6H:Welcome to chapter 40! WHEE! CHAPTER 40, CHAPTER 40,CHAPTER 40...

Anaretsu: ENOUGH! Grr, you're giving me a headache, baka...

6H: Ready to show them what they've won?

Anaretsu: A trip to the insane asylum?

6H:Nope! Better than that!It's...duh duh dum duh dah!

Box: (appears!)

6H: (opens box and takes out what's inside) Looks like a free pound of chocalte with a Sora plushie for everyone! If you don't like Sora...than you can rip the plushie's head off! Hey, I gotta make ALL the fans happy.

Sora: (trying to rip off plushie head) Hey! Come off, you stupid head!

6H: O.O

Anaretsu: Is it time for the story?

6H:Ah...yeah, I guess. Remember that the italics mean memory or flashback.


Kingdom Hearts-Shattered Fragments

Fragment 40-Past


"Please! You have to teach me magic! I must have vengence!"

"Those things that destroyed your world are called heartless..."


Cedeile, Ryu, and Aru ran outside and found three Guard Armors and three Reverse Guard Armors causeing the usual mass choas in the square of the 3rd district.

"Damn, this looks tough." Cedeile said, peering over the tall wall at the heartless destroying things. She looked at Ryu and Aru down below. "We're gonna have one hell of a time breaking through them."

"They must be launching an attack on us to get at Aerith and the others. Are they with Nabuki?"

"Nabuki wanted vengence against the heartless. Why would she team up with them?" Aru asked. Ryu shook his head.

"I don't know, but we have to figure out how to fight six giant sized and really tough heartless before Traverse Town is destroyed!"

"That's right! Traverse Town isn't locked yet, is it? This world is still up for grabs!"

"Are we sure that they're after the world? They could just be after us." Aru said, thinking it over. "I mean, Mallificent DOES kind of want us dead."

"That's true. And if they ARE with Nabuki, they're probably after Aerith and Cid as well." Cedeile said, hopping off the wall.

"So, how do we get rid of those things?" Ryu asked as another explosions sounded and the ground shook. The three tried thinking of a way, but another blast prevented that.

"Standing here isn't accomplishing anything!" Cedeile yelled, frustrated.

"Oh yeah, so let's walk right down there and get ourselves killed!" Ryu yelled at her.

"Stop it right now! WE can't be fighting each other now. The heartless are the enemy, guys. We have to get rid of them all down there."

"Cedeile, why don't you use Last Second Miracle again?"

"I'd love to if I knew how. I haven't been able to since Monstro." Aru gasped.

"Wait! Maybe Ryu and I have to have critically low HP's for it to work! That's what happened in Monstro, anyway. The reason it didn't in Book City was because Ryu still had a good HP amount before it hit critical. Maybe that's the key to Last Second Miracle!" Aru told them.

"So, what do we do?"

"Ryu and I will go down there and fight. In no time at all, our HP will be critical. Cedeile, you consentrate and launching your attack." Aru told them. Ryu nodded, all ready to go, but Cedeile was hesitant.

"What if it doesn't work?" she asked.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Ryu said, turning and running with Aru down to confront the heartless. Cedeile sighed, and climbed back up on the wall again, waiting for her chance.


He walked through the dark woods, looking around for any signs of danger. These were dangerous places to wander now, because demons lurked in these sorts of places. And far more dangerous were the traps hunters had set for demons. He often wondered why he came down here. Maybe it was so he could calm his mind, just try and sort out his thoughts.

Just up ahead, he saw a net with something in it, holding whatever it was tight to the ground. He had to be careful-someone had caught a demon. But as he got closer, he gazed in awe. It was a woman! She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had long black hair and shining blue eyes that smiled. Her skin was pale, and the clothes she wore were torn, proably from being in the trap.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. She looked at him in fear. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." he told her, taking out his pocket knife. He began cutting the ropes of the net apart.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said. "Why are you helping me? I'm a demon." she told him. He didn't flich or stop his work.

"This is wrong. I never agreed with the hunting of demons. It will only cause more fighting between humans and demons. But no one will listen to me." he cut the last rope and the net fell lose. He helped her stand up. "You certainly don't look like a demon."

"I'm a gargoyle type demon, except I was born without any horns. It's supposed to be a sign of good luck." she said. "I shall take you back to your home. You've wandered very far from there." she extened her long wings and soared up into the sky, holding onto his hand.

"By the way," he yelled up to her as they flew along. ",what's your name?"

"Imari. And you?" she asked.

"Braska." he told her.


Early morning light dawned on the castle as light shone through the windows. He sat at the table, drinking his morning coffee, when she came in, dressed in the blue kimono he had given her to wear. No one suspected she was really a demon. However, a great sorrow shone in her blue eyes.

