I don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. I own Noggy, Nina, Niles, and Jeeves. Don't touch Noggy.

A New Beginning

Chapter One: The Connection

It was storming outside; he hated driving in the rain. Visibility had decreased and the only reason he could see the other cars was because their lights. He was glad his restraunt and domestic violence center he owned wasn't far from his house. Squall Leonheart pulled up into his driveway, his house was dark. Tomorrow his best friend Tidus Angelos would come over and spend his birthday with him. They had grown up together and worked at the same place. They were like brothers. Tidus worked on the computers at the domestic violence center. He would also help upstairs in the kitchen sometimes. Squall grabbed his briefcase of papers and reports and got out of his car, the wind blew rain into the car, Squall grumbled. He closed the door with the help of the wind it slammed. The rain made it feel like a night in spring rather than a night in mid summer. He walked up his porch; it was a small nice porch on a Victorian house. He pulled out his keys, and was unlocking when he thought he heard his name over the roar of the rain. Squall turned and saw two figures walking toward his home. One looked to be an adult and the other a child, Squall didn't know who they were but stood there and waited for then to come to him. He shivered from being wet and cold. He could hear his Doberman clawing the front door waiting for him. His dog was the only person who lived in his house. They walked up his stairs; the two were in rain coats that covered their faces with shadows. The young child was close on the older person's heels, like he would be left behind if he wasn't that close.

"Mr. Leonheart?" The older person's honey voice came, it was a woman. Squall nodded to her question.

"May we come in? I need to talk to you about something." Squall nodded again; he turned and finished unlocking his door. Baron his red Doberman was giddy, when he walked through the door, he was cautious of the strangers with Squall. He led the two people into his living room around the corner form his door. As he walked by it he threw his keys onto the little table by the door. He sat on his couch, knowing he was getting it wet, but it would dry. The boy sat on the floor next the woman's legs. She had a head of thick red hair and had striking yellow eyes. Her face held the wrinkles of a woman in her fifties, but she couldn't be that old, she didn't have any other signs of age. The wrinkles were probably from her line of work. The boy, on the other hand, had chestnut hair and bright blue eyes, with a green center. His eyes were red and puffy, probably form crying. His face held innocence, but Squall could see the mature features probably from stress. His wasn't very prominent and if it wasn't for Squall's training with children he probably wouldn't notice it.

"I'm Gail Garrison. I am a social worker, and I have had trouble finding a place for young Sora here. He lost his parent to a car crash last month. I've had him at my house because I didn't want him put in five or six foster homes, I can't keep him from the system anymore. I was approached today and told he needed a home or they would put him in one. I know you work at the center, I'm sure you've seen what happens to children who are moved around a lot. So I'm here to ask you to take Sora, and raise him if you can. Will you take him?"

Squall looked at the little boy, Squall could do it. But he was after all only 20 years old, he had a whole life ahead of him. He couldn't just set everything down and raise someone else's kid, but looking at this kids face showed Squall he didn't want to be shuffled around. So Squall said,

"I'll take him."

It took three hours to sign all the paperwork and check his house but everything was ok and he was able to have Sora that night.

Gail was leaving and for the first time that night Sora spoke,

"Bye Gail". He ran and wrapped his arms around her waist. She patted his back and said,

"Bye to you to Sora. I'll be back every month to check on you. Be good for Squall, ok?" He nodded against her waist. He stepped away and waved to her till she was out of site. Sora turned and looked at Squall, who was yawning. 'Now what am I going to do, I have a little six year old boy in my house'

"Time for bed squirt" Squall said as he stood up.

"I'm not tired," Sora said as he rubbed his eye and yawned.

Squall smiled and said,

"Sure kid. Let's get you to bed."

The walked up the stairs and Squall decide on the way up the stairs to put Sora in the spare room next to his. He opened the door to a plain room, with a queen sized bed and a dresser in it. A small table sat next to the bed, a lamp sat on it. Squall turned on the light and got out some clothes from the dresser. He gave Sora a white t-shirt that was too small for him and a pair of drawstring pants. Sora clutched them to his chest and looked at Squall with the big puppy dog eyes.

"If you have to use the bathroom it is across the hall. My room is the next room over. I'll leave the bathroom light on."

Squall was leaving and stopped,

"Need a drink or a snack before bed?"

Sora shook his head causing his long chestnut hair to get in his face. Squall smiled and closed the door. He walked across the hall and turned on the light. He went into his room put on a wife beater and a pair of boxers and laid in his bed listening to the rain and thunder till he fell to sleep. He was awoken in the middle of the night to poking and his name being whispered.

