AN: Thank you for your review theIrishWriter! Please R&R!

Your pictures are the paper that lines my wall
I'm waiting for the moment you come back
I'm tearing out the pages of my heart
What you need is what you'll get from me
-And then There Were None, Thank the Watchmaker
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The experience of witnessing the subsequent fall and rebirth of their Islands traumatized the three friends as they tried to regain a semblance of normal.

But, without Sora or Riku to welcome them home, it simply wasn't possible.

Kairi would come by the Library with Selphie to check on Aeros, while it seemed Tidus and Wakka would check in on Ruki and Vale.

Aeros was numb.

Everyday he returned home from the Library, half expecting the bright smile of his son, only to be left with a dark and empty house.

He couldn't bear to enter his son's room to close the open window.

Aeros knew it was foolish to leave it open, but… he just couldn't find it in himself to open that door…

...and find it empty.

At least, when Ava had disappeared he'd had his son to care for.

Now he was alone.

How long could he bear this pain before he simply abandoned the house altogether?

All it took was fourteen days before he simply closed the door behind him, locking it as he left.

He didn't look back.

Aeros holed up in the Library, staying in his usual quarters as he simply tried to overcome the nightmares of the night the World fell. Initially, it hadn't particularly bothered him because at the time they'd had a goal to strive towards. Now, his Dreams were a recurring nightmare as he could see more and more clearly, the flailing shadow of his son as he was sucked up into the swirling abyss that ate their home.

The terror Sora must have felt as he was pulled away-

Aeros wept, unable to overcome the worry and fear for his son's safety.

He fell into a deep Sleep as the 48th day passed.

Aeros laid in the sand, staring up into the twinkling night sky.

Next to him, Ava sat in her Foreteller robes, her mask off as she stared upwards as she hugged her knees, relaxed.

He was 19 again.

I'm Dreaming.

Her long black braided her shifted in a non-existent breeze as she looked down at him. Her ice blue eyes nearly glowed in the night. Her expression was melancholic as it warmed a little, "So, you're awake."

Her voice seemed almost wrong, but this whole situation was wrong- it certainly had never happened.

Still, he slowly sat up and draped an arm over a bent knee, "Yes."

Ava smiled almost chidingly, "Even though you know you're Asleep?" Busted.

Aeros looked up to the bright expanse of stars, "Well, you aren't exactly Her, so I'm not sure what you want from Me."

Her expression became downcast, but a small smile stayed on her face, "...You're right." She turned to once again look up the Stars, "I'm only good at being… a fake. I can never truly replace someone's most cherished person in their Heart."

He took a deep breath before slowly releasing it in patience as he stated, "You're sad." Aeros looked at the stranger in Ava's form.

The girl's eyes were glossy as she nodded, "It's all my fault. I don't expect to ever be forgiven… for what I've done. To him...or to everyone important to him."

Aeros's eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about?"

The fake Ava bowed her head, her hair hiding her face as tears fell, "I… I won't make excuses. I've been so afraid… and they threatened me… so I started to unlink the Chains of his Memory."

Alarm bells went off in his mind as he leaned forward, a frown marring his features. She had his full attention, but this seemed to be the wrong thing to do as she began to curl in on herself and shy away, as if afraid he would harm her.

She gasped as she began to cry, "I broke Sora's Connections with everyone who ever knew or loved him. I might not have done anything to him physically… but what I did do? It was unforgivable."

"Why."

She shrunk, before forcibly uncurling herself, her form seeming to become smaller.

So much so that it reminded him of Kairi.

The robes we ilfitting on the change of shape, the illusion slowly falling apart as his mind fought against her deception.

"They wanted control of the Keyblade. I don't know what exactly for, other than to overthrow their Leader… But I went too far." She wiped away her tears as she timidly looked up to the older man, her eyes a darker blue that reminded him of Sora.

"I'm doing the only thing I can… and that's realigning the links in the Chains of his Memory… but I don't know how long it will take, and… I don't really know how seperating the links in the first place will affect those close to him."

