Hello and welcome to a new story from me: "Level XIII." This AU story involves the characters from Kingdom Hearts II that I love and will eventually be an AkuRoku fic (although there will be other pairings as well). I hope you all enjoy it, considering this if the first time I have written a full story involving them. I also have Ayme, the sane twin, helping out with beta-ing and plot ideas.

Disclaimer: KHII and the characters within belong to Square Enix, Disney, etc.

Level XIII-Chapter I

The Mojave Desert sun rose high into a cloudless sky, and that sun beat unmercifully down on the lone stretch of Highway 40 that ran through this desert. The sparse growth of plantation provided little coverage to the sandy earth, instead creating false images of water reflecting upon its surface. For a few hours no cars, or even any wildlife for that matter, were seen throughout the miles of dried up land leading to the faraway mountains, so it was surprising to see a wavering speck of white–that was clearly not a mirage–steadily growing larger on the horizon the closer the pink Lincoln convertible traveled down the lonely road towards it.

Brown eyes widened in surprise as they watched the speck gradually turn into the stumbling form of a girl with short, spiky, honey-blond hair and slightly tan skin wearing a simple, off-shoulder, white wedding gown as she walked in a swaying-like manner along the side of the desert highway. "Oh my god! Is that vintage Vera Wang?" the small girl with oddly layered brown hair that spiked up at the top and lay long and strait at the bottom squealed from her seat in the back of the pink car, hoping up and down as she pointed out towards the direction the car was traveling in and ignored the disgusted look of a slightly thin and tall boy with spiky, bleached-blond hair sitting in front of her.

"Dammit, Olette… Do you have to be so loud?" he yelled, trying to get the girl to calm down. "This is the last time I decide to take a road trip with you…, even if Naminé is getting married."

Olette sat back down in the backseat and crossed her arms over her chest as she pouted, "But Naminé would look so hot in vintage Vera Wang, Hayner." She apparently didn't think the sudden mentioning of finding prime couture in the middle of a desert was odd in the least.

The boy only rolled his eyes, "You're just seeing things." He then proceeded to ignore her in favor of searching for a decent radio station.

"Is that what you were talking about?"

At that, Hayner looked up and over at their driver, a petite girl with pale skin and red hair cut short in a shaggy cut, as she pointed out towards the wavering white speck in the distance. "Just ignore her Kairi. A lot of idiots like to see what they want in the middle of a desert." Olette smacked Hayner instantly on the back of the head for the comment.

"I wasn't hallucinating… There is a girl walking up ahead of us. Can't you see her?" Olette muttered, pointing again in the same direction as Kairi, where the white spot still stood and was growing steadily bigger as they drove nearer to it.

"Only you could see vintage Vera Wang five miles away, Olette," Hayner stated, rolling his eyes. He failed to notice that the closer they got to the speck of white the more it turned into the figure Olette had described.

"Wow…" Kairi mumbled in surprise, "It reallyis a person in a white dress!" She had passed off the idea, thinking it was probably someone's trash thrown to the side of the road; they had seen similar items on their way towards Las Vegas.

Hayner sighed as he sat up to watch the figure, which he was beginning to see better the closer they came to it. It always surprised him that his cousin could see things at great distances. 'It must be a recessive gene,' he thought, considering the majority of their family that had astigmatism. He wondered why a girl was out in the middle of a desert though, especially since there had been no cars in sight for the past fifty miles at least.

"Do you think we should help her?" Kairi mumbled, having wondered the same as Hayner without realizing it.

"Yes!" Olette squealed, "I wanna see the dress."

Kairi looked back at the brunette through the rear view mirror briefly before taking a deep calming breath, knowing it wouldn't do any good to correct her friend. 'Olette can really be insensitive sometimes,' she thought, pulling up next to the figure and watching the flat-chested girl waver on her feet as she turned to stare over at them with large, slightly slanted blue eyes.

"Fuck…" Hayner mumbled, finally getting a look at the girl's face. She was barely taller than Olette and was clearly smaller around the waist and chest, but he had never seen anyone cuter. "She's hot…"

Olette stopped eyeing the dress for a moment to glare at him a bit. "Pig…" she mumbled, watching as he ignored her yet again in favor of eyeing the surprised girl at the side of the road who continued to stare at them.

Kairi was the first to speak. "You look like you need help." It wasn't a question. Looking at the state of the other girl, Kairi noticed that, other than the dress she was wearing, she didn't seem to have any possessions on her.

The blond fixed her large, unblinking blue eyes on Kairi for a moment in contemplation, looking like she might speak, but before she could utter a word her eyes began to shutter and flew up into the back of her head as she passed out next to their vehicle.

"Oh my god… She's dead!" Olette gave off an ear piercing shriek, standing up in the back of the car as she looked down at the fallen girl.

Kairi quickly unbuckled herself, got out of the car, and ran towards the girl's side followed by Hayner, who was slower in responding due to the delayed shock of being faced with such a cute girl. "Come on. Let's get her inside the vehicle, Hayner. I think the gas station attendant we spoke to back in Dryfield said it would only be a couple of hours to reach a hotel. Maybe we can call to see if there are any doctors available that can help her when we get there."

Hayner looked down at the passed-out girl in concern. From his point of view, it would be a total waste if the cute girl died before he had a chance to try to get her to go out with him. "Will she make it?"

Kairi leaned down on her knees and gently placed two fingers against the girl's neck, happy to feel a steady pulse thrumming beneath her finger tips. She then leaned her head down, placing her cheek close to the girl's mouth, and was further relieved to feel a steady intake and out take of breath against her cheek. "Thank goodness... It seems like she's just exhausted," she stated while sitting back on her heels. "Hayner, place her in the back seat with Olette. We're taking her with us to the hotel."

The boy slowly nodded in understanding before leaning down to pick up the still unconscious girl. She was apparently heavier than she looked, as he grunted slightly under the weight, but finally managed to move her towards the back of the car where he lay her next to Olette. "I wonder what she was doing out here..." he mumbled absentmindedly while leaning close to study the gentle face of the girl as she slept below him. He was almost tempted to trace his fingers over a cheek, curious to see if it was as soft as it looked.

"Who knows," Kairi stated, getting back into the driver's seat and followed reluctantly by Hayner as he sat back in the passenger's seat next to her. "But maybe we'll find out more when she wakes up." Hayner was almost tempted to change seats with Olette, but he knew his cousin would refuse since she hated sitting in the front seat.

The three young people drove off with their new passenger towards the "Awakening Hotel," unaware that a dark, cloaked figure sat watching them from the seat of his black corvette. "Xenmas isn't going to like hearing his son's pet has escaped..."

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. There will be some more introductions in the next chapter and more information about "the girl." Please leave a comment/critique. Can't wait to hear your opinions and, please, stay tuned.