A/N: Takes place after Roxas goes back to Sora's heart.

xX~100 Eternal Moments~Xx

Set 5 – Unbreakable Chains

81 – Light

"I don't like him," was the first thing Vanitas heard the Ventus-clone say. Why there was suddenly another Ventus in Sora's heart, he didn't know, but it kind of ticked him off. Why did Ventus get a clone and not him? One Ventus was too many already.

"Join the club." Vanitas rolled his eyes. Like anyone liked him. Not that he needed anyone to like him, but being dismissed after two seconds was still rather annoying.

"Ah, he's not that bad," the real Ventus – Vanitas could only tell them apart by their still-similar clothes – said. "Roxas, this is Vanitas. Vanitas, Roxas."

The two boys stared at each other. Roxas's eyes seemed colder than Ventus's, even though they were the exact same shade of blue. It was kind of unnerving, that stare from someone who looked like his other half, like what he used to look like, but wasn't.

"At least you're not a talker," Vanitas surprised himself by finding the one upside.

"What do you expect, a long, drawn-out backstory?" Roxas asked back.

Vanitas shrugged, propping his feet up on the white table across from the white couch he was sitting on in the white void. Sora's heart liked white. Personally, all the bright whiteness made him feel like he was incarcerated in an insane asylum – which wasn't far from the truth. "It's what Ventus did."

"My backstory wasn't drawn-out," His other half protested with a slight pout. Vanitas rolled his eyes.

"You told me your whole life story. Including the parts when we were one, so it was like you told me my life story too." Which was actually very disconcerting, like finding out someone had stalked you your whole life. Only from inside you. Disconcerting.

Ventus plopped on the couch next to him. "I was bored. Youweren't offering a lot of backstory yourself."

"Whatever. So what are you stuck here for, Rockface?"

"It's Roxas." Roxas glared again. Maybe he wasn't as much like Ventus as he looked. "And I… don't really know."

Ventus scooted over to make room on the couch (squishing Vanitas in the process), and Roxas reluctantly sat down.

"Again, join the club," Vanitas replied bluntly.

"You don't know why you're here either?" Roxas asked, his hostility fading to curiosity.

"Sora took me into his heart when mine was broken," Ventus explained, "but I don't really know why, or who he even is."

"He's the boy in red," Roxas answered, like that explained everything. "And he has spiky hair that looks… like yours." He squinted at Vanitas.

"Wait, so I do have a clone?" Vanitas grinned smugly at his other half. "And we're inside of him, which makes him cooler than your clone, so hah."

The insult seemed to fly over Roxas's head. "Well, his hair's brown, not black. And his eyes are blue instead of gold. And he's nicer."

Vanitas crossed his arms. "Hmph. Stupid Sora… bet he's just as light as everything else in this stupid place. It's always light…"

"Light's not bad," Roxas replied before Ventus could. "I think my element might have been light… or something… that was a lot of days ago. Something happened. I don't really remember…"

"Figures." Vanitas snorted. "But have you ever tried sleeping when it's always light? Always?"

Roxas's eyebrows creased. "Well… it's always sunset in Twilight Town…"

Sunset? How bright could that be? Sora's heart was like living inside of a lightbulb. One that you couldn't unscrew and never burnt out.

"Whatever. Good luck getting any sleep for the rest of your life." Vanitas got up and headed for the other side of the void.

"You mean this is it?" Roxas yelled to him. "We're stuck here – forever?!"

"It's not as bad as it sounds," Ventus tried to console him. "You get used to it."

Vanitas glanced back to see Roxas shove his look-a-like and run off in the opposite direction. It wouldn't matter – Sora's heart was like a tiny sphere. No matter where you ran, it always led back to the same –

THUD. Vanitas and Roxas hit the ground after colliding.

"Huh? But I—"

"It's no use, idiot." Vanitas rubbed his head. "Running only takes you in circles." He'd tried. And tried again, because he was stubborn. But it didn't matter.

To his surprise, tears glistened in the other boy's eyes. Roxas didn't even try to hide it. Vanitas wasn't sure he even realized he was crying. "But I… all I wanted…" he wiped his eyes, "was to be my own person…"

The soft, shaking words pierced through the iron walls around Vanitas's fragmented heart. My own person… not a pawn, or a half, but a whole…

His face felt wet. He rubbed it off with the back of his hand, thankful at least that Ventus hadn't made it to them yet. Maybe he could still keep some shred of dignity. But dignity wasn't the most important thing on his mind, because maybe, just maybe, there was finally someone like him here, even if that someone was made of light and not darkness.

Vanitas pulled Roxas to his feet, and then he looked his other half's clone in those watering, light blue eyes.

"Join the club, kid."