Restless nights were more common than not for Yuki. She didn't know what it was that made it so hard for her mind to settle down. Maybe it was the fact that time was just so arbitrary, whether they were in Castle Oblivion or Castle Impia. There was no sun that rose and no change in the outside. All times seem the same. There was no signal it was time for sleep. No signal the day was done. And that seemed to make it so Yuki's mind refused to slow and shut down.

When those nights occurred, all too often Yuki found herself wandering the castle. It wasn't rare for her to find another member in a similar situation. She had found Aryum in the kitchen often, and X was usually in the library at these hours. Y could be found in all manner of places, the strangest being in one of the towers, using railings on the higher levels as balance beams. Syrine was usually in training rooms and Aysui was in her office. Yuki had even once found Tayressa just wandering the halls. 

And that was why she wasn't surprised to see Zakey sitting in the common room.

Yuki almost just walked away. She tended to prefer to be alone when she was wandering. But she stopped when she saw a peculiar object in Zakey's hands. It was relatively square, with something cylindrical protruding from the front. Getting a small bit closer Yuki could see various buttons and dials along its sides.

"What's that?" Yuki asked. She flinched as the words left her mouth. It was late and she was sure Zakey didn't want to be bothered. She was surprised when the purple-haired woman looked over her shoulder. Her hair fell around her shoulders and into her eyes, its usual braids and ponytail missing.

"Oh, hey kid," Zakey greeted, not seeming surprised that Yuki was there. Yuki gave a slight nod, her eyes still trained on the strange object.

"What's that?" Yuki asked once again. Zakey chuckled, looking to the device and moving a few of the dials mindlessly. She brushed her hair over her shoulder, dark skin that was usually hidden under her cloak showing.

"Nothing deters you, huh?" Zakey asked. "It's a camera. Wanna see?" She again turned to look at Yuki, offering a smile. With a simple motion, she beckoned Yuki to sit beside her on the couch. Yuki did so cautiously. It was strange, without the coat Zakey wore a grey tank top, ripped and torn at the bottom showing a fair bit of her mid-drift. Her shorts were black and also looked to be rather distressed. It wasn't what Yuki expected at all. She turned her attention away from her superior's clothes and back on the camera.

"What's it do?" Yuki asked, her head tilting to the side.

"Takes pictures," Zakey said simply. Yuki's confusion only grew as her brow furrowed together.

"Pictures?" she asked.

"Oh, you really don't remember anything, do you?" Zakey asked. Yuki felt her face flush as she looked away from the pink eyes that had landed on her.

"Yeah, sorry," she muttered. Zakey placed a gentle hand on Yuki's shoulder, squeezing lightly.

"Don't worry about it. Not your fault. Here," She flipped the camera around, gently tugging Yuki so her attention was on the lens. Zakey smiled, putting up two fingers. She pressed a button on the camera and something crossed in front of the lens quickly. She turned the camera around again and pressed a few buttons, bringing the image into a small display. She turned the display toward Yuki proudly. "See, a picture."

"Wow! And this works like everywhere?" Yuki asked excitedly. Staring at the display it was like a moment frozen in time. Zakey's soft smile that made her seem much less scary, and Yuki's own look of surprise. She had never seen herself aside from her reflection in the glass. It surprised her how pale she looked next to Zakey.

"Yup," Zakey confirmed with a chuckle. "Here, why don't you take this." Yuki stared with her mouth agape as Zakey let the camera rest in her lap.

"Huh? Really?" Yuki asked.

"Yeah, sure. Why not. I'm sure I can just buy myself another one," Zakey said, leaning back, her arms stretched out to either side on the back of the couch. She kicked her feet up, seeming to be waiting for Yuki's reaction.

"But why?" Yuki asked.

"Well, cameras are for taking pictures with your friends and keeping the memories fresh. No matter how long it's been since you last saw them," Zakey said, another soft smile crossing her face. It was at this smile Yuki realized that the dark lines that were usually around her eyes were missing.

"So?" Yuki asked.

"My friends have been gone for a long time. But you still got some, right?" She asked, a smirk crossing her face. Yuki nodded looking down at the camera in her lap.

