Kingdom Hearts - Blades of Three Realms

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Both Roxas and Xion, restored into existence with hearts of their own, by some unknown method," Isa contemplated on that for a moment. "It sounds impossible and I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen the results for myself. Xehanort was keenly interested in Shiro because he seemed compatible with forging the 'χ-blade', but that plan was a failure. But this girl, Crystal, is total mystery to the Organization and yet she wields a Keyblade with the prowess of a would-be Master, possesses magical ability that could rival our old colleague Zexion, and the fact that she is also wise beyond her years is enough to make me suspect that she must have escaped from something truly dreadful. Yet, her kindness and compassion appear genuine. And from the way she fought alongside you it is also apparent that she values the safety of her allies at least as much as her own. She might even be as softhearted as you are. I also couldn't help but notice that little Xion hasn't been wielding the Keyblade or does she no longer have that ability?"


"So what you're saying is when there's no danger at all he can barely control his own two feet, but when the pressure is high he can be skilled at pretty much anything?" Xion asked. "That must be exhausting."

Crystal and Roxas were most certainly keeping the pressure high, both by still competing with each other and also by actively trying to outpace Shiro, although part of the challenge was to not collide with each other while going at such tremendous speeds.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Axel hummed a bit, before sighing "from what Xion told me, she's worried about using the Keyblade and if her using it might affect Sora, and in turn, Roxas." he said, lightly thinking on it "it is a valid worry despite the nature of her rebirth, but until we meet Sora again it'll be hard to gauge how things will go with her using a Keyblade." he then chuckled a bit, remembering what they had jumped into when going to save Shiro, and roveth, from Xehanort "i think Xehanort was salty because Roveth's not your typical darkness and refused to be controlled by him like he orders around his pet minion Vanitas." he sighed, frowning a bit "but Vanitas -is- dangerous, especially if he finds another compatible light, he is still half of a person capable of creating the χ-Blade." he said while looking up to the sky, seeing it was starting to get sunset "looks like the day's coming to a close.


Shiro of course would definitely keep up, and give Crystal and Roxas a run for their munny though he could tell full well that they had more experience in similar things that his unpredictableness couldn't overcome easily, however, he did look to the sky and see the sun starting to set, but said nothing just yet, while roveth chuckled "while true, there's one better term i'm sure Roxas has an idea on.. it's self destructive, going head-long into danger whenever it finds him, excelling everything.. the moment he makes a mistake.. could cost him."  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"So it is," Isa glanced appreciatively toward the sunset. "There is much that remains uncertain for the future, but at least we're back on the same side. And the right side this time for that matter."


"Sounds to me like a double-edged sword, kupo," was the response from the Moogle when Roveth described Shiro's self destructive tendencies.

"But he also has you and Crystal to try to stop him from making those mistakes so it's not all bad, right?" Xion was beginning to worry quite a bit at what Roveth was saying about Shiro. Roxas could be reckless and impulsive, but he only really became careless when he got angry. And lately Crystal was curbing his temper so it was becoming less of an issue.

As the sunset would deprive the racers of the much needed sunlight to recharge their Solar Sailors it was time to end the aerial race with Crystal somehow still hanging onto the lead position as she came down for a landing. It was close though, with Roxas and Shiro not all that far behind her. With just a little more practice Shiro would probably be tearing up the sky even better than Crystal had been today.

Crystal stretched widely, shaking off the tension in her muscles from the exertion of controlling her Solar Sailor for much of the day. Wherever they were going next she hoped to take advantage of a nice hot shower to help her to loosen up.

"Looks like you got us this time, but the next time you won't have it so easy," Roxas had also dismounted his own Solar Sailor while becoming aware of the tension and aching of his tired muscles. That had been an all-day, full-body exercise regimen if he'd ever seen one.

"If Shiro keeps at it like he did today, he'll be flying circles around both of us and we'll be dizzy trying to figure out what way he's going next," Crystal pointed out with a slight laugh. "But today was great!"

"You three were amazing up there," Xion cheered from the sidelines briefly forgetting her conversation with Roveth for the moment. It was good to see the others safely back on the ground.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Axel.. no, Lea chuckled, nodding a bit lightly "yup, with a bunch of Hormonal Teenagers as you call them." he said amused in general while heading off to go the Inn once more, figuring that'd be the best place to meet before they figure out where to go off-world.


