Disclaimer: I do not own KH, and this is normally where most writers put an "Or *what that person would've liked to happen*" joke, but I, personally, don't question Nomura's insanity.
Chapter I: Gardens and Graveyards
Ventus sat indian-style before the rotting door in front of him. It seemed like eons since anyone has moved in the almost-vacant orphanage. But he doesn't mind, all he can focus on is the door. The paint-chipped, dusty, old, unstable door that was one of the only things in his life that always remained a constant variable. But the door never opened, never moved, never budged from its hardly erect, stubborn grip on the threshold.
There were three occupants of the small shed, and there was never more or never less. There was never immigration and never emigration, and he was glad because if he lost any of his new family, he would probably never make it.
There was a small girl, smaller than even Ventus himself, with syrupy crimson hair and big cerulean eyes that always talked even if the conversation was dry and fruitless. Also part of the three's company, was a small boy, still smaller than Ventus, but bigger than the girl, who had slate blue hair, with an extra long bang that always covered up his right azure eye. He never talked, making up for the girl's loudness, but instead listened, and nodded when appropriate. He much rather liked to examine everything than be the one examined. Ventus himself was small in size, the oldest of the trio, but still quite youthful. He had the ocean captured in his eyes and the sun's tendrils sprouting from his head.
"Do you think Mrs. Rehtom is ever coming back?" Kairi started the conversation.
"No." Ienzo replied, looking down at the cement floor that was covered with a light blanket of dust. Disgusted at the lack of cleanliness the place exhibited, he flicked some off off the corner he was sitting in.
"She could." Ventus interjected, eyes still burning a hole through the door.
"I know she will!" Kairi yelled enthusiastically, "You're just a sad-sack, Ienzo."
Ienzo just stared at her, signaling that he was done talking for the day.
"I don't know, she left a month ago, she might've forgotten about us." Ventus supplied, trying to level with Ienzo, knowing that when they had an argument, he was always the tie-breaker. Feeling now bad for Kairi since he had taken Ienzo's side this time, Ventus asked,
"Kairi, how old are you going to be in six months?"
"Three!" she squealed, holding up four fingers. Ventus laughed good-naturedly and turned to Ienzo,
"And how old will you be in two months?" Ienzo, not one to get excited over being counted as more mature in age, surprised the others when he proudly answered,
"Seven!"
"And what about you, Ventus, how old will you be tomorrow?" Ienzo politely inquired, knowing that when you wanted someone to ask you something, you asked them instead, hoping they'll volley the question back to you.
"Thirteen." he replied, beaming. No one who saw him though, would suspect this to be his age. He was starved of basic nutrients, so he never had enough to hit puberty and he doubted he ever would. But, in his situation, that was probably best. If he remained child-sized, then his face would never grow distant from Kairi and Ienzo. If it did, the other two orphans would be even more reminded of the age difference and maybe even grow apart. Ventus knew, from when he had lived outside of the wretched orphanage, that Ienzo and Kairi would definitely grow apart when Ienzo realized Kairi was girl and Kairi realized Ienzo was a guy, making their friendship awkward. But for now, they were inseparable.
Just then there was a creak coming from the door, the seemingly impenetrable door. It was Mrs. Rehtom, the orphanage-runner.
"Mrs. Rehtom!" Kairi shrieked as she ran over and hugged her knees, "You've been gone so long…"
"I know, honey, I know. But I left with a goal. And now I am back, after completing that goal." She winced when her eyes fell upon Ventus, "Well, almost all of it."
"What goal did you complete?" Kairi asked eagerly.
"Well," she crouched down on her knees to get eye-level with Kairi and began to speak in that I'm-talking-to-a-little-kid voice, "I was visiting a friend of mine and she told me she wanted to adopt a cute little girl and I told her that I had just the person!" Kairi giggled with happiness. The life she lead there with Ienzo and Ventus was forgotten almost entirely when the old lady walked through the door.
"Hello, Kairi."
"Hiya!" she warmly greeted.
"'Call me Grandma." she said casually.
"Ienzo," Mrs. Rehtom turned to him, "I also have someone here for you." A man with long blonde hair and gentle, warm, fiery eyes stepped through the door.
A couple papers were signed and Ienzo and Kairi were both off. Straight out the door that always remained shut.
"Ventus," she turned to the only child left in the orphanage. His eyes teetered with joy as he anticipated adoption, his stomach was in a knot and his heart was doing flips. He started to imagine the kind of person that would soon be his legal guardian, but her voice cut through the haze, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't find anyone for you."
