Disclaimer: The Kingdom Hearts series is copyrighted to Square-Enix and Disney. I do not hold any ownership over the characters, settings, or objects in the games. This fanfiction was made for entertainment purposes only and makes no profit off of Kingdom Hearts, itself.

The Missing Piece

There is a room at the end of a hallway on the second floor of a house by a shore. In that room is something that is important. She knows it is important, but she doesn't know what it is exactly. She wants to enter that room to find out what that important thing is, but she is afraid. Afraid of what she might find… or not find.

That end of the hallway is always dark. She is too afraid to even go near the light switch. She wants to turn the light on, but then she'd have to go near the room. The room with the important thing.

It's not just the room and the hallway that gets to her; it's the noises she hears. She hears them every day. Every day since that stormy night. That ominous, dark storm. The memory always gives her bone-chilling shivers. It wasn't that she was afraid of thunderstorms themselves, she witnessed a lot of them in her childhood, it was something more that was lost. The same important thing. Her concentration is broken from a creak and distant laugh suddenly appearing, then gone. Her mind shifts back to speculation after she takes a moment to calm herself; her heartbeat spiked at the noises.

The noises used to be so loud and painful. They would shout in her ears and send her to her knees. Her husband would run over and comfort her; he, too, sometimes heard the noises. The noises weren't scary. They were short laughs, whines, frustrated shouts (those would bring a chuckle from her), and calls. Calls to her. As the days go by, though, the noises grow softer. The pain from hearing them so loud and clear is now even more devastating than before, but not from how loud they are but how soft they're getting. She can't hear them as clear. She is losing that voice that made those noises. She can feel her heartbeat go faster and faster at the notion that one day the noises will ultimately stop. Tears always seem to fall each time that thought comes to mind.

Please, make the pain stop, she'll cry out. No reply is made. Please… Just give me one wish… Please bring back that voice.

That voice used to be identifiable. She could remember exactly who had that voice before the storm. It was that night that made her lose the memory of that owner. She has a notion that the owner and her important thing have a connection. She cannot ascertain what that connection is, though.

It has been a year and a half since that storm. A year and a half since she lost that important thing. It takes every ounce of energy to get herself up in the morning. It helps, though, she says. Washing the dishes, doing the laundry, cleaning the house, and mending clothes. They all help keep her distracted even for a few seconds. The Mayor's daughter told her once that that important thing will come back. She can't remember what the girl called that important thing now, and she's too afraid to ask. She is afraid of what it will trigger. Memories? Most likely. Memories that may be too painful to handle. And so, she continues on with her days of doing housework. Something that adds to the comfort she still receives from her husband every day.

But then… One day… CRASH!

She drops a plate in shock. There are tears streaming down her face, and she grabs the kitchen counter with as much grip as she can muster. Still in shock as the memories gradually stop flooding her mind, she can only say one thing: "… Sora."

-----

A few weeks later, after feverish searching and asking that pulled her into all-nighters and sleep-crashing, she begins to calm down and try to return to her old routine. It's not working. Her hands grow idle as her mind wanders back to the more pressing matter. The room at the end of the hallway has still been untouched. She knows what belongs in there, but remembers that he isn't in there. He isn't anywhere. Where did he go? The shirt she was folding is now still in her hands. Her hands are unmoving. Her mind is going everywhere and her stare is distant. She does not hear the door open slowly, then close with a soft 'click'. It's a voice that brings her back. His voice.

"… Mom? You home?"

A/N: Okay, this focused more on Sora's mother, if you couldn't tell. Pretty much how she reacts to Sora's disappearance between KH:CoM and KH2 with the end being her reaction once Sora wakes up from his memory pod and him finally coming home after all his adventures in KH2. Personally, I wanted to get out this thing just because I don't see enough fanfics about the parents of the Destiny Trio or even Sora, in general. So, yeah, that's about it. If you want, go ahead and tell me if you loved it or hated it. I'd love to know, honestly! Anyway, CYA.