moonstrualcycle | no running in the halls!

[ Lea regrets asking, a little. She wants to know all of these things, but now that she does, and now that she can picture Isa (or Saix) suffering like that, it's... sickening. Enraging. It makes her hate Xehanort and her group even more. She stays in that position, arms up over her head, body stretched out, only she's not stretching really anymore, and all she's really doing is glaring at the ceiling and thinking of ways to set people on fire. ]

How'd you get it back?

[she can't even tell Lea about the even worse stuff, the subterfuge behind Xehanort's back to get Even in a position where she could do what she needed to, and being a shithead to Lea on the clock tower to make sure she was prepared for what was coming.]

She let me have it back once things were in motion. I could never just walk away, I'd be physically stopped if I tried, so I got used to working within what I'd been asked to do. It was a role to play, just like in the old Organization. The only time she completely controlled me again was when I had to fight you and Sora and Kai and she forced me into berserk and kept me there, for the most part.

[and bless Roxas for noticing, after she arrived, and helping put an end to things quickly. also enjoy those two claymore-wielding people in that fight when you get there, Lea.]

[ Jesus. That sounds horrific. It's worse than any of the shit they 'forced' her to do. Those were just assignments, and at worst it was penalty of death. Not taking away everything like that.

Living through this is going to be horrible as it is, and Lea's going to be so focused on getting her back. ]

Are you gonna move if I hug you?

[she huffs out a laugh and rubs at her scar, which probably only Lea has ever seen her do. it's a nervous habit that shows up when she's worried, or stewing over something.]

No, you dork.

[Isa shouldered a lot of the bullshit so Lea wouldn't have to, i think. it just also lead to the rift between them, and it's unfortunate that it turned into Isa being awful to everyone.]

Look, you got progressively less huggable over the years. We need to reverse that.

[ She has no problems bugging the shit out of her, basically. The scar-touching tugs at her heart a little, and Lea immediately moves over to force her into a hug. It'll be hard to get out of. ]

[oof. that's fine, she doesn't need to be anywhere, and hugs are nice, she's finding. she seems a bit at a loss as to where to settle her arms, and finally gets them wrapped loosely around Lea.]

It was a defense mechanism against all the bullshit going on at the time.

There's no point now in telling you that you should've talked to me, but... you...

[ h-huff. She's trying not to be emotional, thinking about all the horrible shit Isa went through. Nevermind, she's just going to wiggle into the hug for even more contact, wrapping her arms tighter around Isa and pulling her closer. ]

I should've talked to you, too.

Yes. There were a lot of things that should've happened.

[but you know what Timon says, you gotta put your behind in your past. they have all the time in the world now to sort things out properly and rebuild the friendship. if Lea cries on her that would probably lead to at least a cheek smooch.]

[ She is maybe crying a little, but she's trying not to be visible about it, and it's mostly that silent eye-leaking kind of cry. She feels so bad, and she hasn't had time to feel anything but missing Isa since it happened. This is intense regret, and sadness for what she had to go through.

Her voice is wibbly, but not too much. ]

I'm sorry.

[Lea will get a platonic kiss on top of her stupid hair, then.]

I know. I am too, and the fact that you never forgot about me helps immensely. Having a heart again helps a lot too.

[it's a shame neither of them had the chance to just like, punch Xemnas in the face, that would've been extremely gratifying, and cathartic.]

[ Time to find one here. Also stoooop. She's just gonna get more wibbly, this time out of surprise and happiness because omg Isa's really here and okay but went through a lot of horrible shit. Ugh. She wrenches an arm tighter around Isa, in fact, but it's so she can reach her own face with her long noodle arms and wipe at her eyes. ]

Yeah, well. Not forgetting you should've meant stopping you, too. Ugh. You can't tell anyone what a mess I am. They think I'm cool.

[imagine, just a regular-ass Xemnas who's been here for years, out getting groceries, and suddenly these two run up and hit him or her in the face. also gosh Lea's such a dweeb. Isa laughs a little, tightening her own hug, which is probably enough to make some ribs creak.]

They must not know you very well if they think you're cool.

[ Lea's just going to start frisbee-ing people in the face. They're all nort-related but no one puts that together. ]

Wow. Riku and Axel think I'm cool. Kai might not.

[ Riku does not think she is cool, ftr. ]

Don't tell me I did this back home.

[dryly:]

What, cry on people? Which time should I tell you about? And I doubt Riku thinks you're cool, of all people. I'll believe another you does, though.

