Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me!
Chapter II: Monochrome
Aqua's foot tapped against the carpet floor impatiently as she stared out the window of the plane. Despite the weather forecast reporting there to be rain she was in bright spirits.
"You're in a cheery mood." The man sitting next to the woman commented when he saw her smile reflected off the glass of the window. Aqua turned to her left and nodded, "We're going back to Radiant Gardens after all Terra."
The tall man with chocolate brown hair framing his broad face scratched his nose and let out a yawn. "I know what you're thinking, but don't get your hopes up. It's been seven years. Besides he was a troublemaker."
"That's not true." Aqua snapped sharply. "You know he's helped out people before and I hope you didn't forget that he helped Ven out in the hospital."
"He wasn't too thrilled about having his darkness given to Ven…" Terra mumbled.
"Still he did. Not a lot of people have Ven's health condition. He needs to have that balance of Light and Darkness Essence."
Terra sighed and was about to speak when he noticed the food cart wheeled down the aisle. "Excuse me." He raised his hand drawing the attendant's attention. "Three Moogle Coffees please."
"Right away sir." The attendant politely responded before pouring the steaming beverage inside three cups. He placed a cap over each container and placed them on Terra's tray. "Anything else sir?" He asked courteously and awaited Terra's response.
"No thanks." He said with a smile and handed Aqua her cup of coffee who took it with a nod of thanks. The attendant returned the smile before continuing down the aisle with the cart.
After taking one sip of the comforting drink Aqua found her body slowly starting to warm up. She loosened the white scarf which had been resting around her neck and sighed against the rim of the cup. "That'll warm your core." Terra nodded before turning to his left to scan the aisles.
"Well it's about time." He said as a young man with gold blond hair came to their row of seats.
"Sorry, I lost my balance and dropped my toothbrush because of the turbulence." The boy explained and squeezed himself through the gap between Terra's knees and the seat in front of the man in order to reach his seat between the man and Aqua.
Aqua laughed and ruffled the young man's hair causing him to blush. "Ven you klutz."
The young man addressed as Ven swatted the woman's hand away gently and attempted to fix his blond windswept spikes. "D-Don't embarrass me." He murmured softly causing the woman to laugh again."
"So are you looking forward to seeing our old home Ven?" Aqua asked with a curious tilt of her head.
"Yeah! I want to see the playground again and stop by the candy shop with granny and Mr. Tabby." Ven cupped his hands around the cup of Moogle Coffee and allowed the beverage to warm his palms. "You think Vanitas will show us around?" He looked up at Aqua with a hopeful stare.
Aqua's gentle smile remained on her face, "I'm sure he will." She took another sip of her coffee and stared out the window. "I wonder what he's doing now."
"Probably got into another street rumble." Terra mumbled into his cup earning an eye roll from Aqua. "And Ven, aren't you too old to be calling Ms. Kairi 'granny?'"
Ven gave Terra a look which practically blurted out 'Are you kidding me?' "We've always called her granny. Everyone does! Ms. Kairi just sounds weird, especially since her granddaughter shares her name!"
Aqua nodded in agreement. "Yeah, since when did you become such a boring adult Terra? Granny would probably think you're too stuffy now."
Ven chuckled, "Right?"
Terra narrowed his eyes at the two feeling constrained from being outnumbered two to one. "So immature… just wake me up when we get there." Terra muttered and jabbed a pair of earphones in his ears before shutting his eyes.
Aqua and Ven shared a grin and stuck their tongues out at the oblivious Terra.
'Just a bit longer. How have you been?'
-D-Link-
Vanitas stared into the familiar pools of deep blue that stared right into his heart and felt a painful twinge in his chest. The woman's smile, her locks damp from the rain, it was all too reminiscent of that painful day she left. Nothing seemed to have changed for that split second that they stared at one another. But for Vanitas, everything was different - after all, he could no longer trust his memories after his accident - and it soon became evident to Aqua as soon as he smacked the ice cream out of her hand sending it flying straight into the murky waters of a puddle. Without saying a word, Vanitas rose from the swing set, pulled his jacket off Mr. Tabby earning a hiss from the cat and headed back to his motorcycle.
Aqua stood in stunned silence, even the evident sound of rain was lost as she slowly turned her head and watched Vanitas's retreating figure in the distance. She looked down at her empty palm and felt a knot build in her throat. "H-Hey wait! Van!" She dropped her umbrella and was immediately bombarded by raindrops, but she didn't care, she simply chased after her childhood friend whose face had disappeared behind a dark screen which was his helmet visor. "Wait Van! It's me! I—"
Vanitas turned on the ignition of the motorcycle and revved the engine so that the roar of the bike competed with the metronome of the rain, completely drowning out Aqua's voice. He refused to look in her direction and immediately took off as soon as she reached the gate of the park.
