Together
Waking up again in the realm of light, back in the reality he was supposed to be in, Sora had imagined it was going to be a little more dramatic. Hell, maybe even a little more painful then what he was currently feeling. But it was nothing like that. He woke up to the sight of a clear blue sky, a cool breeze, the sound of ocean waves, and laying on white sand that was all to familiar. For the moment, the blue eyed male didn't care for that as he scrambled to his feet, his eyes desperately searching for something, no, for someone. Soon he found himself running along the shoreline, checking the cove, the secret place, the small shack; nothing. There was nothing, there was no one else.
Had....had Vanitas not returned with him? Had he simply stayed back in the other reality? Or had he returned, woke up before he did and left? No, Sora didn't want to believe that is what Vanitas had done. Sora had sworen he would always be by his side even after the game. So where was the raven haired male? Fear started to set in. Fear, worry, sadness, something had happened, he had to have gone somewhere right? Sora honestly in that moment had no idea what to do, but the sound of splashing caught his attention, turning around to face the shoreline he couldn't help the smile that broke onto his face when he saw a all to familiar golden eyed male crawling up the shore. Soon enough, Sora found himself running over to the raven, who was now sitting on his knees, allowing the water to lap at his entire lower half as he breathed slowly.
By the time Vanitas looked up, he found himself being tackled back into the water, he didn't struggle for a moment, simply because he didn't want to drown, but he was quickly yanked up to his feet and dragged further up the beach. It was there on the warm sand where he found himself enveloped in the all to familiar arms of his partner. Vanitas was stunned for a moment, unsure of what was happening, after all, he hadn't been expecting to wake up being thrown into a damn ocean. But he was and the swim back to shore took longer then what he would have liked. Still, when he reached it and stopped to take a breather he found himself being tackled then dragged up to the beach. He did panic for a moment, as his brain hadn't caught up with what was going on just yet. But when those familiar arms wrapped themselves around him tightly and squeezed him as tightly as the brunette could, a grunt escaped him, but he soon found himself hugging the other male back just as tightly, despite his confusion of the situation. One moment they're at the top of the Reaper's HQ building by Shibuya River, the next he finds himself falling into the ocean of Destiny Islands.
"Thank God your okay, i was worried you hadn't made it back with me." Sora finally said, never once loosing his hold on the other male who let out a huff. Sora couldn't help but laugh when he felt the other male's arms wrapped around him just as tightly. The worry and tension he had been feeling just left him as he nuzzled his face against Vanitas' dark colored locks. "I'm so glad your okay..." Came the soft whisper from the blue eyed male. Sora could feel and hear the purrs that were escaping the other as they held each other, allowing the sun to warm them up, merely listening to the sound of the waves.
And they would have stayed like that, if a large shadow and sudden strong winds hadn't interrupted the moment, instantly pulling away and looking up Sora was shocked to see a all to familiar Gummi ship landing. He could feel Vanitas next to him tensing up before the doors to the ship opened, Sora stared wide eyed when Riku and the rest of the Guardians of light stepped out. Sora was instantly filled happiness as he rushed over to his friends who just as happily wrapped their arms around him. Many of them asking if he was alright, if he was hurt, where had he ended up and how he come home. Sora took it all in stride, a smile on his face and happy tears in his eyes. However he stopped for a moment and looked back where he was standing, expecting to see Vanitas there.
Instead, the raven was gone. He wasn't there, a sense of fear shot through him as he pulled away from his group of friends. "Van?" Sora called out, looking around. The golden eyed male was just there, he was hugging him...wasn't he? He frowned and looked at the other Guardians of light, they looked confused and worried for the brunette. "Did you guys see-"
"Vanitas? Yeah he was here but why?" Aqua asked, she sounded suspicious, concerned about allowing the golden eyed male of Darkness wander about alone. Sora couldn't say that he blamed her, its not like she was obligated to forgive him for his actions. But he wasn't to happy about the possibility of her attacking him on sight.
Sora jumped when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. He looked to his right and was met with the sight of Ventus giving him a comforting smile. "Don't worry, he couldn't have gone far. Probably found a hole somewhere to hide in. Come on, I'll help you look," the blonde offered.
