Aoi Hyoudou: I want to thank everyone who read the first chapter and left feedback on it. I really appreciate it and for that I'm going to reply to your guys' reviews pretty soon. Although… it will ONLY be for this story. So, don't get used to seeing me responding to some of your reviews in some of the chapters. It's a once in a lifetime thing unless I decided to keep doing it for my other stories. We will have to wait and see.


Fateful Encounters

{…}

"…Ugh." A soft groan escaped from Ash's mouth. The Pokémon Trainer slowly opened his eyes as his blurry vision became clear. Soon he took notice that he was lying flat on his stomach on something, a hard surface of some sort.

Slowly, the young prodigy of Pallet Town pushed himself into a sitting posture before glancing around his new surroundings with extreme caution. The background was completely black and eerie. And the only light that was keeping his surroundings illuminated was the unnatural ball of light that was shining high overhead.

Ash sighed deeply. What was this strange place and why was he here? Rather than asking these questions to himself, he decided to scan around the area again, hoping to find some answers. His eyes eventually fell on the circular, stained-glass platform that he had been sitting on from the very start. "What the!-?"

Immediately, the young teenager shot straight up to his feet and stared at the floor. It was quite beautiful. The artwork on it was very colorful and realistic. It felt like Ash was staring right at his own face. In fact, he really was. There was a big image of him wearing his old Kanto traveling outfit leaning against a tree, asleep on the stained-glass pillar. But that wasn't all. There were five more images depicted and they all looked awfully familiar. Each one was in a small individual circle, unlike Ash's picture that was taking up most of the space.

One was a small yellow rodent with long pointy ears.

One was an adult woman with brown hair that was tied in a ponytail with a green hair band.

One was a spiky-haired teen who wearing a white lab coat with a smug yet friendly smirk on his face.

One was an elderly man who also was wearing a white lab coat.

And the last one was a dark green-haired male with a red-orange headband.

It was no big surprise that Ash immediately recognized who these five were. After all, they were some of the individuals who had played a major role in his life and growth. 'Pikachu… Mom…Gary… Professor Oak… and Tracey.' But still, he didn't have a single clue as to why their faces were on the stained-glass platform. What was the reason behind this?

While the baffled teenager continued to study the stained-glass artwork of his family, friends, and of course himself, he was completely unaware about his previous injuries that he suffered at the hands of those shadow creatures. They were completely healed and gone. His clothes on the other hand were still torn up from the last attacks. But that didn't matter right now. He had other concerns to worry about on his mind. One of which he wasn't fully aware of yet.

Sneaking right behind the ignorant male was one of those yellow-eyed shadow creatures that had appeared back in Pallet Town. Step by step, it approached its oblivious victim with stealth and cunning. Once it got close enough, it pounced. Fortunately, Ash and the creature weren't alone.

"Look out!" an unfamiliar female voice called out.

Ash had heard similar warnings in the past and reacted accordingly, quickly dropping to the ground and rolling away. The creature's claws barely missed his head. It repositioned itself after landing and prepared to attack again as Ash got back to his feet. But before the dark being could try again, it abruptly dissolved into many black particles after being cut in half by what Ash could only describe to be some sort of flying discus or boomerang. It certainly didn't look like any Pokémon attack he'd ever seen!

The Kanto native stood still in complete surprise. Ash had no idea what had just happened. One moment, the shadow creature was going to attack him again and the next it abruptly disappeared into black particles. The weapon that had saved him had also vanished. He was completely lost, but at the same time full of relief that his life was no longer in danger. Although something was still bothering him after the dark creature vanished in defeat and that was - who was responsible for its demise?

In least than three seconds, the young teenager got his answer when he abruptly heard someone let out a huge sigh of relief before speaking up. "Are you okay?"

Ash immediately looked forward once he noticed that the worry was directed at him. He came face to face with a young slender woman with short blue hair. She was around his age, maybe a little bit older. The Pokémon trainer from Pallet Town didn't have a single clue as to where she came from, but he was glad that she had showed up. If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be alive right now if not badly injured. And for that, Ash really appreciated her help. But something was still bothering him. Well, make that two things actually.

