-1All I want is to be away from here! Be away from you!

This is the fate of the unknown...

I love you, darling. Got it memorized?

Lea's emerald eyes were closed, but filled with tears- so many tears in fact that his eyes were overflowing with them. A gentle breeze blew against his pale face from where the redhead lay against the stone ground, tears trickling down his cheeks and hitting the ground in small droplets. But after a moment, Lea's eyes had finally cracked open, his puffy eyes dripping out more large tears. The red-haired teen sat up and wiped at his eyes, hiccupping gently as he finally got a look around.

Wherever he was it most certainly was not Mori Suna. It was a town- a type of town Lea had never even thought of or imagined. There were buildings all around him, forming into the middle of the town to create a smaller maze of homes, while where Lea sat had to be a shopping district for he saw people standing all around and purchasing items of all sorts.

Lea didn't know what this place was and he found his heart hammering in panic. The redhead suddenly remembered what had just happened. He remembered about that storm back at his home, and the look on Xia's face before he left him; the look of desperate determination on his best friend Isa's face; and his look of proud love on his mother's face. After that...Lea only saw darkness, and a throbbing pain in his leg as he fell through a crackling abyss, thinking that his death would await him.

But here he was, alive and breathing, in some new place he had never seen before. Lea went to go and stand, but instead cried out in pain and fell right back down. The redhead hissed and cringed, hand gently rubbing over his leg and it was then he realized that his leg was broken. Lea felt tears of pain come to his eyes at the utter feeling of helplessness come over him and he closed his eyes again and shuddered, wishing that none of this had ever happened and that everything was just back to normal...

But it wasn't. Lea was in some unknown place, all alone, his leg broken, and all of the people he cared so deeply about were gone.

"Are you okay?" came a small voice.

Lea flinched harshly, eyes shooting wide open and he fell backwards onto his back. His emerald orbs landed on the form of a little boy- or maybe a teenage boy who was just really small. He was wearing a lab coat and sky blue hair fell in front of his eyes, four books piled in his arm.

Lea felt like saying his leg bone had snapped but what came out instead of that was, "Where am I?"

The blue-haired male blinked and actually smiled a bit, "Hollow Bastion, don't you know?" The boy paused for a moment and placed a hand at his chin in certainty as he stared down at Lea curiously, like he was contemplating Lea thoroughly. Lea actually felt rather embarrassed for a moment.

"H-Hollow Bastion?" Lea breathed. "So...I'm not in Mori Suna..."

"Excuse me?" the boy asked curiously.

"Never mind..." Lea said, hissing again in pain when he shifted slightly.

Instantly when seeing a look of pain on Lea's face, the blunette knelt down and stared intently at Lea's broken leg. With just a few gentle pokes and some prods he nodded his head and said to Lea, "Your leg is broken, isn't it?"

Lea blinked in wonder that this boy could actually figure that out so quickly and he nodded his head. The boy smiled again and said, "Wait right here- I'll come back with some help."

Before Lea could say anything else, the blue-haired boy had raced off, clutching his books close to his chest possessively. It wasn't like Lea really could go anywhere else, but he wanted to. The redhead waited for about fifteen minutes, sitting there on the side of the street in the same exact position from when the blue-haired boy left him. Lea looked up when he caught a swift movement coming into view and he saw a much taller man come walking up behind the blunette.

He was also wearing a lab coat, but he had long blond hair and he looked about middle-aged. Lea took notice at the man's piercing emerald eyes as he looked over Lea's body, tilting his head to the side and examining him like how the blunette had just been doing.

"Who are you?" Lea demanded suddenly as the blond man poked at his leg.

"My name is Ienzo," replied the blue-haired teen. "This is Even- we're scientists in training."

"Scientists?" Lea repeated but winced when Even poked a bit too hard. After a few more moments, Even had stood back to his feet and nodded his head.

"Yeah, his leg is broken all right," he said. "Let's return to the study; I can mend his bones in a heart beat."

"What's your name, then?" Ienzo asked politely, hands behind his back.

"Um...Lea..." Lea replied hesitantly.

"You're not from Hollow Bastion, are you?" asked Even rather curtly and Lea shook his head dumbly. "Thought so- it's pretty obvious by the way you're dressed. Well, come on then, put your arm around my neck."

With a grunt, Even had lifted Lea into his arms and they began towards the inner most parts of the town.

The walk was long, but Lea certainly had a vision to take in as Ienzo and Even took him to some place unknown- Even had mentioned a study, so Lea felt somewhat safe. Better than a lab, or something like that. But Lea's surroundings were very interesting- they passed through a small maze like section of homes, and then down some outside corridors and down stairways and through long alleyways were the walls on either side were made of stone. Lea had been taken to a man-made building that was very tall and had large pipes hanging off the side of the building from higher up, where he saw steam shooting out of some of the brass pipes.

