A/N: Hi guys! Sakura088 here once again. First, my sister and I owe all of our readers a huge apology. I can't believe that it's been so long since we updated this story! There have just been a lot of things going on in life, and it's been hard to find time to write. College has taken up so much time, especially with Psychology. The amount of time I've had to spend studying the brain and its chemicals is mind boggling. Not to mention that I had to write a fifteen page research paper for my Research in Disciplines class. I was at school for twelve hours a day, and by the time I got home I had two hours before bed, and that had to be spent on research. But it's summer, and MeNerf is finally done with her freshman year of high school, which means we can spend our free time writing, which is amazing. I'm sorry for rambling, but I felt like we owed you all an explanation.
Anyway, there are a lot of thanks to be given out to everyone who has stuck with us. First, special thanks to MonMonCandie, TerraForceXIII, Talkativewriter4, GingerSnapsBack, Musicdude212, and Pixiegirl1234 for reviews and sticking with us since chapter one, and we hope that you'll come back and continue to read, even after our long absence. Also, from me, a huge apology to MonMonCandie for not being able to review anything this last semester. I've been reading her stories on the go, and I will definitely be reviewing now that I have time. Check her stories out, they're great! And MeNerf wants to send out an apology to GingerSnapsBack for not messaging back for quite a while. Life has been…not the greatest lately, but we're holding on.
Thanks to The Trio of Twilight, Hachiro12, K-chanLovesAnimeXD, random-k, IenzosShuggoCharra, and shadow1123456789 for adding our story to their favorites list.
Thanks to Static F Shock, Alimoe, kokoro-hime2193, ShinobiTwin05, and Iolinekocchi for putting this on their story alerts.
Lastly, thanks to edgeoftheworld, ShinobiTwin05, and XxRebeccaLeexX for adding MeNerf to their author alert or favorite author list.
Sorry if we missed anyone or spelled any names wrong! Let us know if we did, and it'll be fixed as quickly as possible. You guys are all awesome! We hope that you enjoy this chapter after all of this time, along with the promise of another chapter coming out soon. =D
{Disclaimer}: We don't own Kingdom Hearts. Or the Game of Life.
"Uuughhhh! I can't take this anymore!" Ven flopped down on the floor, ready to tear his hair out. Why him? Why did this always happen to him? Sitting back up, he scowled out the windows at the liquid pelting the glass. Sunday, their day off, and mother nature couldn't give them a break from the rain that had been plaguing the Land of Departure for a week. Was one day so much to ask for? This was just so typical of his luck.
The blonde sighed and stood up wearily before making his way towards the living room. He had seen Vanitas walk that way not too long ago, and he needed someone to talk to. He had no idea where Terra and Aqua had wandered off to, and checking the entire castle and grounds seemed like too much of an effort considering the mood he was in.
Reaching the living room, Ven walked over to the couch and plopped down at the feet of a black haired teen. Amber eyes opened and gazed at the other teen reproachfully as he sighed heavily.
"Can I help you?" Vanitas asked the blonde, placing his arms behind his head as a pillow. He had been enjoying the quiet morning, and Ven generally caused the opposite of such a thing.
"I'm so bored! There's nothing to do!" Vanitas rolled his eyes as Ven groaned and stared at the ceiling.
"Why don't you go find Terra and Aqua? I'm sure they'd love to have a visit from you." Ven glared at him but he simply closed his eyes. "Look, what do you normally do on your day off if it's raining outside?"
"Find something to do with Terra and Aqua. But I have no idea where they went. Terra asked Aqua about something while they were at the sink, and then they disappeared. I haven't seen them for hours." Vanitas opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow in question. "I have no idea what they're doing. But I'd check the library first. I think Master Eraqus wanted Terra to get some help with a spell, or something like that." The black haired teen closed his eyes once again and sighed.
"Well, what do you normally do with them?" He prodded. Sometimes he felt as if he was reasoning with a two year old. He opened his eyes just in time to see Ven's face light up, and he immediately felt a sense of trepidation. Why did he have to ask that question? He knew he was going to regret it.
"Board games!" the blonde answered gleefully as he got up from the couch and bounced over to the shelves of boxes on one of the walls.
