TW: Talking about miscarriage.

I woke up in the trash and got adopted by the local trio.
xXx-xXx-awaken-xXx-xXx

If Vanitas was gonna have a shitty morning, everyone was going to have a shitty morning.

His Flood clung to his shoulder and chattered at him, more than happy about the constant food they were receiving.

Vanitas had a bone to pick. Many of them. He'll just kick the whole pile.

He placed a hand on his Flood's head and they went silent while they enjoyed the small pet of reluctant affection from their Maker.

Vanitas didn't like feeling over-full, so he already had an idea of what he'd need to do. He had to push back his desire to smirk at the slew of insults he had at the ready. The taunting. Void was he gonna have a field day today.

And then the smirk slid off his face at the sight of Araide and Tsuyu and he felt his stomach turn to stone.

Tsuyu noticed him first and smiled brightly, "G'mornin' Vanitas!"

Araide looked over to him and nodded, "Morning."

Vanitas had to consciously swallow as his nerves sprung up and made him nauseous. He was an asshole, but he was starting to learn some level of sensitivity. "...Morning."

Araide looked at him in concern as Tsuyu skipped over and gently took Vanitas's hand, "I wonder what sorta breakfast this World has!"

"Uhm. A lot? Normal? Normal."

Tsuyu gave Vanitas a weird and concerned look as Araide steadily watched him.

Vanitas felt himself start to sweat.

He didn't have the tact for this.

Vanitas cleared his throat and hesitantly spoke, "I uhm, I have some questions I want to ask you. Both."

Araide moved closer and Tsuyu watched him in concern, "Like what, hun?"

Vanitas decided he didn't like being called hun, but he could complain about it next time. His hands started feeling clammy, and he didn't really know how to approach this. He glanced back at the sound of approaching voices, and noticed Sora being overrun by his friend's enthusiasm. He glanced back at the two before him, "Sora too."

Araide frowned as Vanitas shifted to turn properly, "Sora."

The brunette paused and looked between Vanitas and his parents and immediately understood some of what he was feeling throughout the morning from Vanitas. "...Yeah?"

Riku and Kairi were watching him as Xion and Roxas stepped around them in interested confusion.

Vanitas glared at them all, "You all can leave, thanks. This is between us."

Xion wilted at that and Roxas got annoyed. He went to speak, but Riku raised his hand with a nod, "Alright."

Kairi glanced up at Riku in surprise, "You're really gonna let that go?"

Riku was watching Vanitas very closely, and somehow he got the feeling, with how Araide and Tsuyu were with him, that this was private.

This was something between him and Sora's family.

"Yeah."

Kairi watched him before turning to Sora with a small reassuring smile, "I don't know what's going on, but I'll make sure to get you guys a plate, okay?"

Sora nodded hesitantly and stepped away as Riku and Kairi gently nudged Roxas and Xion along.

The hallway was silent for a long moment before Sora looked to his family again, "...What's up, Vanitas."

The Darkling swallowed, and it was as if Tsuyu was desperately trying to take hold of the situation and keep it lighthearted as she spoke, "What's this on yer shoulder, Vanitas?"

Vanitas glanced at the clinging emotion, "A Flood. It's the last Unversed I produced from my body."

Tsuyu stared at him in surprise before glancing between him and the pleased creature. Slight hesitation came to her as she tried to keep her smile on her face despite being unnerved, "Oh."

Vanitas felt empty for a moment before tugging her along, "You three come with me." He released her hand slowly and slipped away from her hold. Araide placed his hand on Tsuyu's shoulder and guided her along behind the Darkling as Vanitas gave Sora a pointed look to follow. Sora swallowed hard and lagged behind for a moment before catching up to his brother, "Vanitas."

Vanitas glanced at him, "This isn't about you. Well- it is. But it isn't."

Sora gave him a bewildered look as his nerves settled a little, "Oh yeah, like that's reassuring."

Vanitas's face was like stone as he stared ahead and rasped, "I don't have any reassurances to give."

Sora watched him, his eyes a little more wide as he wondered just what the heck was happening.

Vanitas stopped at the door to his room and shoved it open, holding it for the other three before closing it shut with a gentle click and a turn of the lock. He stood at the door, facing it as the other three tried to settle down and couldn't.

Vanitas turned and robotically went to the end of his temporary bed and dragged Sora with to sit beside him. He motioned for Araide and Tsuyu to sit in the pushed together plush blue chairs that accented the guest room wordlessly. They sat down and Araide clasped Tsuyu's hand.

Somehow, Araide had a feeling what this disquiet was about.

Vanitas kept a small amount of space between him and Sora as the brunette felt horribly out of touch. The Flood slid forward off of Vanitas's shoulder and seemed to melt into his lap as they made small grumblings of pleasure while draped lazily across his thighs.

Vanitas took a deep breath, "You're hiding something."

Tsuyu gave him a bewildered look, and Araide was keeping up a mean poker face as he sternly responded, "That's accusatory."

Vanitas didn't flinch. He didn't know how to deal with the knowledge he'd gained, and he didn't know how to break into this gently. "You reacted when I said my birthday was March 28th."

Sora glanced at him in confused interest.

