Sorry for the delay, just blame it on busy weekends and a lot of homework. Anyway, here's chapter five. If you look hard you can find out who Steel is, lol.

Disclaimer: Do I have to say it?

"Hey, c'mon Namine, we're supposed to meet Sora and Riku by the big tree today." The blonde five year old walked to her window to see who was calling her. She immediately brightened up when she saw a girl about her age but with red hair standing on the ground waving to her.

"I'll be right down Kairi!" The blonde rushed to her closet and quickly got dressed. Then she rushed to her brother's room t see if he was already awake. As usual, he was already up and gone from his room. After pouting and muttering something about him never wanting to meet her friends, she ran downstairs and told her mom where she was going. She really like her mom, because she had powers just like Namine, and she was the one who could always make Namine happy again.

"Ok, but if you four get hungry feel free to come here and get cookies."

"Don't worry Mom, Sora and Riku will make sure we do. They love your cookies." She quickly ran outside and met up with Kairi, then they ran to the big tree that was taller than most of the houses that were in the village. Some people said that it was magical and that it should be left alone, but Namine and here friends didn't care about that, since it was the only place they could go to be alone.

"Hi Kairi, hi Namine!" Sora and Riku said in unison as soon as they saw the two girls running towards them.

"Hi guys. What are we going to do today?" Kairi asked as soon as they got to where the two boys were.

"Well, you remember what you told us about those strange black things you saw down in the dungeons?" Riku sounded really excited, like he had just found a secret that no one else knew about.

"Yes. What about them?" Kairi didn't like talking about them, especially since she knew that King Ansem would get really mad at her if he knew that she had found them.

"Well, me and Sora were bored yesterday after you two ditched us, so we decided to see what was really down there." Riku didn't seem too disappointed that the girls had ditched them, but then again they had a hard time keeping up with the boys when they went exploring.

"What! Riku, you know we're not allowed down there! What if you were caught?" Namine hated the fact that Riku had absolutely no regard for rules, especially ones that would get him in the most trouble. And Sora never even thought about objecting, since they were both sons of famous warriors.

"We can't get caught Namine, you should know that by now. Besides, there was nothing else to do. Anyway, we were exploring and found them. But they weren't those small things Kairi described. They were huge, some looked like those dragons from the stories, and others looked like they were demon knights or something. They had these giant shields with monster faces on them. And then…" Riku stopped and stared at the sky.

"What are you looking at?" Kairi too looked up, then she screamed.

Namine quickly glanced upward to find what her friends were so scared of. Then she saw it. It was…

Namine woke up screaming. It had been horrible… but she couldn't remember what it was. She waited for her heart to slow down before going into her memory to try and find what she had been so scared of. She had had this dream almost every night since Sora had come to Castle Oblivion. This was the first time she had ever made it this far, though. She didn't want to go back to sleep because Sephiroth would be back soon, and then she would learn more about what was happening to Riku. Riku, how she missed him! This was worse than when he went on missions that Axel gave him, which usually took about two weeks. This time, she was the reason he was practically killing himself. Why couldn't they just sit and talk like they used to, before Sephiroth came and kidnapped her? Why was it taking so long for him to find her again? It had already been three days since he had found her and Sephiroth in Traverse Town, which meant Sora only had eleven days left.

Sora. Why was it taking so long to put his memories back together? It should have only taken three days at the most, but it had already been weeks since she had started. Every time she took a break, she found memories other than the ones that she had put back together attaching themselves to the chain of memories that bound Sora's heart. They weren't Sora's real memories, but they weren't the ones Namine had made either. They were constantly fighting her whenever she put a new piece on, which made the task even more difficult than it already was. When she had tried to examine them and find out what they were, some sort of spell that had been put on them repelled her, draining some of her strength and causing excruciating pain in her mind.

"So, how is my lure feeling? Miserable, as always?" Sephiroth entered the room with the usual food and water he always brought. Stale bread and salt water.

"Oh, shut up Jenova." Namine glared at her captor. Jenova, the evil (for lack of a better word) goddess that was currently controlling the closest thing she had to a son, could hear every word that Namine said, and Namine knew that she hated being spoken to through Sephiroth.

"Shut up yourself, witch. We both know that Riku will never rescue you, at least not while Sephiroth stands between you and him." Sephiroth's voice had changed to that of Jenova's, a sound that Namine associated with nails on a chalkboard.

Namine looked away, pretending that Jenova had hit a soft spot.
"That's better. Now, eat up while we wait for your dear Riku to find his way here." Sephiroth turned and began to walk away.

"Hey Jenova?" Sephiroth turned around. Namine promptly smashed his heart.

"Hey Guardian, where are you?" Riku asked in his mind for the fiftieth time as he combed Lotus Forest for clues again. And, for the fiftieth time, he got no answer.

