A/N: Hello people! Welcome to another instalment of Broken Strings! I hope you all like messed up dream sequences, because this chapter contains quite possibly one of the most messed up things I've written in a while. I feel the need to warn you a bit, though. There is going to be some mildly disturbing imagery. It isn't going to be, like, "Amnesia: The Dark Descent," scary, but it's not for those who tend to enjoy happy stuff. Anyways, enjoy the story, and whatnot.

I do not own KH. If I did… Things would be very, VERY different.

Namine slowly awoke from her slumber, slumped over her drawing desk in a white chair, nestled in a red, wool blanket. Her honey-coloured hair was flopped over her drowsy, blue eyes as she tried to get a handle on her surroundings and situation. Light was shining through the window of her ordinary room, and the window was open ajar. She looked down at her desk to see an unfinished sketch of her, Riku, Kairi, Sora and Roxas eating sponge-cakes covered with fresh strawberries and whipped cream on a beach, with overly cartoony and happy facial features staring back up at her. Laughing silently at her silly drawing, she then noticed the old blanket covering her. Odd, she had fallen asleep in nothing but her plain old clothes while sketching and had passed out due to the hard day of work. Where did she get this blanket? …It didn't take her very long to realize that this wasn't a very big mystery at all. She figured very quickly that it had to have been Riku. Riku was always so nice to her, and always did little things like this. He tried to hide it, but he really was nice.

Shamelessly feeling a warm, fuzzy feeling, she walked out of her plain room that was filled with her drawings, and went to the kitchen expecting to see either DIZ or Riku there to explain what she had to do for the day. After all, they always did this at… 9:38 AM? ...What? They always woke up and discussed their duties for the day at 8:30 AM. If any of them slept in, they were woken up by another one of the three. Why hadn't she been woken up? Perplexed, she fixed herself a breakfast of buttered toast, an apple and a glass of milk. What she was really was craving was to eat was chocolate cake, though. When she sat down, something unusual was on the wood of the table. It was a note. She picked up the slip of paper and read the fairly neat printing.

Dear Namine.

If you are reading this, I have left he Mansion already gone to hunt for more information on The Organization, simply because the more we know, the better things'l be for us, right? Anyhow, DIZ left early this morning, saying he had, quote-unquote, "Business" to attend to, or something like that. Guess which blonde Nobody was left was no orders? Seeing as how you've got no instructions… I guess you can take the day off. Relax, do what you want to do, and have fun today. Just don't do anything stupid, alright?

~Riku.

The day off? She could do whatever she wanted that day? Let's see… What did she want…? She wasn't in the mood for sketching at the moment. She searched her mind for another answer. Let's see… Stuff she wanted… She wanted Sora to wake up again. …Yeah, that's probably not how she should spend her day off. The ending to Demyx's bedtime story about the Kingdom of Mim? Nope… She couldn't see Demyx anymore. If they ever bumped into each other, which would probably never happen, he'd drag her back to The World That Never Was, kicking and screaming. Eating cake? She didn't know how to make cake… …Wait a minute… Yes she did! She remembered the happy event from when she was at the Castle…

It had been during the middle of the day, and she had been wandering around the Castle, with nothing to do. Most of the members were on missions, with the exceptions of the Superior, Saix, Vexen, Xigbar and Zexion. She couldn't talk to The Superior, Saix, or Vexen… They all scared her. She didn't want to talk to Xigbar, either, as the man always teased her, or seemed not to care about her when she talked to him, and Zexion barely responded to anything she said, so they were both out, too. She briskly walked down a few flights of stairs, only to literally bump into Xigbar.

Xigbar scowled as he spilled some of his tea on the floor upon contact, and turned to the frightened Namine with a look of controlled rage.

"Watch where you're going, cupcake," he growled, coldly.

"Sorry," murmured Namine, "I'll be more careful next time."

Xigbar's mood quickly lightened up a little. "That's the spirit," he said, calming down a little, "Hey, do you know what time it is?" He asked.

"Um… Last time I checked the clock, it said it was 4:26-ish."

He frowned. "Hope Luxord's got my munny by now," he muttered, "If he doesn't, I'll have to shoot him." He looked down to the blonde artist. "Hey, have you had lunch yet, midget Picasso?"

"No," answered Namine, slightly fearful of the ace-gunman.

