Umb, this is my third fic. And it's based off a dream I had...

So, let me just kinda give you a run through of this:

It's a slight crossover with only one character, whom I've changed alot to fit into this category, so I left the label under 'Kingdom Hearts'. It's based of events after FF7, though there's really no Advent Children influence other than clothing. I want this to be set in the KH setting, so it'll involve Gummi Ships, Disney worlds, etc... (characters included).

This chapter starts with Cloud not letting go of Aerith's death. Then it completely changes scenes to a demon summoner (Iori Yagami from the King of Fighters series, god, I know, strange as shit, I promise, I'll make it work.) After years of being a destructive force, he's on a self redeeming journey. Learning of Aerith's unfair death, he ressurects her with help of a gentle demon he summoned from the pool she was buried in.

That's where it ends for now, but I'll give you a slight insight of what's next:

Iori learns of Aerith's connection to her friends, and as a part of his journey of purification, he accepts to help her find her way back to her friends. Throughout their journey, they travel to serval worlds in hopes to find their friends. In turn, Iori will face the fact he'll become too attached and afraid to let go of her back to her home world. Though, when he learns, how it feels to even make a deep friendship, he accepts and lives on, and never gets involved romantically. Because I'm too much of a damn Clerith fan to let that happen.

Anyway, without spoiling much more, it'll involve keyblades, the French countryside, cheesy one liners and most importantly: Talking mice.

I realize that this is a weird and bold move fora story, and I really hope I don't epically fail D8

As for copywrite crap, here go:

I don't own or pretend to own or even want the legal responsiblity to own any characters and environments from SNK, SQENIX or Disney.

The lyrics are from the UK hardcore band Enter Shikari. They suite this fic to no end...

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And I long for you to appear

After losing your way across star riddled skies

To carry you home

I cherish my loss

A gentle reminder, that life is unkind

At the best of times

And I long for you to appear

After losing your way across star riddled skies

To carry you home

I cherish my loss

A gentle reminder, that life is unkind

At the best of times

Brace your self, cause I think I'm coming for you.

Look up into the sky.

Home could be anywhere, when I am holding you...

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He let those words repeat themselves over and over again in his head while he sat cross-legged atop a grassy knoll. The night sky was littered with stars as the spiked blond fell to his back. Natural debris shot up from his body's impact and slowly trickled back down in a swaying night dance.

He lay like a ragdoll upon the grass, his arms flopped in random disorder above his head while his legs threw themselves out of the previous position and lay open and outstretched. He was covered head to toe in dark attire, his arms bare in a half zipped turtleneck and his legs dawning black slacks. He let his feet go bare as his boots flopped over next to his thick sword jabbed into the hill's soil. A pair of black gloves stuck out from the tops of the boots and flopped over.

The lids of his eyes swept over blue eyes wiping out the stars above him and sent his into complete darkness. His thoughts wondered, each connecting to the previous thought, but never relating to the beginning. As the dreams were taking over his body and creating a soothing numbness, he heard a familiar voice yell out to him, disturbing his peace.

"Cloudy!" a teenage girls voice screeched. "Yeah, you, chocobo head! What are heck are you doing out here?"

Cloud, the man laying out atop the grassy knoll, sighed heavily and sat his upper torso up straight and rubbed one of his sleepy eyes.

The young woman bounced over to him and pulled at one of his spiked locks of hair. "Hellooo?! I said wake up Cloud!"

He swatted her away in annoyance and looked back up to the heavens. The girl sighed dramatically and plopped her skinny body next to Cloud's. He didn't' acknowledge her, which peeved her slightly. She changed her focus to the sky, to try and understand what he was seeking from the stars. She brushed some of her black long bangs from her face and rolled her fingers behind her ears. The rest of her jet-black hair went no longer than the frame of her face. She pulled her legs closer to her body, fidgeting with the laces of her long white boots.

"Hey, Cloudy," she said with a calm and gentler voice. He fixed his gaze away from the night sky down to his companion next to him.

"Yeah," he responded. It took her a moment to find the right words to say without sounding completely cheesy or like a snobby brat.

"I… I really believe she's out there… waiting..." she said cautiously, "…waiting for all of us." The girl's gaze never broke from the twinkling starry night.

The corner of Cloud's lip turned upward slightly. He fixed his gaze yet again upwards and said, "Thanks Yuffie."

