Kingdom Hearts:

The Truth Behind Xehanort

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Summary: Riku, Sora, and Kairi have finally returned to Destiny Islands after their two and a half year-long adventure across the universe. Things have finally settled down and everything has seemingly returned to the normal, boring way it was before. But when a letter from the King sets off a mysterious chain of events, can Riku save the one thing dearer to him than his friends? And better yet--what is this secret King Mickey has uncovered by going through the files on Ansem's computer...? "XEHANORT HAD A WHAT?!" "A fiancée, Riku. Xehanort had a fiancée." Pairings: Xehanort/OC; Suggested/Friendships: Any and All! (ie, Axel/RoxasSuggested, Zexion/LexaeusSuggested, Riku/SoraSuggested, Sora/KairiSuggested, Riku/Kairi/SoraSuggested, Zexion/DemyxSuggested, Xigbar/XaldinSuggested, etc.)

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Warnings: Major spoilers mixed in, bad language, hinted shonen-ai, possible/suggested (graphic?) character death, gruesome and multiple fight scenes, graphic torture, and possible (attempted?) (graphic?) suicide. Warnings are subject to change as story proceeds.

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Notes: 7-2-08 I don't own KH, FF(insert number here), any sort of anime/manga titles, or Disney, so anything related to them is not mine. I do, however, own my OCs, this storyline, and so on. Please excuse any problems with anyone's characters, as for about three of them, I truthfully have little to no experience and am going only on what I believe would be appropriate. And if you have any suggestions for anything, feel free to tell me! I enjoy flames, too--just not the perverted kind. X3

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LUCRECIA'S JOURNAL, ENTRY TWO:

(RE)INTRODUCTIONS

((MKL: aka "there are a lot of bad jokes here!"))

"I remember this place," Lucrecia said with a smile and a gentle laugh as Sora led the way down the maze of corridors that lead to Ansem's study. "Xeha and I used to come here when we wanted to be alone. But we always seemed to be interupted for one reason or another..."

"So wait," Sora suddenly called, confused as he glanced over his shoulder, "you know about this planet?"

Lucrecia did not respond, and was saved from doing so when they rounded the corner that lead to Ansem's Study.

"We're here," she said brightly, smiling again and rushing up to the door. She waited for the other three to come before throwing it open, eyes widening in disbelief when she saw the disarray the office was in.

"Man, it looks even messier than last time," Sora complained as he walked into the room.

"Hmph, DiZ would never let his rooms get into this state of disarray," Riku responded, frowning as his eyes narrowed. He folded his arms over his chest as his gaze drifted over the room. "Someone must have gotten pissed..."

"It was never this messy when I came here," Kairi mumbled too quietly for anyone else to hear, blinking in confusion. Lucrecia merely continued to stare, noticing the familiar writing style of the person who supposedly wrote on the walls. She walked up to the nearest sample and slowly ran her hand over the purple chalk, which had soaked into the wall after so many years and hardly shifted under her touch.

"Xeha," she mumbled, staring absently at the writing and giving a soft sigh of almost defeat, "what were you doing? Why did you destroy Master Ansem's study? Why..." She paused as her gaze fell on the only picture in-tact on the desk and picked it up, tears building up in her eyes, although she struggled to blink them away. "Why did you keep this picture?"

"King Mickey!" Sora suddenly gasped, startling Lucrecia and causing her to shove the picture into the only pocket on the right side of her dress. She whirled around as Riku and Sora dropped down into a bowing position, Kairi smiling a bit as she merely bent forward. Lucrecia blinked in surprise.

"Hiya, guys!" Mickey said with a grin, tail swishing behind him as Sora and Riku quickly straightened up again. The small mouse waved brightly, wearing the Sora-esque outfit he had worn during the majority of their fighting against Organization XIII. "Gee, you sure made it here fast!"

"Of course," Riku said with a grin. "Did you really doubt it?"

Mickey merely chuckled.

"Hello," Kairi said, smiling and nodding at Mickey. The King glanced over and smiled again.

