(( Welcome to my fanfiction! Thank you for stopping by and reading~ I started it on deviantart, but decided to also post it here on . I do a lot of art to go along with my fanfiction, so if you want to see it, stop by my page. I have the same exact username there, PetrolPatrol.

I had this idea when I played Birth by Sleep. I noticed that Terra, Aqua, and Ventus sort of represent the elements earth, water, and air (at least in name), so I was thinking, what about the element of fire? So I created Ignis! And with the help of my really good friend who knows everything about KH, I started writing~

This story takes place going on in the background of the games (as in, it could actually happen, you're just not seeing it in the games), so I'm sticking to canon and being accurate as much as possible. Obviously small details are tweaked, and it's going to intersect with Sora's adventure at some point (in which it will be my own continuation of Kingdom Hearts), but yeah. Not everything is explained off the bat, I reveal it little by little.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy my story! Without further ado, let's start~))

. . .

"Gee, I mean really..." Lea groaned, carelessly tossing aside the popsicle stick of the finished sea salt ice cream. "Maybe we need to find something better to do for once. I mean really, breaking into the castle? Total waste of time. Why did we even want to do that? Lame..."

Isa glanced at him, raising an eyebrow in doubt.

"Okay, yeah, we'll formulate plan B for getting back in later," Lea chuckled with an ambitious smirk.

"Thought so," Isa replied with a small smile and a shake of his head.

Though, that would have to wait until another day, as the sun had just set over the horizon. Did the castle hold the key to somewhere else out there? To another star in the sky? Sometimes the boys felt like there was something bigger out there for the both of them. Isa looked up to the stars as they became more visible in the night sky. Who knew what kind of worlds were out there, but...

Flickering. One of the stars was flickering. Going out? No, it almost seemed to change color. There was still something shining there, but it was almost as dark as the sky right now. Odd...

"Hey! Stargazing back there? Boring!" Lea laughed, a bit ahead of Isa now.

Isa shrugged. After taking one last look towards the direction where he saw the odd star, he continued on his way with Lea.

.x.X.x.

"Pitiable creature..." the deep raspy voice let out with a hint of amusement.

The Land of Departure was gone. Destroyed, though not entirely. At least, it wasn't was it once was. But his thoughts weren't with the boring, little world. Rather, what was once contained inside it.

Xehanort decided it was an unimportant issue. That wretched girl would never be strong enough to really get in his way of his grand plans. If she did reappear in his future, then she might be useful.

For now, he had a meeting with three particular keyblade wielders to tend to, at a world where a great war was once waged. "Good luck, Ignis..." he sneered.

.x.X.x.

Lea hung upside down on a tree branch in the garden the next morning, his face scrunched up in thought.

"Blood rushing to your head won't be good for planning," Isa remarked, standing at the base of the same tree while leaning back against the trunk.

"Well being upright while planning last time didn't seem to work, so I'm trying a new perspective!" Lea huffed.

Isa shook his head in response with a sigh. But before Lea could continue with his banter, a sort of chill settled over the area. The sun was out, yet the garden seemed a little darker somehow.

"Isa..." Lea let out, sensing the change. He started to pull himself back upright again. But before he could finish his thought, the ground was rocked underneath them, and the air was filled with zaps of dark energy! Lea fell out of the tree as Isa crouched to the ground to steady himself.

Everything cleared up, the warmth returning and the ground settling. But there was a change in the garden. Someone new stood in the middle of it, where the source of the darkness had seemed to come from.

Her back was turned to them, standing there motionless as the dust settled. Though, she turned her head a bit to look in their direction. Instead of normal eyes, her eyes were pure yellow, glowing menacingly. Suddenly, the glow faded quickly, her eyes shifting to normalcy. The girl didn't say anything, just standing there quietly.

"H-hey," Lea said, raising an eyebrow. He approached her with little to no fear, rather characteristic of him. Isa was close behind, wondering about what just happened.

The girl glanced to them a little, though didn't fully turn to face them.

"You, um... You new here?" Lea asked, really unsure of what to make of her, or her sudden appearance. The darkness had been unsettling, but she didn't look like a threat at the moment.

"Just... stay away from me..." she quietly said.

"... What?" Lea let out, confused.

"Don't come closer," she declared, looking upset. With that, she ran away from the boys, leaving them very confused.

And curious.

.x.X.x.

It had been three days since the girl in the garden had arrived. Yet Lea and Isa hadn't found a single trace of her since then. Judging by what she said to them before running off, perhaps she just didn't want to be found. The boys were a bit intrigued by her sudden appearance, since she didn't seem to belong in Radiant Garden. Was she connected to Ven? They definitely had some questions to ask.

"You know, I've heard lots of times that you find missing things when you're not looking for them. Maybe we should just give up for now. We still have to figure out how to get into the castle, you know?" Lea suggested as they ate sea salt ice cream again in the garden area.

Isa gave a small nod in response, his mind on the castle already.

"Maybe we can find a back entrance. Or a window, or something. Something hidden, where no one will see us!" Lea smiled ambitiously. He took a good sized bite out of the ice cream, wanting finish it fast and to look for another way in before the sun set. He groaned and doubled over, holding his head. "Brain freeze! Brain freeze!"

Isa just smiled and shook his head a little.

.x.X.x.

Isa wandered towards his home, the sun setting over the horizon. The search for a secret entrance didn't work. That's why it was called a 'secret entrance', after all. They would look for windows next time. Ones that didn't have too many people passing by on the inside. That most likely meant they have to scale the wall, and get into a higher window.

Isa came to a halt, as he headed across the central area of the town, with the flower patches and small waterfalls. He spotted the girl from days ago sitting on the close-to-the-ground edge of one of the flower planters. She stared up at the sky as the stars started to appear. She didn't notice Isa, as he was coming down the short stairs from behind her.

As not to startle her, he took a more wide path around and came into her view. She looked to him blankly, seemingly not intending to run this time. Isa took a seat on the edge of the flower planter near her, as she looked back up to the stars. Isa noticed that her attention was directed to where the star that had turned dark days ago was located in the sky. He looked in the same direction, remaining silent for a few moments.

"Was that your star?" he finally asked.

"I suppose so... Maybe..." she quietly responded.

"You're from another world out there." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes... And I'm not going back," she responded.

"You'll stay here?" he asked.

"... Yeah. For now. Until I figure out what I should do. ... I just want to forget about everything first," she said. She didn't seem to be sad when she talked, though she obviously happy either. Distant. That would describe it.

Isa nodded, deciding to not talk about it anymore. "Where are you staying then?"

She looked to him, raising an eyebrow. She obviously didn't want him to know at the moment. Without another word, she got up, patting the little bit of dirt off her behind before going to walk away.

"You're name. What is it?" Isa asked before she could go.

The girl from another world stopped, not looking back at him as she debated on whether he should know or not. "... Ignis," she finally responded. "Call me Ignie, though."

"So we'll be seeing you again?" Isa asked, going to stand up.

"... If I gave you my nickname, I suppose so," she said, turning to smile at him. And with that, she left again.