Up, Up, and Away

[Rikugurl]

In the main room, Riku sat in the only chair that was there. It was large, wondering how anyone could really fit into it well. It was turned away from the desk, not wanting his eyes to wander and look like he was spying on anything.
He glaced at the chipmunks, seeing that one had fallen asleep on top of the other.

He leaned over himself, sighing as he could hear talk in the other room. It was always something...
He was 26 years old now... and not once could he honestly relax, not having to worry about something wrong happening.
The Darkness inside of was brewing again, setting over him like a shadow on the inside.

It was guilt.
That same guilt he had for all those year that turned him 'emo'. He always ended up the bad guy...
And the world... what if it was him that caused it to die when he called upon the Shadow Guardian?

Silver hair fell over his face as his eyes closed.
What a mess this has become...


Inside Terra's and Ven's room, the three surrounded the blonde as he said in bed. Sora was on his left, tending to the black arm. Terra on his right and Aqua at the bottom.
Ven's arm and shoulder were a mess. Some of his skin black and patchy, some patches of skin that had fallen off, some patches white.

There was a sudden twitch and a moan.
His head rolled towards his right and some more moans. He couldn't feel his left arm.... Slowly, blue slits opened and looked out, then up at Terra. A small smile pressed onto his lips.
"Terra..." His voice cracked at first but settled out. His arm reached out, the back of his palm stroking the black haired man's cheek.

His eyes moved to see Aqua, smiling at her too.
"Aqua..."
His friends were here... he wasn't frozen... he wasn't dead...

He suddenly felt a pain in his heart, slowly making him look to his left. The blue didn't look at the arm... but over towards the brunette.
He blinked softly... his heart not knowing what to say. His heart knew it was his brother... his long lost brother that it ached to see... but his mind... his mind convinced itself that his brother was gone... forever.

Even if he did happen to find his brother... he could never face him.
They had grown, their lives so different...
And that was so bitterly true now...
What could he say...?

His eyes started to water. "Soran...?"

[Reno]

Chip tiwtched, nuzzling closer top dale. this day had been too much excitement for them already. They were little chipmunks with litteler hearts - they really couldn;t handle all the stress.


The three in the room watching Ven nearly jumped out of their skin when he awoke. Thye hadn;t expected the other to come to conciousness in such a state - he was badly hurt after all.

Ven's eyes watered slightly, cupping his hand over Ven's, offering him a smile. "Hey." he murmured softly in return. He was so happy to see the other awake. he turned his head, kissing the back of Ven;s palm loveingly even as he turned to regard their female friend.

Aqua grinned down at him. "Yo idiot. Glad to see you alive." She meant that though - watching Sora and Terra dragher hurt friend to this bed and feeling guilty that she had not been there to help out. Damn why was it always Ven who wandered into these near-death experiences? was he really that rash?!

When Ven turned to Sora - or Soran in this case - the room feel silent as if it were holding is bretah -awaiting to see what the two brothers would do. Aqua had at least obtained that much information. she had heard Terra and Ven spekaing the night before about Sora... and how they were related. She honestly couldn;t believe it and even felt a little... envious of Ven. He had his brother back - she would never find hers again.

Sora smiled down at Ventus - a smile full of happiness and long-forgotten pain. "Hey Ventus... it;s been awhile huh?" Shame was clouding his eyes. He felt.. horrible - felt guilty because he felt like his heart and body and soul had all rallyed against him and betrayed him. How could they make him forget his own flesh and blood to the point that not twenty minutes ago he wouldn;t have flinched at harming?

"Sorry... i'm sorry..." Sora whispered suddenly bowing his head, his face twisting into an expression of pain. "I... forgot..." Well apologizing wasn;t going to make up for... 19 years. ninteen years of never knowing he had a real twin existing somewhere - hurting somehwere - needing someone with him. how long had Ven been alone before he found Terra and Aqua? what had happened to him?!

Why did fate determine that they weren;t allowed to have normal lives...?

