Disclaimer: If you don't know by now (or have been living under a rock) Kingdom hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney and not me. Any Final Fantasy characters I used/borrowed for the purpose of this story aren't owned by me either- they too belong to Square Enix.

A.N.D

Angels.Never.Die

Chapter 01: Life AND Death

In the rays of moonlight which entered the room through a small narrow window, Aeris made her way towards the bed her brother lay in.

"Sora, Sora" whispered the small girl softly as she shook her brother. She stood over him a few moments but her brother made not the slightest of movement.

"Sora", she repeated with more alarm in her voice.

"Hmmm…" -his half opened eyes made their way to the clock on the opposite wall-"it's only 2, go back to bed Aeris."

"Sora I'm scared", the 7 year-old pleaded, "there is someone downstairs."

Sora lay on his bed silently searching for any foreign noise coming from downstairs, he raised his head to hear better. He could make out faint footsteps and a pair of voices foreign to his ears.

"Okay I'll go check who it is" he groaned as he pulled the sheets aside. He took his sisters hand and led her to the closet, "you hide here, if I don't come back in five minutes call the police." He handed Aeris his cell phone and closed the closet door gently.

Grabbing a metal bat from his baseball bag he made his way slowly out of his room, his eyes tried to penetrate the darkness while his feet made sure to avoid any squeaky floorboards.

I have to be brave, be brave, be brave! Sora chanted in his head. It was his job to protect his little sister since his mom was at work at the hospital and came home around five in the morning. His father, if such a person could be called that, had left their lives before Aeris was out of the womb.

He slowly made his way down stairs - even though it was dark his feet knew the way. He could make out two dark figures in the living room; they were taking one of the paintings off the wall.

He moved cautiously towards the figures as they toiled over the painting. Then dodged behind the couch, they still hadn't noticed him. The intruders had managed to take the painting off the wall. Sora's head was occupied one single thought: It's now or never!

"THAT'S NOT YOURS!" he shouted as he swung the bat with all his might at the intruder closest to him.

The intruder's body became livid from the impact and lay as inert as a block of wood.

The other guy was also taken aback from the turn of events; he stood motionless like a statue before coming to his senses.

"Who are you?!" demanded Sora, his bat was held in front of him and his body was alert in case the intruder were to try anything he would be quick to respond with a strong swing.

The intruder cleared the perspiration from his brow, "Nobody worth mentioning", he took a step forward.

"I won't hesitate to defend myself" threatened Sora tightening his grip on the bat.

"You'll do what now?" replied the intruder in a mocking voice as he tightly gripped the other end of the bat with one hand.

Sora was forced to release the bat and now he stood defenseless in the darkness.

The intruder stuck a blow to Sora's stomach with a powerful punch.

His knees made a loud thud as they made contact with the wooden floor, Sora's hands wrapped around his stomach which now felt like the pits of hell.

The stranger grabbed Sora's hair, "If I were you I would stay there unless you want to die." He turned to see if his companion would regain consciousness anytime soon.

The brunette couldn't help but groan in pain. By now Sora was sure five minutes had passed, his little sister should have called the cops. All he had to do was make sure the perpetrators stayed here to be arrested. As for the painting he didn't care much since it was one of his father's possessions, but it was his mom treasure.

He struggled to his feet, "I won't stay down" said Sora under his breath. Against his body's will he rushed towards the intruder and tackled him.

Both on the floor struggled to gain control. Sora punched with all the strength he had and tried to make as much damage as possible.

Suddenly there was a loud noise, the brunette's body was not prepared for the impact and was thrown against the wall.

He could feel the coldness of the wall as his back rested against it; there was a burning pain an inch or two below his collar bone. Tears clouded his sight and his voice was silenced by the pain he was now feeling. His hands grasped around the wound feeling the dampness and warmth. He tried to apply pressure trying in vain to stop the bleeding. Everything slowly grew darker, his body seemed heavier with every breath and there was nothing but silence. The world around him was vanishing.

The seconds passed, if not rapidly, at least not unendurably. Sora gave in and let his eyes rest. Before he lost all consciousness of the world around him, he felt his body being lifted by an unknown pair of arms.

Am I being carried? And if so who?

He slowly opened his eyes to answer the mystery.

"I see you're coming to", the person carrying him let Sora gently off his arm. Sora now was face to face with a man a slightly taller than himself, his blond locks were arranged in a number of spikes. He had to be one of the most beautiful creatures that the brunette had laid his eyes on; however, this was not what caught his attention. This person had a beautiful pair of white wings that would fill any swan with envy.

"Hello I'm Cloud", he smiled in a friendly manner disclosing teeth as white as ivory.

Sora was mesmerized by the lovely pair of wings that he just nodded dumbly.

