Keys to the Heart

A Kingdom Hearts fanfic

YAJJ

An Epilogue, of Sorts

Date: 3/2/2015. 10:30 pm

This is basically just three "short" stories, detailing what happened afterwards. 1) The kids return to the Castle That Never Was. 2) A little night-time snugglies. And 3) A cute scene that makes me happy because Sora yes from KHIII. Keep in mind, all three parts were written at very separate times. They don't flow very well together; certainly not part 1 into part 2. Part 2 is my personal favorite, and I think it's written the best, but I'll leave that to you to decide.

Special thanks to: xfallenangel13x, Silverbird22, MugetsuPipefox, krissystvs, ChronoTriggerMan, and OOOH (there you go!), for reviewing any of the three previous chapters. And thanks to everyone who ends up reviewing this one!

Disclaimer: Still don't own. But man, I can't wait for KHIII and if Xion, Roxas and Lea aren't reunited then I'm gonna throw a hissy fit.

Enjoy!

The familiar grayness of the Gray Room was a welcome relief when Axel finally opened the Dark Corridor into the World that Never Was. Xion squeezed Roxas' hand, looking back on the blond Nobody. It felt like they were coming back to a new place. The Gray Room was completely empty… even though it was about the time where most members would return home from their missions.

Once Roxas stumbled out of the Corridor, it closed with a fwip. He glanced back at it, and then looked up at his red haired friend. "…It feels weird here."

"Weird how?" Axel asked, looking back at them.

"Yes," Xion agreed, going red for a moment. Then, she continued, "tired. It feels tired here. Tireder than normal. And busier. And lonelier. Ahh! The Moogle!" Xion dropped Axel's hand, letting Axel switch one of their keyblades into his other hand, and then tugged Roxas over to greet the black-coated Moogle, whose blank expression seemed to brighten.

"Ahh, my best customers, kupo! Where have you been, kupo? I haven't heard nice things. You look like you could use an elixir, kupo." The Moogle dug into its little bin and handed them each an elixir. When they both made to dig for their wallets where they were normally kept, the Moogle put his little hands up. "Ah ah, kupo! On the house, kupo! To help you get back on your feet!"

Xion blushed shyly, and Roxas quietly thanked him.

Behind them, Axel watched on with an affectionate smile flitting on his face. He turned at the sound of a Dark Corridor opening, unable to wipe his face clear of emotion even as Xaldin walked in, looking tired, with Demyx and his dripping hair following afterward.

"Axel? You're back awful early. I haven't seen you back before midnight in days," Xaldin commented, looking amused. "And on the last day, too."

"Is everything okay?" Demyx asked, running a hand through his hair. Salty water flipped onto the floor and his coat.

"Yeah," Axel said, his smile growing in size and strength, "everything's fine, now." He cocked his head in the kids' direction.

III and IX glanced in that direction, eyes widening at the sight of two small black coats chatting up the Moogle. Demyx gave something like a squeak and shuffled over to them ("be careful!" Axel called, but he was pretty sure that Demyx didn't notice him), and Xaldin hung back.

"You're back!" Demyx cheered, going up to them excitedly. The grin splashed on his face cleared away most of the exhaustion, although it was still somewhat evident.

Roxas and Xion both stiffened and turned to him nervously, big blue eyes wide. "Demyx, hi," Xion said, and Roxas offered him a little smile.

"Wow, look at you! I didn't think you could get much smaller than you were, but you're even worse than Axel!" Demyx continued obliviously, reaching forward to pick at Roxas' sleeve. The young blond pulled his arm away nervously, sharing a look with Xion. "Where you been?"

"Uh…" Xion swallowed deeply, casting her gaze to their redheaded guardian who watched them, affection stinging in his eyes.

"H-Halloween Town," Roxas informed.

"Are you for serious?!" Demyx demanded. "Axel musta gone there a hundred times! What—were you hiding?"

"Dem, stop," Axel said, approaching when Xion flashed panic in his general direction.

Another corridor appeared near the far couch, Xigbar dropping onto the couch unceremoniously. "I need a beer. It's goddamn hot there."

"Get your feet off the table, II, were you raised in a barn?"

The kids both winced at the new voices, and Axel kept them close, protective. The older Nobody nodded at Saïx, who came in from the hallway, looking tired. Saïx looked at him, glanced down at the kids, and flashed Axel a 'we'll talk later' look.

Axel just nodded slowly, tiredly.

"Holy shi—that ain't who I think it is, is it?" Before Axel knew what had happened, Xigbar materialized in front of them, digging a hand somewhat gently in Roxas' honey golden hair. The boy squeaked in surprise and ducked away, bumping into Axel's back.

"Oh my shit," Xigbar continued, looking baffled. "If it ain't the little Keybearers. It's been a while, huh kiddo, poppet? We've been working our butts off to find the two of you."

"Hello," Xion greeted sheepishly, while Roxas purposefully fixed his hair and hissed, "don't call me that."

Xigbar barked a laugh. "Well, the two ah you look like you're gonna fall asleep standing up. You're worse off than some of us, huh? About time you hit the hay."