[Rikugurl]

Ven smiled softly at the kiss. It must of took a lot in the other to do that in front of Aqua. She didn't know about that night... and quite honestly... he didn't want her to.
He knew that Aqua had no one except for him and Terra.... he didn't want her to feel even left out between them...

Ventus's face became saddened, hearing what Sora had to say. A long time... yea, it sure had been.

Twins weren't like most brothers or sisters. Twins develope together at the same time in their mother. They share everything their mother gave them to help them grow. And when born... they shared every waking hour with each other. Played together, slept together, cried together.
They were already connected more than anything outside of birth could.

Then the Darkness. The Darkness had other plans for them... what it was... Ventus didn't know.

He blonde looked down and shook his head.
"No... at least... something inside of you remembered me... right? That's why you have Roxas now..."

[Reno]

Sora blinked, then grinned brightly. "Yeah... hey now i have two brothers!" his smiled widened, chuckled. "We can be triplets now!" Oh that would be a grammer nightmare.

But even if he got Ven back he wasn't going to slight Roxas even a little bit. He had welcomed him as a brother and friend and thats how it was going to stay. And Axel was like some weird... brother in law.

And now he had Ven - his true twin. They had a lot of memories to make to make up for the countless years they had lost. "so... you scared of needles too?" he brought up randomly, grinning. "'cause i think we need to take you to a hospital to get check out ya know. Me and Riku did a number on ya." He was feeling pretty shitty about that too - but well... they probably both were at this point. They had ltiterally been close to killing each other.

Killing his own brother. that made him feel sick inside.

Terra and Aqua stayed silent, listening to the two as they talked. Terra looked down, his eyes narrowing a bit - but because of Ven;s random, silent decision that he would stop killing to get keyblades ever since Terra had been feeling different as well. As if killing wasn;t the only answer.

Hell what WERE they going to do from here?

Aqua didn't really react to the kiss that Terra had given Ven. Hell they slept and CUDDLED in the same bed - without any protest. they weren't normal fucking guys that's for sure. And from here she could see her lotion innocently sitting on a nightstand. She was pretty sure it wasn;t being used for silky, soft hands. Besides, if Ven and Sora are twin brothers it was only natural that if one is gay the other probably is as well.

[Rikugurl]

Ventus still looked down, Sora's happy words bouncing off him. Not a smile, not a glint in the eye... nothing. He couldn't... be serous... could he?

When Sora was don't babbling on about needles, he bit his lip. Yea... triplets...
"No..." He said softly. "It's not that simple Soran..." His eyes started to water more as he looked down at the grey blanket that he and Terra shared.

"You see..." He laughed slightly, not finding any of this really funny. "We have... had almost the same lives in the beginning. We were both Awaken... we both saved princesses, we both fought evil witches. We both traveled worlds and made new friends on the way. The only difference was... we had our lives millions of miles away from each other. I come from a whole different part of the Connection between worlds. Worlds that you've never even seen before."

He stopped, some tears dripping from his eyes. He never cried this much for years than he had in the past few weeks.
"I was so alone... only keeping up my cheer from helping others... you know the feeling I'm sure. But... I always missed you..." He sighed softly.
"But now... Soran..." He paused. "I don't know you..." He whispered out. "It's been so long... I don't know you any better than a stranger.... and mom and dad..."

It was so painful. His heart screamed.
"And Roxas.... he isn't my brother... he's yours... he... he was made to take my place... so you wouldn't be lonely anymore..."

[Reno]

Sora listened to him quielty, a new determined light gaining in his eyes as the other talked. Was he the ONLY optimistic one in life?! Pff he was surronded by a bunch of emos!

Got to a guy once and awhile! Hoenstly, people really needed to learn how to smile. There IS a bright side to things, people jsut weren;t looking hard enough.

"Why can;t it be that simple?" he demanded strongly. He reached out, brushing away some of the tears that trickled down the other;s face. "If we don;t know each other - we'll get to know each other. We'll share stories and fears- we'll learn. If theres a world i haven;t seen then tell me about it! I want to know too. If you ever want to see mom or dad again... then just walk though the front door and shout 'i'm your long-lost son!' If your feeling alone... you have Terra and Aqua and now you have me." Sora said his eyes alight with hope.

