J enova

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XI

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Hallow Bastion Psychological Rehabilitation Asylum

Hallow Bastion

2007

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The silence in the room was only interrupted by the tapping of computer keys, the buzzing of the computer as it ran the files and numbers as a man sat behind a desk. The room was small, with a desk at the back, a TV hanging from the corner of the room and the entire room darkened, with a light coming only from the computer. The man stretched as he removed his glasses and squeezed his eyes before replacing the glasses back on.

A knock on the door caused the man to look up, and said in a soft voice, "Come in," and the door opened to reveal a young woman dressed in blouse, skirt and high heels, looking like a stereotypical secretary, saying in a friendly voice, "Theres a WRO agent here to see you, Professor,"

The Professor looked at the Secretary for a moment, taking a deep breath before he said, "Send him in," and the Secretary nodded her head as she closed the door.

The man ran a hand through his long hair, which ended in a ponytail as he wiped his head, before he took a deep breath once again and turned off his computer as the door opened, and another man entered.

The man was in his late 30's, with spiky blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was dressed in a sharp suit, and had a line on his face where his mouth was. Looking directly at the Professor, he said in a calm voice, "Agent Cloud Strife, WRO," as he withdrew a black leather wallet and showed him his identification.

The man stood up as he held his hand out, which Cloud shook as the Professor said, "Professor Hojo," The man nodded his head, as Cloud took a seat, undoing his jacket as he sat down, saying, "Professor, I'm here in regards to the internal investigation of the Shinra Corporation..." Cloud withdrew a slip of paper from his pocket as he handed it to Professor Hojo, "That's a search warrant, that entitles me to search any room within Hallow Bastion, and all questions i have will be answered by you, do you understand?"

Hojo raised an eyebrow as he said, "The WRO already investigated Hallow Bastion Years ago, what do you think you're going to find here that you didn't years ago?"

"The WRO is going through a lot of lose ends in regards to the Shinra Case, and I have been asked to take a closer look into Hallow Bastion, clearly the Director believes that I might find something that the other agents missed...are there any more questions?"

Hojo waited for but a moment before he shook his head and said "Right, well i'll lead you down there now," and the man withdrew himself from his chair as his made his way towards the door. Cloud watched him for a moment, studying his movements, it was almost as if he was trying to figure out the man in front of his, as if Hojo was hiding something from his, and was determined to unlock the secrets that Hojo was keeping away. But soon, he gave the man a nod as he slowly got up and followed the man out the door, closing the door of the small office.

x

Strife Household.

Destiny Islands.

Present Day.

x

Sora's eyes fluttered as he slowly managed to wake up, groaning as his entire body tried extremely hard to get up. After a few minutes, Sora took a deep breath before he managed to find himself sitting upright. Sora gave a yawn as pushed himself off of the bed, Sora wiped his hands on his long grey pair of pajamas as he managed to pick up his phone, looking at the date and noticing that it was a thursday, the day of which he would return back to school.

Sora had spent most of his time during his suspension sitting in his room, copying several meditation techniques for a few hours, before he found himself either going for a walk or a ride. His dad had managed to find a good deal where his bike was completely fixed, and despite Sora trying to tell his dad that he would get a part time job to pay for it, Cloud stated that he would have none of that, telling Sora that he would always be there when his son was in trouble, and wouldn't accept a OneMunny from the boy.

Sora sighed as he stretched, although his clock read 10, he wasn't too worried, as Sora had found himself on a day where he only had nothing but two subjects right after lunch. Glad that he had a reason to sleep in, now that he knew that he didn't have to be at school on the dot, Sora yawned as he made his way down the stairs.

Finding the entire house quiet, Sora looked around before he entered the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with two pieces of toast, both of which had been coated in peanut butter. Sora sat down on his favorite chair as he flicked through the television, crunching down on the toast as his thoughts returned to the week that had just gone by.

