MWAHAHAHAAA... OMG! Are we only on Chapter 3??? Gosh! And so much has happened! Hmm... well girls and boys, I hope you enjoy it and nothing will really happen between Everent and Soku but something veyr BAD happens and please dnt hate me for it... on a lighter note I am happy to announce I have begun writing my own book to be published should i ever mangae to finsih it and i am even happier to announce IT'S TRAGEDY'S BIRTHDAY VERY SOON!!! I am older than her so HAH! But i am still very happy for her and hope she continues to work with me on this and doesn't forget about poor little me while she's storming away writing 'All's Well That Ends Well'.


And So It Begins: Dedicated to darkangelwings90 for her fanart!!!

Leon sat down on the cold surface of the boulder near the edge of the camp where he would serve his shift and stand watch. It was cold but he was used to harsher temperatures during his years as a soldier. Keeping one hand firmly on the handle of his sword he scanned the tree line and looked deep into the shadows, tomorrow the war would officially begin and they would march forward, stand facing the enemy across a clear ground and they would fight. Even then Leon could here the boughs and trunks of the ancient trees being unceremoniously torn from the ground to make the battlefield.

The brunet sighed; there was something deeply disturbing about the war. He'd seen enough to have a fair idea before they even began what the outcome would be. It was all to do with the feelings the soldiers gave off. If they were confident and yet ready not just cocky then there was a high chance they would win, if they were weary and afraid then there was a high chance they would lose. Nothing was for certain but Leon was fairly good at guessing the way a battle would go and yet… he'd spent that whole day they'd landed and yesterday trying to figure it out. He'd had plenty of time in the infirmary while Mickey summoned Merlin to fix his leg magically, their doctor, Cloud, had insisted Leon stayed for the remainder of the day just to make sure he was okay, but Leon still hadn't figured it out.

The soldiers weren't giving off anything; the general feel around camp was stoic. Like it was just a displeasing job they were forced into and yet there was a hint of fear and determination. It was as if the battle could go either way. In truth that should be correct, of all the battles unable to predict the ultimate battle between Good and Evil should have topped the list but they'd been here before. They'd faced each other, Light and Dark on opposite sides of a field all charging at each other. They'd done it all before and that one hadn't felt anything like this. Before, Leon had known they would lose and had focused on staying alive and keeping his son's lover alive as well. He hadn't really worried about Mickey, the mouse could handle himself but they'd both known the battle was a lost cause and they had indeed lost. But this time… this time it was uncertain. It was on a knife's edge.

Thinking upon it, Leon had a sinking feeling that the power to push things either way would not rest in the fists of might or on a tempered blade or anything like that. In fact…

"Leon?" The named soldier jumped, whirling round, blade half unsheathed when Leon saw who it was.

"Ah, Sora! You gave me a fright!" Leon breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down on the rock. Sora grinned sheepishly, hugging himself as the chill picked up and the baggy t-shirt and loose trousers fluttered around him. "What brings you out here? Shouldn't you be sleeping? We have a… long day ahead of us. You may not be able to sleep for a while."

Sora nodded tightly, "I know, but ever since that damn meeting I've been buzzing with… energy? I suppose you could call it energy, more like anger." He shuffled over and laid a gentle hand on Leon's leg, analyzing it. "Does it hurt?"

Leon shook his head, "Merlin fixed it up really well and Cloud gave me some painkillers." He gave a light laugh, "You could shoot me and I wouldn't feel a thing!"

Sora scowled, "Don't joke about that!"

"Sorry."

They stayed in silence for a moment as Sora sat down on the rock beside Leon and asked, "Cloud?"

Leon nodded, "Yeah, he's the field doctor." Frowning Leon scratched his chin, "He sort of just turned up one day. But he's good at what he does so we just let him be." He jumped at the look in Sora's eye, "What's with the face?"

Sora giggled and Leon betted the little burnet would be eighty and senile and he'd still be giggling. "Oh nothing, it's just you've never mentioned anyone by name, no one you've fought beside or anyone that I suppose could be termed as who you work with." He gave Leon a scheming grin and continued, "So what does he look like?"

Leon was completely taken aback and answered without thinking which he regretted not a moment later, "Well, er… blond hair, really spiky, like sunshine blond I guess… blue eyes, their really big and expressive when he's thinking and erm… he's quite tall, taller than you but shorter than me and he… he has an addiction to these little lollipops that turn you're tongue blue and he also likes-"

Sora burst out laughing, "I asked what he looks like not what his personality was like. I think you might like this doctor of yours."