Araide squeezed Tsuyu's hand gently for a moment, and suddenly she started to catch on and shut down slightly. Araide nodded slightly, "We did."

Vanitas clenched the blanket between himself and Sora, "What. Happened."

Tsuyu became flustered, "Why are you asking that?!"

Araide glanced at Tsuyu, and Sora became even more confused as he turned to Vanitas, "What're you even asking for, Vanitas?"

Vanitas turned his gaze to Sora, "I'm asking because I found something."

Sora's eyes widened, "Like what?"

Vanitas kept his mouth shut for a long moment, staring into his brother's eyes as he rasped, "I think you gave me more than just your face when you connected to me through Ventus."

Sora felt a weird chill down his back, "...What're you talking about?"

Vanitas turned to Araide and Tsuyu, "That's what I wanna know." He needed to know. To confirm it.

He felt that maybe Sora should know too.

Araide stared at Vanitas with hardened eyes. The sort of look that one got after suffering unbearable loss and moving on while knowing that a piece was broken off along the way. He shifted his gaze to Sora as he quietly spoke, "You weren't supposed to be an only child, Sora."

Tsuyu released Araide's hand and covered her face as she tried to keep her distress hidden from her son. She'd rarely ever broken down in front of Sora, but this was too much for her. They hadn't had the chance to talk to him about it, yet.

They had planned to do so just before the Islands fell.

Sora looked between his parents apprehensively, "What're you saying?" It's not as if he was stuck on the idea of being an only child.

It was just that he knew, vaguely, that it wasn't possible for him to have siblings for some reason.

He'd asked once, and the haunted look that had flashed over his mother's face silenced him from then onwards.

Araide sighed and slumped, unable to deal with being so tense. "My family has a tendency towards twins every fourth generation or so… and it was my generation's turn."

Sora swallowed, "Really? I didn't know that..." He felt apprehension eat at him. He didn't like this. His family was normally so open about everything.

Araide gave him an empty smile, "You were supposed to be a pair. But shortly after we found out, there was only one heartbeat."

Sora felt his stomach turn cold. Oh. Ooh, that's not… that's not good.

Araide shrugged, "You know just as well as us that the technology on Destiny Islands isn't all that advanced, not like it is here. There wasn't much we could learn back then, and none of the ultrasounds were clear about what'd happened either by the time Tsuyu could start them." He sighed helplessly, "All we could really do was make sure you were healthy."

Sora clenched his hands as he looked down at them, "I vaguely recall...family members saying mom was sick."

Araide rolled his eyes, "She got sick near the end, and was really weak for the first few months after you were born." He motioned tiredly, "You were healthy, and honestly, that was the best we could have ever hoped for."

Sora swallowed painfully, "...So I was supposed to be a twin, and they died."

Araide nodded, "Yeah."

Sora wanted to feel grief. He wanted to feel sad for them… but instead, he felt empathy for his parent's sorrows. It must have been hard to deal with that, as they looked forward to their first child together. If what his father said was true, then they definitely would have looked forward to the news of twins… only to have one and no more.

Sora wiped at his face and sniffed, "Oh." Should he apologize? That didn't seem like the right thing to do.

But why had Vanitas dragged this out?

Sora glanced at his brother, and Vanitas simply looked... tired.

He couldn't help but hesitantly ask, "...Vanitas?"

Vanitas looked at him dully and grabbed his hand tightly, "You're Diving with me for a minute."

Sora blinked in surprise, "Diving? What in the world are you- now?!"

Vanitas shifted and grabbed Sora by the back of his head before roughly pressing his forehead against his. Sora automatically closed his eyes along with Vanitas, and suddenly he was sinking. Vanitas still had a hard grip on his hand, and he opened his eyes to look at Vanitas as he floated downwards before him, "Uhm-"

Vanitas rolled his eyes, "You're a lot of trouble, you know that? You dance around with death way too fuckin' much, Sora."

Sora barked, "Ha!" He clicked his teeth shut before speaking again, "Who're you to say that?!"

Vanitas snorted, "It's hella weird how you attract death so much, idiot."

Sora frowned and grumbled, "It's not like I enjoy it."

Vanitas sighed and shook his head before pulling them onward until they settled side by side on the stained glass of Vanitas's Heart Station. Vanitas spoke into the distance, "You're still there, right?"

There was silence, but Vanitas felt a flicker before the little Light came up from beneath the glass.

OOOHHH! IT'S MY LITTLE BROTHER!

Sora looked at the Heart in horror and realization before turning to Vanitas annoyed, "Little brother?"

Vanitas shrugged, "I'm fuckin' ancient. You're the younger brother."

Sora pouted, "That's not fair!"

Vanitas raised an eyebrow as if to ask if now was the time to say that.

The silent voice chimed with laughter.

You didn't ask the most important question, big me!

Sora looked between the Light and Vanitas confused before Vanitas seemed to catch on and smacked his forehead, "Dammit."

Sora pouted, "What were you supposed to ask? Don't leave me out of the loop!" This seemed way too important!

Vanitas sighed gustily as the little Light responded. If they had a name for me!

Sora blinked, "O-oh. Uhm. Is that... is that a good question to ask right now?"

Vanitas grumbled, "Better late than never?"

Sora slumped slightly with a sigh, "I mean, I guess?"

