MASSIVE DISCLAIMER - I don't own TETRIS! - I'm using it as a metaphor! Don't sue me Russia!

CONTINUING - I also don't own Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts or any featuring Disney references & branches.

Never done a Kingdom Hearts Fanfiction before, so I'm likely a little vague on the lore. This will be darker than my pervious works, but I see this as a challenge and hope I learn to be good at it. I'm a fan of darker writings and wanted to add to the pool.

Long story short I was recently introduced to Kingdom Hearts, then Final Fantasy, and the darker/mature themes of Final Fantasy gave me great characters to work with for suspense and a darker themed story. I wanted to write something dark for a long time, but haven't been able to work with my previous fandoms because they're all light hearted and the characters sounded too OOC and I couldn't go through with it because it all sounded so wrong. But then Final Fantasy came into my life and changed everything! Also became a Strifehart fan, that was big motivation too.

Pairings: Eventual! Cloud X Leon - Strifehart / Cleon.

There are other pairings, but that would be spoilers.

Please enjoy the story, and I'll love it if you dropped a few comments at the end.

Leon

"Citizens of Hollow Bastion, this broadcast from the High Commander is of utmost importance. We remind the good citizens that only the whole, the pure, and the approved are to be accepted. Deviants of the following nature, nobodies, keyblade wielders, the weak, the impure, the imperfect are to be turned over to the state control. Anyone caught or suspected of harbouring deviant fugitives is a criminal and will receive capital punishment for crimes against the state. Any citizen linked with said criminal will be interrogated. Any failures to report such criminals will result in capital punishment. This decreed by your Lord and Savoir Sephiroth, leader of High command, saviour of-"

Leon turned the radio off before the long list of titles could begin.

It was raining. He stared out of the window as he waited for the last minutes to pass before his dinner was ready. His face was blank, but inwardly he was seething at the rules of the repressive state.

The rules put in place by Lord Sephrioth, the supposed saviour of the world, winner of the war, protector of the people, etc.

Leon sneered.

There was a loud beep behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see the timer squawking loudly in the silent house. Leon turned it off, picked up a rag and pulled out the lasagne from the oven, he dropped it on the table quickly as the cover was hot.

He hissed and licked at his burnt thumb, reaching for a tray instead.

His kitchen was modest. He had a town house half an hour's walk from the city centre, it was narrow with only a kitchen, living room and coat closet on the ground floor. A cellar full of odd bits of junk, he was in the process of rebuilding a bike. A bedroom on the first floor with a small bathroom, and study which doubled as a guest room.

There was also an attic, the attic was useful for fixing the old pipes which connected to the wood burning stove, it heated the water and the house, so bills were low. He had made it himself.

But the attic also had another function.

Leon plated up and moved upstairs, he drew the curtains upstairs and downstairs just encase someone was being nosy, he couldn't take chances even if his house had passed the random inspection sweeps - the state liked to seek out deviants, invading every privacy.

In the attic, Leon pulled aside the panel where he'd often reach down and repair most of the pipes lining the sides of the chimney. He put his meal on the floor beside him and squeezed down the space, feeling the pipes heat his skin uncomfortably before his feet touched a thick, fake pipe - a secret ladder rung. He then tucked himself into the hidden space under the floorboards. He carefully manovered his meal in after him and pulled the board over the gap to cover his tracks.

To someone oblivious he had simply disappeared.

Leon let them think that. It was better than being arrested.

After vanishing there was only the simple climb down the ladder, once he'd crouched through the even more hidden tunnel no wider than a cupboard door.

The ladder went down the other side of the chimney to a trapdoor. This door was deeper in the ground than his cellar by at least three meters.

He pulled it open and climbed down, shutting and locking it behind him.

He sighed, thankful that he hadn't dropped his meal, which was steaming merrily on his tray.

The place he was in now had been tunnelled out by himself, but originally had been just a little cave, barely a meter by a meter, by a meter. After a lot of intensive work he'd tunnelled out a hallway, then the following rooms. He took the three steps towards the oak door and opened it.

Inside was very different to the barely lit hallway.

