Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Okay this is a bit embarrassing to put up |D but okay. Saw some modern KH AU ideas floating around, and my brain went ahead and daydreamed about my own version enough that I drew pictures |D Sticking things into loose modern fantasy settings is a good exercise. But I give you … ehhhh Heart Transplant AU I guess |DD

Basic ideas:
1 Sora was born with an abnormally large heart, Roxas and Ven ended up being born with some sort of heart defects/problems that they ended up using pieces of Sora’s heart to fix.

2. Xion is an old friend of Roxas’ that ended up having heart trouble as well, and was a perfect match with Sora too, so they did the same with her, but at a later date. (so Sora has had open heart surgery twice, and the other three only once )

3. Sora makes cheesey comments of “Their a part of my heart just like I’ve become a part of theirs” and it makes them laugh, cringe and roll their eyes

4. Sora, Ven, Roxas, and Vanitas are two sets of identical twin, fraternal quadruplets. Ven and Roxas are identical, Sora and Vanitas are identical twins, but all four of them were born from the same mom at the same time

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More detailed synopsis:

First all the quad’s parents are both dead, and are just nameless faceless NPCs because I couldn’t think of anyone that I wanted to torture with having quads XDDD The dad died of cancer when the quads were 5, and then their mom got killed via snapped neck from whiplash in a car accident when Roxas was in the hospital. |D Because I didn’t want to deal with putting the parents in there and needed Ven to be adopted by Eraqus.

For Ven and Van, yeah, they were kidnapped as newborns by Xehanort. There’s this made up heart condition that I’m deliberately being super vague about because I’m not a medical expert and don’t wanna be called out XDDD But Xehanort is obsessed with figuring out a way to prevent it. It’s genetic though, and he found out that the quad’s parents had markers for it, so he nabbed the two to watch grow and do experiments on to try and figure out what exactly causes the disease and how to fix it. Good intentions, bad actions. |D

They were eventually rescued when they were 11 yo though. Roxas and Ven both ended up with that heart problem, and when Roxas’ issue started manifesting in crappy symptoms that left his really sick his mom took him to the hospital that Eraqus works at because Eraqus is famous for working with heart troubles. At the same time Terra is in the police work, and found the missing child reports a few years ago for Ven and Van, and is kinda obsessed with them. Eraqus stays out of the police work because he doesn’t really like it, but after working with Roxas, and talking with his mom and finding out Roxas and Sora have twin brothers that were kidnapped from the hospital when they were born, and some passing conversations he had with his buddy Xehanort, Erqaus figured out Xehanort had the boys. So Eraqus agreed to set up Xehanort to arrest him and figure out where he was hiding the boys. He feels somewhat responsible for the boys’ fate because of being friends with Xehanort and not seeing his actions sooner.

Vanitas is kinda crazy because Xehanort tended to talk to him like he only existed to be there to fix Ven, and then also tried some DNA splicing on Vanitas to see if he could erase the heart issue genetics that way, and that’s why Vanitas has black hair and yellow eyes. He also has an unhealthy obsession with Ven becaaaause that’s how he is in the game |D A lot of this stuff is just me giving my brain an exercise of taking what happened in the games and porting it over to a modern setting |D

Okay, and then for Xion 8′D In order to have her adopted by Axel, and keep her backstory of being a science experiment I had to give her crappy parents. |D So I just kinda grabbed Braig since he’s pretty much Xehanort’s right hand man in a way. But pretty much Braig has that heart disease marker, and Xehanort was like “hey, go make a kid with this lady that also has the marker so I can study them”, and Braig was like alright fine whatever =A= and tadaaa, Xion was born. Because she couldn’t come from a replica |D But Braig is a dick, and super neglectful of her because what does he care, she’s just there for Xehanort to study. But Axel finds out about it and took Braig to court to try and get custody of Xion away from him to get her away from that life. Axel and Xion had no idea about Braig’s involvement with Xehanort until Aqua presented Xehanort’s notes on it to the judge.

Chapter Text

Hearing a baby crying was not something Eraqus was used to in this area of the hospital, but there was definitely one wailing now. They sounded very young too, and he couldn’t help but wander over to where the other doctors were crowded around. The light mist of rain outside wasn’t enough to soak anyone, but it did make the outside look a lot more gloomy.

“What’s going on?” Eraqus asked cheerfully, joining into the group of doctors and nurses. The source of the crying was a little baby that one of the female doctors was holding, but Eraqus knew they baby wasn’t her’s. So where had it come from?

“Oh, Eraqus,” the woman greeted, but she looked a bit heartbroken. “A woman came and dropped this little one off under the law of Sanctuary. We’re just trying to calm him down, but he doesn’t seem to like anyone here…. I can’t blame him really,” she explained over the baby’s crying, bouncing the small boy gently and patting his back to try and soothe him.

“Oh… I see,” Eraqus hummed, a little disheartened. The Sanctuary law allowed people to drop off babies at specific locations with no questions asked. So this one must be only a month old at max. The poor thing. It was better than being abandoned somewhere else at least.

