Ven woke up the next morning to the loud dongs coming from one of the old clock towers in the town. As Ven moaned still lying on his bed, he rolled over and smiled at the sight of the baby Chocobo, chirping loudly at Ventus.

Ven giggled, "Good morning to you too," he said, picking up the animal and heading downstairs.

The morning air was clean and the smell of the garden flowers wafted into the room. Ven smiled and reached up into the cabinets to pull out some breakfast for himself and the Chocobo.

Once the blonde sat down, he picked up his spoon and began to eat. He looked out the window and frowned slightly. Ven couldn't stop thinking about that man, Terra, from yesterday.

"I wonder who the guy actually is," Ventus mumbled to himself.

Suddenly, Lea busted through the doors yelling, "VENTUS!" Lea looked at his friend and jumped on him in a hug.

"Lea," Ven laughed, "I'm go to spill this all over the floor."

"Sorry about that," Lea smiled. "So, it's the weekend today."

"Yes, and what are you thinking?" Ven asked.

Lea looked around and spotted the Chocobo on the table. "Whoa," he said, "Ven, when did you get a Chocobo?"

"Oh, I found him yesterday just outside my house." Ven didn't want to tell his friend about the gang that beat him up yesterday and how he met Terra. "His leg was hurt so I took him in."

"That's really nice," Lea said looking at his friend. Lea frowned and put a finger to his cheek. "And what happened there?" Lea asked.

"I fell and scraped my face a little. It's nothing to be concerned about, Lea. So what did you want to do today?" Ven asked trying to change the subject.

"Well, Isa is waiting for us at his house. So I guess we could just hangout for the day, how does that sound?"

"That sounds great. Let me just get ready to go and I'll meet you outside."

"Rodger," Lea said leaving the room.

Ven smiled and went upstairs to get dressed. Once he was done, he went to grab his keys. Suddenly, Ven felt something strange run through him. It was like a horrible feeling that something bad was going to happen.

It's probably just my imagination, he thought to himself as he went downstairs to meet up with Lea.

"It's about time you got done," Lea smiled at his friend. "You ready to go see Isa?"

Ven nodded, "Sure am, let's go."

…...

"Craaaaaap," Emika moaned as she scratched her head. She grunted again and mumbled, "I'm here for an hour and I can't even find Terra in this town, and it doesn't help that I have to stay hidden."

Emika sighed and tried to contact Terra again.

Nothing.

"I swear, I'm gonna kill Terra when I see him." Emika looked around, trying to find something that could help her in finding Terra.

She sighed again to herself, thinking she should just go find the pure heart herself and leave Terra alone so he would learn a lesson.

Emika jumped down and landed lightly on her feet in the middle of the alley. She looked around and decided to go around town to look for the pure heart. Emika removed her coat so she wore her white shirt with her charm hanging on her chest.

"Hope this works," she mumbled as she walked into the light. No one seemed to notice her so Emika walked around town.

She heard a noise from behind and turned around only to see nothing. The soldier frowned and took off into a sprint in a second. Emika turned the corners quickly and in one swift motion, climbed the walls and landed on the roof of a house.

There was a movement in the distance and Emika took off after it. She frowned, "I can't believe it," she said. "I can't believe they're here. I thought we had some more time. Crap, I sure hope Terra has senesced this too or else we're both dead."

…...

"Hey, Isa!" Lea waved to their friend.

Is looked up and waved back. "What took you guys so long?" Isa asked when the two boys were next to him.

"Ven here just takes forever when getting ready," Lea said.

"Shut up," Ven laughed, punching Lea in the arm.

"So, should we go the usual route?" Isa asked.

"Why don't we change it up today?" Lea said.

"What are you saying?" Ventus asked.

"I have somewhere we can go, it'll be fun," Lea said.

Both the boys shrugged, "Sure, why not," Isa said.

Lea smiled. "Okay, follow me then," he said, taking off running.

It wasn't long until the boys came up to a large open area underneath the city. They always hung out in the underground areas where the city had its power supply and everything like that.

"How much longer do we have to walk, Lea?" Isa asked.

"Not too much," Lea said, "it's not far from here."

All three of them walked until they got to the middle of the open area, and that was when everything went horribly wrong.

Something knocked Lea down on the ground too fast for anyone to see. Lea gasped in surprise as he rolled towards the wall. He hit his back hard enough to knock the wind out of him.

The other two boys didn't have time to react. Isa was knocked back as well and only Ven was left. He turned to run towards his friends but was stopped when he heard someone's chilling laughter.

