Kingdom Hearts 1. Occupational Hazards

DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT AND PROBABLY WILL NOT EVER OWN KINGDOM HEARTS OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS. THEY BELONG TO DISNEY AND SQUARE ENIX.

Flurry, flurry

Dance your way through the heat of the flame

Hurry, hurry

I'll meet you on the other side

Running with in a circle of fire

God forbid you ever just once tiptoe

Dust rising up higher and higher-

The music came to an abrupt halt as frantic screams erupted from a small tavern. The cause being that a curtain had caught an ember from the fire dancer's current performance. And due to the dancer's sheer misfortune the fire spread faster then the people could exit, due to the years of flammable mists that reached the curtains, and he was trapped on the burning stage. He would have been able to get off stage seconds later, had it not been for the age weakened, burning beam that had fallen; effectively pinning the young man to the ground. His torso having taken the brunt of the weight, not to mention that he was slowly being burned from the heat of the approaching flame.

-Meanwhile-

Outside, the proper authorities were just arriving on the scene. Once the police were informed, the fire department had already started on taming the fire. Said inferno had spread to nearly engulfing the whole upper section of the tavern when the fire chief asked the dreaded question. "Is everyone out of the building?" The manager paused, turning to scan the crowd of fearful faces. "Yes- wait! has anyone seen Alex at all?!" He called, receiving only a confirmation of his fear from the crowd. "Sir... Alex, our house fire dancer is unaccounted for..." He replied, the chief closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and nodding. "We'll do all we can to find him." The fire chief replied, turning to face his men. Boys get your gear on! We have a man still in there. I want Myde, Riku, and Nami in there looking. The rest of you keep at the blaze. We can't let it claim four lives!" The team nodded and moved into action. The three mentioned fighters donned their masks and oxygen tanks before entering the inferno.

-Inside with Alex-

The red head was still, as he was nearing a state of unconsciousness as he felt the blackouts and lengths increasing as time went by. After around five minutes he thought that he could hear voices calling what sounded like his name, but because of the amount of smoke he had inhaled it hurt his throat to attempt any sort of response. So he did the only thing that he could, while even that took some effort, slowly he lifted his free arm and made a fist. He then proceeded to drop it against the floor. He repeated the process around three more times before finally succumbing to the smoke inhalation and losing consciousness in time to miss the figure that approached just moments later.

-With the firefighters-

Riku assessed the situation quickly before turning to the others and motioning. "We can cover more ground if we split up. Just be careful and call if you find him." The other two nodded silently, each turning to head in a direction of their own. Myde, being the most nimble of the three, took the path with the most debris which included the stage. After a while of searching he called out to the lost man, pausing to listen he blinked when he heard what sounded like footsteps coming from the stage. But all he saw was burning debris at this point. Something in his gut told him to get a closer look, so he carefully made his way over, taking care to avoid the falling bits. Once on the platform he took a few steps before something in the corner had caught his eye. At first he dismissed it as a part of the fire, but turning his head he gasped as he realized that it was too red to be fire and there was a pale face below it. Without further hesitation Myde called for the other two as he reached the still form. "Guys you better get over here fast!" He called, and within mere moments two figures were seen racing toward him. "He's stuck under a beam and from the look of him I'd say that we don't have much time because he's fading fast." Myde stated as he carefully lifted the beam with Riku's help and dropped it a short distance away before even more carefully lifting up Alex's prone form. "Nami-neko lead us home." It was an odd statement, but it was something that the three of them started when they first met. Because when on rescue missions they'd find the lost Myde and Riku would rely on Nami's ability to find her way back to where she needed to be. Hence the 'neko' ending. "Right, come on then boys." She quipped, a smile on hr face going unseen through the mask as she turned and led them through the fiery maze.

-In the outside world-

Everyone waited with bated breath, anxiously watching for any sign of the fighter trio with the lost man. When the entrance collapsed, and everyone had nearly lost all hope for them, a small silhouette appeared in the smoky haze followed by two larger ones supporting a third limp one between them. "Look!" Someone called, causing every face to turn. Instantly relief flooded the area as the four came into view. The scene came alive again as the on location paramedics expertly strapped and loaded the red head into the waiting ambulance then took off for the hospital. Unknowingly leaving one undoubtedly concerned fire fighter, who seemed to go unnoticed as he took his place in the truck. He would have too, were it not for the two pairs of eyes that instantly noticed the change in their bright-eyed friend's demeanor.

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A/N : This story has been floating around in my head for a while and I figured that I'd post it on here because it's getting rather long and I want to see if you all would like it or not. Your reactions and reviews will also be taken into consideration when I decide whether I am going to post the next chapter...


