Part Four

By Jive Maxwell

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

(Princess Mononoke, the forest)

In a bright glow, Link and Sora appeared. Almost hesitantly,

there was another bright glow and their weapons landed beside them.

"Whoa!" Sora gulped. "Can't forget those!"

Link shook his head furiously.

"Who are you?" a deep voice commanded as they brushed

themselves off.

The two boys looked up. A girl was scowling down at them-way

down. She was on the back of a fierce-looking wolf the size of a big

bear.

"AaHH!" Sora fell backwards in surprise. He was quickly back

on his feet, and he tried to recover some dignity. "Well, who are you?"

he demanded. "Don't scare me like that!"

"These are my woods and I'll scare you anyway I want to in

them!" the girl snapped. "I won't repeat this again: who are you?"

"I'm Link," Link said boldly. "And this is Sora, but you can call

him whatever you want. I like your talking wolf."

"How do you know it talks?" Sora scowled. "Next you'll be telling

me the trees have feelings."

"Have you ever asked a tree how it felt?" the wolf growled, its

mouth moving slowly in a panting motion. "What a fool you are: all

living things have feelings."

Sora groaned and tuned away in misery.

"Talking wolves..."

He bumped noses with a handsome elk that happened to be

standing behind him. The elk bore a rider- a boy with messy,

shoulder-length blue/gray hair and deep black eyes.

"Don't mind San," the boy chuckled. "She doesn't take kindly to

strangers. My name is Ashitaka. Meet Yakul."

The elk licked Sora's face.

"Cut it out!" Sora laughed. "That tickles!"

Ashitaka smiled. "Will you tell us how you happen to be here?"

he asked. "Few people dare to pass through these woods. If you have

a reason, it must be a good one."

The girl San snorted disbelievingly.

(The Legend of Zelda, the Temple of Time)

Too many thoughts raced through his mind at once. He felt

worried and calm, ready to fight and yet so unprepared. He

remembered how the sky looked, bright with stars at first but then

they started going out. How could it have gotten so dark so quickly?

And he remembered a bright light, and the feeling of fading away...

And still in his mind was the image of 5 giant metal men, standing

together like stone statues even though they were so capable of

movement. And the girl, Releena, calling his name, and he could

hear her voice even though they were separated by miles and

miles...

"Open your eyes." It was a young girl's voice.

Heero Yuy complied, and all around him, his teammates were

opening their eyes as well, waking up to the sight of the inside of a

large stone temple, and a young girl with blond hair and blue eyes,

that were filled with concern, staring down at them.

"R-Releena?" Heero murmured.

"I'm sorry," the girl said gently. "My name is princess Zelda."

"Man, what happened?" one of Heero's teammates shook his

head in confusion. He had brown hair tied back into a waist-length

braid and violently purple eyes. This was Duo.

"Scratch that!" a honey blond with baby blue eyes exclaimed.

"Where are we? And how did we get here?" His name was Quatre.

"I'm not sure...how well you're going to take this," the girl Zelda

said hesitantly. "But allow me to explain. Your world has been

destroyed."

(Princess Mononoke: the wolves' cave)

"So," Ashitaka mused. "You're looking for the heart of the world.

And you swear your intentions are good?" They were in a small cave

on a cliff overlooking the forest below. They were given a good meal

and the cave was cozy-a fire was lit.

"Yes," Sora nodded. "Without our help, this world might be

destroyed."

"I don't believe it!" San snapped. "They're greedy, like the other

humans!"

"San is right," a giant wolf sneered-there were two. "These

humans are here to cut down the trees and hunt in our territory. See

how they lie and cheat! We should tear them apart!"

Link and Sora shivered and moved closer to Ashitaka.

"Haven't you learned anything, San?" Ashitaka said with a small

smile. "Not all humans are bad. Yakul trusts them."

"Well I do not." San sniffed.

"And you would sooner die than believe that maybe they can

help us?"

San turned away, unable to look Ashitaka in the eye, and

nodded.

