Author's Note: This was an idea that came to me, since I spin out ideas like dryer lint. I can't help it, it's just how I am. This is going to be an AU/KH crossover, with the AU being my original (extremely odd) creation. In case anyone wants to get down to the brass tacks of how this works, this is how I envision it. The characters here are full hermaphrodites. Sperm is manufactured inside the body, leaving room for the vagina. They've been genetically engineered to be this way along with a lot of other modifications to survive a very hostile environment. Now, on with the (admittedly bizarre) show!

There are many universes. Many are quite similar but others abide by completely different rules of reality. Sometimes you will find the same people, but twisted and changed by other experiences and histories. Or even inverted, in a mockery of what you know. Deliberate travel between universes is very difficult except for the extremely powerful. Accidental travel, however, can happen with alarming frequency. Such castaways rarely can find their way home.

In some of these universes, life is harsh and brutal. But the children of such lands have never known anything else and to them, it is completely normal. This is the story of such a group and what happens when reality is breached…

Riku leaned back against the tree, hands behind his head and ignoring a stray bit of sap finding its way into his hair.

It was almost winter in Darkvale Forest. There was a definite chill in the air and Riku could tell just be the scent of the air that the first snowfall would be soon. Sighing, he scratched himself under his furs. He'd picked up fleas from the last reindeer they'd caught and butchered and while Zexion's herbal remedies were gradually working, it would be a while before the parasites were really under control.

"How's it going Riku?" Riku looked up with a smile at the quiet question. Sora knelt down beside him, his leathers and furs creaking and Riku reached out to ruffle soft, spiky brown hair. "Hey, watch it!" Sora pouted cutely and Riku laughed softly. Smiling at Sora, Riku remembered how they had met and the history behind it.

Their people, Riku knew, were not as they had once been. A very long time ago, they had been half-people, male and female. Now they were both. Riku didn't understand exactly how it worked and didn't care to, but everyone possessed fully functional male and female attributes. This was not a natural part of evolution, but rather something they had been engineered for in the aftermath of the great magic wars that had devastated the world. All the original half-people had succumbed to the magically twisted radiation, or their children had been born with hideous birth defects. In the end, none of them had survived. The child mortality rate had been dreadful for the new people as well but with the higher tolerance they had been bred with and the additional 'mothers', they had managed to survive. After literally thousands of years, their numbers were beginning to grow.

Riku didn't think they were ever going to be very populous, though. Zexion liked to tell stories about the distant past, stories passed down through so many mouths that it was hard to tell what was truth and what was fancy. But all the stories claimed that hundreds, even thousands of half-people had lived together in towns. Riku couldn't imagine the new people ever doing that. They lived only in small groups, and the largest he had ever heard of had numbered twenty individuals. As they hit puberty the young were given supplies and driven out, to find their way in the wilderness. Many died there, prey to magic twisted beasts and plants, but many also found other groups or singletons like themselves to make a group with. That was how Riku had found Sora. They had both been driven off and wandering when they'd stumbled across each other on the edge of Darkvale Forest. The land was unclaimed and rich, so they'd taken it for their home. Others had soon joined them and now, five years later, they had a proper group.

"It's going well. The winter supplies are looking good." Riku was feeling quite complacent about the winter. Winter was never pleasant this far north but if you went into it with good supplies it wasn't at all bad. "Which is good, given Axel's condition." Sora made a face and Riku understood. Axel's timing couldn't have been worse, which had made putting in the winter supplies far more critical. "It's ironic, really. I know for a fact Axel is usually the one on top, but one of the few times Roxas tops, Axel manages to catch." That fact had had the rest of them quietly snickering at the couple. Behind their backs, of course. Roxas and Axel both had a violent streak and wouldn't take mockery well.

"It could have been a disaster. Axel is the worst person to get pregnant." Sora said a touch tartly. Riku nodded, understanding. The redhead was whipcord thin at the best of times, unable to put on the proper coating of fat even when eating as much food as he could. Bulking up a bit before the winter was a standard survival strategy, but Axel just couldn't manage it and with a baby on the way he was actually losing weight. It didn't help at all that his body was undergoing the changes designed to give him secondary female attributes to feed the baby. New people didn't nurse their children long, only a half year at the most, but that time was critical for the child's development.

"Well, he'll be fine. There's plenty of food." If food had been scarce, well. Axel would probably have ended up miscarrying. The child was going to be born only a month or two into winter, which was the hardest time of the year. "I can't wait to see it really. This will be our first baby in the group." Riku was looking forward to that. Not only would it really signal their adult-hood, a child would be the glue to keep their group together permanently. Instincts would call on all the adults to protect. Until a group like theirs, of unrelated almost children produced a child, they were impermanent at best.

