"And if you have any questions you can look them up in here. I've written everything down." Aqua handed Ven a blue spiral-bound notebook. "Or you can call me. Or text me. I've figured out how to text now."
Ven rolled his eyes and tucked the notebook under his armpit, as if it didn't contain a record of the most important keyblade wielder traditions and rules and ceremonies.
"There's like, six keyblade wielders still here. Nothing's going to happen," he told her.
"I know. That's exactly why I'm worried." She frowned.
It was no secret that their family still struggled to get along. Removing herself from the equation for a time might actually improve that, but it was still hard not to worry.
One keyblade is enough for any friendship, she remembered thinking before. She'd never expected to live through a time when there were so many keyblade wielders in one place. As far as she knew, the last time so many wielders had gathered had been before Eraqus had become a Master.
Of course, she was worried about much more than just keeping the peace in a family where almost everyone had permanent, unrestricted access to deadly weapons. Ven had a specific role to perform in her absence.
"You're sure you're okay doing this?" she asked for what had to have been the twentieth time.
Ven sighed, a white cloud of breath puffing from his lips. The minor enchantments warming Vanitas's garden didn't extend to the rest of the courtyard. Ven hadn't bothered to bundle up before seeing her off; he stood barefoot in his pajamas. She bit her lip to keep from nagging him about catching a cold.
"Aqua. Are you sure?" he asked in return. "If you really want me to stay in your lin…"
"It's not just mine," she reminded him. "The Stellar Lin is Terra's, and our Master's, too."
Master Eraqus's, and his Master before him, and her Master before her. It was one of the most ancient lins among keyblade wielders.
And, aside from Xehanort's Seeker Lin, it was the only one left. Yen Sid had dissolved his when he gave up the Mastery, so Mickey had never inherited it.
"Right." Ven looked away. "So. Just yours and mine."
Something in Aqua's heart cracked. It was bad enough that she had to have this conversation—had to deal with Ven choosing to leave the lin—without him pointedly bringing up her failure.
"Yours, mine, and Terra's," she corrected, fists clenching.
She would accept that her Master was gone, if she must, but she wouldn't let Ven forget their brother. No matter how many more friends Ven adopted into his family, Terra would always be their sibling.
Ven looked up sharply.
"You've given up on him." His eyes narrowed. "Don't try to pretend like he's still a part of this."
"Me—? I haven't given up on him! How could you say that?" She clutched her fist to her heart, her other hand reaching for the Wayfinder at her hip.
She still had hers. An unbreakable connection.
"You're kidding," Ven scoffed. "You spent months trying to find any information on Xion, even though you'd never met and the rest of us barely remembered her, but you haven't done a single thing to look for Terra."
He stared directly into her eyes, as if daring her to deny it.
She wanted to. She couldn't.
He was right. She could have been, should have been looking for him, but—
(She was scared. It was that simple, and that pathetic.)
"I know you, Aqua. If there was still a chance he could be saved, you would've found him." He sounded more defeated than anything.
She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to fight back the chill. If only she had the resolve and the power that Ven thought she had.
"Ven. I did find him." She took a deep breath. The harsh cold burned her lungs. "Or rather… he found me."
Ven blinked up at her, letting out a choked gasp.
"Then why didn't you…?"
She squeezed her eyes shut. Behind her eyelids, all she could see were gold eyes and silver hair.
"He tried to turn me into one of Xehanort's vessels," she murmured. "I don't know… if I have to face him again…"
She didn't know if she'd be able to fight him a second time. That betrayed look in his eyes, when she'd stabbed him in The World That Never Was…
She'd done her best to banish it from her mind. To stay busy. To stay productive and useful. To assist the next generation of keyblade wielders, to care for her boyfriend, to do everything but face the battle she knew had to come.
Coward.
"Wait, you've seen him? Why didn't you tell me?" Ven burst.
"It was bad enough having to tell you he's been possessed all these years. What would you have thought of me if you knew I almost killed him too?"
Ven smacked his forehead against the notebook.
"Of course. It's always about what we think of you," he growled. "We could've been looking for him this whole time! We know how to de-Nort guys now!"
"We weren't strong enough," she insisted, though the argument was weak even to her own ears. "It wasn't about finding him. We needed time to train. Which is what we've been doing."
"You don't get to decide that!" he snapped. "We took down Ansem by working together! What makes you think we couldn't do the same for Terra?"
"Because Ansem wasn't Terra! You don't know what it's like, having to fight someone with your best friend's face—"
"Yes I do!"
Aqua froze. The air seemed to drop ten degrees. Ven was barely visible behind the clouds of panting breath.
"I had to fight Xion, I had to fight Axel—I had to fight you, even though Vanitas was in control—I can't… I…" Ven's anger visibly drained from him, his chest deflating, his shoulders slumping. "I don't want to fight Terra, too."
"Ven…" Aqua reached out a hand, but didn't touch him.
So it came as a complete shock when he threw his arms around her.
"I'm tired of fighting with you," he breathed, voice shaking. His fingernails dug into the back of her jacket. "I still wish you'd stop being stupid and tell me stuff. But you're telling me stuff now, I guess."
"I'm trying to," she whispered, burying her face against his hair.
He'd gotten taller recently. That fact both warmed her heart and broke it.
"I—I'm glad he's alive at all." Ven gave a weak laugh. "I thought if you'd given up, and you're taking an apprentice and making decisions about the lin without him, then he must be…"
"He's alive. He is." She squeezed Ven tight, cradling his head against her chest. "We'll find him again. And we'll save him… somehow."
She didn't acknowledge his line of reasoning. She'd chased that decision in circles long enough already. As much as she wanted to wait for Terra, to have him there with her to accept Naminé into the Stellar Lin, there was only so long she could risk putting it off. One, because Naminé needed to be able to defend herself, and two…
Because if anything happened to Aqua, and Ven didn't want to carry on their lin's legacy…
She couldn't let it end with her. She couldn't.
"Knowing Terra could—will—come back… does that change your decision? About becoming Naminé's Guardian of the In-Between?" she asked carefully.
In case he'd forgotten, she'd clearly explained what that would mean for him. He knew that he would forfeit his ties to the Stellar Lin if he took on that mantle, even temporarily. A Guardian was meant to be able to provide unbiased advice, untethered to the Master's faction. If one could immediately return to the lin afterwards, there wouldn't be a point.
"Are you hoping I will? Is that why you finally told me about Terra?" Ven stepped back.
