After so many things had fallen into place, only one major loose end remained, and Ven decided to remedy to that himself the next day. Brain said the paperwork was likely still being processed, but Ven decided to take the reins and deliver the news to his grandfather himself. If he was perfectly honest, it had been a little cowardly of him to wait it out in the first place. But after Vanitas's bold move against his foster father, and Yozora's sudden turning against the fraternity, Ven felt buoyed by newfound confidence.

He warned the twins, and they demanded to be included. Then Vanitas insisted to be included as well, arguing that if Ven had gotten to lash out at his adopted dad, he was owed the same with Ven's grandfather. Which was how they all planned to meet after Ven's Wednesday classes, with the twins driving to the residence in Roxas's car.

Vanitas had arrived before him, and Ven paused when he reached the residence's parking lot, watching his brothers interact with him. There was something different to the first time he'd introduced them, in spite of how little time they'd spent together since then; he looked more at ease with them, more willing to respond to Sora's brashness in kind, but also more capable of dealing with Roxas's moodiness. In part, Ven now realized, because that stemmed from Roxas asserting his boundaries—something Vanitas could related, he was sure. Though he supposed that Vanitas sharing his trauma with both of them in wildly different ways helped too. A strange silver lining to find from this whole mess.

There was something more, too—a change unique to Vanitas. Ever since he'd stood up to his foster father and brother, he looked more relaxed by himself, less guarded. And that, in turn, translated to how he talked to others. It was like a cloud of darkness had been hanging somewhere deep within his eyes, and it had now been blown away.

In a sense, Ven was a little jealous of it, since for a time, he'd been the only one privy to that side of Vanitas. But he was more happy for the change than anything else. It meant that he, too, was on a path of healing, and Ven couldn't resent him for it.

When he came closer however, something else gave him pause: Sora had cut his hair since the last time he'd seen him. He hadn't dyed it like Roxas had, keeping to his natural brown color, but he had styled them in what was a stark imitation of Vanitas's messy spikes.

"What," he said in lieu of greeting, "is that?"

Sora jumped at the sound of his voice, turning around to greet him. When he saw what Ven was looking at, he shuffled on his feet, running a hand through his hair with a big grin. "D'you like it?"

"Sora—" Ven started, unsure what to even say.

"I just thought, if Ro got to copy you—" He shrugged, and looked at Vanitas. "I never even got to thank you, Vanitas. I thought it could be an homage. But if you don't like it, I—"

"I told you, you look great," Vanitas said with a fond smile. "Better than me."

A blustery smile bloomed on Sora's lips at that encouragement. "Heh, thanks!"

"And with that out of the way…" Roxas crossed his arms next to him and sighed. "Are we going?"

The four of them piled into Ven's car, and they drove together to downtown Radiant City. Ven took the time to catch up with his brothers, but even if the small talk was as easygoing as ever between them, there was a jitteriness in the air. They all knew what they were going to do—and what Eraqus's response might mean for them.

Ven hadn't been to the X-Blade Industries building in a while now—not since he'd been here, shadowing his grandfather during his senior year of high school. People still recognized him when he came in, although several curious glances swiveled to his brothers and Vanitas as they passed through the entrance hall.

At first, he assumed it was just because they'd never seen the twins before, or because they recognized Vanitas. As they stood in the elevator, and Ven saw their reflections in the mirror, he wondered if it wasn't just because of what an odd group they made.

He remembered Roxas's words—how he said he wanted to look more like Ven's twin. While the rift between him and Sora wasn't as wide as Ven had feared at first, he couldn't deny that Roxas had achieved his goal—they looked alike in ways Ven had never even realized until now, too focused on the traits they'd inherited from different parents. And Sora's look and attitude made him an eerie, smaller version of Vanitas. He was softer, for sure—no tattoos or piercings, a more wholesome style, and his soft brown coloring where Vanitas was all sharp contrasts—but Ven could see a resemblance, in the same way he'd briefly seen one between himself and Vanitas. Enough to make Vanitas look like he was family too.

Ven chuckled to himself, earning himself matching weirded-out looks from all three of them, but he couldn't explain himself. Still, he now understood how Vanitas had come to a point where he could joke about his foster brother's abuse.

The elevator doors finally opened, and Ven led the way down the hall to his grandfather's office. They came to Morgan's desk, who looked up at them with bewildered eyes.

"Good—afternoon," he said softly, blinking as his gaze flicked between all of them. "Ventus, Sora, Roxas. Mr Ansem."