"I bet it will be cute." Sora smiled, looking forward to it as well, although he couldn't help but be a little worried about Axel. Birth complications were rare but not unknown, although Zexion and Sora could both help with those. They were the medics and herbalists of the group. "Want to come back to the longhouse? It's getting cold out."

"Sure." As they walked back, Riku looked towards the longhouse and reflected, not for the first time, that it scarcely deserved the name. It was actually quite short, but then, it was only inhabited by six people. But the construction of the longhouse was faithful to the ancient design, and so the name stayed. Pulling open the animal skin and slipping inside, Riku had to pause to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. A cheerful fire was crackling and snapping in the hearth, but compared to the outside the longhouse was dim indeed. There was nothing like windows and there never would be. Warmth was far too precious.

"Hey. Hungry?" Roxas asked from where he was stirring a pottery kettle filled with something aromatic. Riku's nose twitched as he caught the scent of bird.

"What is it?" They didn't raise animals like the southerners did, so it had to have been something they'd caught. Roxas smiled briefly.

"Wild turkey. Axel shot it." Riku nodded, unsurprised, and took a bowl, holding it out so Roxas could ladle out some of the soup. They were all good with weapons but Axel preferred the sling and he was excellent with it. Despite his pregnancy, Axel was still hunting and it was probably good for him. Soon they would be mostly confined to the longhouse and there was no reason to start on the cabin fever early.

"It's good. Thank you." The soup was rich with grains and vegetables. They did a great deal of hunting and gathering, but the group also planted and harvested grains and tubers. This years harvest had been very good, not like some other years. A pinch of salt from the bag and the soup was truly delicious. Roxas frowned faintly as he looked at the bag.

"We'll have to send someone to the salt lake in the spring." Riku sighed at that but nodded. The salt lake was deep within Darkvale Forest and a very difficult trek, but it would have to be done. If nothing else, they would need extra salt for trading. Salt was a valuable commodity and other groups were willing to trade them copper and tin for it, which they couldn't make for themselves.

As they ate, Sora and Riku listened to Demyx plucking a tune on his sitar. He'd gotten the instrument from a trader from the coast and while it had cost them a pretty penny, the music was worth it. Riku had been told the instrument was very old and came from somewhere else originally, and he sometimes wondered if it might come from the old days, before the new people had existed. The strings never seemed to break, no matter how many times Demyx tuned it. But then, he was very careful with it.

Zexion and Axel slipped into the longhouse together, and Axel was carrying a basket of something. Riku blinked at it, a bit surprised. Autumn berries? Although you never knew what some of the magic twisted plants would do. They were cornucopias of often terrible surprises.

"Want some berries? They're safe, Zex and I tested them out." Axel assured him but Riku frowned, carefully testing the berries with his own powers of darkness. It never hurt to be too careful. They were rich in magic but seemed benign, and he carefully took one, holding it under his tongue and letting his body sample it. One advantage the new people had over the old was the ability to detect toxins. He finally swallowed it as Sora tested with his powers of light and smiled at the faint rush the infusion of magic gave him.

"Thanks guys." Zexion smiled and took a seat on the fur rugs, Axel following with a grunt and accepted a bowl of soup from Roxas. He was getting big now, and Riku only wished it was carrying over to the rest of him. He was definitely too thin for the demands being placed on his body.

"Something odd going on over at the cave." That comment from Axel caught Riku's attention. The cave had always been extremely odd and they often went there to see what they could find. One of the groups prized possessions, a little knife made of an unknown substance, had come from there. It folded up and Zexion thought it looked like an artifact from the old days, but how could that be? It should have succumbed to rust and this knife looked brand new. "We saw some lights. Maybe we should go check it out."

"Tomorrow?" Sora said eagerly and Riku smiled. Everyone loved the cave, it was like a treasure hunt. Most of what they found was completely useless, of course. Some of it even appeared to be trash. But it shouldn't have been there, which made every trip a fun diversion.

"Why not?" Riku said agreeably. He was the default leader of the group, for no real reason he understood. But the others looked to him for leadership and he'd accepted the mantle. "Zexion, can you tell us a story?" Zexion smiled and began to speak. They all knew most of the stories, but Zexion was their official historian. He was also the only one of them who could read and write. It was a rare skill and mostly useless, but he would pass it on to his own children. That was the tradition.

"Long ago and far away, when two moons graced the sky and the merfolk lived in the sea, there was a girl named Cinderella." Riku let himself be caught up in the familiar story, marveling at the faint illusions Zexion spun from his hands as he spoke, showing them the girl and her trials. That was his gift, the magic of illusion, and he used it well. Riku was unutterably glad that Zexion and Demyx had joined their group. With stories and music as well as Zexion's gift with herbs, they were invaluable. When the story was over, Demyx began to pick out a tune on his sitar and the others picked up their instruments. Riku himself couldn't keep a tune in a bucket, but Axel's drumming and Sora's pan pipes made a nice background to Demyx's sitar. Then Demyx and Roxas began to sing, and the music was complete. Riku and Zexion both listened, entranced. When the music was done, Riku took up the torch and began telling a story about a strange creature called Oogie Boogie. He wasn't as good at it as Zexion, but they all took their turns entertaining the group.