Throughout the week, Kairi had spent most of her time visiting the boy after school, where the two would talk, laugh, take a walk, and in some cases ride on Sora's newly fixed bike, where Sora had managed to explore almost every inch of Twilight, from the magnificent Dawn to the many secret beaches surrounding the edge of the Destiny Islands, where Kairi had shown him some of the quiet areas around, where they had talked and talked about their hopes, dreams, fond memories. Indeed, Sora believed he know knew more about Kairi then he did with anyone else.

As he finally found a news station that seemed interesting, Sora stopped switching channels as he curled himself up in a ball, eating the toast as he watched the very famous news reporter Vanille Oerba addressing her audience on DemyxNews, one of the many channels supported by DemyxTime Media, the largest Media corporation on the planet.

"Following our previous report, rumors of dangerous radiation coming from Radiant Garden's personal Mako Reactors were today confirmed as false, as a spokesperson from the Energy Monitoring Station on the Destiny Islands confirmed that all reports of Mako poisoning were shown to be Negative. The spokesperson in question, Dr. Villiers was reported as saying that all Mako Reactors which were checked daily were all stated to be in top order, meanwhile, stocks in Shinra have began to-"

Sora shut off the TV as he gave another yawn, reaching into the pocket of his pajama pants as he withdrew his phone and saw that the time was already 11, he didn't have much time before he had to get ready for school. Sora yawned as he made his way up the stairs, returning a short time later changed in his usual get up, and glad that he could return back to school. Having gotten his side bag packed and ready, he slipped it over his shoulders, checking his pockets to ensure that he had managed to pick up his wallet, phone and sPlayer+, shoving the headphones into his ears as he made his way out the door, locking it from behind him as he walked over to the garage, slipping onto his bike as he slipped his helmet on and entered his key into the ignition, hearing the vehicle come to life, he slowly made his way out of the small garage as jumped off his bike and closed the door, before he was once again back on, and in a few moments was roaring down the streets, passing buildings in a haze of dust and exhaustion.

Sora didn't have to wait long before he had managed to locate the school, as he saw the building come up on the horizon. Sora smiled under the visor as he roared the bike towards the building, despite the visor on his helmet was down, he could feel the wind blowing against his face.

Driving the bike into the school parking lot, Sora stretched out as he removed the helmet from his head and tucked it under his arm as he swung off the bike, stretching his back as he began walking towards the school, with his bag over his shoulder, helmet tucked under his arm and a smile on his face, telling himself that he would let what had happened a week ago tarnish his good mood.

As the doors swung open for him to enter, and he took those first few steps into the sword building, the first thing he noticed was the looks that some people were giving him. Throughout the week Sora had assumed that what he had done the previous wednesday would not earn him the same smiles or hello's he was used to for the past few months, but the looks that he was being given now was not what he had expected. Sora had taken note of the cheery hallway conversations that people had been in, and how they had all of a sudden stopped when he entered. Now, he was being given stares, as people began to whisper, ensuring that they did not break eye contact with him. Sora broke his eyes away as he began walking towards his locker, which thankfully was not far away from where he was.

As Sora spun the small dial to the right set of numbers, he could not help but glance up and look at the several students looking at him, all with heads in their papers as they realized that Sora was looking at them, to which they all looked down and away, before moving off.

Sora could not understand why they all had weird expressions on their faces, or why instead of smiles on their faces, or any other expression then fear and confusion. He took a deep breath, trying to conceal the thoughts and the ideas that were trying to push their way through, which Sora knew that would only fuel his voice, which called itself "Vanitas".

Shaking his head, he closed the locker, as he heard a soft voice coming from his side, "Sora?"

Sora looked over to see Kairi standing next to him, her books in her arms and a look of worry coating her face. Sora looked at her, and again those thoughts of why confusion was on the faces of these people began to resurface, but for the first time there was a hint of worry mixing around in the curiosity. Sora could not care what the other people thought of him, but Kairi's opinion meant something to him, and if she was upset, angry, or any other negative emotion with the boy, then Sora was going to stop at nothing before he knew what was going on.

