Notes: This is a rewrite of my old Fanfic, Kingdom Hearts: Generations. I loved the story, and I had GREAT ideas for it, but the style I wrote it in was so incredibly juvenile, that I just HAD to rewrite it! I redid it completely.

Firstly, I changed names around:

Raven- Rayvene
Jeff- Hotaru
Jen- "Polar" Keira
Dan- Imaari
Kara- Tomako

I figured that stupid English names had no place in this context.

Rayvene's and Hotaru's last name has been changed to Amoikei. I decided not to go with Kairi's last name, and made up a new one.

I also scratched a few things: Kara (Tomako) is no longer autistic, and the four main characters are no longer rock stars. Gah, what was I thinking with some of these things?

Anyway, here's the story. Enjoy.

Everything seemed to spawn from nothing. One insignificant nightmare led to a chain of events that forever changed the lives of not only myself, but everyone around me. A gargantuan creature secreting nothing but pure darkness and its thoughtless underlings completely and mercilessly destroyed my home world. Even now, years later, I still look back and wonder if it was all worth it.

But, perhaps I should start at the beginning. I lived out what most would call a fairly normal childhood, on a small, idyllic island, Destiny Islands. Rayvene Amoikei, I was called, but most often people simply called me Rae. My twin brother, Hotaru, our friend Imaari, and I spent most of our young childhood together playing, going to school, and doing things that most children do. But one day, someone new came to the islands. She was found washed up on the shore, my parents said…

It was indeed a strange day when we first met Keira. Earlier that spring day, Imaari, Hotaru, and I were playing in our backyard, when Wakka, a friend of our parents, walked in with a young child. She seemed to be around our age, nine or ten. Her ghostly white hair and skin and sanguine eyes made her seem intimidating at first, but the confused look of innocence in her eyes almost instantly proved the opposite. "Hullo, guys," he said. "You guys wouldn't mind a new playmate, ya?"

"What's her name?" Imaari asked.

"This is Keira. Say 'hi,' ya?" Wakka answered.

"Hi," Keira said shyly.

"Keira, this is Rayvene, Imaari, and Hotaru," he said, pointing to us in turn, respectively. Then, to us, he said, "She's new around here, so you be extra nice to her now, ya?"

"We will," Hotaru and I said.

"Yeah," Imaari echoed. Keira timidly smiled again. You could tell she was forcing it.

"Alright, you kids have fun. I'll be inside with your parents, if you need anything," Wakka said, turning around and shutting the door behind him.

We were silent for a while, until Imaari asked, "So, Keira, what are you doing here? On the islands, I mean."

"I don't know," she answered, and looked down at her feet afterwards.

"Are you from around here?"

"I don't think so."

"Where are your parents?"

"I don't know. I don't remember much at all," she answered. A few seconds later, she added, "I think those Wakka and Lulu people might take me in, for now."

After another awkward pause, I suggested, "Anyone up for a game of tag?"

"Noses!" Hotaru exclaimed. He, Imaari, and I all got the cue on time, putting our fingers on our noses to avoid being It.

"You're It, Keira!" Imaari shouted.

We all sprinted off in different directions. Keira caught up to us surprisingly quickly; she was so skinny. She seemed to instantly cheer up while we were playing. We immediately sparked a sound friendship.

Around six o'clock, my parents called us in for dinner. I don't remember what we had, exactly, but my parents made a lot of food because they invited two of their other friends over—Tidus and Yuna, Imaari's parents, and their friends Wakka and Lulu—so we all ate on the living room couches.

Later that night, when it was getting dark out, my pregnant mother approached Keira: "Keira, how'd you like to spend the night with us?"

"Thanks, ma'am," she replied.

"Please, don't call me 'ma'am,' sweetie, it makes me feel old! You can just call me Kairi," my mom answered.

"Yeah, and you know what else?" my dad interjected. "We don't even have Rae and Hotaru call us Mom and Dad. They just call us Sora and Kairi."

"Can she really stay with us, Kairi?" I asked.

"Yes, for now. Now, you guys go upstairs and get ready for bed. Imaari, you can stay, too. Keira, we'll lend you some pajamas," she answered.

"Yippie!" I cried out. The four of us hurried upstairs to get ready for the sleepover.

On my way up, though, I overheard Sora say, "We all meet back here at midnight, okay?"

"Hopefully this will all be sorted out then," Lulu added.

A few minutes after we'd all gotten into our pajamas, a knock came on the door. "Mind if we step in for a minute?" Kairi asked, popping her head in the door.

"Yes, leave!" Imaari joked. He always had a good sense of humor.