She hiccupped as he simply stared at her in silent rage. The only thing holding him back was the fact that she was trying to correct her wrongdoing…

And her palpable fear. He couldn't help but begrudgingly force himself to lean back and glare at the Stars and stated flatly, "I'm tired of the people closest to me being taken away."

She tried to regain control of her breathing as fear and sorrow warred against each other. Finally she breathed out and looked towards the sky, her voice small and trembling, "I'm sorry."

Aeros took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled, "Is Sora safe?"

She held her hands close to her chest as blonde bled into the black. The scenery around them seemed to blur around the edges, "Yes. He's… Asleep. It's the only way… I can fix his Memory."

"Is he alone?"

She glanced up at him as the Dream began to fade, "Donald and Goofy also went to Sleep, but they're together, just as they've always been."

He sniffed as he leaned back on an arm, "Well. If it's those two, I guess I can rest easy."

The white dressed girl stared at him in confusion as everything began to fade to white as he continued, "They'll be just fine."

"I'll believe it with my whole Heart."

Aeros awoke, having slept for seven days.

It had been one thing to have a Dream that warned you people that were once close to his son might not remember him.

It was a whole other thing when Ruki came bursting into the Library, hysterical as tears fell down her face as she shoved the picture from Sora's fourteenth birthday in his face.

His son was missing.

Aeros couldn't help but stare dumbly at the picture, "What… what happened?"

Ruki sniffed as she tried to get ahold of herself, "Like usual, Tidus and Wakka had dropped by to check on us and see if we were doing alright with Riku missing… But today, Selphie and Kairi joined them. When I asked if they'd checked on you to see how you were, they were confused as to why they would go to the Library outside of schoolwork." She shuddered as she glared at the offending picture held in his hands, "When I said it was because Sora was missing too… they asked… who was Sora?"

Ruki plopped down next to him, wrapping her arms around her as she gripped herself, "The vacant looks in their eyes as they didn't recognize him at all, even Kairi didn't seem to recognize it, no matter what I mentioned. Finally, I ran to get a picture from the Album, but… every photo where Sora should have been present-

He was gone." She choked back a wail as she shrunk into herself, her eyes clenched shut and nails digging into her skin, "Like he'd just been… erased."

Aeros looked at her for a long moment before silently setting the offending picture down. He turned and gently coaxed his childhood friend into his side, wrapping his arm around her as she turned to him and cried out, "What sort of sick joke is this?! What the hell is even going on!?"

He closed his eyes as tears gathered, resting his cheek against the crown of her head, "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

But he did, and there was nothing he could do about it.

It was twilight as Riku slowly made his way up the familiar winding road of his home World. He hadn't planned to return to Destiny Islands until Sora woke up, but he couldn't help the nagging guilt of at least checking up on Kairi.

Two of her friends were missing, after all.

He paused as he came up to Sora's dark house, his window flapping in the breeze as Riku stared at it, loneliness settling on his chest as he thought of his Sleeping friend.

The metal links on the front of his black coat clinked in the gentle breeze as he came to the odd realization that he had grown a few inches since he'd last stepped on the Islands.

"It must be hard…"

Riku looked down to his shorter companion, dressed in the same black cloak as himself, though with the hood up. He knew it was for the sake of disguise to get around, but he couldn't help the internal disbelief that the Mouse King thought people wouldn't notice the ears.

Let alone how short he was.

Riku shook his head, his hood also up as he stared at the creaking window, "...Is no one home..?"

Mickey tilted his head, "What do ya mean?"

Riku frowned before he began to walk into the familiar yard he'd spent countless days playing in and running through. He stood directly under the window before taking a few steps back and jumping. He caught the bottom of the sill and easily lifted himself up, sitting on it as he looked around the clearly abandoned room. Dark shadows cast on the walls as he came to the sudden realization.