The Light laughed.

Sora observed the little Light before releasing Vanitas's hand and bending towards it, "...So you were my twin?"

The Light shifted into shade and then became a mirror of Sora when he was a kid. Sora blinked in surprise as the Light spoke.

Well yeah! You kept me safe, and then I ended up here! It was a good thing you came for us, later… when we became too broken again.

Sora frowned as a thought struck him, "So… you experienced everything Vanitas did?"

...Yeah. I am him, y'know. Or well. I am now. The moment your Hearts crossed, I got left behind and I filled in the gaps. There was barely anything here when I first came!

Sora mulled over that as he slowly pulled back, "Oh... I'm sorry."

The Light tilted their head in confusion. I wouldn't be able to exist at all if it weren't for that… and I think it's okay. I'm here, now, and I'm happy.

Sora couldn't figure out what to say. There was so much he wanted to say, yet all of his words seemed wrong or not enough.

The Light gave him a reassuring look. Thank you for not letting me go. It might not have been an ideal life, but becoming Vanitas bit by bit's been fun in its own way, like a super long game of hide and seek! The only thing holding me back from becoming one with him is whether or not there was a name chosen.

Sora was quiet when he asked, "And why's that important?"

The Light's image disappeared and slowly the little orb that was his Heart went to sink back into the glass. Because being called Nothing really sucks, y'know? I want to know what my name really is, so that we can become new.

The Light melted below and Sora slowly stood straight before turning to Vanitas, who simply stared with an empty look on his face at where the Light last was.

Sora watched him, "...Vanitas?"

Vanitas looked at him, "Yeah?"

Sora smiled slightly, "Do you want a new name?"

Vanitas shrugged, "It'd be nice. Having a name connected to Xehanort, after everything he's done to me… I'd like to be able to start fresh. I mean, the first words I heard after he ripped me out of Ventus's Heart was 'Empty creature from Ventus riven, to you, the name Vanitas given.' Like, how fucking stupid is that? Just his poor little abomination of darkness."

Sora grimaced before nodding, "Okay, I get it."

Vanitas sighed gustily as he shook his head, tired. "I didn't ask for this weird bullshit to happen."

Sora nodded with a tilt of his head, "That goes for everyone, I think."

Vanitas sniffed disdainfully, "I guess."

Sora reached over and tugged on Vanitas's hand, "Let's go back."

Vanitas was quiet for a moment, "...Yeah."

They opened their eyes and pulled back from each other as Sora shifted and swung his legs quietly at the edge of the bed. Sora stared at his feet in thought for a long moment. Vanitas had done the heavy lifting so far. He was the one who could ask this for his brother.

Sora cleared his throat and looked at his father. "...Did you have a name?"

Araide blinked, "A name?"

Sora rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and nervous, "I mean, I couldn't even begin to guess how painful that'd be but uhm. Did you… did you choose two names, or just one?"

Araide slumped back slightly, "Why even ask?"

Tsuyu sniffled. She'd been silent for now, but this… That she'd answer. She'd never told Araide, either, so she was the only one who knew.

She took in a wet breath before looking up to her son, her wonderful boy who'd been the joy of their life.

And then she looked at this new boy, this teenager that had appeared out of nowhere, just like the others.

But she'd had dreams, and she had been unsettled when Vanitas had first appeared, immediately getting into a fist fight on her lawn and causing a ruckus. She knew, knew that he was hers, and she hadn't known why she'd think that.

Tsuyu sighed heavily and wiped at her eyes before folding her hands in her lap as she quietly spoke, fully focused on Vanitas. "Vista. Their name would've been Vista."

If the skies were the limit, then the endless beyond went right along with it.

Vanitas slumped with his head bowed and closed his eyes in relief as the quiet Light rejoiced, he felt it resonate with him.

That was it! That was their name!

That was his name!

The name sunk and settled into his bones and that little voice disappeared and became his own.

My name is Vista.

Vanitas opened his eyes and straightened up as he quietly spoke, "Yeah." There was a new warmth in him. That small little something that had been missing ever since he'd been dragged into this mortal prison he called his human existence.

Life brought death, and death brought life. It was simply how the cycle of nature worked, it seemed.

Vanitas looked between Tsuyu and Araide before placing his hand on his chest, on his beating heart that was now fully his as he felt the final cracks in his Heart Station become sealed. "Would it be okay… if I took that name?"

Tsuyu blinked in surprise, "Why do you ask?"

Vanitas placed an affectionate hand on his Flood. Somehow so much had changed inside, as if a door had been opened that had previously been sealed shut. There wasn't a particular rhyme or reason for it… but gaining a proper name somehow made it so. "Because it'd be better than being called empty vanity."

Tsuyu couldn't really argue that point, but still.

Sora straightened awkwardly and begged, "Please?"

Araide watched the two boys. He hadn't known about the name, but it fit and felt right. "Why?"

Sora swallowed the growing lump in his throat, "Because he's my brother."

Araide blinked, and Tsuyu felt a mess of emotions. It'd been her silent grief, her burden that she'd clutched to tightly by herself.

A knock came to the door as Even's voice called out through muffled barrier, "May I interrupt?"

Vanitas blinked, "Sure."