"What's the matter Sora?" He asked sleepily. Lightning flashed and Sora cringed but he jumped at the thunder.

"The storm scaring you?"

Sora nodded. Squall lifted up his blanket, as Sora's face brightened. He climbed into bed and snuggled close to Squall.

"Just this once though kid."

Sora was fast asleep by the time Squall said this, he had snuggled really close the Squall and felt safe in his embrace. It was the safest he'd felt since he dad was alive.

Squall woke up to the alarm clock. It was blaring its annoying beep. It was five o clock in the morning. Five hours of sleep was never enough for him, but he would live, he'd gone to work on two hours of sleep before. He rolled out of bed; somehow, Sora stayed sleeping, so Squall moved quietly to the bathroom so as not to wake him. He bathed himself in fifteen minutes as normal and dried off. He clothed himself in his checked dress pants and his black Chef's coat with a moose on the pocket. He walked into his room turning on his light, walked over to his dresser and picked up his wallet and cell phone. Sora grunted at the light and threw the blankets over his head. The made Squall laugh, he walked over and yanked the blankets off the bed,

"Wakie Wakie Eggs and bakey" Squall said. Sora glared at Squall and asked,

"Why?" he put his bottom lip out in a pouting motion. He looked cute,

"Because, I have to go to work and you have to come with me. So go get some breakfast and I'll get you some clothes." Sora grumbled but complied with Squall's orders. Once he was out of the room, Squall took out his cell phone and called Tidus.

When he answered, Squall said

"Good morning sunshine. Are you on your way to the restraunt?"

"Yes, why?"

"I'm going to be running a little late, so I need you to unlock and get it ready for the morning."

"Ok, no problem. Bye"

Squall closed his flip phone and walked up to the attic where he grandmother would have put his clothes from when he was younger. He had been raised by his grandmother, his parents had left him with her we he was a baby. She was a good lady, she won the lottery at ten million dollars when he was a senior in high school, she didn't send the money on herself, for a new house or anything for herself, she used it to put him through college so he could follow his dreams. While he was away at college, she built the restraunt and domestic violence center, for him. She died a month after he graduated and opened the restraunt. She had left him everything. At the funeral was thee first time he met his parents, they were there to see what she left them. He gave them what she left them, nothing. He hadn't seen them since. He found a box marked SQUALL'S CLOTHES. He opened it and found shirts, pants and socks. He picked it up and carried it downstairs with him. He walked through the dining room into the kitchen, Sora had an empty bowl and was staring at it like food was just appear if he looked at it long enough. Squall cocked an eyebrow,

"Waiting on the cereal?"

Sora looked up and smiled.

Squall set the box down and went into the pantry; he found the Captain Crunch Peanut Butter that he ate every morning. He got himself a bowl and when he turned back around, he saw Sora pilfering through the box, with Baron's help

"Who told you, you could pilfer through that box?"

Sora shot out of the box and looked like a dog that had been caught getting into something. Baron continued to look through the box. This brought a smile to his face, the boy looking like the dog should and the dog doing what the boy should've been doing.

"It's ok, Sora, those are your now anyways. Pick out what you like and after breakfast, put them on. Ok?"

Sora nodded and sat back down in his chair. The second the first piece of cereal hit the bowl, Baron's head snapped out of the box and looked at the table. He sat down and put his paw up. Squall just sat and ate his cereal with Sora. Drool hung from Baron's jaw. Squall wiped it away when he finished eating. Sora, looked through the box after he finished and found an outfit and took off upstairs with it, Baron on his heels.

'At least Baron has taking a liking to the kid.' He heard Sora laughing with Baron, upstairs. Squall smiled as he did dishes and out everything up. He walked over to the door picked up his keys and put them in his pocket. Squall was on his way down with socks and shoes on. 'At least he knows what to do' Squall thought. Sora had faded jeans and a shirt that bore a dragon and a surf board on. That had been Squall's favorite outfit. Squall slipped on his black shoes and led Sora outside but not before grabbing his suitcase. They got in Squall's blue Ford Focus and drove to the restraunt called New Beginning. The morning staff was already inside and getting ready for the breakfast rush. Squall parked in his spot, the ground and air was damp still for the storm the night before. When they came inside Tidus was turning and setting the cash register up. He looked up and smiled, the he frown at the kid. Squall walked right by and told Sora to sit in his office while he checked on everything.

