A/N: So, this is my first fanfic in years. I mean literal years. Coincidentally, I've had the majority of this first chapter written for well over a year now. I've never written a fanfic for this fandom before, but with the announcement of Kingdom Hearts III I decided hey, why not. So here I am.

A few points I feel I need to make: the majority of Final Fantasy VII characters that appear in this are their incarnations in the early parts of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. I chose this route simply because I saw no reason as to why Cloud is so depressed in the Kingdom Hearts games. Aerith is alive and well and Zack appears to be alive and well. Their deaths were the main reasons for his breakdown in Advent Children. So here, we have a happy Cloud. And a nice Sephiroth.

On that note, there will be no OC's. Every character who appears will be from Disney or Squeenix.

Warnings: there will be character death, as is stated in the summary. However, we're setting out to fix that character death, so it's all good. There will be, however, implications of underage sex (consensual), abuse and violence towards women and minors, implications of suicide and suicidal thoughts and attempted sexual assault. However, I will make sure to tag these things in the chapters they appear in, as I really don't want to trigger anybody. Despite these warnings, this story WILL have a happy ending, as I need happy endings to breathe. (Characters may also be slightly OOC at times. I apologies greatly if that's the case.)

Pairings: So far, the only pairings that are set in stone are AxelRoxas, RikuSora, DemyxZexion and ZackAerith. There will be hints of other pairings, but none are definite. However, in the interest of keeping people informed, possible pairings are LeonCloud, SephirothCloud, TidusYuna, FangVanille, SeiferHayner, ZackAerithCloud or any others that I think just make sense. If there's a couple that you'd like to see get together before any other's, drop a line! I'm happy writing anything really, as I'm a huge multi-shipper.

Rating: for now, we're planted firmly in the T category, although that's liable to change. However, due to the strict guidelines laid down by the site, I will only be uploading scenes of a more... smutty nature, to an alternative site.

Welp! On with the story

Chapter One

"I'm Dreaming."

"I'll be fine Axel. I promise. Just run."

Sora Strife awoke with a sharp gasp, legs entangled in his baby blue cover. His skin was covered in a thin sheen of cold sweat, and he knew it was a ridiculous time in the morning.

He groaned as his suspicions were confirmed, eyes landing on his alarm clock. 5:30 AM. The dull green glow of the numbers highlighted the rest of his nightstand, and he slumped back joyously in bed, an arm going up to cover his eyes.

'Same dream again,' he mused, knowing he wouldn't be getting any more sleep tonight. It might not be so bad if it weren't for the fact that he had school in the morning, but it was just his luck he guessed.

'But seriously, this has been going on for weeks now. Can't a guy catch a break?' He groaned as he rolled onto his stomach, burying his head in his soft pillow, mind flitting back to his dream, despite his protests.

Same small, desolate cottage; same smell of rotten meat and burning wood; same feel of callous, bare skin under his soft fingertips; same group of people.

But it was mainly those two teenagers; a lanky, attractive redhead, clutching his hands in desperation, even as a slightly shorter blond with a mullet attempted to drag him away and out of the back door, and Sora himself.

Only, of course, it wasn't Sora. He was Roxas. The boy that looked almost identical to himself in every way, aside from a few minor details; golden blond hair that was windswept to the right, eyes that were a fierce, proud electric blue, rather than the gentle, smiling azure of his own, slightly pointier chin, maybe an inch or two shorter, maybe. It was hard to tell when everyone around him was quite a bit taller.

That was where the differences ended. And Sora only knew all of this as, every time he found himself in Roxas' body, the boy was staring at a mirror, face hard with a determination so deep that Sora felt it didn't belong on someone so young.

And then he would turn to face the trio behind him, who had somehow managed to all crush themselves into the tiny space, and he would say, in a young, strong voice, that anyone who cared to listen would know was laced with a resonating undertone of exhaustion, desperation and fear, all of which swirled around in his heart and guts, threatening to make him throw up, scream, sob about the unfairness of the life they were forced into, but he ignored it; "I'll hold them back."

And the others would freeze; the redhead- Axel his mind cried- would flinch at the words, green eyes flashing with something that both Roxas and Sora himself would refuse to dwell on; the blond with the mullet would tremble; the second shortest in stature, a teenager with slate hair that fell over one eye would clench his fists and bite his lower lip.

And nothing would happen until the redhead- Axel for God's sake- rushed forward, gathering the tiny blond into his arms, refusing to let go.

Then he would start yelling, and Roxas would say something, but Sora always forgot this part; all he knew were the emotions that bubbled through him, threatened to spill forth in a wave of tears, but the love was always there, always constant; brutal, honest and true, mingling with it all, keeping his resolve firm and strong.