"Princess Kairi," he greeted, bowing at her. She seemed startled and a flush slowly started up her face.

"Uh, j-just Kairi..." She swallowed and gave a nervous sort of smile, waving her hand around in front of her as Sora and Riku exchanged amused smiles. "K-King Mickey."

Mickey grinned at her and nodded before noticing Lucrecia and smiling again, arms folded behind his back as he shifted to look around his teenage friends.

"And that must be Misses Xen," he said brightly. Lucrecia managed to snap out of her surprised stuper and smiled, bowing a fraction.

"Nice to meet you, King Mickey," she greeted quietly. She quickly straightened up and tilted her head at him. "You're friends with my son, aren't you?"

"Mom," Riku groaned, palming his face. Lucrecia ignored him as Mickey laughed and nodded.

"Yep!" he agreed. "And let me say that your son is a fine young man and a great conversationalist when he's not talkin' about the Darkness!"

Riku now looked scandalized. "King Mickey!"

Sora burst out laughing and Kairi quickly followed, Lucrecia snickering quietly as Riku paled. After getting over their little laughing fit, Mickey went on, suddenly serious.

"Misses Xen," he said quietly, gazing intently at Lucrecia, "would you mind comin' with me?"

"Just me?" Lucrecia asked quietly, glancing towards the suddenly-on-edge Riku. Mickey blinked once before he smiled.

"No, but you're the guest here! I'm just bein' polite."

Lucrecia smiled at him and nodded as Kairi snickered and the two teenage boys blinked.

"I think...I don't get it," Sora decided with a nod. Riku merely grunted as Mickey turned around and began walking towards the main computer area.

"So you guys're probably wonderin' what I found," Mickey began slowly.

"Yes, we are," Kairi agreed, frowning in confusion. "You said...you couldn't tell us in the letter...and that you found 'something we should see'. Right?"

"Yep!" Mickey nodded and glanced over his shoulder as they walked around the corner that overlooked the Heartless Manufactory. Lucrecia glanced over, clearly confused and a bit alarmed when she saw a Neoshadow dancing around down below, but it merely looked up at her and gave a deep bow before it disappeared. Mickey's voice distracted her before she could process what had just happened. "Well, more like a couple a 'somethings'. And 'someones', too, dependin' on how ya look at it."

"Huh?" Sora asked, blinking rapidly and completely stopping in his confusion. Riku rolled his eyes and quickly dragged his friend after Mickey, who had not noticed his pause.

"Y'see...I was workin' in here with Leon about a week ago," Mickey explained, walking into the computer room and pausing in front of the huge computer. He gazed up at the screen, putting a hand to his chin thoughtfully as his tail swished back and forth. "All of a sudden, we opened this file called 'Journal' and a buncha pop-ups appeared. We had Tron put 'em in order from oldest to latest and the first thing we saw..."

He died off here and shook his head, turning to face the group with a serious expression. "We have new information on Xehanort," he finally said, Lucrecia's eyes widening as Riku and Sora hissed in anger and Kairi let out a quiet whimper. "It seems...he had a fiancée."

Riku processed it first and his eyes went wide. He practically roared, "XEHANORT HAD A WHAT?!"

Mickey merely stared at him for a few moments before his gaze drifted towards Lucrecia, who was now confused as she glanced at the teens' reactions. "A fiancée, Riku. Xehanort had a fiancée."

"Like, a soon-to-be-wife?" Sora half-gasped, bug-eyed. Mickey continued to stare at Lucrecia, who started a silent conversation using only her eyes. Mickey shrugged before turning to Sora.

"Whelp," he said, beginning to pace back and forth, "the file was dated from nearly twenty-seven years ago, so we don't know if it went anywhere beyond that. But as soon as we read that--and Leon explained a few things for me--there were these Corridors of Darkness that opened up on the ceiling and a few...guests...dropped in."

Mickey smiled a bit at his apprent joke that no one got.

"King Mickey," Lucrecia said quietly, voice hardly loud enough for everyone to hear as they all turned to her. Her eyes were wide and she glanced around at the three teens in front of her before returning her gaze to the mouse king, looking like she was getting ready to cry. "What did Xehanort do? Why are these three so upset at the mention of his name? What...what happened?"

