Hey guys! Sorry this took forever to get up here, but I rewrote it like three different times trying to get things right and then I ended up changing the point of view to first person which took me a little getting used to, but I really hope you like it^^ Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of Square Enix or Disney's characters.

Love Sleeps Within

Chapter 2: Two Paths Become Intertwined

Stepping out of the vortex I found myself in the realm of darkness I had seen before. Looking around I could see small pockets of light that were scattered across the landscape. Upon further inspecting these pockets I found that each one led to another world, I was able to clearly see several worlds and my friends within them. "I wish I could visit them, but I've really got to find the king." As I continued to check the worlds everything seemed fine until I came across the coliseum and saw Hercules laying up against a wall obviously exhausted. I know the king wants me to reach him as soon as possible, but Herc really looks like he could use some help so I decided to drop in real quick.

However as I stepped through the strangest thing happened, where I had just seen Hercules a moment ago now there was nothing, in fact the whole place seemed to be abandoned, just as I was about to give up on my search someone startled me.

"You there! Keyblade wielder," a deep raspy voice spoke from a shadow.

"Huh?" I blurted out as I turned around, "Are you talking to me?" I replied to the man standing there in the doorway of the coliseum. He was a much older gentleman, who wore a dark cloak that gave him an ominous appearance. Adding to this he had strange orange colored eyes that almost seemed like they were glowing, the man was completely bald, yet wore a beard of gray hair further showing his age.

"No boy, I'm speaking to the true wielder within you," the man sternly spoke back to me as he stepped forward and placed his finger over my heart.

"What are you talking about, true wielder within me? I am the keyblade wielder," I replied, this was the second time someone showed up telling me I wasn't who I thought I was and I wasn't gonna let it get to me this time.

"Fool! You are nothing more than a shelter for the true power within you; Allow me to demonstrate," the old man replied as he called forth his keyblade and aimed it directly at my heart; I felt an intense feeling of dread take over me as I realized the situation I found myself in, but just as I was about to say something a beam of light shot out of the tip of the blade and hit me. "Come out my former apprentice! It's time to serve your master again!"

A wave of intense pain swept over me, I felt like I was literally being ripped from my own body, yet as the pain grew too much I slowly felt it waning, I thought perhaps the attack was over, but as I looked around I was no longer in the coliseum, I was now floating in a dark void. I searched my surroundings for a sign as to where I was, but nothing stood out. Suddenly I began to feel tired, and hard as I tried I closed my eyes and soon felt nothing at all.

Out of no where a bright light washed over me, it felt so warm and inviting, I had to know where it was coming from. I moved towards the light and I felt myself becoming more aware of my surroundings, I could feel my legs, my arms, I could feel my chest rise and fall as I was breathing, all of these things I hadn't felt in so long that I couldn't help but wonder if it was all just a dream. Yet almost as suddenly as it appeared the light began to fade and I found myself standing in a strange stone room, with a very old man watching me carefully. "Where... where am I?" I asked weakly, trying to get used to being able to talk yet again.

"Why you're in the coliseum my dear boy, the home of many a champion and hero, much like yourself," the man across the room replied full of enthusiasm. I was skeptical as to whether or not I could trust him, but what choice did I have.

"Who am I? Where did I come from?" I spoke up again, slightly louder this time as my control over my voice grew.

"Ah yes, no doubt your memory is a bit mixed up. You have been locked away for quite some time, but allow me to refresh your memory, your name my boy, is Ventus." The moment I heard the mans response something in me clicked and I knew he was right, my name was Ventus, but my friends... whoever they were, called me Ven. "Now as for where you came from. You long ago originated from a far away world, but most recently your heart has been lying dormant inside the body of another. A boy you met on your travels, but now that I've called you forward your heart can shine through him and thus you have re-awakened after your long slumber."

"So I've been asleep? In someone else's body? And might I ask, how you know me sir?" I inquired as I had this sense that the man was telling me the truth, yet I was confused as to how he knew so much about me.

"I know you my boy because a long time ago I was your master, you studied under me to become a keyblade master, unfortunately due to a series of events I had to leave you in the care of a friend of mine and things spun out of control, but now things are falling into place again my young apprentice and I knew I had to seek your return" the mysterious man answered my question, a smile creeping across his face as he finished his explanation.

