Brightness and Darkness
Chapter Six: The Big, Happy Family Reunion Part 1

Pairings: Sora/Kairi, Riku/OC, Cloud/Aerith, Leon/Yuffie, and maybe Riku/Sora

Author's Note: Hehehe…told you guys I'd pick up where I left off. The other characters from Kingdom Hearts show up…and our favorite enemy…dun dun dun…hehehe. I'm not spoiling anything for you guys. You'll just have to read and find out. As Silver-hair Angel tells me, "Do I have to get out the shockers?" …I didn't think so.

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"Ugh…where…where am I?" Laiktu grumbled as he began to stir, clutching his head. It was pounding madly, making Laiktu's efforts to sit up painful. Half blinded by pain, he managed to get a glimpse of Kioko's body sprawled out on the floor of what appeared to be a jail cell.

"Mm…Kioko," he called weakly. When he called her name a few more times and she still did not wake, he crawled to her body, hissing because of the pain in his head, and shook her with his free hand.

"Get up, get up, get up!" he moaned, his head throbbing worse. She finally awoke, her eyes fluttering open slowly at first, then widening as she saw Laiktu in front of her.

"L-Laiktu?" she whispered, sitting up.

"Who do you think, dumbass?" he grumbled, his headache not receding in the slightest. She was too horrified to retort; with wide eyes she look around at their new environment.

"Where are we?" she said, alarm in her voice. She looked around their prison. From the dull gray cell bars, to the bubbling mass of blackness that surrounded the cell. It swirled around their cell, having an almost menacing quality to it. When Kioko bravely stuck a hand out of the bars, she drew it back, her arm covered in the foul, black substance. She let out a shriek and crawled back over to Laiktu.

"I don't like this place, Laiktu!" she whined.

"No shit," Laiktu said. He was trying hard to keep his eyelids shut so that the pain in his head would soon disappear.

"What are we going to do, what are we going to do?" Kioko repeated over and over, her breathing becoming erratic. After her twentieth time of repeating the same line, Laiktu gave her a light yet stinging slap to her cheek. Kioko stopped ranting right away and began to cry.

"We've got to get out of here, Kioko!" Laiktu yelled over her wails. "I'm not afraid of any mother fuckers here! I'm going to get out, and if you don't stop crying, I'll give you something to cry about!"

Kioko sniffled a little bit, and then stopped, occasionally whimpering.

"Now to get out of here," Laiktu said as the searing pain in his head slightly dissipating. He crawled to the entry of the cell and pulled on the bars.

"Laiktu, you can't pull those big old bars down by your little old self!" Kioko pointed out, followed by a growl from Laiktu.

"Then I'll do what I know how…" He threw back his head, opened his mouth, and let out a booming yell. Kioko clamped her hands over her ears, letting out her own piercing scream. Their screams blended with the other to emit a truly ear splitting scream. Laiktu tried to scream as long as possible, but he was finding it increasingly hard to breathe. He was growing magenta in the face. Kioko was struggling also, hot tears sliding down her face and her voice cracking slightly.

Just as the both of them were about to faint from their efforts, the sound of a door shutting silenced him.

Kioko immediately let out a hacking cough, putting her hands to her throat. Laiktu positioned himself in front of the entrance, ready to kick whatever was about to open their cell and make a run from it. Sure enough, when the door opened, Laiktu swung out a foot. However, his foot was intercepted and lifted up chest high to the person whose face he could not see. He was being dangled on one leg a good few feet off of the ground. Growling, he lifted his head up some, the pain in his head returning in full force.

"Let me go you asshole! Get the fuck off of me before I claw your fucking eyes out!" he snarled, trying to wriggle himself free of his captor. Kioko finally lifted her head to see Laiktu held up by his foot by a man whose face was in shadows.

"Laiktu!" Kioko wailed, itching to get closer but was deterred from doing so out of sheer fear.

"My, my...such a fowl mouth you have," the man said, clicking his tongue in disapproval.

Kioko froze. She swore she heard that voice before. Laiktu also stopped in the middle of trying to scratch the man in the chest. Where was that voice so familiar from?

"Who are you?!" Laiktu shouted, his efforts to free himself abandoned.