Mickey glanced curiously at the three teens, who merely adverted their glances. The King let out a low sigh before turning back to Lucrecia, frowning a bit. "Misses Xen," he began slowly, "Xehanort--"

"Yo, boss!" a familiar, surfer-ish voice called from nearby. Lucrecia's expression visibly brightened as Sora tensed and none other than Xigbar sauntered into the room, a series of files in one hand and a rather stupid grin on his face. He paused next to the little king, apparently unaware of the rest of the group, and waved the files around pointedly. "Where do ya want this? 'S one of the files we told ya about."

Mickey winced a bit, but managed to put a smile on his face, reaching upwards. Xigbar obidiently gave the small king what he was holding, instead sticking his hands on his hips and tilting his head to the side so that his greying ponytail slipped over his shoulder. Mickey continued to smile as he nodded up at Xigbar. "Thanks, Xigbar. I was just gunna ask ya about those when the guests left."

"Eh?" This was apparently news to Xigbar, since he visibly perked up and turned around with a grin. "What gu..." He died off as he spotted Sora, his single eye narrowing a fraction before he grinned again. "Sora! 'Sup, little guy? You been a good boy since the whole savin'-the-universe thing?"

Sora opened his mouth to respond (probably with anger, if the way he was holding his hands in preperation for using a weapon was any indication), but before he could, Lucrecia gasped loudly.

"Braig?!" she cried, eyes wide as her hands flew to her mouth. Xigbar glanced up, blinked twice, then looked like he was about to fall over as his eye widened.

He sputtered for a few moments before he managed to exclaim, "Lucrecia?! Is that you?!"

Lucrecia merely exclaimed something to the effect of, "Yay!" and lunged forward, practically tackling Xigbar in a hug. "Braig, it's you! You're here! You're all right!!"

Xigbar stood there in stunned silence for a few moments before his grin broke out again three-fold and he returned the hug, almost crushing Lucrecia's ribcage in the process. "Luce! Man, I haven't seen ya in, like, twelve years! Where the hell've ya been?!"

"Where have I been?" Lucrecia managed to release herself from the hug and arched an eyebrow pointedly, jabbing him in the chest with one of her fingers. "Where have you been, Mister I'll-contact-you-as-soon-as-I-can?! I've waited nearly ten years for so much as a letter, and you guys just left me there! Do you have any idea how much I worried about you guys?"

Xigbar suddenly stiffened and his gaze drifted slowly to the side as his expression became masked. "Well, Luce...there's a reason for that," he mumbled quietly, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. Lucrecia gazed at him pointedly and he gave a long, deep sigh. "Y'know that research we were workin' on?"

"About the Heart and its Darkness?" Lucrecia asked, eyes narrowed a fraction as she gazed at Xigbar. Realization struck and her eyes widened as she grabbed his left hand, the other dropping to his side. "Oh Braig. You...didn't."

Xigbar merely adverted his golden gaze as she lifted up her other hand, gently tracing the scar on his left cheek. "Then this...?" she mumbled quietly. Xigbar hesitated for only a moment.

"I...had to get Ienzo out of there," was all he could say, still staring somewhere over her left shoulder. Lucrecia's eyes widened and she leaned forward, dropping her hand.

"Wait, then...is he...?"

"He's breathing..."

Lucrecia visibly relaxed before she noticed something and her eyebrows furrowed. She again lifted her hand and instead placed it on Xigbar's chest. He made no move to stop her and after a few moments, she gave a sharp intake of breath.

"Braig," she said quietly, eyes widening as she lifted them up to look over his battle-worn face, "what happened to you?"

Xigbar slowly reached up with his free hand and gently took the pale hand on his chest, slowly lowering it as he continued to stare over Lucrecia's shoulder. "It...was an accident," he said quietly, finally moving his gaze to catch Lucrecia's. "Ienzo and Braig were in the experimentation room. They were just checking up on the exeriments. And then...someone opened the chamber with the...Heartless." He died off here and shook his head. "They survived...sort of. Y'know..." A wry, humorless smile crossed his face. "Nobodys can be humanoid if they have strong enough Hearts. Apparently they did."

