqus #aqua #terra #ventus #marluxia #lauriam #larxene #elrena #luxord #vanitas #xigbar #braig #luxu

[slowbladed]

you know with kh3 ended, the xehanort chronicles finished i have a lot of thoughts on my history, my experiences, my memories...

i got into the game in july of 2017. i got it on amazon, i sat down and just played it. it took me about a week to finish everything except 2.8. i normally dont really do that with video games. in fact, kingdom hearts is the first game that really pulled me in like that. and i always found it funny.

see, growing up, i didn’t have a ps2, or a gba, or a ds. but my godparents did, and my god brother wanted to desperately show me kh1. and i did. i played it and i couldnt get past any of the worlds. so i kind of just put it to the side and forgot about it. i was maybe 5. a year or so later, he tried again with kh2. i played it, and i would always play roxas’s story. i just loved roxas and loved doing skate tricks. but otherwise i watched him play it, and one day he gave me his gba+chain of memories to play for a bit. i got lost, but i met larxene and was big gay. and i remember, i remember my friend playing kh2, and getting stuck at demyx and beating it for him. i remember loading up my old ps2 kh2 save file that someone played on and fighting xemnas. for a long time i had a kh2 poster. kh1 was the first cd i ever got. simple and clean was something i listened to all the time, both the orchestra and the opening.

my memory is awful. i dont remember much of anything from my childhood because of severe abuse growing up. many memories, both good and bad, i oppressed because of how awful it was. but its funny, i still remember that feeling of happiness hearing sora talk about hearts and things. and i always found it funny that kh is one of the things that stick in my heart, and it wasn’t even the game that kept me together through my childhood (that goes out to halo). i still remember getting lost in agrabah in com. i still remember fighting xemnas for the first time. i still remember all these things, but most of my childhood is just gone. you can argue that the reason i focus so much on memories in my writing, that i think so much on this is because im trying to fill the hole of my childhood.

when i was 13, i met one of my long time friends on tumblr. he’d always say “please get into kh” and i would reply “maybe one day”. even funnier, i only bought kh because toy story was confirmed in it. i love toy story, and thats the thing that made me go “yeah, ill get into the series. ill do it for toy story”. i was 19.

of course my friends joked “pt youre finally getting into it!” “it only took you 15 years” “i think your favorite character will be xion, marluxia, etc” and i laughed at them. i told them “xion wont be my favorite” “im only doing it for toy story” but.. part of me feels like i wasnt. part of me feels like i was doing it to reconnect with my childhood. and this is the first time im really admitting it. that part of me missed that nostagia. 

i sat down and played it. and i dont know what happened, but i kept playing it. i kept playing it because, even if kh1 wasnt great, there was something to it. i fell in love with marluxias character, but there was one character that resonated with me the most: xion.

and it might sound so stupid, it might sound so fucking STUPID but my biggest fear is being forgotten. my belief is that, even if i die, if people remember me deep in their hearts that i wont die. that ill live on and once people have forgotten me that is when i’d truly will die. man, i even had this idea before i got into kh and i thought it was so DUMB growing up. but seeing xion, seeing her based so much on memories, eating ice cream, laughing with her friends, being abused by the organization, then being forgotten, it resonated so deeply inside me. people think i joke when i say i cried whenever xion comes on screen, but she means so much to me. i guess you could even say that i see her as a reflection of myself. that the reason i cry, the reason i resonate with her, is because i understand how she feels. and its so dumb! its so dumb but its how i feel.

and... then i beat all the games. i beat them and talked to my friends. i made this blog. i made new friends. i became even closer to friends i lost contact with. i reached out to them with kh and we fell back with our usual BS as if a day never went by. we laughed, we cried... one friend that was on call with me through KH2, one that i fell a little out of contact with, cried with me when i beat kh2.

i still remember... i still remember crying when roxas and axel sat on the clock tower. eating ice cream. i dont know why. i didnt even watch days yet. i didnt even like axel. i didnt even get roxas. but that scene always stuck out to me. something about it...

