Vanitas set down the cake, flopped on the dusty bed, and coughed when he tried to take in a relaxing breath. As busy as the Bistrot was, this room looked—and smelled—like it had been abandoned for ages. Yellowed paint flaked off of the walls like a fatal case of dandruff. The carpet was stained with some unidentifiable dark substance. Aside from the perpetual sunset filtering through the grimy window, a flickering electric bulb provided the only illumination.

It was perfect.

"Van?" Aqua peeked in and asked after dropping off her backpack in the room next door. "How's the room?"

"Absolutely fantastic," he said, for once without a trace of sarcasm. "You think Scrooge would let us stay here longer than one night?"

She came and sat down beside him, making the bed bounce gently—though the squeak the bedframe let out was a lot less gentle.

"I don't know," she said. "It doesn't look like anyone else will use it until he finishes renovating. It might cost more than we can afford, though."

"Probably." He sighed.

From the look she gave the room, it wasn't just the money she was worried about. Probably germs or something, from the way her brow creased at those carpet stains.

"If we had the choice, though—is this a world you'd like to stay in?" she asked after appraising the room.

"Would you?" He leaned back, putting his hands behind his head.

He did like Twilight Town, for a number of reasons. Good food. Cool woods. Warm sunsets—not too bright, not too dark.

And somehow, despite how long it had been, it still felt like home. But it probably wouldn't feel the same to Aqua. Maybe she'd like a place that felt more like the Land of Departure.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "We didn't see much of it yet. But we know there's Heartless, which means we could be useful here."

"And we could get munny," he added, and she laughed.

"If it doesn't all go to Scrooge first."

"Yeah…" He grimaced and sat up. "Sorry about that. Maybe we shouldn't stay here, if we don't want him taking everything we own."

"Oh, I don't think he's that bad. He gave you that cake for free, after all." She nodded at the box sitting next to him.

"It's not really from Scrooge though. It's from the rat."

He opened the box again, staring at the tempting desert. He'd eaten so much food earlier, but it looked so delicious… At the same time, some instinct left over from his time with Xehanort made him want to save it for later, just in case. He never knew when they might not be able to come by food again.

"We can eat it now, if you want." Aqua laughed at the longing look on his face.

He blushed, pushing those paranoid thoughts aside.

"What do you mean 'we'?" He covered it with a grin, drawing the box into his lap. "I never said anything about sharing."

She raised her eyebrows. A mischievous glint entered her eyes.

"So that's the way you want to play it, hmm?"

Then without warning she swooped in at him, tickling his sides until he cackled and nearly dropped the cake.

"Aqua!" he cried out between laughs. "I was kidding, kidding!"

"Sure you were." She smirked as she left her arms around his middle and dropped her chin onto his shoulder, surrounding him in warmth.

"Okay, I was mostly kidding."

He swiped a finger across the custard around the edge of the cake-tart-thing and licked it. It tasted as delicious as it looked, smooth and creamy and sweet. He had to hold in an embarrassing noise of delight.

"You didn't even wash your hands," Aqua said, but she reached around him and plucked off one of the strawberry slices.

"You can go wash your hands if you want. I can't promise there'll be any cake left by the time you get back, though." He scooped up more cake onto his finger, waving it near her face before licking it clean. So good.

"I suppose I'll just have to take my chances then." She took off her gloves before scooping out a whole handful of the creamy cake.

"Hey!" He stuck her tongue out at her—and to his surprise, she dropped part of her cake on it. He swallowed it before laughing. "Wait til the others find out the always-proper Aqua eats with her bare hands. I really have rubbed off on you."

"Shut up or I'll just have to rub something back," she teased, holding up her dirty hand.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Is that a challenge?"

"That depends. Do you want to ruin the rest of the cake?"

"...Man, you're really playing dirty this time." He shook his head, making sure to get another handful of cake before she could eat it all out from under him.

They stuffed their faces in silence for a few minutes before Aqua's arms gave him a gentle squeeze again. Oops. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten so much after all; the soft gesture hurt more than it should have.

"Are you feeling better now?" she asked close to his ear.

"I'm fine. Just ate too much cake, that's all," he brushed off her worry.

"No, I meant about earlier. With your Unversed."

He'd expected her to drop the subject, since she'd said he was probably just stressed from talking to so many people. But he thought about it, reached down, and didn't feel any negative emotions squirming too close to the surface.

