Home is Where the Heartless Are Chapter 05: Shy of the Moon

The huge silver Highwind II seemed to be the only ship streaming between the worlds, having left Agrabah behind four hours ago. Cid stood looking out over the bridge, his hands gripping a thin metal railing as his cerulean eyes scanned space. A small trail of smoke curled up from the cigarette in his hand, almost totally forgotten as he watched for the only living ship in existence - Monstro.

"Where the hell is he?" Cid muttered, taking a long drag. The huge whale was almost as big as the ship itself and weighed as much. If Monstro attacked the damage would be massive and when passing between Agrabah and Antlantica Cid had the entire ship on edge. The whale did not like strangers in his haunting ground and rarely let ships through without incident. Cid himself avoided the route between the desert and ocean planets as much as possible, however, a meteor shower blocked their path near Neverland.

"There," Sephiroth's voice, calm as always, pointed out.

"Where?" Aeris asked, squinting.

"Magnify the top left quarter." Sephiroth stepped forward, the Mako making his eyes seem to burn with hot green glitter. "Again, 70%." The screen showed a pixilated image of a large gray splotch. "Now sharpen." A pilot tapped a few keys and the image began to sharpen, starting at the top.

Cid's cigarette dropped to the metal grating floor as he exclaimed loudly, "Holy shit!"

Monstro was floating, almost peacefully, through the endless bounds of space, a long, clean gash slashed down his bottom. The ribbon of red started under his eye and curved downward in a long arch, nearly reaching the end of his tail. His left fin was ripped off, a small bloody stub now. Small bits of flesh surrounded him, along with patches of blood.

"What the fuck could have done that?" Cid muttered, stomping out his cigarette. "Get us the hell out of here!" He called down to the pilots. The picture was erased from the screen, replaced with the serene black sheet and twinkling white dots of space.

------

Golden sunlight streamed down on the long white beach of Destiny Island, making Kairi's auburn hair light up to a lush red color. Her long dainty purple skirt swayed in the breeze as she watched a small group of children down near the water, her bright blue eyes alight with happiness.

"Hey Kairi!" She looked towards the voice and smiled, waving energetically.

"Wakka!" She jogged over to the man, watching as he got out of his boat and brought it up to rest on the shore. The children ran, laughing and shoving each other as they raced to the two adunts. The surrounded the tanned man and short woman.

"Aye aye!" Wakka cried, laughing as they tugged on his clothes and arms, demanding attention. "Wha'tcha want?"

"Play with us Wakka!" A small girl screeched, jumping up and down. Wakka winced slightly and Kairi hid a laugh behind her delicate hand.

Wakka scratched the back of his head and replied, "Ah, I can't right now Melical, I gotta work on the docks!"

All the children pouted and 'awwwed', causing the tan man to think for a moment. "But, I will when I'm done! How 'bout that?" The group seemed to agree, as they bounced and cheered happily. "Alright, now go play, and don't give Kairi grief yah!?"

Kairi smiled as she watched the group of kids run off to the beach, laughing together as they splashed into the water. "How's work on the main island, Wakka?" She asked, turning to the tanned man. The Destiny Islands had been hit by a hard storm the night before, strong squalls ripping shingles from roofs and harsh waves slamming into the docks.

"Ah, decently, we'll have it all finished in a couple a' days," Wakka replied, wading down into the water to assess the damage to the small dock. "Aye, this stood up pretty good!" he said, hitting it affectionately.

A breeze blew through and Kairi shivered, wrapping her arms around her slender frame. "I feel something bad Wakka, something very bad." Her voice was very low and she hugged herself tightly. "I don't know what it is."

Wakka rested his elbow on his knee; leg propped up on the dock. "You think it's because you're a princess of heart?" He asked, watching the young woman.

"I don't know," Kairi replied, turning her eyes back to the children as they played in the water. "I think. It's Riku. I think something's wrong with him, or maybe Sora, or both."

