Kingdom Hearts – Introverted
By Kaz

Hello all! I probably should be studying right now but I got kinda bored and started writing this. Until exams are over (November 10) don't expect much from this! I like the way it's going so I will write until I finish it! It's just my little 'practice' for now, seeing as I have writer's block for my own original story. Anyway, just some things before we begin just scroll down to where it says chapter one if you're not interested:
This is based off Kingdom Hearts, except it revolves around the Final Fantasy characters involved – as well as the characters who should have been in it. I don't plan on this lasting very long, so I might not get all the characters I want in it, but I'll still try. Cuz most of them are just so damn cool, it's a shame they weren't put in. I'm sure this has been done a gazillion times before but meh. I don't read fanfiction anymore so I wouldn't know.

I can't remember much about KH/FF cuz I played them years ago, so please bear with me on this.
AND: I think that dude who became a SeeD with you in FFVIII was called Nida. You know … the one who ends up piloting Balamb after it can fly? Yeah, him. I could be waaaaaaaayyyy off though, so like I said, please bear with me. It's not like he has an important part anyway.

Oh, and I know introverted is a bad name. I suck at names!
KK, enjoy!

Chapter One – Nothing to Do

Lightning thundered down from the heavens, as the dark shadows leapt from the ground. He didn't know what was going on, or what the dark shadows were that were attacking them. He only knew that he had to find his friends. He had to find Rinoa.

He ran through Balamb Garden, cutting through the shadow creatures as they emerged from the ground. But the more he cut down, the more they appeared, coming at him with more force each time. He saw some of the students lying on the ground, a hollow look in their eyes. As he cut through another shadow, he ran to the nearest person, and found that it wasn't a student at all.

It was Nida. The man who'd become a SeeD with them.

Nida wasn't breathing. He shared the same hollow look that the other students had. It was the same look the shadow creatures had in their eyes.

A high pitched scream suddenly echoed through the area, and he jumped to his feet. He recognised that voice anywhere. It was Ellone.

He ran through the Garden, following Ellone's voice. He found himself in the library, though he couldn't see anything that resembled a library. It had been completely destroyed, there was only a small island where the library had once been. In the middle stood one of the shadow creatures, only this one was much larger, and he suspected it was stronger than the others.

Ellone lay still on the ground, and he noticed something floating above her. It looked like a heart…

Seemingly out of nowhere, a figure clad in blue emerged. She was glaring angrily at the shadow creature, just as it snatched the heart from above Ellone, and suddenly grew in size. It was even larger than before, and the girl pulled out a weapon, aiming it at the creature.

His heart began to race as he pulled out his gunblade. He wasn't about to let her fight that thing on her own.

"Rinoa!" He cried, and she turned to look at him, her weapon attached to her arm. A dark swirling mass suddenly appeared beside her. Time seemed to stand still as he approached her, and he noticed the tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry." She said, grabbing his hands. "I won't let it hurt you too."

Quickly, she turned him, pushing him into the dark swirling mass. He tried to resist but it had a hold on him, pulling him deeper and deeper inside it. He called out to her, watching as wings suddenly emerged from her back and she left the ground, diving at the shadow creature…

The next thing he knew, he was lying in a shallow pool, staring up at the sky. A star seemed to explode above him and he sat up, his heart racing. He looked around, but couldn't find the shadow creature, or Rinoa anywhere. Instead, he saw a girl with auburn hair leaning over him, concern plastered on her face.

"Where am I?" He asked and she suddenly looked very sad.

"Hollow Bastion."

"I've never heard of Hollow Bastion! I need to get back to Balamb. Rinoa's in trouble! That shadow creature is going to kill her!"

The girl's face was now filled with sorrow, and she turned away from him. "Did you see that star disappear just now? That was your world. It was destroyed by the Heartless… Rinoa's probably gone too…"

He gaped at her. "I don't believe you." He said, tears forming in his eyes. "Take me back there!"

"I'm so sorry…" She said, not meeting his gaze.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't know if he should believe her. He didn't want to believe her. How could his world have been destroyed? How could a shadow destroy something so precious to him? It didn't make any sense!

"Come on." The girl said suddenly, getting to her feet. "It's safer inside the castle. We can talk things over in there."

She helped him to stand, then wiped the tears away from his face. He hadn't even noticed that he was crying.

"I'm Aeris. What's your name anyway?"

"Squall!"