"Those two didn't even see it coming at all, did they?" someone behind Ventus said.

The blonde turned around and saw a masked boy standing next to one of the water tanks another couple of stories up. "Who are you?" Ven asked.

"Like I have to tell you anything, you idiot," the boy said.

"What?" Ven said.

"Well, the master said to take you back alive, but it wouldn't hurt to knock you and your friends there around a bit. What he won't know won't hurt him."

"What are you talking about?" Ven asked confused. He gasped when the boy formed a blade in his hand and pointed it at the blonde. That's one of those blades from the war. What are they called again? "The Keyblade," Ventus said dryly.

"So you know what this is," the boy said. "Well, it doesn't really matter right now anyways since you won't last very long."

The boy gathered up energy within himself and something dark formed at the tip of the Keyblade. Ven took a step back and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the blow to hit him.

But nothing happened.

Ven's eyes fluttered open and he saw a tall figure standing before him. The man was holding a Keyblade as well and he had it pointed at the boy with the other Keyblade.

"What are you doing here?" the boy asked.

"I'm doing my job," the man said. He suddenly threw his Keyblade and it struck the boy as it spun quickly through the air. The man turned around and Ven gasped.

"You're the one from before," Ventus said. "It was Terra, right?"

Terra nodded and leaned into Ven. "Are you alright, Ventus?" he asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Ven blushed lightly.

Terra looked right into Ven's eyes. "Ventus," he said, "I need you to come with my right now."

"What?"

"I need you to come with me before Vanitas comes back."

"I can't," Ven said, "I can't just leave my friends here. I won't leave them here."

Terra looked at the two boys lying limping on the ground. "I don't have time to get you all out of here. Your safety is what is crucial right now at the moment."

"I don't care; I'm not leaving Isa and Lea here!" Ven yelled, which made Terra's eyes widen in surprise.

"He really is as pure as everyone says he is," someone laughed.

Ven flinched but he relaxed when he saw a small girl land next to Terra. She smiled and waved slightly at Ven. "Hey there," she said.

"Hello," Ven said.

"What are you doing here, Emika?" Terra asked.

"We'll talk later, Terra," Emika said. "Right now you need to get these guys out of here and take that boy to a safe place."

"But he's here too. I need to get Ventus to safety first," Terra said.

"Terra," Emika said frowning, "we will not involve innocent lives in this war. Do you hear me?"

Terra nodded and began to walk over to Lea and Isa, but was stopped when a hoard of monsters appeared before him. He jumped back and blocked Ven off from them. "Damn Unversed," Terra said.

"Looks like a change in plan," Emika said, shoving Ventus towards Terra. "You get him out of here first. I'll keep these other two safe until you get back."

"What?" Ven breathed. "No, I'm not going. I told you I won't go with you until I get Lea and Isa out of here," Ven said to Terra.

Terra looked down at the blonde and sighed. "Sorry about this," he said as he picked Ven up and slung him over his shoulder.

"What are you doing? Put me down, Terra!" Ven yelled.

Lea began to stir and his eyes slowly fluttered open. He looked and spotted Ven squirming in Terra's hold. Lea quickly stood up and rushed over towards Ventus but he was cut off by a bunch of monsters.

"Get out of my way," Lea grumbled. He looked up and he saw Terra running off with Ven over his shoulder. "Ventus!" Lea yelled out to his friend.

Emika looked back and saw Lea standing in front of a hoard of Unversed. She summoned her Keyblade and quickly destroyed all of them.

Lea looked surprised, "Who are you?" Lea asked.

"I don't have time to explain," Emika said, "just get out of here fast. Go and find Ventus."

"How do you know-"

"Just shut up and go already," Emika said while slashing at more Unversed that appeared.

Lea nodded and ran off. Emika sighed and jumped back next to Isa and helped him up. Isa groaned as he looked up and say the girl holding onto him.

"You okay?" Emika asked.

Isa groaned again and slumped against Emika's arm. She picked Isa up and leaned him against her body.

"What a pain it must be for you, Emika," said the boy who appeared in front of Emika and Isa.

"It's not so bad," she said, "at least I'm not with you guys."

"The master still wishes to speak to you," the boy said.

"Then tell him I said 'Like hell I would speak to him again,' Vanitas."

Vanitas frowned, "I'll be sure to tell him that when I drag both you and Ventus back with me."

"You have to go through me first before you get to Ventus," Emika said holding up her Keyblade.

