And we are back with another chapter for the Vanitas backstory arc! Woo!

Thanks to everyone who has been reading this and stuff. I hope you all are enjoying my crazy story I created here. Now let's get on with it!

Ch.11

The days soon started to pass, but Vanitas rarely ever left his room. He would come down to the kitchen for food, but he would not stay to eat with whomever else was there. He would take his food and head back to his room. Soon a week had passed since Vanitas became trapped and Lea started to wonder if Vanitas was really okay.

"I really wonder how well he is handling it," Lea said to Isa one day as they ate lunch. Vanitas hadn't even shown up to get food at all that day.

"I suppose you want to go and check on him?" Isa questioned.

"Yeah…I just don't want to see him isolate himself like this. He is still a kid, he should be trying to have fun… given the circumstances."

"You mean pretending to have fun," Isa responded.

Lea just shook his head as he closed his eyes. "It doesn't matter. What does matter is that he needs to know he isn't alone here."

"If you say so…"

"Come on Isa, don't tell me you don't feel bad for the kid. Being trapped here at a young age and separated from his best friend, you know that is must be hard for him," Lea said, hoping for once Isa would just lighten up and be nice for once. But he also had known Isa for years, and Isa wasn't the best at being nice and friendly to others. He was also very good at making sarcastic comments at almost everything. Though usually he was just joking around with stuff like that. But since they had become trapped in the mansion, Isa had become far colder and ruder than he was back when they still had hearts.

The response he got from Isa was sadly the response he had expected, but of course it didn't bother him.

"If I could actually feel sympathy then maybe I would care… but I don't," Isa stated rather bluntly before returning his focus to eating his food.

A moment later he looked back up at Lea. "And if you claim to 'care' so much, then why don't you show that same 'caring' to Ienzo. He is a child just the same as Vanitas is."

Lea sat back in his chair as he crossed his arms. "That's different. Ienzo was here before us… and he seemed to already be adjusted to this life when we got here. And he just isn't all that approachable. Beside that… Vanitas is the first one to get trapped after us. To see a kids reaction finding out they don't have emotions...I just want to leave him alone to deal with that."

There was a silence between the two of them for a few minutes. Isa had gone back to eating his food as Lea stared up at the ceiling. A moment later Lea let out a long sigh before he stood up. "Well I am at least going to check up on the kid. And no matter what you say, I know that you do care for the kid. Even without emotions, you want to help him out as much as I do."

"Sure thing…" Isa muttered as he didn't look back up at Lea.

After that Lea made his way down the halls until he got to Vanitas's room. Once he got there he knocked on the door.

Lea waited for a minute, but there was no response. After waiting a few seconds more he spoke up. "Hey Van, you in there?"

There wasn't any answer.

Lea sighed as he slowly opened the door. The curtains were closed and the light was off, making it very hard to see in the room. Though it was dark, he was able to see Vanitas sitting in the far corner of the room. His back was up against the wall as he had his arms wrapped around his legs, which were held close to his chest.

"Van… Are you okay?" Lea asked.

Vanitas looked over at Lea for a moment. He stared directly at him, his eyes unblinking. And then he went back to staring at the wall across from him. Lea sighed again as he made his way across the room to the window.

"Why don't you open the window or something? It's too dark in here."

"I don't care…" Vanitas mumbled.

"Well I think it would be best to let some light in here. You don't wanna spend the rest of your life in the shadows," Lea said as he pulled open the curtains, letting the light shine in.

Vanitas grumbled as he buried his head against his knees. "Maybe I want to…"

Lea let out another sigh. Vanitas seemed to be having a harder time that he originally thought. He then walked over and sat down next to Vanitas. "How you feeling?"

"What do you think? Nothing… I feel nothing. I don't feel anything, remember?" Vanitas said with huff of air.

"I know...But that doesn't mean you can stay in your room from now on."

"Why does it matter though?" Vanitas said as he looked up. There was a look in his eyes that made Lea more concerned. His eyes looked full of emptiness and nothing more. "Why does it matter what I do anymore? It doesn't mean anything to me anyways…"

Lea gently placed a hand on top of Vanitas's head. "Hey… I know it's hard. Trust me I know… But you can't let that stop you from living your life."

"But what kind of life can I ever have here?" Vanitas said as he swatted Lea's hand away. "Just leave me alone." It seemed like Vanitas wanted to be irritated or mad, there was the angry tone to his voice, but there was no emotional passion in his words.

"Sorry kid, but I can't do that," Lea replied. He wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Why though?" Vanitas asked.

"Because I care, and I don't want to see a young kid like you end up so cold."