Finally, Even and Ienzo had entered inside the building, a secret door which was located along the lower side in the shadows. Now talk about a maze, but this place really was. There were so many long corridors inside this place it was rather insane, but it seemed as if Even and Ienzo knew their way and finally they were greeted by a short hallway with a bright door at the very end.

Ienzo quickly opened the door and stepped inside. It was a large and spacious study with many book shelves all around, a large desk in the middle of the room, with a high chair behind that.

Even stepped over to the desk and carefully sat Lea there and they had quickly bandaged up his leg and gave him a pair of crutches in case he wanted to walk. Lea was still looking around the room, taking in notice that there was a huge portrait of an old man with a golden beard and golden hair- he looked cross but behind those blue eyes there seemed to be some gentleness there.

"Okay, then, Lea," said Even, snapping Lea out of his daze. "Tell me what is going on here. Where are you from?"

Lea paused. He was the one that wanted to know what was going on here! His mother had just died, along with his two friends and his home had vanished- Lea wasn't in the best of moods. As Lea began to explain this in a rather hot tone, when he was finished Even and Ienzo gazed at each for a few moments before they said to Lea they'd be right back and headed into a secret room that Lea hadn't noticed before.

Lea was so irritated right now he could break something. He felt almost like a fire- like someone had thrown a huge amount of gasoline onto him and he just exploded, roaring out his flames and wanting to burn everything in his sight.

Even and Ienzo had eventually returned and Lea blinked when he noticed someone following them, and they were even tinier than Ienzo was. It was a little girl- she had bergundy hair and looked no more than five.

"You are not the only one who was taken from their home by the darkness," Even began. "This is Kairi, and her grandmother just recently died. She appeared here two years ago with her grandmother and no one knows where she came from. Kairi hasn't spoken to anyone since her grandmother died, and considering you are from another world...maybe you can persuade her to say something."

Lea looked down at the small girl. She was partially hiding in Ienzo's coat, peeping up at Lea with blue eyes and looking a tad bit afraid.

"I-Is there...anyway my home will be restored?" Lea asked quietly.

Even crossed his arms and shook his head, "I highly ever doubt your home will come back. Once a world has been swallowed by the darkness it's gone forever."

"This is your home now, Lea," Ienzo spoke. "And we welcome you." Ienzo offered a small compassionate smile, but it hardly had any effect on Lea because all he heard was 'it's gone forever'. Lea couldn't hold back the tears and they came drizzling out of his emerald eyes once more and he let out a choked sob. He didn't care if he was crying this hard in front of these two men who had just taken them to their home, but he just couldn't control himself.

"Please don't cry..."

Lea blinked and looked up, feeling a very small hand touch his hand. Lea looked down and saw Kairi, holding Lea's hand gently in hers- she was smiling widely. "Please...I don't want anyone to be sad." Lea swallowed and shuddered, reaching up to wipe at his eyes a moment.

"I'm sorry..." Lea whispered.

"What's your name?" Kairi asked, her voice so small and sweet.

"L-Lea..." the redhead replied, finding that this girl was actually cheering him up.

"My name is Kairi," she chirped. "Will you be my friend? Pretty please? I don't have anyone else to play with! Even and Ienzo are always working."

Lea laughed softly, nodding his head, "Sure. I'll be your friend."

"Really?" Kairi gasped with a wide smile. "Yay! I can't wait to play with you, Lea!"

"Now, now, Kairi, Lea's leg is still broken," Even said firmly. "His leg has to be mended first- and then you two can play."

"Okay!" Kairi said reasonably. She then looked back at Lea and gave him a quick little hug before hurrying away into that back room.

Lea turned to look back at Even and Ienzo and noticed they looked like they were contemplating him again. They were whispering to each other and it made Lea really nervous. He heard only a couple of their words like 'survive' and 'powerful' and then he heard 'strong heart'. Lea was getting aggravated again and he yelled out, "I'm right here, you know!"

"My apologies," Even said. "You see...we're scientists who work under the order of Master Ansem- and he studies only the very specific and true powers of the heart."

"Who is Master Ansem?" Lea asked curiously.

Even pointed to the large portrait of the healthy looking old man that Lea had been staring at before. Even continued on, "We study how strong the heart is, and what is a truly, powerful heart."

"We were just thinking..." Ienzo said quietly. "That your home was destroyed by the dark powers - the Heartless, so to speak - and most of the time when that happens to a world...everyone on that world dies. It takes a strong heart to live through that, Lea...and that means your heart could be a truly pure heart."

"But it also means," Even cutted in loudly, "that he is much more vulnerable to the Heartless. With a strong heart like that the Heartless will be all over him. It's a wonder they haven't broken into the study to try and reach Kairi... All I'm saying is that we need to always have a watchful eye on him."

