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“So, this is Traverse Town.”
Ventus looked around at the rather homey looking world. For a world that took in lost hearts, it seemed very welcoming and warm. He vaguely remembered this town from Sora’s travels but being here himself was a completely different experience.
Ever since the aftermath of Xehanort’s defeat, everyone had been searching for a way to bring back Sora whether that be in actually searching for him in different worlds or looking for clues that could lead to bringing him back. It had been a year since Sora disappeared from the realm of light – a year with little to no success in finding any sort of trace of Sora.
Ventus had suggested checking Traverse Town since it was not only the first world outside his home that Sora went to, but it was also the world where lost people usually appeared. While some didn’t think the idea had any merit, they still had been willing to check. They had nothing to lose after all. The problem was that Traverse Town wasn’t easily accessible. It only appeared to those that needed a home. It wasn’t a world they could just start looking for with the gummi ship.
Ventus had been stuck on this idea for a good few days until he got to wondering; if he had been there before through Sora, then couldn’t he open a gate from his heart? His heart had technically been to Traverse Town so he should still have the connection to it.
And low and behold, his idea had worked. Sure, he probably should have told Aqua and Terra before trying it out, but it was the dead of night and he hadn’t wanted to wake them up. And okay, maybe he had wanted to go by himself to prove that he didn’t always need Aqua or Terra or someone else by his side to have his hand held. He was sixteen going on seventeen for crying out loud and sure, he was the youngest out of all his friends, but it wasn’t much of an age gap. He was only a couple months younger than Kairi who was seventeen and still considered the second youngest. If only Aqua and Terra could stop viewing him as a little kid.
The only ones that didn’t treat Ventus with any sort of fragility were Riku and Roxas and he was grateful for it. It was nice to be around them and not get any sort of filtered treatment. Maybe he should have told one of them about his plan just in case something went wrong…
“I’ll be fine,” he said to himself, waving a hand around nonchalantly.
As he made his way down the streets of the town, he was surprised to find less people here than when Sora had been here. It made sense if more worlds were being restored due to Xehanort’s defeat. The world felt infinitely lonelier which was good in the sense that more people were able to go back to their home worlds, but bad in the sense that if Sora were here, he was probably terrified and lonely.
“No assumptions Ven. We’ve got to check the whole world first before making any conclusions.”
He started his search from the bottom which meant the first district. There were quite a few abandoned houses and shops. The shops that weren’t empty held owners with bittersweet smiles and Ventus felt so bad for them that he ended up buying a generous amount of items from them. After all, they probably weren’t getting much business since the world was so empty.
The second district looked less lively than usual. The district once had bright shining colorful lights to decorate the whole area and bring a sense of comfort to anyone that walked in. Now, everything was dark. Signs and lights that were once lit up were now off and didn’t give off any sort of brightness. No one was running the hotel, but he did find two people occupying rooms. The Dalmatians’ House was occupied by a family who had seemed rather confused at seeing Ventus barge into their home.
As he made his way down the alley that would take him to the third district, he heard a growl echoing off the brick walls. Ventus looked around fervently trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. After realizing that there was no sign of anything or anyone in front of him, he slowly turned around to see a dog – a rather angry looking dog – ready to pounce.
At least it wasn’t a Heartless, right? But then again, this dog looked intent on ripping him to shreds if he made one wrong move.
“Hey there,” Ventus said in a soft soothing voice. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”
Apparently the dog didn’t even want him to speak because his growling quickly turned into barking. Ventus began to back away slowly from the dog, but the creature just got closer to him.
“Okay, I’m just gonna go…”
Ventus broke off into a run, hoping that he would make it down the alley and into the third district before the dog got to him. The blonde idly wondered if this would be how he went out – death by dog. It was both a little funny and yet pretty malicious.
He crashed through the doors that led to the third district, tripping over his own feet from the sudden force of pushing the rather heavy doors open. He had been so focused on not falling on his face that he didn’t notice the person running in his direction – equally as distracted as he was. It wasn’t until the blonde felt himself collide with another body that Ventus realized he probably should have been paying more attention.
