So. Here it is. My first fanfic. To anybody gracious/foolish enough to be reading this, I would hugely appreciate a review. I know it's short, and a little vague. But a review, good or bad, will really help me to know what to change/what to continue, or whether this fic is worth continuing or not. In the ideal grand scheme of things, the story will be a long one, so you could see this as an establishing shot, I guess. It hasn't been BETA-read by anybody here, but I'm always on the lookout for a reader. So if anybody fancies it, let me know.

As a warning, later chapters will contain homosexual relationships, that will possibly be graphic from time to time. Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, the characters can be assumed to be gay or bisexual. This isn't to say that they're all drooling perverts, just they all exist in an indiscriminate state of sexuality. (Not that I'm biased, or anything...)

Disclaimer: I don't own Square Enix, the Final Fantasy series, the Kingdom Hearts Series, the characters of those mentioned series, or whatever Disney characters I happen to reference. And although I'm writing the characters with the personalities from their respectives games or movies, it can't obviously be assumed that they're gay, so I guess they're OOC. Finally, it's set in Kingdom Hearts locales, but not within the Kingdom Hearts/2 storyline.

You can bet I won't be typing that disclaimer out every time. So, without further rambling...

Hiding in Twilight - Chapter 1: Dawn

The sun was peering over the horizon, stealing glances at the world from its hiding place, casting its burnt orange hue across the world. It was twilight.

Then again, it was nearly always twilight here. Sure, when 'night' came, the sun dipped lower on its perch, and the burnt orange sky mingled with a slight pall of night time purple. If you weren't careful, however, you'd find yourself in the middle of the night, never realising the day had moved on. The people there had grown accustomed the subtle nuances, however, and were adept at organising their lives around it. During the 'night' twilight the shadows were longer and darker, always creeping around your heels, and everything was quiet. The birds didn't fly during 'night' twilight. Likewise, you could tell when it was day twilight. The shadows were softer and less noticeable, the glare of the sun was more prominent as it sat carefully on the horizon, and the steady hum of people going about their daily activities was ever-present.

They were subtle nuances, but they were the rules by which the people of Twilight Town kept themselves ticking over with; Day in, day out. Twilight to Twilight. People like Roxas.

Looking up from his daydream, he saw the forever-ebbing sun glimpsing at him through the leaves of a tree. He chuckled. There were times he was sure that, if it wasn't for the people of Twilight Town and their ways, the world was in a state of suspended animation. He laughed to himself again before moving onwards down the cobbled path. To either side of him, the houses watched over the street, many with shutters half closed, as if the buildings were lazily watching the proceedings, waking themselves for another day of basking in the burnt sienna light.

He had only been in Twilight Town for a couple of weeks, and had nearly lost track of time in the first week, managing to claw himself back by observing when people were about and when they were not, gradually noticing the subtle cycle of time for himself, but already he was becoming accustomed to how things were done. Not to say he'd integrated into society; he hadn't. At all. Socialising wasn't his forte, so he'd just observed what he could from afar and kept to himself. So far it had worked.

But not anymore. Now his head start had come to an end, and the rest of this new world he was in had caught up, surrounding and trapping him, drawing him into the long race that was his life here. He gave a brief, but nervous sigh as he walked on, processing and reminding himself that this was the first day of his new life, his hands absent-mindedly toying with the lining of the pockets they were buried in. The hum of people and activity grew louder as the side street he was on blossomed out into the beginnings of a town square. At the end of the descending path he was on, children played happily with a large beach ball, seeing how many times they could keep it in the air, becoming briefly frustrated every time it landed, or one of them lost count. Nearby, two shops flanked a large archway, one selling accessories, and other pharmaceuticals, from what Roxas could make out. Beyond the shops and the archway, the path all but vanished as it exploded out into Tram Commons, the thrumming hub of the otherwise sleepy town.

Moving trepidantly past the children, cheery shop owners and under the archway, he stepped into the town square itself, and immediately he was nearly knocked down by the combined efforts of the amount of people, noise and smells assaulting him. Gaping, he took a step back, attempting to absorb it all, watching as the infamous Twilight Tram pulled to a lazy halt, people at the stop waiting for those aboard to depart before eagerly alighting to the Tram themselves. Roxas breathed hard and fast, feeling a little light headed. Just when he thought of turning and running, a voice pierced his panic.

'Hey' the sweet, yet confident voice inquired, 'Are you OK?'

Broken from his seizing fear, Roxas' gaze shot madly around in search of the voice. When her hand touched his shoulder, their eyes met and his anxiety drained out of him and into the ether. He panted slightly from his ordeal, but was becoming considerably calmer with another presence to stand with. He frowned. He didn't even know this girl, yet she was his sudden saviour?