"That was the plan, II," Axel agreed, hooking his arms back around both kids to steer them away. The other members all cheerfully called variations of "good night!", while Demyx said "I wanna know what happened tomorrow!"

They were stopped by only one more interruption; Saïx, who approached silently, clipboard before him and pen tucked behind one pointed ear. "XIII, XIV," he said as they neared.

Axel sighed heavily but steered them his way. Nervously, the kids waved.

Saix nodded in acknowledgement but didn't otherwise respond. "Reports?" he said instead, grabbing his pen.

"Oh…" Xion and Roxas shared a look, the week-older Nobody shrugging Axel's arm off of him for a moment. "Um… we failed our mission," he said nervously, picking at his opposite glove. "The, uh, the Boss caught us when our backs were turned, and it took us to this, um, place in town. Oh, but Axel finished our mission for us when he came."

"He was very brave," Xion said brightly, nuzzling her cheek affectionately into his coat. The redhead blushed and turned away.

"He found us," Roxas continued. "Dunno how. Just, one minute they were saying they were gonna cut me open, and the next he was there, setting the room on fire."

"Alright," Saïx said with a huff. He flipped a few pages on his clipboard, and circled something on it. "The Superior will want to see the three of you tomorrow; you can give the full report then. An oral report should suffice unless the Superior says otherwise. Now go on, rest. I expect you up no later than ten." With that, the blunette gave one final nod and turned away to speak with Demyx.

Axel glanced over his shoulder at the clipboard, and what he saw made him smile. That particular page had all the names of the current Organization, and a world name beside them. A basic outline of tomorrow's missions, he assumed. Beside Roxas and Xion's names were the words "Day Off" in red pen, as if added in somewhat hastily. Each was circled twice, and there were a few small dots around them.

With a gentle chuckle (both kids looked up at him, confusion flashing across their faces), he turned them both toward their rooms. "Why don't we go, yeah? Xigbar was right; you need to rest. I bet it'll be nice to be back in your own beds."

"Very nice!" Xion agreed, and Roxas mumbled "they're as stiff as the floor… but the blankets are nice."

Axel just rolled his eyes at the blond and led them down the familiar hallway, his own bed calling his name. Man, when was the last time that he'd slept in his bed?

*About ten minutes later; this was the part that was written first*

When it was all said and done, Axel couldn't believe how much his body had missed sleeping. He had turned in early, the kids at his heels. He had led them into their rooms and helped them both into bed and bade them good night, and then went to his room and nodded off before his head hit his pillow.

He awoke some time later to a pressure on his right side. It was still night, if his clock was telling the truth, and Kingdom Hearts was still beating down on him.

The pressure shifted a little, and he remembered why he'd woken up in the first place. It took a bit of time, but he got his body to move beneath him, forcing him up, and looked down at whatever was causing the pressure.

His eyes softened, and his lips turned up in a half-smile.

There were two bodies, curled up on the bed next to him. One was yellow-haired, the other black-haired. The little black-haired one at his side was curled up in a ball, pushing her nose into his pillow. The yellow-haired one was stretched out on her other side, an arm thrown over her protectively. They were both breathing a little unevenly; it looked as if neither of them were asleep yet.

"...Kids…?" He yawned a little and looked down at the little ones.

Xion shuddered as the heat left her side and she looked up at him, pouting with big blue eyes. "...Hi, Axel," she whispered.

Roxas stretched and covered his mouth as he yawned. He didn't look ashamed at all, just looked up at the elder Nobody.

"What are you doing in my bed?"

Xion shrugged and yawned, sitting up as well, taking the covers from Roxas. Roxas whined a little and sat up beside her, pouting. "I couldn't sleep 'cause it was too cold, so I went to sleep with Roxas, but it was still too cold so we came to sleep with you. Okay…?" Xion pressed.

Axel stared at the two for a moment. As he watched, Roxas laid down and flipped onto his side, burying into the mattress. Axel had to chuckle at that; it didn't look as if the blond would be leaving no matter what he said.

It didn't take long for Axel to make up his mind. He gently led Xion down onto the mattress and watched her shift around until she was comfortable. He leaned over to kiss her forehead, and then kissed Roxas' head as well. He tucked the corner of his blanket under Roxas' body, trapping the heat for them. Roxas watched him from the corner of his eye, but didn't seem too weirded out by it all. He just yawned and buried his face into the pillow.

Axel laid down himself and tucked the blanket on his side beneath him. He stretched his arm out so it covered them both, keeping them in a protective embrace.

"Good night, kids."

Xion and Roxas looked between each other, and then at their mentor. The smallest of smiles crossed their faces before they cuddled into the warmth, closing their eyes. "Good night."

* KH III *

Sora carefully traced his steps, headed back for Dr. Finkelstein's lab. Donald and Goofy both followed him cautiously and, keeping rather close to him, Lea (who had insisted on coming with as soon as he heard that Sora was going to Halloween Town) swung his chakram keyblade loosely. The tall man had one eye on Sora, and one on the town's people, as if he just knew that something bad would happen.

