DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Final Fantasies and any of the Kingdom Hearts.

Okay. This is my first KH story and I'm kind of excited. I'm going to try my take on a very under appreciated couple and my personal KH favorite, Squall/Leon and Tifa. I hope that there are fans of this couple still left. Please support this story with some reviews ^.^

Summary: Squall Leonhart, a deadly mercenary of SeeD, goes on a mission with the love of his life, Rinoa Heartilly. This mission goes horribly wrong, and Squall is torn from his world and his love. After being sucked into the darkness by the Heartless, Squall thinks that he is dead. What he found was not a life in the clouds, but a life in the world of the Heartless.

Lock Hearted Lion

Chapter 1

"Living beings, whose hearts were corrupted by darkness... They exist for no other purpose than to consume hearts, be it the hearts of other living beings or even that of entire worlds." ...This time, it entered theirs.

Balamb Garden is one of the three institutions that train the mercenary SeeDs. The soul purpose of the Gardens is to kill the Witch of Time. It's been eight years since the defeat of this witch, Ultimecia. Now that the true purpose of the Gardens is out of the way, the SeeDs are set out to do hired jobs such as assassinations, war assistance, monster extermination, etcetera. Now, in Balamb Garden, the lead mercenary is hired for a peculiar extermination mission.

In a neat office of medium size, one can see a brown haired young man scanning over the extermination mission. His name is Squall Leonhart. Running his fingers through his neatly combed hair, he squints his eyes at the report in his gloved hand. "Rank A mission. A large infestation of small dark imps. Size: Over a million. Not much information is know aside from their tough hide. Location: Timber." He says out loud for himself. Over the many years that he has been a mercenary for the force SeeD, he has not experienced an infestation of such a size. And of an unknown monster too. This predicament must have already reached the ears of many. One million fiends. This is just unreal. "I'll have to assemble the whole Garden." he plans.

Squall had an air about him that seemed to make everything around him turn cold. His ice cold, blue eyes never seems to betray his steely personality. The presence that he gives off to his fellow SeeD members highly resembles the Alpha Male lion's dominance over his pack. Coincidentally, his black, leather bomber jacket had a furry collar that resembles the proud mane of a lion. This lion of a man had one deadly canine, his gunblade. The gunblade was a SeeD designed weapon that acted as a chain saw meant for battle. With a gun at the handle of the sword, one can fire a shot that makes the blade violently vibrate, making it able to cut through the toughest of materials, even diamonds. No one ever dared get on the bad side of this lion. No one except his closest friends and his angel.

Needing to get to the top floor of the Garden to make an announcement, Squall bumps into his angel, Rinoa Heartilly. With her long, dark brown hair with three caramel highlights, milky white skin, slender figure, and seductive brown eyes, every male student in the Garden started to fall for her one after the other. Too bad for them though, Squall was the only one who could touch her heart. They were a couple for eight years, right after Squall, Rinoa, and the others in their party defeated Ultimecia. They have been in love ever since. Today, she is wearing her usual blue halter top with the angel wing print on the back, blue arm warmers, black shirt and shorts, and a denim skirt over her shorts. Although, today, she isn't wearing something regular. She isn't wearing her smile. Tears run down her cheeks and she runs to Squall, seeking comfort in his arms.

"Squall! All the guys at Timber... They'll be okay? Right!" Rinoa asks, desperate for some hope. The salty tears are now damping the mane on Squall's jacket. Squall puts his nose against her hair and closes his eyes. He wants to tell her it is going to be alright, but how can he?

"We will do something about it." he says, telling her the only truth that wouldn't hurt her. He pats the back of her head and kisses her forehead softly. "It's going to be alright. It is." After he says this, Rinoa lifts her head and stares bravely into his eyes. It pains him to see how blood shot and tear stained her beautiful brown eyes were.

"We will kill all of those heartless creatures!" Rinoa exclaims. She grips the collar of his jacket and repeats, "We will kill them all!" Squall never saw his gentle angel in such a horrifying state. 'I never want to see you like this again.' Squall thinks solemnly. He quickly hugs her tight and keeps her head against his chest. 'I'll do anything for you, Rinoa.'

