Broken Pieces

A Kingdom Hearts II Story

by: Wakaran a i xx

author' s notes: The first six game days of Kingdom Hearts II played in Twilight Town was honestly among my most favourite of the entire game, and I simply fell in love with Roxas, Olette, and the whole Twilight Town gang. I felt that this pairing and the group as a whole doesn't get enough love and attention, and so Broken Pieces came to life. I hope fellow fans of this pairing will enjoy this, and that perhaps I can make new fans of this pairing!

This story was published on here years before 358/2 Days was released, so there is a bit of a timeline issue, but let's just pretend there's a time gap between the two games, okay? I also use both the manga and novel was my source material in conjunction with the game, as well as my own personal spin on things, so don't be too shocked if what you read here isn't exactly how it went down if you've only played the game. As this story goes on it will be filled with spoilers from the entire Kingdom Hearts series, so be warned!

disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own the Kingdom Hearts series. Square Enix and Disney have that right.

Chapter I: Sowed Seeds

Past the chattering voices and crowded avenues of the Tram Common and beyond the quiet stillness of The Woods lied a house; though, considering the sheer size of the courtyard and the even greater length of the front of the building, it was more like a mansion. It was larger than any of the other houses in the extensive town, in any case. No one was sure who owned it originally as it had been abandoned for several decades by then. Dubbed, and quite creatively so, 'The Old Mansion' by the town's children, it has been recently said that someone could be seen in the front left window.

But with kids being kids, too afraid to prove the rumor as valid and yet too full of pride to admit that fear and reject the ludicrous idea, it has become one of the town's 'Seven Wonders', coupled with several other oddities that had been occurring in the world for quite some time now. While the other 'Wonders' were definitely an eyebrow-raiser for the skeptical, no one knew how right they were about the girl that could be seen from the very lonely second floor window.

In fact, it was as if a quaint little family lived amongst the rumble of The Old Mansion. Hidden deep below the structure, though from whom they were hiding so securely from was unknown, was a different world, so to speak. Unlike the other floor or rooms of the building, the basement was quite technologically advanced, having a brand-new yet rock-cold feeling about each subsequent room. At the end of the trail of rooms was a single space that was so pure white in color and of light that it could blind a person at first glance.

And it was in this room, in front of a single pod that stood in the very center, that the said mysterious girl spent most of her time. Partly by force and partly by her own free will, the girl worked tirelessly, drawing pictures and working a magic only she could perform. As much as she longed to piece together the broken pieces of memory of the young boy encased inside the pod, memories that she herself had destroyed, no less, the blue-eyed, blonde-haired fifteen-year-old girl could not help but feel for the lives that she was now responsible for wrecking in the process.

The resonating sound of the Clock Tower's bell reached the girl where she sat—it was now three in the morning, though if one looked outside, the sky was locked with the orange, yellow, and pink colors of a sun that was neither rising or setting; a sky of twilight. Like the darkened, starry skies Traverse Town, forever stuck in darkness while still having a day and a night, the world fittingly known as Twilight Town was perpetually trapped between the dark and the light, though time was no such prisoner.

Gently closing the opened sketchbook, a coloured picture of the pod-sleeping boy falling headfirst in a sea of water slowly fading from view as she did so, the girl in the plain white dress sighed, bowing her head before standing and placing the book down where she was just sitting down previously. She was finally making some progress in her work, though she had just barely begun. She had managed to unchain the links of false memory she had placed in his heart, but restoring the boy's original memory hit a brick wall after that.

When he found out about the delay, the man demanded that the boy's other half be brought back from his ill-given freedom to make the boy complete again. Retrieving the boy's other was no easy task, and hiding him afterward only got more complicated. So many people were victimized for that man's desires. She probably would have forgiven him for everything he had done if he did it from the goodness of his heart and with the best of intentions, but she was certain the exact opposite was the case.