Vanitas glared at Lea before he tried to shove him away. "You can't care though! You told me that we didn't have emotions anymore. So you can't care! I don't… I don't even feel angry now...though I know I should. I just..." Vanitas placed his hands on his head. He gripped his hair tightly "There's nothing inside. It's so empty...I can't stand it…I can't live like this… I hate this emptiness."

Lea quickly moved in front of Vanitas and grabbed onto his shoulders. Startled by Lea's sudden hold, Vanitas looked up at him with wide, confused eyes.

"Yes I know I said that. And I know that it feels empty inside. Everyone here knows what it's like. But I also said we can remember those emotions. We may have lost our emotions and the feelings that come from them, but we haven't lost the memories. Vanitas, you are just a kid. Don't throw away your humanity like this."

"My… humanity?" Vanitas asked, not fully knowing what the word meant.

"Yes, your humanity. It means being human and that stuff that makes you human. Doing things like you normally do and all that. You can't just throw that all away, you gotta get that memorized," Lea said, continuing to try to persuade Vanitas.

"But why should we pretend we have emotions though? I still don't really get it… What is the point of that?"

"It's because…" Lea paused for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. "Again it has to do with the humanity thing. We don't want to give ourselves into the emptiness and lose what it means to be human. Even if we are just pretending, we are showing we still know what emotions are and all that."

"But… what about Isa? He… He doesn't show… any humanity...He said it was pointless to pretend..." Vanitas mumbled.

"I know it does seem like Isa stopped thinking about emotions and stuff and doesn't pretend to still have them, but he still does have his humanity. He's just not very good at showing it," Lea replied with a smile.

"Really?"

Lea nodded. "Yeah, he still has his annoying sarcasm towards things. Sure he may seem a bit dull and boring at times, but he still has his moments that show he is still human. But mainly, he is just really grumpy. But don't tell him I said that." Lea chuckle slightly as he gave a small smile.

Vanitas found himself to be smiling a little in return. It wasn't much, but he knew it was enough. Tears began to fall from his eyes as he wished he could feel the emotion behind it. But he knew what it was supposed to be. He was grateful that there was someone here who cared. Lea cared, or tried his best to show that he could care if he still had emotions. Vanitas leaned forward and gave Lea a hug, even though he knew it would mean nothing without their emotions. He knew though that Lea would understand what he meant by it though.

Vanitas closed his eyes as he thought of memories from his past that were happy. He thought of the happiness in those memories and tried to remember what it was like. Even though he couldn't feel that happiness anymore, he was able to recall those happy memories. And that was good enough for him.

"Thank you Lea," Vanitas mumbled as he felt Lea pat him on the head again, trying to give a form of comfort. This time though he didn't mind.

"Sure thing kid," Lea replied, happy that he had gotten through to Vanitas.

That was when Vanitas realized something. Lea was nice and caring towards him… like an older brother would be. He thought it was nice that he now had a older brother figure watching over him now. He knew it would help him get through all of it. But then Vanitas then remembered that he was going to be a big brother eventually… though now he never would.

"Lea? Can I tell you something?" Vanitas asked as he let go of Lea and sat back up straight.

"Sure, what's up?"

Vanitas took in a deep breath as he prepared what he was going to say. This whole situation was hard for him, he wasn't use to being so friendly with others. Normally he liked being cool and the tough friend who always looks out for his friends. He was always like that with Ventus. He would be the big protective friend and look out for his best friend. He had always tried so hard to be tough and strong. But now all of that was over and Vanitas saw no need to keep up being that way. He had no one to look out for and protect anymore. He also in general didn't like people seeing him be so soft and nice, but due to the situation, that had changed.

"I am going to be a big brother… or was… before I got trapped here. But now I'll never get to meet my little sibling," Vanitas explained.

"Ah… I see," Lea said as he listened to Vanitas. He now figured that was another one of the reasons Vanitas was rather unhappy being stuck in the mansion. "Poor kid...He's lost far more than any kid should." Lea then tried to think of something to say to Vanitas to try to help.

"Hmm... You could always try being an older brother to Ienzo, though I don't know how well that would work…" Lea said.

"Yeah," Vanitas nodded in agreement. "He doesn't really seem like the brotherly type...Maybe I'll try to talk to him… Thanks for trying to help though. I just really wish I could have at least met my little sibling…"

Lea opened his mouth to try to say something more, but he just couldn't figure out what to say. He had no idea what he could say to something like that. What could he even say? What would he say to a kid who had lost everything and would never get to see his family or friends again? Vanitas was only eleven years old, he was still so young and yet he had been thrown into a terrible situation. Lea didn't want to accidently frustrate or upset Vanitas anymore than he already had been. But he knew he had to say something.

