If you don't follow me on twitter, tumblr, or deviantart, you may not know, but I'm turning the fanfic "Sweet and Salty Days" into an audiobook and looking for auditions. Check those social media sites for more information!

Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!

My OCs © to me!

Chapter 16: Waves

"Well, I'm a bit worried lately and not sure what to do."

"About what?" Jiminy asked.

Terra let out a sigh. "Ven's nightmares. Last time they were so bad, there was darkness coming off him."

"Nightmares?"

"Wait, did Ven not tell you!? He promised he would."

Jiminy tapped his chin. "That is interesting."

Yeah... it was.

"Come on! I want to go too!"

"After those nightmares?" Terra raised an eyebrow. "You've been exhausted. Not to mention you lied to us and to Jiminy."

"What?" Aqua asked.

"Ven didn't tell Jiminy about the nightmares."

"Ven?"

The boy flinched a little. "I just... I didn't think they were that big of a deal. It was just a dream. And... I didn't want to tell him or worry anyone."

"Another reason you shouldn't come."

"But I'm a delegate, and we haven't really gotten a tour of the islands before." Ven huffed.

Terra rubbed his temple. "Ok. You can come on one condition."

"What?"

"The next time we go to the Realm of Darkness, you will stay out here."

Ven's jaw dropped. "Seriously!?"

"Seriously."

Aqua nodded. "The dreams have started since we started going, and you said they've been getting worse. So, you aren't going."

The boy's face fell. "But I want to help. Sora did so much to help me. I can't just sit on the sidelines and wait."

"There might be another way you can help, even if it isn't looking for Sora, and it won't put your mental health in jeopardy."

"How?"

"We are going to the islands," Aqua smiled, "maybe Sora's parents would like someone to help them out. Helping his family would probably make Sora very happy."

Ven blinked.

Yeah, that would.

"Alright. I can do that." He paused. "Wait, Aqua, you're coming too?"

"Of course. I want to see the islands some more too, and I want to check on Sora, Riku, and Kairi's families to see how they're doing."

Terra grinned. "Then let's get ready to go."

The trio arrived at the main island before the rest of the delegates.

"This place is just stunning."

"You bet it is." They turned and saw Miyu and Akiko approaching them, followed by Kairi's mother, Risa.

"Nice to see you again."

"Same to you."

Ven looked at Sora's dad before walking up to him. "Um, can I talk for a moment?"

Miyu blinked. "Sure." They stepped away, the man smiling down at him. "What's up?"

"Do you and your wife mind if I stop by and help out sometimes? I'm not allowed to go to the Realm of Darkness anymore because it makes me have horrible nightmares. And I want to help in some way, and if I can't help look for Sora, the least I can do is help out you and your wife."

Miyu smiled warmly, his eyes becoming wet for a moment. "Sure. Absolutely. I don't mind at all, and I'm sure Yoko won't mind, but I'll ask her. All of you are welcome anytime… Oh look, the others are here." He wiped his eyes as he stepped away.

A gummi ship landed on the beach and the other delegates all stepped out.

Immediately, Jenna gasped. "Oh my! It's beautiful!"

"Wow!"

"You live in a paradise." Sarafa giggled.

Akiko nodded. "That we do. Everyone, this is the mayor of the islands, Risa Uchida."

"A pleasure to meet all of you." Risa looked around. "And while our home may be small, there is a lot to see. So, let's get this tour started, shall we?"

"Of course(1)."

Miyu pointed to a restaurant called 'Wayfarers' as the tour began to wrap up. "And we'll be finishing up with lunch here. My wife and their husbands all run the place."

"Really?" Ortensia looked up at Risa. "Must be nice for everyone to be so close."

"It is."

They entered the restaurant to find it fairly full, but a large table in the back bore a large 'reserved' sign.

"Welcome to Wayfarers." Kairi's dad and Risa's husband walked up to greet them, a set of menus in his arms.

Risa smiled, gesturing to him. "This is my husband, Tai."

"Nice to meet all of you. Follow me." He led them to the table.

From there, they could see into the kitchen where Sora's mom and Riku's dad both stood behind the counter cooking. The two waved at them.

"Let us know what you want. It's on the house." Tai handed everyone a menu.

The other patrons stared over at the collection of strange and unique individuals that sat at the large table. Whispers passed from person to person, but no one approached.

"Everything looks delicious." Hope closed the menu.

"It is." Yoko called from the kitchen, making everyone in the restaurant laugh a little.

Akiko giggled but held her tongue until everyone had chosen their orders. "Want to watch something funny?"

"Always." Reeve nodded.

The woman stood up and called toward the kitchen. "Yoko! Mamoru! I wonder who can cook their half of this table faster."

The whole restaurant came to a standstill…

Before everyone shifted their seats to watch.

