Ventus stared up into the clear blue Agrabah skies, his vision blurry from the pain he felt from deep wound in his leg that had been bleeding for far too long. He knew that he was hanging onto life by a thin thread and that at any moment, he could slip away forever.
The angelic sound called him back to life, slowly but ever so certainly.
Her voice felt oh so distant even though she knew she was close by.
Ventus felt the sting near his leg and groaned in pain, noticing that the sound of her voice was growing louder, as if to try and block out his pain.
He looked up and his vision cleared slightly, Jasmine's face coming into full view. His head was resting in her lap and she appeared to be touching him, most likely where his injury was. She made sure to avoid his gaze, yet he stared at her unashamedly.
'Her voice….' Ventus said in his thoughts. She looked so gentle as she was singing to him. It was like looking at a completely different person.
Ventus stared at Jasmine, another hot Agrabah night sweeping over the quiet city.
She stood near the balcony overlooking the palace grounds, her back to him.
Ventus recalled the memory of the day she sang to him. Back when they were still fairly new to SOLDIER, he had been injured and was standing at death's door. She was the one to save him. And to keep him "present" she sang for him – something he had often pestered her to do for him. She had refused to do so up until that point.
That was the moment he knew there was something magical about her.
"Long day?" He asked distantly, watching her watch the moon.
Jasmine, who had changed out of her work clothes, looked over her shoulder and nodded before turning her attention back to the moon. "Yeah," she replied, "but I think I can sleep in tomorrow. I found what I needed."
Ventus, who was standing at the door of Jasmine's bedroom, quickly closed the heavy wooden door behind him and pulled the lock down. "You found the journal page?"
"Yeah," she replied simply, acting as if the act was as simple and basic as cooking breakfast. "One of Jafar's rats were still hanging around the palace. It took some time, but he handed it over."
"And where is he now?"
Jasmine sighed heavily and crossed her arms over her chest. "He's dead. When he lost the page in our fight, he said that he would rather end his own life than go back to his higher ups. So…" Jasmine pointed to the direction of the slums. "He threw himself off the side of the building. The police picked up the body several hours ago."
Ventus' smile was gone, replaced by a grim expression.
"But it was so bizarre…he kept talking about how "the darkness will swallow you all" and that it wouldn't matter what I did – there was no escape for me."
Ventus shuddered. He hadn't expected for her story to be so dark.
"I'm sure he snapped recently. Every time I've come across someone with a journal page, it was the same thing," she continued on calmly. "The person was always unhinged and they always talked about "the darkness". It's all connected. I just have to finish putting the pieces together."
The blond was still trying to wrap his head around the situation. Jasmine had done a good job keeping him in the dark, only providing him the most basic of information. But still, Ventus knew nothing. And with a story as gristly as this one, he was becoming more worried for Jasmine and what she would find should she continue to go after the journal pages.
"That means you'll be leaving soon," he realized.
Jasmine nodded and turned around, leaning against one of the pillars in her bedroom. "My work here is done. Pretty soon I'll have to join up with Noctis and the others."
Ventus opened his mouth as if to say something, but he was at a loss for words. It seemed like they met up yesterday even though she arrived in Agrabah six days ago. Soon, they would have to part ways again.
"Come with me," Ventus said suddenly, extending his hand to her.
Jasmine stared at Ventus curiously. "Where are we going?"
Ventus smiled when he looked at Jasmine. "You'll see."
She reached for his hand slowly and they intertwined their fingers, each person shivering from the warmth. Ventus pulled Jasmine along and they walked side-by-side, leaving her bedroom.
Ventus knew the palace from the inside out. During his time in Agrabah, before he met Jasmine, he spent a great deal of time with Aladdin and the sultan and had taken it upon himself to explore the grounds. While Jasmine did the same on her last trip, there were a few places that Ventus knew for a fact she hadn't seen before.
"Do you remember when we met?" He asked, leading her down the more dimly lit halls.
"Yeah," Jasmine recalled distantly. "The castle guards thought I was Princess Jasmine and tried to bring me to the palace." She rolled her eyes at the memory. "Seriously, we don't even look that much alike."
Ventus laughed at the memory. He was patrolling the area, looking for his new SOLDIER contact, and just so happened to stumble across the scene. It took some convincing but eventually he was able to prove to the guards that Jasmine was not the princess.
"You guys kinda look a bit alike," Ventus admitted.
"Princess Jasmine is a lot shorter than I am, her skin is darker, and she has wider hips," Jasmine argued. "Those guards were just idiots."