“Well, let’s go get him checked up then! Gotta make sure he’s healthy,” Eraqus chimed cheerfully, reaching forward to carefully take the baby so he could take him back to get a check up. He didn’t notice the boy stop crying as he carried him away.

~~~~~~~~

“Didn’t you see the tattoo on that woman’s arm? She was part of that family.”

“Whoever adopts that boy…. If they find out, they’re not going to leave that family alone.”

“Yeah, it could end up bad for them.”

“We’re not required to tell them where he came from. That’s actually part of the law anyway.”

“They won’t care though. She might already be dead for what she’s done. You know the stories. Anyone that tries to leave is punished.”

It hadn’t been hard at all to hear the other workers whispering about the baby that had been dropped off at the hospital a few days ago. He had no name, and apparently they were scared to give him up to a foster home even though he was perfectly healthy. Seemed like one of them had seen a tattoo on the woman’s arm that had marked her as being part of the Black Family. The underground criminal organization that didn’t play by the rules of society but still managed to avoid getting arrested. Not a nice place to be in. Eraqus heard rumor that the woman had been the boy’s mother, and simply didn’t want him to be involved in that life. A noble choice, but a difficult one to carry out. If the Black Family wasn’t supportive of that decision and wanted the child back, then they could come knocking on the door of whoever had adopted the boy.

Eraqus patted the baby boy’s back, and gave a relenting sigh. “Well, then I’ll take him,” he announced.

“What?” one of his coworkers sputtered. “Eraqus- I mean… I know you entertained the thought of having students, but this is different.”

“What? It’s just a baby. How hard could it be? Med school didn’t kill me, I doubt this lil’ guy will,” Eraqus chuckled, bouncing the boy. It was already obvious from the previous few days that Eraqus was the only one that the baby didn’t cry with. Plus Eraqus was a licensed doctor, and knew several martial arts styles. He would be able to keep the boy safe. “Hmmm, he needs a name…,” Erqaus mused, ignoring the others trying to talk him out of it, or asking if he was sure about his decision. It didn’t take very long at all for Eraqus to think of a name, and he looked down at the baby with a huff. “Hello…., Terra,” he greeted the small boy warmly. That seemed to be enough of a hint that he was serious to his coworkers, for they all stopped talking. The senior doctor even ended up sighing and putting a hand over her face in defeat.

“It’s interesting that this hospital has a daycare.”

“Well it isn’t like I can leave Terra at home, haha.”

(Roxas and Xion met in preschool, where most people were charmed by Sora, so Roxas tended to wander off on his own and ended up meeting Xion that way.

Braig didn’t care what Xion wore, or about keeping her clean, just did the bare minimum to keep legal people off of him. So she was pretty dirty at first |D Roxas and Sora ended up sharing their clothes with her because as far as they and their mom knew Xion’s dad just didn’t have enough money for it.

Roxas’ mom found out about Xion because one day Roxas came home without shoes because he gave them to Xion. XD Mom was upset at first, but then just sighed and took Roxas out to get another pair.

Once Kairi showed up a couple years later, she started letting Xion borrow her clothes too so she could have some girl clothes to wear if she wanted.

Once Axel was finally able to adopt Xion, he used his second paycheck of the month after all bills and stuff were paid to take Xion out shopping for her own clothes. It’s wasn’t much, only like 500 munny worth, but she still cried ‘cause she finally had her own clothes XD Though Axel had to remind her to shop for herself instead of trying to pick things that Kairi would wear too.

ps, yes Roxas had Peter Pan shoes. Because that was the world he got excited about showing Axel in the game |D)

Chapter Text

(Eraqus helped the police capture Xehanort)

In their rush to leave the adults had left the iron gates open. Someone was supposed to have taken them in the escape, but they had all forgotten. Or they thought other people would get them. Either way Vanitas and Ventus were alone now. Soft feet that had never touched the outside ground padded on the clear floor towards the body laying in the other cell. Ventus was unconscious asleep, but it was better that way. Better for him to drift off into the abyss together with him without another sight of this world. Xehanort had always said that they’d be whole together. One was the key to completing the other, but they didn’t know how yet. Well, how about he just open Ventus up and see what missing pieces there was to complete. That’s what all the experiments were for afterall.

Vanitas’ fingers brushed up under Ventus’ bangs to stroke them aside, his other hand reaching for the surgical scissors that had skidded across the floor when the table holding them was overturned in the haste of the ones who left.

Scala ad Caelum

The name Eraqus had managed to get from Xehanort had meant nothing to anyone but the two old men, but thankfully Eraqus had known exactly where the place was. Squall had little thoughts of the meaning of the name as he kicked down the door and shouted, “Police!! Hands in the air!!” as was protocol. It was unnecessary though. The room was empty except for two young boys, but alarmingly enough one boy was holding a pair of scissors over the other. “Don’t shoot, they’re children!” Squall shouted to the others behind him, rushing forward to grab the black haired boy and rip him away from the unconscious blond. The boy hadn’t seemed to notice them at all until he was grabbed, but his shouted protests fell on deaf ears. Squall was more worried about the shout from his squad leader that came soon after.

“Terra, get back here! You are NOT authorized to enter this area, it is NOT secure!”

The area was not secured, but it was empty, and after seeing the two boys there Terra couldn’t help but run forward. Squall already had one of the boys, but the other was still on the ground. He looked awful, and he also looked exactly like Roxas. At first glance at least. The hair was a lighter blond color, but it was still easy to tell who it was. “Ventus….” Terra breathed, already kneeling next to him and fingers finding his pulse.

It was weak, and irregular, but still there and Terra felt a rush of relief. For a moment. “… He’s still alive. Aqua! Do something!” he shouted, looking over to the crowd of police officers.

“Move it!” Aqua’s voice came from behind two officers blocking the door. Shoving through, she brought the huge case of medical supplies over to begin checking up on Ventus. While she did so Terra’s gaze went over to the kid Squall had. That must be Vanitas. He looked really similar to Sora, but… the eyes and hair. He looked different. They were supposed to be identical twins, but Sora had brown hair. That was obviously black. And yellow eyes in contrast to Sora’s blue.

“It’s the same as Roxas.” Aqua’s voice brought Terra out of his thoughts, snapping back to look at her and Ventus. “But more advanced, he needs to get to the hospital now- HEY! Let’s move it! He’s safe to move,” she shouted at the end, looking to the others while pulling out her cellphone.

It took a few seconds for the call to be answered, but she spoke fast after it was. “Master Eraqus, we found Ventus. He’s the same as Roxas, from what I can tell, but it looks like he’s had symptoms for longer. We need to get him into surgery as soon as possible. Could we move the boys’ up to today? Sora should match with Ventus too since he’s Roxas’s twin…”

While Aqua talked to Eraqus, Terra looked back to Ventus. She said he was safe to move, so he didn’t have to hold back anymore and gingerly cupped Ventus’ hand between his own. It was so small and thin compared to Roxas’, just like the rest of his form. Which looked worse with the adult sized clothing on him. Obviously Ventus was malnourished, and that combined with the obvious bruising made Terra’s brows furrow in anger.

While Ventus and Vanitas had been taken to the hospital, Terra and Aqua stopped by the police station. They needed to figure out what Xehanort had done, in case there was anything that would interfere with the surgery, and while Terra understood some medical things Aqua was definitely better at it. But the drive hadn’t helped Terra’s mood at all. They had found notes in the building they’d rescued the boys from, and they hadn’t been nice. Records about genetic splicing, and Xehanort using his own DNA. Which explained why Vanitas now had yellow eyes and black hair. Tests of different drugs on both boys, and notes that the assistants that were there hadn’t exactly been wholesome company to them. All in an attempt to figure out how to prevent this heart disease that seemed to be in people’s genetics.

By the time they reached the interrogation room Terra stormed inside and snatched Xehanort up by his collar. “What did you DO to him?!” he demanded, shaking the man a little.

Xehanort looked unperturbed by Terra’s outburst, keeping his hands behind his back. But then he smirked and his hands moved. Terra was too close and too focused on Xehanort’s face to see the syringe before it was plunged into his side.

Aqua was quick to run over and pull the syringe out of Terra while he was stunned. She kept a hold of it though, looking at it as the officers in the room restrained Xehanort too late. “…. What was in that?” Aqua demanded, standing between Xehanort and Terra as the latter put a hand over his stomach and backed up.

“A gift, for Eraqus,” Xehanort replied, that smile being out of place in this situation. “Whatever I did to the boy, Eraqus will manage to figure it out. He always too smart for his own good. Yet, he also was always too afraid to stray too far from the light, and that’s why he could never achieve anything greater than what he has now.”

They weren’t able to get much more out of Xehanort, but they knew that the old man was probably on death’s row for what he’d done. Aqua was more worried about Terra at the moment though, helping him out of the room as he held his side. He didn’t look bad at first, but now he was looking really pale.

“Terra…,” Aqua started once they were away from the interrogation room, and that vile person.

“Aqua,” Terra interrupted, turning to clasp his hand over the syringe in her hand. “Don’t worry about me. Go help Master Eraqus with the boys now. I’ll just take this to the lab to figure out what was in it, and neutralize it before meeting you there, okay,” he directed.

Aqua wasn’t sure about that, he looked like he was still standing based on sheer will alone, but he made some sort of sense. There wasn’t anything they could do for him without running tests, and his lab was just a few hallways down. He knew where everything was in there too. “…. Alright. But if you’re not there by the time we’re done I’m going to hunt you down and beat you, okay,” Aqua reluctantly agreed, giving his arm a squeeze. Terra hated having other people in his lab, but Aqua still asked someone to at least keep an eye on him just outside of the lab on her way out.

It was always risky to bother Terra while he was in the lab, but honestly that was just the joke people had around the headquarters. Axel had never had a problem with barging in on Terra, but then again he’d never visited while Terra was working.

“Hey Terra, Aqua told me to-,” Axel started, tapping a knuckle on the doorframe before entering. He cut off though when Terra’s response was to start falling backwards. “Woah!” Axel rushed forward, catching him and keeping him steady. “What the heck? What’s going on, are you okay??” he demanded, looking down but not able to see much.

“…. Why are you here?” Terra asked after a moment, teeth gritted.

“Aqua asked me to come check on you. What’s going on?” Axel answered, shifting around to get a better look. Terra looked awful, and he was apparently really protective of his side.

“What about Roxas? Thought you’d be with him.”

“What do you mean? Roxas is resting. He’s got the surgery tomorrow and was asleep the last time I was there. Figured I shouldn’t bother him.”

“They didn’t tell you yet?”
“Tell me what?”

“They moved the surgery to now. Needed Sora for Ventus-”

“What?!?!” Axel sputtered, immediately shifting to get up. He’d have to pick Xion up on the way, but there was no way he was going to not be there when Roxas woke up. He’d promised he would be there, why didn’t they contact him immediately?

“Wait!” Terra stopped, grabbing Axel’s arm. “….. Take me with you. Use my bike,” he requested.

Chapter Text

“….Does Roxas know?”

It took Eraqus a bit of time to respond, being lost in thought as he remembered the events of the day as he watched the two sleeping boys. The words Sora had said still resounded loudly in his head.

“I’ll give her my heart- I’ll give her my whole heart if it’ll make her better!”

How selfless, and yet impossible. They couldn’t give a child’s heart to a grown woman and expect it to work, even if said child wasn’t already alive and healthy. But he could understand the boy’s sentiment, considering the woman in question had been his mother. Had been, unfortunately. The ambulance speeding into the hospital having crashed into her car as she was leaving for the night, and the whiplash had snapped her neck. She’d been dead before anyone even got there, and Eraqus had been the one to break it to Sora just hours prior to now. Roxas had been asleep, and no one had the heart to wake him. The boy needed rest all things considered, that rare heart condition giving him hell now that it’d made itself known. At least he had that surgery in a few days to fix that, but for now they’d let him rest, and tell him when he woke up on his own. He was all Sora had left for family now though, so Eraqus couldn’t say no when Sora had asked to sleep with Roxas that night.

“….Yes…. I think he knows, in a way,” Eraqus finally answered the question.

“Stars? … What are you talking about?”

Roxas was still obviously tired, but he was looking better, much better, than the last time the two of them had seen him. And at least this time he was awake he also wasn’t drugged up on anesthesia.

“Oh, you know. The stars of the massive galaxies in the ceiling you stared at for three hours earlier. You looked like a zombie, and barely said anything. Only to shush us and tell us not to disturb the glorious entities that are balls of gas floating in space,” Axel explained, stretching his hands in a grand spreading motion towards the ceiling as though he could clear it away and let them all see the space above. Xion was just giggling at this point, not wanting to make fun of Roxas, but having to admit it had been pretty funny.

“What? Come on, you’re lying. This is the first time I’ve been awake- I don’t remember any of that!” Roxas protested, trying to claim it didn’t happen at first, then giving in and saying it didn’t count. He tried to sit up a little, but just winced and rested his hand on his chest.

“Careful, Roxas!” Xion protested, dropping her book on the bed to rest her hands on him and make sure he didn’t sit up.

“Yeah, you just got a hole chopped in your chest. Take it easy for awhile, okay?” Axel chided, rubbing the back of his head. Giving a nod, Roxas settled back. “…..Feeling better at least? You look better.”

Another nod, and Roxas hummed in agreement. “I feel like I got hit by a truck,” he admitted with a bit of a chuckle. “But it’s not as bad as before.”

“That’s great,” Axel grinned, then had a thought, “Guess I should go get some ice cream to celebrate then, huh?”

Xion looked happy at the prospect, and ready to go with him, but Roxas just laughed softly and shook his head. “They wouldn’t let me eat it yet anyway, even if you did.” he admitted sadly, missing the taste already. “… How’s Sora?” he asked, turning his head to see if they were sharing a room like they were promised. They were, but his brother was sleeping away as gracelessly as usual.

“He’s fine. Woke up a bit ago, then fell back asleep, just like you.”

“That’s good,” Roxas hummed, turning his head again to look at his friends with a smile.

“You missed him asking Kairi how she got a unicorn in here earlier,” Xion added with a snicker.

“What?? Awwwwww maaaaaan. That’s not fair. Did you record it?” Roxas whined, pouting a little.

“Nope. That was the agreement after all. We could only be here when you first woke up if we didn’t record you,” Xion laughed. A shame they had agreed to that, but it was easier than risking not being able to see them for longer.

“Umm…. there’s no unicorns, Sora,” Kairi responded to him, not sure if she wanted to be amused, or worried.

Sora’s eyes looked over to the space at the foot of the bed, and then back to her. “You sure? There’s one right there, I thought he was yours.”

Riku snorted, and gave Kairi a reassuring nod. This was probably just a side effect from the medication the doctors had given Sora. It was common enough.

“Riku?” Sora voiced after hearing the snicker, looking over and getting a big smile. “Hi Riku,” he greeted, always happy to see them.

“Hi Sora,” Riku returned, wanting to prod more and see what else he would say, but instead asking, “How are you feeling?”

“Better now that both of you are here,” Sora grinned, then grew distracted again, and suddenly got quiet. “There’s a secret I have to tell you though,” he said, hushed, and beckoning them.

“Hmm?” Riku hummed, already grinning, and leaning in close.

Sora had to beckon to Kairi again to make sure she leaned close too, and then suddenly but awkwardly wrapped an arm around them both. “I love you guys. Okay? I love you so much,” he beamed, giving a little hiccup at the end.

“Awwww, Sora,” Kairi hummed, giggling a little and awkwardly returning the hug considering their positions. “We love you too. Even Riku,” she answered, earning a grunt from Riku as he grinned a bit uncomfortably in embarrassment.

Sora was quiet for a stretch again, and they though he may have fallen back asleep, but as soon as they moved he looked up again. “There’s a unicorn in here,” he announced again, pointing at the foot of the bed. There was nothing there.

“Mhmm, you mentioned,” Riku hummed, pulling away to fold his arms.

“But, I think….. You can’t see it, can you?” Sora asked, squinting his eyes at them.

“Mmmmmm…. Nope, can’t say I can,” Riku admitted, not going to pretend he can see whatever Sora could at the moment.

“Me neither,” Kairi agreed behind giggles.

Sora looked a bit sad, but okay, until he wasn’t okay, suddenly sniffing and then crying.

“Woah! Sora? What’s wrong?” Kairi asked, her hands raising unsteadily, not sure if they should call the nurse.

“Because you guys can’t see it. It’s so beautiful,” Sora sobbed, rubbing his eyes and hiccuping. “It’s purple, an… and majestic, just like in stories.”

“Auh, hey, hey,” Riku consoled, patting his shoulder. “Ehhh, why don’t you just draw it for us? Okay? Then we could see it,” he suggested, catching sight of the papers, crayons, and pencils off to the side.

And Sora did draw it. And it was terrible, but partly because he was changing his mind several times in the middle of drawing while being disoriented from the anesthesia wearing off.

“Ven?”

“Mm,” Terra nodded, rubbing his thumb on the back of the boy’s thin hand. “It seems fitting. More personal,” he admitted. It was strange, having spent so many years looking for the kid that was there in front of him now. It was almost like a dream, but at least Aqua was there too.

“……… At least you like your little brother,” Aqua grinned, a little quiet, but amused at her own tease.

“What?” Terra looked up, genuinely surprised.

“Yep, your brother. He’ll be official in a few days. If they accept Master Eraqus’ proposal about adopting him that is. Him, Sora, and Roxas. Though I think Roxas is going to end up going with Axel instead, if he’s able to win with Xion.”

Terra was quiet as he considered that revelation, and why Eraqus would do something like that. It wasn’t like the old man to just adopt every kid that came by there, he’d even said several times before that he wasn’t going to take on anymore after himself and Aqua. But now three? “…. He feels like he owes them, doesn’t he,” Terra said, having figured it out well enough.

“Mhmm,” Aqua hummed, obviously not agreeing with the sentiment, but not going to argue with it. The boys needed a home after all, and they would gladly have new siblings. “If he’d figured out what Xehanort was doing, and stopped him, then this probably wouldn’t have happened. Or so he says. Either way, I guess it’s time to clean out a few rooms.”

“How’s Terra?”

A quiet voice, in consideration for the sleeping figure on the couch, but even if Aqua had been louder Eraqus would have taken a minute to answer. “He’s alright. Just asleep. The blood thinners are out of his system, but the bruising will take awhile to heal.” His hand absently stroked Terra’s hair while he sat there.

“Good,” Aqua said softly, smiling a little. She looked worried again when she looked at her adoptive father though. “How are you doing?”

“Hm?” Eraqus hummed, pretending he didn’t know what she was talking about. “Perplexed. I’d thought he’d outgrown this,” he said, trying to deter the subject from what he knew she was talking about. 

Aqua gave a breath of a laugh and smiled despite knowing it was a distraction. “No one ever outgrows the love from people they care about,” she replied, sipping the tea from her steaming cup as Eraqus managed to look a little embarrassed behind that stoic facade. “But that’s not what I’m talking about. You’ve been staring off into space for almost the whole day. I know something is bothering you.”

Eraqus remained quiet, looking away from Aqua. She was perceptive, but then again he wasn’t really trying to hide it. 

“It’s the execution, isn’t it,” she then stated.

Eraqus’ brows furrowed, but then he sighed, and eventually nodded. “…. We were friends… once,” he almost whispered.

“Nothing can change what he did.”

“… Maybe,” Eraqus agreed, “But I find it hard to forget him, the way he was.”

“Then remember him the way he was, but not the way he became. We can’t sympathize with someone who would murder children. But… like you said before, when we were kids,” Aqua mused, giving a half smile as she sat on the floor next to the couch. “No one is completely full of darkness. But, we must keep them in balance with light.”

Eraqus ended up chuckling at that. “You still remember that? You were so young, but the comparison between light and darkness was the only way you and Terra understood when I was talking about the laws of the world.”

Aqua chuckled as well, and they ended up reminiscing about the past for awhile. At some point though, Eraqus caught sight of the time, and lowered his eyes sadly. It was done then, and he found himself speaking quietly to the air.

“Goodbye… old friend.”

As soon as Sora could walk around on his own he insisted that he be able to visit Ventus and Vanitas. The adults had already explained to him that his twin would look different, and act different when he saw him. But Sora didn’t mind. All he knew was there was a  boy that was his brother that he needed to meet.

Aqua went with him, but she remained back a little to let Sora have his space. She was just there in case Vanitas had one of his violent bouts towards the boy. He was doing alright now, but anything could change that, and they didn’t want to risk it.

“Vanitas….,” Sora started first, keeping his distance as Vanitas was backed up against the wall in the empty room. He just stared back at Sora warily while Sora in turn was quiet, looking him over. Then Sora just smiled and held his hand out. “Hi! I’m Sora,” he greeted, never mind Vanitas flinching back.

There was an awkward pause of silence again, but Sora just lowered his hand, unperturbed, and instead asked. “Are you okay? I heard you were sick. Do you wanna play?”

“….. Where’s Ventus? My brother…,” Vanitas asked instead, not interested in playing at all.

“Oh, he’s asleep. He’s not feeling well, so needs to stay in bed,” Sora answered, frowning a little. He hadn’t met Ventus yet, that’s just what he’d heard. “We’re brothers too though, so I can play with you instead,” he added, giving a big grin.

“You mean dead,” Vanitas snapped back, eyes flicking to Aqua, who tensed a little.

“No. I mean asleep. They say he’s in a coma? That’s the word they used, but it’s really just asleep, only he won’t wake up if I shake him, or be noisy,” Sora explained, shaking his head. They’d had to explain to him what a coma was, so he understood if Vanitas didn’t know either.

“…. His heart… is shattered,” Vanitas said, a little quiet.

“Not anymore! I helped them fix it. He’s okay now. Promise,” Sora beamed, putting his hands on his hips proudly and nodding.

Aqua smiled briefly at that, but something about Vanitas’ disposition changed, and she grew wary. It was like he noticed the bandages on Sora’s chest for the first time, and he was realizing what they meant.

“…… They took you instead,” Vanitas muttered.

“Huh?” Sora voiced, tilting his head to the side.

Vanitas drew a breath as his hands balled into fists. “Give him back!” he suddenly shouted, charging to tackle Sora. “Return Ventus to me now! He’s the only way my heart can be complete! We have to be together!” he yelled while struggling against Aqua as she pulled him away.

“Sora! Leave, now!” Aqua demanded, dragging Vanitas back away from Sora and the exit.

“Wha? Vanitas, stop! Don’t be bad, or else they won’t let me play with you,” Sora scolded with a huff. That had hurt a little, but he felt he was fine.

“Sora, please leave. We’ll try again later,” Aqua insisted, pulling Vanitas back and wincing as he bit her arm.

Seeing that Aqua was getting hurt because he was staying, Sora relented. “…. Okay. I’ll see you soon,” he pouted a little, hurrying out the door and dragging the IV pole with him. He’d just wait there until Aqua came out too, and then go visit Ventus.

“You’re my big brother! Well, actually not by much. Just a few minutes I think. We’re fadernal twins!” Sora rambled happily, even though the one he was talking to couldn’t respond to him. They had just been to visit Vanitas, but that hadn’t gone well at all. Sora had insisted on seeing his other brother now though, not too put off by the previous event. He was keeping a cheerful face too, even though it was easy for Aqua to see that Ventus’ condition was bothering him. She had to smile at Sora being unable to say fraternal though, and corrected him quietly.

“You’re gonna be alright. We…. couldn’t fix mom, but Roxas is alright now! And you had the same thing as him instead of mom, so it’ll be alright. Oh, Roxas is my brother. Other brother, not you, haha! He’s the youngest out of the four of us, but he acts like a grumpy old man sometimes. He’s not here because he’s too tired. That’s fine though. I’m sure he’ll come when he’s feeling better….”

Eventually Aqua pulled up a chair for each of them, for it seemed Sora had a lot to talk about. And it wasn’t such a bad thing, they did say coma patients could sometimes hear the world around them even though they were unconscious.

“I know Sora has been…. more than enthusiastic about all of this,” Eraqus said gently, giving a small smile at the thought of the other boy. “But I want you to understand, neither of you are obligated to love Ventus just because he’s your brother. Neither of you are responsible for his well being, nor for him getting better. You can be friends of course, and love him all you want, but there’s no need to feel forced to interact with him if you don’t want to. I know it’s been hard lately, with your mother, and these strangers around you. I know you’re not like Sora. So let us adults take care of him, and you worry about getting better yourself, okay?” His voice was calm, and encouraging, and while Roxas felt his eyes sting at the mention of his mother he ended up giving Eraqus a tiny smile at the end.

“…. Thanks… Eraqus,” Roxas spoke quietly, feeling a lot more at ease with the whole situation now.

Eraqus blinked for a moment at that, then gave a low chuckle. “My, my. It’s been a long time since someone has used only my first name,” he admitted, giving Roxas a pat on the shoulder as he stood up again.

“….. Is that okay?” Roxas asked, a little hesitant and looking up.

“…. Yeah. That’s fine,” Eraqus assured after a moment of thought, giving another mild chuckle.

Chapter Text

“We will now begin the hearing to determine custody of Xion, the 11 year old daughter of the defendant, Braig, who is accused of multiple accounts of physical and emotional abuse….”

“We’re here for you. Even if Axel doesn’t win this one, we’ll figure something out,” Roxas assured, squeezing Xion’s hand. “Even if we have to kidnap you,” he added to try and cheer her up. It did earn a small giggle.

“Roxas, that’s illegal,” Xion protested, though she was smiling a little now.

“So what? What he’s doing is illegal too,” Roxas grinned, pleased to have gotten a smile. He felt tired, but was still glad he was there with her.

“……. Sorry to drag you out to this while you should be resting,” Xion added, as though she’d read his mind.

“No worries. I was getting tired of the hospital anyway. Feel like I’ve been there forever, this was a good excuse to get out of there,” he chuckled, giving her a pat on the shoulder. He honestly was already thinking about a nap, even though the hearing was only half way over. But he didn’t want her to know that.

They sat quietly for a bit longer before Xion’s gaze fell again. “…. Listen to him. He’s too good at lying. I’m not someone that bruises easily, and I’m not clumsy,” she whispered, tearing up a little.

“Why can’t you tell them that? I thought they’d have you as a witness or something.”
“They won’t let me. They say I’m too young, and whatever I say could be coercion from either side,” Xion pouted. The way the hearing was going Braig was talking his way out of every accusation made. At this rate he would be proven innocent. It didn’t help that the one trying to take custody of her was only 18, and not a fully stable adult.

“Your honor, I would die for these kids. I’ve got nothing to gain from this other than knowing Xion will be free from this man’s torture. But I refuse to let her go to an orphanage. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help her, just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” They heard Axel telling the judge, and Xion ended up tearing up again with a smile.

“I’m sorry Axel,” the judge sighed, seeming to be torn on her opinion of this matter. This seemed to be a losing battle though, Braig’s reasoning was too clean, and too smoothly delivered. “but that’s not something I can do-”

Just then the door to the courtroom was opened roughly, and a new figure came striding in. “Your honor, if I may….”

“Aqua,” the judge said, hiding an amused smile behind her fingers. “You are aware this is not the hearing you are to be present for?”
“Yes, I am aware. That one is next week,” Aqua confirmed with a nod, approaching the center of the room, but remaining behind the gate. “I believe the two hearings to be related though. If I may, I have new evidence to present, related to this case, that may sway your decision, your honor.” She looked both triumphant, and sad at the discovery she had made.

The judge was silent for a moment, but with a sigh and rub of her eyes she beckoned Aqua forward. “Bring it here then.”

“Thank you, your honor,” Aqua nodded, passing through the gate to present the stack of papers to the judge. “As you know, we discovered many documentations written by Xehanort, detailing his endeavours through the years. These files are photocopies of the original pages of a journal detailing events from eleven years ago,” Aqua explained, setting the files on the table.

“Your honor, I object!” Braig immediately protested, hearing the explanation, and stood up.

“Overruled, take a seat Braig,” the judge replied tiredly, and began reading through the pages. At first she seemed impassive, but after a few minutes her brows furrowed slightly and she began reading faster. Flipping through the pages, her expression became one of disbelief, and mild horror as she looked first at Xion, and then at Braig. After a few more page turns she dropped the papers in disgust. “I’ve seen enough. This hearing is closed in the plaintiff’s favor. Axel will be given custody of Xion-”

“What?! You can’t be serious! That brat-” Braig protested, slamming his hands on the table and rising to his feet again.

“Will be given custody of Xion on account of her father being sentenced to lifetime imprisonment for kidnapping, and illegal experimentation on human children,” the judge continued, raising her voice to be heard over Braig, who immediately paled and fell silent. “It’s all here Braig. Not only did you participate in the kidnapping of two newborns, but you agreed to bring a child into this world for the sole purpose of letting Xehanort use her for his experiments,” she declared, flipping the pages to bring attention to them while her gaze bore holes into the man.

Braig stared for a long moment, before snarling and reaching for the gun at the officer’s waist nearby.

“You didn’t tell me you lived in a castle!” Sora cooed, staring up at the building they had just stopped in front of.

“Mansion, Sora. Castles are bigger,” Roxas corrected. “Are you serious?” he asked again, looking at Terra and Aqua as they came over with some of the luggage. “This isn’t a prank, is it?”
“No, this is your new home. What’s wrong with it?” Aqua assured, blinking in confusion.

“Wow! I wanna see all of it!” Sora cheered, taking off to run up the stairs to the front door.

“That’s what’s wrong with it. How long does it take you to get to the bathroom from the bedroom? I don’t have the energy right now to explore all of this. We just barely got out of the hos- woah!” Roxas whined, starting to climb up the stairs too, but at a much slower pace. He was cut off as Axel suddenly swooped him up and put him on his shoulders.

“Then I’ll be your legs. C’mon, let’s go pick out a room for you, I bet there are tons,” he chuckled, looking back to make sure Xion was coming too.

Aqua and Terra just chuckled, and started to head towards the mansion at their own pace. “Don’t worry Riku, Kairi, you’re free to visit whenever you want too,” Terra assured, ruffling Riku’s hair as the younger lad got close.

Sometimes, when he’s in a certain mood, Sora will play music too.

For anyone else in the family the sound of a piano being played in a distant room was a familiar one. For anyone other than Aqua. As far as she knew she was the only one that knew how to play. And she was currently studying medical exams while the sweet tune was carrying through the halls. It was only after she’d started walking towards the room that housed the family’s grand piano that she realized she’d never asked her new little brothers if they could play anything. So while it had been unnerving at first, when she came into the room to see Sora quietly tapping away at the keys she could only smile. He wasn’t bad at all. And it was good to see Roxas somewhat relaxed for once. He’d seemed on edge or otherwise tense since before he’d been released from the hospital.

