‘And what you are is darkness?!’
‘What I am is darkness.’
‘…Okay.’
That exchange plays in Vanitas’s head, over and over in some twisted form of mockery while he slowly awakes deep down in the darkness.
The resignation that had been in Ventus’s voice… Vanitas could never forget it.
It really was all for nothing. Everything he had done up until now.
Ventus had given up on it all, given up on him, and had severed their connection that day. What once was a bond of hearts was now an ugly, open wound of a broken tie. The reality of it is bitter on Vanita’s tongue as he blearily recalls how he ended up here in the depths.
Once the battle concluded, he had faded away into the Realm of Darkness, ready for death to consume his body and mind. Xehanort no longer needed him, Ventus no longer wanted him, and Sora was too far gone that Vanitas couldn’t feel his presence anymore even if he tried.
And so, he had given in to the pain, given in to the end of his life. And yet, something was keeping him alive. Some sort of connection that had been long buried.
But what was it?
Vanitas whittled away days, weeks, and months pondering endless possibilities to this question as his Unversed toiled away collecting negative emotions. With their Master not fully conscious, they were nothing more than mindless drones, acting of their own will to heal Vanitas as fast as they possibly could.
And they knew exactly where to go.
Monstropolis still had a plethora of children’s screams on their property, after all, and they had claimed to have no more use for it. So why would they refuse if something came to take it all off their hands?
As a result, after only about a year or so, Vanitas’s body is complete once more as his consciousness fully regains itself in the Realm of Darkness. His muscles are stiff, and everything hurts in more places than he’s used to, but it’ll do for now as he flexes his fingers and toes more than necessary.
It’s nothing more than a habit, long since pressed into this body back during the days in the Graveyard. To make sure that everything is there.
Vanitas is distracted from memories as he notices a dark beach not too far away, and ventures towards the water. He reaches to remove his helmet, before recalling it is no longer there.
That’s right. It had broken into pieces at the graveyard.
While in his current state, it would take much more energy to repair than he would have liked, so he’d have to do without for now.
Apprehension strangles his chest as Vanitas steps onto some nearby rocks in the water, looking down into the dark mirror. He doesn’t know what reflection he expects to greet him, but seeing his own familiar face is startling.
‘How…?’ He touches his face and black hair with his gloved fingertips.
His connection with Ventus has been severed. By this logic, his connection with Sora should be long gone. Yet here Vanitas was. Wearing Sora’s face, same as always.
With one quick mental check, he notes that his connection to Sora has somehow regained itself since he was killed in the Keyblade Graveyard.
Odd. Why would that be?
The Unversed break Vanitas out of his stupor as two floods run up to his side. They chirp and chatter at their master, informing him that there is some sort of strange door nearby.
Shelving one curiosity for another, Vanitas limps after them, one hand at his aching side. He has lived with several chronic pains up until this point, but the damage of being recompleted is unlike any other. The closest was back when his heart was forced into a replica body. That pain had been numbing, shaking him to the core as he struggled to focus on what that weird scientist had said while Master Xehanort had watched on with a sinister welcoming smile.
This time was so cripplingly different, as the Unversed had literally pulled his body back together from nothing. Every movement felt like non-existent stitches were coming undone, and the pain was so blaring that it threatened to tear him into pieces at any moment.
The world on the other side of the hidden door is bright. So much so that Vanitas hesitates to traverse into it for a few moments. Once through, however, he finds himself in some dark cave with crude drawings all over the walls.
The air is musty, and a bit cold as he admires the odd pictures. They don’t seem familiar but cause him to pause just the same.
Once he inevitably hobbles out of the cave, Vanitas finds himself on a similar beach in the realm of light. The sun is warm, and the never-ending expanse of blue ocean is overwhelming as Vanitas takes in the view with uncovered eyes. He’s been here before… back when he had threatened Ventus up on that small wooden bridge to his left. That feels like an eternity ago, as this world was only a small part of the four or so years that Vanitas can call his lifetime.
The sun was much easier to tolerate back then, Vanitas muses, as he gingerly walks down the wooden ramps leading to the beach with his Unversed at this side. But just looking at it now, he never noticed just how much green there is. How many multitudes of plants and trees there are growing under the hot sun, swaying to the breeze in time with the trickling sound of the nearby waterfall and the birds chirping overhead.
