"Earlier this morning, it was reported that someone had broken into Master Xehanort's castle here in Hollow Bastion. No suspect is yet in custody, but the town soldiers highly recommend to report any suspicious activity…"

Roxas tuned out most of the television's annoying news report the moment the broadcasters mentioned that old man's name. The nobody rarely ever turned on the television, but since he was so bored today, he decided to flip through the channels to see what was on. Only problem with that was the broadcast was on every single station. Xehanort must really want this guy that broke into his castle dead if he made all the channels stop to put up this news.

After several more moments of the broadcasters going over what they knew about the masked intruder, he came to the conclusion that the regular stations were not going to come on anytime soon, so he turned the television off. He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, knowing that his boring day wasn't about to get any more interesting than this.

Roxas did have to admit though; he was slightly interested about the whole intruder at Xehanort's castle thing. It was about time someone tried to get some information about him out to the public. That old man only wants people to look at him like a god with no weaknesses what so ever, whoever broke into the castle was probably trying to find answers that could finally end him. The person must have had it all planned out if he got into the castle and escaped without leaving any evidence behind.

The news was on every channel, that had to mean something too. Whoever that person was must have found out some important information if Xehanort wants to 'put him to justice' so bad. Silently, the nobody hoped that whatever that information was would get out to the public and spread to Destiny Islands, he would love to hear about what Xehanort is freaking out so much.

After he sat in his seat in silence for several more moments, Roxas finally got up to look around his house. When he found it two years ago, it was completely empty aside from a few pieces of furniture, which gave him the indication that whoever it was must have left in a hurry. Whoever lived here before hasn't come back to claim it or anything, so technically it was Roxas's home. It was small, having only one bedroom, one bathroom, and a small sitting area and kitchen and it only had a few new pieces of furniture alongside the ones he found in this house when he got here, but he was fine as long as he had a roof over his head. Not a lot of people had houses anymore here in Destiny Islands, so he was thankful he had one at least.

Ever since Xehanort took over the worlds, Destiny Islands had suffered just as much as the other worlds did. The once happy, bright, and peaceful world was now full of refugees from other worlds, most noticeably from Hollow Bastion. He was honestly shocked that many people made it out of that world, since it was where Xehanort lived after all. Roxas only figured that most of these people sold everything they owned to get a passport to get here. He had met a few people who managed to get here illegally, but most of them claimed that some of their group never made it to the island.

It really was a dumb law; probably the one Roxas hated the most. If people want to leave the world, let them leave, don't force them to pay a 10,000 munny passport to leave. Some people managed to escape illegally by sneaking onto the Gummi Ship, claiming they were servants for others on the ship, or even beating people to give them their passport. Roxas couldn't blame them honestly; he would have done anything to get off of Hollow Bastion.

The whole thought of Xehanort just made Roxas really mad inside. Did Xehanort really even care that these many people where suffering because he was a horrible ruler? Basically the only ones that weren't suffering had just enough money to get them along or were supporters of Xehanort, and there were not very many of either. Between Xehanort's stupid laws and people just not having enough money, people where dying or being thrown in prison every day. And it still shocked Roxas that people were wondering why the population is dwindling down so much…

Biting his lip, Roxas walked over to his bookshelf, which only had several books on it, but he pulled out the thickest one. The day Xehanort took over Hollow Bastion, he broadcasted himself, announcing all the new laws he and his Seekers of Darkness had made. And, to be sure no one forgot any of them, he sent out thousands of copies of this book, containing all the laws, just to remind everyone. It was a sick thought that the old man had that much power, and Roxas was shocked that he hadn't burned the book with a fire attack yet, but he figured he would just look them over since he had nothing else better to do.

Once Roxas sat back down on his couch, he flipped the book open, reading all the laws in his head. No leaving a world without a passport was the first one he saw, but he was already so angry about that law that he skipped over it. No entering the Castle of Hollow Bastion was slightly obvious, if Xehanort lived there, of course he wouldn't want anyone else in there. Obviously the person that broke in there today didn't care about that rule though. No hiding criminals wanted by the Solders… yeah right, like people are actually going to listen to that one.

Roxas continued to skim over the other laws until his eyes caught sight of one specific law. This particular law was the one Xehanort demanded the most out of 'his' people, and so it was Roxas's most hated law, even more so than the passport one. Just looking at it made his blood begin to boil, and it wasn't really that questionable.

