Burning Heart Chapter 8

[eiahmon]

Title: Burning Heart
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Disney and Square owns it all; I only wish I did. Why in the hell cant I come up with these wickedly cool characters and twisted plots? Why?
Summary: Nomura has stated that now that his Heartless and Nobody have been destroyed, Master Xehanort will be reborn. What if he is reborn, but not in the way everyone thinks?

8.

It was dark in the world of Radiant Garden when Xavier stepped out of the portal, but even in the dim light of a few streetlights, it was plain that the place had been ravaged by some sort of disaster. Hadn't Emyd said that Xehanort had been responsible for its destruction?

Xehanort.... Xavier heaved a sigh. Xehanort, his original self, according to Emyd, and from what the sitar player had told him, it seemed that he hadn't been a nice person in any way, shape, or form. Maybe he should just stop his Find-Out-Who-I-Am Quest and return home.... except he had no home to return to. If he was ever going to find a way to get home, he needed answers, and if it meant speaking to this Naminé person that Emyd had told him about, well...

With another sigh, Xavier began to walk out of the courtyard that he had appeared in towards an open gate that led to a residential street. If Xehanort was truly from Radiant Garden, then he was going to have to find a place to hide before dawn; it wouldn't be any good for people to see him wandering around. Of course, that just raised the question; where was he going to hide? It wasn't like there were a lot of empty buildings lying about, and those that were, were obviously empty because they were on the verge of falling down on themselves. He knew – he supposed it was because Xehanort had lived there – that there had been an extensive underground at one time, but he was unaware of what kind of shape it was in or even it if was accessible anymore. That meant he was -

A child's crying distracted him from his thoughts, and he felt a stab on pain in his chest as the sound reminded him of Alexander. He suddenly missed them all so much that he sank to his knees in the cobblestone street, weighted down by the grief that he had been holding back. How long had it been since Haven's Bridge had been destroyed? Had it really only been four days? A few tears burned in his eyes, and he tried to blink them away, but this only caused them to fall softly to the street below. A wracking sob rose somewhere from deep in his chest and burst out of his mouth before he could stop it, and then he was crying in the middle of a darkened street, in a world that was bound to be hostile to him.

So wrapped up in his grief, he barely noticed the sound of a door opening nearby or soft footsteps behind him. “Xavier?”

Xavier gasped, jumped to his feet, and spun around to see a familiar face behind him. “Taylor,” he choked out, and he threw his arms around the elderly master physician and held on tight, crying on his shoulder.

He heard a warm chuckle, and the old man's arms came around him. “There now, don't cry, Xavier. You're here, and you're safe, and that is what is important. Now come inside.” Xavier let go of the man, stepped back, and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his rumpled lab coat, while Taylor took him by the elbow and began to lead him to a tiny house just a short distance away. Once they were inside the warm, well lit interior, and the door was securely shut and bolted behind them, Taylor gently pushed Xavier into a chair at the small kitchen table and shortly thereafter pushed a hot cup of coffee into his hands. Xavier stared down into it as his master sat down across from him.

“Are you alone, Xavier?” the doctor asked, and Xavier nodded.

“I've been trying to find them.” he said quietly, still sniffling a little “but you're the first person from Haven's Bridge that I've run into so far.”

“I woke up here.” Taylor explained as he sipped at his own coffee “This world – the people welcomed me, even though they have so little to give right now. It was explained to me that years ago, this world was destroyed and they were the ones seeking refuge, so I suppose they are returning the favor. I'm sure that they'll welcome you as well.”

Xavier tried to hide his flinch at those words, but Taylor's sharp eyes were quick to notice it. 'Xavier? What is wrong?”

“I.. I can't stay here, Taylor. I came here to speak to two people that I was told could direct me to someone that could help me, but...”

“You found out something about your past, didn't you?”

“Yes.” The whispered word was so quiet that Xavier barely heard himself speak it. If Emyd had been telling the truth, and he had no reason to believe that the sitar player had been lying to him, then he had every reason to keep what he had learned to himself. At the same time, this was Taylor, the man who had saved his life, who had helped care for him while he recovered, and who had taken him on as an apprentice.

He saw Taylor's shadow move, followed by the sound of a chair being scooted across a wooden floor. A second later, a comforting hand came down gently on his shoulder. “Just tell me, Xavier. Whatever you say, I won't judge you. I consider you a son, and nothing will change that.”

Xavier felt a stab of pain – That's what Master Ansem had said. – but he began to talk anyway. He wanted, desperately needed, to tell someone. “My real name is Xehanort, and I destroyed this world.” Taylor inhaled sharply, but he said nothing, and Xavier told him what he had learned: his ability to wield a keyblade, the dreams that he was certain were memories of himself and a boy named Eraqus, how Xehanort had destroyed Radiant Garden, Xemnas, the Nobodies and the Heartless, Organization XIII, the plots to overthrow Xemnas so the others could get their hearts back, the destruction of Xemnas and the others at the hands of Sora, how others were searching for Xehanort to destroy him, and finally he told of the meeting with the frightening old man, and the dark haired young man that was holding him back until Xavier could separate the old man from himself.

