My apologies for the slight delay in updating, personal stuff got in the way ^^' Shout out to my wonderful beta, crazyness4ever, for edited this and not killing me in the process! I hope all you readers enjoy this chapter, and the chapters will only get longer from here on out. Next post will be on Saturday June 30th, and don't be shy about reviews~ I love any kind of feedback :)

xSkye

Chapter 1

Puzzle Pieces

Riku sighed as the tendrils of smoke drifted from the butt of Axel's cigarette into his face. Between the redhead's chain-smoking and the close quarters of Zexion's spare room, the air was visibly thickened by the smoke. The soft hum of Demyx's guitar strings pierced the hushed silence encompassing the room, accompanied by the crisp page-turns from Zexion's solace in the leather armchair backed into the room's far corner. The last of the cigarette released its smoke and Axel leaned forward as he extinguished the butt in an old microwave dinner tray.

"Looks like we haven't got much of a choice."

His brilliant red spikes bunched up behind his skull as Axel leaned back against the wall and gazed off hopelessly into space. Lighting the last cigarette of the pack, he took a large intake of breath and blew the fresh smoke out in one continuous stream.

"Fuck."

The word reverberated through the room and silenced the already minimal noise. Sheet paper lay piled and crumpled around Demyx, the result of fruitless hours of composition. A few precarious stacks of books, each thicker than the other, rested on the cleared space around Zexion in his reading chair, each leafed through for mere moments before being set aside. Riku didn't try to distract himself. This moment had been waiting for them since day one, and it wasn't any use pretending that nothing would happen.

"Cloud told me he reopened the case. He wouldn't tell me much about why...but I think it's connected."

Zexion closed his current reading material with a finalizing clap.

"No Demyx, they're undoubtedly connected. Your brother would not be so foolish as to resurrect old skeletons without proper reasons."

Axel growled and flung the still-new cigarette into the crusted dinner tray. His hands clenched into fists repeatedly as he ground his teeth, the tension consuming the mood of the room followed by the thud of his boot against a nearby metal filing cabinet.

"Fuck them all to hell! I'm sick of dealing with their shit! We ain't doing it and none o'them can make us."

"Axel, our cooperation matters little to them."

Feral green eyes shot death rays into Zexion's general direction. Only the feeble sound of Demyx's voice broke the stare.

"So what now?"

Riku shoved the soda cans and chip bags off his feet and slowly stood up to face the door and its peeling white paint.

"I'll go home."

Axel leaped to his feet and barred the space between his friend and the exit.

"Like shit you're going home! Reno got enough stir fry last night for three nights and there's room on my couch for ya like always!"

"Axel calm down. I think Reno's getting tired of me using his couch as a surrogate bedroom. And besides, if I don't go home now I'll be dragged back in the next few days. Sephiroth noticed how little time I spend there now."

Dropping his arms back down to his sides, Axel growled as he stepped aside out of Riku's way and he began searching his pockets for any extra cigarettes. Demyx nervously went back to strumming on his guitar, his lack of easy cheer he'd become known for evident in the room's compressed atmosphere. Zexion sighed in poorly disguised frustration as he stood up and rummaged through one of the cardboard boxes stacked beside the peeling door, tossing a packet of medical gauze in Riku's direction. The silveret caught the package and felt its unusual weight in his hand. Peeling back the layers of gauze, he found a microphone bug packed securely in place by the material.

"Alterations to the plan could be required by what occurs at your house within the next few nights."

Riku nodded in Zexion's direction, thanks for them always helping him going unspoken between the four teens in the room, and he picked up his backpack of essentials up off the dust-grey carpet.

"If anything happens, I'll use the emergency plans. The last emergency plans."

Demyx jumped as a string on his guitar broke from the excess tension he'd been exerting, and Axel hung his head as if relinquishing his control of the situation.

"Very well, I will ensure all the proper positions are maintained."

"Thanks Zexion. I'll let myself out."

Riku turned the loosened knob of the peeling door and carefully pulled it away from its cracking frame. No goodbyes were spoken, no wishes for luck verbalized. Luck didn't follow them with grace. As he pulled the door back slowly behind him, Riku paused.

"Be careful."

The silveret smiled despite it all.

"I'll try Axel."

– – – – – – – – – – – –

Sora groaned as Aerith brought the last pile of dishes from the dining room and deposited them on the counter by the sink. Since he and Roxas hadn't cooked, they were expected to clean everything. They'd had a last dinner with friends before the new school year started, and the clean-up afterward seemed monumental.

"Is that all of them?"

