This is just a strange idea that came into my head one day involving a rather deep conversation between Ienzo and Even not long after the restoration of their hearts.

And, of course, Ienzo, Even, and everyone else are property of Square Enix.

Predictable

No one could deny that Ienzo had endured a lot of change in his young life. Orphaned before being accepted as the youngest apprentice of Ansem the Wise, only to lose his heart, his world, and then get it all back again. And all before reaching his 20's. One could argue that this was the very reason he was mature beyond his years. It could also be thanks to an IQ Even himself had almost given up trying to compete with. Almost. Not that he was bragging, but numbers were as close to fact as one could get. Oh, how Even hated when he brought that up.

And as Ienzo worked alongside Aeleus and Dilan to restore Radiant Garden to its former glory, in between their efforts at figuring out why they had returned and Braig, Isa, and Xehanort had not, while Lea was off doing Kingdom Hearts knew what, one member of the group was absent. He had been for quite some time now, and Ienzo knew the man well enough to know exactly what he was doing. Pouting.

Because some things never change.

Ever since the restoration of their original selves, hearts and all, none of Ansem the Wise's apprentices (or former apprentices, as none of them were certain of the man's fate or if he would even accept them back if he was to return) had seen Even for more than a few minutes here or a few moments there when the elder scientist was forced to emerge from wherever it was he had been hiding in order to get more coffee to aid in the continuation of some work nobody but him knew. (Thankfully, for once, he didn't mean that form of the word 'nobody'.)

And it had only become even more bothersome to the young scientist when Ienzo had scarcely gotten a chance to get to know the man who had raised him since the loss of his parents. He had known the man for a decade, and yet, at the same time, he didn't know him at all, and what better time to start anew than with the restoration of their hearts? Unfortunately, such a task was quite difficult when he had thus far been denied every chance to speak to the man, and that was the very reason why he went about seeking him out one day after a full month had passed and Even still showed no signs of putting a stop to his nonsense.

Once Ienzo had sorted through several scents of coffee wafting about the castle, with varying levels of sugar and cream, he isolated a faint one that originated off in an entirely different direction from the rest and followed it to one of the upper floors, where their old lab had once been before the new one had been built in the castle basement. He already knew this would be the very spot Even, in all his predictability, was bound to be, but any chance to prove to others the usefulness of his unnaturally keen sense of smell was never lost on the young scientist, and Ienzo entered their old lab with not so much as a knock or an "Excuse me". He knew Even hated it when they did that. That's why he did it.

This room had once seemed more than adequate for their past research, and Ienzo had to admit that, once they began needing a larger space in order to accommodate cells for keeping test subjects, maybe that should have been a sign that perhaps their experiments had gone too far. Nevertheless, this place seemed so very cramped in comparison, but at least it appeared to have been spared the dust and cobwebs that were so often a natural consequence of a decade of disuse. Or perhaps someone had just cleaned the place recently. Now that made more sense.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Even asked from his desk in the corner with the practiced politeness of someone who'd really rather you didn't take them up on their offer.

Ienzo strode into the room. "In case you weren't aware, Aeleus, Dilan, and myself have been working on rebuilding Radiant Garden and locating our missing comrades. While I can't say that I know what you've been up to all this time, I really must ask that you take a break from it and give us some help."

Refusing yet to set down the pen he had poised in his hand, the other scientist said, "You seem to be doing quite a fine job of it without me."

Ienzo really couldn't recall a time when one of Even's compliments had actually been sincere. "What have you been doing?" he asked.

"Work," Even said and dipped his head as he attempted to return to it. "And from what I understand, you have some you should be getting back to, as well. I have enough important matters on my mind right now that I care little to waste my time helping imbeciles like Braig or sociopaths like Isa."

"I see." Ienzo remained where he was, however, and when it seemed the elder scientist was trying his best to resist the urge to look up, he continued, "Then, would you be willing to help us in our other venture? In case you missed it, we were also trying to aid the residents in fixing up the town, a task you might possibly find to be a bit less objectionable, seeing as we're the ones responsible for putting it in such a state to begin with. And considering it is our fault, after all, it only seems fitting we work to restore it, wouldn't you agree?"

This was enough to still Even's pen, but his gaze remained on his notes, while his long bangs hung in his face. He lifted a hand and slid one of these bangs behind his ear. "Don't remind me."

"Do you think they know it was us?"

"Everything we did, we did under Lord Ansem's name." Even scrawled a few words in looping letters to continue the train of thought he had recently been interrupted from, only for it to be forgotten again when he looked up. "So, in answer to your question, no, perhaps they don't, but that hardly makes it any better."