"Leon!"

Leon barely moved his arms above his head to avoid the spill the flying hug would have caused.

He sighed and lowered one hand to ruffle the spiky haired child who clung to his waist "Sora," he sighed slightly, a small smile on his lips, barely noticeable unless you knew him. "Can't you wait until I've put the food down?"

Sora looked up with a bright smile, it was twice as endearing as he only came up to Leon's hips. "Nope," he laughed and squeezed the older man once more before stepping back and tucking his hands behind his head "I wanna hug you first, you're always gone so long," he pouted.

Leon's smile disappeared "I can't help that Sora," he apologised softly, running another hand gently through Sora's spikes.

Sora shrugged, leaning into his hand "I know. Hey everyone! I think its lasagne!" the young boy called out to the others milling about.

The following announcement was received with many cheers.

The room they were in served as the main one for this hidden sanctuary. It had a table, some armchairs and a sofa, then there were beds which lined the walls. There were lights hanging from a rocky ceiling with their wires showing, the walls covered in plaster and painted by the residents to make it feel more like home, and the floor was covered in many rugs to try and keep away the chill of the stone all around them. There was a heater powered by the stove upstairs which kept this pace warm.

Everything was handmade by Leon.

There were two other doors leading out of this place. One to a bathroom and kitchen-ish area. It wasn't really used for cooking, it was only double function because it had the only sink …

The other door, airtight, led to the sewer and water tunnels under Hollow Bastion. It was an escape route just in case the worst should befall the residents here under Leon's care.

The residents; children.

Sora ran to the table to claim his seat first.

Sora, he was here because he was a keyblade wielder, even at this age one could tell. The state hated keyblades because they could permanently banish whatever darkness they defeated. Sora's blade hadn't appeared yet, but the state didn't like potential risks walking around in their city of shadows.

Leon remembered finding him abandoned on the streets for the state police to pick up and dispose of, the state's attack-dogs – the Knights– chasing him down a dark alley while the boy glowed with the ominous keyblade light. Leon had snatched him off the streets and smuggled him home. Sora was just a child of four years old.

That was a few years ago, Sora was now ten, and had been here six years.

Sora sat on the bench and pulled his two closest friends to sit either side of him. "Hurry up! Hurry up!"

Riku grinned and took a seat, making sure to nudge Sora in the process. "Calm down Sora, it's here already!"

Riku, an eleven year old who was also a keyblade wielder. He and Sora connected perfectly over their similarity, and over the years they had become inseparable. He had been picked up by Leon when he had found him surviving on the streets, eating out of the trash. He had been eight at the time. It was a miracle that he had lasted as long as he had with the streets crawling with Knights.

Sora's other friend was Kairi, she was Sora's age. She had been found sleeping on Leon's doorstep, curled up under a blanket, luckily it wasn't anyone else's doorstep. She may not have been here right now if not. She was a sad story, there was nothing wrong with her, she was just an orphan who wasn't wanted. Leon took her in with the others, unable to turn her away once she looked at him with her large, scared eyes.

Kairi smiled up at Leon with her sea blue eyes "Are you staying to eat with us Leon?" she asked sweetly.

Leon patted her head fondly, making her giggle "Yes. Can you and Naminé get plates out of the kitchen for us?" he asked, picking up a knife and starting to cut their meal into pieces big enough for everyone.

Kaira hummed "Okay! Come on Naminé," she held out a hand and the two girls ran off.

Naminé was a nobody, as a side effect of the darkness that Sephiroth supposedly had held back in the battle which nearly swallowed their world, some people were born … incomplete. Naminé seemed normal to the ignorant person, but she existed without a heart and soul, a paradox, not even a real person.

Leon didn't believe that. She was quiet and gentle, but she wasn't not-real. However, she still was a nobody, therefore people would be after her, that was why she was here.

Leon rescued the nine year old with three other nobodies on the same day. Axel, who was twelve, Roxas who was eleven, and Xion who was five. Xion was just one year old when Leon rescued her. Roxas was just seven, and Axel nine. Naimé had been five.

