Don't own KH, yadda yadda.

(I noticed these chapters lately are mentioning sleep a lot, I don't know why. Maybe I shouldn't be staying up until midnight working on fanfiction… nahhh. Also, I'm starting to have different POV's, but hopefully you'll catch on quick. This fanfic's timeline is starting to get messed up, so, sorry! The second break refers to it in the present time and it's time after being forcefully merged with the Empty Heart and taken to The Chamber of Waking, the third is present time and fourth being broken the first time, fifth when it first met the Little Heart and so on.

We Remember Those Who Are Lost

The Bright Heart breathed in and out softly. It slept soundly deep within the recess of another's young heart. Once in awhile, a wisp of light would come and whizz into it and amend a broken crack in its being. These wisps were soft and gentle, only stinging a little. If the Bright Heart was in some other heart's hands, it doubt that its recovery would be as comforting. The young heart was delicate and regretted every ounce of pain it caused in its slow drawn out, healing process. The Bright Heart would then reassure the young heart that it was okay with a soft smile. Staying in this rehabilitating sleep is what the Bright Heart had been doing for some time, hardly ever waking, if there was such an occasion. At least, that's how it used to be.

Usually it'd just curl up and sleep, enveloped in the warmth and solace the Other Heart provided it constantly. At first, before it met this Other Heart it was in a fragile state, constantly wavering over the line of life and death. It was hard not to be filled with grief over what had happened. Being alone to itself gave it plenty of time for all these emotions get jumbled up inside it.

It felt horrible been broken. It was shattered into a thousand pieces and the only thing that kept it from breaking completely were the faint thoughts of seeing its friends again, which were barely managing to stay in focus, unlike the rest of its thought which crumbled away like dust most of the time.

The Bright Heart felt like screaming, but it didn't know how to make the sounds. The pain made it cry, but there were no tears, why would there be? It was overwhelming, all these feelings and emotions and bitterness, everything everywhere seemed against it and it couldn't even tell what it was anymore, and what was left was slipping away at an alarmingly fast rate.

Maybe it'll be alright if I break completely, dissipate here.

Would go one voice in it's head in a weak attempt to comfort itself. The pessimistic voice sounded oddly familiar, but was not one it knew well. It was pathetic, saddened and had no one to turn to.

But that wouldn't be fair, right? You made promises you have to keep. Let's keep going.

Said a more energetic voice, encouraging it to go on. Again, this voice tugged at a faint memory. Was it its own voice? Another it had picked up and adapted as it's own? This voice was full of hope and enthusiasm, always ready to reach out a hand to help the heart back on its feet. This voice kept it from killing itself, or it's light would've been gone out a long time ago.

Thinking back, it was this second voice that guided the Bright Heart towards this haven it now peacefully rested in. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, so the Bright Heart shook off its thoughts.

Sleeping meant it wasn't alive. Okay, well, that's not being fair. Sleeping meant it couldn't think, which meant it couldn't worry or feel sorry for itself. The thoughts that plagued it's mind would shift out of focus and become fuzzy. When it ever woke, it'd just be lulled back to sleep again by the sweet alluring call of the Other Heart's promise of being at peace.

This is what made it so hard to wake up in the first place.

It didn't mind being engulfed in the Other Heart's warmth. It felt like you were trapped in a cabin during a cold winter storm: being wrapped up in the softest of blankets and a warm fire ablaze, lightly petting your skin. It was having nowhere to go and finding sleep so comfortable. But the Bright Heart didn't mind. The Bright Heart just curled up and nestled in the perfect shelter the Other Heart welcomingly provided. Sleeping made years seem like seconds, and it had lots of time to kill before it opened its eyes for good.

At least, that's what usually happened. But now, the Bright Heart was waking up a lot more often. It would feel all its systems slowly start running, and it would slowly slip into being conscious. It's ethereal body would start to form and it would see the Other Heart in front of it. There was still a faint tiny thread connecting it to its core inside the Other Heart.

Whoa!

The Other Heart jumped back, startled. It then gathered itself, realizing the familiar heart before it.

Ah, it's just you.

The Other Heart said calming down.

Why are you up? Are you okay?

It said, concerned. It never really talked to the Bright Heart which resided inside it. They just coexisted, if you could call it that.

S-sorry, I'll just go back to sleep…

The Bright Heart said embarrassed. If hearts could blush, the Bright Heart's face would be the darkest shade of red. It started to fade, closing its eyes and beating slowing.

Um, wait! I don't really mind, you know, if you were awake.

The Other Heart said, waving its hands. The Bright Heart stopped in it's tracks and jerked awake.

Well, you heal faster when you're sleeping, when you're not using as much energy, so I shouldn't stop you.

The Other Heart said, changing its mind. The Bright Heart laughed.

Do you want to talk or not? I don't mind. It'd be nice to not be so lonely.