Aerith smiled sweetly and ruffled her younger brother's hair, taking the dish soap out from the cabinet and handed it to him.

"That should be all of them. Go tell Kairi goodbye first, Roxas's trio already left."

"Thanks Aerith."

Sora darted from the kitchen and around the corner to the living room, the home's front door in reality an entrance leading into the back of Aerith's flower shop and Cloud's consulting detective and delivery service office. They lived in the old downtown area of Twilight Town, an area built back when families still lived in apartments attached to their businesses. By the door stood Kairi and Tifa saying their goodbyes to Cloud and Leon while thanking them for the invitation to dinner. Seeing Sora's approach from around the corner, Kairi's face lit up with her smile as she stretched her arms out for a hug. At the invitation, Sora lifted her up and spun the auburn-haired teen in a circle. She'd been one of his best friends ever since the Highwind family had moved in to reopen the old repair shop down the road, and it transferred easily into their teen years.

"Dinner was lovely Sora, thanks for having me over. It was still great even though Riku or Naminé couldn't make it!"

Sora rolled his eyes as he set Kairi back on the ground.

"Those party poopers – Riku said he had plans with his band and I bet Naminé spent the whole time corralling them! You tell that sister of yours she better walk with us to school this year or we'll have to have a serious talk."

Kairi giggled and elbowed Sora in the side.

"I'll tell her, though I doubt she'll take a threat from you seriously Sora."

"She better take it serious! I'm dangerous you know."

Sora puffed his chest out and tried his best to keep a serious face, but both he and Kairi exploded into laughter within seconds.

"Okay okay, I'll be sure she gets the message. You take care Sora, don't stay up too late tonight."

"I won't if you won't. See you tomorrow Kairi!"

"Bye Sora."

"Bye!"

Kairi smiled once more and opened the door and left, followed closely by Tifa as she finished hugging Cloud and a reluctant Leon. Aerith seemed to appear out of nowhere to follow them and lock up the shop behind them, and Cloud followed Leon as they settled onto the leather couch in the living room and turned on the news. Sora deflated, now left to do the dishes on his own. A wash towel smacked into his face, startling him enough to make him squeak, and Sora grabbed the towel off his face to glare at Roxas.

"Throwing towels now?"

Roxas frowned and walked past the front door into the dining room, picking up the extra wash towel off a chair and began wiping down the oak table that served all their family meals.

"Don't you think it's weird they had a band meeting at the same time as our dinner? Aerith even offered to change the time to fit their schedule and all five of them refused."

Sora frowned in a mirror of Roxas's expression.

"So what, they had a meeting. You know their next gig is this Wednesday and school starting will have them busy until then. It's a shame they couldn't come, and they didn't do it on purpose."

"If you say so Sora, but I don't think so."

Sora shook his head and walked back into the kitchen. He wouldn't let his twin's pessimism and paranoia get to him for this. Besides, the dishes called his name no matter how he disliked it and Leon would have his ass if they weren't done.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Naminé's hand shook as she lined her latest piece of work onto her artist tablet. Art calmed her, yet her hands still shook.

He's going back home. Be on the alert for the emergency plans.

Her eyes stung as she recalled Zexion's voice over their brief phone call not two hours ago. Riku knew full well what going home meant, and the thought of it terrified her. Released this clenching force in the center of her chest to wreak havoc on her heart and nerves.

He'll go to you first. Last I heard we're still keeping Sora in the dark. I think it's unwise, but I never made the choice.

The emergency medical kit hidden under her desk behind the filing cabinet gave her bare foot a chill as she brushed against it. The sheer possibility of everything crashing down around them loomed over Naminé's head and cut her breath off short. They had everything to lose, and most of them didn't even know. So much could go wrong-

"Naminé, when did you get home? Everyone missed you and the rest of the band at dinner. Sora says you better walk with us to school tomorrow or else."

Kairi leaned in through her twin's bedroom door, her auburn hair and bright smile bringing color to the blonde's entirely white room. Seeing the carefree expression on her sister's face brought back the constant sense of guilt Naminé carried for holding back so many secrets – but that immense cloud of looming doom sealed her lips.

"He though I would take his threat seriously? Sora must be losing it."

Kairi stepped into the room and waved it off humorously.

"I tried to tell him but the boy wouldn't listen. Aerith tried to send some food over but I somehow convinced her to keep it for themselves. Lord knows even with two incomes they need all the food they have. Is that a new piece you've started?"

Naminé looked down at her sketch and nodded, the sweeping lines of Riku and Kairi's faces laughing as Sora made a face. She always drew her friends when something bothered her, and Kairi knew it.

