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"So this is where you were hiding."
"It's not hiding if I'm out in the open, stupid."
Ventus hid a smile as he waltzed over to Vanitas. Dressed in dark clothing, he probably would have been hard to spot if he wasn't sitting against a sunset. "But it is hiding if you ran to the part of the island where no one else is," Ventus plopped a seat next to Vanitas and pulled off his shoes and socks, dunking his feet in the water just as Vanitas had done earlier. "Your move, asshole."
Vanitas snorted. "Do you kiss Aqua with that mouth?"
"I kiss you with my mouth, and I haven't heard any complaints." Ven cast a grin over to him, as if to say, 'I win.'
‘Touche.' thought Vanitas. Ventus was right; he had no complaints against his mouth. He'd rather have his own mouth against it. Soon, if possible.
"I love the place you decided to run away to." Vanitas glanced from Ventus' lips to his eyes, watching them twinkle with playful mirth. "The sunset, the fresh air, the view? I would have never picked a better place to run away to."
Vanitas snorted. "It's a lot better than where I was before."
“Oh, really? How?"
"You're here now."
Ventus nearly fell into the water. Leave it to Vanitas to say the most sappy things when it was just the two of them. His reputation of 'that bastard' would be tarnished if anyone heard him talk like that, no doubt (at least that's what Vanitas kept saying). Nonetheless, this made Ventus feel special. He was so happy that these words were only spoken to him when they were alone. The words left his stomach flopping and his heart racing, making him feel queasy. But the good kind. He glanced over to the other man, watching as he kicked at the water with an unreadable look on his face.
"Are you nervous?"
Vanitas leaned back with a roll of his eyes. "You know how many people asked me that today?"
Ventus grinned. "One-too-many?" He figured, judging by the look on the dark-haired man's face.
"Everyone." Vanitas kicked at the water again, watching the rippling rings disappear into the ocean. "One or two is okay. But when everyone started asking about it and started freaking out more than I should, I had to leave."
He was not exaggerating or being dramatic. In fact, the day started well. It was fine at first. He had gotten up that morning and managed to get some breakfast. He even had an hour or two of keyblade sparing with Riku and Roxas. The two of them were probably the most relaxed among their circle of friends (their circle, not his of course. Vanitas considered himself out of the circle, no matter how many times Ven told him he was elbow-deep in the circle since day one), so he didn't have to worry about either of them yakking his ear off about today. As soon as he got back to the cabin and showered though, he was met with Sora and the girls.
"Wait, let me get this straight," Ventus' eyebrows drew together as Vanitas explained what happened. "They dragged you out of the cabin and took you around all the islands? Aren't some of those half-a-day trips away by boat?"
"They had two keyblade masters in their gang, remember?" replied Vanitas. "All it takes is a one-way trip with keyblade gliders in order to reach all the islands in a day."
"Three counting you, you mean?"
"I wasn't going to waste my energy on a trip I didn't want to go on." It didn't matter to his kidnappers, though. With the combined efforts of Sora and Kairi and Xion and Namine as they helpers, they had whisked Vanitas away to every little island. Aside from collecting sea shells and exploring each and every little patch of sand, nothing really came out of the trip. Other than a massive headache that was finally starting to go away.
"And I guess it didn't end there." said Ventus, brushing off some sand that somehow got stuck to his pants on the way there.
"After I got away from them, that duck family found me and had me sample all the food they had ready."
"Terrible! How did you survive that torture?" The look on Ventus' face wasn't cute, no matter how much Vanitas's heart thought differently.
"They had me try all the food," Vanitas explained, frowning as Ven only laughed at this. Of course it was all sunshine and rainbows to him, the little bastard. He didn't have to deal with the Scottish duck and his grand-nephews. At least Little Chef was quiet and kept to himself. "And they kept insisting that anytime I said, 'it's okay' meant the food was bad, so I had to stay and try their new food. And then rinse, and repeat." That wouldn't have been too bad, but they had kept him hauled up for hours and he almost missed the time he needed to meet up with Terra and Aqua. And Lord have mercy on him when he had to deal with Aqua today.
"She nearly bit my head off for being late."
Ventus shook his head. "She would never do that," Cue that cheeky grin of his. "She loves me too much to do that."
