Disclaimer: I do not own Ash Ketchum from Pokemon nor do I own characters from Square Enix, Disney, Biohazard, or any other company.

Fandom: Pokemon/Kingdom Hearts

Title: Where They Wait For Him! The New Journey Begins: Radiant Garden!

Character (s): Ash (18), Snow (21), Hope (14), Merlin (Unknown), Cid (44), Leon (27), Aerith (22-24), Yuffie (18), Tifa (22-24), and Cloud (24)

Genre (s): Adventure/Friendship/Slight Romance/Slight Humor

Rated: T

Word Count: 4,485

Pairing (s): Ash/Aqua, Ash/Cynthia, One-sided Ash/Harem, and One-sided Other Pairings

Summary: Ash's world has fallen to the darkness due to the Heartless and now fate has taken him onto an adventure where he must save many worlds from the forces of evil. But at some point, fate will lead Ash to the one he first loved, Aqua. He will encounter new friends, new foes, and new worlds! Can Ash handle it? We will have to wait and see if he is capable of doing so!

Where They Wait For Him! The New Journey Begins: Radiant Garden!

新しい旅の始まり:輝ける庭を!

Radiant Garden

1st Visit (Part I-II)

"Hey, Hope! Do you think he's the one the others told us about?"

"Jeez, I don't know, Snow. Who else have we seen with messy black hair with little Z's and a large Inverted Eastern Cross-like scar on their faces?"

"Hmm…I guess nobody until now, I suppose."

"Sometimes I wonder why Ser-…oh, hey, look! He's starting to wake up."

A soft groan escaped from Ash's lips. Slowly, Ash opens his eyes. Once he did, all his senses were slowly coming back to him. And eventually, he will get a surprise of his life when a pair of faces popped up into his view. The suddenly appearances of two unknown strangers completely scare the crap out of Ash.

"Whoa! Take it easy there. We didn't mean to startle you like that." The one known as Snow said with his trademark grin. "So relax."

"Yeah. What this hero just said." The one known as Hope replied with a chuckle. "You don't need to worry. We are your friends here. So please relax." Hope reassured Ash with a friendly smile.

Now knowing that these newcomers were not his enemies and the fact that they can be trusted by the looks on their faces, Ash quickly accepts their kind words and relax. "Okay…" The young teen mumbled tiredly, which made Hope and Snow smiled to know that Ash trusts them.

While Ash and his newfound allies were on the same page for the moment, Ash took this time to take a close look at his two new friends.

Apparently, the one who goes by the name, Snow Villiers, appears to be a tall, a really tall person with an average built body. He has light blond hair, blue eyes, and a stubble beard. He wears a black bandanna, a pair of black gloves, a pair of large gray boots, a light blue vest, and a striped blue scarf hanging from a belt under a long beige trench coat. To Ash's eyes, Snow seems like a nice person, especially when he is giving him a goofy grin and a…wink. Okay….moving on to the next one.

If Ash remembers correctly, the young boy with the feminine face goes by the name, Hope Estheim. Apparently, the one known as Hope appears to be a little younger than Ash, maybe like four years or so, with layered silver hair and blue-green eyes. Hope's outfit consists of a short-sleeved orange and yellow jacket, a green scarf over a black shirt, and a pair of black gloves with white palms. He also wears deep green pants, a black storage pack hanging from a black belt over his left leg, and light green shoes. To Ash's eyes, Hope seems like a nice kid. If Ash was not mistaken, Hope could easily disguise himself as a girl if he wanted to. But the young key bearer decided not to bring that up because he has a strong feeling that it will upset Hope if he did, so he decided to move on to a different topic, like where was he?

Before Ash could get a chance asking his newfound friends about current location, a familiar, awful pain came back to him. "Aaargh…" The young teen let out a weak cry when he started to feel his Aura Scar bleeding on his face. His soft cry did not go unnoticed. Hope and Snow were shell shocked to see their new friend in pain. They can tell by his expression and by how his weird-looking scar was glowing in a reddish color, as if it was bleeding or something.

"Hey, uh….uh-…"

"Ash, what's wrong?" Hope asked, looking really concerned for his new friend.

