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fingersfallingup: Hi again Fin! Thank you for taking the time to review even if you weren't logged in. :)

~Slumbering Dawn~

He felt empty. Hollow.

He knew his name. He was Ventus. He remembered that. But everything else. Everything else was just...gone. Blank. Or maybe hidden was a better way to look at it. Like a thick, black curtain had been dragged over his memories, concealing them from view.

When he had woken, there was a man with him. Master Xehanort. The Master explained that he had been in an accident, that he had been hurt very badly, and that he was going to a place where he would be able to heal. Which all sounded nice – the healing part at least, not the hurting part.

The part that he didn't understand, the part that made him wary, was that something deep inside him wanted to get away from the Master. But that didn't make any sense; the Master had helped him, had rescued him. He didn't have anything to fear from this man.

…Right?

For all he tried, he couldn't make the feeling go away. Something was wrong with the Master and no act of kindness was going to erase that. Every time the Master reached for him, he would flinch before he could stop himself. When the Master spoke to him, he didn't want to speak back. When the Master looked at him, he wanted to hide somewhere where the man would never be able to find him.

And even as he thought and felt all of this, even as he tried to figure out why this man felt so wrong, he felt wrong himself. Like his heart didn't fit quite right in his body or something in his soul had shifted and he still wasn't used to it yet. Maybe it was the memories and the blankness that came with the lack of them. Maybe that was why all he wanted to do was curl up and sleep.

He was just so tired. Like all of the energy had been sucked out of him and his body had forgotten how to make more. He supposed it wouldn't be all that surprising given everything else he's forgotten. Perhaps it was a result of this accident that Master Xehanort kept talking about. He had been hurt after all, so he was still recovering.

But he didn't hurt.

Surely if he had been injured, he would still be healing. Didn't that mean he was supposed to be hurting? Not that he wanted to be hurting, oh no, he'd had enough of that already when –

…when what?

Ventus frowned faintly. When what? There had been pain. A lot of pain. He knew that. He remembered that. And there had been light. So much bright, bright light. Why had it been so bright? Why did it hurt? What made it stop?

Had Master Xehanort made the pain go away?

No.

Ventus blinked slowly, surprised at how quickly the thought had come when everything else seemed to have slowed down. But no, the Master had not made the pain go away. He didn't know why he thought that, but he knew it was true. The Master had nothing to do with that.

So what had helped him? Because it certainly wasn't the Master. For all of his kindness, Ventus did not like him. He wanted to be away from him. But his body wasn't working quite right and his mind was too scattered to think straight. He still wanted to leave though, still wanted to get away.

"I'm Terra. What's your name?"

Ventus blinked and looked up. Oh. Master Xehanort was gone. And he was in a large hall. And there was a boy in front of him. A boy with blue, blue eyes that were so different from the Master's. His eyes were always calculating and his smile was always cold. But this boy. His eyes were kind. And his smile was warm. Welcoming. And he was called Terra. And he had asked…oh.

"Ventus," he said softly. He knew his name. He knew that. He remembered that.

Terra grinned. "Whew, you can talk," he said.

Of course he could talk. He wasn't that broken. Was he? He couldn't remember. He knew he wasn't whole. He knew that because he could feel the presence in the back of his mind and the warmth in his heart. That was important. He couldn't remember what it was or what it meant, but he knew it was important.

"Hi, I'm Aqua."

Oh. There was a girl now. And her eyes were kind. Kind like the boy's. No. That wasn't right.

"Terra…Aqua," he said slowly, looking at each of them in turn. He could remember this. He would. He could remember Master Xehanort's name even though he didn't like him. These two were kind. They were so much better. So he could remember them. He couldn't remember Before, but he would make sure that he remembered After.

"So are you here to train with us?" Terra asked.

Train? What did training have to do with anything? He was here to get better. Or had Master Xehanort lied about that too? Wait. Why did he know that the Master had already lied to him? Did he know the Master from before?

"Where are you from? Who was that man with you?" Terra continued to ask

From…? From where? Like a home? Did he have a home? He couldn't remember. He knew the man though. The man was Master Xehanort. He told him so himself. Unless he was lying then too.

Why was he thinking about lying again? Oh. Right. The Master was a liar. That felt right. He didn't know why, but it did. He was lying. About something. Maybe that was why he wanted to get away. Because of the lies.

"You good with a keyblade?"

His heart froze.

Keyblade.

No. No, no, no, no no nonononononono! Keyblade. Keyblade. Keyblade meant pain; why did it mean pain? It hurt. So much hurting. Too much hurting! Make it stop! Someone make it stop! It's too bright! Too bright! It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Make it go away! Make it stop! Why isn't it stopping? He wanted it to stop. He asked for it to stop! He begged! He remembered begging! But it didn't stop! Why wasn't it stopping? He was already broken enough! He didn't want any more pain! It was too much pain! Too much! And so much light! Too much light! Why was there so much light? He wanted it to go away! Go away! Make it stop!

TURN OFF THE LIGHT!

And then everything was dark. But not his Dark. Huh. That was a funny thought. But it was a nice one. His Dark. He liked it. The warmth in his heart liked it too. But he could figure out what that meant later. He was still so tired. So very, very tired.

Sleep.

He would sleep.

Things would be better when he woke.

Saaa, things got kinda intense there at the end. But I think this was a good chapter. Thoughts?

Until next time,

~Elri