White Knight: Thirty Six :Common Sense

Ven awoke to silence. His head hurt, and his throat felt dry. He also noted that he was on the floor.

He sat up, and held his head, massaging his temples. He felt like a truck had hit him. And how had he ended up on the ground? Ven looked around tiredly, and his eyes widened a bit when he realized he was in Naminé's room. Pale sunlight streamed through the large window, casting a yellow glow against the white walls of the room. Ven slumped, and ran a hand through his hair. He had fallen asleep in Naminé's room again. He was so doting toward the girl…

He yawned, and threw his arms back in a stretch, his eyes watering as his mouth opened wide. He stood up, stretching his arms back some more until his back cracked, leaving him looser than before.

He scanned the room, frowning deeply as he sat down on his friend's large white bed. Something was very off. The room was silent, as usual, but it gave off a very empty chill. Ven's eyes drooped considerable, and he scratched his head, trying to figure out what exactly was wrong.

Then his head shot up in sudden realization.

He spun around, scanning the room once more, his eyes flashing in panic.

Naminé was gone.

It was stupid of him not to notice. The room so often occupied to small girl…

Where is she? He asked himself, spinning around the room a few times, as if he had missed her the first time.

She wouldn't run off without him, right?

His stomach twisted in sudden panic.

Right?

Ven felt his feet move before his mind even registered the fact that Naminé could be in potential danger. He was at the door, swinging it open with surprising force, and entering the hall, skidding to a stop as he spun around quickly to get a full view of the hall. No one. Not a soul.

The blond stood in silence, spinning around a few more times, waiting for Naminé to jump out and surprise him, laughing at him like it was one big joke. But she did not pop out from anywhere, and the more he stood the lonelier the hallway got.

Ven was in the middle of an apocalyptic daydream where he had somehow managed to be the last person in the world (he was already thinking of raiding the kitchen and devouring all the cake) when he noticed someone had entered the hall. He blinked away the image of fluffy white frosting, crossing out that option from his mind.

He quickly ran towards the person… persons, rather. The duo walked side by side, staring at him blankly as he ran toward them. They probably expected him to run right past. He did not.

He slid to a stop right in front of them, his eyes wide with worry, and fear. "Riku!" Ven gasped, "Xion! I… Miss Naminé, she's… she…"

"Ven?" Riku asked slowly, his electrifying blue-green eyes scanning the blond's face. "What happened? Is Naminé alright?" He sounded wary.

"I don't know!" Ven shouted, throwing his arms up in the air to exaggerate. "I just woke up in her room— don't give me that look, Riku, cause for once I know what your thinking— and she was just… gone!"

"Gone?" Riku asked, looking amused. "Are you sure she isn't just playing hide and seek?"

"Uh, yeah." Riku said, rolling his eyes. "She usually tells me before-hand so I make an effort to find her."

"You're making an effort now," Riku pointed out with a small smirk.

"Shut up, Riku!" Ven whined, throwing his hands over his eyes. "Have you seen Naminé at all today?"

Riku stared at the younger boy, and slowly shook his head. "No," he shrugged, grabbing Xion's hand. "Not today. Maybe Aqua's seen her, though. Ask her."

And with that, the two left. Xion threw a look back at him that suggested pity, but Ven was still mad at her for poking into Naminé's mind.

The blond boy sighed, and rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out what to do. Naminé was missing! What was he supposed to do?

Well… now it seemed obvious.

Ask Aqua.

Ven was running through the halls with such haste, a few maids looked back at him. He paid no notice, his speed increasing with every worried thought. He wasn't sure where Aqua was at the moment, but he'd find her…

He had to if he wanted to find Naminé, right?

He was running so fast, he barely heard the sneer of a rather beaten up man.

"Hey, isn't that the witch's man-whore?"

Ven immediately skidded to a stop, rounding on the man with an abrupt scowl on his face. He had only processed 'witch' in that sentence, while it took a few moments to realize the man was insulting him as well.

"She isn't a witch." Ven growled, clenching his fists. "So shut up!"

"Oooh!" The man turned around, as did his burly side-burned companion. "The kid's got a mouth on him. Nice glare too." The man winked one eye. The one that wasn't in an eye patch.

Ven gritted his teeth. He recognized this man. He had always been a bastard to Naminé, and Aqua. He paused for a second and words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Have you seen Naminé?" He asked, his voice coming out tired.

The man tilted his head, and snorted. "Lost her, huh?" He asked, smirking widely. "That's what you get for sleeping on the job."