"Yeah," she was sure that Roxas and Xion would be just as amazed by this as her. She smiled and glanced up at Zakey again. "What happened to your friends?"

"Well, let's just say we got separated. Time puts a pretty big distance between us," Zakey said. She leaned her head back looking up at the ceiling with a heavy sigh. She chuckled letting her eyes fall shut. "God, I can't remember the last time we were all together."

"Do you have pictures of them?" Yuki asked.

"A few. I'm not supposed to have them though," Zakey said, keeping her eyes closed. Yuki frowned, tilting her head to the side.

"Why not? Is it bad to remember?" she asked. Zakey sighed again, opening her eyes and leaning forward. She removed her arms from the back of the couch and laced her fingers in front of her, her elbows resting o her knees.

"It can make things a little harder," she admitted. Without the black lines that usually traced her eyes, she seemed very much older and much sadder.

"Oh," Yuki said softly. She bit her bottom lip, debating with herself on what to do next. It wasn't long until she couldn't hold back her curiosity. "What were your friends like?"

"They were something else," Zakey said with a chuckle. She pushed herself to her feet rather suddenly and for a moment Yuki feared she had said the wrong thing. "Here, give me a sec."

Zakey left the room, leaving Yuki to watch after her in confusion. After a moment she turned her attention on the camera. She pressed buttons carefully, watching to see what they did. Flicking through the display Yuki was surprised to see many pictures of different members of the organization and a few of one of the organization XIII members as well. She only knew because of the coat otherwise, she wasn't familiar with him. 

Yuki chuckled as she found a picture of X glaring, though he wore a very different outfit than what Yuki was used to seeing him in. A dark coat and shirt with a spiked choker. He was making a very rude gesture that Yuki guessed meant he didn't enjoy his picture being taken. There were even pictures of Yuki herself, usually of her using her keyblades.

Footsteps alerted Yuki to Zakey's return. She looked up as Zakey sat beside her again and handed her a picture. Yuki gasped seeing the group of about ten people, all smiling and laughing. Some seemed to be playfully shoving each other, while others watched in exasperation. They all looked so different. All hair colors, from orange to blue, from dark to light. Height was quite a difference too. The tallest, a boy with brown hair and tanned skin, easily towered above the shortest, a girl with blue hair and freckles across her skin like spots.

"Wow! You had a lot of friends," Yuki said without a thought. Zakey laughed looking over her shoulder.

"Don't sound so surprised. When we had hearts anything was possible," she said. Yuki frowned as she scanned over the picture again. 

"Where are you in the picture?" Yuki asked. Of all the people, none really looked anything like Zakey. Though a few were oddly familiar.

"I took the picture, everyone was kinda fed up with my picture taking. So, if I wanted a picture I had to take it. This wasn't even everyone, we're missing four in this picture," Zakey explained. Her eyes were locked on the picture when Yuki looked over her shoulder at her. Once again she had reclined back.

"Why?" Yuki asked.

"They were the busy type. Always running around with important jobs. At least, three of them were. The other was just always in trouble. I don't remember what he had done that time," Zakey said. Her smile was seeming to be more permanent now. Yuki nodded looking back at the picture. She pointed to one of them, a young boy with spiked blonde hair who was among the smallest there. He was shyly smiling as an orange-haired boy had an arm draped around him.

"Who's that?"

"I don't remember his name. I don't remember a lot of their names. But he was a sweetie. The entire party loved him," Zakey admitted. Yuki nodded looking at the people again. Her eyes landed on the smallest girl.

"She looks like Arykii," she said.

"Yeah, she does," Zakey agreed. They both had the same hair and eye shape, though the color was different. And Yuki was yet to see someone with as many freckles as Arykii had. But this girl seemed to match up fairly well. "I never thought to ask if she was one of them. Maybe I'll have to do that one day."

"You and Arykii are kinda friends, right?" Yuki asked.

"Yeah, I suppose you could call us that. We at least get along," Zakey agreed.

"You all look really happy," Yuki said. Zakey smiled, brushing a strand of hair off of Yuki's face. Yuki glanced up in surprise. Zakey only chuckled.