Sora would always remember the final thing spoken before the mullet boy somehow managed to wrestle the much taller boy- Axel, Sora, it's really not that hard- away from the blond boy who was fighting back a panic attack; the look of defeat and horror that washed over the redhead's face- for the love of- it's Axel!- at the small, beautiful smile that would grace the blond's lips as he said his final words to the group, to Axel, "I'll be fine Axel. I promise. Just run."

And even though Sora had never dreamt past this part, he knew, without a flicker of doubt in any of his being, that Roxas was not fine.

Roxas had broken his promise.

And for some reason, this broke Sora a little every time.

He knew it was just a stupid dream- vivid, brilliant, terrifying, morbid, depressing, real dream- but he couldn't stop himself from feeling the pain that spiked through his entire body every time Roxas breathed those words across the small gap that separated him from the others.

Instead of thinking about it anymore and depressing himself, he sighed before pulling himself from his bed.

Might as well do something useful. His brother would be up to get ready for work in half an hour. He could make breakfast to help out.

As he made his to the kitchen, treading ever so carefully on the thick, mauve carpet in the hall so as not to wake Cloud any earlier than he needed to, Sora, despite his strongest desires, could not pull his thoughts from the dream of Roxas.

The fact that Sora had never in his life had recurring dreams was really not the weirdest thing about the strange predicament he found himself in; it felt like a memory, but not. It was too vivid to be a memory, almost like he was living in the moment, like he was really experiencing the events happening to the group of hapless teenagers. Obviously, this wasn't the case, but still…..

A frown graced his full lips as he turned on the cooker, ready to make a fry up or something, before remembering Cloud didn't really like eating too much so early in the morning, and instead flicked the oven back off, popping some bread into the toaster and making some coffee.

Now Sora, being the ball of hyper sunshine and light that he was, usually wasn't the type to drink coffee; he hated the taste, the smell and the extra amounts of energy he really could do without, but considering the fact that he hadn't had a full night's sleep in well over two weeks, he supposed he could forgive himself, and he pulled out his moogle print mug and Cloud's own chocobo print one, and set about making some coffee for them both.

His eyes stared sightlessly through the kettle, attention focused on the white tiles of the kitchen wall slightly beyond the steam that was slowly curling from the top. He managed a small blink just as the kettle started bubbling loudly, and, with jerky movements, he flicked the switch to turn the object off, setting about the task of pouring two mugs of coffee.

'God, my mornings have become repetitive,' Sora thought as he stirred the instant coffee and water together, watching with a detached boredom as the water turned a murky brown.

It had been much the same ever since the dreams had started. Well, scratch that; not since they had started, but rather since they had taken a dark turn from following the simple life of a teenage boy and had instead started showing Sora the rather depressing life of a traitor to the crown and well-known war criminal. But since that time, Sora had been finding himself getting up well before his usual time with a startling increase in frequency.

Cloud was getting worried.

But not only Cloud; even Riku had started enquiring into his well-being, only a week after Kairi had started. That Riku had cared enough to drop his façade of 'extreme bastard' for long enough to ask if his best friend was feeling okay was a sheer sign of how bad Sora's problem was becoming. Riku was, after all, the biggest prick in school.

These thoughts blurred through Sora's mind as he lifted Cloud's cup and carefully made his way up the stairs to his older brother's room (Sora had a sneaking suspicion that his usual clumsiness would only be exemplified by his newfound constant exhaustion: he was right, but he'd yet to be proven so).

With a soft knock, Sora pushed Cloud's door open and made his way inside.

Making use of his mind map of Cloud's bedroom, which he so desperately needed considering the fact that the floor was absolutely littered with Chocobo plushie's of varying sizes (mostly joke gift's from Cloud's friends and Sora himself) and the room itself was pitch black, he inched towards the bed, barely making a sound due to the thickness of the rug covering the floor.

"Cloudy?" Sora whispered, setting the steaming cup on his brother's bedside table.

His response was a muffled groan from within the cocoon of blankets curled up in the centre of the bed, followed by the lump rolling slightly to, Sora assumed, face away from the direction of the voice. Stuffed Chocobo plushie's spilled to the floor like an avalanche, highlighted by the scant light slithering across the floor from the barely open door.

"Cloudy?" came Sora's giggled repetition. "It's six. You gotta get up."

Despite the humour with which Sora spoke to his brother, inside, he was frowning. He had always hated that Cloud had to get up so early simply so he could go to work to support both Sora and himself. Sure, Cloud never complained, but Sora often wished his brother would, if only so Sora knew that Cloud wasn't bottling his emotions up.

The sight of the ball in the middle of Cloud's bed shifting stole his attention, and Sora smirked at the sight of Cloud's head popping out of the duvet burrito, golden locks a tangle on his head. Rubbing one eye with a closed fist, Cloud yawned, before reaching blindly for his phone.