i still remember screaming “THATS NOT RIKU!” when kairi revealed ansem underneath the hood. i remember singing awfully out of tune simple and cleans. i remember joking with my friend “hey that looks like castle oblivion!” in the bbs opening and him laughing at me when that part was revealed. i remember dreaming of xigbar serving me food at a restaurant and my friend telling me something important is going to happen august 28th and sure enough lauriam is revealed

and, this has gotten so long. im a giant sap. im a giant emotional sap that has been so affected by kingdom hearts that watching the current one end and seeing a new one open makes me almost wish i could live in his bubble where i could always experience the first time playing it. im a big sap that wants to finally get all my thoughts, all my emotions down, but even i know that no matter what words i use it can never convey what i want to say. im that one guy who, at the end of kh3 cried so hard and for so long because its over, some of these characters ill never see again. im that idiot that cried midway writing this.

im genuinely sad its over. not in a bittersweet way but just outright sad. but i have to remember that even if i played those games all those years ago, that even if i wont be able to feel that feeling playing the games for the first time, that it gave me... some semblance of a childhood. i was able to experience new things like a kid would. to follow sora through the games and watch him grow up. and its dumb, maybe, but.... thinking about it.... i think thats why the game has made me feel this way. even if i didnt wait years between releases. even if i only waited 1 year for kh3... its still a valid experience and a valid emotion.

this has gotten so long but... a lot of this stuff i never really talked about, or even admitted to anyone or myself and having this small piece of media end makes me sad to no end but. BUT.... i kind of got back something that i was missing. even if artificial, its still real to me.

#ooc #this was a long time coming but here it is #im putting my heart on a plate and serving it on this post #and somehow #im ok to admit this to others and myself #it feels refreshing

[multiimuse]

🌀~

12. — stranger 

Radiant Garden, Naminé thinks, might truly end up becoming a home. She’s never had a home before; all she’s ever lived in were prisons. This castle, though --- shadows cling to it in places, in a few corners and rooms, but it feels like a home that’s being cleaned up and put to rights. Just like the lives of those that called it home before this world fell; none of them are perfect people, but they’ve all been so kind, and she thinks she likes staying here. Today, she’s sitting just outside of the castle, on a step that leads down to exposed pipeworks that might have led into one of the world’s namesake gardens back in better days.

Her sketchpad is in her lap, her pencil case beside her, and she’s drawing. Of late, her drawings have been of the people and things around her; her own experiences rather than those of Sora or Roxas. She’s drawn things that catch her eye, or presents for the people she cares about. Today, however, she’s drawing from memory; trying to reconcile something in her own head. Absently, she reaches for a pencil that will make a good skintone, and lets her mind drift back. This picture is going to be hard, and the only way she can get it right is to let her mind carry her to where it needs to go.

The endless expanse of sky and clear water is beautiful, and calming, but it’s also lonely. It reminds Naminé of her earliest emotions, her desperation for company and rescue, and though it’s peaceful here she can’t feel happy. She hasn’t managed to hold on to enough of herself to hold a true form, but she can sense the others here, and knows that Sora is attempting to gather his pieces up so that he can save everyone.

Time has little meaning in a place like this, so for now all she can do is wait --- wait, and be ready to reach out to a heart and mind still struggling against the darkness that’s overtaken him. But waiting is lonely, and it hurts, and if she had been able to hold onto a form she thinks she would have dropped to her knees from the weight of it. As it is, she sighs, a fragile sound that is at once nearly inaudible and echoing, only to find the sound mirrored by another voice.Oh. Oh, she’s drifted near another presence --- one as sad and lonely as she is. There’s no hiding things like that here, where the small bits of yourself you still possess are on display. (It’s why, she thinks, she couldn’t fool Sora when they spoke; that and the kindhearted boy’s own sensitivity.)

“Hello,” she greets that other presence, hoping she’s correct in thinking that this person is aware enough to respond.