Sora admired Ashitaka. He was so brave and bold and yet so

quiet that you couldn't help but trust him. He seemed like the kind

who could silence storms with a word. But San was different. If it

weren't for their appearances, Sora would have thought that San was

a lot more like a boy than Ashitaka was. She was fierce and

unfriendly, not unlike the wolves that were her friends.

Ashitaka stood up suddenly.

"I'm sorry San," he said. "I can no longer share your views of

humans. I am going to take these two to the heart of the forest. I must

do as my heart tells me."

"I'll stop you!" San snapped.

"Do as you please," Ashitaka sighed. "Come Sora. Link."

Ashitaka helped them down the narrow path to the ground, and

placed them on Yakul's back. He led them away purposefully.

"Ashitaka!" San called after them in frustration. Her wolves

roared.

Link noticed that Ashitaka almost stopped, but then he sighed

softly and continued to lead them away.

(The Legend of Zelda, the Temple of Time)

The idea that their planet had been destroyed and that they

were on a different world had finally sunk in. The Gundam pilots were

crushed. But Zelda had given them hope.

"There are people like you who have lost their worlds," she said,

"who have found ways to return their worlds to its original state: the

land, the towns-even the people."

"What Zelda is trying to say," said one of two guys under the

cover of shadow at the door, "is that you can accept your fate, or you

can try to alter it." The speaker had messy brown hair,

emotionless blue eyes and wore a black jacket and a series of many

belts. He gave the impression of being a lot like Heero Yuy-grim and

determined.

The other person spoke up.

"Its not to late to fight for your world, though first you may have

to fight for others. Do you think you might be able to?" He had long

blond spikes, an impressive array of armor and a large sword that

was wrapped in cloth.

"Allow me to introduce Cloud and Squall," Zelda offered. "Both

their worlds have been destroyed by creatures they call Heartless. Yet

they have been able to save those close to them, and they still

believe that there is hope for their worlds, and yours too. If you were

willing to stand and face your fate, these two would be glad to help

you."

"What can we do?" Heero asked.

"You really think we can make a difference, Heero?" a boy

named Trowa asked. His brown hair swept to one side and his vibrant

green eyes were filled with a calm, cool warmth.

"We have to try!" Wufei said. His black hair was tied back in a

short ponytail and he had dark black eyes. "It wouldn't be right to let

all our people suffer such a fate.

"I agree," Quatre said. "Besides, even if we didn't have anyone

to help us, we'd have to try, just because there wouldn't be any

reason to live without a world to live in."

"That's not entirely true," Cloud said. "You find reasons to keep

living."

"Well, whatever you guys decide to do is fine by me," Duo

Maxwell spoke up. "Personally, I don't like the idea of settling down

and leaving Earth defenseless."

"What do we do?" Heero repeated, catching everyone's

attention.

"You're pretty determined, huh?" Cloud asked quietly.

"There's someone I must protect," Heero admitted.

"Alright-listen up," Squall took charge of the situation. "You

know that the way to save these worlds is by use of a Keyhole,

usually situated in an out-of-the-way kind of place. However, some

Keyholes reside in people's hearts, and the only way to unlock those

hearts is by the use of a very special Keyblade..."

(Princess Mononoke, the forest outside of Iron Town)

Ashitaka lead Sora and Link through the forest, keeping them

company with his story of how he nearly became a demon.

"In the end," he told them, "it nearly killed me. But I refused to

succumb to the darkness, and I survived with only this scar on my

arm." Prince Ashitaka showed them the faint reddish marks on his

arm.

"I know how you feel," Sora agreed. He told Ashitaka and Link

about the dangerous Keyblade that unlocked people's hearts-how,

when he used it on himself to save his friend, he had become lost

and a Heartless.

"Don't you mean you became heartless?" Ashitaka smiled.

"No," Link put in. "Heartless are a type of creature where he

comes from. They're as common as rats. I know how you guys must

have felt; I got turned into a Deku scrub once."

"A what?" Ashitaka blinked.

"Let's not ask," Sora sighed.

"Ashitaka!" It was San. She appeared in front of them suddenly,

blocking their path from the back of one of her wolves. The other

strolled up behind them, growling warningly.

"San?" Ashitaka asked coolly.

