This chapter takes place from June to December.

I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Extra Chapter 4: Vanitas and Sora! Two Brothers Against the World!

Vanitas Cole took it upon himself to make up for the many years he and Sora did not bond together and visited his half-brother frequently. Sora was worried that the ebony-haired man would fail out of college until Leon supplied that Vanitas already did.

"But he's so smart," Sora said. "That's a shame."

"He's too unmotivated," Leon explained, crossing his arms. "And he takes too many drugs." The mortician silently hoped that his son wouldn't pick up the man's habits.

The petite brunet could feel his father's apprehension. "Vanitas means well, Dad. I really like him."

Leon rubbed his temple. It wasn't his place to say anything if Sora wanted to spend time with his half-brother. At the very least, he knew that Vanitas wouldn't harm the petite brunet… intentionally.

"So, been up to anything lately?" Vanitas asked as he stuck his shovel in the dirt with a grunt.

"Nothing much. I went on a date with Riku last night," Sora shoveled another mass of earth to the side.

"Oh? How did that go?"

"Good. We went to see that new movie that came out. The one with the pirates."

"He's been treating you nice?"

"Yes."

"That's good to hear."

Thunk!

"Oh! I've found it!" Vanitas said, throwing his shovel aside and reaching for the crowbar behind him. Sora bent down and excitedly brushed away the dirt to reveal a coffin lid.

"Heads up," the ebony-haired man said before he jammed the end of his crowbar into the coffin's side and wrenched it open. A putrid smell burst from the coffin but neither male was bothered by it. Vanitas tossed the door aside and glanced down at a corpse that had been rotting in its box for about three weeks.

"Ooh, she's been aging well…" the twenty-three-year-old whistled.

"Yes." Sora leaned forward and brandished a scalpel. "How does the expression go? Shotgun?" he glanced up at his half-brother.

"Yeah."

"I shotgun prodding the pancreas first."

"What was our Dad like?" Sora asked his half-brother one day. They were out in the park, swinging lazily on the swings.

Vanitas lifted his head and thought for a while. "Leon doesn't tell you about him?" He asked.

"He doesn't like to talk about it. So I don't ask."

The ebony-haired man nodded. "He was nice. Really nice," Vanitas began. "He was the kind of person who didn't let anything get him down, and took responsibility for the mistakes he made." There was a rare sad note in his half-brother's voice that Sora caught.

"I don't think you're a mistake," he said.

"Well, I wasn't exactly part of his grand master plan when I was born," Vanitas sighed. "He was only seventeen. Mom was only sixteen. There were still a lot of things they wanted to do. They never complained, but I knew that life was harder for them because of me." He wrapped his arms over the chains of the swings and slumped forward. "But Dad always smiled. He visited me often and brought me lots of gifts. Even when he married your mom and you were on the way, he never forgot about me and Mom."

Vanitas glanced at Sora and smiled. "He wanted me to be there when you were born, you know."

The brunet's eyes went wide. "Really?"

"I said no," Vanitas scrunched his nose. "I was too grossed out."

They laughed. Sora quieted first, dropping his gaze to the floor. "Do you think he's mad at me?" he asked softly.

"Mad at you? For what?" the ebony-haired man asked, puzzled.

Sora kept his eyes fixated on the ground. Vanitas understood immediately.

"No way!" he said. "Look, Dad's not pissed at you or anything like that! Hell, I'll bet my weed stash he's up there bragging about it right now like this!" Vanitas leaped to his feet, stretched his arms out to the park, and hollered at the top of his lungs. "'I'm so proud of son, everyone! Yeah!' That's what he'd say!" The ebony-haired man disregarded the stares of the few bystanders and spun around to face Sora. "And your Mom's probably doing the same thing! They're annoying everyone in heaven because of you!"

The mortician's son turned scarlet. "That's absurd…" he mumbled, embarrassed. "They can't really be like that…"

"Believe it! It's your parents!" Vanitas bent down and jabbed him square in the forehead. "They love you to bits!"

The ebony-haired man turned heel and sprinted for the monkey bars, thinking of ice cream, a ride on someone's shoulders, a nickname he hadn't been called in a long, long time, and a winter day; a sweet memory.

"You're really quiet today, Ninja. Something wrong?"

