A/N: This isn't going to exactly follow the cutscenes of the game, because I haven't played in a couple of weeks. (I don't own the game, unfortunately), so I don't exactly recall what exactly is said/happens in each scene, but I do remember the critical things in each world. Which shall be in the story. xD Makes sense, no?

The eye-catch is property of angel-puppeteer, and whoever she got it from. xD

When All The Pieces Fall Apart

Chapter 2

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Welcome to Traverse Town; The Start of Your New Life

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"Uhhh…" Auri groaned, rubbing her head as she sat up. "Where the heck are we?"

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"Riku!"

Behind her, Sora turned around… "Uh… Auri…"

She remained staring at their decaying world.

"Auri!" Sora shouted at her.

"What!" She turned around. "Huh?" Her eyes widened in fear. They were both engulfed in a red cloud.

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"Uh…" Sora, laying near her, sat up as well. "Ow…"

"Sora!" She nearly killed the poor boy, she hugged him so hard. "You're okay!"

"Yeah, I'm fine… Wait, we made it… But where are Riku and Kairi?"

"I… I don't know…" She surveyed the area around them. "But, where are we?"

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Eye-Catch! Chibi Auri and chibi Sora look up at the very large sign "Traverse Town" that shows up when you reach the world. Sora looks at Auri, waves his arms, and yells "CAN YOU STOP ASKING NOW!

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"I don't know…"

Auri stood, dusting herself off. Looking down, she saw the staff lying near her. "Oh, look!" She leaned down and picked it up.

"Oh, mine's here too!" Sora grabbed his as he stood.

"Weird… Why are they shaped like keys?" Auri spun hers expertly in her hands, creating a fan like movement in front of her. "And what are they made out of? I mean, they're so light, but, they're not weak."

"Weird…" Sora was staring at his weapon, awe evident in his gaze.

"Yeah…" Auri looked up from her hands, and saw that they were surrounded. "Uhm…. Sora…"

"Huh?"

"Those things are here too…"

"What?" Indeed, they were surrounded by the small black creatures that they had fought during the battle with Darkside.

"Gah…. Don't they ever just… Go to sleep!" Auri stopped spinning her staff, and instead held it defensively in front of herself.

"Guess not." He looked sat her, caught her eye, and nodded. They sprung forward at the same moment, both batting at the creatures.

After they defeated the first three waves, Auri stood and panted for a second. "They… just keep… coming."

"I… know…" Sora had his hands on his knees.

"Okay, so, run!" She grabbed Sora's arm and took off, running towards a bulding with the words "Accessory Shop" in large letters above the door. Push the doors open, she pulled Sora in with her, pushing the doors shut once they were safe. "Jeezzz…"

"Those things give me the creeps…"

"You kids lost?" A voice interrupted them.

"huh?" Auri turned to come face to face with a tanned man with short blonde hair.

"I asked if you two were lost."

"Well, not exactly… We're looking for our friends, Kairi and Riku." Sora spoke up.

"Oh, so you're lost." The man smirked. "The name's Cid."

"I'm Sora, and that's Auri…"

"You two don't look like you're from around here…"

"Well, where exactly is here?" Auri's voice was cold.

Cid noticed the change of voice. "Your girlfriend there's got a bit of a temper."

"I'm not his girlfriend I'm Ri-" She broke off, her eyes widening. Where the hell did that come from?

"Okay, okay, so you're not his girlfriend. In any case, I ain't seen your friends around. Why don't you go look for them, and if you can't find them, come back here and I'll give you a hand. I got to run my shop, ya know. I can't just drop everything to help a coupla kids out of the blue. In a little while, maybe I can finish some stuff up…"

"Fine. We'll find them ourselves." Jerk. Auri grabbed Sora's wrist again, and pulled him back out the door.

"But Auri, what about the mon-"

"Shut up! We can handle it!"

"Gah!" Sora's yelled as he was yanked back outside by the fuming girl.

