Author's Note:Geez, sorry for the late update. I really meant to upload the chapter yesterday, in fact, I had it finished. I was just exhausted after my Chemistry lab. I was GOING to upload it earlier today too, but the website was mucking up on me. That said, that contest mentioned last chapter is still active. Nobody's entered yet, heh...

Chapter 4: One Plus One

(Two weeks ago)

Ed's oversized sledgehammer smashed the nearby Shadow Heartless to bits the moment it made contact with it. The tall boy made another swift swing, knocking the head off of a Soldier Heartless, instantly killing it.

"Not bad," Leon said as he slowly clapped his hands. "I didn't think a giant hammer would be a good weapon but…" he stared at Ed's weapon. The boy held the solid steel handle of the weapon in both hands with seemingly little effort. He wasn't sure how, but the thirteen-year-old was probably physically stronger than he was. Leon was sure he wouldn't be able to wield that weapon that easily, that was for sure.

A few more Heartless popped up behind Ed, who swung his weapon again. Ed's strikes were slow, and the boy had trouble controlling his attacks, Leon noted, but the strikes that did connect were, oftentimes, more than enough to one-shot an enemy.

Ed was knocked back as a Large Body Heartless slammed into him. The boy had taken damage, but not much. Yeah, Ed was definitely sturdier that him too. Leon realized that, had an attack like that hit him, he would've been gasping for air. Ed kept charging. An upward blow from his hammer connected to the Large Body's torso, sending the thing flying up before it exploded into a puff of dark energy.

Leon couldn't help but let out a smirk. If new recruits like Ed kept showing up, the Traverse Town Protection Agency would be set. The citizens of the town would never have to worry about the Heartless ever again if his team kept eliminating them.

"Okay," Leon broke out of his thoughts as Ed walked towards him. "There's been a complaint about Heartless in the Fourth District too. You think you can handle them?"

Ed simply nodded and immediately charged down the street. Leon sighed, but followed him anyway. Ed was going the wrong way.

(Bzzzzt)

Ed really liked his new friends. He was scared when he first woke up there in the dumpster a week ago, but Leon found him just when he was waking up. Ed thought Leon was mean at first. When they first locked eyes that rainy night, Ed was scared. He was used to seeing fierce eyes before, from his sister, but there was something different about the man. They weren't just fierce, they were tired, and it felt like Leon was looking right through himthe first time they met. Now he was like one of Ed's old friends. He even regularly bought him soda after every one of his completed missions.

Ed didn't really understand anything about the Heartless, even after Leon and Yuffie explained them to him, he was just happy he could help fight. It was like something out of one of his comic books.

"Guys, guys!" Ed practically threw the door off its hinges as he ran inside the crew's house. "Look what I found!" In his hands was a large chunk of some glowing material. Leon let out a very noticeable 'Oh' while Yuffie's eyes lit up. Her eyes were just like Eddy's, Ed thought.

"You know what that is," Yuffie asked. "That's an Orchalicum Ore. Where'd you get that?"

"Um…" Ed had to stop for a minute. He wanted to tell the story, but he wanted to make it exciting for the others too. He loved sharing a cool story with people. "Uh… Tifa and I ran into a big dragon heartless thing, and it was like 'rawr' and I was like 'ah!' when it hit me with its tail." He physically threw himself across the room, to show the everyone how he was attacked, earning a few chuckles from the others. "And then I was like 'smash' and Tifa was like 'boom' and the thing exploded and it left this thing behind."

"Tifa," Leon asked as the long haired woman walked through. "Is that really what happened?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod, readjusting her loose-fitting tanktop and straightening her rumpled skirt. "Ed's pretty strong. I'm surprised he didn't get knocked out back there." She gave Ed a hearty pat on the head as she sat down. "I'm surprised a monster like that dropped a thing so pretty though."

Ed really liked Tifa too. She was calm, and she listened to everything he said. She even managed to carry on huge discussions with him on his favorite movies and tv shows. Back home, Ed always felt a little lonely. Sometimes, it felt like Double D and Eddy barely listened to him, and neither of them shared most of his interests.