"But if I've been in someone else's body, where are they now?"

"Help!" a voice called out from within the coliseum.

"There is no time for questions now, sounds like someone's in trouble. You should probably get in there and help them; so I'll leave you for now Ventus," the older keyblade master stated as he opened a dark vortex behind himself and disappeared. Confused I stood in place for a few minutes contemplating what just happened, but quickly came back to reality as the screaming continued; regardless of what was going on with me, someone was defiantly in trouble and needed help.

I took off as fast as I could and ran straight down an eerily familiar seeming hallway, that I was almost sure I had never been down before. As I arrived in the arena of the coliseum I saw the stands where the spectators would sit and when I looked into the center I saw this massive black mass there, its size made me almost sure that it wasn't anything living and yet, I could swear it was moving, not towards me, but almost as if it were breathing or looking down at something I couldn't see. Despite not seeing anyone in danger the screams continued so I began to move closer to the object to see if there was indeed something on the other side, however as I grew closer to it, I heard... well I heard growling, like a dog.

Finally after getting close enough the black mass suddenly whipped around in my direction. It was then that I realized not only was it a living creature, it was a three headed dog. As I looked behind the creature, where it's attention had previously been focused I realized there was something on the ground, it was... a person, yes there was definitely a teenaged boy pinned to the ground by one of the dog's massive paws.

"Oh no you don't," I yelled running towards the dog, summoning my keyblade I hurled it at the paw holding the person down, "You're a bad dog!" The three headed dog snapped its paw back and ran into the corner to tend to its wound. "Hey... are you okay?" I asked the young man before me after I had finally reached him; he wore his medium length dark brown hair well, and as I continued inspecting him I found the teen to be quite... good looking, there was something about him that I just couldn't put my finger on.

"Yeah I'm fine now, thanks to you," the dark brown haired boy answered as he looked up to face me. The moment he looked into my eyes though, he seemed distraught. His breathing stopped and his eyes glazed over as if his brain was having trouble forming a coherent thought until he spoke, "I... do I know you?"

As I began to reply I realized that I myself was having trouble forming a real thought, I couldn't explain it, I'd never been tongue tied before and now I couldn't bring myself to answer such a simple question. Mustering all my strength I said, "...I don't think so, I think I'd remember someone like you."

We both sat there frozen just starring at each other for what seemed like forever, but then suddenly his face contorted into a look of extreme fear and he reached up yelling, "Look out!" and pulled me down, just as he did I felt a wave of extreme heat pass over me and looked up just in time to see a massive fireball hit the coliseum wall. I was now kicking myself for having forgotten that I still had an opponent and as I looked in the direction the attack came from I realized it was now a very angry dog wanting revenge for his paw. As I turned back to face the boy I'd saved I froze, it suddenly dawned on me that when he'd pulled me down, he'd pulled me right on top of him, the contact with his body was making it hard for me to move, and I could feel all the blood rushing to my blushing cheeks as I felt his warm breath hit them, our faces barely an inch apart.

My inability to form sentences had returned and seemed to be worse than before, but I yet again managed to use every ounce of my strength to speak, "I... I really should take care of that dog."

"Yeah... That sounds like a good idea," he responded through heavier than normal breathing, never once breaking the connection our eyes had formed in these past few moments; I finally slowly had to get myself, which was hard considering my legs felt like they were made of jello. I had to focus, I knew this battle wasn't going to be easy and I had to put whatever was going on aside for now and focus.

As I faced the dog and took my battle stance the creature suddenly began charging at me, thinking fast I started focusing all the energy I could muster, maybe if I hit him with a good shotlock attack this battle would be over fast. With about half the distance between us now gone I released the built up energy and watched as orbs of light flew from around me and pelted the dog repeatedly, shrouding it in a cloud of smoke. "Well that was easier than I thought it would be," I said out loud allowing myself a moment to revel in my abilities.

Then suddenly the hulking black figure reappeared from the smoke charging, appearing even angrier than before, just as it was on top of me I quick rolled to the side to dodge it's attack, "damn, should have known that this wouldn't be that easy."

"Ahhhhh!"