"What is it, Imari?" he said, standing up. She sighed and looked down at the floor.

"I'm sorry, but...I'm..."She didn't have to say anymore. He walked over to her and held her tightly as she sobbed.

"It's alright,dearest. It's going to be fine..."he told her, but inside he was crying. Crying for the anguish they would go through. Crying for his beautiful wife who would be persuecuted. Crying for the child who would begin a miserable life of an outcast. And crying for the mistake he had made.


"Hey, Squall?"

He stopped, thrusting his gunblade into the ground, and he leaned on it, looking at the small girl. Her big brown eyes were full of confusion. He smiled at her, ruffling her hair in a brotherly way. He usually didn't like people bothering him, but he liked this girl. She was different.

"Yeah, Yu-chan?" he said, calling her by her nickname. A name only he could use.

"The older girls were talking about something...when I asked them what it was, they laughed at me." He looked at the young ninja.

"Do you want me to go take care of them for you?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No, I just want to know what they were talking about."

"Maybe I can help you. What did they say?" he asked. She sat on a rock and thought about it for a long time, young brown eyes pondering. After a long pause she confidently anwsered.

"Something called kissing." she said. "What's that?" Squall sighed, putting a hand on his face in thought. Yuffie was still just a kid. He figured it would be awhile before he had to get into this kind of stuff with her. It's not like the girl could go home and ask her family. Her mother had died a long time ago and her father was a highly advanced and skilled ninja who happened to be romanticly challenged. Still, this wasn't an easy subject. How would he explain this to her?

"Um...well, Yuffie, it's kinda hard to explain." he said finally.

"Oh. Well, can you show me?" she asked innocently. He smiled. What harm could it do?

"Okay, Yu-chan, I'll show you. But you have to close your eyes." he said, smiling.

"Why do I have to close my eyes? How will I know what it is if I can't see?"

"Don't worry, you'll know." he said. She pouted, but snapped her eyes shut. Squall leaned down and gave her a small peck on the cheek. He stood back up straight and she popped her eyes open. "There you go. That's a kiss."

"Yeah?" she asked, amazed. He nodded, laughing.

"Yep, that's it. Adults do it alot when they really like each other, like my mom and dad." she nodded, understanding.

"Well then...is this also a kiss?" she asked. She closed her eyes and stood on her tip toes, placing her small lips on his very breifly. She giggled at his shocked expression as he slowly brought his fingertips to his mouth. "Do only boys get all weird when girls kiss them, Squall?" she asked. He shook it off and looked back down at her.

"I guess..." he laughed, ruffleing her hair.


The ground shook even in the Second District, where Aerith and Cid took refuge in the hotel. Yuffie lay still on the bed of the green room, but her expression didn't look peaceful. It was as if she was facing Nabuki's attack all over again...

"Cid." Aerith said in the silence, only disturbed by the rumblings.

"Huh?" he grunted back at her. Aerith lookd down at Yuffie.

"How did all this happen?" she asked. "Everything used to be so simple back then...now it all seems a mess. Where did we go wrong? What chose us?" Cid was quiet. He couldn't anwser her question.

"I'm not sure Aerith. It could be some large obvious things. Or maybe, it's a string of events that seem unrealted at first glance. but then at a closer look, each event sets off the another, and pretty soon our world falls apart and we land here. I can't really say..." Aerith nodded, looking back over at Yuffie.

"Is it the same with Nabuki? Was there nothing we could do to stop this?"

"What's done is done, Aerith. Now, this is between Her and those kids. I don't know why the hell they're bothering themselves with taking out the demon queen."

"I know. It just feels like a great tragedy because we couldn't stop her. I just feel like I could've done something to stop her from making that choice..." she shut her eyes as a few drops of liquid slid down her face. "Maybe, we could've prevented this all..."

"I know...but Nabuki...that Nabuki out there isn't the same one we knew so long ago...you know that."

"I should..."she said.


The rain poured down heavily outside the cave entrance as she sat there, tears in her eyes, giving a small sniff every now and then. It wasn't her fault...that's what her mom and dad said. How could she have known? She was just a little kid. But she felt like it was her fault. And her parents were sad because of her.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" a voice asked. She looked up. He smiled down at her, his blue eyes like the sky when the sun was out. "Cedeile...what's the matter."

"My parents...are so sad...beacuse of me..."the five year old Cedeile told him. She buried her head in her knees, elbow length black hair, unbraided and falling around her. Sora drapped the blanket he had brought for her over her shoulders.

"If you don't go home, you'll get sick. Aren't you cold? I thought you might be, so I came over from the other island." he said. She didn't respond. He looked around where they sat in the tunnel enterance. "How'd you find this place anyway?"