It’s kind of… nice. Though he would never admit it to anyone else.
After a few minutes, the Unversed at his suddenly vanish into his heart, bringing Vanitas back to reality with a sharp pain. Something can be heard approaching from up the beach, and he tenses, summoning his keyblade with great effort at the sight of something black and white approaching.
Wait a minute. He’s seen beings like those before, perhaps somewhere back in Ventus’s memory. It takes far too much time for his brain to catch up with his weakened body, however, and ultimately costs him as the creature slams into his side, knocking them both to the ground.
The pain of the impact nearly causes him to pass out, his vision turning blurry and white, but he muddles through it as the creature tries to lick his face for some reason. He pushes it away, disgusted.
‘Oh my gosh!’
Vanitas can hear someone yell along with the sound of footsteps running against the sand.
‘I am so sorry!’ A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes approaches him, looking exasperated. ‘Jewel! Bad dog! Don’t you have any manners?’
Dog… So that’s what it was.
The woman pries the animal off him, shaking her head.
‘I swear she’s never like this, I don’t know what’s gotten into her. Are you okay?’ The woman holds out a hand to him, and Vanitas instinctively swats it away.
He looks up at her properly, ready to angrily berate her with his usual boyish snark. But as their eyes meet, his entire body freezes, locking into a state of shock.
The woman also freezes, the two of them staring at each other in surprise. Vanitas can feel something settle in his chest, something gnawing and warm that he can’t explain. Like what he might imagine a hug would feel like.
It’s odd and causes his naturally overactive mind to go blank entirely.
The woman is the first of them to recover and she looks him over, noting his wounded side.
‘Are you hurt? What’s your name?’
She moves toward him, and he backs away with a sneer.
‘I’m fine.’ He hisses. He can sense the genuine concern nestled in her heart, but he’s never taken kindly to the pity of strangers. ‘Why don’t you go bother someone else?’
She refuses, though, and looks at him up and down with suspicion.
‘Somehow, I doubt that. You look like you just got out of a fight.’ She hums and places a hand to her chin, her eyebrows scrunched with worry as she looks him over. ‘Hm?’ Her eyes notice his keyblade, stuck in the sand from where it had fallen out of his hands.
He grimaces and quickly dismisses it.
‘Whatever. Keep your idiotic opinions to yourself.’ Vanitas rudely stands up and turns away from both her and that mangy mongrel sniffing around his feet.
He moves to summon a dark corridor, but overestimates the sheer effort required to call upon the darkness in this state. His vision blurs once more, the injuries he’d sustained along with the pain of being reborn getting the better of him as his body unceremoniously gives out and hits the burning sand.
The last thing he can hear is the woman calling out to him as his world goes dark.
Bits and pieces jumble together in Vanitas’s subconscious, somehow recognizing the feeling of being bundled up and taken somewhere.
Somewhere unknown for someone else’s agenda, same as always.
The next thing he knows he’s lying atop something soft, and there is a cushiony object pillowed under his head.
Could this be a… bed? No. Impossible.
Something cool pressed against his forehead, and his body unconsciously flinches. The hands that had placed it there back away in an instant and his consciousness fades out once more, hearing that woman’s voice again.
She’s talking to someone, and through his muffled ears he can hear a whispered, familiar name cross her lips, before he succumbs to the darkness once more.
The woman hangs up her Gummi Phone with a sigh while looking over at her strange house guest.
He looks so much like her Sora. And that weapon… that just had to be a keyblade.
Though it may not have been the smartest idea, she had taken him to her home and patched up his wounds as best she could. Once he was taken care of, she had called Sora, who answered immediately despite being hundreds of miles away exploring worlds with Donald and Goofy.
‘I’ll be there soon.’ He’d decided upon hearing of the news, with no room for protest.
Sora had said the boy’s name is Vanitas, and that he was made of the darkness that had been ripped from Ventus’s heart. Now, she had met Ventus a handful of times since the Keyblade War, and the name and description of Vanitas did match up to the boy currently recovering on her pull out couch in the home office. But looking at him now, he looked so weak and fragile, nothing like the confident warrior she had pictured.
He had several long slashes across his sides, along with a multitude of topical burns, no doubt from some sort of magic. There appeared to be older scars and bruises too from what little she could see under the tattered suit she had partially cut in order to get at the fresh wounds on his sides and arms.
