Notes: There's a bit of a story behind this fic. I've started posting it a few times, just for new information to come out and render it obsolete, and so I would delete it and rewrite it. And this time, I'm changing the game entirely. This is entirely unlike the previous versions. Hell, the name isn't even the same. Anyone remember Vanquished? Yeah, Vanquished was the prototype to Sundered. One of these days I will use the other ideas I had for Vanquished, but that is probably a long way off.
Rating: G for this chapter, probably PG over all.
Word count: 1394
Obligatory disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters/places. I am not affiliated with Square Enix in any way.

They had been scattered. After all, they were busy, now. Some of them just with their own lives, some of them training, some of them figuring out what to do about the situation with the thirteen Darknesses. But they had always been the types to jump at the call, regardless of whatever else was going on.

Riku emerged from the small cave, ducking his head and turning sideways, and yet still managing to scrape the top of his head and the backs of his shoulders. The cave hadn't seemed nearly so small when he was fifteen (never mind that he'd hit a growth spurt at some point between then and now).

He barely managed three steps away from the mouth of the cave before he heard an exuberant, "RIKU! YOU'RE BACK!" and he was bodily thrown to the ground as he was tackled in an enthusiastic hug.

"Wha-" Riku's back met the ground, his arms flailing out to pry Sora away, back to a reasonable distance. "Give me a break, Sora! You saw me a few days ago!"

"That was two weeks ago!" Sora cried plaintively, still sitting on Riku's chest. "I know you've gotta train Kairi and everything, but you'd think you'd come home eventually," he pouted.

Four a moment, Riku looked guilty. Had it really been two weeks already? But Sora's expression softened, and with a grin and a laugh, he tumbled aside to sprawl on the ground as well, one arm curled under his head, the other flung across Riku's chest.

"So how long are you back for?"

Riku cleared his throat. "I'm not sure you could really say I'm back right now. I just came to get you. We need to get Lea, and then meet everyone back at Yen Sid's."

Sora sat up on one elbow, head cocked inquisitively to one side. "Something big going on?"

"Yeah. He wasn't very clear on all the details, but I think he's learned more about bringing back one of the lost Lights."

Laughing, Sora bounced to his feet. "You mean it?!" he cheered, bouncing eagerly on the spot, until he reached down to seize Riku's hands and haul him to his feet. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Radiant Garden was coming along well enough. Granted, it was still in a rather obvious state of disrepair, it was just…less disrepair, and that was better than no improvement at all. And the city seemed more active, now that people didn't have to worry about getting attacked as soon as they walked out of their houses.

"So where's he live?" Sora wondered, hands laced together behind his head as he peered around.

At that moment, a billowing cloud of flames erupted over the top of the wall of buildings in front of them, and then died down just as quickly. They stared for a moment, and distantly heard applause.

"Well," Riku started, "I don't know where he lives, but I think I know where to find him."

They made their way down the short flight of steps into the courtyard in the middle of the shopping center, where they stopped, right at the bottom of the stairs. There was a gathering across the courtyard, and in the middle was Lea, lighter in one hand, a bottle of some form of booze in the other.

They watched him bring the bottle to his lips, throwing his head back as he took a swig, and then he turned on the lighter, lifted it up in front of his mouth, and blew.

A cloud of fire rose over the courtyard again, and that time, it took shape. It squirmed through the air, like some sort of serpentine dragon, curling in circles and looping around itself, before it finally erupted into a shower of red and orange sparks, like a muted firework.

Lea bowed as more applause erupted, gathering up the corners of the cloth people had been throwing coins onto as he bent over, before he stuffed the impromptu coin pouch, the lighter, and the booze into his bag. He hefted the bag, swept another bow, and then finally loped across the courtyard to where Sora and Riku had been watching.

"Enjoy the show?" he wondered, in that way that was both innocent and devious and was somehow fundamentally Lea.

"That was awesome!" Sora enthused, pumping one fist towards the sky.

"Gorgeous," Riku added dryly. "Tell me, how much does street performing pay?"

Lea shrugged easily. "Dunno. More than being a Keyblade Master."

"Good point. Guess that means dinner's on you later."

"Wait-what?"

While Master Yen Sid's office was more than large enough to hold all of them, the primary occupant was of the opinion that the room was still not quite large enough to do so. Despite that, they made do. The tea table and chairs had been dragged back in early in the day, by Donald and Goofy, who had each taken a chair as reward for their hard work. Lea straddled a third chair backwards, arms folded over the back of it and his chin resting on his crossed forearms. Kairi sat in the final chair, facing the proper direction, one ankle crossed behind the other.

Across the study, Sora leaned on the closed lid of a massive treasure chest that had just…never been cleared out of the room for some reason. Riku and King Mickey stood in front of Yen Sid's desk, Riku rocking back on his heels with his hands curled around his elbows, the king with his hands clasped patiently behind his back.

Master Yen Sid, of course, was seated behind his desk, his hands splayed on the surface.

"You all know who the suspected seven Lights are," he began slowly, once he was certain he had everyone's full attention. "Aqua and Ven have been lost to us; we know not where. And Terra, unfortunately, was Xehanort's first vessel. However, recently it has come to my awareness that Terra may not be entirely lost."

He fell quiet for a moment, giving them all a chance to process that bit of information. Their reactions were small, save for Mickey, who straightened up further, his eyes going wide.

"I had a dream. One that, I believe, the Keyblade sent to me. I saw Terra's heart fracture into thirteen pieces. While I do not yet know where the rest of them are, one will be found at Castle Oblivion. With any luck, we will be able to devise a method of tracking the others down from the first piece."

The room plunged into silence after that.

How long had they all been waiting for an opportunity like this, to get a concrete one up on the Darkness? But Terra was quite literally in pieces. Was there even enough of a chance of success for them to hope?

It was Riku who broke the silence.

"What do we do with his heart, once we manage to put it back together?"

"We will put it back where it belongs." Yen Sid breathed out a slow, weary sigh when all he received in response were blank looks. "It stands to reason that not all of Xehanort's Darknesses are time displaced. At least one of them is as much in the present as we are."

"Xemnas!" Goofy realized suddenly. "He would'a been remade as an Other, too!"

"That is correct, Goofy," Yen Side replied, with a near invisible smile. "Xemnas and Ansem were as much Terra's Heartless and Nobody as they were Xehanort's."

"But how would we store it?" Mickey asked. "We can't just…leave it floating somewhere while we look for the other pieces. Gosh, once we pull pieces out of hiding, it'll be hard just to keep them from immediately fading."

"I believe the Keyblades can help with that," Yen Sid said, after a moment of contemplative silence. "They are more than mere weapons, as you all know, and they are intuitive, in their own way. I believe they will be able to hold onto the shards of Terra's heart, at least long enough for them to be stored more permanently." He folded his hands together on the desk. "As for said storage, leave that to me. I expect it will be ready by the time you return from Castle Oblivion. Do what you must to prepare, and then make haste."