"I think you have a good guess," the man said teasingly. "Yes… I remember you rambunctious rascals from earlier before…"

Kioko gave a small gasp. "Laiktu, the secret cave!"

"Can't be," Laiktu said at once. "How come we didn't see the mother fucker then?"

"There goes your mouth," the voice said, bobbing Laiktu up and down a little. Laiktu cried out; he felt like his head would rip in half.

 "I do hope your mother teaches you manners when you are at home, but I doubt she even realizes she has a son sometimes," the voice said nastily.

Laiktu paled at first, and then raged.  "You mother fucker, I'm going to beat your fucking head in so bad, it's going to take pliers to pick out your fucking brain!"

"Laiktu, don't make him any madder!" Kioko moaned as the man shook Laiktu harder.

"S-S-S-Stop it!" Laiktu yelled out, clutching his head. He looked on the verge of throwing up. The man finally ceased shaking Laiktu.

"Yes little ones… I was the one from the cave," he said silkily. "But sadly that time you weren't so gullible as to follow a bodiless voice into a cave, now were you?"

Kioko was too horrified to speak; Laiktu was more concerned with the building pain in his head to absorb the man's insults.

"So I had to take you by force. If I'm not mistaken, I'm sure your mothers aren't that heartless as to leave you here, as you are about to die…no, they will come running, and then…my plan will initiate."

"What plan?" Kioko said, trembling.

"You shall see," he said, his chilly edge in his voice making Kioko shake badly.

"If you are so bold, asshole," Laiktu said, his temper flaring up along with his headache, "step into the light! Come on, step into the light, Mary Ann, and show us whose ass I'm going to kick!"

"Certainly," he said, dropping Laiktu roughly to the ground. Laiktu was spared any more pain to his head as he landed on his hands.

The man moved back as a faint light washed over his head. From his glistening amber orange eyes, to his snowy white hair, he was indeed the picture of evil. He chuckled maddeningly as Kioko broke into tears. Laiktu glared at the man, then charged for him.

The man stuck out a hand to the boy's forehead, preventing Laiktu from having any contact.

"I'm going to beat your ass up badly!" Laiktu roared as he tried even harder to punch the man with his fists. With one little shove, Laiktu was sent tumbling backwards. He still remained on his feet, but wobbled slightly.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Laiktu burst out. "Who are you?!"

The man smiled, revealing gleaming white teeth.  "Ansem… that's all you need to know."

-

"I've got a weird feeling something bad is about to happen," The young man spoke as he moved his silky, shoulder length brown hair out of his eyes, tips of his fingers lightly brushing the scar on his face. "I've got an…unusually bad feeling. Like something really fucked up is about to happen."

The man standing across from him sighed and looked at his friend through his locks of spiky golden hair. His glowing blue eyes shown with intense emotion as he spoke, mouth slightly covered by the neck of his red shirt, "What isn't fucked up in this hellhole?" His voice held no humor.

Leon stopped looking through the many books on the shelf to turn to his companion, "You know what I mean. It's just a bad vibe is all…like how it felt when Kingdom Hearts happened." He turned away and started walking up the steps, and into one of the many lift shops.

Cloud snapped out of his stupor and caught up with Leon. His face held an unreadable expression. It was somewhat mixed between confusion and disbelief, "For God's sake, Leon, we're living in the hellhole that started it all! Of course you'll be feeling some 'bad vibes'."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Leon turned so his back was facing the wall, "Cloud, if I didn't respect you so much, I'd knock the living shit out of you."

Before Cloud could make a smartass comeback, a rather young and excitable voice sounded in the area. Leon, who had to look over Cloud's shoulder, and Cloud turned around to see Yuffie running out of the door they just exited. The blonde rolled his eyes and walked past Leon, out of the lift shop, heading for another lift shop that would take him to the Grand Hall. Leon nodded at Yuffie, his own special way of saying "hello", and turned to follow Cloud, Yuffie tagging along after him.

Yuffie lightly jogged to catch up with Leon and nudged him in the side, "What's his problem?" She asked, nodding towards Cloud.

Leon shrugged, "Who knows. He's always like this, remember?"

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot!" Forgetfulness wasn't out of the norm for Yuffie. Leon had never met such a person who could forget to breathe if it didn't come naturally.

