Chapter Text
SUMMARY SO FAR: After Sora splits apart into Ventus and Vanitas, confusion follows. While it would be great to get Ventus’ memories back, Vanitas is firm that he doesn’t want Vanitas’. The two go into Tron’s world in order to retrieve case files about Ventus’ former life and come into contact with a “infected” Data-Naminé. Vanitas is pushed into the Realm of Sleep, and Ventus faces off against Data-Naminé. Ventus “fixes” Data-Namine and retrieves some of his memories. She assures him that Vanitas was healed, and Ventus returns to the real world. Vanitas still sleeps, so the gang takes him back to Merlin’s to eat dinner and let him rest. Ventus has a loses time during dinner. Vanitas wakes up. Riku has a weird dream.
——
“It’s time to wake up,” There was a hand on his shoulder, pushing him to the conscious world.
Oh c’mon, just five more minutes. He thought to himself, curling up closer with the pillow. It was a lie, of course. Sleep was so much better.
“Wake up, Vanitas,” Riku said. His voice was more firm that time, Vanitas’ eyes opening slowly. Green met gold. When the two locked eyes for a moment, as if forgetting that detail, Riku flinched and quickly looked elsewhere. However, Vanitas wasn’t in the mind set to notice such a thing, internally separating himself from dreamland.
“What time is it?” Vanitas groaned, squinting at the light shining at him from the lamp. He ducked back under the covers, pulling them over his face. Riku sighed and moved to the other end of the bed. With one swift movement, the covers were in the air and Vanitas was left curled up on the bed.
“It’s late enough. Get up.” Riku said. He was already dressed in his regular clothes.
“I’m thinking like, actual numbers maybe?” Vanitas asked. Slowly he strung his body into an upright position. It wouldn’t be hard to change, easily taking off his nighttime clothes and placing them in a heep on his pillow. He still had Vanitas’ weird bodysuit on underneath his nighttime clothes, so that spared him from asking for privacy.
“There’s a clock in the dining hall. Everyone is waiting for us.” Riku said, heading for the door. Vanitas followed behind him.
“Wait, uh,” Riku said. Vanitas stopped in the middle of the room, too groggy to protest.
“Wait? You want me to be awake or not?” Vanitas asked. Riku wasn’t impatient, just tired like everyone else, so he bit back a sigh before speaking.
“You need your helmet,” He said.
Vanitas squinted at him.
“My what?”
Vanitas took a moment to process his words.
Oh. That thing. Right. Vanitas groaned and went over to put his helmet on. It suddenly made the world somewhat darker, reminding him of his need to sleep. At least if he fell asleep standing up this thing might prevent him from smashing his head in when gravity overtook him.
He looked over at where Riku was standing at the door, holding it open for him. In the back of his mind, some part of him knew Riku’s actions weren’t out of courtesy; rather because Riku was playing ‘guard’ – acting as his escort. Even his room was located at the end of the hallway, knowing if he wanted to escape he’d have to make it past every keyblade wielder’s room.
“Good morning, Riku, Vanitas,” Ventus said, joining Vanitas by his side as the group made their way through the hallway. Perhaps some yellow light was tolerable this early.
Vanitas grunted in reply, barely moving fast as it was. Every step was a struggle, and Ventus seemed to be in a similar groggy state, only perking up when he saw them pass.
“How’d you sleep, Ventus?” Riku asked, easily cutting in between the two.
“Not that well. I wanna go back to bed,” Ventus said. He stretched out his arms wide with a yawn and crossed them behind his head.
“That sounds like a plan,” Vanitas agreed, head tipping forward. He almost tripped over his own slow moving feet and managed to straighten himself up again, eyes losing some of their weight with that scare. Riku looked at the two of them in their sad states, unimpressed.
“I think you two are almost as bad as Sora,” Riku noted with an amused smile. Immediately, both Ventus and Vanitas shot Riku the same unimpressed expression.
Oh, so you think? Well–
Before Vanitas could give his retort, they were greeted by more than just the smell of breakfast.