The blond let out a small sigh "do you want to touch them, they are real" he added noting that the boy's eyes were fixed on his wings.

"Oh", Sora cleared his throat and now all of the past events hit him. There was a small moment of silence, "am I really dead?" he said more to himself than to Cloud.

The angel cast his eyes heavenward, he answered in a low tone "yes, that is why I am here."

So here I am in a room that is thousands of miles from my home. This room isn't even mine; it belongs to some boy named Riku. But that is not the worst thing. My hands are shaking, my knees have buckled, and my face is burning red because here in front of me is this stranger, Riku, standing in front of me. His tone body is only covered by a black towel around his waists, and his damp hair falls gracefully on his shoulders. Any minute now this Riku will surely question me about who I am and how I got here. He will probably think I am some pervert. You may be wondering where Cloud is, so am I. That stupid bastard left me here.

I guess all I'm doing is confusing you; I should explain how I got here.

I met Cloud the day I died- he was the first angel I had ever seen, boy was I surprised to find out that there really is a God. But that is not the only thing that happened that day.

As soon as Cloud was done introduced himself he grabbed my hand we were in a place that I never thought I would see again. There amongst a large backyard stood an old willow tree that held within its branches a small tree house. On an adjacent branch there was a swing.

The silence was broken by his voice, "I thought it would help you feel more at ease if you were in a familiar place, does it?"

I sat on the swing and let my eyes wandered around my new surroundings; here was the tree me and my friend climbed everyday after school, the swing we all fought for. "Yeah it does" I replied softly, I wasn't sure if Cloud had heard. He leaned against the trunk of the tree and stared at the ground for a moment before he began: "The way someone dies determines what will become of them. In your case since you died protecting your little sister and the painting which your mom treasured you are now to become a Guardian Angel."

Part of me now understood why he brought me here, it was like anesthesia for what was about to come. "What if I don't want to be a Guardian Angel?"

Cloud's aura had changed "then I seal your soul" he answered coldly. His body moved away from the tree.

"So how do I become a Guardian Angel?" I smiled nervously as he stepped closer, who knew an angel could be so scary.

"That's why I am here, my duty is to instruct you" he made a small bow of politeness.

If it hadn't been for the fact that I had been holding onto the ropes of the swing I probably would have fallen, this guy was going to be my teacher. Had I really committed such a terrible sin in my life that this was my punishment?

Cloud took a step closer to his new pupil "let's begin shall we?" and without warning his hand tightly gripped mine.

To my surprise our surrounding changed. We were now in a small messy room; the walls were painted a dark red and adorned with posters of either bands or movies I had never heard of.

"Where are we?" Nothing seemed familiar.

"A Guardian Angel is usually assigned to a new born but since you are new you have been assigned to a teenage human being, I'll explain more as we go along."

"So who am I babysitting?" Just when I thought I was beginning to figure everything out Cloud always threw a curve ball.

"Oh I almost forgot" he said more to himself than to me. With strength I didn't know Cloud had he grabbed both of my wrists and swung me so we faced each other. Before my mind had anytime to register what had happened our lips locked.

Pulling slowly his lips away from mine he whispered: "Good luck" and vanished.

Before I had anytime to react to the sudden kiss the door swung open. Even though I had never met the boy who entered I recognized him, he was Riku. In fact I knew everything about him, his favorite food, his favorite pastime, his favorite everything!!!

What exactly is going on?! Did the kiss have to do something with this?

By the looks of it Riku had just finished his shower. His well toned body glistened with water droplets and was only covered by a towel wrapped around his waist.

My whole soul went on panic mode and my face burned red at the sight. My brain went through a hundred lies I could say for my sudden appearance. (They all sucked!) He would never believe any of them, I was doomed.

Riku looked around the room for a minute and then made his way towards through a pile of clothes that lay on the floor. He was looking through them for something descent to wear.

Any second now he will realize that I am here, I stood firmly against the bed post bracing for the moment he would acknowledge my presence. But the strangest thing was he never did. Riku let the towel drop and immediately I turned to face the wall as Riku began to change, my face was burning more intensely now.

"Sora, its okay he can't see you. You're basically a ghost" Clouds familiar voice reassured me.

"Cloud? Where are you?" even though I could hear him there was no one in the room. Wait! No one is here! "Riku!" I ran outside the door and could see him calmly walking down the hall. "So what do I do now Cloud?" I asked uncertain if there would be a reply.

"A Guardian Angel's duty is to protect the person whom they are assigned to. You may only intervene if the danger is life-threatening or if Riku says your name. Only then may you help him."

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(Sorry if there are any misspellings or grammatical errors-hopefully I didn't have too many of them)