Isa groaned again and was finally able to stand up. He looked at Emika with wide eyes. "What, who are-"

Emika shoved Isa behind her. "When I tell you to run then you need to run as fast as you can, okay?" she said.

Isa didn't say anything, he only nodded in response.

Emika summoned her other Keyblade and in one quick motion, she went straight for Vanitas. "Run!" she yelled out, and Isa took off sprinting out of the battle.

"Good," Vanitas said, "no we can finally get serious about this fight."

Emika smiled, "Hope you're able to put up a good fight," she said as she sprang towards the boy again.

…...

"Let go of me!" Ventus yelled.

Terra turned the corner quickly and stopped in front of Ven's house. "Give me your keys," Terra said.

"What?" Ven asked astonished.

Terra sighed heavily and searched inside of Ven's pockets until he found the key. He put the key inside the lock and turned the knob, running inside while closing the door behind him.

The brunette set Ven on the couch, clutching his small shoulders, staring into the blonde's dark blue eyes.

"Well it looks like you're not injured," Terra said.

"Why did you do that?" Ven murmured.

"I had to keep you safe no matter what. Those friends of yours would just have gotten in the way resulting in you getting hurt."

Ven glared at Terra. "That doesn't matter, and how could you have let that girl stay there to fight? She was probably only a year older than me!"

"If Emika doesn't make it back from that battle then she didn't even deserve to live," Terra said coldly.

The blonde suddenly stood up and slapped Terra on the side of the face. Terra looked back at the boy with slight shock in his eyes. He didn't see that one coming at all. Ventus looked furious at the man. "HOW THE HELL CAN YOU SAY THAT?"

"It's the way we live by," Terra said. "It's the way we soldiers live by."

"I don't care if that's your way; all of you soldiers are the same. You don't care if you have to kill children or families, just as long as you obtain what you trying to achieve in this hellish war of yours."

Terra was about to say something but Ven turned around and began to walk out the door. "What are you doing?" Terra asked.

"If you won't help me save them then I'll go by myself," Ven said reaching for the doorknob.

The door was beginning to open until Terra put his hand on it and shut it closed. Ven turned around and faced Terra deep blue eyes. "I can't let you go back there," he said sternly.

"I barely even know you, so you have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do," Ven said.

"You said you owed me for saving your life, remember?"

Ven thought back and realized that he had said that to Terra. "I can't fulfill that role right now. I have to help my friends," Ven looked up with sad eyes.

Terra sighed, "Okay, we'll go, but you have to promise to stay close to me the whole time."

Ventus smiled brightly, "Thank you so much, Terra."

Terra suddenly felt himself smiling back as he followed the blonde out the house. The man frowned. How did this happen? He thought. I usually stick by my word, but this kid, he's something different. I guess that's the way it is around him.

Ven suddenly stopped walking and turned back to Terra. "Hey, um, I," he paused, blushing slightly.

"What is it?" Terra asked.

"I, I'm sorry I slapped you back there. I don't know what came over me, but I'm really sorry. Does it hurt at all?" Ven asked reaching up to touch Terra's cheek.

"Don't worry about it," Terra said softly, but then walked ahead of the blonde. "Try to keep up with me, okay?"

"Uh, sure," Ven said timidly. He's probably really mad at me, Ven thought. I should have thought before I did that to him.

Ven continued to follow Terra shyly until he saw Lea running down the pavement of the town. He saw his friend and began to rush after him, but Terra grabbed the blonde and pulled him behind himself.

Lea looked up and yelled, "Ventus!"

"Lea!" Ven yelled back to his friend.

"Don't worry, Ven, I'm coming!" Lea said as he ran faster and jumped to kick Terra in the chest.

Terra quickly moved away while tugging Ven behind him. He stared at the redhead who tried again to kick him.

"Damn you," Lea grumbled, "let Ven go, you bastard!"

"Lea-" Ven began.

"I have no intention of hurting this boy here. In fact, I'm here to protect him from any harm," Terra said.

"And why should I believe you?" Lea asked.

"I'm this boy's guardian now. You should know what a guardian is from your studies in school."

Lea's eyes widened; he knew what a guardian was. "But, if you're his guardian then that makes Ven a-"

"Don't get to distracted from your job, Terra," a man's voice said as they jumped down and grabbed Ventus from behind Terra.

"Damnit," Terra glared at the tall man who was holding Ven's neck with his arm. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm just one who's following the strongest side," the man said.

"So, how did you get here, and are you working with Vanitas?" Terra asked.