And then Ventus heard the dog’s barking get louder and louder. He turned his head to see that the dog had made it past the doors before they had closed. Ventus wanted to slap himself for yet another dumb mistake he had made, and now not only did he have to suffer for it, but some innocent bystander was going to as well.
No, he couldn’t think like that. He would just have to fend the dog off with his keyblade. As much as he hadn’t wanted to use his blade against the animal, Ventus was finding that the dog was leaving him with little to no choice.
“Run!” he told the person as he summoned his keyblade.
He grounded his feet and held his keyblade at the ready. He wouldn’t let this dog hurt anyone, not if he could help it.
“Wait!” the person behind him said. “That’s my dog!”
And sure enough, the dog ran past Ventus and tackled the boy (if the voice was anything to go by) to the ground. The dog licked the boy’s face with kisses and Ventus couldn’t help but chuckle at the creature’s excitement. At least he was able to reunite an owner with their dog.
“Sorry I nearly attacked your dog. I just got nervous because I thought he was going to tear me to shreds,” Ventus said abashedly. “I’m Ventus but my friends call me Ven.”
And then the dog moved and Ventus was able to see the boy’s face. He was able to see the boy’s spiky brown locks, bright cerulean eyes that were nearly identical to his, and a familiar wide smile. The only difference he could discern was that the boy’s skin had become a little lighter due to the lack of sunlight on Traverse Town.
This was Sora.
As if he had been reading his thoughts, Sora stood up and approached Ventus. “I’m Sora. I can’t tell you what my friends call me because the only friend I have is Sunny here,” he said as he gestured to the dog.
Sora without friends? That was like an ocean without fish, or a forest without trees, or a flower field without any flowers. It wasn’t something that was supposed to be. Sora was the cheeriest, most charismatic person he knew – well besides himself of course. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with him? Sure, Traverse Town was pretty much barren but there were still a few people on this world. Surely Sora had met them before?
“What do you mean Sunny is your only friend?” Ventus decidedly asked. Technically he should have been asking Sora more important questions such as how long have you been here and how did you get here and most importantly, why are you introducing yourself if you know me?
“Everyone is nice enough around here, but we’ve all learned that it’s best to keep to ourselves. It’s safer that way. With little resources around here, having friends isn’t beneficial. You just smile and go on your merry way here.”
Didn’t that just punch Ventus in the heart. He didn’t realize how bad it had gotten. A world that was once warm and welcoming was now cold and desolate – dying. It was as if Ventus was in some sort of post-apocalyptic world and the residents here were the remaining survivors.
“Sora, how long have you been here on this world?”
“This world? You say that like there’s more than one. But to answer your question, I’ve been here as long as I can remember. Then again, I don’t remember much of my life anyway. Doctor Stanley thinks I have amnesia and I must have it or else I don’t think I’d remember so little.”
“What do you mean?” Ventus asked as his heart sped up in panic.
“I just remember waking up here in my bed. That’s my first ever memory. Speaking of, do you want to come inside and rest for a bit? You look a little sickly.”
Ventus felt it too. His stomach churned, his throat felt dry, he wanted to hurl but knew that the only thing that would come out would be stomach acid, his hands felt clammy, his eyelids felt heavy, and he felt that slightest tinge of vertigo.
“Umm, yeah. Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. You did help me find Sunny after all.”
Ventus followed Sora into the once abandoned house that Leon and the gang had used as a base. The small house was filled with a twin bed, a table with two chairs, and a small stove with only one burner. Only the essentials occupied the room and nothing else.
“Take a seat anywhere you like,” Sora said as he gestured to the chairs and bed.
Ventus sat down on one of the chairs. Sunny came up to him and began licking at the exposed part of his legs. It was baffling how this dog had tried to murder him not even five minutes ago and was now giving him kisses. He wasn’t going to complain if the dog wasn’t attacking him though.
“So Ven, where are you from? I’ve never seen you around the town before,” Sora said as he took the seat across from Ventus.
“I’m… looking for a friend. He’s been missing for a year now and I thought I could find him here.”
“Really? Any luck?”
“Yeah. Sunny actually led me to him.”
