A/N: It has come to my attention that I kinda messed up on Cloud age in canon with KH. I got Leon/Squalls right; he's 25 in KH1 thus making him 15 during BbS. But for Cloud, I depicted him being older than Squall when in canon he's younger than him. In canon, Cloud is 22 in KH1 thus making him 12 during BbS, thus making him the same age as Kai. A big whoops on my part, but hey...who really cares, right? I don't have to been 100% accurate on everything.

Power

KAI: A shadow is lurking in Radiant Garden. I know who it is, but I have no prove. But that doesn't mean I couldn't prepare for the worst. I need more power.

Shortly after the attack, Kai returned to the other recruits, receiving a lecture from Laguna about leaving the group on his own and disobeying direct orders. But he was backed up by Lightning, stating he was probably worried about his family. Laguna instantly let it slide.

The Recruits noticed that one of the Guards, Braig, seemed to have recently been injured. He claimed that the monsters from the attack had caught him by surprise, which resulted him losing his right eye and getting a deep scar on his left cheek. Some were a bit skeptical about a sharp shooter like him being caught off guard by some mindless monsters. One strange thing few have noticed, Kai being one of them, was that his one good eye had soon turned yellow and his ears pointy. No one questioned it, but it did make Kai wonder if he was hiding something.

As the days went by, Kai noticed that, once in a while, his sister would be swinging his old wooden sword around, and tripping over herself constantly. She was just as clumsy as her friend, Yuffie. Kai was impressed at how much Aqua had inspired Kairi to the point where she tries to emulate her. Kairi was often disappointed in herself for failing to do so, but her brother could tell she wanted so much to one day be like the Keyblade Master. Although he worried about her safety, he couldn't help but be proud. Maybe when she's older, I'll teach her a thing or two, thought Kai.

One night Kai was out, gazing at the starry sky. He had heard the stories about the outside world. He always wondered what the other worlds were like. Kairi had also expressed curiosity for them. The young Recruit was just thinking maybe someday he and his sister will get to see them, when his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a possible fight coming from the Town Square. Kai immediately ran to the Square to investigate.

When he got there, he saw two figures clashing on the lower central platform. He ducked down from near the edge of the platform to stay hidden as he took a good look at the figures. One of them he immediately recognized as Aqua. The other one had the same garb as one of her friends he saw her argue with the other day, but something was off. He remembered his hair being dark brown,...not silver. Not only that, the Keyblade he was using look entirely different from what he remembered. It looked much more demonic. Kai didn't think a Keyblade could look like that. The last thing he noticed was an ominous dark aura surrounding him.

The man seemed to be struggling to move, despite him standing upright.

"Terra!" Aqua shouted. "I know you're in there!"

The man called Terra than began to move his demonic Keyblade. He turned it around and said, "This'll teach you! Get out of my heart!" as he stabbed himself in the chest with it. His expression immediately when from angry to completely blank. His Keyblade vanished, and a dark demonic creature appeared behind him. The creature seemed to drag Terra into a pool of darkness beneath them.

"TERRA!" Aqua shouted as she jump in right after him.

Kai was shocked at what just happened. His sister's savior, the one who entrusted him with the power to protect his sister, had just jump into the darkness to after her struggling friend. Kai slowly approached the pool which was slowly shrinking. Suddenly, there was a burst of light and out of the darkness came an unconscious Terra, who held a blue Keyblade in his hand, carried by a floating figure in blue armor. Kai stared in amazement at what seemed like a great rescue by Aqua. But when the pool of darkness disappeared, the armored figure dropped Terra and they both fell to the ground, the helmet removed itself from the shoulders revealing it to be not but hollow armor.

Kai couldn't believe what he saw. Terra had been brought out of the darkness, but Aqua was nowhere to be seen. The boy looked at the blue Keyblade in Terra hand and took it out. He held up to get a good look at it. The shape was slightly different from what he remembered, but he could tell it was definitely Aqua's. Did she sacrifice herself...to save her friend? he thought. But before he could ponder any further, he heard someone approaching. Knowing he shouldn't even be out this late, he put the Keyblade down gently and bolted out of sight. He stayed hidden as he watched Braig, Dilan, and his Lordship, Ansem, approached the scene.

Ansem lifted Terra's head off the ground and said, "Young man what ails you? Can you speak? Tell me your name?"

