Chapter 2: An Unbreakable Connection

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm so sorry that it's been a while since I updated. A virus got into my computer and erased EVERYTHING from my hard drive, including Word. But as you can tell, everything is fixed and I'm able to post the next chapter!

I just want to thank all of you for reviewing the last chapter. I didn't expect that many reviews for the first one. It just shows that you're really excited for this story and want to see more. Hopefully, it'll be good and that you'll ask for more.

And I'm glad you like the little back story about Master Eraqus. I thought it would be interesting to see why he acts the way he does and how he views life. When you lose someone you really love, your perspective on life changes a little.

I have pictures of Lumen already done, so I'll try to post them up on my Deviantart page after I post this up. So for those of you who view the artwork, keep an eye out!

So, without further ado, let's get on with the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I just own my oc's.

Enjoy!

/

12 years later

Lumen woke with a start as she was pulled out of a dream.

Many things had happened since that tragic day when she lost her mother. Besides the obvious fact that she was now being raised by a single parent, she dedicated herself into becoming a better keyblade master. It was always her mother's dream to see her only daughter take up the title of master, so she didn't want to disappoint her.

Even though Eraqus struggled with raising Lumen on his own, he made sure she got the best training. He lost his wife, so he didn't want to lose his daughter.

He worked her to the bone for the past 12 years, and it showed greatly.

While she wasn't very good when it came to physical attacks, she was a master at magic. She could cast spells using with and without her keyblade. Even though she wasn't as strong as her father, she was getting there.

Sighing, she ran a hand across her face. She had been sleeping after a day's long practice and she had to have it interrupted by a strange dream.

She couldn't really recall what it was about. All that she could remember was that she was standing on this white podium that was surrounded by darkness and hearing someone's voice. She couldn't remembered what the voice sounded like, but she knew that she heard someone.

"I must be working too hard" she muttered to herself.

She turned her head towards her bedroom window to look at the stars.

She remembered the stories her father used to tell her about them. About how each of those stars were actually different worlds and while they were miles apart they were always connected by the sky they shared.

She found it hard to believe that these tiny little specks of light in the night sky were actually worlds.

But she couldn't deny the fact that they were very beautiful.

She sat up when she saw a star flying across the sky. She smiled brightly when she saw another one follow after it.

That could only mean one thing.

"A meteor shower!"

It was rare to see meteor showers these days.

Not wanting to miss this, she quickly jumped out of bed and ran for the door.

She stopped when she ran past her mirror and looked at her reflection. After twelve years, she had not only changed mentally, but physically as well.

She was no longer a tiny little girl. She was a woman.

Her blonde hair grew out and became wavy as it reached her shoulders. She really wasn't picky about how her hair looked, just as long as she had a section of it tied with her favorite white ribbon.

Her outfit was the same as any resident of the Land of Departure wore.

She wore a yellow leotard like suit that had a golden sash wrapped around her waist and reached to her knees. Her arms were covered with yellow gloves that reached her elbows and connected to her middle fingers. Covering it was golden wrap that drapped out as the ends of her wrist and gave it a medival like feeling to them. Her boots reached up to her knees and had little hooks coming out as the knees. (A/N: her outfit pretty much looks like Rydia's from Final Fantasy 4. I'll have a picture of her up soon so you get a better look at her outfit).

And to top it all off, she wore the Land of Departure's emblem proudly on her chest. As a residents of this world and as the daughter of Master Eraqus, she showed that she was proud of who she was and what she stood for.

She smirked at her reflection.

"Some things never change" she said.

She quickly ran out of her room and headed for outside before the meteor shower ended.

/

Even though Eraqus hated when Lumen went out of the castle at night, she enjoyed it.

It was the only time where she could actually relax. During the day, she spent her time training and perfecting her keyblade moves. At night, she could relax and enjoy the peace and tranquility only the nighttime could provide.

She made sure that she was quiet as she ran further from the castle. If Eraqus found out that she snuck out at night to see a meteor shower again, he was going to ban her from magic practice. And if there was one thing Lumen hated, it was missing magic practice. She always felt that if she missed out on a day of training, she was getting weaker.

she quickly ran past the training grounds and headed towards the more secluded area of the castle. Here, she could sit on the benches and see the stars better.

She smiled when she found her favorite bench and quickly sat on it. Even though there were dozens of benches scattered all over the area, this one was her favorite.