She stepped in front of Leon, walking backwards as he was walking forwards. "Where ya goin'?"

Leon had the sudden urge to scream. Why is she being so annoying? He looked past her, "To the Grand Hall." He had the urge to ask her was it any of her business and shove her aside, but truthfully, he didn't want to hurt her feelings. "Look out."

Yuffie raised an eyebrow, but before she could speak, she slammed into the far wall of the lift shop and fell. Leon shook his head and walked past her, trying to catch up with Cloud. Yuffie frowned and rubbed her backside.

Why does he always have to be so cold? Damn him…The young ninja got up off the ground and ran through the Castle Chapel, through another lift shop, and into the Grand Hall, where she saw Leon and Cloud climbing the stairs up to the Dark Depths. She shuddered. She hated going here. It always brought back so many bad memories.

Aerith smiled as she stood, monitoring the controls, and waved to her three friends, "What brings you three here?"

Cloud smiled, a genuine one at that, and kissed his lover gently on the lips, "Same thing as you are. Came to make sure nothing unusual was going on. Mister Obvious pointed out that he had some 'bad vibes'."

The Ancient smiled up at Leon, who was frowning, "To be completely honest, so did I. That is why I came here. I just feel like something…strange is about to happen."

Yuffie finally made it up to the group, "Considering that we're standing in front of the last keyhole, I'd--"

Beeping noises cut Yuffie off. Aerith turned around as the numbers of the controls started flashing, bars going up and down. She quickly turned one of the dials, trying to re-stabilize the portal. She punched in numbers while frantically thinking of a way to fix the problem. Leon and Cloud looked at the Dark Depths, the swirling colors of red, blue, yellow, green, and black all moved towards the center, forming a purplish looking bubble.

"What's going on?" Yuffie shouted. A slight tremor shook the ground and she had to fight to keep her balance.

"I don't know!" Aerith replied, still turning dials and punching in numbers. She scanned over the flashing numbers, trying to decipher the code. "It says something's coming out!"

It didn't take their minds a minute to register before Yuffie dug out her shuriken from her pouch, Cloud pulled out his buster sword, and Leon readied his gunblade. Just as Aerith turned around, a white light engulfed the room, causing everyone to shield his or her eyes. As the light dimmed, Cloud moved his forearm away from his eyes to see something shoot out of the Dark Depths, and, literally, bounce off of the glowing blue window, like a ball of rubber, causing it to shatter into thousands of pieces.

Cloud was rewarded his full vision back just in time to see the body falling to the floor. He leapt down the stairs, followed by Leon, to see the girl on the floor, hair spewed out along the carpet. Yuffie shouted in panic and followed the two men down the stairs. Aerith stood, not moving a muscle. She was still in shock.

Cloud turned around and looked up at Aerith, worry etched all over his face, "Go and get a stretcher! Hurry!"

Aerith snapped out of her stupor and, within seconds, was heading out of the Grand Hall and through the lift shop to the Med Ward.

Leon knelt down next to the girl and checked for any signs of life. He sighed in relief, "She has a pulse. Not very strong though." He placed his hands on the girl's shoulders, intent on rolling the girl over on her back, but when he did, Yuffie screamed.

"Oh my God!" The young ninja exclaimed as she knelt down beside Leon, almost pushing him over. "It's…it's…Kairi!"

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"Why the fuck did it have to be this place?" Kaze whispered to herself as she walked around in the Base Level of Hollow Bastion. She had been separated from Kairi during the fall, after the fight with the dark forces. After Sephiroth had taken the children…

The young woman clinched her fists tightly, having the urge to scream, "I'm going to kill that pompous bastard…both of them. Sephiroth had no god damn right to take Laiktu…and neither did he…" She turned around and punched the wall, vividly imagining it as the face of Sephiroth and her father. She snorted and turned away from the wall, her braid flying into it and swaying in the wind as she walked towards the lift shop.

"Now, I've got to get out of here. Which one was it?" Kaze pressed her hand down on the crystal and was teleported above the Base level. She was now standing at the Castle Gates, eyes wandering the vicinity. Kaze took in a deep breath. It felt somewhat good to be home. She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to find Kairi's KI. After a moment's time of concentration, she picked up on Kairi's KI, though it was oddly faint.

