Yes, it's another one-shot of my OCs. No, only the bad guys of Kingdom Hearts are featured in this. This was something I had for a couple of months. I don't own anything that belongs to the Kingdom Hearts franchise. That's Disney and Square Enix's stuff. This connects with Prismrain13's Reconnected universe. A special thanks to Greymon Leader Batx flashpoint and Prismrain13 for reading this beforehand and giving me feedback. Thanks for the help guys! Enjoy:)

The Stranger from the Darkness

Down a dirt road was a two-story farm house that wasn't actually a farm. If one were to walk to it, they would see a woman and two, small children lounging on a swing on the porch that encircled the house. The children huddled close to the woman on either side of her as she read them a story. One child; a girl of at least three with dark hair like her mother, save for the strange red highlight; had her arms wrapped around a baby fox. The other child; a boy of about four with fair hair; rested his head near the woman's abdomen. All were so engrossed in the story that if someone were to walk to the house, the three wouldn't have noticed until that someone were right at their doorstep.

As it so happens, someone was.

"Good afternoon."

The little fox in the girl's arms perked up as the woman and children looked up. Behind their porch railing, an old man with golden eyes stood. "Forgive me for intruding, but I was wondering if I could stop here and rest for a spell. I've been traveling for awhile and grown tired."

"Oh." The woman blinked in surprise before she offered a kind smile. It wasn't unusual for her and her family to get visitors or passersbys. She closed her book. "O-of course. Come take a seat and get out of the sun."

"Thank you."

The stranger walked up onto the porch and sat down on an empty chair near the family. "It is so good to rest after travelling for so long."

"You must have been traveling far. Are you a messenger of some sort?"

The stranger let out a chuckle. "Merely an old man visiting places."

The stranger studied the children around the woman. "What lovely little children you have there."

She laid a loving hand on her son's head, running her fingers through his hair. "Thank you, sir."

"What are their names?"

"This is our son, Luke, and this-" she brought her arm around the little girl and held her close. "-is our daughter, Kyra." She kissed the child's forehead, causing the child to let out a small giggle.

The stranger's eyes trailed down to the woman's protruding middle. "And I see you have another on the way."

She moved her hand across her stomach, smiling lightly at it. She felt a small kick responding to her touch.

"I'm not due for another month. We're all very excited."

"Congratulations, Miss…"

"Call me Gabriella. And what shall we call you, sir?"

"Xehanort."

"It's very nice to meet you." After a little difficulty, Gabriella stood up and walked over to the stranger known as Xehanort to shake hands. Xehanort smiled after the handshakes, like a lizard might smile upon seeing a fly. "Likewise," he said.

Gabriella's eyes widen as she realized something.

"Oh, how rude of me. You must be thirsty. Let me get you a drink."

Xehanort feigned politeness as he held up a hand. "Don't trouble yourself-"

"It's no trouble at all. Kyra, help me with the drinks, sweetie?"

"Yes, mama." Kyra handed the baby fox over to Luke and jumped down from the porch swing, running up to her mother's side. She held tight to the hand her mother held out and hid as much of herself behind her mother's legs. Her eyes didn't look away from Xehanort as they walked past him and into the house. There was something about his smile and the look in his eyes that she didn't like.

Both of them, though, seemed to have forgotten that Luke was still on the porch with that man.

Luke placed the fox down beside him. A tingle on his neck made him turn to look at the old man, who was looking right at him with a calm expression and calculating eyes. It made him think of when his father was looking over a map and searching for alternative routes for quicker travel. Luke rubbed his hands nervously. "Hello," he murmured.

Xehanort studied the boy from his seat, his one elbow propped on the armrest while his chin rested against his fist. "You, boy. I see potential in you."

Luke tilted his head thoughtfully. "Do you mean like becoming what my Dad is?"

"And what does your father do?"

"My mommy said that he helps find better paths for soldiers so they don't get lost or so that they get to somewhere quicker."

"A strategist."

"Yeah, for the army, but they didn't need him for a while."

Xehanort scratched his chin. "I see. However, that is not what I meant."

"It's what my Dad's friends think."

"They're wrong. You have a greater potential than that. Potential...of becoming very powerful."

Luke blinked. "Powerful?"

Xehanort nodded. "Yes. A warrior capable of great strength and destruction, given the right training."

Luke shook his head. "I don't wanna be a warrior."

Xehanort raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"If I'm a warrior, then I would have to hurt people. I don't wanna hurt people."

"Then how do you expect to protect your family? Say another war came and you were the only one who could protect them from the danger to come. What would you do then?"

Luke stayed silent, looking away and biting his lip.

Xehanort scoffed. "You understand so little and know nothing of how the universe works. The only way to achieve anything is by fighting for it. I could teach you, train you to be the champion of your home. Alas, you are too young. A shame you aren't older. Still, perhaps one day our paths will collide again." He straightened up, staring intently at Luke. "It wouldn't hurt to have a back-up plan."

