II: The Radiant Garden

A/N: 4/21/10: Continuing on my plight to better this story!

5/19/09: I decided that if this story was going to be so popular (and I am very grateful for that), then I can spare my time to come back and fix some pretty silly errors. So, here I am, fixing errors and whatnot. :3 And also adding a disclaimer so I don't get in trouble... xD' I also changed 'Kera' to 'Keira'...because it still makes more sense in the long run.

Disclaimer - Don't own Kingdom Hearts.

The sound of water around her was soothing, so much that she didn't want to move or open her eyes. Stefa was alert… sort of. Mostly. But she was not quite on edge, and the water was helping her mellow out more and more. She wasn't sure where she was, or if she was dreaming. The painful throbbing of her wounds and ankle quickly alerted her to the fact that, no, she was definitely not dreaming. A small, not quite content sigh escaped her lips as she remained where she was. Once she opened her eyes, any sort of illusion she already had in her mind about being safe would be gone. All too familiar with this from the numerous times she had awoken early for school with this realization; she did not move or open her eyes.

The illusion shattered as a voice screeched, "Yes! Right there! That little punk thinks that she can sleep in the fountain!" Even asleep, Stefa could tell the voice was that of an older woman. She winced and closed her eyes a little tighter. Her heart began to beat a little faster as she thought that she might be in the middle of City Park right now, in the fountain. If that were the case, she could get in some serious trouble with the police. "She must have been drunk and passed out!" Stefa winced even more. The accusations -- true or not -- would go well with the police; they always seemed to be looking for an excuse to bust teenagers.

"Calm down, ma'am. She'll be out right away," remarked a calm, male voice. He sounded like no police officer that Stefa was familiar with, particularly because he even sounded a tad exasperated.

"What if I wanted to make a wish in that fountain? With that little tramp in there, I couldn't!" The woman continued her rant, causing the man to sigh.

"It's not a wishing fountain," came his dry reply. Stefa was starting to wonder if she really was in City Park…

The old woman huffed. "I'm old! What do I know about the difference between fountains and wishin' fountains?" (A/n: xD') came her next screech. "Get her out! Oh, dear. She's even made the water red!" At this the man finally became interested. He hadn't truly expected the girl in the fountain to have passed out drunk, but it was not like he hadn't seen that sort of thing before. Besides, was he really a police man?

"What?" mumbled the man as took a few steps closer to the fountain. She appeared to be dozing peacefully, but a quick look at her made him realize why the water was turning crimson around her. "I better get her out of here."

She grunted and flinched slightly as she was lifted into his arms, but Stefa otherwise did nothing. Another look over her told him how badly she was injured. There was also the crazy fact that there was a keyblade still clenched in her hand, so she could not have been too asleep. Her body was still as light as a feather to him, but that wasn't saying much considering his strength. The old woman yelled, "Cloud! If you're going to be a better policeman for the Radiant Garden, then you need to listen to what people say! You can't write them off!"

Very quietly, Cloud murmured, "Watch me." Louder, he continued, "I'm not a policeman, not for the people. Just against the Heartless and Nobodies." Heartless? He used the word like it belonged in every day conversation. And, the Radiant Garden? Stefa had to admit that it was starting to look less and less like she was in Illinois anymore. "The fountain will be cleaned as soon as possible." It was the last thing Cloud said before he started off toward Merlin's house.

The woman pursed her lips somewhat. "The fountain... covered in blood. Now, this doesn't look too good for our world, does it?" It was the first thoughtful thing she had said before rejoining her husband for shopping.

XxxxxX

Knock, knock. Knock. Knock. "Open the door," ordered Cloud with a small trace of annoyance in his normally cool voice. After a minute or so, the door swung open to reveal a brunet man dressed in mostly black with a gun-like blade resting against his shoulder. His appearance was no surprise to Cloud. In fact, he didn't think anything about Squall Leonhart had ever surprised him. He knew that Leon had been a warrior of sorts in his world, so the long scar running across the bridge of his nose had not shocked him. Even Cloud had to admit that he wondered how the other man had gotten it, but he had never been rude enough to pry. It was not something Leon seemed too fond of speaking about. In fact, he did not seem to like to speak much about his world.

"What has you so impatient?" asked Leon in his deep, calm voice as he surveyed Cloud with his cool blue eyes. He noticed the girl almost immediately, saw the blood rubbing off on Cloud's clothing, and he had his answer. Cloud raised his eyebrows in response, and Leon stepped out of his way.

Cloud crossed the threshold and placed her on a large orange couch. From the outside, the house looked small, but its inhabitants knew better. In fact, it could be quite annoying to find someone if you didn't know where to find them. Which could, at the moment, make Cloud's next objective a bit difficult. He looked around, catching Leon's eye in the process. Seemingly reading the other man's mind, he nodded to a swinging white door. Inside of the medium-sized kitchen, Cloud found the woman he was looking for conversing with a short, black-haired girl. He was familiar with both woman, as they had been born in the same world as him. The black-haired girl had a black ninja band tied around her forehead and was wearing a grey, hooded vest over a navy blue shirt with a white flower imprinted upon it. She wore a pair of black and beige shorts, and a knee-high pair of grayish boots. Her brown eyes were animated as she spoke with the woman Cloud was looking for.