"I think you can call him Vanitas," Ven said, amused. "Given that he's my boyfriend and you're dating my grandfather."

Morgan cleared his throat. "I wish we could have talked about that when we last saw each other," he said. "I talked with the twins, of course, but we never had the chance to."

"Morgan. It's fine. I've known you my whole life, and I've had my doubts about you two for a while." He paused. "I—my relationship with Grandfather isn't the best right now"—and about to get worse, he suspected, but he didn't say as much—"but I'm happy he found someone. And I hope he makes you happy too."

"Ven," Roxas whispered. "Less cheese?"

"Right," Ven said. "Is he here? Can we talk to him?"

Morgan frowned. "You know he's always busy, but—I suppose this is about the papers that just came in."

"Well—" Ven started. He hadn't expected them to arrive just before he did. "I was hoping to tell him in person, but yes."

With a deep sigh, Morgan nodded with an air of wise understanding. "He's on his own right now. You might as well go in."

"Thank you," Ven said. "Don't get up—We'll let ourselves in."

He walked to the door, but paused there, nervous about what awaited inside. Still, his brothers were by his side, and from behind him, Vanitas put a hand against his back—steading him, but not pushing him forward until he was ready. Ven drew a deep breath in, and felt his courage rise in his chest. They were all the strength he needed.

Eraqus was at his desk, sitting straight in his chair, eyes already on the door before Ven was through it. His computer monitor was pushed to one side, and he had papers arranged before him, too neatly for him to have actually been reading through them before Ven had arrived. He'd been waiting. Ven wondered if Morgan had alerted him somehow.

"Ventus," he greeted, stern and neutral. The way his brow was knitted together with worry was a surprise. "Sora. Roxas."

Ven couldn't help it; he automatically stood straighter. "Grandfather."

"Mr Ansem. I heard about your…recent departure from the Organization XIII labs."

"From what I understand, you heard a lot about the circumstances that led to it." It was the most respectful Ven had ever heard Vanitas speak to him; he briefly wondered if this was how they'd first met, months ago, when they were just potential business partners.

There was a faint smile on Eraqus's lips. "And I imagine you know where I stand on your former employer." Eraqus brought his hands up before him, the tips of his fingers touching. "If you would ever consider joining X-Blade Industries, we would welcome your talent."

Vanitas glanced at Ven, then looked back to Eraqus. "I think we'll talk about that some other time, depending on what happens today." Ven couldn't help himself from shooting him a grateful smile, even if he knew his grandfather would see it.

"Of course," Eraqus said, unfazed. "Please, sit, all of you." He waved at the chairs set up across from him—four of them, also neatly prepared.

They sat, and there was a moment of silence as Ven glanced at the documents laid in front of Eraqus. It didn't take long for him to recognize them; he'd received his own copy of them in an e-mail from Brain earlier this week. "So," he said. "You know what I'm planning to do."

"Yes," Eraqus replied, keeping his voice infuriatingly neutral. "I know."

What had Ven even intended to say? Any speech he'd planned over the past few days deserted his mind, now that his grandfather was actually in front of him. "I was going to tell you about it before you got the paperwork."

"No, you weren't." Ven tensed up, but the word came heavy with weariness. "But I don't think I can blame you." He looked up, his focus entirely on Ven. "Do you realize what it would mean? I don't just mean the money—I know you have enough to get by, even while you're in college. But you'd have to be responsible for them. Watch over them. Keep them safe. Given Sora's recent—"

"Sora's the reason I'm doing this," Ven interjected. "One of them, anyway."

Eraqus raised an eyebrow. "Enlighten me."

"You never cared for the twins. I was the one who did—ever since Mom died."

"I've always cared about all three of you."

"About us, sure." Even if he wasn't good at showing it, Ven was willing to believe that much. "But not for us. So I did." He sighed. "We were kids, Grandfather. I was barely a teenager. We didn't just need someone to be responsible and watch over us and keep us safe. We needed someone to just love us. I was so busy being that person for the twins, I never took the time to realize I didn't have anyone of my own."

"So this is revenge?"

Ven shook his head. "This is me, realizing that Sora and Roxas are now in the position I was in. So I'm stepping up. If I have to be the one for them, then I'd rather make it official."

"I see."

"No, you don't. Not yet." Now that Ven had gotten started, his words came back to him, flooding his brain and threatening to overflow through his mouth. "You don't even realize the damage you did to them, do you?"

Eraqus recoiled at his words, the sound of his chair rolling on the paneled floor the only sound in the room for a brief instant.

