Chapter XXI; Vacation

Yuki yawned as she entered the common room. She rubbed her eyes as she scanned the room. She was surprised to see she was the only one in the room. Her eyes blinked a few times as she tried to register what was going on. Was there a meeting she had forgotten about? A chuckle from behind her made her glance over her shoulder.

"I must have just missed you." X said casually as he leaned up against the door frame. "As I was just informing Y, we have a vacation today." He continued. Yuki tipped her head to the side confused.

"Vacation? What's that?" She asked. X sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"It's a day we can do whatever we want. We don't have to work." He explained. He sounded exasperated as if he was really getting tired of explaining everything. He might have been for all Yuki knew.

"Oh." Yuki said. "So, what are you going to do?" She asked. X shrugged.

"Who knows." He said walking away. Yuki rolled her eyes after he left.

"Way to be mysterious X." She muttered before leaving the common room. Where to go to for her vacation?

*3*

X sat on a cliff like he had before. He was closer to the armor than he was the last time though. He figured it was a bigger risk but one worth taking. The barren landscape around him was all too familiar. All too much like home.

X sighed smiling softly to himself as he looked at the armor. He used to laugh at Terra for wearing it every time he traveled the lanes between worlds. Terra had been good natured about it, agreeing that it did look rather ridiculous. He was a little jealous of X who didn't need any sort of protection, but he always refused X's offer of teaching him other ways to travel between worlds. Master Eraqus had done a great job teaching Terra to shun the darkness. Maybe too good of a job.

"Hey, X." The brown haired keyblade wielder said catching the other boys attention. X looked up at him in question. He motioned with his hand for Terra to continue. "Do you ever regret accepting the darkness?" Terra asked. X looked away. In his mind he scoffed. Terra was so foolish to believe his every word. But he couldn't let Terra in on his lie.

"I guess sometimes." X said softly. Terra tipped his head to the side.

"Only sometimes?" He asked. X shrugged walking a little ways away. He stopped and looked up to the sky, his hands in his pockets.

"Even though I miss having a heart, and everything that came with it. I'll admit being a Heartless has its advantages at times. The darkness can do some pretty cool stuff." X said looking over at Terra. Terra was frowning trying to piece together everything he could. But with his knowledge it just wasn't possible.

"But the darkness in dangerous." Terra said. He looked at X curious to hear his reply. It was something he thought to be true no matter what. How could X deny the truth?

"No more dangerous than the light." X said with a shrug. Terra frowned at him.

"But the light isn't dangerous. It only helps others." Terra insisted stepping towards X. X just sighed and shook his head. Eraqus had really brainwashed his students. They were all turning out as bad as him. But maybe Terra's mind could be changed.

"Anything can be dangerous if used the wrong way. Light is what started the ancient keyblade war, darkness was just a by product." X explained glancing at Terra. "Not to mention light created darkness in the first place."

Terra looked confused, as if he were fighting with himself. X was bringing up facts that defied his teaching. A little more and maybe he would be immersed in the darkness. X smirked looking away again.

"In the end light is a beautiful lie, and darkness the painful truth." X said softly.

X shook his head trying to clear the memory. He had said many things that had no true meaning just trying to ensure Terra could become a vessel of darkness. But maybe some of what he had said he had meant. Things that he thought but could never say lest Xehanort harm him. He wasn't allowed to think for himself. Just obey Xehanort and be sure Terra lost himself in the darkness. And the final step had been betraying the trust Terra had so carefully placed in X.

"We're no closer to saving you guys. Y's always on the look out for Aqua though. And I think I might have a clue where Ventus' heart is." X said looking to the armor. He sighed. "I'll make it up to you. I promise." His voice was barely above a whisper.

X stood and jumped down to the ground away from the armor. The last time he had seen Terra hadn't been a good time. It was right before the battle that he first saw Kingdom Hearts. The blue moon that was so different from the one in the sky now. Terra had looked so betrayed when he saw X attack Y. So hurt by X's actions. He had believed every word X had said. The lies about how losing his heart affected his mental state. The lies about his intentions.

X walked aimlessly around the Keyblade Graveyard looking at all the keyblades. How many of them had he seen before? How many had he seen in the hands of their wielders? How many had he himself struck down? Was one of them his?

X shook his head trying to clear the thoughts away. Xehanort had lied. It was as simple as that. After all, X couldn't use a keyblade. The old story was wrong. There was nothing special about X or Y. No matter what anyone said.

X stopped walking in front of a red, black and silver keyblade that looked like gears. A blue eye was in the center of the handle. He smirked looking at it.

"So this is the only thing left of you." X said bitterly. He looked at the keyblade looking for knicks or scratches. Maybe something that he himself had put there while training. The keyblade was in surprisingly good condition. No marks anywhere that X could see under the dust. He sighed stepping back.