Because this was the bench where she and her mother would sit when they watched the stars.

Even though her mother wasn't here anymore, Lumen made sure to preserve even the tiniest bits of her. She wanted to show that after all these years, she still loved her mother dearly.

She smiled as she got comfortable and looked up at the stars. She laughed a little whenever she saw a meteor zipping by. She would think that she would get tired of seeing them, but it always felt new to her. It seemed that whenever she looked at them, it was as if her troubles flew away with them.

Feeling tired, she stifled a yawn. It had been a long day and she was crazy to even come out this late. But she didn't regret it. She enjoyed the times where she could just relax and be herself.

She moved on the bench so that she was laying across it, rather than sitting on it. It wasn't very comfortable, but it would do for a little nap.

"If I slept out here, I would catch a cold" she muttered.

She looked at the stars as she felt her eyelids grow heavy. A little nap under the stars wouldn't hurt.

She slept for a little bit. The sound of crickets chirping were like music to her ears.

She was really enjoying her nap, but she sensed that someone was near.

Fearing that it might have been her father, she opened her eyes to see a set of familiar blue eyes.

Lumen gasped and fell off of the bench when she saw Terra hovering over her.

She groaned when she hit her tail bone. It seemed a little nap could hurt her after all.

Terra just laughed at her. Lumen shot him an annoyed look.

"Give me a break, Terra" she said.

Terra just chuckled and helped her up.

"Lumen, you hopeless sleepyhead" he said.

"You should have brought a blanket"

Lumen dusted herself off and gave him an amused look.

Ever since that day, the two of them had always been together. They had started out a very close friends, but as time went on, they started to fall in love with each other. At first, they thought it was weird because they thought that friends couldn't be in love each other, but they learned that sometimes fate always had something in mind.

They had officially been a couple for the past two years, but they had to keep their relationship a secret. If Eraqus found out that one of his students was dating his daughter, he would not only make sure they didn't become a keyblade master, he would kill them himself.

It was a comforting, yet creepy feeling for Lumen. She was glad that her father cared a lot about her, but she wished that he didn't take it too far.

Terra just gave her a lop sided smirk.

"It seems you always fall asleep at everything, even looking at a meteor shower" he teased.

Lumen blushed slightly.

Over the years, Terra turned out to be a very handsome man. His brown hair reached his shoulder and flared out in the back to a bunch of messy spikes. He even looked handsome in his outfit. But the thing that always took her breath away were his eyes. They were such a clear shade of blue, that they almost looked like sky was trapped into his eyes. Every time he smiled or said something, they seemed to sparkly.

"What can I say?" she said.

"My dad's been working me hard. With the exams coming up, he's kind of gone overboard"

Terra gave her a gentle smile as he placed his hand on her shoulder. He knew how crazy Eraqus could be when it came to training. He had him as a mentor and even he felt drained after a day's training. He couldn't even imagine what Lumen felt. Being the daughter of a keyblade master meant you had extra training.

It were times like these that he wanted to make her feel better.

And he knew just the thing.

"Ven and Aqua should be out seeing the meteor shower" he said.

"Let's go meet up with them"

Lumen's face brighten at the mention of her friends.

Terra offered his hand to her and smiled when she accepted it.

The two of them headed towards the other end of the castle, where their friends were surely to be.

/

If there were two people that Lumen cared about more than anyone else on this world, it would have to be Aqua and Ven. They were the two greatest friends that anyone could ever ask for.

Aqua had been Lumen's best friend since they were little. They were both experts with magic and tended to always trick Terra and Ven whenever they fought together. They were always protective of each other and were willing to help each other if they were ever in trouble.

Ven was like the little brother that Lumen never had. Even though he couldn't remember his past, he didn't let that bother him. He was always seen with a smile on his face and it tended to be contagious. Lumen was always protective of him since he was the youngest and made sure his needs were tended to before hers. She also found it funny how Ven idolized Terra so much. They were best friends, but they tended to be rivals when it came to fighting.

They four of them were an interesting group, but a fun group none the less.

When Lumen got closer to where her two friends were, she could hear Ven asking Aqua something.

"Hey, Aqua. Y'ever wonder what stars are?" he asked.

"Where light comes from?"

Aqua smirked at Ven's curiosity.

"Hmm….well, they say-"

"That every star up there is a different world" Terra finished.

Aqua and Ven turned around and smiled when they saw him and Lumen.

