Ienzo

Summary: Ienzo's story, from when he was a child to when Radiant Garden was taken by the Heartless. A story of betrayal, friendship, love, adventure and tragedy. Eventual Ienzo x Lumaria (MaruZeku!) And others.

Thanks for the reviews, guys!!

And YES, Irri-sensai, thank you for pointing that out. I won't forget anything, I promise!! I still love you! You haven't emailed in AGES, I thought you'd forgotten about me! (Is happy)

Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Kingdom Hearts, along with Disney.

It was dark when the little boy came to. Bright blue eyes surveyed the scene around him as he stood up. People lay on the floor, very still. Ienzo wondered if they were dead. He knew about Death, his Grand-daddy had died a little over a year ago in a scuffle with another businessman. Their family had been in the centre of a 'business war thoroughfare', as his Mama had put it, although the four year old didn't really know what any of that meant. In his mind, there wasn't a word to describe it. Ugly wasn't good enough, nor was horrible, and they were probably the vilest words he knew. He tugged at his shirt; there was a dark patch of mud on it from where he'd fallen. Mama wouldn't be happy. If Mama was even alive.

At that thought, Ienzo burst into tears and sat down heavily, sniffing. His head hurt, his back hurt, and his arm hurt. He didn't know where his brother and sister were, and he was all alone. He looked up, hoping to see a sign of life.

"Hello? Anybody up there?" Ienzo cocked his head at the distant voice. It didn't sound too friendly, and he wasn't in the mood to trust strangers. Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he frowned, and got up again, wincing slightly. He was definitely not in the mood to be hurt, either. Grumbling nonsense under his breath (the way his Daddy did when he was annoyed), he walked in the direction the voice wasn't coming from. He had no idea where he was, but in his head, he'd find a path and follow it until someone came and helped him. And if no-one helped him, he'd have to help himself…

Ienzo was late. Very late. He'd been at Master Ansem's school barely a week, and he was going to be late. At eight years and two months old, he'd been formally invited to attend Radiant Garden Academy. He hadn't realised at the time that it meant he'd have to get up at half past six every morning to get there for half past seven, which was when classes started. At first Ienzo had been horrified at that, but when he found out that the boys and girls at the Academy got let out of school at lunchtime, he was fine.

He looked at his watch. It was quarter to eight. Cursing his alarm clock for failing to wake him up, he pulled on his coat and dashed out of the door, screeching a brief "Good bye!" to Ness and Villier, the care-workers on duty.

The street was bright, this morning; it wasn't as early as usual. It was also crowded, and Ienzo grimaced. There were other children around, playing before school; he supposed he wouldn't normally see them. Scowling as they chased each other and shouted, he was suddenly ploughed into from behind. Due to his insufferably small frame, he toppled over. Two boys and a girl raced past, hooting and throwing a small ball at each other. The girl screamed, "Head for the boundary, Lea! Come on they can't catch us now! Hurry up Edym!" Then they were gone, weaving in and out of the people walking down the street.

'Edym', the boy that ran past last turned to Ienzo.

"Sorry!" He screeched, as long hair the colour of sea foam streamed in front of his face. With that, he spun around. "Lea! Relena! Wait for me!"

Ienzo glared at their retreating backs, picking himself up off the floor and dusting himself down, uttering a string of colourful curses. He spun round at the sound of quiet laughter.

A little girl, probably about his age was giggling at his words. A boy, maybe two or three years older, soon joined her. He and the girl had dark brown hair, hers was straight and hung to her waist, and his was slightly curly and cut quite short. They also shared the same light blue eyes, leading Ienzo to believe they were relatives, possibly brother and sister. They were both tall and skinny. "Are you okay?"The boy laughed. "I saw you fall over."

"I didn't fall, I was pushed." Ienzo muttered, giving him his trademark glare.

"Alright!" He said, somewhat defensively. "Sorry, I was only asking."

"Well then, I'm fine, thank you."

"My name is Lumaria. I'm twelve and a half. This is Linnet, my sister. She's seven." He stuck out his hand. Ienzo took it with a raised eyebrow, taking in the boy's white and green tee-shirt and dark jeans distastefully. "I'm Ienzo Heart, and I'm eight years and two months old."