"We're going to settle this right now, Ashitaka!" San called. "I

won't allow those humans to get anywhere near the heart of the

forest!"

"Don't make me fight you, San," Ashitaka said. San sneered.

"Fight me if you want; you won't win."

"San! What do we have to do to earn your trust?"

Sora jumped down from Yakul's back, stumbling but facing San

and her giant wolves proudly.

"We don't want to fight you," he called to her. "We don't mean

any harm! How can we prove that to you?"

"Defeat me, and I'll let you pass!"

"Fine!" Sora drew his Keyblade and, in an instant, Link was

there beside him with the Kokori sword, a slingshot, and some Deku

nuts. Ashitaka gasped and leapt onto Yakul's back.

"No! Sora! Please don't hurt her!" he cried.

"Stay out of this, Ashitaka!" San ordered. She urged her wolves

forward, forcing Sora and Link back-to-back and sending Yakul

prancing off to the side.

"Cover for me!" Sora hissed over his shoulder at Link. "I'm

going after her!" Link nodded and tossed a Deku nut at the ground.

The blinding flash that followed caused the charging lone wolf to

hesitate.

"Good idea!" Sora admitted. "STOP!" Magical powers caused

the wolf San was riding to freeze in time. "THUNDER!" Lightning

rained from the sky and struck nearby the animal.

"Move!" San yelled. With a snarl the wolf shook off the effect of

Sora's magic and continued his charge forward.

"Defense!" Sora cried, casting a shield of air over himself.

"Right!" Link agreed. "Nayru's Love!" A powerful shield of blue

energy protected Link from the viscous bite the lone wolf offered him.

"Got any more tricks?" Sora asked hopefully.

"Din's Power!" The same magic Link had used in Traverse

Town chased back the wolves in a dome of fire.

"Take this!" Sora yelled. He took careful aim and hurled his

Keyblade at San, knocking her from her wolf's back.

"San!" Ashitaka cried. Instantly San was back on her feet.

"I won't give up!" she snarled.

"Please, we won't harm your forest!" Sora pleaded.

"I don't believe you!" San drew a dagger and dove at Sora.

Suddenly an arrow landed in the ground between Sora and

San, fired from Ashitaka's bow.

"I said stay out of this!" San ordered.

"The forest begs you, San, stop this madness," Ashitaka

argued.

The angry light faded from San's eyes and she glanced over

her shoulder. Small, pale creatures were watching them. They

seemed like babies, with 3 deep black circles that looked vaguely like

eyes and a mouth. They chattered at the warring pair and put their

fingers to their mouths to silence them. They were everywhere, of

every shape and size. A few were sitting on the back of San's wolves,

and so many had decided to rest among Yakul's antlers that the

grand elk lowered his head tiredly.

"The Kodoma are upset," Ashitaka said pointedly. "They don't

want these two boys to die."

"Not that we would have died anyway," Sora grumped. Then, 3

of the strange Kodoma walked up to him, towered precariously on

each other's shoulders so that they could reach Sora's hand.

"Huh? Where are you taking me?" Sora asked. San watched in

disbelief as the Kodoma led Sora and Link deeper into the forest.

Yakul followed with Ashitaka, and then San's wolves.

"You...You're right," San realized. "We cannot fight here."

(The Heart of the Forest)

"It's beautiful," Sora sighed.

"Yeah," Link agreed.

"The...forest spirit lived here for a long time before he died,"

Ashitaka told them. "You should have seen him. He was such a

handsome creature."

"There's the spot you're looking for," San said reluctantly, as the

Kodoma pointed to a large old tree growing on the middle of an island

in a shallow pool. They waded to the spot and studied the tree.

"Here it is," Sora breathed, as the Keyhole began to respond to

the presence of the Keyblade and appear, a heart with the cross of a

key at the bottom of it.

He shot the others a wide smile over his shoulder and raised

his Keyblade to the tree. The Keyhole widened and unlocked.

"I got it!" Link exclaimed, rushing inside to get the Heartstone.

He emerged a moment later, holding the precious item.

"Now what?" Ashitaka asked.

"Now we disappear from this world and reappear at the Temple

of Time," Sora explained. "There we put the Heartstone with the

others and the worlds become united."

