Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any related works. This is purely fan-fiction.

A/N: I'm going to upload as much as I can of the cited chapters so we can pick up from where we left off. So lucky readers, you get another chapter today.

Chapter 2

He'd spent a few hours flipping though the pages in the folder. He'd only planned on skimming it, but he'd gotten so absorbed in the pages that he couldn't stop reading.

It was like some science fiction novel. The experiments that Vexen had done included chemical injections of substances he created and prolonged periods of isolation. Sure, they were already pretty isolated, but they were also separated and placed in dark chambers whenever Vexen thought it was necessary.

There was no evidence of much physical activity. They walked a few feet from their beds to the elevator for their drinks and then say at the table all day. There were a few pictures of them when they were younger, but they were all the same. Roxas or Sora waiting patiently with the same blank look on their faces while the other used the crayon.

After a while, he'd stopped and began setting up the guest room for then. Aqua's home was a little big, it had 5 bedrooms and 4 baths. But he, Aqua, and Terra all took up a room. Aqua had a home office and that only left one room for the boys.

He was sure it wouldn't matter to them, thy shared a room their entire life. The problem came when he looked for clothes. He could barely find anything for them to wear. Sure, they'd have clothes already on, but they needed something to wear until Aqua took them shopping.

He sighed, he'd been doing that a lot lately, as he thought about how unprepared they were to bring two young children into their home.

He looked at the clock and saw it was only ten in the morning. He ha plenty of time to run to a store and get something for the boys to wear. Maybe he'd even get them a toy or something.

He went to the living room and took his keys off of the hook. "Ventus? Is that you?" He paused and looked towards the kitchen, he hadn't even known that Aqua was home.

"Yeah." He answered, "I was about to go out and get some things."

She exited the kitchen, wiping her hands on the flower printed apron she was wearing. "I'm surprised your up this early, and on a Saturday too." She smiled.

"Well, I have to get the boys at 4. I just want everything ready for them." He shrugged.

"Today?" Aqua asked, "I always imagined adoptions would take a lot longer then a day to finalize."

"I'm sure they do." He agreed, "When you use an adoption agency."

"Right." Aqua said thoughtfully, "I suppose Vexen was anxious to move this along."

"Aqua? Where exactly did you meet him?" Ventus asked. Vexen wasn't the type of person she associated herself with. She hung out rich people, people richer then her. But she fit in with them. He couldn't imagine where Vexen fit in.

"At a small get together that Ansem was having." She said. Ventus recognized that name. He was the man who'd made Aqua's small diner into the major chain it was becoming. He was the one who had Aqua jumping from town to town checking up on things and looking for places to expand.

"What the heck is a guy like that doing there?" He wondered aloud.

"He was pretty creepy wasn't he?" She laughed, "He said he was with the Radiant Gardena Pediatric Hospital. It's not unusual for people like him to be there. They try to get funding." She sighed, "He wasn't doing to well and he told me that he would have to get rid of a few of the children." The way she said it made it seem innocent, but he'd been there, there was something off about the entire thing.

She gestured for him to follow her to the kitchen, "Are you cooking tonight?" He asked. The table was covered with vegetables and other ingredients.

"Yes. I was planning a little dinner." She said.

"With just the two of us?" He asked, "Well, four of us."

She looked thoughtful for a moment, "No... I'm inviting over a friend and his wife." She said slowly, "I didn't actually think that we'd be getting the kids so early." Ventus nodded.

"What time is dinner?" He asked.

"4..." She sighed, "But it'll work out." He couldn't see how. Aqua would be busy with her guests and he was hoping to have some help with the boys.

"I'm going to get something's for them." He said, "Do you need anything?"

"No, but give me a call when you get them." She said.

"Alright." He was going to go straight to Vexen after he went to the store. He had a few questions he wanted to ask the man.

0.o.0.o.0

Sora tried to sit as still as possible while Vexen poked him. The pokes hurt more then anything he'd ever felt. But Vexen assures him that there would e more pain to come if he didn't stop his squirming and let him finish.

"There." Vexen jabbed him one more time, "Finished." He applied a bandage to his arm and pushed him back into the room where Roxas waited.