Walking the corridors out of the pod room that led to the computer room, the girl closed her eyes again as she walked past said man in red, who sat before the numerous monitors, meaning no hate toward the black-robed male who stood by the other man with his arms crossed. The hooded person nodded a silent hello in her direction as she passed by, and just as the girl reached the automatic door, the man wrapped in the red bandages spoke.

"How goes Sora's restoration, Naminé?"

Naminé slowed to a stop, though made no movement to turn towards the voice that spoke to her. She could feel the hooded man flinch his head slightly at the question, obviously interested in the reply she had to give. Naminé glanced at the main monitor from the corner of her eyes, where the words 'Restoration at 1%' flashed repeatedly. It was apparent that he knew how exactly how it was going, but perhaps it would have sounded different, better, if she gave a personal citation on the progress.

Moving her gaze to look at the door in front of her, which had closed when no one passed through it, Naminé responded. "I just began, but it seems that obtaining him and creating this copy of Twilight Town was the correct route to take. I should have no problems from here."

The man snuffed at her words, being able to pick up the subtle hints she was leaving behind. It seemed that she was still upset that he had turned the world into data and formed a second Twilight Town to place the Nobody in while they restored Sora's memories…still distressed that he had her alter all of their memories as well. "It had to be done, Naminé. You should know that very well. The Organization—"

"Don't you care that you're tampering with their lives…with his life? You can't tell me you're doing this for the good of all worlds!" Naminé shouted suddenly, turning around to face him with a scornful look written on the features of her pale face. Sora's other half…his friends…his happiness…their happiness, being together. She understood quite well that Sora needed his memories back; she owed him that much after all she did, among other reasons. Nevertheless, Naminé didn't want to destroy any more lives. She knew Sora would feel the same way, too. "There has to be another—"

"There is no other way, Naminé. If there was, surely I would have taken it. It is the fate of a Nobody, in any case." The man paused, letting his last words simmer in the air and sink into the girl's mind. He directed that last sentence to more then just Sora's other half. When she did or said nothing, the man dressed in red continued, figuring she knew what, or rather whom, he was referring to. "Do not do anything reckless. If you jeopardize Sora's process—"

"DiZ," the hooded man said tensely in a deep voice, his brief, single word cutting off the other's completely. Before the interrupter could continue himself, Naminé butted in, seemingly finding the words now.

"I shall do what I believe is right," she replied simply to DiZ's subtle threat, neither agreeing to do nothing yet not saying she wasn't going to do anything, either. I have to make right the wrongdoings you have placed upon the people of this town. "But I will not endanger Sora's restoration. So do not worry." Naminé left the room before either of the men could respond, the sound that the gears of the automatic door made when closing after her filling the silence that now encompassed the hollow room.

Closing his eyes, though the action could not be seen due to the hood that covered his face, the robed man made his way towards the door, meaning to go after the girl. He understood where Naminé was coming from, but all he wanted was for Sora to be himself again. He went through so much trouble in retrieving Sora's other half, after all—and he gave up so much more than he would let the sleeping boy or anyone connected to him know. With that said, the sacrifices had to be made, as painful as they were…for him, for her, and for them.

"Keep an eye on her, will you?" DiZ called after him as he walked to the door. The man paused to show that he had heard him before walking through the door. A small smirk danced upon his lips at the order; he himself considered tampering with the situation a little, too. Still, it'd be easier on them if they did not know the truth; especially for him. You may actually be making things worse than better, Naminé, the man thought, walking up the flight of stairs that connected the basement to the library and then walking out of the library to the second floor foyer.

Naminé was nowhere in sight, but the hooded man knew where she went. There were only two rooms that the girl went to in the entire house, after all. Walking along the hallway towards the left wing, the man stopped before the closed door for a moment before opening it. The room was as pure white as the pod room—it was no wonder the girl didn't seem to tan. Though considering the world was only of data, he figured no one in town would suffer the effects of too much sunlight. He couldn't understand how the girl could stand such brightness, or perhaps it was just him who was having trouble adjusting to the light.