“Hello,” the stranger says, sounding both shy and tired in a way that reminds Naminé of... well, herself. “You spoke with Sora, too? Is he a friend of yours?”

Now this is familiar territory, and if Naminé had enough of herself to nod, she would. As it is, conviction strengthens her voice. “Yes,” she says. “I’m Naminé, and I’m waiting for him to save his other friends --- and... and me, too, I guess.” And then, she thinks, she’ll have done her part to save him and everyone else, too.

“I see,” the stranger says, and falls quiet. They both drift in silence for a time, and Naminé thinks that might be that --- until, just as suddenly as she’d approached, that soft voice speaks up again. “I don’t know my name any more, but I’m waiting for someone, too. I’ve been waiting... a very long time, I think.” The wistful, sad tone of her voice pulls at Naminé, distracts her from her own resignation, and she finds herself wondering if, while shes’ here, she might not be able to offer some comfort to another lost soul.

“I’m sorry,” she says, expressing her sympathy for the lost name and the waiting alike. “Can you tell me about the one you’re waiting for? They sound very important to you.”

“He is,” comes the response, carrying with it so much love and sadness that Naminé thinks it might become tangible, here in this place beyond worlds. “And I suppose I could tell you a little, but his name’s a secret~!’ 

Even now, Naminé can remember it clearly. They spoke for what might have been hours, had time been a thing, or maybe it was only a few minutes. But either way, she learned about the person her nameless companion was waiting for: he was kind, and gentle, well-spoken and, apparently, a bit vain. He had lost himself, his memory and his heart alike, and become someone unrecognizable.

She reaches for another pencil, letting her heart guide her fingers, and starts working on her drawing’s eyes. Naminé’s already completed the hair, though her hand shook and made the pencil veer off in directions she didn’t want it to go. Picking out a clear, bright blue, she begins filling in the eyes. She bites her lip hard enough to hurt, but doesn’t let herself falter. This was always going to be hard, but she wanted --- no, she needed to do it. If she doesn’t follow through with it now, she thinks she’ll be losing something.

When that’s done, she sets the pencil aside and tips the sketchpad back, surveying her work. A bust of Marluxia stares up at her, pink hair falling to a shoulder line that is the bottom of the drawing. But the blue eyes and smile that grace his features are soft, a gentleness to them that is a far cry from the cold and terrifying man she knew. It’s frightening, to think about that man still existing, but he has as much right to his humanity as anyone else --- as much right to his heart as Saïx, who had been cruel to Xion and Roxas but is now being tentatively welcomed as a friend.

Looking at the strangely gentle smile on a face that had always been distant and cruel, Naminé lets herself wonder if there’s anyone who misses him.

#;muse: namine #;kh3 spoilers #;kingdom hearts spoilers #;kh spoilers #;spoilers #strangefellows

[xaldinini]

(( Thanks to @theeverbloomingdarkness for this idea. My own bs kh3 theory story nonsense:

-Opening cutscene is of Radiant Garden where we see Lea trying to get into the castle. Ienzo greets him but he looks tired and worn. The two rush back up to where Aeleus is standing protectively over Dilan’s unconscious form but Even is missing.

-Second opening if is young eraqus and young xehanort playing chess. They allude to the ending.

-Tutorial mode is with them actually. We learn that xehanort isn’t his actual name, but rather a nickname a friend of his had given him. That friend being eraqus.

-We start with Sora, Donald, and Goofy appearing in Olympus. They get word that Herc and Co were seen near the mountain since the Colosseum is closed. They make their way over to the mountain and Hades watches from afar. Mal and Pete show up looking for a box. (cutscene stuff here) Hades doesn’t know anything about it. Mal and Pete go to the next world to look for it.

-S, D, and G make their way to the mountain but oh no there are the titans going at it. They don’t know why but they just start fighting because big bad dudes = gotta fight. They make their way up the mountain where Herc and Zeus are doing cool stuff and fighting.

-Someone mentions Old Master Nort at some point.

-S, D, and G head out to a familiar world because Heartless showed up again and they don’t know why.