Aqua felt colder at the sudden loss of contact—but not as cold as before.
"It's not about what I want," she said. "I'm giving you the choice, Ven. I know you should have been offered it long before now."
Ven had been a special case, coming into Master Eraqus's lin already wielding a keyblade, and with no memories of his life before. It had been necessary for Aqua and the rest of them to pretend that Ven had always lived there to avoid triggering another coma. That had meant pretending that Ven was already part of the Stellar Lin, too.
He looked up at her in surprise, then softened.
"...Thanks, Aqua. That… means a lot." He smiled a little. "I'll take care of Naminé for you. I owe her for some stuff, anyway."
It was a soft rejection. It was a rejection she'd asked for.
It was still a rejection.
"Thank you, Ven." She forced a smile back.
She'd prepared herself for this. She would be fine… eventually.
"Are we ready to go yet?" Van sauntered out of the mansion, his backpack slung over one shoulder and Drizzle at his heels.
"As ready as I can be." She cast her eyes up at the home they were leaving behind.
This would be the first time she'd left Ven since waking him in Castle Oblivion. It was difficult not to think back to the last time they'd been separated, and how everything had gone horribly, horribly wrong.
But Ven had a point. He wasn't alone. He didn't need her hovering nearby at every moment.
A movement in the window caught her eye. Naminé stood at the top level of the foyer, waving down at her. Aqua smiled and waved back.
Aqua was doing this for her. Naminé deserved to experience every piece of keyblade wielder tradition Aqua wished she'd had.
It also didn't hurt that Aqua would be spending these seven weeks alone with her boyfriend. And that tomorrow was their seven-month anniversary.
As much as she felt she didn't deserve one, she had to admit she was excited for the vacation.
She picked her backpack up from the frosty ground. Her present for Van had been safely wrapped in paper and black velvet and stored in a side zipper pocket. Hopefully he still appreciated it even though his new medicine had helped his energy levels a lot.
Van bumped his fist against Ven's, a type of handshake they'd both learned from Hayner.
"Don't do anything stupid while we're gone." Van told Ven with a grin.
"I should be telling that to you." Ven laughed.
"Don't let Kairi in your room after nine p.m.," Aqua added, only for Ven to hit her with a mischievous look.
"Okay. We'll just go to her room."
"Ven—"
"Or Hayner's house."
"Void, I should've kept my mouth shut…" Van muttered.
Aqua half wished she had, too. She would've been better off pretending Ven didn't have a girlfriend, like she usually tried to. Thinking about it for longer than ten seconds gave her a headache.
"Drizzle, you keep an eye on them, okay?" she said seriously.
The white Inversed saluted. Aqua would've liked to bring her along, but she wasn't entirely sure which world they'd stop in. Most wouldn't exactly trust anyone who arrived with what looked like a monster.
"Great, you're giving your babysitter a babysitter," Ven huffed, shaking his head. "Don't forget I can still tell Naminé you suck, you know."
Aqua turned his mischievous look back on him.
"You wouldn't. If she's stuck with me, that's less time I can spend annoying you." She ruffled his hair. "Plus, that would also be against Guardian rules."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't you have a vacation to go on?" He nudged her lightly with his elbow.
"Try not to miss me too much." She rolled her eyes.
"Like you'll miss me. You'll be too busy eating Vanitas's face—"
"Ven!"
"I don't think he knows how kissing works," Van whispered to Aqua. "You'd think he'd have figured it out, after I heard him and Kairi—"
"Okay!" Aqua summoned Stormfall. "That's enough of that! Don't we have a vacation to go on?"
Ven laughed as they exchanged one last hug. Then Van summoned Void Gear, and before long, they were off on their gliders, Twilight Town becoming nothing but a bright star in the distance.
"So, where are we headed?" Van asked through the link in their helmets.
She'd intended for their first destination to be a surprise. She'd had it all planned out—to take him to Radiant Garden, stroll through the flowers where they'd shared their first kiss… only she'd found out earlier this week that the gardens were in between plantings. Radiant Garden ran on a slightly different calendar from Twilight Town, and there it was just now time for the fall plants to be replaced with winter ones. Walking through empty plots of dirt wouldn't be romantic at all.
Preparations to leave had taken up too much of her remaining time, and she hadn't scoped out a backup venue. It wasn't like her to wing important occasions like this. She wasn't even sure that Van realized what day tomorrow was, though, so maybe it wouldn't matter.
"How do you feel about—" she started to ask, when something crested the top of an asteroid in front of them.
It looked like… a green flying carpet? But stiffer, and with a glass bubble over the top. Some kind of glider, or maybe… a very poorly designed Gummi Ship?
What made even less sense was the pilot she could see sitting inside.
"Scrooge?"
He couldn't hear her, of course. Only Vanitas could.
Scrooge saw them, though. He waved them over.
"What do you think he wants?" Van asked.
"Hopefully not any more rent." Aqua sighed.
"I'm pretty sure Isa took care of all that. Scrooge looks like he's gonna follow us if we don't hear him out, though."
The flat Gummi Ship flew towards them. Van was probably right.
"I guess we'll find out, then."
The glass dome had an airlock in the back. Before landing in it, Aqua caught sight of the ship's interior. The floor had a design with Scrooge's face on it and several '$' symbols. What those meant, she had no idea.
"Aqua! Vanitas! You're lookin' hale and hearty." Scrooge greeted them with open arms, though his expression was a bit suspicious.
"The sick days helped," Van replied coolly. "What are you doing out here?"
"Why, broadenin' me business horizons, of course!" Scrooge gestured towards the wide expanse of the Lanes Between around them. "Since I've cashed in on the Bistrot, it's time to find meself a new investment!"
"Well, good luck with that," Aqua replied. She had no desire to talk business with the duck. "We're on our way to celebrate—ah, on a vacation. We just left Twilight Town."
"A vacation? Well, I'm fresh out of Disney Town passes, if that's what ye were after." He crossed his arms, tapping his cane against the floor.
"Hard pass," Van said flatly.
"I already have one," Aqua added. She hadn't ever used it, though. No one had asked to see it when she'd visited the world. She wasn't sure why a town would require a pass for entry in the first place.
"Ach, so you were one of the grown-ups I told your friend to bring." Scrooge nodded.
Ven had gotten the passes from him? Aqua had never realized that. Maybe that explained why the pass looked like it had been printed on cheap cardstock. She wouldn't be surprised if Scrooge had bribed Ven with an entirely made-up reward.
"Well, then ye owe me too, doncha?" He gave her an appraising glance.