"Terra, Lumen" Aqua said.

Lumen smiled and waved to them.

"It's hard to believe there are so many worlds out there besides our own" she said.

"The light is their hearts, and it's shinning down on us like a million lanterns"

She went over to them and sat besides Aqua.

Ven looked confused.

"What? I don't get it" he said.

Terra smirked.

"In other words, they're just like you, Ven" he joked.

Ven glared at him.

"What does THAT mean?"

Terra chuckled a little.

"You'll find out someday" he said.

"I'm sure"

"I wanna know now" Ven pouted.

"You're too young to know now" Terra said.

"Quit treating me like a kid!"

Lumen and Aqua just laughed at the scene. It was so funny to see the two of them bickering like they were siblings.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?" Terra asked.

Lumen just smirked at her boyfriend.

"I can't help it" she said.

"You two make the weirdest brothers"

Aqua wiped a tear from her eyes from laughing.

"Yeah, it's just so funny to see the two of you bickering like that" she added.

Terra and Ven made a face before they joined in on the laughing.

/

After the laugher died down, the four of them sat near the ledge and watched the stars. This was something that they always did at the end of a long day. Even if they were always busy with training, they always made sure to make time for each other.

Aqua's faced lit up as she thought of something.

"Oh yeah!"

She looked at Terra.

"Terra, you and I have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow"

Lumen smiled brightly at that.

Her father had been training Terra and Aqua very hard for these exams. She had been training hard as well, but she wasn't planning on taking the exams. She was strong, even if she didn't have the title as a master. It was just a name and nothing else. Her skills and knowledge were much more valuable than just a stupid name.

But she knew better than to say this in front of her friends. After training for years to get to this point, she wasn't going to ruin it for them.

Aqua stood up and pulled something from her back pocket.

"I made us good luck charms" she said.

She held up four charms that were shaped like stars. They were all in different colors and had their badge symbol in the center.

Aqua handed Terra an orange one and Ven a green one.

Lumen smiled when she got a yellow one. She thought it was sweet that her best friend made a charm for even Ven and herself, even though they weren't taking the exams.

"Wow, Aqua. These are so pretty" she said.

"You really have a talent for this"

Aqua smiled as she held up her blue charm.

"I made one for each of us" she said.

She looked up at the night sky.

"Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit…" she said.

"and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other"

Lumen looked at her charm in amazement.

"Wow, that's a pretty powerful bond" she said.

Aqua chuckled a little.

"Technically, I think you're supposed to make them with seashells, but I did the best with what I had" she said.

Lumen waved it off.

"Don't worry about it" she said.

"It's not about what it's made from, but rather the purpose it was created for"

Terra rolled his eyes.

"Sometimes you both act like girls" he said.

Aqua glared at him.

"Hey! What you do mean by 'sometimes'?" she asked.

Ven looked at his charm sadly.

"So you mean this isn't a real good luck charm?" he asked.

Aqua shrugged.

"Well, that's yet to be seen" she said.

"But I did work a little magic on it"

Ven looked surprised.

"Really? What?"

Aqua smiled and held up her charm.

"An unbreakable connection" she said.

Lumen laughed and held up her own charm.

"Probably the best kind of magic" she said.

The four of them held their charms in their hands and felt the magic flow through them.

/

After staying up for a while longer, Terra stifled a yawn.

"I think it's time to head back" he said.

Lumen nodded when she felt her eyes grow heavy. She never expected to stay up this late, but she didn't mind. As long as she was having fun with her friends.

Aqua helped Ven when he started falling asleep. It just proved how young he really was.

Terra held Lumen's hand when he saw her stifle a yawn.

"Come on, sleepy head. Let's go back inside" he said.

Lumen smiled tiredly as she rest her head against his shoulder. She always felt safe and sound whenever she was near him.

As they headed back to the castle, she gripped Aqua's lucky charm. She could feel the bond she shared with her friends from it.

"Together…always" she thought.

She hoped that everyday would always end like this. Being able to watch the stars with her friends and just having a good time.

Yet it seemed that fate had plans that would pull them apart forever.

Because this night would be the last night that she ever shared with her friends.

That would be the last night we ever spent beneath the same stars.

/

A/N: And there you go! The first chapter to the actual story is up! What lies ahead for Lumen and her friends? And what dangers will tear them apart?

You'll just have to review and find out!

Ja ne!