Pebbles: *peeks out from behind the sofa* Is the angry mob gone? Are they gone? *comes out from behind the sofa.

Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Please don't stone me to the ground (I can get stoned very well by myself. Kidding.) I know I haven't updated any of my other stories in, like, FOREVER. And I'm well aware (although you might not be) that I do not intend to continue any of my previous stories. So, quickly, if anyone would like to continue any of my previous stories, send me a pm or e-mail and I will answer any questions. Please use them and give me a link to where you post them.

SOOO here we go on another adventure, hopefully one that I will complete. (*fingers crossed*) So far, I have 13 chapters planned in detail, so I know what I will be writing for the next 13 chapters, but I also have my world-links plan figured out, so I know where they're going, and so far, I'm about a third of the way through it. Great... But I thought I can't wait any longer, and I want to see what kind of feedback I will be getting from this storyline.

So, in case the blurb didn't sell it that well, this is a Digimon/Kingdom Hearts crossover. On a quick note, I am assuming that you (the reader) know at least the basics about Digimon or Kingdom Hearts, but it's not necessary. Besides, the internet is a tumult of knowledge. I'm sure anything you don't understand, you will be able to use Google. There's a link also at the bottom of this page to the Kingdom Hearts Wikipedia, which has a plethora of KH knowledge, including storylines...etc.

Okay, for those of you who DO know the KH storylines, my story is set after KH1. This story does not include anything from Chain of Memories, or Kingdom Hearts to. So, sorry, but no Roxas, Naminé, Axel or anybody outside of the Kingdom Hearts 1 storyline.

And, as you're in the category, I assume you know the storyline of Digimon? This one will be, as most of mine are, set AFTER the 02 storyline. Again, anything you're unsure of, Google's right there. =]

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, any of the Disney characters, places or products, or any of the Digimon characters, places or products. However, I will claim to own the concept of this story.

This is the part where I shut up for now. I will see you at the end of the chapter, and have fun reading!

Prologue and Resurrection

"A long time ago, there was a very powerful Light princess. She had not a speck of darkness in her heart, body or soul, and the same was true with her family, her friends and those in her Kingdom. Unfortunately, when she became Queen, her darkness-free leadership upset the balance of light and dark, and the powers of the heartless became too great, so that only she could defeat them. She fought as many as she could, but she could not be everywhere at once, and soon people in her kingdom started dying, slain by the heartless. Enraged, she defeated more and more of the heartless, but this only made the nobodies stronger, and soon it was too much for her to cope with, and the worlds were being overrun by darkness. Her most trusted adviser, a youngling called Mickey Mouse, realised that the only way the balance could be restored would be if she sacrificed herself and the other thirteen people left of her kingdom. Though reluctant at first, the pain and bloodshed of the city made it impossible for her to think otherwise, so she entrusted her advisor with the role of King, over not only her own world but every world of the realm, and she used her magic to preserve the souls of her kingdom until a more suitable time. Gradually, one by one, the souls reawakened and took form, although nobody is quite sure where or even where; the eight princesses and eight protectors scattered themselves throughout time to help preserve the balance.

Blessed by the powers of the Light princess, the new-King Mickey forged himself a world of his own, from where he could rule over all of the other worlds. Using possessions from the only remaining people of the Light kingdom, he created a way to monitor their souls. He would not know exactly where they reawakened, but he would be alerted when they did so, and he would have an idea of where to find them."

An extract from "The History of the Worlds and all Things in them" by Ansem the Wise.

Slowly she felt her senses returning to her. She could feel the cold, hard stone beneath her, and she could taste the particular tang of magic in the air. She could hear the sighs of relief as she took her first breath, and she could smell the stench of fear upon those who might betray her. Opening her eyes, she stared up at the ceiling, revelling in how it felt to be alive.

For too long, she had waited in the abyss of darkness, her powers sustaining only her soul, and nothing more. Now she had finally been reawakened by those loyal to her, and it felt wonderful. She slowly flexed her long, bony fingers, and she twitched her thin, elegant legs, smiling lightly as she felt the satin material of her clothes brush against them. So many senses that she had missed in the abyss; so many things the darkness could not recreate. Oh, how she loved it.

She sat up slowly and looked around. Crowding her, with looks of shock and awe upon their faces, were her most loyal. The great Captain Hook stood to one side, the silver replacement for his hand glinting in the candlelight as his captain's hat, complete with an overly-large brim and a large feather, shadowed his face. Next to him stood Ursula, who had used her magic to give herself legs that were covered in a long, dark gown that stretched over her voluptuous figure, her skin glowing with a purple hue. Away from her side stood Jafar, in his regal, red robes that stated his position as royal vizier. Sulking in a corner, and only visible by the blue fire of his hair, stood Hades, arms crossed over his dark, lithe body, and it was almost as though he was boring holes into the backs of the others. She swept her gaze over all of them, feeling her heart sink as she noticed some of her strongest allies missing. Oogie Boogie, for one, had been defeated and destroyed in his own world, and then there was Clayton, who had not returned after his miserable defeat. And Riku had defeated the darkness inside of him, and therefore no longer fought for her. It was sad, really, he had been so strong.