When Sora noticed her standing there, he looked over and gave Aqua a toothy smile without stopping. No one said anything, but later Aqua would find out that it was their mother that had encouraged Sora to learn to play. They used to play together, but while Sora could master it well enough Roxas seemed to have significant difficulty with it. Which was only fair in Sora’s eyes because the whole reason he and his mother had learned to play in the first place was so that they could create music together with Roxas as he would sing. It had been a pass time on many evenings for them, and Sora hadn’t been able to resist after he’d found the piano.

It was rare for Sora to actively look anything but happy or confused, so seeing him come home obviously sad was an immediate signifier that something was wrong. And after finding out that Sora had already gone back to school for the first time since their mom had died and they’d all been in the hospital Roxas couldn’t keep his outburst out of it.

“You promised me that we would wait until we could both go. Why did you break that promise?” Roxas continued when Sora didn’t answer the first question.

The breath Sora drew was shaky, but it was enough to get Roxas to quiet down and listen. “I thought you were scared that no one would like you anymore. I thought that was why you wanted to go together. So you didn’t have to worry about being alone. I didn’t think you were worried about people… not leaving us alone. So I thought I’d just go see what it was like and make sure you knew everyone still cared about you.” His confession was quiet, both because he felt bad for not keeping his promise, but also because he’d already just been in a sullen mood.

Roxas had a hard time finding words for a moment, not sure how Sora had come up with that line of thought but also finding it sweet that he’d gone back just to reassure Roxas. “It’s because… Because of what I assumed already happened, yeah? They wouldn’t leave you alone? All these questions, always in your face, never minding their own business. I bet the freaking news was there waiting for you too, weren’t they?” Roxas sighed, squeezing Sora’s arms a little in emphasis and earning a nod from his brother. “That’s why I wanted us to go together. It’s too much for one person to handle, and I know you’re too nice to tell them to back off.”

“B’but… you’re still recovering…,” Sora protested, his eyes watering enough and vibrating words betraying he was at breaking point.

That excuse caused Roxas to give an exasperated sigh, and he pushed Sora back and forth once. “You’re recovering too, Sora! You had open heart surgery too! You had your chest cut open and half your heart ripped out and given to two other people!” Roxas stressed, having guessed that Sora hadn’t wanted to make it as big of a deal as it really was. He always did that. If he wasn’t unconscious then he wasn’t that bad. When Sora looked over to Roxas finally, realization making the tears slip down his cheeks, Roxas sighed and brought him into a hug. “You have just as much need as me to stay home and recover. Eraqus has set up the option for us to be homeschooled so we don’t fall behind. So let’s just stay home until all of this blows over, okay?”

“Okay,” Sora hiccupped, resting his cheek against Roxas’ shoulder and wrapping his arms around him to return the hug.

There was a definite change in Sora once Roxas managed to convince him that he wasn’t perfectly fine just because he hadn’t been the one sick before the surgery. He’d been so worried about Roxas that he hadn’t properly taken care of himself, and while Roxas could have called him an idiot he didn’t. Sora wasn’t an idiot in the sense that he was stubborn and self destructive. He was just oblivious that he had his own needs sometimes, and usually that was worse when someone he cared about needed something. But, for once Roxas managed to convince him that he was fine, and to focus on himself for once. Which meant that Sora was allowing himself to wander around the house with a blanket over his shoulders and looking like he wanted to sleep for a week. Which was fine with Roxas. So, after lunch when Roxas was going to settle down to play some games he tugged Sora over to sit with him and just relax for once. Which also meant that after almost an hour of playing a somewhat calming game Sora was flopped over on the plush chair sleeping away. Roxas didn’t mind it at all, and was just glad Sora was getting some well deserved rest for once. Not that he minded his brother being a bouncing ray of sunshine all the time, but he was good to have around this way too. 

“It’s okay, I’m here…,” Terra’s voice was soft, but he couldn’t help but smile a little. It was about time Roxas stopped bottling everything up. His mom had died for heaven’s sakes, and it was only months after moving into his new home that he admitted that he wasn’t okay. Maybe it was only because Sora was doing better, and he was finally feeling more comfortable in his new home. “I’d be a little worried if you didn’t miss her, honestly.”

Roxas gave a pathetic smile at the comment, but ended up just burying his head more as it hurt to think about. Terra wasn’t sure if Roxas needed to talk about it, or just have physical comfort at the moment, so said nothing. He did end up leading him over to the couch so they could sit down though. No one was awake at midnight, so he wasn’t worried.

“…. It was just us, you know.” Roxas’ voice was husky, but it seemed he wanted to tell Terra about what his life had been like before. “Just Sora, mom, and me…. Dad got cancer and died when we were five, so I don’t really remember him. But mom was always so strong after. She kept smiling, after the funeral. I just remember her putting her hands on her hips and announcing that things were going to be different now, but we’d be okay. It was hard for her, I know that now. Having two boys. But… she was always smiling. And could make us laugh like no one else….. I wish you could have met her.”

Terra just kept patting and rubbing Roxas’ back while he talked while crying. His mom sounded like an amazing person, and he could tell immediately where Roxas got part of his personality from. Roxas wasn’t always smiling like a sunflower, but he did tend to reassure Sora that everything was going to be okay. “I met her once….,” Terra admitted, thinking back. When Roxas shifted his head to look up in surprise Terra explained. “I ran into her at the hospital, and we talked a little. She was scared for you, so we just ended up getting some coffee so she could calm down.”

It was a little surprising, but Roxas found he could accept that his mom had been stressed out from everything. That’s probably why she hadn’t been paying more attention. But he had to remind himself it wasn’t his fault.

“… I wish I had mentioned who exactly it was I was looking for then. But… it was classified information at the time.”

Roxas had to smile a little at that. “You know she used to talk to us about them. That she was supposed to have four little boys instead of just two. I wish she could have met them. Maybe they would feel better with her around.”

“Yeah…. I would have loved to bring them home to her,” Terra admitted, then wrapped Roxas in a bit of a tighter hug. “But instead I’m just going to watch over her boys for her. So you can come to me whenever you need to, okay?”

Chapter Text

“Thanks for taking me out tonight, Roxas,” Xion said, a bit quietly, as they were walking back to the house together.

“Hey, it’s no problem. I’ll take you anywhere you want,” Roxas chuckled slightly, keeping more of an eye on Xion than where he was going. She wasn’t looking so well this entire night, and he was worried. “You sure you’re okay? Axel says you’ve been feeling a bit sick lately,” he asked, slowing down a little.

Xion gave him a smile, but it looked slightly forced. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s not as bad as-.” She broke off, suddenly hunching over and grabbing the front of her shirt, pressing her hands against her chest.

“Xion?” Roxas immediately raised his hands to support her, knowing that definitely wasn’t a good reaction. “What’s wrong? Xion!”

“My…. chest,” Xion started, looking a little faint now. “My heart… hurts.”

They didn’t really expect to be called that night, but Roxas’ frantic voice over the phone was enough to get them all sitting up. “Roxas, calm down. Did you call an ambulance? You need a doctor,” Eraqus spoke calmly but quickly back into the phone.

“But you ARE are a doctor! Eraqus!” Roxas’ voice came back in protest. “She said her heart hurt! That’s what you do! You fixed me, it’s the same thing! I said the same thing to my mom!”

“Roxas…,” Eraqus spoke, but paused, “Where are you?” he asked, and was glad to hear that the simple question helped Roxas calm down a little. As the boy said where they were Eraqus repeated it, not only to make sure he got it right, but also so Aqua could relay it to the emergency operator she’d already called. Terra was immediately running out to his bike as well. “Stay on the phone, we’re coming Roxas. Is she conscious?” Eraqus asked, relieved to hear that Xion was still conscious. He stopped though when he felt someone small standing next to him as he reached for his coat.

“….Sora, what are you doing?” Eraqus asked quietly, looking down at the boy who was giving him a very determined expression.

“It’s the same thing as before, isn’t it? Then you’ll need me,” Sora said simply, giving a firm nod, and then grinning.

Eraqus sighed. Even if Sora wasn’t a match for Xion, at least he could help with Roxas. “Alright, get your coat,” Eraqus relented, then turned back to look at the others in the room. “Strelitzia, watch over Ventus. Call me if anything at all happens,” he directed, then gave the boy on the couch a smile. “Well be right back, okay?” Ventus just gave a quiet, hesitant nod and watched them leave.

“Let me do it! Please!” Roxas pleaded. The tests had been positive, Xion had the same condition he’d had, and just gotten treatment for only a year ago. But he would give that all up for her.

“Roxas…,” Eraqus had consolation in his voice as he rested a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Even if you weren’t a chimera now, your own blood type isn’t compatible with Xion. You’re not a match.”

Roxas looked about to protest, as if to say so what, do it anyway. But he knew it wouldn’t make a difference. His hands shook, but he reluctantly lowered them along with his gaze. What were they supposed to do now? Wait for some random donor to show up? Hope someone got in a crash and was able to give up their heart? His unasked questions were answered by another hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay Roxas, relax,” Sora’s voice came cheerfully from the other side. “That’s why I came. I’m compatible with everyone, remember?” he reminded, thumping a hand on his own chest lightly. “One more donation isn’t gonna kill me.”

“Sora?” Roxas looked up in disbelief. Of course. With an O- blood type, Sora was compatible with everyone. This wouldn’t be anything new to him either. Roxas’ gaze ended up going to Eraqus again, for confirmation.

Giving a little sigh, Eraqus nodded. “This will be his last one,” he confirmed, and couldn’t help the tiny grin that pulled the corner of his mouth as Sora showed his teeth in a full smile.

“Just wait for us with Axel. It won’t be so bad. You’ll see,” Sora beamed, patting Roxas’ shoulder again.

“Sora….. Why are you doing this?” Roxas couldn’t help asking, feeling his throat tighten a little.

“Hey,” Sora protested, putting his hands on his hips. “Just because you hang out with her more than me doesn’t mean she isn’t my friend too,” he chided, more of a tease than a reason. Thinking about it though, he didn’t have an answer. “I dunno. She just needs it, so why shouldn’t I?” he asked, rubbing his finger under his nose and shrugging.

Roxas gave a tiny huff of amusement, and bumped his fist against Sora. “That’s just like you…,” he said softly. “Just… don’t do anything stupid, okay? Riku and Kairi will kill me if anything happens to you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they won’t,” Sora laughed, turning to follow Eraqus back to the other rooms.

“Get off me!” Roxas spat back, shoving against Riku’s shoulder while trying to yank his hand away from his collar.

“You should have been the one to help that sham of a person. Then you’d be the one dying and both of you fake people would be gone,” Riku continued, holding Roxas up on his toes.

That was enough, and without thinking too much Roxas lashed out with a fist to the side of Riku’s eye. He didn’t stop there though, remembering what Terra had been teaching him. Once he was back on his full feet he smacked Riku’s hands away before jabbing out with a right hook to the face again, followed by a back roundhouse.

Riku ended up giving him a hefty shove to get him away, then took his own stance. Two could play that game, Roxas wasn’t the only one that Terra taught kickboxing. “Give up already,” Riku sassed, “I’ve been taking lessons a lot longer than you.”

“Get real. Look who’s winning,” Roxas shot back, even though the fight had barely started.

And it wouldn’t continue on much longer either. As soon as the two boys went after each other again Terra came running in behind Riku, and bodily swung his arm around the boy’s shoulders to carry him roughly to the ground.At the same time Axel jumped in front of Roxas, standing in the path of the punch and causing Roxas to pull back.

“Axel,” Roxas voiced, looking surprised.

“Terra?! Let me go!” Riku’s shocked voice came after, and he struggled against the obviously stronger form keeping him down.

“Calm down Riku, you’re not thinking straight,” Terra consoled, but with a bit of steel. He didn’t teach either of these two boys kickboxing so that they could fight each other.

“Shut up! They’re only shams-” Riku shouted back.

“Don’t call her a sham!” Roxas barked, lunging forward and getting caught by Axel.

Riku’s silence wasn’t encouraging, especially with his stiff posture. He wasn’t wanting to listen at the moment, and Eraqus wasn’t one to talk to someone that didn’t. Still, something needed to be said, for what Riku had said had been completely inappropriate.

“Riku….,” Eraqus started, sighing a little. “I want you to remember one thing from this from now on,” he started, noting how Riku’s eyes narrowed as he looked over without turning his head. “Whatever you think Roxas and Xion are, neither of them are any different from you.”

Riku bristled at this, looking about ready to yell his protests, but Eraqus halted him by holding his hand up.

“Both you and Roxas survive on Sora’s kindness. Roxas just so happens to have a physical representation of that, while yours is more emotional. I know you care for Sora, and feel protective of him. But never forget that someone being the recipient of kindness doesn’t make them any less human than anybody else,” Eraqus finished, then lowered his hand and allowed Riku to have his say now. 

Shoulders sagging in defeat, Riku seemed to have lost his anger now. “…… Okay,” he said eventually, then hunched down a little more and mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

Eraqus gave a small smile at that. “Make sure you tell Roxas that as well. He’s the one that needs to hear it, more than me,” he reminded, then went back to gently pressing the cold pack against Riku’s eye. It was going to be nice and black in a few days regardless, but hopefully this would help the tenderness.

“…………. Why are you helping me right now?” Riku asked after awhile.

“….. You mean, why am I not with Sora?” Eraqus asked, getting a bit of a smile when Riku flinched. “Contrary to what people seem to believe, while a blood transfusion would certainly help Sora, he’s not in critical condition right now. He’s just not 100% stable, and therefore needs to be watched. Which is something that more people than me can do easily enough. But unless we get someone with O negative blood, watching him is more or less all we can do,” he explained, raising a brow when Riku gradually looked rather embarrassed. “…. Feeling a little silly about your behavior now?” Eraqus asked with a bit of a smile. When Riku gave a reluctant nod, Eraqus just pat his shoulder. “While it’s still very serious, it can be assured that Sora is not about to die anytime soon.” At least Riku understood that he’d been overreacting now.

The tiny voice from the door caught both Riku and Eraqus’ attention. Both looked over to see the small girl hiding behind her well used sketchbook, looking like she felt she was intruding.

“Namine,” Riku named, looking a little more quiet at her presence.

“Master Eraqus…. Is Riku okay?” Namine asked, hesitant to come in even though she’d been noticed.

Eraqus smiled, and almost chuckled. “Yes, he’s fine, Naimne,” he confirmed. A black eye would be annoying, but nothing scary. “What did you really want to ask though? Other than wanting to know if Riku was okay?” he asked, a sideways grin, having noticed her change of question after she’d seen Riku.

Namine hid a little further behind her book, but still spoke up. “Um…. I heard you need someone to give blood to Sora, right?” she asked, shifting her feet a little while looking down at them.

“Yes, that’s right,” Eraqus confirmed, a little confused, but maybe guessing what Namine was getting at. “He needs O negative type though….. Do you know of someone with the same?”

Namine peeked out from behind the sketchbook again, and nodded slightly. “… I have O negative as well…. Is that okay?” she asked.

Eraqus was only mildly surprised, but it was more because of the question if that was okay or not. What was he to say about someone’s blood type being fine? He just chuckled, and stood up to come closer to her while leaning down slightly. “Yes. It’s fine,” he assured. “Would you like to see if you could donate to Sora?” he asked, a little quietly to more match Namine’s demeanor.

“Yes, please,” Namine agreed, giving a small smile with a nod.

“You know, you’re pretty lucky, Sora,” Namine commented, pencil sketching away at the paper propped up against the bed. “Having both Riku, and Roxas looking out for you. You’ll have to talk to them, so they stop fighting, but… I think that’ll be easy for you. You’ve got a way with people, everyone loves you,” she mused, even though Sora was definitely asleep. He looked pale, but otherwise was alright. Which they had already said he wasn’t in critical danger, so it was to be expected.

“I hope you don’t mind me drawing you while you sleep,” Namine commented after a few minutes, not able to help herself. Sora had a nice sleeping face. “I would work on the Meow Wow, but I need your feedback for that. That’s actually why I came here today, but looks like I get to help you instead.”

After the nurse excused herself for a few minutes, saying that everything seemed to be going fine with the transfusion, Namine’s hand slowed a little. “You know… it’s pretty nice to be needed….. Ever since mom died, grandpa just hasn’t been the same. He’s ignoring me a lot now, and is more rough. I think he misses her…. But, I have to say, when Riku asked me to watch over you, it made me happy.”

“I hope you feel better soon, Sora.”

“… Hey, Xion.” Roxas greeted, moving away from her hand enough to do so. She’d barely woken up, but somehow she seemed a lot more lucid than he and Sora had been the first time. “How are you feeling?” he asked, after she didn’t say anything for a moment.

“Roxas…,” Xion said again, sounding very tired. “I’m out of time.”

That made Roxas feel like his heart slammed into his throat. He couldn’t speak for a moment, his hands grabbing her’s tighter. “… W’what?” he asked, after a hard swallow. What did she mean? Hadn’t the surgery worked? She was awake, so it should have worked.

“I’m Sora now,” Xion said next. She looked rather upset about it, but Roxas’s brain was failing to register what she said.

“..W’what?” Roxas asked again, but his voice was a lot more level. This was it wasn’t it. She was just high on anesthesia.

“I’ve become your brother. It’s too late now,” Xion said, very serious, and giving a grave nod.

“No…. Xion, that’s not what the surgery was for,” Roxas corrected, sniggering a little. He couldn’t help it, it just sounded so ridiculous. She couldn’t become his brother just by getting a partial organ donation from Sora.

“No. I’m sure of it. If I take these bandages off, there won’t be anything there,” Xion continued, completely confident in her thoughts, and resting her free hand on her sternum.

“A’ah. Wait. Hold on,” Roxas chided, gently but quickly grabbing her other hand and holding both of them now. “Why don’t you go back to sleep? I bet you’ll be… more alert when you wake up again,” he suggested, a bubble of laughter in his tone. 

Xion fell quiet, and slowly her arms relaxed back down. “….. Okay,” she agreed, closing her eyes again.

Roxas spent a moment not knowing if he wanted to snicker or cringe at that exchange. That had given him a scare, in more ways than one. Before he could think on it too long though, Xion spoke up again, betraying that she wasn’t quite asleep yet.

“Roxas…?” She didn’t open her eyes.

“….Yeah?” Roxas answered, not sure if she was just talking in her sleep now.

“If… I disappear… you won’t forget me, right?” came the next words.

The thought made Roxas feel like his chest was the one that had been opened again, and he gently cupped her hand between his again. “Of course not,” he promised warmly. “Who else would I have ice cream with?”

Xion smiled towards him, but still didn’t open her eyes, and Roxas knew she was dozing off again. So, just to make her feel a little better, he leaned forward and gave her a light kiss on the head. “We’ll always be together. You, me, and Axel. Best friends forever,” he promised, letting her drift off again to those words.

There was no way he was telling anyone else about this.

Chapter Text

On the days that Aqua wasn’t working when Eraqus was, she found that she was still spending time at the hospital instead of going home. Partly it was so that she could keep an eye on Ventus for the others, but it was also because she was worried. Especially since it was bordering on a year since he’d been rescued. Two weeks left. It was significant for the other quads since it was coming close to their mother’s death day, but Aqua was more focused on the year’s mark meaning that it would be harder to expect Ventus to wake up. She knew it was common among doctors to lose hope after a year, since there wasn’t a lot more healing that could be done.

Ventus still didn’t look all that healthy, but at least all the injuries had healed completely. Now he was just pale and malnourished, which wasn’t something they could do too much about. They had workers that were in charge of periodically moving his arms and legs, but it couldn’t compare to being active on his own.

Heaving a sigh after watching Ventus for any sign of change, Aqua sat on the edge of the bed once again and listened quietly to the machines. “Ven….. Why won’t you wake up?” she asked, even though no one was there to answer. Maybe he just wasn’t comfortable enough? What if he’d just given up by now. They hadn’t rescued him soon enough, and he just didn’t realize he was going to be okay now, so didn’t want to wake up. It was a depressing thought, but it made some sense.

Her thoughts made it so Aqua barely noticed anything change. She barely heard the soft noise behind her, and felt a little movement, but it was enough to get her to glance over. Just in time to see a tiny slit of blue behind blonde eyelashes.

“Ven!?” Aqua asked, not sure if she was imagining things and quickly raising her hand. But sure enough Ventus’ eyes opened a little further, and he shifted his head a tiny bit to look around. “You’re awake!! Thank goodness!” What luck too, for Terra was actually there as well, just out for a coffee break. Which meant that Aqua was quickly pushing herself up and running to the door. “Terra! Master Eraqus! Ven is awake!” she shouted down the hall, knowing full well that she shouldn’t yell in the hospital. But she didn’t care. She could see the two of them down the hallway, and this was too good of news to wait even a moment more.

Terra and Eraqus immediately looked over when they were called. As soon as what Aqua said registered in his mind Terra found the nearest surface to put the two cups he was holding down so he wouldn’t spill them as he ran to the room. Skidding to a stop at the doorway, Terra looked in with mild disbelief as he gave a weak chuckle. “Ven?” he asked, not sure if he was seeing things. Ventus didn’t respond, still looking very disoriented as he examined the room. But Terra didn’t mind, and just dropped to his knees next to the bed. “…. Hi,” he greeted softly when Ventus’ gaze finally fell on him. The boy’s brows furrowed in confusion, and his gaze shifted to Aqua, and then Eraqus.

“Try not to talk to him too much, or too fast. I’m sure he’s still very confused. It’s possible he doesn’t fully understand what we’re saying yet either,” Eraqus cautioned, heading to the other side of the bed so that he could watch Ventus and see how he was reacting to what he saw.

For the first month it was impossible for Ventus to even sit up on his own, and in fact in the first few weeks he had difficulty just raising his arms on his own. Which meant that several people took turns spoon feeding him during meals, including Eraqus. Ventus hardly said anything at all, but he was willing to do as he was asked at least, and didn’t fuss over anything.

After the stew for dinner was finished, Eraqus picked up the small bowl of apple slices. “Do you want to try these yourself?” he asked, knowing that the pieces were way more easy to pick up than a spoonful of soup. Ventus didn’t verbally respond, but he did shift his hands slowly to raise his palms up. “Alright,” Eraqus nodded, taking a small knife to cut the apples into bite sized pieces. He placed one in Ventus’ hand after, and watched as the boy shakily raised it up and got it in his mouth. “Well done,” Eraqus complimented with a warm smile, cutting another piece and holding it out for Ventus to take if he wanted it. There may have been a brief, tiny smile from Ventus at the compliment, or Eraqus could have been imagining things.

Towards the end of the bowl Eraqus was having to put the back of his hand underneath Ventus’ hand to help him raise it up all the way. But he was still able to finish the bowl of apple slices more or less on his own, which earned another praise as Eraqus pet his hair a little. “Would you like something specific to eat tomorrow?” Eraqus asked, continuing to pet Ventus’ hair as he rested. After earning a confused look in return, Eraqus pointed to the dishes. “We can bring something again that you’ve already had. Or something new that you wanted to try,” he explained. “Did you have something in mind?”

The response came a little too quick, a small shake of his head, and Eraqus wondered if Ventus was just used to answering no to anything that would have been a request for him. But he wasn’t going to push it, they had a long time to work with it after all. “Alright. Just let me know if there’s anything you want to eat again, okay?” Ventus was hesitant, but at least that earned a small nod in response.

Physical therapy was something that Terra found he loved helping Ventus with. It was pretty easy on his end, and made him feel like he was doing something to help instead of just staring. At first Terra just helped by supporting Ventus while he stood, so that he could build up some muscle for being upright. But today they were going to try working with walking. Which meant that Terra was kneeling on the floor in front of Ventus with his arms underneath to act as support. Every time Ventus took a step forward, Terra shifted backwards the same amount. Terra could feel Ventus’ arms shaking, as well as see the shakiness in his legs.

“It’s alright. Take your time, we don’t have to go very far at all today,” Terra assured, not wanting Ventus to think they expected anything of him more than just to try. Even if he didn’t manage to get one step in, they would still be happy for the effort. He did manage to get more than one step in though. Just a few of the tiniest steps Terra had ever seen anyone of Ventus’ age make before his knees buckled under him. Something that caused Terra to take over completely on supporting him, catching him into a hug and letting him relax completely. He seemed exhausted already, but Terra didn’t mind. “You did awesome, great job,” he praised, just giving Ventus a few pats on the back and letting him catch his breath a little before he’d take him back to bed.

Ventus said nothing in response to Eraqus, but that was pretty normal for him. He barely said anything at all, and Terra was pretty sure he could count the amount of different words Ventus had used so far on his hands. But that was okay, it was better than having him in a coma, that was for sure. His recovery had seemed to stagnate though, so Eraqus had decided to try and move Ventus out of a hospital setting, and into a home to see if that would help. He didn’t remember anything from before he woke up, but it seemed he still didn’t do well with the environment. Terra, Aqua, and Eraqus could guess why, but after the reaction that had happened when Ventus had been asked about what had happened no one mentioned anything about it.

Right now they were just trying to make it up the stairs to the mansion, and inside. Eraqus was offering support to Ventus, the 10 months in a coma having weakened his already malnourished muscles, and Terra and Aqua were following behind for emotional support.

“Ven, you’re almost there. Keep it up,” Aqua cheered on, but refrained from helping physically.

“You’re doing great Ven,”Terra added, doing the same as Aqua.

By the time they made it to the living room Ventus was out of breath, and barely standing, so Eraqus helped him to sit down on the sofa. “Very well done,” he praised, kneeling in front of Ventus and petting the boy’s hair a little. Ventus said nothing, but he did give a hesitant smile at the praise and attention.

“I’ll go get some milk,” Aqua announced happily, before rushing off to the kitchen to get drinks for them all.

“This is a bit messy for you, huh,” Aqua chuckled a little, rubbing a napkin gently against Ventus’ mouth to get the milk that had dripped on his chin. It had only been a week since they’d gotten him home, but he was already doing better. Still quiet, and barely said anything, but at least he seemed to be reacting to things more than usual. She’d caught sight of him toying with the blackberries in the oatmeal earlier, and that was something that had never happened before.

“…..Aqua?” Ventus suddenly spoke up, barely heard over the others making a mess in their usual morning routine.

“Yes?” Aqua answered immediately, feeling a flutter in her heart from being addressed.

There was a long pause, as though Ventus couldn’t decide what he wanted to say. But eventually he settled for a quiet “… Thank you,” and gave a nod of his head before looking back to his oatmeal.

Aqua was quiet for a moment too, having not expected that, but ended up giggling very softly. “You’re welcome, Ven,” she beamed softly, giving him a light pat on the shoulder. They had found that Ventus seemed to love physical contact with others, but it was pretty easy to get hugs from him and the like so no one minded a little snuggling now and then.

“Please don’t do this Master!”

Ventus’ frantic voice immediately caused Terra’s head to whip around towards the room he was in. Who was he talking about, there were only doctors there- oh no! Realization hit like a brick, and Terra dashed back into the room only to find Ventus backed up against a wall with three doctors trying to calm him down.

“It’s alright Ventus, calm down!”

“You’re not hurt, we haven’t even started yet.”

“You need vaccinations.”

They were doing their best, but it was obvious that Ventus was terrified. Terra couldn’t blame him, and now he knew he shouldn’t have left the boy alone to take care of the paperwork. The vaccine clinic had been a little more homestyle looking, so they’d thought Ventus would be okay with it. Obviously not.

“Get out of the way,” Terra demanded, resting a hand on one of the doctor’s shoulders.

“Sir, please back up, we’ll handle this,” the other doctor responded, putting their hands on Terra’s shoulders to push him away.

“You’re just going to scare him more, let me handle-,” Terra tried to explain, shoving back. The terrified noise that Ventus made, almost like he’d been hit, when the third doctor touched him though made Terra cut off. “MOVE IT!” Terra barked, giving the man a quick punch to the shoulder and shoving the others away. “Get out of here! Can’t you see you’re terrifying him!” he shouted, pushing them towards the door and standing guard over Ventus, who had sank to the floor.

The three doctors heeded him now, huddling at the doorway, though they didn’t look happy. Ignoring them, Terra knelt down in front of Ventus, hands raised but careful not to touch him. “Ven? Ven, it’s okay. I’m here. Your safe. No one is going to hurt you,” he spoke as calmly as he could, and when Ventus looked up at him from behind his arms Terra felt his heart ache. He didn’t think Ventus recognized him with the way he was looking at him. “It’s okay, we’ll be going home soon. Just gotta get you out, then Master Eraqus will take care of the rest. We don’t have to see these people. Maybe we’ll get some ice cream. I bet Roxas and Sora will like that.”

The continued talking from Terra about the home Ventus was apart of now seemed to help. Slowly the face that was replacing the others blurred back into the scene that was really there. Ventus still felt the fear from back then in his chest, but the memories were hazy now. Nothing more than blurred images ghosting in the back of his mind like a nightmare.

“I’m here, Ven,” Terra just smiled softly, giving Ventus’ hand a light squeeze. When it seemed the boy was more or less back to present time, Terra gingerly gathered him up. He was a little confused, and shaking slightly, but he was significantly calmer. “Come on, let’s go home,” Terra said, lifting Ventus up to carry him out, letting him grab onto him like an oversized teddy bear.

(when Ven first met Chirithy)

Chapter Text

It wasn’t often they got to go out with Ventus, but that was understandable considering the circumstances. Still, it was nice to get the boy out of the house sometimes, even if it was huge. This time they were just stopping by a restaurant that Roxas had found a while ago, and thankfully the trip there hadn’t been all that eventful. Ventus was always as excited as ever to see the new sights, but now his brow was furrowed as he leaned over slightly to show Roxas the menu, pointing at one of the words.

Giving a smile, Roxas just read the word for him. “… casserole.” It wasn’t a common word, so it wasn’t surprising that Ventus didn’t know it right off. He was actually doing very well considering he’d only started learning to read a year ago.

“Thanks…,”Ventus responded quietly, leaning back to continue looking at the menu. He tried hard not to have to do that, but it couldn’t be helped sometimes. And he found that it was better most of the time for him to just ask instead of getting it wrong for awhile.