This window hadn't been properly closed in weeks.

The ship that had once hung on the ceiling now lay on the floor, as well as other odds and ends that simply… Well, they definitely weren't where they should have been.

Riku glanced down at Sora's messy bed as he saw the telltale signs of water damage, a strange dark spot nearest the window as rain had fallen in, and then slowly dried.

There was a hint of mold in the air.

He grimaced as he carefully finished climbing into the room, mindful of his friend's bed as Mickey hopped up onto the sill and followed behind quietly, closing it shut.

The two looked around the room wearily, listening for any noise in the house, only to find it unbearably silent.

Riku pursed his lips in contemplation before gingerly picking up his friend's fallen model, carefully setting it down on his desk as he looked up to the hole in the ceiling where it'd been secured.

"Something's… not right, your Maje-..Mickey."

His companion sighed, "So… who's room is this?"

Riku turned, a frown on his face as he silently went to the door, "Sora's room."

The Mouse King nodded as he followed Riku into the hall, the teen carefully closing it behind him as he looked around.

The air was stale and scentless, dust having begun to settle around the house as spiders began to make their homes. Riku looked to Mickey as the mouse carefully illuminated the area with a tiny ball of a Faith spell no bigger than a coin, "Gosh, it looks abandoned." He looked up, "Do you think something mighta happened to Sora's family?"

Riku thought for a long moment before shaking his head. He walked down the familiar hall, glancing at the familiar picture on the wall from when they'd been around nine years old, Riku, Kairi and-

He stopped and stared at the picture in horror as he went up to it to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

Where Sora should have been between he and Kairi, holding up the tail of a large fish he'd managed to catch with his bare hands-

Was nothing.

He took in a breath as his throat tightened, "What..?" He took a step back as Mickey looked at the offending picture, contemplating it a moment before looking up at Riku in realization.

Sora wasn't just missing from people's Memories.

Riku turned and ran down the stairs, Mickey following behind him as he ran to the back door, fumbling the lock as he burst through the door. It clattered harshley behind him as he flinched, looking back at it with terror in his eyes as Mickey locked it with Kingdom Key D.

He was breathing heavily as he tried to wipe away the feeling of wrongness as dust had gathered on his cloak. He coughed only to clear his throat, another thought entering his mind as Mickey walked up beside him pondering, "So… what do you think happened to Sora's parents? If they're not here…"

Riku shook his head, "Sora's father runs the Library. Maybe he's there."

The teen set out, walking stiffly as Mickey jumped to follow after him. The sky was completely dark, no one else leaving the sanctuary of their homes as they made the short trip to the three story building.

Riku stopped beside it, looking it over from the outside as the windows were all shuttered for the evening. It was dark, but he could see a faint amount of light peak through the sides of the screens on the right side of the building.

He took a deep breath and released it, slowly walking towards the right side as he wearily looked up at the living quarters he knew Sora's father occasionally stayed.

The lights were on, and he sighed heavily. "I guess he's living here…" For now…

Mickey frowned as he looked up at the soft light, "Do ya think we should say somethin'? Let him know Sora's ok?"

Riku stood for a long moment before slowly looking down at this companion, a forlorn acceptance on his face, "No." He spun on his heel and immediately made his way back to the winding path, Mickey rushing after him holding onto his hood.

"But.. why?!"

"Because I've failed."

Mickey gasped as he caught up with him, "But Riku-"

The teen stopped as he took in a deep breath and looked up into the sky, his eyes beginning to gloss as he pushed down his emotions, "What if he… also forgot…? I don't think.. I could bear the idea that Aeros would forget he ever had a son… To find out he forgot about Sora."

Mickey's ears lowered as he bowed his head, "Oh… I guess, you're right. I didn't even think… I'm sorry, Riku."

Riku shook his head as he regained control of himself, "We better go, before anyone notices us." The King nodded, and they walked through the summoned Dark Portal and left the Islands brokenhearted without ever checking on Kairi.