He now takes her by the hand and rushes to the elevator to get to the top floor. There he finds the room of headmaster Cid. The pair hurry through large doors and mount on another lift to reach the command center of the whole establishment. Headmaster Cid and his assistant, Xu are there waiting for Squalls arrival. They both have a serious air about them. They know what is coming. Xu hands Squall the speaker immediately.

A loud ding was resonated throughout the school to indicate an announcement from their lead mercenary. "All SeeDs ranked 15 through A, please report to the front of the school at O' eight-hundred. We will discuss the battle plan against the massive monster infestation of Timber. I repeat. All SeeDs ranked 15 through A, please report to the front of the school at O' eight-hundred. We will depart for the city at O' nine-hundred, so have this whole night to prepare Junctions, Guardian Forces, weapons, armors, and any combat preparations necessary."

Since these were Squalls orders, everyone knew that this was for the best. Since the news of this infestation has spread so fast, they knew it was coming eventually. Even if they knew that they could die and never even get to say goodbye to the ones they love, the young SeeD mercenaries know that they have no choice. They dare not complain. It is their duty as SeeD.

That night, Rinoa is laying on Squall's bed. Her head is on his chest, and her arms are wrapped around him. Squall's are is wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Both seek comfort from each other. Both seek comfort in the dark and quiet of night. They will not talk to each other the whole night, too depressed for conversation. They will not sleep for they know that these precious hours might be the last they share together.

Squall pulls away from her embrace and gets on top of her. The couple close their eyes and share a deep kiss. Rinoa's hands find their way into Squall's hair. She tugs and pulls on his light brown hair, making his lips press even deeper against hers. Rinoa loved the way the Squall nips at her lips, kissing her over and over, but tonight she just wanted pure, uninterrupted contact. Squall didn't seem to mind. He pressed his body tighter against hers, sighing at the feeling of her body pressing against his. Squall pulls away from their kiss, much to Rinoa's displeasure. However, she found new pleasure in the form of his lips pressing against her neck. He was sucking on her. It made her dizzy. She needed to grab onto something or else she thought she would fall way too deep into ecstasy. She grabs his well toned back, only feeding that she lost herself even more to him.

They kissed all night long, never stopping. Never wanting to stop.

The next morning, all the troops are lined up in rows in front of the school. The sheer number of the SeeD army is massive. One hundred thousand mercenaries lined up ready to fight. The air is hot and thick. Everyone is looking sharp in black uniforms, standing straight, and waiting for their leader's orders. Finally, a deep commanding voice rings out through the ranks.

"Everyone! We shall ride to Timber on the armed boats. Once we land, I want everyone to assume Formation Delta. Fighters at front line, magic oriented SeeD right behind, skilled GF summoners at our sides, and snipers and gunmen at the back. You are to treat this as war! Do I make myself clear!" Squall explains, with a voice that was booming and terrifying. They could feel the rage in his heart. It shows how much it tore him up when he saw Rinoa crying. Squall clenches his fist and pumps it up on the air.

"YES, SIR!" the crowd roars, their fist now in the air to copy Squall. "SIR, YES, SIR!"

"Move out!"

There is packing, and preparing, and loading, and curse words, and motivational words, and talk, and bustle, and loading, and ships, and bodies, and everything you can think of. At the armored boat hanger, one can see the thousands of young SeeDs ready to go to battle. They board large ships, parked on long rectangular shaped launchers, hundreds at a time. Amongst the hustle and bustle one can see the lead mercenary and the headmaster walking through, having a serious conversation.

Squall looks into the old man's eyes as Headmaster Cid speaks to him. "Be careful out there Squall. We need you back here at the Garden. Everybody is counting on you." Cid clamps his hand to Squall's left shoulder and whispers in a slightly worried voice, "Don't die."