Ash did not have time to question Hope. The excruciating pain from his Aura Scar was too unbearable to withstand. 'Damn….I guess those dreams battles were real after all if my Aura Scar is….acting up….I guess…my…aura…is completely…low…I-I…don't know…h-how…long I-I…can….'

The young key bearer could not finish his thoughts. The pain was too much for him to bear and before long, Ash quickly passed out while his bleeding scar was still going.

"Oh, shit! We need to do something, Hope." Snow said to his little buddy in an alert tone, lifting Ash's head off the ground.

"Like what?…Oh, wait!" Quickly, Hope realized something, which made Snow turn to him. "What if I can cast a healing spell on him? If it does not work, then we will just have to take him back to Leon and the others. I am sure they can do something about Ash. After all, they do know him a lot better than us." Snow nodded.

"Hmm…Sounds like a good plan to me, Hope. Go for it." The giant man said to the young medic with trademark smile. "It's a worth a shot." Hope nodded.

"All right."

Quickly, the young medic moves in closer to Ash and cast a healing spell on him. "CURE!"

Suddenly, Ash's body was enveloped in a greenish glow, but soon the spell worn off and nothing happened. "Try it again, Hope." Snow ordered.

"Okay." Hope nodded. "CURE!"

The young boy cast his spell again and still nothing happened. It seems Ash's aura was behind this. It was protecting its host from foreign spells and other foreign invaders from entering his body. This was a no go for Hope. "It's no good, Snow. My spells aren't working on Ash."

"All right then. Let's head back to Merlin's place." The young medic nodded.

"Okay."

Quickly, the gentle giant gently scooped the unconscious Aura/Keyblade Master up, bridal-style, before he and his little friend headed off to the old wizard's home. Let's hope someone from Merlin's can help our favorite hero out.

(~ Scene change: Merlin's house, the guest room ~)

Inside one of the guest rooms, we find our young hero resting on a soft, comfortable bed. However, his little nap would soon be disturbed by a familiar voice.

"Ash, get up. This isn't the time for you to be sleeping, you sleepyhead."

Quickly, Ash shot his eyes wide open before shooting straight up from his bed. Clearly, he didn't expected to have Aqua's voice wake him up from his little nap, like always. More or less, he did not expected to keep hearing her voice within his mind until now. But hey, who is complaining? Certainly, Ash was not.

Once the young teen was wide-awake, he quickly took notice that he was inside a guest room. The room was pretty nice and roomy. At the far left corner of the room, there was a bookshelf. Near the right side of the room door was a small study desk. On the opposite side of the bookcase, there was a room closet. Apart from everything, this room seems somewhat average, but still comfortable.

Suddenly, the former prince of Radiant Garden quickly took notice that he was no longer groaning in pain. Quickly, Ash touched the left side of his face and noticed that he could not feel his scar. It seems his Aura Scar was gone for the time being, which made Ash sighed in relief. 'Good. I'm guessing my aura is slowly re-…'

"Finally, you're up!" The former trainer/champion quickly jumped in surprise when he suddenly heard a cheerful female voice right beside him.

Slowly, Ash cocked his head to the left and before long, made eye contact with a young girl who was sitting on a chair right next to the bed, smiling at him. "You had us worried there for a second, Ash." The mysterious girl said, finishing her sentence.

In confusion, Ash blinked dumbly at the smiling girl. The young key bearer did not have a single clue on who was this person. Better yet, how in the world did she know his name? And more importantly, what did she meant by us? Clearly, the former trainer/champion was so confused. He did not have a clue what was going on here.

However, strangely as it seems, Ash had an odd feeling he has seen her before, as if a fade memory came back to him the moment he laid his eyes on her. Her cute face along with her short, black hair and violet eyes seems really, really familiar to him. Apart from her features, Ash could not help, but stare at her strange outfit. What was she? A ninja? She must be one since her outfit relates to one. Her outfit consists of an unzipped, dark grey combat vest with a black strap dangling from the right pocket overtop a navy blue tank top with white floral designs. She wears a white wristband on her right wrist and a grey, fingerless glove on her left arm. Her shorts are slightly darker and have another black strap dangling from the left side. She also wears black, knee-high socks with white stripes at the top underneath dark tan boots that are slightly shorter than her socks. Around her head is a black headband with white lining.