'I'm Olette!' she said with a smile. Roxas' eyebrow arched; was she a mind-reader? 'You looked a little helpless there' she continued, 'thought you could use a hand. What's your name?' Her smile never faded, framed by two tails of hair draped down her front, the rest of her hair flaring out slightly around her ears. She wore a summery orange tank top, with large white flowers adorning one of the lower corners, with cream shorts down to her upper ankle. Roxas stared for a minute, gathering his senses after his fright, before realising he'd been asked a question.

'I… erm.' He gazed another moment, before snapping to his senses, 'Roxas. I'm Roxas. Sorry' he all but mumbled. Olette just giggled; a cheery giggle that diffused Roxas' uncertainties in an instant.

'Nice to meet you Roxas. Were you going somewhere?' The smile appeared to be a permanent fixture, Roxas surmised. He nodded, gulping down lungfuls of air he'd not gotten enough of previously, 'Y-yes' he managed, 'I'm w-working at Str.. Erm. Stripe Deliveries' he thinned his lips, trying to affirm himself.

She giggled again, 'You mean Strife Deliveries. Come on, I'll show you the way'. Before Roxas could agree, protest, do anything, he was grabbed firmly by the hand and pulled into the square. This time, Roxas had the security of someone with him, so he chanced a look around. The square was a very large open space, with a large stall, essentially a glorified kiosk, in the centre, with large neon signs and paraphernalia decorating it. In the walls around the square, other shops and passageways waited, selling a myriad of different things, all cheerily operated under the daytime twilight, as the Tram continued its slow amble around them all. On his second look around the plaza, Roxas was rather embarrassed to admit that it wasn't as crowded as he imagined. His mind had allowed itself to get carried away by a few more people than he was used to, and he'd ended up here. In reality, the square was host to some dozen people, two dozen at most, all attending to their daily business with a calm saunter.

'So how come you freaked out back there?' came Olette's voice to his right. He broke out of his reverie, glancing at her, pausing a second before responding. He felt calmer, more confident around her, than when he was panicking moments before, 'I err… don't do so well in built up areas. Especially new ones' he looked shyly at his feet, embarrassed not only at the admittance, but at his re-evaluation of the square. Olette only raised her eyebrows in interest,

'You're new here? I guess that explains why you're a new face to me.'

'I've been here about 3 weeks' he ventured on his own, feeling he could trust this girl, 'I've been getting to grips with it. It's … really new' he offered a nervous laugh, hollow in his own ears. 'I'm not good with people…' he concluded, his gaze trailing off into the distance, trying to ignore Olette carefully watching him.

'Well you can always hang out with me and my friends' She offered thoughtfully, the constant smile now ebbing slightly, becoming less cheery, now warmer, and friendly. 'Don't worry, there's only two others' she laughed, already realising Roxas didn't want to be around crowds. 'Well… Here we are. Strife Deliveries.' Roxas didn't even have time to comprehend what had just been suggested to him, his head snapping to attention at the mention of his workplace.

It was tucked away into the corner of the square, shielded from the sun, the shadows all encompassing. A large, yet plain sign, above the door declared the place to be 'Strife Deliveries: Mideel to Midgar; we'll deliver anywhere!'

Roxas couldn't say he cared much for the slogan, but it didn't matter. He smiled and thanked Olette before moving to head inside. His hand was on the cold wood of the door when she called him back.

'Roxas!' he turned, brow raised, 'Where do you live? We'll come call for you sometime'. Roxas was momentarily stunned by the offer, unable to remember the last time he'd heard it. After a moment, he offered back, 'The top of Station Street, like right next to the Station. You can't miss it, it has a white door' he gave her a weak smile, turning to go inside.

'Cool. See ya soon!' She chirped, before ambling back into the plaza. Roxas gave a light smile before pushing the door aside and stepping through into the shop.

Inside was even darker than the shadowed exterior. The pale light from the few windows the only reason why anything was visible at all. He moved further into the shop, slowly at first as he recovered from snow-blindness, slightly trepidant. He hesitated, wondering whether or not to call out for someone. Finally deciding, he opened his mouth to speak, the words on the tip of his tongue…

'You must be the new kid' a monotone voice declared. Wheeling on the sound, Roxas found the owner of the voice leaning against a previously unseen doorframe, arms folded across his chest, looking bored. His left side was well-covered, from the armoured shoulder pad and accompanying sleeve, down to his longer jacket—well, Roxas assumed it was his jacket—tired around his waist, obscuring most of the front of his left leg and all of the back of both. The opposite side of his body, by comparison, was stark, his zip-up jacket cutting off at the sleeve, revealing bare arm down to below his elbow, which was then clad in a long glove. The most startling feature of all, however, was the shock of pale blonde hair the man had. Roxas hadn't seen hair like that since, well, his own.