Sora was shocked that Ventus offered to help him so easily, but he figured if anyone could find the raven haired male, it would be the person who used to be or, at least still was Vanitas' lighter half. The blue eyed islander smiled and nodded. He wasn't shocked that the others had joined them in searching for the golden eyed male. They split up into groups, though Sora insisted that only he and Ventus search together. And if they found Vanitas to simply call Sora and tell him, after all there was no telling how Vanitas would react to anyone else getting to close to him. It was sunset by the time they all regrouped and there was still no sign of Vanitas. Had Sora merely seen a figment of his imagination? Did Vanitas actually even make it back to this reality? He must have, right? Otherwise the others wouldn't have seen him. Sora was starting to have his doubts, and it must have showed if Riku and Kairi standing on either side of him, offering looks and pats of comfort where anything to go by.
"He...he and I were stuck in a different reality. We had to do a lot to get back here. He's changed." Sora explained as he stood by the shore, staring out at the ocean. "I'm not saying he's a saint or anything...but he isn't evil, at least not anymore. He's trying his best to be better, to do better. I don't understand why he..." Sora sighed sadly. "I don't understand why he left. I promised him I'd be by his side even after we came home."
"Well...maybe he felt like he wasn't ready to actually see us? Or maybe the reality of everything was to much for him so he felt the need to run?" Kairi offered, tilting her head slightly.
"Vanitas isn't one to run away. It was never really in his nature," Ventus said, a hand on his hip, but he didn't seemed concerned at all. If anything the soft smile on his face showed he was relaxed and as if he knew something. "Yeah, he does get nervous when there's more then one Guardian of Light around. He knows when he's out matched. but maybe...maybe he just wanted to give you some time with us. He gets overwhelmed easily by people or large amounts of light. So it's not a shock he needed to step away."
"Needed to?"
Ventus nodded in response to Sora's question. The poor boy looked so sad and upset, Ventus hadn't truly realized just how close the two became until right now. When they had first landed the gummiship and when he saw his darker half with Sora, he could instantly sense the connection between the two. Whatever they had gone through together had been enough to forge an unbreakable bond. It was nice to see that Vanitas had finally found someone he could trust, someone who understood his situation and was kind enough to help him.
"Yeah, so it's okay to come out of hiding now, Vanitas." Ventus called, and for a moment, everyone stared at him with confusion. And In that moment a pool of Darkness formed behind Sora, causing the group to jump back and watch with concern. Ventus looked unfazed and relaxed even, Sora didn't look much different aside from his shocked expression. From that pool of Darkness, a all to familiar golden eyed male appeared from it, he looked guilty, ashamed, nervous even. "There, that's better."
"Vanitas!" Sora cried out in relief as he again wrapped his arms around the other boy who instantly clung to him. "Don't scare me like that again, jeez. I thought something had happened to you!" He scolded lightly, squeezing the other boy as if fearful that he would run off again.
"I....sorry." Vanitas found himself mumbling as he pressed his face against his shoulder. He didn't say anything else, much less bring himself to meet the eyes of the other Guardians of Light. He allowed himself to be held, his hair smoothed down by the Brunette who seemed to reluctant to let go now. The raven almost whined in protest when Sora pulled away, but seemed to settle for the fact that said brunette slid his hand into Vanitas'. It was still overwhelming to be standing here, Vanitas could /feel/ the stares, the glares and he most certainly could feel the tension and anger coming off of Aqua. "I...im-"
"It's okay Vanitas," Terra cut in quickly causing the said smaller male to look up at him with shock. He was met with a soft, warm, and understanding smile from him. "There isn't much need for you to start apologizing. Well, at least not yet. And especially not to me, because if that happens, then I'll have to start apologizing for what Xehanort did while he had control over my body,"
"But, Terra, that wasn't your fault-"
The man turned to look at Aqua when the words left her mouth. She seemed to understand that there was more he wanted to say, so she went silent. Vanitas subconsciously held Sora's hand tighter, which in return he got a gentle nuzzle to his face.
"It wasn't Vanitas' fault entirely either. how else was he going to turn out with no one but Xehanort teaching- no, /abusing/ him? Yes, I get it, there are somethings he did on his own out of malice and spite. But we can't hold that against him for the rest of his life. Because thats chosen suffering. And there isn't a point in that if you, me and Ven want to move forward." He said, smiling at the sight of Sora comforting the golden eyed male. "So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that, well, I forgive you Vanitas. There isn't a need for you to say sorry. Not to me anyway."
"Yeah, see, I can't even demand an apology because you didn't do anything when it came to the organization, or at least the old one," Lea spoke up, a hand on his hip. "I have nothing to forgive you for because technically you didnt do anything to me, Roxas, Xion or Isa. So in my book, your fine."