"They've calmed down. I think the cake did the trick." He grinned, and she chuckled.

"Maybe you'd have a good time cooking with Little Chef, then. If food's all you need to stay calm."

Vanitas looked up in surprise, almost bumping his nose against her face.

"Wait, you think I should do it?"

She shrugged. "That's up to you. I think it's sweet that you offered to make things right, but Scrooge isn't exactly hurting for munny, and I think he'll understand that we're busy with keyblade wielder responsibilities."

"So… I shouldn't do it?" He tried to read her face.

"Van, I'm not going to tell you what to do," she said patiently, squeezing his hands. "If you want to do it, then do it. If you don't, then we can make Scrooge understand. It's not a big deal."

He frowned to himself. Did he want to cook with the rat? It seemed so stupid, especially after his quick denial earlier, but he still felt the sweet taste of dessert on his tongue. It would be nice to learn how to make stuff like that.

"I thought you wouldn't want to waste time," he said hesitantly. "We need to wake up Ventus, and find Terra. And I bet we'll be fighting Xehanort sooner rather than later."

They hadn't talked about that much since the attack at the Castle of Dreams, but the threat still hung in the air. As much as he just wanted to enjoy spending time with Aqua, they couldn't ignore the war forever. They would have to fight. Vanitas wanted to fight, just… not yet.

Not when he finally had something to lose.

"I know." She sighed, running her hand back and forth over the dusty sheets. "We're already ahead of schedule, though. I didn't expect to find Sora so quickly."

He raised an eyebrow when she kept staring off into space.

"What's with that look? I thought you'd be thrilled. You want Ventus back, don't you?"

"I do, it's just… nothing," she lied, arms wrapping around herself.

So her argument with Donald hadn't been the only thing on her mind. How had he missed all of this earlier today? Was he too wrapped up in his own Unversed problem, or was she just that good at hiding her emotions without a mask?

"Come on, Aqua. You don't have to release a bunch of Unversed for me to know something's up." He slowly put an arm around her, which she leaned into without hesitation.

"It's stupid," she murmured. "You're right. I should be happy. I am happy."

He snorted. "Aqua, you suck at lying."

To his face, anyway. Apparently she hadn't been so bad at hiding before.

"...I know," she said miserably.

Okay, something must really be up for her to not even try to argue back.

"I just… it really is stupid. I can believe Ven will forgive you, but somehow I find it harder to believe he can forgive… me," she finished quietly.

Vanitas blinked. "You're right. That is stupid."

That was the wrong thing to say. He felt it as soon as it came out of his mouth. Aqua's shoulders shook with repressed tears.

"That's not what I meant, I mean—ugh, I'm the stupid one," he muttered. "Aqua, why would Ventus be mad at you? All you've done is try to save him. You're the best friend he could ask for."

"But it's taken me so long!" she burst, digging her fingers into the blanket on either side of her legs. "It's been twelve years. He's missed so much, there's so much I'll have to tell him. I was thinking about it at the restaurant—he doesn't even know that the Master is… that he's…"

"...Oh," Vanitas realized.

That hadn't even occurred to him. The last thing Ventus would remember was the Keyblade Graveyard, unless he also remembered the times he'd stepped into Vanitas's dreams.

"And he doesn't know that Terra's gone either. He might take that even harder. Terra was like a brother to us…"

"That… yeah. That does suck." Vanitas nodded. What else could he say? "It's not your fault, though. You did everything you could. He can't blame you for what happened to them."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." She wiped her eyes on the back of her glove. "One of the last times we met, well… he blamed me for pushing Terra away. I don't know if he still will. And that's not even touching the fact that I fell in love with you."

A guilty Mandrake squirmed in his chest. Stupid; he shouldn't feel guilty for the one good thing that had ever happened to him. But for all his jokes when they were in Ventus's chamber, he felt a lot less confident now.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," she apologized quickly, seeing the pain on his face even though he'd kept the Mandrake in. "I'm glad I love you, Van. I won't give that up for anything, not even Ven."

"You're sure?" he asked, setting the cake box aside, tucking his legs under him and turning to face her. His insecurity had come bubbling back up in that moment, fear that he still wouldn't be a match for her real friends, even after everything—

"I promise," she said, cupping his face in her hands. "I'm so sorry. I know it will be hard for you to see him again, too."