He was suddenly pulled from his dreams at the sound of that voice. He opened one eye to see Yuffie grinning down at him. "Go away, pest." He muttered, closing his eye again. He would often dream about the destruction of his world, watching as Rinoa sacrificed herself just to save him. He hated thinking about it, but it would always haunt him in his dreams.

It'd been a week since they'd returned to Hollow Bastion, and Aeris had spent most of her time with Cloud in the library. Which left Yuffie with nothing better to do than hang around and annoy him.

"You sound just like Reno." She replied, pouting. Squall kept his eyes shut.

"Who's Reno?" He asked and he felt Yuffie sit beside him on the bed.

"Oh, just … no one." She said, then turned to him again. "I'm just getting soo bored of just sitting here in this castle and not doing anything."

"And what do you want me to do about it?"

"I dunno, a dance?" Squall's eyes shot open and he sat up. He didn't think Yuffie was much of a dancer.

"A dance?"

"Well … no … not a dance I guess. Why don't we go and kick some Heartless butt or something?"

"You know how dangerous that is…"

"I know, but I'm just soooo bored."

"Yuffie," he said sternly, and she looked into his eyes. "I don't care how bored you are. It's too dangerous to go out and fight the Heartless. You know we're not to fight them unless it's absolutely necessary."

"But Squall –"

"I said no."

Yuffie blinked at him for a second, then her eyes flashed angrily. "You're no fun. No one in this damn place is." She then rose to her feet and pulled opened the door.

"Yuffie?" Squall said, and she looked back at him, looking somewhat hopeful. "It's Leon."

Yuffie made sure to slam the door behind her.

Squall lay back down and closed his eyes again. As much as he hated to admit it, Yuffie did have a point. There was nothing to do in Hollow Bastion. It had simply been the place where they'd all met. There was no reason for them to stay there, but Cloud had insisted. They had no idea why – well, maybe Aeris did, but he and Yuffie had no clue. It was something about a doorway that was located here. Squall wasn't entirely sure what it did, and he had a feeling that Cloud didn't either, which was why he and Aeris spent so much time in the library studying.

But neither he or Yuffie were all that interested in studying, especially when they knew nothing about what they were studying. They didn't even know if this "doorway" existed, and even if they did, they had no idea where it was, or even where it would lead. Cloud didn't think it was the same as the door that led to Kingdom Hearts, though he suspected it led to somewhere similar.

Squall thought the whole thing was ridiculous. Cloud often had a tendency to just go by his instincts, even if his instincts were wrong. And for some reason, Squall felt as if Cloud was wrong about this whole doorway thing.

But that wasn't what was on his mind. They didn't have to worry much about the Heartless, as they seemed to appear less every day. It was a sign that Sora and the others were out there doing some good for the worlds. The Keyblade wielder was becoming stronger every day.

And still, while Sora was out there saving the worlds, Squall had nothing better to do but lie down and sleep most days. He was constantly tired, having lost so much sleep since he left his world, so he didn't mind as much. He just wished there was something better to do … something that didn't seem so pointless.

"Leon?" A voice asked as the door opened once again. He sat up to find Aeris there, with a worried look on her face. "Have you seen Yuffie?"

"She was here just a minute ago."

"...Did she say anything?"

"She was really bored. That's nothing unusual."

"Right. Of course. Well … the gummi ship's just taken off and we think that…"

Squall came to his feet, looking down at Aeris. "Yuffie! She wouldn't –"

"I think she would…"

"Damn her!" He raced past Aeris, quickly exiting the castle and making his way to the gummi ship docking bay. Sure enough, the gummi ship was missing. He turned to find Aeris had followed him, but she was out of breath. "We have to search the castle! Maybe someone else took it. She wouldn't be so stupid to go out on her own…"

"Even if it wasn't her, it doesn't change the fact that the gummi ship's gone." Cloud's voice came, just as he emerged from the shadows. "We need to contact Cid so we can track it down. We'll also need another ship."

"So what, we're going to go after her then?" Squall asked, somewhat annoyed.

"No. Not all of us." Cloud said, as relief flooded Squall's face. "Just you." The relief quickly disappeared.

"Why me?"

"You're the only one not doing anything productive."

Squall snorted. He knew all he'd been doing was sleeping, but he hardly thought looking aimlessly through a book was productive. Yuffie had been stupid to run off on her own. So what if she was bored? She knew just how dangerous it was to go off on her own. With all the Heartless around, she was sure to lose her heart along the way. Squall knew she was strong, but he knew she wouldn't be able to fight them on her own.

"All right. Whatever." He said, rubbing his temples. At least it gave him something to do.