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Eye-Catch! Chibi Auri casts Fira on Chibi Cid.

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Once outside, Auri began muttering things to herself crossly.

"Auri, why did you have to be so rude? He was being nice." Sora sighed. She always gets like this.

"We can find Riku… and, and Kairi too! All on our own." She nodded firmly, then, grasping her staff with a firm hand, she began walking up the stairs near the Accessory Shop.

"Hey, wait up!" Sora ran to catch up with her.

She was walking with long, angry strides.

"Auri… Auri! They're back!" Sora took up a defensive stance once they entered the Second District.

Auri spun around, gripping her staff even more tightly. Once again, they were surrounded by Shadows.

"What is with these things!"

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After battling innumerable waves of the Shadows, Auri and Sora both saw a flash of brown, and a few of the Shadows exploded into green balls and blue orbs.

"What the-?" Auri took a step back from the newcomer.

The man was tall, with long, dark hair that fell to his waist.

"You, hand over the Keyblade."

"Keyblade?" Auri blinked, then saw what the man was motioning to. Sora's weapon.

"No!" Sora gripped the blade even more tightly.

"Fine then." He attacked. There was nothing but a blur of brown, and both teens were unconscious.

Auri awoke to a female voice. "Kairi? I'm not Kairi! I'm Yuffie, the greatest ninja in the world!"

"Ow… My stomach…" She sat up, groaning. Her head swimming, she looked around, taking in her surroundings.

"I'm Sora, and she's Auri…"

"Is she your girlfriend?" Yuffie asked interestedly.

"No, I'm not, I would appreciate if people would stop asking that!" Auri glared at the ninja.

"You're pretty feisty for a girl who's not even in her own world… And has no clue where she is, besides." The man from before spoke. He was leaning against the wall near the door, his arms crossed.

"And you're a bastard." Her eyes narrowed.

"Squall, be nice." Yuffie giggled.

"It's Leon…" Squall.. Er, Leon… pushed off of the wall. "Sorry about knocking you out. But we had to get the Keyblade and staff away from you two, or the Shadows would have worn you down enough to steal your heart."

"What?" Auri dropped her pissy demeanor.

"They're attracted to the strength of your hearts… The Keyblade is a sign of that. And… The Keystaff as well. The Keyblade is the only one I've heard of, though." Leon picked up the blade, and it disappeared, reappearing in Sora's hand. The same went for the staff when he picked it up, it returned to Auri.

"What? What are you talking about! We're just teenagers!" Auri shook her head.

"You two are Chosen… There's only supposed to be one Chosen One, really, so it might be either of you… But for now, it's easier to assume it's both of you, until your journey is over."

"I don't want to be 'Chosen' or anything like that! I want to find Riku! And.. And Kairi!"

"Your friends are most likely gone, if they haven't found you yet." The man was cold, indifferent.

"Squall, be nice!" Yuffie chastised him.

"It's Leon…"

There were too many emotions running through Auri to have her show any one of them. Anger, confusion, pain, loss… Her voice was completely monotonous as she spoke to him. "Look… Squall, Leon, whatever your name is… We're not Chosen. We're just lost."

"… I believe him, Auri…" Sora spoke up for the first time in a while. He was looking down at the keyblade in his hands. "I feel like this thing is a part of me… And… I'm going to use it, so I can find Kairi. And if we have to seal the keyholes in each world, so be it…"

"Sora! We don't even know this guy! How can you say-"

"I just know." Sora stood.

"Wait a minute! Squall! They're coming!" Yuffie pointed out the window.

"Gah… Damnit. I was hoping it would take longer…" Leon walked to the window. "Come on, Sora… Auri."

"Sure."

"If you get to the Third District, I'm sure you'll find some way out of here."

"Okay." Sora nodded, then gazed at Auri, who was still sitting on the bed, her eyes glazed. "Auri… Come on."

-

Rike, age seven, stood inside the 'secret place'. Auri, seven as well, sat on a rock, idly scratching drawings in the wall.