Not once did Taylor speak, and when Xavier finally fell silent, emotionally and physically drained, the older man simply stood up, and pulled Xavier to his feet with him.

“Come,” he said “You're exhausted. Let's get you to bed, and we can talk more tomorrow. Besides there is something upstairs that needs your attention.” Xavier was too wrung out to ponder that statement as he followed the doctor up the narrow stairs to the second floor. The second floor was simply a single room that was being used as a bedroom. There was one bed on the one side, obviously Taylor's bed, and on the other side of the room was a smaller bed, with a small form huddled under the blankets, fast asleep. Blond hair lay splayed out on the pillow, and Xavier walked quickly up to the small bed, unable to believe what he was seeing.

“Alexander,” he breathed, and at the sound of his name, the child stirred and woke. His gray eyes blinked open, and he looked up at Xavier for a moment like he wasn't sure what he was seeing.

“Xav'er?”

Xavier wasn't aware that he had moved; one second he was standing by the bed unable to believe his eyes, the next he had Alexander in his arms, crying as he held the child close. A small pair of arms wound around his neck.

“Don't cry, Xav'er. Don't be sad.”

Xavier managed a watery chuckle. “I'm not sad, Alexander; I'm just so happy to see you safe.” The boy nestled closer, and a few minutes later, he relaxed in Xavier's arms as he went back to sleep.

Taylor's hand came down gently on his shoulder then. “Go to bed, Xavier. We can talk more in the morning.”

The younger man nodded tiredly and carefully laid Alexander in bed, before he kicked his boots off, stripped off his lab coat and curled up beside him. The child curled close to him with a contented sigh, and Xavier allowed himself to fully relax for the first time since his home had been destroyed, and soon he was sleeping as well.

******

It was the feel of something tickling his nose and a child's quiet giggles that woke Xavier in the morning. He opened his eyes to see Alexander's impish smile as the boy used a few strands of Xavier's own hair to tickle his nose. Xavier smiled and went straight for his ticklish spot, right under his chin, and the child shrieked with laughter. There was a quiet chuckle from the stairs, and Xavier looked over to see Taylor standing at the top, his eyes alight with amusement.

“Sorry to interrupt your fun, but breakfast is up if you're hungry.” He then vanished downstairs, and Xavier turned to Alexander, who was still giggling. “Hungry?” The boy nodded eagerly, so Xavier hauled himself out of bed, hoisted the toddler into his arms, and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

Breakfast was a simple affair, consisting of cold cereal, dry toast, and fruit, but Xavier, who hadn't had a full on meal since Twilight Town, ate like he was starving. Afterwords, he and Taylor managed to distract Alexander with a few toys in the living room, while they discussed things at the kitchen table.

“So you came to this world to find someone?” Taylor asked, as the two of them had a second cup of coffee.

Xavier nodded. “Emyd said that Even and Ienzo would be able to tell me where to find Naminé, and that she has power over memory.”

“Intriguing...” the elder trailed off, looking thoughtful, and Xavier envied his calm, as if finding out about things like Heartless and Nobodies, and that his apprentice had been an homicidal maniac previously were everyday occurrences. And if that was the case, Xavier seriously had to wonder about what kind of life Taylor had been living. “So I suppose that you should start looking then.”

“Tonight. I don't think it would be safe for me to go out during the day, not in this world. Of course, then I'll have to figure out how to get into the castle.”

“They are in the castle then?”

Xavier frowned; how did he know for certain that they were at the castle? He supposed it was Xehanort's knowledge showing through; according to Emyd, the first six members of Organization XII were from Radiant Garden, so maybe they had known each other before the world's destruction.

Xavier passed the daylight hours with Alexander, playing with him, reading to him, and just enjoying being in his company. He was disheartened that no one else from Haven's Bridge had appeared, but he supposed that they could be on other worlds somewhere. Alexander, for his part, clung to his older brother like he had been glued to him and refused to move for than a few feet away from him. Taylor admitted that the boy had been distraught since their arrival and cried for his parents and siblings frequently, so the quiet clinginess was a welcome change.

At some point in the late afternoon, as the pair built a tower with wooden blocks in front of a window, Xavier heard a voice that immediately made him snatch the child up and back away from the window out of sight.

“Xav'er?”

“Shh.” Xavier shushed him as he listened to the voice that he could not recall hearing but knew all the same. He also knew somehow that being spotted by the owner of the voice would not end well for him.

“Gimmie a break, Kairi.” said the voice, that of a teenaged boy, and a teenaged girl's voice answered.

“We have to be at the castle soon, Sora, so we don't have time to stop and get ice cream. Besides you'll probably eat so much that I'll stomp you easily at sparring practice later.”

