Hey, I'm so sorry this took so long to get up.  I write a lot of other things not fanfiction related and my one friend bugs me ALL the time to write in the other ones but I have disobeyed and done this up during my classes ^_^  Yeah, screw school! Woo! Sorry, this is what happens to writers at 1 in the morning and having consumed 7 cups of coffee.  And oh yeah, all disclaimer stuff applies.

"You've gotta be careful, or he'll steal your heart too," said Kairi.

"He already did," Riku glared and ran off.

There was an airy sound behind them and Sora turned just in time to see the rest of Ansem disappear in smoke.  Sephiroth seemed to disappear for a moment and reappear with Kiara and set her down.

"Well?" asked Cloud.

"I can't heal her if she doesn't have a heart," replied Sephiroth.

"Can't you do something?  Didn't she give you part of your heart back?" asked Kairi.

"Yes but..  It's not the same," said Sephiroth.  "She doesn't have any friends to pretect her heart."

"Except Riku," said Sora.

"Riku?"

"Yeah, Kiara told me about when the two of them first met."

"Attacking them is suicide," said Donald, walking over.

Cloud stood ready to cut Donald down and Masamune was raised horizontal to the ground ready to strike the talking dog.

"Put those down," sighed Sora but neither ex-SOLDIER lowered their weapon.

"Come on, we're not heartless," said Goofy.

"Close enough," Sephiroth narrowed his eyes.

"Riku!  No!" Leon yelled.

"Riku!" Sora gasped at the sight before him.  Riku was slumped against the wall with the kingdom key through his chest.

Mickey walked over and gripped his sword, absorbing the golden light illuminating from it.  Mickey now glowed with the light and fixed his gaze on Sephiroth.  Leon clutched the gaping wound in his chest and tried to stand but crumpled to the floor near Cid.  Mickey stalked toward Donald and Goofy.  A dark liquid like blob slithered behind the feaux king, growing and taking shape as it neared.

"Look out behind you!" Donald yelped right before Ansem struck Mickey down.

Donald and Goofy scattered like leaves in a breeze and dashed from the room.  Sora held the Ultima Weapon at his side, crouching in a readied stance while Kairi ducked behind Cloud.  Mickey quickly stood.

"How dare you strike your master!?" boomed Mickey.

"Hollow Bastion.. will stay.. hollow.. under the control of the heartles.. under my control," said Ansem.

Mickey went yoda on the tall tanned man, jumping and flipping all around Ansem attacking when he found an opening.  However more Ansems appeared and restrained the mouse and encirlced the other four.

"Duck," said Sephiroth and swung his sword infront of him, killing half the surrounding enemies.  Cloud cleaved the other half.

"What ever happened to the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" asked Ansem.  "We can help each other."

"What can you do to help us?" Sora looked at him defiantly.

"Well I could hold onto the little mouse and you could unlock your friends' hearts or I can kill him, and let their hearts be lost to the darkness forever," said Ansem.  "And in return you'd clear out of Hollow Bastion for good and surrender the world to the heartless."

"We can't do that.  This world is home to too many people," said Cloud.

"All of which are dead.  So do we have a deal?"

The four stood silent. Sora looked over at Riku who lay almost peacefully against the wall.

"We'll all die before we get out of here," the brunette thought.  "But we'd have a better chance if they were up."  Sora walked up to Ansem and offered his hand.  "Deal."

Ansem grabbed Sora's hand and sealed the deal.  Sora took Riku's key blade and walked toward Mickey.

"Give me back my friends you son of a bitch," seethed Sora and plunged the dark key deep into the mouse's chest.

A star burst of light erupted from the impact point and filled the room with a bright white light.  Sora was knocked back by an invisible force and rubbed his rear end on which he had fallen.  When the light faded everyone was recovering from the blast, Kiara and Riku included.

"Lets go!" yelled Sora and ran to Kairi.

Leon and Cid's wounds healed but their energy was still depleted.  Cloud and Sephiroth helped them up and half carried them to the portal.  Ansem hot on their heels.

"Riku come on!" Sora called.

"I'm going after Yuffie!  We'll meet you at the docks!"

The silver haired boy disappeared down the hole, two Ansems after him.  Sora ran after the others.  Lightning shot from Kiara's hand to stall the Ansems tailing them but it only gave them a few more seconds.  They ran down to the lobby and outside.  Sora touched the spikey signal and the platform appeared.  They all squeezed on and looked back.  Ansem dove from the platform at them and managed to knock them all off.  They tumbled toward the ground and saw the cross-roads rising quickly to meet them.  Sephiroth encircled in a force field and slowed them just before they reached the ground.  Ansem had disappeared during the fall.

"Everyone alright?" Cloud asked.

"We're ok," replied Sora and helped Kairi up.

"Fine over here," said Leon.

"Yeah," Cid checked in.

"Hn."

They ran again, taking the road marked To South Side.  They were starting to tire when they ran into the solid ice wall.

"Now what?" asked Kairi.  "We're stuck!  We're gonna die!"

"Shut up Kairi, we're not going to die," mumbled Sora and rubbed his eyes.

"This way!"

"Donald?"

"Come on, there isn't much time!  Atlantica just disappeared!" Goofy yelled from a hole in the ice.

"Kuja!" exclaimed Leon.

"We can't trust them," said Cloud.

"Hurry!" Donald yelled.

"Cloud's right," agreed Sephiroth.

"We have no choice, we havet o trust them," commented Sora.

They reluctantly followed, climbing shakey frozen ladders to the top of the ice block.

"Now what?" asked Kairi as she tried to warm herself.