"I..." he stuttered a bit then, faltering as if unsure of his words. He looked down thinking then looked up. "I want to be apart of your life again Ventus... I mean if you don;t that;s okay i won;t make you like me or anything but..." He quirked his lips. "But your my brother - and even if you weren;t that wouldn;t make a difference. If you ever just wanted another friend to add to the list... i'd be happy if you'd let me join it."

[Rikugurl]

Ven's eyes widened a bit at Sora's words, a little bit of light in his eyes. Sora... was really good at pulling those heart strings. With every word, he could feel his heart open more.

Sora was right... why couldn't it be that simple?
Maybe... maybe this was the key to opening his heart again.

He looked at Sora finally, a smile very much like Roxas.
"HAHA! How funny would that be to walk into mom and dad and say that!?" He laughed and shook his head. The looks on their faces.

He tilted his head in thought as he looked away again. "You're right... Sora." He said softly. "Ever since we were taken into Darkness... our hearts have been closed... but they'll only stay closed if we don't try and open them." He looked up and around the room.

"I want my heart to open! I want to go back to traveling worlds and helping people. I want to become a good Chaser again... but I can't do it alone..." He looked at Aqua and then Terra.
"Aqua.... Terra... You want your hearts open again too... right?"

[Reno]

Sora grinned at his brother in turn. Sora honestly didn;t know how he did it - he said said what was in his heart. The words just... came to him.

There was no questions about it - he had easily gotten an A in his speech classes and he easily motivated his 'kids'. Not to mention he was one of the main reasons Riku had even forgiven himself -

speaking of Riku it looked like he would be giving him a speech as well. He could feel waves upon waves pf negativity washing around the other - guilt possibly. He wouldn;t know completely for certain until he spoke with the other but... buit they were all sorta at fault here. A lot of apologizes were in order later on.

He laughed, nodding in agreement to the other's statement. Hell yeah his parents would freak... but mom had cried so much after Ven had left. He knew she still remembered him - hell that explained some of the wistful looks she got when glancing at him - the wondering looks that said 'would Ven have been as good at this as Sora?' 'would Ven like english or math better? 'what would he wear?' 'who would his friends be?' and on and on.

they might not be too happy to find out that even with a second son returning they STILL wouldn;t get grandchildren.

Sora smiled as his brother went on, glancing at Aqua and Terra in curiosisty. What would they say.

Terras and Aqua were very silent for quite a few minutes, contemplating. Terra sighed sighed suddenly, surprising Sora as being the first to speak. "Well... I don;t know... what opening my heart again will be like. I... It hasn;t been for a very long time." Though the experiments had had a major portion in turning his heart to the darkness... he knew a good portion had been spurred in his rather fucked up childhood too. His fingers tightened around Ven's, ensuring he;d never let go of the other as long as he did the same. "But if you're willing to try I'll follow." He smiled faintly at the blonde, chuckling. "who knows maybe it'll make us less violent."

"Pff hopefully a lot less violent." Aqua said, scoffing.

Terra looked at her, smirking. "So you're coming with us?"

"Well of course, you two dickweeds need me." she said haugtily, grinning. "I mean jeez i left for what two weeks and already you went for each other's throats. don;t think i didn;t notice the new stitches Ven!" Secretly... she just didn;t want to be left behind. she wanted to stay with her friends.

Besides... opening her heart... sounded like the right thing to do. Listening to Axel and tlaking with Sora... watching the lifes of the ones encased in light go by while her herat yearned for a semi-normal life... she wanted to try.

[Rikugurl]

Ventus watched his friends think, his eyes wide with hope. He was... already feeling like his old self.

He blinked when he heard Terra speak first. He looked at Terra, a bit concerned at his first line. He always had an attitude problem... even before his heart was closed... but that's what Ven liked about him.
When he felt the squeeze, he smiled, his eyes brightening.
His eyes grew spunky at Terra's last remark.
"Hey, as long as we can still be a little violent with each other right!?"

