Brightness and Darkness
Chapter Eight: All kinds of Trouble in the Neighborhood.

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

Author's Note: I can't really give much of an introduction to this chapter. Fighting, cursing, blood, and other nice words I can't think of right now. Enjoy! Maybe a little bit of OOCness, but that's okay, right?

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Kaze charged Cloud with staff raised high in the air. Cloud didn't have much time to defend himself before his sister swung her staff, connecting with the side of his face. He was sent flying to the side, doing a complete 180 in the air before landing hard on his side. Kaze, still in the air, kicked Cloud in the ribs a couple of times before grabbing the collar of his red cloak and picking him up.

"Get a hold of yourself, Kaze!" Cloud screamed.

Kaze didn't respond. She looked at the man and smiled before rearing back and throwing him into the wall. Cloud slumped against the wall, eyes glazed over. He was barley conscious. Kaze, thinking the job wasn't done, glided over to him and picked him up as she started throwing punches.

Sephiroth stared at the sight in front of him. Kaze's fist connected with Cloud's face, causing blood to spew out of his nose and mouth, landing on his attire and the girl beating him. The swordsman could not believe his eyes. Ansem had told him several times that when Kaze lost her temper it was much like a tornado. She destroyed everything in her path. Decided that he wanted to keep his life, he turned around quickly and ran to a safe spot to summon a portal and leave.

You cannot run from me. The demon thought as she dropped her older brother and flew towards Sephiroth, who was summoning a portal. She smirked and formed an energy ball in her left hand. She flew above Sephiroth, and, just as he was about to step through the portal, she hurled the energy ball, causing the portal to fluctuate and disappear.

"Going somewhere?" Her voice was low and deadly as she landed behind Sephiroth, staff still in her right hand. "You started this fight. I suggest you stay until it's over. What would my father say if he knew you ran away from a fight like a little girl?"

Sephiroth turned around, enraged by her words. He swung his no datchi, but Kaze stood unwavering as she caught the blade in between her knuckles. She clicked her tongue, much like her father, and shook her head disapprovingly.

"You shouldn't swing your blade at a girl, Sephiroth. It's rude."

Kaze released the blade and delivered a hard punch to Sephiroth's abdomen, sending him flying into the wall. She smiled wicked and cocked her head to the side to move her raven hair. She licked her lips and raised both of her hands, a black lightning forming in between them.

"You….you wouldn't dark kill me, child," Sephiroth hissed as he stood up.

"Oh…I would," Kaze levitated into the air, arms raised above her head, eyes narrowed angrily. "This is for my son."

"KAZE! NO!" Cloud's frantic voice called out as he jumped her from behind, tackling her to the ground. He straddled her back, placing her arms behind her head. He looked up at his arch enemy, "If you want to live, I suggest you leave now."

Sephiroth sheathed his no datchi and smirked at Cloud, "Honestly didn't think that you cared, Strife."

Cloud narrowed his glowing blue eyes, "I can easily let her go."

Sephiroth didn't have time to blink before he formed a portal and vanished. Master is going to wonder what happened to make Kaze's power shoot up like that. I cannot lie and tell him I don't know. Shit…

"GET OFF OF ME!" Kaze screamed as she tried to kick Cloud. Since most of her brother's weight was on her wings, her back arched in pain. She felt somewhat better when Cloud rolled her over on her back, still straddling her and knees planted firmly on her wings.

Cloud reared back and slapped Kaze on the cheek harshly, "Kaze, get a hold of yourself, dammit! You can't let the darkness control you! You're much stronger than that!" He remained unmoving even when Kaze's body started to glow black. "Think about our mother! What would she say if she saw you like this?"

Kaze's face fell and her body stopped glowing. She looked at Cloud through her inky black eyes, "Mom?"

The man nodded, "Yes! You know mother always told you that she never wanted to see you fall into the darkness like…your father did. Remember what he did to her. He killed our mother! And I don't want you to start killing other people."