“Really?” Sora’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Is it someone I know? Maybe I can-” Sora paused as he took in the full meaning of Ventus’ words. “Wait, but Sunny led you to-” He stared down at the table, fingers tapping away at the wooden surface. “Is it me that you’re looking for?”
“Yeah.” Ventus was unsure of how to feel. He didn’t know if he was supposed to be happy, sad, or worried since Sora seemed so pensive. He could only wonder what the brunette was thinking. He only hoped that he would be able to get Sora to come back with him.
Sora looked up, worry in his eyes. “Are you sure?”
Ventus was taken aback by the boy’s question. It was almost as if he didn’t want to be the person that Ventus was looking for. “Of course I’m sure. My heart led me to you because it used to live inside yours. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire life.”
“But how? I’ve never seen you around here before. How do you suddenly appear here after a year? It doesn’t make sense.”
Ventus reached out to grab Sora’s hand but the brunette pulled back. The blonde was hurt by the action but then remembered that Sora didn’t know who he was. Of course he wouldn’t let some stranger touch him. “I’m from another world and before you ask, yes other worlds exist. You’re originally from Destiny Islands. You grew up there alongside Riku and Kairi, but you’ve travelled to many other worlds which you saved from the darkness. You’ve saved countless people and even sacrificed yourself to bring back the person most important to you.”
“The way you’re describing me makes me sound like some sort of superhero.”
“But you are a hero! You given so many people a second chance at life because of all the good you’ve done. I mean, haven’t you ever wondered why you have the key-” And then Ventus stopped, for he realized something. Sora didn’t know what a keyblade was because he hadn’t summoned his since he didn’t remember it. He still should be able to summon it, right? He still had to have that power within him. “This is going to sound crazy, but I need you to try summoning a key-shaped sword.”
Sora blinked at Ventus in bafflement, completely caught by surprise at the request. “You’re right. That does sound crazy.” He stood up, chair nearly toppling over with the action. “Look Ventus, you seem like a nice guy and all, but I can’t be the one you’re looking for.”
Ventus narrowed his eyes, realizing why Sora was acting strangely now. For some reason, Sora truly wanted Ventus to be confusing him with someone else. Was it possible that he remembered who he was but had been faking his memory loss this whole time? “Do you know something Sora?”
Sora stilled as if he had been caught red handed. He hung his head in defeat upon seeing Ventus’ knowing gaze. “Not exactly. It’s just a feeling I guess. When I first woke up here, I knew I had been here before. It felt familiar so I figured that I just lived here. But the more I began to live my life, the more it felt like there were things missing. Things felt off for so long and painful even though I didn’t know why. Then I found Sunny and was able to push all those painful emotions to the side. I… I don’t want to remember if it comes with so much pain. What’s the point?”
“But Sora-”
“When you crashed into me, I felt a pang in my chest. I thought I was having a heart attack or something, but then I got this feeling that I knew you. My heart felt so warm when I saw you, but there was also pain. I don’t want the pain that comes with remembering, Ven. I’ve made a life here anyway with Sunny. I’m comfortable with it. It’s a simple life.”
“Sora, this isn’t you though…”
“How would you know Ven?! Maybe this was the life I was meant to have all along!”
“If this were the life you were meant to live, then the keyblade would have never chosen you in the first place, Sora! It’s still with you because it needs you!”
“How would you know if it’s still with me?!”
Ventus summoned his keyblade and striked at Sora, the brunette holding up a hand in which his own keyblade appeared to block the attack just in time.
“So, you knew you could summon it this whole time,” Ventus said, staring at the oh so familiar blade. He looked at Sora in disbelief and disappointment. “You’d rather forget your friends, forget Kairi, forget your family. Everyone is working tirelessly to find you and yet I did. I finally found you and you won’t come back because you don’t want to deal with the pain that comes along with those memories? Well, newsflash Sora, all good memories also come with bad ones. It’s a part of life you just have to deal with. None of us can escape it.” Ventus couldn’t help but think that he sounded more like Roxas at this point since his voice had taken on a slightly angrier and deeper tone. “You know deep within your heart that this isn’t where you belong, but if you refuse to come back, I can’t make you.”