"Honey," Mamoru smirked, "obviously I can."

"Oh really!" Yoko held up a spatula. "Then prove it."

Rolling his eyes, Tai looked at a clock. "Three… two… one… go!"

The two furiously began cooking while the patrons began cheering. The delegates all laughed as the two began playfully throwing insults at each other, but still held large smiles on their faces.

Miyu leaned over to Terra, Aqua, and Ven. "And now you know where Sora and Riku get their competitive streaks from."

The crowd cheered before twelve plates hit the counter and a bell rang. "MINE!" Mamoru cheered!

"Come on!"

Tai, shaking his head, walked to a whiteboard and added a tally mark to a column marked 'M'. "And that's another win for Mamoru, making it eighty-seven to eighty four."

"I'm still in the lead!" Yoko laughed as she pulled off a new ticket and handed it to him.

"Yeah, yeah…"

Akiko giggled as they all received their food. "Never gets old."

"This is a regular thing."

"If they're not doing here, they're doing it at one of our houses." Miyu shook his head. "They've been like this since we were kids. And it absolutely rubbed off on our sons." He pointed to the kitchen. "Those two are like siblings, always have been."

"And we act as the pillars of calm, or sometimes the instigators." Akiko held a hand toward Miyu, who gave her a high five.

Everyone laughed a little.

Tai leaned on the back of his wife's chair. "And then there's us just trying to keep everything from falling apart."

"I'd say we've done a good job so far."

"Agreed."

"Really?" Pointing at them, Miyu smirked. "I seem to remember the two of you pushing them into contests as much as we did."

"Us? Noooooo!"

"Bull!"

Putting food into her mouth, Risa simply shrugged. But her eyes held a slight glimmer.

The Keyblade wielders of the group all smiled warmly.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi had great families.

And as the lunch wrapped up, Ven saw Miyu walk to the kitchen and speak to his wife. She seemed to smile and nodded before glancing his way with a bright smile.

Guess that was a yes.

A few weeks later, Ven packed a bag as Terra and Aqua prepared to leave for the dark realm.

"We'll call you when we get back."

"Ok."

Aqua ruffled his hair. "Have fun on the islands. Take this time to relax, and who knows, maybe those nightmares will go away."

"Maybe they will."

Chirithy stood behind them watching. "I'll hold down the fort here!"

"Alright."

"See you soon."

Terra and Aqua donned their armor before opening a corridor and vanishing into it.

Heading outside, Ven donned his as well and took off through another corridor.

Eventually reaching the islands, he found the warm midday sun beaming down on him.

He walked to the house Riku took them to the first time, knocking on the door.

"It's open!"

Pushing the door open, he came into a simple house with whitewashed wood walls and hardwood floors. "Hello?"

Miyu looked up from some papers before him on the kitchen table, a bright smile crossing his face. "Ventus! Great to see you."

"You can just call me Ven."

"Ok!" He stood up and walked over. "We have a guest room on the second floor next to Sora's room. You can settle in there."

The boy nodded before walking to the bedroom. He eyed the door with the wooden sign hanging on the door; a sign that said 'Sora' in colorful letters. He wondered how long that sign had been there.

Going into the room next to it, he found a simple double bed and dresser with a window that faced the ocean.

Sitting on the bed, he took a deep breath.

The salty air felt so familiar.

He'd been in Sora's heart so long, this almost felt like a second home.

Unpacking, he then walked back into the hallway, again glancing at Sora's door.

"Want to see inside?" Miyu came up the stairs.

"Wouldn't that be rude?"

"Well, we've been keeping it clean for him, so you'll probably see inside eventually."

Ven shrugged. "I'll wait. So… what can I do?"

"Well, I'm doing delegate paperwork. Did you bring yours?"

"Yep."

"Then bring it downstairs and we can do it together."

Smiling, Ven went and grabbed his paperwork and headed back to the kitchen table. For the next few hours, the two sat in relative silence, working on papers. Miyu got up every so often to make himself a cup of tea and always brought one for Ven as well.

The door opened as the sun began to set, and Yoko came inside. "Hey there." She collapsed into a chair. "What's for dinner?"

"What do you want?" Her husband pulled his papers together and stood up.

"I don't care."

"Long day?"

"We had three birthday parties today. Three!" She flopped her head back and sighed. "And hi, Ventus. Nice to see you."

Ven held back his giggles as she weakly waved at him. "Hi, Mrs. Irino."

"Just Yoko…"

"Ok."

Miyu went into the kitchen, looking around. "We have some leftovers."

"Leftovers! A feast from the stars!"

Ven laughed.

Miyu pulled out a dish that was made with sweet potatoes and put it in the oven to reheat. "Should take about ten minutes if you want to take a shower first, honey."

His wife stood up and rushed out of the room.

She came back just as the food came out of the oven. "Much better!"

