Chapter 1: Just a first meeting…nothing else…

Ven had been sleeping for ten years, what had happened in the time he was sleeping was still a mystery to him. His body was sleeping now, reaching out to the one who held his heart, it was time he woke up and came back into this world again. There wasn't much here that would be left for him, but he couldn't continue to sleep. 'It's time…to show the world that even you can live again…' That was a thought that ran through his body and his mind at this moment in time. Never had he thought this was the way things would be, but it was how it was. The brown haired boy would approach him, and collapse, to the boy this was nothing more then a dream but Ven had something he needed to take back. It was only a matter of time before he was needed yet again, most people just didn't understand him and never would. "Sora…" Ven coughed, and almost fell out of the chair that his friend had put him in before. The fact that this was nothing more then a dream to Sora, Ven was trying to figure out where to go from here. His vision flickered for just a moment back to Vanitas, what would happen now that Ven was here. "Can't think about that now…" He didn't know what the others had been doing since he was gone like that, but he looked at his body the wounds from the last battle with Vanitas happened to be still there. The blonde boy summoned his armor wincing trying to move his body to get through the portal. This was not what he wanted with his life, but now he had a chance to do all of this again. Some might have called this another chance, not that he was sure where that was about to get him. The boy had to find his friends, he was still stuck on this place, not something he wanted to talk about. But for all of them that might have been about to change.

Ventus opened his eyes, to look at the room around him, this place was his new life but it was not complete. He was alone in well more then one way, neither of his friends were here. And his master was gone, but he was making the best of it and trying to live with what he had. The boy had spent another long night looking for Aqua and Terra, only to find one clue towards them, it was Aqua's Way finder. The way they would always keep together, did it make any sense probably not. He looked to the two way finders on his backpack. He might have seemed older to himself as it was, but no one would know what he was doing. "We will always see each other again…Just wait for me…" He had to wonder where Aqua and Terra were. Did the master come back as well there was only so much he could find these days. The boy wiped the tears that were falling from his eyes, no one could see what was going on under the surface with him. He wanted to keep people out of his problems and hope that no one else got hurt because of him. '….Off to that place that is just another prison…keeping me away from Aqua and Terra…' He hated school, but right now the only clues he had was there, and if he didn't go to school, then he would be found out. That he was living alone, without anyone there, and he did not want to be taken to one of those homes, it would keep him from his mission. One day he would have to leave this place as well, and never come back. He could never truly stay in one place for too long. This was just another lead that he was following or maybe because his heart and mind needed a rest. "Ven! Come on we can't be late this time…" He could hear the voice outside of his house, he never let anyone in. The only one who knew that he lived alone was the brown haired boy standing in front of him. Sora, the boy was a Keyblade wielder. Another reason for Ventus to stay here with him, he could train the boy if the darkness ever showed up again. Well Sora was going to need to be stronger to fight it on the off chance that it did. "Sorry Sora…Let's go…" He never told Sora much about what he was doing, but somehow the boy always knew. It was like their mind and hearts were still connected, even after Ven had his heart back. "You were out all night again weren't you?" Sora was not always the smartest, but he knew Ven better then he or the other boy thought. Then there was also the dark circles that were under Ven's eyes, no one could hide that, not even Ven. "Yea…" He did not want to say much on that, he had found a clue so it was a start. But he was tired, and had been up even later finishing the homework not that he would talk about that either. To him this was odd he never really bothered with school, as they started to walk towards the school he almost ran into someone. Ven looked up and stared right into the man's blue eyes he was taller then Ven by a lot. "Uh Sorry…." He didn't mean to do that, he had just been thinking and there was something about this man like he had seen him before. But his heart pounded in his chest, and he winced for just a moment. 'What was that…' There was something not right about this anymore.

He heard the bell in the distance, knowing he was going to be late again. "Come on Ven we gotta go…" He was grabbed onto by Sora, and yet he did not realize he had dropped one of the way finders, well it had fallen off of his backpack. The boy still had Aqua's but his had been knocked off. As the two raced towards the school, his thoughts wandered back to who that might have been. "Sora hold on jeez…" he looked back and the man seemed to be gone, where he had gone Ven well he didn't know that. He just wondered why he had been dragged into this again. Unknown to Ven the man had walked into the school, just another building. He was a young college student and well while Ven looked like he was younger he should be in that area to. But upon Sora's insistence he had said he would stick to the same school as Sora. The man was twirling the way finder on his finger, wondering who that boy was. He was approached by another one of his siblings or well his cousin. "What do you want Uriel…?" The black haired boy was looking up at his cousin, He wondered why he was here. The boy probably had other things to do. He just had to ignore him and eventually he would go away. Uriel's eyes seemed to drift to the way finder that Nemi had been trying to hide from him. "Where'd you get that? :D" the boy was asking more cause he just wanted to know and then there was the fact that nothing could really bring Uriel down. No matter how hard anyone ended up trying, there was no way to help this again was it. "That blonde kid you were watching dropped it…" Nemiel did not bother to have contact with others, he always just wanted to keep to himself. Just to make sure no one else ended up dying by his hands, or because of him like his older brother.