They sat quietly together until a large gush of wind began to tangle up bits and pieces of the girl's hair and caused her to stomp her feet frustration.

"Ugh, this is awkwardly romantic, so, wake up, pigeon brain. Everyone's wondering what cliff you fell off of," Yuffie complained. She picked herself up and began to wonder off back towards the city they came from.

Cloud hated Yuffie's references comparing him to an over sized yellow bird. He reached over grimly to his gloves and boots and slid them all back on. He then pulled his large sword from the earth and wandered slowly in Yuffie's direction. She slowed her pace to let him catch up and they walked back into town together.

*

In a lake worlds away, a tall figure with long crimson colored hair and a piece of his long bangs falling before one of his eyes, gazed down into the natural pool surrounded by pale white trees in an ancient forest. His brooding figure hovered while he flipped threw pages of lost text of an unfamiliar language. The fixation on the pool then lingered over the texts and the figure began to read the words out loud in his deep voice.

Soon, a circle of violet flames surrounded the man, engulfing him. Unbothered by the cocoon of purple flames, he kept reading the foreign texts. The ground rumbled, the water of the pool went from a calmed state to thrashing into itself violently. The waters swirled until an opening in the pool deepened and a bluish silver creature pounced from the lake and coiled up into the sky. It resembled some kind of serpent with a long face of a seahorse. The creature wailed and fixed its black beady eyes to the summoner.

The waters calmed and the flames released the man free from the fiery cage, only leaving small bits of purple flames surrounding him that had caught onto small pieces of wood on the forest floor. The tall figure then shut his book with one hand and latched it back onto his waist and stepped forward into the watery soil nearing the edge of the lake and opened his mouth to speak.

"Are you the demon that guards this lake?" His voice was a normal tone, yet it still reached the serpent creature in the center of the pool. The demon didn't answer but jet forward until it's face was nearly a foot away from the man's, causing his dark red hair to flail and whip around his body. It's body coiled and danced above the waters, it's tiny arms clawing at the air, as through it was swimming in the sky.

The summoner, annoyed, spoke out again with a heavier tone. "I won't repeat myself demon, I cast fowl beats like you to hell unless you cooperate with me." The beast, heeding his warning, backed off slightly and wailed.

"That's more like it," the man said, brushing the red bang from his face. "Now, I have some business with you, demon." The creature let out a small cry in response. "Let me continue first before you jump to such bold conclusions, demon." The creature sunk it's head low.

"As you understand, I'm resending you're destructive brethren back into the depths of hell in which I've summoned you all. However, you seemed to know of a few beasts that have been captured and made slaves? Tell me about this, I may spare you..."

The demon swiveled and curled in the sky for several minutes. It wailed a few times as well in response. The summoner scratched under his chin while listening to the story.

"Intriguing, so you're saying they have been crystallized? Fascinating…" he pondered over his new found information. He spoke out a moment later. "This group that came by, please, tell me more."

The demon snorted and shook its head. The man sighed. "Really, you're difficult. At least cut to the part about this girl. At the bottom of your lake? How did she die?"

The flailing beast continued to communicate with the crimson haired man. He stood arms folded until the demon finished its story. "Well, well," he began, "that's quite the tragedy. Dying before your time, truly a sad tale…"

The beast huffed and coiled. The man cocked his head to the side and let out a curious smirk. "I see. Well, I am on this 'road of redemption'… But, I don't know it's that in my powers…" The demon uncoiled again.

"You really have done something for yourself demon, I'll let you stay and guard this lake. But, you give me the girl. This could prove rather… beneficial…" he said back to the silvery sea creature that hovered in the sky.

Unhitching his text and forwarding through pages, he came to the chapter he sought. Mumbling the language, the demon's skin began turning a pinkish shade while coiling and twisting its body more frequently. From the mans hand, a purple flame burst from his finger tips and devoured his entire arm opposite of the one holding the text.

After muttering the final words, he threw a flare at the demon. The water creature caught the violet flame in its mouth and plummeted into the watery depths of the serine pool. Moments later, a large bubble containing a thin figure emerged from the depths and burst until the figure was floating above the lake. From under the figure, the demon's head also broke to the surface and cradled the lifeless body over its head.