Never speak of the Guardians of Light (deceased).

Roxas stared at that law for a long time as memories began to flash in his mind. He hardly remembered the day they lost, but he remembered certain things. For example, he remembered a grey and black keyblade coming down on Sora's chest—both their chests at the time, and then he found himself here. And the one that looked like him (something like Ven was his name) he remembered seeing that death. That was the only death he remembered clearly, but he also remembered seeing Kairi, lying down on the barren ground, her stomach not moving at all.

Those deaths really didn't affect him though. He had met Sora and Kairi a few times, but they were both so brief that he never really formed a connection with them, even if Sora was his somebody. The one that looked like him was also in Sora's heart for a long time, but he never got to meet him. Riku… It was best not to talk about him. The mouse and the blue haired girl he had never met, so that never affected him.

But Axel…

Roxas clenched his fists at the thought of Xehanort ending him. Axel, or his somebody's name, Lea, was his only friend. Roxas wished he could have seen him when he came back as Lea, he probably would have showed off his keyblade like it was some trophy, and then say something like "Knew you would come back, got it memorized?"

But Axel was no longer alive, he could never say those words, or anything to Roxas ever again.

Deep down, Roxas wished that he had never gained the ability to use the keyblade, since if that didn't happen, he could still be alive. Some people called the keyblade a gift, a weapon that other would die for. But to Roxas, it was nothing more than a curse, and since he used to duel wield, he was burdened with twice the curse.

Placing the book down on the table, Roxas brought his hand out, and almost instantly the white light flashed and Kingdom Key had appeared in his hand. Even though he was glad he had lost his ability to duel wield, since it kept Xehanort away from him, he was still curious to know why he could no longer summon Oathkeeper and Oblivion. The two blades were like yin and yang, but together, Roxas could use them to take down any heartless, or nobody in some cases, without a second thought. So Roxas was puzzled as to why he could only summon Kingdom Key, not Oathkeeper or Oblivion by itself, only Kingdom Key.

The nobody was not sure exactly how long he stared at Kingdom Key, but he ceased doing so when he heard a knocking at his door. Roxas quickly unsummoned his keyblade in surprise, he never got any visitors, not even refugees that were looking for shelter, money, or food, they always tired elsewhere since many of them knew he was Sora's nobody. Sometimes, Roxas wished he could tell them Xehanort wanted nothing to do with him, but he decided not to bother since he liked being alone anyways. Maybe it was some new refugee that didn't know he lived here?

Having his curiosity get the best of him, Roxas rose from his seat and headed for the door. Right as he put his hand on the doorknob, he stopped and looked down at himself to be sure that he looked at least somewhat presentable, since he did not want to scare anyone off. His old Twilight Town wear was still on him, clean from just being washed earlier this morning, so he was fine. Knowing this, Roxas opened the door, letting the fresh air rush into his house.

The nobody was not expecting to see a beautiful young woman who couldn't be more than thirty years old. Her long brown hair that was tied back in a braid blew in the wind along with the light pink bow that tied it all together. She wore a white dress with blue designs that traveled all over it that also had two blue bows on it, one by her waistline, the other right between her breasts. She smiled at the sight of Roxas, her teeth being so white that you could spot them at night. She also had a large, brown bag that hung over her shoulder that looked like it was packed with something.

"Hello Roxas." She said smiling, her green eyes staring right into the nobody's blue ones.

"Um…" Roxas did not know what to say. How did this girl know his name anyway? "Hi."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She held her hand out to the nobody. "I'm Aerith."

The name Aerith suddenly made the realization in Roxas's mind. How did he not recognize her sooner? He remembered seeing her in Sora's memories; she was the young woman from Hollow Bastion, a member of the Restoration Committee before it was shut down by Xehanort. Roxas was still shocked that the old man didn't kill them all since they were friends with Sora, but I guess taking away the committee was good enough for him.

At first, Roxas only stared at her extended hand, but then, after a few short moments, he took it in his, shaking it lightly. He tried to form a closed smile when he shook it, but he couldn't find the reason to do so. "Nice to meet you too…" He said awkwardly.

When their hands parted, Aerith looked behind her for a second, as if she was afraid someone was watching them, before she turned back to Roxas. "Do you mind if I come in?" She asked.