-Cut to a scene of Lea and Kairi training. Kairi is tried and worn out from the session because she’s not used to it. But she doesn’t give up because she’s delightfully stubborn like that.

-Cut to Riku and Mickey in Realm of Darkness. We now play as Riku in search of something in the Realm.

-They show up at the beach and fight a swarm of Heartless. The battle cuts short and Aqua shows up. She’s slowly turning into a Darkling (from khux) and they snap her out of it via a fight with a final combo with Mickey.

-Aqua has darkness released from her and she’s knocked out for a bit finally getting a chance to SLEEP for a moment.

-Sora and co arrive at Radiant Garden only to have Ienzo there because Lea is gone training on a different world. Sora is disappointed because he wanted to see Kairi. Ienzo gives him the phone and tells him it’s how to communicate with people. We get a glimpse of a group of dark hooded figures again. Ienzo warns Sora about the org and recounts the kidnapping of Even and how they were defenseless and that’s why Lea had to come back.

-Sora actually uses the power to go into Dilan’s sleeping form and reawakens him.

-We get some new spell upgrade or get the dream eater summon here.

-Lea and Kairi cutscene on the hill top where Kairi reveals new outfit. The two actually end up talking about Roxas and Namine. Lea has some memories of another girl but can’t place who or when it was. But he knows there was another girl at some point. Kairi offers her hand to him and some magic something or another happens and the MEMORIES come back to him of Xion and he cries.

-Or they keep talking about Roxas and Lea feels bad at what a jerk he was to him. He cries either way.

-We cut back to Sora who has found a new world of probably Arendel because we need Larxene to show up and explain the new princess of heart things. We do the story line of that world. What we end up learning is of the new princesses of heart things. We are confused as to WHY and WHO but we are going with it anyways. We get a new ride to summon out of this one.

-Cutscene of Lea and Kairi working hard again. Kairi is now kicking Lea’s ass.

-Switch back to Riku and Mickey with Aqua now waking up finally. She’s confused and dazed but she recognizes Mickey and nearly breaks out in tears seeing him again. She and Riku have a quiet moment of her remembering who he is and we get a flash back to when she met him and Sora as kids. Mickey and Riku explains what is happening out in the real world and the three agree to go back.

-Back to Sora who goes through several other worlds looking for these new princesses but can’t seem to determine if any of the girls he finds will work with whatever is needed.

-Marluxia is met in Tangled World

-Vanitas is met in Monster’s Inc World

-Young Nort is met in Toy Story World

-Luxord is met in Pirates World

-Xigbar is met in Big Hero 6 World ALTHOUGH Xaldin could be the alternate here. He’s with that Riku we saw in the trailer with the golden eyes. If it’s supposed to be Data Riku it make sense for him to be there. BUT if it’s Repliku from Castle Oblivion it ALSO makes sense for him to be there because science.

-I actually have a theory on this Riku tho. I don’t believe it is either Riku mentioned above but rather Xion implanted with one or both Riku memories in her. It is exceptionally similar to how she had Sora’s memories in her which made her look like Sora/Ven but now she has the Rikus that make her look like him. The reason she HAS Riku this time around is because they found Vexen’s notes on her and with him back as a Nort he just picked up where he left off and boom Xion is back. And they put Riku in her this time because he’s a master and junk BUT he was the closest to becoming a Nort in KH1. Thus the better choice.

-After about three worlds being explored and completed we will get a cut scene of Ienzo trying to get in contact with Sora but Sora’s out of range or some shit like that. Ienzo feels alone with Aeleus watching over Dilan and he can’t figure out the computer system to get it working again.

-Ansem the Wise shows up again, it’s more of a memory than him ACTUALLY being there. But as soon as Ienzo realizes this the ghost of his touch still lingers as does the words that he spoke to him resonates in his head. He figures out the password to get the computers working again.

-Sora explores more worlds. Meets more people. We get to see some sort of reference to Marvel or Star Wars BUT NO ACTUAL WORLD. We gain more summons and magic as per world per usual.