"You took your time," she said snidely. She stood, smiling at the ripple of anger she caused throughout the group of villains. But, wisely, they held their tongues, and instead shared glances she knew they thought she would ignore. She held onto the knowledge for later.

"We needed to gather the necessary power," Jafar said, stepping forwards. "After you were unfortunately lost to us, we were left powerless, and we had to find new sources of darkness to be able to resurrect you."

"And I suppose that wretch Sora and his little princess-" She spat the word; how she hated the pair. "-haven't been relenting, either."

"Well, they were pieceful for a time, which was when we gathered most of our forces," Hook replied, "but they were somehow alerted to our presence and our plans, and they began to move against us, stronger now than before." The other villains murmured in agreement.

"They are not stronger," she scoffed, "you were merely weaker. Without my power behind you, you had not a hope of defeating them. But now you have seen sense, and although it took you time, it was not a complete waste." She walked around the large stone chamber, drinking in the familiar room until she found herself standing before her throne once more. She slowly made her way up the steps towards the seat, running her hands over the cold stone adornments as she went. The others were silent behind her as she sat, and she looked down at their expectant faces with a smile. They were practically bouncing on their heels to know what she meant.

"How do you mean, Maleficent?" Ursula ventured, asking the question of everyone's mind. Maleficent smiled, hearing her name once more returned a sense of power to her, and she resisted the urge to scoff at the revolting woman's appearance.

"When I was in the abyss, a voice spoke to me and informed me of a part of history overlooked by everybody, including that fool Mickey," she explained. "Not many of you will know about the Kingdom of Light, but it was a world that existed a long time before ours. The world was so filled with light that the darkness became so strong and unbeatable that only a handful of the kingdom's occupants remained. The princess of this world, having taken up her mother's crown, sacrificed herself and her kingdom to restore the balance. The souls of those left scattered themselves through the worlds, restoring themselves as Princesses of Heart."

"The seven..." Hades breathed, stepping forwards out of the shadows.

"Not quite," she answered. "There was an eighth – the princess with the power over the Light Kingdom; the one with more light than all of the others. This princess will be the key to unlocking the ultimate darkness, even stronger than the Kingdom Hearts. Once we get all eight together, we shall rule all, and you each will have the power to control your worlds!" She had risen to her feet by now, and she lifted her arms above her head, looking to the ceiling as realization dawned upon her, too – that wench Aurora and all those in her castle and kingdom would be worthless to her once she had unleashed the immense power in store for them. She laughed. At first, it was a small cackle, but it soon escalated into the maniacal laughter her comrades were used to hearing. They joined her in her cheering, each of them adding their own cackle to the mix, until it was a roaring sound that rocked the foundations of the castle.

Sighing, Hikari took her things out of her locker and placed them into her schoolbag. Whereas normally she would leave any unwanted books at school over the weekend, it was the end of summer term, and she had to clean out her entire locker. Her bag weighed a tonne, and it almost brought her down to the ground. She would freely admit that she had no muscle anywhere on her body, but being taken down by a schoolbag was just ridiculous.

Suddenly there was a burst of laughter and cheering from up the corridor. Turning slowly, she knew what to expect; the basketball team, proudly making their way through the school halls like the owned the place, blowing kisses to girls and high-fiving all the guys, nudging the nerds out of the way. In the middle was Takeru, and Hikari sighed as she looked at him. Once, she reminisced, that sigh might have been full of love, romance and dreams of teenage sweethearts, but after a couple of years on the basketball team, and his brother's rising success with his band, fame and popularity had gone to his head, and he's become just like every other sports jock.

The team made their way past her, and she turned around to continue emptying her locker and to put her outdoor shoes on. But, no sooner had she put the last book in her bag, she was suddenly shoved towards her locker. Her cheekbone met the corner of the adjacent locker, and she hissed in pain, turning sharply. The team laughed, and Ryuji high-fived Jiro, another member of the team. She locked eyes with Takeru, who had been laughing too, and he stopped for a moment, as if he only just remembered her. Then he continued to laugh, although less heartily, and he carried on down the corridor. Looking around, Hikari noticed other students sniggering at her misfortune from behind their hands and she scoffed to herself, ignoring the throbbing pain in her cheek. She shoved her feet into her shoes and she slammed her locker shut, leaving the school as quickly as she could.

She glanced over towards the soccer fields as she left, noticing Daisuke practicing with the school soccer team. She'd grown apart from him, too. No longer did he flirt with her and try to gain her attention; now he focused on soccer, and did just enough school work to stay on the team. They rarely spoke nowadays, and full conversations were even rarer. She watched as he scored a perfect goal and she smiled sadly before continuing to walk back to her empty home.