For one, what was the young female holding in her right hand? It looked like some kind of giant grayish house key but in a form of a sword with a keychain of some sort attached to it. Was it some sort of weapon? By the looks of it, it probably was. But soon it suddenly vanished from within her grasp in the blink of an eye. The young prodigy didn't know if he was hallucinating or what, but he decided not to think about it too much and saved it for another time.

As for his second concern, he didn't have a single clue what the mysterious woman was wearing. Her strange outfit was so, so out of the ordinary yet appealing. Sure, during his previous journeys across Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova, he came across many strange people with unique and bizarre attires, but this particular outfit took the cake. Her getup was quite revealing, showing off her young and beautiful bare skin, not to mention her well-developed chest.

The Kanto native's cheeks burned red-hot when he realized that he was staring directly at the young female's chest. He was trying desperately to keep his growing hormones in check to prevent any perverted thoughts from surfacing within his mind. But every time he tried to look away or stare down at his feet with fake interest, his eyes would always fall right back to the woman's breasts. 'Bad Ash bad! Don't look!' The Pokémon trainer mentally scolded himself as he focused his attention elsewhere. 'For Arceus' sake, don't be like him. Don't be like Brock!' The mere thought of him being like his perverted friend was seriously out of the question. The world was NOT ready for another Brock.

While Ash was going through a major phase, fighting away disturbing thoughts that were going through his head, it was clear that he didn't take any notice of the look of concern that he was getting from the female stranger. She could tell that he was feeling really uncomfortable and uneasy about something by his body language. She didn't know what it was, but she was going to find out.

The young beauty took a step forward and approached the distracted teen. "Um, are you feeling alright? You seem a bit-"

Realizing that she was talking to him, Ash started to panic a little. His face was now blazing hot as he looked around wildly for anything he could use as an excuse to get his act together. So far, the only logical thing the adolescent teenager could think of was to bring up the issue as to where he was and probably other topics that related to it. "I, uh, was wondering," he stuttered once he faced the female and stared at her, eye to eye. "…Where am I?" he asked.

The unnamed girl gave the uneasy teen a genuine smile. "You're currently in your Station of Awakening." she simply answered.

Ash blinked in confusion. "My Station of what now?" He was completely lost.

The blue-haired beauty giggled. "Your Station of Awakening." she repeated. "It's a world within your dreams." she explained.

"Oh…" There was a deep pause. "…So, I'm dreaming?" The young female didn't respond to that. Soon Ash, for the first time took notice of his body. He quickly studied himself before turning his attention right back to the girl. "I guess that explains why I don't feel that much pain." He was referring to his past injuries that he had suffered from his previous encounter with those shadow creatures.

The mysterious woman shook her head. "Just because you're dreaming doesn't make this any less real." she told him. And soon she gestured her hand around the area. "This place is your heart."

"My heart…?" Now, the young prodigy of Pallet Town was more lost than ever.

The blue-haired female giggled which causes the raven-haired male to blush. "That's right and it's also part of your trial." she exclaimed.

"My trial?" The young beauty nodded her head. "My trial of what?" the Pokémon Trainer asked.

"It's a trial where-" But before the girl could even start explaining, her time with the young teen was over. Everything around them was starting to fade out. "Well, it looks like my time with you is up." she sighed dejectedly.

"Wait, what?" Ash didn't know what was going on until he noticed that the whole area was losing focus and becoming a big blur. "What's happening?"

"You're waking up."

Realizing this, the Kanto native seized his newly friend by her shoulders and stared at her. "But I still have so many questions I need to ask you." he said to her before noticing that she was slowly fading away as well.

"Don't worry," The blue-haired woman gave the adolescent male an assuring smile. "I will answer all your questions next time when we meet in your next sleep." she told him.

"Well, at least tell me your name." Ash gripped her shoulders firmly.

His new friend smiled and whispered. "My name is…"

Soon the girl disappeared and everything went blank.

{…}

"Hey! Are you okay? Speak to us." an unfamiliar voice called out.