Strangely enough, the more he looked at her, the more things did not seem like a coincidence. Now he knows he has seen this ninja girl before. However, before the young key bearer could come up with the answer, he suddenly noticed that the black-haired ninja was starting to feel very uncomfortable from his nonstop staring.

"I-Is there something on my face, Ash?" The familiar ninja asked uncomfortably, slightly blushing.

"Oh, uh…sorry…." Ash chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "It's just that you look kind of familiar to me…Have we met before?"

"Well, of course we met before, Ashy. It's not everyday you come across the "Great Ninja Yuffie" in these parts." The female ninja told him with a grin.

Suddenly, something clicked in Ash's mind. The way the ninja girl said that to him brought back a past memory.

So you are a ninja?

That is right. "Great Ninja Yuffie" at your service!

Awesome! Nice to meet you! My name is Ash!

"I can't believe it…" Ash muttered in realization. "Yuffie? Is that really you?" The young key bearer asked while eying the full-grown ninja who he met back then when he was seven.

"Well, duh, Ash. Who else were you expecting, mister?" Yuffie questioned, causing the young teen to blush embarrassedly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that in any way." The ninja princess could not help, but rolled her eyes. However, Yuffie decided to give Ash a break this one time and decided to move up to a different subject.

"Any who…" The ninja girl quickly gained Ash's attention. "It's been ages since we last saw you."

"We?" Ash looks baffled.

"Oh, right!" Yuffie suddenly realized something. "I should tell Squall and the others that you are awake now. Wait here."

Before Ash could say another word, the ninja girl quickly hopped off from her seat and ran over to the door. The young key bearer could not help, but giggled at the ninja's enthusiasm. She has not changed one bit. But soon, something came to Ash's attention. He suddenly noticed that he was in the same clothes from his dreams. So that means his dream battles and his encounter with Aqua were real after all.

However, before the young key bearer could ponder over on anything else, Yuffie's loud shout would soon interrupt his thoughts. "SQUALL, EVERYONE! COME QUICK! ASH IS FINALLY UP!"

Jeez! For a young woman like her, she sure does have a loud voice. 'Man, Yuffie is louder than Misty…' Ash mentally joked before snapping out of his thoughts when he suddenly loud voices and footsteps inching closer to the room.

"Damn it, Yuffie. Do you have to be so damn loud?" Coming into view was a grumpy and pissed off man with short blond hair. He was in his early forties. He was in a white T-shirt with two buttons descending from the neck. His baggy pants are blue and have a very wide, orange waistband with thin, vertical stripes on it. His ants are worn rather high with the waistband coming up to just under his ribcage. He also wears grey socks and black shoes. Apart his clothes, he wears a pair of goggles and necklace with a rectangular charm. This guy was seriously in a grumpy mood.

"Oh, shut up, you old fart."

"What was that, you little brat?"

"Please, you two, stop fighting."

"Tell that to "Miss Little Princess Ninja" over here!"

"You're asking for a butt whipping, Cid!" Yuffie growled at the blond-haired man.

"Hey, hey, hey, you two. Take it easy."

"Yuffie? Taking it easy? That will be the day."

"What was that supposed to mean, Tifa?" Yuffie demanded.

"Just be quiet, Yuffie. You're starting to get on my nerves like always."

"Hey, it's not fault I'm open-minded, unlike you, Squall."

"It's Leon."

"Whatever….Squall!"

"Yuffie, you're just asking for it."

"Come on, guys. This isn't the time for-…Oh, hey, Ash!"

On cue, all eyes quickly fell on the dumbfounded teen who was giving the group a disbelief look. In all of his life, Ash has never once come across a dysfunctional group of friends until now. 'And here I thought Misty and I were dysfunctional, but clearly they take the cake now that I see it…'

Once the young key bearer said that mentally to himself, he quickly snapped out of his thoughts before turning to the group's direction. "Um…hey, guys…" He said awkwardly.