Ienzo nodded seriously, and he looked back at Lea. The redhead looked extremely confused by all these words. He understood the parts about him having a strong and powerful heart, but what were the Heartless? And how come because he lived through the storm that made him vulnerable to the Heartless? Lea had so many questions, and when he asked them, Even and Ienzo refused to answer them. Ienzo looked like he wanted to explain it to Lea, but Even forbidded otherwise...

Lea had enough of this talk- it was terrifying him, and all he wanted to do was rest, and Even highly agreed to this and asked for Ienzo to lead Lea to his room. Lea managed to limp there with the help of his crutches and they arrived at a small room with two beds- one of which was already occupied by Kairi, sitting up and reading a book called 'The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' to herself.

Lea sat down on the other bed, setting his crutches aside and looking all a mixture of lost, miserable, and scared. Ienzo stepped back towards the door and glanced back at Lea as he watched the redhead stretch out onto the bed.

"Lea?" Ienzo said.

Lea glanced back over at Ienzo in the doorway curiously.

"Everything will be okay..." Ienzo smiled. "If you need anything just pull that rope right there and we'll be here in a jiffy."

Lea looked at the rope Ienzo indicated- a small golden rope that connected with the ceiling and then probably ran through the place and then back to the study or wherever the two males would be. Lea gave a small smile and Ienzo nodded and closed the door.

Lea rolled over onto his side, his back facing the room. He stared at the wall and thought about everything that had just happened to him. Lea wondered if Ienzo was right and truly everything would be okay again. How could things ever be okay again? His mother was gone, and so were his friends and along with his home and all his dreams for a future there. Although when Lea began to ponder all his future dreams he remembered how he really didn't have much of a real future there anyways. Lea sighed in frustration and went to close his eyes but he heard Kairi giggle across the room and he opened his eyes again.

Lea slowly sat up and looked over at her where she was still reading that children's book. Lea stared at her for a long moment and took into notice that this little girl was happy even though this wasn't her world and her grandmother had just died- she was just content to sit there on her bed and read. Lea smiled slightly when he heard her laugh softly again, before she turned the page and read on. Maybe Ienzo was right about everything being okay. It couldn't be all too bad, could it? Perhaps this place was better than it seemed.

Lea sighed gently again and went to go and turn over again but he heard Kairi speak to him.

"Do you wanna read this with me?" Kairi asked with a cute smile.

Lea looked over at her and tilted his head to the side. He wasn't too keen on reading a kid's book, but after all he would rather sit up and read a happy little story with a happy little girl who looked like she needed a friend as much as Lea needed a friend as well.

"Alright, sure," Lea smiled.

Kairi gave a happy little laugh and quickly hurried over to Lea's bed where she hopped up onto to it a little bit ungracefully and scooted up so she was next to him, and she opened the book again and began to read aloud. She was a pretty good reader for being five or so, and Lea was already feeling better as Kairi read this silly little story to him.

And by the time Kairi had reached the ending, both Lea and Kairi had fallen asleep, Lea's head resting back against the wall and Kairi's head resting against Lea's waist.

Ienzo was correct. Everything was turning out to be okay. Lea's leg mended so quickly it surprised both Ienzo and Even. And now that Lea could walk without crutches he could easily play with Kairi like how the little burgundy-haired girl had originally wanted. Whenever they did go outside to play, either Ienzo or Even would keep them under good watch. Lea never even really heard or saw anything that was related to that whole Heartless business again, and he was perfectly content to just hang out with Kairi even if she was such a little child.

Another thing Lea never heard about or saw was Master Ansem, although he did hear Even and Ienzo talk about him a few times, with the add on little topic of 'wherever Xehanort had gone to'. Apparently this Xehanort guy had been gone for a long time and it seemed Even and Ienzo wanted to figure this out very bad. Not only that but they hadn't heard very much from Master Ansem themselves. Lea figured that Master Ansem was a very busy man and perhaps he knew lots of people and needed to study and research with them before he returned to this place.

But Even and Ienzo seemed uncertain about Master Ansem's return, and one certain day, Ienzo seemed distraught about something. He had been quietly crying to himself while Even affectionately rubbed his back. Lea didn't know what this was about, but all he heard was 'Eleaus is gone!'.

Lea preferred not to butt in on other people's business but instead just thought about his own life. He had really gotten into some rather odd things around Hollow Bastion. He had been fascinated by doing some playful fighting and he had actually gotten really good at holding a sword. Him and Kairi would play a lot, silly little games of hide and seek, and tag, and then sometimes Lea would show Kairi some of the fighting moves he had learned, and then Kairi would sing - loudly and off key. Every night they would sit up and read a little bit of that story Kairi just loved, 'Winnie the Pooh', it was called.