But before Sora was able to ask her what was wrong, a voice that he had hoped he could avoid for the rest of the day entered his mind, and for the first time in his life, he had hoped that it belonged to his own thoughts. Unfortunately, the voice came from an over-confident young man, and the footsteps that followed confirmed that there was more then one person was making their way towards them.

"Well well well, if it isn't the freak,"

Sora's eyes widened when he knew what the man had just said, and saw that Kairi's face had gone from a small look of confusion to one mixed with fear. Sora closed his eyes as he slowly turned around and faced the three people standing before him. Seifer with a smug albeit distant look on his face, Rai with a bandage over his nose, but a smirk on his face nonetheless, and Fuu keeping her distance. Sora stood straight as he looked at the man before he said, "What do you want Seifer?"

"You know it astounded me at first why you attacked me, but after the truth was revealed, I can see how you would attack an innocent teenager and threaten another,"

Sora felt the anger swell to his head as he took a step, before he felt a soft touch on his shoulder, which Sora only assumed was Kairi. Not looking back, he growled, "You know exactly why i did was I did Almasy, you damaged my bike,"

"Is that what you believe Sora? I can understand how your mind would go that way," Seifer smirked, as Sora looked at his, his breathing coming in a funny rhythm that it was used to, as he managed to spit out, "I don't know what you're talking about,"

Smirking, Seifer withdrew a folded up set of papers held together by a simple piece of paper and threw it too the boy with some force, as it bounced off of his chest and fell to the ground. Sora maintained eye contact with him as he slowly bent down and took the paper off the floor, unfolding it until it was opened up. Sora instantly recognized the paper as the school newsletter, which seemed to hold information about upcoming sports dates, music productions and even school dances. But the main page held something that Sora was not expecting. His breath became harder as he once again heard his name from the soft voice behind him, which was almost instantly drowned out by Seifer.

"How can you even live with yourself Strife, Knowing what you are? How can you bring yourself to even get out of bed, if i had what you had i would have killed myself a long time ago, if only to rid the world of a freak," Seifer laughed in a cruel manner, as Sora felt the cold bead of sweat forming around his brow. His attention instantly turned to those that were around him, all looking at the boy as they whispered, all wondering if Sora would attack Seifer like he had done before.

Sora pushed down the voice that was trying to break through, as he looked at the page once again, recognizing the name of the writer, and he felt the anger reach his head, and he resolved to find the printing room of the school paper.

Sora felt Kairi's hand slip away from his shoulder as he pushed his way past Seifer, and tried to block out the cruel and uncaring laughter that was echoing through the hallways. He felt his feet carrying him through the classrooms, peering through each of the windows to try and find the place he was looking for, ignoring the looks that he was getting, the papers in the students hands as they matched the photo on the front cover with his face, as Sora continued shaking his head until he stopped in front of the room that he was looking for, and burst into the room without so much as a knock.

The room was almost empty, with several different tables which held different laptops, a table which held a printer and a small area that had a coffee pot and several cups. But Sora was not interested in any of these things, but rather the young woman sitting at the desk typing, who had now jumped up from her seat, and looked at Sora with a mixture of panic and confusion.

Sora angrily walked towards the woman until he was standing in front of the desk, withdrawing the paper and slammed it onto the desk, causing the brown haired girl to jump back just a bit more, "You wanna explain this Selphie?!" Selphie looked at the boy for a moment, before she glanced down at the paper.

The paper had a large photo of Sora, which the boy could not remember ever being taken by him, but it was the caption on the paper that was enraging Sora, and not the mysterious photo. In big bold black letters, the caption read SORA STRIFE: DERANGED AND DANGEROUS.

"How dare you print this! What in Yevon's name gives you the right?" Sora was shaking with anger at the girl, who took a deep breath as she slowly stood up and said, "The people of this school have a right to know what happened last week-"

"We're not talking about last week, we're talking about my entire damn life, printed in black and white for this whole school to see! ...where the hell did you even get this?"