One of them looked like a handprint that had gripped him so hard it was now forever embedded into the skin of his upper arm, and Vanitas was so far gone that he didn’t even flinch when she dared to touch it. It was as if his body had simply given out at that moment on the beach.
Jewel has not left his side, either, rubbing up against him and watching over him like she does with Sora.
‘And what do you make of all of this, Jewel?’ She asks the dalmatian quietly while scratching behind one of her black ears. ‘He looks just like Sora, huh? I wonder why.’
She knew that keyblade wielders can sometimes share a face under certain circumstances, as she had seen firsthand when meeting Ventus and Roxas for the first time. Namine and Xion too share the same face with Kairi. All of them are practically copies of one another.
Vanitas and Sora on the other hand… there is something incredibly authentic about them that she can’t quite explain. They’re just similar enough to be twins but not enough to appear as if they are exact replicas of each other.
And also Vanitas…
She places a hand to his forehead, a contemplative expression on her face.
Vanitas is still sleeping when Sora arrives home in a whirlwind frenzy alongside Donald and Goofy. She can hear the three of them call out to her from the living room as she quietly shuts the office door and meets them downstairs.
‘Don’t be so loud. He’s still sleeping.’ She shushes her son, before turning to his friends. ‘Hello Donald. Goofy.’
‘Good evenin’ Miss Suzume.’ Goofy says cheerfully while tipping his hat to her, but Donald shakes his head.
‘So what if he’s sleeping? He’s dangerous!’ Donald points up the stairs angrily, his wand at the ready.
‘Mom, so what exactly happened? Are you alright?’ Sora asks with worry.
‘Jewel and I met him on the beach. Well, actually she rammed into him and they both ended up in the sand.’ Suzume explains with a bit of a chuckle. ‘Then we talked for a little bit, and he passed out. I brought him here and… he’s not doing very well.’ She says with concern while looking up towards the stairs. ‘He has a lot of wounds. I’m guessing from some sort of keyblade?’
At this, Sora, Donald and Goofy grow quiet and look at each other.
‘You don’t think? From the graveyard?’ Sora asks.
‘Could be. That’s the last time anybody ever saw him.’ Goofy hums.
‘We should tell Master Yen Sid. Probably Aqua, Terra and Ven too.’ Donald says, causing Goofy to hum in consideration.
‘Well I don’t know Donald. You know Aqua…’
Sora barely listens to his two friends as they discuss back and forth, his mind thinking back elsewhere to the day anyone had last seen Vanitas. Back at the Keyblade Graveyard.
Vanitas was the only one of their foes that didn’t reconcile, not even at the very bitter end. Sora had always felt sour when he thought back to that interaction, as if there were so many things left unsaid.
Their conversation in Monstropolis left much to be desired. Vanitas somehow knew about the bond that Sora had forged with Ventus when he was a kid, and Vanitas had been more interested in stealing Ventus’s heart than answering any questions. Later still in the Land of Departure, Sora himself was too engrossed with Aqua’s safety and waking Ventus’s heart to have any sort of lasting conversation.
When they finally fought in the Graveyard, and locked eyes through shattered black glass, Sora had felt as if an instant connection had been burned into his heart. He couldn’t explain it, but it had been real and suffocating, and he had begrudgingly looked back on their past interactions, wishing there had only been more time to ask Vanitas if he had felt the same.
It was Sora’s only regret from that war in the Graveyard.
Amidst their squabbling, movement can suddenly be heard from upstairs, and the living room grows silent to listen.
Sora elects to check it out alone, much to the protest of Donald and Goofy.
‘He’ll be fine.’ His mother vouches. ‘Vanitas has been a bit grumpy, but nothing dangerous. Trust me, he can barely move at this point. Poor thing.’
Sora can hear Donald tutting in disbelief but doesn’t stick around long enough to hear any further objections as he makes his way up the stairs. The air is heavy with a tension that is so foreign amongst the comforting feeling of his childhood home, and Sora pauses for a moment or two in the hallway before opening the office door.
He finds Vanitas laying down on the pull-out couch. His arm is thrown over his eyes as if to block out the warm glow of sunset streaming in from the window, and his entire body is tense like a spring, hesitant to move.
Jewel, who had been lying next to him on the bed, jumps off and bounds over to Sora, causing Vanitas to grunt from the sudden movement. His eyes snap to Sora, and there it is again, that feeling of connection even as Vanitas’s gaze is partially covered by his arm.