"I wonder what it will be like… To see other worlds." Riku was filled with curiosity, his strong adventurous urge evident even at this age.

"I don't know… If you go off, I'll miss you… I mean, there's no one else our age around here, who will I hang out with?"

"What are you talking about? You'll come with me! Best friends forever, right?"

"Huh? I… But my parents…"

"Come on, Aur! You can't say you're not interested!"

"But… What if I get hurt? What if I get lost?" She hugged her knees to her chest.

"I'll always protect you, and I'll never leave you! That's what friends are for, right?"

"You… promise?"

"Promise!" Riku grinned.

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You promised… Why did you lie to me, Riku? You promised you would protect me, but you're not here… You promised me you'd never leave, but you're not here… You promised. Why did you lie?

Tears began to leak out of the corners of Auri's eyes. She whispered, speaking to herself. "… Why?..."

"Auri… Come on." Sora walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder. "We're gonna go and we're gonna find our friends… Okay?"

"Huh? Oh… Okay…" She smiled through her tears. Always so kind… Sora. Always so adventurous… Riku. Always so headstrong… Kairi. The weak, scared little girl hiding inside the shell of a smart-mouth young woman?... Me. Why? Why why why WHY! Standing, she wiped her tears away quickly. I'll just try to be like you guys… So I can find you, Riku. So I can help you keep your promise… Okay?

Sora followed Leon out of the window, and Auri did the same, landing with the two males in the alley behind the hotel.

"Dodge them and get to the Third District."

"Sure." Sora and Auri spoke at the same time.

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A ton and a half Heartless later, Sora and Auri stood above the large open area in the Third District.

"Hey, look!" Sora pointed towards a large, gangly creature, who was fending off a Shadow with a shield.

"Yeah…" Auri replied, and then gasped as Sora ran over to help him. This ended in a collision with a duck, and the three of them fell into the courtyard below. Auri sighed and leapt down, landing gracefully near them.

After proper introductions were tossed around, Auri pointed out politely the fact that they were…

"We are surrounded by a group of Heartless, if you didn't notice, so stop gabbing and staring at the Keyblade like a group of old women, and fight them!"

She's back to normal… Sora smiled slightly and began to bat away at the creatures around them.

Goofy and Donald (come on, who did you THINK it was?) joined in, Donald blasting away with magic like Auri, and Goofy and Sora provided physical attacks.

"Well, that went-" Auri was cut short by the untimely arrival of the Guard Armor. (Uh-huh, no ceremonious intros for the bosses in this fic, I'm afraid.)

Auri chose to blast away at the chest with long-distance magic while Goofy, Donald, and Sora went up close and personal.

Time slowed again, and the boss evaporated.

"… So, you're the wielder of the Keyblade?" Donald asked Sora.

"Yeah… And Auri over there has the Keystaff." Sora motioned towards the girl, who was sitting on the edge of the fountain in the corner.

"Two Keys? But King Mickey only told us about one…" Goofy scratched his head.

"Yeah, that's been the general consensus. I think I'm a fluke." Auri called from her perch.

"Yeah…" Sora shrugged.

"… Well, I guess that means you're coming with us!" Donald spoke.

"But we're looking for Riku… and Kairi." Auri slid off her seat and walked over to join the trio.

"And we're looking for the King, so you'll just have to look with us!" Donald glared at the girl.

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Eye-Catch! Chibi Mickey, dressed up like Elvis, does a hip shake and yells. "I'm the King!"

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"Whatever…" Auri frowned.

"You can't get on the Gummi Ship looking like that! It runs on smiles! So smile!" Donald yelled at both her and Sora, who was sporting a thoughtful frown of his own.

"You expect us to smile?" Auri snapped.

"Just do it!" Donald snapped right back.

"Fine…" Sora crached a huge, fake grin, that caused Auri to crack up hysterically, which, in turn, made her fall flat on her behind, thus making Sora laugh.

"There we go!" Donald and Goofy both smiled.