"You don't act eight. Hey…you one of them that goes to that Academy?"

"Yes." Ienzo tried to appear uninterested as he began to walk away. "And I'm late, so if you'll excuse me…"

"I thought so." Lumaria said, running to catch up. "You speak all posh. Hey, I'll see you round, I gotta take Lin to school!" He yelled, taking off, dragging his poor sister behind him. Ienzo stared. What a strange boy.

After a couple of seconds he smacked his forehead. "Why aren't I running?" He whined, starting to freak out. Heading up the hill towards the school, he didn't see the young man running towards him until he ran into him. For the second time in ten minutes, the boy found himself on the floor. "Hey, kid, I was just coming to find you!" A voice exclaimed from above him. Ienzo looked up at a grinning red-head with muscled arms and sharp brown eyes.

"Aeleus!" Ienzo smiled. He then shrieked as the older boy picked him up and deposited him on his shoulders. "How do you do that?" Ienzo giggled, somewhat uncharacteristically. Aeleus always brought out the younger boy's immature side, the side that others found so hard to locate.

"You're late, kid, Ansem sent me to get you. You've missed morning classes, so you're going to have to catch up some other time. Xehanort, Dilan, Even, Braig and I are starting an experiment, and Ansem wants you to join us. Just to watch, mind you." Ienzo grinned, although he realised the big teenager wouldn't see it.

"What sort of experiment?"

"You'll have to wait and see!"

Ienzo stood awkwardly in front of Ansem's protégé, shifting from side to side under the slim sixteen-year olds appraisal. Xehanort, a cocky silver-haired boy with matching silver eyes cocked his head, staring haughtily down at him. "So you're…eight, then. Too young to be a proper apprentice?" He said sneeringly.

Ienzo nodded, feeling somewhat irritated by the older boy's condescending tone. Even rolled his eyes. "Leave him be, Xehanort, he's here to watch, not to be bullied by you."

"Yeah, get that stick out yer ass." Braig put in, leaning against the doorframe chewing something. The silver haired teen glared daggers at him as Ienzo fought back a snort of laughter. "You, Braig, should not be eating in the lab." He snarled, clenching his fists at his sides. Braig laughed.

"Asif. It's chewing gum, so it ain't food…therefore I ain't technically eating." Beaten, Xehanort stomped behind the desk where Even was carefully mixing chemicals, assisted by Aeleus.

Ienzo watched them, fascinated. he loved the brightly coloured chemicals and the careful, gentle, almost loving way Even was handling them. Braig was making no attempt to join in, Aeleus was fetching and carrying, Xehanort was muttering instructions, and Dilan was writing feverishly in a notebook. Ienzo looked up at Braig, who'd come to sit next to him. "Do they always do the same jobs?" The sixteen-year old smiled.

"That's the way they like to do it. I'd normally be measuring the chemicals and reading instructions, as I'm usually the most qualified, but Xehanort is here. He tends to take over either my job or Even's…depends on his mood. He's a strange one. Very manipulative. You find yourself doing what he's told you without even realising it. He's devious…Even calls him 'dangerous', but that's only because he's intimidated by him. I mean, the only reason I'm not bothered is because I'm bigger. He'd have a job intimidating me just cause he couldn't belt me if I didn't do what he said. He's alright outside of the lab, though. Just a bit nutters."

Ienzo stared at Xehanort, who had a look of intense concentration on his face. "Somehow…" He murmured, "I can see that…he's dedicated, though, isn't he?"

Braig nodded, taking a bar of chocolate out of his pocket and breaking off a piece for Ienzo. The younger was about to repeat Xehanort's rule from earlier, but the infantile desire for chocolate took over and he accepted with a 'Thank you'.

Ienzo still had to go to the late morning class, but once that was over (he'd had mathematics, a subject he greatly enjoyed) he was let out with the rest of the school. Unusually, Ansem didn't ask him to stay behind for a chat like he normally would, possibly because he'd already spent time with the apprentices.