‘Hey.’ Sora calls out as he steps into the room, giving Jewel a pat on the head as his attention is trained on Vanitas.
‘Why are you here?’ Vanitas hisses.
‘Just to uh, check how you’re doing I guess.’ Sora seems at a loss for words at the question. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
‘Just peachy. Clearly.’ Vanitas snarls. ‘What are you doing here?’ He snaps again.
‘More like what are you doing here?’ Sora crosses his arms in disbelief. ‘I live here.’
Vanitas grows silent at that, having a similar look of disbelief.
‘What?’
‘Why are you so surprised? You already met my mom.’ Sora hooks his thumb behind him towards the stairs.
Vanitas slowly puts his arm down, glaring at the other boy.
‘What?’ He repeats.
‘This is my home.’ Sora repeats right back. ‘That lady you met at the beach? Yea, that’s my mom. Oh, and this is Jewel.’ He gestures towards the dalmatian who is now leaning against one of his legs. ‘My dog.’
Vanitas gazes down at Jewel and then back up to Sora, though says nothing more.
‘So uh, yea. What happened? You look pretty banged up there.’ Sora asks after a few beats of silence.
Vanitas shakes off whatever was on his mind to glare at Sora.
‘As if you don’t know.’
‘Well I can guess.’ Sora looks Vanitas over with a contemplative expression. ‘But that happened a whole year ago, back when we defeated Xehanort. How could-‘
‘Defeated him?’ Vanitas expression is tense. ‘You?’
‘Yea. What? Don’t believe me?’ Despite Vanitas’s lack of faith, Sora still wears a grin on his face as he holds out his hand. ‘I have the this to prove it. See?’
Vanitas’s eyes widen as a keyblade manifests in Sora’s hand. That blade… he’d never forget it. It’s been seared into his memory, thoughts and hopes so many times before that there was no doubt of its authenticity.
Sora now wields the X-blade, so that truly means…
The room goes quiet, and Sora dismisses the blade when it is clear that Vanitas is considering his next words.
‘He’s been gone this whole time?’ Vanitas eventually asks, his voice low and his gaze far away.
‘Right.’ Sora confirms as he tilts his head, taking in Vanitas’s expression. The other boy looks relieved more than anything else. But why? ‘So uh, what do you plan to do now?’ Sora instead asks, loathe to break the line of discussion now that he and Vanitas are finally talking. ‘Not here to cause havoc again are you?’
Though Sora’s words can be taken as pointed, his tone is anything but, and Vanitas can sense nothing but genuine curiosity coming from his heart.
They both know that Vanitas has nowhere to go. The Organization is gone, and those remaining like Xion and Isa were now on the side of the Guardians of Light. If Vanitas was here to oppose them, he would have to do so singlehandedly, and Sora knows that Vanitas isn’t stupid enough to try that in this state.
Sora waits for Vanitas to say something instead. Anything. But it slowly becomes clear that he either will not or cannot answer.
‘Well, you could stay here until you figure it out? My mom and I won’t mind.’ Sora suggests as Jewel chooses this time to meander back over to Vanitas. Both boys watch with curiosity as she hops up onto the bed once more and licks Vanitas’s hand before settling down with her head resting on one of his legs. ‘Heh, Jewel likes you too so-‘
‘Absolutely not.’ Vanitas spits, pulling away from Jewel with what looks like great effort. ‘Me? Stay with one of you guardians of light? Why would I ever want to do that?’
‘Well… maybe I want you to stay?’ Sora says with his mouth before his brain catches up to what he’s really implying. It’s too late to take the words back, however, as Vanitas narrows his eyes at him with suspicion. ‘Do you remember that day at the Graveyard? We never really got to talk about what happened.’
From what his mom had told him over the phone, she had felt it too, just the same as Sora did that day upon looking Vanitas in the eye. A searing bond so deep as if years of connection had been formed in a single instant. Neither of them could explain it. His mother had said it had felt more as if the two of them had found each other, rather than meeting for the first time. Like two lost puzzle pieces.
It wasn’t like with Roxas, Xion and Namine either. Even though the three of them came from Sora and will always be like family, there is something entirely different. Something more real, with Vanitas.
Vanitas himself, though, gives Sora a look as if he’s crazy.
