Zoro leapt from the window, grimacing as he was already surrounded by the odd creatures within milliseconds of hitting earth.

They were somewhere behind the hotel, in an abandoned alley or storage area for the local businesses. He could see a canal or possibly drainage ditch not five feet away, though it's purpose, beyond aesthetic reasons, Zoro couldn't begin to fathom. His new best friend Leon was already pummeling his way through the mosh pit of writhing obsidian bodies, silver sword flashing as he created a path.

"We need to find the boss," the older Brunet yelled "don't worry about the small fry!"

Zoro quirked an eyebrow, smirking as he did so, as Leon took off showing no intention to help clean up this mess. Shaking his head sorrowfully, the moss headed man turned to his young charge. Sora was currently fending off several armored heartless at once, failing in his endeavor to leave them behind and follow Mr. Bossy-pants as various more popped up from behind boxing him in. Rolling his silver eyes, Zoro reached over the monster's heads and plucked Sora out of the middle of the gang up (sparing a moment to briefly marvel at how light he was), before placing the nearly weightless child at his side

"Hey, do you eat anything at all?" the swordsman grunted, half surprised with himself that he even cared "If you want to survive long enough to accomplish our goal you'd better bulk up and get meat on those skinny bones of yours."

Sora sent the man an indignant pout, which was alarmingly similar to Chopper's, and the effect was more endearing than intended. Zoro found himself snorting in amusement "Don't worry, I'll help you train so that you can take out punks like this in your sleep. Then you won't have to listen to me nag you, deal?"

Blue eyes wary with slight distrust and muddied in confused indecision paused, watching as Zoro defended them and in turn Zoro kept half an eye on the boy, watching a he considered the offer. Sora noted how every stroke of this strange man's blade was decisive, not a single movement wasted, and he was capable of taking out several heartless in one swing. Zoro could tell that Sora wasn't sure if he could trust him, they had only just met. However, Leon seemed okay to the kid despite being an emotionless jerk and Zoro had shown him nothing but kindness since they had been formally introduced. He even defended Sora, saying it was unfair that they just throw this weird, new and incredibly heavy responsibility on him.

The decision to trust Zoro enough to learn how to use a sword caused the once solemn sapphire gaze to suddenly brighten into a blinding ocean blue accompanied by a sincere grin of happiness "Deal!"

Zoro nodded, an odd feeling of warm pride fluttering in his chest at the courage of a boy thrown into a truly odd situation "Good, now, first lesson. Leon is an idiot."

Sora giggled, one hand covering his mouth cutely, making the larger swordsman fight back the urge to chuckle as he continued "Lesson number two, it's never a good idea to go straight to the boss. Believe it or not the small fry give you a good chance to learn from your mistakes and get valuable battle experience. Fight every opponent you can, and then once the area is clean, you can beat up the boss as you go."

"Got it!"

"Good, so what do we do?" the man smirked blocking an attack and sending the heartless flying.

Sora looked around, before stepping confidently out from Zoro's side "We beat them all up, no exceptions!"

"Exactly!"

As one the duo sprang forward, battling the waves of heartless within the alley, Zoro keeping an eye on the kid while Sora did his best to fight while watching Zoro and trying to copy his moves. The green haired swordsman allowed a laugh to bubble from his throat, the boy had unintentionally and in a remarkably short amount of time captured his affection. Whether it was paternal or brotherly, Zoro didn't know, but there was something about this child that begged his heart to connect with him and form an unbreakable bond.

Giving a helpless shrug, but not really regretting a thing, Zoro made his decision. He will go on this crazy quest and get his world back, but on the way he will train this scrap of a kid and turn him into a warrior capable of shaking his own set of stars.

Eventually the two fought their way until not even the smallest black speck floated in the air, leaving Sora grinning up at Zoro, his face beaming with pride "We did it!"

Zoro simply gave a nod "Yeah, we did."

The boy pumped his fist, swinging the keyblade in what he assumed was a cool pose "Alright, now let's go find the boss!"

Scrambling away with unfathomable energy, the boy leapt at a nearby wooden door labeled clearly "Second District". Turning the knob Sora leaned backwards so to quickly grab one of Zoro's hands and tug him through "Come on Zoro, let's go!"

…..

Sora sighed; he had no idea where Leon went. Unfortunately, Zoro wasn't much help either. The guy had gotten them lost more than ten times within the space of five minutes. The young man groaned. Some hero he turned out to be, barely even started on an epic adventure and he was already a lost cause, literally.

"Um," Sora practically whispered, his unease dripping off every syllable "Zoro? I think we're lost."

The man in question closed his eyes, tilting his head back and breathing through his nose as if to stave off a headache. He grit his teeth, grinding them together before giving a pained grunt that seemed to have been torn from the depths of his soul "Yeah, I think we are too."

Sora thought back, remembering that some screaming passerby had said something about a monster in the Third District, but he wasn't sure where the Third District was, much less how to get there. Zoro wasn't much help either although the man kept insisting that the town was moving on him. Sora had only sighed in response. Towns don't move, at least this one doesn't. That he was aware of at least.