Selphie placed her hands on her hips as she said, "Your records are displayed to the public, due to the fact that you were released about 5 years ago, and therefore deemed not a threat...although i still think that is a mistake after what you did to Seifer,"

Sora felt his anger shoot from all over his body straight to his head, not being able to say a word as he felt something else in the room, a hand running its cold fingers over his back, Sora shivered as he felt the presence standing next to him, the pitch black hair, the golden eyes and the cold sound of his voice filling his head through his ears, "She has publicly humiliated you Sora, are you going to stand there and take it?"

"The school has the right to know where you come from, and who you are, and as a journalist i have that right to publish it," Selphie looked at him with cold stone eyes.

"We're not talking about some sports event or a dance, were talking about someones YEVON-DAMNED LIFE!" Sora roared as pushed his fist into the desk, the entire thing rattled, "A life, may i remind you, that you do not control,"

Selphie looked away for a moment, not giving an answer, before she took a deep breath, and said, "If the safety of the student body is at risk, then-"

"If I was such a damn risk Selphie, do you think i would have been allowed in this area? or even in public? You're a high school journalist, where's your bloody Mark of Mastery in Psychology?" Sora turned to leave, but not before Selphie said, "They deserve to know the truth Sora!"

Sora stopped, and noticed that she had used this reason a couple of times, and slowly he turned around and said, "...Why publish it Selphie?...if it was safety, why not go to one of the teachers, or the principal, instead you decide to publish it for the public to see...that sounds more like you were doing it for personal reasons," and as Sora slowly began to put it together, Selphie's eyes widened as she said, "Get out Sora! You're out of line,"

Sora scoffed as he said, "I'm not out of line Selphie...doubtless this will cause me months of pain and alienation, but thats nothing compared to what you will go through...because i will survive this...but you'll have to live with this action for years to come...and one day you might feel regret, and you might find a way to apologizing...but by then it will be too late," Sora muttered as he made his way through the doors, leaving Selphie standing there with a look of confusion and anger...and a little sadness.

Sora felt sick, he could not shake the feeling off, as he felt Vanitas walking next to him, telling him that his life was forever ruined, and that nobody would ever love him now, now that they knew who he really was. He reminded him that these feelings would forever haunt him, no matter how many times he would try to run away.

Sora made his way to the front of the door, not feeling like returning back to his final two classes of the day, not feeling like seeing or talking to anyone. Doubtless anyone would even want to talk to him, though from the people that were avoiding him, Sora was safe in assuming that all he would get was stares, mutters and people trying to avoid him.

As he rounded the final corner, he barely noticed Kairi standing against the locker, waiting for him. He only just heard her soft cry of his name as he passed her, before he was out the doors. Kairi hurriedly made her way to the front, but by the time she had made it out the gate, Sora was already halfway down the road and out of sight.

Kairi sighed as she turned around and made her way back into the school, passing by several students as she soon found herself in the Cafeteria, her feet having taken her there after years of attending the school. She did not have to look long before she had located her friends, as she sat down next to Riku, who along with Axel, Namine and Roxas were all re-reading the paper for the upteenth time that day. Riku placed the paper down as he looked just as down as Kairi, but it was Roxas who said the first words.

"I knew there was something about Sora, and know Selphie found out the proof," Roxas muttered as he placed the paper down and turned to Namine, who looked white as a sheet, but quiet as anything.

"It's just so weird...he never showed any signs that he...well..." Axel trailed off as he sighed, but Riku shook his head.

"No, I refuse to believe it, Sora was always so quiet, and kind,"

"It's the quiet ones who are always guilty Riku, I mean look what he did to Seifer," Roxas pointed out, but Riku again shook his head, "That was over two months of constant provoking, I was surprised that Sora had not snapped long ago, we cannot blame his sudden outburst on this," Riku held out the paper.