"What's with the kid? A victim?" Tidus asked as Squall came out into the dinning room.

"No, DCF turned him over to me as a guardian. He's mine."

"Guess the want to give you a birthday gift too." Tidus laughed at his bad joke.

Squall shook his head,

"Don't quit your day job."

The both laughed, Then Tidus off handedly said

"Happy Birthday Mr. 21 today."

Squall nodded and went to the kitchen with Tidus on his heels. He checked on his workers and what they were doing then decided that his sue chef Danny had everything under control. He entered his office and picked up all the paperwork and his briefcase and motion at Sora to follow him. The got in the elevator at the back of the restraunt and rode it to the domestic violence center underneath the restraunt. He walked out with Sora hot on the back of his legs, he was sure Sora would step on his shoes but he never did, he seemed scared by this place. Many children and women called it home though. He walked through the first glass door after being given clearance. He walked up the short hall way and the door was already unlocked electronically for him. He walked into the waiting room, where Rebecca the receptionist was sitting with the button for all the doors. She was typing at her computer and smiled at him and Sora as they walked by. She was a cheery woman but not very talkative, but if you got her to talk she never shut up. She was good at talking to people when they called and need to find shelter and safety though. She without even looking at the controls pressed the unlock button for the final door. This door led to the hall ways of housing and counseling. Squall walked past many of the closed door a few were open and as he waked by the councilor would say hi and go back to what they were doing. No one had any appointments this early. Squall pulled out his keys and unlocked his door, when it open they were in a room made just for kids. Toys and stuff animals were everywhere. Tables and chairs kid size was randomly placed in the room. Four door were in this room, one to Squall's office were he counseled and worked, the two were storage rooms and one was a video room. Sora's face brighten and he looked up at Squall, who nodded know the silent question, because every child asked it

'Can I play with this stuff?'

Sora ran into the room and began playing with random things. Squall pulled out his card key to unlock his office door, his card key to remove his first lock and his keys for the second. The third and final lock was a code, he typed it in and the door clicked open. He waked over to his computer and turned it on setting his briefcase down beside his desk. He sat in his black leather chair and prepare for his day ahead of him.

Nina, his day receptionist's voice sounded from Squall's intercom.

"Squall, your two o clock is here."

"Send him in" Squall replied.

A short time later boy about fifteen years old walked in. He had sandy blond hair and blue eyes. When his office door open Squall saw Sora playing with the legos he was building a castle. The boy closed the door and sat down in Squall's rocking couch. He had called three days ago and told Squall he had been molested by his brother, he was there to deal with it and to get his brother into jail. His brother was twenty. The talked about the options and what would happen with each and what the boy want to see done. The boy's brother that had been molesting him since the age of six. He still lived in his house. His father was physically and verbally abusive. They called the report hotline. The boy was told to stay at the center and that his family members would be taken into custody. The boy cried for about ten minutes on Squall's shoulder then he was taken by another counselor and shown around. Squall then told Sora to come with him up stairs. The rode the elevator up to the kitchen, it was bustling with activity for the lunch rushes. Chefs and waiters were rushing here and there, picking up this and that. The maneuvered through the busy people out to the dining room, Squall turned and handed his keys to Sora,

"Go open the car and sit down I'll be along shortly, lock the door and don't open them for anyone. We are going to lunch, then out shopping." Sora nodded and walked to the car. Squall walked back into his kitchen and told Tidus he'd be back at four. Which was an hour an a half from the current time. Squall walked back through the kitchen and as he walked out he saw a woman with a man, who wasn't one of his waiter's standing over her. The woman looked uncomfortable. Suspecting something bad, he walked over and sat down.

"Sorry I'm late honey; my break can never come soon enough at this place." Squall laughed and the woman played along.

"No problem baby. How was your day?"

"Good, Can I help you?" Squall said looking at the man. He looked disappointed and anger at the same time. He walked away without a word.

"Thank you, that man was asking me out and has been for weeks. I keep saying no and telling him I'm taken."

The woman's voice was honey soft and beautiful. She had beautiful brown green eyes. Her hair was dark brown and shining in the light.

"No problem. I would hate to have someone hurt under my roof."

The woman looked surprised.

"You own this marvelous restraunt? I come here everyday. The food is beyond any I've tasted."

"Thank you. We try." Squall motioned the waiter for the area over.

"Mark, this lady's meal is on the house. Give her what ever she wants and put the bill on my desk."

Mark nodded and left. The woman thanked Squall greatly before he left to go out with Sora. This afternoon would be a bundle of surprises for everyone.