Sora looked at him like he was crazy, and Tsuyu and Araide looked annoyed as Vanitas called his Keyblade and lazily unlocked the door with it. Even stepped in, looked between them all and felt unsettled as he looked at Vanitas. "If now isn't a good time, I can most certainly come back later-"

Vanitas shook his head sharply, "Now's fine. It's about the extra data you extracted from us earlier this morning, right?"

Even huffed, slightly put out as he shut the door behind him to ensure privacy. "Of course."

Vanitas waved a hand, somehow already having a hunch about what was going to be said. "Go on."

Even looked between them all again, and he felt terribly out of place. He had certainly walked into a land mine, but barreled right past it as he cleared his throat and looked at his clipboard, "Well. When you first came to us a couple of months ago, your data had a mish mash of Ventus and Sora's data mixed into my replica's."

Vanitas nodded, "Yeah."

Even tapped his fingers on the board, "Now that it's stabilized, it has changed drastically in a manner that's simply impossible to explain. However, you were not the only one affected by this shift."

Vanitas blinked as his eyebrows lifted in shock, "...I wasn't?"

Even huffed, "I can only guess that some of what happened yesterday with you and Ventus triggering the other children caused it… but Roxas and Ventus are now twins- nearly fully identical in genetic makeup other than a few differences here and there. That was not the case when Roxas was first restored."

Well. That somehow made a little bit of sense. Still weird though.

"As for Naminé, she's pretty much now solidly Kairi's sister. Not a double or replica, but simply with sibling attributes. Xion is her own self, with nothing of Sora or anyone else to make up her structure. She has DNA markers of course, but the sources are unidentifiable."

Sora gave him an annoyed and confused look, "Okay..?"

Even rolled his eyes, "Your parents are considered to be Roxas, Xion, and Naminé's temporary guardians. That's why I'm going over all of this despite your presence here."

Sora blushed lightly, "Oh."

Even ruffled his hair, "And now I get back to Vanitas. It would seem that he has stabilized, and has taken on a great deal of Sora's characteristics, while somehow implementing more of Araide's traits then Tsuyu's. It's a mystery how it came to be, but that's simply what our data is capable of telling us."

Sora had a bit of an idea as to how that could be, and Vanitas did too.

Araide pressed against his temples in thought with closed eyes as if fighting off a headache, "I see. I suppose that makes a few things clearer, and a little easier in some respects."

Tsuyu was baffled and frozen, while slowly a strange trickle of hysteria pricked at her.

Was that possible? She didn't want to be that crazy!

Tsuyu pushed herself up shakily and stood to move over to Vanitas with weak legs before gently cupping his face and making him look at her. He knew his origin wasn't that of their son- that he'd started with Ventus.

But now Roxas had taken that place, and he was slotted in with the pieces to show for it.

Just an awkward, abandoned four-yet-sixteen year old who got pulled back out of nothingness.

Tsuyu rubbed her thumb over his cheek as she soaked in his face, "Vista."

Vanitas nodded slightly, as something more and more human built up inside of him.

Tsuyu couldn't hold back her tears and pressed her forehead against the Darkling's with eyes closed, "You can have it, little one."

"As one riven from that which took you away, I give you the name Vista."

"May your future have boundless freedom, unencumbered by the narrow paths behind you."

He took the name and inscribed it upon his soul.

xXx-xXx-awaken-xXx-xXx

Sora was holding Vista's hand as they walked towards the dining room. Breakfast had come and gone, but their parents needed to go with Even to figure out how to start Vista's paperwork.

Paperwork for someone who had absolutely nothing to prove he existed on record.

"Don't tell anyone."

Sora blinked and looked at him, "Uh-"

Vista looked at him tiredly, "They'll learn, eventually."

Sora gave him a weird look and Vista sighed gustily as he rolled his eyes, "I wanna get used to it first."

Sora nodded, "Okay. But… in private?"

Vista nodded, "It'd help."

Sora smiled, "So do we still call Roxas and Ven brother?"

Vista snorted, "Of course. Roxas still originally came to be as your body, and I originally came to be from Ventus's heart, body, and soul." He shrugged, "Now the unseen matches what is."

Sora blinked, "Ah, I guess that's true." He paused, "Roxas is gonna be pissed."

Vista chuckled darkly, "Oh, hell yeah he is."

Sora hummed, "But maybe relieved to be less of me?"

Vista raised an eyebrow, "Why do you say that?"

Sora made a contemplative noise, "We~ll, I get the idea he and Xion like each other, but they don't really get it, and then there's the whole problem of my Memories making their lives difficult. I dunno what happened in the end, but I get the feeling things were really…"

"Fucked up?"

"Extremely."

Vista snorted and Sora grinned as they entered the dining room. Everyone was there at their places, waiting for them as they all turned to them. Sora turned red in horror, "You guys all waited?!"

Goofy grinned, "Uh-yup!"

Sora covered his face, embarrassed and red with his free hand while he slumped slightly as Vista raised a bored eyebrow, "Isn't the food gross now?"

Merlin huffed, "That's what Magic's for. Everyone decided to wait for you two, so we did."

Vista frowned deeply, "Well… fuck."

