Lea gave the onions an uncertain look. Well... he was pretty good with a blade, right? Surely he could chop an onion. ... Right? He grabbed the onion again and took a moment as if staring it down, then pressed his lips together when Riku spoke.

In a lot of ways, Riku was something like hope for Isa. If Riku was strong enough to fight Xehanort off, if Riku could be saved from possession... Isa could be too, right? Surely if Riku had been able to save himself then the lot of them, they could save Isa.

When, not if.

He gave a soft, almost bitter laugh, and it sounded more like a cough than anything, and tossed the onion from hand to hand again.

"When we get him back, first thing I'm gonna do is punch him in the face," he said. "I'll worry about humor later."

Punch him in the face. Why didn't you talk to me? Why didn't you tell me something was wrong? Why didn't you ever let me help you?

... Why didn't I try harder to help you?

He shook his head and set the onion down on the cutting board, grabbing for the knife beside it and making a slice into the flaky outer layers to peel them away.

"I wish Roxas and Xion could have known him the way I did," he said quietly. "Sure, Isa'd always been kind of a jerk, but..."

He trailed off, shaking his head again, and vindictively tore at the onion.