Ventus chuckled and squeezed Jasmine's hand tighter, taking her down a back stairway with one light at the far end of the way. "If you stay out in Agrabah any longer, you might tan up like her."
Jasmine sighed. "Probably."
"And I guess you're right," Ventus added. "You guys don't look THAT similar. Plus, you have prettier eyes."
Ventus felt Jasmine stiffen behind him and pulled her along.
"It's true," he said in a softer tone, finally spotting the light at the end of the hall. "You've got the prettiest eyes out of anyone I've ever seen." He unlocked the door by pulling up the wooden slat sealing it off and carefully set it on the ground.
"Where are we going?" Jasmine asked again.
Ventus looked back at Jasmine, watching her reaction as he pushed the door open that led to the secret entry to the palace gardens.
As he'd expected, Jasmine's eyes widened and she smiled, rushing forward as she ran straight to the giant fountain sitting in the middle of the forest green garden. "Where did you find this place?" She asked, leaning over the fountain and picking up a vibrant red lily floating in the pond.
"When I first came here, the sultan took me on a tour of the palace," Ventus explained, walking to one of the bushes climbing up the palace walls. He gently pulled out a particularly large red lily and walked on over to Jasmine, sitting beside her on the fountain. "Princess Jasmine told me that she used to come here to escape from the guards with Raja."
"I still can't believe she has a tiger," Jasmine muttered to herself, still captivated by the beauty of the garden. "I can't believe flowers like this actually grow in the desert."
Ventus laughed and held out the flower to her, warmth flooding his heart when he saw her smile – something he'd only seen on a few rare occasions. "You know there's magic in the city. Anything can happen here."
Jasmine's smile grew, recalling their inside joke on the "Magic of Agrabah".
"It's a lot cooler out here," Ventus stated. "I'm sure the scenery is better here too so we can hang out here for a while. I don't think the guards will kick us out."
Jasmine sat down beside Ventus and twirled the lily in her hand, her eyes focused on the petal leaves as she turned the flower clockwise.
"You're too good to me," Jasmine said finally, her voice taking on a softer tone.
Ventus was surprised at the comment. "What are you talking about?"
She became very still and paused, looking up to the sky as if it was to give her answers. Jasmine sighed again. "You knew I was stressed. That's why you took me here. You've always taken care of me. You've always been there for me."
Ventus blushed despite himself, finding himself at a loss for words. Jasmine and he had always spoken very highly of one another. He was always complimenting her praises and he was always singing her praises.
"I mean, you've always been there for me," Ventus managed. "If it weren't for you, I'd be dead. I owe you everything."
"Ven," Jasmine said gently, leaning against him slightly, "You don't owe me anything. I genuinely want to help you in any way that I can. You've been there for me from the first day."
"And neither do you," Ventus replied, voice elevating, almost as if he was confused as to why she would say something like that. He reeled back and stared into her eyes. "Jasmine, you need to understand that there are people who care about you, who love you, who will do anything in the world and not expect anything in return."
He stood up then and walked a few feet away from Jasmine. Even though he knew she did a lot and was going through a great deal, Ventus had to admit that he found himself frustrated at times by her inability to let people in or let others care for. Sure it was out of self-preservation, which he understood, but he hated that sometimes it didn't feel like she accept his care or concern.
"You're not just Miss Valentine to me," Ventus continued, feeling his irritation slowly fade away. "Yeah we work together but it doesn't stop there. I know it, and I'm sure you know it."
Jasmine set the lily next to her on the fountain and slowly approached Ventus, however, he still had his back to her.
"Ventus," she began. She seldom used his full name. "Do you understand how hard this is?"
He didn't answer. He wanted an explanation before he said anything else.
She huffed and kicked at the ground, folding her arms across her chest, turning her back on him.
"Is that it? Do you want the truth?" She asked him sharply. "Fine. I'm just afraid that I'll lose you. Every single time that I tell someone the absolute truth, how much they mean to me, I always lose them in one way or another. It never fails. I lost Roxas, I lost Riku, and to a lesser extent, I lost Noctis – not that he and I ever had a future. I don't want to possibly lose you too. It's like I jinx myself every time I open up. That's why I keep it to a minimum."
Ventus scoffed, laughing darkly.
"What's so funny?" Jasmine asked almost indignantly.
"Don't you think we've crossed that line already?"
The wind picked up as the heavy silence swooped in.