Ven felt his stomach clench in recognition. How did he know Ven had been sleeping? His sky blue eyes narrowed, and he took a step toward the scarred man. "Where is she?" He growled, his fists trembling at his sides. "Where did she go? Did you take her somewhere?"

"Down, boy!" The man hooted, as his companion simply rolled his eyes.

"Relax," the side-burned man said coolly. "Miss Naminé was do for a check up. That's all." The man barely took a look at Ven's face before striding forward, the scarred man following close behind, cackling.

Check up?

Ven's shoulders slumped. Naminé had always despised going for check ups. It was the only time she acknowledged his existence, really, before a few months earlier. She had screamed, and cried, and outright refused to go.

If this was so, how had he not waken up when one of Xehanort's men came?

Ven slowly began to walk forward, deep in thought. He heard a long creak, signaling someone had opened a door. Ven sighed, and looked up at Aqua's worried face. She was leaning in the doorway of a room he didn't know, staring at him with a small grimace on her face.

"Ven?" She asked, brushing some hair out of her eyes.

"Aqua…" Ven looked up at her, eyes tired. "Do you know where Miss Naminé goes for check ups?"

Aqua stood in the doorway silently, her eyes trailing away from the blond's face. Her shoulders slumped, and she nodded. "It's the basement." She said quietly. "I… went there once to bring Naminé down. It was forever ago. When I was still working for Naminé."

"Wow, really?" Ven asked, getting excited. "Can you take me there?"

Aqua glanced away from his face. "Ven…"

"Please, Aqua?" The boy begged, his eyes widening as he looked into her eyes. He was… eye level with her.

"I don't know, Ven," Aqua sighed, and she pushed her hair out of her face. "Um…"

"Aqua, Naminé really hates check ups." Ven said, his eyes wider than Aqua had ever seen them. "I'm worried about her. I fell asleep on her floor, but I can't remember getting there. Please?"

Aqua stared at his eyes, and sighed deeply when she noted the desperation, and the cuteness Ven had added into his eyes to make it harder to say no. She scratched at the wooden door frame, and slowly nodded.

Ven grinned, and his face transformed. "Thanks, Aqua!" He shouted, stepping away from her. "Come on! Lead the way!"

But Aqua was much more skeptical.

She had never seen such lonely halls. The whole structure of them was just awful. Naminé clung to her arm for support, staring fearfully at the other end of the hall. Aqua wasn't sure why. Her long blue hair was tickling her cheeks as she tried to soothe the younger blonde.

"Shh…" Aqua whispered, stroking the girl's hair. "It's okay, Miss Nami. You don't have to be afraid. It's just a check up, right?"

Naminé simply whimpered, and shook her head, burying her face in Aqua's arm. Aqua was twelve, nearly thirteen. She felt she was getting old. She couldn't handle Naminé like she used to.

"Come on, Naminé." Aqua cooed, pulling the child further into the hallway. "You were in here just last week. It's not that scary…"

Naminé whimpered again, and furiously shook her head. Aqua sighed, and stopped at the heavy looking metal door. There was a panel next to it. Aqua supposed it would open if she opened the panel and typed in the correct code. But she did not know what the code was, or even how to open the panel, so she simply knocked thrice on the door. It made a loud ringing that sprang into the air.

Naminé shuddered as the door slid open moments later. Aqua glanced down at her, frowning. She was obviously very troubled about this place. It was just a check up… really, why was she being so…

Aqua's eyes trailed into the room, and her cheeks turned bright pink as she spotted the naked boy sitting on the steel slab of a table, staring nonchalantly at her. She wanted to quickly rip her gaze away, but she was too horrified to move.

She watched as a man took notice to her staring, and tossed a very large lab coat over to boy, concealing anything Aqua didn't want to see. The man motioned for her to enter, and she shakily obliged, tearing her gaze from the naked boy, whose eyes followed her as she moved.

"U-um…" Aqua stammered, looking up at the man. "I was told to bring Naminé down here, but…" Aqua shot a glance at the nude boy, who was still watching her intently.

"Oh, please," the man chuckled. "Don't mind him. He's just very interested to meet a girl. Other than Naminé, he's had very little interaction with females."

Aqua swallowed, and looked away from the boy, flushing. "Was he born in a cave or something?" She muttered, hugging Naminé as she trembled.

"No," the man said, his strange bottle green eyes twinkling. "But he might as well have been."

It was only now, walking down that very same hallway that Aqua realized the who the naked boy had been. Recollecting the memory, she had tried to forget everything about the boy, which was why she never recognized him. Of course the boy would be Vanitas. Who else? His golden eyes followed her even then.

Thinking back, this was probably the time when Vanitas had come to serve Xehanort.

What had he been doing down there? Why had he been… naked?