Ven stood by the table, laying out plates and utensils. "He just got the food out."

"Great!" She passed him by and went into the kitchen. "Ventus, would you like some water, milk, or juice to drink?"

"Anything is fine, and you can just call me Ven."

The three sat down at the table and began to eat.

At first, they sat in silence.

"Ven," Yoko asked softly, "how well did you know our son? We heard a little, and you said he saved your life. Please, explain."

He knew this was coming.

"I actually didn't meet him officially until a few months ago, but he's saved me twice. Once, my heart was shattered, and a new heart… only a few hours old, reached out to me and healed my heart. I think… I think that was Sora."

"A new heart?"

"Why do you think it was him?"

"Because of Vanitas." He leaned back. "My heart was shattered because the darkness was ripped from me and turned into another being. That being is Vanitas, and he looks exactly like Sora."

Their eyes widened.

He continued. "And the second time he saved me, my heart had left my body and was sleeping. Sora was just a little kid, but he reached out and chose to protect my heart by welcoming it into himself." Glancing out the window, the ocean filled his gaze. "I guess that's why this place feels so familiar, and almost like a second home. I felt that from the moment I got here. I've been with Sora for… I think it is about twelve years."

The parents stared at him, their mouths agape and eyes wide. "Then you may know him better than we do."

"Not really. I saw snippets of his life from time to time in my dreams, but not everything. What I do know is that he was kind and brave; he put others before himself and was willing to do anything to keep others safe, even as a young kid."

Sora's mom wiped her eyes, smiling. "That sounds like him. Thank you for telling us."

"You're welcome." He blinked some wetness from his eyes. "You must be proud of him after all you've heard."

"We are." Miyu nodded with a wide smile. "Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy came and visited us. They told us absolutely everything. The first time, they sugarcoated some stuff, so we wouldn't worry. This time they told us everything. We were amazed that our son did so many amazing things."

"He was a hero, and we couldn't be prouder."

Ven looked back out at the ocean.

Wherever Sora was, Ven hoped he knew how proud his parents were of him.

"Order up!" Yoko called from her place behind the counter.

Ven ran over. "What table?"

"Table four."

Taking the tray, he walked the meal over, handing the customers their food.

He'd been here for two days now, helping in any way he could.

Yesterday, he helped Sora's dad clean the house.

Today, someone called in sick at the restaurant and Ven took their shift to help Yoko out.

Kairi's dad glanced up at the clock. "Ven, your shift is over in a few minutes. Why don't you clean up those two tables that just left and then you can go?"

"Ok Mr. Uchida."

Grabbing a rectangular bucket, he happily walked over, picking up dirty dishes and taking them to the back where another employee stood, washing dishes. Then he went back and wiped down the tables before handing his apron to Tai.

"Thanks for the help."

"No problem. Let me know if I'm needed again."

"We will. Go have fun today."

The boy nodded before leaving.

His feet carried him to the beach. Walking along the shore, he stared out at the infinite horizon, thoughts distant.

"Hey!" Called a voice.

He turned, seeing a group of five kids further down the sand.

A blonde boy pointed to a ball by Ven's feet. "Can you kick that back?"

"Sure." He kicked it back to the boys.

Another boy, with orange hair waved him over. "Want to play?"

"Um, sure."

He walked over. The blonde boy grinned. "Name's Tidus. What's yours?"

"Ventus, but you can call me Ven."

"Nice to meet you, Ven. I'm Wakka."

A boy with a green headband waved. "Hi, I'm Datto.(2)

"Name's Letty." Said a boy with a brown buzzcut.

The only girl in this group who had very short black hair, smiled. "I'm Vilucha."

Tidus held up the ball. "You know how to play blitzball?"

"No…"

"We'll show you then." Datto grinned. "Come on."

Ven's smile widened.

He didn't get many chances to play with people the same age as him, and he wasn't going to miss this opportunity.

They played until the sun began to set.

And then Ven returned to the Irino household.

And for the entire trip-

He did not have a single nightmare.

Footnotes:

(1) The next story I plan to write is a story about Riku and Naminé. I will detail out the island layout then. But this story might not happen if at all.

(2) These other kids are named after the players on the blitzball team, the Besaid Aurochs.

Voice Actors:

Tidus- James Arnold Taylor (Tidus, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ratchet, Jonny Test, Yondu)

Wakka- John DiMaggio (Wakka, Bender, Jake the Dog, Dr. Drakken, Trigon, Lobo)

Datto- Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants, Ice King, Spyro the Dragon, Rabbit)

Letty- Bobby Edner (Vaan, Lil Kid, Junior, Tall Kid, Francis, Dustin Farnsworthy)

Vilucha- Andrea Bowen (Aerith Gainsborough, Faline, Pretty Tall, Talia al Ghul)