Not the time I cried on you, which I'm going to choose to believe happened only once. Speaking of Axel,

[ She pulls back enough that she can look Isa in the eye, because she wants to witness the full realization hit. ]

Kai's married to him.

...hm. No, I can see it. You and Kai seemed to have pretty effortlessly become friends, despite what happened in the past. It being a male Axel is more surprising, I guess.

[too bad she's assuming, best case scenario, that it's just a regular Axel who's got his heart and gave up on trying to get other people to call him Lea. but honestly it'll make more sense knowing he was never a Nobody. Riku and Red would be more shocking tbh.]

Oh come on, none of that? Married? Kai? I don't know what you're seeing but I saw none of it.

[ She was mostly like wtf, but also: the teasing opportunities were glorious. She probably still makes comments. ]

Riku also has a like— a thing? I don't know, he's close enough to an Axel. I think he's a zombie?

[ What is Red? We just don't know. ]

Zombies are much weirder. Actually wait, how old is Kai here, and Riku? I managed to forget the ones I'm used to are at the kiddie table, technically.

[her brain's still catching up from napping, and all that delicious angst. also she's hungry, and Lea promised her grilled cheese.]

Old. They were here for a while, even before I showed up. Riku's like, twenty-six? Kai's the same? I don't know, I don't keep track of that.

[ That's about the age she is now. Ugh. She pulls her arm away, reaching for her phone and the pictures she knows she has. Feel free to bring up food at any time, Lea's starving, but she's also starving for affection, so, y'know. ]

The zombie guy is extremely weird. Apparently he's from Halloween Town.

Oh. That explains it, I guess. They've been here a long time, it sounds like. Speaking of zombies, I'm starving.

[tbh just arriving here and having to explain shit to Lea without spoiling her maxed out her weird-shit-o-meter for the day, nothing else is going to process for a while. it's unfortunate that they're both hungry, because otherwise she'd be pretty content to just lay here with Lea on top of her and just talk about crap.]

Fine. I'll make us something.

[ She's going to gently (and somewhat unhappily) untangle herself from Isa, plopping her phone in Isa's lap. It has a picture of a Lea selfie, but that's only because she's only partly in the photo - it's also got Kai and Riku in it, talking in the background. ]

This looks like the things Ienzo whipped up for everyone. Oh wow, they look so different, and happy.

[time to get comfy in this nest of pillows and go through Lea's shit, and by shit i mean photos. these phones work way better than Ienzo's though, because Ienzo's were designed by Nomura.]

Right? It looks weird on Riku.

[ She hauls herself out of the bed and yawns for a very long time, making her way to the other side of the wall where the kitchen is. Isa will hear the gas stove flicking on and then Lea rifling around in the fridge.

With infinite storage space there's a lot of pictures. Mostly they're Riku that range from happy (where she's unaware of the camera) and annoyed (where she's facing Lea and obviously not giving her consent to piture-taking). There's also Kai, and Nami's here, surprise, and a handsome male Axel. There's also a lot of animal pictures (a lot, dogs, a giant bunny, bunny dogs) and maybe one lucky picture of Red where he looks even more like a cryptid, because it was rushed and came out blurry and Lea's thumb is in part of it.

Pictures of note include as group of teens with doubles (mostly Rikus) chilling out in a living room, a picture of the tentacle room door, a picture of Lea's hand fully submerged in Apricot's fur, another weird cryptid picture of olderku in the distance — child Aden is in it, is somehow completely in focus, and is staring directly at the camera despite being like four houses away. ]

[she's quiet while she browses through the photos. they all have entire lives here that were largely unaffected by all the shit back home, and that's really where it feels weird to her. she'll definitely want to meet dogs and is intrigued by the enormous bunny. at the moment, however, she's raising her voice so Lea can hear her:]

Do you just spend your days following Rikus around?

What? No, there's just that many.

[ Sizzly cooking noises are happening, and egg-cracking. Smells like butter, and then meat.

Mostly she likes taking pictures of random people, but avoids taking pictures of Roxases and Saixes. (There might be like, one male Saix, doing something mundane and out of character like gardening or something.) There are probably also Xions in the background, but Lea is miraculously oblivious to who these goth Kairis actually are. And, idk, pictures of abandoned worlds. Radiant Garden. Hollow Bastion. Halloween Town.

There are also selfies of Lea, mostly from downward angles to try and see how different shirts and outfits look on her, and several blurry floor pictures followed by one selfie of her with an enormous white wolf in the background. (These were taken in the reverse order, and the actual selfie was actually through a window, but it's only obvious in the corners. Like zoo pictures.) ]

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