“Hey, I was just wondering where you guys were. I almost thought you’d decided to sleep in.” Yuffie said, coming up to them from the lower flower on the staircase.
“We had a choice in the matter?” Ventus quipped, holding back a yawn. Yuffie smiled before turning so they could all follow her to the breakfast table.
“So, what’s up?” Yuffie said, digging into a striped apple. It was more simple than Yen Sid’s buffet, yet there was enough fruit and wheat products to go around. Ventus sat down beside her, full of more energy now that food was physically in front of him. Vanitas reached out his hand to sit beside Ventus, but Riku made a claim to the seat faster. Golden eyes squinted at his friend’s perceived ignorance, and after standing there for a second too long, he sat in the other empty seat.
“Nothing much. I slept fine.” Riku said. He started gathering food onto his plate, while his bed mate sat there in a daze.
With a huff, Vanitas’ helmet became acquainted with the table cloth and he tried to tune out all the small talk by resting his head on the table.
“Hey, is he alright?” Yuffie asked. Riku looked over at him, unsure whether or not he wanted to touch him again and check. He’d gathered somewhat that sometimes it burned, the darkness flaring out to those Vanitas made contact with whenever he was angry or annoyed. He seemed especially not in the mood right now. There was also something slightly different about Vanitas’ darkness now that he could not place.
“Vanitas?” Ventus said. Vanitas just groaned in reply. Riku looked from the helmeted boy to Ventus, who in turn just shrugged.
“I’m not hungry. It’s not like I could eat anything with my mask on, anyways,” Vanitas grumbled.
“Right,” Riku somewhat shrunk. Yeah, wearing a barrier around your face would make eating harder.
“More food for me then~” Ventus chimed, digging into the food.
Just as the small group finished eating and were cleaning up the dishes, Vanitas heard a familiar laugh coming from outside. He jogged outside to see what was up.
Kairi was unrecognizable when Vanitas first saw her. Her hair was an apple; red, round, smooth and stylized so sweetly. When she turned to greet him, the nicely cut red slices framed her face like the perfect picture, her eyes purple grapes plucked and polished from the vine. Vanitas standing there on suddenly frigid legs, time almost seemed to stop. Nothing had changed, but everything had changed.
“ Vanniiitaaaas , earth to Vanitas!” Ventus said, waving his hands up and down in front of Vanitas’ mask.
“Hey, are you alright?” Lea said, leaning forward and breaking Vanitas’ line of sight for good. Vanitas blinked and finally realized how hot his face felt. Maybe his mask was good for some things after all.
“Yeah-” His voice cracked, words barely making their way out of his throat “I’m fine.”
“I don’t look too different, do I? I thought it’d be better with shorter hair so it wouldn’t get in the way of fighting.” Kairi admitted, twirling a strand of hair on her finger. Riku came up from around Ventus and Vanitas.
“Are you sure you didn’t just want to copy me? Join in on the trend?” Riku teased, using his hands to present his own hair. Kairi elbowed him in the side.
“Fat chance.” Kairi said. Riku cringed inwardly, but Ventus doubted that the action actually caused any real harm. He then saw Vanitas playing with his fingers. As if he caught Ventus’ stare, he abruptly pulled his arms down to his sides and straightened his back.
“So uh, where’d you get the new outfit?” Vanitas asked, trying (and failing) to relax.
“And wait, if you got a new outfit, then why doesn’t Lea have one?” Ventus added on. Kairi and Lea looked at each other.
“Do we come in a pair now?” Kairi chuckled. Vanitas was tempted to answer, yet that would only make him look more embarrassed than he already did. Perhaps it wasn’t as obvious to them, although it would be better if his heart took a moment to calm down!
“Nah, I got a new outfit from the Wizard, but I’m just too comfortable as it is. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Lea said, with a complacent shrug.
“Really? I hated wearing that thing,” Riku said, crossing his arms. Kairi perked up, clapping her hands together.
“That reminds me. Lea, didn’t you bring an outfit for Riku as well?” Kairi said. Lea smiled.
“Right you are. Thanks for reminding me, kid,” Lea said, ruffling her hair as he walked by her to retrieve the suitcase.