"What makes you think that?" the tanned man asked, beginning to pull his equipment out of the small boat he used to travel between the islands.

"Well, the princesses of heart created Riku's Keyblade right? And the Keyblade is connected to Riku, so I'm connected to him through the Keyblade. And I think Sora and I were connected because my heart was inside him." Kairi answered. "I don't know, I'm not an expert in hearts or the Keyblades. It's just what I think."

"Are you sure the princesses created Riku's Keyblade though? Maybe they called it," Wakka said, plopping his toolbox down beside him. "Could the princesses have created it from scratch, or did they call it from inside Riku?"

Kairi paused for a moment, thinking to herself. "I suppose that could be possible too."

Wakka shrugged. "We're shooting in the dark, yah? Neither of us really knows much about the Keyblades, other than one locks the hearts of worlds and the other unlocks the hearts of people."

Kairi nodded absently, turning her full attention back to the children. "Melical!" She yelled, running down towards the water. "Stop dunking your brother under the water!"

Wakka laughed loudly, watching the woman scurry down into the waves and lift the crying boy into her arms. He shook his head and smiled as he began to repair the planks of the dock.

-----

Sora yawned as he walked onto the bridge of the Highwind, glad he'd gotten a few hours of rest before they returned to Midgar.

"Sora!" He looked towards Stella's voice, finding the older man waving towards him. A large black man stood next to the other Keybearer, along with the Turks, Vincent Valentine and a huge red lion like beast.

The brunette ran up the small flight of stairs, finding Riku, Nobody, Ralph, Donald, Goofy and Tifa there as well.

"This is Barret Wallace," Tifa said, motioning with her hands to the black man. "And this is Nanaki."

"Red XIII will work too," the beast said, mouth turning up in a smile.

Sora paused in mid yawn and blinked shaking his head at his own surprise. "You'd think I'd be used to talking weird things by now," he said, throwing a friendly arm around Goofy's shoulders. He rested his elbow on Donald's head, causing the duck to smack the Keybearer's foot with his staff. "Ow!"

Nobody coughed, bringing all attention to himself, and stepped forward slightly. "Our plan is to land the Wingblade at Midgar and go to Shinra Headquarters, where President Reeve has information too delicate to relay via radio. We may or may not stay, so don't get to comfortable."

Sora slipped across the room quietly and looked out a huge floor to ceiling window, searing eyes taking in the expanse of city the Windblade was quickly approaching. The massive city was a circle of black against the brown tinted ground with eight large towers on the edge, andspecks of light marking it like the sky. "That's Midgar? It's freaking huge!"

"You're such a hick Sora," Stella said, looking over the younger man's shoulder. "Used to a tiny island?"

"Them's fightin' words boy!" Sora replied, laughing.

Stella laughed too, slapping his knee and crying, "Dayum! Nobody in Midgar's mama is theyur ayunt!"

"We ain't got time to screw around!" Barret stomped, folding his large arms across his broad chest. It was then Sora noticed the gattling gun grafted to his left hand, eyes focusing it on a second before trailing away.

His eyes settled on Riku, and the black haired man looked up towards Sora. Their eyes met for a moment, just a single moment, nothing special or prolonged. They had traded glances like it before, as if they were assuring themselves the other person was still there. It gave Sora comfort to know Riku was there. A link between them seemed to hang in the air, like an invisible cord that connected them forever. Riku was the older, stronger, swifter one with the power to unlock the hearts of people, while Sora was the younger, brasher, passionate one with the responsibility to lock the hearts of worlds. They seemed total opposites, one ice the other fire, but they fit together perfectly.

There was a knock on the door and a crewmember poked her head into the room. "We're about to land, President Reeve already has cars waiting for you on the ground, sir."

"This must be really fucking important," Ralph muttered, taking a long drag on his cigarette before snubbing it out in an ashtray. "Alright, get the cargo unloaded while I'm gone, and get the ship ready to go ASAP."