"Eh," said a voice in the corner of the room. Ed looked at Cid, the blonde, middle-aged man who was currently busy typing away at a computer. He was always doing that. "Throw it out. There ain't a smith in the town that could do anything with that for ya." He flicked a cigarette into his ash tray, and proceeded to pull out another one from his carton. Ed couldn't help but compare Cid to his own dad. There would be days where his father would come home from work only to sit on the couch in the living room and smoke a cigar, much to his mother's chagrin. Still, Ed couldn't keep himself from liking Cid, too.

Ed's favorite member of the bunch, however, was Jasmine. He remembered the first day they met. It was the same day he found himself lying face down in the dumpster. Jasmine was with Leon when they dug him out. He was scared at first. He wanted to see Eddy, and Double D and his baby sister. He always started to mentally ramble when he got nervous, and that was one of the first things he did when he woke up. He knew he was far away from home and when he thought about how far away from home he was his brain started hurting and he started worrying that Sarah would tell his mother and then his mother would tell his father and then he'd get punished and then…

"Are you okay?"

Those were Jasmine's first words to him. The first words he heard in the new world.

Ed remembered that he silently nodded, then wiped his hand on his jacket as he climbed out of the dumpster. He kicked a stray banana peel off his foot and shook Jasmine's hand. He was nervous, and it showed. Jasmine hugged him, but it wasn't a regular hug. It might've been the warmest, fuzziest, most tender hugs he had ever received. He felt better then.

Later on, Leon told him about the Traverse Town Protection Agency. He was scared, at first. He liked to say otherwise, but the thought of actual monsters actually existing and killing people terrified him. What if those monsters attacked his best friends or his sister or his mom and dad? He almost instantly agreed to join the group, and everyone celebrated. Leon announced that, next morning, the training to become a member began.

He couldn't sleep that night. He wasn't uncomfortable, or anxious. He was excited and scared with a whole other group of emotions mixed in. He was going to help save the world by destroying the things that wanted to hurt everyone. Now he was living in one of his fantasies.

Almost automatically, he stepped out of his bed and headed to the back room, where the ladder was. He climbed, noticing that the hatch leading to the top was already open. He pulled himself up onto the gritty tiled roof to see none other than Jasmine sitting against the chimney with a blanket around her, looking at the stars.

"Ed, shouldn't you get to bed," she asked?

He propped himself next to her and nodded his head. "The sky looks really pretty," he said.

"Yes," Jasmine said with a sigh. "My home's up there, somewhere."

Ed looked at the girl, bug-eyed. "Really?" His eyes darted back to the sky. Now he was amazed. Every star had a world, and on each world, there were ordinary people, like him, and his friends, and Jasmine. How he wished he could find out which star Peach Creek was on. "Which star do you live on," he asked. He pointed his finger in a random direction. "Is it that one, or that one, or that one?"

Jasmine chuckled, which made Ed grin. "Actually, I don't know. It's not too far away though."

"That's so cool!" Ed jumped back up and climbed on top of the chimney, forcing Jasmine to have to crane her neck to see him. "So you can see your family whenever you want?"

Jasmine's silence answered the question for him.

"I can't go back. Not yet."

"Why not?"

"I'm looking for something."

"What," Ed asked as he jumped back down from his perch.

"It's called Kingdom Hearts. According to legend, it's a vast, endless repository or knowledge and power. There's an evil man on my world, named Jafar. Right now, I'm powerless against him, but if I manage to reach Kingdom Hearts I'll have the power to defeat him, even if it costs me my life."

Ed noticed something as she said that. He squinted his eyes and he inched towards her face. He tried his best to focus, though he didn't know on what.

Jasmine attempted to push him away. "What are you…"

"You don't want to die though, right?"

Jasmine looked visibly shocked and angry. "Of course I don't," she spat out. "But if I have to die in order to defeat Jafar, I will."

"But, why should you do something that you don't want to?"

"Because it's my duty," she quickly answered back.

Ed thought back to all the times Sarah had given him huge, seemingly endless lists of things she wanted him to do. Sure, he didn't want to do them either, and sure, he felt like it was his duty as an older brother to follow them, he still wanted, on some level, to make his sister happy. And that was why he did it, because he practically lived to see the people around him smile. Sure, the times when he could actually bond with his sister were too few and far between, but he cherished those moments.