The pulled up to the drive through on McDonalds. The voiced called through the intercom,

"Good afternoon, welcome to McDonalds how may I help you?"

"Give me a kid's meal with a chocolate shake. The drink is Mountain Dew. Then give me a chicken sandwich grilled. That drink is a Dr Pepper."

"Is that all going to be all for you sir?"

"Yes"

"7.98 is your total. Pull up to the window."

The pulled up and Squall paid. The waved him to the next window where they were handed their food. Squall put it next to him and drove into a parking space. He passed out the food and they ate. Sora seemed to be enjoying the toy. After they finished Squall handed Sora some towelets and they wiped their hands and faces off. They arrived at the mall that was three miles down the street. It was full of people.

"Stay close to me." Squall said. They were walking toward the door where a large group of people were entering, smoking and leaving. Sora got real close to Squall's waist and grabbed his hand. Squall gave it a squeeze to reassure Sora that everything was alright. They walked around going in and out of stores; Sora come to find out was a picky shopper. Some of the things he did and said in the stores made Squall burst out in laughter. After they had gotten two weeks of shirts, sock, pants, and boxers. The got another pair of shoes for Sora. Squall made some stops to pick some things up for the restraunt and domestic violence center. Books for children and adults along with furniture. The furniture would be delivered, while he would take the books. He drive back was slow because traffic had double in amount since they had left. When they finally got back to the restraunt the doors were locked for cleaning and resetting before dinner. Squall having the key opened the door and walked in. The dining room had been redone and everything looked wonderful. The candles for dinner had been lite and the tables were set and ready. The kitchen wasn't anywhere near the chaos it had been when he'd left, it was calm and some people, namely the waiter's were on break. The chefs were cooking and some of them even were sitting down. Squall checked on the food and made sure everything that was in the steam tables to be kept warm was at the right temperature. It was and so he went down stairs to the center. Nina unlocked all the doors for him. She was a nice woman, they had meet in collage she had like Tidus and the two were engaged now. Nina had a good personality and had study psychology with him; they both had their masters in psychology. Squall told Sora to go to his office, he handed him the keys and Sora complied willingly. Squall sat down in front of Nina after Sora left.

"How's the day been?"

"Good, rather quite. What's with the little boy following you around?"

"When I got home last night the DCF lady was waiting for me and begged me to take him, I couldn't refuse. He's a good kid, funny and makes me have something new in my day." Squall said.

The two talked about this and that, nothing of any real importance, just friendly chatter. Squall walked in and Sora had gone right back to the castle he had been working on. It was well built, it looked strong. Squall smiled and walked into his office, he was signing forms and reading the money reports for the restraunt, when he heard Sora let out a shrill cry and then some laughing that wasn't his. Squall spun his chair around and walked into the room, Sora was laying on his back with tears coming down his cheeks and an older boy, which Squall didn't recognize was standing where Squall's castle had been. The castle was completely destroyed but it would take some time to rebuild. Squall's face darken, he hated people bulling the younger ages but most of all he hated when that kid belonged to him.

"Hey, why did you do that?" Squall's voice was hard.

The kid looked at Squall with a look of fear on his face, he didn't respond to Squall's question.

"I'm assuming your staying at this shelter that I own, while under my roof respect other people and my son most of all, or I'll have the social work put you somewhere else understood?"

The kid nodded and walked out of the room quickly. Squall bent down and gathered all the castle pieces together,

"What say you to rebuilding this mighty castle? I can help you make in stronger so that way no one can kick it and it be destroyed."