Unfazed, he left with the other youngsters, chatting idly with the odd one or two he perceived to be intelligent enough to hold a conversation with. Then he stopped dead, one eyebrow raised. The boy from earlier…Lumaria…was waiting outside the gate, with his sister and a couple of other older children. Shaking his head, he walked up to them. Lumaria turned to him and grinned. "Hey Ienzo…have a good day?"

"I thought you kids didn't come out of school until later." He replied bitingly. Lumaria laughed.

"Kids…that's funny…I don't make a habit of turning up to school while I'm here, Ien. I got a sister to look after, and she comes out at midday. I have to be there to pick her up. I go to a boarding school for half the year anyway, I figure I do enough learning there. During the day I hang out with this lot. They're all about fifteen, sixteen…" Ienzo stared up at them. A tall girl with black hair and a lot of black makeup on her eyes and lips glanced at him and grinned, taking a drag from a cigarette. "Hey Lu, who's the kid?" She also wore black clothes and looked quite imposing.

"His name's Ienzo. I met him this morning…he's got an impressive arsenal of swear words, although I'm not sure I was happy about him using them in front of Linnet…" He turned to younger boy. "This is Kai. She's my cousin, and the others are her mates, Riki," He indicated a boy with dark messy hair, which hid one of his eyes. Ienzo noticed he had a lip ring and unconsciously ran his tongue over his own lip with a shiver. "…Chi…" A shorter girl with long blonde hair and glittery grey eyes… "…and Damien, Kai's boyfriend." The tallest boy inclined his head. He had striking eyes, but otherwise Ienzo found nothing to comment on. He wondered if it was normal to be so analytical when looking at people.

Kai thumped him. "Shut it, useless. Come on, you've found your little friend, lets go somewhere." Lumaria decided not to give Ienzo a choice in the matter, grabbing his arm and walking off with his cousin, who had Linnet slung over her shoulder. Ienzo growled at him. "What the hell? Where are you taking me…and…why are you taking me?"

Lumaria shrugged. "Wanted to get to know you. Also, I'm so fed up of being the littlest. Lin isn't normally with us, see, and they all go and do teenager stuff. I don't know anyone else our sort of age who isn't in school all day. I sort of latched onto you."

"You're four years older than me. Besides, I've got a curfew…" The brunet shrugged again.

"Tell them you made a friend. It's all good; we're going to the lake by the looks of it. Linnet likes to watch the ducks. Little sisters are so boring…there's a play park for kids there as well."

"I know, I live here too…" Ienzo rolled his eyes at the older boys chatter. He must have ADHD or something. Or he was just really talkative. He talked non-stop as they walked, getting a few odd glances from adults who were clearly wondering why they were outside at lunchtime. Ienzo's academy uniform gave them the benefit of the doubt though, and they wandered unhindered through the bright streets of Radiant Garden.

The play park had a sign on it that said '11 and under'. Ienzo glanced at Lumaria, who had already climbed onto the roof part and sat on it, grinning. "You're too old for this, Lumaria." The dark haired boy pointed to the sign. The older boy stared at him, apparently not deigning to give him an answer. Ienzo rolled his eyes and climbed up to join him anyway. It couldn't hurt to get to know someone new, he supposed.

A/N – if you thought Ienzo's behaviour as a four year old in the beginning of this chapter was unusual (the fact that he got over his situation quickly), it's actually common for children to let go of their fears and hurts fairly swiftly, and adapt to their situation. Their minds aren't developed enough to dwell on problems like the one our mini-protagonist found himself in, and they don't show signs of understanding the seriousness of these things until they are a little older. It's all child psychology….

Oh, and sea foam is very pale green, by the way. I expect you all knew that though. I love the name Edym and I love that colour hair. Loveless fans, think Youji, the zero boy. His hair is sea foam green. The game that Lea, Edym and Relena (go figure!) were playing is called 'hurling'. It's a Cornish tradition which involves throwing a ball from one end of the town to the other, in two teams. If you want to know the details, look it up. It's a bit of a brutal game… :)

Thanks for reading! Feel free to review, for they are love.

Shadow

xxx