Finally everyone was ready for sleep, and Riku cuddled up against Sora, just listening to the beat of the smaller boys' heart. Demyx and Zexion were using the partitioned off part of the longhouse and everyone else ignored the soft sounds with the ease of long practice. In the fall and winter, there was very little privacy to be had, but that didn't stop anyone from attempting to procreate. Riku grinned a little at the thought and resolved to see if Sora was interested in the morning.

With that decided, he let himself relax into the embrace of fur and warm flesh, drifting off to sleep.

"Sora." Riku groaned softly as the brunette licked his throat, finding the pleasure points that could effortlessly arouse him. Sora pulled back with a grin, his bright blue eyes cheerful as he knelt over his silver haired lover, reaching down to massage Riku's erection and rub it against own hardness. "Mmm, please." Riku could feel the wetness inside himself, the need to be filled building. "Inside. Please."

"Right." Sora said, a touch breathlessly as he changed his position so he was kneeling between Riku's thighs. He quickly positioned himself and went inside, making Riku shudder in pleasure. They weren't true males so there was no need for lubrication or stretching. Only the beautiful, wonderful sensation of being filled and touched at the same time. Riku caught Sora's lips in a deep, passionate kiss as they began rocking together on top of the fur blankets. Riku's head fell back and his breath quickened as he felt his building orgasm, the tension in his penis and the tight feeling deep inside. There was a brief, shining moment right before he released, a powerful dual orgasm that left him rigid for a moment. Sora followed a moment later, muffling his cry of pleasure against the blankets before relaxing.

"Mmm, so good." He sighed softly, lifting his head and blinking at Riku heavily, stroking a bit of damp silver hair away from his face. "Riku, I love you." Riku smiled, hugging Sora tightly for a moment before the brunette pulled away.

"I love you too." It was amazing really. They'd met by pure chance and given that they were both unmated, it had been almost inevitable that they would mate. But they'd found more than mere physical release, more than even just companionship. They had found love. Riku vaguely wished his parents could have experienced that, but he knew they hadn't. They hadn't even liked each other. Riku sometimes wondered if Axel and Roxas and Demyx and Zexion felt the same, but he wasn't going to ask. If the answer was no, the question would just be cruel. They nuzzled for a moment before pulling on their clothes. No one commented as they left the partitioned section to grab some breakfast. There was still plenty of soup from last night, and they both grabbed a bowl and downed it quickly before picking up their bows. "Everyone ready to go?"

"We've been ready longer than the two of you." Axel observed with a smile as he twirled his sling, making Riku blush. "Want anyone to have their real weapons out?" Riku frowned faintly, then nodded.

"Zexion, if you would." Zexion nodded and snapped his fingers, calling in his weapon. It was a book, and the thickest Riku had ever imagined could exist. He couldn't imagine actually reading it and sometimes wondered what was in it. Sora had suggested it was versions of 'blah blah blah' but Zexion hadn't taken kindly to that.

All of them had special weapons. It was one of the attributes of the new people, along with their innate connection to some type of magic. Riku could call upon the darkness as easily as breathing and formed it into a weapon he called the Soul Eater. It was an ominous weapon, but that didn't disturb him. The darkness was an innate part of his being and completely within his control. Sora had the power of light and summoned a blade he called Oathkeeper. Axel's power was fire and his weapons were strange wheels that he referred to as chakram. Demyx had no weapon at all, but could summon water clones of himself and cast water based spells. And of all of them, Roxas was the strangest. He called in two blades, one a weapon of darkness called Oblivion and the other a weapon of light called Shattered Key. That weapon worried Riku a little. It was a very slender weapon with a jagged head reminiscent of a small key, but despite being light magic it wasn't like Oathkeeper. It was the light that cut and burned.

They could have all had their real weapons out and that would have been safer, but that would have made hunting difficult. Axel let fly and whooped as he hit something.

"Chipmunk!" Running up to the little body, he stuffed it into his belt pouch. It wasn't much but every little bit helped. Riku took a shot at a bird but missed, and had to retrieve his arrow before they could continue. Arrows weren't that easy to make so they tried not to loose them entirely.

Soon they were at the cave. It sat on the banks of a deep, beautiful lake. They had thought about making their home near here, but the wild magic was too strong. The spot they had chosen was much safer. Water might have been a problem, but after a bit of magic and labor they had a well.