"What is going happen when Ventus returns?" Roxas asked. Sora looked over to his brother, he'd been excited to see Ventus again, but he didn't want to leave the room ever again.

"I think he will take us away from here." Sora said.

"I want to go with him." Roxas said. Sora bit his lips. He didn't know Ventus, they'd just met him, but he was the only one out of all the people that came through and poked at them that didn't hurt them. He hadn't touched them at all, instead he'd given them a muffin

"I want to go with him too." Sora said. They watched Vexen move about outside the room and were happy to see Ventus stroll into the room. He flashes them a smile and started talking to Vexen.

"Aren't you here rather early?" Vexen asked.

"Yeah, I had a few questions." Ventus said.

"I don't have time for that! Just take them and go." He snapped. Sora flinched at the mans tone and more closer to Roxas.

"What? No paperwork or anything?" Ventus asked.

"No, just take them. If I need anything, I'll contact Aqua." Vexen said. Sora watched Ventus enter the room and waited.

"I guess its time to go." Ventus said. Sora hesitated but eventually stood up an took Roxas' hand.

"We will follow you." Sora said. He didn't want anybody else to touch them, but he stayed as close to Ventus as possible as the older boy led them out into the hall. It was a long hall that ended with a door. He could see through it, there was a lot more color then he was used to.

It scared him and at the same time, he was excited. It wasn't the same type of excitement he got from getting the new crayon when the lights came on, it was different. He wanted to get as close as he could to it, yet stay as far away as he could.

"It's a lot hotter outside then it is in here." Ventus said, "But I didn't park too far away."

"Muffin." Roxas said suddenly.

"Yes. You said you would bring us one." Sora said.

"I did. You each get your own, just wait to we get to the car." Ventus opened the door and let them walk out before them. Immediately very thing was different. The air was hotter and he felt like he couldn't breath. Everything was noisier. Machines he'd never even seen before rushed by and people pushed by him as they walked by.

"Ventus!" He found himself clinging to the boy, "Take us back inside!"

"Hey! Whoa, calm down." Ventus took his hand and the took Roxas', "We're almost to my car." He wasn't hurting them, so Sora held onto him as he led them further away from the building and towards a shiny black machine. "Here we are."

Ventus opened it and ushered them inside. Once they were sitting he strapped a belt over them. Sora looked to Roxas and wondered if he was really as calm as he looked. "Are we safe is here?" He asked.

"Safe? Uh, yeah. This is a nice car." Ventus said.

"No! From Vexen and his pokey sticks!" Roxas said.

"Right. Shots, those hurt I guess." Ventus said, "And yeah you're safe." Ventus closed the door and got in through another, "How about some music?"

"What?" Sora asked. He wasn't sure what that was.

"Forget it. When we get home, I'll let you meet Aqua. She's going to be your mom."

He knew what that was. He heard Vexen mention it before. He looked i Roxas and noticed that he wasn't paying attention to Ventus. Instead he was looking around the car. Sora decided to do the same thing. He looked around the car, feeling the seats and examining everything he could touch from where he was strapped in.

Ventus pressed a button and suddenly sound filled the car. It was soft and slow and Sora decided he liked it. "Is this music, Ventus?" He asked.

"Yeah." Ventus said absently.

Sora falls asleep.

0.o.0.o.0

Ventus was glad when the boys finally fell asleep. They were only in the car for a moment but he couldn't handle seeing them look around so anxiously. It was the only emotion he'd ever seen on them and it was unsettling. They were terrified.

He gave Aqua a call and let her know that he had the boys and that they would be home soon. It was now eleven and he was glad to have a little but of time to help them relax.

He glanced back at them again, at least they looked peaceful when sleeping. The way Roxas was leaning on Sora was adora- Okay, he had to stop thinking stuff like that.

"We're home guys." He pulled into the driveway and looked up at the house. Aqua had already come rushing out and she aimed a glare at him. "What?" He asked.

"You didn't tell me that soon meant 1 minute." She said, "I wanted to make them a snack."

"They're asleep, Aqua." He said, "And they're really nervous so maybe we should let them rest."

"Right." Aqua opened the back door and carefully lifted Sora out of the back seat. Ventus followed suit and picked up Roxas.