But Ven couldn't stop. "Why do you think Sora feels the need to act out in secret? You spent so long making him feel like every choice he made was wrong, so what was he supposed to do? Do you think you have no share of the blame for what happened? Because if you think so, you're only proving my point that you shouldn't be parenting him."

To his surprise, Eraqus lowered his eyes. "You're right."

"And let's not even talk about Roxas, who—" Ven paused, blinking, his grandfather's words registering with a delay. "What?"

"I said you're right." He sighed. "Which is why I wanted to talk to you as well, after I received these." He waved at the desk in front of him. "I was going to call you, but—" He didn't finish his sentence; instead, he said, "I'm folding."

"You're—" Ven frowned.

"I won't challenge your claims. I have had some time to think about this myself, you know. Reading that file was just a confirmation of the conclusions I came to." He took the stacks of papers in his hands, though it seemed to mostly be for show, as his gaze remained on Ven. "You're more eloquent out loud than on paper, though."

Ven wasn't entirely sure if it was a compliment, but his mind was focused elsewhere. "You won't 'challenge my claims'?" he repeated, just to be sure he'd heard correctly. It sounded too good to be true.

"Indeed. I'll let you be the twins' guardian." He sighed, and set the papers down. "It's what should have been the entire time—as soon as you turned eighteen. I should have suggested it myself. As a matter of fact, Morgan and I discussed it once, but—I was too proud to bring it up with you."

"I don't—are you serious?"

"Extremely. Especially after hearing you today. It's clear that this is something you've thought about carefully." His lips tightened briefly, then finally shifted his focus away from Ven—and to the twins instead. "I just—want to make it clear I'm not trying to get rid of you. Merely that Ventus is correct. Of the two of us, he's proven to be far more competent." There was an air of shame in Eraqus's eyes, but Ven didn't think there was a point in pointing it out.

Silence hung in the air; Ven didn't need to look at his brothers to guess they were just as stunned as he was. "Okay. I'm—" He huffed out a breath, suddenly at a loss for words. "I'm not sure what happens next."

"It's up to you," Eraqus said. "You'll have to live under the same roof, and I know you'll need some time to find a place of your own to live with them. Until you do, you're welcome to remain at home with us. I'll stay at Morgan's place, here in the city—the arrangements are already made. We can do this as early as today, if you'd like."

"I—" Ven was floored by the concession; he'd expected a lengthy legal bettle, not for Eraqus to agree with him—and certainly not for him to let them have the house. "Okay," he said. "Tonight. But only until I find a place for us to stay." He didn't want to start this new dynamic by feeling indebted to his grandfather. "And—thank you. For understanding."

Eraqus nodded solemnly. "Part of this is selfish on my end," he said. "It's the only way I see us retaining some kind of connection, even if it's only in the long run." His gaze flicked between them again. "I truly hope that this isn't the end for us. I hope you still keep a place in your family for me, in spite of everything. Though I'm not going to ask you to make any promises in that regard."

Ven nodded silently, more an acknowledgment than an answer. "Well, I—"

"I'll send the documents I drafted to Brain. I expect you'll want him to look them over." There was a faint smile on his lips as he said that, though Ven was unable to return it. "Well then, I'll be waiting to hear from you. Or from Brain. And as soon as you can take the twins in, let me know."

He was giving Ven an obvious way out of this conversation, and Ven took it. "I will," he said as he stood up. Vanitas followed suit, strong and steady beside him. The twins came too; Sora was in such a hurry he preceded Ven to the door.

"One last thing, Ventus—" Eraqus called just before they left the office. "Even after you all leave, I want you to know that my house will always be your home too. All of you are welcome to reach out anytime, no matter what you need. I want you to know this."

Ven glanced back at him and saw the defeated look in Eraqus's eyes, as if he didn't expect them to ever come back. Ven wasn't sure he would, but it still felt good to hear that he had the option. "Thanks."


Roxas was the first to speak once they were outside the office. "That was—not what I expected."

Ven looked at him, but his brain was too busy processing to register anything on his face. "Me neither," he finally said.

"Everything all right?" Morgan asked from his desk.

Hearing him reminded Ven of what his grandfather had said—how he'd already made arrangements to move out. "You could have told us," he said accusingly.

"He deserved to share his decision with you himself." He smiled softly. "I will be missing you, kids."

Roxas and Sora both stared back at him with similar, shocked eyes. Then, finally, Sora broke into a smile. "Yeah," he said. "Me too. But it's not like we'll never see each other again, right?"