Squall nods his head as if it was an order. "Yes, Sir." he says, putting an opened hand to his forehead for a salute.

With this, Squall sets out to find his angel. She is outside the hanger and looking out into the bright morning sky. Tears are welling up in her eyes. Squall comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her tiny waist. She recognizes his scent and leather gloves. Rinoa leans into his chest and sighs at his touch. She closes her eyes and holds his hands.

"Squall?" she asks. Her voice is trembling with sadness.

"Mm?" He mumbles, closing his eyes. He touches his forehead against the back of her head and frowns.

"I want to forget it all.. what happened to Timber." She says gripping his hands tighter. Rinoa looks up at the sky with tears staining her cheeks, and says, "I want to go back to that place. That place where I know you will always be waiting if we ever get separated. That place... I can see the flowers, the mountains, the long, open range of grass. I can see you there Squall. I can see us there. I want to just forget everything and be there with you."

Squall tightens his grip around her waist, pulling her closer. "You know we can't do that... What about your friends?" Squall asks, worried. The tears run down harder on Rinoa's soft, white cheeks. She turns around and buries her face into Squall's shirt. Her arms wrap tight around him.

"They are gone, Squall! I know it... Their gone.. What's the point of going back!" Rinoa screams into his chest. "Ahhh! I hate this!"

Squall also begins to cry. It hurts him so badly to see her like this. He pulls her close and kisses her hair. "Everything is going to be alright. Shh.. Everything is going to be alright." he whispers, trying to soothe her troubled heart.

"Your friends are alright. We will save them." Squall says. He really doubts that they are okay, but he has to say something. With this, he walks her back into the hanger and boards a huge armed ship with the letter A on it. Inside, the pair see their long time friends waiting for them in their room. The room was large with seats on both ends of the room and a large monitor with a speaker attached for Squall's commands. All of the people present in this room are ranked A for helping Squall defeat Ultimecia. There is an energetic, short haired blond with an intricate design over and beside his left eye named Zell. A mature looking, blond woman with glasses sat beside him. Her name is Quistis. And a couple holding each other dearly were sitting across these two. They are Selphie and Irvine. Irvine has a cowboy look and long brown hair, and Selphie has strait brown hair that are curled up in the ends.

The small crowd turn their heads at the incoming pair. Their looks are solemn. They want to comfort the pair, but there is nothing they can do. There is nothing they can do, but fight. Squall and Rinoa take the seats beside Quistis.

Squall stands up and looks around the room. He makes eye contact with everyone there. "All ships are about to launch. Everyone, lead your squads properly. Zell, you are with me as usual." he orders. He takes one last look around and adds, "Be careful."

That said, he walks over to the monitor and picks up the speaker. With it, he commands fleets of ships to launch. Out of the massive hangar comes out ten large ships, ready to take it's fighters to battle. Due to the advanced SeeD technology, the ships are able to travel at amazing speeds. It only takes them an hour to reach their destination. Even before reaching land, the SeeD mercenaries could see a large black mound where Timber should have been. Far away it look like one colossal, black monster with yellow, glowing eyes everywhere.

Upon reaching land, the mercenaries rush out of their ships. They assume the Delta Formation. All of them stop and await Squall's command. With a thundering shout, he orders, "ATTACK!" If seen from above, one would see a mass of black uniforms running in the shape of something that resembled an arrow head. Squall and Zell were at the tip of this arrow. They are the strongest of the SeeD, and always took first kills in wars. Although, it was always wars. This time was different. They have never even seen or heard of an infestation this large.

With Rinoa next to her, Selphie can't help but see the look of devastation on Rinoa's face when they approach Timber. Or rather, the place where Timber should have been. Selphie knows how much it hurt to have your friends die without being able to do anything. How much you wish that you could have been there. How much you wish that you should have died with them.