Vanitas nudged the blonde with a small glare. "Sounds like today was a walk in the park for you." he half-hissed, almost stirring another laugh from Ventus. The latter sobered up for his sake, though.
"Guess you didn't have a good time?" Ventus guessed with a sheepish grin.
"Not a good time but," Vanitas lower his gaze to the water, staring back at his reflection as he took a look at himself. He was and looked tired, but he expected that out of today. What came as a surprise to him was while he was doing these tasks with the others, he caught himself actually having fun. It was weird, since years ago he would have never wanted to deal with any of these people back when they accepted him into their group. But now... "Not a bad one, either." he finished.
And there was the man Ventus fell in love with. Vanitas rarely showed how much he cared about people. But when he did, it was in the most subtle ways. Ventus had seen it himself firsthand.
In the mornings, Vanitas would always be the one to wake up early and lay out clothes for Ventus before he left for work. He'd pack an extra sandwich for Sora because the younger man always wanted seconds at lunch. Whenever Roxas needed someone to spar with at any given time, Vanitas was ready with Void Gear in hand. Every time he was confronted for his good deeds, Vanitas would outright deny them. 'I didn't have anything better to do,' he would say, but Ventus could read him like a book.
"So you had fun," Ventus reached and patted him on the hand. It was cold and slightly dusty, but still soft. That was the only thing Vanitas cared about. "That's great!"
"Getting sand in my shoes while everyone asking me, 'are you nervous?' was not fun." replied Vanitas stubbornly.
"Speaking of which, you didn't answer me earlier." Ventus interrupted. "Are you nervous?"
Vanitas would have chucked him into the water if his hand wasn't on top of his own; it felt so warm and soft.
"No, I'm not. I'm the one who started this," He looped their fingers together and squeezed the blonde's hand. "And we're the ones who'll finish this. How about you?"
Ventus laughed. That statement was almost sweet. "Maybe a little? Terra and Aqua gave me a pep talk while we were hanging out, though."
"And what they say?" Vanitas asked, preparing for the worst.
"Terra said everything will work out and it'll be over before we know it."
He made it sound like they were pulling teeth. Well, he was close, in a way. "Good advice. Anything else?"
"He also said we should all go to Disney Town when we all get together again." Ventus added.
"If we're still there by next week, maybe?" Vanitas shrugged. A whole trip with the gaggle of lights? More headaches were sure to come but Ventus loved his friends. Vanitas was sure he could put up with them if it meant Ventus would be happy. "What about Master Aqua?"
"You know she doesn't like it when you call her that," Ventus elbowed him with a soft chide, stirring a snickering from his companion. Vanitas knew she didn't like it, and he was definitely going to call her that exclusively if they all met up in Disney Town later. "She said so long as we've both agree with our decision and listen to our hearts and minds, then today will be a happy one in the end. Regardless of any problems that come up now or in the future. If we made it this far, then we can make it farther."
Vanitas would have expected nothing less from Aqua. Sound advice with a hint of sentimental mush. He knew the advice was meant more for Ven than himself, but Vanitas would consider it anyway. He and Aqua never were on best terms but just for today, Vanitas consider her advice as wise words to the both of them. She was right, anyway. He and Ventus had been through thick and thin, struggling with complex emotions and questionable feelings for the past two decades.
At the very start, they were just severed halves. Both cut from the same cloth, one never the same without the other. Vanitas, fed on anger, resentment and loneliness, sought after Ventus in order to forcibly merge them together and take back what he thought was once his. In the end though, he discovered what he wanted wasn't truly his; it was his and Ventus'. It was theirs . It was something that was not just precious to him but to the both of them. Something that he wanted to keep safe and to never lose again.
Their search to find what was missing came to an end when they confessed to one another. It was the happiest Vanitas had felt in all his life. But then came more struggles. It was hard and took many tolls on them, but here they were today. Just as Aqua had said, they had made it this far. They reached this point in their lives and honestly, there were more obstacles ready to come their way. Vanitas knew this. Ventus knew this. But they would be okay. Somehow the both of them knew it.
Just like Aqua had said.
"She also said she'll whack you out of existence if you pull anything today."
Vanitas threw his head back and laughed. "I won't pull anything!"