"We're not, we're basing it on what we saw yesterday," Roxas said slowly, but the soft voice of Kairi broke the two boys from their conversation.

"Are we?" and Roxas stopped, looking like he was compiling an argument for her statement, but Kairi continued, "We've only known Sora for a couple of months, and in all those months we have never been given the slightest bit of evidence that he is a bad person, and now all of a sudden we're going to condemn him for his past?"

"Kairi, you were mad at him before," Roxas began, but Kairi shook her head, "So you're suggesting i should hate Sora for it? Despite his apology? Why must his past be a judgement on his present if he has been that good to us,"

"Maybe it was a trick?" Roxas stated, and Kairi retorted, "Maybe it wasn't, all i know is is that we'll never find out the truth by sitting around here gossiping, I'm going straight to the source," and Kairi stood up, with Axel looking in surprise, asking, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find Sora, but before i go, may i remind you Roxas that before Sora's past came into the equation, you believed just as we all did that what Sora had done was justified by the way that Seifer had treated him for the past couple of months," and with that Kairi made her way out of the Cafeteria, when suddenly she was stopped by someone grabbing her wrist, and was instantly spun around by her silver-haired friend.

"What?" Riku asked when Kairi gave him her confused look, "You're not the only one whose worried about Sora, and you'll cover more ground in a Vehicle,"

"I don't need to cover ground, I know where he is," Kairi said, but she allowed Riku to accompany her as they made their way through the school and into the parking lot, where Riku led her to his new car, a Shinra Model Sports car, pitch black and shiny as anything. Both jumped into the car and in mere minutes had made their way out of the school.

"Never knew you were the type to ditch class for someone Kai," Riku smiled, and Kairi remained silent as the roar of his engine rattled through her ears as she tried to keep track of the numerous houses they were passing by.

"You know...you never did this sort of thing when you and I were...well, you know," Riku smirked as he looked to his left, and Kairi gave Riku a look as she said, "You never ran off Riku...and this is different, I am helping out a friend,"

Riku smirked as he turned a corner, waiting for Kairi's directions to break the sound of the wind whooshing past them, but Kairi merely rolled her eyes as she looked out, and said, "Left here," and Riku merely chuckled as they found themselves on the road near the beach.

"Just a little...there!" Kairi called out as she found his bike, and Riku instantly parked as close as he could behind it, as Kairi and Riku both looked out across the beach, which was deserted save for one person.

The two didn't need binoculars to tell that Sora was sitting on the beach, his bag a few feet away from him as he sat there. From what they noticed, Sora looked like he was looking out onto the sea, and at least that was a good sign. Riku and Kairi both got out of the car and made their way down to the beach.

From even a few feet away, Sora remained perfectly still, and once the two had reached the teen, they realized that he had his eyes closed, and he was sitting in a position that made him look like he had been meditating. Kairi and Riku looked at each other as they watched Sora breath in and out, before Kairi knelt down and touched Sora's shoulder.

Sora's eyes opened for a moment before he closed them again, saying as he did, "Aren't you guys afraid of your safety?"

"What? from you? you don't look so tough Sora," Smirked Riku as Sora gave him a small smile as he opened his eyes once again, stretching he feet out as he looked out onto the sea.

Kairi waited a few moments before she asked him, "What were you just doing," and Sora sighed as he looked to Kairi and said, "Meditating...it helps me relax, and keeps me in...control,"

"Control? from what?" Kairi asked, and Sora looked at her, saying as he did, "You read the paper, didn't you?" and Kairi nodded her head, before Sora looked to Riku, who also indicated that he had also read the paper by nodding his head.

"Then you should know what i'm trying to control," Sora muttered as he closed his eyes again, but opened them once again as he felt Kairi's hand on he shoulder, and her eyes next to his. Both Kairi and Riku were sitting on either side of the boy, both with worried looks on their faces.

"We want to hear it from you Sora, not what some reporter said," and Sora could not help but scoff at the official term Riku was giving Selphie, before he sighed, and he looked out at the sea as he said, "What do you want to know?"