"Ashitaka, go with them," San instructed.

"San?" Ashitaka stared.

"You may trust them, but I don't. Go with them and make sure

nothing happens to our world. Besides, if they are trustworthy, our

worlds will be united and you can return home."

"I don't see what harm it could do," Ashitaka mused.

"Yeah, come with us, Ashitaka," Sora cheered. "We sure could

use your help."

"You're really good with that bow and arrow," Link admitted.

"Alright," Ashitaka agreed. "What do I do?"

The bright light began to glow around Sora and Link suddenly,

and the two gasped and rushed forward, each of them taking one of

Ashitaka's hands. Then the 3 of them vanished.

"What do you think San?" one of the wolves asked. San

snorted.

"Well," she replied. "If Ashitaka doesn't come back to me, I'll kill

him."

"May we help?" asked the other wolf. San smiled and scratched

the head of the great wolf beneath her.

(Kingdom Hearts: the castle of Hollow Bastion)

Deep in the heart of Hollow Bastion, Squall and Cloud were

leading the team of Gundam pilots through the castle. Squall kept

Heartless away with his Gunblade, and Cloud swept the battlefield

clean with his huge sword, but the pilots could sense that Cloud and

Squall were tense.

"What's the matter?" Heero asked after they'd painstakingly

wiped the floor clean of Heartless another time.

"It's the Heartless," Squall said.

"They should have been destroyed, or at leashed banished,

locked inside the heart of all worlds, but-" Cloud added.

"They're more numerous than ever," Wufei realized.

"Yeah," Squall agreed. "And that's not a good sign. Hey, look,

guys...no, Cloud, you should tell them."

"Tell us what?" Trowa demanded.

"Why me?" Cloud growled. "Well, you see, there's a risk with

fighting the Heartless-or having anything to do with them. You could

become one of them."

"Eh?" Duo choked.

"It's happened," Squall said darkly. "Just warning you."

"Oh, great," Duo grumbled. "Now we're going to become

Heartless."

"Shut up," Heero ordered. "No one's going to become a

Heartless. We'll handle this like we've handled other things."

"Fight!" the others agreed.

"Hold that thought," Squall gulped. "Here's more!"

Heartless began rearing back out of the floor all around them.

There were hundreds.

"There's too many!" Cloud yelled.

"Looks like this is as far as we get," Squall sighed. But the

Heartless stopped. They held back, gesturing for someone to come to

them eagerly.

And he came. Quatre stepped away from the group and slowly

walked toward the Heartless, ignoring the others' protests. The blond

Arabian knelt down beside some of the small, twitching creatures and

put a hand on one's head.

"You were...human once, weren't you?"

The Heartless twitched, but none raised a hand to hurt Quatre.

"What's going on, Cloud?" Squall murmured.

"I...I don't know," Cloud admitted. "It looks like he's connecting

with the Heartless." Suddenly, Quatre vanished.

"Quatre!" his friends yelled. But all that their yells did was anger

the Heartless once more. They turned on the group, twitching madly.

And in the shadows of the room, something was rising...

"Oh...my...god!" Cloud gulped. "Any ideas, anyone?"

"No place to run," Duo commented.

"Or hide," Wufei agreed.

"And almost nothing to fight with," Trowa added. "Heero?"

"I can't lose now," Heero growled, closing his eyes. "I still have

to find her!" And something happened. A dark Keyblade appeared in

his hands. "I'll fight for her!"

A fire entered his soul, a fire he'd felt before. The soldier arose

in him, like watching light gleaming off cold hard steel.

"Get out of here," he ordered the others. He pointed the

Keyblade toward and exit, and the Heartless stepped back, out of the

presence of the Keyblade's tip.

"We can't leave you here!" Duo argued.

"What about Quatre?" Wufei demanded.

"What choice do we have?!" Squall snapped. "Let's go!"

They ran, leaving Heero surrounded by Heartless, and, as they

left the room, the Heartless surged forward, blocking Heero from

sight, an army of cold-blooded warriors and their leader, who's head

scraped the roof high above.

Outside, the others were frantic.