"I wanted to get out of the rain, so I crawled under the bushes. Why do you ask?" She said, standing up and wrapping the blanket closer around her, shivering slightly.

"This is my secret place." he said.

"S-secret place?"

"Yeah. No one's aloud but...I guess you can come in, cause you're my best friend!" he told her cheerily. He slowly led her into the cave. The blanket dragged along behind her. She stared in wonder at the drawings on the walls and at the spaciousness and famillarity she found here. "This is where I go when I want to be alone. And no one knows about it but me! You'll have to keep it secret now." Her dark emrald eyes glanced at everything. They came to rest on a wooden door in the rock wall. It seemed out of place-a man made item among natural formations.

"What's behind that door?"

"Oh, the door. Well...I don't know! Maybe it goes to other worlds!"

"Other worlds?"

"Sure! We can't be the only ones out there, can we? There are tons of worlds out there, somewhere. We just have to find a way to get to them."

"Tell me more about them, Sora!"

"Okay..."


Ryu did a flip as he landed on the ground,just missing a punch from a Guard Armor. There was no time for him to rest, as a Reverse Guard Armor came from behind him, and the one he had just dodged was running at him. He jumped up in the air and landed on te one's shoulder, and then flew off of that one. The two heartless punched each other's heads off, and Ryu laughed at the sight.

"Heh heh, poor dumb bastards!" he mocked them.

"Ryu!" He was hit from behind as he saggered forward and fell on his knees. "Are you aliright?"

"I'm fine Aru! Don't worry! How are you holding up?"

"I'm just giving these clunky knights a little dance lesson." she replied, dodging one's punch and then another's in a graceful fashion.

"I'd have to say they're doing their job quite well." he replied, dodging another. He drew out his sword and slashed at the one behind him a few times. "These guys have some high HP!" he exclaimed, frustrated.

"They're tough-pretty resistant to magic."

"What about purification?"

"None of the heartless can be resistant to that, Ryu."

"I guess. I just hope our crazy plan works."

"We've thought of crazier things than this before." she told him wisely, while avoiding another punch. Ryu sighed as he sliced through a hand of a guard armor.

"I wonder if your theory is correct about the Last Second Miracle, I mean, back in Book City, all of our HP's were pretty bad, and we were all injured. Why couldn't she use it then?"

"She didn't have the strength. She had to fight all alone. Now, we'll fight for her."

"...right." He went in for another assult, but got hit into a wall. He felt the brick crumble behind him as he slid down to the ground. Cedeile watched from her post up high on the wall. She was worried that Aru and Ryu were going to kill themselves over trying to get Last Second Miracle to work. Aru got hit a few times and lost more than half her HP. Ryu wasn't doing so well now. Even though the two would talk to each other casually, as if nothing horribly wrong was going on,but Cedeile knew that it was a tough fight.


He swung his sword around and then aimed at some far off point way down the hill. After about thrity seconds he sighed and shoved the end of the blade into the ground, leaning on it.

"That took too long. I have to get quicker..." he told himself, angrily. He just wasn't getting the hang of this gunblade. But he was determined to master it. Some fire buring inside him told him this was his destined path as a warrior. He looked over at the rock that sat under the tree, wiping the sweat off his forhead.Sitting there was a girl with short, dark purple hair and red eyes looking back at him. Her dress looked somewhat chinese, the long sleeves covering her hands even. She had her arms around her bare legs, holding them close to her. Her red eyes looked at him curiously.

He frowned at her. He hated girls, espcially when they interupted his training. The seven year old boy tried glaring at her, but she didn't change her expression.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her finally. This was his hill, where he trained all day. Everyone knew that, and no one came near it. Not ever.

"The others kids were being mean. I came up here to get away from them." she told him. "Do you want to be friends with me?"

"I don't make friends with anybody." he told her.

"I don't have any friends. It's beacuse I'm different..." she trailed off, sadly.

"You don't seem all that different." he said bluntly. He was quite annoyed with her.

"You don't notice it at all?" she asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"Right here..."she pointed to her head. He then noticed the two, small horns, like on the statues around the castle that the water poured out of when it rained. Those scary looking creatures that tried to scare away those who enter, but failed miserably so, because the castle belonged to all of them. Her horns, however, were small and greyish brown, and weren't very sharp at all. He came closer and touched one. The girl winced at his touch.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. They just hurt a little."

"How long have you had them?"

"Ever since birth."

"Really? Wow. I don't have horns..." he said, confused.

"Well, it's why everyone hates me. I'm a half breed. That's what everyone calls me, anyway. I asked my daddy. He said that he's a human, but mommy was a demon. Mommy died a long time ago. She got sick." He looked at her sadly. It must be awful to lose your mom. No one to give you hugs or read you a story at night...how lonely. Maybe, she wasn't so bad after all...

