A/N: Here we are, the last chapter! A short chapter to end the story, to match the short chapter that opened it. Enjoy!

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Where am I?

His eyes fluttered open. The red-headed man found himself splayed on the stone ground, in front of a large castle. He cautiously got to his feet, eyeing his surroundings suspiciously.

Uh, maybe more importantly... who am I?

Well, that was a stupid question.

My name is Lea.

Lea wandered into the castle, his mind buzzing with thoughts. He was overwhelmed with a feeling of dread as his last memory as Axel came rushing back into his head.

Isa. Was he alright? Did they manage to stop the Organization? Vague pieces of memory were fluttering back, bit by bit. He remembered seeing Isa again after his death while confronting Xigbar... but, well... okay, that didn't make much sense. Then again, he'd believe anything after having his heart restored.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed since then- but he needed to find Isa right away.

Because he was... ecstatic. He had... a heart again.

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It didn't take long for Sora to walk from the castle ruins to the Cid's house. He could have just popped up to the Gummi and then landed at it, but the walk was nice. Besides, he wasn't in a huge hurry to get back on the Gummi. It was odd, how it always seemed to know where he was needed. If he got back on board it might decide he was needed elsewhere, and he didn't want to take that risk. He didn't spare a second thought to leaving Isa by himself, even with him acting as oddly as he had been.

Sora walked across the courtyard and, as per usual, just burst right in through the front door, interrupting lunch. "Hey guys!" He greeted with a grin. "How're you guys?"

Leon blinked, standing up as the Keybearer walked in the door. "Sora! What are you doing here?" As surprised as he was to see the teen, Leon didn't mind him interrupting lunch one bit. Maybe Sora'd be able to do something about Isa; he was the Keybearer, right? ...Leon didn't care how stupid that sounded in his mind.

Sora's grin turned into a smile. "Got another letter from the King, so I wanted to come say hi before things got hectic. Though the Gummi did drop me off over at the castle."

Then he paused, and the smile turned into a slight frown. Or maybe more of a worried look. "D'you know what's up with Isa? He was acting weird when I was over there. I knew he was shaken up after what went down in the World That Never Was, but..." He hadn't thought it had been that bad. Isa had seemed... mostly okay, when he had noticed him talking with Riku on Destiny Islands. Granted it had been a while since then, but even so. It had looked like Isa was recovering.

But Leon's face immediately fell, a look of horror spreading over his features. Aerith too had shot to her feet, looking terrified, while Cid and Yuffie had frozen. Leon grabbed Sora by the shoulders then, not quite yelling, but very nearly.

"Y-you saw Isa at the castle? Did you kill the Heartless?" Leon shook Sora a bit. "You left him by himself?"

"Um... yes? He- he said he wanted to be alone for a bit... " Apparently this wasn't the answer they were hoping for.

Actually, judging from their reactions, they had probably been dreading this answer. Fantastic. Now all someone needed to do was tell him he'd accidentally opened the Keyhole of Darkness, and today's recipe of Straight to Hell would be just about complete.

Leon's breath caught in his throat, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming at Sora. Idiot. No, he didn't know. How could he know. Cid and Yuffie were already in motion, and Leon released Sora roughly.

"We need to find him. He's probably going to try to kill himself." He could have already done it. He might be-

"Split up," he ordered as he walked out the door, although to be truthful it didn't need to be said. "Keep in radio contact. We need to find him."

But his fears were already telling him it was too late. It took so long to walk from the castle to the house that- No, don't think about that. Don't think about it.

Leon wished he'd never clapped eyes on Axel.

Sora stood there in confusion as the others headed out as fast as they could to find Isa before it was too late, leaving behind a Keyblade Bearer who was confused as hell.

He was having trouble understanding the severity of the situation. Isa was apparently suicidal (in hindsight, he vaguely remembered Aerith and Leon explaining that to him after his fight with Xaldin) and, in Leon's words, was probably going to try and off himself. To anyone else, the issue here likely would have been plain as day.

But 'anyone else' wasn't 'Sora.' They weren't a kid that hadn't, until recently, had to deal with the prospect of death in any form. They also weren't a kid that had trouble grasping the severity of suicide because he himself had been, for however briefly, suicidal.

He didn't really remember it, that day deep in the castle of Hollow Bastion after he had fought Riku. He had been told that Kairi would never wake up unless her heart, which resided in him, was released. But in doing so the Keyhole to Darkness would be opened. Save the worlds, or save Kairi.

The choice hadn't been a hard one to make.

Sora remembered picking up the twisted Keyblade and tossing his own to Donald. He remembered grinning, the horrified looks on his friends' faces as he impaled himself, and then... nothing. Nothing but darkness up until Kairi had brought him back.

Suicide was something to be avoided, yes, because of that whole dying thing. But sometimes things had to be done. Sometimes there just wasn't a choice. Sora had killed himself without a second thought, all because it was what needed to be done to save the person he cared about. He couldn't make, or had difficulty making, the connection with suicide being a serious thing because he'd done it so casually, on less then a whim.