"Yes, Captain," the woman nodded before closing the door.

Sora watched as the ground got closer and closer, steadying himself when the huge airship landed. It shook mildly before settling, and he easily spotted a few jeeps speeding across the airport, their headlights like beacons.

"Let's go," Nobody said, voice calm and reserved as always. The walk through the ship was a confusing one for Sora. He didn't know his way around, and each corridor seemed to look exactly like the last, so he slipped through the crowd of people towards Riku.

"What is Shinra, exactly?" He asked his friend, looking towards him.

"A huge corporation that produces everything from household appliances to military equipment. Shinra even has its own army, along with a specialized force called SOLDIER, which you should know about. There are ex-SOLDIERS who have sided with the Heartless." Riku replied as he folded his arms across his chest. "The SOLDIERS are so special because they have been enhanced with Mako energy, which is the Lifeforce of this specific planet. This planet is a very special one, because it has no heart and no Keyhole. The SOLDIERS have also been enhanced with cells from an alien creature called Jenova."

"So, SOLDIERS are just normal people who have been beefed up, right?" Sora asked as he put his hands behind his head. It was a calm, relaxed movement, because he felt at ease.

"Yes," Riku said, nodding.

Tifa looked over her shoulder at the two and said, "But don't underestimate them; they are incredibly powerful. You should be able to handle them, because the Keyblade makes you stronger and faster than normal people, but you should still be careful."

Sora nodded. "Thanks. Anything else I should know?"

"Not really," Riku responded as they walked from the ship, heading towards the jeeps Sora had spotted earlier. An armed guard saluted Ralph, which the captain waved off almost boredly, and they climbed into the vehicles.

Sora sat in the jeep with Tifa and Stella, the older man riding shotgun while Tifa sat next to him. His eyes drifted toward the streets of Midgar, and he realized he knew nothing about the city itself.

"What about this town? Tell me about it," he said, turning towards Tifa.

Her chocolate brown eyes were at once filled with sadness, the kind caring people felt when they had to watch others suffer. "This town is.a very sad place. On the top level, where we are now, the rich live in luxury. However, below us on the lower level, are the poor people. Poverty is very common on the lower level. Reeve tries to help them, but Shinra does have limited resources. Trying to save a starving population and fund a war at the same time can't be easy."

"That sucks," Sora said softly, searing eyes looking aged again.

"The situation is getting better," the woman said, trying to keep her long hair from flying wildly in the wind. "Very slowly, but it will get better. Midgar is sort of a refuge for people from the Heartless. It isn't the greatest place to live, but it is one of the most protected cities on the Planet. People either come here or Junon if they want to be safe."

"So it's either die of the Heartless or die of poverty," Sora said sadly, and Tifa nodded.

"Here we are," Stella said in a singsong voice, pretending he hadn't heard the conversation. He knew the dark streets of Midgar's lower level like the back of his hand. He grew up there, lived in the gutter in a family as poor and dirty as the ground they walked everyday. It wasn't something he wanted to be reminded of.

Sora looked up at the building, taking in its many floors and small squares of fluorescent lighting. It wasn't the tallest building in the city, and the top seemed to be ripped off, as if something huge had collided with it and torn off the top floors.

They rode the elevator up to the top floor, where the President's office was. Two double oak doors lead into the room, which was medium in size and modestly decorated. A huge stuffed animal with a small robotic cat sat in the corner, while a large desk took up the center of the room. Sitting behind the desk was who Sora assumed was Reeve, a dark haired man with a small beard and deep rings under his eyes.

"What was so fucking important that you couldn't tell us it over the radio?" Ralph asked, not bothering with a casual 'hello'.

Reeve's eyes focused on Sora, searching the young man up and down. "This is the last Keybearer, correct?"

"Yeah, I'm Sora," Sora said as Donald and Goofy walked up to stand on either side of him.

Reeve sighed and massaged his forehead before looking back at Ralph the others. "The Translations were stolen from Esthar earlier today."