The Bright Heart said. It had only conversed with this Other Heart only a few times before, but the conversations were mostly short-lived, and never so… so… casual. The last time they had spoken, the Bright Heart had left the sight of the setting sun afterwards back into its oblivion. The Bright Heart closed its eyes. The thing is, the Bright Heart didn't need an ethereal body to talk. It never did.

Cool, huh?

The words it spoke did not come from its mouth, but vibrated through the Other Heart, where its core still resided. Its spiritual body smiled.

We've done this before, but it wasn't that recent, so I don't expect you to remember.

It bit its lip. This was mostly because of its influence. Surely it wasn't good to be so prominent in Sora's mind, so he made the few memories a little foggy. Not completely gone or replaced like what Namine did, just blurred a bit, with the tiny bit of influence the Bright Heart had for being stuck in this Other Heart for so long. (In fact, if the Other Heart didn't care so much about others, the Bright Heart probably would've been absorbed completely and lose all the little sense of self it had left) The Other Heart had other people, other lives to protect, many more than its own. Now was not the time to be selfish.

(How much time would there even be left?)

The question plagued the Bright Heart's thoughts. It wasn't so broken anymore. Most of the cracks had closed up and it felt much less empty compared to when it entered this sanctuary. Whole, even.

It wondered when it would be able to leave this place of solace and warmth. Sora's heart was so welcoming, it made the stranger that was the Bright Heart feel at home, yes, but the Bright Heart knew from personal experience that separating a heart from one's body was not the easiest voyage. (And that was putting it lightly) Even if after the whole experience, its body and soul did not remember, the Bright Heart sure as hell did.

Am I alone?

Begging, pleading.

All such words fell on deaf ears too full of its own thoughts to listen.

(The Bright Heart wasn't so bright back then, but the name will have to do as we turn back the needle of the wicked mistress known as time and see from it's point of view.)

The Bright Heart was yelling from all the panic it was in. It needed to stop, it needed to focus. The situation was ridiculous. It was like at a young child's first swimming lesson, the instructor pushed the poor kid off the diving board and said "Don't drown."

The darkness was swarming around inside the void. The Bright Heart was barely having a grip on its own emotions, so it was not in the mood to deal with its inner demons at the moment. It couldn't fight with them.

I'm not strong enough.

A weak voice told itself.

Why had it thought he could be strong enough to wield the weapon in his hands? Supposedly it was a blade of unimaginable power to dictate over the forces that held this universe together. But he held it weirdly, differently than his supposed master. Why was he even here in the first place? The decisions that lead up to this seemed like a blur.

Really, really stupid decisions.

A feeble voice whispered to itself.

And I'm the really, really dumb idiot to have thought this was a good idea. This could've only ended horribly. This is what I get for doing something out of the ordinary. I'm so pathetic.

It said to itself in its usual pessimistic tone. If it did anything wrong, it simply wouldn't leave its mind and would weigh down on it. It was like carrying around a bully in your head that just would not shut up. And what hurt it most, was that this voice was its own.

And it

would

not

LEAVE

(Be careful what you wish for)

Before he knew it, he was down on the floor, overwhelmed.

(Maybe it was the heartless that first stirred the darkness in his heart)

The Bright Heart was extremely worried, it's body was not responding, an oversized, heavy empty doll. What happened next, is hard to put into words.

Something pierced it directly, cut through it's soul and split it in half. It was glad that its body wasn't functioning properly, because It really flippin' hurt.

It wasn't like a scrape, bruise or cut on a mere body that heals and isn't permanent. A body itself is a vessel for the heart and soul, things that surpass the normal mortal barrier of understanding. You can't poke something as precious as a heart without going through incredibly cruel, dark means in order to do so. A vessel dies. A heart's light will live on. This… this was like losing a limb without anesthetic or an abrupt sharp pierce through the stomach, but to something that made you who you are. Your memories, thoughts, personality traits - warped and ripped into pieces.

It's panic in full throttle, the heart watch as a third of itself ripped out. It's thoughts went numb as it saw it's piece fade from grasp and it lost complete control of it's body. Its body went limb, and all light drained from its once bright eyes. A piece of it seemed to be gone as the heart's ethereal body dimmed, and it could only imagine what was happening to the other piece.

This shard, one third of its heart, was more like a new slate than of what used to be "Ventus". The darkness in the Bright Heart jumped out of its body, mist leaking out into the reality and wrapping around the bright shard, quickly corrupting it by echoes of thoughts of what it used to be.

You're weak, worthless, pathetic…

Dark raspy whispers surrounded the heart and formed a body which it could stand on, creating a whole new being.

A whole new heart.

The Bright Heart curled up its knees closer to its chest as it lied down on the ground in its weak attempt to comfort itself. It literally had nothing to live for. Nothing.

Why must I always suffer?