Jasmine stood there, stunned, actually unable to come up with a proper response.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"We're not just fighters," Ventus explained. "We actually really care about each other at the end of the day. I love you, and you should know that by now. Besides," Ventus exhaled deeply, his shoulders slumping over, "I really think that you'll feel more free if you open up more. Statistically speaking, it's foolish for you to think that you'll lose every single person you say you care for."
He looked over his shoulder, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.
He knew he had her by the look of frustration on her face. Under normal circumstances, Ventus wouldn't pressure Jasmine to admitting her feelings or thoughts. He knew that she needed to keep dangerous secrets to herself, especially those pertaining to her mission. But this was just a simple conversation between friends.
Plus, Ventus was willing to bet that no one actually really told her about her habit of closing up. To strangers, it was fine, but she needed to learn to let people care for her without her thinking that something tragic would happen afterwards.
Jasmine gritted her teeth, her face flustered from her irritation and inability to respond.
Ventus chuckled. He suspected that no one had actually talked to her so frank and so unapologetically before. Most people were afraid to approach "Miss Valentine" because, to be honest, Jasmine could be quite intimidating when she wanted to be.
"Ven," Jasmine started, her body starting to shake from her irritation.
"I know you believe that deep down in your heart, that I'm not going to ever do anything to ever harm you. You knew you had reservations about Noctis and the others, but I'm not them. And you know that OUR connection is different," Ventus told her gently. "I can't explain it, but it's there. I think you know it too."
Jasmine held her silence, refusing to respond to Ven's claims. She glanced at the earth beneath her and kicked at the sand before she started off in the opposite direction.
"You can't bottle everything up forever, Jasmine," Ventus called out, watching her halt. "One day, you're going to get out of this and you're going to stop fighting once and for all. Even if you can't see it now, it's going to happen."
"Please stop trying to read me," Jasmine asked finally, albeit sheepishly.
And there it was, Ventus realized. He'd opened her up and was almost at her core. It was the same as that day she took care of him, dressing his wounds and singing for him to keep him alert.
"You act like I'm going to hurt you," Ventus said after their brief pause.
Just then, Ventus noticed Jasmine's shoulders shaking and he became alarmed. From behind, he could see that she wrapped her arms around herself, her nails digging slightly into her skin.
"Sometimes," Jasmine whispered, "I'm afraid that it's never going to end. And even if it does end, what am I going to do? Go back to school? Go back to Angela and sing? Because I'm afraid that after all this, normal won't seem normal anymore."
Ventus chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets. He smiled ruefully, knowing all too well what she was talking about.
"Why do you think I haven't gone back to Radiant Garden?" He asked her.
Jasmine whirled around and looked at him, her eyes widening as if she'd realized something.
"You're right," Ventus began, walking towards her. He felt a slight pain in his chest, thinking back on all his life plans. Ventus didn't have many regrets but he did, at times, think back on how different things would have been if only he'd stayed on Radiant Garden and attended med school instead of taking some bizarre internship with SOLDIER.
Unlike Jasmine, Ventus stumbled upon the world by accident. The university offered him an internship being a medical assistant in a far off land and of course, him being the adventurer, he took it without an ounce of hesitation. There, he met his late mentor, Master Eraqus, Terra and Aqua and he found himself enchanted by their world.
It was only when Master Eraqus was killed by Master Xehanort in cold blood in front of Ventus did he wake up from the fairytale and realize how dark the world truly was.
He dedicated his life from that moment on to helping protect others from the various dangers of the world, and to put a stop to whatever it was Master Xehanort was planning.
"Sometimes I think about it too," Ventus continued, drifting into his own thoughts. "How do we go back to regular life? We've seen so much, more than most people and they wouldn't understand. Then again," he sighed, "I'm sure they weren't supposed to. Sometimes I wonder how we were the ones who ended up here. I used to think it was dumb luck, but I'm sure it was fate." Ventus chuckled then, realizing how silly and dramatic he probably sounded at the moment.
Ventus froze instantly, caught off guard when Jasmine appeared before him, their distance little to none. She had her head towards the ground but she placed her hands on his shoulders, her hands traveling downward until they reached his elbows.
Jasmine lifted her head and stared deep into Ventus' eyes without any hesitation.
Ventus and Jasmine had always been good at nonverbal communication. From the moment they'd met, they found a way to speak to each other through the tiniest gestures or glances, something that had served them well.
But this time, Ventus wasn't sure of what Jasmine was trying to tell him and he searched her eyes, trying to figure out what it was she was trying to communicate to him.