"I'm Squall. " he told her, sticking out his hand to her. She smiled.

"My name is Kana!" she said happily, giving him a big hug. "I've never had a friend before!" she smiled happily.

"Hey! Get offa me!" he yelled. She let go of him and smiled. "Well...I gotta train now."

"I'll watch you." she said, getting back on the rock and sitting there, demon eyes watching him in silence. He smiled briefly and took up the gunblade again.


"No!" Cediele yelled. The remaining Guard Armors and Reverse Guard Armors looked up at her. She stood up on top of the wall and then, closing her eyes with confidence, she jumped of the wall and drew out to heartblade.

"Cedeile, you idiot!" Ryu yelled at her. But suddenly, the heartblade changed to it's second form- the form of Last Second Miracle. The two warriors on the ground watched in wonder as Cedeile pointed the heartblade toward the heartless on the ground.

"LAST SECOND MIRACLE!" The bright light wiped out every heartless in Traverse Town in one long wave of holy light. They tried in vain to scurry to the shadows, but everything was lit up. Aertih and Cid looked out the window of their hiding place. Yuffie's eyes half-opened for a moment as she muttered something inaudible. When the light subsided, Ryu lowered his hand and saw Cedeile laying on the ground, unmoving. He stood up and walked over to her.

"Is there any logic behind it at all?" he asked himself more than Aru. The small magician didn't move from where she sat.

"Maybe it really is...a miracle." The fragment hunter bent down and shook the heartblade master gently. Cedeile opened her dark green eyes and looked up at him.

"Did it work?"

"Yeah."

"Oh good!" she said, relieved, as she sat up. "I only guessed it would."

"YOU GUESSED!" Ryu yelled at her.

"Well, ya. It's not like I KNEW that the Last Second Miracle would wo..." she stopped in mid sentence, looking at some point behind Ryu.

"What is it, Cedeile?" he asked her. She stood up, walking past him, blinking a few times and making sure it was real.

"...Riku!" she cried.

"Riku?" Aru questioned. She turned behind her to she the silver haired boy standing in the shadows of a alleyway that wasn't there before. Cedile ran towards him as he sunk back into the shadows.

"RIKU!" she yelled.

"Cedeile, wait!" Ryu called to her, but it was too late as she was off and running. He tried to follow, but the alley became a solid wall, which he nearly crashed into. "Cedeile? Where are you? Can you hear me?" he called. The only sound was the echo that came back to him. "Oh, damn it. A fine time for her to disappear."

"I bet this is part of Nabuki's plot."

"But Riku works with the heartless, doesn't he?"

"I don't know. I mean, that's not what I want to believe right now. However, we have to get back to Areith and the others, and maybe try to find Leon and Merlin." Aru said, standing up and walking foward in the square. Ryu walked up next to her.

"Cedeile can handle herself for now. Let's head over to the Second district for now. That's usually where the highest consentration of heartless is. It's also the darkest part of Traverse Town."

"Isn't the church belltower there?"

"That's where we're gonna start our search for Nabuki. Where does a demon always hide, but in a church?"

"You're right. That does make sense. And maybe Cedeile is there as well."

"Then let's not waste time." The two nodded at each other and ran up the ramp to the doorway in the second district.


6H:That was a long chapter! I hope you guys caught why it was called "Past." It was really about the conditions that had brought them all to this point. As you can also see, the Book City plot is more intertwined in the story than the previous worlds, mostly because of Yuna and Tifa coming from Hollow Bastion (Oh come on! You knew that was where all the Final Fantasy characters were from already!) It might be kind of confusing, so I'll touch up on some points.

1. Braska is Yuna's grandfather and Kana's father. Imari is Kana's mother, who is a demon. Imari is also the woman in the huge painting at Book City.

2. Squall and Kana met when he was seven and she was six.

3. The part between Yuffie and Squall takes place when he's ten and she's just five. Kana has already been taken to Book City (Braska found a way to get there or something) and is presumed dead. As pointless as it seemed, I made it symbolic of their relationship- even though Leon thinks he has control, it's really Yuffie who has control over him, yet she doesn't even know it.

4. The part with Sora and Cedeile in the secret place occurs after Cedeile's brother is killed.

6H:I hope that clears up a few things.

Anaretsu:It made me more confused, baka!

6H: More things will make sense after the next chapter, when they face Nabuki and Cedeile confronts Riku. The WHOLE story of what went on to drive Nabuki to become a demon will be revealed!

Anaretsu:See how UN-excited I am?

6H:And to all who guessed right about the woman in the painting, I give you each your favorite keyblade! So go wack someone with your new Oblivion keyblade and give me a review, damnit!