Roxas arched an eyebrow at this statement. Why would she want to come in to his house? Did she want to talk to him? Does she want refuge? Did she want to kill him? No, she was to innocent to do something like that. But what did she want?

Only one way to find out.

Roxas nodded. "Come in," he said bluntly, opening the door wide enough so she could enter. She smiled before walking into the house, and once she was out of the doorframe, Roxas closed the door behind him. She looked around the house curiously, her eyes searching every corner of the room. The nobody was thankful that he decided to clean the house yesterday, if he didn't, she probably wouldn't want to come in here.

When she entered, Roxas expected her to begin talking immediately, but she was silent and only continued to look around the house. That was all she did for several moments before she made a move, which was to place her bag on the couch. But after that, she didn't move again and continued to stare at the house.

Wanting to know what she came here for, Roxas decided to take matters into his own hands. "So are you here to talk to me about something?" He asked her, talking several small steps in her direction as he did so.

"Oh, yes, sorry about that." She finally spoke. She then turned to look at the nobody, making sure that their eyes made contact before they exchanged words. "I needed to talk to you about something."

"Is this about Sora?" Roxas almost regretted mentioning his name, fearing that she would gasp and immediately call the soldiers to arrest him for talking about the Guardians. But she didn't do anything like that; instead she showed her teeth again, a sad smile.

"So you know who I am then," she said.

Roxas nodded. "Aerith, right?"

"Correct, and you are Roxas, right?" Roxas nodded before she continued. "Good I knew you would remember me from Sora's memories. Oh and to answer your first question no… well yes… Ah I really don't know how to put it; I just know I have to tell you before they get here."

"Until who gets here?" Roxas questioned.

"Look," she continued, ignoring his question, "I know this might sound crazy, but you just have to listen alright? Please don't question anything, I've already wasted enough time, we can't waste anymore."

Her complete tone changed in these few sentences. In a few short moments, Aerith went from being a happy, quiet young woman to becoming a nervous, fearful one. This very move scared Roxas.

"Wait, are you trying to say that you are bringing other people here?" Roxas tried not to sound angry, but it came out that way.

"I am not bringing other people here, they are coming themselves." Aerith continued.

Roxas's eyes widened at the statement. "Why are people coming here?"

Aerith looked away for a moment, as if afraid to say something, which Roxas took note of right away.

"I don't have time for this." Roxas said, "You can just leave, I am pretty sure I can deal with these people when they get here."

Roxas then turned away from Aerith, walking towards the door he was about to open to guide Aerith out. But her voice stopped him, and the words that she said stopped him in his tracks.

"You're a Guardian of Light, Roxas."

Aerith's sentence was short, but it had so much meaning that it felt like Roxas was punched right in the chest. Was she speaking the truth? No, how could she be? How could she even know?

"That's impossible," he protested. "All the Guardians of Light are dead; Xehanort killed them two years ago."

"Your right, but Kingdom Hearts has chosen new Guardians of Light, ones to replace the ones lost two years ago. They are not all dead; you are standing right in front of me." She said her words strongly.

Roxas rolled his eyes, how could she think this? Xehanort would never make any announcements if new Guardians were chosen, so how would she know if Kingdom Hearts chose new ones?

But then Roxas remembered the news broadcast, how they were saying someone broke into Xehanort's castle earlier this morning. He did think that the person must have got information about Xehanort if the intruder left in such a hurry, without a trace left behind. Was that intruder connected to Aerith? Did whoever this was actually hear Xehanort say that new Guardians were chosen? Was he one of them?

No, he couldn't be. Guardians of Light had to have light in their hearts, and last time he checked, nobodies didn't have hearts.

"Okay, maybe you're right, maybe Kingdom Hearts did choose new Guardians of Light, but I am not one of them. I am the nobody of a former Guardian yes, but I'm not a Guardian myself. You need a heart to be a Guardian, and nobodies don't have hearts." Roxas explained.

Aerith placed her hands behind her back. "Are you so sure?"

"Positive," Roxas replied.

"Have you even bothered to check?" She continued to ask.

"No." He responded bluntly.

"Why not?" She pushed him.

"Because nobodies don't have hearts," he repeated, beginning to get frustrated again. "We are just the empty shell of people that used to have one."