Yes, it ended with a person someone cared about being dead. But Sora had a pretty poor grasp on 'death' as well, so that held only slightly more weight to it. It was just something that happened sometimes.

He could, vaguely, understand why it was horrible and a thing to be prevented. But he couldn't grasp the reasoning behind it. It was totally foreign to him.

And so while the rest of the household ran out, frantically searching for Isa so they could save him from himself, Sora stood there in the middle of the room. Blinking and confused, knowing something incredibly serious was happening around him, but unable to understand what.

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After investigating the castle, Lea decided that there were far too many heartless unscathed for Isa to have been around. That guy was pretty ruthless...

He wandered back outside, a makeshift flag marking the spot he'd woken up on. Isa's claymore- so he must have been here recently. Lea rushed down the steps, only to find himself greeted by a very unwelcome picture.

He'd never moved faster in his life.

"ISA!"

Lea nearly stumbled, reaching his hand out over the ledge, barely grabbing the man's wrist in time.

"What the hell are you doing?" he gripped the ground, yanking Isa up and over the edge. He wasn't sure where he found the strength to lift Isa's weight, but that wasn't really important. This was not exactly what he imagined- the first thing he found his heart doing, racing with panic and rage. He flung the blue haired man to the ground, once he'd dragged him a safe distance from the cliff. The redhead stalked towards Isa, who still maintained a thoroughly startled expression.

It looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Well? Answer me!" Lea leaned in, grabbing Isa by the collar. "What the hell did I just see? Were you just going to give up- Really? You- you really are an idiot!"

This was all way too much. The redhead found himself collapsing to his knees on top of Isa, completely breaking down. He had his heart back, and he knew it was because of this man. But what the hell had just happened? Did he really just save this man twice?

"Isa- how did I end up falling in love with such a moron. I don't know what you did- or what you were just going to do- but- but I'm here somehow," he wrapped his arms around Isa, holding on for dear life.

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Isa had closed his eyes, letting gravity take hold of him. This was alright. He was ready to be done.

But then an impossible voice, shouting his name, and he jerked to a stop, dangling by his wrist. Isa's head snapped up; those impossible green eyes stared back at him, a voice he thought he'd never hear again screaming something, but he couldn't pay attention to the words. How-

Isa was speechless. Somehow, he was being hauled back up by what must be a ghost. There was no other explanation, but- Lea was solid enough to be manhandling him across the paving stones. Isa was too startled, too overwhelmed to resist. He hit the ground hard, turning to stare up at the furious redhead. Words still wouldn't come; his mind was paralyzed.

He was hauled up to his knees by his collar, and could do nothing but stare slack-jawed while Lea screamed in his face. Then Lea wrapped his arms tight around Isa, enveloping him, and his brain started to click back into gear.

"How-...?" was the only word he could get out. This was impossible. Yes, Isa had spent ten years thinking Lea was dead. But he hadn't actually seen him die, nor had he ever seen a body. It hadn't been difficult to accept Axel when Isa saw him in front of him; it had just been the fulfillment of years of secretly hoping that he was alive somewhere. But this time, Isa had seen it happen, had held Lea in his arms as he faded away. It wasn't possible. This couldn't be happening.

But Isa couldn't deny the warmth surrounding him now. It was real. Lea was really there.

Isa's arms came up to wrap around Lea's back. What had he almost done...? Isa had felt so hopeless, so lost. But he- he would have missed Lea. Left him behind. And Isa would still have been alone.

Isa had tried so hard not to feel Lea's loss. He couldn't deal with it. He'd just pushed it down, denied it, tried to numb himself. But now all the pain he'd been suppressing was bubbling up, forcing its way out of him. Isa hung his head, pressing it into Lea's chest. His fingers clutched into the fabric of the redhead's coat hard enough to audibly strain the fabric.

"Lea...!" Isa's voice strangled silent, and he couldn't get another word out through the wracking sobs that shook him. Once they started, he couldn't stop them.

And just this once, he didn't want to.

Lea held on tight. He didn't know how to process anything at the moment. He knew he was angry, oh was he ever. But the relief that he'd come in just in time, well, that was good enough for now. It's not like he'd really expected to have all these extra chances anyway, so why would Isa have expected the same?

Right now he was just happy it was all over. This was the moment they'd been waiting for.

"I'm here, it's okay," Lea finally said, his fingers tangled in blue hair. Yeah, it was all over. They could finally breathe.

Somehow, Isa managed to get ahold of himself. He didn't raise his head, though, keeping his forehead pressed into Lea's chest. He could feel the redhead's heart hammering under his ribs. This was...some kind of miracle. Maybe it was all a dream? Or maybe Isa was already dead, too. But he thought, if that were the case, it shouldn't feel so warm.

He didn't know how Lea could be here now. But if he was really here, this was where Isa wanted to be, too.

"How?" Isa's voice was almost a whisper. "I saw you die. So how-?"

The redhead just smiled, breaking out into laughter.