Vanitas frowned at the red head, it was one of more confusion then anything else and clearly the group must have noticed if the collective laughs were anything to go by. He opened his mouth to protest but stop and nearly jumped out of his skin when small, soft but very unfamiliar hands grabbed his free one. When he turned his head to look he felt his stomach drop at the sight of Kairi. He wasn't scared of her, she couldn't hurt him even if she tried, she still needed a lot of training. But she made him nervous, there was something about her that just put him on edge and he wasn't sure if it was because she was a Princess of Heart, or simply because she is one of Sora's best friends. Either way, he watched carefully as the red head gave him a soft smile and gentle squeeze of his hand.
"Thank you," she started saying, sounding and looking just as genuine. It was honestly throwing Vanitas for a loop. "Thank you, Vanitas. For bringing Sora home."
"Hey! Come on Kairi, give me a break. What if i brought Vanitas home? Huh?"
"Hm...unlikely."
At that a soft laugh escaped the raven. Clearly it shocked the group as they stared at him. Vanitas had never laughed, at least not with genuine joy or delight. Though, Sora looked happy to hear the laugh escape him and it seemed like he was used to hearing. Did that mean he got the other to make that sound often? That must have been the case, otherwise this wouldnt seem normal to Sora.
"You welcome." Vanitas finally said, this got Kairi to smile brightly, happily as she stepped aside to let Ventus stand in front of his once other half.
For a moment, the two stood facing each other and said nothing. Vanitas looked so guilty, he couldn't even look at the other for long before he was looking down or anywhere but at his other half. Though it seemed the silence was only because Vanitas was trying to come up with something to say. "Ventus, I'm sorry," he said now looking up at him, he released his hold on Sora's hand, deeming he either didn't need the comfort or he didn't deserve it. No one could be quite sure. "I'm sorry for everything, Under Xehanort's influence or not, there was no excuse for what I did to you, to Aqua or to even Terra. No, don't say I don't need to apologize because I do. None of you deserved to go through what you did and I'm sorry-" he said, hanging his head low now. "I don't expect you to forgive me but do know I am sorry."
"Vanitas...listen to yourself. Your acting like as if you can't be forgiven. I mean, clearly something has changed, you aren't the same Vanitas we knew all those years ago." Ventus explained he gave a chuckle before gently and playfully punching his shoulder. "And call me Ven."
Vanitas still had a small frown on his face, he startled when a larger hand landed on his shoulder and a smaller, gentler one on his head. He looked up at Terra and Aqua, both giving him a soft smile he never dreamed he would see from them. He couldn't exactly return that smile, the guilt he was feeling was far to great, but that was fine. They didn't seem to expect him to return it, they just seemed happy ti see that he understood what he did wrong. And that was enough for him, he couldn't help but remain silent, sticking close to Sora as he caught everyone up to speed on what happened to them.
Eventually they found themselves on the gummiship, he and Sora sitting closest to a window. Vanitas tucked between Sora's legs, his back resting against the other's front. The brunette happily had his arms wrapped around Vanitas' middle, his cheek resting on top of Vanitas' head. The others of the group were content with giving the pair alone time, happy to just have them back. Sora sighed heavily, squeezing the dark haired male slightly as he nuzzled the top of his head. This got a low grumbling purr from the boy of Darkness. "So, what's the plan now?" Vanitas asked, his hands resting over Sora's arms, stroking Sora's wrists with his thumbs as he stared out the window, watching the stars pass by.
Sora hummed as he thought about that. What would they do? He didn't exactly wanna stay on the islands, as much as he loved his home, he was never one to want to stop adventuring. But he also knew that Vanitas needed a but more time to recover. "Well, I know about a world Joshua and Neku said we can go to. It's a Locked up world but we can easily unlock it and get in." He explained his eyes never leaving the vastness of the space the ship was traveling through. "We can stay there for a little while. Then maybe you and I can just world hop, how does that sound?"
"Honestly? I'm happy with whatever so long as you're there." Was Vanitas' genuine response. Sora smiled, moving his arm to turn Vanitas' head so he was now looking at him. For a moment the two merely gazed into each other's eyes before the brunette pressed a quick kiss to his lips.
"Then we go together." He mumbled against the slight chapped lips of his Raven haired partner who purred softly.
"Together."