"Why don't you head to the kitchen and fix yourself something to eat, doll face?" asked Xigbar, "I've got to find that damn poker-playing-son-of-a-bitch..." With a huff, the gunman left the girl alone again. Namine tucked her hands behind her back and left for the kitchen. She opened the door… And was honestly shocked from what she found inside. Demyx was in the kitchen, cleaning up flour he spilled all over the floor with various cooking ingredients out, whilst muttering angrily to himself about his rotten luck.

"Demyx?" she asked, shyly, "What are you doing here?"

Demyx looked up, fearful and startled, with a nervous look on his face.

"W….Weeeeeeeell….. F-F-Funny you should ask….." he said, nervously.

"Are you making something?" asked Namine, curiously.

Demyx played with fingers, like he often did when he was nervous or embarrassed. "I'm making a cake for… Uh… Um… …M-Myself," he confessed, timidly, "But um… As we all know, I'm kind of klutz, and I keep screwing up…"

"I can help," offered Namine, "I've got nothing better to do."

Demyx looked taken aback for a second. He appeared a bit distressed, and mulled it over for a little bit. Then, just as suddenly, his eyes lit up as he finally came to a conclusion.

"Alright," he smiled, "It could be a little more fun with two chefs instead of one…"

She giggled a little bit at the memory. They had settled on making chocolate cake… And it wound up looking like a messed up pile of chocolate-coated pancakes. Demyx had poured icing all over it anyway, and the cake had surprisingly wound up tasting delicious. They had eaten the whole thing before dinner, gaining both an lecture from an infuriated Vexen and another from an annoyed Saix. She had to admit, as evil as the Organization was had been, she still missed the Nobodies a little. Except, of course, for Larxene, Vexen, Xaldin, Saix, The Superior and Marluxia. Those people scared her. Everyone else though had been entertaining in their own way. It made her a little bit sad, actually. She wished Demyx, Axel, Roxas and maybe Xigbar, Zexion and Lexaeus hadn't devoted themselves to the Organization. If they hadn't, they all could've ran away together to some safe place and lived peacefully, without anybody chasing them. They would've been so happy… Then she realized none of them could feel any emotions, so living happily would've been impossible. Her dream sadly died.

Still though… She remembered how to make the cake… !A perfect idea crept into her head! She'd make cake for Riku! Surely, after all their hard work, they deserved a treat. Who knows? Maybe DIZ would eat some, too. Even the coldest and wisest of people had to have a sweet tooth, right?

She searched through the cupboards… Only to find nothing she could use. No chocolate, no flour, no measuring cups… She closed the cupboard, discouraged. How was she supposed to make a cake with no ingredients? Disappointed, the girl wandered through the lonely halls of the Mansion. But when she turned to the foyer, she saw something: A bunch of jackets. One of them was a dark blue that loosely covered her whole frame. There were also a pair of black boots, and dark gloves. She wasn't allowed to go outside, because the Organization might find her and take her. But maybe, if she went outside in these clothes, the Organization wouldn't find Namine… Maybe they'd just find a strange child going shopping instead…

(-)

The sun was shining through the clouds that rolled on by, spreading rays of warmth before once again getting shrouded by the puffy white clouds. The waves lapped against the sand that lined the shore, wiping away any signs that anyone or thing that may once had been there. The palm leaves danced above the head of the head of an eleven year-old sitar player, in synch with the gentle breeze. His sandy blond hair tickled his cheeks, and the scent of the sea soothed his soul as he began to wander along the shore. The beach was the only place he could imagine himself being. Just the sheer gentleness of the water and the wind in his face, and the sand under his feet were the definition of Paradise to the musical prodigy.

Feet shuffling in the hot sand as he took in the smells of the ocean, eleven-year-old Myde hopped into the cool ocean waters, and watched the sunset across the waves.

It was a bit of a ritual he had. None of his friends, nor his sister understood why he stood there, staring at the red orb as it slowly sunk beneath the waves like he was a carved statue, but he did this act anyways… It was just too beautiful to pass up.

The reds, oranges and pinks splashed across the sky like the waves on the sand, looking almost unnatural compared the blues he was used to. He wished the sky always looked like this. He had told his Grandpa that was what he wished for more than almost anything, but his Grandpa had said it was a stupid thing to wish for. He said it wouldn't be nearly as special if it was always there, and the boy wouldn't have cared about it at all. Myde then told him his next biggest wish was he could have a Birthday Party everyday. Grandpa had then shaken his wrinkled, bearded head and hobbled away on his old palm cane, muttering about the children's intelligence these days, or something along those lines. Myde didn't understand his Grandpa sometimes. He seemed to think things were better when he had been younger. That wasn't true, was it? Wasn't the best time now? Tch. Grown-Ups were so weird.