Terra watched the exchange subtly, and couldn’t help but smile too. For some reason he had to think of when they’d first got Ventus home. He didn’t talk much back then, only two years ago, but he was really easy to work with for the most part. There had been several nights when Master Eraqus had been on the sofa with Ventus curled up on him though, reading a children’s book before bed. They had to keep it a secret that they had managed to get one picture of it, but Aqua kept that file tucked away carefully where no one could find it. Terra just had to rely on the memory for the most part.

(Roxas and Xion don't need much motivation to be silly)

(Roxas will often sing for Xion)

(Chirithy will bring Ven his meds)

(Ven has a bunch of memory loss, both repressed and just gone. Everything that happened from before the coma he can’t actively remember, and most of that first year, until they got him out of a hospital setting, is broken and patchy. This is all absolutely because of trauma, but while everyone that was around him before he was rescued was responsible for emotional and mental trauma, the only one that gave Ventus physical trauma through violence was Vanitas |D All of the physical injuries Ven had in the pictures I drew before were caused by Vanitas, so Ven’s brain has associated Vanitas with danger.

Most of the time he gets really tense around Vanitas, but it doesn’t take much at all for Vanitas to trigger Ven to remember some of what happened in the past, so he usually ends up blanking out and reacting as though he were back in past settings. It’s just not helpful to him at all to be around Vanitas yet |D

As for what happened between Ven and Terra, back then Ven was always too scared and soft to fight back, so he never attacked Vanitas in return. But after being with the others more and getting more comfortable he got a little more confident. So at one point Terra accidentally startled him by trying to roughhouse with him like he does with the other two, but it ended up making Ven flashback to thinking he was in danger and he retaliated in self defense and almost broke Terra’s arm. It was just because he got scared, so no one is angry at him for it, but Eraqus was there and thought it might help Ven not accidentally break someone’s arm out of reflex if he was taught some self defense XD)

(Chirithy is very affectionate towards Ven)

(Ven has a baby crush on Aurora, but no girlfriend XDDD Big Sleeping Beauty fan boy. He thinks she’s so pretty and they saw her at Disney Island once. He’s the protective baby brother type. Don’t be rude, let her have Prince Philip in peace, etc. People think it’s Snow White that’s his favorite, but no, that’s just the Disney princess he’s openly a fan of. Sleeping Beauty is the one he gets shy about, but looooves.

He’s not really into anyone other than fan crushes though. XDD Partly because there’s no one I really ship him with, all the main girls are paired with others for this. But also because in this AU he only has 3 years of memory, and that first year is pretty shoddy broken |D He’s not mentally or emotionally ready for a relationship yet, gotta be a person and figure himself out first.)

(Namine likes Riku's short hair)

Chapter Text

It was unfortunately pretty normal for the others to be woken up by Ventus screaming after a nightmare. He had dreams about what happened in the past sometimes, and while he never remembered what it was about when he woke up, it was still enough to leave him quite shaken. Usually Terra was the one to take care of him, or Aqua if Terra wasn’t there. But this night the only one who was home was Roxas. The adults were out late at work, an emergency at the hospital, and overtime for Terra because of some case that he wouldn’t talk about. Which meant that after Roxas managed to calm down his own startled heart rate, he was pattering over to Ventus’ room to see how he was doing.

The first thing Roxas noticed that wasn’t what he’d expected was Chirithy. The grey cat had her paws on Ventus’ shoulders so that she could stretch up and almost frantically lick the side of his head. Roxas could also see that Ventus was trying to calm himself down, but it didn’t seem to be working with how much he was shaking while half hugging Chirity and half rubbing his eyes.

“…Hey,” Roxas spoke up after a few seconds, knowing by then that Ventus hadn’t noticed him there yet. Ventus’ head whipped up to look over at him, and he ended up looking embarrassed on top of terrified.

“Sorry,” Ventus let out, husky, and shrank up a little more.

“For what?” Roxas asked, not thinking he needed to feel sorry at all. “C’mon, let’s go watch something,” he directed almost immediately after, not giving Ventus a chance to respond to the previous question. At least he wouldn’t have to tell Ventus twice to follow him, the smaller boy crawling out of bed and following behind with Chirithy gathered in his arms.

It was easy enough to calm Ventus down most nights, they just had to distract him with something interesting. And while most movies ended up having something that bothered him, they had discovered that most documentaries were mild enough that they didn’t bother him. And on the plus side it helped Ventus learn about things that most people his age already knew. Or even things that older people knew, which helped him feel less behind. Which meant that after they’d gotten settled down on a pile of pillows in front of the tv, Roxas was flipping on a free movie about stars. Honestly he’d probably fall asleep shortly into the movie, but at least he was there, and that was enough for his brother.

(Someone was concerned about these three)

The video wasn’t the best, but at least it was something. Enough to placate the fans. Though watching the livestream chat scroll by so fast was a bit headache inducing. He tried to answer questions and comment on what was being said, but half the time the topic had changed before he’d finished answering. This time the answer was interrupted by something else, a crashing sound from the kitchen and breaking noise. What was that? A question asked several times in the chat as well as in Roxas’ head. Wordlessly he got up from his chair, nevermind the webcam video being on, and headed for the kitchen. The only other person there at the moment was- “….Ven,” Roxas sighed slightly, having reached the kitchen and seeing his twin trying to pick up the ceramic mug that had shattered on the floor.

“Ah.. Ro-,” Ventus looked over to greet him, but cut off with a bout of coughing that made Roxas wince as the harshness. It was lucky he didn’t cut himself on the ceramic pieces. Bronchitis was not a fun illness, they shouldn’t have taken that subway the other day. “Sorry, I was just get….trying to get some tea,” Ventus apologized after he could breathe again.

Roxas pursed his lips for a moment, watching, but then went forward and pushed Ventus’ hands away from the ceramic. “Leave it, I’ll get it,” he directed. At least Ventus was smart enough not to protest, but he was achy enough that when he tried to stand up he was too wobbly. Roxas was quick to rest a hand against him, supporting him, and then just gave in and scooped the smaller teen up.

It wasn’t the first time he’d carried Ventus before, and the trip back to his own room wasn’t a different one either. Plopping Ventus on the bed, Roxas bonked his head against Ventus’ before backing off. “Stay there,” he directed, moving to his computer again to shut off the livestream. He’d end up coming back to a chatroom full of conspiracy theories about how that wasn’t Sora and who it could be, but for now he’d just go get that tea made.

”Okay, just say hi for now.”

Ventus gave a small chuckle, but nevertheless complied, giving a tired “Hiiii,” while staring sleepily at the computer. He seemed a little out of it, but that was to be expected. “Roxas this is your computer. Where are the people? I thought you were introducing me to your fans. Is this a prank?” Ventus asked, looking the screen over but being too tired to put much effort into finding out for sure or not if it was a prank.

“Ven, I know you’re tired, and sick, but please don’t be as stupid as Sora right now,” Roxas whined a bit, squeezing Ventus’ shoulders slightly. “They’re in the chatroom, we’re the only ones on video at the moment,” he explained, nodding towards the monitor. He could already see his fans exploding at the revelation of this new person living with him, Very large letters exclaiming that ‘He looks like a baby Roxas!’, and then there was a debate of if the two of them were twins or not, and another conversation of if they looked exactly the same or not. It was amazing how well these people could see with the crappy video at the moment. Comments about Ven’s eyes being bigger, but half closed, and having a smaller nose. It was very amusing, but Roxas hoped it didn’t stress Ven out too much. He seemed to have noticed the chat now, and was having trouble keeping up with the scrolling text, but was still amused.

While Ventus took a sip of the tea he had, Roxas took a moment to debunk some of the debates flashing by the screen. “Yes, he’s my twin. But surprisingly he’s the older one. Just a baby face,” he confirmed, pinching Ventus’s cheek a little and earning a chuckle. “We’ve only been living together for about three years now…. He’s alright. Just a bit of bronchitis because some idiot breathed on him too hard on the train….”

And then the questions came up, and unfortunately Ventus’ eyes found them. “Ah, yeah, that was me. I was the one covering for Roxas while he was sick. He was so worried about being gone for so long that he asked me to sing something for him.”

The chatroom exploded into a spurt of ‘I knew it!’ comments as Roxas gawked in disbelief. Some of the more hardcore fans suddenly breaking down that Ventus sounded way too soft to be Roxas, and other key factors that were apparently very obvious differences in their voices even though they could fool voice recognition for each other all the time. “….. okay, you’re being a little creepy now- hey! I do not sound like a honking nose!” Roxas protested at one of the comments, leaning forward over the chair as Ventus laughed.

(Roxas is a song streamer)

(Isa is Axel’s unfortunate housemate XDD In the past they did some shady business together that wasn’t necessarily illegal, but wasn’t all that socially acceptable either. Isa was the one in charge of it, making sure that they didn’t get caught, and Axel/Lea was the agent in the field so to speak. They went through a rough spot when Axel decided to get out of it (because he became friends with Roxas and Xion), but at present day they’re okay.

Isa……. kinda knew Xehanort. He wasn’t involved directly with what Xehanort was doing, but he was working at one of the places that Xehanort visited often to get supplies, and kinda over heard Xehanort being in some shady business. He didn’t know what though, and kept his nose out of it because it wasn’t any of his business and he didn’t see any advantage in getting involved. )

(So a bit on the fluff that is the princess and her white knight XD Riku and Namine are the least obvious couple out of the three main ones, but they’re also one of the cheesiest. Riku will casually do super sweet and cheesey things for Namine just because that’s who he is and not because he’s trying to be a gentleman or something. He offers her his hand all the time, takes her coat, gives her a flower just because he thinks she’ll like it, etc. He’s also a big supporter of Namine’s drawings, but again, not because he’s consciously doing it. XD Sora was the one that came up with dream eaters after a dream he had, and he and Namine designed them together. But the Komory Bat was one that Riku made because he thought they were cool. He asked Namine to help him design it, not because she’s an artist, but because she’s the only one he felt like he could ask without creating a big deal out of it. Sora of course was ecstatic about it and gushed for ages over how cool it was.

They also started dating because of an accident, according to Riku XD Namine was watching Sora and Kairi together once, and made the comment that she was envious of Kairi having a boyfriend. So Riku obliviously commented “I could be your boyfriend” without really realizing what that meant until moments after he’d said it. And that was how they found out they’d had a crush on each other for awhile now, just not been obvious about it.)

Chapter Text

(Yen Sid is Riku’s grandpa, because strict gramps gotta keep that boy in line XDD Probably had some super supportive talks when Riku was in his drama phase XD (this drawing is kinda bad, but whatever, it’s a doodle |D ))

(then Mickey, and Donald and Goofy I was kinda thinking they were legit cartoon characters, and then Riku and Sora are just friends with people that voice act them in some of the shows. e,e Current idea is that Riku was always a Mickey fan, and during a convention event or something when he dragged Sora and Kairi along, Sora got lost and ended up running into the voice actors of Goofy and Donald, and they kept an eye on him. So he was like “I guess we’re friends now 8′D “ and charmed them so they’re good buds now XD)

“Heh, it’s really not that big of a deal,” Kairi tried to decline, but it didn’t work so well considering her red eyes and husky voice.

“Nonesense. My girl has been crying for a few days now I hear. Of course it’s important,” Aqua retorted, pulling one of the spoons out of the ice cream and holding the other offered to Kairi, still in the tub. She ended up taking it, for it was hard to resist this particular ice cream.

Kairi was reluctant to talk for a long stretch, but eventually let up. “It was just a nightmare….,” she started, feeling horribly embarrassed about it.

“Oh? What about? - If you don’t mind me asking,” Aqua asked, not put off at all about that fact. She knew nightmares could be scary, and wasn’t going to scoff at Kairi for that.

The girl was quiet again, but then gave a short answer. “Sora… died,” she admitted, her eyes tearing up a little again.

“Oh….,” Aqua’s shoulders drooped a little. That must have been a pretty bad dream then, she already knew how much Kairi and Sora cared about each other. “…. Wanna talk about it?” 

Kairi wasn’t sure, but she ended up sighing. “It was this game. And the ending of the game was horrible. But, in my dream it was Sora instead. So… it’s not really a big deal. But it was still scary. Because…. I feel like that somehow it could still happen,” she admitted, another spoonful of ice cream going into her mouth.

“I see… What w- Wait, was this that one dating simulation game you were playing?” Aqua asked, suddenly making a connection. Kairi gave a nod, and sank into her pillow a little more, hiding her embarrassed blush. “Ohh nooooo, you didn’t name Chisaki after Sora, did you?”

Kairi seemed surprised that Aqua knew anything about the game, but ended up nodding again.

“Ugh, I see. You poor girl,” Aqua sympathized, then wrapped her arm around Kairi to give her a hug.

Kairi blinked in surprise, but returned the hug, if a bit hesitant, while she looked up. “Did you… play the game too?”

“Yeaaaaaah. When it first came out,” Aqua confirmed, rubbing the back of her head. “Did the same thing you did. Ended up crying for days after too, so I get you.”

“….You named Chisaki after Terra?” Kairi asked, a little unsure considering the personalities weren’t all that similar.

“What? No, ew,” Aqua wrinkled her nose a little, looking at Kairi incredulously. She was still wondering why people kept asking if she and Terra were a thing. They only grew up together, sheesh. “Eh…. there was this guy I had a small crush on. His name was Zack, and he asked me out once, but I declined. It didn’t seem to bother him though, so Chisaki made me think of him.”

“Oh….,” Kairi hummed, finding it weird that Aqua had a crush on anyone in her life, or that she did girly things like playing dating simulation games. But then she had a realization. “Wait, Zack? That cop guy that works with Terra?”

“Oh look, the ice cream is disappearing,” Aqua dismissed, making a show of taking the tub of ice cream away.

“Wh- HEY! Give that back,” Kairi protested, getting up to grab at the tub with a laugh.

(If anyone was wondering Ienzo is there too XD He works in the lab with Terra, where they force him to wear a headband to get his hair out of his face. He was lined up to be in a different company lab thing, but Axel and Isa screwed him over for that job so he went to the one Terra is at too instead. |D It was more prestigious, but worse environment he found out, so he’s not upset. Especially since Axel apologized for it XDD years later, but whatever, at least he did)

When Hayner found out that Ventus was able to do tricks on the skateboard too he insisted that they take him to the city to pull some stunts for a day. Ventus had been more than willing to come along, opting to bring the longboard he had instead of the skateboard since Sora said he could just borrow his when he wanted to. What Hayner didn’t expect was to be riding on his own board behind Ventus, watching the smaller boy casually swerve and sway the board as he stepped lightly on it in a music less dance.

“Dude, you didn’t tell me your brother was also one of those longboard dancers too,” Hayner huffed, glaring at Roxas after snapping a picture.

Roxas just held his hands up in a shrug, already knowing that Ventus could show them all up when it came to tricks he could do with both types of boards. He didn’t have a lot to keep him occupied at home, and after Roxas had gotten a skateboard both Sora and Ventus had expressed interest in it. But since Ventus was homeschooled he had a lot more time to practice, as well as a lot of natural skill. It was fun to watch him, if somewhat infuriating to try and keep up.

Chapter Text

Oh. Vanitas was in a great mood today. Roxas immediately froze at the door after hearing the correct name for once. It didn’t happen often, but Roxas usually knew that if Vanitas acknowledged that he recognized it wasn’t Ventus there then he was usually in a rotten mood. Which meant he was also dangerous. And that meant that Roxas didn’t put his bag down like usual.

“Just came for a visit, Vani,” Roxas responded, trying to be calm to see if Vanitas at least was amicable towards having company.

“Don’t… call me that,” Vanitas hissed, eyes narrowing more.

“… Okay… Vanitas then. That’s the name you want, yeah?” Roxas answered, knowing full well that that wasn’t the name that their mother had chosen. He didn’t know where Vanitas had gotten his new name, but it was the one he seemed to like, for some reason. Their mother would never name one of her children emptiness. “You want to talk today? Or maybe play some basketball? I hear you like that.” He knew Vanitas liked basketball from personal experience, but since he was Roxas this time he had to pretend like he didn’t know.

Vanitas gave a huff in annoyance. “Go away,” he growled, turning away on the bed. “Unless you want to hear about all the experiments that they did. Bet that would be fun, huh?” his eye flashed over his shoulder, daring Roxas to stick around.

“…. You know that’s the reason we can’t let Ven over here sometimes. You make him too upset by talking about all of that,” Roxas pursed his lips, approaching Vanitas to see if he could comfort him this time. He must have been thinking about the past, and that was why he was more resistant to other people being there. Ventus was the one who could calm him down the easiest, but unfortunately it was at the cost of his own well being. Ventus couldn’t actively remember what happened, but if Vanitas talked about it then the memories that were only repressed instead of gone tended to surface.

“Then leave!” Vanitas snapped, swinging a fist backwards towards Roxas.

Luckily Roxas was ready for it this time, not wanting another black eye from his brother, and caught Vanitas’ wrist in his hand. “Are you going to let me? Or chase me out this time?” Roxas asked, holding his brother’s arm firmly as he looked over with a stern gaze.

Vanitas thought about it for a moment, then jerked his arm away but didn’t attack again. Just watched with narrowed eyes as Roxas backed up towards the door, hands raised slightly. He didn’t turn around until he was fully out of the room, and closed the door behind it, letting the lock engage and letting out a sigh. This time went better than the others. Vanitas wasn’t stupid, and Roxas knew that it was probably more often than not that he recognized him as not Ventus. But he also was fairly certain that sometimes Vanitas went along with the ruse for the sake of pretending Ventus was there. It wasn’t comfortable, but at least it seemed to help. Or at least Roxas hoped it did.

Thursday meant that Roxas was heading to the psychiatric hospital after school, his backpack slung over his shoulder. It had been a routine for years now. Every Monday and Thursday he’d go hang out with Vanitas for an hour or two. Sometimes more if Vanitas was in a good mood, and sometimes none at all if he was in a particularly bad mood. At first Roxas had tried bringing others with him, but no one else seemed to be able to get to Vanitas’ good side. Sora immediately tipped Vanitas into his violent tendencies, as he started throwing things at Sora as soon as he saw him. Xion was only met with snide comments and glares, and Roxas didn’t want her to have to deal with that at all considering who had raised her before. And the rest of Roxas’ family and friends earned varying amounts of insults or complete, judgemental silence. For Roxas it was a hit or miss. Literally. If Vanitas thought he was Ventus, then he tended to be rather amicable. Most of the time. If he recognized him as not Ventus though there were often punches thrown and angry yelling.

This time seemed like it was one of the good days though. Scanning his personal access badge on the door, Roxas was greeted with Vanitas sitting on the floor, working on homework at the low table. He was only allowed to use markers, and had someone with him the whole time, but he seemed content.

“…. Venty~” Vanitas greeted after looking up, a stupid smile on his tired face. Okay, this was one of the unfortunate days where he was drugged on who knew what. Roxas hated these days, but he knew they were necessary sometimes. He never remembered what they gave Vanitas, just that it was stuff to help him be calm instead of hostile.

“Hey, Vani,” Roxas greeted back, a half smile tugging at his mouth. “Got a headstart without me huh,” he commented, looking at the white board and marker on the table while he set his bag down. They usually did homework together, but also sometimes had other things to do when Vanitas was allowed outside his room.

“I’m bored. Let’s go for a walk,” Vanitas announced, setting the marker down and getting up. The tutor who was there seemed a little annoyed, but also like they could use a break too, and reluctantly gave a nod when Roxas looked at them to see if it was alright.

“Sure. How about we grab a drink while we’re at it? It’s hot today,” Roxas nodded, lifting his backpack back up. At a motion from the tutor though, he set it back down. Apparently they wanted him to leave his backpack where the staff could keep track of it. Roxas was always reminded how much he would hate to be banned from using pencils when he visited this place.

Thankfully the cafeteria and gardens were lovely places, and Roxas actually preferred to be there than in the rooms. After grabbing a cold drink from the staff at the cafeteria the two boys were lazily wandering the garden grounds. They had done this many times before as well, and when Roxas noticed the basketball courts he wondered if Vanitas would want to play some of that too. Right now he was just rambling on about anything that he could think of. Apparently he hadn’t slept well that night either, but after being given medication he had gotten a nap in. And then they had actually let him watch a movie, which Roxas didn’t know. Something about a girl with personified emotions in her head. Vanitas seemed to enjoy it at least enough to make a variety of scathing as well as praising comments about it.

It was only when Vanitas suddenly stopped talking as well as walking that Roxas brought his focus completely back to him, and he ended up sputtering a laugh at the face he saw.

“Oh my gawd. What are you even looking at-?” Roxas asked, unable to comprehend the absolute awe that was now gracing his brother’s expression.

“That person…,” Vanitas answered, raising a hand to point across the island of grass.

“What? Okay, hang on, lemme just-,” Roxas chuckled, not looking to where he was directed just yet because he was trying to get his phone camera up. “I’ve never seen you so happy before, let me get a picture,” he chuckled, managing to snap a photo right before Vanitas glared at him.

“Oh shut up. What’s that person wearing?” Vanitas snapped, scowling at Roxas for only a moment before his gaze went pack to the person in question.

Roxas finally turned to look as well, and ended up snorting again. “What, that guy?” he asked while pointing, to get clarification. When Vanitas nodded, Roxas chuckled again. “Uhhh, I think they called it punk rock fashion. I’m not sure. You wanna go talk to him?” He wasn’t sure the exact style the other man was wearing, but he was more than willing to encourage Vanitas to talk to someone other than Ventus. Getting a nod in return, Roxas walked with Vanitas over to the visitor.

“What do you want, Roxas?”

Roxas had the feeling that something was a little different today than normal when he wasn’t greeted with the usual glare that accompanied the use of his name from Vanitas. It was surprising enough that Roxas looked up with a surprised expression, not quite sure he heard right. But when Vanitas just stared at him with a bored expression in return Roxas figured this was one of those really rare, great days. And he couldn’t help but smile about it.

“I came to hang out. Are you feeling okay today?” Roxas answered, not able to stop himself from digging out his phone. It was a week late, but that was to be expected at this point. Vanitas didn’t like a group of people visiting him most times, so they only did so when he was up for it.

“Muh… I guess,” Vanitas answered, looking off to the wall as though it might have something interesting.

“You mind if I call the others over too? They’ve been wanting to hang out together too, but wanted to wait until you were up for it,” Roxas asked, getting straight to the point instead of delaying the question. Vanitas just gave an indifferent grunt, but that was enough for Roxas to quickly text to the family.

Vanitas is doing great today. Bring the stuff.

“Great, I let them know, so they should be here in a bit,” Roxas explained, setting his bag down on the floor as he sat at the low wooden table across from Vanitas. “Are you in the mood for anything particular to do with them? Something indoors, or outdoors maybe?”

“Hmm… whatever,” Vanitas responded and flopped onto his back to stare at the ceiling, not having a preference either way.

Roxas’ mood fell a little, and actually became a little concerned. It seemed that Vanitas wasn’t quite doing as well as he’d thought, but he couldn’t tell if it was something he needed to contact an employee about. It could just be that Vanitas was extremely bored. “Okay, we’ll just wait for the others to get here before deciding then.”

“Why?” Vanitas asked, almost immediately.

Roxas was a little surprised at the response, and not quite sure what Vanitas meant, but gave his best answer. “They might have better ideas for what to do.”

“No, why bother coming at all?” Vanitas asked. “It’s not like I’m all that interesting.”

Roxas was still, and lowered his hand a little from looking at the responses. Sora was as enthusiastic as always, and Roxas found himself hoping he would get there sooner than later. “….. Because we care about you, Vanitas.” At least that wasn’t hard to say. Vanitas was difficult to deal with, but that didn’t mean any of them didn’t want him. “Besides, we have a surprise for you.”

Vanitas seemed unconvinced at the first response, but then looked over at the mention of a surprise. And Roxas was happy to see that his curiosity could still be piqued. Roxas ended up having to avoid questions that would spoil the surprise for a bit, but at least Vanitas was sitting up again. If looking a little annoyed by the time Roxas got a text asking if it was okay for the other two to come in.

“Hey. Stop looking at your phon-” Vantias started to protest, giving a huff of irritation as Roxas typed a response. Sora interrupted the request though by yanking the door open as fast as he could.

“SURPRISE!” Sora shouted, moving forward to hold the cake ready to place on the table as Ventus shyly entered behind him, leaning over to be seen.

“It’s pre-cut, and I asked them to let us eat it with our fingers because it’s more fun that way. But dig in! I hope you like this flavor,” Sora babbled happily, setting the cake down on the table and sitting on the floor as well. As Ventus sat next to him Sora remembered the package he was carrying. “Oh! We also brought a present. Hopefully you’ll like this one too. We don’t really know much about it, but I think we did a good job,” he beamed, gesturing to the package as Ventus used that as a cue to put it on the table too.

“What would YOU know of my life Valentine? Did you live through it? You’ve spoken to me for four years already, but what does it matter? How can you hope to sympathize with something you’ve never experienced? Is this fun for you? To pick me apart with words much like those men cut my arms to see if I still bleed like a human.”

The sessions were starting to go downhill again. It was a struggle each time, for Vincent could never figure out what triggered them. Lacing his fingers in front of him, Vincent just watched Vanitas shout at him, refusing to make any sudden movements that might startle the boy and giving some time for him to calm down a little. “I’m aware of some of what happened to you and Ventus, Vanitas. But my goal here is not to try to empathize with you. It’s to help you come to terms with something affecting you in ways you refuse to admit. I hold no joy in your distress.”

“HA!” Vanitas barked, shifting into one of his moods where he preferred to laugh rather than shrink away. “Hahahaha, you pretend this is for my sake, as if I don’t know it’s all for you. You who had the tragic son you wish you could save. An abomination that murdered some poor bloke’s mother, I’ve heard all about it. You think by helping me you can save him? It doesn’t work that way. I have to be someone worthy of saving in the first place.”

“You don’t think you’re worthy?” Vincent asked, expertly keeping his voice level despite the prodding from Vanitas about his own past.

“Pff, don’t care. I’m not looking for some dumb redemption change or whatever,” Vanitas answered, making quotes in the air with his fingers in mocking. “I’m happy the way I am. Don’t want to deal with your light bullsh-.”

“You’re happy being here in a mental ward, without freedom to do as you please? Happy to be unable to sleep at night because of nightmares? Not being able to see the brother you cherish so dee-”

“And having some person here constantly badgering me about stuff that doesn’t matter?” Vanitas interrupted. “It’s not much different, actually. The only difference is that the cage doesn’t have bars, but a wooden door and walls. And the doctors don’t stab with knives, but with their words instead. You’re not so different, Doctor. Just because blood doesn’t actually run down your hands like the others.”

This time Vincent remained quiet, just watching Vanitas over his own fingers as the boy sagged down to lean back on the plush chair again. He watched Vincent carefully for a moment, before giving him a slight smirk.

“You know, there was this one kid there. Cut open his chest just to watch his heart beat. Dm dm. Dm dm,” Vanitas explained, placing his hands on his chest and pulling out slightly, then flaring them in rhythm to a heartbeat. “Just bleed on the floor, they didn’t care. Maybe they could see what was wrong just by looking with their eyes. ‘Course it didn’t work. Had to stitch him back up, and I dunno what happened after that. Not like I cared. The ones that cried and whined for mommy and daddy got the beatings. But if you gave the beatings instead…. They liked the fighters. Sometimes they’d let me out, if I beat up the other kids for them. Keep them in line.”

“…..It’s common for people to do terrible things in the mind of self preservation. You felt threatened, so you performed actions that would keep your captors from harming you. The fault lies with them.”

“Even for the girl I chose to shoot on my own?” Vanitas asked, a smile splitting his face when Vincent’s fingers twitched. “You know, we actually got out once. Some do gooder hero broke us out of the cells. But then there were the bodyguards behind us, chasing the little girl with pigtails as she ran with Ventus. She wasn’t going to get anywhere like that, dragging his half functioning body around. So when they caught up to us I took their gun… and I shot her, for being so stupid. That should have taught her a lesson for ruining everything I built up. Her and the other guy. Can’t say I know what happened to them, for they took us back soon enough.”

Vincent had to keep himself from reacting too much to the new revelation. He already knew that Vanitas had helped beat the other kids, but this was the first time he’d ever heard of them having a failed rescue attempt. And Vanitas claimed he’d shot a little girl? Had it been a dream, or had it actually happened? “Why would you hinder their attempt to help you?”

“Why would you ask me that, Doctor? I thought that was your job to figure out,” Vanitas responded, jaw resting on his fist. “And I think you’ll have plenty of time for that. I’m sure our session is over now.”

“I can extend it if necessary,” Vincent countered, not liking how Vanitas was avoiding the question. It was just a guess at this point, but Vincent was sure that Vanitas avoided content that made him feel like there was something more behind his actions than senseless violence.

“Don’t make me call the nurses in here,” Vanitas threatened, eyes narrowing. “I’m sure I could use the nap. Apparently I don’t sleep well after all.”

Vincent tensed, but inevitably let out a sigh in relent. He’d rather not have Vanitas attack him for the countless time just to have nurses rush in to sedate him. “Very well, Vanitas. We’ll pick this up next week. As usual.”

It was common for Vincent to call Eraqus, both to give reports on how Vanitas was doing, but also to ask questions about some of the things that may have happened before. Eraqus had read all of Xehanort’s documents, but there weren’t many others who were allowed to.

It was during such a call that Ventus accidentally overheard a conversation between the two mentioning that Vanitas was regressing in his progress. Ventus hadn’t heard much, but the mentions of Vanitas sleeping even less than usual, and having moments where he was curled up in the corner of the room was concerning. Ventus wasn’t sure if any of the others would allow him to go visit, so he inevitably went to Roxas.

“…. I want to visit Vanitas,” was all Ventus had to say after approaching Roxas. Something about the way Ventus looked, his expression forlorn and hands gripping the front of his shirt, made Roxas agree easily enough.