‘Have you gone insane? I’d rather chew my own foot off.’ Vanita’s spits out as he angrily throws the covers away and stands up with what looks like sheer willpower alone. ‘I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t by chance.’
‘But-!’
Meanwhile, Suzume, who had been listening to their squabbling from downstairs in the kitchen, decides to check on them despite Donald and Goofy’s protests. Sora and Vanitas are so engrossed in their argument that they do not notice her in the half open doorway, and she can feel something squeeze in her chest when she looks at the two of them together.
Vanitas truly looks just like her son, but it’s more than that. She can’t explain it, wouldn’t even know where to begin to piece everything together, but somehow her heart knows him; knows him as if he had been there all along, growing up alongside Sora.
The pull is overwhelming this time, and before anyone can stop her, Suzume walks towards Vanitas. He looks up at her and makes as if to back away, but she pulls him into a hug regardless, causing the room to grow silent.
Suzume can feel him go stiff in her arms as she squeezes him tight, no one saying a word for several long moments. When she finally lets him go, he pulls away from her as if he’s been burned, and she reaches up to dry her eyes.
‘Mom?’ Sora asks, looking between the two of them.
‘I’m… I’m sorry, Vanitas, I don’t know what came over me, I…’ She hesitates to explain. ‘You two just…’ She lets out a breath, calming herself. ‘What happened?’ She settles on asking first. ‘Why do the two of you look identical? Please, explain it to me.’
Sora looks to Vanitas, who is pointedly looking away from either of them with a scowl on his face.
‘Well…’ Sora starts. ‘It’s kind of a long story…’
It takes some time for Sora to weave the tale of what had happened years ago during the war between Master Xehanort, Vanitas, Terra, Ven and Aqua. He doesn’t know much admittedly, only parts that Master Yen Sid or Master Aqua had described. Surprisingly enough, Vanitas does willingly offer up bits and pieces of information to fill in some blanks, albeit with an attitude.
‘That’s not what happened, idiot.’ Vanitas snarls from his perch back on the bed. At some point it must have gotten too painful to continue standing.
‘Hey! I’m trying, okay?’ Sora says, exasperated.
Vanitas huffs, ‘Could’ve fooled me.’
‘Boys, please.’ Suzume sighs, ‘Just continue.’
Eventually, the most recent war from about a year ago is explained, leaving Sora unable to go any further. Vanitas doesn’t seem inclined to share how he came back to life either, clearly not trusting either of them.
‘Alright, so that’s what happened.’ Suzume hums once the boys are finished with their story. ‘But that still doesn’t explain why the two of you look identical?’
‘Vanitas seems to think that it’s because I was the one that helped Ven heal his heart or something. Right?’ Sora looks to the other boy.
‘It was the only thing that made sense.’
Or at least, it used to. Now Vanitas wasn’t so sure.
His connection to Sora should have come from Ventus himself, but now that he and Ventus are disconnected, he has no idea why he still shares a face with Sora.
‘Was?’ Sora catches the word, lifting an eyebrow.
‘Hm…’ Suzume hums, putting a finger up to her chin thoughtfully. ‘Well, then let’s look at the beginning.’ She turns to her house guest. ‘Vanitas, when is your birthday, if you don’t mind me asking?’
Vanitas pauses at this and looks at her incredulously. ‘My what?’
‘Your birthday. Or I guess it would also be the day when you and Ventus were separated.’ Sora fills in, catching his confusion.
‘Birthday…’ Vanitas lingers on the word, ignoring Sora’s observing gaze. He’s heard it before but, never pieced it together. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had a fuzzy guess that it was something special, but nothing further beyond.
It’s like that with so many things he remembers from his time as Ventus, but never encountered in this lifetime as Vanitas. Some he struggled with more than others, but all of them were a royal pain in the ass.
‘We were separated on March 28th.’ He clarifies, seeing no reason to lie. ’16 years ago.’
Sora immediately turns to Suzume, both of them sharing a look.
‘What?’ Vanitas huffs, crossing his arms.
‘That’s the day Sora was born.’ Suzume says. ‘Do you remember what time of day it was?’
Vanitas pauses. Does he remember? Everything was so hazy back then. One moment he was Ventus, then the next he was ripped away and looking at himself through another’s eyes. Given a new name before he could even process it all.
‘I…’ He starts, before suddenly snapping his attention to the door, causing both Sora and Suzume to look as well.