"That," Morgan said softly, "is entirely up to you now."


"It sucks that you'll have to come back and live with us," Sora said while they were riding the elevator down from Eraqus's office.

The comment made Ven chuckle. "Yeah, I guess the extra commute won't be all that fun."

"I'm more bothered that you won't be right next door to me anymore," Vanitas said. He paused for a silent beat, grinned, then added, "I mean, it was really convenient to have you right there whenever I wanted to—"

"That's as much as I'm willing to hear," Roxas cut him off loudly, making Vanitas laugh.

But even if he was framing it humorously—and Ven was definitely blushing now—Ven couldn't help but think he'd also miss having him so close by. "Well," he said softly, "you're welcome to stay over anytime."

Sora perked up instantly. "If Vanitas gets to sleep over, does that mean I get to invite Riku?"

Ven eyed him suspiciously. "Don't start abusing my generosity when we haven't even established house rules," he said, though he kept his tone at a gentle tease. "But tentatively, I'm sure it can be arranged."

The elevator doors came open, and they stepped outside the X-Blade Industries building. With each step, the knowledge was sinking in that he'd won. And in spite of the massive amount of responsibilities it meant, it still came mostly as relief. Maybe because those responsibilities had always been there, even if they were unspoken until now; he would always have cared for his brothers, now matter what.

"So what now?" Roxas asked. "Are we going straight home?"

"I was really ready to pack today," Ven said. "So you'll have to give me some time."

"I'll help you," Vanitas offered.

"Yeah, us too!" Sora joined enthusiastically.

Roxas rolled his eyes at his twin. "Way to speak for me," he mumbled, but he nodded too. "But yeah. Of course we'll help."

By the time they arrived at the dorm, Vanitas said Xion wanted to come help too, and he went to pick her up. Then, when Terra heard what was happening, he joined them as well—and called Aqua to come over.

Between all seven of them, it was far too easy to get Ven's stuff packed and ready in his and Roxas's cars. He hadn't come to DSU with that much, but it was still an odd feeling to see it laid out in front of him like that.

Once everything was packed away, he and Terra went back up to the room for a final check. "You know," Terra teased as Ven looked around, "you can still come back, even if you don't stay here. It's still your room."

"Oh yeah? You sure you don't want another roommate?"

"I don't know; it won't be so bad to have the room to myself. I can see why your boyfriend likes it."

Ven chuckled at his words, and stood up. "Well, I don't think there's anything I forgot." He started towards the door, but before he could leave, Terra grabbed him by the waist and took him into his arms. "What the—"

"I'll miss you, man," Terra said, holding him tight. "You'd better stay in touch."

"You know I'll still have classes here, right?" Ven retorted, amused. Still, he relaxed into Terra's embrace. "But yeah. I'll miss you too."

It took a few more moments before Terra let go of him, and Ven was pretty sure he saw a hint of tears in his eyes, though Terra tried his best to hide it. "All right," he said. "Off you go."

"Actually," Ven said, "Vanitas thought we could grab dinner together before I go—since his sister's here and all. You and Aqua could come too?"

The smile that lit up Terra's face was priceless.


They had dinner together at a restaurant just off-campus—then, at Vanitas's insistence, moved to Tiana's Palace for dessert. A dessert which stretched on for far too long that was reasonable, especially on a weeknight, but the mood was far too joyful for Ven to even think about ruining it. Vanitas had finally burned bridges with his abusers; Yozora was turning on the fraternity—and possibly the Xehanorts—and now the twins would officially be in Ven's care. They were allowed one night to celebrate. Vanitas must have agreed, since he didn't force a curfew on Xion any more than Ven did on his brothers.

But finally, they had to leave, and walked back to the residence together. Terra and Aqua bid them goodnight first, leaving Vanitas and Ventus with their siblings on the parking lot.

Their family, Ven couldn't help but think. Vanitas had said as much before—and so had he, he now realized. It felt much more real now that he was officially going to be the twins' guardian.

Xion was already in Vanitas's car, and Vanitas strolled over to him. "I guess this is where I kiss you goodnight," he whispered against Ven's lips. "It might be some time before we see each other again."

Ven chuckled. "We have a class together tomorrow, you dumbass."

"I'm offended, córazon. Are you saying it won't be far too long for you?"

His playful tone hinted at something deeper underneath, and when Ven met his eyes, they were shining. "Depends on the goodnight kiss, I guess," he said softly.

"Oh, wait!" Sora called out before Vanitas could close the distance between them. "We almost forgot!"

