Quick Note: This is a story I started writing a long time ago, so when I mean it's a Kingdom Hearts fan fiction, it really is one. I had no knowledge of whatever is in Kingdom Hearts II, so it would help if as you read you can somehow forget all you found out in the second game.

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The Blood that Bonds Us

A Kingdom Hearts Fan-Fiction

By princess454

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Children ran around, playing and shoving each other happily, laughing and screaming. They rolled on the grass, swang on the swings, played imaginary house, and chatted. But one kid was alone, leaning against an oak tree, his eyes closed. Everyone in Henryson Polk Elementary school thought him strange. The kids mainly, but the parents and teachers too. Three boys with mischievious grins walked up to him. His eyes remained closed.

"Hey Nikko," One boy said. He was standing taller, and closer to Nikko than the others. His name was Cameron, the most popular kid in school already. He got a stick, and giggling, he poked Nikko on the arm. "Hey loser, wake up. I said 'hey', and when I say something you respond," He said. The others giggled. Nikko didn't stir, or open his eyes. "I think he's dead," Cameron said to the others. They laughed even more. Cameron continued poking him, and the others joined. Finally Nikko's eyes opened, revealing their navy blue color.

"Please," He said. "Stop."

"Why? Watcha gonna do about it?" Cameron replied. They laughed and poked him harder.

"I said stop," Nikko repeatedly softly.

"I think the little loser is getting mad," Cameron said in a baby voice. They laughed even harder, un aware of Nikko's eyes. They turned darker, and darker. They turned brown, then a sort of orange. As the boys continued poking him, he suddenly grabbed all their sticks and broke them, together. The boys stopped laughing, and stared at him with open mouths and wide eyes. "Hey, loser. How'd ya do that?" Cameron asked. Nikko was standing, his fists clenched.

"You think you're so tough. Go pick on someone of your own standards," Nikko replied. He walked away, with the others laughing at him again. Though he was only six, he knew a lot of things, and can do a lot of things other 'normal' kids couldn't. He walked to the parking lot. He sighed, and sat against a car. An hour later, he heard rapid footsteps behind him.

"Nikko!" The voice of a woman called. Nikko didn't stir. It was either a teacher, or his mom. No, it can't be my mom, He thought. She'd never waste any of her precious time trying to find me, much less worry. The steps grew closer. They stopped.

"Nikko...," The voice rang up again. Nikko felt a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes, and looked up. It was his neighbor, Mrs. LenHart. She was the mom of one of his classmates, and was always helping him, or trying to talk to him. She was like the mother he never really had. "Hi," He replied after awhile.

"I saw what happened. I'm sorry I didn't try to do anything," She said.

"I don't care about it. I don't care about anything. If you're wondering why I'm not home, I'll walk there in a minute," Nikko said getting up. Mrs. LenHart stood up too.

"Want me to drive you home? It's awfully cold out," She said. Nikko looked down and thought awhile. He looked up to Mrs. LenHeart's supportive smile.

"Ok...I guess," He replied. She smiled bigger, and lead him to her car.

--

Nikko lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "NIKKO! I'M GOING OUT!" His mom yelled from downstairs. He heard a door shut a moment later. Nikko didn't move, just stared up. Finally, he went to his desk and opened a locked drawer. He took out a faded piece of paper, that looked like a complicated map.

"What are you?" Nikko asked out loud. He stared at it, but he knew it was from another world or universe. He tried looking it up, spent all his time on it. He had found nothing. Therefore, it must be from somewhere...else. He'd occasionally take it out to try and imagine what sort of world it came from, and who might of acquired it before Nikko. He didn't even know how he got it.

Putting it aside on his desk as well as in his mind, he went downstairs, thinking about what frozen food to heat up. He looked at the half eaten birthday cake his neighbor, Mrs. LenHart and her daughter Mischa had made. His birthday was today, he was 16 now. Mrs. LenHart was the only one who remembered, other than himself. Her daughter wasn't friends with him, he's only seen her at school once or twice ten years ago in first grade, but she has long since gone to another school, and she lives at her dad's house. She visits her mom every other weekend, Nikko would know, since Mrs. LenHart was his only friend, coming by everyday to talk about things. She often talked about Mischa, missing her and talking about everything she remembers. Nikko probably knew more about Mischa than Mischa did. Mrs. LenHart, or Martha, acted as if she lost her.

"I know I do. Because I really did," She had replied sadly when Nikko had asked. He opened the fridge, seeing nothing interesting. He sighed and sat down at the table. He noticed a wooden horse figure on the window sill, one that his dad made a long time ago. He grabbed it and looked at it. He remembered his dad saying how carving made him calm down, helping him think and that before he knew it, a masterpiece was formed in his hands. Nikko knew there was some wood in the garage, so he got some and started carving.