Xehanort stretched out his hand, about to summon his Keyblade and perform the ritual that would allow Luke to one day wield one when he felt a small set of sharp teeth clamped around his ankle.

"Ah!" Xehanort looked down at the small fox, which ran back to Luke once Xehanort tried to swing his hand at it. The old man growled under his breath, glaring at the animal who returned his glare from his seat on the boy's lap. It barked at him.

"Hello? What's going on here?"

Xehanort turned his attention to the man that just arrived. He had sandy colored hair and a leaned build. Luke smiled at the newcomer and ran to him, the fox following his lead.

"Dad, you're home!"

Luke's father smiled and caught his son in his arms as the child jumped off the steps to greet him. The boy laughed as his father ruffled his hair. "How's my little man doing?"

"Awesome! I didn't know you were coming home today."

His father shrugged. "I came home early as a surprise."

"Daddy!" Xehanort looked behind him to see Kyra run by, Gabriella not far behind. Both equally ecstatic.

"Truen, you're home!" Gabriella practically shoved the tray of drinks she was carrying into Xehanort's hands and waddled down the steps to met her husband, who now had a child in each arm. "We missed you."

Truen kissed his wife. "I missed you, too."

"You were gone forever," Kyra said, arms wrapped around her father's neck.

Truen chuckled. "It was only a couple of weeks, sweetie."

"But it felt like forever!"

Truen hugged his children close before setting them down. "Then I'm just gonna have to make it up to you. I have a whole new bunch of stories to tell and other surprises."

His children's faces lit up like Christmas lights and they talked over each other in fast procession, asking questions about the surprises and when they can receive them. Truen gestured for them to calm down, holding back his laughter. "Okay, okay. I'll show you soon. But first..." Truen glanced up quick at the strange man on his porch, who had placed the tray of drinks on a nearby table and was drinking one of the glasses. "...I need to talk to your mother and our guest. You kids head on inside and we'll meet up with ya then. Okay?"

"Okay!" Kyra and Luke said together before running up to the door. They passed Xehanort, who watched them out of the corner of his eye, and disappeared into the house.

Xehanort put the now empty glass down as Truen and Gabriella joined him on the porch. Truen walked up to him. "Don't believe we've met," Truen said. He stick his hand out. "I'm Truen. You've already met my wife and kids."

"Xehanort," he answered, briefly shaking Truen's hand in greeting. "I was just leaving."

"Oh, you don't have to leave yet," Gabriella reassured, but Xehanort waved it off.

"I thank you for your hospitality, but I do have a schedule to keep. I must be off." Xehanort walked off the porch and back on the path. "You have such sweet children. Congratulations again on the next one." And with that, he said no more. Slowly growing smaller in the distance as he walked away.

Once Xehanort was far from their earshot, Truen turned to his wife. "Honey," he started, being gentle and careful with his words. "Why did you invited that man on our property?"

"He said he was walking for awhile and wanted to rest for a bit," Gabriella explained. "What's wrong? I thought you liked having visitors."

"Yes, but what we don't like is leaving our children alone with a stranger on the porch."

Gabriella's eyes widened. "I didn't even realized...oh my gosh...what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you." Truen helped his wife as she sat down on the swing porch. He sat beside her, draping an arm around her shoulders. "You just tend to be forgetful when you're pregnant."

Gabriella smirked. "Having 'Baby Brain' as you called it." She rubbed her bloated stomach. She laid her head on his shoulder. "I think after this kid, we just stick to having three."

Truen rest his head on top of hers, the faint scent of strawberries and honey reaching his nose. "Unless three's a girl, then we have a fourth."

"Well...Sybil said it would be a boy."

Truen made a face. "I'm... not really going to ride all my money on what Sybil says. Not since what she predicted about Kyra and something about a dragon."

"That she would kiss one?"

"Yeah, that one."

Gabriella giggled. "I suppose you're right. Still, I really think it'll be a boy."

Truen shrugged playfully. "I guess this could be one of those times when Sybil's right."

They rocked back and forth together on the swing, taking a moment together and enjoying the view of the meadow beyond their home. Tall grass and leaves from the trees moving in the summer breeze. The sound of babbling water nearby.

A bark from their feet broke the moment.

Both looked down to see Rusty, tail swishing. He jumped up onto their laps, rubbing against their hands as they scratched his back.

"We best get inside," Gabriella said, struggling to get up before her husband quickly gave her a hand. She cradled the little fox in her arms. "Kyra and Luke are still waiting for your surprise."

Truen smiled. "Best not to keep them waiting, then." He grabbed the satchel he set down earlier and opened the door for his wife. The door clicked shut as he followed her in.

Several years later...

