Flashback 2
Several Years Before the operation
Vanitas began to pout, worried that he was never going to learn to sign properly. It was harder than he ever thought that it could be. All he wanted was to be able to communicate with anyone, but more especially with his brother. He hung his head in defeat as he started to give up.
"Oh, now we can't give up," the teacher spoke to him as she laid her hand on his shoulder so that he would look at what she was saying.
Some of the words that she said, Vanitas could make out and understand. However, he did not know really how to sign his response back. Though, she was waiting to see what he would try to do. After a few seconds, he attempted to sign a response.
But I do for hard... food can't help it and slow.
Her eyes showed some confusion in them as cocked her head to the side. "I-I'm sorry Vanitas, but I'm not quite sure what it was you wanted to say. You said 'But I do for hard... food can't help it and slow.' What does that mean?"
Since he was able to read lips, he knew what she repeated back to him mostly. He knew that was not what he meant to say. He wanted to say, 'But this is very hard... I can't help it that I am being slow.' However, it seemed as though he was not able to say what he meant. If only he could speak it...
An indistinct sound came from Vanitas as he tried to whimper, though since he could not hear, he had no idea what it would sound like. He felt tears well in his eyes as he let his head fall in his hands. Would he really ever learn to sign? Without it, he couldn't talk to his brother, and that was one thing he couldn't stand. But he was just too slow with learning it and did not know what else he could do. So he just sat there as the teacher looked on, she not knowing what to say.
Then, there was a light tap on Vani's shoulder after a few minutes as he raised his head up in response. He craned his neck to the side to see that Ventus was standing behind him. His eyes were closed, of course, since they were of no use to him anyways. That was still something that Vanitas was having trouble adjusting to is to not be able to see his brother's eyes anymore now that he just kept them closed. He continued to just stare at Ventus, since he knew he would not be able to really tell him what was on his mind.
"Even without being able to see, I can tell that you are upset. What's the matter?" Ventus asked curiously.
Vanitas could understand most of what he said with his lip movements. Ventus held up a hand, as if understanding that was the way that he was supposed to communicate. How would he really tell his brother what he was thinking? He raised a shaky hand to his brother's and begin to try to sign again, with pauses in between motions so he could think about what he had to do.
I can't... get... right.
It was short but Ventus understood. He looked directly at Vanitas so that the latter could understand his every word whilst he slowly spoke. "I thought that might be it. But it's okay. It's hard but we will get through this okay? How about this... let me learn to sign with you so that I can help."
Surprised by his brother's offer, Vanitas was unsure what to try to say, if anything. He attempted to write something in Ventus's hand but his nerves had began to get the better of him as his hands started to shake even more.
However, the shaking suddenly stopped. Ventus grabbed hold of his brother's hands, forcing them to stop shaking. There was a warmth that Vanitas felt from his Ventus with that touch. Then without warning, Ventus slowly reached out towards Vanitas and laid his head his head on Vanita's shoulder before letting his hands wrap around to his back.
The two brothers stayed like that for a few minutes, with the tears unleashing from Vanitas's eyes, soaking Ventus's shoulder lightly. Ventus then pulled back so that he could look at Vanitas directly. Upon hearing the sniffles, he reached his hand up slowly and fumbled until he found Vanita's eyes, and proceeded to wipe the tears from them so that his brother could see clearly as his eyes opened towards Ventus.
"It's okay if you can't say anything. I understand. You're working as hard as you can, but let's do it together. We're brothers after all. It sounds like it could be fun," Ventus spoke, hoping that Vanitas would understand what he was saying.
Vanitas began to tear up once again at the sentiment from his brother. Somehow, despite everything going on, Ventus was always able to remain so positive about everything, and he always tried to help no matter what. Despite him going through his own disability, the drive to help was strong in him.
It made Vanitas jealous. He wanted to be like that too. He wanted to be able to help. But usually, he felt like he was useless mostly. Not able to hear or to speak... it was just so hard. But, he was glad that Ventus was there. He knew that he needed help, and he was happy that his brother wanted to do something like that for him.
Slowly, a shaky hand raised up towards Ventus and grabbed his hand. Vanitas turned the palm to face himself so that he could try to say something.
Thank... you.
It was a simple gesture, but it was all that Vanitas could think of. Ventus being there for him reassured him that things would be okay and that they could get through it all together
AN: Hey it's Riku Kingdom Hearts here. Now this is a special chapter indeed. It was written all by our good friend tmart.x13! We hadn't even thought of this idea, but he did. So BIG thanks to him for helping us out with his flashback.
Dead: Big thanks indeed! So thank you for this!
