Head's up, I went back and tweaked Chapter 10 a little bit because of a plot point I changed my mind about.

Episode 15: Family Reunion:

The Land of Departure – Throne Room:

August 15, 2015

"I never realized how quiet the castle is when Ven's gone," Aqua commented as she lounged in the central throne with a book in her lap. As leader of the remaining Keyblade Wielders, she had to get used to sitting in Master Eraqus' old chair. So she'd taken up a habit of coming down every morning to sit on the throne and read a book. Turning her attention back to the present, she continued. "We all used to do everything together," she continued. "And now…"

"Now everyone's got their own things going on," Terra finished as he walked over from where he was leaning against the wall. "Still," he added with a sly smile. "It's nice to have some time alone." Aqua smirked at his comment when they heard the doors open downstairs and Ven's voice drifting up through the open air chamber. From the sound of things, he wasn't alone.

"And in here's the throne room," he said to whoever he was talking to. "This is where we have all the big ceremonies like the Mark of Mastery exam." It seems he finally found his family, Aqua thought to herself with a barely suppressed giggle. And now he's giving them a tour of the castle. She looked over at Terra and signaled that they should head downstairs and introduce themselves. Terra nodded, and the two of them made their way towards the eastern staircase just as Ven rounded the corner accompanied by two people who were clearly his parents.

"Hey guys!" Ven called out as he raced up the stairs and nearly tackled Terra to the ground. Aqua burst out laughing as the two boys stumbled away from the stairs as Ven's parents came up behind him. Once everyone had recovered from the laughing fit, Ven introduced his parents to his closest friends.

"It's nice to meet you," Ven's mother said. "Ven's been telling us so much about you both."

"Hopefully he never mentioned the cake incident," Aqua commented with a chuckle, prompting Terra to blush as red as a tomato as everyone else in the room laughed. As the laughter died down, Terra recovered from his blushing enough for him and Aqua to lead their guests on a tour of the castle. They wound their way around the ancient fortress from one end to the other. They started out in the west wing, showing off the kitchen and dining room before moving up to the double level library. After that, they showed Ven's parents the room that now served as a storage area for workout equipment before moving across to the bedrooms.

"And this is my room," Ven said proudly as he lead his parents into the room where he'd lived ever since his memories were lost. Emi teared up a bit as she looked around the room at all the little things her oldest son had collected over the years. These last few days with her son were a tremendous blessing, but she knew when she and Taro came to the Land of Departure that it wasn't going to last forever. Terra and Aqua had become a second family to Ventus since he'd disappeared from the Islands, and although being reunited was a tremendous joy, he'd already put down roots here.

Ven rushed over and hugged his mother as she started to cry. His dad quickly followed, while Terra and Aqua stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do or say. As all of this was happening, Vanitas walked in, having returned from a reconnaissance mission in Halloween Town, and came upstairs to investigate the noise.

"Mom, it's okay," Ven reassured her. "I'll still come back and visit on the weekends, and you and dad can come visit me here anytime you want. I'm not leaving for good." This lead to a family hug with all three of them. Terra, Aqua, and Vanitas decided that now would be a good time to give Ven and his parents some space, only for the family to insist on all three of them joining in on the group hug.

"You took care of our son for all these years," Taro said. "As far as we're concerned, you're all part of the family." So Terra and Aqua quickly stepped into the room without further prompting, dragging a reluctant and sarcastic Vanitas behind them.

A few hours later, Vanitas was sitting on his bed with the lights turned out. The only illumination in the room came from the stars hanging up in the nighttime sky. Ventus had thankfully left to bring his parents back to those tiny little islands a few hours ago. Terra and Aqua were supposed to be cooking dinner, but when Vanitas walked into the kitchen to find the two of them making out like there was no tomorrow, he just took a Dark Corridor to Twilight Town and brought back some pizza.

Now he sat on his bed wearing black jeans and a matching baggy shirt as he finished off his last slice of pizza before tossing his paper plate into the trash can near the door. A minute later, a knock came at the door. Great, Vanitas thought to himself. Terra and Aqua finally finished messing around and want me to come eat whatever foul concoction they cooked up.

"Come in," he called out. Might as well get it over with, he added mentally. To his surprise, it wasn't Terra or Aqua who came in, but Ventus.

"Hey," the other boy said. "Sorry if my parents embarrassed you earlier."

"Who me?" Vanitas replied sarcastically. "Never." Ven chuckled at his dark half's snarkiness. The laughter proved to be contagious as even Vanitas fought to suppress a giggle. "In all seriousness though, being treated as part of the extended family is one thing, but your parents acting like I'm your long lost brother was a little annoying."

"Well you are the physical embodiment of my dark side, so you kind of are," Ventus pointed out. "Which technically means that they're your parents too."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it," Vanitas retorted. "Don't they have any idea what I am?"

"Of course they do," Ven answered. "I told them. They didn't care about the fact that you're pure darkness. Quite honestly, once I told them about what your life with Xehanort was like, they looked like they wanted to bring him back from the dead just so they could send him back themselves." Vanitas burst out laughing at that final statement. Though he would never admit it, he was actually touched that Ven's parents actually cared about him. He represented all the torture that Xehanort had put their son through and as far as he was concerned they had every right to hate him and treat him as an abomination against nature. And yet they accepted him as part of the family with open arms. No strings attached.

Vanitas didn't really know what to say to that, but Ven just smiled knowingly and bid his darker half goodnight before exiting the room. With that Vanitas was once again alone with his thoughts. But this time, his thoughts were less pessimistic and more trying to comprehend the fact that after years of abuse with Xehanort he had parental figures who actually cared about his well-being and saw him as something other than a tool to be discarded when he was no longer useful. In the cave-like darkness of his quarters, his lips twitched upwards into a small, contented smile.

Just about halfway done with this fic here. Well when Sora and Ven have a family get together for the Christmas festivities, it's certainly going to be crowded. Their parents' reaction to Vanitas (and later to Roxas and Xion) is inspired by how they reacted to Xion in Imaginary Numbers, a spinoff of the AU fanfic Remember the Tides.

Next chapter: We catch up with the characters from Hunchback of Notre Dame and see what they've been up to.