"Here we go…" Van rolled his eyes.
"Ach, no need to be like that, me former top chef! Why, this could be just the opportunity you never knew ye needed! After all, who needs a vacation when there's money to be made?"
"Pass. Again." Van linked his arm through Aqua's armored one. "C'mon, we heard him out. Let's go."
Scrooge heaved an exaggerated sigh.
"Youths today… no proper investin' spirit." He shook his head. "I thought that shrewd lass in New Orleans had what it takes to make a racket, but she blew me off, same as ye. Said she was right fine with her business the way it was, and she dinna want to deal with any more talking animals. Animal, my feathers!"
Aqua and Van shared a look.
"You were trying to buy out another restaurant?" He frowned.
At least Van had refrained from making any insensitive animal comments. Aqua might not have been Scrooge's biggest fan, but she could still be civil. As long as Scrooge behaved himself, anyway.
"Of course! Le Grand Bistrot turned such a profit, it's only sensible! I just need to find a world with the right atmosphere. Which is where you two fine adventurers would come in—"
"Actually, we're headed to New Orleans ourselves," Aqua interrupted. If a world had good enough food for Scrooge to attempt buying them out, Van was sure to love it.
Scrooge's eyes widened. His bill flapped comically as he tried to come up with another argument to persuade them.
"But—if ye could—"
"Aaaand that's pass number three." Van tugged Aqua towards the airlock. "Have fun ripping someone else off."
"But ye owe me—!"
Aqua stifled a laugh as she put her helmet back on and flew after Van.
XXX
"Woah," Vanitas gasped as Aqua held open the door of Tiana's Palace for him.
At least the new clothes he and Aqua had bought when they'd first landed on the world meant they blended in, so every stranger didn't stare back at his wonderstruck expression immediately. Aqua had even disguised her hair as its natural black after remembering what had happened in Corona. She compensated for the "boring" color (black was great, thank you very much) with her pale blue ankle-length dress.
It was no wonder Scrooge had wanted a piece of this place. Soft but upbeat jazz wafted from a band playing somewhere deeper in the restaurant. A chandelier hung in front of a skylight in the ceiling, and combined with the other dangling lamps, it bathed the massive room in a warm yellow glow. Wide-leaved plants and silky tablecloths added splashes of comfortable green. The shade was inviting enough to make him feel a little less out of place in such a fancy building.
And of course, on top of the tablecloths were platters of wonderful-smelling food. Though, strangely, he kept detecting a hint of bleach behind the aromatic spices.
"Aqua, have I told you you're the best girlfriend ever?" Vanitas grinned.
"Yes, but I don't mind hearing it again." She smirked back.
"You're the best girlfriend ever. I knew you'd plan an awesome vacation, but wow." He wrapped his arm around her waist and took another deep breath.
Mostly he smelled Aqua, this time. Cotton and nectar and cherry blossoms. But behind that, the weird bleach scent remained.
Oh well. Maybe they needed bleach to keep this place looking so polished and clean. It wasn't going to keep him from enjoying the food.
"I'm glad you like it." Aqua pecked him on the cheek. This day just kept getting better and better.
A waitress came and sat them at a table on the second story. A restaurant with two floors, now that was something else. Or at least one-and-a-half floors, since the second story was more of a balcony, leaving the middle of the restaurant open all the way to the ceiling. He had a great view of the skylight from up here.
"I have no idea what to order," he realized, staring at the menu.
He should've asked the waitress what was the best before she'd left to get their drinks. He didn't even know what half of these dishes were, though at least he recognized most of the ingredients. He felt a twinge of satisfaction at noticing okra in the description for a House Gumbo.
"We're on vacation. Get a little of everything," Aqua suggested.
He laughed.
"Easy for you to say. I'm the one buying." Not that he minded; everything in this world was dirt cheap after factoring in the exchange rate.
"No you're not! I have munny too," she told him. "Isa didn't need all the munny we made from fixing up the mansion's antique furniture."
Vanitas hadn't seen her make the exchange for the New Orleans "dollars"—which looked strangely like Scrooge's gummi ship. Maybe she'd talked to the moogle while Vanitas was looking at the dark brown vest he'd bought afterwards.
"Sweet. The whole menu it is." Vanitas grinned wickedly, and was delighted when she mirrored the expression.
"The… whole…?" The young waitress looked baffled—maybe even terrified—when she returned to take their order.
"What, do we not look like we can eat it?" Vanitas asked, eyes narrowed.
The portion sizes looked pretty big, from the plates he'd seen on the adjacent tables, but they could preserve leftovers indefinitely with Aqua's special combination of Blizzard, Stop, and Mini. Besides, you could never have too much food on hand for emergencies.
"No, no—! Um, let me just ask the kitchen. Make sure we have everything. Yeah." The waitress nodded before bustling off.
Aqua winced.
"It's fine," Vanitas told her before she could feel too guilty. "I've had worse orders. At least everything we asked for is actually on the menu."
"True…"
Quicker than he'd expected, a dark-skinned man with a gleaming grin and cream-colored suit jacket glided towards their table.
"The whole menu, eh? You must have wonderful taste, my friends!" He stood between their seats, clapping a hand on Vanitas's right shoulder and Aqua's left. The unexpected touch nearly sent a Hareraiser streaking out of him. "May I ask, what is the occasion? An anniversary? A proposal? Eh?"
He gave Vanitas's shoulder another friendly shake. He felt like he'd fallen in a washing machine.
"O-oh, it's nothing special—" Aqua started at the same time Vanitas said, "We're on vacation. And tomorrow's our seven-month anniversary, if that counts."
Aqua looked at him, gaping. What? Did she forget? He didn't expect anything special—he'd been pretty sure only whole-year anniversaries mattered, until Ven and Kairi had celebrated their one-month anniversary last week. Either way, he'd at least thought that Aqua had kept track of the days too. It had been a pretty big deal for them in the Realm of Darkness.
"Seven months! Congratulations!" The man beamed. "It just so happens that tomorrow is also the one-year anniversary of this restaurant."
"Really?" Aqua asked, seeming to get ahold of herself. Her face was still bright pink, though. Vanitas hoped she wasn't too embarrassed about forgetting, even if the color was always cute on her.
"Really! Lottie—ah, Madame La Bouff is throwing an anniversary ball at her manor tomorrow evening. You should come celebrate with us, if you're not too sick of cajun food after tonight!" He laughed.