"Well, I might as well find her or we'll be short two kids and a mom now," Kaze's eyes shot open. She scowled. "Oh great…this is so not my fucking day." Without another word, Kaze raised her hand as a portal appeared in front of her. Stepping through, she started to wonder what it would be like meeting up with her brother again after seventeen long years.

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"Well Mr. Charismatic, you give me your take on this."

Cloud furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought. He bit down on his lower lip, "I… have nothing to say."

"Well, is she gonna be okay? I mean, she isn't going to die, is she?" Yuffie asked, her frantic behavior agitating both Cloud and Leon.

"If you don't want me to sow your mouth shut, I suggest you close it!" Cloud snapped, glaring at Yuffie. With a hurt look on her face, she ceased talking and focused her attention to the ground.

"Now," Cloud said, breathing hard out of his nose, "I'm sure there is a perfectly rational explanation for this. However…odd it may seem."

"I told you," Leon said cockily. "I told that I felt something fucked up was going on, but who else is there to doubt me than you, Mr. Chocobo?"

"You keep talking, Leon, and my Chocobo is going to tear a new hole through your ass."

"There is always time to display your macho nonsense to the ladies later, Cloud, but I think that Kairi nearly dying is more important. So, I pass the throne to you," Leon said with an ironic bow towards Cloud. "How did she get here?"

Before Cloud can utter a single threat or swear, a clear, feminine voice behind him spoke, startling the three. Cloud was prepared to slice the person with his buster sword when he spotted who it was.

A bunch of goons who work for my father, no doubt, and the Heartless attacked Destiny's Island again and we were transported here…unfortunately."

Cloud goggled at her. She simply looked at him.

"Kaze…"

"Hello Cloud," she said, unfriendly, brushing past him. "So this is where she ended up, is it?"

Leon and Yuffie stared at the intruding Kaze, flabbergasted as to how this complete stranger barged though here in the first place. Without acquainting herself to them, she crouched down to study Kairi, and then glanced up at the pair.

"Well, she will live, won't she?"

Leon stared fixedly at her, disdain more than curiosity on his face.

"She will… but might I ask who in the hell are you?"

Kaze stiffened up. She wasn't concerned with who he was as she was concerned with who in the hell does he think he is talking to her in such a manner. She stood up, her height level to Leon.

"If that was supposed to be a greeting, I seriously feel sorry for whoever raised you," she said coolly, but with an edge to her voice. Leon raised an eyebrow. The stranger had quite a mouth on her. "And if you must know, I'm Kaze. Now, who in the hell are you?"

Before Leon could retort, Yuffie slid in front of him, "Whoa, whoa, whoa… how in the heck do you know Cloud and we don't even know you?"

They both looked at Cloud. He smiled sourly, "How could I forget my own sister?"

Yuffie's jaw dropped dramatically. Leon looked unfazed, but had a look that suggested he thought this couldn't be true at all.

"It's only by blood, Cloud, and I prefer for you not to call me your sister when you treat me lower than the scum off of your shoes," Kaze said without looking at Cloud.

Yuffie blew a small whistle. Leon smirked slightly. Cloud, however, did not take Kaze's words to heart. In fact, he smiled.

"Well, considering that the scum doesn't talk and act like a stick's been shoved up their posterior, naturally I would favor it." His smiled widened having the satisfaction of insulting Kaze.

Kaze's face reddened, but did not bite back.

"Oh yeah, they sound like they are related," Yuffie said, rolling her eyes. Leon said nothing.

"Help is here," Aerith called behind Cloud, carrying a stretcher that equaled the size of Kairi. She slipped past Cloud and strolled up to Kairi's side. Leon bent down and lifted Kairi with ease onto the stretcher.

Aerith sighed and turned around to look at Kaze. Unlike Leon, she had a warm smile on her face when she spotted Kaze.

"Hello, I'm Aerith," she said, sticking out her hand. Kaze resolutely shook her hand. "Welcome to Hollow Bastion," she continued. "This may seem like a dark, dank place, but--"

"Spare her the introduction, she grew up here for fuck's sake," Cloud cut in sharply. Aerith soundlessly closed her mouth, taken aback by Cloud's sudden rudeness.

