Author's note:

she may seem like a Mary Sue and that's because of her past, but I wanted to make her slightly depressed and not overly cheery, also she's not like Charlie, I tihnk Charlie's a bit too... happy for a person of her age, no? so I made this story. it's in Kingdom Hearts, cause that way I can make up the events like I want to, Sora'll pop in every once in a while, the story begins when Sora wants to end all of this in the first game, and it continues to the second...

happy reading!


She ran. she couldn't stop running; if she did she would be a goner. She ran and ran, until her legs began to hurt, she panted and stopped, she couldn't run any more. she stopped and fell to the ground, tired, pained, angry and scared, she'd been running away for quite a long while, she had fought them when they began to get too close to her, but at that moment when she was about to give in and give up, she thought about all the people who died to save her, died trying to protect her and her country, her friends, her family, her soon-to-be husband, everyone, the mere thought of them made her stand up. she pulled out her katana from it's strap on her back and a gun from it's place on her right thigh, she waited for those yellow-eyed black creatures of the darkness, she saw them coming, saw them trying to reach her, trying to get her heart, she stood in a battle stance and took a deep breath.

I'll do this for them, I can do this, I can, just like he taught me, I'll go down fighting, like they did... Blaze... I'll miss you.

A moment later, she ran her katana through five of them, a gun shot killed a row of them, she slashed and hacked, she shot and kicked as many as she could until she couldn't stand up and fight anymore, she fell on her knees, then on her side and grew numb as she fainted, the last thing she saw was darkness and a sudden blinding light.

What happened?

What's going on?

Where are the others?

Am I dead?

"Hey, you!! Wake up!" someone said as they began to shake her numb body, "hey!!" the person was female, younger than she was, a bit of a childish hint to it.

"Ouch." she murmured, her eyes fluttered open to reveal bright mesmerizing emerald-green orbs, she groaned as she tried to move her body, pain shot through her limbs making her wince, she looked around the room, and noticed that she wasn't where she used to be, she looked up at the 'assaulter'. "Where am I? Who are you? What happened?"

"I'm the grand Ninja Yuffie!" she said as she pointed to herself with a proud grin, she had short black hair and wore a strange choice of clothes, she had a giant shuriken strapped to her back, and she seemed to be no older than eighteen. Ash gave her a small smile, "Welcome to Traverse Town!"

"Traverse Town? But I was in Xenotol..." Ash wondered aloud.

"Xenotol? Hmm... You'll have to ask Cid 'bout that." She said thoughtfully, "so, what's your name?"

"Ash, but what happened to me and why am I here?" she asked.

"Because... Oof! Squall's better at this than I am, you'll have to wait for him to get back and then you'll know." She said, she gave Ash a grin and continued, "Let's meet the others! Aerith wants to see you."

She grabbed Ash and pulled her all the way out of the room, and into a living room of some kind, it had a big blue door.

"Hey guys!! She's awake!!" Yuffie yelled to the surrounding people, all of them turned towards them.

"Hey." Ash said shyly.

"Hello, I'm Aerith, what's your name?" said a girl She had green eyes and long brown hair tied in a braid with pink ribbons. She wore a long pink dress, a blue belt, and brown hiking boots.

"I'm Ash, nice to meet you." she said with a little bit of confidence, the woman standing before her seemed too kindhearted to be real.

"Ash? Doesn't that mean Fire Warrior?" asked a bearded man, he wore a long blue robe and was brandishing a wand around the room, she gave a nod and he said, "another warrior? Well, the more the merrier! I'm Merlin by the way."

"Fire Warrior, eh? Well I'm Cid Highwind, Gummiship expert." said an older blond man seated on a couch.

"Gummiship? I think I heard of them, they're those blocks that make up a ship that let's you travel form one world to another, right?" Ash asked, while her hand was placed near her jaw in a thoughtful gesture.

"Yep, who told you 'bout'em?" He asked, looking at her general direction.

"My father, but I guess he's long gone now... along with everyone else I know." She said, her breath shook as she tried to contain her emotions like she always did when something bad happened. Calm down, calm down... I won't make a good first impression if I break down in tears in front of them, now would I?

"what was your home world called?" he asked again.

"Xenotol, but it's not really my home world, my home world is Hollow Bastion. ever heard of it?" she asked looking around at the surrounding people's faces, they all nodded, "as you know, it got gobbled up by the Darkness, and my family and I ended up on Xenotol."

