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***
“I think he hates me.”
Sora perked up at the unusual sentence, swivelling round to see Aqua laying a hand on Ven’s shoulder. Ven was frowning at something in the distance and before Sora could turn back round to see who it was, Aqua was saying,
“Ven, don’t be silly. If Roxas was really so hateful so easily, he wouldn’t be a Guardian of Light.”
Sora frowned just as Ven did. Because yeah, Roxas wasn’t like that. Ven went a step further, folding his arms. “Well, he doesn’t like to talk to me.”
Sora took that as his moment to cut in, waving to get their attention and smiling painfully. “Between us, Roxas doesn’t like to talk to anyone. He’s a pretty quiet guy. And I don’t think he hates you. He isn’t like that. I mean,” Sora scratched at his neck awkwardly, “He doesn’t even hate me and he had to sacrifice his life to make me whole again.”
Aqua gave Ven a very distinctive “I told you so” look while Ven just shuffled his feet nervously. “Okay, so if I wanted to make things less awkward between us, should I just talk to him?”
Sora would have said yes...had Riku not had a spell knocked away by Terra, the resulting ice blast missing Roxas only because he was fast enough to dodge. The spell managed to clip Hayner though and Sora was wincing before Roxas even got to his feet. The shouting came a second later, Roxas refusing to relent no matter how much Lea and Olette tried to calm him down.
“Sure he doesn’t hate?” Ven asked.
Sora poked his tongue out. “They hurt his friend. Roxas is...too overprotective.”
Which, really, wasn’t a bad thing.
But it did mean his and Ven’s conversation got put on hold for another day when Roxas was less...mother bear like.
***
Ven joined Kairi where she was wading through the shallows of the island. How Destiny Islands had become their meeting point, Ven didn’t know but he wasn’t complaining either. The sand, the sun, the waves, it was all really nice. And made a change of scene from their usual home.
“Whatcha looking for?” he asked as Kairi sifted her hands through the sand at the water’s edge.
“Well, Xion likes collecting sea shells,” she explained. “So I thought I might find some sea glass for her. It’s nice too.”
“Sea glass?” Ven repeated.
“Sure, here,” Kairi said, handing over a smooth rock that had been in her uniform pocket.
“Oh wow.” Ven held it up to the sun, admiring the colours. “This is really cool. I bet Xion’s gonna love it.”
Kairi smiled. “I think so too.”
“Speaking of…” Ven glanced around. “Isn’t she supposed to be here? And Roxas and his friends?”
Kairi’s forehead furrowed a bit. “They said they’d be coming. But, if I know Roxas and Hayner, they’ll have gotten into detention again?”
“Detention?”
“Oh Ven,” Sora whined, looping an arm around his shoulders. “I wish my life was as easy as yours. Detention means you got in trouble in school and after have to stay back because of it.”
Ven thought on that before snapping his fingers. “I see. So detention is...you think about what you did wrong, so you don’t do it again, right?”
Sora chuckled. “You’d think.”
At Ven’s bewildered expression, Riku tacked on, “Let’s just say Roxas and Hayner don’t exactly learn.”
“They should follow the rules,” Terra cut in severely, Sora poking his tongue out.
“Hey, I get detention too! But usually I fall asleep in class. Which is because it’s boring! If they made it interesting, it wouldn’t happen,” Sora added quickly, smiling brightly.
There then came the distinct sound of a portal opening and Ven wasn’t blind to the way Aqua and Terra frowned at that, like they always did. Roxas stepped through it, the rest of the Twilight Town crew on his heels and huh, this was the first time Ven’ had ever seen him in school uniform. It was maroon, instead of Sora’s blue and the jacket was different, more military in style. Olette’s uniform was different to Kairi’s too, still a skirt and a top but more like a sailor would wear.
“Sorry we didn’t have time to get changed!” Pence called out, Hayner pouting at the nudge to the ribs Olette gave him.
“Who did what this time?” Sora called back, all too gleeful.
Xion pointed at Roxas and Hayner. “They were late to school and then got into a fight with Seifer at lunch.”
“He started it!” Hayner and Roxas yelled back, Pence huffing.
“And you two always bite his bait. Just ignore him.”
They both grumbled, Roxas murmuring something to Hayner before opening a portal and coming to Sora’s side, effectively putting himself between Sora and Ven. “Sorry,” he mumbled to Sora. “We really did try to be on time.”