Ventus was devastated for a second, but then he inwardly face-palmed himself for being so stupid. Of course no one wanted a thirteen-year-old! He should have realized that sooner before he went off and did something crazy like hope. He could feel a few tears spring to life at the base of his eyes and he turned away from the orphanage-runner. And he walked right out the door. The door that once was his life.
A~*~X~*~E~*~L~*~I~*~S~*~A~*~W~*~E~*~S~*~O~*~M~*~E
Ventus had made it to the stone fountain on the outskirts of the Radiant Garden before he finally stopped. His world had just collapsed around him. The only two people that really meant something to him were gone, all swept away to better lives. And where was he? Destined to return to the same run-down shed that scarcely qualified to house a child. He sat down on the edge of the fountain, the cool marble biting against the inside of his knees that weren't covered by his shorts. He wiped a tear from his eyes and stared at the sunset that was succumbing to the night promptly. The stars began to arise and the sun completely disintegrated to dust under the horizon. He noticed an odd twinkling in one of the stars. Staring at it for awhile, he began to realize what it was.
"A shooting star!" he marveled, his face sprouting towards the sky in awe, the troubles of the world fading to grey as this became his primary focus. Its tail seemed to get closer and closer until he swore he could just reach out and touch it.
He suddenly began to feel heat on his face, like the warmth of an oven, and it intensified as the shooting star hurtled to the small world and crash landed in the forested area to his left. Out from the ashes, arose a man.
The man was not the prettiest tool in the shed, but to Ventus he was a sight for sore, bored-at-the-moment eyes,
"X-blade…" the man muttered under his breath, pointing to the boy with an outstretched hand.
"What?"
"Boy, what is your name?" he inquired, getting closer to him.
"Ugh…" he looked at him, literally star-struck.
"Didn't your parents ever tell you it's impolite to stare?" he retorted
"No," he replied with a down-cast gaze, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "I don't have any."
"Ahh…an orphan…and where there's and orphan there's and orphanage!" he exclaimed to himself, in his mind devising a plan.
"Excuse me?" The man put a hand on his forehead and whispered,
"You're going to forget this day, child, and tomorrow it will be as if it never happened." The boy's shocked eyes closed as he went limp and collapsed into the old man's arms.
A~*~X~*~E~*~L~*~I~*~S~*~A~*~W~*~E~*~S~*~O~*~M~*~E
He awoke on the dust-encrusted floor, just like every other day. He noticed Kairi and Ienzo's absence first, then the fact Mrs. Rehtom was there with a man.
"Mrs. Rehtom, when did you get here? And who's he?" she stared at him oddly,
"Ventus, this nice man here wants to adopt you."
"What about Kairi and Ienzo?"
"They both left, sweetie."
"What?"
"You want to be adopted, don't you?" the man asked with a cruel, impatient smile.
"Of course."
"Great, I'm Master Xehanort, and you are…?"
"Ventus." he replied, getting up from the floor.
A~*~X~*~E~*~L~*~I~*~S~*~A~*~W~*~E~*~S~*~O~*~M~*~E
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Ventus asked, finally questioning his master's authority after a week with the old man.
"Nonsense." he claimed, dismissing the comment with his hand. His armored boots were digging into the futile soil of the Keyblade Graveyard in attempt to channel his anger away from his new, inferior pupil. He wanted more than anything to fight the boy, but he was just a beginner and he needed to be gentle at this point, he could take out his anger on him later.
"Okay…" he agreed unsurely, and summoned his keyblade to once again knock out another of the shadow monsters.
A~*~X~*~E~*~L~*~I~*~S~*~A~*~W~*~E~*~S~*~O~*~M~*~E
Ventus breathed heavily in a heap on the ground. His arms on instinct brought up the keyblade to block one of the Darkness-induced enemies, taking every ounce of strength that may have still been left in him.
"You're weak…" seethed Master Xehanort. That was easy for him to say, on a ledge far away from the battle.
He slashed one more time at them, but by then they had already taken over. He just laid there, void of energy or the willingness to go on. Xehanort called off his horde with a snap and came to the boy, sneering,
"Pathetic." He brandished his own keyblade and stabbed the boy in the back with it. The last thing he remembered about life before Xehanort flashed through his mind, the image of a small boy and an even smaller girl.
Flash Forward!