The door suddenly opened and a brown haired man stepped through, he had a scar running diagonally across the bridge of his nose and stormy gray eyes, he had a very handsome face and he wore several belts and lots of leather. He seemed to be in his mid twenties.

"Hey Squall, Ash's awake!" announced Yuffie.

"It's Leon." He said coldly and walked towards Ash, he looked her up and down, checking for wounds, and when he found none he took a step back and folded his arms across his chest.

"Are you gonna tell me what's going to happen?" asked Ash, he gave a nod.

"But first tell us what you know."He said as he walked towards the couch and sat down.

"well, I know that the darkness takes hold of the worlds, I donno what these creatures are, but I know that they have their own pathways to other worlds, I know that these creatures are after hearts, so they must be after the worlds' hearts, right? and I know that when a world gets 'gobbled' a star goes out, I know that several worlds and several people have been lost to the darkness, I know that there is a possibility that I might not see my friends and family again, and I know that I am very, very lucky to have actually escaped their clutches." She said in one go, and began to catch her breath.

"You're well informed." Leon, who seemed impressed, stated, "We don't know what's going to happen to you now, or how you'll manage, but if you want you can stay with us."

"Please and thank you!!" She said with a smile, he gave her a nod and looked at the two girls behind him then at the one in front of him.

"Come on, you need to know your way around town, but you should get dressed appropriately first." He said as he pointed to her clothes, she looked down and saw them tattered and shredded to pieces, it was a wonder that it hadn't fallen off all that time, she blushed a deep shade of scarlet and nodded as she walked towards the two girls.

"Is she my size or your's?" wondered Yuffie as they went up the stairs.

"No offence guys, but… I dislike short clothes," pointing to Yuffie's clothes, "and anything pink." She pointed to Aerith's clothes this time.

"We'll find you something." Aerith said reassuringly, she ended up wearing a mixture of Aerith's clothes and Yuffie's. she wore a black and white faerie style dress that reached just above her knees and covered up all the necessary places, it was a lace up corset style at the front with white ribbons, and the straps formed an X at the front and at the back. she wore a pair of black and white converses from Yuffie, and she had a white ribbon for her hair from Aerith.

"Perfect! Sora bought this for me, but I thought it was too dark for my taste." Aerith said as she clapped her hangs together.

"Sora? Who's Sora?" Ash wondered aloud.

"I'll explain on the way, ready to go?" Leon said as he walked towards the door, Ash gave him a nod and followed after him.

"You're from Hollow Bastion?" asked Leon, looking towards her over his shoulder, she gave him a slight nod and he continued, "so are we, now we're helping other people who lost their home to the darkness to settle into this town."

"Why'd I come here of all places?" she asked.

"Because Traverse Town is like a waiting room, you loose your home, you get here, and you live safe, and then go back to your world once it's restored."

She nodded, silence followed after, "what do you guys do here all the time?" she said, breaking the silence.

"We go to other worlds and help others, either to protect them or to help them protect their world." He said, "This is the first district, you can find Cid at the accessory shop, the three ducks in the Items shop over there, a restaurant here, and a postcard delivery." He said as he pointed to the places in the district, they walked though a big wooden door, and he continued, "second district, the hotel, several shops, the alleyway and... I forgot its name..." he continued walking, going down a staircase and then turning around a corner and through a smaller wooden door, "this is the third district, it's not much, but we usually hold festivals and celebrations here. Merlin lives there."

"wow! This place is amazing." She exclaimed. He gave her a nod, and continued.

"Sora is the keyblade wielder, he's the one that closes all the keyholes of every world," he said, "he passes by every once in a while, so I'm sure you'll meet him soon."

it was her turn to nod this time as they walked back towards the Hotel.

"I suppose we should get you a room." He muttered as he opened the door to the second district. They continued walking as they went into the Hotel and showed her the room.

"Thanks, I hope I'm not causing you any trouble." She said softly with a small smile.

He nodded and muttered, "No problem."

"So you're my room mate?" said Aerith as she entered the room, Ashley gave her a shrug and a nod.

"Me and Squall share a room, Aerith and you are gonna share this one. We're in the green room." Yuffie said as she walked in after Aerith.

"I hope you don't mind the bright redness." Said Aerith quietly, pointing towards the rooms general direction.