"What happened in there?!" Squall yelled. "We lost two men,

and the Heartless...they're thriving!"

Trowa was staring off into the sky.

"Quatre hasn't gone," he said softly. "I can feel it."

"You guys are pretty close," Wufei agreed. "Are you sure you

can sense him?"

"He is like a brother to me," Trowa admitted. "He felt drawn to

the Heartless, I can tell, because he pitied them. But he's still alive."

"What about Heero?" Duo demanded.

Trowa shrugged.

"Look out!" Cloud yelled suddenly. Dark energy swirled around

the castle of Hollow Bastion, growing thicker and thicker until...

They were thrown back from the force of the explosion, but they

landed on one of the elevators moving around the castle. It calmly

continued its journey, oblivious to its passengers.

It was a long moment before they moved again, stunned, and

temporarily blinded and deafened by the explosion.

Then they looked back. The castle had been reduced to rubble,

and black fire tasted its remains as smoke billowed from the wound.

The pilots looked away in horror.

"There's no way...he could have survived." Wufei gulped.

"Heero..." Duo sighed.

"Yes?"

Two familiar brown shoes stepped in front of Duo. The braided

boy looked up.

Heero was staring blankly down at him, panting furiously and

torn up and covered in ash, but alive.

"Heero! You made it!" Duo yelled happily. "I'm going to kill you!

What'd you think you think you were doing, huh?"

"You fool!" Wufei agreed. "You should have let us help you!"

Heero did the only thing that could have spared him from

trouble. He passed out, landing squarely in Duo's arms, the Keyblade

still clenched tightly in his hand. So tightly, they couldn't pull it out of

his grasp, and carried him with them with the blade in his arms.

(Basement of Hollow Bastion, untouched by explosion)

Quatre slept peacefully, not knowing he was being watched.

Hundreds of Heartless peered over each other's heads to get a good

look at the resting prince.

Two men, one in a hood and robes, the other with long hair

stood near the boy's bedside, watching him breath.

"They're connecting the worlds like you said," the longhaired

man seethed.

"Excellent." The man in the hood smiled.

"Is this what you were missing?" the other gestured toward

Quatre.

"Yes. I wasn't aware of his existence. The prince of heart."

"Is he really necessary?"

The hooded man turned to face the other.

"Sephiroth," he mused. "With this boy in my grasp, not only do I

not need the princesses, but I am the ruler of the Heartless."

Quatre stirred and rolled over with a sigh, and his head slipped

from the pillow. The Heartless moved restlessly and one scampered

onto the bed as the others watched. It carefully lifted Quatre's head, a

huge weight for something so small, and shoved the pillow beneath

Quatre's cheek with a foot. The Heartless sat back down, seeming to

sigh with relief, and the little one scampered down.

"I don't know, Ansem," Sephiroth said with a smirk. "But it looks

to me like they'd rather be ruled by him."

Ansem frowned darkly.

"I will have this boy's power, Sephiroth. Where is Seymour? He

will want to know of the success in this mission."

"I am here," Seymour Guado said coolly. "And I've heard all that

you said."

"What's that you're holding?" Ansem asked. Seymour held a

strange old mask.

"This? I found it in the world called Termina. It is shrouded in

dark energy, so you can imagine that I was drawn to it."

Ansem snorted.

"Are the others here as well?"

Balconies lined the high roof of the basement. And, from the

balconies, people stared down at them.

Ansem smiled coldly.

"This time, fellows, they will not stand a chance." He grabbed

Quatre by the back of the collar and held him up for all the others to

see. Quatre woke with a start to see the Heartless hissing madly and

shadowy figures above him clapping.

"Wha?" he gasped.

"Just do as you're told, boy," Ansem hissed in his ear. "I'm in

control here."

Quatre closed his eyes tightly but could not stop the confused tear

that rolled down his face.

To be continued...

JM: Things are starting to look up. Ashitaka is with Sora and Link and

Quatre has been captured by Sephiroth.

Duo: I want my own trailer.

JM: You can have whatever you want, baby.

Sephiroth: I'm so hot.

JM: Go away. Can't you see that Duo and I want to be alone?

Sephiroth: Touche.

JM: Please review.