And without waiting to hear if Sora would have anything more to say, Ventus left the house and summoned his glider, heading back to the Land of Departure.
It had been a week since Ventus had gone to Traverse Town. He told everyone about his trip and that he had found Sora there who didn’t want to go back to his original life. Everyone had been disheartened at this news. Riku had especially become enraged when he heard that Sora would rather choose his lonely life in Traverse Town over his friends. Kairi had looked so sad and pained that Ventus couldn’t help but hug her as she cried into his shoulder. Roxas had nearly smashed the object in his nearest vicinity but was immediately stopped by Lea. Ventus couldn’t blame his friends for their strong reactions. He himself wanted to scream at the top of his lungs as he smashed something and poured his tears out all at the same time.
Ventus still couldn’t believe it completely. He couldn’t believe that Sora, one of the kindest, most selfless, and generous people to ever exist would give up on his friends, on his old life. Loss of memory couldn’t possibly erase who you were at heart, right? Or could it?
He decided to ask someone who had personal experience in regard to something similar. He went to Ienzo.
“Well, as a Nobody I remember being cruel and rather cold toward others. I was too caught up in my own interests to even bother caring about anyone else,” Ienzo said when asked. “I had no heart and no memory of my former life, so without those memories that had molded me into Ienzo, I became Zexion instead.”
Huh. That actually made perfect sense and Ventus hated that it did. It meant that he couldn’t completely blame Sora for feeling the way he did. He was essentially a different person now with different morals and beliefs. This Sora cared more about his own survival. He had adjusted to this new life he made for himself in Traverse Town and then Ventus had just walked in to take him away from all that.
“Is there any way to bring our Sora back?” Ventus asked.
“Naminé always says that memories are never lost, just buried deep within our hearts. Perhaps she can help in bringing back those lost memories, but she won’t do it unless he agrees to it. That’s where you may have trouble. If he’s grown to like his new life, he may not want to come back to something that involves fighting to defend others. This Sora seems more like someone constantly trying to survive for himself.”
Ventus groaned in frustration. “I have no idea how to even start at convincing him to come back.”
“What about Kairi?”
“Huh? What about Kairi?”
Ienzo let out a soft chuckle at Ventus’ innocent yet obvious question. “I mean that when Sora lost his memory in Castle Oblivion, she had been the key to gaining it back. Perhaps she can be that same key yet again. Take her with you to Traverse Town. Maybe upon seeing her, something in Sora’s memory or heart will come back.”
Ventus’ face lit up at the idea. He began to have hope again. It felt warm in his heart and that same warmth spread throughout his entire body, causing a smile to erupt on his face. “You’re a genius Ienzo! Well, I mean we all knew that and you know that but still! Thank you!” In his glee, he hugged the young man and sprinted out of the lab, leaving a flabbergasted but smiling Ienzo behind.
Ventus had to quickly adjust his footing as he landed on the soft sand of Destiny Islands. He wasted no time in searching for the redhead that might be the answer to all their problems. However, as he ran throughout the island, he couldn’t seem to find her anywhere. No one was here actually. Maybe she and Riku thought that going to the islands wasn’t the same anymore since Sora wasn’t with them.
As this thought ran through his mind, he once again wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and crashed into another body that seemingly came out of nowhere. This time however, he was able to catch the person before they fell to the ground. He grabbed their arm and tugged them back up causing them to stumble into him.
Looking down at the person he wanted to laugh, for it was like the universe kept crashing him into the people he needed on purpose.
“Sorry Kairi. You okay?” he asked, making sure the girl got her footing back before letting go of her.
“I’m fine Ven,” she said as she looked up at him with a forced smile. “What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for you. I think there might be a way to get Sora back after all.”
Kairi’s eyes widened and her smile dropped. “Really?”
Ventus nodded and explained what Ienzo had told him about memory and how it shaped a person. He told her how Sora was acting so differently because he didn’t have those memories and that she might be the key to getting him to come back with them.
“Of course I’ll go,” she said with the utmost determination. “If there’s any slight chance that it can bring him back, I’m in.”
