Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the Final Fantasy characters.

Chapter one:

Despite the years that passed, I still remember when the world finally fell. Parts of the memories have faded over time, but never so much that I couldn't call them back. They just sort of float in the void, waiting until I finally remember something in the chain of memories, something to bring it to the surface. Then it's there plain as day, like it never left in the first place.

I remember the screams, the cries for help filling the air like a fog. It clouded everything around it, drenching the earth in a sickly feeling. I remember thinking I could feel the ground gasping for air, like it was suffocating. I was little then, I saw the world through different eyes. The ground was breaking apart beneath our feet, separating, floating in a sea of darkness. The buildings crumbled beneath the force of the world breaking apart, turning skyscrapers to dust before my very eyes.

I didn't have much of a chance to look around, I was being pulled forward, forced to continue moving. I'll never forget the feeling of his hand in mine. His skin was riddled with calluses, rough and strong around my little hand. To me he always looked like a giant. My father had always worked hard. He always had "his nose to the grindstone," my mother would say. He would come home tired and worn out from working in the factory all day, but it never stopped him from sitting in the floor and coloring in my princess coloring books with me when he got home.

I stumbled under the force of his pull; my little legs could not keep up with his strong, running strides. Without missing a beat, he swooped me up and carried me. Everything was shattered. He was leaping over gaps as the world broke into smaller and smaller pieces. My mother was trying desperately to keep up. The jumps were quickly becoming more demanding.

I don't know what they had hoped to accomplish. I'm not sure what my father thought would be at the end of all the hurdles. I know now that there was no hope once it had gotten to that point.

The core had been corrupted.

Our world was doomed.

The monsters oozed from the darkness like the puss riddled infection they had brought to our world. Those yellow eyes penetrating the darkness that took over us. At first that's all you see. It looks like hope, a light within the darkness. Something to make you think you just might be saved. Then you see them move, they are shadows themselves, sinking into the ground, startling you when you least expect it.

I had seen what they could do; these monsters had been around for a while, slowly consuming our world from within. When they pounced, there was no gore, no bloodshed, but when you fell beneath them, they consumed you. Then you were just gone, there was nothing left of you, you dissipated into nothingness.

I buried my head in to my dad's chest, terrified as their numbers continued to multiply. They surrounded us, there were so many between us and the next jump. The chunk of land was slowly floating further and further away, like an iceberg floating at sea. That was all that was left.

He knew he had to act quickly. With me held tightly to his chest, and his hand firmly around my mother's wrist, he made a mad break for it. Running at full speed, he pushed his way through the rapidly growing hoard. He almost lost his footing at the jump, the edge being closer than he thought and he stumbled. He held on the edge of the next island, with one arm he pushed me up onto solid ground. I watched him with tears streaming from my eyes, for a moment I didn't think he was going to be able to get up. With an intense groan he was able to pull himself up onto the island. He lied on the ground, gasping for air, his eyes shut.

We shared a look once he opened his eyes, both knowing what the other was thinking. My mother was not with us. He shot to his feet; I was worthless and small, silently crying. She had lost her grip as he ran for the edge. She was surrounded by the demons. He braced himself to try and jump back, to save her, but she shook her head.

He had barely made the jump the first time; he wasn't going to make it again with the extra distance. They were already upon her. She yelled something over the groans of the world splitting, I think it was "Take care of her," but there is no way to be sure. He roared, despite how angry it sounded I knew he was just sad. I was sad too. He didn't let me look, grabbing me up into his arms and running again. I was bawling into his chest, it didn't matter how loud it was around us, I could feel her final screams all they way in my stomach. It ached knowing that she was no more.

With nothing else to prey upon, they all started toward us in a black heap. Like a wave of night sky they grew and rushed toward us. I saw the desperation in his face as I looked up. There was no where else to go. No more chunks of earth to leap to. We were stranded on an island, nothing but purple abyss around us, Heartless running toward us in massive numbers. We were backed into a corner. My dad tripped over one of the creatures. When he fell, I tumbled out of his arms. I just barely caught myself on the edge of the landmass. He reached for me, and just in time. My small hand couldn't hold my body weight. He caught my hand before I fell, his whole torso hanging over the edge, keeping me from falling. It took only seconds, I looked into his scared eyes, and he tried to smile at me, to keep me calm.

"I love you," he mouthed. It seemed like it was all in slow motion, and then as if someone turned it off, all the monster pounced on him before I could blink. His hand vanished and I plunged into the darkness. I think I slept. I don't remember screaming as I fell endlessly into the void.

I didn't dream, I didn't think. There was nothing. I awoke to a foreign landscape, it was late at night, the crickets chirped a happy lullaby in the distance, and for a moment, I thought all of this had been some terrible nightmare. I couldn't keep my eyes open for long, and soon I was falling back into a peaceful slumber.

I woke many times in the days that followed, but only for a few moments. Catching glimpses of my surroundings as I weaved in and out of consciousness. There were hushed, worried whispers all around me. Was I hurt? Or sick? I wasn't sure. I didn't feel any different, only really sleepy. I think now, looking back, I just didn't want to deal with what life had dealt me. My parents were gone, my world was gone. I don't think my young mind was ready to try and process all of that. I don't even know if I realized it had really happened.

When my body decided it had enough of this coma like state, my eyes shot open. I had no idea where I was. I sat up in a bed I had never seen before in my life, the peach walls were alien to me. My mother hated the color peach. Where was I? What had happened? My head reeled with questions that had no answers. I looked to my left, there was a young girl sleeping in a chair. Her brown hair was pulled back in an over-sized red bow. Her long lashes were beautiful against her pale cheeks. She looked so peaceful in the moonlight, it made me forget for a moment that I had no idea who she was.

