Title: Mementos

Special Notes: Okay, I have a huge thank you to give to 1 Sky 1 Destiny 1 Video Game. It's been over TWO YEARS (Oh my god!) since I last updated this story (Agh! Stupid constant writer's block!) and 1S1D1VG gave me a great idea, even if it only took 30 seconds to come up with. Dang, why can't I think of good ideas that fast? Also, I'M DONE WITH THE PICTURE OF HANA! It's on my DeviantArt account, username haswaytoomanyocs. So go check that out!

Hana: "I don't think this is necessary to say (seeing how nobody on owns the things their fics are based on) but MeXVen4ever DOES NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS! She only owns me and the events of this fic."

Ventus looked around at the barren landscape. "What are we doing again?"

"Reconnaissance," Terra told the young blonde for the umpteenth time. "The Master asked me to train you on how to do it, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Ven said, putting his hands behind his head and grinning cheekily, although the brunette could not see the smile behind their armor. "So what do I do first?"

Terra pointed to the small village that the hill they stood on overlooked. "Look around and examine what you see."

Ventus nodded seriously, scanning the horizon for a few minutes before turning to his mentor. "There's lots of dead trees, and the houses all look like they're collapsing." Terra shook his head. "What? But that's what I see!"

"Exactly. You're seeing, but you aren't analyzing." He pointed to a cluster of the trees. "The trees look burnt, but some areas are still living. See how the petals are pink? They must be cherry blossom trees. And the houses are falling down but not burnt, even though they're all wooden. That means that whatever destroyed this world wasn't fire. It was probably darkness. The large building next to the dried up waterfall has outdoor pools, so it was most likely a public bathhouse. And the smaller buildings with the chairs and potted plants out front must have been houses."

"How do you know all that?" Ventus asked in awe.

"I don't know, I'm simply coming to conclusions based on what I see," the elder replied. "That's how recon works. You find out information about an area and the people in it, or in this case the people who used to be in it, by analyzing your surroundings."

Ven's gaze settled on another large building. "Can I try with that one?" he asked, pointing it out.

"Sure," said Terra. "Go get a closer look and then come tell me what you've found out."

"All right!" Ventus summoned his Glider and hovered down to the village, dismounting outside the building.

The first thing he noticed was that there was nothing on the outside to make it look like a home, but there was a kitchen off to the side of the entrance. Instead of a living room, there was a large open area with what looked like an obstacle course set up, which looked half falling apart and half brand new, as if the world had been taken by the darkness while it was in use for the first time.

Ventus went farther in, and saw an eating area, as well as a small room for using the facilities. He thought this curious if this building was some type of gym.

Towards the back of the building, Ven struck reconnaissance gold. Two bedrooms! One was clearly for an adult, because if it didn't look burned it would've been perfectly organized and clean. Spotting nothing of importance in it, he moved to the next room.

Amazingly, this bedroom was only very slightly damaged. The walls were blackened in some spots and peeling away, and the bed was now just a metal frame, but he could tell this had once been a child's room. It was messy, and the walls had the faint outlines of flowers burned onto them behind where an empty vase stood on a dresser, as if the darkness had blasted the flowers back onto the wall before vaporizing them. Lying in the middle of the floor as if dropped there was a small brown bear with a single ear and a pink bow around it's neck. It's other ear was slightly singed but other than that it looked undamaged. Ventus picked it up, examining it curiously before noticing the photo on the wall and dropping the bear.

Glass was lying on the floor from where the damage to the world had shattered it, but the picture was miraculously still on the wall. Half was burned away, but he could clearly see a young girl of about seven smiling up at someone. A hand from the person who was burned away rested protectively on her shoulder. The girl had blonde hair, startlingly blue eyes, and was holding a Keyblade. Ven did a double-take and looked closer. She was holding a very familiar Keyblade. It was white and silver with red teeth shaped like fire.

"Hana..." he whispered. He frantically looked around the room again, scooping up the bear and the photograph, then running back towards the front of the building.

"Oof!" Something knocked into Ventus and he fell back onto the floor, the items from the bedroom falling from his grip. He looked up at what he'd bumped into. It seemed like a giant blue and black blob, but then it reached out a massive arm and punched, knocking the wind out of the young boy. His head fell back, smacking hard on the ground as spots swam before his eyes. Then his vision went black.

Some time later, he blinked the confusion from his eyes, sitting up slowly. He looked around, and the photo was gone. But the bear lay in the hall a few feet away. He snatched it up and ran back to where Terra was waiting.

The older Keyblade apprentice did not look happy. His arms were crossed and he was looking around in worry. When the blonde ran up to him, he sighed in relief, his pose becoming more relaxed. "Are you alright? You were gone so long I was just about to come in after you."

"I'm fine," Ventus confirmed, making sure Terra couldn't see the bear behind his back. "How long was that?"

"A good forty-five minutes. What did you find out?"

"You'll never believe it, but that building was a training school! For Keyblade wielders! I saw bedrooms and a training room and everything!" he cried.

Terra shook his head. "I can believe the part about a training school, but for Wielders? Come on Ven, you know our world is the only one with Masters on it."

"But-"

"I don't think we're going to find out much more from this place," Terra decided. "Let's go report back to Master Eraqus."

Ventus knew he should tell Terra about Hana's bedroom, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to mention it. He shrugged, summoning his wing-board Glider, and followed Terra's motor-bike Glider back to the Land of Departure.

While the older boy went to debrief their Master, Ven went to go find Hana. He had entirely expected to find her in her bedroom, but to his astonishment she wasn't there. He looked around at the room she'd been given in the castle. It was much larger than her room back in her old world, but to Ventus it felt barren and empty. The walls were stark white, the closet was empty, and there were no personal touches to show that anyone even used it. Compared to the room he had seen earlier, this place seemed depressing and dank, like a prison. He held the bear out in front of him, examining how the room would look with a few of Hana's favorite items in it.

"Ven?"

He turned around, instinctively keeping the bear out of sight. "Hana? Where were you?"

"...Training. Aqua was helping me with some...stuff," she said cautiously.

"Oh, that's cool."

"What's up?" Hana asked. "Why are you in my room?"

Ven held out the bear. "Do you recognize this?"

Hana reached out and grasped it gingerly, like it might blow up in her face. "Michiru...?" She looked up at him, eyes full of desperation. "Where did you get this?" she demanded.

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "You used to live there, didn't you?" he asked. "On the world Terra and I went to today. I saw your old room, and a photo of you when you first learned to summon your Keyblade." He looked up, starting when he saw her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Cherry Springs," she said. "That's what they called it. I...I can't remember much else. It's coming back so slow," she moaned, a tear making a wet track down her cheek.

Ven stepped forward and hugged the small girl comfortingly. "It's ok."

Hana: My bear! He brought me my bear! Michiru I missed you so much! *hugs bear*

MeXVen4Ever: That is so cute and sweet. :3

Anyway, please review you guys! It gives me more motivation. And I know you guys want more chapters out because it's been so long. Again, soooooo sorry about that long break. Don't kill me! *ducks*