Footsteps down the staircase startled Sora before he could let the gates burst. He whirled around, finding Kairi standing behind him (she had stopped by the inn earlier to help Naminé in the kitchen, but now Naminé was resting upstairs).
"Kairi..." Sora whimpered, hot tears starting to roll down his cheeks.
"I heard everything," Kairi said, approaching her brother and embracing him.
"Did...did Naminé...?" Sora wondered.
"No, she's asleep - actually, I'm amazed you didn't wake her..." Kairi answered, rubbing Sora's back.
"God...I've ruined everything..." Sora groaned, resting his head on Kairi's shoulder.
"You haven't ruined everything..." Kairi offered, but Sora interrupted.
"I've ruined every chance of being best friends with Riku by joining this stupid 'boys club'! And for what? Maybe he's right, maybe there will never be a new nation..." He faltered.
Kairi gripped her brother's shoulders, locking eyes with him. "Don't say that; we've poured so much sacrifice into our efforts already, there's no way the Sons and Daughters are finished already."
"But all I've sacrificed is my friendship," Sora said, "now even if we domanageto separate from Great Britain, I'll never feel truly at home because Riku isn't there somewhere..."
Kairi sighed. "Maybe...this is for the best? Honestly, if things are escalating as they are now, and if we go to war with our king, maybe it was only a matter of time until you and Riku separated forever. At the very least, it's better now to know that
you were torn apart by an argument and he's still alive, than torn apart by - "
"By my bullets..." Sora finished.
Kairi nodded. "I know those aren't the words you want to hear, but they might be the words you need tohear."
Sora nodded in response. "Thanks, Kairi. You're the best sister anyone could ask for."
Kairi shrugged. "I try. Now...go be with the family you have now; I'll hold down the fort."
Sora chuckled. "If we ever go to war, I would trust you with every fort."
"If only the army had your logic," Kairi agreed, "although that isn't always a good thing." She playfully punched Sora's shoulder.
"Alright, I'll go," Sora surrendered, jogging upstairs.
He reached Naminé's bedside, kneeling to his wife's sleeping form. He could admit she was a beautiful woman, and he regretted that he could not love her the way she desired to be loved by him. He smiled softly, imagining another reality in which Naminé
married someone who could love her to the fullest.
Naminé's eyes fluttered open, and Sora was taken aback for a moment.
"Oh...sorry, did I wake you?" He asked gently.
"Not at all," Naminé yawned. "Your eyes are red; have you been crying?"
Sora sighed, supposing he shouldn't lie. "Riku and I...had a falling out."
"And...it upset you so much you cried? What did you fight about?" Naminé asked.
Sora stared up at the ceiling. "Riku...believed that the massacre Axel and Reno were caught in the midst of was the fault of us colonists."
"Does anyone really know whose fault it was?" Naminé wondered.
Sora shook his head. "Not even Axel and Reno seem to know."
"Perhaps that will never be answered, but for now, you can only tolerate others' views even if you do not accept them." Naminé said.
"That's the thing; we couldn't tolerate each others' views, and...I told him to stay away from this family...I even told him that I wouldn't care if he died..." Sora's heart twisted, and he felt the tears coming again.
"But surely he knows that's not true," Naminé said, "and you know you would never feel that way, because it upsets you to think about it now."
Sora nodded. "I don't know where he is now, and I don't know if we'll ever meet again..."
"I'm sure you will; something tells me you two are connected far deeper than any brothers could be." Naminé assured.
Sora took her hand, smiling. "Even still, I don't know if naming my child after a friend of his whom I've never met is the best idea for now..."
Naminé smiled. "I understand."
"Do you have any other names you prefer?" Sora asked.
"I've been favoring the name 'Ventus'," Naminé answered, "it comes from the Latin word for 'wind'."
Sora repeated the name, lingering on the way it felt to say it. He met eyes with Naminé and smiled. "Ventus...I love it."
And so, on September 7th, 1770, a healthy baby boy named Ventus was born to Sora and Naminé.
Sora cradled his son in his arms, gazing upon the the boy's face. Joy overwhelmed him, and though Sora hadn't cried since Riku left, he let tears of happiness fall.
His family gathered in their tiny room in the inn, packed to the walls.
"I bet he'll look a lot like Roxas if he has his mother's blonde hair and his father's blue eyes." Axel noted.
"If he looks too much like Roxas, we'll have to question the boy's fatherhood," Reno quipped.
Roxas smacked Reno's arm. "This isn't the time!"
"Shh!" Axel hissed. "The baby is sleeping."
Kairi placed her hand on Sora's shoulder. "Congratulations, Sora; I can't believe I'm an aunt now."
"And I'm an uncle now..." Zack faltered, the realization hitting.
"And we're grandparents..." Aerith wiped a tear from her eye.
"You'd think I'd have gotten a little older before becoming a grandfather," Cloud chuckled.
"And you'd think I'd have been a little younger before becoming a great-great uncle!" Great Uncle Cid laughed.
"Shhh! The baby is sleeping!" Prompto hissed.
"That's what I just said!" Axel protested quietly.
"Both of you!" Kairi snapped. She noticed the lost look in her brother's eyes. "Sora...?"
"I...I don't know what to say...I can't believe this has happened..." Sora faltered.
Naminé smiled, placing her hand on Sora's. "Neither can I..."
"I suppose you're the one who's really done all the hard work," Sora laughed weakly, "are you feeling alright?"
Naminé nodded. "Just tired."
"I'll let you get your rest. Come, everyone; let's let my son sleep, as well." He lay Ventus down in his bassinet, and everyone quietly filed out of the room.
Downstairs, they passed around drinks and food as quietly as possible with as much celebratory spirit as possible.
"To Sora's fatherhood!" Axel whispered, raising hismug.
"And to Naminé's motherhood!" Kairi added, raising her mug.
They clunked their mugs together, taking long swigs.
"Sora, I knitted this blanket a while ago, and I had been waiting until the baby was born to give it to you," Aerith said, handing Sora a neatly-wrapped blanket.
"Mother...thank you so much." Sora leaned over and hugged Aerith, an action he could not remember the last time he had performed since he moved out of the house.
Sora looked around the room at the people gathered to celebrate, and his face fell when a voice in his head reminded him someone was missing.
"Sora, what's the matter?" Aerith asked.
"You're thinking about Riku, aren't you?" Kairi answered.
"Yeah..." Sora admitted.
"Look, we all miss him, but sometimes life has other plans," Roxas offered.
"And like I said, maybe it was for the best." Kairi added.
"Do you think, if we meet again, he'll be upset I didn't name the baby 'Tidus' like I had already planned?" Sora wondered.
"Absolutely not," Axel replied.
"He would probably understand a lot more that you didn't name your son after someone from his past after fighting," Kairi agreed.
Sora nodded and glanced out the window at the people passing by. He still couldn't help but wish one of them would be a certain silver-haired boy.
Night fell, and soon the tavern wassilenced of Sora's relatives. Wearily, he climbed the staircase and opened the door to his room.
Naminé cradled Ventus, who was crying now.
"Why is he crying?" Sora asked, arriving by her side.
"He just woke up, and it's time to go back to bed. I'm so tired, I can barely even hold him right now." Naminé explained.
Sora held out his arms, taking his son in them. "I'll go walk him around, maybe he'll fall asleep from that."
Naminé kissed Sora's cheek and slid into bed again. Sora wrapped Ventus in the blanket Aerith knitted, and his wailing dulled to a whimper.
He bounced Ven gently, going down the stairs to not disturb the other guests. He drifted to the window, gazing out at the fading summer as he rocked his son to sleep.