After all of the Unversed were defeated, Ienzo stared back at the victor as one of his guardians chatted Ventus up about destiny and crossing paths. When Even had begun to walk back, he stayed behind, staring at Ventus in confusion and thought. How could he not recognize him? His heart shattered when he merely smiled, waved at Even, and left. He just left, not even acknowledging him, even though Even had, clear as day, said he was an orphan. The orphan that had spent 6/7 of his life with, who thought of him as the older brother he never had. After these thoughts a new feeling of desertion tore at his heart, but once Even grabbed hold of his hand, he realized that he had another family now. And there was no reason to be upset. After all, if Ventus was to recognize him, wouldn't he still be mad about leaving him at the orphanage?
End Flash Forward!
He struck the boy again, beating him into and out of submission multiple times in the same hour. It had been an hour and Xehanort was still fighting the pupil, driving the keyblade into his back and dragging it out again. It was not until then that Ventus finally realized the true meaning of pain. He had no one. His skin was ripping and being torn at. There was no end. There was no escape.
A~*~X~*~E~*~L~*~I~*~S~*~A~*~W~*~E~*~S~*~O~*~M~*~E
"Please, don't do this, Master, I'm not strong enough!" That was the lie he was always told by Xehanort, so it was the lie he told himself.
"No. It is because you are trying to hold it in! Let the dark impulses waken in the pit of your heart. Release them here and now! Sharpen your fear with rage. You must! If you do not let the storm within you run its course," Ventus dodged another swipe from the Neoshadows, "it will wipe you from the face of the world, make no mistake! Do it. Embrace the darkness. Produce for your master the X-blade!"
But the Darkness was too strong, and Ventus was too weak. It over took him the second he let his guard down.
"Really? You'd rather die than use the power?" the old Master stood over his unconscious body, "Feckless neophyte, if I must, I will extract the Darkness from within you myself." He then plunged his keyblade into Ventus's heart. As Ventus yelled in agony, Master Xehanort dealt with Vanitas.
A~*~X~*~E~*~L~*~I~*~S~*~A~*~W~*~E~*~S~*~O~*~M~*~E
The boy walked in with Master Xehanort, his eyes down-cast with a dull glare. And all he could think about was standing, breathing, and syncopating the rhythm of his heartbeat that stuttered out rough, staccato beats. He needed to focus on standing, it was all he could do, all he remembered to do, all he wanted to worry himself with. His memories may have all been gone, but the impressions they made on him were still there and all too real, so when he came to Master Eraqus's he was expecting not to be treated like a human being, but how Master Xehanort had treated him.
He was so busy planning his breaths and anticipating the next time his heart would thump, that he failed to notice the two apprentices that had walked up to him when Xehanort went to talk to Eraqus in private.
"My name's Aqua," the girl explained, then gesturing to the boy next to her added, "and this is Terra. What's your name?"
"Ventus." he uttered, completely ditching his train of thought about even breathing when he saw the girl in front of him. She was beautiful, with short, azure hair and matching eyes. Her smile was intoxicating and her enchanting features illuminated whenever she did. True, she was taller than Ventus, but he didn't mind that.
"Whew! You can talk!" Terra sounded relieved.
"Well, where did you train before?" No response.
"What weapon do you wield?" No response, but his heart beat seemed to speed up.
"Are you okay?" With that question came a terrifying shriek, he grabbed his head and fell to the ground, riving in agony. Eraqus and Xehanort filed into the room.
"What did you do?" the man asked, striding past Terra.
"Nothing, I just asked him some questions and stuff." was his response. As Master Xehanort came to his aid and held the boy up, Eraqus elaborated,
"Ventus can not tell you anything because he does not remember anything."
AN:
One of my longest chapters. Whew! Did anyone else notice that Eraqus is Square backwards (but, of course with q and u it has to be switched) and Yen Sid is Disney backwards? Also, am I the only one who noticed that during that cutscene with Ienzo and Even when they finally left, Ienzo stayed behind and stared at Ventus for awhile before finally catching up with him? I thought they might've know each other, being orphans and all. Yeah, and I don't really want to put too much detail on the parts that were in BBS, so they may go a little faster than the ones that I made up. And yes, Xehanort Haitian'd Ventus the first time they met. Or so I described…Review if you get it, heck, review even if you don't. And, since I'm trying to make this non-AU, I can't threaten the character's lives if you don't review, like I normally do, but I will say things can get very…unsavory if you don't.