"Well...I guess it makes me feel better," He said aloud, merely wondering to himself. He carved and carved, all night. Soon, the sky was orange and pink, and Nikko still sat there carving. By now he's loved it, it made him feel peaceful and cleared his mind. Before long, another beautiful wooden horse figure lay at his hands, its tiny hooves pawing the air. "How did I know how to do that?" Nikko wondered, but in any case, he took his figure and placed it next to his fathers.

--

Nikko felt something tremble beneath him. He woke up to notice his bed shaking, practically his whole room was. While trying to figure out what was going on, suddenly it felt as if his whole house gave out a jolt, and he fell from his bed. The room shook more, and harder. Quickly, Nikko took the very few things that he needed. He knew he had to get out of here, some feeling he couldn't explain coming from his gut told him the necessary instructions.

He took a blanket, put on a jacket, and put the mysterious map in his pocket. He wasn't sure why he was bringing it; perhaps he'd need it. The rest was just normal things, things that wouldn't help him really. He went downstairs, and went to the fridge to put in some food. At that moment the house gave another jolt, and he fell on his knees. He got up, using the table for balance. He forgot the food and instead got his father's horse figure, and put that in his backpack too.

As the lights flickered on and off and the house shook even harder, Nikko ran out the house. Trees were falling, and the ground was shaking. The sky was dark and purple, but the strangest thing was that no one was outside. No police, no fire men, no people what so ever. Nikko didn't know where to go, he just ran and ran. Suddenly little things were running around, dark with bright little eyes darting about. They scurried over to him and began climbing on him.

"Argh, get away from me!" He yelled pushing them off. Suddenly they melted to the ground, and a large tornado up in the sky appeared, pieces of houses and trees flying to it. Nikko watched in wonder, but realizing that he didn't want to be tossed into it he ran the other direction. Planks of wood and plants would fly at him, whacking him down as he tried to run away. As he turned around to see the tornado, he noticed it was coming closer after him, like it wanted him. Then when he was tired from running, and was slowing down, he felt his feet pick up, and himself being lifted. "Nooooo!" He cried as the tornado lifted him whole from the ground, and he started to spin. Then, everything went black.

--

"My legs...They hurt...My head...Hurts even more...," Nikko muttered. He couldn't move. He struggled to open his eyes. But...do I really want too? Nikko thought. He was scared on what he would find. He couldn't remember much...just the terrible thinking of him dying and losing everyone and everything. But...what everyone? There was no one. So...why did he care so much if he died? He opened his eyes and noticed that he was sprawled on hard cement floor. He was freezing, but sores on his entire body didn't feel much of anything except pain. He tried to get up, he really did. But he couldn't even move his head. Slowly he slipped back into unconsciousness and didn't think anything more.

Hours later, Nikko felt something wet against his face. He groaned and managed to roll over on his back. He still couldn't open his eyes, it hurt too much. He didn't hear anything before but now he was sure he heard a faint voice. He sensed someone near him, then whoever it was picked him up and carried him. Soon he was on something soft. He smiled and was able to open his eyes.

"Huh?" He said in a groggy voice. He was in a room, lighted by a candle. He was in a bed, and a wash cloth in a basin of water was next to him on a small dresser. A door creaking could be heard and he vaguely saw someone come in.

"Hi there," A soft female voice said. It sounded like Mrs. LenHeart. Maybe it was her. No, wait, it couldn't be her. She was gone. Nikko somehow knew, that now she was far away from him. The voice belonged to a woman wearing a long green skirt and a white top. She had long black hair and dark eyes. She looked at Nikko intently. "You alright? You had a nasty fall there...as a matter of fact, what were you trying to do up in the ceiling anyway?" She asked. Nikko wanted to respond but couldn't. He sort of half moaned. "Oh, sorry...you must be feeling terrible," She said. She applied the wet wash cloth on his forehead. "Do you even remember what happened love?" The woman asked. Nikko managed a small shake of his head. "Oh, well, my dog Koga found you smack faced on the ground, all bruised an' what not. Some roof shingles fell with you, you seemed to have fallen from the roof. It was a pretty high roof, but thank goodness you came out with only a few bruises and sores..." The woman shook her head slightly as she explained. Nikko sat up with a lot of painful force.

"I...I was dropped there," He said. The woman drenched the cloth above the basin, then it dipped back in again.

"Put this over your right eye," She said. Nikko put it on top of the eye that hurt the most. He let out a sigh of relief. "How did you get dropped there?" The woman asked solemnly. Nikko shrugged. "I'm Lola by the way. I live here in Traverse Town, work at the Cafe," She said.

"T-T-Traverse Town?" Nikko repeated. She nodded.

"Didn't you know? Or did you get here by accident?" She asked.

"Accident," Nikko replied. He leaned against the pillow.