"You can switch with me if you want! Squall-"

"Its Leon." Leon said.

"Sleeps like a log and he's no fun at all!!" Yuffie continued her sentence.

Ash chuckled in response and shrugged. "as you wish."

"yay! Aerith's my roomie!!" Yuffie cheered.

"And our room is where?" Ash asked Leon.

"Green room, next door." He replied, she nodded, and walked outside the hotel.

"If you don't mind... I need to take a walk by myself..." she said as she walked out of the room and out of the hotel.

"Leon." Aerith called, he nodded and went after Ashley.

"I'll go keep an eye on her, if anything happens I'll interfere." He said.

"thank you." Aerith called after him.

He nodded as he gave Ashley a head start and then followed after her.

Ashley walked as she thought of her family, she had been trained to be used to it, to be prepared, she was prepared –or she thought she was, but it was practically impossible now that it has actually happened, she never expected it to really happen, it wasn't something impossible but she didn't think it could happen to them.

Everything... gone...

What was she to do?

All alone, by herself, no one to take care of, and no one to take care of her.

Her home... her family... her loved ones...

All...

Gone...

She knelt on the ground of the empty third district; she cried her heart out, her hands on her face falling flat on the ground, gripping herself tightly, looking for something to hold on to, she held on to herself the only thing she had left, and it wasn't something great, not great at all...

Leon stood on the balcony in the third district, he had gotten there through the second district, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, all to keep an eye on her.

He saw her crying, saw her desperation and sadness, the woe of watching everyone you know die, all of them falling into the darkness around you, it was horrible and he knew it, he saw her fall, it was something he worked so hard to forget, but he never could, one cannot forget something as important as that.

He jumped down from the balcony once he made sure that she gave vent to her sadness, he walked towards her, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ashley?" he called.

she looked up at him, her eyes blood shot and red, he gave her his hand as she took it and helped her stand up, she coughed into her hand and turned away from him, she took a deep breathe to settle herself.

"Be prepared... "She muttered, "that's what they tell you when you board the ship... tell you not to make relationships with anyone or else you'd be heartbroken... none of us... thought it'd actually happen... "She took a deep breath and her voice shook as she continued, "I... was prepared... I thought I was... but-"

"It's impossible," Leon said, interrupting her. "It's impossible to be prepared to loose someone close to you."

"I know that now." She said with a nod as she bowed her head down, she let a sole tear fall down from her eyes, she closed them, trying to stop the tears from falling, but to no avail, "I'm sorry... I didn't want you guys to see me like this..."

"It's not wrong to cry, it's natural," he said, "it's... human."

"I guess it's hard to be one..." she said, "I'm willing to give up my heart any day, so I can stop these emotions from ever coming back."

"I highly doubt they'd want you to do that." He said, "Come on, let's go."

She nodded and turned to him, wiping her tears away.

"What're you? My guardian or something? Or are you a stalker?" she asked jokingly with a small smirk.

"Stalker." He replied sarcastically.

"Oh ma gawd! That's so creepy!" she said, as she covered he mouth and let a small giggle, "am I that amazing?"

"..." he averted his eyes; a small, very faint, practically non-existent blush appeared on his face. She giggled and walked ahead of him a little skip to her walk.

"What're you doing?" he asked absent-mindedly.

"nothing." she said, she turned around to face him and gave him one of her well-known smiles. "How'd you get that scar?"

"From a fight, he cheated." He replied.

"He cheated on you?" she asked, holding back a small smirk, "with whom?"

"He used magic on me, I'm not gay you know." He said exasperatedly, she giggled at him and slowed down to walk beside him. They entered the hotel each sporting a certain expression, Leon had a frown on his handsome face and she had a small smirk.

"I know that, you're too... to be one." She whispered, leaving him to fill in the blanks, she headed towards the red room, and opened the door after knocking.

"Come on in! Time for some girl talk." Squealed Yuffie as she pulled Ash in.

"Girl talk?" wondered Leon and Ashley aloud.

"No Leon's allowed!" she dragged Ashley in and slammed the door shut in Leon's face.

He walked away towards the green room for some rest, he sighed as he walked in.

"She's different..." he muttered and closed the door behind him.


review!! please review! tell me what you think, and if there's anything wrong tell me so I can fix it! pleaaaaaaase:D