Roveth of course smirked, hearing that compliment while shiro landed with a grin, something he hadn't had in a while "heh, just goes to show that Shiro can do things he sets his mind to." he said, while Shiro just blushed a bit, but grinned "oh definitely, there's -no- way i'm gonna slack off now that i know i can keep up with the both of ya!" he said, while turning and whapping Roveth with his Solar Sailor and glared at his dark half on the ground "that's for those unneeded comments earlier, Ahou!" of course, Roveth was now laid out with a @_@ look on his face at the moment.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"I did say that, didn't I?" Isa smirked mildly. "But you know, they really are good kids."

*~Bending Harmony: Uncle Iroh's Tea Shop~*

Once they all regrouped back at the Benbow Inn it was decided that since the inn was severely overcrowded in general it was a good time to make the trip to the next world on their route toward Twilight Town. This next world was a much more subdued locale than the likes of Treasure Planet, being comprised of only a single planet. And on this world called Bending Harmony the group would find themselves in the vicinity of a quaint little tea shop with a very welcoming aura about it.

"This seems nice," Roxas was a little taken aback after how overwhelming to his senses Treasure Planet's Space Port had been for him.

"Something smells wonderful," added Xion.

"Smells like jasmine green tea," Crystal raised an eyebrow. "I think I'm going to like it here."

"This should be a pleasant change of pace," Isa decided readily enough. It was hard to deny the homely vibe of the place. It was like being in the presence of a beloved family member you've never met before.

Crystal and Xion were already through the door where they were immediately greeted with hugs from the owner himself, the one and only, Uncle Iroh. "Oh my, what adorable customers I have today. And part of a much larger group it would seem. From how you're all dressed and the fatigue I'm detecting, you must be travelers hailing from another world and you are certainly most welcome to rest in my fine establishment."

Roxas paused a moment, pondering what exactly was going on here and how this man seemed to perceive so much about them before they had even so much as introduced themselves. Then he followed the girls inside, although he thankfully didn't get roped into an awkward hug or anything in the process. They sat down at a table where tea was served to them and they could sit comfortably and talk while appreciating the delicious blend of tea that was provided. Isa actually seemed strangely content in this environment, but that was mainly because there didn't appear to be any immediate danger or trouble looming on the horizon.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

thankfully for Shiro and Roveth, nothing bad happened so far, so they also got to sit down and drink some tea as well, though the server - a bald guy with arrow tattoos on his head and arms - did look at Shiro strangely from time to time, but still helped Iroh out as per his job. Axel of course was glad to keep relaxing, cause its been -quite- a bit of excitement the past few worlds, sure, he'll show Isa his ranger form later just to see his expression, but for now he'd just enjoy the tea and relaxation. thankfully, Shiroi Senko stayed outside so not to disturb patrons and munch on some of the grass and greens Shiro left for him.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Roxas had ended up sitting between Crystal and Xion while contemplating what was so exciting about a tea shop. The tea was really good though so he couldn't complain. Of course, while Shiro seemed to gain an admirer in the form of the server boy who seemed to be strangely fascinated with him for some reason, Roxas seemed to draw the attention of Uncle Iroh as he stroked his beard and smiled pleasantly.

"What a fortunate young man," Uncle Iroh's smile didn't falter once. "To be so popular with the ladies. And so effortlessly too. Moments like these come and go like the rising and setting of the sun, but the love that you share will keep these moments embedded in your hearts forever."

"Togetherness is a wonderful thing," Isa stared pointedly at Roxas with his own follow-up before taking another long sip of his tea while looking overly content as far as Roxas was concerned.

"What are you talking about?" Roxas naturally became confused while being put on the spot like that.

"Love alone won't get you anywhere if you don't let it blossom," Uncle Iroh was now directing his attention to Crystal who shrank a bit beneath his gaze. "Although perhaps you aren't prepared to take that avenue quite yet," he seemed to muse to himself. "Or maybe it's the recipient you have concerns about. That's it, isn't it?" Okay, so maybe he wasn't just talking to himself.