"We wouldn't want to impose…"
"Nonsense!" he interrupted Aqua. "The more the merrier, my wife and I always say! What good is good food without good friends to share it with, am I right? Now, speaking of my wife, she did tell me I have to make sure you pay up front before she starts cooking you two a royal banquet."
"Your wife is the chef?" Vanitas perked up.
"The very Tiana in Tiana's Palace, yes! Not the only chef of course, but she can't stay out of the kitchen too long without getting antsy. I've never met a harder worker than her." He pressed his palm to his heart with a dreamy sigh.
"Aww." Aqua smiled. "My boyfriend here is a chef back home, too."
"Oh, really? I'll have to introduce you two then! I'm sure she'd love to talk shop, monsieur…"
"Vanitas," he said, taking the man's hand for a shake when it was offered. "And this is my girlfriend Aqua. I wouldn't be a chef at all if it wasn't for her encouraging me."
Aqua blushed again, and he smiled smugly.
"Vanitas and Aqua! With exotic names like that, you must have some exciting recipes to share! My name is Naveen, by the way; I believe I neglected to introduce myself. Most people tend to recognize me on sight, you see."
"This must be a really popular restaurant, then," Aqua said.
"I'm excited to see if the food lives up to it." Vanitas rubbed his palms together, then reached for his munny pouch.
The flimsy dollars were wadded up haphazardly in there, but he was sure he had enough to afford the menu, considering how cheap clothes had been.
"Ha ha, yes, I am recognized for the restaurant…" Naveen chuckled, tugging at his collar. "Oh! Yes, I am sure that is plenty of green, monsieur Vanitas. More than that duck was offering Tiana…" He murmured that last part.
"Figures." Vanitas snorted. "Scrooge is a cheapskate. He used to own the restaurant I cook at. You guys made the right choice to send him packing."
"That was all Tiana," Naveen admitted. "She has more business sense than I could fit in my head. And, well, this restaurant is like her child. She could never sell even a piece of it, not for all the money in the world. And, well, we love Louis, but we do not need any more talking animals or magic, no thank you."
He nodded towards the stage below, where an alligator was blaring along on a trumpet. Vanitas had just assumed that was normal on this world. Apparently Aqua's hunch to keep a low profile had been right, though.
Naveen took their menus with a promise to personally bring their appetizers; apparently their previous waitress was too faint of heart to handle their several-course meal.
"Maybe we did overdo it…" Aqua winced again once Naveen left.
"Come on, how often do we actually go out to eat?"
"Well—"
"Me bringing home food from the Bistrot doesn't count."
Aqua pouted, but didn't argue.
"Besides," Vanitas leaned back in his chair, sipping his glass of water, "it's basically our anniversary."
"...It is, isn't it?" she smiled over the lip of her glass.
He shrugged.
"If seven months counts, anyway. I thought they were like birthdays, but Ven and Kairi celebrated theirs after one month, so that's like, seven whole anniversaries we could've done something special for."
He'd celebrate every day of being with Aqua if it was up to him. But he doubted he could get away with ordering a full menu that often.
She put her water down quickly, the sound of glass on tablecloth harsher than it had any right to be.
"Of course seven months counts! Seven is the most auspicious number there is." Her voice slipped into the formal cadence she used when talking about proper spell technique or keyblade wielder traditions. "In ancient times, seven months was the minimum duration a keyblade wielder couple was required to court before—"
"Before what?" Vanitas asked, brow furrowing at Aqua's flustered expression. "Is this another one of those lin secrets you're not supposed to tell me yet?"
"Um… not exactly." She took a hasty gulp of water. "I just realized I might have done something stupid."
"Yeah?" He grinned and sat up straighter, the front legs of his chair hitting the floor with a thump.
"Shut up," she mumbled.
"Never." He crossed his arms and leaned across the table. "Tell me, or I won't share any of the dessert."
She snorted.
"Like you could eat all of it if you tried."
"Watch me. And tell me." He grinned his best I-promise-to-be-so-annoying-if-you-don't grin.
"Fine," she huffed. "It's not even that big of a deal—well it is a big deal but—ugh. Traditionally, you have to date seven months before you propose."
He blinked.
"Oh."
Was that why Aqua had been gaping earlier? She'd been about to tell Naveen that it was a proposal, and he'd cut her off by saying it was just an anniversary-slash-vacation? Did she think he didn't want her to propose?
He didn't know a lot about proposing. Or marriage. Or weddings. But he knew he wanted to be with Aqua forever. It hadn't taken him seven months to figure that out.
"Not that I'm saying you have to propose! Or that you should!" Aqua waved her hands wildly, nearly knocking over her water. "Some people wait a lot longer—the old Masters just didn't want anyone forming unions without a minimum time for consideration—anyway I'm not proposing I just wanted to say that seven months is special but I did, um—I got you a present. And I probably shouldn't have."
Vanitas's head swam. She wasn't proposing. Okay. He shouldn't be so disappointed by that. He hadn't even considered that as a possibility until about ten seconds ago.
Plus, she'd said this anniversary was special, and she'd gotten him a present. He had a present for her, too, but he wasn't sure if now was the best time to bring that up—especially since she'd just said she shouldn't have gotten him something.
She twisted around, pulling something from her bag that hung on the back of her chair. She held the object—a velvet pouch—close to her chest before gingerly setting it on the table.
"I was going to give it to you tomorrow… but it's better if I do it now. Right now we've been together less than seven months, so this can't be a proposal." She nodded, features hardened with determination, as if she were going into battle instead of giving her boyfriend an anniversary gift.
Normally he wouldn't complain about getting something early, but now nervousness clawed at his stomach. Maybe he wouldn't be able to eat all the dessert after all.
"So… I can open it?" he asked, giving her the opportunity to back out of… whatever it was she was doing.
"Of course. It's for you." She nodded again, a little less tense this time.
He wasn't going to leave her hanging. He reached for the pouch—
And moved it just in time for Naveen to place down a banquet of appetizers.
"Bon appetit, my new friends! I'll be happy to pass on any compliments to the chef." He winked, gave a deep bow, and sauntered away.
Vanitas had meant to ask him for a refill. Oh well.
"Um… I guess it can wait until after dinner," Aqua said.
While the platters of soups, breads, and assorted fried foods smelled heavenly, he wasn't going to dig in until he knew what had Aqua so stressed.
He tugged open the pouch.
A golden, gear-like chain slipped out, each link thinner than the width of his thumb. And attached to the bottom of the chain was…
"My old Wayfinder," he whispered reverently.