“Hey, stop calling me a kid! We’re on the same level of skill y’know.” Kairi shot back.
“Sorry, can’t help it.” Lea waved his hand dismissively at her, not even meeting her narrowed eyes as he brought over the suitcase. He presented the case to Riku. “Here,”
“Thanks,” Riku said, taking it from him. Kairi watched the exchange with tense shoulders and a small huff.
“Hold it, doesn’t that mean we also got something too?” Ventus said. He’d tried not to come off as selfish or anything - new stuff would get anyone excited, right? Especially when it came in a box or suitcase, like the second one Lea was holding. A box was always just brimming with unlimited potential!
“Yeah, about that: he told me to tell you that you haven’t gotten anything yet because the outfits take awhile to prepare. This one’s for Sora,” Lea said, patting the extra suitcase. Ventus deflated, somehow smaller than before. Vanitas could imagine what words he was biting back.
“Can I at least take a look?” Ventus asked, although his tone wasn’t as hopeful. Lea held the suitcase under his arm, stroking his chin with his free hand.
“Maybe… if you beat me in a fight.” Lea grinned. Ventus looked puzzled, the rest of the group caught off guard as well.
“Okay, fine, but you asked for it!” Ventus smiled wide, summoning his keyblade to his side. Lea was startled by seeing Kingdom Key in his hand, Roxas’ image taking Ventus’ place for a few moments in Lea’s mind. He shook his head.
“That’s more like it!” Lea smirked. Riku barely caught Sora’s suitcase as Lea threw it at him and brandished his own keyblade as well. Kairi, Riku, and Vanitas stood there, watching the two go at it.
“Oh no, I hope they don’t make a mess of the courtyard.” Aerith spoke with a sigh. She was holding a huge bucket of water, Yuffie tagging behind with her own pail.
“What are those for?” Vanitas asked.
“These?” Yuffie briefly elevated the water in her arms “Well, those canyon flowers aren’t going to water themselves.”
“If you want, you guys can grab some of those pails and help out. Those two certainly seem preoccupied.” Aerith nodded at Lea and Ventus. They were so caught up in each other, they hadn’t even acknowledged Yuffie and Aerith entering the scene.
“We can help. Wait, I’ll just be a second to change.” Riku said, holding up the two suitcases. He hesitated when he remembered he had to watch Vanitas. Kairi looked at the number of water pails that needed to be carried, shaking her head.
“I’ll just watch him. You can catch up.” Kairi suggested, going over to pick up a pail. Aerith and Yuffie had prepared a few water pails and left them near the entrance of the house.
“Really?” Vanitas said, not expecting that he’d be allowed out of Riku’s sight so easily without another master around. Merlin was off world on an errand.
“Are you sure, Kairi-” Riku started talking but Kairi’s glare cut him off.
“I’ll be fine. Let’s go, Vanitas.” Kairi huffed, holding a heavy water pail proud and close to her chest as she walked off. Riku’s attention shifted to Vanitas, whom only shrugged in reply. He picked up his own pail of water, and ran off to join them, careful not to spill any of its contents.
Vanitas’ boots dug into the soil as he walked faithfully behind the three girls, watching them carefully divy up the water among the flowers.
“Over on that row, you can take the next, Vanitas.” Aerith guided, nodding her head in the proper direction. Vanitas snapped out of his trance and made his way over, not wanting to crush the budding plants.
“Have you thought of setting up a sprinkling system?” Kairi asked. She slowly tipped her pail over, slowly walking across the line.
“That would be nice. Most of our resources go into protecting the garden and the citizens. It’s been hard enough to keep these flowers growing with all of the heartless.” Yuffie answered.
“So you said that Merlin tried to just use magic. Tell me again why that’s not preferable to bringing buckets back and forth?” Vanitas asked, briefly looking up from his own water pail.
“Hey, if you want to get into an argument with Cid, you’re welcome to. Meanwhile, we’re doing what we can. We want to make significant change here,” Yuffie said. She patted on the side of her pail, trying to get every last drop out. Vanitas and Kairi ran out of water as well.
