Yuki was getting used to the way they moved in near silence. Only the occasional sound of the shuffle of their feet. The occasional sharp breath and curse word from the uneven path they walked. It all seemed too normal to Yuki.

What was unusual was when they didn't find themselves in another world. The path seemed to end, only a simple table of sorts set up before them. Yuki didn't cast the table much of a glance, seeing various frames set up, with candles on the sides flickering. The only real light she had seen in ages, and still, it seemed distant and cold. Almost as if it were fake.

"Dead end?" X asked.

"No," Yuki said as she looked around. There was really nowhere else for them to go. But that couldn't be possible. "They would never do that."

Yuki frowned as she looked around. With a heavy sigh, she looked at the pictures covering the table. She had wanted to avoid it. There was no way a shrine the other heartless setup would be anything but troublesome. Pictures meant to cause more problems among them. To taunt them in some way.

It was a surprise Yuki didn't recognize the people in the pictures at all. As she leaned closer to get a better look it seemed more apparent. Yuki still didn't know any of the people. There were many of them, some together some individual. It was always the same group for the most part though. An orange-haired boy could usually be found with a girl with a short black bob. There was a tall boy who was usually with another boy who was a bit shorter but could be found just as easily among others. A picture of two girls laughing together, one with brown hair and another with black hair and glasses. Between them stood another person, or Yuki assumed so. But the other was scribbled out. There was a picture of a young girl with pinkish hair, a blonde boy with freckles, and a purple-haired boy all on a beach together.

Yuki's eyes landed finally on a picture of the purple-haired boy curled up in a window, a book opened in front of him. She wasn't sure how the person had taken the photo. But it was well composed, with just the right amount of light and the angle from the building. It brought all the attention to the boy reading. A boy Yuki was almost sure she had seen before. It was a strange familiarity. She had never seen him, that much she knew. But she knew him. They had shared something between them.

Yuki felt Y lean over her shoulder, looking at the pictures herself. Slowly Y reached over, her hand barely touching one of the photos when a bright light surrounded them.

When the light faded they all stood at the entrance to a sprawling city. Yuki blinked as she straightened up and looked around. Y stood almost directly beside her, clutching onto the picture she had reached for. Or at least a part of it. Suddenly the picture was torn.

"Where are we?" Yuki asked, her eyes wandering the city in front of them.

"City of the dead," X suggested. Yuki and Y both turned to look at him. Yuki raised a brow in an unasked question. X read her look with ease and shrugged. "In a lot of cultures the dead are given a shrine like that. And, just a feeling."

"Ok," Yuki said, turning away from X. It wasn't the strangest thing she had heard. And it seemed right. Where else would they be after seeing that shrine? Filled with people Yuki thought must have been long gone. "Y where do we start?"

Turning to Y she saw her eyes glued on the torn photograph. Her grip was so tight it might tear the photo again. Y looked up, and for a moment Yuki's heart sunk. Her orange eyes were slightly misted like there were almost tears.

"I think it's broken," Y said, her voice oddly strangled. Y flushed a little hearing her own voice and cleared her voice. She blinked a few times and shook her head. "The light's remnant. We need to find the pieces of it."

"Ok, where to the first piece?" Yuki asked. The thought was annoying, having to spend the extra time searching for the pieces to the lights remnant. And it was certainly strange. What could cause it to break? Was it because Y had touched before she should have? Was that even the full thing that had been resting on the shrine? 

"This way."

Y's confident gait was enough to calm most of Yuki's worries. Regardless of how many pieces they needed to find, Y seemed to know exactly where to find them. Or at least which way they needed to go to find them. She easily found her way through the twisting city, holding the piece she had tightly to her chest. Every so often Yuki would see her glance at it a look of pain crossing her face.

"Do you mind if I take a look at that?" Yuki asked, walking to be beside Y. It was strange she hadn't handed it off yet, like she had been doing lately. Y jumped a little, looking at Yuki. She was silent for a moment, glancing between Yuki and the piece. After her moment of consideration, she held out the piece of the picture to Yuki.

"Here."

