Well, nothing came of the Summer Game Show, but there's always D23.
I'm really excited for this chapter! I hope you all enjoy it!
Kingdom Hearts (c) to Disney and Square Enix!
Chapter 22: Surprise
"Wait! Really?"
"Shh," Chirithy huffed, "not so loud."
"Ven's birthday is in two days? Are you sure?"
"Yep." The dream eater nodded.
Aqua and Terra glanced at each other. "We've always just celebrated his birthday on the day he came to live with us."
"I haven't told Ven yet. I figured we should throw him a surprise party."
"I love it." Aqua giggled. "I can bake him a cake."
Chirithy hopped around. "I was thinking of taking him to Traverse Town to just hang out and use that time for you guys to set up."
"I love it!"
"We'll take care of everything." Terra nodded. "You just keep him busy."
"You know what would make a good surprise for him-" Aqua raised an eyebrow. "His old memories."
Chirithy immediately shook his head. "I can't do that to him."
"Why not?"
"Ven's happy here. Despite everything, he has good friends, and a happy life. I don't want to hurt him."
"Are those memories that bad?"
"Some of them, yes. I couldn't do that to him."
Aqua let out a sigh. "We'll leave the decision to him, but you should offer to let him know. Those nightmares he has are related to those memories, aren't they?" Chirithy nodded. "If you let him see those memories, maybe we could get him help to deal with them."
"If he really wants to…"
Maybe.
But was all that pain worth it?
"Ven?"
"Yeah?"
"Do-do you still want your old memories back?"
"I'm not sure. But I think so."
"Ok…"
"Hey, did you see? It was snowing!"
"But you didn't call us out here to talk about the weather, did you?"
…
Huh… who- whose voice was that?
…
"You're right, I didn't. There's something I want to ask you. Who told you that you were chosen to be a U- leader?"
…
Who was that?
"Master A-."
"Yeah, same here."
"B-, maybe we should talk to them separately."
…
Another new voice…
…
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Where were you when she told you?"
"We were right here."
"For me, it was… near the clock tower."
"… Interesting."
"What is this? Some kind of interrogation?"
"It's not like that, S-."
"Are we being suspected of something?"
"Ventus, S-, let me explain. You see, Master A- entrusted me with something."
"Is that the Book-!?"
"That's right."
"And inside it… Master A- tucked away a note listing the names of the five new U- leaders. The name of the one originally meant to receive the Book is circled."
"Originally? It wasn't you?"
"Nope. I guessed as much when she gave me this. Master A- wanted to defy fate and changed the future, so she gave it to me instead. But something else is off… The list of U- leaders itself. One of the names doesn't match up. L- sister, S-, was supposed to be a U- leader."
"What? So Master A- swapped out one of the leaders too?"
"I don't think so. If Master A- had planned to switch out a U- leader… she wouldn't have given me this note in the first place. As for S-… it might be easy to suspect Master A- may be involved in her disappearance… but I don't believe she is. She's not that kind of person."
"Maybe a replacement was chosen after S- went missing."
"That doesn't add up either. S- was last seen just before the start of … desperately trying to get … to join the D-. We can assume this is because she heard from Master A- that she was chosen to be a U- leader and that the … was coming. If Master A- wanted to switch her out for someone else, even on such short notice. It would make sense to tell me at least… seeing as she trusted me with both the Book and the list of names that was about to change."
"That makes sense… Is L- name on there?"
"Yeah, it is. We'll discuss this with him later after we know more. He has a lot on his plate right now looking into S- disappearance."
"We asked you those questions earlier… to determine whether or not the replacement knew about any of this. E- and I agreed that even though we know the truth, we don't want anything to change between us."
"That's right. And I think we got the answer we were looking for. Like Brain said, nothing changes- we're still a team. We'll keep working together to try and figure this whole thing out."
…
"Ventus. Your name isn't on the list."
…
Figures flashed across Ven's mind as the hazy memory faded away.
A boy wearing a red scarf.
A girl with long black hair.
A boy with a hat.
And a boy wearing a white shirt and vest.
…
Who… were they?
"They were your friends." Chirithy appeared in his vision. "You asked me for old memories… and I gave you one."
Chirithy?
This memory… these people… they make me feel sad. Did-did I betray them?
"No, you didn't. They cared about you until the very end."
Ven saw himself, limp in the arms of the boy with the white shirt and vest. The boy carried him, setting him down.
This boy made him feel even more sad than the others.
He didn't want to see any more.
Not right now.
Not yet.
"Do you see why I didn't want to show you?"
Yeah…
But-
Thank you…
Aqua stood in the kitchen, mixing some batter as she recited the recipe in her head for a strawberry shortcake. She debated calling someone else to come for the party, but she almost wanted it to be a private, nearly family celebration.
But that didn't mean she wouldn't get the others involved.
And that meant a few phone calls.
…
Gosh, she loved this gummi phone.
Terra looked down at the list. He needed the presents Aqua and Chirithy asked for.
His present needed to get finished before Ven got back.
But he needed to grab the presents first.
Ven walked through the streets of Traverse Town, Chirithy sitting in his arms.
The boy didn't say a word.
Not after the dream.
"Ven?"
"I… I want a connection." His eyes flashed for a moment. "I want to honor those people I lost. Even if I'm not strong enough to take back those memories, I want to honor those people I saw."
"That sounds like a great idea."
The boy headed for a store, looking around before he took a deep breath.