"Guess those overgrown keys are pretty sturdy after all." X said. X frowned looking over the key again. Thousands of thoughts ran through his mind. "I wonder if things would have been different if we had escaped from him like all the times we talked about it. That old creep wouldn't have been able to do much without us. Might have been better for everyone. Especially us." X said. He sighed walking away from the keyblade.

"Guess that's just a dream now. Nothing can be done to change the past." He muttered looking down to the ground. His mind whirled with all the regrets of his life. It scared him. The regrets were far out weighing the things he was glad he did.

*3*

Y cursed under her breath as she saw the leather string come loose again. She really admired Aqua's patience to make four of these little things. The leather string Y was using was beginning to test her patience.

The orange wayfinder X had picked up was in pieces in front of Y on her desk. What she thought would be a simple fix had turned out to be highly complicated. All the leather was weathered so it needed to be replaced. But Y was having a hard time figuring out just how she needed to put it back together. Small stuff like this was not her specialty. She worked better with larger machines.

Y sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She almost wanted to just say screw it and wait until Aqua could fix it. But if they rescued Terra before Aqua then Terra wouldn't have it. That was something Y couldn't allow. If they were all alive then they needed their wayfinders.

Y ran the leather through the pre made holes in each side, then through the small holes on the back of heart charm Aqua had put in the center. She moved carefully to avoid any more mistakes. She used a pair of tweezers to pull the leather through. Finally the wayfinder was pieced together again, back the way it was before. Y let out a grateful sigh.

"Finally. I fixed it." She said proudly. She stretched out and yawned. She glanced to her window thinking. "It's probably still too early to head to the clock tower." She said to herself.

Y tapped her chin thinking. Glancing at the orange wayfinder she smiled, getting an idea. She stood up grabbing the wayfinder and summoning a dark corridor.

Y looked around Castle Oblivion, still impressed by the castles design. Amazed this had once been her home. It must have been secret the master had never told them about. The castle was able to recognize people as friend or foe. Oddly enough all the Heartless were considered friend. The reason for this Y had never bothered to find out. She just made sure only she knew all of its secrets. Well, her and X.

She walked through the pure white halls, her footsteps echoing loudly around her. She smiled thinking of the old days at the land of departure. The only flaw she ever saw in that world was X wasn't there. Y had always missed her brother. But the other three always managed to cheer her up. It was part of the reason she was so close to them.

Y came to the chamber of waking's door. She paused for a minute taking a deep breath before pushing open the doors. Preparing herself for what she knew lay beyond the door.

"Ven, I'm back!" Y said cheerfully. She knew he couldn't hear her, but on the off chance he could she still spoke. Anyway, it made her sleep easier. She smiled softly at the blonde boy sleeping in the chair. He looked so much like Roxas they could have been brothers. It scared Y the first time she saw Roxas. But she had gotten over it by now.

"Sorry I haven't been visiting lately. They've been working us like dogs, worse than master Eraqus ever did." Y said walking up to the chair. "But I've gotten time to look for Aqua." She added cheerfully. She looked down at her feet.

"There's still no sign of her though, the realm of darkness is a huge place, I don't think I'll be able to find her." Y said sadly. She sighed heavily. "Maybe someone else will find her. Then she can come and wake you up. And then all we'll have to do is free Terra." Y curled a piece of her hair around her index finger thinking.

It was strange still. Talking to Ven without his reply. The two of them used to be able to carry on for hours. Aqua yelled at them a lot for staying up late into the night talking. It was always about the most inconsequential things. But in the end, Y would give anything to have those nights again.

Y sighed again. "I miss you Ven. Where's your heart? Can't you just tell me? I could make everything right, if I just knew where to find your heart." She got no reply as always. Y shook her head, it was stupid to think he would answer. She walked to the chair and sat on the arm of it, running her fingers through Ven's hair spiking it more than necessary. She began to hum softly under her breath. It was a song she often sang for him when she came to visit.

"Sleep soundly safe in his heart
You no longer have to face the evil in the dark
Just rest your mind and leave your pain behind
Remember softly, of a time when the world was so bright
You've fought so bravely, my dear
And so you can rest, for now there's nothing left to fear
Fighting onward, you dreamed unreachable things
But now your dreams carry you to a place where these things come true
I'll hold your hand while you sleep
So don't be afraid I won't let shadows touch your dreams
Maybe in time, we'll leave this all behind
We'll look up skyward, and the stars, they will shine in your eyes
Promise, you'll wake up in time
When you awaken I will be there by your side
There's a person, he'll fix the broken mistakes
I'll find him and journey on, I will save you, whatever it takes"

Y knew very well Ven's heart had found someone to take shelter in. And so long as he was there he was safe, he could forget the evil that had taken place in his life. He did deserve a chance to rest, after all he destroyed half of his own heart. But then again, all of them had deserved rest, yet none of them got exactly what they deserved. They dreamed so many great things that they'd do one day. Things they never got to do. Maybe in his dreams they were doing those things. If they were, Y would be sure his slumber was never disturbed until it was time for him to wake. And when he woke up things would go back to normal. They would all be able to spend just one more night under the stars together. There had to be someone. One person who could fix this. The keybearer that had brown hair. Y didn't know why, but she had a feeling he was the key. The key to saving Ven.