The guy nodded slightly, "That girl, she had to go save this kid with blue hair from the Unversed or something like that; it was really sad, she almost had both Vanitas and I for a little."

"Isa," Lea murmured under his breath.

"But you messed up too, Terra," the man said. "Because of you being distracted, I got my hands on your pure light here," he motioned towards Ven, who was struggling against the man's grip on him.

Terra snarled as he summoned his Keyblade.

"Calm down now, Terra, or else Blondie here is gonna get it," the man said, holding up his own weapon, pointing it up next to Ventus's throat.

Terra didn't move an inch. He just kept glaring at the man.

The guy smiled, "Aww, so I see that he's really important to you. By the way, the name's Braig, just in case you were wondering," Braig said, moving his weapon closer to Ven, which made the boy yelp in surprise.

Lea clenched his fists. "Hey, you, Braig," Lea said.

Braig looked up at the red head and snickered, "What do you want, kid?"

"I want you to let Ven go."

Braig laughed, "Oh sure, I'll let him go just give me a sec." Braig leaned down and put his hand under Ventus's chin, making him look up into the man's face. "My, you're quiet a cute one, aren't you?" Braig tightened his grip on Ven, which made him scream.

"Stop it!" Lea yelled.

Ven felt tears form in his eyes as he starred into the man's yellow eyes.

Terra quickly rushed into Braig and knocked him back, catching Ven as Braig let go of the boy. Terra took Ven by the waist and jumped back beside Lea.

"Ventus," Lea said as he hugged his friend. "Are you okay?"

Ven nodded slightly as he twitched, seeing Braig get up from where he was knocked down.

"That was a nice trick, Terra," Braig laughed. "But now play time is over." The man picked up his weapons, which looked like crossbows.

Terra stood in front of Ventus as Braig got ready to strike, but Vanitas appeared behind him.

Braig looked behind him. "What are you doing here?" he asked Vanitas.

"It's time for us to go," Vanitas said.

"What are you saying? Did you screw up or something?"

"Just shut up and come on," Vanitas said, summoning a portal.

Braig grunted and looked back at Terra. "You got lucky this time but just wait till we meet again."

"We won't stop our pursuit so be ready for us or we will steal your light from you," Vanitas said as he and Braig walked through the portal and disappeared.

Terra disposed of his Keyblade and turned back to Ventus. "We need to go," he said.

Lea pushed Ven behind him. "Like hell is he going with you. You might be protecting him but I can tell he's just going to be in danger all the time with you around."

Terra frowned and was about to say something until he felt something hard hit the back of his head. He turned ready to strike but saw Emika, standing behind him, holding Isa on her back.

"Emika," Terra said to the young girl.

But Emika smacked Terra in the back of the head again. "What the fuck, Terra?"

"What?" Terra asked confused.

"Why didn't you pick up when I was trying to contact you? Honestly, I sometimes wonder if you're up to this job of yours," Emika sighed.

"Isa," Lea said.

Emika looked behind her and smiled. "Don't worry, he isn't hurt. He just passed out from all the excitement."

"What a relief," Lea said.

Emika looked past Lea and starred at Ven. She set Isa down on the ground softly and looked at Terra, who nodded towards her. "Ventus," she said, "we need you to come with us right away."

"I'm not going with you," Ven said.

"It's for your own protection," Emika said.

Ven shook his head, "I won't go; I won't help anyone in the war. All you do is involve innocent lives."

Emika frowned, "We never do anything like that. People volunteer to join; we don't force them to do anything. Please, Ventus, we need you with us."

"And why do you need only Ven?" Lea asked.

"Because he is the last remaining pure light in all the worlds," Emika said. "He is what is left. He holds the last light that people look up to in hope that this hellish war will end one day. Ventus, you give people hope, and we can't lose that so please come with us."

Ventus was hesitant as he looked at Lea. The redhead starred at his friend as he walked over to Isa. "It's your decision, Ven," he said. "We'll support you in whatever you chose."

Ven was silent for a few moments. He looked over at Emika and then met Terra's eyes. There was something inside the brunette's eyes that made Ven stare into them deeper.

"Please, help us, Ven," Terra said softly.

Ventus's eyes widened, looking up at Terra's face. Slowly Ven nodded and Emika smiled.

"Then it's settled," she said. "I'll open up a portal and we'll head out then." She held up her hand and a dark portal appeared before them. Emika entered inside and motioned for Terra and Ven to follow.

Terra looked down at Ven. "I'm going to have to carry you through the portal, so you won't get lost inside."