"Start from the beginning," Kairi said as she leaned her head on his shoulder, and Sora sighed as he brought his knees to his chest, hugging them as he closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, despite the fact his past was printed on the pages of the school newsletter, it was still going to be hard to reveal this information to the two, but nevertheless, he complied.

"Hallow Bastion Psychological Rehabilitation Asylum...for as long as i remember that was my first home, my first memories was inside one of its cells, a bed in the corner, no windows, and quite a small area...i was never really told what my problem was, i only managed to gather little information for the first couple of years...The first thing i learned was my name; Sora, and that i was born 14th March, 1994,"

"As the years went on, i found out more about myself, including the reason that i was there. The Doctor's said that i had a rare form of Split-Personality Disorder, Anger management issues and prone to Psychological Hallucinations brought on by social anxiety, though I never had a hallucination before, they said this was due to the fact that i had not reached a psychological breakdown of that level yet," Sora breathed out as he felt a tear fall from his eyes as he continued.

"Ever since i could talk i remember i've always had...a voice in my head, a little voice nudging away every time i felt anxious, telling me what i should do...to fight, to harm. to attack...to talk back," Sora could not help but look up at Kairi, and his look explained why he had said those nasty things to her during the saturday after Selphie's party.

"The Doctor's tried everything from psychological profiling to Medication, nothing seemed to work, so they confirmed that through controlled meditation, it lowered the chance of an episode, so i was just...lost in the files and patients...until 2007..."

"What happened in 2007?" Kairi asked, and a sad smile crossed the teenagers face as he looked at Kairi, saying as he did, "A WRO Agent who was investigating Hallow Bastion in regards to a Shinra Case crossed my room, and saw me...and seeing a bit of me in him, he decided to adopt me,"

"You mean..." Kairi began, but Sora merely smiled as he nodded his head, "The WRO agent was my Father, Cloud Strife," and both Riku and Kairi 'wow'ed' as Sora hugged his knees, waiting to continue his story.

"I was taught advanced forms of mental meditation from my dad, and this helped conceal the voices, but...sometimes, they just get the better of me...and i cannot control it," Sora placed his head onto his knees, not wanting to show the single tear that was dripping down his face. He let out a cough as he felt Kairi place her arms around him, and waited for a few moments before she spoke.

"Sora, no matter what is in your past, no matter what you have done, it will be ok...you are a good person, I know you are, and so does Riku, you're past isn't important, you're future...that's what we care about,"

Sora smiled at what he was hearing, the kindness that Kairi was giving him, Sora could not help but smile as he looked up, looking between Kairi and Riku, as he chuckled and dried his eyes with his hands as he said, "Thank you guys," and all three hugged as they watched the sunset, all silent for a few moments before Riku began a new conversation.

"So, what are you going to do about the situation at school?" and Sora sighed as he looked at the sunset, waiting a few moments before he took a deep breath and smiled, before he turned to both Kairi and Riku, "Live for today..." and Sora smirked as he glanced at the two, and Riku and Kairi both smiled as they said each repeated what Sora had said, with smiles on their faces, and Sora knew that no matter what happened, what people thought, what they believed, Sora had both Riku and Kairi, and with the two of them there, there was nothing that could dampen his spirits. Especially a newspaper reporter who had revealed all his past...well, almost all of his past...

x

Hallow Bastion Psychological Rehabilitation Asylum

Hallow Bastion

2007.

x

The elevator doors opened to the main chamber of Hallow Bastion, which was covered in cells that contained those who were not as dangerous as some of the other patients that Hallow Bastion held. Professor Hojo and Agent Strife both exited the elevator as they began walking to the front of the building, Hojo saying as they walked, "Well Agent, I hope the investigation has answered your questions,"

"Well, at least I can cross this place off, you don't seem to be doing anything dangerous, the WRO does thank you for your co-operation though," Agent Strife nodded as they continued walking, and Hojo nodded his head, "Not a problem...I am happy to have helped the WRO in any way i can,"

Cloud nodded his head as he found himself glancing into the cells, some of which were empty, but as Strife began to slow in his walk, he noticed one of the cells that contained someone. He stopped as he looked at the boy, who looked barely in his teens. Cloud could barely see through the small window, but the teen looked saddened, not making any sort of movement.