“…Okay,” Roxas responded simply, and after telling Eraqus that he was going to take Ventus out for some ice cream and a walk around the park they were heading out the door.

They did actually stop for ice cream, but only because it was on the way. Roxas was the only one that got anything, and was more or less just curious why Ventus had the sudden interest in seeing Vanitas. It was almost like a routine to go up to the lobby counter and ask to visit with Vanitas, but the difference this time was that the receptionist told them they couldn’t.

“I’m sorry, the patient Vanitas Waylen has been under a no visitor policy for a few days now. I’m afraid I can’t let you see him today.” The receptionist didn’t seem to know why the policy had been put into place, but she at least did offer to contact them when the policy was changed.

“He must be having one of his harder episodes. It happens sometimes, and he usually gets more prone to violence at those times, so they don’t let anyone see him,” Roxas explained once they stepped away from the desk.

Ventus furrowed his brows and wrung his shirt a little, not wanting to get told to stay away. Something just felt like he needed to be there. “…. I’m going to sneak in,” Ventus said quietly after a moment.

Roxas’s brows raised in surprise, but he was honestly a little amused. “…. Okay,” he answered, getting a bit of a grin.

It was actually easy enough. Once they slipped passed the first door, alongside another family visiting someone else, it was easy to casually walk to the room a few floors up. When they reached Vanitas’ room, his name on the plaque outside, Ventus rose to his tip toes to peek inside. The red scrubs that Vanitas always chose to wear made him easy to spot, and Ventus noticed him over against the back wall. His head was buried in his arms, and knees pulled up tight against his chest though, which was usual for him. According to Roxas, whenever they visited Vanitas was usually lounging somewhere, looking bored.

Giving a nod to Roxas, Ventus waited for him to unlock the deadbolt on the door and use his personal badge to let them in. Having the barrier removed made Ventus feel an increase in anxiousness and fear, but his concern overruled those feelings enough for him to quietly step inside. It was only after the door closed behind them, and Ventus made it halfway across the room, that Vanitas even looked up. It was just one eye, peeking out from around his arm, and he’d seemed to be about to chase whoever it was out again. But when he saw Ventus he grew strangely still, just watching as his brother made his way to the back wall as well.

Roxas ended up quietly moving to sit on the bed, far enough to not interfere, but close enough to be able to intervene if necessary. He could tell Ventus was afraid, his whole form was shaking slightly, but he didn’t want to interrupt Ventus managing to act despite that. And it was also fascinating to see Vanitas not be in their face with taunts and jeers.

His movements were slow, but eventually Ventus slid down the wall to sit a few spaces away from Vanitas, the boy’s gold eye watching him the whole time. It wasn’t much, but after a moment Ventus actually carefully reached out his hand, palm up, to offer it to Vanitas. Roxas was surprised to see Vanitas’ expression change to one of shock as well, but there was also something else behind it. He recognized the motion Ventus did, as well as the position they were in. And after a moment Roxas was slightly awed to see Vanitas reach out and tightly grip Ventus’s hand even as he buried his face again with a sob.

Silence remained other than Vanitas’ crying, but eventually after a moment Ventus spoke up softly with a bittersweet smile. “…Y’know… there’s no bars between us this time…. Want to come over here?”

The words were simple, but they made Roxas feel like someone had knocked the wind out of him. The joy he felt from watching Vanitas look up curiously, and then give a nod and crawl over to get a hug from Ventus was drowned by his anger. There were a lot of things he sometimes suspected had happened with his brothers, but it was never easy having his suspicions confirmed. Still, after a stretch of time Roxas looked over at them again, and could see where Xemnas’ comment came from. Ventus really did manage to smile, and keep being kind despite everything. It was enough to make Roxas’ anger fade to the background, and he just sat silently on the bed.

Strange. Despite being the subject of Vanitas’ anger and aggression only moments before, when he heard his brother crying Ventus still crawled over to the edge of the cage and reached his hand out for Vanitas to take in comfort. I must see if this affection permeates throughout further incidents.

Chapter Text

Terra had taken Roxas to see Vanitas this time, like he’d done several times before. But this time Ventus had wanted to go with them. He’d promised that he’d stay outside of the room, but he gave them the reasoning that he just didn’t want to stay afraid of Vanitas all his life, and therefore wanted to just listen and see how he reacted to hearing Vanitas talk.

Looked like that wasn’t such a good idea though. Roxas ended up reacting much the way Ventus would, but the words that were said kept resounding in Ventus’ head. He’d never see Terra again? That was ridiculous, Terra wasn’t going anywhere.

“Please. He’s going to leave you behind, just like that other kid. And by the time you catch up to him, he’ll be a different person.” Vanitas’ continued words weren’t helping. Even though Roxas responded like he wasn’t worried, Ventus couldn’t follow the rest of what was being said. He tried to deny it, Terra would never change. But lately…. something had been different. Terra seemed a little distant, like something was bothering him. Maybe…. No. Vanitas was just trying to rile him up. Roxas said that was normal. But…

He’d just have to check it out. Confirm it was nothing. Terra was just going to work, and Ventus knew where that was. He’d just go over there, talk with Terra a bit, and then go home. It really wasn’t a good idea for him to be there with Vanitas yet.

Claiming that he knew where Terra’s work was, was actually not completely true. What he knew was the address, and from there he could somewhat follow a GPS until he got there. But this was the first time he’d gone off on his own, and because of that he’d gotten a little turned around and also forgot to make sure his phone was charged. Which meant that he didn’t have a GPS anymore, and had pretty much no idea where he was now. Oh well, that’s where it became nice to talk to people and ask for directions. It was easy enough, just walk up to someone when he got lost, show them his phone was dead, and ask them where the police station was. Most of the time he got at least a vague answer, but some people ended up giving him really long winded answers that he only remembered half of.

It wasn’t that scary of a trip, and was almost exciting in a way. He rarely got to go out, so the city was always fun for him to see. Even if he did get side tracked a lot. But it wasn’t like he could just walk passed the old lady with an apple cart stuck on the curb. 

The worry Ventus had when he started this trip ended up coming back full force after one conversation with a lady though. “Why are you headed to the police station? You’re not in trouble, are you?”

“What? No, of course not. I’m just going to visit my friend, Terra.” The response came easy, and with a bright smile. A smile that the woman didn’t share.

“Terra….. Waylen?” she asked, her brow arching up as her gaze became disapproving. “You’d best be staying away from that man, boy. He’s nothing but trouble.”

The comment caught Ventus off guard, and he had to take a second to respond. “What are you talking about? Terra would never hurt anyone…”

“Hmm? Maybe so. But there’s talk around here that he rough up this poor woman. Nearly stopped her heart they say. Just wouldn’t leave her alone,” she tutted, shaking her head.

“Wha… Terra would never do that,” Ventus protested, albeit a little weakly. The woman wasn’t able to respond before another voice broke through the drum of the crowd.

“Ven!” Aqua’s voice caused him to turn around quickly. “There you are.” She sounded relieved, but also worried as she slowed her run to a stop next to him. “What are you doing? Why did you leave the center?”

“I was looking for Terra. He’s… been weird lately,” Ventus admitted, looking down and then side glancing at the woman he’d been talking to.

“Don’t listen to them, Terra is fine. You know he wouldn’t do anything bad. He’s just stressed out from work,” Aqua’s reassurance had a concerned smile to go with it, and while it was pretty nice to have his doubts confirmed, Ventus was still worried. “Come on, let’s go home. It’s almost night, and you know you’re not supposed to be out here much.”

Ventus was quiet for a bit, but ended up backing up a step. “Sorry Aqua. But I want to go see Terra. I want to make sure he’s okay, for myself.”

Aqua was a little surprised to see Ventus step away from her, and almost reinforced that they needed to go home and wait for Terra. But it looked like Ventus was about ready to run away from her, and that woman didn’t look all that safe. This whole part of the city wasn’t all that great to be honest. She’d better keep an eye on him. “Okay,” she nodded firmly, “Let’s go together.”

Ventus’ expression brightened considerably, and he gave an enthusiastic nod. “Yeah! He’ll be happy to see us both.”

It was pretty dark by the time the two were nearing the police station that Terra worked at. Enough that it was hard to see colors properly. Ventus seemed to be uneasy considering he was babbling a little more than usual. Which wouldn’t have been bad, but it was rather broken in topics. He seemed to be finding anything to fill the silence so he wouldn’t have to think. His voiced thoughts broke off abruptly when he saw something a short ways ahead of them. Or someone, to be exact.

“Terra!” Ventus’ voice carried easily considering there wasn’t much in the low lit street, and he ran ahead to loop his hand around the figure’s arm.

As soon as Ventus stopped the man he realized something was wrong. This wasn’t Terra. The dark lighting had made Ventus think the man had darker hair, but it was obviously too long. And he was much more tan than Terra.

“Oops, I’m sorry,” Ventus apologized, quickly letting go of the man’s arm even as he turned to look at him. “I thought you were someone else.”

After looking Ventus over with a rather narrowed gaze, the man spoke in a raspy voice. “As did I. You are… Ventus? Correct.”

The fact this man knew his name was enough to cause Ventus to pull back a little in shock. “Y-yes?” He didn’t sound sure, but only because he was still trying to process what was going on.

The man was silent for a stretch, before he voiced a disappointed, “A pity the experiments didn’t work.”

Most of the color drained from Ventus’ cheeks as he froze in place. What? Why? How did he know about that? Wait. Calm down. They had it on the news when he’d been rescued. It wasn’t that unusual. “… Wh….. what do you mean?” Ventus asked, almost absent mindedly, more or less just repeating what Roxas had told him to do. Just pretend he didn’t know what they were talking about, and they should leave him alone and drop the subject.

“You were to be the perfect end,” the man almost sighed, like he didn’t breath properly. “A pure hearted boy, and someone who remained as such…. no matter what changed. If I could… I would continue the research myself.”

At this point Aqua stepped in front of Ventus, shielding him halfway. She couldn’t act now, she wasn’t a cop, but she still didn’t like where this was going. “Be careful what you say. I might have you arrested,” she warned, her gaze fiercely solid.

The noise the man made should have been a single syllable laugh, but it didn’t sound right. There was nothing behind it. “… If you can,” he almost taunted.

But he didn’t seem to want to pick a fight, for immediately after he turned away from them and kept walking.

Aqua watched him go for a time, until he was out of sight and hopefully long gone, before she looped an arm around Ventus’ shoulders. “C’mon, let’s go,” she directed, gently pulling him to follow next to her.

“Y… yeah,” Ventus replied weakly, holding his hands close to his chest and trying not to think about what just happened.

“….I wanted to talk to you.” The voice on the other side of the phone sounded weird for being Ventus. It was too soft, and much less sure of himself. But then again Vanitas was used to thinking Roxas was Ventus, and they had quite the difference in personality, most of the time.

“What? Didn’t get enough of me this morning?” Vanitas scoffed, but nevertheless settled down a little more to talk. This was the only time he got to talk on the phone anyway. When it was one of his biological or adopted family calling him. Which needless to say was a very rare occurrence. “How’s Terra? Did you find him?” From anyone else those words would have been voiced in concern, but from Vanitas it just sounded like a jab.

“….He’s fine… He’s just staying overnight at work, but he’ll be home tomorrow.”

The response was missing the usual energy Vanitas was used to, but he figured it was because it was later in the day. It probably wasn’t what was on Ventus’ mind that night anyway. “Ah…. So. Why are you calling me then? Can’t be anything better than talking to all your friends at home.” The way Vanitas said the word friends made Ventus cringe, but he didn’t mention anything about it.

“….They wouldn’t know about this…”

Vanitas was surprised at first, but then his smile grew a little as he had a guess what Ventus was calling about now. “What? Your precious little family wouldn’t know something that I would?”

“They weren’t there,” Ventus was sounding a bit exasperated now, but he barely showed it. It was more out of anxiety than anger anyway.

Vanitas stayed quiet, and eventually Ventus sighed and continued. “Vanitas…. What happened? … when we were wi…. With M.. Xehanort.”

“Heh. What happened to Master?”

“Vanitas.”

He thought about it, but figured there was nothing to gain from teasing Ventus more. Giving a shrug he spoke plainly, but not completely true. “What do you think? The usual child soldier business. Super soldier stuff. Tried to make the best weapon and all that. But you were too weak to fight back. Ha. No matter how many times I hit you, you never left a scratch. Pathetic. It’s no wonder you failed. Can’t believe you forgot. But I guess it makes sense you wouldn’t want to remember your own failure.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, but eventually Vanitas heard the phone thump against something soft. It’d probably been dropped, and landed on the carpet or something. Vanitas waited a few moments more before he snickered. Giving a full laugh, he pressed the end call button on the phone and handed it back to the doctor, not going to put up a fuss about going back to his room. Really now. Ventus made it too easy sometimes. Only part of what he’d said was true, but he wasn’t going to say which part.

He had only been passing by Ventus’ bedroom on the way to his own, but the soft tump he heard passed the door made him stop. For any other kid it wasn’t that worrisome, but for Ventus, who could easily fall ill and had just been out in a rather unsanitary part of the city, it made Eraqus immediately change his plan to go to bed. Cracking the door open swiftly but carefully, Eraqus found Ventus standing in the middle of his room, staring at his own shaking hands. At this point Eraqus wasn’t sure if Ventus was still registering the present with the way he was reacting, so stayed where he was and called out softly. “… Ventus?”

It was somewhat a relief when Ventus whipped around to look at him, but his expression was obviously terrified and it made Eraqus tense. It was always better to know what had caused him to get upset before he tried to calm him down, so he glanced around the room. Immediately he saw the phone, and vaguely remembered hearing laughing from it. Vanitas. “Ventus, what did you hear?” Eraqus asked, more firmly than he’d intended. Vanitas bothered him in a way he regretted to admit, and he didn’t like it at all when he interacted with the others. 

Ventus wasn’t able to respond, and had flinched when Eraqus spoke. So Eraqus drew a steadying breath and made sure his voice was a little more level. “Ventus, you’re safe here. Tell me what Vanitas said to you… please,” he said more gently, though he made sure not to approach Ventus incase he was in a state where he’d be easily startled and defensive.

“I-i…,” Ventus voiced, the repeated question in a sweeter tone helping a little. “H’he said…. We were supposed to be weapons. Said I was a weapon… Xehanort… some sort of super soldier,” he stammered, clutching his hands in front of him and shaking, eyes drifting in and out of focus.

What Ventus said made Eraqus stiffen slightly. And while it wasn’t something he didn’t think Xehanort would do, he was glad that he at least knew it wasn’t true. This time. Who knew if there were other times, and that was how Vanitas got the idea.

Moving slowly, Eraqus kneeled on the floor so he wasn’t towering above Ventus, and held his hand out to him. “Ventus. Come here,” he directed, and thankfully Ventus was comfortable enough to comply at least. He was still hesitant, and shaking when he reached out to rest his fingertips on Eraqus’ palm. But after gently curling his fingers around Ventus’ hand, Eraqus drew him close, and wrapped him in a tight hug. If only he could smother these feelings of fear away with just that.

“You are not a weapon,” he assured firmly, but quietly. “You’re no more than a boy that had his childhood stolen from him. And you are now my son.”

Ventus’ arms slowly wrapped around Eraqus, his form shivering with hiccups and sniffles. “H’how do you know?…. You weren’t there…” He was more voicing his doubts than trying to deny what Eraqus said. He would give anything for what Eraqus said to be true.

“No. I wasn’t there,” Eraqus confirmed. Though he wished he had been sometimes, if only because he would have put a stop to it all much sooner. “But Xehanort kept research journals that were very detailed. I know what happened. I read all of them so I could make sure there was nothing that would surprise me while taking care of you.”

Ventus was quiet as he slowly realized what that meant. Vanitas had lied about them being weapons? So, did he lie about everything else? “Vanitas said…. That we… that he used to… to…” he couldn’t really finish that sentence. It felt like he already knew the answer, but he wanted it confirmed.

“……. Yes,” Eraqus admitted reluctantly, but felt there was no need to hide that fact. Hopefully it would cause less problems if Ventus knew why he was so afraid of Vanitas. “But it wasn’t for any sort of experiment or training. Xehanort just let him take his anger out on you, so he’d be easier to manage.”

It made sense now, and Ventus found himself feeling more distant from the past now that he was wrapped in a warm hug. “Oh…” With his immediate worries gone, Ventus just stayed where he was, trying to be comforted at least long enough that he would feel okay being on his own again.

After it seemed Ventus had no more questions, Eraqus rubbed his back a little and asked, “Would you like to stay with me tonight?”

Ventus shrank down a little in embarrassment, but ended up nodding a bit. “If… that’s alright,” he mumbled.

“Of course it is. Terra still crawls into bed after a bad night too. I don’t see why you shouldn’t,” Eraqus assured with a small chuckle. “It’s the whole reason I got a bigger bed. There’s more room for you kids to sleep like the starfishes you are.”

Terra’s voice alerted Eraqus to his presence, and after looking up he had to chuckle. “You’re home. And looking more awake than I would have expected.”

Terra ended up laughing a little as well as he approached the bed where Eraqus uncharacteristically still was at this time of day. Ventus sleeping against him was the obvious reason he was still there, reading a book. “The tests finished earlier than I was expecting, so I took a nap before coming home. I know you’d rather I did that than drive while tired.”

It was true, Eraqus much preferred Terra stay at work a little longer than risk getting into a car accident. Especially since he insisted on riding a bullet bike.

“How’s Ven?” Terra asked, leaning over close to see if Ventus was actually asleep or just upset. With how peaceful the boy looked, it was obvious he was indeed asleep. And it made it hard to stick around and keep talking, risking waking him up.

“He’s alright. He had a bit of a scare when he got home, but he fell asleep, and stayed asleep without issues last night.” Eraqus’ answer was accompanied by a gentle pet on Ventus’ head, and brushing his bangs away from his eyes. “I’m just letting him sleep later than usual…. Just in case.”

In case he’d ended up picking up an illness while out, and needed some extra sleep to keep from getting sick. Terra knew that all too well, so just nodded, and moved back to leave. He paused at the door though, and looked back in. “Where is everyone, anyay? This place is a ghost town.”

“Aqua is taking the boys to spend the weekend with their friends,” Eraqus answered simply, having already looked back to his book.

“And the staff?”

This time Eraqus looked up with amusement. “It’s the weekend…. They’re off work today.”

“O’oh, right. My bad,” Terra chuckled weakly, rubbing the back of his head. “I’ll… go make breakfast then.”

Chapter Text

Ventus’ voice held back a chuckle despite the question, watching Terra cooking something in the frying pan.

“Flambé,” Terra answered simply, swishing the mild wine into the pan with practice, but not quite expertise.

“You do remember I’m underaged, right?” Ventus asked, more just to tease than because he was actually worried.

“It burns off. I know what I’m doing, sheesh.”

“Not all of it. And not with a flambé,” Ventus countered, and he would have chuckled if he were more awake.

“Hush. It’s not like you’re going to get drunk from crepe flambé,” Terra huffed, leaning back as he swept the dish close to the flame to ignite the wine. This time Ventus did chuckle, for it was always fun to see that particular cooking technique. Strangely enough, it had actually been Sora who had introduced the family to such a thing, having seen it on a street TV before and gotten excited about how cool it looked.

“Hey, how are you feeling, by the way?” Terra asked, looking over at how Ventus was slumped over the counter. Usually he was a lot more bubbly, even after just waking up. He didn’t worry much about the sound of footsteps coming down the hall either. It was probably just Master Eraqus.

“I’m fine. Really,” Ventus assured, though it sounded more like he was just trying to not be a bother. His demeanor changed abruptly when he looked over to the entrance of the room, getting up from the stool and taking a step back. “Terra!”

With that call Terra’s gaze immediately whipped around to look where Ventus was, and even though it was futile compared to the weapon the other figure had, he held up the spatula towards them as he stepped to shield Ventus.

“Xemnas,” Terra hissed, trying to process exactly what was happening. How did Xemnas get a handgun? Firearms were illegal for anyone but police, and other strict jobs. But of course, Xemnas was the current head of the Black Family. Crime syndicate. He should have guessed.

“I’m surprised you know me, Terra. But we’ll have much longer to get aquanted once we’re away from this place,” Xemnas responded, his left hand lowering, while his body shifted and right hand rose. “Now follow me quietly, or I’ll put holes in you. I don’t need you unharmed, just alive.”

Terra had never thought of Eraqus as terribly intimidating before, but he also had a hard time realizing just how tall Eraqus was compared to most people. Of course when he’d been a kid he’d been afraid of Eraqus sometimes, but it was more because he didn’t want to get scolded than because of fear of getting physically hurt. But seeing Eraqus managing to run down the hall towards them without alerting Xemnas made Terra wish Xemnas would turn around so he could watch Xemnas piss himself.

“I’m sorry, but which one of us were you here for?” Terra asked, trying to keep his voice calm and not give away their back up as he slowly reached Ventus.

“Isn’t is obv-.” Xemnas’ response was cut off with a satisfying huff of air as Eraqus bodily slammed into him from behind. He would have preferred to knock Xemnas down, but fairness his focus was more on getting that gun pointed somewhere other than at his sons, even if Terra had shoved Ventus down behind the counter as soon as Xemnas was hit.

Terra hesitated despite having never heard Eraqus yell that loud before. He didn’t want to leave, not while Xemnas still had ahold of that gun. If he could just get close enough he could disarm Xemnas, and they could take him down together.

“Terra! Don’t disobey me,” Eraqus snapped, harsh enough that Terra flinched.

“Tch,” Terra huffed and broke his gaze away from Eraqus trying to wrestle the gun out of Xemnas’ hand, bending over to scoop Ventus up close and charge out of the room through the opposite door. 

“Terra?? No! Stop! Wait-,” Ventus protested as soon as he realized what was happening, trying to squirm away from Terra to go back. “Go back! We can’t leave him!”

“Quiet!” Terra hushed, easily keeping a hold of Ventus considering how much smaller he was. He knew he couldn’t just leave Eraqus there to deal with the head of a Crime Syndicate on his own. They were all too stupid to face Xemnas on their own, so while one arm kept Ventus pinned against his shoulder his other hand grabbed the cell phone he’d thankfully stuffed in his pocket that morning and not set down when he’d gotten home.

On the third ring the other side was answered, and a cheery voice came through. “What’s the deal, Terra? Miss us al-”

“Zack! Shut up and get over here now! Xemnas showed up,” Terra snapped, silencing the younger officer. He’d actually called Angeal, but it wasn’t uncommon for Zack to answer his superior’s phone.

“Got it.” Zack’s response was immediate, and lacked any of the previous playfulness. Terra could hear him talking to Angeal, and then the commotion of the office bustling on the other end to respond to the call.

It didn’t take long for Terra to run to the front door, even if it was hard to not just turn back around after hearing a gunshot. There was a crash shortly after, so he figured there was still some sort of fight going on and no one had been seriously hurt… yet.

Surprisingly, when Terra reached halfway down the stairs a black car drove up at the bottom of them. Both Terra and Ventus immediately recognized the car, it was one that Eraqus owned. The one that they usually got rides in. Perfect. Without waiting for the driver to get out of the car, Terra yanked open the back door and shoved Ventus inside even as he was still squirming. “Blaine! Get Ven somewhere safe, now! Don’t let him out of your sight,” Terra snapped to the driver.

“You got it,” Blaine answered, giving a two fingered salute and engaging the child safety lock on the back doors.

As soon as Terra slammed the back door shut and turned to head back into the mansion, Ventus scrambled up and tried to go after him. But of course the door wouldn’t open, which caused him to bang on the window.

It was no use though, and as the car pulled out of the driveway again Ventus shifted to lean over the back of the seat and look out the back window.

“Please sit down and put your seatbelt on, Ven,” Blaine directed, his nonchalant voice just barely betraying his tense mood. His directions were accompanied by a small meow as Chirithy hopped into the backseat too and immediately started rubbing against Ventus.

Breaking his gaze away from the building that was fading from sight, Ventus looked down. “…Chirithy…… Why are you here?” Ventus asked, both about his cat and Blaine, as he fingered the harness that was on her.

“Hey, just because it’s my day off doesn’t mean I can’t come and take her for a walk. And we went to pick up treats too. You were fast asleep, so I figured it’d be okay,” Blaine chuckled, tossing back the bag of cat treats that had been in the front seat.

Three more gunshots were heard before Terra couldn’t hear anymore signs of a fight. He’d reached the kitchen again, and felt a little light headed when he saw a small splatter of blood across the counter. It didn’t look like a gunshot wound caused it though, so that was somewhat reassuring. He was about to continue on, when he heard someone coming and ended up darting into the nearby room to hide. He had to hold his breath as Xemnas walked by, his steps betraying at least minor injuries to one leg, and drips of blood splattered to the floor from the gash wound on his upper arm. He still had the gun though, so Terra remained where he was until he was certain that Xemnas was far out of range. He could only pray that Xemnas hadn’t done something irreversible as he carefully headed in the opposite direction.

Almost silently running into the room the blood drops came from, Terra momentarily choked on his breath when he saw Eraqus sitting slumped against the edge of the bed. He could only breathe again when he saw that Eraqus was still breathing, and Terra darted forward to collapse to his knees next to him.

His voice was fractions away from being frantic, but the amount of blood staining Eraqus’ shirt definitely wasn’t helping that. At least his training came in handy enough to make him move his hands to help apply weight to the cloth Eraqus already had over his side.

“Terra?” Eraqus asked, looking up and resting on hand over the top of Terra’s. “What are you doing? I told you to go.”

“I’m sorry,” Terra blurted almost subconsciously. “If I’d just stayed, this wouldn’t have happened. I-”

“Terra, shhhh,” Eraqus shushed, raising a hand to almost rest against Terra’s cheek, but stopping since he didn’t want to get blood on him. “Calm down. It’s not fatal,” he assured despite the pained smile.

“Not…,” Terra repeated, looking down in disbelief. “Dad, that had to have hit your stomach, how…” he trailed off, noticing how Eraqus was giving him a strange smile. “What?”

“Nothing,” Eraqus gave a small huff of amusement despite the situation. “It’s just been a long time since you’ve called me that…. I’ve always wondered why you stopped.”

Terra was quiet for a moment, the somewhat random change of topic catching him off guard. “… No one else calls you that. Not even Aqua…. I just…. thought it wasn’t something I was supposed to do now that I’m older,” he admitted, a little sheepish. He’d know since he was little that Eraqus wasn’t his real dad, and hearing everyone call him ‘Master Eraqus’ just made him feel like he should too.

Eraqus gave a small grin at that, and figured now probably wasn’t the time to dwell on that. “Where’s Ventus?”

“I… he’s with Blaine. I sent him off with Blaine to drive away, and told Blaine to keep him safe,” Terra responded, a little brokenly.

Eraqus’ brows furrowed a little at that, but he figured it would be better not to mention again to Terra that their staff was off work that day. Was he sure it had been Blaine? He couldn’t afford to have Terra fret about that though. “Listen, I’ve already called the ambulance, I’m going to be fine. But I need you to go Ventus, and make sure he’s okay for yourself, alright? Blaine doesn’t have as much experience as you, and he doesn’t know what’s going on. They should have gone to where we’d already agreed, so go there, and protect your family. Alright?” His hand ended up resting on Terra’s head, and he could tell Terra was reluctant to leave him, even after hearing help was already on the way. But after being told to protect the others, Terra’s mouth pressed into a line. Giving a firm nod, Terra reluctantly pulled away to run out of the room again.

Ever since he was a kid they’d had another place established that they were to go to if their home ever became unsafe. For some reason Eraqus hadn’t wanted to be literal for the name, so they’d ended up calling it something rather cryptic. The city of the dead. But it was fitting. There was a graveyard nearby that had small buildings scattered throughout it. They had stored some blankets and other supplies in one of them, so they could gather there if anything ever happened. Terra had never thought they’d have to use it, but that was where Blaine and Ventus should have gone, so that was where he was headed.

Chapter Text

“No problem,” Riku’s response came a little quieter than Aqua was used to, but then again she still remembered when Riku was younger and outspoken to the point of being problematic. He’d really softened up over the past year or two. “Thanks for driving Sora and Kairi over here.”

“Of course! I’ll be back to pick them up when the week is over, so just have fun and keep track of yourselves, okay? I know Sora has been looking forward to this break all month,” Aqua nodded, giving the empty cup back to Riku. She wouldn’t be staying, the three kids just had a week long vacation from school and had wanted to spend it at the beach house. Which was more than fine with the rest of them. Eraqus was just glad the old house was being used.

“Yeah, I know. It’s all he could talk about,” Riku chuckled, remembering how Sora could barely focus the entire month and ended up needing extra tutoring to be able to understand some of the lessons he spaced out on in class.

“Riku!! Hurry up, or we’ll start without you!” Sora’s voice came from the living room, where they no doubt already had the snacks and games all set up. At least Kairi had taken the time to put her bags in her room, but Sora had left his on the floor by the front door.

“Coming!” Riku called back, then gave Aqua an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Thank you again.”

Aqua laughed too, having already given her goodbyes to the others. “Don’t worry about it. I should get going before they end up missing out on breakfast and lunch. Or work calls me,” she ended with an eye roll, knowing that her job loved to call her in for emergencies that weren’t all that imperative that she be there.

As soon as she turned to leave her custom ringtone began sounding through her bag as her phone vibrated with a call. Digging it out, Aqua sighed. “Speaking of which,” she muttered, answering the call. “Hello?…. Oh, Master Yen Sid”

Riku was about to close the door, but hearing his grandpa’s name made him pause. That was weird, did he forget his own phone, or otherwise miss a call? He was in the process of patting his pockets when Aqua’s demeanor changed completely.

“W’what? The Master-?”

That voice sounded like she’d just been given bad news, and Riku immediately opened the door all the way again. The Master? Who…… Eraqus?

“Who’s responsible? Where are Terra and Ven?”

That definitely did not sound good, and Riku was ready to grab his shoes to head out if needed now.

“They weren’t there-? …… I see. I know what to do….. Thank you,” Aqua’s brows had furrowed into a determined expression as she hung up the phone. After a short pause, she turned around again. “… Riku…. I need you to watch after Sora. Don’t let him out of your sight, and don’t let him do anything stupid. Okay?”