"Promise you'll wake up Ven." Y whispered standing up. She smiled softly and turned to leave the room. As she closed the door behind her she could have sworn she heard a familiar voice echo in her mind.

I promise.

*3*

Yuki smiled to herself as she walked on the beach slowly. Her eyes scanned where the ocean met the sky. The sky was clear blue without a single cloud. It was perfect. Yuki looked inland taking note of all the paths. She tipped her head to the side seeing a path that seemed to lead no where. She frowned and headed towards it.

At the end all Yuki found was a rock face covered by leaves and vines. She frowned to herself running her hand over the leaves. She was surprised that her hand didn't meet any rocks at all. The leaves were covering some sort of cave. Yuki pushed the leaves aside and ducked within the cave.

Inside the cave was dark, only a little light was coming in through a hole in the ceiling. Roots snaked around the rocks that made up the walls. There were drawings coating the walls. Yuki couldn't tell what some of them were, others were obvious. She reached out and ran her hand across the wall. Like she was trying to reach the memories the drawings contained.

Her hand brushed against a small drawing. A star with letters on each arm except for the top one. Above the top was a heart. Yuki stopped and looked at it. Her eyes began to unfocus.

Yuki sat beside the silver haired boy from her dreams. They both looked around twelve. The boy had his back to the wall and wasn't looking at Yuki. Yuki was drawing on the wall with a rock, scratching the picture into the wall. She glanced at the silver haired boy.

"A munny for your thoughts?" Yuki asked looking back to her drawing. The boy looked at her for a second then looked forward again. He let out a sigh.

"I'm just thinking about other worlds. I've seen a couple people from other worlds before, I was thinking about why they came here." He explained. Yuki looked at him surprised.

"You've met people from other worlds?" Yuki asked. The boy nodded. "What were they like?"

"Well, there was a girl. She made Sora and I promise we'd always protect each other, and if one of us ever got lost the other would find them." The boy explained. He hesitated before he continued. "And the other was a guy. He did some weird ceremony with me and passed some weapon onto me, but he made me promise not to tell anyone about it." The boy looked away. Yuki was silent for a little bit, thinking.

"I wonder why they were here." Yuki said. The boy shrugged.

"I dunno, they never explained it. Just came one day and were gone the next." He said off handedly. Yuki looked over at him with a smile.

"Then when we leave we'll have to find them and ask." She said. The boy looked at her and nodded, smiling in return.

Yuki blinked, returning to the present time. She looked at the drawing and smiled softly. She did come from this island, that was certain. But she couldn't go back to the people she knew. Not without a heart. And not without all her memories. She traced the letters around the star. S, K, R, and Y. Yuki smiled before turning to the entrance.

*3*

Yuki walked through Twilight Town heading towards the clock tower. After her visit to Destiny Islands she decided to head to the clock tower to meet up with everyone. Maybe she would be a bit early, but that wasn't a big deal. She paused looking in the sandlot. Roxas was hitting a ball up into the air repeatedly with a group of kids watching him.

Roxas fell over landing on his back. He began to laugh with the town's kids. Yuki narrowed her eyes confused. Roxas sat up and noticed Yuki. He waved at her, motioning for her to join him. Yuki walked over to him cautiously.

"This a friend of yours?" The only girl in the group asked. Roxas nodded.

"Yeah, this is Yuki." He said standing up. Yuki waved at the kids.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Pence." Said the larger boy with dark brown hair.

"I'm Olette." The girl said.

"And I'm Hayner." The blonde boy said.

"It's nice to meet you all." Yuki said, she glanced at the bat and ball Roxas had been using moments ago. "What exactly were you guys doing?" She asked.

"Grandstander, you have to keep the ball in the air for as long as possible." Hayner explained crossing his arms. He sounded annoyed.

"You want to give it a try?" Pence asked. Yuki picked up the bat and shrugged.

"Why not?" She said. The other four laughed and stepped back, giving Yuki room to try it.

Yuki hit the ball into the air and followed underneath it. She hit it up again as it came down. She heard the others counting how many times she hit the ball. Her feet moved instinctively, positioning herself underneath the ball to hit it again. This continued for some time until Yuki tripped over a crack in the ground landing in on her back just like Roxas had.