Ven only nodded and let Terra scoop him up and carried him through the dark portal. He looked back at Lea and Isa. Lea looked up and smiled at his friend as he disappeared through the darkness.

…...

"Master Eraqus," Aqua said, "they're back."

Eraqus looked up from his papers and stood. "Then let's go greet them, shall we?"

Aqua nodded and smiled as they headed out to meet the last pure light. Once they made it down, Aqua waved at them and Emika smiled and waved back. The blue haired woman ran over to the other girl.

"Are you alright?" Aqua asked.

Emika smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine. We all made it back in one piece."

Terra walked up with Ven still in his arms. Aqua smiled, "Oh, this must be the one you were sensing, Emika."

"H-hello," Ven said meekly.

"And he's such a cutie too," Aqua said.

Ven blushed and Terra rolled his eyes.

Eraqus walked over to the group and bowed before Terra. "It is an honor to have you here," he said to Ven.

"Thank you," Ven said.

"We have a room for him, right, Master?" Aqua asked.

"A room?" Emika seemed confused.

"Oh, that right, we never did get him one," Eraqus said.

"Are you guys serious?" Aqua asked. "Where is he supposed to sleep?"

"Why not Terra's room," Emika said.

"Hold on a second," Terra said but Eraqus stopped him.

"No, I think it's a good idea," he said, "that way the boy will be better protected at night."

"Then let's get ready for bed," Emika stretched. "I'm so tired after today." She suddenly winced and felt her arm. When Emika brought back her arm, it was covered in blood. "Whoa, I guess I was hurt a little."

"Emika!" Aqua exclaimed, taking the girl's arm. "We need to fix this up right away. Terra, you take him up to your room," Aqua said looking at Ven.

Terra sighed and began to walk into the castle.

"Um, Terra," Ven started.

Terra looked down at the boy who was blushing.

"You can put me down, you know? I can walk just fine."

"Hmm, oh sure," Terra said setting the boy down.

Ventus looked back at Eraqus and followed Terra inside the castle and up the stairs to a door on the far end of the hall. Terra unlocked the door and went inside, shutting it behind Ventus.

Terra walked over to his closet and pulled out a sleeping bag. He then went and got an oversized shirt from his dresser. He threw it to Ven, who just barley caught it.

"Change into those," Terra said.

Ven did what he told him to do and got into the shirt. Once the blonde was done, he knelt down to the sleeping bag. He was about to crawl in until Terra sighed heavily.

"What do you think you're doing?" Terra said.

"Oh, sorry," Ven said softly.

"You can sleep in the bed. I'll sleep on the floor tonight," Terra said, leaning down on the ground.

Ven only nodded and got into the soft bed. He pulled the covers over him and tried to fall asleep, but as soon as he closed his eyes he saw Braig and Vanitas. Ven gasped and sat up quickly. He looked down at Terra, who didn't seem to move an inch.

He tried again and saw the same thing every time he closed his eyes. He saw the town burning and Lea and Isa hurt badly. Ven whimpered and curled into himself. He opened his eyes and rolled over.

"T-Terra?" Ven said.

"Yeah?" Terra said softly.

Ven was hesitant, "Uh, nothing, sorry I woke you."

Terra sat up and leaned into the bed. "If you have something to say then say it. I'm here to protect you so if something's scaring you then tell me."

"I just, I just keep seeing things in my dreams. I can't sleep and I don't want to," Ven felt like he was going to cry. He was in a distant place where he couldn't see his friends. He felt alone and scarred.

He felt Terra's hand on his shoulder and he rolled over to look into the man's face.

"If you want," Terra said, "I can stay with you until you fall asleep."

Ven starred at Terra for a few moments and then scooted over to make more room. Terra sat down next to Ven as the boy grabbed Terra's hand while trembling. Terra sighed and stroked Ventus's blonde hair.

"It'll be okay," Terra whispered, "just close your eyes and relax. I'm here for you so don't worry."

Ven smiled and snuggled into Terra's side. "Thank you, Terra. You know, you're not as bad…..as I …..thought you….."

Terra looked down and saw that Ven had fallen asleep. He was breathing soundly and Terra found himself smiling down at the boy. Later, the man felt his eyelids droop and he too soon enough found himself falling asleep right down next to his blonde. Next to his light, which he swore to protect.

To Be Continued...

A/N: Sorry for the wait but it's here and I hope you enjoy. Please review, it helps me write. Oh, and don't forget to vote! Thank you! ^^