Nobody liked it at all, and all that it was, was slipping away, floating into the unknown. Nobody would miss those parts which were gone. It may of be a heart of "true light", but the Bright Heart didn't feel warm or any other positive things "the light" supposedly had.

The lack of feeling and numbness is painful.

The Bright Heart, didn't want to be so bright. This was a light so blinding, that it was the kind nobody would look at it in fear of ruining their eyesight. Maybe nobody but those cold glittering gold eyes would ever look at it again.

I'm better off dead.

The voice was faint now, most of it had been sucked out with the new heart made of its darkness. But still, tiny traces of it were here, tiny, but loud in the emptiness.

Hey, are you there?

It was a different voice. Or necessarily not a voice. It could feel the words forming sentences, but not hear a distinct voice. Ah, it was a new heart, that must've been why. The Bright Heart's soul was pulled to its Station of Serenity and he took part in a conversation with this newcomer.

Wasn't this new heart blinded by the Bright Heart's intense light? Strange. As the Bright Heart continued talking to this heart, it felt a tiny bit better. Maybe somebody cared, the thought was laughable.

Suddenly, the Bright Heart felt the gaping hole in it filling in with warmth as it softly touched the new heart's light. The Bright Heart felt its strength returning as this rejuvenating energy pulsed through it. This light from the new heart wasn't like it's own, it had life and was full of hope and joy, such things it wished to share with a heart weak and pathetic as its own.

…

...th

…t-that

...

Started to say a tiny new voice inside of the Bright Heart. A spark struggling to speak and shine underneath all the darkness. The Bright Heart could barely hear it and shrugged off the voice. It was whole now, that's all that mattered.

Filling in someone's heart and healing them is not so simple. It is an oddity, a unseen miracle that had never been recorded. So, stands to stay, the not-so-broken boy wasn't on his feet running all sunshine and rainbows after healing.

The Bright Heart had to take a while absorbing this other alien energy in it's hole, adapting it to it's whim. Since this heart that helped it hadn't a body or life yet, it was a complete blank space, with no risk of it's personality or memories taking over the Bright Hearts life. All it had to do, was fill in that blank spaces with pieces and parts of itself, so basically it taking over this empty piece and making it its own with no ill-effects. The Bright Heart then thought to itself: it didn't deserve this, it was just gonna waste every breathe anyway and nobody would care.

…

...that's

...that's not true

The tiny voice was hesitant at first, but then called out from the depths of its being. The Bright Heart stopped focusing on the process and perked its ears up.

…

… Surely there's someone who needs me… right?

The Bright Heart was confused. Yes, this voice was it's own, but like a wisp who puts thoughts into others minds, it was not. The Bright Heart needed to focus, so it shook its head and turned back to its work. But later, it happened again.

… yes, I do deserve to be alive.

The Bright Heart said like it was reassuring itself. It smiled slightly for the first time in awhile and giggled, which surprised the Bright Heart for a moment at its own actions. Were its thoughts always so wishful? It continued on with its process, this time, happier. The pieces that were blank started turning the Bright Heart's light shade of blue.

This new positive voice seemed to have replaced the old negative one, for it never heard the bullying thoughts again. Was it even possible to have a completely new outlook on life? With this voice gentling guiding its thoughts and emotions, pushing the Bright Heart in the right direction. What unsettled it most, was that this voice was its own, this voice full of life and warmth, a type of brightness that was… hopeful.

When the not-so-broken boy opened his eyes, he realized that it may take a while to get up to speed again. Sure, his heart had almost completely healed, but that didn't mean he was ready to go do cartwheels.

There was also the factor that the Bright Heart had forgotten what caused it harm in the first place, with a heavy case of amnesia. It was weird, because the Bright Heart kept on forgetting it had to heal in the first place and that was not normal.

Surely whatever hurt me then can't harm me here, I have friends who can protect me.

The Bright Heart thought with a smile of comfort. It's systems were getting faster by the day and it was making an effort to try and remember the names of the people around it. Every time its body would lump around and meet these faces, it was met with kind smiles and friendly nudges of encouragement. Day by day, it was getting better, finally back to normal. This time, more cheerful and prone to smiling, full of energy to go out and do things.

The not-so-broken boy sat with his two friends under the stars, swinging his dangling legs. It was his favourite type of atmosphere as he was surrounded by the people he cared about and loved. And he knew with a small smile as he turned to look at their faces, that they felt the same way about him. As if coming to terms with it itself, the Bright Heart looked back up at the sky with a new thought.

I am not alone.

AN: Character assassination, what's that? In the light novels Ventus was a pessimist pre-BBS, so here's the reason why he's so cheery after. (That wasn't even the original purpose of this chapter now that I'm thinking about it… talk about side tracked) I wanted to include other stuff, but it was just a good note to end on. (I'll just save my little tea cup for next chapter muahaha.) Scary thought: That swimming analogy actually happened to me. First time submerged in the water and they made my class do dives. Scarred me for quite a few years.