"Well, well, well. It seems you're finally up and as good as new, I see." Snow said gently to his new founded friend. "That's good. You had us worried there for a second."

"Yeah." Hope agreed with the gentle giant as the pair walked over to Ash's side.

"Uh…thanks…um…"

"Oh, right. I forgot. We have not introduced ourselves to you yet. Silly us. But do not worry, Your Highness. We will now." Ash's eyes widen when he heard Snow called him, "His Highness". What was that all about? Clearly, the blond-haired man did not take notice of Ash's expression. "Well, my name is Snow and there here…" Snow motioned his thumb to his little friend's direction. "…is Hope. If you do not remember correctly, we were the ones who brought here, so you can rest up."

"Oh, I see…thanks, Snow, Hope. I really appreciate it." Ash said, giving the two a warm smile. Snow grinned while Hope smiled at Ash.

"No problem."

"Anytime, man." Ash nodded to them before turning back to the others.

Strangely, as it sounds, Ash suddenly had another strange feeling that the rest of the group looks so very familiar to him. It was like his past memories about them suddenly came back to him the moment his eyes fell on them. Past images of him and the others were all floating within his mind all at once. The former prince quickly clutched his head when all of these past memories were all starting to give him a headache. This completely alerted the group.

"Ash, are you okay?" Slowly, Ash turned his attention to the young woman with long, brown hair that is styled in three separate braids. The moment he laid his eyes on her, her name suddenly popped into his mind.

"I-I'm okay, Aerith. Just…a little headache, that's all." Ash reassured with a smile while still clutching his head. The group, except for Hope and Snow, was taken back by this.

"Wait a minute. Did you just remember Aerith's name, Ash?" Yuffie asked.

"I think so…Yuffie…"

Slowly, and one by one, the young prince of Radiant Garden started to remember every single soul from his childhood. Once Ash regained all of his past memories about his friends, Leon was the first one to break the silence. "How are feeling now, Ash?"

Removing his hand from his head, the young key bearer finally turned his attention to the gun blade wielder. "I'm fine now, Sq-…"

"It's Leon now, Ash." Ash did not know why his friend changed his name, but Ash respected his space. The young teen nodded in understanding.

"Right, Leon. Thanks for asking for my well-being. I'm fine now." Leon slowly let out a small smile to the young prince.

"That's good."

"But isn't it kind of weird that his little Highness over there suddenly remembered everyone?" Cid asked no one in particular while gnawing on his toothpick.

"Does it really matter?" Snow questioned. "Shouldn't it be a good thing that he did?"

"It doesn't really matter to me." Tifa shrugged her shoulders while she was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "As long as he remembers, it's good enough for all of us, right?" The group nodded in agreement.

"It sure is. It's nice seeing you again, Ash." Aerith said to Ash with a warm smile. "And my, you sure have grown into a young man over the years." The young woman added as she stared at the young teen's features.

"Maybe it runs in the family." Yuffie teased, causing Ash to blush.

"Come on, Yuffie. Leave the poor guy alone. Can't you see you're embarrassing him?" It was pretty rare to see Tifa defending someone else, other than Cloud.

"Oh, come on, Tifa. Even you have to admit that Ash is cute-looking, right?" The ninja princess asked.

Sighing, the tough female quickly glanced over to Ash's direction for a brief second. Once their eyes locked, the tough woman quickly looks away, hiding her faint blush. Tifa did not say anything, which made Yuffie smirked in triumph. Even Tifa thinks Ash is cute. This of course made Snow grinned at Ash. "Well, well, well. It looks like we have ourselves a little Prince Charming here." He joked, causing the blush on Ash's face to deepen even further.

In order to keep everyone in topic, Leon decided to step in. "Guys, aren't we forgetting something here?" The group gave him a questionable look. What was he talking about? "Shouldn't we stay focus here and give Ash here some answers? After all, I have a strong feeling he wants some answers from us on why he is doing here in the first place?"

"Boy, Squall. It's so like you to be a party-pooper and ruin everyone else's fun."

"It's Leon." The gun blade wielder corrected before rolling his eyes. "And besides, this is more important than that, so save it for some other time, Yuffie."