Sora paused lowered his hand with a brightly innocent look on his face as he glanced across everyone's faces, "Yeah, fuck!"

Riku covered his face and wheezed, shaking while Lea went into shock and reached for Roxas and Xion's heads to cover their ears. Isa slapped his hand away from Xion's other side and rolled his eyes while Edym laughed while pointing, "Seriously?!"

Lodur sighed and rolled his eyes, "Absolutely juvenile."

Edym grabbed him across the shoulders and leaned into him, "Awe c'mon! Stop being such a grumpy old man!"

Lodur looked at him in disgust, "Perhaps you should act your age, Ephemer."

Edym looked up at him innocently, "How many 24 year olds have you met that have it all together, Brain?"

Lodur looked at him blankly, and Edym scoffed as he rolled his eyes, "Right. You were already like that at twenty."

Elrena boredly examined her nails, "Can we eat now?"

Merlin gave Vista a dry look, "Now you've corrupted Sora with your foul language."

Sora snorted, "No he didn't."

Kairi ran her fingers through her hair, similarly unaffected as she twirled a group of strands around her finger, "I can't say I'm surprised."

Ventus looked at her confused, "Why's that?"

Kairi looked between him and the quietly angry Aqua, to Terra who was stifling his laughter behind his hand. "Oh, well. Have you ever heard the phrase 'swears like a sailor'? Can't say it's all that off on accuracy."

Isa nodded, "Makes sense." If Cid and most likely Donald in private were anything to go by.

Tsuyu appeared behind her boys with a menacingly innocent look, "Sora?"

Sora jumped with a yelp as he whispered, "Oh shit-"

Tsuyu smiled angrily and lifted a bar of soap, "Would you like to try some? I happen to favor lavender and sage, myself."

Vista covered his mouth in terror and shuffled away from her with hysterical laughter as he attempted to sneak over to Merlin.

Well, he tried to before she snatched his vest and dragged him back into herself, "You get the first taste, beloved son."

Vista panicked, "Wha- Oh hell no!" He turned to his Guardian desperately while Sora tried to signal to his brother to shut up, "Merlin, help!"

Merlin sipped his tea and blatantly ignored his Ward while commenting aloud, "Ah, Earl Grey, a lovely batch of it if I do say so myself."

Sora half crab walked swiftly to his seat between Riku and Kairi as she held it in such a way that would make it easier for him to slide in.

Vista felt betrayed, "Merlin!"

Ventus patted the empty seat next to him, "Wanna talk, Vanitas?"

Vista slipped out of Tsuyu's hold by somehow slinking out of his vest and practically ran to his seat as he tucked in beside his brother breathlessly, "Yeah, sure, I'd love to!"

Tsuyu pouted and Araide came behind her and squeezed her shoulders before moving her along to the two seats left open for them. Araide nodded at them all, "Thank you for waiting, though you shouldn't have."

The group responded, "You're welcome!"

Aqua shook her head with a sigh, "Let's eat."

Everyone nodded and in unison was thankful for the food before digging in.

Well, almost everyone dug in, until Vista went to eat and froze. He still felt overfull and he remembered his other problem this morning and slammed the butt of his fork onto the table. He immediately garnered particularly incensed attention, but he couldn't help but stand to his feet as he shoved his chair back and pointed into Terra's face, "You!"

Terra pulled back from the accusatory finger before dully looking up at Vista in annoyance, "What, Vanitas?"

Vista growled as he balled his hand into a fist and Aqua batted it out of the way tiredly. Vista wanted to eat! "You're going to make me fat!"

Everyone stopped and looked at Vista like he'd lost it. Even Merlin and Sora looked at him like he'd finally crossed over a final threshold of sanity as Vista nearly shrieked to explain himself with a flush, "You have so much Void Damned darkness that you're stuffing me, asshole!"

Terra gaped at him in surprised confusion as Vista then swung around to point at Riku, "And you! You have, like, Diet Darkness! It's weird and gross and why the fuck is it like that?! Darkness shouldn't taste weird like that!"

Riku stared at him in surprise, but covered his mouth as he cut off a snort, "Isn't Diet better than fatty?"

Vista balled his fist and growled through clenched teeth, "It's gross!"

Merlin buried his face into his hands and sighed tiredly. Vanitas was clearly looking to cause a ruckus today. He should've taken coffee instead.

Ava was intrigued, "You can tell who is producing the darkness you're receiving?"

Vista glanced at her and shrunk a little into himself before sitting down as he became subdued, "Yes."

Ava raised an unseen eyebrow at his shift in demeanor.

Aqua frowned, "Vanitas, what in the world are you even talking about? It's rude to accuse people of using darkness so readily."

Ava coughed into her hand and cleared her throat, "I'm aware Merlin and I didn't quite explain the rings to you all, but they were made with more than just the purpose of helping Sora." Aqua glared at the masked Wielder and Ava brushed it off with a shrug. "Most of you have some level of darkness, and Vanitas needs to feed off of darkness and negativity to some extent to live. That's simply how he has come to be. Your rings filter in Light and Magic Power of course for Sora, but to create balance within them, it also pulls out some of your negative darkness and funnels it over to Vanitas. Isn't that more reassuring, that between you all, you can keep his needs for negativity under control, and harm away from innocents?"