Terra grunted in pain and exhaustion as he responded, "X...Xehanort."

"Xehanort?" repeated Ansem.

Terra calling himself Xehanort confused Kai. And the smirk on Braig's face did not escape Kai's notice. The silver haired man then lost consciousness again.

"This won't do!" said his Lordship as he turned to Braig. "Quickly, get him to the castle!"

"You can count on me." said Braig as his pick up the unconscious man. "Dilan, get those for me." He pointed to the empty armor and Keyblade lying on the ground.

As Dilan began to gather the pile of metal, Kai thought it was a good time to skedaddle before he got caught. And he did just that, but little did he realize, his presence did not escape the noticed of a certain sharp shooter.

The young swordsman couldn't sleep a wink that night. His mind was too busy trying to make sense of what happened. As if First there was Aqua's disappearance. He couldn't fathom what happened to her. He was worried about her, wondering if she was even alive. And as if that wasn't troubling enough, but the situation with Terra has him worried as well. He remembered what Aqua said about the possibility him straying into the path of darkness. And from what he saw, Terra seemed to have indeed succumbed to darkness. But what was with the change in hair color? And why did he call himself Xehanort? He remembered Aqua mentioning the name Xehanort as a Keyblade Master who had gone missing.

And then there was Braig, who had recently gotten a serious face makeover and was smirking at 'Xehanort' like he knew something. Something funny was going on here, and Kai did not like it. He wanted so much to tell Ansem what he knew, but he wasn't stupid. He had no proof, nor did he even understand the entirety of the situation. All he had to go on was a gut feeling. Besides, he promised Aqua he'd never talk about his encounter with her. All he knew was that silver haired man, along with Braig, was someone to keep an eye on.

A few days later Kai learned that 'Xehanort', as he is now calling himself, has amnesia and cannot remember a thing. And that Lord Ansem the Wise has now taken him on as his new apprentice. Kai was skeptical, something about this whole thing just rubbed him the wrong way. There were a few times where he passed him and felt a chill run up his spine. One time, his sister was with him, and Kairi hid behind her brother shivering with a great fear that she couldn't explain. That was all the confirmation he needed. He knew Xehanort could not be trusted. But he kept it to himself. Under the circumstances, there was nothing he could do. All he could do was watch, and wait to see what happens. He hated it. But that didn't mean he couldn't prepare for the worst.

A couple weeks later, opportunity to get stronger arrived. Laguna decided to give the new members a lesson on magic. He requested the assistance of Merlin the Wizard and his students. Merlin is an old associate of the Guard, and they turn to him for magic related matters. He currently has two girls studying under him in the art of magic. The brown haired one in a white dress was Aerith, who specialized in White Magic(or supportive magic), and the black haired one wearing blue was Rinoa, who specialized in Black Magic(or offensive magic). Interestingly, Kairi's twin friends, Palom and Porom have talked about studying under him in the art of magic as well. Palom wants to study Black Magic while Porom wants to study White.

Merlin and his students explained the fundamentals of magic and demonstrated the basics to the four newbies, giving them warnings about using them wisely, as well as letting them know that magic it's not for everyone nor is required. Squall was able to use fire magic while Tifa was adept in blizzard magic. Zidane was the only newbie who didn't bother trying to learn it, deciding that magic wasn't really his thing.

Kai, however, was a completely different story. Kai was struggling in the magic arts. He can't do diddly squat with White Magic. He could conjure energy for Black Magic in his palm, but every time he tried to cast a spell it blew up in his face. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get his magic to work right. And yet despite his failures, he refused to quit. Laguna tried to tell him that he didn't have to learn magic if it was giving him trouble, or that maybe it was too soon for him, but the boy wouldn't listen. Kai felt that he needed more power, and to him having more power meant not only getting physical strong but having as many useful tricks up your sleeve as possible. And knowing there was a potential threat in Radiant Garden, he just couldn't allow himself to wait. He had to get stronger NOW, before anything bad happens.

He's been at it for two months now, and still no progress. Kai was frustrated at his own weakness.

One day, Kai and Lightning were given patrol duty. As they both strolled around the town, Lightning noticed Kai looking depressed and unfocused.