Riku was stunned at the sudden change in mood, but it didn’t take much persuasion at all for him to agree to that. “Sure. But what’s going on? You know he’s gonna ask. Do you need help?”

Aqua immediately shook her head at the last question. “No, I just need you three to stay safe. Got it? Just…… Master Eraqus was shot. They’ve got him at the hospital now, in surgery. But Terra was the one that called the police, and both he and Ven are missing now. So please, just stay where I know where you are.”

Riku was stunned again at the revelation, but immediately understood why Aqua was telling them to stay there. With Eraqus in the hospital, and Terra missing, it was her job to watch after the younger boys. But she couldn’t do that while also looking for the two that were missing, and therefore needed help. He was only a year older than the other two, but he could definitely keep an eye out on them for Aqua. “Sure,” Riku confirmed again, giving a firm nod. “Do you want me to keep it quiet until you come back?”

Aqua shook her head, a bit sadly. She didn’t want to ruin their vacation, but it was too late now. “No. He’ll find out soon enough. I’ll talk to you later. Thank you, and I’m sorry.” 

They had a plan in place for situations like this. Aqua never thought it’d be needed, but there she was, opening the stored group text she’d never thought she’d have to send a message in.

“Almost thereeeeeee. You’re so close! You can do it Roxas!!” Xion’s encouraging words were easy to hear from the living room. The two of them were already glued to the video game that Roxas had been trying to beat for the past four months. He was on the final boss, after having spent so long gathering items and upgrades. Axel just shook his head as he couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to put themselves through critical mode on a game that was already hard. He still ended up chuckling when Xion’s encouragement became excited cheers, and he could easily guess that she was hugging Roxas now.

Tapping the timer set on the stove, Axel winced as an obnoxious screeching noise sounded from behind him. What was that? The phone on the counter? It was Roxas’ so he figured he’d just bring it to him.

“Hey, congrats. Pizza is in the oven,” Axel announced as he came back into the living room, holding Roxas’ phone up.

“What? It’s not broken, it was working just fine,” Roxas huffed, catching the device after Axel tossed it to him.

“I dunno. I just made this annoying screeching noise. Either it’s broken, or someone is pulling a prank on you by changing you text notification sound. You didn’t let Riku near it while it was unlocked, did you?” Axel teased lightly back, though he was a little bit concerned. Broken phones were no fun.

“Ha ha. Riku wouldn’t do that. If anything it was you,” Roxas snorted, amused, as he put his thumb on the fingerprint sensor. It looked like it actually was a text message, and he figured he’d have to check the sound settings just to be sure. Until he opened the messenger and saw which group chat had been pinged. Freezing for a moment, Roxas just stared at the single word in the otherwise empty conversation log.

Requiescat.

And it was sent by Aqua.

Noticing the change in Roxas’ demeanor, Axel and Xion immediately leaned over to take a peek at the screen. “What’s wrong?” Xion asked what they both were wondering. It wasn’t normal at all for Roxas to freeze up like that.

Feeling like his thumbs were acting on autopilot, Roxas tapped in the response he’d been told about and sent it, not able to take his eyes from the screen. ‘In pace. Just cooking some smores at the bonfire.’

“What? There’s no bonfire,” Axel grimaced, glancing around to see what Roxas could be talking about.

“It means your house,” Roxas explained quietly. “We…. use this chat when something happens. And it’s a way for us to check in and let each other know we’re safe.”

The seconds felt like minutes, but eventually other responses were entered in.

Sora: What? 

What’s going on?

Oh, right. In pace, today is a great day for a swim.

“That’s the beach house?” Xion asked, knowing that Sora had been headed there that day.

Roxas nodded, watching the check ins from the others beep in. Strelitzia, Skuld, Lauriam….And Aqua had sent it, so she was fine too. That left Eraqus, Terra, Ven, and Blaine.

After a long stretch of motionlessness on the screen Roxas’ phone suddenly vibrated and started ringing, causing him to flinch. Sora was calling him.

“Sora!” Roxas blurted as soon as he answered the phone. “This isn’t some kind of joke is it?”

“No! Riku just told me that Aqua told him that Master Dad got shot!” Sora sounded a bit frantic, and Roxas’ felt like his chest had just been hollowed out.

“Wh-….” Roxas choked on the words, and ended up quickly switching his phone to speaker mode.

“She said he’s in the hospital now, and Terra and Ven are missing. They’re not with you are they?”

“No! I haven’t seen them since-” Roxas broke off as his phone made that annoying sound again. One more message had popped up.

Terra: In pace.

No extra explanation. So he was at the graveyard?

Aqua: Terra! Where are you? Are you okay?

Terra: I’m fine. Picking up Ven. Don’t go near Xemnas.

As soon as that name appeared on the screen, Roxas’ eyes flicked up to look at the other two. Xemnas. They all knew who that was.

Sora’s voice came over the phone again after the short spell of silence while he read the new messages. “Xemnas? Who’s that?…. Roxas?”

“Sora…. I have to go. Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Go see if you can wait for Master Eraqus at the hospital.” Roxas responded, a bit absently, as he kept looking at the other two.

It was only after they reached the safe area, and gotten settled down, that Blaine bothered to pull out his phone. He’d completely forgotten he’d put it on mute for the weekend, so he wouldn’t be bothered, and realized he probably should have left it on. So much for not being bothered. There were Aqua’s, and the others’ text in the emergency chat, just like they’d been taught. It might been seen as over precaution, but considering who Terra was, and what had just happened, it was a good thing Eraqus had been adamant about them learning this. Figuring he should placate the others, he typed in his response.

Blaine: In pace. Ventus is with me, he’s missing his phone.

One the other hand freeze dried ice cream bars are simultaneously horrible and delicious.

They had a stash of treats stored in the makeshift safe house too, just in case. Cans of food as well as various freeze dried things that would last for a long time. Unfortunately so. Blaine couldn’t decide what he thought of the poor dehydrated ice cream.

Not wanting to worry the others, Blaine switched his messenger over to only address Aqua. ‘Are you on your way here?’

It took almost ten minutes before there was a response. A short ‘Yes’ and Blaine assumed that she was driving. Good.

‘Better hurry. Kiddo isn’t doing so good. Shivering like it’s the arctic here and I’ve run out of blankets.’ Blaine texted back to Aqua, glancing over his shoulder after he sent it. Ventus was dozing off against him, wrapped up in every blanket they could find in the area and Chirithy on his lap purring away. Blaine wasn’t sure if it was the stress from the situation that had made it worse, or if Ventus would have ended up that way regardless of what had happened that day. But either way, he wasn’t a doctor and there was only so much he could do. If no one of use showed up soon, he would probably just take Ventus to the hospital and deal with the consequences of it.

‘I’m here’

Aqua’s response came some time later, Blaine wasn’t really paying attention. No one could drive to the building they were in without running over more than a dozen gravestones though, so he knew she would still be a few minutes. But he still shifted to maybe stand up when she got there. That is until he hear someone talking. Adult male, and not a voice he recognized. But he also couldn’t make out the words.

‘Watch out for company’ he sent to Aqua fast, hand reaching into his discarded jacket pocket.

“Ven, stand up,” Blaine whispered lowly, wiggling his weapon of choice out of his jacket and then handing the clothing to Ventus. Getting to his own feet as Ventus blinked more alert, then began detangling himself from the blankets, Blaine moved to stand between Ventus and the entrance to the tiny building. He could pick out the words one of the people were saying now.

“They’ve got to be hiding in one of these blasted buildings. Better check them all.”

Seconds after the doorknob of the building twisted, and the heavy wood creaked open. Blaine just raised his hand towards the entrance, and calmly waited for it to open fully before he spoke up. “Wrong room ladies,” he announced casually, just to throw them off from reacting to anything more pertinent, and then pulled the trigger.

The first man at the doorway was a hulking beast, but once the two barbs embedded in his chest and linked him to the single charge of 50,000 volts of electricity he dropped like a log.

“Oh, we have a fighter here, huh?” the other man who sported a head of dreadlocks commented, not seeming too bothered about Blaine carefully popping the first cartridge out of his taser and moving to put another one in. “Not going to happen,” the man commented as he darted in for a shoulder tackle.

Forgoing the distance cartridge, Blaine backed up as he heard Ventus scramble out of the way, and simply shoved the taser gun against the man’s chest. He was expecting him to drop too, but instead the broad shoulder collided roughly with Blaine’s chest and sent him to the ground. “Sorry, but I have a friend that’s also a little too eager to tase people. Carbon fiber tape lining does wonders against that.”

Well that just meant he’d have to zap the guy in the face then. And Blaine would have commented as such if he wasn’t distracted by Ventus trying to smack the guy with an iron rod he’d found. It was probably left over from when someone had flags out on the lawn, but that wasn’t important now. “Ven, don’t be stupid,” Blaine chided, scrambling back to his feet just as the man reached out to catch the rod. He was unable to attack again though, for the man yanked on the rod to cause Ventus to stumble closer, and then snatched an arm around him.

“This is the one we want, but I have to wait for my partner to get up. So be a good boy and stay back.” The caution was unnecessary as Blaine could easily see the brute was using Ventus as a shield, but that didn’t stop him from looking for an opening. Did he line his pants too? Could he try to hit him in the leg? “Be careful. He doesn’t mind if we bring the boy back with a few broken bones.” Another warning, but this time he also reached over with his free hand to grab Ventus’ arm.

Blaine had to struggle to keep his expression stressed as Aqua came charging into the building as well.

A swift punch to the liver, and the hulking man immediately dropped to one knee and released his grip enough on Ventus. As soon as he had his feet on the ground Ventus raised his hand to cup his fist and sharply twisted his torso to jab his elbow back. He ended up catching the man in the jaw, and after he crumpled enough to release his hold completely Ventus scrambled out of the way and back over to Blaine where Chirithy jumped into his arms.

“Let’s go!” Aqua commanded, giving a swift kick to the side of the other man’s head as he was stirring.

By now Blaine had managed to reload the other cartridge back into the taser, and followed quickly but carefully after Ventus as he ran to Aqua. As he strode passed the man with dreadlocks, Blaine lowered the taser and fired it into the back of his neck. “Carbon fiber that,” he scoffed, following the others completely out of the building now. As soon as they were all free and Aqua was sure they were going to be with her, she took Ventus’ hand and started running back towards the entrance of the graveyard. Blaine was close behind, and while he didn’t have a third taser cartridge to load he still held the weapon ready to use again if needed.

“Where’s Terra?” Aqua asked as they ran, keeping an eye out for the one she mentioned.

Ventus would have responded, but currently the running was taking up all his air. So Blaine offered an explanation. “The last we saw him he was running back into the mansion. We’re not sure what happened after.”

Aqua ended up glancing back, as though she questioned whether Blaine was being serious or not. “…. His message said he was on his way here. How did I get here before him?”

“……. I’m not really wanting to consider the reasons why right now,” Blaine admitted after a long pause. How many more goons were littered through this graveyard. In fact, as they neared the parking lot they ended up catching sight of a few more figures. But at least they were familiar faces this time.

“Wha-? Skuld? Lauriam?” Aqua asked, not quite believing what she was seeing with the group of three just standing there casually. “Strelitzia too?” And then she noticed something. “Why is there blood on you- your sword?!?!” Why in all the lands did Lauriam have a sword in the first place?

“My sister insisted that we come to your aid,” Lauriam replied calmly, but at least had the decency to look at the tip of his rapier before he flicked it to try and clean it a little.

“Aaaand we ran into some lady trying to slice the tires of your car,” Skuld added, then pointed her pan at the blonde woman lying unconscious on the asphalt. “We tried to scare her off, but she picked a fight. So Lauriam sliced her up a bit before I smacked her in the head. We’re not sure if we should call the ambulance as well as the police.”

Aqua was stunned silent for a bit, but then rested her hand on her head and sighed. “You better get that away from here, or else they might arrest you as well. Rapiers aren’t permitted self defense material.”

“Nevermind about me. I’ll figure it out, like always.”

Aqua didn’t look too pleased about that, but figured it would be better to spare Lauriam another lecture. He’d already made it clear he didn’t want them worrying about him more than necessary. “… Are you hurt?”

“No,” he answered simply, a mild shake of his head.

“She tried to tase him, but I guess the probs didn’t connect right or something. They stuck, but he just kept going before ripping them out. It was kind of impressive,” Skuld explained to clarify, a little amused as well as mildly afraid.

While Aqua conversed with the rest of the staff plus one, Blaine looked over the unconscious woman for a moment to make sure she really was no longer a threat. But then his gaze flicked back over to the others as soon as he saw Chirithy drop to the ground out of the corner of his eye. “Aqua-,” he started.

Aqua had started to notice Ventus’ grip on her hand loosening, but at first she’d just thought it was because he was feeling safer with the rest of them around. It wasn’t until she heard Chirithy’s feet thump on the grass that she realized her mistake and had to quickly reach out her other arm to catch Ventus as he collapsed.

Strelitzia was practically hanging on her brother’s arm in worry as Aqua knelt down to hold Ventus more carefully. Aqua had way more medical knowledge than any of them though, so none of them moved forward so they didn’t get in the way.

It was already pretty obvious just by looking at him that Ventus had a fever, and Aqua has suspected as much when Blaine had told her how much he had been shivering earlier. But when Aqua rested her hand on Ventus’ forehead and cheek she ended up wincing.

That wasn’t good. He’d stopped shivering too, but that was probably because he was just too exhausted by now. Resting her hand lightly against Ventus’ chest next, Aqua felt mild concern but also grudging relief that he seemed to be breathing alright on his own still. But after leaning over awkwardly to listen her brows furrowed more. Respiratory infection? That was her first guess, but she’d need to figure out if it was bacterial or viral if it was. And she didn’t have the proper equipment there. “We have to get him to the hospital.”

“With what? Your tires have been slashed,” Lauriam commented, not trying to be rude, but still feeling the need to remind her of that.

“What did you three come in then?” Aqua asked, looking around.

“Walked,” Lauriam answered simply. Like he had enough money to buy a fancy car.

“My bike,” Skuld answered, feeling a little helpless now because of it. There was no way it would be safe to take Ventus anywhere with that. They might just have to call the ambulance.

As Aqua was about to reach for her phone, she paused when she saw another car pulling into the parking area. There was a familiar face behind the wheel, and an even more familiar face squishing against the backseat window when the car pulled alongside them, if several yards away.

“….Sora?”

“Aqua!” Sora’s forever cheerful voice was only slightly dampened when he managed to open the door of the car and scramble out. When he caught sight of Ventus while running towards them all cheer immediately left. “Ven!! Is he okay?” Sora asked, dropping to his knees.

“We need to get him to the hospital. Why is Riku driving?” Aqua repeated, but still felt too concerned about the other fact to not mention it.

“He’s sixteen,” Sora answered simply, then immediately started tugging at Aqua to get her to go. “C’mon, let’s go then.”

“Where did he get a car?” Aqua’s next question came as she carefully lifted Ventus up and hurried towards the car. And why was it so red? She didn’t ask that question aloud. That was an expensive car.

“Mickey!” Sora chimed, then ran around to the opposite side of the back of the car to scramble inside again.

“….. You stole your voice actor friend’s car?” The ridiculousness of the idea had made Aqua pause until Sora gently took Ventus’ hand to try and help pull both him and Aqua into the car.

“No!” Riku sputtered immediately. “He lets me borrow it. Since I don’t have enough for my own yet.”

Oh, that made sense. Sort of. Why anyone would let a teenager drive their fancy car was beyond Aqua’s understanding. But then again, if she had to pick a teenager to drive an expensive hunk of metal then Riku would be up there on the list. While Sora took on his accustomed duty of being a personal hot pack for Ventus, trying to wrap around his brother as best he could to keep him warmer, Aqua turned to the others. “Will you guys be alright?”

Blaine was kneeling next to the unconscious woman, and after the question he lifted his hand up quickly. “Oh yeah, we’ll be fine,” he answered with a steely smile, a single car key hanging from his fingers.

“…… I’ll pretend I don’t know anything,” Aqua said dryly. At least they wouldn’t be hanging out in a graveyard full of crime syndicate people.

Aqua had taken her jacket off to cover Ventus’ legs, but it still wasn’t enough. Sora knew the rest of them would be uncomfortable, but that didn’t matter right now.

“What? He’s not shivering though. Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Kairi asked, still bent around the back of the seat.

“Yeah! Ven always gets cold when he has a fever,” Sora chimed with a grin, knowing that all too well. It was one of the reasons they ended up sitting together whenever Ventus had a cold. Sora was like a natural hot pack that Ventus loved to snuggle against.

“Okay,” Kairi complied, tapping the button on the dashboard and rotating the dials to turn the heater up as high as it would go. She’d lower them again once the car warmed up to a more neutral temperature, but the cool weather outside wasn’t healthy to be in without some sort of warmth.

“Thanks! You’re the best Kairi,” Sora beamed after, causing Kairi to blush a little. Why was Sora so blunt about everything. It wasn’t that she hated the compliments, he was just so open about them that it was a little embarrassing.

At this point Aqua was fed up though, the tapping of her finger on her own arm stopping as she raised her hands. “Riku, for the love of everything I adore you for being a safe driver, but pull over.”

“What? Why?” Riku sputtered, flinching, but nevertheless looking for the best place to do so.

“Just do it,” Aqua shot back.

As soon as the car stopped Aqua almost kicked the door open and went to the driver’s side. “Get in the back,” she directed.

Riku was practically scrambling out of the car and into the back seat where he promptly clicked the seatbelt into place. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he muttered, holding onto his seatbelt as Aqua clicked her’s into place. Pulling back out into the main streets, Aqua tossed her phone over to Kairi. “Call my work and put it on speaker,” she directed, then slammed her foot on the gas.

Chapter Text

It hadn’t been hard at all to convince Axel to drive them to the graveyard, but it had been a little difficult to find the one they were looking for. Terra was unconscious now, and from the blood on the side of his head it looked like it was because of being hit by something. And considering how he was slung over Xemnas’ shoulder at the moment, Roxas had a good idea of what had happened.

“…Roxas…,” Xemnas greeted without emotion as he turned around. “And Xion, and Lea. So…. you’ve finally decided to come back to us?”

“Not a chance,” Axel shot back, not really liking the situation at hand. He’d been hoping they could just find Terra and get out of there, without running into Xemnas, but he should have known better considering Roxas had taken the time to grab a weapon. Or two.

“We were never part of your Syndicate. We just donated blood to you a few times for money. If you took that as wanting to join you, then you need to get your head screwed on better. Without using my brother as a guinea pig,” Roxas declined, bobbing one of the rods he had in agitation. He wasn’t sure what Axel had done, but he and Xion had only tried to earn a bit of munny to help pay for things with Axel and Isa. It wasn’t like they’d actively wanted to join the Black Family, they hadn’t even known it was them at first. Just some people that actually wanted Roxas’ weird mixed blood.

“Oh? Then I would encourage you to stop interfering with family affairs,” Xemnas cautioned, turning to face them fully now and flicking an electric rod into full length with his free hand.

“Only if you stop interfering with my family affairs,” Roxas shot back, not phased by the display of a weapon.

“Your family?” Xemnas sounded amused. “You do realize that one person can only belong to one family at a time, yes? This man belongs to the Black Family by blood, and therefore I’m taking him back.”

“But he belongs to the Waylen Family by name and legalities. He never had a name with the Black Family, therefore his membership is incomplete.”

“Roxas,” Axel hissed at that point. The way Roxas had said it, it was almost like he expected Xemnas to believe this was an issue between two syndicate families. And Axel wasn’t so sure anyone else in Roxas’ current family would enjoy being in one.

Roxas glanced back to give a stilling motion, then slid a foot forward. “If you intend to take him, then you know the rules. Correct?” He shifted his stance, raising the two pipes he had at the ready.

This time Xemnas laughed lightly. “You intend to duel me?” he asked, but was interested enough to roughly set Terra down on the ground.

“Yes. If I win, Terra comes with us, and you and the rest of your family will never interact with anyone that is part of our family, or under our jurisdiction, again. Alright?” Roxas demanded, ignoring Axel and Xion’s protests behind him. “Unless you’re afraid to lose to a fifteen year old,” he added as a sneering taunt.

Xemnas laughed again, but as usual it held little mirth. “As you wish. Boy.” And with that Xemnas was charging towards him.

Watching Roxas fight Xemnas, Axel couldn’t help but remember a conversation he’d had with Terra before. It hadn’t been that long ago it seemed, but it had actually been about two years. A rare time when it had just been the two of them, because the kids had been off rough housing in the park.

__

“You know, I would keep an eye on Roxas if I were you,” Terra’s voice was nonchalant, but his words sounded more serious.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Axel asked, raising a brow over the coffee he had.

“Nothing bad,” Terra assured, giving a calming gesture as he hadn’t meant to offend. “They visited me at work today, and for fun we profiled them all. It was pretty amusing, just as you’d expect for Sora and the others. But what I found interesting was how similar yet different Riku and Roxas ended up being.” Axel ended up snorting at that, knowing that Roxas wouldn’t have liked to hear it. “They’re both extremely protective of the ones they care about, that’s pretty obvious, huh?”

Having it put like that, Axel couldn’t help but grudgingly agree. “…. Well, yeah, I guess.”

“The difference between them though, is their readiness to extend compassion and open up towards strangers. Riku is more likely to be kind to strangers, even if he views them as a threat.”

Axel’s face scrunched up in thought about that. Okay. He didn’t see anything wrong with Roxas being more closed off to others, especially if they were bad people. “And what’s that supposed to mean exactly?”

“It means, that if they were about to seriously harm someone, even in self defense, Riku will hesitate,” Terra explained, looking directly at Axel as he finished what they both already knew now.

“Roxas won’t.”

__

Admittedly Axel hadn’t thought much of the warning, until now. Roxas was relentless in his attacks, using maneuvers that Axel had never seen him use before. Most of them he knew weren’t part of Terra’s kickboxing training. But if he were being honest Axel was finding it to be more of a pleasant surprise than an unwelcome one.

Xemnas had only landed a few hits on Roxas, but considering the electric rods those hits had hurt. The graze across Roxas’ forehead had only earned a hiss even if it had drawn blood. But when Roxas ended up blocking one of the strikes with his arm, unable to dodge, Axel almost jumped into the fight himself after the cry of pain Roxas gave. But he knew that would just cause Roxas to forfeit the duel, and therefore held his ground. Just barely.

It seemed to be an even fight, both of them were breathing heavily. But then Roxas saw an opening and spared no chance in missing it. With a twisting kick, Roxas caught Xemnas in the head, and apparently it hit just the right spot for when Xemnas fell he didn’t get back up.

Panting heavily, Roxas still held a defensive pose, his left arm raised to strike again if needed since his right hand was barely holding on to the other pipe. It was only after another minute passed that he slowly lowered his weapons, feeling fatigue starting to wash over him. He almost allowed himself to collapse to a seated position, but then they heard clapping from nearby.

“Who’s there?” Roxas demanded, turning towards the newcomer. Judging by the clothes they were wearing, he assumed they were with Xemnas.

“They call me Xehanort. Not to be confused with the late Master of course,” Xehanort answered calmly, moving over to stand next to Xemnas without really looking at him. “I have to admit I was thinking that Xemnas would win. But, you are indeed ruthless, Roxas. Congratulations. You’ve defeated an injured man.”

“What are you talking about?” Roxas snarled, already in a bad mood that was made worse by hearing that name.

“Surely you noticed the wound on his arm before your battle?” Xehanort pointed out, gesturing to the slash on Xemnas’ upper arm from his bout with Eraqus.

“Are you saying the duel was void because of that?” It wasn’t too big of a deal since he was still fairly sure they could take Terra with them. By force if needed. But he’d rather have the reassurance that they wouldn’t be bothered again.

Xehanort appeared to think for a moment, then shook his head. “No. If you weren’t standing on your own right now then I might have. But even if Xemnas hadn’t been injured…. I feel you would have been able to last long enough to win. And I also don’t have the authority to void the duel anyway. Xemnas is our head, and he accepted your challenge. You are free to take Terra.”

It was only now that Axel felt relieved enough to loosen his grip on Xion, who let out a whispered cheer and pumped her fists. She was about to head to Roxas, but Xehanort spoke up again and halted her.

“However, I have one more… requirement before we honor the rest of your demand.” The expression Xehanort was making showed that he knew he was being unfair, but didn’t care.

“What, you wanna fight too?” Roxas huffed, tightening his grip on the pipes. Only his left hand obeyed though. Moving his right hand caused his arm to throb, and the blood slick metal ended up slipping from his hand to the ground with a thump.

“Hm. No. Even if you were in any condition to do so,” Xehanort shook his head with mild amusement, his eyes having followed the pipe to the ground. “No, it’ll be a simple task. Just to prove you didn’t win by the skin of your teeth. All I want is for you to leave here on your own, without support from anyone else. Just walk back to the parking lot, and I’ll make sure your request is honored.”

If he had been feeling better, Roxas would have liked to punch this guy just for good measure. But at this point he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to keep standing, so just huffed. “Fine. Axel, get Terra.”

“Got it,” Axel voiced, immediately running forward to where Terra was still on the ground. He grimaced at the state Terra was in, and was a little more ginger than usual at picking him up, but still tried to hurry. Roxas was practically stomping his way back to the car already, and while Xion definitely wanted to give him a look over she made sure to keep enough distance so Xehanort couldn’t even attempt to accuse them of cheating.

Once they got to the car Xion dug the keys out of Axel’s pocket and unlocked the doors. Roxas just got in the backseat behind the driver’s seat, and made sure he was buckled in before he allowed himself to relax. While he did that, Xion pushed the passenger seat back to make a place to lay Terra down before she climbed in next to Roxas.

“Sorry,” Xion hushed when Roxas hissed after she bumped into his arm.

“… S’okay. Just…. Broken, probably,” Roxas admitted, but still tried to make room for Xion to sit next to him. It wasn’t technically legal to put two people in one seat, but he still pulled the seatbelt over to buckle both of them in.

“All set back there?” Axel asked after turning the car on, glancing back.

“Yep,” Xion attempted to chime cheerfully, but it was hard to, and Roxas gave a tired affirmative.

“…… You think I can manage to get them to bring me ice cream before Aqua lectures me?” Roxas asked as an afterthought as the car pulled out of the parking lot.

Axel honestly had more intelligent things to say planned in his mind when they stopped in front of the hospital. But after seeing the entire front of Roxas’ shirt covered in his own blood, and noting that Terra still hadn’t woken up, he only managed a single word after he kicked open the door to the emergency room. Luckily that was enough though. As soon as the staff noticed them they were shouting orders to each other. Xion and Roxas came stumbling in behind Axel, the former supporting the latter with his undamaged arm slung over her shoulders and a hand around his waist. He looked pale, but still conscious at least. Though apparently dizzy enough to have a hard time walking straight.

“What happened?” Came the question towards Axel as soon as they had a gurney there to take Terra away on.

“What does it matter? Just fix them!” Axel snapped back, obviously stressed out.

“Axel, it’s fine. It looks worse than it is,” Roxas assured, giving a tired smile that turned into a grimace as more hands helped him up onto another gurney.

“Quiet, Roxas,” Axel snapped again, but then caught himself and tried to calm down again. “Just…. behave yourself, okay?”

“Sure. Already know they got really great painkillers here,” Roxas huffed, giving a thumbs up after laying down. This was the hospital Eraqus and Aqua worked at, so it was the same one he’d been to years ago for heart surgery. Which explained who the nurses already knew him.

“One of these days you’re going to have to come in through the main entrance instead of the ER,” one of the nurses who was rushing beside him joked with him. Roxas couldn’t remember her name right then, but he did know Squall liked her.

“But then I wouldn’t have a party to greet me,” Roxas chuckled a little, relaxing a bit but also feeling nauseous enough to close his eyes. This was going to take awhile, but he was probably not going to notice since they were most likely going to knock him out for it.

After the rush of medics was gone, Axel couldn’t get himself to turn away from looking towards the ER doors. At least until he heard little sniffs and hiccups behind him, then he was immediately twisting to look at Xion. Right, she was always a quiet crier, and this must have been pretty scary for her. “Ah, Xion,” Axel hummed, moving over to pull her into a hug.

“C’mere. It’ll be alright.” He tried to reassure her, but if he were honest he was a little worried about Terra. Roxas would probably be punching them in no time, but that head wound seemed like it was going to be difficult to recover from.

“….Let’s see if they have a change of clothes or something for us, so we don’t have to go back home just yet. Then we can go wait in the lobby.” The suggestion came after he noticed the blood on his hands and Xion’s clothes. It would be a pain to wash out, but at least it wasn’t enough to get him more worried than he already was.

Giving a little nod, Xion allowed Axel to shuffle over to the receptionist with her. Luckily for them they had some spare scrub tops that they could wear, and plastic bags to put their dirty clothes in. “….. Do you want some help… or… any other reason for me to come with you?” Axel asked after noticing there was a general use restroom along with the others.

“… No… I’ll be okay,” Xion sniffed, but was reluctant to pull away too soon.

“…. Okay. Just… holler if you need anything,” Axel shrugged a bit, patting her head gently, then giving her a slight nudge on the back to get her moving. “Might pick you up when you get back,” he added with a slight grin, just to see if it would help cheer her up. Xion flashed him a tiny smile, and then disappeared into the restroom.

As soon as Xion came back from the restroom, all cleaned up and her dirty shirt in the plastic bag, Axel was waiting for her just outside. When he saw her he held out his hands wide to her, which made her giggle and hurry forward. Snickering too, Axel gave her another hug before he followed up on his vague promise to pick her up when she got back. And then he headed out to the lobby while still holding her, having her wrap around him like a monkey.

They were just going to wait, but surprisingly when they reached the lobby they saw some familiar faces. “Oh,” Axel voiced, pausing for a moment before setting Xion down again.

Turning to see what Axel was looking at, Xion was surprised as well. “Riku. Kairi…. Where’s Sora? I thought he was with you guys today.”

