Chapter Two: Friendship

Two weeks passed and Vanitas still refused to step out of his room. Nobody understood why. Nobody ever understood. Not even his parents did. He was out there.

And speak of the devil. An old man, bald, with a gray beard and a hunched back appeared in the lonely corner of the room where he always did. "Vanitas." He said.

"Xeh-Xeh-Xehanort." Vanitas stuttered out. He only stuttered when he was near.

"Why don't you go ahead and come here, boy? Join me. The χ-blade won't make itself, you know." Nobody understood that either. Xehanort wanted him. He wanted his heart to make a sword of ultimate power and destruction. But in making it, it would kill Vanitas.

"No." Vanitas said, his voice still trembling. "I don't want to make the χ-blade. You can't make me!" He was on the verge of shouting again. Not that he cared. Slowly, Vanitas backed away from Xehanort's gaze, and he fell backwards.

How… there was a door there. He groaned lightly, and a face appeared in his view. He jumped, shocked, and glared at the girl. It was the one that had visited him in the dead of night two weeks before. It was the girl with hair and eyes like the shining seas.
"Vanitas?" Oh. She remembered his name. How sweet. "Are you okay?"

"What do you care?" Vanitas groaned.

"Well, you're flat on your back on the floor, and this is the second time I've seen you within my first month staying here."

"Well—"

"Anyway, breakfast is about to start. Come on!" And she yanked him to his feet and started dragging him down the hall.

"But-But-But he's there! He always is!" He shouted as they got closer to the dining room.

The water-girl looked back at him. "Who?"

Vanitas lifted his head timidly and looked past the girl to where Xehanort always stood, glaring and mocking. But the corner was empty. "He's… He's gone." Vanitas gasped, shocked.

"Okay, then. Come on." And so she led him (Vanitas didn't struggle as much. He was too busy trying to figure out why he wasn't there) into the room.

"Hey, Aqua!" An obnoxious voice called. The voice belonged to a redhead, and from one glance, Vanitas knew what he was in for.

"Hey, Ax." She sat down on the other side of the redhead and forced the raven-haired boy into the seat next to her. "Sit."

"Hey, aren't you the schizophrenic? Aqua, you're a miracle worker! They've tried for months to get him out of his room!"

"Yes." Vanitas said bitterly. "Just like how they have been trying for months to get you to eat a good meal, anorexic."

The redhead shot a fiery glare at him. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Sure, Asshole."

"Language!" A cheerful and motherly voice called as she stepped in. It was Olette, the head nurse. The brunette stopped by Vanitas's chair. "Why, you're out of your room, Vanitas. It's good to see you."

As the nurse left, Vanitas muttered under his breath, "Yeah, yeah, creeps like you keep me in there, bitch." Axel and Aqua had obviously heard him, indicated by the chuckle from the redhead and the glare from the water-girl.

Vanitas looked over at Aqua. "Why the hell did you bring me here anyway?"

Aqua sighed. "Your language is getting annoying. And I brought you here because friends hang out together."

"How did we become friends?"

"I said so, that's how." Aqua said in that 'don't you dare counter what I say' voice all females have. "Now, eat your breakfast and make some conversation."

WC Chapter 1: 509
WC Chapter 2: 600
Total WC: 1109

Destiny: Yay! Next chapter.
Vanitas: We're friends now? Why?
Destiny: Because. I. Say. So.
Vanitas: See? All girls have that voice!
Aqua: Ignore them, and please review.