Aqua wrapped her arms around her diaphragm and shouted after her friend at the top of her lungs, "VAAAAAN!" She watched as the retreating trail of red emitted from the man's taillight disappeared when he turned at a traffic light. Raindrops fell atop Aqua's face and mixed with the fresh tears that unknowingly began to pool and fall from her deep blue eyes.
Vanitas's vision became monochrome. Everything was black and white as feelings of negativity began to cloud his head. He slipped in an out of traffic ignoring the blaring horns and curse words people threw at him. As soon as he reached his apartment complex, he parked his bike, ran up the steps, jammed his key into the lock and slammed the door behind him. If not for the pitter patter of rain atop the roof of the apartment, the man would have been met with isolating silence. Vanitas yanked the helmet off his head and hurled it across the room causing it to crash against the opposite wall producing a loud thump. The advantage of having a bad reputation across town was that no one wanted to live next to him, thus he never received noise complaints. Vanitas leaned against the door and slid down to the floor with his head in his hands as his damp clothes chilled him to the bone. He simply sat unmoving as seconds turned into minutes, until finally he picked himself up without a word, walked into the restroom, ran a hot bath, stripped down and sank into the water.
-D-Link-
The tip of Aqua's umbrella dragged along the sidewalk with her feet as she made her way to Radiant Wishes Candy Shop with Mr. Tabby following close behind her heels. The mewing of the cat behind her snapped Aqua out of her melancholic daze and she managed to crack a small smile. "You know… you haven't changed much have you Mr. Tabby?" Aqua asked softly as she crouched down to scratch the cat's chin. She stroked the cat's damp fur and quickly unfolded her umbrella upon realization it was still raining. "C'mere you giant furball." She teased playfully and scooped the cat up with her free arm. "Let's get you back to granny. It's been a while since I've seen her too. I wonder if she has any Starry Sky Drops?" Aqua asked Mr. Tabby curiously as she recollected the fizzy sensation of the small candies. It was enough to momentarily distract her from her Vanitas dilemma as she quickly took off sprinting to the candy shop with Mr. Tabby securely tucked insider her coat.
"Hmm… this is different." Aqua remarked as soon as her eyes landed on the job request board nailed to the side of the candy shop. Every so often someone would snag one of the papers flapping in the wind and hurry out of the rain. "I guess that's one way to make some munny." Aqua shook her head and ran to the store window and rung the small bell placed on the counter several times.
"Hold on deary, I'm coming!" The familiar sound of the old woman's squeaky, sweet voice brought a bright smile on Aqua's face. Soon, granny's small hunched silhouette appeared behind the window of the door located in the back of the store and she hurriedly turned the doorknob in order to meet her customer. "What can I do for you today sweeti— oh— my word!" The old woman placed the spectacles which hung from her neck onto the bridge of her nose and smiled. "Why, my eyes weren't playing tricks on me after all. Haven't you blossomed into a beauty Aqua!"
"Hi granny." Aqua greeted with an embarrassed blush.
"Mrow!" Mr. Tabby poked his head out of Aqua's coat and hopped onto the store counter before shaking his body to dry off his fur, sending water droplets flying everywhere causing the two ladies to back away from the damp feline with a chuckle.
"There you are! You are such a handful. First Vanitas, now Aqua."
"H-Huh?" Aqua froze at the sound of the man's name. "Van was here granny?"
The old woman jolted up, "Oh I'm sorry deary, you must be freezing, come in, come in! We'll talk inside. Come now I've got a mug of Rockin' Crunch Hot Chocolate with your name on it."
"And… Starry Sky Drops?" Aqua murmured curiously earning another chuckle from the old woman.
"And Starry Sky Drops."
Aqua smiled and shuffled through the side entrance of the store. "Pardon the intrusion."
-D-Link-
Vanitas exited the restroom in a cloud of steam and grunted as the cold air of the living room pricked his bare chest. He hurried to his room and yanked his towel off his waist before tossing it over the plain chair which rested inside the crook of his desk. He slid his closet door open and retrieved a clean pair of sweats and a collarless long sleeved shirt and wasted no time slipping into the articles of clothing to escape the cold. Once fully dressed the man walked over to his desk, pulled his chair out, turned his desk lamp on and rifled through several drawers in search of a writing utensil.
The man sat rocking in his chair for several minutes and pressed his thumb against the clicker of the ballpoint pen – found under his bed – causing it to release and retract the tip from time to time. A blank piece of crinkled paper rested on the desk in front of him and every time he leaned forward to write something, he paused and ended up returning to his rocking.
Finally after he had grown tired of the monotonous sound of clicking, he pressed the pen against the paper and released an exaggerated sigh before scribbling at the top right hand corner of the sheet to get the ink going and then began to write.