The woman had dark brunet hair that was tied in a braid with a large pink ribbon. She wore a halter-esque salmon and white shirt that hung down to her hips, where a long, light pink and white skirt sat. Despite her fragile-appearance, the strength in her emerald eyes, and the boots coupled with her outfit were an easy tip off that she was not to be messed with. The green eyes wandered away from the chocolate ones and settled on Cloud's hardened blue eyes. The girl she was conversing with furrowed her eyebrows before turning to see what was distracting her friend. "Cloud?" asked the brunette quietly.

"Aerith..." The black-haired girl frowned, so he added, "Yuffie," in greeting. "Aerith, I found a girl in the Marketplace. Could you take a look at her?"

A smile appeared on Aerith's face as she nodded. "Sure," she replied before following Cloud out of the room. He gestured to the injured girl on the couch and she nodded. Aerith got down on her knees for a closer examination. The girl's skin was visibly pale, especially where the blood and cuts sat on her skin. The calm green eyes disappeared behind her eyelids as Aerith concentrated her magical energy. She bowed her head, and a a yellow flower appeared above the girl and fell onto her, covering her in a green glow for a minute as all of her cuts disappeared.

"Hmm. Cloud, I don't think Merlin'll be happy about the blood on his couch," remarked Yuffie thoughtfully as she came to stand near the couch, too. She was smirking somewhat.

"Cut it out, Yuffie," came Leon's voice from the other side of the room. Yuffie smiled, but it quickly disappeared as she looked over the girl. "Whoa! Squall, you've got to see this!" She exclaimed, her eyes widening slightly.

"I told you to call me Leon," he grunted in response as he joined them. His eyes also stopped on the object grasped in the teenager's hand. How he had missed it before, he didn't know. "Another Keyblade?" asked Leon, uncharacteristically surprised.

"Do you think we should tell the King?" asked Aerith, now staring at the keyblade as well.

Leon nodded. "I'll go to the Lab and send him a transmission." He promptly exited the house.

"Aerith and I will go scout out the town to make sure there aren't any Heartless!" announced Yuffie as she grabbed the flower girl's wrist. "Cloud, stay here with that girl in case she wakes up." They left so quickly that Cloud did not have the opportunity to say that he hadn't noticed any Heartless, even though the girl had had her keyblade out the whole time.

Cloud sighed and shook his head. He wasn't particularly eager to babysit, particularly when she could awake at any moment. But, he supposed, he was probably a good candidate to get answers out of the girl. The others would probably look at this as a bad thing. The last thing anyone would want after awaking from being unconscious in a fountain was playing twenty questions.

"Someone seems to be in deep thought." A voice sounded from somewhere below him. Cloud blinked, surprised, and looked at the girl who was now struggling to sit up. She yawned somewhat, her hazel eyes a bit dull and nervous-looking as she rubbed at them.

"You're awake," noted Cloud dully. She managed to not be sarcastic by choosing to nod in response. Her eyes went down to the keyblade, which promptly disappeared after a voice murmured in her head to let it go. "And it looks like you've got a handle on that keyblade already."

"Not really," she answered truthfully.. "I didn't use it for that long anyway." Her heart was beating a little more quickly than she would have liked as she swung her legs onto the floor. "Any chance that this is City Park?" she asked without any real interest. The girl seemed to only be absorbed in the immediate things around her. It was undeniably concerning.

"No… You're in the Radiant Garden," came his reply, "and I'm Cloud."

Stefa. The name clicked in her mind, but she was not fond of it for some odd reason. So, she answered, "Keira." A smile appeared on her lips. "Nice to meet you." She was acting surprisingly playful for someone who had just suffered some serious injuries. In fact, she didn't seem too concerned about what had caused her injuries, or even where she was.

Cloud looked over her again. If she was upset, he decided, then she certainly wasn't showing it. Unless she didn't recall what had happened.

Ultimately, he decided to see what information he could get from her. "Do you know how you got here? Or at least what happened before you got here?" Keira became thoughtful.

"There was a really bad storm at home. I fell asleep and when I woke up, everything was pitch black. I lit a candle and noticed that it was extremely dark outside, and no one seemed to be inside. So I went outside and it was pouring rain. That's when I noticed that I wasn't at home anymore. Then this... er... Shadow Heartless-thing attacked me. A disembodied voice spoke to me and I killed the Heartless with that keyblade." Keira thought for a minute. "After fifteen minutes of getting nowhere, this dark copy of me, I guess, attacked me. There were two other people there, I think, but they didn't move toward me or anything. I must've lost to the carbon copy because… well, there was all that pain and the fountain and stuff. Since I have no idea how I could've gotten here, do you? And would you mind explaining this whole keyblade and Heartless nonsense?"