Myde stood there, peacefully as the last of the sun's rays began to fade out of view. It was officially night time now, and he should've been heading back home... But he didn't want to. He loved watching the sky, and especially how the water reflected off of it. He loved water. Swimming in it, being around it, splashing it, looking at it… It was just awesome, for lack of a better word. But at the same time… He also had a weird thing with it too. He found… If he focused a little… He could control it. Completely taking control of it so it bended into butterflies, snakes, and dozens of other things in the air… It came as naturally to him like talking would to other people. He had been so proud of it, and amazed when he had found out. Besides being able to play the sitar he had gotten for his ninth birthday, he was finally good at something! He had shown Grandpa shortly after, expecting Grandpa to be just as happy about it as he was, but… Grandpa had looked terrified. He had told him to never tell or show anyone, and to hide this gift. Myde had been so confused. Wasn't Grandpa happy for him being unique? He had even said not to tell Vizet, his own sister.

He bended his knees so he could crouch down. He then looked to the sea… And began to make swirls and patterns with the salt water. Bending fingers into a circle, the water swirled into a dragon that danced in mid-air, and liquid butterflies fluttered around it. Even though they were just tiny manipulations that were only around the size of Myde's hand, and were close to the ground, it felt even more fun than playing with the other boys his age. Myde smiled, it always felt so satisfying to experiment with his abilities, to toy around with water and see what shapes and images he could make for himself. He still didn't understand why Grandpa didn't like him playing with his powers. Didn't he get how awesome they were? How happy it made him feel to play with magic? This miraculous playing with water continued- until the sound of his sister's shriek broke his concentration and caused the water to rain down from the twelve inches of previous suspension.

Suddenly, the memory shifted into a nightmare. His older sister, Vizet, stood there in front of the hut with her dark blonde curls flying in what used to be a gentle breeze that was now a massive windstorm - with the claws of a Heartless impaled in her stomach. She looked to her younger brother, horrified as she collapsed to her knees. Her blood coated the sand under her as more Heartless jumped on her and began tearing her apart. She screamed for her younger brother to save her, flailing helpless in the sand, tears pouring down her cheeks as her wounds bled… Music notes…? …the hell…?… That didn't matter! Myde ran full-tilt for her, crying her name over the wind. Over the short period of time, however, Vizet's shrieks for assistance, began turning more and more nightmarish and inhuman. Myde, even at his top speed, couldn't save her in time, and when he was finally close to her… She had become a tall, pitch black, faceless creature with golden eyes and claws. A Neoshadow. Then there were thousands of Neoshadows surrounding him, all hissing and screeching at him with ear-splitting volumes. Scared witless and sobbing, the boy fell to his knees, whimpering pleas for them to stop and to bring his sister back. They readied themselves to jump… Then he looked up to see they had all vanished, along with the Islands, and that he was in a room of some kind… Strapped down by metal restraints that refused to let him go, no matter how hard he thrashed about. He was still filled with adrenaline when looked down and saw he was older now, around nineteen-ish. A figure emerged from the shadows. Female with straight hair tied into bun. Her very presence made him want to scream. Something about her struck fear into his heart.

"Well, well, well… If it isn't dear little M-[STATIC] If y- [STATIC] -can't-can't-can't-can't-can't-can't bweeeee-at them, join th-" [STATIC] "-know-" [STATIC] "-L- you." [STATIC]

Before she could do anything else, the world shifted again. Now in some town in the middle of the night?

[BZZZT]… The scenes were going even crazier now. Scenes of teenager in a red vest with spiky, black hair entered and left his head quickly. A girl with wavy, pale beige hair that went to her shoulders was looking through a window, throwing a piece of candy at him. A Music Box. Men in Hoods. Heartless. Water. Worlds that zoomed by at a thousand miles a second. A noose. Sitar. Books. Death. Petals. Anger. Vengeance. Flight. Oceans. Monsters. The scream of a girl…

"MYDE!"

