Vanitas found himself running away to the bright streets and buildings within Disneytown more than he'd like to admit, but it was nice. Nicer than the bleak and generally upsetting aura that the Keyblade Graveyard often had, anyway. He'd hide away in the sewers or sneak into the castle at night to scavenge around in the food stores for something to eat. His master didn't feed him for days on end as punishment, so this was a good place to hide away. Xehanort would never show up in a place like this, with all the bright colors and upbeat music playing nonstop.
That's how he met The Queen.
He had been rummaging through the food stores one night when she found him. But instead of calling any guards or attacking him herself, she offered him a proper meal.
At first, Vanitas didn't know what to think. There was always the chance that it was a trap, that she was planning something far more brutal than Master Xehanort could have ever thought of. But at that point, what did he have to lose? He had no idea that as he followed the small mouse queen deeper into the castle towards the dining hall, that this loud, colorful world would become more than just a refuge, but that it would become a home.
13 Years Later;
A loud, exhausted sigh left Vanitas's lips as he worked in Minnie's garden. He couldn't complain, really. It was his idea in the first place to take up the job of tending to the place, but he hadn't expected it to be so grueling.
So far he'd been working for a little over two hours in the place, but had only gotten about a quarter through the massive garden. Whoever had ordered this many topiaries would face his wrath when the time came, but for now he'd just have to keep pruning them.
He'd give it one thing. It was easier work than going undercover in Xehanort's group had been.
All those long years pretending to be a part of Xehanort's sick plan to make the world the same way it had been 500 years ago was… stressing, to say the least. But at least he was able to keep them away from where Ventus had been sleeping by feeding them false leads over and over again. Vanitas frowned slightly, remembering how angry the Mas- Xehanort had been when the "lead" on the Riku kid had ended up being wrong. Riku didn't know anything about Ventus, and had actually fought back against the organization. The lead had kept Xehanort busy for another few months though, so the aftermath didn't really matter in the long run.
The sound of approaching footsteps snapped Vanitas out of his thoughts, and he set his clippers down to look up at whoever was coming.
Minnie, her usual puffy dress replaced with a pair of gardening overalls, slowly walked towards where Vanitas was working, a watering pail in hand. She smiled at him when she caught his eye, and he gave a small huff before returning to his work.
"Thought you might need some help," She said warmly, "A guiding hand, if you will."
Vanitas rolled his eyes, "Do whatever you want, it's your garden, Mom."
He had hissed the last word sarcastically, only for Minnie to smile brightly at him. He cursed internally.
Minnie set her pail down on the stone path she was standing on, before wandering next to Vanitas. She watched for a moment, then leaned in slowly so not to intrude too much.
"I know it may seem like a waste," She started, "But you might also want to cut off where there are only buds sticking out of the shape. When they flower, it'll distort the shape of the topiary, so it's better to save time now."
There were a couple silent moments where Vanitas considered just straight up ignoring her, before he moved the point of his shears towards an unopened bud and then snipped it off. Minnie smiled from behind him and patted him on the back once, then twice, not noticing the slight flinch he gave in response.
"Nice work, dear," she said, going back to grab her pail, "Let me know if you need anything else, I'm going to go water some things."
Vanitas grunted once in understanding, but didn't say anything, only continued his work at pruning the topiaries. He was almost done with this one. Just a few more cuts and it'd be finished- no wait.
He scowled at a patch of grass near the trunk of the topiary where something small, wide, and spiky was growing. A thistle.
"Hey Minnie!" He called, barely looking over his shoulder in the direction he had seen her walk off in, "You got any weedkiller?"
Almost immediately, the mouse queen was jogging along the stone pathway towards him, hands wiping off chunks of dirt and dust on her gardening gloves. Just watering had turned into something else, it looked like.
"Weedkiller?" she asked, slowing down, "For what?"
Vanitas jabbed at the thistle with his thumb. "That." He grumbled.
Minnie frowned as she looked at the thistle, and then at Vanitas. She looked almost disappointed.
"Why do you want to kill it?" She said, "It seems perfectly fine."
"Because it's a weed," Vanitas replied simply, disgust on his face that such a plant even dare to grow in this garden, "If we don't get rid of it, it'll take over the place. That's what weeds do."
She was quiet for a minute before kneeling down and carefully lifting the thistle from the soil near the topiary's trunk. With it came a massive clump of dirt that was tangled up in the thistle's root system, and a couple of isopods as well. The queen gave the small, prickly plant a look over before smiling at it. Vanitas frowned at her.
"Do you mind getting me a pot, dearie?" She asked, still smiling, "They're over by the entrance."
Vanitas considered arguing, but decided against it. Whatever she was planning, she'd probably explain it. Instead, he went and grabbed the easiest to grab pot, and brought it back only to find that the Queen had gathered a small pile of soil onto the stone path and set it next to where the uprooted thistle was. He set the pot down, and it gave a gentle clunk. Minnie looked up happily, and then slowly began dumping her soil pile into the pot.
It took Vanitas a couple of seconds to realize what she was doing, but when he did, he too got on his hands and knees and started shoving more and more soil into the pot. Why she was taking the time to plant this stupid thistle? Yeah, he had no idea.
Finally, when all was said and finished, the small thistle sat in it's own little pot.
Funny. It almost looked like a prize pod.
"There we go," Minnie said, "Now it won't spread!"
"Yeah, ok," Vanitas replied, wiping the soil off on his pants, "But why go through all that trouble in the first place? It's just a stupid weed."
The Queen shook her head, frown on her face.
"You may think of it as 'just a weed', but it can be so much more than that! Thistles are great for attracting bees and butterflies, things that a garden needs in order to grow." She gently set the pot on the ground, "It sort of reminds me of you!"
Vanitas lifted an eyebrow in confusion, and she giggled before continuing.
"All the prickles, but in reality it's a beautiful flower that helps those around it grow. Just like you!"
"Ah." Vanitas turned away and ran a hair through his hair, embarrassed. So that was it. He shouldn't have expected anything less of the queen. Yet he blinked in confusion when she gently placed the pot in his hands.
"Here," She said, "I think you should raise it! It'll be a great learning experience."
Vanitas frowned at her, but took the pot in his hands and gave it a quick look-over. It was very clearly a young plant, and he knew that fully grown thistles could get pretty tall. It'd probably outgrow its small pot in a month or two. A learning experience was right.
"Uh, thanks." He finally settled on saying, "I'll take care of it."
Minnie gave him one of her 'I'm proud of you' smiles, then turned to return to whatever it was she had been doing.
"Glad to hear that, dear." She called over her shoulder, "Let me know if you need anything else."
Vanitas nodded, knowing that she couldn't see him. What he was going to do with the thistle when it was fully grown was a mystery for now, but he'd keep his word and raise it. A smirk ghosted onto his face. Maybe he'd plant it outside of Yen Sid's tower when all was said and done. That'd give the old man a run for his money for sure.
He set the pot down, picked up his clippers, and moved onto the next closest topiary to work.