Ralph's jaw seemed to drop in shock. "No fuckin' way!"

"What the hell!?" Barret bellowed, an angry, dark scowl slashing out across his rugged features.

"How!?" Tifa cried, obviously distressed. The news seemed to disturb everybody in the room, shock sketching out on their faces. Even Nobody was visibly surprised, his body language not confident for once.

"We think it was the Heartless," Reeve began, pulling a video out of his desk and walking over to a small projector in the back of the room, near the door. "But if it is, we've never seen this type of Heartless before and we've never seen them this intelligent."

He turned off the lights and pushed the video into the projector, which shot the image out onto the large white wall behind his desk. A black and white grainy scene was displayed, obviously from a surveillance or security camera. The image was of a large room that resembled a laboratory, large computer terminals were set up along one wall while desks were on the other. The only living thing in the room seemed to be a small potted plant, however, a large black sphere suddenly appeared in the center of the room, floating just a few inches above the cold tile floor.

"Heartless!" Stella and Sora said at once, their voices hushed as they continued to watch.

The Heartless, however, were not any Sora had seen before. They were built much like humans, their bodies long and slender, wrapped head to toe in black and purple cloth. The Heartless symbol, the red heart slashed with thorned vines, was knitted on their backs. There were three of them, and they all moved in unison. One began tapping away at a computer, apparently downloading information onto a floppy disk, while the other two ripped apart another terminal. They pulled a small, leather bound book from it and together the three fled the room. The camera shifted to a wide hallway as the three broke into it, joined now by huge wolf-like Heartless. They smashed through a wall and made their escape, alarms wailing in the background before the footage suddenly ended and the room went black again.

"As you can see, they were definitely Heartless," Reeve said, taking his place at his desk again.

"I've never seen Heartless do that before." Stella said as he flipped on the lights.

"I know," Reeve replied.

"What did they steal?" Sora asked, looking to Riku confusedly.

"Oh! I forgot you didn't know," Tifa said, smacking herself on the forehead. "The Translations are translations of the diary of one of the first Keybearers, which gives a lot of information that was just lost over the course of time. However, the diary was written in ancient Tribian, and very very few people speak the language, let alone have the government classification to translate delicate details about the Keyblades."

"Crap! This is bad then!" Sora cried, looking distressed.

"Luckily, the parts that had already been translated were copied and stored at another location, which is now under heavy guard. But the diary of one of the first Keybearers isn't really something we can come across again." Reeve's voice was tired, as if he hadn't slept well in weeks.

"What did you find out from it though?" Sora asked, folding his arms across his chest in his classic thinking stance.

"Nothing you don't already know," Riku answered from his spot leaning against the far wall beside Nobody. The two stood almost exactly alike; Sora knew people who didn't know the two probably thought they were brothers.

"Trepe and the others working on the Translations were apparently on the verge of a breakthrough, though," Reeve said. "They were translating a passage about the abilities of the Keyblade Viggo had when the Heartless attacked."

"But how did they attack?" Nobody asked. "Could somebody be controlling them?"

"Like Maleficent did." Sora trailed off. "She could order them to do specific things like that too. She and her court got them to find the Keyholes or kidnap the Princesses of Heart."

"Then I think it's safe to assume somebody is now controlling the Heartless here as they did on your side of Kingdom Hearts," Vincent Valentine said, speaking for the first time. His voice seemed hollow, reminding Sora of a long, dark, and empty hallway full of broken glass. "What is our plan then?"

"I say we head to Esthar," Ralph said. "Some of the Wingblade's conversion parts were damaged, and the boys here know squat about repairing the damn things. You guys could check out the attack site while we're there."

Nobody nodded. It seemed the other Keybearers had silently agreed he was the leader. "Alright. But keeping all our firepower in one place would be stupid. The Keybearers should go to Esthar, while the rest stay here to protect Midgar."