"Huh?" I quick turned back around towards the direction of the scream to figure out what it was, then it suddenly dawned on me that I'd left that guy on the ground defenseless. "Crap! What do I do now?" I thought as fast as I could and my options were limited, but i had to try something; so finally deciding on a course of action I shot up on to my feet and took off running towards the three headed dog. Just as I got was getting close to it I jumped into the air and began spinning around rapidly creating a whirlwind around me as I flew rapidly towards it like a human bullet. Seconds later I hit the dog right in the stomach and pushed it up into the air, as we both continued to climb higher and higher I was constantly hitting my enemy over and over again until I stopped spinning, and we both began to free fall. The dog was slowly getting closer to me as we both fell and I decided that now was the time to finish this battle so I summoned my keyblade and took a batting stance, "It's been a while since I last played a few innings, but I bet I can still manage a home run," then I swung with all my might and sent the massive three headed dog flying off into the distance before my keyblade vanished and I continued plummeting towards the ground.

"Well at least he's safe," I said to myself in an almost whisper like exhaustion, as I finally let my body relax and closed my eyes, for seconds later I was gonna be in a lot more pain. Damn was I right, every part of my body was killing me, I was feeling sharp pains in places I didn't even know I could feel pain, it had almost overwhelmed me when a voice suddenly brought me back to reality.

"Hey are you okay?" the person asked, their voice sounding so frail, and full of worry, I opened my eyes to see who it was and was met with the face of the boy I had just saved, but the immense sadness on his face hit me really hard, it was hurting me more than my physical injuries and I wished there was something I could do to make him stop being so sad, when I realized he was this way because he was worried about me, so I hid the pain I felt and smiled.

"Hehe, yeah. It takes a bit more than a three headed dog and a long free fall to keep me down," I replied to him happy to see a smile spreading across his face as he believed I was okay, I reached up my hand to get some help getting back on my own two feet.

"Well that's good. I was worried for a minute that my hero might be down and out." the rescued boy replied with genuine relief in his voice as he reached out and grabbed my hand to help me up, the moment his hand touched mine I actually felt all my pain melt away, I didn't have to pretend as I hopped up, seeing this he smiled even wider and asked, "So to whom do I owe my life?"

"Huh?" I asked back, looking at him quizzically.

"Hehe, sorry. I mean what's your name?" he clarified. I found myself breathless for a moment at the first sound of his laugh, but I gathered my senses so as not to appear stupid.

"Oh, I'm Ventus! But my friends call me Ven," I answered him as I nervously placed one of my hands on the back of my head and smiled what I'm sure was a totally goofy grin based on his little giggle he gave before responding to my self introduction.

"Well Ven, it's nice to meet you. My names Casey, and thanks for saving my life back there, I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Hehe, I'm just glad your okay Casey," I told him, not sure what else to say. A sort of awkward silence settled upon us as we got the expected conversation out of the way, but the silence was soon broken by a group of people yelling in our direction, as I became aware of them I turned to see what all the commotion was.

"Sora!" a very large oddly dressed duck yelled out at me in a funny voice, followed shortly by a strange looking guy who had long floppy ears almost like a dog, and behind them ran one really muscular guy wearing what looked like really old armor, and a really short person who appeared to be half goat. As the whole group finally reached us they spoke this peculiar word again, "Sora! Are you okay?" they asked in unison. I was so confused, they were all looking at me, but they were saying what I assumed was somebody else's name.

"I'm afraid you have the wrong person. My names not Sora." I stated matter-of-factly to the group before me. I was instantly greeted with looks of immense confusion.

"Gosh, what are you talking about Sora, of course it's you, we'd know ya anywhere," the dog man replied back with a small laugh, as if calling some sort of bluff, I was feeling confused by this; I know who I am, but so much had happened to me in the short time since I'd regained consciousness, I began to feel like I couldn't handle all of this, I felt my emotions building until finally I stormed off.

"I told already I'm not Sora! My name is Ventus!" I yelled back to them as I picked up speed and was practically running. I finally stopped once I got to an outdoor courtyard, on either side of me were two massive statues of guys in armor with swords, and straight ahead were two massive doors. Feeling exhausted I began to raise my hand to wipe my brow when suddenly I realized I wasn't alone. The guy I had saved was right behind me, in fact thinking back on it, I had just practically dragged him along behind me as I took off running. I immediately felt bad and began apologizing to him for what I did and he just looked at me, raised his hand up to my forehead and wiped it for me, then he smiled at me lightly and pulled me into a soft hug and he told me it was all gonna be okay.