Donald and Goofy, gasp and stumble over each other in the hallway from where they had been trying to listen in through a crack in the door.
‘You…’ Vanitas stands up quickly, looking tense and ready for a fight as he summons his keyblade. He looks them over, remembering that they are Sora’s friends but not exactly having any other details.
‘Woah, calm down.’ Sora stands up in front of Vanitas, trying to diffuse the situation. ‘It’s only Donald and Goofy.’
Vanitas looks at Sora, one with glaring eyes and the other with a calming gaze, and eventually Vanitas huffs and dismisses his weapon just as Donald and Goofy stand up.
‘Sorry, we didn’t mean to startle ya.’ Goofy says, wiping the dirt off of his trousers before extending a hand. ‘Nice to meet cha, Vanitas.’
Vanitas only stares at him with an irritated gaze, not offering to accept the handshake, before Donald pushes Goofy.
‘Knock it off.’ Donald scolds his friend and then turns accusatory eyes at Vanitas, who can clearly sense the wizard’s strong suspicion and disdain. ‘So what are you doing here anyway?’
‘Hmph, wouldn’t you like to know?’ Vanitas sneers, enjoying the duck’s squawk of outrage.
‘I do! That’s why I asked!’ Donald sneers right back, sending the two of them in a glaring contest for a few moments before Suzume steps in between them.
‘Alright, it’s getting late, and don’t you think we have all interrogated Vanitas enough for one day?’ She says with an authoritative air. ‘Let’s all head downstairs for some dinner.’
For a moment, neither Donald nor Vanitas say anything, before Donald sighs.
‘Okay.’ He huffs and turns away to head down the stairs, with Goofy and eventually Sora trailing behind him.
Vanitas watches them go, one dark eyebrow raised as he turns to Suzume. Why did Donald listen to her? From the duck’s emotions alone, he had clearly been thinking of starting a fight right there, but somehow she was able to disperse those feelings in an instant with words alone.
How?
‘Are you alright to walk, Vanitas?’ Suzume’s concern snaps Vanitas out of his thoughts and he turns to her with an irritated expression. ‘I can bring you a plate of food up here if that’s better for you.’
‘I’m fine. Didn’t I tell you that before?’
‘Yes, right before you fell on your face in the sand.’ Suzume says with a hint of a chuckle in her voice, causing him to glare at her. ‘But alright, come along then.’ She says before heading down the stairs, with Vanitas following along after her.
The dinner that Suzume had prepared for them all is a simple affair; some heated up leftover pulled pork along with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Though to Vanitas, it may as well have been a pile of dark sludge from the Realm of Darkness.
He looks down at the plate that Suzume had offered him with barely masked perplexity as the others dig into their meals.
‘This is really good mom, thanks!’ Sora comments.
‘Yeah! It’s delicious!’ Goofy says, with Donald humming in agreement.
‘Oh, I’m glad you all like it. I almost didn’t know what to make on such short notice.’ Suzume says before turning to Vanitas and noticing that he is staring at the food as if it would eat him instead. ‘Ah, Vanitas, sorry I didn’t think to ask if you were allergic to anything.’ She fusses over him. ‘Or are you a vegetarian? I can make you something else.’
Vanitas looks at her with an eyebrow raised and confusion clear on his face.
‘You said there was food. Where is it?’ Vanitas asks.
The question causes all of the guardians to pause and turn to him.
‘What do you mean? It’s right there in front of you.’ Sora asks, mirroring Vanitas with one eyebrow raised as he takes a sip of lemonade.
‘No it’s not. I don’t know what this is but it’s not food.’
Suzume pauses before turning to Vanitas with a concerned expression.
‘What do you normally eat, Vanitas?’
‘Water and gruel. Not this.’ He stabs a fork into some of the pork and holds it up for inspection.
Donald sputters.
‘Just that?’
‘Just that.’ Vanitas clarifies as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.
‘How often would you eat just that?’ Suzume questions, and something in her tone causes him to look at her.
There is an undertone of anger, something that he is familiar with from Xehanort. But what would she be angry about?
‘Depends.’ He shrugs, starting to feel uncomfortable with this conversation. ‘Every few days I guess? Sometimes weeks?’
‘What?!’ Suzume gasps, horrified.
‘Are you kidding me? That’s awful!’ Sora exclaims.