'What's your name?' he asked, startling Roxas from his inspection, moving away from the doorframe and into the room, stepping behind the counter the ran parallel to three of the room's four walls. 'Roxas', the younger boy replied, 'It's nice to mee-'

'Cloud' the older man supplied curtly, 'I'm the delivery boy.' Roxas nodded, mouthing an 'Oh' before the conversation promptly died. Roxas stood in the middle of the room and felt useless as the older blonde continued his business unhindered, seemingly oblivious to the young boy he'd just startled. After roughly a minute of this bizarre standoff, another person entered the room; a woman, with dark brown hair, a black top and what appeared to be a short skirt over longer shorts. Dropping from the back of her waist was an ankle-length black skirt that didn't reach around the front. Roxas supposed it was more like a wedding train than anything else, but didn't quite think that was its purpose.

The woman's eyes trailed around the room a little, brushing over Cloud with a 'tsk' before settling on Roxas. When seeing him, she smiled, 'You're the new boy, right?' she asked kindly, moving closer towards him, the saviour to his stranded state.

'His name's Roxas' came Cloud's voice, as he scoured through one of the pigeon-holes that literally covered the walls behind the counter, looking for some package or other, Roxas imaged. Tifa looked back at him, putting her hands on her hips, as if to say something to him, before thinking better of it. She turned back to the smaller boy, 'Well, Roxas!' she was exuberant again, 'I'm Tifa, and I'll be your boss from now on, I guess'. Roxas was puzzled by 'I guess' but put it down to Tifa being someone with a distaste for rigid discipline. He wasn't about to test that theory, though.

'You'll be working behind the counter and taking orders' she said, leading him past the counter and through the door Cloud had previously been leaning on, and into the back office, which was … a mess. There were papers strewn everywhere, a lone figure in the corner, asleep on one of the desks. Following his gaze and look of horror, Tifa let out a small laugh, 'That's Yuffie' she said, 'and don't worry. You won't be working back here. This is my office, and I have everything where I want it.'

Luckily, she didn't see the look from Roxas that inquired 'Are you insane?' she just turned back, steering Roxas with her, into the main shop and behind the counter. They moved past Cloud, who had found the package he was looking for and was now attaching some kind of address sticker to it and checking it was firmly sealed. Tifa looked back at him, 'How long will you be?' she inquired. The blonde looked up minutely;

'A few days' he suggested, unsure of himself, 'It's a long way to Hollow Bastion, but Fenrir can move fast. I'll be back by Thursday at the latest'.

It must be far, Roxas thought to himself, it was only Monday now. Tifa nodded slowly, 'Alright. Be careful. That place is a nightmare with all the reconstruction going on.'

'I know' came the distant reply, Cloud already halfway out the door. Tifa watched him go, and waited for the door to shut sharply before turning her attention back to Roxas, 'Now!' she exclaimed, 'let me show you what you'll be doing!'

---

Roxas' first day at worked ticked by uneventfully. Yuffie eventually came out of the back office, bleary-eyed but chipper. Tifa informed him she was always like that. After brief but excited introductions from the self-proclaimed ninja, Yuffie left for local deliveries. The day in the office was slow, not many people came into the office, nor were there many phone calls. Tifa's explanation of how the office worked was simple, but time-consuming, as she explained a contingency for every possible mailing outcome. Roxas couldn't deny it was tedious, but nor could he deny it would probably be useful. So he listened, willing himself not to fall asleep more than once. Eventually, the education had passed and his few hours of work ticked by, and early evening rolled around, and Tifa let him go with a smile. Happy in the knowledge that it would be Thursday before he worked again, Roxas left the store with a shy smile.

A gentle breeze was blowing as the day drew on into evening, lingering in 'true' Twilight a while before sinking into night. Things were quieter now; people were packing their stores away and moving props inside, but the hustle and bustle of the daytime had all but died, with nobody but the store owners littering the square.

Well, almost nobody; to the side of the Archway Roxas would soon pass under on his way back up Station Hill, two people—a boy and a girl—were locked in what seemed to be a frustrated discussion. The boy wore baggy, black and red clothing, and had bristling brown spiky hair jutting out haphazardly from his head. He was the more animated of the two. The other, the girl, was reserved by comparison, yet her frustration at their situation—unknown to Roxas—was evident. She had maroon hair to her shoulders and wore a plain pink dress. She held the bridge of her nose between two fingers in exasperation.

As Roxas drew past them, he caught a snippet of their conversation, but made nothing of it:

'He's here somewhere, Kairi!' the brunette exclaimed, 'I know he is.'