"And is he ever coming back?"

"Lord Ansem?"

"Yes."

"I should hope not. After what happened…" Even closed his eyes and shook his head. "He may very well be dead, for all we know. And I'm sure you're going to think I'm morbid, but it would suit me just fine if I never saw him again. I think it would be impossible to look him in the eye again after we imprisoned him in the Realm of Darkness and destroyed his kingdom and tarnished his good name. Or do you think he'd welcome us back with open arms?"

Ienzo rested one hand on the edge of Even's desk just to drum his fingers on it. It wasn't a habit he normally practiced, but being able to draw the other man's gaze to it and provide further, even if just personal, proof that the man was as predictable as ever, provided him with a certain level of satisfaction. "Actually, I'd really like to think he's a lot more forgiving than you seem to believe."

Even huffed, and the younger scientist inwardly commended his comrade for, thus far, refraining from any attempts to remove the offending hand from his desk. "You can believe whatever you like, but you were a child at the time, so I wouldn't be surprised if he showed you more mercy than the rest of us."

Ienzo drummed his fingers again for good measure, and he thought he caught an almost imperceptible wince in response.

"You're still one now, it would seem," Even added and prepared his pen for more note-taking, though he couldn't prevent himself from directing a glare at Ienzo's hand. He wasn't moving it. Not until Even made him. And he would.

"You know", the elder scientist started up again, "I seriously doubt you came all the way here just for some senseless small talk." With an inevitable slip in restraint, he gave the side of Ienzo's hand a good jab with his pen, forcing the younger scientist to withdraw. It was like controlling a marionette.

"You would be correct," Ienzo said as he gave his victimized hand a shake. "My real reason…well, there's a good chance you won't believe me, even if I don't make a habit of lying to you…but my other purpose for coming here is because I wanted to get to know you better. You've been my adoptive father for some time now, but I was either too young to talk to you about anything meaningful or we were without hearts. And since you've been hiding out—"

"I wasn't hiding."

"—in here for a good month now, I saw no other option but to come to you."

The older scientist arched an eyebrow at him. "I should think a decade spent together would've provided you with all the knowledge about me you could possibly need. And if not, I can't think of anything else to tell you that's your business to know."

"I take it you refuse to enlighten me, then?" Ienzo said, even as he went to retrieve an extra chair.

"That's exactly right." Even's gaze remained steadfast upon him as the younger scientist set the chair on the other side of his desk before settling into it. Pausing as he decided that the likelihood of Ienzo leaving at this point was quite slim, he continued, though in a tone less strong than before when he knew his words came too late. "I assure you, if you intend on sitting there until I divulge some hidden truth about myself, you're doomed to wait for a very long time."

Ienzo folded his hands on his lap. "Time is one thing I currently have plenty of."

The elder scientist released a single laugh that contained the complete opposite of humor, and he remained hunched over his desk, still in anticipation of work thus far denied to him. "I don't doubt it, but I, on the other hand, do not." He waved his pen towards the door. "So please leave and let me return to my work, if that's not too much to ask."

Ienzo gave a slow shake of his head. "As stubborn as always. I see lacking a heart or having one makes no difference. All right, then, why don't we start off with something easy? What have you been up to this past month?"

Even stared at him and pursed his thin lips. "I already told you. I've been working."

"Let me rephrase the question, then. Why have you been isolating yourself in here when you could be out helping us with things that actually need doing? I'm sure that your work can wait until we've drawn a bit closer to reversing the misfortune we've caused everyone on this world. Surely you don't think you're above that, do you?"

Even's pen met the wood of his desk with a click. "Of course not, I said nothing of the sort. I take responsibility for my own actions, and you have some nerve to imply—"

"Then, why aren't you?" The younger man crossed his arms. "Is your work in some way related to the restoration of Radiant Garden?"

"…No, it's not, but—"

"Then, my question still stands."

Even's jaw worked at finding this answer, before he settled instead for, "Is it really anyone's business where I am or what I'm doing all the time? Don't you have better things to worry about?"

"Doesn't it make you happy at all to have a heart again for the first time in a decade? Because I would expect you to be in a better mood upon reaching a goal we had worked so long and so hard for."

Even's head drooped, as if an unseen weight had just settled onto his shoulders. "Perhaps you've forgotten, but hearts are home to far more than just pleasant emotions. I nearly forgot that very thing myself, but now that I have my heart back, I wonder if it was worth it."