It wasn't the exact same one; he knew that. It was a little smaller, for one. But each segment of the star was crafted roughly from orange pottery, and a magenta-and-blue ribbon bound the silver keyblade wielder's emblem to its center.
"You told me you missed that one. I know it's not the prettiest, but… well, that's only half the point, anyway." She smiled a little.
"It's a keychain." The opposite end had a clasp for attaching to the bottom of a keyblade. He could feel the name in his mind—Void Staff. So it was similar to Void Gear, probably.
Did she know? Had Naminé told on him after all?
"I wanted you to be able to test it out right away, but, well…" She tilted her head towards the other nearby tables packed with guests.
"No problem."
Vanitas hiked up the tablecloth and stuck his hand under it.
"You—what are you planning to do, climb under there to see it?" Aqua spluttered.
"I was just gonna stick my head under."
She shook her head with a snort.
"Well, you won't have to. Just put the new keychain on—before taking off the original one," she clarified.
He raised an eyebrow, but followed her instructions, moving by feel rather than sight. When he unclipped Void Gear's keychain, he felt the blade lighten, its handle's shape shifting dramatically. Was this meant to be held backhand?
"Take a look," Aqua urged at his confusion.
He pulled his new keyblade out from under the table—and saw that it wasn't a keyblade at all.
It was a cane. The ornate designs running its length and the unique charm hanging from the handle were the only things that set it apart from canes he saw propped against other gentlemen's chairs.
"I hope you like it," she said, biting her lip. "I started on it before you got your medicine."
"When I could barely walk."
He waved the cane a bit above the floor, getting a feel for it. How had she created something like this? How had she even thought of it? Using a keyblade to help him walk—
"You're a genius, Aqua." He beamed up at her. "And you're gonna make my gift look bad. But here, before I decide it's stupid."
He dug her keychain out of his bag. It wasn't wrapped as nicely; he'd just had Naminé help him tape some sketchbook paper around it.
"It was nothing—huh?" She blinked.
"Your gift. I got you one too." He waved it above their food, nearly dropping it in a bowl of something creamy and orangish. "Unless you want to eat this before it gets cold."
"You—you got me a present?"
"Yeah. For our anniversary. What, is there something wrong with that?" Now that he asked, he realized he still didn't know what her gift had to do with proposing.
"No, I just—didn't realize you had."
He shouldn't have worried about the food getting cold. The warmth in her smile could've reheated it all in seconds.
She pulled off the tape more carefully than it deserved, then gasped at the trinket inside. Her mouth hung open wordlessly for a solid ten seconds.
"Can you tell what it is?" he asked, trying not to sound too desperate. Even after hours of practice with Naminé, he wasn't entirely confident in his crafting skills.
"It's Drizzle!" she finally exclaimed, holding the Inversed-shaped charm up by its attached silver chain. Two trails of glistening tears stood out against her pinkening cheeks. "Oh light, Van, it's beautiful."
"It is?" He grinned shyly. "You're not crying 'cause you actually think it's ugly?"
"No, of course not!" She held the lopsided drizzle to her chest, as if protecting it from Vaitas's slander. "I love him. Her?"
"Him. It was supposed to be your old Drizzle, you know…"
"The one who was with me while you were still in the Realm of Darkness." She blinked away tears. "I could feel it, just holding it. Drizzledrop."
He blushed; the name sounded a little silly when she said it out loud.
"It was supposed to be like your other keyblades," he said. "Rainfell, Stormfall…"
"No way." She laughed brightly, taking his hand across the table. Her elbow landed in a pad of butter, but she didn't seem to care. "I love you so much."
He bit the inside of his cheek to hold in the Drizzles that could've burst out right there.
"I love you too. So much." He kissed the back of her hand, since it was the only part of her he could reach. Hopefully he'd have plenty of time to kiss more of her later.
"So… did you know…?" she asked as they started on the food. "No, of course you wouldn't. You didn't even know about the seven month tradition."
"Know what?" he asked through a mouthful of cornbread. (He'd used it to wipe the butter off Aqua's elbow.)
"Um, about… exchanging keychains." She sipped a spoonful of soup.
"Nope." He dipped the rest of his cornbread in it. "Don't make me threaten to eat all your food again."
It was really, really good food. He didn't know if they had any of these spices in Twilight Town, but if they didn't, he'd be sure to bring enough back for himself and Remy. Hopefully Tiana could teach him how to fry stuff like this, too. He'd never gotten such a nice crispy coating on any of his dishes before.
Aqua rolled her eyes.
"Well, it's a good thing we swapped presents today. Making keychains for each other, um, is… that's how keyblade wielders used to propose."
His brow furrowed.
"Wait. So you made me a keychain," he said slowly. "And you planned to give it to me tomorrow. On our seven month anniversary."
She choked on the grilled shrimp she'd bitten into.
"It—" she hacked, "was an accident!"
"Aqua. You know all the keyblade rules like the back of your hand. You really want me to believe you were accidentally proposing?"
"Yes!" She tried to stab a bite of fried meat—he couldn't tell what kind beneath the breading—but didn't realize she was holding a spoon. "I didn't know you were going to get me a keychain too!"
That was a fair enough point. It didn't explain why she was so embarrassed—more embarrassed—before opening his present, but he guessed that was just Aqua.
"Okay. I believe you." He nodded. "But for the record, I would've said yes."
XXX
I would've said yes.
Those words tasted better than any of the food Aqua ate that night, even the powder-dusted beignets.
He knew that she was a mess. He knew that she was stubborn, that she was controlling, that she was violent and mean and scared and brittle. He still wanted to marry her.
She had half a mind to take her present back and regift it tomorrow. But she wasn't that stupid. She knew she wasn't ready to get married, for all the above reasons (which she was working on) and more. Van probably didn't understand all that marriage entailed, and he definitely didn't understand all the layers of ceremony that would go into a keyblade wielder wedding. He hadn't even been adopted into her lin yet; she'd been too busy preparing Naminé to go through the initiations with him, too. And if they did propose, she'd make sure they were on the same page about it beforehand.
Still. That didn't stop her from daydreaming, from imagining a future she'd hardly dared to before. A future where they'd already defeated the Organization. A future where she wore a bright golden dress beneath her lin's embroidered shawl, and they stepped through the Land of Departure's Sealing Arches, and they bound their keyblades together before the sunrise…
If it was a true daydream, Master Eraqus would've been there to officiate the ceremony. To trickle ocean water over their heads as a symbol of journeys and rebirth. Hopefully Terra would be willing to fill that role if—when—the day eventually came.