"Well… I know it may be hard, not getting to met your sibling and all, but we can be brothers if you want."

Vanitas stared wide-eyed at Lea. "Huh? You mean it?" Vanitas just had realized that Lea was felt like a brother to him, but he didn't think that Lea would think the same way about the situation.

"Of course. I think it would be fun," Lea said as he ruffled Vanitas's hair.

Vanitas brought forth more happy memories to make smiling easier. Even without feeling, the memories were a huge help. "Thanks!"

"Hey, how about we go get some food? You're probably really hungry by now right?"

Vanitas nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

The two of them stood up and headed out into the hall. As they walked Lea spoke again. "Also if Isa says anything rude again, just ignore him. He just likes to be a grump a lot of the time."

Vanitas nodded. "Got it." He thought for a moment as they continued to walk. "You think Isa could be my brother too?"

"You would want a stick in the mud for a brother?" Lea asked as he laughed.

Vanitas laughed too, though he still wished he could actually feel the joy behind it all. "He is your best friend though, so why not?"

"Well we could talk to him about it, but I bet he would just pass it off as pointless. Though," Lea leaned closer to Vanitas and began to whisper. "I bet secretly he would want to."

"You really think so?" Vanitas asked.

Lea nodded. "Yep. But let's talk to him about it later. Let's first get you some food."

"Okay," Vanitas replied.

Vanitas followed right behind Lea as they headed to the kitchen. When they entered they saw Isa, who was still sitting at one of the tables. He looked over at Lea and then his eyes drifted down to Vanitas. After a moment he looked back at Lea, he seemed to let out a sigh.

"What ever did you say to him Lea? It looks like now he is going to follow you around like a little, lost puppy," Isa spoke with no emotion and tone to his voice, but a small smirk had formed across his face.

Lea bent over and leaned in close to Vanitas. He then whispered to him. "See what did I tell you? He may seem emotionless, but he still like to make a joke here and there."

"Yeah…" Vanitas said as he looked over at Isa for a moment. "But I don't get it… what does he mean by 'little, lost puppy'?"

Lea chuckled as he stood back up straight. "Eh it's nothing you need to worry about. He's just saying with you following me so closely it looks like you are a little puppy who's lost and wants to follow someone."

Vanitas scrunched up his nose as he faced Isa. "I don't see that as very funny. I am not a puppy…"

Much to Vanitas's surprise Isa chuckled. It wasn't a loud chuckle. It was just a soft chuckle, but it was still clearly audible. "If you knew Lea well enough, like I do, you would understand the meaning behind that. Lea always has had a habit for picking up stray puppies and you are no different than the rest."

Vanitas now turned back to face Lea. "What does he mean? Tell me now!"

"Maybe some other time," Lea said as he started to gather some food to make for Vanitas. "It's really nothing big or exciting."

Vanitas frowned as he ignored the emptiness inside and for the first time since becoming trapped, pretended he was actually was feeling frustrated and confused by everything going on. "Tell me already! I want to know! Just tell me what he means by 'stray puppies'!"

Lea sighed as he chuckled a little. "Now look what you've done Isa. You got him all riled up."

Isa smirked again. "I didn't do a thing." Isa then paused for a moment as he smirk faded away. "And you don't have to act so upset, you know he isn't actually riled up."

"And you're no fun sometimes. Can't you ever just go along with everything and just have some fun?"

Isa stared at Lea for a bit before he gave his answer. "No."

Lea groaned while he pinched the bridge of his nose. Vanitas though, couldn't help but laugh a little. He was actually enjoying being around Isa and Lea. Vanitas started to see more and more what Lea had meant. He now was understanding the part about acting like they still had emotions and all that stuff. He also saw that Isa and Lea were still close friends even though being apart of the mansion's curse seemed to change somethings between them. They seemed to not get along, but at the same time they seemed like they were best friends. Vanitas could tell by the way they talked and responded to each other.

Suddenly a thought came to Vanitas as he tuned out Lea and Isa's conversation. "Would Ven and I still get along if he was also trapped here with me? Hmm… or would Ven not want to talk to me since he didn't want to come here in the first place? Guess I'll never know… I am glad though that he also isn't trapped. For once it is a good thing he is such a scaredy cat. I am glad he is safe….well I would be glad if I could still feel that emotion…I have no idea how the rest of the people here can manage this emptiness inside… but if they can, maybe...I can as well."

So that is the end of chapter 11. Another longer chapter. I am getting better and writing longer chapters nowadays which is really awesome!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I still got plenty more to go for Vanitas and what happened to him. There are still many secrets to show!

See you all next time!