The other parents behind her laughed at his remark and continued in to say good night to us. I saw Wakka and Lulu whisper something to Keira, and she nodded in return. After they left, the four of us continued talking until we started getting tired. We set up two sleeping bags for Imaari and Keira on the floor next to Hotaru's and my bunk bed, and soon fell asleep.

Some hours after, I was awoken by noises outside. The others didn't seem disturbed by it, though, so I quietly tiptoed to the window and saw figures sitting out on the back porch. Remembering what I'd heard Sora saying earlier about a meeting at midnight, I couldn't help but want to know what was going on. I also didn't want to wake up the others, so, furtively as possible, I snuck out of the bedroom and downstairs to a place where I could eavesdrop without being caught.

"I already have two kids, and I'm expecting a third already. I don't think we could handle another kid," Kairi said.

"We already have one, and he's difficult as it is," Tidus said.

"I say that Wakka and Lulu would be best to raise Keira," Yuna added.

"Agreed? Good," Sora concluded. "Now, the more pressing question here is exactly why and how she came here. We know for sure this is Riku's and Kyuki's daughter. But the note in her pocket isn't clear as to why she's here."

"Something horrible must have happened at Hollow Bastion," Lulu said.

"His note did seem rather urgent," Yuna added.

"It sounds like he wrote it all in advance, though, as if he knew this would happen," Sora explained. The others seemed to agree.

I was having trouble making heads or tails of anything that was being said that night, but it all scared and confused me. I was no longer sure what to think of my new friend—was Keira friend or foe? And, who were my parents, really? I felt like I couldn't trust anyone.

Lulu continued, "This undoubtedly has something to do with the Heartless. There was a… I don't know, almost a burn-mark on Keira's back. It looked far too strange to be a normal wound."

"How so?" Tidus asked.

"It looks like a Heartless insignia," she answered. "I bandaged it as best as I could, but you should look at it, Yuna. You're the only competent healer here for miles." Yuna nodded solemnly.

The others were taken aback by this. I was, too, but I didn't know why. Replies of distress flew everywhere until Sora ended it. "Shh!" he exclaimed. "We don't want to wake the kids! Now," he continued after a silence, "We need to find out what happened at Hollow Bastion. Let's just hope that Riku and Kyuki are alright over there. His note didn't give all that much detail…"

The rest of their conversation is but a blur to me now. After a while, I got tired and silently snuck back upstairs to where we were all sleeping.

Imaari, Hotaru, and Keira were sound asleep, but something in the air felt awry, dark, and cold. I froze mid-step and shifted my eyes about the room, and I saw it. Standing—lurking—over Keira was a small, black creature with beady, yellow eyes and bent antennae on its head. Regardless of its small stature, it left me in utter trepidation to see it. It stared up at me innocently, but that only made my heart beat faster, until I could no longer suppress a scream. The others awoke as well, and seconds later we were all screaming our heads off.

Sora bolted into the room first. He asked what was wrong, but didn't finish the question before he saw it. A bizarre, white-and-gold sword with smaller, crown-shaped blades on its edge appeared in his hands, and without hesitation, he swung it at the thing, tossing it to the other side of the room; Keira screamed again and crawled frantically to the bunk bed for some sense of safety.

"What do you want here?" he furiously asked the creature, pointing his blade towards it. It didn't respond, only stood there, looking as frightened as we were.

A similar blade was in my mother's hands as she sprinted in. She, too, pointed her blade at it. After what seemed like an eternity with no movement, she said, "I don't think it wants to hurt us, Sora."

"What do you want here?" he repeated. Still, there was no answer.

"Can you speak?" Kairi interrogated.

'Help me,' I heard an effeminate voice desperately say in my head. I turned my head to look at the creature, and it was staring up at me with a hopeless glare in its eyes.

Still without an answer, Sora struck the creature through with his blade, making it instantly disappear.

"It didn't want to hurt us, Sora!" Kairi yelled.

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, I do!" she retorted. "When you were a Heartless, who saw you through the dark?" He could supply no answer.

Meanwhile, the other adults rushed over to their children, providing whatever comfort they could to us.

"Okay, you guys have five minutes to get your weapons and get back here. There might be more out there, so be careful," Sora ordered. The others solemnly nodded.

Kairi tried to go with them, but Sora swiftly grabbed her arm. "What?" she retorted.

"You're pregnant. I can't let you fight."

"Since when do I need your permission to defend my home and my family?"

"I could ask you the same," he answered, placing his hands on her protruding belly. "You're in no condition to fight right now. I can't let you." He kissed her. "Please, don't."