Ven tensed up and glanced over at his brother, pushing down his frustration at being interrupted. "What is it?"

"Vanitas, do you think you could come over tonight? I know it's late, but—there was something Roxas and I wanted to give you."

Vanitas eyed him curiously, but he nodded. "Sure. I'll be right there with you after I drop off Xion." He looked back to Ven. "See you there?"

"I'll be waiting," Ven said, but then, because waiting wasn't enough, he also leaned forward and pressed a brief kiss to Vanitas's lips before they parted ways.

Once he was on the road, Ven couldn't help but look at his brothers in the rear view mirror.

"All right," he said. "What's this about? You inviting Vanitas?"

"You'll see," Roxas said with an enigmatic smile and a shrug.

Beside him, Sora was positively vibrating with excitement. "We were going to wait until the next time we saw Vanitas, but considering what happened today—"

Roxas shushed him with a fond laugh. "Don't give it away before he gets there! You don't know if Ven will keep the secret!"

The message was clear: Ven dropped the subject, though his curiosity was nagging at him for the rest of the drive home—and the few additional minutes it took Vanitas to arrive as well. As soon as the doorbell rang, Sora dashed away to his room.

"Been a while," Vanitas greeted Ven when he opened the door. He was leaning against the doorframe, his most charming smile plastered across his face.

"This is a terrible look for you," Ven couldn't help but say. "Please go back to being moody. I don't know if I can take this."

"Oh, you and I both know very well that you can take this," Vanitas retorted. From the next room, Ven heard Roxas make exaggerated gagging noises, but for once, Ven couldn't manage to feel even a little bit mortified. He pulled Vanitas in for a kiss, but before he had a chance to deepen it, Sora's footsteps came loudly from the top of the stairs as he returned—and as he did, Roxas joined them as well.

Ven didn't see what Sora was holding; his brother made a beeline towards Vanitas, all but pushing Ven out of the way in the process. He pressed a hand into Vanitas's. For a moment, he was still, and Vanitas's lips parted in surprise as he stared into Sora's eyes. Then Sora stepped back with a dramatic "Ta-da!"

Vanitas's eyes went down to his palm, but a smile was already on his lips. Ven followed his gaze: in his hand was a Wayfinder, identical to the ones Sora, Roxas and Ventus shared, though the star's branches were a bright, blood red color.

Ven looked up to Vanitas's face again, and saw tears glistening in his eyes. "This is—"

"The three of us have one," Sora explained. "And like, we wanted to let you know you're part of the family too." He paused, eyes fixed on Vanitas, and grimaced. "Not like, in that weird way—" His voice trailed off. "Never mind. You don't like it."

Ven couldn't help but let out an amused chuckle. At some point, he'd gotten good enough at reading Vanitas that he forgot how closed off he could still be to other people sometimes.

"No, I—" Vanitas said. "I get it. Thanks. Really. It means a lot."

Sora beamed at his words—and, Ven noticed, so did Roxas, looking like twins again in their matching pride, in spite of their now different looks.

"All right, you two," Ven said. "It's bedtime."

Roxas scoffed. "You just say that so you can be gross again."

"He's my boyfriend," Ven retorted. "I'm allowed."

Roxas snickered as he went upstairs; Sora lingered for just another moment, just long enough to make sure Vanitas really was happy with their gift before he wished him a cheery good night and went up as well.

Once they were alone, Ven turned to Vanitas. "You know, it's okay if you're gonna cry now."

"I'm n—" Vanitas groaned, then sniffled. "Okay, maybe a little."

"I had no idea they planned that." He shuffled a little closer, hovering his fingers above the Wayfinder's delicate design. The twins must have tracked down the same artisan who had made theirs—it was an exact match to their set.

"I figured as much," Vanitas said. He gently laid his other hand over Ven's, clasping their hands together around the Wayfinder. "If it had been your idea, you would have given me yours like it was an engagement ring."

Ven laughed, but he couldn't help but feel nervous at the mention of an engagement ring. Their relationship may have moved on fast, but not that fast. "They're right, though. You're part of the family. And I much prefer this relation between us, for the record."

Vanitas snorted. "Now who's making jokes about traumatic shit we've been through?"

"I guess you're a bad influence," Ven teased with a mocking shrug. "Now, I think you said something about a kiss good night—"

He didn't even have the opportunity to finish his sentence; Vanitas's lips were already on his, and soon, there was no more space between them. And for maybe the first time since he'd moved out of this house, he felt like it was home again.