Chapter Text
I stood in front of Sora’s pod, with Naminé and Branwen. It was almost time. Naminé had finished her work, and all that was left was for Sora to wake on his own.
I’d thrown canon out the window - not that I hadn’t already, but with Roxas, I…what happened to him was too cruel. No way on this green earth was I having any part of it.
So, after DiZ had taught me (and later, Branwen) how to use our darkness to open up access to the Corridors, I’d cornered Roxas alone. I’d been honest with him - straight upfront in a way I hadn’t even been with Sora and Kairi.
They knew my past, but Roxas…I told him of his future. Of Xemnas’s lies about the artificial Kingdom Hearts, that whatever he was building it for, it wasn’t to make them whole again. Because that would happen on its own. I knew that, because a friend had told me. A human Nobody, like Roxas. One I’d met almost a decade ago, when the older man had been on the run from the Organization. On the run and desperate to make sure that if he was caught, the truth wouldn’t die with him.
The truth. The friend I spoke of may have been fictional, based off my encounter with Terra, but no one save myself knew that. I knew more about the Nobodies than they did themselves; all I needed was a credible source to relay the information from. And technically, I had met human Nobodies before I’d run into the Organization - just, you know, in a game.
Roxas, of course, hadn’t believed me at first. Only the Organization had human Nobodies, after all, or at least that’s what he’d been raised to believe. And they would’ve known if there’d been others, because they would’ve been recruited too.
All I’d needed to do was raise an eyebrow, and ask pointedly if he really thought there were only the fourteen of them in all the history of the worlds. And if there were fourteen just in this last decade, then by that reasoning, why shouldn’t there be more human Nobodies out there? There were strong hearts all throughout history, after all, and more besides. Roxas didn’t have an argument for that.
As for the rest, I told him to see for himself, but not to tell anyone what had happened here. Xemnas wouldn’t hesitate to kill him, like he’d threatened to do to other members before. Like how he’d had half the Organization wiped out at Castle Oblivion, for daring to go against him.
I didn’t force Roxas. As integral as he was to Sora’s healing, he was, first and foremost, his own person. Whether he helped me or not, that…that was his own decision. It had to be.
And to my happy surprise, he’d come back; not with Axel but not alone. Crying, betrayed, and hurt, but he’d come back. He asked me more, and I gave it to him. Again, I was honest. Xemnas had lied to him his whole life, and really, honesty was the best policy. I told him about Sora, how they needed to, as much as I hated it, merge back together. But that wouldn’t be the end, I swore it! Roxas’s heart was all his own, but he was walking around with a piece of Sora, and he needed to give it back to him.
But, I’d whispered conspiratorially, wanna know a secret? Vexen was working on a replica project. It was how Branwen had been born. And one of Xemnas’s orders had been the creation of replica bodies - not people, but bodies. Empty vessels, though for whatever purpose, I didn’t know. But the information was there.
And using those…we could bring him and his friend back. It wouldn’t be immediately - Vexen hadn’t finished, and even if he had we’d still need to get our hands on some of them, but…
He would come back. Even if I had to go to the ends of the earth and back, I would bring him back. Whatever it took. I owed him that.
And so they came. Abandoned the Organization, and came back with me to Twilight Town. To Ansem’s mansion. I felt bad, knowing Axel had to be going out of his mind with worry, and denying Roxas that connection with Hayner, Pence, and Olette, but…that digital world had been cruel. Far, far too cruel. And DiZ certainly hadn’t helped with that.
But then, fate had apparently conspired for them to meet, as we found out one afternoon when the trio broke into the mansion. Yes, they’d actually broken in - wanting to explore it for their research for a major school project of theirs, and unable to get in through the gate, they’d found another way. Like breaking in through the window.
I’d had to hold back so much hysterical laughter at the sight, at everyone being completely caught off guard and having no idea at all how to react to this, and then it’d been too much and I’d just busted a gut laughing-
And that had snapped everyone out of their stupor. Hayner, Pence, and Olette had wanted to get to know everyone, and while Branwen had been just as eager to get to know them, Roxas and Naminé had been hesitant; Roxas knowing what I’d told him about Sora, and Naminé knowing what would have to happen between her and Kairi, that they’d have to disappear for a while-
But I intervened. I’d told them it was a great idea, but that Roxas and Naminé would have to go eventually, to get treatment for their condition. But once that was done, they could come right back, right guys?
I’d never seen such grateful looks in my life. And so we’d gotten to know each other, to become friends, and for real this time. To see Hayner, Pence, and Olette playing and laughing together, with me and Roxas and Branwen and even Naminé which was just plain awesome and...and...
Someone…else?
Ugh, how I hated this memory effect. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to entirely erase everything - I knew Roxas had a friend, that she’d been a keyblade wielder in the Organization with him, had returned to Sora alongside him, and then-
Well, basically, I knew about her, and how she affected things. But her name? Any personal experiences I’d had with her, not just what I knew about the timeline? Completely gone. And I hated it. Hated losing that.
Memories were, after all, priceless to me. And I’d forgotten her name.
At least I hadn’t lost everything. And while I couldn’t remember her name, exactly, I…at least had something close to it. I remember, back in my first life, I’d found and read the Days and Kingdom Hearts Two mangas before I’d been introduced to the corresponding games. Meaning I’d read her name before I’d heard it, which resulted in me mistakenly thinking it had been pronounced Zion, not…whatever it actually was. Tristan had never let me live it down, the jerk. But, I do know that it had been close. So, until we could remember properly…Zion it was.
And these, these slight hiccups where I knew something but couldn’t actually remember it, those told a story all on their own. I’d been worried, so worried, that Xemnas’s stupid sacrificial plots had come to pass, that while Zion had ditched the Organization she and Roxas had had to fight anyway-
But that wasn’t true, was it. I’d had that block, thinking about Roxas, Branwen, Naminé, and I with our friends. So, that meant she’d been there too, right? That Zion had gotten to be friends with Hayner, Pence, and Olette, before she disappeared.
I hoped so. She deserved it just as much as Roxas did. As much as Naminé and Branwen did.
I looked up, yanked suddenly from my thoughts as the pod hissed, and began opening. Unfurling, to reveal the sleeping form of my brother in all but blood inside.
The only one, aside from Kairi, I’d told the full truth about my past. That I’d died, and been reborn. The ones who’d seen a grieving heart, and had reached out to help. Helped me adjust, and heal.
I owed them so much. I could never repay what they’d done for me. Their support and friendship, it had gotten me through my loss and helped me move on, see this second life for the miracle that it was. To actually live it.
There was a reason why I considered them family.
And when Sora touched down onto the ground, opened his eyes and yawned…his eyes were immediately drawn to me, and I couldn’t help but grin widely.
“Riku! You’re okay!” He beamed, before registering the other people with me. “Who’re these guys? And you got a haircut, ni- wait who is he and why does he look like you?!” Sora asked, gesturing to Branwen. “Long-haired you, I mean.”
I laughed. “That’s Branwen, and this is Naminé.” I said, reintroducing the two. “Once we wake up Donald and Goofy, we need to sit down and have a talk. There’s a lot I gotta catch you up on, before we go.”