Sora sent Roxas an easy smile, hands lacing behind his head. “Hey, you don’t need to apologise. From what I’ve heard, that Seifer isn’t very nice.”
“That’s an understatement,” Roxas scoffed, shaking his head to clear it before sending Ven an appraising look. “So, Hayner pointed out to me that we haven’t fought yet. Are you up to it?”
Ven blinked before laughing, cheeks going pink. “Sorry, for a moment there I thought he meant he wanted us to argue.”
It was Roxas’ turn to blink before sighing. “No, like spar. It’s okay if you don’t want to.”
“Hey no, I want to!” Ven cried when it looked like Roxas would walk away.
Roxas grinned, summoning his keyblades only to then jerk back when Olette jumped between them, wagging a finger at Roxas. “You change because that is your fifth school uniform in a month Roxas!”
Roxas flushed up to his ears, turning back to his friends and finally coming to a compromise and swapping his jacket for the hoodie Pence had under his. Olette gave a nod of approval, pushing him back to their usual sparring area and okay, Ven thought he got it now. Olette was a lot like Aqua, and she seemed to keep Roxas in line. And tried with Hayner but he seemed way more stubborn.
“Okay, usual rules?” Roxas asked.
Ven nodded, summoning his keyblade as Roxas materialised both of his. Man, that was so cool. He then realised he didn’t have time to think that as Roxas shot forward. He was fast, faster than Terra but not as fast as Sora. Ven barely dodged, having to roll as the second keyblade came across from the side. It took him a few minutes to get the hang of that, having to split his attention two ways. Roxas could - and did - attack from multiple sides at once. The one thing Ven had on him though was magic. He could knock Roxas back with that easily enough and Roxas would never counter it or retaliate in kind.
“What’s the matter?” Ven teased, jumping back from another strike and landing a freeze spell. “Out of magic?”
Roxas misstepped and then his expression completely changed. It shifted, darkened, and Riku was there seconds later, shoving Roxas back far more firmly than Ven thought necessary.
“H-hey, Riku!” Sora called, just as horrified.
Riku shook his head, holding up a hand. “No Sora, he needs to stop.” He met Roxas’ gaze coldly. “This fight’s over. Go, let it go.”
For a second it looked like Roxas would fight him, would charge his way through to Ven, before tossing his keyblades aside with a shout. He then marched away, brushing both Xion and Namine off when they went to grab his arm.
“Riku…” Kairi said worriedly.
“Sorry but I couldn’t let that continue,” he said. “I’ve seen that look on Roxas’ before. It’s…”
“It’s what?” Sora pressed.
Riku’s mouth set into a grim line. “It’s when the Nobody part of him takes over. He’s...Sora, you have to remember, Roxas isn’t like us. He’s not human. He’s...He’s not like Lea.”
“He’s not a monster!” Sora protested, hands balled into fists.
“No, he’s not. But at his core, he’s still a Nobody.”
Sora’s mouth opened but there was a groan from behind them, Hayner stepping up to join. “Yeah, he laid that out pretty clear for us. Just in case, you know, we wanted to run screaming from him.” He shot Sora a grin. “Like we were ever gonna do that.” Hayner then turned to Ven. “So what did you do to piss him off?”
Ven’s mouth dropped open, Terra’s arm shooting across his chest as if to defend him. Which was ridiculous because Hayner was a high-schooler with no abilities at all. “Ven didn’t do anything.”
“Ah no, he did. Because Roxas doesn’t flip without reason. Did you say something to him?”
Ven tapped his chin in thought. “I...made a joke about him not blasting me with magic?”
Hayner hissed. “Okay yeah, see, Nobodies can't use magic. Or I guess they can only harness the darkness.”
“I...huh?”
Olette offered him a sad smile. “You basically made fun of him for not being human. Even if you didn’t mean it that way!” she added, clasping his hands. “Which I know you didn’t.”
“Roxas knows too,” Pence assured him. “He’s just...got a short fuse. He’ll probably apologise in a minute or two.”
Ven mulled that over, chewing on his bottom lip before turning to Riku. “Roxas isn’t actually going to, you know, rip out my heart if I go talk to him, will he?”
Sora made an affronted sound, as did most of the Twilight crew. Riku shook his head. “He’s got good control of himself now. Plus, he doesn’t actually want to hurt you. Just don’t push him.”
Ven smiled. “That I can do!”