Vanitas held onto his father's spiky hair as he sat on his large shoulders. A winter breeze gusted around them, making the ebony-haired boy shiver.

"Dad," Vanitas began, looking downward, "my new brother's gonna come soon, isn't he?"

"Yup!" Zack easily lifted the load from his shoulders and set Vanitas down next to the monkey bars, his son's favorite. "Rinoa's ready to pop any day now!"

Vanitas giggled as he silently climbed on top of the structure with ease, living up to his father's affectionate nickname.

"So!" Zack placed his hands on his hips and leaned forward, his face serious, but still playful. "It's time for a man-to-man talk."

"Did I do something bad?" the ebony-haired boy asked. He settled on top of the monkey bars and rubbed his hands together. Despite the chilly day, he refused to wear mittens because they hindered his climbing ability.

"Not at all, Ninja, but we have to talk about your brother." Zack, with his massive height, easily rested his arms on the structure without bending at the waist. "I know it's kinda scary with a new family member coming along, but promise me one thing, okay?"

"What's that, Dad?"

"Since you're gonna be a big brother, you've gotta take care of your little brother. No matter what!"

Vanitas looked confused. "Why?"

"'Cause that's what a big brother does!"

The ebony-haired boy didn't really understand his father's logic, and it irked him. Why should he care for a little screaming, squishy bundle? The helpless, peachy thing was probably going to monopolize his father's time despite what he said. Maybe he'd never see his father again.

"Vanitas."

Vanitas looked up when Zack said his name. He knew that whenever his father used his real name it meant that he wanted him to listen.

"Do you love me?" Zack asked.

The ebony-haired boy nodded.

"Then I hope you can love your brother too, because I love him also."

Vanitas frowned. "More than me?"

"I love you both, equally. But he's gonna be a problematic tyke, I know it." Zack grinned and Vanitas found himself returning it. "I can tell! Rinoa says Sora's been jumping and kicking inside her like a little acrobat! That's why you have to help me take care of him, okay? He's gonna need a big brother to keep him out of trouble."

The ebony-haired boy was still unsettled by it, but if Sora was important to his father, then he would learn to like him too. "Okay," he agreed.

Zack beamed at him. "Thanks, Ninja," he said. He threw his arms up suddenly. "All right! How 'bout we get some ice cream?" he shouted.

"Yeah!" With ease, Vanitas leaped onto his father's back and locked his arms around his neck. The boy nearly choked him on accident, but Zack laughed anyway.

"Let's go!" Zack said, dashing for the nearest ice cream parlor.

"Okay, so this is your gas, that's your break, and you remember the gears, right?" Vanitas asked, looking over to Sora from the passenger seat.

Sora gripped the wheel firmly and nodded. "Yes."

"So, seriously? Leon never taught you how to drive?"

The brunet nodded again. "Are you sure we can use your car?"

Vanitas' car was a nice, black, 1967 Impala[1]. And even though Sora didn't know the value of such an old car, he knew his brother cared for his vehicle like he cared for him.

"Yeah, it's totally cool, bro!" Vanitas reassured him. "Okay, so, step on the brake and put the car into drive."

Sora did so.

"Great, now let the brake go. The car's gonna go forward, but that's just what it does."

The brunet gingerly lifted his foot from the pedal, nearly jumping as the car lurched.

"Calm down, calm down. Give it gas," Vanitas instructed.

Sora carefully pressed down on the gas pedal.

"Good," the ebony-haired man said as they cruised down the street without incident. "You can get up to twenty miles if you want."

"Okay…" Sora felt his chest fluttering. He was driving!

"Vanitas, I'm doing it!" he said, breathlessly as he turned the corner.

"Yeah, you're doing great! You can speed up if you feel like it."

Exhilarated, the mortician's son inched the speedometer past 30 miles per hour.

"Hah! Just wait 'til Leon hears about this!" Vanitas said, lowering his window and resting his elbow on the car door. "He'll never call me irresponsible again—OH MY GOD!" The ebony-haired man let out a shriek as a teenage boy on a bike suddenly swerved into the road. There was a deafening screech as Sora slammed on the brakes but the car hit the bike anyway. The boy spiraled off his bike, collided with the windshield with a loud thump, rolled off the lid of the car and finally landed face-first on the asphalt. Sora and Vanitas glanced at each other fearfully before scrambling out of the car.

