This story kind of just popped into my head randomly...

This chapter is all Marluxia but there will be more characters come in very very soon!

Disclaimer: I dont own anything Kingdom Hearts, if I did I wouldn't be writing fanfics. The only things in this story I own are the people that are'nt from Kingdom Hearts...

Enjoy!!!!!

The Lost and the Broken

Man of the House

"You're gonna come tomorrow night right Mar?" Cloud asked as I climbed into my car.

"Yea sure…I'll be there. See ya." I bid Cloud good bye and slammed the car door shut and shoved the key into the ignition. Cloud was determined to get me to go to that party tomorrow night. Don't get me wrong I did want to go. But I would have to find care for Lizzie. I couldn't just leave her alone with mom. I wouldn't dare.

Lizzie was parked in her usual spot on the couch, doing her math homework. But she was watching more T.V. than she was concentrating on her multiplication table. There was a big age difference between me and Liz. I was a junior in highschool and she was in fifth grade. In truth, Lizzie is only my half-sister, we have different dads. My dad left me and my mother when I was six years old. He left because he couldn't handle my mom's drug abuse. After he left my mother drove deeper in to drug addict world. She slept with anybody if it guaranteed her some coke or pills. This was how Lizzie ended up being conceived. Her father was a big shot drug-dealer, and was making loads of money off of it. As soon as he found out my mother was pregnant he skipped town, off to find some new costumers in a different state. My mom was now faced with being a mother of two with no job, and more importantly no cocaine. She went into prostitution for awhile. This assured her money and coke. She did this till I was old enough to get a job of my own, and I became the provider of the family. Now of days she spends most of her time in her bedroom, asleep. The only time she left the house was usually to go find someone who would lend her drugs for anything she had to give in return.

"Hey Liz," I ruffled her hair. She gave me a scowl and smoothed her hair back down. I half smiled and headed up the stairs to my mom's room.

"Mom?" I whispered. She was just a big lump in the middle of her bed. I sat down on the edge of her bed. She rolled over to look at me.

"What is it Marluxia?" She looked like one she belonged on one of those meth before and after posters.

"The social worker is coming tonight. Remember?" She mumbled 'oh shit' under her breath and sat up, pushing away the covers and getting to her feet.

"Thank you baby." She gave my arm a squeeze before she got up and went into the bathroom. I watched her go, wondering if she could pull herself together enough to get through the social worker's visit with out messing up. Deep down the pit of my stomach was telling me other wise.

"Mom! Lizzie! Dinner!" I set the plates down and the newly cleaned kitchen table. I had cleaned the kitchen and the living room while I was making dinner, praying the social worker wouldn't want to see upstairs.

Lizzie came bounding in the kitchen, sitting down in her usual chair and tucking into her food with her usual gusto. I sat down next to her, moving my food around on my plate. I really didn't feel like eating. Surprisingly my mother showed up, showered and dressed. We ate in silence. Or rather, Lizzie did. I continued to shove my food around, while my mother ate a few bites and claimed she was full. I threw the uneaten food down the garbage disposal and placed the dishes in the dishwasher. I made one more once-over to ensure everything was clean and joined my mother and my sister in the living room to wait for the social worker.

We sat in silence, watching whatever Lizzie had picked on the T.V. I turned my attention to Liz. She was wearing a clean skirt and her favorite t-shirt, and had put her hair up in two pigtails. She looked like a normal fifth-grader. I studied my mom sitting next to me on the couch out of the corner of my eye. True she had gotten dressed in decent enough clothing and had showered and done her hair and her make-up, but she still looked like a typical druggie. She had put on too much make-up, but even through all the gunk she still screamed drug addict.

The social worker's name was Mrs. Lufts, and she seemed nice enough. She was wearing a two part deep purple suit, the skirt coming just below her knees. Her dark brown hair was pulled up into a tight bun and she wore black rimmed glasses and carried a briefcase. She was surprisingly young, maybe in her mid-thirties. She settled herself in a chair facing us three on the couch.

"Well let's get started." She began to pull papers out of her briefcase. She placed them on a clipboard and began reviewing. "Ms. Riven, its apparent here that you have had many run ins with the law and have had serious drug abuse, and have been out of an actual job for several years. Is that correct?"