Yuki took the picture and glanced at it. It was only the bottom corner of the picture. Yuki could only make out a few of the people who were in the image. Most obviously was a blue-haired girl covered in freckles in the same way Arykii had been. In fact, she looked almost exactly as Arykii had, except with more life to her and bright blue eyes. The picture tore right through the dark-haired girl with glasses, and the arm of another person. Yuki frowned her eyes narrowing. This was just as familiar as the other pictures had been. If not more so. She gasped.

"Wait, I've seen this before," Yuki said. Y came to a screeching halt turning to look at Yuki. X stopped almost as suddenly, though he seemed much less interested in the picture.

"Where?" he asked.

"Zakey," Yuki said. Y flinched slightly, and for a moment Yuki was confused. But she quickly remembered it was information from Zakey Y had been hiding from them. Yuki pushed past the thought, returning to what she had been explaining. "Back when we were with the organization, a lot of my midnight wanderings I met up with her. These are her friends."

"May I see?" X asked, holding out his hand. Yuki nodded, handing the picture over without a thought. X hadn't even looked at the pictures on the shrine, this would be his first look at any of them. And it seemed to catch him off guard. Yuki wasn't sure what she would call the sound he made. It was almost a gasp and almost something else. Regardless of what it was Yuki knew enough to say it was a sound of surprise.

"What's wrong?" Yuki asked.

"Are you sure?" X asked instead of answering. It took Yuki a moment to understand what he meant, but after a moment she realized. Was she sure they were Zakey's friends?

"Yeah, she said she didn't remember them much," Yuki said, thinking back to those midnight wanderings. It had been so long ago, Yuki could barely believe it happened in this life time. "But she knew they were her friends. Why?"

"Just, she was never very sociable," He said. Yuki frowned, glancing to Y. She hadn't moved since she had stopped. Her eyes seemed to be following who was holding the picture. "Seems odd." X handed the picture back to Yuki, purposely looking away from Y.

Yuki said nothing, though she had a few things she might like to say. Instead, she looked at Y and nodded. Y caught the meaning, turning back and continuing to lead the way through the empty city streets.

"We're here," Y announced after only a few more moments.

Here turned out to be disappointing. Unlike the rest of the city which while maybe empty looked at least taken care of, this place was falling into nothingness. There were piles upon piles of junk and debris of various sorts. Yuki shifted through one pile, there were broken guitars and trophies and dolls. Nothing that was intact.

Y easily pulled the next piece of the picture from a pile across the open square. She looked it over before holding her hand to Yuki. Yuki crossed to Y handing over the first piece. She looked over Y's shoulder as Y held the two pieces together. With a faint glow, the two pieces fused together. The second piece had another part of the girl with glasses, and the two tall boys, laughing as they stood behind the girls.

"You know, this is a little weird," Y said, her eyes taking in the new parts of the picture. Yuki could faintly see parts of the background. Some sort of square with a fountain sparkling behind them.

"In what way?" Yuki asked.

"Besides being in pieces," Y said. Yuki could only nod to that as she stepped back. "This picture doesn't belong to this world like the rest have."

Yuki frowned and nodded again. This was something that belonged to one of the Heartless. And Zakey definitely hadn't come from this world. She was from the City of Fate. And unfortunately, that world hadn't fallen into darkness. So why would this be the fragment of light left behind, when it wasn't even a part of that world in the first place?

A false light.

Yuki held in a groan at the strange voice. But it did offer an answer. Like many other things, the Heartless were manipulating it. To hurt them more.

"Yeah," Yuki agreed, rather than try to find an answer. "It is weird."

"And you know what's weirder," Y said. It was a casual tone, almost like this was a normal conversation and Y had something fun to add. Yuki doubted it would be fun, but she would at least humor Y.

"What?" she asked.

"I know these people." 

Yuki had almost been expecting that. It seemed from the way Y could never look away, these were people she had forgotten only to be shocked into remembering them at perhaps the worst time possible. That paired with X's own strange reactions. This was something to both of the twins.

"You, do?" Yuki asked.

"I'm not sure how, but I know them," Y insisted. She finally looked away from the picture, only to look at her brother. He stood a fair pace away, his hands shoved in his pockets. His eyes were fixed on a wall, refusing to look at Y. "Do you?"

"Never seen them before," X answered without a moment's hesitation. For the first time, Yuki believed Y when she said X was a terrible liar. Y frowned, but didn't push.