"Even I find that hard to believe." But Ven was smiling, unable to suppress his own case of the chuckles once Vanitas started laughing. "I'm glad we both aren't nervous," Ventus let out one last giggle as he and Vanitas began to settle down. "Kinda weird when you think about it. Everyone else is running around like headless chickens while we're just hiding on the other part of the island."
"Not hiding," Vanitas corrected. "Lovely mental image, by the way," he stirred another laugh from the keyblade master before he continued. "Yeah. I needed to get away from all of that once it started to get crazy. I don't see what they're so nervous about. If we aren't, then shouldn't either."
"They just want everything to go alright," Ventus shrugged, pulling hard at his pants legs to avoid soaking them. "And with it almost being time, everything just becomes a little more tense and exciting, you know?"
"Tense? No." Vanitas shook his head. He didn't feel tense at all. Maybe a little exhilarated, but he wasn't going to lose his cool now. "Excited, yeah." He looked over to Ventus, bringing their hands up together. "It's now or never. I've waited so long for this…" He chuckled at the blush that washed over Ven's cheeks, watching them turn darker as he laughed. "And you?"
"I didn't think I would want anything like this," Ventus slid closer to Vanitas, bumping their knees together and getting the full effect of Vanitas' cologne. It tickled his nose and made him smile. The dark-haired keyblade master released his hand and wrapped his arm around his waist, his body shielding the blonde from the cool ocean breeze as the sky turned darker. "I didn't think I would need someone like you in my life. But here we are." Ventus nuzzled into Vanitas' side, fitting perfectly against him. Ventus liked that; how well they always fit together and how Vanitas leaned against him, too. It left a sign that good things were to come on this day. "You are a bastard in every sense of the word, but there's so much more to you than that. So much more that made me fall in love with you."
"And you," Vanitas returned, craning his head down to look into Ventus' eyes. "Are a brat. A complete brat." Vanitas gave him a shake, earning a laugh and a gentle punch to the chest by Ven. "A soft-hearted brat that makes me feel alive. A brat that always was my better half." Vanitas squeezed his lover once. "And I love you, my better half."
Ventus hid his face against Vanitas' chest, hiding his blushing face and grin. "Look at us. It's not even time and we're already like this…" Not that he minded though. He wanted some alone time with Vanitas anyway.
"Isn't there some stupid rule that says we can't see each other a day before tonight?" asked Vanitas.
"Yeah," Ven nodded. "But like you said, it's stupid. I wanted to see you right now."
"Aqua's going to bite our heads off if she hears you say that." Vanitas was smirking though, a chuckle bubbling up in his chest. "And when she sees what's happened to your clothes. How are you going to explain the wet pants and dirty jacket, Ven? White can't hide anything."
Ventus shoved at him, sticking his tongue out. "Shut up. We both can't wear black. And I had to go trudging across this island to look for you."
"Ah, another stupid rule." Vanitas clicked his tongue. His eyes travelled up and down Ventus' form, appreciating how he looked in white. "Why'd you have to come look for me?" he asked once he was done sizing the young man up.
Ventus stood, mesmerizing Vanitas once more with boyish smile of his. It was the smile that Vanitas fell in love with, the one that promised that their future together would be a happy one. Ventus held his hand out to Vanitas. At first, Vanitas would have thought he was offering his hand to help him up.But there was actually something in his hand.
"Because of another 'stupid' rule," laughed Ventus, a shell-made wayfinder resting in the palm of his hand. It was made of red sea shells, bound together with a golden thread and a golden token in the shape of half a heart in the center.
So that was why his hands were cold and dusted with sand earlier.
"You have to be at the altar already. It's almost time, Mr. Harte." Ventus' eyes were still twinkling and brimming with love for the man before him.
Harte. A surname he had chosen when he became his own person. And now it would become a name for both him and Ventus.
Hearing Ventus say it sent his heart soaring. With his own smile, Vanitas searched through his pocket and pulled out a similar-looking wayfinder. The shells were a bright green with a yellow gradient in the edges, the thread was silver, and the other half of the heart was silver, too.
He'd have Sora and the others to thank for helping him find the right shells. But he would do that later, after the wedding ceremony.
"As you wish, Mr. Future Harte."