My mother seemed to shrink back into the couch. "Y-yes. That's all true." She said softly, her eyes downcast.

Mrs. Lufts continued, "And have you ever checked into rehab?"

"No. I haven't." Her voice was strained. The bad feeling in the pit of my stomach began to knot.

"We have been reviewing this case." Mrs. Lufts said, we being her and the police, "And we have decided the best thing right now is for you to check into rehab and get your life back in order." My mother nodded bleakly. But Mrs. Lufts wasn't done just yet. "As for Marluxia and Lizzie, you and I both know that it's not fit for them to live here under these conditions. Marluxia will be off to college in just a few years, and we want him to have the opportunity to go to college. But he and Lizzie are both being forced to grow up faster than they should be. It's been decided that its best for both of them to go live in group homes until everything is sorted out."

My heart stopped as the knot in my stomach finally burst. Next to me my mother began to softly cry. Seeing her cry made Lizzie cry too. Mrs. Lufts got up from her chair and crossed over to us. She put her hand on my mother's shoulder and looked truly sympathetic.

"I'm very sorry Ms. Riven. But you do know this is best for your children?" My mother nodded slightly. Mrs. Lufts straightened back up. "Marluxia and Lizzie will leave on Saturday morning. I'll come back for them then." With that she gave my mother some papers, packed up her briefcase, and left.

I hugged my mother until her crying finally reduced to just sniffling. She looked up at me. "You two better go start packing." I nodded and guided Lizzie upstairs. She turned into her room, slamming her door shut. I went into my own room and numbly pulled out a suitcase and started to pack. I was still processing the fact that in two days I would be taken to a totally different home to live with total strangers.

After I had packed almost my entire room up, I returned to the living room. My mother was still there, looking over all the papers Mrs. Lufts had given her. She looked up at me and smiled softly and motioned for me to sit down next to her.

"They are sending you and Lizzie to different homes." She said softly.

"Why?" I really didn't like the fact that I was leaving Lizzie alone in a house full of people she didn't know.

"Well Lizzie is being sent to a group home that houses kids her own age. It will be easier for her to be around kids she can connect with better. And they are going to send you to a group home that houses boys your age, too." She began shuffling through the papers. She found the one she was searching for and placed it on top. Across the top in bold letters was printed, House of the Lost and the Broken. Underneath it was smaller letters in italics, A Home for High School Aged Teenage Boys. The home was in a town about fifty miles from here, which meant I would have the joy of starting a new highschool as well. The home was owned by a lady named Ms. Avery. Lizzie's home was in the same town, so I would be able to watch over her still.

The next day was Saturday, so I was surprised when I walked into the kitchen and found my mother there, cooking at seven in the morning. She looked up when I came in and smiled, walking over to hug me.

"Breakfast will be ready soon baby, could you go wake up Lizzie?" She went back to cooking, me watching her in slight amazement. My mother hadn't made breakfast in five years at the least. I woke Lizzie and returned to the kitchen, where my mother was setting plates down on the table. We ate breakfast in semi-silence. Even though we all wanted to make the best of our last day together as a family, it was hard to shake the fact that this really was our last day together in this house.

I was almost finished packing that evening when there was a soft knocking at my door. "Come in!" I said loudly. My mother entered, wearing a long skirt and a new-looking blouse with her long overcoat on.

"Marly, we are all going to go to dinner tonight. Can you be ready in half an hour?" She smiled softly when I nodded. She crossed the room and sat down on the bed next to me, giving me a warm hug. "You're such a good boy." She whispered. She kissed the top of my head and left to tell Lizzie.

Dinner that night reminded me of the ones when I was little, before my dad left. No one's mind was on the events of tomorrow, which was nice, even though it was only for one hour. When we got home the house was dark and unwelcoming, immediately crushing the happy mood all of us had had at dinner and reminding us of tomorrow. My mother gave us each loving embraces.

"Go to bed. You have a big day tomorrow. I love you." She whispered. We climbed the stairs to our bedrooms to spend our last night's sleep in our house.