I tried to swing my feet off the bed, but my legs felt jello-like, they were hard to move, like my brain had forgot how to use my muscles. Instead of successfully getting to my feet, I fell to my knees, making a rather large thud. The sleeping girl in the corner startled herself awake, her eyes locked on what I can only imagine was one of the most pitiful she had ever seen. A small blonde girl lying on the floor in her nightgown, silently weeping.

"Oh!" she jumped to her feet, her voice was airy and soft. I felt at ease even through my swirling confusion. She helped me to my feet and sat me on the bed.

"I'm so sorry," she said smiling at me. "I wanted to be here when you woke up." She handed me a cloth off of the nightstand for me to dry my eyes with. I did. We sat in silence for a while as I regained my composure.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice mostly taken up by the nasal sound of my stuffy nose.

"My name is Aerith." I remember how kind she sounded, she reminded me of my mom. "What is your name?" she asked me in return.

"Zaria," I answered somewhat reluctantly.

"That's pretty." again with the silence. "Do you know where you are?" she finally asked.

"No." I answered. I was racking my brain for answers, I wasn't even looking at her anymore. My eyes might have been focused on her concerned face, but I was looking through her.

"What happened?" I asked her, my eyes tearing up worried about what the answer might be.

"I don't know much," she was honest. "A few days ago we found you passed out in the courtyard, there was a meteor shower." I wasn't sure what that had to do with me. "I don't know much else," Aerith admitted. "I was hoping you might know something." I didn't say anything.

"How old are you Zaria?" she broke the silence.

"Six." I replied.

"Where are your parents?" I started bawling. She held me to her and shushed me and lulled me till I was calm again.

"You are very brave." she said. We didn't talk much more, I just lay my head in her lap and let her stroke my hair. Eventually I fell back asleep. Everything else is sort of a blur. Aerith is the only clear memory I have of those couple of days that followed. The next morning she gave me some clothes. Even though they were a little big it made me more comfortable than the nightgown I had been wearing. She said they were some of her old things.

Later that day she introduced me to her friends. I acted like the shy child that I was, hiding behind Aerith's skirts. Squall and Rinoa seemed really nice, Riona's dog licked my face which was the first thing to make me smile since I had woke up. I met Yuffie too, she seemed nice enough, but she tried to hard to cheer me up.

"There is someone else I want you to meet," Aerith said as we walked toward the castle. "He can be a little... intimidating at times, but he might be able to help us find out what happened. Is that okay?" She knelt down so she was on my level as she talked, always smiling. I nodded and we made our way into the castle.

After a walk through some long corridors we made our way into what looked like an office. There was an older man behind a desk, writing furiously in a notebook. Aerith cleared her throat as we entered. The blonde man held up a finger to ask us to hang on as he finished his thought on the paper, then he looked up at us.

"Is this the girl?" he asked. Aerith nodded in reply. I didn't like the way he looked at me. Intimidating was an understatement. He looked at me like I was nothing more than some data for him to record in that notebook of his.

"Have a seat." We did as we were told and sat in the chairs across from his desk. "Why don't you tell me what happened." I looked to Aerith for encouragement and she gave it with a smiling nod. It took me a moment to build up my courage, but once I started talking I didn't stop. Even when I started crying I kept telling him through the tears. When I was done, I remember feeling as though someone had wrung me out to dry.

"I think I know what happened to your world." That is when he told me of the heartless and what he thought they were capable of. "I am baffled however, on how you managed to find yourself here."

"I don't know," I replied.

"That is something to think about." and with that he left the room to go deeper into the castle. Aerith urged me back to her house where I had apparently been staying in my unconscious state. She gave me my old clothes, the ones I was wearing when she found me. I took them happily, they were all I had left of my world.

"Oh!" Aerith exclaimed. "I almost forgot," she handed me a small key chain. "I found this in your pocket when I was washing your clothes." I had never seen it before in my life, but I took it anyway. It was pretty. The dainty chain led into a silver locket. My name was engraved in curly letters across the surface. It had to be mine I suppose.

"Well!" Aerith said in her happy little way. "I will give you a minute to get cleaned up. Make yourself at home. Until we decide where you will be staying permanently you are more than welcome to stay here in the guest room." She made her way out the door. "Let me know if you need anything!" She chirped from the other side of the doorway.

I changed back into my clothes and then sat on the end of the bed. I stared at the locket for a long time. Why couldn't I remember this thing? Curiously, I pried the locket open. It didn't look like it was going to open at first, but with a little trouble it finally clicked open.

A bright light filled the room and I was blinded. When my vision finally adjusted I was amazed to look at what my locket had transformed into. My hand griped a long silver shaft. A heart shaped hand guard surrounded my small hand. It was beautifully jeweled. Amethysts and sapphires glittered the hilt. Toward the top the shaft molded into an elegant twisty design. It was jeweled similarly to the handle. I was surprised at how sharp the design was. It seemed familiar somehow, it looked like the tiara's I used to put on my dolls back home. The thing in it's entirety looked like a very fancy old key. With a flick of my wrist it turned back into a locket on a chain.

Upon looking at the weapon that had formed in my hand I knew one thing above all else. I had to keep it a secret. I don't know why I was overcome with this sense of urgency on the subject, but keep it secret I did. It wouldn't be until almost eight years later that anyone would know that I, Zaria Dawn, was a Keyblade barer.