"Really..." Lola got up from where she was sitting at the edge of the bed. She faced the wall for a moment. "Interesting," was all Nikko picked up. She turned. "Do you remember what happend last time you were awake? Like, how you got here?" She asked. Nikko switched hands with the ice pack.

"I...I remember...shadows...," He mumbled. He sounded so stupid. But Lola looked at him more wide eyed now.

"Heartless," Nikko thought he heard her say. "Excuse me?" He asked. She shook her head in reply.

"Don't worry about it. Rest as much as you can, we'll talk later," She said and patted his arm. She left and Nikko groaned with pain on his left knee. He fell off a roof huh? Pretty self-explanatory. What the heck was he doing on a roof anyway? Suddenly his eyes drooped lower until they closed. He was so very exhausted. He fell asleep and heard the ice pack fall with a soft squashing sound as he let his arm go.

--

Nikko opened his eyes. He felt lighter, and most of the pain had gone away. He managed to sit up in his bed pretty easily. What he really wanted to do now was get up and find out where he was, and what happened. He swung his feet so that he was sitting on the bed. He took a big breath and got up. Pain immediately shot up his left leg from his knee and he grabbed it, gritting his teeth. He limped on one leg to the door and opened it to a larger room with a table and chairs, cup boards on the walls, and Lola drinking coffee on the table. She smiled at Nikko.

"Well, then. Good morning," She greeted. Nikko tried to smile but held on to his leg. Lola got the message and ran to a closet. "Here, use this," She said and gave him a wooden crutch. "Good thing I didn't dump that after Leon broke his leg," She continued, mostly to herself. Nikko took it and leaned on it for support. He looked around.

"Leon your husband? Son?" Nikko asked. Lola helped him to a chair and chuckled.

"Oh no, just another citizen. He would make a fine husband at that though," She said going to the cabinets and counter. "Want coffee with your breakfast?" She asked. Nikko sort of nodded. Just now when he had awakened he felt renewed, but with all the energy he used just to get to the other room already left him tired. He wished he hadn't left his bed.

"I, uh, want to know...what's going on," Nikko said. Lola came back with another mug and a plate of bread.

"I'll tell you whatever you need to know," She said and sat down across from Nikko. "Ok...where am I?" Nikko asked.

"Traverse Town," Lola answered.

"Where is that?" Nikko asked.

"In the middle of the universe. Well, basically. This is the world that many come too. Travellers and...well, people whose world were taken over," She explained.

"Taken over by...what?" Nikko asked suspiciously.

"Heartless. Shadow like demons that take over and consume hearts and worlds. People usually end up here when it happens to them. I'm guessing that's what happened to you, seeing as how you landed here out of nowhere and you saw shadows before you came...," She said. She took a slow sip of coffee. Nikko didn't touch his, he just looked at Lola. "You must be starving. Eat," Lola ordered. Nikko shifted and took a small bite of the bread.

"...Am I ever going to see my world again?" He asked. Lola didn't answer right away.

"Nobody knows. Heartless are still around," She answered.

"What about the other people?" He asked. Lola shrugged.

"Many who had their world devoured, which is pretty much everyone around here, usually go looking for loved ones or people they knew," Lola said. "There was no one for me to look for though..."

"You too?" Nikko asked. She nodded.

"That was long ago. I've been here a long time," Lola replied, sighing slightly. Nikko noticed for the first time the deep wrinkles of worry on Lola's face.

"Oh, well...sorry I guess," Nikko said drinking his own coffee. It helped a lot.

"Oh it's fine, it was around around two decades ago anyway. Well...maybe not even that. I'm not that old," She replied. They ate and sipped their coffee silently for a moment.

"How...how did Heartless come?" Nikko asked quietly, hungry for information on this weird new chapter in his life. It was obvious his old life is no more. In a way he was relieved, this could be another chance for him. Start his life over, he guessed. He ruined his life already, or past life now, maybe he can become something different.

"Do you want to go back to your old life?" Lola asked softly, not replying to Nikko's original question. He forced a smile and shook his head.

"No way. I had a horrible life...I just, didn't fit IN you know? I'm sort of half glad this happened...," Nikko confessed.

Lola laughed. "Well, I do hope you like it here. No one is sure yet if you can regain your old world-oh but, I hate talking about that stuff. I knew when I found you I would have to explain the whole tragic story again. It didn't damage my life that bad, but then again it did to others," Lola said. Nikko sighed.

"You're probably very tired. I know I'd be. Why don't you get back to bed? Your knee DOES look pretty messed up, we should have someone check that out for you," Lola said and took the mugs to the sink.

"Thanks," Nikko said. He paused. "You know...for everything. I didn't trust all that many people in my world...it's good to have someone who cares for me in this one." Nikko meant those words and looked at Lola for her reaction. Lola turned around to face him and smiled.

"Anytime," She replied. With that Nikko limped, trying to get used to the crutches, to his room.