"Jeez, I don't know! But I definitely feel alive, heh. More than ever." He pulled away from Isa, flopping back into a lazy slouch. His grin faded almost immediately though, as his gaze drifted over to the cliff's edge.

Was he really going to...

He immediately snapped back to Isa, once he realized he had a million questions to ask.

"W-Wait, so what happened with Sora and the Organization and and... Well I mean, how did you take down Xigbar? And Xemnas? Oh man, I can't believe you did it! And look, look Isa," he grabbed Isa's shoulders, his grin returning as he nearly tackled the man in front of him. "I never thought I'd have a heart again! You did it. Hey, we did it!"

Isa barely managed to stay upright, nearly knocked over by Lea's enthusiasm. A smile started its way onto his face, followed by a single chuckle, then a laugh- Isa stopped halfway through the laugh, looking like he'd been startled by the sound that came out of him. He hadn't laughed since- since he'd lost Lea. How long had it been now? Months, at least. The time all ran together in his mind.

This was all so surreal. Even more so than when he had first met Lea again. He had been about to take his own life; he had been completely serious about it, had thought about it and then planned it for weeks, maybe even months. The only reason he'd waited was that he couldn't leave Lea's heart still trapped as a Heartless somewher-

Isa's eyes widened, and he grabbed Lea's shoulders back. "Your Heartless. I had Sora kill your Heartless with his Keyblade...!" That must have been it. It...must have somehow restored him. The timing was too perfect.

So then, this really was his Lea. Really back, for good. Happy and smiling and boisterous.

"My Heartless? Uh, how did you... Wait what does that-," Isa just wasn't making any sense. But Lea suddenly found himself wrapped in Isa's arms again.

"...I missed you more than I could bear." Isa muttered into his neck.

Then it suddenly hit him-

"W-wait, how long have I been gone? I mean I feel like a lot of time has passed and I have these random memories but it doesn't make much sense... Then again I guess going from a Nobody back to a Somebody doesn't make much sense either," he let out a long sigh. It didn't matter to him either way. He had his heart back and he had Isa, that was all he really wanted. But he still wanted to catch up on what he'd missed, and maybe what it meant for him now that he had a heart and no Nobodies hunting him down.

"...Hey I have an idea! Let's go!" Lea didn't feel like sticking around in this depressing place. He wanted to put the insanity behind him for just a moment. He got to his feet, tugging on Isa's arm. He was hoping the man would read his mind, because there was only one thing this situation called for.

Just Lea and Isa.

...and ice cream.

Isa blinked as he was tugged to his feet. "Where are we going?"

"'Where are we going?' C'mon Isa, we gotta celebrate somehow!"

Lea was so excited, more excited than Isa had ever seen him in his days as a Nobody. But it was about the same as his base level of enthusiasm when they were children. He really must have been fully resto-

Isa stopped when they were about to pass his claymore. "Wait." He frowned, looking at it and the scarf for a minute. Then he gently tugged his arm free of Lea's.

He'd need both hands to wrestle the sword free of the ground.

It took a minute of wrenching at it, but finally the claymore popped free of the stones. Isa gave it a little, experimental swing. Not damaged, then.

"I'll need this." Isa paused, then untied the scarf from the handle. He contemplated it for a moment, then, he held it out to Lea.

"...do you want this back?"

Lea just stepped back as the man wrenched his makeshift memorial out of the ground. It was kind of sweet, but a little batty too... Isa had been through a lot though, a real lot... Lea just shrugged it off as he reached out for the scarf he was being handed.

"Heh, well, I don't see why not," he shook out the yellow rag. Man, did he look like a dork when he was a kid. ...Well, it seemed cool at the time. "I don't know, it doesn't really go with this depressing coat does it?" he laughed, trying on the scarf for the hell of it. "I should probably find a change of clothes soon, I don't think I'm gonna be portal hopping anytime soon. Besides, black isn't really my color, yeah?"

He paced for a moment around the broken stone, finally reaching out for Isa's hand. "Hey, I think it's about time to leave this place behind. Some things just aren't worth remembering, y'know?

"So c'mon c'mon, lets go make some good memories. I'm starving for some ice cream, Isaaaa!" he yanked on the bluehaired man's arm, impatient to get moving.

Isa squeezed Lea's hand. His words gave Isa pause, though, and he stayed right where he was for a few moments.

Leave this place behind? In his mind, the words meant more than just physically going somewhere else. The memories of what had happened here had consumed him for so long. Could he leave them behind?

Isa didn't know the answer to that question. But he was willing to try. For Lea. And for himself.

A soft smile appeared on Isa's face, and he nodded, starting to walk. "Yes. Let's."

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A/N: And that's it! Thank you to everyone who's been reading along all this time. I hope the ending was satisfying. :)

This story is finished, but I'm not totally done playing in this world, so I'm likely to post up some short stories set within this AU sometime in the near future. If you enjoyed this, please keep an eye out for those.

It's always been my ambition to write a long fanfic, so thank you to my friends, who helped make it possible, and to my readers. :D