-The grinding world is still Olympus but now you fight against teams of Heartless that the other gods put together for shits and giggles. It’s actually a lot of fun because you get fun items that will eventually make the ultimate keyblade.

-Random cutscenes of Riku, Mickey, and Aqua making it back to Yen Sid’s tower and Aqua getting some DESERVED rest.

-Another cutscene of Lea and Kairi having another friend moment. But Lea now remembers Xion. Saix actually crashes one of their lessons just for intimidation purposes. He’s accompanied by Xemnas or Xigbar. They don’t attack, just talk. They leave when Lea attempts to attack in a rage but comes up too short to do anything. They both train harder.

-A sprinkling of cutscenes of known Norts showing them talking to other Norts in cryptic messages about the overall plan. Lots of sass for Lar and Mar.

-One cutscene of TerraNort fighting his own armor is actually from the past. It’s a flashback of when they had first clashed about two years prior to the current events happening. It’s there to confuse everyone on the timeline. We see it because someone is talking to some one else and that is the memory that is brought up.

-Jumping back to Mal and Pete, they actually are seen in about a quarter of the worlds Sora and co are in. She is stopping to talk to the big bads and seeing if they know where the box has been. She makes enemies and allies all the while but none take her too seriously. She’s probably the main reason one of the worlds is in the game because Sora follows her and Pete to that one.

-The world they end up in the box is there. Luxord shows up also looking for said box. There is a three way fight over the box. The contents still aren’t revealed.

-The fight is over but a cut scene happens where Mal looks like she’s about to get away but is struck down once and for all by a hooded black cloaked figure. This figure ends up be Luxu who is working with Luxord. The two of them gather the box and disappear into a portal before Sora can stop them. Pete is sent running for his own life.

-Sora will eventually make his way over to Twilight Town because Ienzo made some sort of connection to the mansion. We meet up with Hayner, Pence, and Olette which makes Sora think about Roxas again. We will get a heartwarming moment of Roxas and Sora talking inside of Sora when he focuses on him.

-They go into the mansion and Sora gets into a pod for “testing purposes”

-THIS ACTUALLY TRIGGERS SOMETHING because since he was in that pod before it shocks him into remember CO and Roxas is LAUNCHED into the driver seat of Sora’s body. THUS making it easier to access Ven.

-With Sora deep deep deep down into his consciousness now, he’s able to reach Ven but he doesn’t know it’s Ven. We are now going into a mirror-esque world of Sora and Ven’s heart inside of Sora as Sora in the pod is actually Roxas getting a chance to have a body once more. But Roxas is just sort of using this time to just have some him quiet time and figure out how to get his own body.

-Sorry, back to Sora and Ven. Sora starts chasing after this blond haired kid who he keeps calling Roxas over and over again to get him to stop running away but when he thinks he’s about to get close there is an invisible wall in his way. This gives us timed missions to get things or some sort mini mission led by Chirithy. When these missions are done this wakes up Ven inside of him.

-With Ven awake this triggers Ven’s memories of what happened of when he was a dandelion. Seeing Chirithy is what makes it happen. However it only comes back in bits and pieces. There are holes in Ven’s memory where he can’t seem to form a full memory of what happened so far back in his past. But he does remember Aqua and Terra.

-Ven does remember the unions and how there were five masters. He does remember their names and that there were five others before them. This is in the form of broken flashbacks of KHUX cutscenes now in hd beauty.

-Cue a very confused Sora.

-Sora wakes up and can control his own body again. He explains what happened but is still confused. Now he can hear Roxas and Ven in his head. At all times. It weirds him out.

-It turns out that Ansem Seeker of Darkness and Xemnas were waiting on something like this to happen to attack. They had been needing the use of the pods but because of DiZ they couldn’t get into the mansion. With the power going back to the pods, they can finally use them again. They disappear.

-This sends Sora back onto his mission. He goes out to one more world that actually has a lot of plot important points and reveals the final xehanort or something like that. This sends him towards the Keyblade Graveyard.