One of those fears he kept to himself, not that he would tell anyone that either they didn't need to know it was not there business. He would just have to work faster, to keep things from people again. "You mean that little high school kid…you should find out who he is and give it back…" Uriel raised a file in his hand, it was a file on Ventus, one of the school records. Nemiel usually was not one to pry into how he got these things. "Why don't you give it to him then?" Uriel just ignored that and handed the copy of the file over to Nemiel. "Go find him. He ran into you after all." Uriel waved and ran off to follow the new girl in school, she was showing off more then she should, but still there was just things that did end up happening. Nemiel sighed he truly did not wish to go find that child, or whatever he was but what choice did he have. He had to give the way finder back to him it was the right thing to do.

Ven sat in the classroom, looking out the window, he did not want to be here nor did he like any of this, he had a class in the college building later. As much as Sora wanted him to pretend he was younger then he was, he couldn't do it all the time. So he had signed up for some college courses as well. Sora sat down next to Ven, he had picked this seat when they had first got Ven into school at the beginning of the year which was not to long ago or so it seemed. 'Can't believe I haven't' found them yet…Terra Aqua…I'm so sorry…' He had promised that he would find them when he came back, maybe not to their faces but he had. His mind went back to another moment, when he had lost his heart. That memory was one he wanted to forget.

~Flashback~

He had fought Vanitas, and won but the x-blade or well incomplete one had shattered and when Van vanished so did Ventus. He remembered closing his eyes as his heart was pulled from his body, his body was left behind. He saw Aqua, Terra and then there was Sora, he called for the boy or maybe it was the boy who had called for him. White wings had formed on Ven's back, making him into some sort of guardian angel for Sora. No one would be able to see him and his heart was stuck with Sora. He protected the boy, but the boy had his own light deep in his heart. It took his island being sucked into the darkness to bring it back. As he had vanished into Sora, he had spoke just a few words using Sora's mouth. "I will find you Aqua…Terra….Master Eraqus I promise…" He closed his eyes and let his heart rest, he could barely keep his form able to be touched or seen anyway so he had to live with that again.

And then he had awoken, his body had been confused and it took him time to get back to his normal life but he still had to find Aqua and the others. And the more he didn't find them the more he beat himself up for it.

~End of Flashback~

"Ven Ven!" Sora was shaking his hand in front of the boy's face, Ven was on the floor he had no idea how he had gotten there. He started to sit up, only to have Sora put his hand on the boy's chest. "The teacher went to get the nurse you should stay down…" Ven sighed and just forced himself off of the floor, grabbing his bag and stumbling out of the room as the bell rang. 'What happened…?' he had no idea what had happened, and he was tired he wanted to just rest again. But there was no reason or way that he could have done to get some rest now. He walked towards his next class which was in the college building the more steps he took the more his vision started to blur and fade. He didn't know where he was going, his mind was starting to wander again. He was not sure where he was going till he heard the screech of tires and someone's voice. The person might not have known his name but he felt a body shove him out of the way of the car. He was curled up on the ground with the person holding onto him. The blur didn't seem to fade but for a moment he could make out someone's face.

~ Nemi's Pov~

'Why do I have to do that…' He was holding the way finder in his hands, and there was nothing that would make it work. He knew he had no choice and as he walked closer to the door of the college building, he wondered what was supposed to happen. He looked at the way finder again and saw the boy who had dropped it walking like he was in a daze. The boy was wandering right into the street as if he hadn't even noticed the car coming, Nemiel took off running and tackled the boy out of the way of the car. The boy was laying on the ground, just staring up. "Kid Kid…." He tried to get the kid's attention but the boy just ignored him. Or it was like he couldn't even hear him and now there was no way for him to do much. He got up off of him, and tried to get the boy to wake up.

~End of Nemi's Pov~

Ventus was trying to think for a moment, He could hear voices as people filed out of the school, he opened his eyes and stared up at the man who was leaning over. He turned bright red, underneath all of his normal persona Ven was more into guys. He just never told anyone that because well he didn't like making enemies and most people would probably hate him for that. "Kid Kid!" He could hear the man trying to get his attention, he looked at him and wondered what had happened. "What happened Ow…my head hurts…" he looked where the car was stopped, and a bag sitting on the ground, it wasn't his but it had a way finder on it. He realized it was his, but he tried to get up only to fall back down. When he had been pushed out of the way, his ankle had twisted but he had been to out of it to notice. "Uh thank you…." He didn't know what to say, but as the school nurse rushed over looking them over he wondered who that man was. Nemiel got up and handed Ven the way finder. "I think this is yours…" He handed it to him, and turned to walk away. "Wait! What's your name?" He was trying to get up again, but the nurse was wrapping his ankle so he couldn't. "My name is no importance…" he turned and started to walk away, grabbing his bag. He couldn't get attached to anyone else after what had happened to his brother.