I don't know if it was the kind words he offered to me, a person he hardly knew, or if it was the amazing feeling of having his arms around me, but I immediately felt at peace, like everything would be okay. After the hug lasted for a few moments he pulled away, but never once showed any signs of wanting to release my hand. So then we just began walking, we walked through the big doors on the other side of the courtyard (which were surprisingly easy to open given their size) and continued to walk in utter silence, enjoying each others company, or at least I was enjoying his, and that smile of his never wavered.

As the sun set, I found myself wishing time would stop, but I knew that soon something would change, I was sure someone somewhere would be expecting him home for the night. I couldn't bring myself to start that conversation so I waited for him to do it, and silently wished it would never come. We sat down on the ledge of a little fountain. The sound of the water as it slowly trickled down was greatly soothing and I let myself sink into Casey a bit more, I turned my gaze downward to try to see the water in the fountain and caught sight of my reflection. My eyes were just as deep blue as I remembered, and my hair was... "Ah!" I screamed out. That wasn't my hair, I didn't have brown spiky hair, and that wasn't my face either, what was going on?

"Ven are you alright?" my companion asked of me, looking concerned.

"I... I don't know what's going on, but that's not me!" I replied pointing to my reflection in the water, "Maybe this is why those guys at the coliseum kept calling me Sora, crap! I've gotta go back and talk to them." As I began to move I was stopped, Casey wasn't budging. "Hey what's wrong? I've gotta go talk to those guys!" I asked impatiently. Suddenly the thing I had been dreading finally happened as he let my hand fall from his.

"I'm sorry Ven, but I can't go with you," he told me, but it was like he was speaking another language, I couldn't understand this, why couldn't he go with me? We'd spent all afternoon together and now when I'm freaking out, he won't go with me. He must have noticed the look of confusion on my face and he began to clarify, "It's not that I don't want to Ven, but I've gotta go, it's getting late. I had a great time, but unfortunately it's at an end." I suddenly forgot why I'd wanted to go, I couldn't bring myself to focus on anything but losing the person standing in front of me, and I didn't know why, but he looked sad too, so I told myself that he was being sincere and I even knew this was gonna have to happen eventually, just the timing made it worse.

"Okay Casey, but will I see you again?" I asked him hopefully. He looked off into the distance behind me and appeared to think for a minute before he looked at me again and smiled.

"I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of each other," he replied, making me immediately feel better, I walked forward and hugged him, and then stepped back smiling and bade him farewell. I was looking forward to seeing him again later, but right now I had to get down to the bottom of what was going on with me. It took me about ten minutes to get back to the coliseum and luckily those same guys from earlier were still here! Hopefully they'd know what was going on, but as I was just about to finally get back to them I felt reality slipping away. My vision blurred, everything around me sounded like it was traveling through water to reach my ears and even my body seemed like it didn't want to listen to me anymore. I could see darkness creeping back into my vision the same cold embrace I'd been trapped in for so long surrounded me again. My eyes grew heavy and I slipped out of consciousness.

Suddenly my eyes shot open and I was looking up at the faces of Donald, Goofy, Hercules and Phil, "Hey guys, what's going on?"

"Sora?" Donald asked unsure. I was confused as to what was going on. Why was everyone hanging out over me, and why was I on the ground anyway, and why did he sound so unsure of my name?

"Yeah Donald it's me, why do you sound like you're not sure who I am?" they all looked at me, relieved to see my that I was telling them I was me, and they proceeded to tell me this crazy story about how they'd run into me earlier, but I had told them my name wasn't Sora, and I ran off with this guy that I had just saved from Cerberus. They had no idea what was going on, where I ran off to, or where this other guy was, but we decided that it would be best for me to finally get to the king for our meeting. I used the keyboard to reopen the portal into the realm of darkness and off we went, I just really hope King Mickey knows whats going on.

And thats it! I really hope you enjoyed it, and please please please review this, I don't ever require reviews, but I appreciate them, it makes me feel like I'm doing good and I like to know what my audience is thinking, so I hope to hear from you guys and thanks again^^