"It was a big day. We had a lot of problems, but that was the day we got approval to stick together," Zakey said. Yuki frowned looking at the picture. Who's approval did they need to be friends? Was that an actual thing?

"Who's approval?" she asked. Zakey shrugged.

"Not a clue, back just says party approved," she said. Yuki flipped over the picture confirming with her own eyes the words written in a neat scrawl. She stared for a moment before handing the picture back to Zakey. Zakey took it and flipped it back over, smiling fondly at the people frozen in time. Her eyes rested on a girl with black hair that had her arm slung around a girl with white hair. Both were standing proudly like they had won some great battle.

"Thank you for showing me that. I'm sorry about your friends," Yuki said. Zakey laughed lowering the picture.

"Yeah, me too," she said. She forced herself to smile one last time and ruffled Yuki's hair. Yuki pushed her hands away in annoyance, she could not understand why everyone older than her thought that was necessary. "Put that camera to good use, alright?"

"Yeah," Yuki agreed with a nod.

*<3*

Yuki stared at the camera in her hands as the waves lapped at her feet. She slowly turned it over, testing out the buttons she had been taught by Zakey over many midnight wanderings. She easily turned the camera on and focused on the ocean waves and the island in the distance.

"Hey, Yuki!"

Yuki lowered the camera slightly, turning to see Sora. He was just a few paces away, his head tilted to the side. "Huh? What's that?"

"Camera," Yuki answered. She smiled softly turning to face Sora, bringing the camera up and focusing it on Sora's puzzled expression. "Say cheese."

"Huh?" Sora said. Yuki chuckled as she took a picture, lowering the camera to look at how it had turned out. Sora pouted his hands going to his hips. "Hey, I wasn't ready!"

"I like it," Yuki said with a laugh. The picture was simple, but she didn't think she would ever be able to capture that puzzled expression so perfectly if she tried. The way his nose scrunched up just slightly and his eyebrows furrowed. "No pretty looks, just you."

"Is something up?" Sora asked. Yuki slowly let her smile drop. It seemed Sora had a sixth sense for when something was on her mind. No matter how hard she tried to pretend she was fine.

"You remember before DiZ took me from the island?" she asked. Sora nodded without hesitation. "I was always so worried about everything changing in an instant and us losing everything. And you know what, we did."

"Yuki," Sora said, stepping forward and reaching out to her. Yuki smiled looking up at him again.

"But that wasn't really bad in the end, was it? Think of all the cool things we got to see. And all the people we met," she said. Sora's expression quickly turned from one of concern to confusion. Yuki sighed looking back at the camera, flicking through the pictures she had taken. And the ones Zakey had taken. "Everything can change at any second, and that's not bad. I just think I'd like to be able to have something to remember what we came from before by." She stopped looking at a picture of her friends on top of the clock tower. Her eyes rested over the empty space between Y and Roxas. Big enough for two.

"Wow, you never stop thinking do you?" Sora asked.

"Guess not," Yuki agreed. She looked up again, pushing her thoughts of the past away. "Wanna help me find Riku and Kairi? I wanna get some pictures of them too."

"Yeah, come on. Let's go," Sora agreed. He and Yuki easily fell in step beside each other as they wandered toward the docks where Kairi and Riku likely were. "Where did you get that anyway?" Sora asked, glancing to the camera.

"I thought I left it in the Realm of Darkness at the Heartless stronghold. Guess it must have been in my bag this whole time," Yuki said, looking at the device herself. She hadn't thought it was important enough to bring with her. But that morning she had found it tucked away in her bag.

From one of the higher terraces, pink eyes followed Yuki and Sora. Zakey sighed to herself, resting her chin on her hand. She watched for a moment longer, before stretching and turning away. She reached into the pocket of her coat, finding her prized possession resting inside. She pulled out the picture, a smile gracing her lips as she looked over the people. It was a shame she never could get a picture with every member. The three that were far too busy and the fourth that was a member in nothing but name.

"May your heart be your guiding key," she whispered to herself as she tucked the picture away again.