"I don't believe that, most nobodies don't have hearts, but you're different, I know you have one." She was really getting on his nerves now. "You just are too afraid to check."

"For heaven's sake Aerith!" Roxas breathed out a frustrated sigh. Did he really have to do this to get her to shut up? Apparently, so the nobody lifted his shirt up with his hand to slide his other hand underneath it, to feel for the heart that was not there. "Is this really what I need to do to get you to—"

A sudden beating under his hand prevented Roxas from speaking. He gaped before he allowed his eyes to widen, unable to move besides that. What was he feeling? He didn't have a heart, and for a moment he thought he was crazy, but the continuous beating in his chest proved him otherwise. He had a heart. He had a heart.

Not knowing what to do, Roxas looked to Aerith, figuring that she had all the answers. But she didn't give him an answer first; instead she said something, something that slapped Roxas across the face with reality.

"Welcome to the Guardians." She told him.

Roxas stared at Aerith, not knowing how to respond to that. After several moments passed by, Roxas finally removed his hand from his chest, but he could have sworn he still felt his heart beating. "How…" Roxas couldn't speak.

"Do you have a heart?" Aerith finished his sentence for him. "We don't know yet, we are still trying to figure that out. We figure that it has something to do with your 'Organization leader' though, he probably kept you twelve more in the dark then you thought."

"That intruder," Roxas could finally find his words again. "You know him don't you? He was the one that told you this."

Aerith nodded. "He is one of my best friends, he wouldn't lie about this, none of us would, we have been looking for a way to take down Xehanort for a long time. We almost gave up hope just like everyone else did, but Ansem the Wise changed that."

"Ansem the Wise?" Roxas questioned. "Xehanort arrested him and his workers when they refused to leave the castle at Hollow Bastion. How did he give you hope?"

"We knew Ansem, we thought he was dead for a long time, but he was really just in the Realm of Darkness. The Guardians of Light helped free him, and helped him gain the memories that he lost back. He continued ruling Hollow Bastion in peace after that, but he left us, the Restoration Committee, behind his journals, things filled with theories and notes just in case something were to happen to him again. One of those journals said this one theory, one that said if the Guardians of Light did lose against Xehanort; it wouldn't be long before Kingdom Hearts choose new ones to replace them. We didn't pay much attention to it then, but after the Guardians lost, we were hoping that one theory would be true, and began to prepare for it, in case it was correct. His theory proved to be true, and here we are."

This was too much for Roxas to take in. "I don't believe this…" Was all he could say.

"You are the only Guardian Xehanort knows about, and he is coming here to end you before you can even try to stop him." Aerith said.

"Who said I was even going to try and stop him? You really think that these new Guardians and I can end Xehanort? He already killed the first seven, he can do it again." Roxas protested.

"Roxas, you don't understand, you are our last hope." Aerith said in a serious tone. "The Restoration Committee, Xehanort thought he shut us down two years ago but all we have done is grown larger, we can finally stop him if you join us."

Roxas looked at her dumbfounded. "I—I can't—"

Before Roxas could finish his sentence, Aerith silenced him and placed her hand on her ear. Roxas figured she must have had an ear bud in and someone was communicating with her. "They're here," Aerith nervously said. "You can decide whether or not you want to join us later, we need to get you out of here if you even want to make that choice."

Acting quickly, Aerith ran over to the bag she placed on the couch and unzipped it. From the bag, the young woman pulled out two long, black robes that could hide anyone. Roxas knew them better than anyone, they were Organization XIII coats.

"Quick, put this on." Aerith commanded, throwing the coat to Roxas as she began to slip hers on. Roxas did not move for a moment, but he soon knew that if he did nothing, he and Aerith would be killed at the hands of Xehanort, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. So he quickly put the coat on, zippering it up and putting the hood up in a few seconds. It was a perfect fit, Aerith must have thought ahead of the situation.

Once Aerith had finished putting her coat on, she looked to Roxas. "We need to get to the beach fast, my Gummi Ship is there, we can get off the island before they could catch up to us with Cid driving."

Cid, Roxas remembered him from Sora's memories too. He was a member of the Restoration Committee as well, but he specialized in ships of any kind, Gummi Ships especially. If anyone could get them off the island to escape Xehanort, he could.