	2. Model Attraction

The next day Myde spared a free moment to sneak away from the fire house in the after noon to go see how the red head was doing under the impression that he was going to the local aquarium. When in reality he was headed for the hospital as usual. After a short walk, he obviously didn't have a car because he actually lived in the fire house as it was easier for him that way, he reached the small hospital nodding a greeting to the petite strawberry blonde standing outside the entrance. "Hey sweetie, I thought we were going to meet up at the coffee shop then head here together..." He mused cheerfully, wrapping an arm lightly around the slightly startled girl's shoulders. "Wha-" She began, but was promptly quieted when Myde leaned toward her ear. "Just play along, and walk with me to a patient's room for a bit. Some of the senior doctors can be a little critical about a person's looks..." He muttered, smiling with that goofy grin as he pulled back to look at her. "So shall we go in to visit Alex for a bit?" He asked quietly, receiving a small nod from the other and with that they turned and entered the hospital.

Myde kept his arm around the girl, pulling her closer as if attempting to hide her from view as they walked up to the nurse's station. "Hello Maylin, I'm here to see Alex, the man who was brought in late last night with second degree burns." Maylin smiled and nodded glancing down at the patient sheet in front of her then back up to the pair. "Ah, yes he's in room 809, right down that hall and it's the third door on your right." She replied, smiling toward the strawberry blonde with a knowing expression. "The boss assigned a few extra patients to her so she won't get break for a while, but Alex is one of her charges so I'll make sure that she stops by his room again." She added quietly, before turning her attention back to her work as Myde turned and lead her to Alex's assigned room.

After a short, but quiet, walk they entered the room and Myde promptly removed his arm, turning to softly shut the door behind him. "Sorry about that, but as I said earlier, some of the doctors are really old fashioned and to see a girl dressed in clothes of the modern era standing around outside would send them of their rockers so to speak..." He mused, a light chuckle leaving him as he turned around again but froze as his gaze landed on the still man on the bed. Now Myde should not have been surprised because this was not the first time that he'd seen Alex. But he couldn't help but stare, the first time that he seen him in the fire he'd thought that it was the fire that had made Alex's hair so red. Seeing him now though, his thoughts were quickly proven wrong. It turned out that the color had been enhanced by the fire, but it was ultimately a vibrant red that made Myde wonder if it was dyed, regardless of that it seemed to only add to the attraction that the man possessed. Because really, who wouldn't stop and stare if they saw a tall, nicely tanned, man with long red hair, unique tear shaped tattoos and a model's physique walking down the street?

Blinking and shaking his head slightly, he moved to take the seat beside the bed that hadn't been taken by the smaller girl. "So is he your boyfriend or something...?" She asked looking between the two curiously, and Myde turned his attention on her quickly, a look of what could have been surprise, mixed with a slight longing. "Oh, no... He isn't." He replied turning his gaze back to the red head, all the while the girl was forming her own conclusions about the two before her. "No, I'm just one of the fire fighters that were called to the scene when the tavern that he works at caught of fire last night..." At this she nodded, folding her hands in her lap as she turned her own eyes toward Alex. "Well do you want him to be?" She asked with a blunt, but honest simplicity to her tone saying that she merely was asking out of curiosity.

His eyes widened almost comically as he looked at her again. "No! I mean... No, I..." He trailed off realizing that he didn't have an answer for her then. Because he couldn't find his own answer to that question for himself. Before she could resond though, the door opened and they both looked to the door to see a nurse entered. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize that he had visitors." She spoke after closing the door and turning around and seeing Myde. "It's ok, Emily, it's just me and... I'm guessing that she's here for you?" He ended turning his head toward the strawberry blonde that stepped around the curtain at that moment. "Hi Em, I was waiting for you outside but..." She turned to Myde. "I brought her in here so that she wouldn't get caught by Erik standing outside for so long. I hope you don't mind..." He concluded, scratching his head as Emily only smiled and stepped further into the room. "Thank you Myde. You really are a heaven send. "She mused, gesturing to the girl. "Ok, come on Reina. Let's go get you some lunch." She told the smaller girl as they walked out of the room.

Myde waited a moment, his stare lingering on the door for another moment before he sighed and turned looking back to the red head. His thoughts drifting over what Reina had asked. Why couldn't he answer with the simple 'no' that he'd been ready to answer with before something in his head stopped him? After another moment of thought he groaned inwardly, a hand coming to press against his forehead. He pushed the confusing thoughts from his head and stood, he had to get back to the fire house, and hopefully take his mind off Alex, because he couldn't afford to screw up on a rescue mission. With that thought in mind, he took one last glance at the still man before turning and exiting the room.

A/N : I know that this is a bit off topic from the story, but it was necessary to draw out the story a bit so that it wouldn't seem too rushed and lacking of detail. Plus it helps me give the story a bit of a more realistic everyday life feel to it.


End file.

Kingdom Hearts, Drama, Romance