Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except Zach and the rest of my annoying muses.

A/N: Well… after disturbing things, nearly wiping my entire hard-drive, being dragged to my grandmother's and having my hair brushed by one of my cousins who resemble a monkey, almost getting bit by a snake and another conversation with Firehedgehog I decided to get back to work. Oh and I decided to mix in some other games as well as FFIX so I had characters that weren't involved elsewhere.

Warnings: Go read the first chapter.

Pairings: at the moment Zidane/Kuja.

"Tree?" Sora said, cocking his head to one side and staring at the dark gap between the trees. It had been three years since Sora's arrival on the islands and the boys had finally gotten enough courage to go back to the island where Riku found Sora. Now they along with Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Rinoa, and Nida were exploring the island.

"Sora, Wha'cha lookin' at?" Wakka asked, twirling his blitzball on his finger as he stared at the small brunette. Sora blinked, incredible blue eyes turning towards the redhead.

"Nothing." Sora stated, shaking his head. For a second he could've swore he saw a tree bigger than anything he'd ever seen before, so big that it's branches blocked out the sky. It felt both evil and familiar, much more so than the islands he lived on. Then he blinked and it disappeared into the gaps between the trees normally on the island.

"Where's Riku?" Wakka asked, looking around the island for the silver-haired eight-year-old. Selphie was climbing a tree, Rinoa was tied to the tree Selphie was climbing, and Tidus was hitting Nida with a stick... No Riku in sight. Wakka looked at Sora who was still in his own little world.

"Sora. Where's Riku?" He demanded, a slightly panicked tone creeping into his voice. Sora looked up at him, looking startled. The brunette glanced around; looking for his best friend who he could've swore was standing right beside him a minute ago.

"He was standing right here when I saw the odd tree thing." Sora said, looking slightly panicked himself. Wakka raised an eyebrow at him; Sora always was an odd one, especially with that tail which everyone knew was there, but he hid it anyways. Wait a second...

"What odd tree thing? It wasn't a monster right, ya?" Wakka asked, eyes widening as he came to a realization. If a tree monster ate Riku, Mrs. Riku's Mom (also known as Mrs. Meru) would never forgive him, which meant she wouldn't let him have any of her cookies and she made the best cookies in the islands. And that meant he had to take action.

Wakka turned around and shouted: "TIDUS! QUIT HITTING NIDA WITH A STICK AND COME ON! WE'VE GOT TO SAVE RIKU FROM A TREE MONSTER SO MRS. RIKU'S MOM WILL GIVE US COOKIES!" This greatly confused Sora, who hadn't even said there was a monster, much less a tree monster.

"YAY! COOKIES!" Tidus said happily, a stupid grin appearing on his face as he and Wakka ran out of sight. And Sora was now even more confused; they weren't even heading in the right direction. He found himself wondering if all children were like this or if it was just Wakka and Tidus.

Suddenly a pale hand came out of the gap where he was staring at earlier and motioned for him to follow. Sora stared at it in horror and did what any normal seven year-old boy would do; he screamed bloody murder.

The hand was quickly followed by a silver head, which glared at him with sea-green eyes. "Would you stop screaming and come on, I want to show you something." Riku demanded as Sora stared at him with wide eyes. Riku's eyes narrowed. "Well are you coming?" Sora nodded and Riku smiled brightly at him, reaching out and snagging his wrist.

The darkness within the tree roots reminded him of someplace, Sora almost expected to be able look down and finding sparkling green liquid below the area where they were standing. He shook his head, wondering once again where such odd thoughts came from, which lead to him wondering where he came from. He was the only islander with a tail and despite Riku's and his Mom's assurances that he was normal, he knew that he wasn't.

Riku led him to a cavern, which for a second looked like it was filled with old cooking utensils but changed when he blinked. Riku grinned at him and dragged him over to a place in the wall.

"Look, it's a door." Riku said, running his hand over the wooden surface. Sora's mind supplied that opening strange doors was bad, it often ended in long, grueling battles with ugly monsters and big ouches all over. But then again there was nearly always treasure on the other side as well, after you carved your path through the horde of monsters.

Riku stared at him, obviously waiting for him to say something. "I see that." Sora said, touching the door's smooth surface. Upon contact his world flashed and his vision went white.

RikuSoraKujaZidaneAxelRoxas

Zidane...

He watched as a young woman clad in a heavy white gown ran from a horde of shadow creatures, the gem in her staff glowing brightly as she threw spell after spell at her attackers.

Where are you?

A knight and a woman with an eye-patch stood at the gates of a castle, standing strong together against the darkness that threatened to overtake the land even though it was futile.

Where have you gone?

A rat-like woman clad in red attacked the creatures, stabbing them ruthlessly with her spear as she sought to defend her ruined homeland from yet another tragedy.

Why have you not returned to us?

A village of black mages and tailed-peoples was in panic as the creatures overtook them and at the center of the village stood a black mage child, his staff clutched tightly in his hands as he cast spell after devastating spell on the invaders.

Why do you not come in our hour of need?

The last summoner stood in front of the people she considered parents, ordering her eidolons to strike down as many creatures as they possibly could.

Save us from the Darkness

A redheaded man choked back a scream as his heart was stolen from him, that once familiar name on his lips as he was left empty and emotionless.

As only you can...

A star blinked out of existence as the heartless swallowed the world that was both unfamiliar and home to him.

RikuSoraKujaZidaneAxelRoxas

"Sora?" Riku asked as a tear ran down his friend's cheek. Sora shook his head as he cried. Riku tugged him into his arms, letting his friend sob into his shirt. He patted the boy's hair awkwardly, making the strands stick up in spikes as Sora mourned the loss of a world he could no longer remember.

Riku buried his face in his hair as he shook, rocking back and forth and rubbing Sora's back in what he hoped was a calming manner. He'd never seen his friend like this, Sora was always a happy, he always had a smile on his face. It was disturbing and he never wanted to see Sora cry again, ever.

He made a silent promise that he would protect Sora from the all evils of this world and others, no matter what the cost. He would keep that smile on Sora's face even if it was at the cost of his own life or humanity.

TBC

Thanks to all who read and reviewed and Special Thanks to Firehedgehog for giving me more ideas.

Oh and special note, I will write a one-shot for the first person who guesses which game Mrs. Riku's Mom a.k.a. the spectacular dancer Meru is from. That should be enough hints if you'd played it.

BloodyChaos: "Random Foreshadowing, MWAHAHA!"

Zach: "That's...nice."

Selene: "Can I go back to my corner now?"

BloodyChaos: " anyways, if you liked it please review."