“Guess that’s that. Let’s go get more, okay?” Aerith suggested. She stood up and motioned for the others to follow. Kairi was about to move, but Vanitas cleared his throat.
“Vanitas?” Kairi said.
“Uh, I just wanted to say that I’m glad you’re coming with us today, Kai,” Vanitas said. Kairi blinked. It was so hard to tell what he was thinking when it was all hidden behind a mask.
“No problem. I can’t let Riku and you guys have all of the action,” Kairi said. Vanitas hesitated for a moment and then nodded, holding his arm to his chest.
I can’t wait to see her go all out.
Vanitas thought, watching her with reverent eyes as they walked back to the house together. Listening to the feelings within his heart, he could hope that nothing had truly changed.
“Guess I’m doing better than I thought.” Lea said with a sigh. As the group came back to the two, Ventus and Lea had finished sparring. Ventus was sitting on the floor, dazed. He shook his head.
“No fair! You never said that you were going to be using your chakrams,” Ventus exclaimed.
“Well, you never said I couldn’t use my chakrams, so whose fault is it really?” Lea smirked as he extended his hand. Ventus sighed before grasping it and being pulled to his feet.
“I mean, your terms for winning aren’t exactly hard to fulfill,” Ventus shrugged. “I would’ve just called you Axel if you asked.”
“But the winner has to win something, right? Makes it more rewarding.” Lea grinned.
Meanwhile, Leon popped his head out of the door of the house.
“Aerith, Yuffie, could you spare me a moment?” Leon prompted, waving the two girls over to him. At that moment, Riku walked past him out the door, wearing his new outfit.
“Sure thing!” Aerith said.
“You wouldn’t mind swapping in for us, would ya’ Riku?” Yuffie asked.
Riku blinked, seemingly pulled out of his thoughts.
“Um, what?” Riku replied. Yuffie and Aerith were already shoving their buckets onto him, more than happy to ditch their current task. Riku quickly fumbled to carry them.
“Thanks, you’re such a good sport! Neat threads by the way!” Yuffie beamed, rushing away as fast as she could, pulling Aerith by the hand. Riku’s mind caught up, expression souring. He was about to call out after them, but thought better of it.
“Looking good!” Kairi said. Riku turned to see Kairi arrive onto the scene, Vanitas trailing behind her.
“Yeah, those fairies seemingly have better style than I originally thought.” Riku said, holding up his arms so she could have a better view, holding one can in either hand.
“You look cool,” Ventus beamed, putting aside his lingering jealousy to support his friend.
“Well, not much cooler than before, but still cool,” Vanitas nodded in agreement.
“Hey, not too shabby at all,” Lea affirmed. Vanitas looked up at him, and his eyes widened in remembrance.
“Hey Lea, speaking of, who won your little play fight?” Vanitas asked. Lea blinked and then shook off the slightly harsh wording.
“Who else but your resident prodigy? My flames aren’t just for show,” He winked.
“Ventus lost? For some reason that does not surprise me,” Vanitas smirked, putting his hands on his hips.
Ventus glared at Vanitas with an annoyed expression, but it was actually Kairi at his side that spoke up first.
“That’s not nice,” Kairi said. Vanitas faltered slightly.
“I didn’t, I didn’t mean it like that.” Vanitas’ voice got quieter as she shook her head dismissively.
She looked over at Riku, tapping on one of the cans he was holding, “Come on, I can help you fill these up.”
Realizing he hadn’t put his arms down, they snapped to his sides and he nodded. The two of them walked off to the water hose beside the house, leaving Vanitas at a loss for words.
Ventus’ annoyed expression turned smug as he put his hands on his hips. He leaned in close to Vanitas.
“Yeah, that’s not nice ,” Ventus smirked.
“Oh come on, I wasn’t actively hoping either of you would lose,” Vanitas explained. He sighed before dropping his volume. “In fact, I kind of thought Lea would let you win.”
“Why do you think I’d let him win?” Lea asked. Vanitas jumped. He looked up at Lea, who was sliding his hands into his pockets. Had he always been this close? His expression seemed to be far too curious to actually be genuine.