Naminé frowned at her phrasing, "Vanitas wouldn't go out of his way to hurt anyone like that now though-"

Ava waved a hand while looking at her. Ava was well aware that Vanitas had made leaps and bounds towards improvement, but that didn't change his carnal needs and thirsts. "Naminé, it also has a lot to do with making it so he doesn't have to kiss people."

Naminé flushed and covered her face as she curled slightly into herself in embarrassment, "O-oh."

Aqua looked at the Foreteller in confusion, "Why would he need to kiss someone?"

Merlin cleared his throat, "Enough of that for now, Master Aqua. Master Ava and I came up with this plan, and we'd be more than happy to explain the schematics after breakfast. For now, Terra, perhaps you should wear your ring a little less until Vanitas finds a tolerable rate of negativity on your end?"

Terra flushed and slipped his bronze colored ring with red thin line off and placed it into his inventory, "Understood."

Merlin looked towards Riku, and Riku snickered while slipping his off into his pocket, "Got it."

Vista suddenly relaxed with a relieved sigh and rubbed his chest, "Finally! I never thought I'd have a day where I had too much negativity."

Roxas snickered before shoving some food into his mouth while Vista glared at him and threatened, "What're you so chipper about, Roxy woxy?"

Roxas froze before he stood incensed with fire in his eyes while Xion latched onto his stomach and yelled, "Sit down and ignore him Roxas!"

Lea smothered his snickers behind a hand while Isa rolled his eyes, pained at the lack of order. Isa slammed his fist onto the table, and everyone froze as they looked at the blue haired berzerker, "We are at the table. Eat, or leave."

Vista slowly sunk further into his chair, cowed, and pulled his chair in before eating particularly neatly.

Isa sighed as Roxas sat down, also slightly unnerved and started shoveling food into his mouth silently at his own pace.

Xion shook her head with an awkward smile.

Aqua grumbled after a few bites, "You should have told us about that, Merlin. Master Ava."

Merlin sniffed, "Time was of the essence and helping Sora first took priority."

Aqua slumped a little as she stared at her blue ring with thin silver line, "...I suppose that's true."

Terra grumbled, "A little misleading though."

Merlin shrugged, "Foxes and Wizards are tricky fickle beings, and you should always question their motives."

Ava flushed and dropped her fork, "Wh- what?!"

Merlin took a long sip of his tea, "It's common sense. Have none of you heard tales of trickster foxes or Wizards twisting words and wishes?"

Aaah, they were all so innocent. Even the fox.

Merlin waved his hand at their dazed and surprised looks, "Well, all the same. I believe we've come up with an agreeable solution to Sora and Vanitas's most pressing troubles, so I don't see what the problem is." He glanced around the table, "Or did you all find the idea of Vanitas kissing you all more-"

Vista made a retching sound and covered his mouth before turning away from the table, embarrassed by his dramatic reaction to that thought.

Merlin raised an eyebrow, and Vista simply kept turned away from them all to ignore them silently.

Ventus snorted, "I think the rings are fine, thank you Merlin, Master Ava."

Merlin nodded, pleased, while Ava buried her face into her hands with a slumped sigh.

These new Wielders were quite the bunch.

xXx-xXx-awaken-xXx-xXx

Sora'd had a rather tiring day after being a loner for the better part of a year.

Everyone received Even's data update, and Roxas was understandably… annoyed about it.

(That was to say he stormed off, and Xion ran after him in a flurry along with Axel.)

Sora also had the dilemma of choosing between hanging out with Donald and Goofy or his parents. In the end, his parents pushed him to visit with Donald and Goofy.

He felt guilty, after all of their time apart that they'd done that.

Sora felt an obligation to stick close to his parents, however… he knew that probably wasn't realistic anymore.

He was too used to freedom and World hopping.

Sora would make a terrible fisherman.

The brunette sighed gustily as he laid in bed. Later in the day, after he'd hung out with Donald and Goofy and had caught up with the Restoration Committee, they'd all been transported to Twilight Town. From there it'd been left up to themselves to decide where they'd go… and they'd mostly opted to stick with Merlin for now, much to the Wizard's chagrin.

But Sora wasn't ready to go back to the Islands, and…

He sighed and covered his face with his arms crossed over his eyes tiredly.

He couldn't sleep.

Tears pricked in the corners of his eyes as he tried to hold back, but really, the whole day had been a lot. And yet, he still hadn't had the chance to apologize to his parents.

His friends.

To visit with his closest friends, or talk with the others who'd stayed in his Heart.

Sora took in a deep shuddered breath before he exhaled tiredly.

Would he ever be the happy go lucky guy he'd been before ever again?

It was so tiring to try and act the way he used to. He felt so fake.

He dropped his arms to his sides and froze when he sensed the door open. It'd been completely quiet, but ever since he'd made use of World Magic to turn into a cat, his night vision and sense of hearing had improved considerably. Not to mention his year of solitude in the open and the threat of being eaten by the Evdam when he'd arrived in Quadratum.

He barely breathed before glancing at his door and sitting up abruptly in wide eyed surprise.

