Author's Notes: This story has been in my head for a good year or so now. Originally, it was going to be an RP. But, sad to say, we lost a couple of important players to real life and the deadly muse-killer. So...I decided to turn it into a fanfiction. Of massive proportions. Any original characters in here, I have permission from their owners to use. And some of the fanon involved with a few canon characters has been given the thumbs up by the people who came up with the exact details of said fanon-ness.

Disclaimer: -coughs- Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix. Gundam Wing belongs to Sunrise and Sotsu and Bandai. xxxHolic is owned by CLAMP. Original characters belong to myself, LadyNyoko, novastrike, Isritial, and Grif Rainchild.

royaume coeur: déteignant étoile

By KaidaPoi

Chapter One: The Summoner

Pain. There was nothing but pain and a sense of immeasureable loss. Her nerves were on fire, and even thinking hurt. And she was missing something. Gods, she was missing a very part of herself. Why couldn't the pain just stop? Why couldn't she just go back into the void of death...

Blue eyes. Deep blue eyes that held a spark she vaguely recognized in them...

"Kaida." Was the owner of the eyes speaking? No...no, the voice was familiar in a way the eyes were not. "KAIDA!"

A slim girl of about nineteen sat straight up in her bed, breathing heavily and shaking. It took a moment for her topaz blue eyes to focus, and she shook her head, running a hand through ash-blonde hair. Just a dream, a bad memory.

"You're going to be late if you keep that up." While most would have started at the voice, the young woman simply smiled slightly and looked to her right.

"Good morning to you as well, Zero." The owner of the voice that had woken her stood to the side of her bed, arms crossed and a frown on his face. There was annoyance clear in his nile blue eyes. A set of rather mechanical wings moved slightly behind him, reflecting the annoyance in his eyes.

"Kaida, you're going to be late." The girl snorted as she got out of bed and winced a little at the cold of the hardwood floor. She yawned and stretched, then proceeded to unbraid her mid back-length hair. Hm...the last few inches of it were still red. Hopefully it would finish fading soon.

"I'll be fine, Zero." She finished and stood up, trotting to go through her morning ritual. The winged man just sighed and rubbed a temple. Ten minutes later, Kaida gave a panicked yelp and came running out of the bathroom, tucking camo pants into her boots and groping for the jacket that was on the back of a folding chair. "Holyshitgonnabelate! UnewillKILLme!" Zero smirked, which earned him a glare from Kaida as she grabbed the jacket and finished making herself presentable before grabbing the sword belt and sheathed katana attached to it and securing it around her hips. "Don't say it, bastard. Let's go." She went out the door, locked it, and took off running, dodging a few other residents of the apartment complex.

Zero, the lucky bastard, just went right through them, not a single one noticing him. Kaida yelped as they reached the outside, throwing her arms over her head as she made a dash for the next set of cover in her path. It was raining heavily, more than a few people following Kaida's example or shielding themselves with raincoats or umbrellas. By the time the tan girl got to her destination, her jacket and pants were damp, and her hair was dripping.

She popped into a bathroom long enough to paper towel some of the moisture from her hair, then took off again, dodging more than a few people wearing the same style of jacket as her. A few of them looked amused, as if this wasn't an entirely new sight. She burst into a shared office to the phone on her desk ringing, and grabbed it just in time.

"Refugee Placement Office, Preventers, this is Private Moore."

"Moore, Miss Ichihara called for you five minutes ago. You need to be there in ten. Maybe this will encourage you to stop being late." The other side hung up and Kaida groaned, hanging her own phone up.

"Can't even let me dry off, can ya Une?" She sighed and grabbed the umbrella she kept stashed in her desk, waving pathetically to the man who had the other desk in the office. "Sorry Nichol. Apparently, Yuuko-sama wants me. And we all know it's best not to keep the Witch waiting." The man nodded in sympathy.

"See you when you get back." And Kaida was out the door again, grumbling. Near the entrance of the building, she bumped elbows with someone, turning enough to give them a quick 'sorry'. And made her way forward again. Odd...His eyes reminded her of something...

"You're late." Kaida cringed at the tone of voice the tall woman in front of her had. Yuuko Ichihara not only stood a good several inches over her, but had this way of making one feel very, very small if she was annoyed. Which she was, as was clearly reflected in her crimson eyes. Those eyes looked to the male beside Kaida. "I take it you told her she was going to be late, Wing Zero?" The man nodded, which made Yuuko sigh. "A spirit has better sense of time than you, Kaida! Now, come. Let's get you out of those wet clothes. It won't due to greet our guest like that."

Kaida followed after Yuuko, curious. "Guest? Another refugee?" Yuuko gave her a mysterious smile and motioned to the two girls sitting on the floor.

"You'll see. Maru, Moro, the dark green yukata with the dragon pattern please." The two girls took off, and Yuuko turned to Kaida, holding a pale hand out. "I'll keep hold of Mud while you're in the yukata. Now, go in that room to change. Wing Zero can wait in here. Be quick about it!" Kaida frowned, handing Yuuko the sword belt with her katana on it and moved into the room indicated, Maru and Moro practically bouncing in after her, a yukata in hand.

Several minutes later, the girl came out, drier and dressed in the yukata, looking a bit unsure. She hadn't been in a yukata in years, let alone one so NICE. "Are you sure just holding onto Mud is collateral enough for borrowing this?" Yuuko nodded.

"Yes. Now, let's go. Our guest will be arriving any moment." She started towards the entrance of the house, Kaida following behind, Zero following Kaida. The group stopped on the deck, below the eaves of the house to avoid the rain. All of a sudden, the rain seemed to shift and twist, a bulbous...something touching the ground and then bursting. Laying there on the ground was a young man, naked and pale skinned and covered in scars, shivering as the rain hit him. His hair was tousled and midnight-colored, steadily getting wetter. As Kaida and Yuuko braved the rain to approach him, he opened his eyes...eyes that were orange-amber and held something in them that told Kaida to RUN. But she didn't, instead kneeling down before him and holding a hand out.

"My name is Kaida Moore. Welcome to Refuge."