After a small while, Squall and Zell are already hacking away at the little dark imps. Zell is moving at lighting speed, throwing blinding punches everywhere, making the small monsters disintegrate on contact. Zell is also buying Squall a little time. Squall was charging up a massive attack. Everyone can now see a huge pillar of light reaching well above the atmosphere, even into space, coming from Squall's gunblade. Most of the near by SeeD's knees buckle from the pressure of the energy on their bodies. All of them blind their eyes with their arms due to the intense light. With one fluid motion, Squall brings down the huge pillar of energy onto the monsters. After the energy vanished from Squall's gunblade, the soldiers can see the mass of black imps now has a huge gap of molten earth in between them. This is the signal for the combat squad's first attack.

The combat squad pierce into each side of the massive mound of imps. Squall leads the left side, while Zell leads the right. Blades, fists, maces, clubs, axes, any type of weapon, all of them are bashing and cutting through the black jungle. Unfortunately, some of the slightly weaker fighters find the hides of these monsters too hard. Friends can see their companions being horribly devoured away.

These creatures are like zombies when they devour a human. They like to brandish their numerous set of teeth and go for their prey's neck. With a couple jerks of their proportionally large heads, blood sprays like a fountain from these young people's bodies. What troubles Squall the most is that, after a heartless was done with one feeding, the corpses of the fallen vanish in a bright light and a red, Valentine heart floats into the sky and vanishes, only to come back down as another one of... Them.

But now is not time to think about that. This is war, and Squall knows it. Thinking will get him no where if he can't set his mind into the fight. Just then, one of the monsters leaps towards Squall from his right side, teeth fully shown. Squall has no time to react. The monster is too close, and he still has his gunblade stabbed into one of the other imps. 'NO! I can't die now!'

He squints his eyes and prepares for the worst. After a few seconds without any feeling of excruciation pain from his neck, he opens his eyes to find an out of breath Rinoa standing behind him and a black imp now stabbed through the chest with an ice spear.

"I will never let you die." Rinoa exclaims, clutching her chest and smiling at her love.

Before they start giving their all on these little monsters, they here crashes, and stomps, and gut wrenching shrieks. A little distance away, they can see the Guardian Forces at work. Ifirt is smashing his way through the pile of now seemingly helpless creatures. After a few kills, the flame beast jumps into the air with a huge ball of molten earth and fire. Reaching a considerable hight, Ifirt jumps off the ball and smashes it back down by hitting it hard with his hands clenched together. Little imps get flattened, burned, and thrown wildly at different directions due to the impact of Ifirt's Hell Fire. All around they could see Guardian Forces like Shiva, Bahamut, and Carbuncle, killing off large numbers.

As Rinoa and Squall start to kill again, a volley of gunfire is heard and the monsters are now being shot and killed were they stand. Things are starting to look up.

But before the couple can even think about how well they are progressing, a black, swirling vortex appears before Squall's feet. He can feel himself sinking into the darkness... and fast.

"Rinoa!" Squall calls out, extending his hand as far as he can reach. Rinoa, now a little distance away hears the desperate plea of her lover. Panicking, she rushes to him, arm also out stretched to grab his hand. Their fingers are an inch apart. But before Rinoa could do anything, Squall vanished in a flash.

Squall feels like he is floating in thick oil. His eyes are closed, and his body is limp. He tries to breathe, but there is no air for him. 'Am I really going to die this way?' he asks himself. Something about being in this fluid makes him light headed. Its as if he doesn't feel too bad about dying anymore.

The only thing that keeps him alive are the thoughts of Rinoa. Squalls stretches his hand and calls out for his beloved, "Rinoa!"

His eyes open, bloodshot and wide. His hand is stretched out and a girl is looking at him. He can not see her very well. His vision is still too blurry. He hears her say something.

"Hey! Wake up sleepy head." she says. It sounds.. so much like Rinoa. Maybe it is her! Squall touches her blurry cheek.

"Rinoa?" Squall says, hoping with all his heart that it is really her. His vision starts to clear, and she looks just like her. However, she breaks his heart.

"Rinoa? Who's Rinoa? I'm Tifa."

Well, this took rather long to write. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this fic. Please Read and Review if you want me to continue this story. Until next time.