"Wow! 97 times!" Pence said.

"Your giving Hayner a run for his money." Olette said cheerfully as she helped Yuki up. Yuki smiled at them.

"Beginners luck." Hayner said defiantly. Yuki rolled her eyes at him.

"Hayner's only acting so grumpy because Seifer beat his record." Pence said to both Roxas and Yuki.

"Hey! That's enough from the peanut gallery!" Hayner said loudly, glaring at Pence. Olette laughed, hiding her mouth behind her hand. "That includes you!" Hayner's said pointing at her. Roxas and Yuki glanced at each other before bursting into laughter themselves.

"Oh great, now they're laughing at me too." Hayner's complained. They stopped laughing but continued to grin at each other.

"So, you said you were passing by. Does that mean you have to head off soon? Because if not-" Pence started.

"No, we gotta get going." Roxas said with a laugh. Yuki nodded not needing to ask what he meant.

"Alright, sorry for holding you up. We should get going too." Hayner's said walking away.

"Yeah, anyway, we'll see you later." Pence said waving and following after Hayner.

"Bye for now!" Olette said cheerfully following her friends. Yuki smiled at Roxas after they had gone.

"They were certainly interesting." She said. Roxas nodded in agreement, glancing in the direction they had just gone.

"Yeah. Let's go." Roxas said, leading the way to the clock tower.

Up on the clock tower Roxas and Yuki sat together laughing, waiting for the others to show up. They had been talking about random things. Things that didn't matter. The first to arrive was Axel. He was followed shortly after by X and Y. All three of them didn't say much besides normal greetings. Beneath them the three kids Yuki and Roxas had met earlier ran around.

"Are the kids here on summer vacation?" Axel asked looking down at them.

"No it's too early for that." Y said observing them herself. Yuki and Roxas exchanged a confused look. Roxas turned to Axel.

"What's summer vacation?" He asked. Axel laughed.

"A dream come true." Axel replied with a grin. Y laughed in agreement, nodding her head. X rolled his eyes.

"It's a month off." X explained more thoroughly. Yuki and Roxas looked at him in shock. An entire month! What were they supposed to do with that much time off? Yuki had trouble deciding what to do with the one day.

"A month!?" Roxas asked in disbelief. X nodded.

"How can they fill an entire month off?" Yuki asked. X snickered.

"This terrible thing called homework." X said. Beside him Y shuddered. Axel laughed, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, teachers give ya plenty of that." He agreed.

"I think I could handle a week. Maybe." Roxas said thinking. Yuki nodded, that sounded good.

"Trust me, it's over before you can blink." Axel said with a hint of sadness in his voice. He watched the kids with soft eyes, remembering his days as a somebody.

"Hey guys." Xion's voice greeted. They all returned her greeting as she sat down between Yuki and Roxas.

"So, you guys go anywhere?" Roxas asked. Everyone shrugged or shook their heads.

"No, why? Did you guys go somewhere without us?" Y asked.

"Axel went somewhere." Roxas said with a grin. "He went to sleep." Y, Yuki, and Xion laughed at Roxas' words while X face palmed.

"Why am I not surprised?" X asked.

"Hey, unlike you lazybones I work myself pretty hard." Axel said defensively.

"Maybe you're just out of shape!" Xion accused through a laugh. The entire group laughed at this accusation. The laughter died out after a moment leaving a calm silence.

"Tomorrow its back to work." Axel said.

"Yeah." Roxas agreed. Yuki nodded.

"I hope we get another vacation soon." Xion said. There was another pause, broken once again by Axel.

"Oh, before I forget. I'm going to be sent out on recon for a few days, so I won't be here." Axel said offhandedly.

"Where are you going?" Xion asked.

"Can't tell it's classified." Axel said a mischievous smirk. Yuki pouted at him.

"Come on Axel, I thought we were friends." Yuki said still pouting. Axel looked away from her trying to resist his urge to spill.

"Hey, I'm not about to tell you all my dark secrets. Got it memorized?" Axel said.

"Yeah, we get it." Yuki said cheerfully. "Just don't make a mess where ever you're sent." She added. Axel glared at her with a smirk.

"Little brat." He said laughing, "don't make me come over there." He threatened. Yuki laughed causing him to laugh. Soon all the others joined in.

*3*

Day 118- Vacation,
Today we had a vacation. An entire day to do nothing. I don't know where the others went but I went to Destiny Islands for a while then hung out with Roxas in Twilight Town. It was a lot of fun. I wish we got vacations more often.
On Destiny Islands I had a vision of sorts. I'm pretty sure it's where I came from.

Disclaimer- I do not own the lullaby Y sings. That belongs to Lizz Robinett, please check out her YouTube channel, she's an amazing artist. That song is called "Ventus's Theme".