"... I'm still... figuring it out..." Crystal mumbled through her renewed blushing which she had abandoned so strongly during the Solar Sailing Races, but apparently it had been lurking in wait to rise again to the surface. She sipped some more tea and kept quiet for a while after that, clearly showing she was genuinely troubled by the whole subject. It was easier before, when she had her own feelings locked away, but after what happened in Radiant Garden the lock was broken and everything she had kept to herself was now overflowing to the surface whether she liked it or not.

Roxas was still pretty confused from being psycho-analyzed and all, but that didn't stop him from noticing that Crystal was dodging the question. He knew that wasn't the whole truth because he'd already confronted her before about her feelings toward Shiro. She said the way she felt about him was different from how she might feel toward someone else. Plus, she probably wasn't too concerned about her feelings toward Shiro given they appeared to have a mutual respect and understanding about the nature of their relationship long before Roxas had questioned Crystal about it. So then, there was someone else she was concerned about having feelings for? She did mention before how her own feelings tend to scare her. Was that because she worried it might conflict with her ability to protect Shiro? In which case, she wasn't afraid that loving someone else might pose a problem. She already loved someone else? Was that what she was so scared about?

"I wonder who it is," Xion interrupted Roxas's thoughts with her own musings. "The person she likes, it has to be someone we already know, right?"

"You know I have no idea," Roxas shook his head. "But I'm beginning to wonder about it too."

Isa had to focus real damn hard on drinking his tea to maintain his composure so he wouldn't laugh at Roxas for being so hilariously clueless.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro of course continued to drink his tea in silence, given he liked to enjoy things like this and focus on it intently, so it stood to reason he was tuning out the possible embarrassing talk going around.

Roveth however had no compunctions to just enjoy his tea, as he heard the curiosity from Roxas, before deciding to speak up "its not that hard to figure out. Crystal sees shiro more as a well meaning but distant friend, or younger brother in need of being looked after." he would state, holding up a finger "i am out because i think that while we get along as friends, i provoke her too much to think of her liking me in that way." he then flicked another finger up "Axel and Isa here are are new to the group and while Crystal does know Axel pretty well, i'm questioning his sexuality at the moment so i don't think he likes women like that." cue spittake and an offended Axel here glaring at Roveth for saying something like that. also cue a third finger lifting up from his hand "i don't know about this either but i can assure you Crystal's not the type to take in the forbidden fruit so i doubt the nice man meant Xion either." he then would put his hand down giving Roxas a deadpan stare "Gee... i wonder who that leaves." he said with a tone of pure sarcasm dripping from his voice about it.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Cue Isa laughing so suddenly and so hard that tea shoots out his nose. He didn't seem to care though as he went right on laughing after the fact as well. Whether his laughter was at Roxas or Axel's expense was anyone's guess, although it was probably a little of both.

"Roveth... you had no right," Crystal gave him one of her harshest glares. You know, just in case her aura wasn't angry enough to convince Roveth to expect a whole lot of pain in the not too distant future. "If anyone should have been the one to tell him, it should have been me. And I wasn't ready yet!"

Roxas wasn't dense. He knew where Roveth was going with this even before Crystal snapped at him. In fact, Roxas would have been angry too if he wasn't more embarrassed at himself for not noticing sooner. She had said that she locked away her own feelings to avoid being a burden on anyone even though she knew it wasn't the right thing to do, but what she really must have meant was that she was purposefully keeping her feelings to herself.

"So, when you said you liked me at the clock tower... this is what you really meant," Roxas didn't want to let Roveth have the satisfaction of taking all the credit for this. "You held back because you didn't want to confuse me, right? But I think I actually understand now."

And if you listened real closely you might actually hear the sound of Crystal's fuse going out. "Come on, one way or another we're going to have to talk about this," Roxas took Crystal by the hand to lead her outside and at least temporarily away from Roveth's prying eyes and ears.


"Should I even ask how long you've been hiding this?" Roxas was annoyed, and rightfully so, but more concerned than angry.

"I wanted to be sure of my own feelings before I said anything," Crystal answered quietly. "I've had my suspicions for a while now that my emotions were going to get the better of me by being around you. And I didn't think that was fair because I wasn't going to abandon Shiro. I thought remaining at a distance I would probably get over it, that it was just a lame schoolgirl crush that would go away in time, but I didn't and it isn't. I realized that while we've been traveling together and I wanted to find the right way to tell you so it wouldn't be so confusing. But that's love for you. Love is confusing. You care about someone more than anything, but at the same time you become too nervous to even admit to it."