“He didn’t get beat up too did he?” Axel asked, folding his arms. Honestly it was bad enough that one of their groups misbehaved already, he didn’t think Aqua could take it if more of them had.

“What? No. He’s with Ven,” Riku answered looking confused, and then worried. “What do you mean ‘get beat up too’? - Wait, where’s Roxas?” With that much information Riku already realized what had happened, but waited for them to say it.

“With Ven? What? Why aren’t you with them too then?” Xion asked as she and Axel moved to sit on the second sofa next to them.

“Okay, hold on. One story at a time,” Kairi interrupted, holding her hands up in a halting motion. Chirithy made an annoyed noise when her head lost it’s pillow, but she just irritably shifted to get comfortable again. “We went to pick up Aqua and Ven from the graveyard, as Sora wanted. But Ven had collapsed from illness so we had to take him here.”

“Ohhhh….,”Axel nodded slowly. Okay, so they hadn’t been completely crazy. “Why aren’t you with them then?”

Kairi’s gaze fell a little at that. “They… put Ven in reverse isolation. And Sora volunteered to stay with him so he’d have someone to calm him down if he reacted poorly to the setting… But they won’t let anyone else stay in there with them, so… we’re just waiting out here for Aqua.”

Axel and Xion both winced at that revelation. “Ouh. That bad huh,” Xion grimaced. They all knew that Ventus had the worst immune system out of all of them considering the dosage of suppressants he was on, but it was still surprising to hear that they didn’t feel comfortable treating him at home this time.

“Yeah…,” Kairi agreed, scratching Chirithy’s head a little.

“What about Roxas?” Riku asked, wanting to hear the story on this one.

Axel coughed a little, and rubbed the back of his neck. “Ehhhhhhh… So you saw the text from Terra about Xemnas, yeah?” He asked first, just to get on the same page.

Kairi and Riku both nodded, and then Riku’s eyes widened after a realization. “Oh man. You guys didn’t go after that man, did you?” The expression Axel and Xion pulled after the question just made Riku groan and slump back. “Uuuuuuugh…. How bad is it? I’m guessing he’s at least not dead.”

Axel grimaced at that bluntness, but shook his head. “No, just a broken arm. But there’s an open wound in the same place, so my guess is it’s a little complicated. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re putting plates in it or something.”

Riku sighed again, and Kairi couldn’t help but give a smothered snicker at him. “Well, at least they’re alright.”

“Yeah, but Aqua is gonna get an ulcer at this rate. She already lectured us the entire drive here for not staying at the beach house like she told us to.”

“But at least we’ll be able to tell her that we won’t get bothered by those guys anymore,” Xion spoke up, glad to have at least some good news.

Riku and Kairi stared at her in suppressed horror at the implication of what she said, and she had to quickly correct herself. “We didn’t kill anyone! Just… Roxas dueled Xemnas under the agreement that the entire Black Family would leave us alone if he won. And he did!”

“……Huh?! The Black Family?! Are you serious? That’s who you guys went after?” Riku demanded, having not known that this Xemnas guy was part of that crime syndicate.

“Yup! But Roxas knocked him right out! It was so cool, he just had two metal pipes while Xemnas had these electric rods………”

Aqua muttered futilely into the phone as she sped walked toward the lobby. She had to go and make sure Riku and Kairi were okay now that they others were taken care of, but she really wished Terra were there too right now. “Don’t make me do this on my own…,” she muttered sadly when the phone went to an answering machine.

“Aqua?” Riku’s voice broke her out of her distracting thoughts, and she looked up with a mild flinch.

“Riku,” Aqua voiced, and it was surprisingly relieving to see him and Kairi doing alright.

“Is everything gonna be alright?” Riku asked, having gotten up and almost gone towards her if it weren’t for her reaching them first. She hadn’t looked so good a second ago.

“Y… yes. I believe so. Ven is on antibiotics, and other support. His fever hasn’t broken yet, but Sora and Lunafreya are watching over him closely. I believe he’ll be fine,” Aqua assured a little hesitantly, but still with a small smile. “As for Master Eraqus, he’s out of surgery now and currently in ICU. He hasn’t woken up yet, but they feel confident that he’ll be alright as well. We… just need to find Terra now….. Where’s Roxas?” While giving them her report Aqua had noticed Axel and Xion there, and the distinct lack of a third person. Who she had personally dropped off with said people currently there.

Axel ended up gulping a little at her tone of voice. “Uhhhhhh….. Back there, with Terra,” he answered shortly, pointing to the interior of the hospital.

“What?! You found him? Why is Roxas back there??” Aqua looked surprised, and then her brows dropped dangerously. She was about to ask what had happened, but then her phone rang and she immediately answered it.

Axel felt like he had a knife to his back or something, and it was tempting to just sneak back to the other rooms and risk the nurses yelling at him instead of Aqua. It sounded like she was being updated on the presence of the two new patients, and while it was a huge relief to hear that they now knew where Terra was his condition still made her pale a little. When she finally hung up the phone she looked at it for a moment before rounding on Axel. “A broken. ARM????” she demanded, as much venom in her voice as emphasis.

Axel immediately raised his hands defensively and backed up. “Hey, you know how Roxas is. It was either take him there and keep track of him, or turn around an hour later to see he’d snuck out,” he defended instantly. 

Aqua snarled a little and made a strangling motion with her hands, but thankfully she did understand Roxas well enough to know that Axel had probably taken the right course of action. It was either that or tie the kid down somewhere until everything was over. And they had managed to rescue Terra. Glaring pointedly for a bit longer, Aqua figured she should check up on the rest of her family before calming down enough for the inevitable wait. “I’m going to call our staff, and then I’ll get rooms for you guys to stay in for the night. I’m not comfortable with you going home just yet,” she informed them, typing a number into her phone as she turned around.

Back behind the others, Xion leaned over to Kairi and whispered, “Eeeeesh. She is scaaaary.”

Kairi had to give a snicker and smile. “Only when you’re on the receiving end.”

“Mhmmm. You think Axel almost wet himself?” Xion asked lightly, earning giggles from both of them. Riku just gave them both a raised brow of disbelief, but understood that they were probably just trying to deal with the current mood.

Chapter Text

Sora’s voice was soft, both because he didn’t want to startle Ventus and because it was within an hour past midnight. It had taken a long time before the antibiotics and medicine worked well enough for Ventus’ fever to break, but Sora had been there the whole time gently patting his forehead and cheeks with a damp cloth.

Ventus looked very confused, and Sora stayed quiet as his eyes looked over what he could see without moving his head. The beep of the heart rate machine and mechanical breaths from oxygen therapy were familiar sounds, but in a disorienting way. Sora’s face looking down at him was also familiar, but not. Sora’s hands were gentle, unlike the others that ghosted on the edge of Ventus’ memory.

“… Are you… feeling alright?” Sora asked after a while, more just to break the silence and make sure Ventus stayed focused on the present. “Well… better than earlier at least?”

Ventus ended up just giving weak coughs in response at first, and the nod ended up turning into a shake of his head instead. What he remembered before was just being cold. Now his chest hurt. Or more specifically his lungs.

“Oh….,” Sora seemed pretty crestfallen about that, but tried to bring his smile back as he cupped his hands around Ventus’ hand. “Well, you’re awake now at least. It’s been awhile- Not like, days or anything. Just a bunch of hours.” He had to correct himself quickly for Ventus looked a little panicked about having been asleep for a long time. He’d rather not have spent another year in a coma. “It’s still the same day… or… it was about an hour ago. Everyone is probably asleep now, or I’d call them. But… I thought you might wake up soon, so I wanted to be awake too when you did.”

Ventus gave a small smile at that, always appreciating how much Sora gave him. He realized what looked odd about Sora now though, and weakly plucked at the pair of scrub pants Sora was wearing.

“What, these?” Sora asked, looking down at his own clothes as though he forgot what he was wearing. “Heh, they wouldn’t let me stay in here with you with my old clothes. And they took my phone too. Since it all has to be sterile… or something.” Ventus looked even more confused, so Sora chuckled a little and explained more. “We’re in reverse isolation together. So that you don’t get even more sick. But they gave us a tablet to be able to talk to the others.” He reached over to the nearby table and picked up the simple tablet to show Ventus. “This way we can also watch movies if you get bored, so we’ll be okay. Oh! And everyone else is okay now too. We’re all safe and accounted for, so make sure you take it easy and get better soon, okay?”

Giving a small nod, and another smile, Ventus finally willed up the energy and breath to talk. “Thank you… for always protecting me… Sora.”

It was a little surprising to hear, but Sora ended up just giving a toothy smile after being stunned for a second. “Of course. I’ll always be there when you need me. We’re part of each other now, yeah?” he asked, resting a hand on his own chest. Just mentioning that they were friends, or brothers, probably would have been enough, but he knew he could always get the others to laugh when he said it that way. And sure enough, Ventus ended up giving pathetic but happy snickers.

Considering how late it had been when Roxas got out of surgery he hadn’t been awake at all until the next morning. Which meant that he was still really groggy even though the sedatives were long gone from his system. It wasn’t that he didn’t do well with mornings, but sometimes it was just a rough day. Especially when he ended up having a day full of stress the night before. Xion was surprisingly awake, but that could easily be associated with her worry for Roxas. But Axel was his typical opposite of sunshine mood flopped on the foot of the bed.

“Here, let me get that,” Xion commented, taking the cup of yogurt that the staff had given Roxas for breakfast. It was strange that they hadn’t already opened it for him since his right arm was completely bandaged up, but maybe they just forgot. Roxas just hummed his gratitude and stared blankly at her as she peeled the foil off the top. He didn’t even realize that she had the spoon in her hand too until it was in his mouth. Hmm. Strawberry. How typical.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Mhmm,” Roxas gave a single nod, and shifted his arm slightly before wincing. “It’s fine when I don’t move it, doesn’t hurt at all. But when I move around it twinges a little.” He had been right, this hospital really did have good painkillers.

“That’s good,” Xion hummed, giving Roxas another spoonful of yogurt. “I hope it doesn’t take too long to heal. Do you know what they had to do yet?”

“Something about putting supports in to hold the bones in place without a cast. ‘Cause they can’t put fiberglass cast on it since they have to change the dressing a bunch.” He’d only heard that right before they had put him to sleep, so he wasn’t sure exactly what they had done to his arm. Not that he really cared, it was going to be fine. “Where’s everyone else?”

“ICU and reverse isolation. Pretty much the only one we can visit freely is you. Ven woke up during the night, so they’re feeling more confident that he’ll be okay. But Master Eraqus and Terra are still asleep. Riku and Kairi are down at breakfast I think. They’re not really sure what to do since they can’t really go home yet, but also aren’t allowed to be with the others. They also didn’t want to make you feel crowded.”

“Oh…. what time is it?”

“About eight.”

“Hmmm….,” Roxas hummed, thinking. So Ventus, Terra, and Eraqus were currently in serious condition, and two of them hadn’t even woken up yet. He spent another moment in consideration, before he started pulling the blankets off his lap and swung his legs over the beside.

“Uhhh, what are you doing?” Xion asked, not sure she needed to stop him. She hadn’t been given any instructions on keeping him in bed after all, but she did at least start slapping Axel’s arm to wake him up again.

“Going to find Aqua,” Roxas answered simply, grabbing onto the IV pole to take it with him since he was presently attached to it.

“….. Why?” Xion asked now and slid off the bed too as Axel lifted his head up with a snort, looking around in confusion.

“Because her three most precious people are in serious states right now. I want to make sure she’s doing alright.” Roxas’ answer was simple, and sounded almost exasperated, but he couldn’t blame them for not noticing that. Aqua wasn’t the type to break down easily, but this was probably still really hard for her. And he still needed to show her that he was okay, even if she was going to lecture him for what he’d done.

It took awhile for Roxas to finally find Aqua, having stubbornly walked through most of that floor of the hospital even though both Xion and Axel kept telling him to take a break. When he did find her he was surprised to see Riku was already with her. But he wasn’t surprised to see that she wasn’t completely keeping it together. Still, he didn’t want to be seen, so ended up hiding around the corner, shushing his tag alongs as well.

“I’ll be okay, Riku. Just… give me a minute.” Aqua’s voice sounded strained, and so very tired. Roxas began to wonder if she’d even gotten any sleep the night before. He heard a little gasp from her, and peeked around the corner again to see Riku awkwardly giving her a hug. He was always so weird when it came to affection, but at least he was trying.

“You know… sometimes it’s okay not to be okay,” Riku commented, giving Aqua a pat on the back as her shoulders started shaking. “We can handle ourselves for a little while. If you just need a break.”

There was a long stretch of silence before Aqua spoke up, her voice quieter than before and barely keeping it together still. “What am I supposed to do Riku? What if they don’t wake up? What if….”

Hearing that, Roxas ended up heaving a relenting sigh before he stepped out from around the corner. “Maybe you should go sit with them instead,” he commented, looking more like a grumpy teenager that had just woken up than anything else.

“Roxas!” Aqua gasped, nudging Riku away so that she could run over to him. “What are you doing up? You should be resting.”

“Aqua,” Roxas hushed sternly, looking at her with a raised brow. “I’m fine. It’s just a broken arm. Nothing to put me in bed for hours on end.” Really, now that the anesthesia and sleep had worn off he was feeling quite alright. Nothing more than what he usually got when he sparred with Terra.

Aqua balled her hands into fists and looked at him with a narrowed eyed gaze, and for a moment he thought he was going to get that lecture he’d been prepared for from the beginning. But she ended up letting her hands open again as her shoulders slumped with a sigh, and before Roxas could question it she stepped forward to wrap her arms around him. “….Thank you, Roxas… for finding Terra,” she said instead, not feeling up to scolding him right now. Maybe later, but maybe never. Maybe it would be better to just not have that argument between them.

Roxas stiffened a little at the hug, more because he was surprised rather than it being unwelcomed. It was confusing too, but he figured he could be a little more honest than usual because of it. “Well… it wasn’t like I was going to let him get kidnapped too,” he mumbled slightly, loosely wrapping his undamaged arm around her.

And that single line was enough for Aqua to finally understand why Roxas had done something so crazy. With two of his brothers having been stolen from him since birth, and getting them back, it was pretty obvious now that Roxas would be hyper reluctant to ever let that happen again. Aqua found her shoulders relaxing a little more in acceptance to that, and she gave Roxas a bit of a squeeze. “I get it,” she answered simply, and wouldn’t bring this up against him anymore.

It was in the middle of a more somber breakfast with the others that Aqua got another call on her phone. She was quick to answer it of course, but for once in the past day and a half it turned out to be good news.

“Really?” Aqua sounded like she didn’t believe what she’d just been told, but a hesitant smile was still growing on her face. “I’ll be right there,” she said quickly before hanging up. “Master Eraqus is awake,” she announced as she was already standing up, tears in her eyes just barely being held back.

It was a relief that washed over everyone, the other five giving a mixture of sighs and giggles at the announcement. They were quick to clean up and follow Aqua down the winding halls to the room Eraqus was staying in. It was a little hard to keep up with her, and Roxas ended up waving the others on ahead, not wanting to slow them down. But luckily for him Axel wasn’t going to leave him in the dust, and ended up scooping him up off the ground so they all could reach the room together.

Aqua was the first to get there, and after excitedly opening the door she ended up freezing with hesitation. Eraqus still had his eyes closed for the first moment, but when he heard someone come in he blinked them open to look over. “… Aqua,” he greeted, sounding obviously tired, but not as weak as one would expect.

“Master!” Aqua cried after hearing her name, rushing forward as she could no longer keep the tears back. She was careful not to put any pressure where he’d been hurt, but still had to get a hug in. “I was so worried.”

“I’m sorry,” Eraqus apologized, wrapping her in a warm hug and leaning his chin on her head. “It’s going to be alright. I’m not going anywhere,” he assured, giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder.

“Ven, and Terra…,” Aqua mentioned while the others filed into the room quietly, though she wasn’t able to bring up specifics.

“… What about them?” Eraqus asked, trying to remain calm but feeling increasing worry. He ended up catching sight of Roxas as Axel was setting him back on his feet too, and had a silent question about his condition as well.

“They’re here too, but not doing well,” Roxas spoke up bluntly, but figured it was better to break the news instead of letting Eraqus dwell on any other, worse thoughts.

Riku flinched at the abruptness of Roxas’ voice, but was thankful for the ice breaker. “Terra was injured with a blow to the head. He’s out of surgery, but he hasn’t woken up yet,” he added, looking over to the others for confirmation, in case they had gotten any updates other than that.

“And Ven is with Sora in reverse isolation. Ven got a bad case of pneumonia, so…” Kairi offered as well, also looking to the others to see if they had heard anything different.

That wasn’t as bad as it could have been, so Eraqus relaxed slightly. He could understand why Aqua was still so upset though, and gave her a firm squeeze. “… and Roxas?” Eraqus asked, a little bit of firmness in his tone. As far as he knew Roxas hadn’t been anywhere near home when everything had happened.

“Xemnas tried to kidnap Terra. So I beat him up,” Roxas answered with a smug smile. As he’d expected, his response earned a few snorts from the others, including a small one from Eraqus, so he knew he wasn’t in trouble. Too much trouble anyway.

“You’re grounded. But thank you,” Eraqus responded bluntly, knowing that Roxas was expecting no less. “No leaving this hospital until everyone else is discharged a well, or until I say otherwise.”

“….Okay,” Roxas nodded, not really liking being confined to the building, but finding it fair for having done something so dangerous. And when Eraqus went back to focusing more on Aqua, Roxas figured he may as well call Sora and give them the good news as well. If Sora was even awake yet.

It took several calls before Sora answered, having indeed been asleep still. Since he’d stayed up so late he wasn’t wanting to get up until well into the afternoon. Plus it was really comfortable snuggled down next to Ventus. But after the fourth time of the voice call program sounding off that he had a call, Sora managed to reach across Ventus to the nearby table and pick it up.

“Hnnnnn…. What’s up Roxy?” Sora groaned after answering the call and propping it up to look at with as little effort as possible.

“Thought you’d still be asleep. It’s all you do when you’re left on your own,” Roxas commented, giving a slightly forced smile. He hadn’t seen Ventus until now, so it was a little hard to adjust to the sight, even if it was a familiar one.

“Well, then go away and let me sleep,” Sora commented back, but they both knew he would be sad and just immediately call back if Roxas did hang up. They both chuckled instead, and after a moment Roxas spoke while turning the phone.

“Thought you might want to see Pop, now that he’s awake too.”

This made Sora immediately wake up a little more, untangling himself from Ventus so he could sit up. “Wha’? He’s okay?!” he blurted, holding the tablet with two hands until he could get a clear view.

When Eraqus saw what Roxas was doing he immediately gave the screen a warm smile. “Hello, Sora. I’m alright,” he confirmed. Saying good morning when either of them had only woken up recently seemed out of place.

“Master Dad!” Sora beamed in response, and probably would have run in for a hug if the screen wasn’t there instead. “Hi! - Oh!… Ven,” with a blink of realization he turned to gently rest his hand on Ventus’ nudging him back and forth.

“Ah! Sora, no! Wait. Let him sleep,” Roxas protested immediately, and would have grabbed Sora away if he could. The others in the room had similar verbal protests, wincing and hissing at the reaction.

“Huh?…. But he’ll be really happy to see you. It’ll make him feel better, and he’ll get better sooner. Yeah?” Sora asked, but thankfully stopped trying to wake Ventus up.

“It’s alright. We can talk once he wakes up on his own, but… we both need rest right now. Let him sleep, and just be there when he wakes up. Okay?” Eraqus assured softly, wincing just slightly when an amused chuckle aggravated his abdomen.

Sora watched the screen for a moment while he considered the options, but eventually nodded. “Got it. Let me know if you guys need anything, alright?”

This time Riku had to chime in, “Pfff. What can you do right now? I don’t think they’ll let you just wander in and out of that room right now.”

“Hey,” Sora protested, getting a slight pout. Riku was right though, he wouldn’t be able to do much for the others until he and Ventus were both clear to leave that room. “Well…. I can still talk to you guys, can’t I?” he huffed, trying to come back with at least one thing.

Earning chuckled and snickers from the others helped ease his pout, and he ended up showing a toothy smile again.

“Just… take care of that end for us, okay? We got over here covered,” Roxas directed with a crooked smile. Sora always did try to do too much.

“…. You got it,” Sora nodded again, his smile getting just a bit bigger, if possible.

“You’re not going to get anything from him, Zack.” Aqua sounded like she had just gotten over being completely unable to handle what was going on anymore. She was sitting on a backless bench a ways away from the rooms where her family were, head in her hands and borderline angry.

“I know, I’m not here for that,” Zack assured quickly as he sat on the cushion next to her. When he raised a hand to rest on her shoulder she shied away slightly though, and he ended up lowering it to the bench instead. “I heard what happened,” he explained with a sigh, looking up at the top part of the opposite wall. “They warned us it might,” he then reminded her, sounding a little bitter about that. “With that head injury and all.”

“That doesn’t make this any easier!” Aqua snapped, raising her head from her hands enough to snarl at him a little.

Zack just gave her a pained, sympathetic smile to try and reassure her, saying nothing. It wasn’t easy, he knew that. That’s why he was there. Aqua ended up sighing and lowering her head again.

“…What am I supposed to tell the others?” Aqua finally asked, the heartbreak at that thought coming through only a little.

“… The truth?” Zack asked, feeling a little confused about the question. “It’s focal retrograde amnesia, isn’t it?”

Aqua nodded, but was annoyed at the answer. “That’s not what I meant. This isn’t a bump on the head that we just go ‘oh, okay, guess we don’t rough house with Terra anymore for awhile’,” she pointed out, her voice turning to a mocking tone at the end.

Zack grimaced at that, and more or less understood what she meant now. It wasn’t like everyone knew how to deal with memory loss. “….How much is gone?” he asked after a moment, wondering what they had to work with.

“Twelve years. Give or take a few things,” Aqua answered bitterly.

That made Zack hiss in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting that long ago. No wonder Aqua was worried, that was before Terra had even known about the missing child case for Ventus and Vanitas. “……… I’m sorry,” he finally spoke up after slumping back against the wall. “I’ll be here if you want me to help. Probably bring Aerith too. She’ll be good for Riku and Sora at least, they get along with her well.”

Aqua could only hum in response. It could have been worse, but it wasn’t all that good either. What she wanted was just a break to go back to when everything was okay.

“My name is Namine. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, I only came to talk to you.”

Namine was rather calm compared to the others. After Aqua had given them the news about Terra almost all of them were reluctant to go see him. Not because they didn’t want to, but because they were afraid of various things. Riku wasn’t sure how to take a friend not remembering him, especially after all the time they had spent together and everything Terra had taught him. Roxas was just afraid to make it worse by getting angry or impatient with him or something. And while Sora was more than willing to talk to Terra again, he wasn’t able to leave the room just yet. Not until Ventus was doing much better, and doing more than sleeping most of the day. That was one of the reasons no one had actually had the heart to tell Ventus yet. The rest of the group, aside from Eraqus who was still also stuck in bed, were just hesitant to approach an issue they felt they weren’t as closely involved in. Xion and Axel wanted to make sure Roxas was alright, and Kairi was worried about Sora. Which left Namine to pick up the slack. Which was rather appropriate all things considered.

“My mom was an occupational therapist that specialized in memory related problems,” Namine proceeded to explain, giving some context as to why she was there. “I’m not going to try and be her, that would be too hard. But one of the things that she always tried to get people to do to help someone remember is just talk to them about what happened, without expecting them to remember it. I’m not sure what Aqua told you, but the doctors say that the memory loss is temporary. The blow to you head injured your brain, but not enough to cause permanent damage according to what they can see. So when it heals completely it should be easier for you to start recalling things you’ve forgotten. But it also helps to focus on keeping your brain active, so I’m going to tell you all the secrets about the family you’ve got now. But make sure you let me know if you start to get a headache or something, okay? I don’t want to over stress you.”

Throughout Namine’s rambling, Terra stared at her with more or less unfocused eyes. But at the mention of spilling everyone’s secrets he did smile a little. The amount of medication he was on, as well as the injury was just making it hard for him to focus. Honestly just having Namine there chatting away about different people was pretty nice. She already said he didn’t have to respond, so all he had to do was lay there and listen. And also think about what she was telling him, when he was up for it.

“…. I miss you Sora.” Kairi’s hands were pressed against the glass, but she wasn’t quite looking up at Sora. They were on call, but her phone, and the tablet Sora was using were both on the seats next to them.

“… But I’m right here,” Sora insisted, trying to reassure her even though he knew it wasn’t working so well this time.

“I know, but…. It’s not the same, Sora. You’re not really here. I can’t hold you, or hear you without this stupid device…,” Kairi insisted. Even though their hands were pretty much against each other, the glass made it cold. It wasn’t the same at all.

Sora’s gaze softened a little more, and he rested his forehead against the glass too, trying to think of something to help. It had already been a couple weeks. Ventus was getting better, but he would be lying if he didn’t say he also missed being with the others face to face. He still didn’t want to leave Ventus on his own just yet though, even if Ventus insisted that he would be fine. Sora had already committed to being there until Ventus was released too, and he wasn’t going to back down just yet. But it did get harder when Kairi was missing him as much as she was now. Most of the time he could just remind her of the big hug he was going to give her after he got out, but that didn’t seem like it would help this time. So maybe she needed a distraction again.

“Hey. What’s that game you mentioned that just came out? That rhythm one that has the online multiplayer?” Hopefully Eraqus and Aqua could get the hospital staff to let them set up and play in the hallway right outside this room.

“Huh?…. Why? You don’t have a system in there to play with,” Kairi pointed out, sort of guessing what Sora was talking about.

“No, but I do have this,” Sora grinned, holding the tablet up and pointing to it. “And I have a really cool brother with some awesome friends that could probably hook it up to work for me.”

Hearing that, Kairi slowly got a smile that was closer to the one she usually wore, and gave an excited nod. “Okay, let me see if we can get a TV out here then.”

“Looks like it’ll scar, but that’s to be expected. It is healing a lot better than I thought it would though,” Aqua commented, gingerly feeling the cut on Roxas’ arm. She was doing better, now that the others were doing a little better too, and was in the process of changing the bandages for Roxas. It was a regular occurrence now. Not only because Roxas preferred to have her or Eraqus work on him, but also because it helped Aqua be distracted from any depressing thoughts.

“Mm,” Roxas hummed simply. He’d been expecting a scar, of course. Considering they’d had to put a metal plate in his arm he wasn’t surprised. And he already had a scar down the middle of his chest, so big deal having one more. Especially since he’d gotten it protecting someone now instead of dying.

“I’m surprised it didn’t get infected though. All things considered,” Aqua added with a mild chuckle, and started to dress the wound again.

Roxas ended up giving a half smile and soft chuckle. “That’s because of Sora,” he admitted, a bit quietly.

“Huh?” Aqua lifted her head slightly, making sure she’d heard Roxas correctly.

Seeming a bit hesitant to answer, Roxas smiled a little more. “I used to get sick all the time, when I was little. But… after the bone marrow transplant from Sora, I almost never get sick anymore.”

“Ohhh…. Of course. Bundle of energy that he is,” Aqua responded, more just to comment something than actually make sense.

They were quiet again as Aqua wound the new bandages around Roxas’ arm, and as she was finishing up and securing it, Roxas’ phone rang. Grabbing it with his left hand, Roxas smiled again when he saw it was the tablet Sora had. “Hey Sora. What’s up?” he asked after answering the call.

“Can- Hi! - Can you make my tablet a controller for a game system?” Sora asked, interrupting himself to properly say hello, and pointing at the tablet screen. “We want to play a game with Kairi, but… you know,” he added after Roxas gave him a confused expression.

“…. Possibly. There might be emulators for it,” Roxas answered, trying to think if he’d seen any before. It shouldn’t be too hard, all he had to do was walk Sora through finding one and getting it installed.

“You won’t be installing pirated software on the hospital’s tablet,” Aqua chided immediately, shaking her head.

“It won’t be pirated,” Roxas protested quickly, knowing better than that. Axel would be okay if he did that, but he wasn’t going to on some hospital equipment. “I won’t be installing anything if you don’t allow me to anyway. You’ll have to unlock the tablet since I’m assuming it’s on admin lock.”

Aqua pursed her lips at the prospect, not sure she wanted to allow that. But after hearing nothing from her Sora spoke up again. “Pleeeaaaase Aqua? Kairi is really depressed and this is the only way I can think of cheering her up.”

Hearing that Aqua ended up sighing. “Fiiiiine. But we’re reverting it back to the way it was before you messed with it after, okay?”

“You got it,” Roxas grinned, sliding off the exam table and heading out of the room. “Be right there, just gotta pick up Xion on the way so she can help.”

The scene that Zack and Aerith walked into was a very crowded hallway just outside the isolation rooms. Crowded, but not impassable. A modest sized TV on a stand had been dragged over, as well as a bench and a few plastic chairs. Kairi was in the middle of the bench, with Riku on her left and Sora looking out from the glass window on her right. Sora had the tablet in his hands that he was awkwardly using as a controller as he assisted Kairi in the rhythm game she was playing. Namine was seated next to Riku, and then Xion, and Roxas. And surprisingly next to Roxas was Eraqus, seated in a wheelchair so that he could join his kids in their fun. Axel was also there too, but on the other side with Aqua to be able to see better, and Sora had raised part of the bed Ventus was on so that he could sit up easily and watch too. The only one who wasn’t there was Terra, but the noise would have given him a headache on top of him already being asleep at the moment.

“Aerith,” Riku greeted when the two came over. “Good morning. Come to join the craziness?”

“You know it. I’ll make you guys wish you were better than me,” Aerith played along, holding a fist in front of her even though she really had no idea what they were doing exactly.

“Zack! Aerith!” Sora chimed as a greeting after he finally noticed they were there.

“Hey! Sora, focus!” Kairi chided quickly, Sora’s distracted attention causing him to miss a few beats.

“Ahhh, got it, got it,” came the hurried reply as Sora immediately went back to tapping at the tablet.