He blinked and quickly looked at Aqua as she spoke.
He grinned and nodded.
"Yea... you do need us dickweeds... but hey! Terra stitched me up pretty well." He nodded to his shoulder and laughed. "He can be our new nurse!"

Even if the two would of said no... he wasn't going to leave them... he needed them as much as they needed him.
He frowned and looked at his very scary looking arm.
"Talking about nurses..."

[Reno]

Sora looked between the smile, grinning a bit. He could... he could almost see him, Riku and Kairi impsoed voer the trio - except Kairi still wasn;t really spekaing with them. More specifically with Riku. It seemed their broken friendship wasn;t ever going to get completely fixed.

Terra laughed shaking his head a bit, but nodded. Sure violent... a little violent. That would hold well. He blinked at the nurse comment, looking scandilized. "what?! no way!"

Aqua laughed a bit, but everyone in the room grew somber once Ven became more serious.

"Yeah... well..." Terra paused, staring at the bad burns. "Ready for that hospital?" he sked, chuckling faintly.

[Rikugurl]

Ven laughed lightly as Terra yelled. He knew he'd get a response like that. Things would get better... he could already feel it.
Aqua was right all along... what they were doing was wrong. He truly believed that they needed to collect the keyblades... no matter what. That the ends justified the means... but that wasn't true... they could collect the keyblades without violence at all... like they use to before.

He sighed but nodded, not really wanting do leave... it was warm here even in this place was made of pure steel.
"Yea... but what one?"

[Reno]

Silence fell among them as they considered their options. They needed to take Ven somewhere where he'd be treated well.

Sora tilted his head - knowing that Destiny wouldn;t be a good option. the doctors there were a ltitle.. screwy. Or just plain scary.
Radiant Gardens was out of the question too. If Axel got wind of it he'd scream bloody murder and go on a rampage. Hell Roxas just might too no matter how hurt he is.

"How about Disney Castle?" he intoned quietly. They didn't have a 'hospital' persay but they did have medics that were top notch. Donald and Goofy always spoke highly of them and after helping Queen Minnie out he had been treated there as well and he had to say he never felt better on his whole trip!

[Rikugurl]

Ventus looked over at his brother. Disney Castle? The Disney Castle? The castle where the King lived? Wasn't that too fancy for the likes of Chasers?
HEY!? Chasers weren't bad people... he knew... he was one!

He nodded and smiled. "Alright... that sound good!"

[Reno]

Sora smiled. "Great! then just let me tell Riku and we'll be on our way!" The hyper brunette left the room, walking into where all the computers were. He glanced at Riku, then towards the dazing chipmunks, chuckling. the looked so cute. He walked over to his lover, wrapping comforting arms around the other, kissing his cheek. "hey Ri - we;re heading for Disney Castle so Ven can get treated. That okay with you?" The wya he was phrasing it almost sounded like he was leaving Riku behind - but the way he menat it was just to let Riku be included in the decision.


Terra watched Sora leave, then glanced at Ven. "you sure this is safe...?" he asked slowly. It wasn;t that he didn;t trust Ven;s judgement but... to be on the king;s grounds sounded insane!

[Rikugurl]

Riku's eyes were closed but they opened when he felt someone come into the room. It was Sora. A small smile appeared as he grew closer. He smiled more as he felt the arm around him. He was still shaken up from the fight, the Darkness growing in him... but he knew it would go away sooner or later.
It was a bit odd... this whole thing. One minute they were trying to kill each other and the next... they were all buddy buddy.
He still didn't know how Sora could do that.

What was his mother on when she was pregnant with him? Happy pills?

He nodded slightly, nuzzling the other. "Sure.. I'll be nice to talk to Mickey again face to face." No matter how impossible that would be unless he sat on the floor. "Are you ok?"


Ven looked over at Terra and grinned. "Since when did I make the decisions around here, assface?"