Ed felt around in his jacket for a little plastic pencil topper of a cartoon hamster. Sarah had given it to him after her first day of Kindergarten because he had held her hand as they walked back home. It was one of the first gifts his baby sister had ever given to him, and he always carried it. Sometimes, when his sister would beat him and his friends to a pulp, he'd grasp onto the charm as he was getting battered, just to remember the good times. To him, it was a priceless gem that not even a billion jawbreakers could buy.

"I want you to have this," he said as he slipped the pencil topper into Jasmine's hands.

She seemed confused at first, examining the little rubber toy. "What is this?"

"It's my baby sister's," he answered. Jasmine got the clue and grasped the toy a bit tighter. "But you have to promise that you won't die or get yourself hurt on purpose, okay? After we get stronger, we'll beat up that bad guy together!"

Jasmine smiled, but Ed could tell that she was faking it, for his own good.

(Two Weeks Later)

"Ed," Jasmine said as she nudged him and simultaneously pointed towards the door. "Do you know her?"

Ed turned his head to look at the new figure. His eyes practically popped out when he made eye contact with the blonde. It was Nazz.

Wordlessly, they stared at each other. It was possible that a full 30 seconds passed before someone spoke. It was Leon.

"I… think you two need some alone time to talk. Why don't you guys go outside?"

Ed and Nazz both headed out the door, into the street.

"And Ed," Leon's voice shouted. "If you run into any Heartless, make sure you run and protect Nazz. She isn't in any condition to fight."

"Okay."

He shut the front door, and the two proceeded to walk.

Ed was excited that one of his friends from Peach Creek showed up. He was happy that Nazz was safe. But he didn't have anything to say. Maybe he'd try saying the same things he said to Jasmine. "The sky looks really pretty here. Where do you think our home is… oh," he realized his mistake. If what Leon had said was true, then Peach Creek and everyone they had ever known was gone.

Nazz looked up, silently. "Yeah…" she said with a sigh.

Ed wasn't sure what to do now. He was never good at talking to girls his age. His mind flipped through all the comics he had read before. Uh… sometimes, when the male character wanted to become friends with a female character, he'd take her somewhere, or buy her something to eat. His hands fumbled around in his jacket pocket, looking for any of the money he had earned from the jobs he had. Leon explained to him that most worlds accepted a form of currency called "munny." They weren't coins or paper bills like the money on his world, these were small spherical balls colored gold and purple. It was weird, Ed thought, but he didn't question it.

He managed to pull out 20 munny worth of spheres. That was weird, he thought he had more. Maybe it fell out of that hole in his jacket he never bothered to fix. At least he had enough money for two small cups of soda. He led Nazz to the store in the Second District and handed her the drink. They sat both sat down on a bench and silently drank. Ten minutes went by. Neither of them spoke.

(slurp)

It was almost funny, Nazz thought. Earlier, it had bothered her that she never had a chance to really become friends with the Eds. She thought they were dead, and, at that point, she was plagued with guilt that she had always ignored them. And now one of them was right there. He was alive and she couldn't even start a conversation. The situation was ridiculous. Their world had been destroyed, and they had been fighting magic monsters and they still couldn't speak to each other.

"How… how long have you been here," she choked out. Good, she was able to say something.

Ed counted on his fingers. "Um… about two weeks, I think."

"I just got here."

"Really? How?"

"I don't know how that whole darkness thing works either," she replied.

She knew she certainly hadn't been wandering around the town for two weeks. Maybe going through the darkness meant forfeiting time, or maybe it dumped people in different points in time. She wasn't good at that wibbly wobbly time stuff. It sure would've been nice to have Double D around to explain everything, though she was sure she wouldn't be able to hold a conversation with him, either.

"Thank you for the soda." She stood up and tried her best to smile, though she was faking it. Maybe she was just on a completely different wavelength from the Eds. Maybe that was why she couldn't talk to them. Maybe she'd never really become friends with any of them. "I sure am tired," she faked a yawn. "I think it's time I head to bed."

With that, they headed back to the team's headquarters. They didn't speak or make eye contact on the way back.

Nazz was anxious about what the next day would bring, but more than that, she was sorry that she kept herself from becoming friends with Ed, even when she had the opportunity.