"You really should stop sulking," the senior Recruit said bluntly. "It's unbecoming of a soldier." Kai did not respond. "You know, the more worked up you get over your deficiency in magic, the less focused you'll be on your training overall. You know that magic isn't required, and as far as I can tell, it's just not for you. Why don't you just give up so you can focus on your real talent, your swordsmanship?"

It took a few second for Kai to answer. "I can't," he said. Lightning raised an eyebrow at his answer. "It's not enough. I need more power. Just simple swordsmanship won't cut it."

"Remember what Merlin said?" asked Lightning. "Seeking power, regardless of your reason, is a very dangerous game. If you're not careful, it could cost you greatly. Why are you in such a hurry to get stronger?"

Kai looked away saying nothing.

Lightning sighed at the junior Recruit's silence, wondering why she bothered asking when she already knew the answer. Still, she needed confirmation. "It's because of your sister, isn't it?"

Kai looked down at that. He could never deny that Kairi was the primary reason he wanted to get stronger. While he couldn't tell her the complete reason for his hastiness, he decide to tell the half truth. "I...almost lost her...during the attack. She's...lucky to be alive right now. Kairi...is everything to me. I couldn't...bear to lose her."

Lightning nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean. I too have younger sister, whom I would anything to keep safe. If anything happened to Serah, I could never live it down. But rushing into things won't get you anywhere. And it's not worth the risk. You may be a prodigy swordsman but you seem to lack patience."

Kai understood where she was getting at. But given the circumstance he couldn't speak of, Kai felt that patience was a luxury he couldn't afford right now. Still, it didn't stop him from questioning his own resolve.

Lightning sighed again. "But knowing you, you're probably not gonna stop practicing magic no matter what anyone says, will you?"

Kai thought for a second, before turning his head to her. "I know it's risky, but I have my reasons. I will get stronger. I won't lose her."

What a stubborn kid, Lightning thought, half annoyed but half concerned. Once he makes up his mind there's no changing it. Soon an idea popped into her head. "You father is Suzaku, correct?" Kai nodded in response. "The way I see it, your problem with magic is you're having trouble focusing it onto your palm. Maybe you could try a different approach, a different means to focus the energy. I've seen your father in a match before, and there's a little trick I've seen him use. It's not something easy to pull off." The senior Recruit actually smirked. "But being his son, maybe you could. And if you can do it, it might help you in the long run. You interested?"

A week later, Laguna decided give a test to see where the Recruits are; individually and in teamwork. It was three recruit members, holding nothing back, versus a member of the official guard. Today's opponent was the famous Sephiroth, with is impossibly long katana called Masamune. The first team consisted of Cloud, Ryu, and Kai. The three rookies took up their battle stances, Cloud with his longsword, Ryu with both of his cutlasses, and Kai with his katana.

"Don't think you'll be high and mighty after I'm through with you," boasted Ryu.

"Talk is cheap, Rookie," replied Sephiroth. "But I highly doubt any of you will be able to touch me."

"We'll see."

"Remember, Ryu," said Cloud. "Part of this exercise is teamwork. Don't try to be a showboat."

"Shut up, Cloud!" snapped Ryu.

"Whenever you're ready, you may begin." said Sephiroth.

In that instant, Ryu leapt to attack Sephiroth. The Guard blocked the attack with little effort. As the reckless brat futilely tried to push Sephiroth back, Cloud and Kai both flanked to Sephiroth's left and right. They attacked only for him to disappear, causing all three of them to clash their weapons.

"Hey," snapped Ryu. "Now look what you did. I had him!"

"Didn't look like it to me," Cloud said as they lower their weapons.

They looked to see their opponent right with his sword's reach. He slowly readied his Masamune to swing. The rookies instantly put up their guard as Sephiroth swung his sword in one quick motion. But what came off as a surprise for Kai was despite his opponent swinging his sword only once, he felt his own sword being hit seven times in rapid succession, the last hit ended up knocking him back onto the ground. The other two felt the same thing, but Ryu only drop to one knee while Cloud managed to stay standing.

"Fire!" Cloud shouted as three fireballs shot out of his palm toward the famous swordsman. Sephiroth dodged backward while the fireballs hit the ground in front of him. Cloud then charged at him, clashing his longsword against his super long katana multiple time. Cloud stayed on offense while Sephiroth remained on defense.