Sora raced past Nemiel towards Ventus, leaning down next to the boy. "Ventus what were you thinking…you could have been hurt or killed…" He knew that this boy was trying to hard and needed some sleep which might have been why he had passed out in the classroom. "I guess I'm just tired…." Ventus looked up at the nurse as she brought over a wheelchair and helped him into it. The boy winced he could walk but she wouldn't let him. "Well you should rest in the nurse's office…I'll get your work for you how about that?" Though Sora was a bit forgetful, he knew he had to remember this or Ven might hurt himself more to get it himself. "Fine…"He wanted to get out of this place and there was no way to get out of this he wanted to know what he was supposed to do. He was already falling asleep in the chair he was in. The nurse moved him towards the bed and covered him up. He yawned and fell asleep, though his mind kept on running back to the person who had saved his life. He was dreaming or at least it had felt like he was, but he sat up in the nurse's office again a feather sitting in his lap. He looked behind and his wings were out behind him. The wings from when he had been Sora's guardian, but wasn't that only when he was in his soul like form where his heart was away from his body. He heard someone coming to the door and forced himself to curl up under the blanket trying to fold the wings on his back again. He hoped no one would see them, he didn't want to explain them to anyone. "It's just me Ven…How are ya feeling?" Sora wandered back into the room with Ven's books and his school work, he had done as he had promised gotten all of Ven's class stuff. "A little better still tired though…" he and Sora both knew why he was so tired, he had been out all night for the past week without any sleep. And it was finally catching up with him, though Ven still wanted to find his friends.

"Well you should like um…Not go out looking for them tonight…one night isn't going to kill you…" he knew that well Ven wouldn't want to listen to him, if only the boy would be able to find something else to do that would distract him not that it would help anyway right. "Well I have to find them but I suppose rest is also a good idea…" not that he wanted to have anything to truly do with that. He was not one for resting much anyway, even if he had to there was no way they could hold him down for very long. Soon enough he would get out again and go to look for them not that they would even know why he was doing that right. "That can wait…just one night Ventus…please…" Sora smiled and turned leaving the work there on the table by the bed, the bell must have gone off Ventus couldn't hear it in here. Not at the moment after all it seemed like his mind wasn't registering anything that was said. Or any of the noises outside of this room except for that ticking off the clock at his right, he wanted to smash it but he wouldn't since it didn't belong to him anyway.

He looked back and the wings were gone but the feather still remained, he had to wonder why that had happened. This had all happened when he had run into Nemiel this morning maybe it was telling him something. But a guardian angel was signed to one person and only one person and his had been Sora unless he wasn't needed by Sora anymore. Then again that was boy was stronger then he might have thought he was before there was no way to avoid that anymore. The boy closed his eyes laying back on the bed the feather held in his hands. The window was open the curtains seemed to move as three forms appeared in the room, one with blue hair, the brown haired one and then the taller older one. They stood over Ventus, knowing the boy was asleep so he wouldn't know he was there. "He's growing up…soon he will have to find us…" The blue haired one spoke looking to the other two. "He might be…but he still has trials ahead of him…hopefully he can get past them.." there was a sound of something being hit, or well someone, and a angry voice which still did not wake up Ventus. "How long are we going to keep hiding from him and leaving him clues…?" The brown haired one did not seem to be happy but no one else could see them here, if anyone had peeked in they would have just seen something on the floor and well Ventus laying on the bed that was all they would have been able to see. The three forms moved out of sight as they heard the door open again, even if no one could see them well they were still used to being cautious and trying not to get caught at this point in time. "In due time Ventus…just keep on searching and keep yourself safe…" the three of them vanished from view again as if they had never been there to begin with. The nurse walked closer to Ventus and touched his shoulder just barely. "Time to get up kiddo…it's time for you to go home…"Ventus yawned he could barely believe he had been in the nurse's office for most of the day. He wondered how Sora had gotten along with him, probably just fine the boy was hyper and stronger then that after all.