"Yes, I started it today. And I got back about an hour ago; I'm glad the dinner was fun anyway."

Kairi sighed and softly rubbed Naminé's shoulder. If her twin wasn't talking, then she had to have a good reason for it.

"I'll be in my room then. Have to make sure I look cute on the first day back, especially since we're second years now."

With a twirl and an understanding smile Kairi left the room, a sigh of relief escaping Naminé as she felt all the secrets press against her ribcage. They were still untold, for now.

And then her phone buzzed.

Naminé nearly leaped out of her seat as she grasped for her cell phone, the snowflake phone charm whipping around as she frantically checked her messages.

I'm going to Sora's. Tell everyone I'm sorry.

The blonde squeezed her eyes shut as she doubled over to press her forehead against her knees, the terror taking over as the tears seemed to explode from her eyes. The soft fabric of her sheets absorbed the drops one by one and Naminé kept her body still as the wave of emotions surged through every nerve in her body.

It was over now. From here on things could only fall apart.

– – – – – – – – – – – – –

Sora lounged against the wall that his twin-sized bed backed up to. Even though the rooms in the house were small, the brunet always found the size to be more of a comfort than a restriction. The sound-canceling earphones Riku had given him last Christmas rested over his ears as the latest test track by the silveret's band played. Rivaled only by Kairi, Sora was without doubt their biggest fan.

"Sora, shower's yours after me! Better get ready or Leon will take it!"

Roxas's voice followed his usual pounding on Sora's door, and luckily the brunet had the volume down low enough so he could hear his brother. Replying with minimal effort, Sora went back to the music. Between the four residents in the house there was only one full bathroom to share, and as a result nighttime showers were a fight of the fittest. And if Cloud was staying over, well, fistfights weren't uncommon. Nothing about their house screamed normal, but at least it never got boring.

Tap Tap

Sora startled as yet another sound made it through his so-called sound canceling headphones, really due to Sora never turning the volume up, and Sora abandoned them altogether as he turned to the window above the foot of his bed. Being at the back side of the building, his and Roxas's rooms had been down-sized years ago along with the living room and spare room to accommodate a small greenroom on the bottom floor to grow Aerith's flowers. Since the roof slanted over the greenroom and a lattice system had been built to grow specific herbs, the friends of the twins made a habit of scaling up to their single-pane windows.

Riku's silver hair flashed through the darkness of the night, and Sora was almost knocked down as his best friend fell through the window with a hand clutching his side.

"Riku? Riku, what are you doing here?"

The silveret struggled to sit himself up and keep his side off Sora's bed, and the brunet's heart dropped to his knees as a trickle of blood trailed down Riku's fingers. This wasn't the first time an injured friend had climbed through their windows after a fight, but something deep in Sora's gut told him that this time was different.

"Aerith! Aerith come in here, Riku's hurt!"

The sound of chairs overturning came from downstairs and doors across the hall slammed as the three adults ran into Sora's room. Aerith immediately began clearing objects out of the way as Cloud and Leon stepped forward to carry Riku downstairs to the spare room that'd been converted into an emergency clinic. The crime rate and integrated gang life ran rampant through most sectors of Twilight Town, and Aerith was constantly patching up friends who couldn't afford the attention of a hospital visit.

Within seconds Roxas burst out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, and only a shake of Sora's hand convinced Roxas to forgo clothing in lieu of wrapping his arms around his twin. Sora's nerves collapsed on him and the tears came. As they heard Aerith diagnose what she could as they slowly traveled down the stairs, more than Riku's side had been injured and it'd be all Aerith could do to avoid a hospital trip. At every word Roxas only tightened his arms around Sora as the brunet's shaking increased.

"Roxas-"

"Don't Sora, it'll be okay. Just calm down."

Sora gave up and collapsed into Roxas's grasp. There was nothing they could do until Aerith called for them, so all that remained was to wait.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

"It's begun then."

Zexion set his phone back beside his pillow after finishing the second phone call with Naminé. Axel was on his way to Reno, and Larxene had been called in for night duty. Since his sister wasn't home, Demyx had stayed for dinner at Zexion's apartment and now lay curled up nervously with his head resting on Zexion's stomach.

"Has anyone called to say if Riku's alright?"

"I would assume Aerith is tending to him now. Cloud or Leon should be calling within the hour to find out what happened."

"Okay."

Demyx stretched a hand out to grasp Zexion's, and the slate-haired teen squeezed it back. Time for the emergency plans.

[End of Chapter 1]