"The ship's all ready to leave," Ralph shrugged.

"Then we'll leave now," Nobody said, walking from the room. The Keybearers followed him, almost in unison, as if they were connected.

"Fuck, bunch of zombies," Barret muttered under his breath. Though Ralph didn't vocalize his thoughts, he agreed with the black man. All four of the Keybearers were polite and well mannered, Sora and Stella were both friendly as well. But running under that seemed to be a cold, efficient machine attached to the Keyblades. They were angels with their wings flaked with frost, roses that bloomed black and beautiful.

----

"President Leon, the Highwind II just landed at the Tribal Airport, sir."

Squall looked up at his secretary and nodded, eyes momentarily away from the reports laid out across his desk. A pair of reading classes propped on his elegant nose gave him a refined look, able to seduce and fighten at the same time. Squall Leonhart was a beautiful, deadly man.

"Alright, show them in if they need to see me," Leon replied before turning back to the papers.

"Yes, sir," his secretary said, shutting the door behind him.

The brunette was again enveloped in the financial reports for Hollow Bastion's capital city when the doors burst open suddenly. A tall, slender woman standing triumphantly before him, hands on her hips in a mock super- heroin pose.

"Uh, General Kisagara is here to see you," he heard his secretary say as the woman closed the doors, an evil grin on her face.

"You're going to give me a heart attack some day," Squall said calmly, not bothered by her flashy entrance.

"Yeah, sure," Yuffie said as she took a seat across the desk. "I spotted Cid on my way up here, he'll be here in a few minutes."

"You didn't rush past him on the stairs again, did you?" Squall asked, raising a dark eyebrow at her. "He almost broke a hip last time."

Yuffie laughed and shook her head, long braids swishing against her back. "No." She smiled to her friend, who merely turned back to his papers. Though Squall's humor was quiet, she enjoyed his barbs and sarcastic comments. Many people mistook the brunette's humor for maliciousness, but she knew it was just Squall being Squall and didn't think much of it.

"Aeris and Cloud are with him," she said suddenly. "And guess who else is with them!"

"A transgendered Moogle?" Squall asked under his breath, beginning to put the report away.

"No, Sephiroth."

The president almost dropped the papers, clear blue eyes focusing on the ninja. "What!?"

"I don't know why," Yuffie said, suddenly becoming serious. "They're geared up too, ready for war."

"Something must have happened.Or will happen," Squall said, shoving the reports into a random drawer in his desk. The small intercom beeped and he pressed a button down, speaking clearly. "Let them in."

The doors swung open yet again and Cid walked in, followed by Aeris, Cloud and Sephiroth. Squall's eyes settled on the ex-General, meeting the Mako fire irises without hesitation.

"I'm going to assume you know what you're doing in bringing him here," he said finally, turning his attention to Cloud.

The blond man nodded. "I do. Just don't ask me to explain it."

"Leon, have you had any reports of Heartless activity lately?" Aeris asked suddenly, taking a seat next to Yuffie.

Squall frowned. "No, why?"

Aeris sighed. "I've felt something bad in my mind for the past couple months. It's huge, and it's creeping up on us very fast. Something bad is going to happen, something is going to come from Kingdom Hearts."

"You know this because you're a Cetra, correct?" Squall asked, taking off his reading classes.

Aeris nodded. "Yes. I think it's from Kingdom Hearts because the feeling seems to stretch out into space, before just kind of fading away over a large area." The young woman sighed, frowning at herself. "It's hard to explain, I know I sound crazy."

"You don't sound crazy," Yuffie said, shaking her head. "I trust your feelings Aeris."

"Thank you," Aeris said, nodding as she smiled, locks of her hair falling out across her shoulders. "But back to the point."

"You want Hollow Bastion to ready itself for war." Squall said, and the woman nodded. "It isn't that simple." He said, shaking his head. "It would frighten the people, something we don't need right now. To frighten them for no reason would be foolish."