He was never one to truly let anything get him down, not with the life he lived. He was not one for being sad, even if sometimes yet it did happen. But it had always happened to everyone, Sora might have just been better at hiding it as always. "Oh thank you…" he gathered all of his books and put them in his bag, he had a lot of work to catch up since he had been sleeping most of the day away. He didn't know how he was going to finish it all, he made sure the way finder was tied to his bag better so it wouldn't fall off he did not want to lose it again. There was no way he would be able to forgive himself it by some odd chance he did lose it again. He waved and raced out to go find Sora, almost colliding with that guy who had saved him again. "oh uh hi Thank you for earlier…" he bowed out of respect and looked up at the guy again. The man seemed to know what he was doing, for some reason there was something about this. "Well I was just coming to check on you and make sure you were okay…" Nemiel looked at the boy he seemed fine, maybe a bit bruised but that was it. He turned and started to walk away no really wanting anything else to do with this.

"Wait…you could at least tell me your name…" Ventus had finally spoke up about that though he had been told off the first time would the man do it again he did not want to think about such a thing happening to him again. "Nemi…." That was all he said as he wandered off not really wanting to talk about this anymore. He had left the boy standing there with probably nothing to say but did he truly care no he didn't. If he got to close to someone it would just end like before where they would die because of him it was something he hated and did not want to have to put up with. Not again, after the first time that was more then enough and he was still beating himself up for that one and that was years ago.

Ventus was left just standing there not sure what to say but at least it was a start he had gotten the man's name, or well the teen's name he didn't seem to be that old anyway there was just something about him wasn't there. "Ven come on we gotta go!" Sora popped up behind Ventus again he knew that the boy had a lot of homework and while Sora tried to get out of his homework, he never let Ventus try to get out of is that was not a smart idea letting do that. It might become a habit like it had for Sora, and plus Ventus was even more behind now. If he got in trouble, it would give him even less time to hunt for Terra and Aqua now. He would just have to work with it, Ven sighed why hadn't he just wandered off when Sora wasn't out here. He didn't want to do any of that homework it was already a annoying bother to him. That was plain enough to see if he hadn't gotten sick or whatever that had been he wouldn't be in this mess. But he nodded and figured he might as well go back with Sora just to keep him out of his hair for as long as he could to figure things out on this Terra and Aqua thing. And maybe even a way to explain the feather he found and the dream that might have not been a dream. "Fine If I do my homework can I go now?" Ventus knew that Sora would check with him later, so he might as well do it as much as he wanted to just get out of doing his homework now. There was more important things on his mind, things he wouldn't be able to explain to Sora.

"Um I guess are you going home now Ven?" Sora did care about Ventus, but he had made plans to hang out with Riku today, he knew Ven would understand that though he was a bit worried about Ventus being alone after what had happened earlier. "Yea I'll see ya later Sora…" he waved slightly and started walking home, there was nothing else he wanted out here and he might as well let it go. There was just something about his life as it had begun to change before his eyes. He had to focus on his homework, he just thought about all the work that was in his back-pack just cause of him getting sick and not being awake for most of the day as it was. He moved through his front door, stopping to look back thinking he got the glimpse of his friend but his mind was always playing tricks on him when he got home. That was why he hated coming home alone half the time he hated the tricks his mind and eyes tried to play on him.

He closed the door, the curtains in the house had been opened he had figured that Sora had done it when he had visited or well when he had been here before. Sora did stay with Ven sometimes there was just no way Ven could stay with Sora because he knew that Sora's parents would have started to ask questions. He had always gone over there though, and most nights he was working. The only good thing about today was that he had a day off from mostly everything in his life that was stressing him out. "Time to get started on the homework I guess…" He put the homework out on the table and tried to work on it, he eventually got tired and yawned trying to get some of his energy back. He figured he'd take a nap since he was suddenly tired again. Most of his homework was finished that had to be good enough for Sora right. Not like he would fail if only one page wasn't done which happened to be the case here and he would just do it later like in the morning before class.

Or maybe when Sora came back here if he ever did, Ventus moved up the stairs leaving his books on the kitchen table, he was way to tired. When he got into the room he just dropped down in the bed, he had not realized that the bed he had fallen in was Terra's. He used to sleep there all the time as a child, the smell on the bed hadn't changed. It was still Terra the whole room reminded him of Terra, which made his heart hurt even more. The boy was alone so he just let the tears fall, pulling Terra's blanket over him to fall asleep hoping this time he would be able to stay asleep. Maybe feeling like Terra was close would help he did not know if that was such a good idea anymore though.

~In the distance~

A spirit is what it seemed, someone with black hair stood away from Ven's window, watching him. Like there was something he wanted from him, the boy just hissed and looked at himself, he was nothing without Ventus or a body now. He had to find one either way even if it did mean possessing Ventus and leaving him in control for now. The boy was still fast asleep, but the black haired child had to wait for the right moment to strike. For now he closed his eyes and faded away. "Soon you will be mine Ventus…you and the X-blade…"