Scowling Leon pushed Sora lightly, "Do not! He's just a nice guy I guess… plus you're making me flustered and everything's coming out wrong."

The little burnet shrugged, "That's not my doing, that's you're crush on Cloud."

Leon slowly rose to his feet and folded his arms before Sora, "You, mister, are deeply deluded and are suffering from sleep deprivation."

"Hm, Cloud give you lessons for that stuff? Wonder what else he could teach you…?" Sora grinned and ducked the hand sent to clip his ear and stumbled to stand outside of Leon's range.

"Bed. Now." Leon ordered, pointing to the vague direction of Sora's tent.

Sticking his tongue out Sora teased, "Geez, anyone would think you were my father!" he chuckled and began to walk off, "Night, Leon!"

The soldier didn't reply. He was still reeling from the flippant comment Sora had made about Leon not being his father. "… I am." He whispered into the night, "I really am and I want you to know… but I'll never tell."

He watched Sora's retreating back a while until he could no longer see it and then sat back down on the rock to resume watch when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He jumped and looked up to see a gentle face smiling slightly down at him.

"Cloud… what are you doing out here?" Leon asked with a frown.

Cloud gave a small laugh, "I may be a doctor, but I was a soldier first. I can defend myself. And don't frown, you'll get wrinkles." He moved to stand before Leon, arms folded firmly.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"I came to check if you were okay, have the painkillers worn off? Are you in any pain?"

Leon shook his head, "If they have worn off there's no need to worry because it doesn't hurt."

Cloud snorted, "I still say we should have let it heal normally, magic's a tricky business."

"That's why they got Merlin, he's the best. Plus, the battle begins in a few hours. It wouldn't have healed by then."

"Then you'd have had to miss it."

"That's irresponsible."

"That's practical."

Leon groaned. This guy was as argumentative as Soku and Sora combined. "Look, I feel fine, my leg hasn't dropped off so it must have healed fine and I'm perfectly able to fight tomorrow."

Cloud's head dropped a little so Leon couldn't see his eyes and his arms tightened around his chest, "Is that all you're capable of thinking? About fighting tomorrow?"

"I'm a soldier." Leon stated. There was no bitterness or pride, it was merely fact. "I signed up for it and I've sticked to it most of my life. There's no backing out now. You can't run for the choices you make or the mistakes you make." There was bitterness then, Leon was suddenly struck by all the mistakes he'd made. He'd abandoned his wife and baby to go and fight and he had even been handed a second chance on a plate and he'd settled for merely being a friend of the family.

Cloud's face darkened even more, "Don't I know it…" He muttered. Before Leon could say anything else, he began to walk away, "See you later, Squall. Don't over-exert that leg."

Leon scowled at Cloud's back, "Don't call me Squall, it's Leon."

Cloud laughed, "Whatever, Squall. See you round, just don't get yourself killed."


Soku groaned and burst out of sleep like he was breaking through the surface of the ocean, breaking out and filling his lungs with air as if he'd been suffocated. He groaned again as he realized he might as well have been in the ocean for the amount of fluids around him. He twisted his face and grabbed a towel, it was still dark and the showers would be empty so he'd be free to clean himself up and pretend that the dream had never happened. He was just grateful he hadn't woken his parents with his cries.

He slipped into the dark shower rooms aboard the Gummi ship and proceeded to check for anyone. It was empty so he peeled away sodden clothes and threw them aside. Slipping his towel over a rail and diving into the showers, turning one on and letting out a moan of relief as the hot water slid over his skin, washing away all the filthiness. He was beginning to feel better as he grabbed the soap he'd taken from his locker and began to scrub himself down, taking particular delight in ridding his person of the signs that the dark prince had had more of an effect on him than he'd ever dare admit.

He heard the shower doors crash open and someone stumble inside. Soku bit his lip and fought with his deep rooted urge to hide telling himself things were different out here, people knew who he was, he was a prince and untouchable. No one would try anything. Hearing the intruder fall against a locker and the resounding crash that ensued Soku couldn't hold back the squeak and fright that escaped him. It was swallowed by the noise that other was making but Soku knew he was afraid and he knew he was letting this person get the better of him and all he was doing was making noise.

Choosing to ignore them, fighting down the fear that had been instilled in him fro a very early age he washed his hair and turned off the shower. Just as he wrapped the towel around his waist he felt a rough hand grip his upper arm. Hr wrenched out of the grip, turning round and taking a good few steps back as he looked up at the face of a burly, drunken soldier.

