Midterms came and went, and it was strange for Ven to be back at home in Daybreak. But his grandfather kept his promise, and Ven was now the twins' guardian, and that meant Ven had to stick to his own responsibilities.

He missed living in the dorm, missed hanging out with Terra and being able to see Vanitas at practically any time of the day—or night. He missed the easy convenience of being able to walk to class. But it was the choice he'd made, and he hadn't come to regret it yet.

He and his grandfather eventually agreed that he wouldn't be moving out with the twins until the end of the term for convenience's sake. Unfortunately, that still meant Ven had to go apartment hunting, on top of his already busy schedule, his longer commute, and taking care of his brothers.

He weathered through it, though he turned up empty-handed in his search for a new place for a couple of months. By Thanksgiving, he was feeling the pressure rising, especially when compounded with finals now on the horizon.

The holiday wasn't one they'd celebrated much in the Enix home since his parents' death, but Ven felt in a celebratory mood this year. When Aqua invited him and Vanitas to her place for the holiday, Ven made a counter-offer: for her and Terra to come to his house in Daybreak instead. It was the only way he could see them for the holiday while still celebrating with his brothers, since Aqua's apartment was far too small to house them all.

In the end, Sora also invited Riku and Kairi, and Vanitas of course brought Xion with him. This was, he realized, many more guests than there had been in the house in years—and many more guests than Ven knew how to handle at once. But they all worked together to make the holiday go smoothly, and in the end, Ven thought the party was quite a success.

The kids retreated to the living room after dessert, playing together on the Playstation Ven had brought back from his dorm, leaving Ven, Vanitas, Terra and Aqua around the table. Then, in the midst of conversation, Aqua had made an off-hand remark about how convenient it was to have her own place off-campus while attending DSU.

That was when Vanitas said, "You know, maybe we should get an apartment together."

"We—what?" Ven stared at him in shock.

Vanitas only shrugged. "Why not? You're looking for a place, and I should too. Without my job at the lab, paying for the dorm and Xion's place is a little bit much." He paused. "Besides, it'd be good for Xion if she didn't live by herself anymore."

"I—hadn't thought of that." It was a blatant lie; he had very much been tempted to ask Vanitas before, but it had been too daunting—it felt like it was too soon in their relationship. And yet it hadn't stopped him, in every apartment he visited, to regret that Vanitas wouldn't be next door, or to wonder if there was enough room for Vanitas to stay over.

"You don't have to," Vanitas said. "It's just a thought. I could also just get my own place."

"No, I—" Ven said hurriedly, before Vanitas retracted his offer. Vanitas raised an eyebrow and smirked, and Ven realized he hadn't been fooled by Ven's attempt to hide his thoughts. "Fine. I had been thinking about it. And—I'd like that."

Vanitas's grin widened. "Awesome."


The last of Ven's finals was the one he was most excited about. As Quistis had told them at the start of semester, the essay was their final for Spanish class. Instead of having work group on Friday during finals week, each group presented their video essay at various points throughout the week before a jury made up of the four teachers who taught this class.

Ventus and Vanitas ended up being one of the last groups to go, late on Friday night on finals week, but Ven didn't feel stressed about it. Partly because he knew that, ultimately, the language was what they were graded on, and he was confident in his end result. But mainly because he was damn proud of his—and Vanitas's—work.

"Destiny Islands have always been a unique place within the United States. Not a state, just a territory; to some, little more than a colony. But throughout all of that time, it has been home to its own strong and resilient culture, even going by its unique definition of marriage decades before marriage equality became a mainstream concern of queer activism in the wake of the HIV/AIDS crisis."

He'd uploaded the finished essay online at the start of the week, as per the instructions—same time for every group. What he hadn't expected was for his work to gain traction outside of the school.

"While the islands are viewed by most Americans as an idyllic tourist destination, their status in legal limbo puts them at a systematic disadvantage when negotiating their own fate with the rest of the nation. Here, perhaps more than most anywhere in the country, wealth disparity hurts many. To a lot of Destiny Islanders, they are strangers in their own country."

The comments that followed included, unsurprisingly, some vicious attacks. Others, inevitably, were more about Ven's personal life than the video itself. But most comments were of overwhelming support and respect for his work. They praised the interviews Ven's extended family had conducted—between themselves and with other Destiny Islanders—giving a voice to the island as a whole, the framing of the essay as a story of two young men trying to connect with their roots, the hopeful, yet sobering note it ended on as Ven called to action to give his home the change it deserved.

Ven's favorite part was one he'd sneaked in in the middle though. A story about Destiny Islander children being adopted and taken away from their home by Americans who kept them away from their culture and heritage, and a quick report on studies regarding the high rates of abuse surrounding these adoption cases.