“Yeah. I don’t see any reason for him to pull punches. He’s been working really hard with Kairi and Merlin!” Ventus defended his friend. Kairi perked up from where she was filling up a watering can at the front of the house. Riku was standing next to her, holding an empty can.
“Heck yeah he has!” Kairi reaffirmed, sending them a proud smile. Ventus could see she was almost done her can and would need Riku’s help filling up the next one.
“Thanks, you two. It means a lot hearing that from the pros.” Lea said, before using his hand to scramble Ventus’ hair “Even if I did manage to beat one said pro.”
“If anything, I was letting Axel even out the score. We have to fight again in order to break that tie,” Ventus smirked, going to fix his hair.
“What tie?” Vanitas prompted, confused.
“Well, um, from last time,” Ventus stammered.
“Last time? Where?” Vanitas was growing impatient. Surprisingly, he’d never fought Lea before, even as Axel. If Ventus wasn’t lying about being Sora, he would know this. That fact alone drove Vanitas to keep pressing.
“I know it happened,”
“Did it?” Vanitas tilted his head.
“I know I did in Twilight Town–”
Vanitas smiled like he solved some puzzle, snapping his fingers.
“That was Roxas,”
CLANG! Cling-cling-cling!
A large clattering could be heard as Riku dropped his watering can. Fortunately, the can had been empty. It still drew everyone’s attention and Riku went pale. He reached over quickly to pick it up as he mumbled an apology, passing it to Kairi.
“Hold up! Is everyone alright out here?” Yuffie came rushing out of the house.
“Nobody’s hurt, I just... Kairi, could you, please turn on the water again?” Riku asked softly. Kairi quickly shook her head from lingering thoughts and then nodded at him, following through with his request. Ventus just stared at Riku, not knowing what to think about his reaction, but something didn’t sit right with him.
“It would be an honour to spar with you again sometime,” Lea drew Vanitas and Ventus’ attention, trying to change the mood.
“Thinking you can win again?” Vanitas scoffed. Ventus ignored him.
“Even if I have to wait, I’ll see what’s inside that suitcase,” Ventus nodded, tightening his fist in determination.
“Maybe we could throw down sometime. My invitation is still open from earlier, if it’s not too lame to fight against some ‘kiddies’?” Lea teased, nudging Vanitas’ shoulder. Vanitas rubbed the area, and the motion got gradually slower. He looked off into the distance and his hand returned to his side. Ventus’ smile faded.
“Vanitas?” He asked. Was Vanitas still hurt from how he’d been teased about Kairi earlier? While what Vanitas said was sort of rude, Ventus thought it’d be no chip off of his shoulder.
He leaned in closer and whispered, “Sora?”
“I’m…” Vanitas’ voice was low, and cold. He tightened his fist around the can, “...not the freak .”
“What?” Ventus blinked. Vanitas seemed to snap out of whatever he was fixated on and looked around. He settled on Ventus.
“What?” Vanitas asked, equally confused.
“Are you alright? You don’t have to fight me if you don’t want to,” Lea explained. He leaned back and ruffled a hand through his own hair. “Look, I know I haven’t always been one of the ‘good guys,’ but if it brings up bad memories, just forget about it.”
Vanitas shook his head slightly, “It’s not memories of you I’m worried about.”
Ventus wished he could see Vanitas’ face. It was hard to read him properly through voice alone, not wanting to jump to conclusions.
“What are you–”
“Ready!” Kairi exclaimed. Ventus looked over at her, “Hey guys, can you help us carry these?” Vanitas seemed to jump on the opportunity.
“Sure,” Vanitas said. He ran up to her, leaving Lea and Ventus somewhat alone for a moment. Ventus wanted to call after him. He was stopped by a warm hand on his shoulder, grounding him.
“Before you run on stage, you might want to hang around behind the set, if you catch my drift?” Lea suggested. Ventus shook his head. “Just keep an eye on him. Friends look out for each other, right?”
“Yeah,” Ventus smiled, regarding Vanitas fondly. “They do.”