And why was Naminé so afraid of it? Besides Vanitas…

And why was she the only one to get check ups?

Why...?

Aqua closed her eyes as Ven rapped on the metal door, the ringing sounding just as it did years earlier. There was silence on the other end.

Then the door slid open.

Ven stalked into the room first. Aqua was a little more cautious of random nude little boys.

"Excuse me?" Asked the same man whom she had spoken to when she was twelve. "What are you two doing here?"

"Naminé!" Ven shouted, his voice exploding with happiness. Aqua peeked over his shoulder, and smiled, spotting the girl leaning against the metal slab table, drawing. She looked up at the sound of Ven's voice, and squeaked in happiness. She jumped to her feet and dove at him, casting her sketch book and pencil away.

"Manservant!" The blonde cried, her usually distant features shining with joy. She flung her arms around his torso, and buried her face in his chest.

Aqua smiled. She never ceased to be amazed at their strange relationship.

"Alright, alright. Please, if you are going to do this, do it later. I still have tests to run…"

"Do them later, overgrown turkey fetus." Aqua cringed at the familiar voice. But she saw this coming.

"I… I will not be spoken to that way!" The man's face turned bright red from rage. But Vanitas simply laughed.

"Go play with your toys, old man." He snorted. "Or else I'll have a talk with Master Xehanort about your behavior towards Naminé and I. Anyone else would call it sexual harassment, don't you agree, Nami?"

Vanitas finally came into view, and Aqua was relieved to find him clothed. Not fully, but clothed at least. He caught Aqua's eye, and smirked.

The man spluttered for a second as Naminé turned to Vanitas, and nodded vigorously, a large pout playing on her lips as she glared at the man. Then he slowly disappeared into the back of the lab.

When he was gone, Vanitas's shoulders slumped, and he rubbed his arms in what seemed to be irritation. Aqua calmly stepped into the lab as Naminé chattered away to Ven about all the 'boo boos' she got from needles. Ven was comforting her best he could, and doing seemingly well.

"Long time no see, my dear mouse." Vanitas grinned, hopping up onto the table, and Aqua tried not to note the black boxers, pretending he was wearing his weird suit instead.

"Hello, Vanitas." Aqua said curtly as she watched Vanitas scratch at his arm. "I'm sorry for… um…"

"Oh, apologizing?" His golden eyes widened. They flickered with amusement. "Really? Too kind, mousey. Much too kind."

Aqua flushed, and turned away. "I hurt your feelings." Aqua whispered. "So I'm sorry."

"But you meant it." Vanitas pointed out, and he scratched harder at his arm.

"I did." Aqua muttered, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm sorry, Vanitas."

"Don't be." The raven haired boy chuckled, as he scratched furiously. Aqua watched in horror as he tore his arm open, sending blood along his fingers.

Aqua gasped, and quickly grabbed the boy's arm. He struggled against her, but quickly submitted when she placed her hand on the wound, healing it instantly.

"Why did you do that?" Aqua asked angrily, pushing the boy away from her when his face became dangerously close to hers.

"My arm is itchy, okay?" Vanitas growled. "That damn saggy old grandma put some funny shit in my arm. It itches like hell."

Aqua rolled her eyes. "Are you a baby?" She asked, her voice raising. "Common sense would tell you not to scratch it!"

"I have no common sense," Vanitas commented bitterly.

"Oh?" Aqua asked, raising an eyebrow. She turned from him, and rolled her eyes. "Really, Vanitas?"

"Yes," the raven haired boy growled as Aqua glanced down at him. She could've sworn she saw a light pink tint on his cheeks. "If I had any, I'd never have fallen for you, would I?"

Author's Rant

WHOEVER CAN GUESS WHERE 'OVERGROWN TURKEY FETUS' IS FROM GETS TEN POINTS AND A COOKIE! :D

Filler chapter. But SO worth it when you get to next chapter. Which, by the way...

WARNING! NEXT CHAPTER FEATURES A BAAAD WORD! But since this word can be used like, once in a PG-13 movie I think it's fine. I won't use it again, I don't think. It just REALLY fit the moment.

Next chapter tells of my love for VanNami. So does the one after that.

I miss Angel-Cake... *Sigh* She'd love all the VanAqua I'm throwing in. Man. GAAAAAH.

I'm HOPING to update again on Christmas. Just for you awesome readers. :D The reviewers AND the ones who don't review.

If I don't update, MERRY CHRISTMAS! *Waves* HAPPY DOCTOR WHO'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL! *Squee*

Next Chapter: Fire and Ice. Oh yeah. It's gonna be epic. *Smirkles*