Maneuvering closer to the summoner, he cast away the flames from his hand and awaited the demon to approach him with the body. The beast lay the figure down on her back and moved away slowly for about a few inches. Its beady eyes watched as the longhaired man knelt down and set his fore fingers across her collarbone. Whispering in a low voice, his violet flames trickled from his fingertips onto her naked skin. Within seconds, the flames turned a magnificent blue and seeped into her flesh. The demon let out a small huff and blew a cool mist to complete the spell.

Then, the demon and its master waited. Moments flew by until the crimson haired man took notice of her chest. Slowly, a rise and fall of her body became stronger and more apparent. He smirked and looked up at the watery creature.

"So, I have the power to resurrect the deceased…" The demon coiled vigorously. "Yes, yes, you helped to, beast. I suppose you're worth keeping after all." The creature nodded and uncoiled its body. "Well, is there anything else I might do for you?" The man's voice was genuine. The demon nearly swayed its body in disapproval. "Gentle demon, you are. May I ask of you one more thing?" It swayed slowly. "Give me the pleasure of protecting this woman until our journey's end. So that, maybe, one day, I will fully redeem myself."

At his last request, the demon coiled into itself tightly and surged a bright light and gust of wind. Blinding the man, he shielded his eyes and let his hair whip around his back. Once the surroundings again became calm, a tiny orb floated down from the sky and landed into the palms of his hands. The summoner observed the crystal looking ball that shown an icy blue color.

"Ah, you've enslaved yourself? Be not my slave, but a companion of my journey," he said to the crystal orb. The glowing faded away, as if he heard his plea and gained a new particular weight that wasn't there before.

Stashing his demon away, the nude woman in front of him gasped and shot open her bright green eyes. She looked around frightened scooted away from the figure until she was nearly at the edge of the pool. She curled her legs in closely and let her long chestnut brown hair fall around her body.

The tall crimson haired man unhooked his cloaked from his broad shoulders and slowly neared the scared female. "I'm sorry to frighten you. I assure you that you I have done nothing harmful to you. Take this…" he offered his cloak to her. She peered at him through her bangs and didn't say a word.

Slightly frustrated, the man left the cloak to the ground in front of her. "Child of death you once were, but I gave you new life," he said with arrogance, "You can at least thank me." He voice changed to a more blunt state.

The girl outstretched her arms, clasping them onto the heavy fabric and pulled it around her bare shoulders. "What… who… I was… dead?" Her voice was soft and afraid.

Latching the book back to his waist, he said, "Yes, I hear it was tragic one. Trying to save your loved ones. That's rather noble of you."

Concentrating on her memories, her eyes shut as she curled up more. Something about a meteor… and a dangerous being… It was slowly coming back to her. "I was… meant to die?"

"Not really, as I'm told. The guardian of this lake said you accepted death, but that doesn't mean had to." The man turned and peered down to her small figure. "Or really, even if you meant to die, it must be terrible to leave such good people behind. That's why most suicides end up causing the soul to become unstable and become demonic."

She sat stunned. Who was this man? Why did he bring her back. "Excuse me," she asked softly, "I don't mean to be rude, but who… what are you?"

A somewhat sinister laugh escaped him as he answered her question. "Child, I'm a demon summoner. I bring the hells to the lands to wreck havoc and destroy lives." She stared at him, terrified. He laughed again. "Well, at least that's what the devil told me. Let's just say, I've broken free from his enslavement and am on a new… path."

Her expression changed a bit. "I don't quite understand. Do you mean to say you're making up for all the wrong you've done?"

"In a way," he responded. "I'm more selfish than that. I'm rather sick of townsfolk chasing me from their cities anytime they figure out what I've done."

"Isn't that to be expected," she questioned him.

Squatting down, he rested his chin on his hand and sighed. His self-assured expression disappeared and left him exposed. "Yeah… but… I want to try living… away from demons and dark powers… I've lived in darkness so long… I can feel my light fading… even though I'm trying so hard to find it…"

A moment of sympathy pained the woman's face. She realized the person before her was a pawn of the darkness, not seeking to become a hero, but just a normal man. "Sir… if you wouldn't mind… Can I have your name?"

He shot his head up to look at her, a grin widening across his face, forgetting his own troubles. "Damn, how rude of me. My name is Iori. Iori Yagami. But, Iori is just fine, miss."

She welcomed him with a smile back and introduced herself back. "Iori, I see. I'm Aerith Gainsborough."

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T^T I'm rather nervous about this story. So please, if you review, don't tell me I suck. I promise I don't as a real human being...