"…Ugh." Ash groaned weakly. He didn't know who was calling out to him, but it sounded like a girl. And what did she mean by us?

The wearily teenager could hear the female voice let out a gasp. "You hear that, Squall! He's still alive!"

"I can see that Yuffie." The new voice belonged to a matured man. "And my name is Leon." the male voice corrected in an icy tone.

"Whatever makes you happy, Squall." the first voice exclaimed teasingly.

Ash didn't know what was going on, but he could tell that the two voices were arguing back and forth with each other. Soon he could hear the male one sighing in frustration. "Enough of this! We need to hurry and take him inside before any more of the Heartless show up."

"Oh, right." The female voice finally realized that this wasn't the time or place to argue. "Good idea."

Slowly, the Pokémon Trainer opened his eyes to see that his vision was quite hazy and blurry. He was tired and sleepy. His body was aching allover. He couldn't make out who were the two mysterious characters that were kneeling down to his fallen form. He didn't know if they were friends or foes, but he had a weird fuzzy feeling that he could trust them. Their presences felt somewhat assuring and not to mention a little familiar. Feeling that he couldn't do anything in his current state, Ash remained still and allowed the older figure to pick him off the ground with ease without a struggle.

The last thing the young male remembered before passing out were two faint images of two people in his mind, a seven-year-old hyperactive little girl and a fifteen-year-old arrogant teenager.

{…}

"Hey, wake up you sleepyhead." a familiar female voice called out to Ash with a giggle.

"Mm… five more minutes, Mom…" Ash mumbled softly in his sleep.

"Oh, now I'm your mother? That's so cute." the female voice teased.

Immediately, the Kanto native opened his eyes and shot straight up into a sitting position. He quickly scanned around the area before looking straight up where he saw the blue-haired woman standing over him with her face a little red from all the giggling she did. Ash blushed a little until he finally realized where he was again.

He was back. He was back at his Station of Awakening; or his 'heart' as the girl put it. But something was different now. To be specific, the stained-glass pillar from before had a few changes. For one, the image of himself was no longer in present. His mom, Gary, Tracey, Professor Oak, and Pikachu's pictures had vanished as well. Instead, they were all replaced by four new images in big circles. And all of them were girls.

One was a redheaded female with part of her hair tied into a pigtail.

The second one was a brown-haired female with a green and white bandana that had a Pokéball logo in the center on her head.

The next picture was a blue-haired female with a white beanie that had a pink Pokéball logo in the center on her head.

Last of all was a dark-tanned female with purple hair that was so massive, it was tied in a combination of pigtails and a ponytail.

Ash quickly recognized each of his former female traveling companions who, in some way, made huge differences in his life. 'Misty, May, Dawn, and Iris, huh?' he pondered. 'What does all this mean?' he asked himself as he goes into a deeper thought.

"Ahem."

But soon the young male would snap out of his thoughts when he heard a soft cough coming from the blue-haired woman who was still standing right in front of him with her arms crossed and pressed over her chest, annoyed at being ignored in favor of the floor. Realizing that he didn't mean to ignore her, he immediately turned his attention right back to her and apologized. "Uh, sorry I didn't mean to ignore you like that."

Giggling, the young woman quickly accepted the teen's poor apology before taking a seat right in front of him and offered her own apology to him. "And I should apologize to you too." Ash raised an eyebrow at her. "I didn't get the chance to tell you my name." She gave him an apologetic smile.

Noticing this, the Pokémon Trainer simply waved her off. "No worries," he reassured the female with a warm smile. "Uh…" But soon he realized that maybe he should take that back since he still didn't know her name.

Seeing that the Kanto native was having some trouble dealing with the situation, the young beauty stepped in and lent him a helping hand by introducing who she was. "Aqua. My name is Aqua." she greeted warmly with a smile. "And I'm a Keyblade Master." she added.

A pregnant silence fell between the two.

"A Key-what now?" Ash asked confusedly after breaking the awkward silence.