After an awkward pause, Aerith allowed herself to speak.  "Well…um…then welcome anyway.  I don't believe I know you, uh…"

"Kaze."

"Right!  Kaze it is.  Well…we must help Kairi, so if you shall excuse me…"

"We'll help also," Leon said.

"Thank you Leon," she said, nodding.

"Isn't that right Yuffie?" he said, gesturing to the girl.

"What? But I thought we were going to--"

"Come on!" he barked, yanking her along as Aerith steered the stretcher away from Kaze and Cloud. She glanced back at Cloud, tossed him an incensed look with her beautiful emerald eyes, turned her head swiftly and strolled out of sight.

Once Kaze saw the three disappear out of sight, she proceeded to the Grand Hall.

"Well, at least Kairi will be okay."

She froze when Cloud firmly grabbed her wrist and swung her around. Already upset by his last comment, she slapped his hand away.

"Where are you going?" he asked sternly. She gave him a burning look.

"If you must know, to find my son. And if you want to keep your five fingers intact, Cloud, don't you ever fucking touch me again."

Raising her hand, she conjured up a small portal.  It swirled slowly a few feet from the ground, waiting patiently for the one who summoned it to enter.

"I never quite got used to it," he said reminiscently. Kaze gaped at him, her eyebrows knitted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said, her voice softer than it had been a while ago. He stared at her, a searching look on his face.

"You…can be so much like him…" She clenched her fists.

"I'm nothing like him, Cloud," she said, her voice returning to its cold, edgy manner. "If I have to beat that into you as a reminder, so be it." She turned on her heels and vanished inside the portal. It revolved rapidly as she disappeared into it then dissolved seconds later. Cloud turned around, staring at the ground.

"Oh but you are… but you are…" A tear forming in the corner of his eye fell and splashed onto the ground. Scoffing, he grounded the tear into the ground and stalked off.

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Author's Note: I told you guys I would bring him in! What do you guys think about this one, huh? I bet you didn't see that one comin'? Did ya, huh? Did ya? Did ya? This was one of the more climactic chapters, if I do say so myself. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, because I can't wait to post the next one! Have a Happy New Year! Here comes 2004!

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Harry: There's more action to come! Believe me!

Linear: Yes, I know I suck at fight scenes, I warned everyone about that! feels bad Yeah, Sephiroth is a hottie; I'll admit that!  I'm glad I brightened your day!

lighthope: Kairi did kick butt, didn't she? Why don't you like Kaze? She's cool, man. I'm glad that you like Kairi using the Ultima Weapon! That was one of my favorite parts!

Dimitri Plabato/Drake Dragon: WOO! Kaze is getting to be pretty popular, ne? I'm glad you liked her! And I'm sure she does too! (Technically speaking, that is). Oh, Riku and Sora are just around the corner!

RainWarriorPrincess: It's okay. I know how it feels to be away. lol. Thanks! I'm not awesome; I suck. I guess I just…know how to write well, I don't know. At least that's what Silver-hair Angel tells me. Hehe. Yeah, I was hoping the Kaze/Laiktu scene wouldn't be too OOC, if you know what I mean. It was hard to write and keep Kaze…well…Kaze. Yes, Sephiroth is one of the main characters in this. He plays a big role. I'm thinking on the whole Riku/Sora thing. I may put a little hint in there, but I'm not gonna let Silver-hair Angel see it till it's posted. Tee hee. She'll strangle me for that. And, like I said to Dimitri, I'm glad Kaze is getting to be popular! It took me a long time to make up her character and what she would be like.

Kintora: …yaoi isn't wrong, just so you know. I'm not sure if I'm going to put it in there or not, I'm seriously thinking on how I could. lol.  As you can see, Laiktu and Kioko are just fine…I guess. If you count being kidnapped by a mad man. lol.

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Next Chapter: Ansem gives the children a surprise visit from two unexpected visitors. Meanwhile, Sephiroth goes to taunt Kaze, and it ends up in an all out war, Cloud even joining in on the fun. Stay tuned!!!

Winter Peacecraft-Yuy