"Oh, no. Absolutely not. I am not playing a board game with you. What is that anyway?" He cringed when he saw the box. "The Game of Life?"
"Yeah! If we're bored and have nothing to do, we play board games! Isn't that why they're called board games in the first place? You play them when you're bored."
"Those are two different types of bo…You know what, never mind."
"And come on, Life? It's the perfect game to have Terra and Aqua play together! Remember our plan?" Ven nudged the other teen, and Vanitas scowled.
"Yeah. Now go find those two. I'm sure you'll have fun playing the game together." He sighed and closed his eyes while he stretched, intent on going back to relaxing. That thought was short lived as Ven grabbed him by the arm and hauled him into a sitting position.
"I'm declaring this family game night. If we play, you play." The blonde told him as he pulled the reluctant teen to his feet.
"Of course I do." The black haired boy muttered under his breath as Ven pulled him towards the library. 'Really,' he thought to himself wearily, 'I should have seen this coming. This is what I get for trying to help someone out.'
"Family game night?" Aqua asked as she arched a delicate eyebrow curiously. She was currently perched on the library table next to Terra, a large spell book on her lap. "Hmmm. What do you think, Terra? ….Terra?"
"Huh?" The brown haired teen shook his head and looked up to his friend, having been distracted by how her legs were swinging over the edge of the table.
"Is something wrong?" She put her hand to his forehead worriedly. It wasn't like him to get distracted or space out like he just had.
"Oh, um.." Terra scratched the back of his head, his ears turning red. "I'm fine. Sorry, Aqua, what did you say?"
"Ven would like to have a family game night. What do you think?"
"Oh. I don't see why not. It's been a while since we last did something together." The lilac haired teen grinned.
"You just want to get out of studying these spells. I don't blame you for getting a bit bored with me,"
"N-no! I'm not bored by you, I like listening to you. I mean, it's better with you. Meaning I learn more when I'm with you." He quickly amended, and Aqua laughed, which left Terra thinking about how musical her voice was. The teen mentally slapped himself; why was he getting so flustered around her lately? It was completely unacceptable for someone training to be a keyblade master.
"I think that it is a wonderful idea. What did you have in mind, Ven?" A smile broke out across her face as he showed her the box. "All right then. It's been quite a while since we last played that one." The mage gracefully slid off of the table and returned the book she and Terra had been using to one of the bookshelves.
"Ven, are you sure that's the game you want to play tonight? You know how Aqua and I get, especially with Life."
"Just…think of it as a team building exercise. We only have two cars left anyway, since you crushed two of them and Aqua smelted the other."
"They did what now?" Vanitas asked, unsure as to whether or not he should actually subject himself to plaything the game or not. Unfortunately for him, it was much too late to bow out, as Ven had begun dragging him down the hallway.
'You two so owe me when this is all over.' He thought silently to himself as he glared at the two older teens, who were walking side by side, talking. The black haired teen suddenly lurched forwards and fell as Ven took off running down the hall without warning.
"We get the red one!" he yelled over his shoulder as he sprinted away with the box.
"Ven, the red one's mine!" Terra yelled back as he took off after the younger teen, pushing Vanitas back to the floor as he passed by. The black haired teen growled and pushed himself up once again, only to find a hand extended in front of his face. He looked up to Aqua, who simply rolled her eyes.
"Children." She told him with a laugh as he accepted her hand and stood up. He watched as she slowly and calmly walked down the hallway before he followed. He didn't see how Aqua would cause any problems. She was the most mature out of all of them. She'd keep everything in line, that he was certain of. With a heavy sigh, Vanitas walked back into the living room, hoping to get the game over and done with as fast as he could.
"Help me understand." Master Eraqus stood before his four students who were sitting on the couch in the living room. "This all started because Terra and Aqua could not agree on whether or not they were going to go to school? And this all ended when Terra hit Aqua in the face, albeit accidently, and she in turn froze him?" The two teens in question looked away guiltily. Aqua was sitting on one end of the couch, nursing a bloody nose and bruised cheek while Terra sat on the other end, shivering under a thick cover.
"Um…yes?" Ven answered tentatively, scooting away from Terra when Eraqus's attention was turned towards the two in question. Vanitas simply sat still next to Aqua, a sour expression on his face. Their mentor had his arms crossed in front of his chest, and he did not look happy.