"Well..." Cloud began slowly. He didn't want to upset her, but her attitude still seemed off. "Supposedly every person has a least a tiny speck of darkness in their hearts, all except the seven Princesses of Heart. A man made it possible for that darkness to be turned into creatures called Heartless. Heartless come in all shapes, sizes, and appearances. The one you found is the most common, which was not made by that man. It's the embodiment of darkness, no heart." Keira nodded to show she understood what he was saying. "A witch named Maleficent has been controlling the Heartless for a while now and with the Heartless under her control, they have been taking over other worlds and destroying them." Sighing, Cloud ran a hand through his spiky, blond hair, "It seems that whatever you fought might've been a result of someone manipulating the darkness in your heart. It, likely, was strong enough to destroy your world, and since you lost to it... the Heartless took over your world."

Keira blinked a few times as if it helped her comprehend what was being said. "So... my world's... gone? And the people in it...?"

"Have probably either been killed or turned to Heartless," responded Cloud as if stating a simple fact. For him, there was no point in beating around the bush. Keira nodded and sighed, closing her eyes. "I suppose there's a chance they landed in another world, though."

"What about the keyblade? You haven't explained that."

"I don't know why you have it, but the King should." At this, Keira raised her eyebrows.

"The King?" she asked.

Cloud nodded. "King Mickey. I have no doubt that he's like no king that you've ever heard of."

"Looking at everything that's already happened, I'm not sure how surprising that is." Cloud uncharacteristically chuckled, something that Keira did not know was supposed to be another surprising event. All she knew was that he sounded nice when he laughed.

XxX

"Ya sure, Leon? That girl definitely has a Keyblade?" A high-pitched, squeaky voice spoke through the flat screen as Leon leaned back in a large blue chair. Leon nodded.

"There's no doubt about it. She's definitely another wielder, King Mickey." He replied, his voice once again flat.

King Mickey nodded thoughtfully. "This is just the thing I've sorta been expecting," he admitted. "And, I have a bit of news for ya. I've been looking through some books, and I found out there's a very strange world out there. Not to mention that I've heard some news that a group of keyblade wielders willingly turned to the darkness and destroyed their own world."

"That is strange," agreed Leon.. The King had a look on his face like he wanted to say more. "Is there something else?"

"Two things, actually. One, and this probably won't be too much of a surprise with a new wielder, the darkness is increasing again. Two, I found in an old note from Ansem the Wise about another Princess."

Leon raised his eyebrows. "Another one? Like another Princess of Heart?"

The King shrugged somewhat. "I have to read up some more before we jump to any conclusions. From what I've learned so far, it would really be bad for this Princess to wind up on the Heartless side. Worse than if the other seven princesses wound up with them."

"Why?" asked Leon. King Mickey simply shook his head and refused to say anything else. "Well, what do we do?"

"I already sent Riku, Sora, and Kairi a letter… I haven't mentioned the Princess part just yet. They're supposed to arrive at Disney Castle in a few days. In the meantime, don't let this girl out of your sight, just in case." The King paused for a moment, as if remembering something. "Where's the girl right now?"

"No worries, Your Majesty. Cloud's with her."

XxX

About an hour had passed, and no one had yet to return. Keira was starting to get very, very bored. She never had done well with sitting still for too long. Already, she was in a comfortable position, laying on her stomach on the wooden floor. "I hate sitting around and waiting. I especially hate waiting," she murmured most of the sentence but raised her voice for the last bit. Cloud glanced at her, slightly raising his eyebrows. Her right ankle, which had been wrapped, was now easily kicking at the wooden floor. The spell appeared to have healed her ankle.

"What would you like to do?" asked Cloud although he, admittedly, did not much care. He was not about to babysit the teenager outside of the house in order for her to run around. Keira was instantly thoughtful as she sat up and turned toward him.

"Not sit around," came the simple reply, irking Cloud somewhat. She got to her feet and strode across the room and to the door.

With some exasperation, Cloud asked, "Where do you think you're going?" He hated being the babysitter and knew that Yuffie would have a better time dealing with a girl that, like herself, could not sit still for more than five or so minutes.

"Out, to explore the town and stuff. This place can't be dangerous with a name like the Radiant Garden. Sheesh, you act like something's gonna jump out and attack me," lamented Keira as she opened the door and stepped outside. Cloud sighed, hating himself, as he rose from his seat and followed after. He only had to step outside to realize what a hassle this girl would be; she was perched on top of an adjacent building. Keira felt his eyes burning into her back and turned to smile at him. "You really don't get out enough, Cloud," she chastised him before gracelessly hopping from rooftop to rooftop, not exactly sure where the thought to do so or energy to do so was coming from.

Yes, thought Cloud as he put his hand on his face, this girl was definitely Yuffie's type.