"I set up the guest room for them." He said as the entered the house. Aqua nodded and they took the boys upstairs and laid them gently on the bed. They quietly left the room and Ventus sighed in relief once Aqua closed the door. "How soon until we can get a babysitter?"

"Maybe Monday." Aqua said, "Only for while you're at school."

"I have track and football practice." He reminded, "And I was invited i this party on Friday-"

"I'm not sure I can find a babysitter in such a short amount of time." Aqua said, "You know how busy i am."

"But this was your idea!" He said, "Why wouldn't you plan this out before adopting them?"

"It was so spontaneous!" Aqua moved away from the door, "I wasn't expecting them for another 2 weeks."

He supposed it was Vexen's fault that they were so unprepared, but he wasn't ready to give up his social life for them. They were cute , sure, and he felt bad about everything they'd been through. But he was 16, he wasn't ready to be anybody's caretaker.

"Just give me time, okay?" She asked, but she wasn't really giving him a choice. "Great! Now we can get them fitted for clothes today and give them a hair cut. Dinner is casual so no need to worry about anything too fancy. I've already got the chicken in the oven and I just need to clean up myself, but everything's ready."

"Great." He muttered.

"And I just remembered! Terra and a friend of his will be in town and we need to give the guest room to his friend." She said, "The boys will have to sleep with you."

"What? No!" Ventus protested.

"It's for one day!" She promised, "It'll be fine."

"Fine." He said. At least he would get to see Terra. At had been almost 5 months since he'd last seen Terra. The Air Force kept him busy and away for much of the year. He'd been home on Christmas and hadn't been able today when they would be able to see him again.

"Thank you, I'll make it up to you later." She said. There was a noise and he turned to see Roxas standing behind him.

"Roxas. You're awake." He said, "This is Aqua."

"Mom." Roxas nodded.

"Calling me mom already? You just met me!" But she smiled anyway. "Nice to meet you Roxas."

"Where is my muffin?" Roxas asked.

"I left it in the car." Ventus said, "But Aqua can cut your hair while I get it."

"Do no go back out there." Roxas said, the fear was back in his eyes.

"It's fine." Ventus assure him, "Tell him." He looked to Aqua.

"What? Oh! Yeah! It's fine, and he won't be gone too long. Why don't you introduce me to your brother?" She waited for him to answer. Roxas stared at her and Ventus before nodding.

"Okay, Aqua." He turned and went back to the room.

"I'm not mom anymore?" She asked in confusion.

Ventus chuckled and ran out to the car. He'd purchased two muffins, an outfit and pair of pajamas for each of them. It would be enough until Aqua went shopping.

When he returned it seemed that Aqua was just getting to Introductions. "I'm Aqua." She said, "I'm going to be living here too."

Roxas nodded and Sora didn't say a word. "How about you tell me your names?" Aqua suggested. Sora saw him standing in the doorway.

"Ventus..." He said.

"Really?" Aqua said, "What a coincidence. You know you kind of look like him."

"No, my name is Sora." Sora corrected, "That is Ventus." Sora pointed to him.

"Oh, well Sora is great name too." Aqua said.

"My name is Roxas." Roxas spoke up.

"We already met, remember?" Aqua chuckled, "But Roxas is a good name too."

"I am five years old." Roxas told her.

"I am six." Sora added.

"That's wonderful." Aqua said, "I have to go finish dinner, but Ventus will play with you."

"Play?" Sora repeated.

"With a crayon?" Roxas asked. And now there was excitement in his eyes, "We didn't get a crayon today."

"Uh, we don't have crayons, we have markers." Ventus said. The boys looked at him in confusion and he sighed. He explained what a marker was and showed them how to get the caps off before giving them a few sheets of paper and sitting down.

He pulled out his phone and noticed a few text messages from his friends and Aqua.

11:13: Aqua: They kind of sound like Robots don't they?

Yeah, they do.

"Ventus, My arm hurts." Sora said after a few minutes of coloring.

"Mine too." Roxas said.

"You just got a lot of shots today." Ventus said, "It's going to be a little sore." He looked up and gasped. They were all covered in marker. "How did you get it on your face?" The white clothes were covered in streaks of marker.

"We ran out of paper." Sora said, "And our clothes look like paper."