To be honest, Sora was a little freaked out by how he just knew.

It didn't take long, after Sora's eyes had readjusted to the darkness of even the daytime in Halloween Town, to find the door to the lab. "There it is!" he said, jumping high to point it out to his companions. He ran toward it, making it to the door in record time. Donald and Goofy trailed after him, Donald hopping on one foot and mumbling about how dark it always was.

Sora chuckled at his friend and grabbed the door handle, preparing to yank it open, ignoring how much he was suddenly shaking.

If Sora reached the door in record time, Lea crushed his record. Setting a hand on Sora's shoulder, he bodily maneuvered Sora out of the way. "Sora, why don't you let me go in first? To keep you safe, of course. Make sure it's good." He pulled Sora's hand from the handle, grabbing it himself.

"Uh... okay...?" Sora let Lea go in front of him, sliding into the lab quietly. Donald and Goofy were anxiously following behind him.

The room was dark, with a table in the center of the room that had four manacles attached to steel chains and one giant manacle attached by hinges to the table. The shaking was back, slowly worsening.

"Jack, Sally?! Is that you!?"

Sora looked up toward the rest of the house, and he noticed a steel birdcage, probably seven feet in diameter, hanging above them ominously. His heart was pounding when he saw that, and he found himself wanting to go to Lea.

But he didn't know why. He was no coward. So why was he so afraid of this? He hadn't been this frightened back before fighting Xemnas.

"Lea...?" Sora muttered, unsure of why he just called to him.

Lea turned his way and quickly approached, worry blossoming in his eyes. "Are you okay, Sora? Maybe you should wait for me outside. I can finish things in here. Yeah. Go find Jack and hang out with him. It's almost Halloween, maybe he'll show you this year's surprise."

"I'm fine, I... don't know what's wrong with me."

"I do," Lea sighed. "And I really think you should go outside."

"So what's wrong with me?" Sora asked, narrowing his eyes.

Lea made a disgruntled noise and looked away, eyes going downcast. "Bad memories... from the other side of your heart. Now please, Sora, go wait outside. Let your heart take a break. Tell him that Axel is here with you, he's bound to do whatever you ask then." Lea put his hand on Sora's shoulder and turned him to the door, Donald, and Goofy.

"Why?" Sora demanded, wrenching his shoulder free. "Just tell me! Is it something to do with Roxas?"

Lea winced fiercely at the mention, even more so when a young woman's voice called out, "Thirteen!"

Sora turned at the voice, offering a big, beaming smile to Sally. "Hi, Sa—"

"Thirteen, you know you shouldn't be in here," Sally said, coming to a stop beside Lea and crossing her arms. Though she just saw him for the first time in at least a year, the young woman had worry growing in her eyes, and she looked over at Lea. Sora barely managed to read the question she directed at the red-haired ex-Nobody. 'What are they doing here?'

'They?' He thought. He probably meant 'he'.

Unfortunately, Lea answered too quickly for Sora to read him, so Sora crossed his arms and harrumphed mightily.

Lea glanced his way, sighed, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Sora, I'm serious. Look, for their sake, just go wait outside. Donald, Goofy, would you make him listen to reason?"

"I don't think he knows what 'reason' is," Donald snickered, but then suddenly looked affronted. "And why should we? Tell exactly why he shouldn't be here!"

"Because—because…" Lea scrubbed his hand through his hair. "Because. Because when we were still in the Organization, Roxas was sent on a mission by himself to take on this super powerful Heartless, and he went missing. Because I found him, three weeks later, strapped to a table about twenty feet from where you're standing right now, and whether he's on the surface or not, he can probably still see where we are, and he probably still remembers every bit of that. So please, for his sake, step out and let him take a break."

Sora winced harshly, backing away a step. He passed a look between the table, Lea, and the birdcage above them. "Ahh—m…maybe Zero wants to play fetch…?"

Lea nodded, his face softening. It looked as if Roxas' memories were slowly coming to Sora about this particular place. "I bet he'd like a walk in the Hinterlands."

Beside him, Sally stood, shaking a little as if she was afraid. She crossed her arms firmly across her chest, clearly determined to not allow Sora any further.

"We'll be by the fountain when we're done," Lea called when Sora finally turned around to head back outside, Donald and Goofy following with slightly confused expressions on their faces.

"Yeah. Bye."

Sora clenched a hand over his shirt above his heart, looking up at the moon. In the back of his mind, he heard a shaking voice, and had to bite back a smile.

"Thank you, Sora."

Okay, "Keys to the Heart" is officially done! These little one-shots were going to be a lot shorter... but hey, I'm not complaining.

Thanks, all for reading and making it through my tiny little story! xD I can't believe it's done. It's just... wow. It's done. *sniffle* My little baby is finally all grown up...

Anyway, please review! All reviews will be answered via PM.

Goodbye, my dear lovelies! And hey, if you're bored, check out my other stories! *shameless self-advertising and I don't even care*

~YAJJ