But before they could even try to leave, there was a loud knocking at the door which made the two freeze. Roxas heard Aerith curse as the knocking continued, and a stern voice spoke on the other side of the door. "Open up in the name of Xehanort." It said. Roxas nearly cursed as well since he knew that voice, it was Saix.

Aerith put her hood up at the sound of the voice and slowly walked over to her bag, trying not to make a sound. When she arrived there, she pulled out something else from her bag, a short pole that, with a flick of her wrist, expanded into a pole that was almost taller than her. She wasn't really expecting to fight them off, was she? Saix was no pushover; there was no way she could survive.

It was then when Roxas received the sudden idea. Before Aerith could walk any further, Roxas grabbed a hold of her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. Roxas then pressed his finger to his lips, silencing her, before he silently summoned his keyblade. It was a stroke of luck that he did it at that time, but right as Saix announced he was going to break into the house; Roxas fired a blast of blizzard right at the door, freezing the entire door. Saix yelled in frustration through the door as he tried to open it, but the blizzard froze the door completely, it was not going to open anytime soon.

Roxas then began to run towards the small, back door that he normally did not use. If his theory was correct, and Xehanort did want to keep his death as quiet as possible so no one would suspect anything, they would only be at the front door. Surrounding the house would be too obvious that something wasn't going on. Thankfully, when he opened the back door, no one was there, and that is when they began to escape.

At first, the two, as quietly as they could, began to run away from the house. It was late morning, but thankfully it was cloudy out, so it would be harder to spot them running from the house. However, as they ran, Roxas could have sworn he smelled smoke, and he feared that that meant they saw them and where firing some fire attack at them. He kept running, but he turned his head to look behind him, and if Aerith wasn't holding onto him, he would have stopped.

His house was engulfed in flames, they weren't using fire at them, they were using it at his house, hoping to kill him that way. Roxas knew it was not possible for fire to spread that quickly, so he figured that whoever was with Saix must have known how to must magic well, and was continuously shooting fire attacks at his house. The sight saddened Roxas slightly, but if it meant it could give him the chance to escape, he would take it.

Roxas was just thankful he did not live far away from the beach, where Aerith had said the Gummi Ship was. Only thing was when he looked at the beach, there was nothing there. "Cid, we're here, stop the invisibility cloak." Aerith said, proving that Roxas was correct that she did have an ear bud in and was talking with someone, that person being Cid.

Roxas didn't even think invisibility was possible until he saw the Gummi Ship appear right before his eyes, its bright red and black design being hard to miss. At this point, Roxas thought he was home free, that they were going to make it out of here with no problems, but then he heard gun shots behind him. They were firing at them, that's for sure, but nothing was hitting them yet, so they must have been far behind and were just hoping for a lucky shot.

Right when they arrived at the bottom of the Gummi Ship, the hatch opened, allowing them to enter. As soon as they were inside, the hatch closed behind them, and they could hear the sound of bullets hitting the ship from the outside.

"Cid just drive! Cue the invisibility again, they are right on our tail!" Aerith yelled.

"Got it kiddo!" A voice said over the intercom of the ship. Soon afterwards, Roxas felt the ground beneath him shake, and he knew that they had begun taking off. Just to be safe, Roxas decided to go to the nearest window of the ship to look outside, to make sure they did not see them, but did he regret it.

They did not see them anymore, but fire that took his house spread, and the area he lived in was engulfed in flames.

"I know how it feels when you have to start again,

now there's no one to save me.

I know how it feels when the world is ganna end,

but they'll see..."

~Comeback by Redlight King

Wow, thanks for all the support so far! I really wasn't expecting it, so thanks so much! Hope this chapter made you guys want to read more!

So yeah, the plot is beginning to thicken, and we have some questions answered. The next chapter should answer more questions, like how the Restoration Committee managed to hide their existence for two years and some more stuff. Hope you are looking forward to it!

By the way, if Roxas seems somewhat OOC in this chapter, I meant to do that. You see, after what happened with Xehanort and stuff, Roxas hasn't been the same, so he is supposed to act like this.

Oh, and so I have decided I am going to put new Final Fantasy characters in this story, but since I am horrible at making decisions, I need you guys to tell me which ones you want to see. Just say them in your reviews!

Also, I am not going to have that many Disney worlds in this story, but if you want, tell me which ones you want to see too!

So please R&R and look out for the next chapter!