Tears fell from the corner of her eyes as her hair started blinking back from starch white to raven black. Her eyes from ice blue to inky black. Cloud smiled, she was fighting for control of herself again. He could only thank the higher power that Kaze didn't use her full powers. At the most, she emitted a little over one third today.

"Cloud," Kaze's voice rang in his ears. He looked down to see his true sister. White hair, blue eyes, and no wings. "Get the fuck off of me!"

The blonde jumped up as he watched Kaze sit up and wince. When he spoke, his voice held so many emotions, "Are you okay?" He offered her his hand

Kaze's expression softened as she took her brother's hand and he hoisted her up. She bit her lower lip, "I'll survive.  It's just a couple of broken ribs and maybe a punctured lung. But that's not important. Who the in the fuck gave you permission to come out here and help me fight? Huh? Let's hear it!"

"Defeating Sephiroth is what I live to do. I came here to fight him myself and then I felt your KI raising sky high. If I hadn't of come, you would've killed Sephiroth a--"

"And you're complaining about that?" Feeling less enraged than she should have in the first place, she walked away from him in the direction he came in. But before she could respond to him following her, she stumbled to the right, as her vision became hazy. She heard Cloud call out her name before she passed out.

-

The room was deathly quiet as the occupants tried to take in what Ansem had just blurted out. Sora and Riku looked from one another and then looked at Laiktu and Kioko who looked just as confused. Riku was about to ask Ansem what he was talking about; however, Laiktu beat him to the punch.

The platinum hair boy leaped up into a nearby chair to be at Ansem's height and poked him in the shoulder, "What the fuck are you talking about you crazy motherfucker? Grandson? Me? Did your crazy ass mother drop you on your crazy ass head when you were little or are you just suffering from oxygen deprivation?"

Kioko stood with her mouth wide open, "Laiktu! Watch your mouth! What do you think Aunt Ka--"

"I don't care what mom would say!" Laiktu roared and pointed at Ansem. "She would call him a crazy ass motherfucker too! You're not the one who just got claimed 'grandchild' by Snow White! I'd like to see how you'd react!"

Ansem clicked his tongue, "You're so much like my daughter, Laiktu, it's unreal. Kaze had a tendency to run her mouth, much like you do. Although--"

It was Riku's turn to speak, "Hold up, Ansem. What do you mean by that?"

"Oh please. You're not as dumb as you look, Riku," The man of darkness said sarcastically. "Kaze is my daughter, if you hadn't figured it out and that child is--"

"So, that boy is her son?" Sora asked, pointing towards Laiktu with his chained hands.

Laiktu steamed, "My name is LAIKTU! Not 'that boy'! Not 'that child'! Laiktu!"

"Laiktu, please calm down," Kioko said sweetly, her sapphire eyes softening. "There's no need to get upset. They're only words! He can't hurt you…well…he could, but I don't think he wants to yet."

Ansem laughed mechanically, "You're smart, girl. Considering both of your parents are as dumb as a brick. Especially your father."

"That is enough!" Laiktu said as he jumped onto Ansem's head and started pulling his hair and punching him in the head. "If you don't stop talking about my fucking family like we're damn dogs, I'm gonna bite your ear off!"

Ansem frowned and picked Laiktu up by the back of his shirt, pulling the child off of him, "You do that again, boy, and I shall make your life in this world nonexistent." He reared back and threw Laiktu on the ground hard, the boy landing head first.

"LAIKTU!" Kioko called out frantically and ran to help him. Her brother was lying on his back, clutching his head, and trying to hold his tears back. "Are you okay?"

Riku growled and tried charging Ansem, as did Sora, but both were held back by the two guards. They landed painfully on their backsides.

"That's a nice way to treat your own 'grandchild'!" Sora cried out. He stood up and growled. "You may be omnipotent, but that doesn't give you the right to use children as your play toys, you bastard!"

Kioko blinked once and looked from the one named Sora to Ansem. Forgetting about Laiktu, she tugged on Ansem's pants leg, "Um…excuse me, but what does that word mean?"