"I love this place." Demyx said cheerfully as Zexion conjured a little light to guide their way. Zexion's magic was all illusions and mysteries. "Hey look!" He bent down and Riku blinked as he freed something from the dirt. "Can you read this Zexion?" Zexion took the artifact, a strange piece of paper, and peered at it closely.

"Mc-don-alds. Over… one million served." He read slowly, carefully sounding out the words. Not even Zexion could read fluently. There were no books to practice with, no writing except the ones he made for himself. Unless you counted his weapon book, but that took too much energy to maintain just for reading and most of it was in other languages anyway.

"Served what?" Riku wondered as the wandered farther into the cave, Zexion discarding the scrap. It was interesting trash but still trash. "And what's a million?"

"It's… a lot." Zexion answered. "You know a thousand?" Riku nodded. He could count and do basic math. "It's a thousand plus a thousand ten times, I think." Riku blinked and Sora stared at him. Their people had no use for numbers that big. "There were that many old people, I think, before the cataclysm."

"Hm." Riku wasn't sure if he believed that or not, but decided it didn't matter. Such numbers of people were simply unimaginable for him. As always, they paused for a moment to look at the drawings on the walls. They were done in white chalk and Riku knew none of them had put them there. Another mystery of the cave.

"What is this?" Axel was poking at something ahead and they all hurried up to take a look at it.

"It looks like a door." Roxas said uncertainly, gripping his lovers arm and pulling him away from it. Axel scowled but went as Roxas hissed a reminder in his ear. The pregnant member of their group certainly shouldn't be taking the risks first. Zexion and Sora took his place, examining the door as the others looked around, checking for anything untoward. But there was nothing… just this strange, floating door that didn't seem to belong.

"It's strange. I'm not sure how to open it." Zexion murmured as he touched the doorknob on the door. They were familiar with doors mostly as hide flaps, but they knew about other sorts of doors. Zexion's original family had used log cabins with real doors instead of a longhouse.

"Zexion, it's a floating magical doorway in a cave that always spits up strange objects." Riku pointed out. "Even if we knew how, should we open it?" Zexion blinked. Clearly he hadn't thought of that, but then, it was his nature to be inquisitive. Sora looked troubled by the thought. Suddenly Zexion sniffed the air then sneezed.

"Wild magic coming! Let's get out of –" That was as far as he got before the magic surge hit them. Sora screamed in pain, pressing his hand against his ears as discordant sounds and vibrations hit him. Riku grabbed the other boy, pulling him into a tight embrace. He could vaguely see Roxas and Axel huddled together against the floor, trying to ride out the surge as Demyx fought his way to Zexion's side, grabbing the other boys' arm. Just as his hand clamped down on Zexion the door exploded open.

There was no time to scream before they were pulled through.

In the World that Never Was.

"Mrph."

"Can you please eat with your mouth closed?" Roxas said absently to Axel, who paused, half-masticated burrito in hand.

"Why?" Roxas sighed to himself as he scanned the darkness. They were out to clean up Heartless, always a chore but good for the Organization. Freeing hearts was his duty, after all. But so far they hadn't found a single one.

"Nummy." Axel remarked as he finished the burrito, tossing the wrapper with a fine disregard for littering laws. Not that the World that Never Was had any police to enforce it. Or any littering laws, come to think of it, although Xemnas did encourage them to pick up after themselves. "Hey, what's that?" Calling up his chakram Axel started towards what had caught his attention. Roxas turned his head and followed as he caught the flash of bright color.

What it was turned out to be something very peculiar and a bit off putting. Two… boys?... were unconscious on the ground. Roxas stared into the face of a tall, lanky… man?... who looked curiously like Axel. But for the first time in his short life as a Nobody, Roxas found himself completely unable to sex another person. The face was different from Axel's, softer and slightly rounder. Yet it wasn't feminine enough for Roxas to say, without doubt, that this was a girl. Looking over the rest of his/her body decided the matter, though. Either this person had a pot belly or was pregnant so he abruptly decided it had to be a woman. Although the resemblance to Axel was alarming. Even the tattoos were the same.

"A relative of yours?" Roxas blinked, looking up as Axel poked the second body with his foot. Roxas stared as he saw another androgynous face, but one that looked curiously like his own. "Damn. Is this a boy or a girl?" Axel knelt down and before Roxas could stop him, yanked down the leather pants for a quick look. "Boy. I think. Wait, where are his balls?"

"Axel, stop molesting him!" Roxas slapped the redhead's hands away as Axel grinned, completely unrepentant. "That one looks like you. We should probably take them to the castle." Axel made a small hmm noise and checked the blonde boy for a pulse.

"They have hearts, but yeah." If they left the two here they would likely get eaten by the Heartless. Axel lifted his own double while Roxas carried his lookalike. Creating a corridor of darkness, they returned to the castle.

They were both unaware of the faint sparkle in the air that was a door closing, forever.