-We actually get a cutscene where everyone else is told to go to the Keyblade Graveyard.

-When S, D, and G arrive so do the others. Before they can even get intros out or meet up in the same place, the massive attack happens. Ven sees Aqua through Sora’s eyes and he is drawn to go to her but Sora keeps fighting. Roxas sees Lea through Sora’s eyes and he’s drawn to him but Sora keeps fighting. The two inside of him get frustrated enough to BREAK FREE and we get a strange bright flash of light that now has the three of them in separate bodies ready to fight.

-Once the fight is done there are short reunions that will break the viewer’s heart. It’s short because Old Coot Nort is now in full power with all of his Darknesses at the ready. As it turns out they didn’t need the new princesses of light. It was just to get Sora to get the other two out of his body, but they needed more time.

-Old Nort Coot is in full power BECAUSE OF THE BOX. The box had the Master of Master’s body or heart or SOMETHING related to him which is why Luxu was so shocked. Now when Sora and the others first get to the KG, we see Luxu in the distance talking to MX in the distance. We don’t know what they are saying but we can see the box is with them and they both open it. Before we can see what is actually in the box, the twelve other Org members block our view and we fight.

-A giant epic battle happens.

-Xehanort is finally, FINALLY, defeated. He goes into Kingdom Hearts. All of his Norts fade with him. Some random few stay behind, their bodies reverting back to what they were before the Nort had taken them over. They have another chance of life.

-Terra is finally released. We get our wayfinder trio reunion.

-Happiness doesn’t last. Since Terra had been stuck in the dark for so long he actually starts to fade on his own. The armor that is still waiting for him, comes for him. His soul is finally reunited. He can rest now. As he is about to fade we see Eraqus standing in the glow of Kingdom Hearts’ rays. He’s smiling. He welcomes Terra to him with open arms. Terra falls to his knees in forgiveness and Eraqus pulls him into a hug. Ven and Aqua join in on this. The light fades and Ven and Aqua are hugging each other now.

-Braig is there with Isa. Both still scarred and unconscious. Riku and Sora have the option to go in and help them. But only one. They choose Isa. Going into the Realm of Dreams, they awaken the sleeping heart of a child Isa and return him to Lea. 

-Seeing the reunion with Isa and Lea, Roxas doesn’t know what to do. Namine and Xion project themselves next to him and gives him and each other a smile. Roxas can’t see them, but senses two people next to him and he feels good.

-Mickey, Donald, and Goofy hug it out. Happy to be back with one another.

-Sora, Riku, and Kairi finally have a proper reunion. The three have a group hug which leads to compliments to Kairi on her technique and how great she was. Riku teases that she will surpass Sora in becoming a master sooner.

-With Xehanort finally defeated, the groups return to their own homes with promises to keep in touch.

-Sora finally goes home and has dinner with his mother.

ROLL CREDITS

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE

During the credits we see:

-Sora, Riku, and Kairi training on Destiny Islands together

-Braig and Even being brought back to Radiant Garden and being laid up in bed while he appears to be sleeping.

-Radiant Garden itself looking beautiful and more complete with fountains.

-The Restoration Committee congratulating itself.

-Various worlds with their happy ever afters.

-Ven and Aqua returning to the Land of Departure to its original state.

-We see Mickey and Minnie reuniting. Daisy and Donald holding hands. Goofy chuckling on the side as he pulls out a picture of Max at college.

-Chip and Dale keep doing their thing. They actually end up opening up a transportation special for Sora and the gang for the other worlds.

-Pete is seen running around lost somewhere between the worlds in a gummi ship of his own, only to have Chip and Dale pull up next to him like cops. He is brought back to disney castle where he works as a janitor.

-Aeleus, Ienzo, and Dilan finally finished cleaning the castle and opening it up to the rest of the town. They’ve also made a memorial for Even.

-The other recompleted Norts (Lux, Mar, Lar...) all returning to their own worlds, confused and dazed. Or their own timelines......