By the time they worked through a quarter of the buffet at their table, the restaurant had nearly emptied. Stars twinkled above the skylights. How long had she and Van been talking and grazing, enjoying a feast worthy of royalty?
She might not have been as enthusiastic about the food as he was—if only because nobody could match Van's enthusiasm for food—but the spicy flavors reminded her a bit of her homeworld. Nostalgia for the past, warmth in the present, and hope for the future blended in her. If this night could never end…
Well, then she'd never have the future she wished for. So when Naveen returned, she and Van agreed it was time to leave for the night.
"How much is it?" Van asked, getting his munny pouch back out.
He'd convinced her that he'd just been joking earlier, that there was no point in them both trying to split it, and his munny was basically hers anyway. This didn't help Aqua's runaway marriage daydreams.
"Actually, ah, my wife would like to speak with you before settling your tab." Naveen tapped his pointer fingers together. "It is nothing bad, do not worry! She just, ah… well, if you could meet her in the kitchen, I will box up your leftovers for you. I assume you will want to take them with you, yes?"
Aqua shared a look with Van. Naveen had been nice and all, but… well, there was no way that didn't sound suspicious.
"I don't smell any darkness," Van whispered. "Not sure I'd smell anything past the food and bleach, though."
"Bleach?" Aqua mouthed back.
"I do not mean to rush you!" Naveen said, obviously intending to rush them. "But we will need to close soon. Normally we would be open later on a Friday evening, but with the catering to prepare for tomorrow…"
Friday? Interesting. It had been Tuesday in Twilight Town. But considering the warmer weather and greenery around the restaurant, she figured that more than the day of the week was different here.
"Of course. We wouldn't want to keep you," she said, her politeness winning out over her skepticism. There was nothing that annoyed Van more than customers who stayed past closing at the Bistrot. Besides maybe Scrooge himself, or the process of deboning fish, or when Lea left plates caked with ketchup and barbeque sauce in the sink… there were a lot of things that annoyed Van, actually.
She gave Van a nod, and they rose from the table, him pushing himself up with his new cane. She was glad it seemed to help, but also hoped he wouldn't take it as a sign that she didn't want him leaning on her all the time.
Naveen gave them directions to the kitchen downstairs. Van's nose wrinkled as they approached, but Aqua couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary.
"Trap?" she asked, itching to summon Stormfall. Unlike him, she hadn't been able to discreetly change her keychain—and even if she could, she didn't want to test out Drizzledrop for the first time during a real combat.
"I dunno. I don't think so?" He sniffed again. "It smells like… oh."
He smacked his forehead.
"What?" she asked.
"Princess." He tugged her forward, through the double doors of the kitchen. "The bleach smell. I thought it was real bleach, but it's—her."
He pointed to a dark-skinned woman in a light green dress. Her curly black hair was trying to escape from its bun on top of her head as she swept between the stoves and ovens and fryers. There were two other men—one large and dark and one scrawny and pale—assisting her, but neither moved as quickly or deliberately between dishes.
"A Princess of Heart." Aqua could feel it too, now that she was closer. A warmth pulsed from the young woman, though if she hadn't been looking, she could've mistaken it for coming from the ovens.
"I should've recognized it sooner. We've been living with Kairi long enough." Van shook his head.
"It's okay. Neither of us was expecting to find a Princess here." Aqua's lips drew to a thin line.
Technically, this was a good thing. Finding a Princess meant they could protect her, the way Queen Minnie had recently sent Donald and Goofy to protect Rapunzel. Vanellope was functionally immortal as long as she stayed in Sugar Rush, and Boo's door was guarded by a company of monsters, so they didn't require additional protection right now. But this woman—Tiana—seemed like a normal person with a normal job, for all that her restaurant was named after a palace. Guarding her without getting in the way would be difficult. Not to mention if any Organization members already knew she was here…
Ugh. Aqua was supposed to be on vacation.
She hid her disappointment behind a smile when Tiana turned and noticed them. The woman gave some quick instructions to the two men before dusting her hands on her apron and approaching Van.
"Vanitas and Aqua, right? Naveen tells me you've got some cooking experience." She got right down to business.
"He has a lot more than me," Aqua told her. She could tell from the scrunched look on Van's face that he was fighting back a light-induced headache. "Why?"
"I hate to ask this of a couple of guests, but…" Tiana sighed. "Naveen told you about the party tomorrow, right?"
"For your anniversary?" Aqua said, and she nodded.
"Exactly. And even though it's my restaurant's anniversary, I've gotta be the one to do the catering. Which I normally wouldn't mind, but… The long and short of the matter is, Buford and Travis here can only do so much. I normally have two more cooks, but they caught a bug yesterday and haven't made it back in." Tiana made eye contact with Van.
"Oh." He perked up a little. "That's it? You just want some help cooking for the party?"
Aqua relaxed a bit too. She'd been worried about any number of things when they'd been called down here. This was honestly the best case scenario—though she did feel even guiltier about ordering so much food now.
"I doubt you need the extra work with the funds you flashed Naveen, especially if you're supposed to be on vacation, but I'd be willing to waive the bill on your meal if you can spare a couple hours tomorrow. I can offer free lodging for the night, too." Her voice sounded tired, like she already expected him to say no.
Aqua had planned on camping, like they did in most of the worlds they visited. Maybe renting a room if they were as cheap as everything else here. But a free place to stay did sound pretty nice.
"Let me just check with my girlfriend first," Van told Tiana, before smiling up at Aqua. "I'm sure you made plans for tomorrow, but do you think we can squeeze in some Princess-saving?"
She suppressed a snort. She hadn't made any plans at all, but she wasn't about to tell him that now. Besides, this gave them a good excuse to stay close and make sure Tiana was safe, at least until they could call in someone else to guard her.
"I think we've got time, if you're up for it."
He still hadn't gone back to the Bistrot yet; he was planning on returning to work after their vacation. At this point, it had been almost three months since he'd been in a restaurant kitchen.
And he still couldn't hold a knife.
"I'll be fine. I was wanting to learn how to cook some of this stuff, anyway." He grinned. "Alright, Tiana. Looks like we're all yours."
"Really?" she beamed. "Naveen told me it wouldn't hurt to ask, but I didn't think you'd actually—thank you! You hear that boys?" she called back to the other two cooks, who were mostly cleaning up now, storing the dishes they'd finished cooking in the refrigerator. "We got us some help for tomorrow. Vanitas and Aqua are gonna give us a hand."