Ansem looked down at Kioko, "Omnipotent?"

"Mm hmm."

Riku rolled his eyes at the little girls naively, "It means he has a lot of power."

"OH!" Kioko said. "Well, thank you. I didn't know what it meant so I thought that I would ask one of you since that guy with the brown hair said it and--"

Ansem rubbed his temples, "Shut up!"

Kioko puffed up her cheeks and slammed her feet on the ground, "What is it with you people and telling me to be quiet?"

Laiktu smirked and sat up, rubbing his head, which was pounding with immense pressure, "See, I told you, you talk too much, Kioko."

The white headed man smiled down at Laiktu and ruffled up his hair a little bit, "How could you not mistake him for my grandson?"

"Don't touch me, motherfucker, or I'll bite your fingers off."

"If you treat your own grandfather this way, I imagine how you will treat your father," Ansem smiled wickedly at Riku who returned his gaze with stunned comprehension.

-

"You know, I swear, I don't know what's in the air, but something about it is pretty fucked up," Leon said as he shuddered. The strange, powerful bout of energy he had felt moments ago had vanished.

"What are you talking about?" Yuffie said, shining the flashlight under Kairi's eyelids.

"You didn't just feel that…that…strange power?" Leon said in awe.

"Nah, didn't feel a thing," she said. She clicked off the flashlight. "Well, I don't think she's waking up anytime s--"

"KAZE!" Kairi shouted, bolting up so fast, she knocked Yuffie down on the floor. Leon was even taken in shock by the conscious girl's sudden outburst. He backed up a few steps. Yuffie was knocked out cold on the floor.

"Great," he sighed. "When we finally get one awake, the other one gets knocked out."

"KAZE!" Kairi shouted again, looking frantically around. Automatically spotting Leon, she grabbed hold of Leon's shirt and yanked him closer to her face.

"Kaze, where's Kaze?" she said, panicky, shaking Leon slightly. Kairi was surprisingly far from fragile; she had a remarkably strong grip as Leon was learning. He tried to wriggle free, but she refused to let him go.

"I SAID WHERE IS KAZE?" she yelled, shaking Leon harder.

"I don't know!" Leon said as dizziness was taking over him. He grabbed her arm tightly and forced her to unclench his shirt.

"Kairi, I don't know," he said calmly.  "But are you okay?"

"Enough with me!" she screamed.  "Kaze isn't okay!  She's--"

"--right here," Cloud said, entering the room with Kaze cradled in his hands. Kairi cupped her hands to her open mouth.

"KAZE, WHAT HAPPENED TO HER? WHAT DID YOU DO?"

Cloud raised his eyebrows, amazed at Kairi's concern for Kaze.

"I did nothing," Cloud said, voice level. "But you might want to give Sephiroth a good kick in the ass for me the next time you run into him." He sighed. "He made her lose control and she almost crossed over to the dark side."

Kairi was on the verge of crying at this tidbit of information.

"How did you get awake?" he said, looking from Kairi, to Yuffie passed out on the floor, to Leon's ruffled shirt with a tiny tear visible. "Was there another fight here?"

"I felt…something strange… it was so powerful," Kairi said, her voice low. "It was powerful enough to jerk me into consciousness.  That must have been Kaze…"

Cloud nodded. "Well, we are glad to see you breathing. Yuffie, on the other hand, has hit one wall too many."

Leon rolled his eyes and hoisted Yuffie up. She groaned and held her head in agony.

"Man, remind me never to wake her up again," she grumbled.

"I swear," Aerith said as she burst into the room, respectively ignoring Cloud. "What is going on here? What are all of you doing to be making all of this racket?"

Leon pointed to Cloud, holding Kaze. Obviously wanting to avoid recognizing Cloud was alive, she allowed herself to look at Kaze's limp body in his arms.