Aqua sighed deeply and shook her head. "It looks like I have a lot of explaining to do." Indeed, she did. "Where to start?" she murmured to herself.

{…}

After what it seemed like an hour or two inside Ash's 'heart', Aqua, a fallen Keyblade Master, an innocent soul trapped in the Realm of Darkness was finally done explaining her case to the Pokémon Trainer. She told him everything. Well, not exactly everything. Just the things that she already knew with some additional information from a different source.

"Whoa…" Ash was pretty much speechless. He didn't know what to say after hearing everything that Aqua told him about. It was beyond anything he had ever came across before.

She told him all about the Heartless and how they feared a legendary weapon known as the Keyblade. She also mentioned that when an individual lost his/her heart to the darkness, the person's heart would become a thing known as a Heartless. If the person's heart was strong, then a new type of being would be created from the leftover body, this type of being was identified as a Nobody.

The fallen Keyblade Master went on to explain to Ash the history of the Keyblades. Aqua even told him that other people could become Keyblade wielders and what are their duties were. She stated that there were a few ways to become one. One: a person must go through a set of trials during their sleep. Two: one who possesses a strong pure heart with a good will is chosen by the Keyblade itself. Or three: one must go through a Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with a Keyblade wielder whose power was the level of a Keyblade Master.

In no time, Aqua mentioned that she was a Keyblade Master and that her other friends were also Keyblade wielders like her, but they had not gained the title of Keyblade Master just yet. Her life and those of her closest friends had been turned upside down when an old man by the name of Master Xehanort entered the picture. Thanks to him and his evil intentions of trying to obtain not only the χ-blade but Kingdom Hearts, her home world, her master, and most of all… her friends all suffered and in the process caused her to be trapped in the Realm of Darkness. She had no idea how long it had been since her entry into this particular place, she was waiting for a boy named Sora to come rescue her and her new friend who was also stuck in the Realm of Darkness.

But so far, nothing really special happened during her time. That is until the female Keyblade bearer brought up something interesting that caught Ash's full attention. During her stay in the Realm of Darkness, she said that she could sense something eerie calling out to her lingering spirit. She didn't know what it was, but she felt compelled to answer it. And the next thing she knew, she was in Ash's, uh, dream during their first meeting. She didn't know if it was fate or something else, but she had a strong feeling that there was a reason behind it. A reason why Ash and Aqua met. She guessed that it was so she could guide him. Unless there was a deeper purpose Aqua had yet to determine. She would just have to figure it out on her own time.

The blue-haired woman then revealed that when the Pokémon Trainer left at the end of their first meeting, her spirit returned to the Realm of Darkness where she had a small friendly chat with her friend about him. That's when things got a little interesting. She didn't know how, but her new friend knew a lot about Ash despite not meeting him first hand. Aqua told the young trainer that the only reason she knew his name now and everything about his background history was because of her friend's knowledge about the Kanto native which was big news to Ash's ears.

And with that, Aqua was done explaining all the little details to her young friend which eventually led to the present. A time where the Pokémon Trainer had once again been rendered speechless once she was finished.

Another awkward silence fell between the pair.

The female Keyblade bearer stared at the young trainer who was currently glancing down at his lap in deep thought. She frowned a little. She didn't know if she had made the right call or not, but it had to be done. He needed to know. Sure, it sounded like a lot to take in, but she knew that he'd be able to make sense of it soon enough.

While the Keyblade Master was waiting patiently for the Pokémon Trainer to make some sort of reaction, she suddenly took notice of a small smile that was tugging against the corner of his lips. She blinked a little. Aqua didn't know why Ash was smiling, but something was telling her that he had a reason.

"Hey Aqua?" the raven-haired male abruptly called out to her.

"Yes, Ash?" the blue-haired woman quickly answered as she continued to stare at the Kanto native who was still staring at his lap with the small smile still tugging against his lips.

"Thank you." Aqua was taken aback by this.

"For what?"

Still smiling, Ash looked up and stared at his new friend with his chocolate brown eyes. "For giving me an idea." he grinned at her.

Aqua blinked a few times. "Huh?" She still didn't quite understand what he was talking about.