"No kidding?" the bigger man laughed. "Hope you're ready, small fries! Princess Tiana here runs this ship tighter than the Navy!"
Tiana rolled her eyes. "Don't pay Buford any mind. They never let him into the Navy."
"Hey, this means we might actually get to dance tomorrow!" The skinny cook with a bit of red hair poking out from under his hat grinned.
"No one's gonna dance with you anyway, Travis!" Buford gave him a hearty slap on the back.
"Hey, I can dream!" He adjusted his chef hat and gave a little bow, which only made it slip back down over his forehead. "Thanks, Tiana! Thanks, new hires!"
"Er—we're just helping out for the day." Van raised his hands. "I've already got a job. I don't need another one."
"Travis gets carried away, but he's sweet," Tiana said, then whispered, "He's also still learning his way around the kitchen, so don't take any advice from him. Ask me or Buford if there's anything you need."
With that settled, Tiana sent them back up to Naveen, who was cleaning up the restaurant proper for the night.
"You said yes?" He grinned, and they nodded. "Bless you, bless you!"
"Are you going to be helping out tomorrow, too?" Aqua asked, hefting the stack of cardboard take-out boxes in her arms. She wouldn't be able to shrink them until they were out of sight.
"I will do my best! But I am still not much help outside of mincing. Tiana says my pretty face is more suited for being out here, charming our customers." He gestured widely to the restaurant with a half-spin. "Now, I suppose you have accepted our offer of a royal suite as well, yes?"
"Royal?" Aqua raised her eyebrows.
"Yes, of course! Only the finest for our fine volunteers-slash-guests. You will love it, I am sure!"
Aqua had thought he might be exaggerating, or trying to butter them up somehow. But the mansion they arrived at was every bit like the castles Aqua had visited in other worlds, from the fountain in the front to the absurd amount of balconies and windows. The only difference was that it was wider than it was tall.
"Is this your house?" Van sounded impressed, as if he didn't also live in a mansion. Granted, this one was obviously in better repair than the one they'd taken over in Twilight Town.
"Mine? Ha! No. This is Madame La Bouff's residence. But, I have a key!"
Aqua shared a skeptical look with Van, which Naveen must have noticed.
"I do! We are good friends! In fact, we nearly got married, once," he said, and true to his word, the golden key he held unlocked the front door. "You will love her. She is very friendly—ah, as long as you do not interrupt her beauty sleep. Second floor, third door on the left is the guest room. Sweetest dreams, my friends!"
Naveen waved. Then he left.
Leaving Aqua and Van alone in the house of some rich stranger.
"Cool." Van grinned. "I was afraid we were gonna have to share a place with Tiana. It would've been a pain to sleep with that smell."
"We share a place with Kairi," Aqua pointed out, keeping her voice low. She didn't want to risk waking up Madame La Bouff, whoever she was.
"Yeah but her room's like, on the other side of the mansion. And she smells different. Maybe because she's been a Princess longer? Or because I had more time to get used to it."
"That's probably it."
"Or because Ven corrupted her—"
Aqua shoved him with her shoulder, nearly spilling the stack of take-out boxes. They weren't being observed now, so she worked on casting Mini. Blizzard and Stop could wait until they got to their room.
And, wow. Their room was extravagant. Green hardwood floors, tall windows set in walls papered with fruit and vegetable patterns, extra chairs, and the bed—
"Why does the bed have a hat?" Van asked, dismissing his cane and flopping down on the mattress.
Aqua let out a snorting laugh.
"It's called a canopy, idiot," she teased, setting the leftovers on the wooden dresser before flopping down next to him.
"Rude." He stuck his tongue out at her.
"My idiot." She kissed him, letting his tongue slip into her mouth.
He didn't complain. He put his hands on her waist, pulling her close and deepening the kiss.
It wasn't like they couldn't kiss at home. But being somewhere else, without the worry in the back of her head that Ven or Naminé or even Lea might walk in on them—well, it was nice, to say the least.
Eventually she pulled back, resting her forehead against his. She hadn't even changed into her pajamas yet; she shouldn't get carried away.
"You didn't know what okra was," he suddenly said with a grin. "Idiot."
"Oh, shut up." She kissed him again.
After a while, he reminded her that she hadn't finished preserving the leftovers, and she went to do that while Van cleaned up in the connected bathroom. Then they switched, and Aqua washed and changed from her pale blue dress into the pink silk nightgown she'd bought on one of her shopping trips with Van.
Her reflection in the fancy vanity looked like a princess. From her hair—which she returned to her favorite blue—to her smile, to her chest.
She blushed a little at the sight of herself. Yes, she'd known that the estrogen was working—the tenderness of her chest beneath her silicone breastforms had become normal by now. She examined her growing breasts with excitement almost daily. They were still small—probably even smaller than Lea's, which was frustrating to think about—but by now…
Maybe Van would notice. Not that he was likely to care either way, but… well, it was at least like having a new haircut. It would be nice if he liked them, at least aesthetically.
She left the bathroom, turned off the lamp, and slid into bed beside him.
He latched onto her almost immediately, his arms wrapping around her waist and his cheek brushing against her back.
"Missed you," he mumbled, pressing a kiss between her shoulderblades, in the ticklish spot that always made her back arch.
"I was in the bathroom for fifteen minutes." She giggled.
"Seventeen. Too long."
"Excuse me for wanting to wash my hair."
He nuzzled into the nape of her neck and sniffed exaggeratedly.
"Mm. Orange and ginger. You're excused."
She laughed. If there was one thing she could always count on him to notice, it was whatever scents she used. She sometimes made a game of choosing the most outlandish soaps and lotions she could find, just to mess with him. Tonight, though, she'd picked one she knew he liked.
It should've been easy to relax in his arms, in this luxurious bed. She'd managed to push off her worries for most of the night. But the dark did tend to bring out her most anxious thoughts.
"Am I squeezing you too tight?" Van asked, apparently feeling her tension.
"No, it's just—the usual." She sighed. "Hoping Ven and Naminé and everyone else are okay. Wishing I knew how to save Terra. Wondering if this is a trap designed to lure us into a false sense of security."
"Hmm. If so, it's a pretty good trap." Van yawned.
"I'm serious about that one, actually."
Worrying about their family was probably pointless, but worrying about her and her boyfriend's current safety? That was normal. She should probably be more worried, honestly.