"Some view it as a form of trafficking, others as a way to bring these children more opportunities in life. Yet one has to wonder what opportunities are worth having your culture stripped from you, and why these opportunities come so often from the hands of abusers."

Vanitas hadn't said anything when he saw that section of the video for the first time during the final edit. He only cast Ven a pointed look, dramatically rolled his eyes with a sigh. Then he kissed Ven, hotly enough that their work was put on hold for a solid couple of hours.

It was no doubt that their work would get them a high grade; it was apparent just from the jury's reaction, even if they weren't allowed to tell anyone their grade before viewing everyone's essays. That was satisfying in and of itself, though Ven had to admit he was more excited about the end of the semester.

He walked back to King Mickey Mouse Residence with Vanitas that Friday evening. Ven wanted to check out his room one last time before his lease was officially over, and Vanitas was clearing out his own room as well.

Terra was waiting for him in their room when he arrived, as he'd expected. Terra wouldn't pass up on their last chance to share this room together.

"First semester done, huh?"

"Yup," Ven said. He threw himself on his bed, and though it'd been months since he'd slept in it, it still felt familiar and oddly his.

"So? How's it feel?"

"Not like I expected," Ven said, chuckling. "But…good." He turned to look at Terra. "Thanks. For being my friend from the get-go."

"Of course, Ven."

"Who do you think your next roommate will be?"

"My last," Terra said, wistful. "I'm graduating next semester."

"Oh, right."

Terra gave a half-shrug. "Whoever he is, he won't be as good a friend as you've been, Ven."

Ven paused, then laughed. "You're just saying that because I let you have the room to yourself for most of the term."

"Well, that was pretty cool of you. Even if I had to walk in on you having sex first."

"You're never letting that go, are you?" Ven couldn't help but blush.

"Never, my man. Never. And hey…like I told you once. Nice."

Ven groaned at that, but he smiled as he looked up at the ceiling. "The essay went over well with the teachers," he said.

"I bet they loved it. They'd be crazy not to." Terra had seen it, of course, on top of witnessing Vanitas and Ven struggle through the last phases of making it. Once the video had blown up and gone viral, he had volunteered to help Ven moderate the comments; and he'd even suggested that Ven and Vanitas remake it in English for a bigger reach, though Ven had only conceded to adding subtitles. The language felt like part of the point.

"Yeah." Ven was silent for a moment. "Do you remember when we met? You asked me about my major?"

"Sure do."

"I wonder if I couldn't do something with that."

"Like…video?"

"I was thinking more about politics. Between this and Chi Gamma Nu—I've proven to myself that I can make a change in the world." It was a slow process, but after Yozora had come forward, it had blown a hole in the fraternity's defenses. A movement was growing on campus to give a voice to other victims, and it was becoming harder and harder for the fraternity to cover it up. Ven had gone to help out whenever he could, though he tried to keep a low profile when he did; he didn't want to co-opt this, or make it look like he was doing a photo-op. "I think I like doing that. Making the world a better place."

Terra huffed out a breath; when Ven looked at him again, he was smiling wide. "You sure are doing it for the people you love. So why not? It sounds like a plan."

"Yeah," Ven said. "It does, doesn't it?"


"Come on! Open up already!"

Ven ignored his brothers' impatient protests for just a moment longer, just to make them simmer. Then, finally, he put the key in the lock and turned.

The apartment he and Vanitas had settled on was a penthouse, just a few blocks away from the DSU campus. From this high up, they had a view of the green spaces of the campus itself—Ven could even spot Tiana's Palace if he squinted. Their old college residence, the place where they had first met, was also visible from here; every time Ven looked at the roof, he remembered the precious few nights they had spent there, looking at the stars.

In this new home of theirs, they would be able to do that again.

The penthouse had two floors, four bedrooms—one on the lower floor, which Sora called instantly, and three more on the upper floor—two bathrooms, and a wide, open living area, completely surrounded in windows on all sides. It was more ostentatious than Vanitas had originally been looking for, and it took some work to convince him to go along with it, especially since it wasn't a rental. But Ven could afford to go overboard, and he'd pointed out it was a better use of Vanitas's money if he owned a share of the place rather than rented it, and eventually, Vanitas had relented.

Now that they were actually here, Vanitas was radiating from the inside with elation looking at this place that was theirs, and it made it all worth it to Ven. For a moment, he completely forgot about their respective siblings, dashing around the place in a mad tornado to look at everything: all Ven could see was the boy next to him, black hair and golden eyes, tattoos and piercings. The boy he loved, and who loved him.

They'd already brought in a Christmas tree the day before while he and Vanitas were bringing the furniture, though the apartment was still a mess of boxes in serious need of setting up. Ven counted on his brothers and Xion to put up the rest of the holiday decorations.

As for the rest, it was up to him and Vanitas to work on. And as far as Ven was concerned, he couldn't wait.