“Did you bring flowers for everyone?” Namine asked, noticing the large bouquets both of them had. They were probably from Aerith’s shop. Not only because it made sense, but also Zack tended to carry Aerith’s flowers with a little more care than others.

“Yeah, figured you guys could use some more cheering up. It’s been a few weeks already, hasn’t it?” Zack chimed, moving down to one knee in front of Roxas. “For you, my boy.”

As soon as Zack kneeled in front of him, Roxas wrinkled his nose and pulled back a little. “What for? I’m not a flower person. Not really.”

“Maybe not, but I’m sure you could give them to your girlfriend,” Zack commented back with a wink to both of them, earning a snicker and giggle from Xion as Roxas looked away with a mild blush, seeming to pay attention to Aerith giving the bouquet she had to Eraqus.

“She likes seashells better,” Roxas muttered as a counter, his uninjured hand fidgeting with his clothes.

“Aww, you remember,” Xion snickered more, leaning over to tap her lips on Roxas’ cheek, causing it to become more red.

Ignoring the coo that Aerith made, Roxas ended up bumping his head against Xion’s gently before leveling his gaze with Zack again. “Okay, but why are you really here?” he asked, knowing that Zack wasn’t there just to bring them flowers. If anything Aerith was the one that made him bring them so that his visit would be more pleasant than she thought it would be originally.

Zack ended up grinning, mildly impressed. But he didn’t give in just yet, not wanting to ruin the mood. “Why don’t you come with me to help pick out snacks for everyone? Apparently you know what everyone likes the most, yeah?” he suggested. “Oh, and, Master Eraqus can come too, of course.”

That was an easy enough hint for Roxas to understand that Zack was there to ask him some questions, but didn’t want anyone else to know just yet. After getting a nod from Eraqus about that matter, Roxas nodded too. “Sure. Why not,” he replied, standing up from his seat as Aerith took the handles of Eraqus’ chair.

“We’ll be back soon. Keep playing, but make sure to stay out of the way of the staff,” Eraqus bid to the others, earning nods from those who were paying less attention to the game to respond.

It hadn’t taken very long at all for them to find the appropriate snacks for everyone, and after helping Roxas open his ice cream bar Zack looked curiously at it. “Sea salt ice cream huh? …. How odd,” he mused, not answering Roxas’ question right away. When Roxas didn’t humor the deviation in topic and just stared at Zack while taking a bite out of the ice cream. Zack ended up chuckling as he bit off a chunk of his own ice cream, leaning his elbow on the table. “What makes you think I had something to ask you?”

“You made up some reason to separate me specifically from the others, and also made sure my guardian was here since I’m underage,” Roxas answered flatly, causing Eraqus to cover up his amusement by clearing his throat. Roxas was a bit of a hassle sometimes simply because he wasn’t as oblivious as Sora.

Giving a little hum, Zack figured he’d stop pretending. “Fair enough. You’re right, I had some things to ask you,” he admitted, but didn’t bother changing his demeanor at all. “I’m not interrogating you though, so relax. Unless there’s something we don’t know about that you’ve done illegally.”

Roxas pursed his lips a little, but figured it would probably be better not to mention anything in response to that. “…. Ask away then.”

Zack had to raise a brow a bit, but figured he may as well not stall any longer. “I spoke with Axel before now, and he confirmed that you three went out to the graveyard specifically after getting notification that Terra was there, and that Xemnas most likely was too. Why?”

Roxas felt tense at the question, but hesitantly answered. “I wasn’t going to let one of my brothers get kidnapped by Xemnas again. I already told Aqua that.”

“Again?” Zack prodded, even though there was a hint that he already knew the answer.

Roxas flinched, and glanced over at Eraqus, who simply nodded after a moment’s consideration. But it wasn’t quite enough for Roxas to admit to exactly how much he knew, and he remained quiet.

“…. We already know you’ve had some involvement with Xemnas before, Roxas,” Zack prodded. “I know that your reaction came only after the mention that Xemnas was involved. Now most people would run in the opposite direction when the Black Family is involved. But you ran towards them, and, I’m told, dealt with them in a manner quite in line to how they are used to handling things. If I’m to believe my informant, it looks like we have a new player on the board. Or does the Waylen Family not ring any bells?”

Eraqus’ brows immediately rose at the mention of his family name, and he looked over to Roxas, who was now looking horribly guilty and staring at the table. “Roxas…,” Eraqus hissed, not sure exactly what Zack was talking about, but wanting to hear it from Roxas first.

“I didn’t do anything illegal okay?” Roxas quickly snapped, looking between the two.

“Creating a crime syndicate isn’t illegal?” Zack asked, raising his brow and resting his chin on his hand.

“It’s not a crime syndicate,” Roxas protested. “All I did was mention that Terra was part of the Waylen family now, because he is. Xemnas was spouting off some nonsense about Terra being a member of the Black Family, so I just came back with something equal that he would understand. And if anyone asks then just tell them that the Waylens are a medical syndicate that runs hospitals. There’s nothing illegal about them, it just depends on how you look at the wording.”

Admittedly hearing Roxas’ response was deeply reassuring, and Eraqus heaved a sigh in relief. So he wouldn’t have to deal with his son trying to create a crime syndicate. That was good. Still, it was a little worrisome how much Roxas had found out. Thinking for a moment, Eraqus figured it would be better for him to tell Roxas the truth instead of Zack. “Roxas….. We believe that Xemnas was after Terra because while Terra himself was never involved with them, his… mother was.”

Roxas looked stunned at that, staring at Eraqus, and then looking at Zack, and back again. Had he really messed up then? Terra was… actually a member of the Black Family?

“Terra was brought to the hospital I was working at by his mother under the law of Sanctuary. I took him in both because I had been considering adopting, but also because I knew there might be a chance that the Black Family would come looking for him,” Eraqus explained further. “I wasn’t intending for any of you to get involved with it.”

Roxas didn’t respond, but he found he wasn’t all that upset about it. Just that he didn’t know what to say. But that did make something make sense, and he looked up hesitantly, “So…. Xemnas looks like Terra because….”

“They’re brothers,” Zack confirmed, not seeming bothered about that. “Well, half brothers. They have different fathers, we think, but their mother was the same. We were trying to deal with it within our work, but then Xemnas made a move that we didn’t expect. And… I believe that you know why.”

“What makes you think that?” Roxas huffed, still feeling defensive.

“Because you mentioned Xemnas kidnapping your brother ‘again’,” Zack repeated. “This is the first time Xemnas has made any move against Terra. So……. how did you know Xemnas was involved with the kidnapping of Ventus and Vanitas?”

Flinching now that it was said so bluntly, Roxas looked guiltily over to Eraqus, who was surprised to hear of this, but not too much. “It’s alright Roxas. I’ve already grounded you, what more could I do?” Eraqus asked, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

Roxas ended up giving a tiny smile, but then sighed. “We met Xemnas… a long time ago,” he finally admitted, forgetting about his ice cream for now. “Shortly after Eraqus adopted Sora and me, and Axel adopted Xion, we wanted to do something to help Axel pay for everything. But I didn’t want to ask Eraqus for anything since he’d done so much already, so…. Xion and I started donating blood for money. We didn’t think anything of it at first, not many people would take my blood so we were just happy to have found some place that would. But… after a while Xemnas was there, and he recognized me. Well, actually he thought I was Ventus. He asked if I had found my way back to them, and if I wanted to continue…… if I wanted to continue the experiments that Xehanort had been working on. I left after that, and we never went back. But…. I found out that Xemnas and the rest of the Black Family was funding Xehanort’s experiments, for their own gain.”

Listening to Roxas’ story, Eraqus drew a sigh and reached out to rest his hand on Roxas’ head. There was so much he could do and say to lecture all three of those trouble makers, but it had been a long time ago, and it seemed that Roxas already understood how dangerous it had been. “…. Do you know why they were involved?”

Roxas ended up gripping the fabric of the patient pants he was wearing, fist trembling a little. “They…. Xemnas has some condition. He’s unable to feel what normal people do. That’s why he’s always so emotionless. But…. he said that they wanted to see if they could use Ven to cure that…. Because…. No matter what they did… Ven continued to smile… and be kind to others.” By the time Roxas finished his voice was shaking and barely audible, and he’d let go of his pant leg so he could rub the tears falling from his eyes. “I can’t let anyone like that near my family again.”

It didn’t take much longer for Zack to finish with his questions. Apparently he already knew most of the story, but just needed Roxas to fill in a few gaps. Xemnas had targeted Terra because the Black Family had wanted to increase their ranks. And he had targeted Ventus because they wanted to continue part of Xehanort’s experiments. That was the point that Eraqus didn’t want Roxas to stick around, so they had let him go back to the others.

But since Roxas still had the remains of tears in his eyes and a slightly runny nose he hadn’t wanted to return to the others and interrupt their games to ask what had happened. So that meant he’d gone to Terra’s room instead, planning to just sit in there until he’d calmed down enough to go back. He hadn’t been expecting Terra to be alert though, not bothering to hide the sniffle and rubbing his nose with the back of his hand.

“….Roxas?” Terra’s voice came, full of concern.

Flinching as he looked up, Roxas shuffled a little embarrassment. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you,” he mumbled.

“You didn’t, I was already awake,” Terra assured, then raised his arm out to beckon Roxas over. “Come here. It’s okay.”

It wasn’t what he had planned, but it wasn’t a bad idea either. So Roxas gave in and crawled onto the bed so that Terra could gather him into a hug.

“….Rough day?” Terra asked after a long pause, and for a moment Roxas forgot that his memory was still a little broken up.

“…Yeah. Just a bit,” Roxas admitted, feeling a lot calmer a lot faster than he’d originally thought he would. “Zack just came by to ask about what happened.”

“Oh…,” Terra voiced, shoulders drooping a little.

“Do you… remember anything about it?”

“……..No. Not yet. Namine is good, but she and the doctors say that those memories might never come back…… I’m sorry.”

The apology caught Roxas off guard, and he pushed up a little to look at Terra. “What for? It’s not your fault.”

“I know, I know,” Terra assured, giving a helpless smile. “Just… obviously it was something pretty bad, considering how you and the others are about it. I just wish I could understand better so I could help more.”

“Oh…,” Roxas hummed, then eventually laid back down with a sigh. “It wasn’t….. Well… I guess…. We’ll be okay. They shouldn’t bother us again.”

“Because of you?” Terra asked, amusement in his voice.

“What?” Roxas’ head lifted again in surprise. “How did you know that? What did you hear?”

“Just that you kicked my brother’s butt, and convinced them to leave us alone,” Terra answered with a chuckle.

Roxas ended up wrinkling his nose, but for a different reason than Terra knowing what he did. “Don’t call him that.”

“What?… He is though,” Terra looked confused, but not really bothered about being related to Xemnas.

“Not really. He’s just an asshole that happened to be born from the same mother. That doesn’t make him a real brother,” Roxas huffed, flopping a bit roughly against Terra again.

The response made no sense on the surface, but Terra understood what Roxas meant and ended up laughing. “You’re right,” he agreed, wrapping his arms tightly around the boy. “My real brother is right here after all. One of them anyway,” he assured, getting a big smile at the embarrassed glare Roxas gained.

Chapter Text

It was almost a month after they were all admitted to the hospital before Ventus made enough improvement to not be in isolation anymore. He was still quite sleepy most of the time, and put a mask on to be ready for the others to visit him in person. Likewise they would do the same when they entered the room, just in case. But first Sora had to barrel out of the room after being cooped up in a single place for a month. His first target was Kairi of course, almost tackling the poor girl to the floor with an enthusiastic “Kairi!” while throwing his arms around her.

“You made it! Congratulations!” Sora chimed, squeezing Kairi tightly with a big hug.

“Wh- I made it? What’s that mean? You were the one stuck in the room,” Kairi sputtered with a bit of a laugh, unable to keep from getting a bit teary. He was just as warm as she remembered, and she wasn’t planning on letting go anytime soon.

“Yeah, but I had you to talk to the whole time. It was easy when you were here,” Sora responded with a huge grin. As Kairi quietly sputtered without being able to find a response, and buried her face against him in embarrassment, Sora just laughed. “What are you hiding for?” he asked, trying to look down and see her face. “C’mon. Are you being shy again?”

With a muffled response from Kairi, Sora just chuckled and gave in, resting his cheek on her head. “I want you to be with me forever, Kairi.”

The first stop to take Ventus was of course to go see Terra and Eraqus. As soon as Sora saw that the others had already helped him into a wheelchair he rushed over to be the one to push it. It may have seemed rude, but the others knew he was just a high energy person that needed something to do at all times. Otherwise bad things happened, and therefore no one minded him pushing Ventus around. Even if he did unhook the IV bag from the pole, and have Ventus hold it so he could run down the halls with him. No one could blame him for that either. Both of them had been stuck in the same room for a month. Eventually, after getting shushed and scolded by the other workers, Sora finally made his way to Terra’s room.

“Tadaaa!” Sora chimed, pulling Ventus around to face Terra while Roxas came to stand next to them.

“Terra,” Ventus called, tempted to get up and run over to Terra, but feeling a little too weak for that still. Terra loved all of them, but it was definitely easy to tell that he and Ventus spent more time together than the others. So it was could be argued that Terra was Ventus’ favorite sibling, though Aqua was a close second.

“…Ven?” Terra voiced, looking rather surprised and almost confused. There was something about seeing the three of them standing or sitting next to each other. Roxas definitely looked like the oldest of the three, and Ventus looked almost as frail as the first time they brought him home. And of course Sora probably had the biggest grin behind his mask, like always. Vanitas probably would have been sulking in the corner if he were able to be there. And then there was Riku and Kairi, Sora’s best friends since they were children. Xion and Axel, the same for Roxas. And Aqua, forever there and his own childhood friend.

Suddenly Terra was scrambling out of bed, and rushing over to Ventus while reaching his hands towards him. “Ven! Are you alright? Did Blaine get you somewhere safe? I’m sorry for leaving you,” he asked rapidly, cupping his hands around Ventus’ face and pressing his forehead against his.

“Haha, I’m fine,” Ventus assured, immediately reaching out to hug Terra. “I just got pneumonia. But i’m gonna be okay. Aqua came and picked us up, we’re not hurt.”

“… Terra… do you remember what happened?” Aqua asked, noticing how differently Terra was behaving compared to the last few weeks. His head injury was healing really well, but she hadn’t allowed herself to hope that he would get his memory back. Even if they had been seeing progress.

“I… think so,” Terra confirmed with a nod, thinking over what he remembered. “I know Xemnas showed up, and I got Ven out of the house before going back and…… finding Master Eraqus. Then I saw that Ven and Blaine were in the graveyard, and was going to go pick them up. But… Xemnas was there again. I think he hit me from behind… Or someone else did. It’s a bit blurry.”

Something about the way Terra was acting now, compared to how uncertain he had been before, made Aqua realize he was just like he used to be before he’d gotten injured. And the realization made her tear up slightly as she couldn’t help but join the two boys in a hug. “Thank goodness you’re both okay.”

“Woohoo! Terra’s back!” Sora cheered, pumping his fists in the air alternatively. Roxas just snorted, and Riku ended up patting a hand on Sora’s head to calm him down so they didn’t get scolded again.

“Aw, come on Ven! I’ve always wanted to do this. Let me race you down the hall, please?” Namine pleaded, rocking him back and forth a little as he laughed. At least the small wheels on the back would prevent her from going too far back. But she had seen so many pictures of people rushing their friends down the hall in a wheelchair and it always looked so fun.

“Okay, okay! Just- stop rocking me!” Ventus gasped between laughter, trying to keep his balance and not feel like he was going to fall over.

“Yoooo~” Namine cheered, scooting him out into the hall and getting ready to run. She didn’t get to even start before a familiar face showed up around the corner.

“And where do you two think you’re going?” Riku asked, being able to guess already with Namine’s frozen running pose. He had a quirk of a grin that made the other two not sure if they were in trouble or not.

“Um… a race…?” Ventus answered, hesitant and knowing they were probably in trouble but never being one who could lie.

Namine also had an expression betraying she knew they were caught, but tried to put on a puppy eyed expression instead. “Please Riku? Just once?”

“Absolutely not. You know someone could get seriously hurt if you ran into them in the hall,” Riku declined, shaking his head and folding his arms. Namine knew he was right, but that didn’t stop her from lowering her head and sagging her shoulders in a disappointed pout. Ventus could only look apologetically over his shoulder, feeling bad but also knowing it was probably better this way.

Then Riku surprised them when he spoke up again. “That’s why you should go to the upper floors that are open, and have way less people. That way there’s less risk of running into anyone,” he suggested, giving a little wink even as Namine’s expression lit up in a smile.

“Awwww, I knew you were cool Riku!” Namine cheered, rushing forward to throw her arms around him in a hug. Riku ended up blushing slightly, but while one hand reached back to rub the back of his head the other returned the hug.

Namine could barely keep from running to the elevator with Ventus, and would end up running up and down the halls of the upper floors for quite awhile. And of course Riku followed them, for while they needed someone to keep an eye out for them, they also would need someone to race against.

“Ven!” Namine gasped, hurrying over to kneel next to Ventus as he stared forward. “… Oh no.” Her hands hovered uncertainty, feeling bad for the patient and visitor that Ventus had barged in on but knowing that sometimes he didn’t react well to contact.

Riku made sure to push the wheelchair out of the way of anyone else coming through before crouching near Namine. “What happened- Strelitzia?” Riku started to ask, getting sidetracked when Lauriam’s little sister approached them from where she had been sitting by the bedside.

“It’s… okay. I think he’s okay,” Strelitzia assured quietly, trying to look Ventus over, but also not block his view. “It’s not how we wanted it to go but…… Do you…. recognize Ephemera?”

Riku and Namine ended up exchanging very confused looks, but with the complete name Ventus’ expression slowly turned to one of more clarity. Giving a deep inhale, Ventus was quiet as the broken memories from moments before became more clear, and sequential. His hand slowly raised to cover his mouth as he averted his gaze to the floor, considering what his mind was telling him. “I… you…,” he sputtered, eyes flicking up to Strelizia’s face before going to the scar just below her collar bone. “Vani shot you,” he choked, the realization causing the tears in his eyes to spill down his cheeks. “Ephem-… He… I’m so sorry.”

Strelitzia’s brows pushed together in concern even as she smiled softly and knelt in front of Ventus. “It’s alright. It wasn’t your fault, and he…. He’ll be okay. I know he will,” she assured, wrapping her arms gently around Ventus’s shoulders and pulling him into a hug.

Reaching out to gently rub Ventus’ back as Strelitzia held him, Riku wasn’t sure what had just happened other than it seemed to have been one of those points where Ventus remembered something. Only this time it seemed that Strelitzia knew about it too. It was like there was an instance that had been shared between the two of them, but it was hard to imagine what. As far as he knew no one had ever kidnapped Strelitzia before. And also as far as he knew until Terra’s team had rescued the boys Ventus and Vanitas hadn’t gotten to see much freedom before. It was probably a little insensitive to ask about what Ventus meant by Vanitas having shot Strelitzia, so instead Riku exchanged that question for another one. “Who’s Ephemera?” His gaze when over to the young man in the bed, assuming that was the owner of the name but not sure.

 Blaine’s voice came from behind Riku in the doorway, causing the younger one to flinch. “… Hey,” Blaine then offered as a greeting, and shifted forward to kneel in front of Ventus. For a moment Blaine just examined Ventus to see how he was doing, gently brushing his hand on the boy’s hair.

“You remembered something scary, huh,” Blaine said quietly, giving a tiny huff of attempted mirth at the end. “I didn’t think you would, it was a while ago and you weren’t doing too well.” When Ventus ended up lowering his gaze to the ground, Blaine sighed in relent and got back up again to place the vase of flowers he’d brought on the table in the room. “Ephemera is this guy here,” Blaine began to explain, fluffing the flowers a bit and nodding towards the comatose lad. “A long time ago he and I grew up together. A bunch of silly adventures and all that. There used to be this company that would provide fake murder mysteries and such for people to solve. Ephem and I used to love those, and the idiot had a hero complex that also meant he loved helping people.” He spoke fondly, but kept his focus on the flowers for now. After giving a sigh, he stopped fussing with them and exchanged the task for sitting on the bed, putting his hand over Ephemera’s.

“A couple years ago… like six years or something, we got lost trying to solve one of those mysteries, and ended up finding a real one instead,” he admitted, bringing his gaze over to Ventus again. “A couple of little boys trapped in a cage through the window of a building we had no idea what it was. Of course Ephem couldn’t leave them alone. And unfortunately while he was able to get the cops to listen to him, he also found out they were planning on moving the boys in a few days. Soooo we all got the bright idea to rescue them ourselves. A bunch of dumbass teenagers thinking they could stand up to big thugs.” Rolling his eyes at how dumb they had been now that he could see the event in hindsight, Blaine shook his head in disbelief. “And we actually did get them out. But the blond one wasn’t doing so well, and couldn’t really run very fast. Even with his brother helping from behind. The bodyguards eventually caught up, I assume, and everything went downhill from there. All we heard was a gunshot, and then we found Ephem and Strele unconscious and bleeding in an alleyway. It wasn’t until a few months later that Stele was able to tell us that Vanitas was the one who shot her. Having picked up the gun from the bodyguard after Ephemera hit him over the head with a crate. And… unfortunately Ephem hasn’t woken up since then…… We’re not sure exactly what happened to him. But… he got pretty hurt.”

Letting that be the end of the story, Blaine looked absently at nothing while his foot betrayed his unease by swaying side to side. He tried to make lighter of it, but it was easy to see he still had lingering guilt over all of it.

“Oh…. I see,” Riku answered blankly. It was hard to have a response to Blaine’s explanation, and Riku wasn’t sure if it was even appropriate to keep asking questions. Luckily for him Naminé and Strelitzia had other things they considered more important than Riku’s awkwardness.

“C’mon, let’s go sit in a chair and get a drink,” Strelitzia coaxed Ventus, setting her plush toy down so that she could loop one of Ventus’ arms around her shoulders. He was able to walk, but it tired him out quickly and she just wanted to give some relief for that. It also didn’t help that he was pretty shaky from remembering those events. Naminé didn’t take any persuasion to follow suit, and together they got Ventus over to the sofa chair in the room. And since he’d been crying Naminé also fetched a cup of water from the nearby dispenser in the hall.

“… I’m sorry…,” Ventus spoke up after taking a sip of water.

“What for?” Blaine asked, a tiny grin. It wasn’t surprising to hear Ventus apologizing for something like this.

“If… if I hadn’t been there-,” Ventus started, but Blaine cut him off.

“Stop it,” Blaine commanded calmly. “It’s got nothing to do with you other than you happened to be the one we decided to rescue that day. If anything it’s on us for failing. But I don’t want anyone to feel guilty over this anymore. I’ve done enough of that as it is…… We all have.” He mellowed out again at the end, but renewed his commitment after noticing Ventus didn’t seem all that convinced. “Besides. If we were angry with you… we probably wouldn’t have all come to Eraqus looking for jobs so we could keep an eye on you all,” he admitted, giving a cheeky grin at the revelation.

“Pff, what?” Riku sputtered along with Naminé. “You guys- All of the people working for Eraqus…. You do it just for Ven?”

“Hahaha, not just Ven, but he’s a big reason,” Blaine laughed. “At first I just volunteered to help take care of Ephemera. Then after they finally rescued Ven and Vani, we…. We all got attached to the quads. They’re pretty cute kids, yeah? You can’t even avoid them,” he chuckled, having had the full front seat of Riku’s emotional rebellion when he’d been a little younger.

“Ahm…,” was all Riku could do to reply, rubbing a finger on his cheek in embarrassment.

“I actually can’t wait for this idiot to meet you all. He’ll have fun with all of you, even the lil terrors. I bet he could even give Sora a run for his money,” Blaine continued, earning a silent giggle and a few nods from Strelitzia.

“Oh- Actually….,” Strelitzia opened, pressing her fingertips together nervously. “We… actually were here for Ephemera’s birthday. It’s something that we do every year, just because. Do you…. Guys want to join us?” she asked, sheepishly looking over to Blaine to make sure he’d be okay with it.

Blaine seemed to not know what to think, but eventually just resorted to trusting Strelitzia’s opinion on the matter. “Sure. He may be stupid, but I’m sure-” Blaine suddenly broke off with a gasp, completely freezing all movement. The entire conversation he’d been sitting on the bed with his hand acting as a rest for Ephemera’s, and he could have sworn he felt something nudge his palm. But no, it couldn’t be. It was just wishful thinking, like all those times before. But still just like every other time he had to freeze up and make sure he was just imagining things. 

He must be hallucinating this time though, for he could still feel the little twitch of fingertips pressing lightly into his skin. And it was enough to get Blaine to turn his head to look at Ephemera’s face. A face that almost a year ago sometimes has an expression in wakeless sleep, just like now. But unlike all the other times there was a flutter to the eyelids. And as the lids cracked open Blaine let out the breath he was holding into a dry sob. “…ephem?”

Ephemera’s eyes closed again, hiding that tiny glimpse of bright, icy blue irises that had earned so many comments before. And then there was a grimace as he willed them open again, his pupils shifting sizes to try and focus after years of almost no use. And then his gaze slide over to Blaine, and a tiny smile tugged at his cheeks.

His voice was extremely soft, almost nonexistent as some of the syllables never made it to sound. But he still had that stupid accent that Blaine sometimes wished Roxas could mimic when he was speaking that other language.

“…. hey…,” Blaine choked out a breath, raising Ephemera’s hand to rest his forehead against as he let years of bottled up emotions fall from his eyes.

When Ephemera had gotten well enough to sit up he’d ended up surprising everyone when he greeted Sora with a kiss on the cheek. Almost everyone. Watching as he did the same for everyone else too, Roxas had to smile wryly. He’d suspected after hearing Ephemera talk more clearly, without having sleep slur and lack of use. But now he was pretty sure. “[You’re from the City of Bells, aren’t you?]” he asked, hoping his own accent didn’t make it impossible to understand him.

Ephemera had been ecstatic to hear someone else speaking his native language, and it had created a quick bond between the two.

A few months later Roxas had dragged some of his equipment into the hospital room to sing some karaoke games with Ephemera and the others. He was there early, so it was just him, Ephemera, and Blaine in the room while the others were stuck on the train. But they had been given the go ahead to start without them, just to make sure everything worked, so they already had one of the games loaded up.

“Oo, how ‘bout this one?” Ephemera chimed, taking the controller and flicking the roll to a french song that had been popular only two years prior.

“UHm-,” Roxas stammered, quickly looking flustered. “I-i don’t actually know that one, but you can-”

“Bullshit,” Ephemera countered, looking at Roxas with a knowing smile and earning a snort from Blaine. “You’ve got max score on it, and you’re the only one who knows french in your family. Also I doubt you’ve loaned your entire system to someone. This game is digital copy only.”

Roxas ended up staring at Ephemera in shock for a good stretch, and then gave a heavy sigh. “Oi, you’re smart,” he huffed, rubbing the back of his head. He should have figured it out long before, after Blaine told the story of their failed rescue and the fact they used to solve mystery games for fun. But it still caught him off guard.

“Heehee,” Ephemera laughed, patting the bed next to where he was propped up. “C’mon, we can squeeze it in before the others get here, and then no one will know your dark secret.”

It had been awhile since he’d gotten to sing that song. He’d actually maxed out the score while he was staying at Axel’s, for he didn’t want Sora or anyone else at home even humming the song. It would lead to asking what it was about, and Roxas didn’t want to tell them. Slipping onto the edge of the bed next to Ephemera, Roxas looked sideways at Blaine while Ephemera started the song.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got better things to worry about than telling Master Eraqus and the rest you guys are singing about being dead hookers addicted to crack,” Blaine responded with a smirk.

The blunt response made Roxas snort, and Ephemera laughed aloud. “Don’t leave me hanging now. You’re up first! I wanna hear you sing for once!” Ephemera encouraged, turning up the volume a little.

Blaine really couldn’t blame Roxas for having a good score on this song. It wasn’t as bad as it seemed, he’d looked up the lyrics before. And it was pretty catchy, easily getting stuck in someone’s head. Ephemera surprised Roxas a bit when he joined in effortlessly with the second singer, but Blaine had to snicker softly as he noticed Ephemera was being playful about it. He wasn’t actually trying to sound good at first, and ended up bobbing his head like a dork when it dropped to only instrumental.

And then the song switched to being only Ephemera’s part, and Blaine had to switch his gaze over to Roxas in anticipation. He got essentially the reaction he’d expected. Ephemera had always had a good voice when singing, but after just a tiny bit of training from mandatory singing classes in elementary school it had become common for people to stop and listen to him in awe. And Roxas wasn’t an exception apparently, head whipping over to Ephemera in surprise. He was used to singing with people who were good at best, and decent most of the time. Not with someone who sounded like they had been professionally trained since they were a toddler.

Ephemera just looked over to Roxas with a playful wink, and poked him in the ribs as another duet part was coming up.

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“Isn’t it beautiful?”

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Here’s like 20 something Ven taking flowers to his mom’s grave. |D Never met her, but he’s a soft boy that loves anyone any way XDD

(Vanitas does get better 8′D But it takes a loooong time, and he’s not released until he’s like 40 or something |D It’s a really hard process, because recovering from trauma is a really long and hard process. But it is possible. He never moves into the home that the boys have at 15, because they’re all adults by the time he’s released. XDD but they all get along fairly well. There’s not that closeness that a childhood friend would have, but they’re adults, and they know how to get along much better than children and teenagers do.

Roxas is actually a big help in the beginning at least to helping Vanitas recover, as he’s a level headed stand in for Ventus at first. He…. hmmmmm, Roxas is the kind of person that has a really small close friend bubble, and I dunno if Vanitas ever gets in that bubble. But Roxas is alright with being like casual “yeah he’s my brother” when asked. But they’re never as close as he is with Sora.

As for Ventus….. there’s a lot of ifs that could happen that could sway him either way. |D Vanitas was a child, and not really to blame for it, but he was part of the cause of some of the trauma that Ventus got. If Ven is able to get through his own trauma then I think they’ll be good friends. But if not then Ventus will forever be uncomfortable around Vanitas until he does. It’s not a matter of holding a grudge against Vanitas, it’s just terrifying and triggers his flight response to be around him |D)

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