"Let's go, two more," she said.

Y once again took the lead, something that threw Yuki for a moment. Y led them through the twisting city streets, into the parts of the city that now just seemed empty instead of completely abandoned like the place they had found the last piece. The silence was still deafening, though it was a familiar sound by now. Every time Yuki glanced at either of the twins they were looking in the same place. X staring willfully past anything before him, and Y staring at the picture of friends she couldn't remember.

Eventually, Y had to look away from the picture. She stared up a slightly leaning tower. Her eyes jumped around the area, seeming to calculate their best way up. The best way she could find seemed to involve a lot of throwing themselves from place to place and running up ways and along a cable. All the same, Yuki followed her lead as they did so.

At the top of the tower, there were the remains of a mansion of sorts. Parts of it had completely collapsed in on itself, so Yuki hoped they wouldn't have to be searching through the wreckage. Fortunately, Y walked them through the remaining portion of the mansion into a large ballroom. Silently she began to search the room. Yuki followed her lead, searching the room as well.

From the corner of her eye, Yuki watched X. For a moment he didn't move. After he seemed to decide that wouldn't fly he started to join the search. After a brief moment of searching, he stopped by a window. For a moment he just stared but didn't say anything. Yuki saw the brief flash of paper in his hand. 

He made a move as if to throw the paper out the window but stopped, slowly pulling his hand back. He gave a sigh of defeat before turning to call over his shoulder.

"Found it."

Yuki and Y quickly joined him across the room. Yuki only got to see the photo as it passed hands from X to Y. This one was the orange-haired boy and the girl with the black bob. The orange-haired boy had his arm slung around someone, but all Yuki could see were the tips of blonde hair. 

"Who are they?" Y asked as she fused the piece to the other two. She didn't look up at X, her eyes searching the faces in the photo instead.

"I don't know," X said easily. Y sat silently for a moment, her eyes on the picture. Slowly her eyes raised, meeting X's own gaze. Yuki felt her heartrate skyrocket from the simple interaction. 

"You know when you lie is when you're the calmest," Y said simply. X didn't respond, his face remaining calm. Y continued, watching X for the faintest reaction. "When you tell the truth you hesitate. But if you're lying it doesn't even take you a moment to think. It's second nature to you."

"That's how you can tell?" Yuki asked, her voice betraying her attempt to hide her shock. She knew Y was one of the few who could tell when X was lying, but it couldn't have been that simple.

"Of course," Y said, turning away from X and looking around the ballroom. As if she was already looking for the next piece. And she might have been. "When we were young I thought it was the other way around, until I realized, he hesitated saying things I knew were true. So, I realized it had to be the other way around."

Yuki looked at X. He hadn't reacted, his gaze remaining completely calm. She replayed all her conversations with him. How often had she seen him hesitate to answer? It wasn't often. Usually when asking about his past. Yuki had assumed the hesitation was from his reluctance to talk about it. But if what Y had said was true. How often had X really been honest with her?

"The next one is close, come on," Y said, cutting through Yuki's thoughts.

Y led them to the edge of the wreckage, looking down into what seemed to be a cavern. The only thing Yuki could see from where she leaned over the edge was water.

"Probably a Heartless down there," Yuki said. Whether it was an elite or a stronger of the smaller Heartless they couldn't be sure. But this was a prime place for a battle.

Before they could decide if it was worth the risk a gust of wind sent them tumbling into the cavern. 

Yuki groaned as she pushed herself up. They had landed at the edge of the water, saving them the trouble of being soaked. As she got to her feet she watched the picture float to the ground at the feet of another elite Heartless.

Zakey leaned down and picked up the picture. She held it to the piece she held in her hand, letting out a breath as the pieces fused together.

"Thank you," she said, smiling as she watched the three get to their feet. "You have no idea how angry I was when I heard Aryum's plan."

"Creating a false light," Yuki said before she could stop herself. X and Y both turned to look at her, keeping Zakey in the corner of their eye.

"Oh, so you're starting to feel it," Zakey said as she held the picture closer to her chest. "The bearer is awakening." Yuki glared at the sarcasm that filled her voice. It was a taunt. And another person talking about a bearer.

"Bearer?" Yuki echoed in a growl. What was she supposed to be bearing?