"I think I might actually get what you mean," Roxas sounded thoughtful. "It was only recently that I've started feeling this way too. Honestly, I thought when you started freaking out in there that there was someone else and that I was going to have to beat some sense into them for making you so paranoid about all this. But, I guess it's fine if it's me, right?"

Crystal simply hugged Roxas. "You don't have to beat yourself up on my account. But I'm still going to blast Roveth to within an inch of his life into a smoldering crater on the next world we visit."


Back inside the tea shop Isa had finally managed to reign in his laughter although he couldn't completely mask the trace of an amused smirk that still resided on his face. "Well Lea, I think Roveth is every bit as despicable as you've made him out to be. But he certainly is good for a laugh."

"It looks like some good might have come of it too," Xion pointed out as she peered out a window.

"They're hugging now," confirmed the over-exuberant tea server who was also spying on them out of blatant curiosity.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth would wait until Crystal and Roxas were outside before sighing, shrugging a bit "sorry, but at the rate things were going, i was- not- about to see them toe around each other then hide their own feelings when it was as plain as day to everyone." he said, looking at Shiro "just like you hide your feelings in General, Aibou, stop closing yourself off like a machine." Shiro of course twitched an eyebrow, and set down his cup of tea and sighed, before looking at Roveth with a deadpan "i will not pity you when you get blasted to hell by Crystal." he said calmly, while roveth shrugged "it'd be worth it just so i can see them not toe around each other like they're made of glass in the other's eyes." Axel of course twitched an eyebrow at Isa, looking at him "i'm glad you see our resident darkness is so amusing." he said sarcastically before looking to Roveth with narrowed eyes "just so you know, you're going to be charbroiled when i get done with you after Crystal gets her turn." Roveth raised an eyebrow "eh, the poke at you was mainly a joke and to get Roxas to not think of you wanting to like Crystal that way." Axel just twitched an eyebrow "yup, definitely charbroiled."  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Roveth, I think I should probably advise you not to tease Lea too much about his sexuality," Isa spoke up. "He's probably gotten more than he could stand from Xigbar."


"Okay, so we should probably head back inside before anyone gets any bright ideas about coming out here to check up on us," Crystal suggested once she had gotten the hugging out of her system.

"Sure," Roxas knew she was probably right on that point. "There's just one more thing I've been kinda wanting to try since this morning." He then stole a quick kiss, which got Crystal blushing again although in this case it was more happy than embarrassed, and then Roxas took her hand again to lead them both back into the tea shop. That self-satisfied grin was going to be difficult to shake off him.

Xion was blushing pretty visibly too because she probably wasn't supposed to see that kiss. The over enthusiastic tea server was bounding around serving tea again, entirely unfazed.

"Sometimes a little push can go a long way," Uncle Iroh gave a hearty chuckle as Crystal and Roxas returned to their places at the table. "The next round will be on the house, for the harmonious young couple!"

Xion also returned to the table pretending very hard like she hadn't seen anything. Good luck concealing all that embarrassment. It's going to stand out you know.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth raised an eyebrow, before shrugging a bit "well, i was gonna ask him about it in private sooner or later so it could've been avoided for that and i'd have just said Axel hasn't found the right woman for him yet, and you we just met so i have no idea on anyone." he said, while looking to the two coming in, but said nothing, and instead sipped his tea quietly. axel of course twitched an eyebrow, but sighed "you're still getting charbroiled Roveth, but i'll at least leave off on it as long as you don't persist that stupid train of thought." Roveth nodded "fair enough Axel, fair enough, though i might need your help in beating the stupid and machine out of Shiro, so he can live a somewhat normal life." said person just gave Roveth a dirty look about that "with as much trouble as i land in constantly? i don't think any--" Roveth would immediately slap Shiro upside the head, glaring at him "not another word Aibou! you are -not- a machine, you are -not- a sword, as much as you paint yourself as one, you are -Human- damnit, trouble or not, if there's a girl who could like you as you are, they wouldn't mind!" Shiro growled a bit "and then they'd get hurt or killed in case i failed to protect them!" he slammed his hands down, and got up, walking out of the shop in pure anger, while Roveth glared at the exit with a bit of exasperated anger himself.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"SOMEBODY NEEDS A HUG!!!" Aang was out the door and bounding toward Shiro so fast no one could have stopped him.