‘What’s the problem?’ Vanitas asks, crossing his arms and hating the way all of them are looking at him now. ‘I survive through negative emotions, remember?’
‘You still need to eat! Everyone does!’ Donald scolds, surprising Vanitas.
Why does Donald even care? Why do any of them care?
Vanitas’s grip tightens on his arms. The stares of pity reminding him of harrowing memories.
‘I’m fine.’ He grits his teeth.
‘That’s still not healthy.’ Goofy explains in a gentle voice. ‘Maybe-‘
‘I said I’m FINE!!’ Vanitas explains before leaving the table.
He slams open the screen door he had passed by earlier on the way to the kitchen and trudges out into the darkness of the night. There are stairs leading off the porch in front of him and he takes them, too angry and overwhelmed to care about his body protesting as he walks through the grass, feeling the Unversed bristling underneath his skin.
He wants to throw up, let the Unversed escape and cause havoc on this world, but doing so may be more trouble than its worth in his weakened state. And as the adrenaline wears off, he finds his energy lost quickly, not having even made it that far into the yard. A wave of dizziness and pain sets in, and he sits down in the yard in a huff, trying to concentrate on breathing.
It doesn’t take long for someone to join him, and Vanitas turns to them with a sneer.
‘Didn’t you hear what I said? Or are you too daft to understand?’ He snarls as Suzume takes a seat next to him on the grass, plate in hand.
‘I apologize for what happened in there.’ Suzume says, and he can feel the guilt radiating off of her. ‘I could tell that we overwhelmed you all at once and that wasn’t right.’
He stares at her for a moment. That wasn’t at all what he expected her to say.
‘If you are really not hungry, you do not have to eat.’ She says, voice sincere as she looks at him with eyebrows scrunched with worry. ‘But I am concerned for you. When you collapsed… I thought the worst. You need your strength now more than anything. And, I don’t know too much about these negative emotions you brought up.’ She smiles, offering him the plate. ‘But eating something will definitely help you get back on your feet.’
Vanitas looks from the plate and then back up to Suzume. A part of him wants to knock it over just to see her face when it all falls onto the ground. But another, stronger part of him wants to take it.
There’s…. something about her. Something that is soothing to him, as if he can finally let down his guard. As if he’s somehow safe whenever she’s around. But that’s absurd. She’s so pathetic, someone that Xenahort could probably snap in half with a mere flick of his wrist.
And yet, his heart doesn’t seem to think so. It has been hammering away in his chest ever since that stupid moment on the beach. And now with Sora here too it’s only gotten worse.
He had hoped that day in the Graveyard would be the last they saw of each other, but somehow they just ended up back together again. Just great.
Vanitas must have taken too long to decide, as Suzume hums and pulls the plate back. He decides to surprise her, however, by taking it none too gently for himself and shoving a piece of meat into his mouth before he can think too hard about it.
It’s chewy, and has some saucy flavor that tingles his tongue. It’s different, but not… bad. Certainly better than the no flavored gruel he had been eating so far. The white fluffy paste, on the other hand, is just as bland as anything else, so he pushes it aside. At least the long green sticks have some sort of earthy taste that mixes well with the tingling on his tongue.
He can feel as Suzume watches him out of the corner of her eye, not saying a word but there by his side all the same.
Eventually the time comes for everyone to settle down for the night. Donald and Goofy reluctantly agree to head out upon Sora’s stubborn insistence.
‘Guys, he can barely walk. What’s he really gonna do?’ Sora says with that smug smirk that lets the two of them know he’s right.
Still, Donald makes a point to inform their friend that they WILL be talking to Yen Sid and King Mickey about this in the morning.
‘We just won the war, we can’t have another one.’ Donald proclaims with more force than necessary.
Sora waves off their words, however, knowing by now this is just how Donald shows his concern. For good measure, Sora also makes a promise of his own to tell Riku about it too.
‘But guys, maybe we should keep this just between all of us for now?’ Sora crosses his arms and looks down. ‘Who knows what will happen if Aqua, Terra and Ven find out, and Vanitas seems like he seriously needs some down time to recover first.’
‘I’d think that’s a good plan.’ Goofy pipes up, causing Donald to rub his temples. Keeping secrets, especially from those of authority, has never been his strong suit.