She gasped in horror. "WHAT IN GOD'S NAME HAPPENED?!" She narrowed her eyes at Cloud. "WHAT DID YOU DO, CLOUD?"

"I," he said sharply, still reminded of their little tiff earlier, "did nothing. I happened to find Kaze before she slaughtered Sephiroth and came back to kill the whole lot of us off."

"Sephiroth?" Aerith said in surprise. "I thought I felt his fowl KI through here…"

"So… you didn't knock the living daylights out of her?" Yuffie asked. Cloud growled and lunged for her, but luckily Leon pushed him back.

"Yeah, and he said Sephiroth did it," Yuffie snorted, keeping her distance from Cloud.

"But Sephiroth… here?" Leon said curious thought.

"Yeah, and he knocked her out," Yuffie said mirthlessly, as if the idea was ridiculous. She laughed heartily, the laughter stopping instantaneously after catching Cloud's enraged face.

"Yuffie," Cloud said in a harsh voice. "If you don't want me to knock you out, I suggest you shut it!"

"You won't hurt me!" Yuffie threw back.

"Oh yes he can," Leon stated, "if that's what happened to Kaze--"

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" he yelled through the room.

"Right," Yuffie said, rolling her eyes dramatically. "SEPHIROTH DID IT…"

"LEON, YOU'D BETTER FUCKING GET HER BEFORE I RIP OUT HER LUNGS!" Cloud thundered, making Yuffie jump behind Leon to shield herself from him.

"QUIET, GOD DAMMIT!" Kaze burst out, snapping awake. "I swear, I hear him threatening anyone else, I'll jump up and help him kick their ass!" She realized a fraction of a second later that he was holding her. "What the fuck did you do to me, Cloud?!"

"I DIDN'T DO SHIT!" he boomed, throwing Kaze on top of Kairi. Kairi cried out from the crushing weight of Kaze as she landed right on top of her chest. She weakly tried to push her off.

"I'M GOING BEFORE I LOSE MY SANITY!" he bellowed before opening the door and slamming it roughly. A few hinges popping out from the force of the slam.

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Author's Note: I'm updating early! HAHA! I dominate! Well, what about this chappie, huh? I think I may have freaked too many people out with Kaze going 'full bitch'. Ansem's a bastard in this chapter. Well…let me rephrase that…Ansem's a bigger bastard in this chapter. I'll try my best to update again Friday. I want to finish this by the end of the month and maybe just maybe start a sequel to this one. Remember, Meilin Rae has an alternate story up based around this one. It's called Paradise. If you guys don't go and review it, you'll never see another chapter of this story again! looks around nervously Just kidding…

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Reviewer's Corner

lighthope: That's a first to hear that Sephiroth was Kaze's father. Although, I did give several clues and made them sound like he was her father. lol. I'm glad you're blocking out most of the profanity…I guess you had to do a lot of that in this chappie, huh? Laiktu running his mouth. Kaze came back to normal! I told you she would!

VixettaremIx: does a dance for herself hehe. Made me dance in my swivel chair. I'm glad that you liked all of the Sephiroth! He's a cool guy and will play a major role in latter chapters. This is one of the many that will feature him, trust me. I'm trying to make it to where everyone hates Ansem, but then by the end when everything is unveiled, I want someone to actually feel sorry for him….well…kinda. Sephiroth has known Kaze for many years, just as he has known Cloud. My skills aren't THAT good, now.

Harry: She got it under control, right? Well…at least for the time being anyhow.

Sorafan: hugs back Of course I put you in! If you review, you get put in! You scared me for a minute there when you said you didn't like the "ten years after" kind of stories, but I felt better when you said you liked mine. Gave me a scare.

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Next Chapter: Now that Kairi is awake, she starts asking questions about Sora and Riku's whereabouts. Everyone else doesn't have the gal to tell her, so who better else to answer them than the King. Kaze goes and has a heart to heart talk with her brother while Riku and Sora find out the inevitable truth…they are fathers…

Winter Peacecraft-Yuy