Author's Note: Hello Reader. Please take into account that this is my first Kingdom Hearts fanfic. This is un-betaed so please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes. I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP. Please enjoy!

Pairings: SoraxKairi, RoxasxNamine, AquaxTerra, RikuxOC, possible AxelxXion (but very little if any)


Chapter One; A New Beginning


Sora had never been one to over-think things.

Riku, on the other hand, had.

The dark hooded figure was carrying the blonde boy on his back, away from the castle.

Why else would he have been the one to propose going to another world in the first place? He enjoyed thinking; it was meditative for him.

The figure sets the boy down, now a safe distance away, and rests, but only for a moment. He would catch up soon, and he had to keep moving.

Riku had been sitting on the paopu tree, which seemed to have been there since time immemorial, thinking.

Why he had even bothered to drag the sleeping boy away with him to escape his wrath was beyond him. What had the boy ever done for him?

He had actually managed to become a Keyblade Master. Master Riku. Somehow, it didn't sit right with him. He had a gut feeling that being a Keyblade Master would only attract more trouble.

Oh yeah, that's right. He did that, and the figure had also been horrid to the boy. That must be why.

Then again, he was probably thinking too much, as Sora so often told him. Honestly, how much more trouble could he be in when Xehanort was already working to destroy everything.

He got up. He was too close, and the figure had taken too much time to himself. He picked up the boy again and continued, keeping to the shadows as he had his entire life, eventually finding a doorway.

Riku recalled what Yen Sid told him and Sora after their Mark of Mastery exam. He explained what had happened in the past with Aqua, Terra, and Ventus. How they fought against Xehanort and his apprentice Vanitas. The whole story made Riku uneasy, as he described Ventus almost exactly how Sora himself acted, and Terra very similarly to what Riku himself had undergone.

The door was simply there. The figure supposed that doors like this must randomly appear in this realm. Which realm was it again? That doesn't matter. He's close.

Yen Sid had told them that their first job was to find Master Aqua, and that she was somewhere in the Realm of Darkness, having been trapped there after attempting to free Terra from Xehanort's grasp. They were told to return to the Destiny Islands and take Kairi with them. Sora protested but Yen Sid explained that she had a keyblade too and should go with them. Riku agreed wholeheartedly; leaving Kairi behind would not bode well for them. He was sure she could handle it, especially with both he and Sora there, because she had a mean right hook and was surprisingly adept with a blade. Sora eventually agreed, glad that they wouldn't be separated again. Riku would have to tease them about it later. Morons.

It was now or never, all or nothing, as he stepped through the door, narrowly avoiding his former master's anger. Ventus was still sleeping peacefully, and he wished he could do the same, but he needed to pay back the debt he felt shockingly guilty for. He had never felt guilty before. Ever. Ventus must be doing something, even while sleeping. Sleep. Tired. No, he couldn't sleep now. He couldn't afford to.

Riku heard Sora and Kairi call for him, as it seemed the gummi ship they would be riding in had gotten there. Sora and Riku both had armor to navigate the Lanes Between, but a gummi ship, considering the third member of the group and their previous piloting experience was clearly the better choice. They would stop in Radiant Garden, Kairi's forgotten home world, on their way to see Yen Sid in order to pick up supplies. Kairi had already been filled in on the situation and admitted to vaguely remembering a young woman with blue hair from the few scattered memories she retained from the first four years of her life, and it seemed that Aqua had been a forgotten, yet resurfaced memory for the three of them. 'Enough thinking, Riku.' he thought to himself as he joined his best friends on the ship. Sora had already called driving to Radiant Garden, so Riku buckled in and prepared for a bumpy ride and Kairi followed suit; having never consciously being on a gummi ship before, she was understandably nervous but Sora calmed her down and took off. They were too perfect for each other. Riku thought up some things to tease them with, before realizing that he was thinking again.

This world was beautiful, although he would never admit it out loud. It seemed to be in a state of perpetual twilight. He thought this at the same time that he realized that he was at the top of a hill overlooking a gorgeous town with train tracks suspended above and below walkways where content people went on with their everyday lives, unaware of the danger looming over them. He set Ventus down against the scale model of a clock tower you could see in the distance, the two were facing each other, and sat next to him. He was too tired, but he couldn't go on. He woke up before it was necessary; something about becoming a Master, but it was a good thing, otherwise both he and Ventus would be dead by now. He had always been a light sleeper, unlike Ventus. As he gazed at the sky of this fairly unique world, he couldn't help but feel safe and warm. It was a foreign feeling, as since he was born his life had always had him on the edge, and now, despite the universe being in more peril than ever before, he felt...calm. He was too tired. This world was too relaxing. As he felt Ventus' hand twitch next to him, the last thought that ran through his head was that Ventus would wake up soon. His head drooped, and he and Ventus looked exactly alike, both wearing black cloaks, sleeping in the same position leaned against the same clock. Three chimes rang from the smaller replica and he could feel the vibrations from the chimes of the larger copy from so far away. It was three in the afternoon, although from the sky you would never be able to tell. They were alone, together, and they weren't trying to kill each other. That thought alone was what finally pushed Vanitas into a deep sleep.

A wise man who had sensed the disturbance of the portal of darkness came to Sunset Hill to confirm his suspicions, and surely enough two of the people he was looking for were sleeping peacefully leaned against the clock. He would have to thank the darker half for assuring both his and Ventus' safety. He waved his hand and both he and the sleeping boys disappeared from sight and the clock chimed again. One. Two. Three. Three in the afternoon.


A/N: Did you like it? Hopefully because I just wrote this in one sitting and I have to pee like nobodies business. Get it? Nobodies? Ha ha...ha.

Okay, yeah. That was lame, but hopefully this was entertaining. Next chapter coming soon!