(-)

A crack of thunder blasted Demyx out of his dream. The musician bolted upright, eyes darting across the room for some kind of answer to… Well, anything really. He was deeply perplexed, trying with all his might just to make sense of at least something. Hyper ventilating over the nightmare that had just haunted his skull, he looked up to the light grey ceiling, and saw that he was in his room. That was good, right? A massive thunderstorm was going on outside. That was good, too. Didn't exactly provide his anxious mind with any much-appreciated answers, but it was still a thunderstorm, which was alright in his book. Unlike most people, Demyx loved thunderstorms. They brought him peace of mind, and made him feel more secure than sunny days did. Already, the storm's sounds were relieving him of his deep anxiety. Once the brief adrenaline wore off and he calmed himself down a little, however, he found his head in mild pain and his chest stinging him painfully. He felt incredibly tired, and was craving some water. Still, though. 'Least he wasn't afraid anymore.

Letting out a sigh, he eased his muscles, thinking over the dream. That dream had made, NO SENSE. The beginning had actually been a memory though... That is until his sister had shown up and things had started going crazy, so he decided to add it to the tiny list of memories from his previous existence that also made no sense. The rain poured down outside, comforting him in his little bed. Demyx sat up and looked to his side, to see a glass of water on his nightstand. He chugged it all down at once. Once finished, though a drop water fell on what he realized was his exposed chest, leaving a mild chill. He looked down to himself to see he wasn't wearing his coat and that someone had bandaged a wound on his chest. Must've been the gash from when he fought the Chillripper. A new, crisp coat, *That looked completely identical to his slightly older one* was on top of his covers. Demyx slipped it on. It was a good fit… But he suddenly noticed something: It felt… Unfamiliar all of a sudden. Odd.

He plopped back onto his pillow. He was tired, but his mind was racing. He would've gone to play the sitar, just to clear it, but the last time he tried to settle an issue like that without going to the Grey Room, (which he currently didn't want to walk to, he was too comfortable in his bed) Vexen had come in, furious as a Nobody could get, and decided to test how well Demyx's lower intestines would react to getting hacked up with poison-filled hypodermic needles. (He somehow lived, obviously) Vexen may be dead now, but he was still paranoid of going through that fairly painful experience again. He was so restless. He had so many questions on his mind. He'd never be able to fall asleep with the hell going on his head…

…Then he woke up the next morning.

"Jeez, am I shallow…" he muttered, rubbing his head. His head hurt a little. He could ignore it. Still hurt a little bit though. He stretched and left his room to see what he had missed while he had been asleep.

He walked into the Grey Room, only to find no one there, except for Xaldin, who was customizing his Lances at The Moogle Shop, along with Axel and Luxord, who were both playing a game of cards with Saix watching over their shoulders, obviously waiting for their game to end. Demyx liked card games, but he wasn't in the mood for a round against them right now. Besides, he always lost the games. Saix's ears caught the sounds of Demyx walking in, and the blue-haired man looked up to greet him.

"Hello, IX," he greeted, emotionlessly, "Sleep well?"

Axel's interest seemed to peak, and the redhead looked up from his cards with slight relief and happiness. "Hey, you're not dead! How about that?" he smiled, "Gave us a bit of a scare though, Dem."

Sure I did, thought Demyx's slightly pessimistic side, Like any of us can even FEEL scared… Still, Axel was at least trying to be friendly, a rare thing for any of his co-workers, so Demyx acted happy anyway, despite the fact the nightmare he had just had was plaguing the back of his mind and knew Axel really deep down didn't care about what happened to him.

"Sorry about that," he smiled, "How long have I been out?"

"Two days," frowned Saix, "IX, you over used your Hydrokinesis, resulting in a state of unconsciousness. Axel dragged you back to the Castle, and the Dusks have been tending your wounds for the last little while. You have currently missed nothing note-worthy. Today, your mission is in Twilight Town with Xaldin to track and kill six Wavercrests."

Nice social skills, man, growled Demyx's mind, God, why do I even stay and work with these emotionless bastards? No one here gives a damn… Xaldin walked over to Demyx, carrying his six lances, now greyish and futuristic and looking that looked like they did well for Mid-Air combos.

"Among the waking world now, I see?" asked the gruff warrior.

"Yup," said Demyx, flashing his signature smile, "Apparently, I've been out for a while."

"Indeed. Come, those Heartless aren't going to kill themselves," he said, coldly as he opened a Dark Corridor.

"Right behind you, buddy," assured Demyx.

Later that day, around noon…

Demyx sighed as he put down his comic book. HE WAS SOOOO BORED. He had ditched Xaldin and had left the fighting to the older warrior, as Demyx was wearied by the thought of killing so many Heartless and Xaldin didn't seem to care, so now the blond had decided to hide while reading the comic books he had, quote-unquote, "found." But now he was tired of these Japanese Graphic Novels. Sighing, he left to wander around to find something interesting to do that didn't involve killing Heartless.