"Fine. But if I need to fight, don't you think I'll just sit around. I have a Keyblade, too." She answered reluctantly. As if this was good enough, he smiled back at her.

Meanwhile, Hotaru, Imaari, Keira and I had climbed up to the top bunk of our bunk bed. Sora approached us and said, "This is a perfect spot for you guys to stay, for now. Are you alright?" We nodded without a word, scared senseless. "Keira, that thing didn't hurt you, did it?" she shook her head, crying. "Now, if any of us tell you to do something, you damn well better do it! Understand?" Again, we all shakily nodded.

Kairi climbed up the ladder to where we were sitting. "There there, guys. Come here," she consoled, wrapping her arms around Hotaru and me, and I began crying into her shirt.

After minutes which seemed forever of us crying and Sora pacing about, Tidus, Yuna, Wakka, and Lulu returned. Tidus had a shining, blue sword in his hands; Yuna, a staff on her back and various guns in holsters on her hips; and Wakka, a spiked throwing-ball. Lulu was without a weapon, however. "We are ready," Yuna announced.

"Yes! Wait, Lulu, where's your—ah, right, magic. Never mind," Sora said. "Now, we'll need a healer on offense here, so, Yuna, you're with me. Wakka, you too. Tidus, Lulu, you stay here and defend Kairi and the kids. Now, let's go!" And with that, they left.

"What's going on?" I asked, desperate for an answer from anyone.

"I… don't know," Kairi answered.

"Yes, you do!" I retorted. "I heard you talking down there! You have to know!"

After a pause, she finally began speaking. "The thing you saw earlier was a Heartless. It's a shadow of something that was once human. They usually just want to kill people to make more of themselves, but sometimes, if their heart is strong, the Heartless could retain a human appearance, or merely wander, possibly able to be brought back to its original body.

"That's what I thought that Heartless was. It easily could have hurt any of you by the time we got here, but it didn't.

"The bad ones can be destroyed, though, with these—" she held out her hand, and the weapon she had before reappeared in her fist. "It's a—"

"Why are you telling them this?" Lulu interrupted.

"They don't need to know!" Tidus seconded.

"Yes, they do!" Kairi argued. "For all we know, Sora and I could die tonight, and they'll need to fight on without us!" That thought scared me half to death.

"It's a Keyblade," she continued. "It's one of the only existing weapons that can destroy creatures of shell and shadow. They can only be used by a few people, the Key Bearers. The blades choose their masters, those purest of heart.

"Some Keyblades, though, fall into the wrong hands. The dark Keyblades choose those darkest of heart as their masters."

"What happens then?" Keira asked, wiping tears from her face.

"Eventually, war. It's already happened once. I was there."

Suddenly, a noise came from downstairs. Kairi grabbed onto Hotaru and me, and Tidus and Lulu readied their weapons and fists for battle. "Relax, it's us," Sora's voice echoed through the air. A collective sigh of relief followed, but Tidus and Lulu wouldn't retreat from their stances. They stepped out of the room, ready for a fight.

"No one else followed you?" Lulu asked.

"Don't think so," Wakka replied.

"No, behind you!" Lulu, yelled, and a bolt of lightning flew to a Heartless from her hand.

"Then again, I stand corrected," said Wakka.

Sora then ran upstairs to us. "Nothing happened, right? Everyone's okay?" he asked.

"No Heartless here," Tidus answered.

"Good. All we found out there were shadows, soldiers, and the occasional wyvern. Nothing difficult for us," he answered.

"Still, we have warned all the neighbors to be careful and why, and to have an able-bodied adult on house watch at all times," Yuna said.

"You can all sleep here tonight, if you'll feel safer," Kairi offered.

"Thanks," Lulu readily accepted.

"Us, too," Tidus echoed.

"Alright, but one of us needs to stay on lookout at all times. We'll switch off every hour," Sora said. "We should all sleep in the living room, so only one of us needs to be on watch at once, and escape would be easier, if we need to."

Yuna also approached Keira, "I heard you have a burn on your back. Would you mind if I took a look at it?" She let her look at it, and she cast some healing magic on it, and bandaged it up again. "You should be fine," she said, but the look of utter trepidation on her face conveyed quite the opposite.

And so, we tried sleeping, but none of us could do it. Far too much had gone on that night for things to continue normally for some time. It took only a few weeks to repair the damage the few Heartless did to the buildings, but it would take months before the memories of that night would fade from daily conversation. After that, I thought my encounter with the Heartless was done with.

Boy, was I wrong.