Sora looked at Squall as if to find a lie in his words but seeing none started to look away but Squall put his hand to his face and wiped the tears off. Sora smiled and hugged him, knocking the crouching Squall down. Squall grunted when he hit the floor but laughed, he tickled Sora to get him off. After the wrested for a while the two started to rebuild the castle. They made little solider and town people even war machines. Squall made his own army and the two played with the castle. Squall was invading Sora's castle but his mighty army and wall proved to be too much for Squall's rag tag army. Squall made his own castle and Sora invaded it, Squall's was no match for the power of the great Sora's army and war machines. Sora's armies had many victories by the time they stopped playing somewhere close to eight. Squall heard Sora's stomach growl, so they gather up their things and locked the doors and left but not before Squall invited Nina to dinner, she was leaving, and Rebecca was taking over. Nina agreed to come and they all enjoyed their dinner. Sora had pizza while Squall had shrimp and pasta. Nina had a huge bowl of Brussels sprouts smothered in cheese. Squall told Nina to hold on that he would walk her out to her car, after he told everyone what to do to finish up the night. He told them that everything needed cleaning and that any waitresses or female chef were to have a male escort out of the building. They knew but Squall always told them anyways. They were walking by the ally towards the staff parking when both Nina and Squall heard a scream, that wasn't very loud and sounded muffled. Squall told Sora not to move and with Nina went into the dark ally, two figures could be seen, when was pressing the other against the wall. The one figure must have seen them because he turned slightly and produced something, Squall knew what it was, he could seen the glint of the barrel, it fired and Nina let out a cry and dropped her gun, that she brought to work everyday. Squall quickly moved and grabbed it, he had excellent marksmanship and fired hitting the other person's gun, and they let out a scream and dropped it. Squall ran and tackled the man; he rolled on the ground and struggled but with only one hand he could fight of Squall who was much bigger and fitter than this man. Squall rolled him over and held his hands behind his back till Nina walked over holding her arm. She grabbed the man and because he was bigger than her she brought his arms up and pushed on them till the almost popped out of place, so he would struggle unless he wanted to hurt himself. Squall called the police and made sure the woman was alright. It was the woman from early,

"Twice I've saved you from that guy, you should be more careful. Name's Squall." He held out his hand to her she shook it and said

"Thanks, I owe you. Name's Aerith." He smiled.

"My name is Squall. Are you ok?"

"A little shaken up but I'll be fine."

"Well, I'd like you to come into tomorrow about six pm and see me. Here, that way we can talk and work things out. I'd stay and talk to you tonight but I have to get my son home."

He went to get Sora, several officers were standing over him, and he was whining and cringing away from them. One of them tried to grab his arm to still Sora; he let out a cry and tried to pull away, from him. He held on and said something to him, whatever he said Sora didn't believe or like. He began to cry, and tried to get away but just could because the cop was bigger and stronger. Three of Squall's security guards had come out side and saw Sora and the cop they walked over and stood beside Squall.

"Is there a problem officer? Why are you holding my son like he is a criminal?"

The officer looked up and smiled,

"I had no idea he was yours I'm sorry." He let go of Sora, who without a second of waiting time, fled behind Squall's leg. He was hugging it and crying. Squall knew that Sora's parent were killed in a car accident but he was unsure why that cop had made Sora so unnerved, like he had seen him before. Maybe it was just the lights and sirens that made him uncomfortable. The cop walked into the ally way to his comrades. Squall bent down and hugged Sora and was cooing him.

Aerith was standing over him,

"For being a Chef you a pretty good dad. I bet you're a good husband too."

Squall looked at her.

"I'm not marry, this one adopted but I won't treat him any less because he's adopted, that's wrong."

Aerith looked surprised at his statement that he was married but smiled at his other statement.

"I can't believe a man who is as cute and caring as you isn't married."

Squall blushed, he was glad it was dark outside. He laughed; no one had ever called him cute before. The police came over asking for an explanation of what had taken place so he explained what happened as did Aerith. Aerith was escorted to her car by Niles Jeeves and Noggy, the three security guards. Squall put Sora in the car, then he asked his three guards to tell him what they saw the cop do, and if the heard anything. They explained what happened when Squall saw the cop and when he touched him. He nodded and thanked them; they went back to their stations inside. Then Squall went home; Sora only woke to walk to the car and into the house, once inside he was asleep quickly in his own bed. Baron had climbed into bed with Sora and was snuggling close to him. Squall watched him sleep and then went to bed smiling, this was the happiest he'd been since his grandmother had been alive. He wanted to know about Sora's real past and would find out, but for now he would sleep.

Twice that Squall had saved her from that man. She hadn't lied when she'd called him cute, he was. His slightly curly brown hair that went to his nape but if he straightened it would go a little more. His eyes were a dazzling color of blue. The little boy that traveled with him was cute, his chestnut hair and blue eyes. She couldn't believe that Squall wasn't married or that the child didn't belong to him. She thought about Squall all night till she fell to sleep. In her dreams he saved her again. When she woke on that Saturday morning she was still thinking about him, his memory would fade so easily. She looked the window of her apartment sipping at her coffee thinking of him.

This is a private story too. I decided to make it a Fan fiction. If you like this and want to see the original, just ask. I'm going a different way with the original; this one is going to make a different turn at the light than the original. Please Read and review, I like compliments but if you don't like tell me what you don't like. DON'T FLAME ON ME OR DIE. Thank you that is all.