Jasmine moved even closer to Ventus and their chests touched. She tilted her chin back and continued to stare into his bright, blue eyes.
Despite it being unusually hot on this particular night, Ventus felt a chill run through his body as he looked at Jasmine.
These were the moments where he could not figure her out, the moments she seemed almost magical to him.
The expression on Jasmine's, as Ventus had often thought, beautiful face softened dramatically and he felt a strange warmth radiate from her body that seemed to draw him closer.
"I love you too, Ven," Jasmine whispered suddenly.
Ven was taken aback by Jasmine's declaration of love. Not because he believed she was incapable of loving someone, because he'd seen it on multiple occasions with her friends and family, but because he honestly hadn't expected her to say it to him.
But that also worried him.
"It sounds like you're saying this now in case something bad happens," Ventus stated.
She merely shook her head. "I just wanted you to know that," Jasmine said. "You're right. While I don't have the luxury of letting my guard down like everyone else, I can at least be honest with the one person I know will never hurt me – the one person who knows what it's like to live this lifestyle – to be bounced around anywhere and everywhere with no real promise of stability. There aren't many people like us who live this way. We're sacrificing so much and give so much of ourselves. But the least I can do is be honest and give a bit of myself to you."
Ventus' heart swelled for reasons unknown to him. He had no idea why his feeling for Jasmine's seemed to be shifting in that moment.
He and Jasmine had an unusual, yet beautiful relationship that most onlookers could not understand. They were comrades, they were associates, and they were friends. Of course the two of them joked around on occasion and flirted with one another but neither of them ever gave it much thought. Ventus even stated on numerous occasions that she was attractive and she had said the same about him.
While Jasmine had admitted that he brought light to her life, Jasmine brought her own light by occasionally bringing him back to earth. He was a bit whimsical, a bit reckless, but she taught him how to think in the present and be logical – something that had saved his life on many occasions.
It was so odd. They seemed to be everything at once with an unnatural purity.
Still, neither one of them had discussed the idea of their brother-sister relationship taking a turn elsewhere. It just seemed to be a taboo subject for the two of them that they realized was off limits. In fact, Ventus took great care to keep those thoughts out of his mind.
But tonight, on this particularly hot Agrabah night, Ventus knew that this may not be the case for much longer.
Author's Note: Yep it's been way too long since my last update. I just got admitted to another university so that absorbed a great deal of my time. But on the plus side I'm done with all the nitty-gritty and can sort of focus on writing.
Anyway, what did you guys think?
hopefuldreamer1991: Thanks!
Sookdeo: This review has been a long time coming! Let's do it. You know, I didn't think about it too much. When I started "Heartbreakers" and got halfway through, a reviewer pointed out that they thought that my OC, Jasmine, was actually Princess Jasmine. It really was a coincidence that they shared the same name and a few physical traits. The team hasn't disbanded, it's just that Tseng has sent her off on a solo mission and the team will meet up again. As for Jasmine and Ventus, I feel like their relationship has been one of those things I keep in the back of my mind. In essence, they are perfect for one another and they balance each other out. But because they are professionals they don't even want to open up that potential can of worms, especially seeing as they both are trying to move on from their past loves (Riku for Jasmine and Aqua for Ventus).
Sammmm: First off, I am so happy that you've enjoyed these stories. Now, to our favorite blond….their relationship is so very important. The two of them have seen (almost) all of each other and their friendship (while it is still new in terms of time and years) is stronger than most. Who knows if they'll ever open up to the idea of a relationship? But this won't be the last time that topic is touched on.
animechick247: Yeah, Noctis and Jasmine still have a lot of problems to sort through. It's like they've put them on the backburner while they started their missions. As for the journal entries, the last chapter will contain the one she found in Agrabah. Heads up though, these bridge stories (and there will be a three more separate stories) are written purposely out of chronological order.
Guest: Disney does exist but in strange pieces. I wanted there to still be this real world feel where you would see something like Mickey but not quite. As for the "magic" aspect, I'm still tinkering with that now. However, once the Deep Jungle story comes out I'll address the "magic" subject again. I'm still trying to figure out how to work it haha.
GUEST: Yep! I promise to finish this one!
Meyoume: She did but along the way she is supposed to meet up with other members of SOLDIER.
Guest: I wonder which ship will sail in the end haha
Anyway guys thanks for reading and I'll get out the next chapter as soon as I can. Take care everyone and let me know what you think!