Without warning, Ash seized Aqua by her shoulders before leaning his face forward towards hers which was making the female warrior feel really uncomfortable with her cheeks turning slightly red. "Aqua, I know I might be asking a lot from you, but-" The two stared at each other for the longest time until Ash broke the silence and continued. "-could you please perform the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with me?" he asked hoping the female teenager would say yes.

"Huh?" Aqua was completely flabbergasted at the male's sudden request.

Sighing deeply, the Pokémon Trainer released his grip on the Keyblade Master's shoulders, but continued to give her his full attention. "I know that I'm not the kind of person who likes to take shortcuts, but-" He chewed his bottom lip before continuing. "-if what you say is true about the Heartless and how they're one of the major problems behind everything that's been going wrong…" He placed a hand over his heart and clutched it tightly. "Then please grant me the power to fight and protect others. I don't want anyone to suffer because of the Heartless and people using the darkness for their own gain. I want to stop them no matter what!" He stared at the female Keyblade bearer with determination in his eyes.

Aqua was left speechless. She didn't know what to say at this point. She could see the burning determination and spirit from the young prodigy of Pallet Town.

"So, please Aqua," the Kanto native started to plead with the blue-haired beauty who was quietly staring at him. "Please help me." the raven-haired male pleaded once more.

Closing her lovely blue eyes, the female Keyblade Master took a moment to ponder over her thoughts. After hearing what Ash had to say, she could finally understand why he was the 'Chosen One' of his world. He was caring and selfless. Not once did he ever think about himself, especially if the safety of others was at stake. Aqua could tell right away that Ash had a big heart filled with hope and potential which clearly reminded her of someone she once knew. And from there, she made her mind up as to what she was going to do.

'Usually, I don't give in that easily, but-' The blue-haired Keyblade wielder opened her eyes and stared at the raven-haired trainer before her who was waiting anxiously for her decision. '-seeing that Ash is being really serious about this. I'll make an exception.' she chuckled and smiled.

Ash blinked a few times at the chuckling female. What was she chuckling about?

"All right Ash," Aqua started which got the Pokémon Trainer's full attention. "I'll do it. I'll perform the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony for you." she exclaimed with a smile, seemingly pleasing the 'soon-to-be' Keyblade bearer.

"Really?" Ash asked incredulously, hoping he wasn't hearing things. Aqua nodded.

"Of course," she confirmed still smiling. 'But you have to figure out the rest on your own when I'm done Ash.' she uttered in her mind knowing that there were a few things that the young male must go through on his own without her help. 'That's how it works.'

"Thank you, Aqua!" the Kanto native thanked the female Keyblade Master who immediately snapped out of her thoughts. "You're the best!" he added with his trademark smile.

Feeling a little embarrassed, the blue-haired woman simply waved him off as if it was no big deal when in reality it truly was. "It's no trouble at all, Ash." she told him in a modest tone.

Ash shook his head and said proudly. "No, I really meant it, Aqua. You really are the best. Thank you so much for helping me!" he offered her another smile.

Aqua didn't know why, but her cheeks were turning bright pink all of a sudden. Shaking off the fuzzy feeling within her, she let out a fake cough against her closed fist before regaining her composure and faced the 'soon-to-be' Keyblade wielder with a serious expression on her face. "All right Ash, enough talk. It's time to get down to business." she said in a serious tone of voice.

The raven-haired male nodded in agreement. Aqua summoned her Keyblade in a flash of light.

"Now, relax and close your eyes." the female Keyblade bearer instructed. Ash blinked which she quickly took notice of. "Trust me, just relax and close your eyes, and place your hand on my Keyblade. I'll take care of the rest." she reassured him with a smile.

Trusting her words and everything else that went with it, Ash took a deep breath before relieving himself from all his stress with a soft sigh. He slowly straightened himself up into a more comfortable composure, laying his right hand on her Keyblade before closing his eyes, allowing his mind and body to relax.