It was the two familiar silhouettes of Riku and Kairi in his doorway that greeted him as they cautiously padded into his room, a third familiar shadow of his brother behind them as he shoved the two forward in annoyance before closing the door shut. They stood in temporary blind shock before Sora swallowed the growing lump in his throat and rasped, "What's up, guys?"

Kairi jumped, light on her feet in surprise before moving over to him, clutching her pillow in front of her flushed as she crawled into the bed beside him. Riku moved to the other side more sedately before dropping his pillow at the head of Sora's bed and moved the blanket away. Sora yelped in surprise from their actions before Riku plopped down beside him lazily.

Why was he posing as if to be painted?

Riku looked at him tiredly, "Can't sleep?"

Sora nodded his head. There was some level of light, but Sora could only guess that Riku had better than average vision in the dark due to dabbling with too much darkness. "Yeah."

Kairi sat curled around her pillow with an adorable flush to her cheeks as she explained, "Vanitas night-napped us because he decided you needed company."

Sora blinked as he shifted to her, "...Oh?"

Kairi shrugged as she flushed deeper shyly, "He said the three of us should just sleep together and be done with it."

Sora blushed before slapping a hand to his face and sighed tiredly, "Did he actually phrase it like that?"

Riku snickered quietly, "Yup."

Sora covered his face and curled into himself slightly and whined exasperated, "Vanitas!"

Kairi smothered her giggles and Riku chuckled lightly before grabbing Sora's shoulder to pull him onto his back between them. Kairi took that as a queue and awkwardly maneuvered herself under the covers before shifting to her side and held onto his arm, looking at him, "You're really home."

Sora looked between his two best friends, flushed and a little too warm as nerves made his stomach hurt and his chest ache with too much confused affection. "Uh, oh, yeah. I'm… really home."

Tears built up in Sora's eyes, and he gasped a silent breath before quickly rubbing at his eyes as he croaked awkwardly, "Wha? I- uhm, I really-"

Riku reached over and held onto Sora from the brunette's right, while Kairi reached over and held him from the left. They hugged him close, and Sora was flustered, unsure of how to reciprocate as they laid their heads on the crook of his neck. Riku sighed in relief as he gently spoke, "We all really missed you, you know."

Kairi nodded minutely, "We were all looking for you, one way or another."

Sora sniffed as he shifted slightly to hold their crossed arms over his chest and quietly spoke, "I missed you all, too."

Kairi was silent for a long moment, "I once swore to you I'd never let you go."

Riku hummed, "And I'll always be here, to help fight off your Nightmares."

Sora breathed for a moment and tried to breath through the lump in his throat, "I love you, Kairi, Riku."

Kairi smiled brightly and hugged him tighter as she cuddled into him happily, "I love you too, Sora."

Riku hugged him tighter for a moment before relaxing, "Yeah."

Kairi poked Riku in the ribs, "Really? That's all you've got to say?"

Riku flinched and grumbled before rolling his eyes and giving in as red dusted his cheeks, "Fine, I love you guys, too."

Kairi huffed, "Was that so hard?"

Riku closed his eyes and burrowed into Sora a little with a little bit of shyness, "...Kinda."

Kairi raised an eyebrow as she realized their friend was blushing and cooed, "Aawe, it's okay, no one else can hear us, Riku."

Riku snorted before mumbling, "Whatever, Kairi."

Kairi grinned and got comfortable while smothering Sora in affection.

Sora knew his face was absolutely red, but he snorted before bursting out in laughter, "It's been a really long time since we've had a sleepover, huh?"

Kairi giggled darkly as she shifted to speak softly into Sora's ear with a sultry voice, "I think we're well beyond sleepovers, Sora."

Sora shuddered and swallowed hard as he whispered with a blatant strain in his voice, "D-don't tease me like that, Kairi!"

Riku hummed before he shifted to purr into Sora's ear, "Then how would you like us to tease you, Sora?"

Sora choked and pinched both of their forearms as his voice pitched up an octave, "Stop that!"

Kairi and Riku squeaked before the three burst out into giggles together.

Sora took in a cleansing breath and sighed before closing his eyes as sleep finally caught up to him. "Thanks, guys."

Kairi and Riku kept close, "Y're welcome."

xXx-xXx-awaken-xXx-xXx

Vista stretched with a relieved sigh as Sora's loneliness and anxiety bled away into affection and love for his friends. He'd been sick of it as he tried to sleep, only for Sora to become more and more distressed into the night.

Vista knew Sora's thoughts had been with his various friends, but that deep down, he'd simply longed to be with Kairi and Riku the way he used to.

But that wasn't entirely possible anymore, was it? Whether they acknowledged it or not, certain things had begun to change over the past few years.

Vista rubbed his face with a sigh as he leaned back against the wall. He blearily looked across the apartment, the hallway bathed in deep reds and purples of Twilight Town's night.

Aqua, Terra, and Ventus had ended up in the same (magically adjusted) room, as they'd decided there was a lot they'd needed to discuss in private, and Ventus hadn't wanted to separate from the others just yet.

Roxas and Xion had their same separate rooms as before… but he had the odd feeling that one of them was unoccupied.

Vista shoved away from the wall, his one mission of the night complete as the length of the day dragged at his heels.