"Um," the boy scanned the area, sweeping his ocean blue gaze left and right until alighting on the clue he desperately sought. A street sign, "Look!" Sora grinned in relief, grabbing Zoro by the wrist so to ensure that the older man followed properly "it's a sign that says the Third district is down this alleyway!"

Zoro rolled his eyes but followed anyway. The young boy reveled the feeling of strength that he could feel in the man's hands. Even though he didn't admit it, Sora was terrified. His island had just been destroyed, his best friends taken and now he had a group of people demanding he save all the worlds? He was only fourteen years old, what could he possibly do that could save everyone? He couldn't even beat Riku in a race, much less a fight. What difference could a Keyblade make on his skills? What if he wasn't good enough?

Almost in response to this distressing thought, Sora's fingers tightened on Zoro's hand, even as the smallest hiccup of a sob burst through clenched, trembling lips. The young teen felt his fellow Keyblade wielder stop, tugging him to a halt as well, but Sora didn't dare turn and face him. Not with the shame of tears running down the once brave face. Pearly teeth captured the quivering bottom lip, even as he made a fist with his free hand as he fought against any more sobs.

Behind him Zoro was silent, and Sora could only imagine the annoyed disgust that the warrior must be feeling to be saddled with a crybaby like him. Sora wanted to let him off the hook and tell him he didn't have to come with, but he didn't want to lose the closest thing to a big brother that he had right now. That comfort, of having someone older to help carry the burden, was something Sora desperately needed, but he didn't want to hold the man against his will either. What should he do?

"Hey,"

Sora flinched at the soft tone, hunching his shoulders against the question lurking behind the words "Sorry," he sniffled "just getting my bearings, the Third District is right ahead."

…..

Zoro quirked an eyebrow, the kid refused to turn around and face him. Heaving a sigh, the nineteen year old tugged the skinny arm, forcing the kid to whirl around, his bright blue eyes wide in surprise. Shyly glancing up, Sora ducked his head in a vain attempt to hide the last few droplets of moisture clinging to his eyelashes. He looked so much like Chopper in that moment Zoro felt his heart give an audible crack. Thinking of Chopper actually gave the man an idea, and kneeling down, he placed a large calloused hand on the spikey head.

"It's not a bad thing to feel scared or cry you know," he murmured softly "everyone does, even me."

The forlorn look on the boy's face melted away to one of cynical disbelief causing Zoro to give a warm chuckle "Yes, I have cried. A few times in fact. One to make a promise to my rival and her father, and the second when I made another promise to my captain."

The ocean blue gaze fell back to the cobblestones, the child's face shrouded in shadow, "But have you ever been scared?"

Zoro pursed his lips in thought at the soft query "Yes," he finally answered, his tone softer than before "there was a time when I thought that my captain would die. I have already lost one best friend; I couldn't imagine losing another."

Sora peeked up from under long brown eyelashes "What happened?"

"I offered my life in exchange for his."

Sora's face fell, his complexion growing pale as the blood rushed from his cheeks from shock "You…offered to die instead?" he gasped "But…how?"

Zoro gave a casual shrug, though he knew that the weight this story held was no meaningless thing "I survived. An impossible scenario that would have killed anyone else, I survived."

The look the child was giving him was nothing less than pure adulation, the glowing gaze of a boy who had finally found a hero. It made Zoro fidget uncomfortably, and the man ruffled Sora's head with more force than necessary if only to get those eyes off him. "So, what I'm trying to say is," he said after clearing his throat in discomfort "is that I know that it's not always about the strength of your physical body that can turn the balance in your favor, often a warrior is judged by the strength of his heart. You got it, kid?"

Sora pushed the large hand off to the side of his head, looking up through one eye at the swordsman and giving a stunning grin loaded with relief "I got it, promise."

"Good," Zoro ground out with a firm nod, "Now, let's go take care of that monster. Leon's probably dead already and it would be a shame if we can't at least make sure Yuffie gets his body."

"EHHHH?!"

Zoro looked down to see Sora giving him a look that he had originally thought Chopper owned the trademark to, but apparently not, because that boy couldn't appear more horrified even if he tried. To be honest, it was utterly adorable.

A large guffaw burst from the swordsman's mouth, and bubbled into a warm chuckle "I'm kidding, twerp."

"Oh, whew," Sora sighed, making Zoro snicker again.

"But seriously, though," the older man smirked "we really ought to take care of that thing."

"Right!" Sora reached for Zoro's hand and proceeded to tug him down the alleyway "First we have to get there."

"You don't need to hold my hand, it's a straight alleyway, you know."

"Zoro, I've only known you a little while, but I'm pretty sure you'd manage to get lost."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

I know its short, but I wanted to give you something, and I'm so sorry it took so long to update!

I graduate with my business degree in a little over three weeks, so hopefully I will have more time for writing!

For now at least, please REVIEW! And if there is anything anyone wants to see in particular with Zoro experiencing the worlds of Kingdom Hearts, please leave those in the reviews and I will seriously consider each one!