"Aqua? Would you like to explain?"
"Terra wanted to get a job instead of going to school." She began, her voice muffled from the towel she was holding on her nose. "I politely explained that it would be better to go to school, as we could get a higher paying job in the beginning. And that is what we did, although he was not happy about it."
"It would have made more sense to get a job right at the beginning, seeing as soon as we graduated and got our first pay check, you picked up the card that had us elope and get married." Terra threw in, sending a glare past Ven and Vanitas, who had been strategically placed between the two.
"Yet by that time, we already had 100,000 munny in the bank from our career as a doctor. Which, I might add, we could not have gotten if we had not gone to school."
"Fair enough, but then what happened the next three turns? We had twin daughters, and we had to pay life insurance for every member in our family. If we had had money from the very beginning of the game, we would have had at least a little munny left over."
"Oh, so now you're blaming me for having children? Last time I checked, it takes two people to have a child. You're also the one who spun the number, so maybe you should have been more careful."
"Then you should have been more careful when you spun the number and we had two more girls. That was all on you."
"It would not have been a problem if you had not decided to change our career instead of taking a raise. We would have had plenty of munny. Instead, we wound up decreasing our 60,000 munny."
"We would have had plenty of munny if you didn't land on the spot that told us to send the kids to summer camp. Or the spot that had us take a vacation."
"Yes, but you're the one who landed on the 'have children' spot twice more. If you had wanted to save money, you should have been more careful when spinning."
"At least we finally had a boy. I thought it was going to be all girls."
"The gender is up to you. I have nothing to do with that. Or do I have to explain to you about the X and Y chromosomes and who carries which?"
"No, thanks. I don't need another one of your boring lectures."
"That's rich, coming from the man who said this morning that he liked to listen to me." Both Aqua and Terra had stood up and were glaring at each other as Ven and Vanitas stood nervously in between them. It was rare that the older teens acted as such, and they weren't sure what to expect. For all they knew, another fight would start.
"Right. Like I would ever mean that." Terra spat back as Aqua clenched her fists in anger.
"Terra, you are-"
"Sit down." The words were spoken with such quiet authority that they were immediately obeyed. Master Eraqus had been listening quietly to the fight between his two oldest pupils, and he had finally grown impatient of their squabbling.
"I have heard enough." He continued as he paced in front of them. "Terra. Aqua. You will report to me in the morning in the Entrance Hall. You will be cleaning the castle instead of training, which I find a suitable punishment for the both of you. I know that you are competitive, but there is a point at which you must be mature enough to realize that it has to stop. Until you can understand this, you will continue punishments every Monday. Am I clear?"
"I understand." The lilac haired teen replied quietly, her head bowed.
"Of course, Master Eraqus." The oldest teen agreed as he stared at his hands.
"Good. To your rooms. Both of you." The black haired man rubbed his face tiredly as they left and listened for the closing of doors upstairs. When he heard them, he then turned his attention to the two teens left in the room. "Is there anything wrong between the two of you?"
"No, we're okay." Ven answered quickly, wanting to stay on the good side of the training master. "We're just trying to figure out how we had kids."
"We adopted, Ven. We adopted." Vanitas replied, shaking his head. Eraqus nodded before walking out of the room himself. The black haired teen turned to his friend, a smirk on his face.
"Step one complete?" the blonde asked, and Vanitas nodded. "And tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow begins step two. They could not have gotten a better punishment. Wet, slippery floors and two 'clumsy' friends?" Ven grinned.
"That's right. They just need a little 'push' in the right direction." The two high fived with devious grins on their faces. Terra and Aqua wouldn't even know what hit them.
A/N: Hey MeNerf here. Thank you all for sticking with the story and being patient with us. Also thank you to the people who are still adding it to their favourites to this day. It really made us make ourselves write. Also thank you Pixiegirl1234 for making me write yesterday . Anyway, please R&R and tell us if you liked it! . It makes our day. We will have a little competition coming up soon, so stayed tune. BYE ^_^
Sakura088 here again! I really hope that you guys have enjoyed this chapter. It took quite a while, and although I'm not completely satisfied with the ending, I think it's okay. Let us know what you think! As always read and review. It makes our day. =D