Riku cursed. Both Sephiroth and Steel had disappeared without a trace and Riku Replica had gone on vacation or something. After once again obtaining no clues, Riku decided to search his mind for clues. Steel had said that Riku had taken a girl from him and that was why he was tracking Riku. Sephiroth had kidnapped Namine so Riku went after him. Was Sephiroth after somebody? Or did he just kidnap Namine so that Riku would do Diz's test? Was there anybody who would know the answer to that? The answer hit Riku like Sephiroth's sword.

Cloud.

Why do I always let Namine down? I told here I would meet those three friends of hers, but I never did. I promised her I would protect her if anything happened, but our world was destroyed and we got separated. Now she's been kidnapped, and I'm not strong enough to rescue her. Steel had decided to go to Traverse Town to gather his thoughts and recuperate from his fight. All he had succeeded in doing so far, however, was berate himself for not helping Namine and spend a sleepless night fighting inner demons. "I won't fail next time, I promise."

"You know, they say the first sign of insanity is talking to yourself." Steel jumped up and tried to press his dagger against the throat of the person that had snuck up on him. But the fact that a gunblade was in between the two of them made it a little hard.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Steel jumped back and got into a fighting stance, ready to fight this guy if he needed to.

"The name's Leon. Don't bother introducing yourself, I already know who the great Steel Blade is." Leon kept his blade in between them, making sure hat Steel didn't get the chance to catch him off guard. "All I want to know is why you are tracking Riku. Give me a straight answer, or you won't live to see tomorrow."

Steel weighed his options. He could probably beat this guy, even if the ninja sneaking around behind him attacked, but then it would take longer to recuperate enough to fight Riku again. If they were working with him though, then it would be better to take care of them now then fight them when Riku was with them.

"Only if the ninja comes out into the open and stands right beside you." Leon didn't look too surprised that Steel had known that a ninja was sneaking around, but the ninja certainly was.

"How did you know I was there? No one can trace my movements if I don't want them to! You have to be cheating!" She walked to where Leon was and glared at him.

"I'm an assassin. I work in the shadows more than thieves do. So naturally I can sense anybody when they are using normal means to hide." Steel was more at ease now that he knew that the ninja wasn't a professional. "Ok, here's my straight answer. Riku kidnapped a girl from my world. So I'm getting her back."

"Riku would never do that! He's not that kind of guy! Just because he uses darkness doesn't mean he's evil! So if you want to get to him, you'll have to go through us! Right Squall?" Steel had a feeling that Leon didn't feel this way, but waited to find out what he was going to do.

"I wouldn't put it past him. He did try and kill Sora, remember? But he was being controlled by Ansem then, and maybe he is now. But then again, if this assassin kills him, then Sora won't get the chance to save him from the darkness again."

"You know, they say talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity." Steel couldn't help but say it. Leon obviously wasn't talking to the ninja, but he wasn't talking to Steel either.

Leon looked at Steel, then at the ninja, and nodded. This was going to be an interesting fight, Steel thought as they began to walk to either side of him.

"Cloud." Riku said as the red-cloaked warrior walked out of the arena.

"Riku." Riku knew that he wasn't exactly on good terms with Cloud, but he was the only person who could help him right now.

"I need your help." Cloud stopped cold. He turned around and stared at Riku for a minute, as if trying to read his mind and see if he was lying or not.

"What do you need help with?" Apparently Cloud seemed to decide that Riku really needed help. It may have had something to do with the fact that Riku hadn't slept for three days and this showed plainly on his face.

"Sephiroth kidnapped the only person who can restore Sora's memories and I can't find him. I figured you could help me."

"I probably can, but you won't do much against Sephiroth if you're so tired you can barely walk. Follow me, I'll take you to a place you can rest."

"I can't rest. I have an assassin named Steel after me." Riku followed as Cloud began to walk away.

"Don't worry. He owes me his life. I don't think he'll bother you while you're here." Riku was pretty sure that if he wasn't trying to help Sora, Cloud would have flagged Steel down and told him exactly where to find Riku.

"Whoa, Cloud, you're not helping him are you?" Both Cloud and Riku turned to find Hades walking towards them. "I mean after all, you know what's in store for him, right?"

"If you're talking about the assassin Steel Blade, then yes I do."

"Steel's after him too? Dang, that kids got it in for him. But anyway, the kid's marked, so I would stay away from him if I were you." With that Hades disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Cloud slowly turned and looked down at Riku with a look of horror on his face. "You're marked? Forget resting, we need to get you to Aeris now."

Well, there you go. Did you catch Steel's Identity? If not, then don't worry. I think I might really reveal it next chapter.

Only one review? Where is everybody?

Namine3419 Now that is a cool idea. Wish I could use it, but I've never read the books and I only saw part of the movie. But thank you so much for that review. You're question gave me so mnay cool ideas for this fic it's not even funny. And thanks to you, I now know who Axel is serving! lol.

Ok, I'll update faster this time, I promise.