Sora sat next to the recently awakened Ventus, the two boys quietly munching on some sea-salt ice cream while waiting for orders to "march forward" so to speak.

"So..." Sora said, dangling his ice cream over one knee and looking at Ventus. It still unnerved him how long the boy had gone unnoticed in his heart, and how he was an exact duplicate of Roxas. Well, almost. They had some differences in body language that mostly came from their experiences. "You enjoying not being my little prisoner anymore?"

Ven laughed- Sora frowned at the weak sound "Sort of..." he took a bite of his ice cream, not continuing. Sora felt frustrated at how hesitant Ventus was to talk with him. But what was there to talk about? Ven had been in his heart for almost his entire life.

Sora let out a small, quiet, irritated sigh and bit into the salty sweet treat again, this time a little more savagely.

"I'm sorry I'm making you mad."

Sora cocked his head a little as he let the cold liquid travel down his throat before speaking "I'm not mad, Ven-"

"Yes you are... Admit it everyone is."

Sora observed Ventus again- he slouched like Roxas, had that same sad gaze currently locked on the eternal sunset of the Mysterious Tower, but they had a different sadness about them. He then flickered a smile "Ah never mind, you're all just stressed..."

Sora nodded, placing his finished stick in his mouth like a cigar "Yep," he flopped backwards to lie down and fluffed his hair a bit "Xehanort being such a threat is not very good on the nerves."

"I'm sorry, I got him started on this crazy track."

Sora shrugged "Well, you know what he said," he hated quoting Xehanort, but admittedly it was such a true line "Destiny is never left to chance."

Ventus frowned, and started sucking on his ice cream. Sora sat up, placing a hand on Ven's shoulder "Hey man, don't worry, we'll make it out alright, okay?"

Ventus smiled "You definitely sucked up all my optimism."

"That was a yes or no question Ven." Sora teased.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Ventus sighed happily.

Sora was disappointed to see sadness return moments later. Ventus laughed as he finished his stick "Hey, I'm a winner." It sounded like the most unenthusiastic "I'm a winner" ever. A few seconds later Ventus threw the stick in an obvious burst of frustration and anger, yelling "YEAH! SURE I AM!"

Sora jumped at how suddenly Ven broke into sobbing. He leaned over "Ven, come on bud, calm down."

He saw Donald and Goofy peek through the doorway into the tower to see what was wrong and Sora waved them off. He then very quietly hugged Ventus "Hey now, everything's okay..."

Ventus laughed at himself "Gosh, I'm everything but a winner."

Sora sighed "Gosh, first Riku, then Roxas, and now YOU." He shrugged "I guess emotionally tortured people are drawn to me." Sora continued soothing Ventus "But I don't mind, the world's changing-"

"I'm not changed at all." Ventus sighed. He held up his hand "The world's gone on without me." he laughed as tears fell down his chin "Sora, do you ever look back in time's flow and wonder... just where did it all go?" He laid his head down on Sora's shoulder "Where did it all go?"

Sora put his head on Ven's in comfort, silently trying to find the right answer.

Where DID all that time go? One moment he was a child enjoying his peaceful life on a remote island, then next thing he knew is that he was slowly slipping into the role of a coldblooded killer. Sure, the things he killed were monsters, but still... It was unnerving to know how much scars covered his body and how much blood- monster or no -was on his hands at such a young age.

While Ventus sobbed brokenly on his shoulder, Sora stared at his hand, then clenched it. He was changed, he was able to kill, but he wasn't any different. He'd killed to keep people safe, he'd fought to keep people safe. He earned his scars through acts of valor and heroism and nothing else.

"It didn't go anywhere Ven," Sora began, finally knowing an answer "It just went inside you. You have changed, it's not enough for you to notice." Sora gently pushed Ven away to arm's length, then pointed at his heart "You still hurt a lot, so that's a change." he pointed to himself "And I'm a lot more comfortable with a weapon."

Ventus shook his head "You shouldn't be-"

Sora silenced him by pressing his finger to Ven's mouth "And, now for some positive." He grinned and grabbed Ven's hands "We've both traveled across the worlds." he looked up, the twilit stars reflected in his eyes "Across the grand sky to so many worlds our hearts are bursting with friendship and compassion and understanding."

He grinned back at Ven "We're changed, yeah, but that doesn't mean we're different."

Ventus broke into a smile, and hugged Sora with breathless sobs of thanks.

Sora hugged him back "Hey, helping you with an existential crisis is small beans compared to how much you've helped me, bro."

a small Sora and Ven drabble for you guys. Dawwww Sora called Ven bro. (please Nomura let that happen for like, Xion, Ven, Vanitas, Roxas, and Sora to all refer to each other as sibs please please please please please)