'Well we haven't found him so far…' Kairi retorted, '…and we've been searching all day. It's time to give it up for the day, Sora. We can start again tomorrow.' Her words seemed final; Sora gave a long sigh, looking up desperately at his companion,

'But Kai…' He stopped mid-sentence, a silent beat dropping where the end of his plea should have been. Roxas kept on walking, assuming he'd given up. He moved under the arch and began the short, yet exhausting walk up to his house. So absorbed was he with minding his own business and heading home, he failed to pick up both Kari and Sora's dumfounded silences, and the burning stare drilling into the back of his blonde skull as he departed. He moved on up the hill, breaths increasing, oblivious to their awe.

When he had all but vanished around the corner, the two turned to face each other, eyes wide with surprise and glinting with excitement. Sora spoke first;

'Was that him?!'

---

Roxas arrived back home several minutes later, aching from a long day's work and exhausted from what he would later exaggerate to a near vertical climb. Dropping his keys on the table by the door and slipping his shoes off, he moved through the hallway and turned into his living area, gently kneading at the forming knot in his neck.

His home was small, but by no means squalid. The main room was half living area, and half kitchen, with the latter neatly and tastefully semi-segregated to the back of the room; the kitchen counter essentially surrounded the kitchen area, with a sufficient gap allowing access between the two halves of the room. The flooring was also different, with the kitchen floor being tiled, and the living room area being carpeted.

It was small, but it was practical and cosy, Roxas thought. He liked it, which was important, considering he didn't like outside.

Dropping into a nearby chair, Roxas expelled the day's weariness into a drawn-out sigh. He allowed his mind to slip shut for a moment as he slumped further into the chair, letting the day's events ebb and flow freely through his mind. Bizarre was the best way he describe it. Admittedly, nothing had gone wrong; he had gotten through the streets of the town—with a little help—and had done well enough at work. But that didn't stop the day from being any less … alien to him. The whole situation was new to him, and he was far from being used to it. But he'd have to get used to it, he mused, and fast.

Easing his eyes open, he peered to the back of the room, to the kitchen. The remains of last night's meagre dinner sat by the sink, waiting to be washed. Roxas sighed again; he didn't have the inclination to oblige it right now. Heaving himself out of the chair he had so acclimatised himself to, he left the room and headed for the stairs, planning on a relaxing bath followed by sleep, with the ever-present hope that tomorrow would be a little less exhausting.

---

The delicate notes of sitar song drifted through the quiet nightlife of Twilight Town, as people ambled from small bars to restaurant. The nightlife in the town wasn't as busting or noisy as any of the large cities, but it was adequate, small-scale--stylish. It was nice, and drifting, wafting tune of the expertly played sitar from the centre of the Tram Common only heightened the atmosphere.

'You know, Axel, I could get used to this' the sitar player mused, glancing briefly at his friend beside him, then back to a passer by, nodding thanks as they dropped a few coins into his sitar case, his strange, dirty-blonde Mohawk bobbing its own appreciation.

'This?' his companion, Axel, replied, his contrasting mane of red hair drifting in the light evening breeze, 'remember, Demyx. We're here for a reason'.

'I know…' Demyx replied between notes, 'but still; it's peaceful, and calm. There's nothing to disturb the music'. He paused a moment, his fingers drifting over the strings, filling the air with his tune. 'Besides', he continued, 'He's here, right? That means we have to stay here at least for a while' he finished hopefully, the particular tune he was playing drifting softly to an end, lingering for a moment in the crisp night before evaporating. Axel smirked.

'I guess so' he admitted, 'It'll be interesting here, that's for sure…'

'Mm…' came Demyx's reply, silence pervading the air for a few long moments, the player deciding his next song. Soon after, however, the gentle melody of another tune began, returning the plaza back to its humble, relaxed merriment.

'Yeah…' the blonde repeated, more to himself than Axel, 'I could get used to this…'

---

The moon was high and bright in the clear night sky when Sora and Kairi made it back to their home, the delicate cobbles and permeating twilight far behind them. The stars in the sky twinkled, as if winking knowingly at the pair as they returned from their subterfuge.

As they had expected, they weren't alone when they got themselves inside; a silver-haired boy stood in the hallway, anticipating their return through his cerulean eyes. On seeing them, he gave the briefest of smiles, almost in relief. Likewise, Kairi gave the boy a cheery smile and a small wave as Sora beamed from ear to ear:

'Hey, Riku! Did you miss us?'

Riku rolled his eyes and let a small, breath of a laugh, 'I'm just glad you didn't get yourselves killed out there'

Sora laughed. 'Aw! Was Riku worried about us? C'mon, it's just Twilight Town, there's nothing dangerous there', he finished with a playful punch to Riku's arm, folded delicately across his chest. The taller boy pretended he didn't appreciate it.

'Dangerous, no.' Kairi's voice cut solemnly trough the joviality, 'but certainly interesting' she finished. Sora seemed to sober as well as Riku arched an eyebrow first at Kairi, then at the brunette staring up at him. Sora's eyes were serious.

'We think we found Roxas…'

*Laughs nervously* Have at it.

- Cerrat