Ven gave Terra and Aqua what he hoped was a reassuring look before making his way into the direction Roxas had gone. The last thing he needed with either of them shadowing him and making him look like a kid in front of Roxas. He turned out to be kind of hard to track down, sitting on the shore on the side of the island furthest from them. Roxas turned at approaching footsteps, visibly sighing when he saw Ven. Which...Ven wasn’t okay with, suddenly. But before he could say as much, Roxas was already speaking.
“Hey, I’m really sorry for what I did. I shouldn’t have lost my temper and you didn’t-”
“Well, what if I’m sorry too?” Roxas paused, Ven taking that moment to sit beside him, hugging his knees. “I didn’t know. About you and magic, that is.”
Roxas grimaced. “Yeah, it’s not really something I tell people. I can fake being human surprisingly well.”
“I don’t think you fake it at all,” Ven said. “Maybe you have the body of a Nobody, but you have the heart of a person. And what’s what counts.”
Roxas quickly looked away. “Thanks.”
That thanks was probably thicker than it should have been, Ven tactfully not mentioning it. Instead, he stared into the setting sun, watching the waves grow ever closer.
“You know, you and me, we might have more in common than I thought. For one, I’m pretty sure we’ve had pretty bad runs up until this point.”
That startled a laugh out of Roxas. “You might be right. Sora told me you slept for pretty much twelve years. I can’t imagine that was fun.”
“It wasn’t,” Ven agreed. “And what about you? A Nobody, being born into Organisation XIII? I can’t think of anything worse.”
“I can,” Roxas whispered, going to shake it away before seeing something in Ven’s face. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly uncomfortable and Ven suddenly remembered Riku’s advice not to push him.
“Well, do you wanna know the hardest part for me?” he asked quickly, effectively cutting off Roxas’ train of thought. He waited for a nod before continuing. “With Terra and Aqua, it’s not so bad because they’re kind of how I remember them but...then I see Lea and Isa and I realise, I missed so much. So much happened when I was asleep. And a lot of it was bad. It makes me wonder…” Ven hugged his knees a bit tighter. “If I’d been awake, could I have stopped it?”
Roxas gave a hum of agreement. “I sometimes wonder that too. What would have happened, if I’d never rejoined with Sora. But the worst thing…” Roxas hesitated before pushing on. “When...Riku captured me, I was placed in a digital Twilight Town. Imprisoned, really. They couldn’t risk losing Sora’s other half. And...Hayner, Pence, and Olette...DiZ made digital copies of them and programmed them to like me.” Roxas scrubbed at his eyes. “Sometimes I’m scared. That…”
“That the real Hayner and them are the same?” Ven finished.
“I know they’re not,” Roxas said, voice absolute. “But I…”
“I get it,” Ven assured, bumping their shoulders together. “Everything you thought was real, it was a lie Roxas. That’s not something that’s easy to get over.”
Roxas pushed himself to his feet, dusting the sand off his pants. “Either way, this time it’s real. And...and Sora got me back. I won’t disappear again.”
“Nope, you won’t!” Ven then nudged him, getting a scowl in return. “Come on, race you back. Oh, but those portals, totally cheating.”
“Fine,” Roxas agreed, poking him in the chest with a finger. “But one ounce of magic, and it’s cheating for you too.”
Ven was suddenly a lot less confident but it didn’t matter because Roxas was smiling as he raced off and Ven didn’t think he’d ever made Roxas smile that widely before.
***
“Hey Sora?”
Sora jumped at being addressed, chuckling awkwardly and stepping away from Xion and Kairi. “Hey Ven, what’s up?”
“Thank you.”
Sora frowned. “Huh, for what?”
“For finding Roxas,” Ven explained, shaking his head when Sora went to speak. “I know, you would have looked for him anyway but...He was complete in you but you didn’t accept that. You gave his own life. You’re special Sora. I know it and Roxas knows it too.”
Sora couldn’t help but blush, toeing the ground. “Do I even wanna know what you and Roxas talked about?”
Ven poked his tongue out. “It was nothing that serious. Just...having his own life, it means a lot to Roxas. And so I have to thank you for giving it to him.”
Sora looked over at where Roxas was slumped against Hayner, reading aloud from their shared textbook as Hayner’s fingers toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck. He couldn’t help but smile, and maybe snuck a photo on his GummiPhone. “You don’t have to thank me Ven, but thank you for the thank you!”
“Hey Sora, we’re gonna head off now!”
Sora whipped around, eyes wide at Riku’s call. “Hey, wait up!” He clapped Ven on the shoulder. “Til next time, okay?”
“Yeah, next time.”
***