"Agent?" Cloud looked up to see Hojo looking at him, and Cloud shook his head as he said, "Sorry, was just...could i get a better look at this patient?"

"I don't think your warrant granted you interview permissions with the pa-" Hojo began, but Cloud cut him off, "I'm not looking to interview him Professor, I'm here as a normal citizen now, not a WRO Agent,"

Hojo stood still for a moment before he called out to the Doctor that was sitting at a desk near the door, ordering a copy of the patients file. The female doctor on duty jumped up, picking up a glass tablet as she began typing something into it as she made her way towards Hojo, before she handed it too him, as he scanned the file before he said, "He's a Class 4, visiting privileges are fine," and Hojo walked over to the door as he scanned his card, as the red light turned green and the door unlocked.

Cloud slowly opened the door and walked inside, loosening his tie as he got a better look at the boy. He looked completely pale, his eyes held bags as his brown hair looked like it had never seen a brush. Although some of the other patients had been fitted with straight jackets, this boy seemed to be dressed in a simple pair of black pants and shirt. He was staring at the ground, and did not even flinch as Cloud entered the room, sitting down next to him as he said, "Hello there,"

The boy did not move, rather he continued to stare at the ground, as Cloud turned back to Hojo who was looking at two, saying as he did, "What's wrong with him," and Hojo typed something into the tablet before he said, "Split personality disorder, prone to anger management and psychological hallucinations,"

"Doesn't seem so bad now, have you got him under medication or something?" Cloud asked, and Hojo looked back at the file before he shook his head, "Well he is a Class 4, which means his condition has been deemed untreatable, but it also says here he has been deemed fit to enter society, but he doesn't seem to have any family, so he has just remained here,"

Cloud returned back to the boy as he ran a hand slowly through his hair, and Cloud could not help but see something in the boy, and as he smiled at him, memories of his own childhood flashed through his mind, memories of spending days upon days on his own, and he saw himself at his age. He had always wanted someone there to care for him, and he knew that this boy felt the same way.

"What are your policies on adoption?" Cloud asked, and Hojo was taken aback. He had never heard of anyone wanting to adopt someone here, many people wanted to adopt from adoption agencies or foster homes. Nevertheless, Hallow Bastion did have adoption policies, and the patient before them fitted the requirements, so Hojo said, "The papers will take a few days to process, if you wanna come back then everything should be fine,"

"No problem," Cloud gave Hojo a smile as he returned back to the boy, and said in a soft voice, "So what is my new son's name?"

The boy slowly looked up, and for the first time Cloud got a good look into his eyes, which were the same blue that he had, just a tiny bit less shiny. But with a gulp, the boy managed to speak but a few words.

"My name...is Sora,"

x

So much we have learnt about Sora, hope this has not only surprised you, but also has made you want to read so much more. I want to appologise for how long this chapter took, i would love to blame it on work or social life, but the real truth is that it was motivation. However, fret not, as after this next chapter (which does have a little action in it) we will start to get a bit deeper into the story, which im super dooper excited to bring to you :)

A wonderful thanks to everyone who has subscribed, and those who have reviewed; Keyblades of Oblivion, khheroxasoray, DestinyKeyblader28, Kairiangel035, Bond of Frost, EthanFlux, Random Reader 17, 13shiroyami and SiChri. You guys are just all wonderful, and i do hope you enjoyed reading the chapter.

Id love to say the next chapter will be tomorrow, but i don't wanna get your hopes up. All i'll say is keep a look out, and hopefully an update will be shortly :)

Jared Someone.