The hand reached for him again and Soku evaded it with ease, he scowled, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" The soldier frowned at the words and reached again, this time successfully gripping Soku's arm and pulling the small teen towards the bigger man. "Let me go this instant!" Soku shouted, pulling away and slamming his fist into the man's chest but it had no effect. He felt chapped lips on his neck and his whole body shuddered with disgust as the sloppy kisses continued. "G-get off me you bastard!" Soku saw the man was simply ignoring him; there was no reasoning with a drunk.

Wriggling his other arm free he summoned the keyblade and swung with all his might, clubbing the soldier around the head with all of his strength. The grip around his arm slackened and Soku breathed a sigh of relief as his feet touched the floor. He watched as the man fell back and hit the lockers with a sickening crunch before slamming to the floor.

Soku cradled the keyblade against him and kissed the handle lovingly, "I have never been more grateful to have you than I am now!" He exclaimed and ran from the locker room, keyblade held up as the fear abated and the terror left him and all he could do was cry.


Riku awoke early in the morning, so early it was still dark. He felt quite content as he looked to the left and saw his husband curled so adorably into his side, ringed hand lying over Riku's heart. He grinned and guessed he'd probably exhausted Sora last night. He carefully maneuvered himself out of the bed and dressed quickly, he wanted to speak with Soku before the morning set in and the battle begun and he guessed he'd need a lot of time to say what he needed to say. He pulled a loose shirt over his head and tugged a pair of tight trousers over his legs that were what he would wear later under his armor but it was too early to put that on.

Fully dressed he knelt down, dropped a kiss on Sora's brow, pulled the covers around his husband and made his way out of the tent.

Stepping into the half-light he wasn't surprised to see a lot of the soldiers already up and busying themselves with preparations for the battle. Stepping over to his son's tent he slowly zipped the entrance open and bent low, crawling inside. What he saw he wasn't prepared for.

Soku was curled up in a corner, his knees tucked tightly against his chest and arms wrapped around him, face hidden and hiding himself from everything but Riku could hear the sobs. His mouth fell open. Soku wasn't wearing anything other than a towel and Riku could only pray what he knew must have happened hadn't.

"S-Soku?" Soku didn't reply as Riku approached and even flinched as Riku touched his arm. Persevering, Riku pulled his son into a tight embrace, "W-what happened?" his voice was shaky, he wasn't sure he could handle knowing, he wasn't sure who he'd hurt if he knew.

Soku unfurled his arms and wrapped them around Riku tightly, openly crying now. "D-dad!" He couldn't speak anything more and Riku didn't push him to as he cradled his son, rocking him gently and running a hand through his hair soothingly.

He calmed eventually but his chest still heaved erratically as he tried to get air to his starved lungs. He still felt a bit wet as he hadn't moved or dried himself since he'd gotten back from the showers and he knew his dad was probably quite damp now.

He sat up and dried his eyes with his hands, "'m sorry, dad."

That made Riku snap, "'you're sorry'?! You've got nothing to be sorry for!" He realized a little late that he had raised his voice and watched despairingly as Soku shied away from him. He sighed and held a hand out to Soku, "I'm sorry, please… are you okay?"

Soku stared at the offered hand in fright and slowly relaxed, realizing Riku had meant no harm, "… yeah… I'm fine dad."

Riku bowed his head in shame, "No… no, you're not. You're constantly the victim of those bastards… and I'm a failure for not being there to protect you." He lowered the untaken hand and looked down at the floor of the tent in shame, "I'm sorry."

Soku didn't say anything; he didn't know what to say. He crawled slowly over to Riku and wrapped his arms around Riku's neck, "…you're n-not a failure d-dad." He breathed in the comforting scent of his dad and slowly began to relax as Riku hugged him back, "I love you and you and papa are all I've got… I'd never ever think of you as failures. It's not your fault, its mine, I'm the one who ahs to change.

Riku's eyes widened in horror, he pulled Soku back and held him at arms length, "W-what?!" He lowered his voice as he realized he was yelling again, "You've got nothing to be sorry for and you can't change just because of a couple of dickheads! You can't change who you are anyway!"

Soku clenched his hands on his thighs as he bowed his head, averting his gaze from looking at his dad, "B-but it's not who I am they're after, is it? It's what I am. What I look like." Soku sighed heavily, "That I can change." He flicked a stray strand of long silver hair aside and glared at it, "I can cut my hair, I can-"

Riku scowled, "No! No, you can't, Soku." He breathed heavily in an attempt to calm himself, "If this is how you want to look, you can't change that because no one has any say in that but you. Do you really want to live you're life controlled by those freaks?"