-Braig and Even waking up in RG, very confused and very weak.

-Sora and Ienzo on the phone with one another with plans on what seems to be another body extraction notes with Namine written on one of the pages.

-Lea, Roxas, and Isa all sitting and eating ice cream together. Lea in the middle.

-One last final cut scene of young Eraqus and young Xehanort playing chess in their time line. The keyblade on the wall disappears.

RANDOM OTHER HEADCANONS

-Kairi refuses to eat and sea salt ice cream with Lea until waaaaaaaaaay later in their training because she doesn’t trust him. She does mention wanting to share some with her boys.

-Xigbar is actually seen in like half of the worlds talking to the other Norts. He just sort of floats around from each world checking on each Nort that is there because he can. The others either find it annoying or actually enjoy having him stop by.

-We will get the other Somebody names in a journal entry.

-Pinocchio comes back for some reason.

-If the Data Riku/.Repliku/Xion Nort doesn’t work out, it ends up being Xaldin. Because that’s the only way I will personally accept that Riku looking Nort to be there. And Xaldin ends up being the final Nort because of another kidnapping that they do at RG. It’s after the second one that Ienzo feels alone and gets that screen time with Ansem the Wise.

-I’m really hoping it ends up being Xaldin.

-The Radiant Garden Restoration Committee is still important, but they are just working on the town more than anything in this game. We will see more of the town being built up and being restored to what it looked like in BBS.

-Sephiroth is still a boss fight somewhere in the game. But he’ll be in another world like Twilight Town for no reason.

-In the Keyblade Graveyard you the player have to fight all of the Norts at some point. They might cut the battle short with another Keyblader coming in and picking up the fight where you left off, but it will be close to that cliffside fight with the FF characters in KH2.

-Kairi will yell at Larxene and Marluxia at some point “This is for Namine!”

-Kairi and Namine actually talk a lot to each other but we will never see it on screen, it only gets alluded to.

-Sora seems like he’s going to fade into the darkness at least three times throughout the game. But it’s all just to be able to pull Roxas and/or Ven out from inside of him.

-I’m slightly weighing on the idea that Luxu and Luxord might be the same person. But I’m not convinced on the idea myself. Therefore they have separate endings.

-Cid and Merlin still argue about magic vs technology is in there somewhere I’m sure. It’s gotta happen at least once.

-The Winnie the Pooh world is meant for minigames. However you will need to reach a certain score with it in order to get the secret ending that shows something in relation to Sora, Riku, and Kairi all sharing a paopu fruit at the same time.

-I really want the secret ending to be the three of them sitting on their island with a paopu fruit in Sora’s hand. He’s sitting between the two of them and he breaks it into three parts and hands off pieces to the two of them. They all smile at each other and eat it at the same time.

-Worlds I can confirm to be in the game: Olympus, Twilight Town, Radiant Garden, BH6, Tangled, Frozen, Pirates, Keyblade Graveyard, Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Dream Realm....

-Other possible worlds that they could put in that would tie in with the theme that is searching for something/someone and fighting an inner darkness: Treasure Planet, Brave, Lion King 2, Princess and the Frog, Lilo and Stitch, Robin Hood, Pocahontas, Moana, Elena.... If we want something on time travel we’d end up with Cinderella 3.

-If there is a Star Wars world it would be with the Clone Wars TV show that they have. And if there is a Marvel world it would be in association with Thor or Captain America.

-Riku will just constantly be teasing Sora and Kairi about their fighting styles every time they are together.

NOW I’m done. I’m pretty sure I’m missing SOMETHING important that I can’t remember...... but that’s my headcanon and how I think kh3 is going to go. ))

#ooc #khtheory #headcanon #dear lort i did this in three hours #got to over 3500+ words #it's a lot of random shit and i don't anticipate most of this being right #but here's a good start #pretty sure i missed something..... like really sure.... #theeverbloomingdarkness #sorry to anyone on mobile that this screws over #long post #also sorry for the shitty tagging system that is going to put this in a lot of unnecessary tags