"Yes, but what if what I'm feeling is right and Hollow Bastion is attacked with its defenses down?" Aeris countered, passion surfacing in her eyes. She remembered people hurting, distantly in her memories that had all but faded. The population of Midgar was caught unaware of attack when Sephiroth attacked, when the ex-SOLDIER summoned Meteor to crash down on the Planet. Adults carried crying children through the dirty streets of the huge city as the hellish rock got closer. Everyone was trying desperately to escape what seemed to be the end of the world.

Hundreds of people died between the time Meteor appeared in the sky and Holy rose up from the ground to spread its gleaming Lifestream wings across the Planet to stop it. She wouldn't let it happen again, not if she could stop it. She became firmly resolved to help in anyway she could, to prevent as many deaths as she as able to.

"There has been an increase in crime lately Squall," Yuffie said quietly. "The first time the Heartless came, the crime rate shot up because they caused the darkness in people's hearts to grow."

Squall was silent for a few moments, mulling over this new information, before speaking. "Alright, the ground defenses will be increased, but not enough to look suspicious. I'll speak with the Air Force administrator about kicking up the air defense as well."

Aeris sighed, visibly relieved. "I'm glad."

"I've been meaning to tell you this for a while," Squall said, standing as he walked across the room to stare out a window, down across the Hollow Bastion grounds and at the Rising Falls. "I've been collecting information about the Heartless for a while now. I have all of Ansem's Report, along with numerous other reports and documents from various sources. There are all types of reports, some by witches and wizards like Merlin, others by scientists."

"Have you learned anything about them?" Cloud asked, slanting his cerulean eyes at the younger brunette man.

"I haven't had time to read through them all, but I think we should do that now." Squall moved across the room and towards the door. "They're in a hidden area of the library."

"Where have you been getting the damn things?" Cid asked as they entered the Lift Shop.

"Anywhere I come across them," Leon replied, pausing as they were beamed onto the moving platform that would take them down the Hollow Bastion castle. "I've found some in rundown libraries, while others were hidden in the halls of this castle."

"Maleficent probably had them," Cid muttered.

Squall nodded. "I believe so."

-----

"Why is it so dark here?" Sora asked quietly, taking his eyes off the endless blackness of space to look at Riku. There were no stars he could see; they seemed to be gone from this universe, plucked away one by one or ripped away all at once.

"A darkness covers this place," Riku replied in an equally soft voice. "A blanket that blocks out the light. There are stars, suns to light up the planets, but the Heartless invaded and cloaked the worlds in everlasting black."

"And the Dark Planet is the source of the darkness, isn't it?" Sora asked, looking towards the planet far off in the distance. It was the only thing he could see out in space, a small purple ring of power that swirled and curled around the planet, embracing it like a lover.

"Yes," Riku answered, following Sora's gaze at the Heartless Homeworld.

"Then we have to seal it." Sora looked at his friend. "We have to stop the darkness, we'll do it together."

Riku nodded. "We will."

The cape drawn across space did not hide the Wingblade from everything however, and in the darkness a single being perceived its passing. The creature narrowed its butter yellow eyes and cooed, Heartless moving like a massive machine around its large body.

~End of Chapter 5~

^^; I know this chapter is shorter than the past two, sorry! *sigh* ._.; I'm not sure how I'm going to work with Cloud and Sephiroth. I love those two and their relationship and the situation with Zack, because it's so complex and I'm weird like that. I'm trying to think of way to resolve the stuff between them, but without straying from the plot of this fic too much as I'd end up writing another fic of them o_o;;

Anyway! Thanks to those who've reviewed! ^o^ It makes me a happy panda! I'm really thankful for the tips on my grammar and the mechanical side of writing!

Ah, yes, I'm writing too much here aren't I? Another thing I wanted to say is I'm sorry there's not much action in this chapter, mainly only talking and more talking. I, uh, promise Riku and Sora will kick some ass in the next chapter? XDD