"You know Roveth, the trick isn't in finding a girl to like Shiro, it's in finding a girl Shiro can't help but like," Crystal pointed out as Shiro stormed outside. "But you can't force him to fall in love. He's going to have to find it on his own."

"Oh? So now you're suddenly an expert on matters of the heart?" Isa sounded rather skeptical.

"Only when it comes to the abstract nature of Shiro's heart," Crystal shrugged mildly. "Let's call it an abundance of self-loathing. Shiro doesn't see himself as a human being. He sees himself as a blade to be honed to absolute sharpness and to be cast away if it ever gets broken or becomes too dull. He doesn't see himself as being deserving of love. But, if he were to fall in love himself, well that might break the illusion. Because you can't love another without first loving yourself. It isn't a sure thing, of course, as Shiro is pretty stubborn in his own right, but I tend to think that it might be just what he needs."

"How did he end up this way?" Xion wondered.

"That's the thing, he never really told me anything about his past," Crystal answered.

"You mean you're best friends and you don't know anything at all about where he came from?" Roxas was genuinely surprised to hear this. He figured she would have at least known something.

"When I met him he was in Traverse Town," Crystal replied. "All I really knew from the start was that he seemed like a good person and that he had somehow lost his way. We were kindred spirits in that way and he agreed to tag along with me without prying into my past either. And Roveth only knows things from after he became self aware as Shiro's shadow so he hasn't been much of a lead either."

"Well, if he appeared in Traverse Town, it's possible his original world was either destroyed or consumed by the darkness," Isa explained. "Although that doesn't really give us anything more to go on."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth had looked away from glaring at the door, ignoring the shout from the helper that just so decided to go give Shiro a hug and looked to Crystal with dead eyes "the reason he never told anyone about his past is he's subconsciously sealed it in his mind so far deep that no one but his own shadow could get to it. and Crystal... i -Am- Shiro's darkness, i would know better than anyone what Shiro's going through, then again, you and Roxas both have seen what Shiro will become eventually if something isn't done." he sighed, lowering his head into his arms "it's hard, seeing your own light so jaded and hardened away from life that he has distorted his own mind and soul into believing he's nothing more than an object to be weilded, and forgotten once its over." he said, while glancing over to Isa "as for what happened to his Birth world.. it was destroyed from within by it's own machinations, there's no chance of it coming back like those consumed by the darkness did when Sora defeated Ansem."

Shiro meanwhile would be currently grumbling about root-be-damned idiot darknesses and poking their noses in business like they wouldn't believe, when the flying hugging bald guy came in and tackled Shiro to the ground with a surprised yelp and squirming "o-o-oi! leggo!  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Roveth, all that aside for the moment, how long was Shiro alone before he met me?" Crystal decided to narrow down the possible factors that had shaped Shiro's personality into being what it was now. She was no stranger to solitude, but it was by choice. After losing everything to the darkness and running away to the future it was years before she started to form meaningful relationships with people again. But, even then, she was never truly alone because no matter where she went there were always other people around.

Roxas gave Crystal's hand a light squeeze. Learning of Shiro's past suffering from Roveth was definitely going to be hard on her. Frankly, Roxas was also a little disturbed to be seeing Roveth this way. Considering his regular attitude it was deeply off-putting to see him looking so openly vulnerable.

Isa could think of nothing more to contribute to the discussion at the moment and returned to quietly sipping his tea. Xion was also pretty shocked by what she was hearing considering she hadn't seen the vision within Shiro's Reality Marble or anything that would have hinted at his deeply troubled origins so this was all entirely unknown to her before now. Roxas could see how shaken Xion was by these revelations and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we're going to find a way to help him. But first we need to know more about what exactly it is we're dealing with."


"I'm not letting go until that frowny face turns upside down!" Aang persisted in his hugging of Shiro. Attempts to pry him off would be like trying to get untangled from a super stretchy rubbery noodle. Aang simply wouldn't let him go. "And then we'll be friends!"