A third voice, also belonging to a teenaged boy, laughed. “You know we have to meet Even soon, Sora, so no ice cream for us. At least not for now.”

“Do any of us know what he wants to talk about?” the girl – Kairi – asked.

“If he's anything like Vexen, he wants to strap us down to a lab table and experiment on us.” Sora said dryly, and the second boy – Xavier knew that his name was Riku – laughed again.

“Hopefully, Ienzo won't slap us with books like Zexion did.”

“Hey, hey, Zexion only slapped you with books. I never met him.”

“Well at least you two weren't locked up in the Castle That Never Was, like I was.”

There was a two part growl from the two boys. “Good thing we don't ever have to worry about Saïx again. Ansem had said he's never letting him out as a lesson to the rest.” Riku stated.

“They all committed their fair share of crimes, yet only Isa has to suffer for it.” Kairi added “That's not fair. Axel did some nasty things, yet Lea walks free and even took you two out the other night and got you both drunk!”

“Heh heh.” Xavier couldn't see them, but he just knew that the two boys were scratching their heads sheepishly. “Did you have to bring that up?” Sora groaned.

“Besides Kairi,” Riku added “We haven't found where Xehanort and Braig vanished off to yet.. When we do find them, it's a death sentence for both of them, not prison.”

Xavier shuddered.

“We were so close to then last time.” Sora lamented “Braig faced us once, and ran as soon as he can.”

“Xehanort looked pretty sick to me last we saw them.” Riku said “So Braig probably wanted to get him someplace safe.”

“And then Braig led us all over the universe in that wild goose chase, and last we saw him, he didn't have Xehanort with him.”

“I'm willing to bet Way to the Dawn that he left Xehanort somewhere to recover and then ran to lead us away from him.”

“That last part definitely worked really well. We've been looking for two years and we haven't seen any sign of Xehanort anywhere. No sign of Braig either, for that matter.”

Xavier frowned thoughtfully; so Braig had left him on Haven's Bridge then? If that was the case, why had he never come back for him? Or maybe he had, but upon seeing that Xavier had no memory, had left again without contacting him?

“You three are late.” A fourth voice – a man's voice – intruded on their conversation, and Xavier's train of thought came to an abrupt halt. He couldn't stop himself; he knew that voice as well as he knew his own, so he peeked out the window through the sheer curtains to see a tall, thin blond haired man, wearing black pants, black boots, a white lab coat, and a purple ascot walking up to the three teens.

“Even,” Xavier breathed as the blond man stopped and began to talk to the three. After a few minutes the teens walked away in the direction of the castle, and Even turned to follow them.

But then he stopped and his green eyed gaze landed directly on the window that Xavier was looking out of. Xavier ducked back out of sight and hoped that he hadn't been seen. After a moment he risked a quick look out and saw that the street was empty.

******

It was after dark when Xavier checked on Alexander, who was sound asleep in bed, accepted a hug from Taylor, and eased the front door open and slipped out into the darkened street. He knew that as long as he was careful and stuck to the shadows, getting to the castle would be easy. Getting inside was another matter, but he resolved to worry about that when he got there.

He walked down the street, sticking close to the houses and avoiding the few streetlights, wishing that he could just open a portal and step through like Emyd had done, and wait a second. When had it gotten cold enough for him to see his breath?

He gasped as icy air wrapped around him, stealing the breath from his lungs. The ground around him frosted over, and ice raced across the paving stones towards him and climbed up his legs, immobilizing him, and making him struggle not to fall over. Footsteps sounded on the street, and a tall figure stepped out of the shadows into the weak light cast by a nearby streetlight.

“I thought it was you that I saw. What are you doing here, Xehanort?” Even hissed angrily, and he held his left arm out. The air around his hand and lower arm them cooled, condensed, froze, and then coalesced into a large blue shield with three spikes along the top.

“I came to speak to you and Ienzo.” Xavier replied as he eyed the shield with trepidation. He really didn't want to think of the damage it would do if Even were to use it on him.

The ice climbed even further up his legs, and the air around him cooled further. “I'm not letting you anywhere near Ienzo!” Even spat “After what you did, you are more arrogant that I ever thought possible for asking to see him!”

“I don't remember what I did!”

Even stared at him in disgust. “That excuse again? Please, Xehanort, how much of a fool do you take me for?'

“My name is Xavier!”

Even rolled his green eyes. “Of course it is.” With that a portal opened right next to Xavier, and Even approached him as the ice around his legs began to melt. Just as the last of the ice broke and fell away, Even whopped him hard with his shield, sending him stumbling on numb legs into the portal. He found himself stumbling into a dimly lit laboratory, and he caught a brief glimpse of a large man with short bristly red hair, holding some kind of ax before said weapon struck him in the side of his head. Immediately, the sights and sounds around him vanished, and he crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

Chapter 7 – Chapter 9
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