"We could never draw with the crayon." Roxas said. Ventus sighed again and decided to just give them the muffins. They devoured them and looked back to him, "I want another one." He said.

"We did not get our water today so we are hungry." Sora said.

"Sure, let's get you something different though." He suggested.

"Like what?" Roxas asked.

"Maybe jello? Or pudding or apple sauce, we'll see." Ventus stood up and left the room, "Come on guys."

Sora and Roxas got up and followed after him. At least they were calming down. They didn't seem as anxious as they had been before.

He led them down to the kitchen and to the fridge. "Okay, let's see." He looked through the contents, "Here's vanilla pudding." He took it out and peeled back the lid before turning to Sora, taste it."

"Sora examined the cup before sticking his finger Into it and scooping some out. "Does it taste like muffin?"

"Not really, can you just taste it?" A large glop on it fell off of Sora's finger and onto the floor. Sora stuck the remaining pudding into his mouth before smiling.

"I like it." He took the cup and began to eat the rest.

"Wait, I want some." Roxas said.

"No, it is mine." Sora turned away from his brother.

"Ventus." Roxas crossed his arms, "I want to try it." Ventus looked for another cup but couldn't find one.

"Um, how about you try Jello?" He suggested. There were two cups left and he gave one to Roxas. Roxas peeled back the lid and poked at the jello.

"What is it?" He asked. He brought the cup to his mouth and licked it

"Do you like it?" Ventus asked.

"Yes." Roxas used his hands to scoop more out

"I want some." Sora had finished his pudding.

"No." Roxas shook his head.

"Ventus! He won't share!" Sora said.

"No, but you wouldn't share your pudding with him." Ventus reminded.

"But Roxas always shares!" Sora said. He wiped his hands in his shirt and frowned, "If there is one, we always have to share. Like with the crayon."

"But you have to be fair." Ventus said. That was what e was supposed to say right? "Treat others how you want to be treated."

"But-" he stopped when he saw Aqua walk into the kitchen.

"Ventus! I left you alone for 10 minutes." She said, "Why are you raiding the fridge?"

"We all missed breakfast." He said, "And they've actually never tasted real food."

"What?" Aqua asked.

"Long story, we can talk about it later." He said, "But I wanted them to try other gongs so they wouldn't always ask for muffins."

"Did you ever think of giving them vegetables?" Aqua said, "You can't start of giving them sweets, they won't want anything else."

"Hey, we don't know that." He tried.

"Ventus." She sighed, "Just, go play out in the backyard."

"They don't really like going outside." He said.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Long story?" He tried again, "It'll be explained later."

"Fine, go up tiara and read a book! I don't care, just do something."

"What is that? I want to read a book." Sora said.

"Do you know how to read?" Ventus asked.

"No." Sora answered. Aqua shooed them out of the kitchen and he took them his room. He didn't really have books to read to them. Just text books and the Scarlett Letter, which he himself found to be horribly boring.

"I want to read a book!" Sora repeated.

"Me too!" Roxas said.

"I don't have one to read." He said. But he guessed he could make one up. "Here, sit down, I'll just tell you a story."

"Once there was a boy, he lived in an orphanage. He had two friends who were older than him, they got to move away without him. But they took him too. The boy thought he'd get to spend all his time with them. But one friend joined the army. The other started a restaurant franchise and was hardly home. But the boy could live with that, because the moments when they were together, were good moments. Until one friend told him about other kids. The boy had to go get those kids and take care of them The kids ruined his social life. The end." He waited for their reactions but received none.

"That was boring." Roxas said.

"I do not understand it." Sora said.

"Yeah, I know you don't." He muttered.

"Ventus, my arm still hurts" Roxas said.

"Why don't you take a nap, it'll help you feel better." He suggested. Then maybe he could work up the courage to tell his friends that he would be skipping out on the bigger party of the year.

"The light are still on." Sora said. The lights were, in fact, not on. But the sun was shining through the window and casting some sort of light.

"I can turn them off when you get in bed." He said. He pulled back his blanket and allowed the boys to climb into his bed. "I'll be back as soon as you wake up."

"What will we do then?" Sora asked.

"You'll get a haircut. And then we'll get you ready for dinner." He tucked them in.

