Disclaimer: you all know, I don't own Kingdom hearts, but if I did. *rubs hands together evilly* *goes to plot with flashlights in all pockets*

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Chapter 5

The next day, Amy was up bright and early, waiting for those odd strangers which she somehow felt so intrigued by. The man, Leon, so quiet and broody, and the woman, Aerith, so beautiful, but she seemed so much in pain. Amy somehow felt a connection between her and Aerith.

"Amy, those weirdos are here" called Sam up the stairs.

"Coming" replied Amy, in a very good mood for the first time in a whole year. She grabbed her backpack and trotted happily down the stairs. She smiled weakly when she saw Aerith standing in the doorway, because her being had just confirmed that last night wasn't just a dream.

"My God, what's wrong with you?" asked Sam, "you nearly smiled!!" Amy looked at him piercingly and he backed down. She grinned cheekily at Aerith who was still standing there. "Hi, sorry about him." Said Amy, apologetically. "where's Leon?"

"Oh, he's in the car thingie" replied Aerith. Amy closed the door behind her and walked over to the very old and battered car. "your world is so.. odd" said Aerith.

"Cars? I mean do they travel to other worlds?" Leon glared at Aerith when he saw the look on Amy's face. Amy sat on the back seat. He turned around and said "we'll tell you later" Amy had come over all shy, which was odd, she was never shy. She was quite squashed, as there was two other people sitting in the back, who she didn't know.

"Oh, sorry." Said Aerith "this is Yuffie" she pointed to a girl not much older than Amy, with short black hair, big brown eyes and a lotta ninja stuff "and this is Cloud" she then pointed to a blond-haired blue-eyed guy with a long cloak and a big sword. Amy's first impulse was 'oooooh big sword' but she had to resist jumping on poor Cloud because she was now firmly setbelted into the car, and they were driving out of the driveway.

"So, um, where are we going?" Asked Amy

"You'll see" replied Leon.

They drove. And drove. And drove. And drove. And then they drove a bit more.

"Are we there yet?" moaned Amy

"Yeah, Leon, this is sooooo boring, we've played about 100 games of 'I spy' now, and it's getting old now" Chipped in Yuffie.

"Oh! I've got one!!" Cried Cloud "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with T!!" he smiled triumphantly. Everyone looked round at him, even Leon turned his concentration from the road to stare at Cloud for a minute. Only Amy wasn't surprised at his sudden outburst and quickly shouted

"OOO!! Oo!! A tree!!!"

"How did you get it?" Asked Cloud, ignoring the fact that Yuffie was still staring at him

"Well that's all we've passed for a while now.." Said Amy, going back to being bored. "Are we there yet?" the road they were following suddenly turned into a dirt track. The dirt track led into a dense wood, winding through trees. Amy was getting a bit worried by this time. Aerith saw this and turned around to talk to her. Amy saw her looking and said

"OK, I won't pretend this isn't getting a tiny bit weird." And to everyone's surprise, she actually smiled after saying these words.

"Well you see, Amy," Aerith was searching her brain to find the right words. Just then, the car stopped.

"Alright." Said Leon "everyone out, this is as far as this car will go"

"You're just gonna leave it here?" Amy asked, surprised

"Pretty much" replied Leon. Amy shrugged her shoulders, and thought to herself 'I'll leave it to the council' they all took to stretching for a few minutes.

"So. um.. why are we here, you know, in a big. um.. Foresty thing?" asked Amy, completely confuzzled.

"Well," Aerith began, but Yuffie cut across her.

"You see, we all come from a different world than yours" Amy found this very hard to believe, and was just about to laugh, when she saw their faces. She looked right into each one's eyes, and somehow, she believed them.

"Yes" she replied, as something her father once said to her came floating back into her mind. Aerith and Leon looked mildly surprised, as they hadn't managed to tell her little slither of information yet, but Yuffie carried on anyway. They started to walk as Yuffie spoke "We came together about a year ago, to stop an evil to outrank all others called the Heartless"

"Heartless?" Amy repeated

"Those without hearts" Said Cloud

"Well I gathered that, Heart-less" Amy said, rolling her eyes

"Well we gathered together to defeat them"

"I see." Said Amy, then she added in a very puzzled voice "then why do you need me?"

"Well last time, we managed to defeat them, but now, they're back, and they have a better plan which is better devised than the last."

"And what is that plan?"

"To catch you."

"Why me?" Leon gave a little chortle

"Every single living creature has a heart, right?"

"Right"

"You have the ability to take away a part of their heart that is crucial. The part of their heart that is made up of hope, faith and wishes. Without that, you would be alive, breathing, but you wouldn't be able to think, or feel, well, not your own thoughts, anyway." He paused, as if waiting for Amy to say something, but when she didn't, went on "the reason is, you are 100% pure of heart" Amy had been totally out of sarcastic comments to make, and was feeling really not herself, until Leon said this. Trying not to breathe a sigh of relief, she snorted and said

"I highly doubt that"

"It's true!" Said Leon, with a hint of desperation in his voice

"Prove it" said Amy, coolly. Leon hesitated. He didn't like being proven wrong, so he wracked his brain for anything that might help him prove his case. He couldn't think of anything, so he was glad when Cloud spoke up for the first time since his little overexcitement in the car.

"Alright then. That night. The night your mother died. Anyone strange involved?"

"No" said Amy, quite firmly. Then she remembered. "Yes. The firemen who put my house out were acting kinda strange, and it was as if they didn't want to work out the whole deal with those firemen who went to 'rescue' my Mum, and my Mum's disappearing act."

"Exactly" Replied Leon, triumphantly "And your father."

"He's dead, too. Died ages ago. I can't even remember him." They all looked puzzled at this news

"When exactly did your father die?" Aerith asked

"Hmmmm.." Said Amy "about 11 years ago"

"Well that's not right" Said Yuffie, in a I know something you don't know kind of voice "he only died, what, 2 years ago?"

"Yup" said Cloud, in agreement. "He betrayed Sephiroth, when he was working In alliance with him. In the end, the Heartless got him."

"Well it serves him right!" Said Amy, and she said it with such hate in her voice, everyone looked around at her in surprise. She had loved her father, and her family had told her he died when he had only gone away. The others were still looking at her in a puzzled way, and so, to break the uneasy silence, she added "Then why didn't anyone tell me? Laura? Scott? Anyone? I would have thought there is a big difference between dying and turning evil" she said sarcastically.

"He wasn't completely evil" Aerith replied, quite calmly "he didn't tell Sephiroth or Maleficent or any of the Heartless where his family were, and especially the fact that his daughter was the one and only person in all the worlds that exist that is completely pure of heart, out of complete and un-breakable love for you." Amy was silent, but kept on walking. Suddenly, the dense canopy broke into nothing. They were in a clearing.