He'd been scanned, came into completion in a weird way that involved too much unexplainable bullshit, and he really didn't want to dwell on it anymore. He'd been prodded and coddled by Araide and Tsuyu while Sora palled around with Donald and Goofy… and well. Now he had paperwork. Paperwork that was handed over to Araide and Tsuyu to put into their family registry as having two sons born on March 28th on Destiny Islands.

He and Sora were the same age… at least in appearance. It was a lot to take in. Even their silhouettes had become very similar, as they'd stood side by side.

Merlin's retraining had really changed him in more ways than one.

"...Vanitas?"

Vista turned to the hesitant feminine voice. Naminé stood there quietly with her hands folded into tight balls in front of her as she watched him in concern, dressed in only a long light colored night shirt that reached just above her knees. He shifted to face her, and he watched her in return as she seemed to be searching him intensely.

He felt drawn to her again, and it wasn't for anything other than the fact he wanted to hold her close and lo-

No.

Vista swallowed.

He couldn't let himself think that thought through.

Naminé's eyes were shining with something foreign to him by the time she decided to release her hold upon her hands and cautiously approach him. She came close, carefully raising her hands before cupping his cheeks gently as she spoke softly in the quiet, "What's on your mind, Vanitas?"

Too much. Too little. Not enough.

Vista closed his eyes, "Dunno."

Naminé tilted her head questioningly, and she gently ran a thumb over his cheek bone, and he felt himself grow warm. His chest tightened and he didn't really know what to do with this… this tenderness.

He realized the sort of mess he must have made of her emotions when he'd done the same to her as he'd pinned her into the corner that one time. He opened his eyes to look into her's and rasped, "What do you want, Naminé?"

Naminé blinked as a small amount of warmth colored her skin, "...What do I want?"

Vista nodded, and Naminé allowed her hands to slide away and lower to rest on his chest as she bowed her head in thought, "I had… some questions. Your eyes changed… and you seemed a little lost today. Almost… out of place."

Vista snorted silently, "I'm always out of place with you Light people."

Naminé looked up at him, not buying his bluff as he stared down at her. She tilted her head a little, "Your eyes were pretty before, when they were grey… but now… they're beautiful."

Vista flushed and glanced away, embarrassed, "Uh-thanks?"

Naminé's gaze stayed intense and unreadable as Vista looked back to her and swallowed his words before rasping, "What are we doing?"

Naminé smiled faintly, "I don't know."

The tension was going to kill him. Vista could feel it.

He took in a shaky breath as he whispered, "Can I take a guess?"

Naminé nodded, and her cheeks became warmer as he sensed a mild amount of mischief from her upturned and expectant face.

Is this how teenagers were?

Vista took in a silent breath before cautiously bending down to meet her, their lips brushing for only a second before Vista pulled back. Yet, Naminé reached upwards and grasped him gently behind the neck and head, burying her fingers into his hair as her nails scraped pleasantly on his scalp with silent begging.

He didn't know what to do with this, why he was responding to this… yet he met her again, and their lips pressed together longer, again and again until he pushed against her boundaries and his own sensibilities and ran his tongue against her lips. She gasped softly before pushing forward and he explored her just as much as she explored him before he vaguely thought about how they were making out in the hallway.

Oh fuck they were in the hallway!

He sucked in a breath as he broke apart from her, red faced as she looked up at him in a daze with flushed skin and swollen lips.

What the fuck were they doing!?

Vista swallowed, regaining his bearings as Naminé eased back onto her feet and whispered, "Vanitas-"

He couldn't take it, "Vista."

Naminé blinked up at him in innocent confusion, "Hn?"

Vista felt like his heart was beating too fast, and he was almost out of breath with the flood of emotions he was dealing with. "My name. It's Vista, now."

Naminé's eyes widened as they slowly eased away from each other. She seemed to be memorizing the name to the face as she tested and tasted it internally before whispering, "Vista."

Vista felt a swell of love and affection as he smiled down at her with flushed cheeks and rasped, "Yeah."

Naminé smiled and hugged him close while tucking her head under his chin, "Who else knows?"

"Sora, his parents. Ansem, Even, and Ienzo for my papers."

Naminé blinked and pulled back a little in surprise, "Not even Merlin?"

Vista shook his head in the negative, and she stared up at him shocked before flushing deeply, "So I'm the first to know of our friends?"

Vista nodded and Naminé gave him the most adorable grin he could imagine and loved her.

He pulled her close and nuzzled into her hair, "Thank you, Naminé."

Naminé giggled silently, "What for?"

"...Everything. Nothing. I don't know."

Naminé smiled warmly and held onto him tightly as she buried her hands into the back of his shirt. "...You're welcome. For everything and anything."

Vista felt his body relax, as an unnamed tension bled out of him and he breathed into the quiet, "I think I'm in love with you Naminé."

Naminé felt exhilarated, "Me too."

"I think I'm in love with you, too, Vista."

xXx-xXx-awaken-xXx-xXx

A/N: I wrote this with every intention of not having pairs… but then my preferences started bleeding through, and the characters did whatever the hell they wanted and here we are. D,X

The sugary sweetness of it all… but I'm pleased with it, after all the pain and darkness that this story has trudged through. I'm not done yet, but we may be nearing the finish line soon enough.

Please R&R!