"...Yeah, it will," he admitted.

Despite everything he'd felt at meeting his brother again, he didn't expect to handle things perfectly when he woke up. There was so much that could change.

"I'm not worried about what he thinks of me anymore, though," he continued. "I know that'll work out eventually. I guess I'm more worried… about losing you. Not like you'll leave me or anything," he clarified quickly. "But things will change. It won't be just you and me anymore."

"I… have thought about that," she said quietly, scooting closer on the bed to where she could run her fingers through his hair.

That soft action never failed to comfort him. He wanted to lean in and kiss her right there, stop worrying about Ventus and Xehanort and whatever else might happen to them. Just him and her against the world.

But that was the thing about Aqua—she could never be just his, and he knew it. Her love for her friends was what made her her.

"And what exactly did you think?" he asked. He'd done his personal best not to think about things changing, but Aqua was always more prepared for the future than he was.

"I think… assuming Ven forgives us both, anyway… we shouldn't change," she finally said.

"Really?" He looked up in surprise, and her hands caught in a tangle of his hair.

"Really," she said with more certainty. "I'm not ashamed of you, Van. And I can't let my fears about what they'll think stop me from being happy. They'll understand eventually—I believe that. But in the meantime… we should just be ourselves."

It was such a stark change from her earlier worries, but that was just Aqua. As soon as she talked about her problems, she could usually talk herself back out of them. Her motivational speeches were flawless even against herself.

"Well. If you can handle me being myself, I guess everyone else can get used to it too." He smiled, but there was still one doubt that nagged at him.

"But?" she asked, picking up on his hesitation.

"But Ventus is going to stay with us, isn't he? I mean, I'm assuming you'll want him around again." Vanitas tried not to let his lingering jealousy leak into his voice. "Things will change, even if we don't."

"...I guess we'd better see if he even wants to stay with us first," Aqua said reluctantly. "You might not have to worry about it."

Vanitas doubted it. For all of Aqua's concern, he doubted Ventus would leave her right after reuniting for the first time in over a decade. Things wouldn't be the same.

"He's going to forgive you, Aqua," he told her, holding her gaze. "He'd be stupid not to."

She smiled, pushing his bangs out of his face. "Thank you, Van."

"All I did was tell you the truth. You don't need to thank me for that." He shrugged.

"Oh, shut up and let me thank you anyway."

She pulled him into a heavy kiss, the kind that made his head spin and threatened to send Inversed streaking out of him. He had to pull away too soon when he felt the creatures pounding inside his chest.

"Van?" Aqua bit her lip, looking at him with concern. "I'm sorry, should I have…"

"No—Aqua, I'm fine." He flashed a grin. "Just… uh. Feeling too happy, I guess. It's hard to keep the Inversed down. Trust me though, it's a good problem to have."

"Oh." She blinked. "I didn't know that could happen."

"It usually doesn't. But y'know, I wouldn't mind having it happen again…"

He flashed a smirk, and she rolled her eyes before kissing him again. Hey, he was going to have to share her time with Ventus soon. He should make the most of this.

He wasn't sure how long it was before she jerked back, sputtering.

"What?" he asked in surprise. "Crap, should I have brushed my teeth…?"

"Blech. Hair." She brushed the black strands off her lips with a giggle. "Your bangs are getting kind of long."

"So are yours." He brushed them out of her eyes. "Seems like it grows a lot faster now that we're out of the Realm of Darkness. Maybe it's trying to catch up."

"I've noticed that, too. And you've gotten a little taller since we've been back."

"You noticed?" He grinned.

"Don't get too excited. I don't think you'll be passing me any time soon," she teased.

"We'll see about that." He smirked before placing a quick kiss on her cheek. "...We should be getting to bed, huh."

"Yeah," she sighed, caressing his face again. She certainly wasn't making it easy for him. "We've got a big day tomorrow."

"A good day," he said, trying to convince himself.

He didn't need to be jealous of Ventus. Aqua was still his. That wasn't going to change, and that was what mattered.

"A great day." She squeezed him one last time before sliding off of the bed. His face felt cold where her hand had been. "Goodnight, Van. I love you."

"Love you too, Aqua." Another Inversed wanted to leap at the words. If he ever got tired of hearing them, someone had better slap him.

Tomorrow was going to be a great day. And no matter what it held, they would face it together.