She… wasn't as worried as she could be. That was a strange realization. She couldn't decide if it was comforting or not.
"C'mon, we got dropped off by a Princess' husband. And they need us to cook. We can't do that if we're mortally injured or dead."
He tangled his legs with hers, chilling her with his icy cold feet. She kicked him back.
"Mortally injured means the same thing as dead," she pointed out.
"Whatever. Besides, I gave you a super cool present you can use to beat up any bad guys who try to kill us in our sleep." He yawned again, louder and more obnoxiously this time. "So there."
She sat up straight, eyes flying open. It didn't do much—there were no lights in here, artificial or otherwise. The faint starlight through the window wasn't enough to see by.
"I completely forgot! I haven't tried out Drizzledrop yet!"
"Oh yeah." He sat up too, the covers falling around his waist. "Uh, I don't know if it'll be better than Stormfall, honestly. I mean, you probably won't be able to make a glider out of it, and the stats are… uh... well, I think it might give you more time on your Command Styles and Shotlocks. I don't really know how I did that, it was kind of an accident."
She let him ramble as she lit a hovering Fire, summoned Stormfall, and swapped the keychains. It was true that she'd probably end up defaulting back to Stormfall most of the time, but Sora had been teaching them a technique for switching between different keyblades in battle. Extending the duration of certain special abilities could come in handy in a pinch.
Stormfall transformed in a flash of light. She and Van both flinched at the sudden brightness, and she had to blink away spots before she could see her present.
"It's adorable," she gushed.
Van groaned, flopping back on his pillow.
"It's not supposed to be adorable. It's supposed to be deadly."
"I'm sure it's both." She grinned.
Two pronged Drizzle antennae formed the teeth of the weapon, flowing into the profile of an arrowlike head with blue eyes. A conglomerate of Inversed made up the thick shaft, and a white Unversed emblem's wicket points became the handguard. It was a hefty weapon, but for a novice keychain-crafter, the handiwork was incredibly detailed.
"How did you manage to make this?" she asked him.
He shrugged.
"Naminé helped a lot," he admitted. "Something about talking to the keychain and giving it memories? I don't really know how it worked. But it did."
Memories? Aqua hadn't taught her anything like that. Naminé must have been experimenting on her own.
"Well, I love it." She dismissed the keyblade and the Fire, plunging them back into darkness.
"Good." Even in the dark, she could hear the smile in his voice. "I'll still practice more before we get married, though. I want to make you a keyblade so awesome you'll throw up."
"Throw up?" She cackled, flopping back down beside him.
Her stomach did feel fluttery just thinking about it, though, so maybe he was onto something.
"Or something. I couldn't think of anything cool to say." He sighed dramatically. "Lea would've said something like 'so awesome it'll blow your tits off,' but I think you put a lot of effort into those. You probably don't want me to ruin all your hard work."
If she'd been cackling before, now she was downright wheezing. She buried her face in her pillow, hoping it muffled the sound enough to avoid waking anyone.
She wished she'd buried her face in his. Her tongue in his mouth. She wanted to make out with him and hold him and for him to do a hundred things to her that she didn't even dare to write in her diary. The warmth coursing through her forcibly pushed out what remained of her worries, at least for now.
"I love you," she said, once she'd gotten ahold of herself enough.
There were still tears and snot running down her face from laughing so hard. She flipped her pillow over to hide the mess she'd made on it. "I love you so much."
"I love you too, Aqua. I'll try not to actually make you throw up."
"Do you want to touch my boobs," she blurted.
He froze. She could just barely make out the glint of his wide golden irises in the starlight.
"Oh light did I actually say that." She groaned. "Please forget I said anything. Go to bed. Goodnight."
Instead he grabbed her waist.
"Do you want me to touch your boobs?" he asked, sounding like he was trying not to cackle, and very much not forgetting or going to bed. "You know. The one thing you told me never ever to do."
She crossed her arms. She wasn't sure if the goal was to hide her boobs, or make them appear more prominent. Then she realized it didn't matter, because it was too dark for him to see anyway.
"We were enemies then," she huffed. "I told you not to do lots of things!"
"Yeah, but you were really serious about that one." His grip on her waist loosened, as if he was considering that touching her at all might be a bad idea. Which was stupid, because she wanted nothing more than for him to touch her everywhere right now. "Is this some kind of test? Are you trying to see if I actually deserve to marry you?"
"No, and no. It was a joke. I was joking," she lied.
"Aqua…"
She tried to roll over. To hide her stupid face and her stupid small boobs and her stupid desire that he didn't share, no matter how much he loved her and how much he would promise to be with her forever. How could she want anything more than that? She knew how he felt, that he didn't understand her urges and wants, and it wasn't fair for her to ask—
He climbed on top of her. His knees straddling her waist, his hands pressing her shoulders flat against the mattress. Her nightgown had gotten tangled up somewhere in there, so she could feel his cold foot sending shivers against the outside of her thigh. Her heart pounded in her ears, like a knock on a door she prayed he would answer.
"Aqua. You're confusing. Just tell me what you want." He leaned down further, trying to find her eyes in the darkness. "If you want me to touch your boobs, I will."
His voice was so serious it was almost funny.
Despite everything, it was also really, really hot.
"Yes," she managed to get out, licking her dry lips. "Please."
XXX
Xemnas was sprawled out across the top three-quarters of the bed, as usual. He was the Superior, used to taking up as much space as he wanted—which apparently included all four of the king-sized bed's pillows.
Well, Xigbar could deal with that. Xemnas's chest made a better pillow, anyway.
He traced the faint scars below Xemnas's pectorals, matching them up with the jagged one on his own cheek. There was something poetic about that—about them both having old wounds Terra had left behind. Ironically, the ones on Xemnas's chest were probably more intentional than the one on Xigbar's face.
There was no moon out tonight, which was the only reason Xigbar had been able to convince Xemnas to turn in early. So of course it figured that Xemnas was out like a light, leaving Xigbar to pine without even banter to distract him.
They'd found a Princess. Well, the Dusks had. They weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, though, and they'd managed to grab the restaurant's two lady cooks besides Tiana. Xemnas had been forced to turn them into Dusks or risk blowing their cover, but even that was dangerous. The Princess might get smart if too many people disappeared.
They needed to strike quickly. Discreetly. Directly.
And they would. Tomorrow.
Maybe once this job was done, he and Xemnas could finish unpacking… all this.
Xemnas's chest rose and fell, and Xigbar let himself imagine that something beat inside it.