(-)

Namine kept the hood of her jacket over her face. She had been over this with herself twelve times already, if anyone was to ask, her name was Trace, she was out to buy chocolate cake ingredients, and under no circumstances was she to remove her hood. Avoid contact with people, and the if she saw anyone from the Organization?: RUN.

Satisfied with herself, she grabbed her wicker basket, opened the door to the Mansion… and for the first time since she was "born," ….She took a step outside. Gaping at the difference in air outside in comparison to the air inside, and shivered out of intimidation. She didn't expect it to be so… BIG… No. She couldn't go back. She wanted to make a cake, and Goddammit, she was going to make it!

She slowly walked through the woods, taking in the smells and sights. It was so different than what she was used to. Her boots shuffled against the damp earth and the sweet scented grass, and the massive trees that towered over her. The trees unnerved her. they were so tall... What if they fell on her? She shuddered at the thought. After the brief walk, she came to the hole in the stone wall that connected the woods and Twilight Town… And moved herself through. Upon entering the lowly populated cobbled stone streets, she shyly wrapped her upper arms around herself self-consciously, trying not to draw attention to her person. She tipped-toed through the fairly empty streets, trying to find a shop that sold food. But then… She felt something brush itself against her foot.

Namine shrieked and jumped back in fear. A Heartless! A Heartless was-!

"Mew!"

…It was a kitten. …Wow, was she inexperienced in the world… The fluffy creature curled itself on Namine's boot. Meowing at the blonde artist for affection. Namine slowly picked up the grey animal and examined it. She had never held an kitten before. She remembered Axel comparing her to one once, and then irritatedly describing one to her when she had been confused as to what it meant. She hadn't know what to think of it before, but now that she held one in her hands, it was… Kind of cute, actually. She held the thing close to her face, and it licked her nose with it's scratchy tongue. Namine giggled. She liked kittens now.

"Fang!" cried a worried girl as she ran towards Namine. The second this girl set her eyes on the kitten, she let out a sigh of relief. The girl had shoulder-length brown hair, light yellow, baggy shorts and an orange T-Shirt with white Hawaiian flowers on it, "Oh, thank God, there she is!" she beamed.

"This is… Your kitten?" asked Namine, struggling to come up with proper, casual words to use. She didn't have very good social skills, especially when it came to talking to 'normal' people.

"Yup!" smiled the girl, "Her name is Fang. She's adorable, but she's always running off. She can be quite a handful sometimes. Anyways, thank you for catching her. My name's Olette. What's yours?"

...What? They had just met, now she was asking her name? Was this normal?

"…Trace," lied Namine.

"Huh. Cool name!" smiled the girl as she took the kitten from Namine, "See you!" she sang as she ran off with her kitten.

How strange! What did this mean? Were they friends, enemies, acquaintances? Why had that girl just ran off like that? Further more, why did she speak to her to begin with? People were so strange… As nice as it was to be outside, she should get this job done quickly.

She walked through the town at quick pace, looking for a shop that sold cake ingredients. She was really nervous now. She should've stayed inside! Finally, however, she at long last found a market selling ingredients. She looked around, frantically, trying to find the right ingredients for the cake. Just then, however, a figure approached her. She turned away so she couldn't see out of fear, hoping whoever it was would ignore her.

"Looking for something?" asked the figure, speaking in a voice that sounded oddly familiar and comforting.

"Er… Yes…" mumbled Namine, hiding her voice in a lower pitch to hide her true one, too nervous to look up, "I'm looking for ingredients to make a chocolate cake?"

"Well, I'm no expert, but I think you should take Loren's Flour and Miss Kasay's chocolate. The advertisements for them are REALLY annoying, but the products themselves are good. Especially for baking."

That was surprisingly helpful. "Wow, thank you…" said Namine as looked up initially with gratitude… Only to be immediately replaced with sheer horror and intense fear.

"No problem," replied Demyx, Number. IX of the Organization.

A/N: Le Gasp! :O Cliffhanger! I dunno, I kinda rushed this chapter, so I'm not sure if it's that good or not. Anyways, people, I am afraid I have a piece of bad news. You see... I'm going to be stuck without Internet for about a MONTH. So... Yeah. :( I promise I'll update as soon as I get the Internet back, but until then, you're gonna have ta wait for a little while. :) On that happy note, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Peace out, folks!