Ultimately, though, no more protests are given as Donald and Goofy head out for the night. Sora waves goodbye to them until he can no longer see their backs heading for the green glowing circle of the Gummi Ship, before heading back inside and upstairs.
His mother had already gone off to bed for the night, seeing as it was well past midnight at this point. But Sora finds that Vanitas is still awake in the office, sitting on the windowsill seat and looking outside. He looks freshly showered, which puts Sora’s mind at ease. They had a bit of a squabble earlier when Sora had tried to teach him how to use it.
‘What do you mean you’ve never used a shower before?’
‘What are you gawking at? Haven’t you ever heard of a water spell? It’s the same thing.’
‘Wha-? No it’s not!’
Vanitas looks beyond tired just sitting there, and now that he’s sporting some freshly borrowed pajamas, the reality of just how small and thin he is nearly punches Sora right in the gut. Not to mention how just… utterly similar the two of them look. If it weren’t for the different color hair it would be like looking in a mirror.
And those scars and bruises littering his naked arms… it was no wonder his mother had been so concerned.
‘So uh, you gonna be alright tonight?’ Sora catches Vanitas’s attention. ‘If you need anything, I’m right across the hall. Oh! And uh, I got you some water just in case.’ He sets down a cup of water onto a desk nearby.
Vanitas makes a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, looking between Sora and the pull-out bed. Jewel is still lying atop it, snoring softly amongst the blankets. Even with her there, the look that Vanitas sports mirrors back to what had happened earlier with dinner, as if somehow the mattress was something new and scary.
The notion gives Sora great pause. But knowing what happened the last time any of them pried, he decides not to voice his questions and turns towards the door.
‘Well, good night Vanitas. Hope you feel better in the morning!’
Sora doesn’t take more than three steps before Vanitas calls out to him.
‘Why would you wish that?’
‘Huh?’ Sora turns back to him confused.
‘I said, why would you want that?’ Vanitas asks, though there is no anger in his voice. ‘Me to feel better?’
‘Why wouldn’t I want that?’ Sora shoots back. ‘You’ve been in a lot of pain all day.’
Vanitas is quiet then, before eventually shrugging.
‘It’s normal.’
Sora pauses at the other boy’s choice of words. Not ‘it’s nothing’, but ‘it’s normal’.
‘Do you always feel in pain?’ Sora can’t help but ask, risking Vanitas’s anger.
The glare he receives is not unexpected, but Vanitas huffs and leans back.
‘Only having half a heart will do that to you.’ He says, that exhausted look coming back in full force.
‘Oh…’ Sora says, not sure what to say.
‘Just forget I said anything.’ Vanitas rolls his eyes, unable to stand the other boy’s pitying gaze.
‘But!…’ Sora starts, and Vanitas can feel the protest coming before it fizzles out into nothing as the other boy chooses to sigh, letting the matter go. ‘Alright, if you say so. Then, goodnight Vanitas.’ He says and heads out, leaving the door open a crack should Jewel want to escape during the night.
Vanitas watches him go, perfectly still and listening. He keeps his eyes trained on Jewel, watching the rise and fall of her chest as he hears Sora settle down in his own room.
Only once the entire house has grown eerily silent with sleep does Vanitas let out a sigh, finally allowing himself to relax.
Bonus Scene:
The night here on Destiny Islands is cool and calming, so unlike the blinding sun and sand of daytime. The wind rustles through palm trees in the backyard as Vanitas watches on with an exhaustion veiled interest.
He should stay awake. He’s in enemy territory. Plus, that mutt, Jewel, is sleeping enough for the both of them. It’s almost comical how she’s stretched so far as to practically overtake the entire bed.
A bed… he still can’t wrap his head around it. He’d seen them in dreams, or foggy memories, but having slept on one is a whole new experience he never could have imagined.
It’s so much… softer than he thought it’d be. Even when merely sitting on it, the mattress threatened to swallow him up.
Moreso it was new. New and intimidating.
He hesitated to experience it again.
So here he sat in the window nook, waiting for the inevitable dawn. His Unversed had escaped his skin at some point during the night, loyal watchers for any threats that should arise. Their initial search had come up empty, as did the two others proceeding some time later.
Through it all, the sound of Sora’s snoring is a constant companion from across the hall. Vanitas looks towards the sound, thoughts deep and questioning.
So… Sora really had felt it too, during that day in the graveyard…
Dream Eater Allyphant Creations 
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