"Jello?" Roxas asked.

"No, Aqua will have a cow." He said, "Real food."

"Oh, you mean muffins." Roxas said, "I like those."

"Just go to sleep okay?" He pulled down the blinds and shut the curtains before heading out of the room. He wasn't sure of they were sleeping, but they weren't talking and they weren't moving so that was fine by him.

He decided to play a video game in Terra's room. That would help him relax. Maybe he could even figure out a way to go to the party.

He sat down on the floor and turned on the system. No sooner then two minute after he'd gotten comfortable was there a knock on the door. He groaned an got up, "What?" He opened the door and saw Sora and Roxas standing there.

"I want to draw with the markets again." Roxas said. He held up the papers an markers from earlier.

"Me too." Sora said, "We won't bother you." They entered the room and plopped themselves down. Ventus rolled his eyes and went back to playing the games. After a few minutes of playing, Sora poked his shoulder. "Why do the markers stay the same size? The crayon always gets shorter." He said.

"Markers are different. They don't get shorter but they run out of juice eventually." He explained.

"Oh." Sora said.

"What are you doing?" Roxas asked.

"Playing a game." Ventus answered.

"Playing?" Roxas questioned, "Aqua said you would play with us."

"You don't know how to play this game." Ventus said.

"But you can teach us." Sora said.

"I can't teach you this. This is Terra's and you'll jut break it." He said, "But we can watch a movie instead." He turned off the system and switched back to the TV. There was a movie, a scary movie. The Boogeyman. He actually liked that movie and it seemed that the kids liked it too. But it was a scary movie and he was sure that Aqua would object to it. If it kept them occupied though, it didn't matter.

He snuck out of the room and ran down to the kitchen. Aqua was inside icing a cake. "Hey! Chocolate!" He reached for the icing and had his hand slapped away.

"Don't be a pig, Ventus!" She said, "And when's the last time you washed your hands?"

"Whats this for?" He asked.

"It's for Terra. It's his favorite." Aqua said, "He won't be here until later so no one gets any until then."

"But you made chocolate? I thought his favorite was angel food cake." He said thoughtfully.

"Is that so?" Aqua questioned.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he'll be disappointed." Ventus said, "But it isn't too late to make another one. I'll eat this one."

"Nice try, Ventus." She said. He placed a li over the cake.

"But you never make cakes! Just let me taste it." He said.

"Shouldn't you be watching the boys?" She asked.

"They're watching a movie." He sighed, "And you can't expect me to spend every second with them."

"Ventus..."

"Why did you take them in?" He asked, "Don't you know people who could've taken them?"

"Sure, but I think you needed this. You seemed lonely." She said.

"I wasn't. I have friends, Aqua." Ventus said, "I don't want them to stay here."

"Don't say that." Aqua said, "They love you-"

"They don't know me." He muttered.

"But they still like you. I saw them, they've obviously been through something. And I can also see that they trust you. You can't just get rid of them." She said.

"I don't like them, Aqua." He snapped, "They ask too many questions and they're clingy and they've barely been her an hour, okay? How can I live with them when I can't even handle an hour?"

"If this were a movie they would be standing right behind you and then they would run and you'd have to make it up to them." She said. Ventus turns to the doorway and was relieved to see no one there.

"What's your point?" He asked.

"They're just kids. You just need to get used to them." She said, "a lot of people go through this when they get new siblings."

"But what about school? And my friends and sports. Why should I have to give all that up?" He asked.

"I only asked for a few days of your time." Aqua said, her voice was suddenly stern, "Stop acting like this and do me this favor. I'll take care of it and then you won't have to worry. You just need time to get used to them."

"Right, sorry." He sighed.

Aqua picked up a cookie and handed it to him, "This is all you get, now go. I don't need you getting full before dinner again."

"I won't." He said. The problem wasn't exactly solved and he felt a little guilty for snapping on her like that, but at least she knew how he felt now. And maybe she was right, maybe he did just need to get used to them being around.

0.o.0.o.0

A/N: Another chapter done. I'm typing this all on my phone so please tell me if you see any mistakes, tell me. Okay? Also, any readers who read the original version, can you tell me if you like the changes made?