"You're speaking in the third person."

Xigbar slowly shook his head, giving a soft sigh. "No, I'm not. I'm...not Braig anymore. I'm only half of the man he was." He gave another wry smile, although it was quickly extinguished. "Xigbar. That's my name now--Xigbar."

Lucrecia tilted her head for a few moments before realization hit her eyes, followed closely by a deep sadness. "Xigbar," she repeated quietly. She gave him a soft smile. "I'll remember it."

"Good," was all he said, smiling back.

"Ooooookay, I'm confused," Sora suddenly said, face screwed up in concentration as he put a hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"Sora," Kairi hissed, hitting her brunette friend over the head. He yelped and gave her a confused look, hands lifting to cover any future attacks.

"Kairi, what--?!"

"She obviously knew him before he became a Nobody," Riku said quietly, gazing at his mother in confusion. "But...what I want to know...is how."

"You never told 'im?" Xigbar asked, suddenly confused as he glanced towards Lucrecia. She gave him a look and he quickly shut up as she withdrew her hands from his.

"Shut up," she half-whispered. "I swear, if you say one thing to him...!"

"Does he at least know--?"

"He knows the name. Well...sort of."

"And Ienzo--?"

"No!" she immidiately exclaimed, eyes narrowed dangerously. "Xigbar, keep your big mouth shut for once in your life!"

"Non-life," he corrected with a stupid grin. It faultered at Lucrecia's pointed look as she folded her arms just under her chest and tapped her foot slowly. He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Right...uh...bad joke. Sorry, Luce."

Lucrecia smiled and nodded before she suddenly looked concerned. "Wait, where are the others?"

Xigbar opened his mouth to answer, but another familiar voice--or rather, two voices--cut in.

"King Mickey!" Xaldin called, frowning as he walked into the room with a pair of thin-framed glasses perched low on his nose and he flipped through files he held in his hands. "We found more files, but our messanger was taking so long to get back, we decided to come investigate what kept him."

Lexaeus, who was trailing not far behind and holding many manila folders himself, merely grunted his agreement.

"Thanks, guys," Mickey said with another smile, having faded into the background when the conversation took place. Xaldin handed over his files as Lexaeus put his own down on the floor, leaving Mickey frowning at the large stack taller than he was. "Oh...this's goin' ta take a lotta readin', isn't it?"

"Sorry," Lexaeus mumbled, arms folded over his chest. Xaldin merely smirked and gave a bit of a shrug.

"I suppose so," he admitted as he pulled off his glasses and put them into a pocket in his cloak.

"Dilan?" Lucrecia suddenly asked, sounding amazed. "Aeleus?!"

The two froze and slowly looked over, Xaldin's jaw dropping and Lexaeus' eyes going wide in surprise when they saw the woman standing next to Xigbar, again shocked.

"Lucrecia?" they asked in unison. She cried out again in surprise and joy and ran up to them, grabbing first Xaldin, then Lexaeus ((MKL: -smirks- perverts!)) in a hug. They seemed too surprised to fake any emotion as she pulled back, looking at both of them.

"You two got...taller," she finally said, blinking in surprise. Xaldin grinned as Lexaeus smirked a bit.

"We worked out a lot while you were gone," Xaldin merely said. Lucrecia turned her gaze to Lexaeus and her smile returned.

"And you grew up!"

"I was only nineteen when you left," was the rumbled response, a smile of his own appearing as he folded his arms over his chest again. Lucrecia chuckled quietly and nodded before returning her gaze to Xaldin, a frown pulling at her lips.

"What's with your hair style?" she asked increculously. Xaldin looked like he wanted to die as Xigbar bursted out laughing and Lexaeus lifted a hand to smother a chuckle. "I mean, the hair itself is fine, but those sideburns are rediculous! And those eyebrows could use some waxing, too!"