Becoming lonely had been a gradual thing, and everyone had contributed something towards it. Taichi had gone off on a politics course on a whim in Tokyo, and because he had gone, Sora and Yamato didn't call round to the house as much anymore, and Hikari had lost contact with them. Miyako was busy studying for her exams in the year above, and when she wasn't studying, she was working at her family's convenience. And, when she did go out, it wasn't with Hikari. She hadn't even been invited to a single one of Miyako's outings.

Iori, a year below, was busy helping his grandfather run a new training dojo downtown, and she hadn't really been that close to him anyway. Jyou was away at a medical college in Kyoto, Mimi was in America, and Koushiro, who had many advanced degrees in technology despite his young age, was working for himself doing extensive computer repairs or renewals, and then using the money to travel the world like he'd always wanted to. And as for Hikari, she had realised the friendships they had made through the Digital World wouldn't last, and that, unfortunately, school was important. So she'd studied more and went out less. She went to the first few reunions and get-togethers, but stopped going after Taichi left, and she just felt like a third wheel. The group was split, and although it had been that way for just under three years, Hikari had yet to find a new clique of friends.

Tired, she let herself into the apartment she still shared with her parents. Well, her parents owned it, and paid the rent and gave her money for food, at least. But recently her father had been promoted, and with this promotion came more business trips and company holidays (all expenses paid by the company, of course). So her parents weren't around as much, leaving her to her own devices in Odaiba, and calling to check up once a week when they were away. They usually called on Mondays, depending on their holiday schedule.

Collapsing onto her bed, she looked over to her windowsill, where a single figure sat beneath the open window. Hikari smiled at him and sat up, patting the bed lightly, and the creature hopped off the sill, ran across the floor in its own, funny little way, and scrambled onto the bed, looking up at her with what she was sure would have been a smile, if the creature had a mouth. It was completely black, with a body shaped like a person, only the legs and arms were thin and its belly was rounded, protruding over its large, sharply-shaped feet, which ended in a point. It had three fingers on each hand, all of which looked somewhat sharp, although Hikari had found them to be quite limp and soft whenever she touched them, and its head was completely round and blank, save for two, yellow circles for eyes, two, spidery antennas, one of which flopped back down towards its head, and a small white triangle where she assumed a mouth would be. She had decided quite early on that he was male, and had subsequently called him Kurokiba, or "black fang". He seemed to like the name.

He looked at her with those small, yellow dots and cocked his head to the side, as though asking a question. She giggled slightly.

"Today was okay," she said. "Not really anything different, just more studying and studying. We watched a film in English – some English movie called "Freedom Writers", but we only got halfway through. Other than that, nothing much to say." Kurokiba slowly walked up her legs until he could reach her, and he gently touched her cheek. She winced away and he gave her a look that clearly said "explain". She sighed.

"One of the basketball jocks pushed me into the locker," she replied. "It's nothing." Kurokiba backed away slightly and clenched one hand before pummelling it into the other, shoulders hunched and antenna trembling angrily. She placed a hand on his shaking fists to calm him.

"It's nothing, just a couple of arrogant boys thinking they own the school because they can shoot a few hoops. I'll survive," she reassured him. He held her hand in his and cocked his head to the side again. She nodded, taking her hand back and standing up. "Yes, I'm sure. Now I've got to get some studying done, so you can watch TV or do whatever, okay?" Kurokiba nodded and followed her over to her desk. As she sat down and pulled out her books, he curled up underneath her lamp and watched her. She pressed play on her CD player and smiled at Kurokiba before getting on with her homework.

Pebbles: There you go, folks, the first chapter in what will probably be a long story. So far, I've planned thirteen chapters, and I'm not even halfway through! Ah, it'll get there, and so will we.

So, obviously, this story crosses Kingdom Hearts with Digimon (and, no, I don't own anything really). I'm relying on you all to have a basic knowledge of Kingdom Hearts, but if you don't, I'll try to put reference points in wherever I can. So, here are your first:

REFERENCE POINTS:

Kurokiba (and the same image for all of those like him):

http:// www . jrj-socrates . com / Cartoon%20Pics / Disney / Kingdom%20Hearts / Shadow_Heartless_300 . gif

Kingdom Hearts Wiki (If you're ever unsure of anything, search for it here:

http:// kingdomhearts . wikia . com / wiki / Main_Page

(Sorry I had to put spaces in there, otherwise FF brings up a hell of a lot of html formatting. Sorry guys!)

REVIEW RESPONSES:

[none this time]

Okay, so that's all I've got this time. Obviously no reviews for this chapter with it being the first, and it's highly unlikely that I will be able to respond to everyone personally. But if I think you have a good point, question or a cool username, then I'll probably answer. =]

See you in the next chapter!

Pebbles out x

PS: I've just spent 20 minutes formatting this thing here on FF's editor. How come it doesn't keep my chapter break lines in when it comes over from word? Anybody know how to rectify this? Thanks.