Ventus nearly beamed with joy at her enthusiasm. He summoned his glider and held out his hand to Kairi which she instantly took. “You may want to hold on to me. Mine doesn’t have any handles like Aqua’s or Terra’s.”
Kairi let out a small laugh as she stepped onto the glider and wrapped her arms around Ventus’ torso. “Will do.”
And just like last time, he allowed his heart to guide him to Traverse Town and effectively to Sora. It took little to no time at all to arrive at the world. Ventus wasted no time in making his way to the third district with Kairi in tow.
“Is this where he is?” Kairi asked, looking up at the once abandoned house.
“Yeah, but maybe I should-”
Kairi didn’t wait for Ventus to finish that thought and knocked on the door. Ventus could only hope that Sora wouldn’t shut the door in their faces upon seeing them. After all, his last visit here hadn’t gone too well.
The door opened to reveal Sora with bedhead. Had he been sleeping? Was it already nighttime here? It always looked like night here so Ventus wouldn’t know how the residents of the town could tell when it was technically day.
It was rather funny to see Sora slowly make the connection as to who he was seeing. His half lidded sleepy eyes had widened upon seeing Ventus and when they landed on Kairi, they changed. They held a sort of softness and amazement to them. That gave Ventus more hope that their plan might actually work.
“Wow, you’re beautiful,” Sora said in awe.
Both Kairi and Ventus were taken aback by the comment and Sora’s boldness.
As if realizing what he had just said, Sora shook his head. “Sorry. I don’t know why I said that. I mean, I know why I said it, but I didn’t mean to say it out loud. It just came out and…” He trailed off into a laugh and ruffled his hair. “Do I know you? I feel like we might have bumped into each other somewhere.”
“Yes, we-” She cut herself off as she thought over her next words. After seemingly going through different words in her head, she just settled on, “I’m Kairi.”
“Kairi,” he said as if testing out her name on his tongue. “You’re that special someone that Ventus was telling me about.”
And boy did that wording sound completely off, for Kairi turned around giving Ventus a questioning look, one that said, “Do we have to talk about something?”
Ventus shook his head and his hands in front of him. “No! No not my special someone! His special someone!”
Kairi nodded as if everything made more sense but as the meaning of the words hit her, her eyes widened, and a blush coated her cheeks. Her lips formed an “o” as she turned to face Sora again. He was much closer than he had initially been now. His hands went to reach up but then he let them fall to his sides again.
“Um, can I…”
“Yes,” Kairi almost whispered even though Sora hadn’t finished his question.
The brunette reached up and gingerly placed his fingertips on Kairi’s cheeks. His fingers slowly lowered onto her skin until he was cupping her face and a soft smile grew on Sora’s lips. It was that smile that let Ventus know they had Sora – that smile full of love, affection, and adoration.
“You think… there’s really a way for me to get my memory back?” Sora finally asked.
Kairi reached up to cover Sora’s hands with hers. “We have a friend that specializes in that sort of thing. If you want your memory back, she can do that for you.”
Sora looked to Ventus, a spark of excitement and hope in his eyes now. They weren’t those tired lonely eyes he had seen a short time ago. These were Sora’s eyes, the real Sora.
Ventus gave him his best encouraging smile, the one that got people smiling back and feeling like they could do anything. He nodded to the boy, letting him know that they would do everything in their power to bring him back.
Sora looked back at Kairi and let out a small chuckle. “Okay, but I do have one condition.”
“Name it,” Ventus said, ready to give up just about anything for Sora to return with them.
“Sunny has to come along too.”
Upon saying the dog’s name, Sunny came out and began running circles around Ventus in greeting. Kairi cooed at the creature and kneeled down to scratch behind his ears, the dog lapping up the attention. The look Sora directed at her was softer than anything Ventus had ever seen.
“Of course Sunny can come. He was by your side this whole time after all,” Ventus said.
The smile that came upon Sora’s face was so bright that Ventus thought they would all go blind from it. He was glad that Sora genuinely wanted to regain his memory. He was glad that Sora wanted to come back to them. Whatever happened next, Ventus knew they would all be okay. He knew that Sora would gain his memory back, no matter how long it took. As long as they had Sora by their side, he would take it.