"I must agree with Mr. Leon here." The silver-haired boy said, agreeing with Leon.

"That makes three of us, kid." A new voice spoke up.

Quickly, all heads shot straight towards the room door to see a young man with blond, spiky hair in black leaning against a wall near the doorway with his eyes shut and his arms crossed.

"Cloud, when did you arrive?" Tifa asked her longtime friend and crush.

The silent swordsman did not respond to that question nor did he budge from his composure. After a little awhile, Cloud would slowly open his blue eyes before turning his attention to Ash. "It seems you're doing well, kid. It's nice to see you again." Cloud said in a blank tone. Ash slowly nodded.

"Uh…yeah…same here, Cloud…" The blond-haired swordsman nodded in acknowledgment before returning to his composure.

Once the small talk was over, Ash gave the group his dying, full attention. "Um…can anyone tell me where I'm at right now?"

Leon sighed deeply. This was going to be difficult to explain. Once Leon gathered up his thoughts, he quickly gave the young teen his full attention. "Where to begin?" He mumbled. Ash waited patiently. "This might be a little hard for you to accept this, Ash, but it has to be said. Right now…you are in Radiant Garden, the place where you were born and the place where you met all of us, Ash."

"In other words, kid. You are home. Welcome back to home world, Your Highness." Cid said to the awestruck teen while gnawing toothpick.

"W-What?" Ash could not believe what he just heard. He was home? Back home to the world where was born, where he was abandoned, and where he met all of them? This was so unreal. "H-How? And how do you guys know that I was a prince?"

To Ash's understanding, the only people who knows about him being a former prince to his former world were him, his family, Cynthia, his friends, and most likely, his real family. So how in the world did Leon and others know about this?

Before Leon or anyone else could give Ash a straight-on answer about all of this, a certain wizard made an unexpected visit. "Maybe I can answer that, my dear lad." A new voice said, out of nowhere.

*POOF*

Suddenly, a cloud of smoke appeared, out of nowhere. Soon an elderly-looking man with a walrus mustache and a long, floor-length white beard appeared. He was dressed in a sky blue cloak that stops just above his ankles and has large, hanging sleeves. On top of his head was a tall, floppy, blue conical hat. The wizard's name was Merlin.

"Merlin!" Everyone, except for Ash, Cloud, Leon, and Tifa, shouted his name.

"It's about damn time you show up, you damn old geezer." Cid insulted the old wizard with a smirk.

"An old geezer, you say? Well, I will teach you who is an old geezer! Take this!" In anger, Merlin waved his magic wand before shooting it at Cid. The stardust quickly struck Cid and before long…

*POOF*

Once the puffy smoke around Cid died out, everyone sweat dropped when they see a small green toad with blond-hair and a toothpick in his mouth, croaking before them.

Once Merlin finally calms down, the old wizard turned his attention to the gulping prince. Merlin gave Ash a warm smile. "Don't be alarmed, Your Highness, I won't do anything like that to you. I rest assure you, my dear boy." Ash sighed in relief to know that. "Now then, I assume you want some answers?" Ash nodded. "Well, my boy, I don't have all the answers, but I will try to do my best to give you the right ones."

"Thank you, sir." Ash said to the kind wizard with a smile. Merlin smiled back.

"It's no trouble, lad. Now then, are you ready?" Ash nodded.

"Yes."

"Good. Oh, before I start explaining, I should advise all you lads to take a seat because it's going to be a long explanation."

Once everyone, except for Toad Cid, settled into his or her seats, Merlin cleared his throat before starting his explanation. "Now, lads….the reason Ash was brought back here was because f-…"

A/N: CLIFFHANGAR! Sorry! You will just have to wait until next chapter! Other than that, did you enjoy this chapter? Yeah, I added a little humor into this chapter. I did not want to make it all boring towards the end because of all the talking. Anyway, I hope I had everyone, except for Ash in character. If not, then I apologize. Other than that, did you notice the small build up of a crush from the three women? If so, then do not worry, there will be more. Just be patient, okay? Now with that being said, please R & R! Thank you! Until next time! Peace out! ^_^

Johan07!