A eleven-year-old Luke sat on a small bed, hugging his legs to his chest and his chin atop his knees. He stared blankly ahead, face pale and stained with tears. His head was reeling with the events from the past couple of hours.

It started out as any other day: he was home with his family, his mom and dad inside talking about the war and how soon his dad will have to leave again. Along with the possibility of him his dad not coming back home alive. He, meanwhile, was outside with his younger siblings, all of them climbing the tree and worrying about dad leaving. Kyra was angry a lot. She didn't like being reminded of that. He didn't blame her; they were all scared and a lot of bad stuff has been happening lately. First, the war, then the deadly virus that wiped out half the town, and now this. It couldn't get any worse.

Yet the worst was just arriving.

It was his little brother that saw it first, something strange in the sky.

The weather was overcast since morning, looking like it might storm at any second. However, this storm wasn't normal as a dark, red orb appeared, darkness swirling around it. They watched transfixed as the sky became pitch black and the wind became more intense within minutes.

The three of them clutched to the branches as the whole tree shook. His brother couldn't hold on. Luke tried to reach him but he fell before he could. He had to watch his brother land on the ground, hard.

Kyra screamed.

His parents ran out then. His mother rushed to her youngest child while his dad helped them get down from the tree.

It grew darker as the world crumbled around them.

They rushed inside, but then dark tendrils appeared from the ground and wrapped around his mother's legs, trapping her on the porch.

His dad handed him his unconscious brother and told him and Kyra to go inside and head for the basement. Kyra tried to follow after their dad as he went back for their mom, but Luke grabbed her wrist and dragged her along with him.

They were at the basement door when they heard a whimper. It was Rusty.

Kyra wrenched her arm free from his grip and headed upstairs, the little fox's cries coming from there. He paused for a second before going down to the basement. After laying his brother down underneath a desk, Luke ran back upstairs to get Kyra.

He opened the door to find his house gone, the walls and roof torn off and everything being blown away as even the ground itself sunk into the growing darkness.

His parents and Kyra were nowhere in sight.

Frightened, he took a step back and couldn't take another. One look down and his body was getting encased by the dark tendrils that got his mother.

He tried to free himself, tried to get out. He needed to get back to his brother. He couldn't lose him too. But tried as he might, that darkness took him and everything went black.

Luke woke up here, on a world with backward waterfalls and a castle. Alone, with his family gone. He couldn't help but think he could have prevented that somehow.

Was it my fault? Could I have done something?

There was a knock.

Luke looked up as the yellow door swung open and a woman dressed in black robes entered. Her skin was green and horns adorned her head. She held a staff with an orb at its top. She stood at the foot of his bed and smiled sweetly at him.

"Feeling better?" Maleficent asked, her voice gentle.

Luke shook his head, looking away. "No." He sniffed, fresh tears spilling down his cheeks. "I'm scared. I don't understand what's happening. I don't understand any of this! I want to go home! I want my mom and dad!"

Maleficent set her staff down and sat next to the child, wrapping him in her embrace as he cried. "You poor child," she pitied, stroking his hair.

"I want my family back," he mumbled into her shoulder, gripping her sleeve.

Unbeknownst to Luke, Maleficent smirked, a calculating look in her eyes. "There is a way."

Luke ceased shaking. "There is?"

"I could help you, not only to restore your home, but to reunite you with your family as well. In return, I'm looking for an apprentice."

"Can you...can you really help me find them?"

"Indeed I can."

"And you can make me stronger?"

Maleficent tilted his chin up, forcing him to met her gaze. "I will train you to be a powerful warrior. To use whatever arsenal within your grasp to your advantage. To have no fear and no barriers to hold you back. And travel the worlds to seek your goals."

She released him from her grasp as he thought it over. It seemed like it was the only way. He needed to become a warrior to fight and be brave. To find his family.

"And you'll help me find them?"

Maleficent nodded. "The moment I find even one member of your family, I shall deliver them to you. All I ask in return is your cooperation and loyalty."

Luke straightened up and wiped his face with his arm. He wanted everything to go back to the way it was. And if this was the way, by fighting, then so be it.

Luke took a deep breath and met the witch's eye. "Okay. I'll do it."

Fin

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

-Yoda

I do not know much about Star Wars, but I felt that quote fits this story. And no, Luke did not get his name from Star Wars. So yeah, Xehanort meets young Luke and plant those fears and doubts in his head. Then years later, Luke's world crumbles down (literally), he blames himself for his family being separated, and he agrees to be Maleficent's apprentice to achieve his goals. Boy, I made half of his life miserable. Could be worse. Xehanort's Heartless could be tormenting him instead of Riku.

The Baby Brain I got from an episode of How I Met Your Mother. Even back then, Rusty was biting bad guys. Animals can sense evil. On an unrelated note, Coco was awesome and I like to think Rusty could be an alebrije, he's got the special abilities down.

Any questions, likes, criticism? Then review:)Thank you:)))