Several pictures covered the four walls of the room, and even more littered the equally white table, chairs and floor. When he was finally able to see and distinguish the girl from the rest of the room, he found her staring at a picture of a brown-haired boy beside a blonde-haired boy in a black robe, holding each other's hands. Letting out a small sigh, the robed man walked up to her, stopping a few feet behind her and glancing at the picture himself.

"…Is this really all right?" Naminé asked the man, never taking her eyes off the drawn picture before her. The man said nothing at first, trying to find the right words to say to comfort the girl. He knew she would do what she had to when the time came, but that didn't make any of it any easier.

"Everything will be okay in the end. I promise," the man finally said, trying to believe in his own words.

The girl smiled faintly and finally turned to face the man, looking up at him. "You Destiny Islanders sure like to make a lot of promises, y'know?"

Laughing slightly, the man shook his head and shrugged, lifting his hands up helplessly. "Hey, I can't help what that sap does. Always beating me to the punch, that guy," he joked, though the back of his heart beat once in pain for what, or more precisely who, he was really referring to.

Giggling herself, Naminé smiled more brightly and took a step closer towards the man. "Thank you, Riku. You're a good person. I wish you could see that. You should reconsider meeting up with them again after—"

"I told you, I can't," Riku answered angrily in voice that was not his own, looking away as his smile faded at what she was suggesting. "Not after all I did…not while looking like this…I am Riku no more."

Naminé's smile weakened at the painful words uttered, her sapphire eyes softening. For a fleeting moment, she wished that Sora's instability affected Riku the way it did everyone else connected to the keyblader—Riku remembered Sora, which was more than she could say for anyone else. He did so much for his friends, and was going to do so much for them, and yet he still couldn't forgive himself for a mistake that wasn't even his fault. "Riku…" Naminé whispered before standing toe to toe with him and lightly wrapping her arms around his tall, dark figure. "Everything will be okay in the end. I promise."

Amber eyes that were not his own widened at what was said, though whether it was because of her words or the physical contact was not clear. She reminded him of Kairi; that was the first thing he realized when he met her at Castle Oblivion, and then just recently when he saw her again while he was working with DiZ. He still wasn't sure what it was about the witch that caused him to think of the redheaded girl he knew from back home. The sixteen-year-old promised himself that if he was going to have a relationship Naminé, friendship or otherwise, it was going to be for who she was separately, not for whom she reminded him of. Any other way wouldn't have been fair to either of them.

Feeling his body begin to relax after tensing from the hug, the edges of Riku's mouth went up slightly before dropping. Placing his gloved hands on her shoulders, he pulled her away to look at her. "You sure are original, aren't you?" he said with a smirk.

"Well, it sure is hard to make creative promises when you guys are taking all the good lines," Naminé responded with a grin.

Seeing her face lit up, Riku let out a laugh before removing his hands and taking a step back, turning so that he back was towards her. "But seriously, Naminé…" he trailed off, wanting to return to the original reason he went to her room in the first place. "Don't go telling him anything. I will have to stop you if you do. You understand, right?"

When he heard nothing following his remarks, he turned his head to glance at her, finding Naminé staring back at him with unsmiling and somber eyes. It was her turn now to turn her back on him, returning to her previous act of looking at the drawing. Oh, Riku. You, too, are being controlled by your emotions. Is this what you want, or what DiZ wants?

Figuring she wasn't going to answer him, Riku began walking towards the door, feeling remorseful that she wasn't going to listen to him, but not about to back down on his ground, either.

"…I understand."

Naminé's soft-spoken words caused him to come to a halt by the door. He knew that those words didn't mean that she would cooperate, but merely that she had heard him and was going to do it anyway. Closing his eyes to prevent him from doing or saying anything he might regret, Riku left, leaving the girl alone once again in the white room.

"Just once…" Naminé murmured, looking intently at the picture. She'd have to watch over him first before she tried anything, though she didn't have the luxury of time to wait for very long—the seeds were already sowed.

The Clock Tower bell rang once more.

It was now four in the morning.

author' s notes: I hope you all enjoy reading and please review!