"It doesn't matter," Y snapped, cutting in between Yuki and Zakey. "Who are they? Why do I know them?"

"Our friends," Zakey answered simply. Yuki felt her gut sink. "When you and I were both very different people."

"What does that mean?" Y groaned, her hands going to her hair and pulling so hard Yuki thought clumps might come out in her hands. "What the hell do you keep talking about? Who are you working for?"

The question was odd to Yuki. Zakey was one of the Heartless. She worked for them. Or at least that's what Yuki thought until Zakey began laughing.

"I told you, I can't tell you that last one," she said. Yuki narrowed her gaze. She was working for someone else. "As for the first, well, I would direct you to X. But he actually doesn't know. Not for sure."

"God, what does it matter?" Y demanded. "Why do you all want me to hate him? Can't we be left alone for once?"

"I wish you could," Zakey said. She smiled softly, the look contrasting with her usually harsh features. All the same, Yuki could feel the warmth she conveyed to Y. "You've had a lot of trouble in this area. But, it will set itself right. After all, the bearer can hear her now, so it won't be long."

"What does that mean?" Y asked. It was X who answered.

"You all are insane."

"Ah," Zakey said, her pink eyes turning to X for the first time since they had met her here. "One piece finally fell into place."

"Who are you? Really?" X asked. Zakey only smirked, tucking the picture into her coat pocket.

"I'll answer when you do."

She summoned both of her hookblades. With barely enough time for Yuki, X, and Y to summon their weapons, she lunged forward.

The fight was as hard as the last one where they had been together was. Though this time the trio was less likely to hurt each other and more themselves. Y moved shakily, barely able to hold her keyblade up. X too often doubted himself in his strikes. And Yuki was too angry to think clearly.

When the final strike was landed, Zakey fell in front of Y. The picture fell from her pocket floating to the ground at Y's feet.

"Last chance, who are you?" Y asked, banishing her keyblade as she knelt to pick up the completed picture. She looked it over and frowned.

"Just a wanderer. And a guardian. Following a plan that isn't mine," Zakey answered, watching the black haze rise off her skin. She smiled up at them. "I'll see you all, very soon."

Y sighed as she handed the picture to Yuki. Yuki frowned as she looked at it. One of the people was scribbled out with black ink. Whoever it was with blonde hair. The last two were both girls. One with white hair and bright blue eyes outlined with thick black lines. She wore all dark colors, that stood out against her pale skin. The other girl had long dark hair and amber-colored eyes. She wore a black jacket over a white shirt and a black skirt. She and the white-haired girl stood proudly, smiles across their faces.

Yuki shook her head and looked at X. They had bigger worries than the picture.

"What does bearer mean?" Yuki asked.

"How long have you heard her voice?" X asked. Another question answered with a question. She wasn't sure why he was so sure the voice was a her. Yuki was never so sure of it herself.

"Off and on my whole life," Yuki answered. X nodded, looking up. There was a path up, but like the way to the tower it would take some maneuvering.

"It's Kingdom Hearts," X said. Yuki frowned, lookig at X. She waited silently for a continuation, while beside her she heard Y gasp. "You will bear the key. That's why Xehanort was so interested in Kiu."

"The Kingdom Keeper," Y said. Yuki's frown only deepened. It was a familiar title, but not one she was sure where she knew it from.

"Seems so," X agreed. He turned his gaze on Yuki. She was surprised how even it was. He seemed to be sizing her up now. Looking for something. "Things are starting to make more sense. We have to stop them."

"To the heart," Yuki said.

"Follow me."

X took them out of the mansion and back down to the city. He came to a stop in front of a stage. Yuki jumped up onto the stage and placed the photo down. She held out her key, the gold chains wrapping around the stage as the world's memories played for them. A story that wasn't so familiar this time. That they hadn't seen the heart for. All the same the music filled there ears as songs were sang for the dead.

Once the world had returned to the light, Yuki was surprised to see the picture still sitting in the center of the path. She knelt to pick it up slowly. Standing she turned to the twins.

"X, will you tell me who they are?" Y asked. X hesitated for a moment, looking at Y carefully. After a pause, he finally turned to look down the path ahead.

"They were our friends. A long, long time ago."