Xaldin slowly turned red as he shot Xigbar a glare and raised his fist in a mock-fighting gesture, to which Xigbar merely laughed harder. Xaldin quickly gave up with a groan.

"It looked more intimidating with those..." he mumbled lamely. Lucrecia slowly arched an eyebrow and shook her head at that.

"Intimidating?" she snorted playfully in response, giving him a smile and an arched eyebrow as she stuck her hands on her hips. "Well, if you were going for the insane mountain-man look, it worked."

Xaldin was now red enough to rival Axel's hair--or, at the very least, it surpassed Marluxia's. "Er, well..."

He was spared from going on when Lucrecia's smile suddenly fell and sadness seemed to spark in her eye. She slowly took a step towards Xaldin and placed a hand on his chest, causing the tall man to go ramrod-straight, mouth opening slightly in surprise as he gazed helplessly at Xigbar. The elder merely sighed and shook his head, arms folded in front of his chest as Lucrecia looked up at Xaldin.

"You, too," she said quietly. She gazed towards Lexaeus as she dropped her hand and the look on his face merely confirmed her suspicions. "And you..." She looked between the two and took a step back, sighing and shaking her head. "And I'll assume you two changed your names accordingly."

"Lexaeus," was all the brunette could say, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"It's Xaldin now," the 'mountain-man' admitted quietly, purple gaze drifting to the side. Lucrecia processed that for a few moments before she gave a wry smile.

"Well, at least they're easier to remember than Xigbar," she decided with a nod.

"Hey, I like my name!" Xigbar objected in a half-whining voice, pouting. Lucrecia merely shot him a smile.

"Just kidding. I like it, too."

Xigbar smirked at that and turned towards Xaldin and Lexaeus, who were still recovering.

"Hear that, Xaldin?" he taunted. He rubbed his nose with a rather stupid grin. "She said she liked it!"

"There's a first," Xaldin snorted playfully, smirking. Xigbar gasped dramatically and put a hand to his chest.

"Xaldin! You wound me so! Luce," he whined and turned his gaze to the woman, who was trying not to laugh, "can't ya do somethin'?"

"I can try teaching you manners again," she offered with a grin. "Just like I did when we first met...and you introduced yourself by dropping a waterballoon on my head."

Xigbar snickered at that. "Hey, it got you to remember me, right?"

Lucrecia laughed in response.

"Okay, now I'm MORE confused!" Sora complained, pouting again. Xaldin glanced over and smirked darkly.

"Sora," he greeted. "Nice to see you again. And how is the Beast doing?"

Sora glared in response. "Better than when you were polluting his mind with your tricks!"

Xaldin's smirk held fast as he folded his arms over his chest. "I was merely acting on orders from the higher-ups."

Sora growled.

"Lexaeus," Riku half-snarled, eyes narrowed at the man. Lexaeus glanced over, clearly unaffected.

"Riku," he rumbled in response. "I believe we got off on the wrong foot. Shall we start over?"

Riku merely continued to snarl, so Lexaeus shrugged in response.

"What did I miss?" Kairi asked blankly, glancing around.

"Whatever I did, hun," Lucrecia said, shaking her head with a slightly annoyed sigh.

"Whelp," Mickey suddenly said, breaking the tension in the room with a bright smile, "we should probably bring them down ta see what we found. I haven't told 'em anythin' yet."

"Really?" Xigbar asked with a grin, glancing pointedly at Sora. He paused a moment and tilted his head in confusion, folding his arms over his chest. "Say, just wonderin'--did ya figure out who Roxas is yet?"

"He knows about Roxas?" Lexaeus asked blankly.

"After your death," was all Xaldin said with a roll of his eyes.

"Who's Roxas?" Lucrecia cut in before Sora could respond. Everyone in the room turned to stare at her, with the exception of Riku, who merely shook his head.

"We'll explain later, Misses Xen," Kairi assured her with a slightly strained smile. Lucrecia stared blankly at her before sighing and putting a hand to her head.

"I'm getting too old for this..."

The others neglected to respond.