Xion's circumstance was the most heart-breaking. Her parents hadn't even tried to hide or protect her.

Everyone who had children were required to have them evaluated at one year old, if they were a nobody or a potential keyblade wielder, or a deviant in any way then you'd be requested to hand the child over to be disposed of. Sadly most did as they were asked, so as to not lose their lives also, but a brave few hid their children away or ran.

Roxas and Axel ran over, Axel had Xion on his back, the little girl blinking at everything with a small giggle now and then. Her dark hair and bright blue eyes made her look very sweet and innocent.

Roxas jumped into his seat and Axel put Xion down between them. The redhead grinned at Leon "I want the first piece!" he declared.

Roxas rolled his eyes "No way! You were first last time," he argued, reaching over to push at Axel's shoulder.

Xion raised her hands as Naminé and Kairi came back with their arms full of plates "Xion turn!" the baby of the group declared.

Everyone chuckled at her.

Leon laughed briefly. The happy chatter of who got to be served first was welcome after a long day. He plated the first serving "Naminé and Kairi will be served first because they got the plates," he resolved the argument easily.

"Aww!" Sora and Roxas groaned.

Riku grinned and elbowed Sora "You'll just have to be faster next time, and maybe actually help with chores instead of taking a nap," he teased.

Sora pouted "Riku …"

Riku gave him a one armed hug in apology and passed his plate, as he was third served, to Sora to make up for his teasing.

Leon raised an eyebrow "You better not be skipping chores Sora, or you can skip ice cream."

"What!" Sora exclaimed in dismay.

"Ice cream!" Roxas and Xion exclaimed.

Axel perked up too "Leon you're awesome!" he grinned, eagerly tucking into his helping.

Leon sat down too and ate at a more sedate pace. "Have you all been good down here, you've not broken anything?"

Naminé raised a hand reluctantly "I broke a pencil," she said sadly, she loved to draw.

Kairi piped up "I gave her my red one, but she says it's not the same."

Naminé nodded, a sad expression on her face.

Leon smiled gently "I'll bring you some new ones tomorrow," he promised, the blond nobody perking up and beaming at the news. Leon reached across and squeezed her hand "You think you can manage no drawing for one night?" he asked.

Naminé giggled and squeezed Leon's larger hand back "Yes, Leon," she agreed.

The only other thing they needed was more paper and some clean blankets. Easy stuff to get.

"What games did you play today?"

"Sora and I are building a raft, then we're going to go exploring," Riku said, launching into an epic tale of what they were going to find; sea witches, castles, deserts of sand, and big monsters. Leon had to ask him to tone it back a bit when Xion began looking a little too frightened.

The meal went along without a hitch, the hyper chatter of lost little souls filling a room away from the world and the sun.

Leon knew it was the only way for them, but couldn't help feeling very sad that they were reduced to living down here like rats when they should be playing outside or going to school.

He did his best, he taught them how to read and write, how to defend themselves should the need call for it, trained them how to survive. He taught them how to fix things they broke, how to appear normal should they find themselves outside, he made them toys and clothes since buying them would be too suspicious. He read them stories, treated them when they were sick, comforted them when they were scared, made a little broken family out of rejected children with a lonely, silent rebel as their guardian.

He sighed to himself as he went to unpack their desired ice cream. It really wasn't fair for them. He went back to silently damning Sephiroth and his regime of repression for taking away their families and childhoods as he handed out the caramel sea salt treats to the happy kids. He sat himself down and made sure Xion didn't drop hers, sitting her on his lap, while everyone else laughed at how Sora and Roxas managed to get there's all over their faces and noses.

After they had eaten Leon had to leave, but promised to be back in time for a bedtime story. He had appearances to keep up, no one could know about the hidden children beneath his house.

No one …

Mainly an introductory chapter, slight prologue, the real story takes off in the next chapter. Please give it a chance?

Yeah, tell me what you think and if I got the characters right - and if the chapter is in any way suspenseful or dark. That would help a lot.

Big shout out to my lovely Beta who caught all my little mistakes. Love you Sapphire!