Ryu stood up and sheathed one of his cutlasses, and charged electric energy into his free hand as he raised it up. "Thunder!" he shouted. But the second he did, Sephiroth vanished again, causing Cloud to stagger forward a bit before getting struck hard by a bolt of lightning. Cloud was lying on the ground, struggling to move his jittery body.

"Hey!" shouted Tifa from the sidelines. "What was that, Ryu?!"

Ryu looked back at Tifa. "What?!" he snapped back. "He's the one who didn't get out of my way!"

"You didn't even give him heads up! You didn't give him a chance to get out of the way!"

"Well, he shouldn't of been in my way to begin with!"

"You don't understand the meaning of teamwork, do you?"

"Hey! I don't need their help!"

In that instant, Ryu was suddenly engulfed in a pillar of flame. Everyone one was shocked at what they saw, and when the flame douse, they were surprise to see Ryu not burned down to the bones but instead was only covered in soot. Thankfully since this was just training, Sephiroth had set his fire magic so that it wouldn't be fatal or do too much physical damage. Nevertheless, the spell still had the rookie so beat up that he was lying on the ground, unable to move a muscle. Laguna had face palmed at his coworker. Sephiroth, don't you think that was a bit much?he thought to himself.

Sephiroth stood next to Ryu. "Let you guard down for a second and you're done for." He then raised his sword defensively to his side where he felt another sword clang with it. He looked in the direction of the attack to see Kai locked with his sword. "So the little guy still has some fight in him," the superior said as he shoved him back, only for Kai to stand his ground. "This should be entertaining."

Kai then attacked with his katana again and they begin clashing swords, with Sephiroth playing defense again. After several clangs, Sephiroth decides to attack with a vertical slash. Kai dodged to the side and then leapt away. After pant for a second, Kai decided to try a new move he had been working on for the past week. He took a deep breath, put his free hand on the side of his blade, and charged forward. Time seemed to slow down as he concentrated on focusing his energy onto a single point. Just as he closed in on Sephiroth he shouted, "Fire!" as he slid his hand down the length of his katana and it ignited in flame. He then leapt up, raising his flaming sword above his head and proceeded to slam it onto his opponent.

Sephiroth was slightly taken aback by the flame sword, but disappeared causing the sword to slam onto the ground, creating a flaming explosion in front of Kai. Kai stood there exhausted. Most of the rookies, including Cloud and Ryu, were in awe at what a kid like him was able to do after being in the Recruits for only three months, especially knowing how much he's been struggling with magic. Lightning, however, just smirked knowing that little trick was worth teaching Kai.

Laguna knew that techinque well. No doubt about, he thought, that was the Flametongue techique. It's not as controlled, but it's still impressive for someone his age. Fusing magic onto your weapon; it's rare for a Recruit pull that off. He's managed to find a way around his deficiency in magic. Laguna then clapped his hands. "I think that's about enough for this team, don't you think Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth stood next to Cloud, helping him back on his feet. "I agree."

Kai offered to help Ryu up, only to get a slap on the wrist. The three stood in front of Laguna. "Okay," the supervisor began. "First off, Cloud, you showed that you knew what you were doing and gave some good effort. It's just too bad you got hit with friendly fire." Cloud lowered his head. "Speaking of which, Ryu! You really need to be more mindful of your comrades. You won't be working alone on the battlefield, so you really to learn how to work with them, not against them. No matter how strong you think you are, there's a limit to how much one person can do on their own. You need to start bonding with them so you can understand them better and then you can work together without harming each other." Ryu only scoffed at this. "And finally, Kai, good effort and nice move back there. Who would've thought someone your age could pull off the Flametongue technique? It still needs some fine tuning, but it looks like your stubbornness with magic has finally payed off." Laguna then patted Kai on the head. "Keep up the good work, and you'll become as great as your father in no time. Who knows? Maybe even better."

"Th-thanks." replied Kai. Everyone in the recruits expressed their amazement at Kai Flametongue. Kai made eye contact with Lightning, who nodded in approval, and he nodded back. Ryu, however, just looked at him with anger and jealousy.

KAI: I can feel it. I'm getting stronger. I'm finally making some progress. With this power, I'll be ready for whatever danger lies ahead.

A/N: As you can see, Kai is persistently seeking power so he can protect his sister. But will his power lead to greatness or his downfall?

It might take a while for me to figure out what I want to do for the next chapter. I open to suggestions if anyone wants to give me something.