Ienzo tilted his head as he watched the other man, but Even's focus remained on his desk as he took to rolling his pen forward and back with one forefinger. "And why is that?"

The older man looked up, the movement of his hand stilled as he raised both eyebrows at him. "You really don't know? You have no guilt over the atrocities we've committed? Over the many thousands upon thousands of people we hurt just to build Kingdom Hearts? And none of it was even necessary in the end. To think, all that was required was our own suicides, and our hearts would have been restored to us, while every terrible thing we did served absolutely no purpose in the end. Does that really not bother you?"

The younger scientist frowned. He had believed himself to be sufficiently guilty for what he had done. His actions, and those of his comrades, had been truly reprehensible, but for Even, someone so very much appalled by the mere thought of admitting even the slightest flaw to anyone, to show even more remorse than he, Ienzo could only wonder if he was not nearly as regretful as he ought to be.

"It does bother me. Of course, it does, but—"

"Then, how can you face them? How can you look the people we've wronged in the eye so easily? You have absolutely no right to sit around feeling self-righteous just because I've been spending my time alone, and you haven't. And to think, I, of all people, was influenced so easily by the mere lack of a heart, when I claimed to be a man of logic. I'm not surprised all of you succumbed in such a manner, but I should've been better." Even shook his head, causing his long bangs to swing in his face. "No, I can't face them. Not anytime soon."

Ienzo remained silent as Even avoided his gaze, and he leaned forward in his seat, an action that only caused the older man to withdraw further from him.

"Even, no one blames you. We all did things we regret, and now's not…now's not the time to isolate yourself from everyone else. You should be out with the rest of us, helping to make right all the terrible things we did."

"I'm sure you think I'm just feeling sorry for myself," Even said, his voice almost imperceptible in the silence. "That's what everyone always thinks. Even's just off pouting again." His hand curled into a fist, and he slammed it down onto the desk, causing Ienzo to jump, and his voice rose to one the younger man had no trouble at all catching. "Well, I have a valid reason for it this time, don't I? And yet, I'm sure the three of you have been complaining plenty about my absence. 'Where's Even? Why's Even not around?' But, I'm tired of it! I'm sick and tired of not being allowed to…'sulk' when I want to!"

Ienzo rose from his seat to draw himself up to his full height, even if that didn't exactly count for much. It was only effective when someone was sitting down, really, and hardly even then. "Even, we really haven't been thinking about you nearly as much as you seem to believe. We've actually had more important things on our minds, and I promise you that no one cares about what you did as Vexen. We all have our own regrets to worry about, so we're certainly not going to bother ourselves fretting over yours."

Even's gaze had fallen back down to the surface of his desk. "If you really came all the way here just to talk to me in that manner, then you might as well leave."

"I didn't mean it like that. I understand why you're upset, but—"

"I'm not worthy to be your father, Ienzo," Even said, shaking his head. "I led you astray. You were just a child, and under my care, you lost your heart and were made to do terrible things as a result, just as I did." He buried his face in his hands, and he took a deep breath before choking out, "I'm sorry, Ienzo. For everything."

This was one thing Ienzo had never once heard from the man. It was one thing he never thought he would hear. "It-it's fine, really. I forgive you. It's not your fault if—"

"Just leave."

"I assure you, I really don't blame you for any of it. I made my own choices—"

"Just go already and leave me to my work in peace."

Ienzo sighed. "Even, you can believe whatever you want about what you should take the blame for and what you shouldn't and who is judging you for what you did and who is not, but if you go on believing things that aren't true, you're going to end up alone someday, and I think that's going to be even harder than facing the people you think you've wronged. Even for you."

Even remained silent, and Ienzo turned and left, exactly as the man wished, as far as he thought, and he became far too aware of the click his heels made on the floor as he returned to the hallway beyond.

Perhaps Even wasn't so very predictable, after all, but this realization only strengthened his belief that he knew too little about the man that had been a better father than he knew, yet another thing no one would ever expect from such a man.

But, there was one way in which Even would always be predictable, in the perfection he so doggedly sought, which Ienzo knew he would never find and would never accept that it was something that didn't need finding.

Ienzo shook his head. How very predictable indeed.

I hope I did okay, as I've never written for Ienzo/Zexion before, and I had trouble making sure his personality didn't end up too similar to Even's. Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed my little story, even if it might've been a little weird, but I've always been interested in the relationship between Ienzo and Even, and I wanted to write a meaningful exchange between the two of them. Please review and tell me what you think.