And time passed in Hollow Bastion, and in time came new years, and Lea grew older and older. Soon enough he was now sixteen years old. He had grown to become a very handsome young man, full of delightful spirit and energy- his hair had grown out some as well, the red spikes now falling a little bit pass his ears. Kairi was seven now, and she had grown much more intelligent herself and was willing to learn a few more things- educational wise. Most of the time it was Even teaching her these things, but Ienzo would take a turn once in a while.

Nothing strange or bizarre had happened with these so called 'Heartless' that were hardly ever mentioned around the study, but Lea still remembered the first day he came here and he still contemplated those thoughts of him having a powerful and strong heart and how he was still vulnerable to these Heartless. Ienzo and Even didn't exactly want Lea to go off alone into the town without one of them with him, but Lea had managed to persuade them a few times, but other times they would forbid it...and then, well, Lea would sneak out sometimes. His personality had grown to be much more mischievous and daring- nothing like how he was when he was fourteen on Mori Suna- quiet, shy and nervous. Lea had always heard his mother talk about that people change when they get older, and Lea never believed that.

Lea thought about his mother a lot, almost every night he did. Once him and Kairi had finished reading he would roll over and remember his mother and how wonderful she was. Lea never actually talked about his mother though, although he always wanted to. He wanted to just come alive with how truly amazing of a woman she was, how kind-hearted she always was towards Lea, and how fun she was when Lea wanted to play. The only thing that Lea ever said that was anyway associated with his mother was the final words she had said to him before Mori Suna had vanished.

Got it memorized?

Lea would always add on that little phrase after a sentence that he thought needed it. It irritated some people while it made a few other people chuckle. Kairi would always ask why Lea would say that and Lea would just shrug and laugh, responding with a little retort such as 'it just popped into my mind'. Kairi would always smile and laugh cheerily.

Almost everyday, Lea would do the same sort of things. He would wake up with Kairi and eat a healthy breakfast - it was usually associated with toast and eggs - before him and Kairi would go out into the town had play, Even or Ienzo following closely behind them. Lea had also been introduced to probably his most favorite food in the entire world. It wasn't much, it wasn't exotic, but it sure made Lea's tongue tingle gleefully. Sea-salt ice cream. After him and Kairi had finished playing or doing whatever they wanted, they would go and get some ice cream. It was obvious Lea loved it far more than Kairi did, and Lea would sometimes ask for two or three for himself. Once they had finished with their ice cream, Even would demand they return to the study so Kairi could do her normal educational studies, leaving Lea alone.

Lea didn't mind being alone sometimes, a young man of his age liked to be alone instead of always having a little kid following him around. Lea would stroll around the town and sometimes he'd just sit around and think, practice his sword fighting and just enjoy the clouds in the sky sometimes. Whenever Kairi would finish her studies, she and Lea would continue to play and have fun. It always seemed like the days went by so quickly and him and Kairi would eventually be told to settle back down in their rooms and go to sleep. They'd stay up and read more Winnie the Pooh of course before they would go to sleep, and then the normal thoughts would always enter Lea's mind when he'd lay down in his bed: Why am I here? What is my purpose? I'm more vulnerable to the Heartless? Do these Heartless even exist? I've never seen them before. Mother...I miss you...


It seemed like I had a good life, didn't it? Well, you're thinking wrong. Things were good at first, yeah, but I mean, that can't always happen to me, now can it?

"What do you mean Even is gone?" Lea asked Ienzo with wide eyes.

"He's just gone!" Ienzo exclaimed. "I knew this would happen eventually..." Ienzo flopped down into the large chair behind Master Ansem's desk, a hand pressed to his face. "It's all a matter of time before the Heartless come for me now..."

Lea blinked, "What? The Heartless? But they've never attacked! I've never even seen a Heartless!"

"It doesn't mean they don't exist, Lea," Ienzo said quietly but sternly. "It's the Heartless that took Even, and now...there's no one here to help me with Master Ansem's work. Even...where did you go?"

Lea didn't know what to say. He couldn't say anything! He couldn't even believe what he was hearing. How could Even just be gone? Was it the Heartless that took Even? Did that also mean that Even, too, was vulnerable to the Heartless like how Lea was? There was a good chance, Lea thought, because what other reason would there be?

Having Even around was like not having a reason to get up and do something. Lea and Kairi felt like they needed to try really hard to figure out what to do. Ienzo wasn't as good at teaching Kairi as Even was- Even was older and smarter, and Ienzo would get frustrated and irritated with Kairi at times. Lea was actually missing Even, even if the older man was stern and cross sometimes, but Lea did miss him.

Lea began to doubt the thing that Ienzo said about the Heartless coming for him, because a whole new year had passed and nothing had happened. Lea was now seventeen and Kairi was now eight years old.

But when I woke up one morning it wasn't Ienzo that was gone. It was somebody else...