Kiara pulled slightly on a wire that ran parallel to the ground toward the docks.  She hopped up on it and started to walk across.  Sephiroth and Cloud followed suit.

"No @$&$#% way," Cid stepped back. "That's too far a drop for me."

"He's got a point," said Leon shakily.

"It's Ansem!" Kairi gasped.

They looked below and saw Ansem clones covering the ground beneath the wire.

"Now I'm definitely not crossing," Cid started back down the ladder.

"You'd rather face all of them?" asked Sora.

Kiara's wings sprouted out and she flew the few feet back to the ice top.  She picked up Kairi and bolted for the docks.

"Why couldn't she have done this in the first place?" sighed Cid.  "Almost gave me a #&%@$% heart attack."

Sephiroth and Cloud ran over the wire and got Kairi into one of the pods.  Kiara brought Sora over and shoved him in as well.  Next was Cid, he was kicking and screamig the whole way over.  I Kiara had thought the others wouldn't mind she would have dropped him.  Lastly was Leon.

"Shoudl we get them?" asked Leon. "They did help us."

"We would fill up the pods that way," said Cid.

"And they're definitely not spacious," Kiara murmured.

"Hey, where'd they go?" asked Sora, poking his head out.

Donald and Goofy had vanished again.

"Leon!"

"Yuffie!"

The great ninja hugged Leon tightly.

"Where are the others?" he asked.

"On their way.  We had to detour around the Ansem pool."

"What about Aeris?"

"Ei.. uh.. she ain't comin'," sulled Yuffie.

"Oh $#@%."

The flood of Ansems rose to hover on level with the docks.

"Just here to make sure you leave," one Ansem said.

Zidane snuck[1] over and slipped into the pod with Sora and Kairi.

"Where's Riku?" asked Sora.

"Almost here."

Cid climbed in the pod with them.

"We're getting the #%$@ outta here," said Cid and closed the pod.

"What about the others?" asked Zidane.

"Trust me, they can take care of themselves," replied Cid and they took off.  "Why did you agree anyway?"

"If we all make it off then the world is only inhabited by the heartless.  So Kuja can take the world and get rid of the heartless," answered Sora.

"Then what about Kuja?" asked Kairi.

"Kuja's not really all that bad," commented Zidane. "He's just like me really."

"The why the #%$@ is he blowing our #$%@#%$ worlds up!?" asked Cid.

"To save his and its people.  You'd probably do the same if you could," replied Zidane.

Back on the docks Riku had just climbed up from the back side of the port.

"Now all we have to do is get out of here and we're home free," said Yuffie.  "Just creep back to the pods."

"Yes, run away," leered Ansem.

That comment sparked something within Sephiroth that caused him to stay riveted where he was along with the other males still there.  Yuffie was the only one who took Ansem's advice to run to the pod.

"Um, guys?"

Kiara suddenly grabbed Leon and Riku and threw them quite painfully into the pod with Yuffie and heaved the door shut.  Yuffie took the hint and pressed the launch button.  In a quick flash Kiara was back on all fours, snarling at the horde before her.

"All you have to do is leave and yet you stick around wanting to die," Ansem said.

"This is our home, I won't abandon in again," said Cloud and laced his fingers with Sephiroth's atop the slightly calmed Kiara's head.

Wings of different colors and types sprouted from each of their backs and the dove into the cloud of Ansems.

*******************

"I wonder what everyone else is doing," Sora sighed and watched the stars zoom by.

"They're probably not that far behind us," replied Kairi.

"But what is.."

"They all got off," Cid said adamantly.

"Cid!  Cid you there!?"

Cid jumped at the sound of the crackling radio.

"I'm here Yuffie what's up?"

"They didn't leave!"

"What the %$@#$&% #$%@!"

"Kiara, Sephiroth, and Cloud didn't leave!" Yuffie repeated.

"So Riku and Leon are with you?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, and pretty pissed to.  No!  We're going that way!  No more driving for you!"

"Yuffie?"

"No!  My steering wheel!  Leon!  Sit!  Back I say!"

Sora burst out laughing and the others joined in.

"Wha, why are you looking at me like that?  Riku calm down.  No, not the thrus-Eep!" the com. system shut off.

"So the three hard heads stayed back.  Figures," sighed Cid.

"What'll happen to them?" Zidane asked.

"They'll probably die valiant deaths in vain," Cid replied.  "It's what they wanted though.  They have no interests in growing old and seeing out a long life."

"Don't they want kids?  Little kids to leave behind in a better world that they created?" asked Kairi.

"Rumor has it they each have tiny replicas on one world or another."

"What about you?" Sora inquired.

"Me?! No, no munchkins for me thank you, and I'm already old ta boot."

***************

"Just give up.  Let the darkness consume your hearts."

"We… We, ca-ah," Cloud fell to one knee and his sword clattered next to him.

Cloud knelt clutching his left arm as blood rushed down his face.  Sephiroth stood to his right barely still holding Masamune off the ground.  Kiara completed their close-knit triangle, growling feebly and hopping every now and then on her one back leg.  The other had been hacked off.

"All will return to darkness!"

The Ansem army was about to finish the trio off when Blizzaga, Firaga, and Thundaga shocked the mass all at once.

"Not so fast. This is MY kingdom."

Ok I'm terribly sorry this took so long to update.  I'm forgetful ^_^;; and lazy but we won't go into details.  Hopefully the next chapter won't be so long in coming.  And keep and eye out for another new fic of mine that may be posted the same time as the next chapter (if I can get it finished).  Well thanks for keeping with me and don't forget to review!! I luv reviews. But we wont go into details ^_^