"No… but as soon as they don't look at me like that… as soon as this stops happening… then I'll be free. I can do what I want without fear of ever having someone… touching me like that." He shivered.

Riku sighed, "Soku… you can't change being beautiful. In fact, I'm fairly sure you'd find being ugly ever harder."

"No… being like this, the object of everyone's attention, its gets old so fast and it just becomes a source of fear and pain… so much you're afraid to go out, afraid to let you're guard down."

Riku sighed again and was about to speak when Leon poked his head into the tent, "Ah! Sorry guys, I just thought you ought to know, we're marching in half an hour and Sora's going spare trying to find you, Riku."

Nodding, Riku pressed a kiss to Soku's forehead, "Please don't do anything rash, these idiots are not worth you're time or care." He left and Leon entered the tent sheepishly.

"Can I assume by that that something bad happened? Something involving unwanted attentions from someone?" Soku turned away and began to collect clothes he was going to wear, slipping boxers on underneath his towel rather skillfully and Leon surmised he'd had plenty of practice at it while avoiding revealing himself. Public showers suck, Leon scowled.

Soku pulled a loose shirt over his head and sighed, "… yeah."

Leon sighed and sat down, "You know-"

"I know! I know, I know, I know! You and my parents and everyone else who knows can't get enough of saying it! I know I shouldn't let them affect me the way they do but guess what? Being the subject of near rapes every moment of your freakin' life can make one a little bitter and twisted! If you still think you've got the right to say that crap I'm not going to listen until you've lived through fifteen years of it!" Soku was heaving air and shaking with anger as he lashed out at Leon who simply let the teen vent.

Scowling, Soku turned and began to pull on his trousers as Leon said softly, "I wasn't going to say any of that. Its bullshit that you can let all of it wash off you're back like its nothing and anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool." Leon ran a hand through his hair. "You're parents are run to distraction worrying about leaving you alone, they speak of almost nothing but you and I know they'd do anything to save you from all of it but you know its no ones fault you're as beautiful as you are." Leon watched as Soku began to strap on his armor, the older soldier already in his, "I just hope you take your dad's advice, you're always going to be beautiful so don't do anything rash to change that." Leon made to exit as he whispered so only Soku could hear, "Plus, I think that prince of yours likes you just the way you are."

Leon bolted from the tent as Soku whirled round with a few choice words on his tongue that died as soon as Leon escaped. Sighing, the little silveret finished getting his armor on and sighed. What had Everent said yesterday?

-"Don't cut your hair. I like it" -

Soku couldn't fight the blush and he growled in defeat, he wouldn't fully acknowledge it but he did realize he felt something for the prince. Grumbling, he got to his feet and made his exit from the tent to find Sora and Riku waiting fro him, his papa waving happily, completely ignoring the fact that they were getting ready for a fight. He wondered if Riku had told Sora but judging from the blissful grin on the man's face, Sora was unaware. Soku was fine with that, he hated telling Sora about things like that because he'd get angry and his smile would fade and Sora's smile made Soku feel safe.

"Hey, Papa." Soku smiled softly and Sora wrapped his arms Soku childishly.

"Morning, 'Ku! Now, while we're out there, you stick with me and you're dad, okay? We don't separate and you don't go anywhere without us." Sora said sternly. Soku was reminded of a similar speech being given to him on their trip to the zoo when he'd been four and thought it decidedly odd he was hearing it just before they marched into battle.

Soku merely nodded and they walked as a family, Riku and Sora either side of their son took their places with Mickey at front of the army. Their faces were determined and set in stone as they faced the tree line. Leon joined them at Sora's side and Mickey stood by Riku's. Mickey heaved a breath and then lifted his arm, signaling the beginning of their march.

Riku looked down at Soku's face, a mask of endless determination that wouldn't ever be extinguished. Looking up at Sora he saw a similar expression and he was suddenly glad they were there. Sure, he definitely wanted them back and away from such a dreadful place and safe but he was secretly glad they were here, it didn't feel so foreboding. It didn't feel a likely scenario that he might die out there, not with his family around him.

"March!" Mickey cried and each soldier around in the body of men lifted their legs and began to march.


Now, Tragedy has let me post this without any editting from her... her idea not mine. I am very insecure about it now, probly have lots of spelling/grammar mistakes but whatever, hope you like it neway.

Akaiba and Tragedy xxx