Without even opening his eyes, Cloud managed a mumbled, "Again, Sora? Are you gonna be able to manage school today?" as his fingers grabbed his phone off the table beside his bed. He let out a small hiss of air between his teeth as he checked the time, blinking his eyes rapidly as the light burned his retinas.

"Oh, I'll be fine Cloudy. If you can do it, I can do it. No big," Sora said, as he watched his brother roll off the bed to land beside him, before he swiped his coffee up and gulped a mouthful. Sora cringed at the mere thought of having coffee the second he had woken up, but he forgave his, admittedly weird brother, his oddities, as long as it kept him functioning properly.

Sparing a quick glance at his brother, Cloud made his way over to his dresser, rifling through the messily folded laundry inside before tugging out an outfit for the day that didn't look too crumpled.

"Well…. If you're sure. I mean, you can totally stay off if you need to," Cloud said, standing up and making his way from the room, clothes in hand, Sora plodding after him.

Sora split from his brother in the hallway with an, "I'm sure," before heading back to the kitchen to make some toast whilst Cloud was in the shower.

Ten minutes later, Cloud wandered into the kitchen running a towel through his hair. He offered Sora a smile as he picked up his toast that had nothing but a light coating of butter spread on it.

"How you getting to school today?" Cloud questioned between nibbles of his breakfast, as he took a seat at the island across from Sora.

"Riku."

"Oh, so Riku can drive now?" Cloud teased, a small smile on his face. Sora rolled his eyes in response.

"His brother is giving me and Riku a lift."

Cloud's smile widened slightly at that piece of news, and Sora quirked an eyebrow in response. "Which one?" Cloud's tone was too nonchalant, and Sora's eyebrow climbed even higher up his forehead, and he found himself fighting a smirk.

"Not Sephiroth," he said, ignoring Cloud's spluttered denial, "Kadaj. Spehiroth has to stay at home to look after Ienzo today. The other two are away… somewhere. School trip. I think Riku said something about going to Nautilus."

Cloud, after regaining his composure from his coughing fit, let out an impressed whistle, choosing to ignore Sora's teasing remarks. "Nautilus, huh? Man, it's been ages. But it's been even longer since we've been to the Golden Saucer," at that, a nostalgic smile slipped onto Cloud's face, and Sora busied himself with eating his toast. "Hey, if I can find the lifetime family pass in the attic, you wanna go sometime soon? You can bring a few friends. The pass is good for eight people I think."

Sora froze mid-bite, eyes shooting up to lock with his brother's. He studied the expression on Cloud's face for a full minute, but he didn't find any hint of sadness. "Yeah. If you're sure I mean. We've not gone since…." Sora trailed off, but Cloud's expression didn't change at all, that small smile still fixed on his face.

"I'm sure. We'll go in three weeks time, yeah? Your school's taking a week off then, isn't it?" Cloud asked, as he stood up and washed his cup and plate. Sora quickly jumped up to help, a massive smile lighting up his face.

"Okay. Yeah! It'll be great! I'll ask Riku and Kairi if they wanna come. This is gonna be wicked! Thanks Cloud!" Sora cheered, wrapping his arms around his brother in a quick hug, before grabbing the washed dishes out of Cloud's hands so he could dry them. Cloud simply watched in amusement, before shaking himself and glancing at his watch.

Cloud muttered, "Half six. That's about time," seconds before there was a loud knock at the front door, and then the subsequent sound of a key being turned in the lock. From his place by the cupboard, Sora smiled.

"See you later Cloudy," Sora said brightly, moving out of the way of the entrance to the kitchen just as a large, tanned ball of energy flung itself through, missing Sora by mere inches.

"Spiky!" came the ecstatic yell from the tall man as he bundled up Cloud in a massive hug. "I've got awesome news, yeah? I'll tell you in the car! Come on!" Cloud barely had a chance to protest as the other man gripped his wrist tightly and started dragging him towards the front door.

"Hey Zack," Sora chirped brightly as he, again, stepped back to let the taller male drag his poor brother away.

"Oh, hey So! Didn't even notice you there! Have fun at school!" Zack yelled all of this in one breath, managing to work in a ruffle of Sora's wild spikes as he did, barely leaving Cloud enough time to do the same. Sora caught a, "if you change your mind and need to stay home that's fine!" from Cloud, before the front door closed with a slam.

Shaking his head with a smile, Sora set about continuing to get ready for school, which consisted of showering, brushing his hair (or attempting to), and revising for the Literature test he had at the end of the day on 'The Great Gatsby'.

A/N: Incredibly short first chapter, I know. I plan to lengthen them (unless you like them short), as I go. This is really just a test until I can get myself going properly.

And if anyone's interested in being my beta, please tell me! I'm in desperate need of one, owing to the fact that I don't proofread. I'm too embarrassed to read over my own work.