Seeing that the young prodigy of Pallet Town was ready, Aqua proceeded forward with the ceremony. But before she could even get started, a faint blue light around Ash abruptly caught her attention. She didn't know what it was, but she had a strong feeling that it was connected to Ash in some way. The flow of its presence was strong, but unbalanced. And soon it slowly faded away. The Keyblade bearer didn't know what she had just witnessed, but she was going to deal with it another time. Right now, she had other things to do.

With the strange glowing light no longer a distraction to her, the young beauty went down to business. She took a deep breath before easing her mind and body with a soft sigh of relief. She then closed her eyes and reached for the light within her heart, seeking to connect it to Ash's, using the Keyblade itself to link their hearts together. In no time, both her and Ash's bodies were emitting a bright light and it only lasted for a few moments before it died down.

Soon Aqua pulled her Keyblade out of Ash's grasp and lowered it to her side before opening her eyes where she could still see the Pokémon Trainer still relaxing with his eyes closed. She smiled. The Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony had been a success. It was finished. Well, half of it was. All that was left was for Ash to do his part. And seeing that the whole area was becoming hazy again only meant that Aqua's time with Ash was over. Therefore, the 'soon-to-be' Keyblade wielder would have to figure out on his own how to summon his new power once he woke up in the real world.

"All right Ash, it looks like my time with you is over for now." the female Keyblade wielder informed the Pokémon Trainer who didn't budge a muscle from his relaxed position. "You will have to awaken your Keyblade on your own once you wake up." she advised knowing that he was listening. "But I know you can do it." she smiled at the potential Keyblade bearer who still had his eyes closed. "I have faith in you."

A genuine smile tugged against the corner of Ash's lips.

"So, good luck." Aqua gave her final thoughts before disappearing.

Sensing that the Keyblade Master was no longer with him, the Kanto native slowly opened his eyes where he was abruptly blinded by a flash of light which eventually engulfed his entire being.

{…}

Not knowing where he was, Ash immediately shot straight up as quickly as possible to a sitting position, but soon winced in pain and clutched his chest with a hand when he finally realized that he was back in the waking world. He started to feel like it was better off staying asleep than waking up. That way he didn't have to deal with the excruciating pain that he was going through right now. Now that he was back in the world of the living Ash suddenly noticed that he was no longer in his clothes. No. Instead, he was in a pair of light blue pajamas with lightning bolts on them, with his both arms, abdomen, and left shoulder all wrapped up underneath. His left cheek was also covered by a small bandage.

Soon the clueless teenager looked around his new surroundings and noticed that he was inside a small guestroom with a window that was halfway open, allowing cool fresh air to breeze into the room. It was strange. How in the world did he get here? The last thing he remembered before passing out was being picked up by one of those voices he…

"Zzz…"

Alerted by a soft snore beside his bedside, the Pokémon Trainer cranked his head over to his right where he saw a young black-haired girl with a black headband, several years older than him resting her head on top of her arms on the side of the bed. Ash didn't know who she was or why she was in the room with him, but he can tell that she had been watching over him for some time now. That or she had simply fallen asleep from boredom. He smiled gently at the girl and her sleeping form before staring at her cute face for a few seconds. He didn't know why, but she seemed a bit familiar to him which was kinda weird. Who was she?

After a little while of sitting in his bed and do nothing but staring at the mysterious girl's face nonstop, the Kanto native decided to shake off the weird feeling within him before moving his attention away from the sleeping female over to the window.

As Ash was staring off into space, one mere thought came to him in the back of his mind.

'Aqua…'


A/N: Well, guys, what do you think about chapter two so far? Was it surprisingly good now that Ash had a few encounters with Aqua and some of the FF cast members? And about the whole Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony idea, it came from my beta-reader, Vandenbz who got that idea from another author. He suggested that I should do something different since the whole "Dive in the Heart" trial has been played out so many that it gets old and stale which I completely agreed. Hope you guys agreed with it as well. Anyway, I'm off to write the next chapter. Please R & R! Thank you!

P.S. - Give the proofreading and editing credit to my beta-reader, Vandenbz.

Aoi Hyoudou (formerly known as Johan07)