"That one boy, he helped me when I was hurt, or something like that." Walking over to rack, he took off a white button-up shirt and found a black vest. "He wore something like this, but the bottom of his vest looked like it was torn up."
Chirithy nodded as the boy walked over to another rack, grabbing a pair of tan pants before going to where there were some coats.
"That boy with the hat had a black coat right?"
"Yeah, he did."
Ven found one that looked similar to the boy's before going to a bin of gloves. "The girl had long black gloves." He smiled a little.
"Ven, don't forget to represent yourself still."
The boy nodded. "I know. I've got an idea." Then he ran over to the scarfs. "I think they're out of red ones."
Chirithy breathed a slight sigh. "It's ok. We can find one later."
Ven nodded, heading to check-out.
Before he stopped.
The image of the orange-haired girl he'd seen in his dreams flashed in his mind. Orange hair, pulled back by red ribbons.
Reaching into a bin, he pulled out a red handkerchief.
Quickly buying the clothes, he went to change.
He put on the white shirt and black vest, the black coat with short sleeves, one of the long black gloves, the tan pants, and he tied the red handkerchief around his upper right arm.
Looking in a mirror, the friends he'd forgotten flashed in his mind.
He carried them with him now.
And that was ok.
"Should we head home?"
"It's getting late," Chirithy hopped into his arms, "why don't we stay here for the night."
"I guess so."
And that night, Chirithy gave him another dream…
A good one…
"Ven?"
The girl's voice cut through his mind.
"Sure," he heard himself, a younger him, answer timidly, "if that's what everyone else wants to do."
The boy with the scarf smiled at him. "You can speak up if you don't agree."
"It's not that. I'm still not sure about leading my own ….. At least if we all put a lot of thought into it, I'll feel more confident about the whole thing."
The boy with the hat called over from a large chair. "Grow a backbone, will ya?"
"You're not weak, Ven." Said the nice boy with the vest. "You're kind."
"You really are." Agreed the girl.
Ven felt his heart soar.
They were his friends.
"Then it's settled. Oh, and to avoid any confusion and chaos let's…"
…
Static filled his mind for a moment before he saw the boy with the hat again.
"Change of subject. I think I found our first task."
Ven saw him put down a book.
He and the others looked inside to see images of small, adorable creatures.
Cats, dogs, pigs, and more cute little animals.
"Oh, wow!"
"They're adorable!"
"Spirits?"
"Yep. What better way to celebrate our own promotion than by granting everyone their own companion?"
"Yeah!"
"What do you think?" The boy in the hat asked the boy in the vest.
"What do you mean by 'companion'?"
"Someone that'll come along for the ride, like Chirithy. Spirits don't have as many powers as Chirithy, but they can devour nightmares."
The memory hazed into static for a moment again before he saw them all around the book.
"Sounds like a plan!"
"Yeah!"
"Let's do it!"
Spirits…
Ven went back to the castle the next morning. "Do you think Terra and Aqua will be surprised at my new look."
"I'm sure they will be."
As Ven opened the doors and went upstairs, he looked around for his friends.
Only to find no one.
But as he entered the kitchen.
"SURPRISE!"
The boy jumped.
"Wh-what is this!?"
"Your birthday."
"Your real birthday." Chirithy laughed as he hopped onto a table. "I told them what day it was."
Ven blinked.
It was his…
Tears began streaming down his cheeks.
"Oh, Ven." Aqua pulled him into a hug as Terra walked over, pulling them both close.
The boy smiled.
He felt the warmth of his two best friends around him.
His family.
And joy filled his heart.
"I made strawberry shortcake." Aqua pulled back, smiling at him. "And by the way, I like your new outfit."
"Strawberry shortcake!"
The four of them sat around the table as Aqua took a picture of Ven.
"What are you doing?"
"Everyone is waiting." She set down her phone after sending the photo. "Check the comments on the photo later."
He laughed a little.
Did she tell everyone about his birthday?
"And after cake, presents."
"Yes!"
The four devoured the cake before Terra got up, getting a large, wrapped object.
"Happy birthday." He handed the younger boy the package.
Ven tore into it, gasping. "Is this-!?"
"Aqua told me that Vanitas broke the old one I gave you. So, I made a new one."
Ven ran his hand over the wooden training Keyblade. He didn't need it anymore, but it was more than that.
"Thank you, Terra." He wiped his eyes as tears threatened to come back. Aqua set a little bag down by Ven. He pulled it open, looking in excitement at the beautiful leather journal and pencils he found. "Wow! Thanks, Aqua!" He pulled out the journal. "Honestly, I've had amnesia twice now. I probably need this just in case."
They all laughed a little as he put the bag to the side.
Then Chirithy hopped over with a little bag of his own. "Here."
"You already got me a present though." Ven smiled. "You gave me some memories of old friends." He didn't miss the shocked expression of his friends at that statement.
"And this is just to finish that off." The dream eater handed him the bag.
Ven reached inside and pulled out a red scarf.
Just like the one he'd been looking for.
"Oh… wow."
"I was glad you didn't find one in Traverse Town." Chirithy admitted. "I wanted to give it to you."
Ven laughed, wrapping the scarf around his neck.
"Oh!"
A memory flashed in his mind.
…
He saw the boy with the scarf.
But now, his face became… clear.
He saw a gentle smile in the boy's bright cyan eyes as his curly white hair blew in sandy wind.
The boy held out a hand. "My name's Ephemer, by the way."
…
"E-Ephemer…"
"Huh?"
His hand clutched the scarf. "One of the people from my memories. His name was Ephemer."
I'll see myself out.