-D-Link-
The bittersweet taste of hot chocolate caused Aqua to shut her eyes and breathe a sigh of satisfaction as she sunk into the soft rose red armchair positioned by the fireplace. She momentarily set her mug – which sported a silhouette of Mickey Mouse – down by the small desk which sat alongside the armchair and brought her knees to her chest before picking the mug back up. The light blue pajamas granny leant to her while her clothes dried by the fire, felt soft and warm. "The Moogle Coffee on the plane was good, but nothing beats granny's Rockin Crunch."
"You know how to flatter an old woman Aqua." Granny chuckled and looked down at Mr. Tabby who purred softly on her lap. "So how have you been deary? Are your brothers well?"
Aqua nodded and took another sip of her hot chocolate. "We're all studying keyblade combat under our dad's tutelage. It's been tough but we're finally nearing final exams."
"Ohhh, that sounds like a big event!"
Aqua nodded, "It is! We fight several matches to determine who gets the Mark of Mastery on their diploma and dad won't be the only judge. If we make it, we'll be admitted into the Master Organization where we can take on stable jobs fighting off Heartless and protecting the peace."
"They have been getting awful restless. Haven't they?" Granny pursed her lips as she recalled a recent memory. "Why just last week, a whole lot of mischievous Powerwilds stormed into the shop and tried to take candy. If Vanitas hadn't been walking by, they might have gotten away with half of the store. Such a good boy."
Aqua's fingers curled around the mug as she hugged her knees closer to her chest. "Right… you mentioned Van before granny?"
"Hmm?" Granny responded absentmindedly. "Oh! Why yes! He was here earlier. He found Mr. Tabby for me. Did you see him before you went here?"
Aqua remained silent as she stared into the deep brown beverage inside her mug before finally responding with a small nod.
"Oh good!" Granny said with an excited clap of his hands. "What did he say? I remember you two would always run here during the afternoon when you were just tall enough to reach my waist. He was excited wasn't he?"
Aqua felt a knot build in her throat again. "N-Not exactly." She bit down on her lower lip earning a curious look from granny. Aqua tugged at the wooly blanket draped over her legs and twiddled her fingers around her mug. "He treated me…" Aqua paused trying to search for the right words to convey what had happened, "…like a stranger."
"Like a stranger…" Granny repeated sounding slightly downcast.
Aqua set her mug back down and wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees. "He didn't talk to me. I guess… I should have known better. I didn't expect him to welcome me back with a smile and lighthearted joke after I left him all alone. But I never expected him not to acknowledge me. Maybe…" Aqua dug her fingers into the blanket and buried her face in the soft material. "Maybe he really does hate me."
Aqua felt like crying but she refused to tarnish her first get-together with granny with her tears. A sudden warmth at the back of her head caused her to look up. She stared up at granny's smiling face, "Nonsense Aqua." Granny reassured the young woman by stroking her head. "Vanitas has had his share of problems while you were away but he's still the same little boy deep down. Why don't you get some rest? We'll talk later when you wake up."
The warmth emanating from the room was the second push which coerced Aqua's heavy eyelids to slowly close. In a matter of minutes she was curled into a ball on the armchair with Mr. Tabby tucked under her arms.
-D-Link-
Hey Aqua,
You'll never guess what happened today. The furball got lost… again. Big surprise huh? Found him rifling through some garbage cans before I got him back to granny. Seriously she needs to put that walking pile of fuzz on a leash. Aside from that, no luck today with work; looks like I have to get to the job board at an earlier time seeing as how more pups are looking to make some munny. On the bright side, I did get a gift from granny – some Starry Sky Drops wrapped up in some small bright colored box that hurt my eyes. You went nuts over those candies. Not much new happened today. I did see a girl at the park today who reminded me a lot of you… but I know better. After all, you're… gone.
Vanitas gave the last sentence he wrote a blank stare. He raised his pen over the scribed surface as if to cross something out, but instead threw the pen back under the bed and stuffed the paper into an envelope. He slowly opened a drawer from his desk and pulled a thick collection of envelopes bound by rubber bands and dated the letter he had just written before slipping it into the pile. He froze and stared at the bound envelopes before clicking his tongue and dropped the letters back into the drawer.
After slipping on a pair of black socks, Vanitas walked out into the living room and immediately turned on the tv to be met with a program featuring battles in Olympus Coliseum. "We now have the lone samurai Auron against our reigning champ… the one, the only Heeeeerrrrrrculeeeeees!" The announcer boomed in the background as Vanitas opened the cabinets in his kitchen. The announcer's voice faded away as Vanitas stared at the lone bowl of instant noodles which rested on the lower shelf of his cabinet. With a reluctant sigh he took the bowl and tore of its plastic coat, opened the container partway and filled it with water according to the directions before putting it in the microwave to heat up for several minutes.
"Just another night at Vanitas manor." The man said to himself with a sarcastic chuckle.
End Chapter
Xethear: Thanks to those who read the previous chapter. Hope you all enjoyed this one as well and reviews and thoughts are much appreciated.