"Hey, kid!" Vanitas shouted, ignoring several drivers who had stopped behind them and were poking their heads out of their vehicles. "Kid, are you all right?"

Sora fell to his knees at the adolescent's side. "He's breathing," he said; a reassuring statement. The brunet moved to press two fingers at the teenager's carotid arteries when he suddenly woke, leaped to his feet, snatched up his bike, and ran off.

"Well, apparently he's okay…" Vanitas said, crossing his arms. "I guess he's lucky you were going at thirty."

"Excuse me!" Sora called after the adolescent. "Are you all right?"

"Screw you!" The teenager barked back without even sparing a glance at them.

"Yeah, he's fine," Vanitas said, patting the brunet on the shoulder reassuringly. "Wanna get some ice cream?" he asked.

"I suppose…" Sora said. "Vanitas?"

"Yup?"

"Can you drive this time?"

"Yeah, sure."

Leon had his doubts about Vanitas. He thought for sure that the ebony-haired man was too much of a bad influence to truly be a brother to his son, but then one night the mortician came home late to find the two half-brothers sitting side-by-side three feet from the TV, sharing a bowl of popcorn, and completely absorbed in a gory horror movie marathon.

Leon smiled to himself before quietly slipping into the revolving wall next to the second lamp on the left and disappearing into the darkness.

One fine Saturday afternoon, Vanitas strode into Sora's room.

"Hey, Sora! Guess who—WHOA." Vanitas stopped right in his tracks at the sight of Sora sitting in a corner, knees drawn up to his chest, head down and a very nearly visible cloud of sorrow and doom looming over him. Gougie pawed at her owner worriedly and even the sunlight seemed to have lost its luster in the dark corner the younger half-brother was occupying. Immediately, Vanitas went to the brunet's side, pushing the black cat away so he could have room.

"Hey, what's up, bro?" the twenty-three-year-old asked gently. He had never seen Sora so distraught. "Something wrong?"

The mortician's son nodded without looking up.

"Wanna tell me about it?"

Sora shook his head. Vanitas frowned and, even though the brunet didn't want to talk about it, his mind sharpened into a high-functioning analytical state he seldom used. First, Vanitas scanned his half-brother's body. No signs of abuse were noted. Then, the ebony-haired man turned his attention to the Sora's room and he caught sight of a calender. August 20th.

Riku had left for Neverland yesterday.

"You miss Riku?" Vanitas asked.

The brunet stiffened, but he nodded a few seconds later.

"Aw, don't be bummed out, Sora!" Vanitas tried. "I'm sure Riku will be back before you know it! And you'll jam out with the sweet music of young love as loudly and in as many places as you want!" The twenty-three-year-old grinned.

Sora didn't move. Vanitas' face fell as his attempt to make his half-brother feel better crashed and burned. He silently sat Indian-style next to Sora and bumped his shoulder against his lightly to get his attention.

"Wanna get some ice cream?" the twenty-three-year-old asked. "I'll pay."

The brunet shook his head.

"Wanna watch a slasher movie?"

Another decline.

Vanitas poured his wits into his next suggestion.

"...You know, I hear that a couple towns over there's a museum with a torture devices exhibit. Wanna go?"

Slowly, Sora nodded. The ebony-haired man beamed.

"All righty!" Vanitas took the brunet's wrist and carefully pulled him to his feet. "Let's go see the torture devices exhibit! I bet they'll have an iron maiden! Ooh! And thumbscrews! You like thumbscrews, don't you, Sora?"

"Vanitas, can I ask you something?" Sora asked one day as they were lounging in Sora's room.

"Mm-hm. What's up?" Vanitas was on his back holding up a witchcraft book—he didn't practice the religion, but he was interested in it—a couple feet from his face.

"Why do you take so many drugs?"

The ebony-haired man looked at him. "Because life's too boring without them. And I can't stand being bored." He absolutely couldn't.

The look on the brunet's face told everything Vanitas needed to know before Sora spoke. "Have you ever—"

"No."

The mortician's son was taken aback by the sharp cut-off. "You didn't let me finish—"

"I didn't need you to." Vanitas said, tossing the book on the bed and standing up. "Look, Sora, I know what you're going to say, and I don't wanna hear it. I gotta go. See ya."

"Vanitas, wait." Sora grabbed his half-brother's wrist. "I'm just worried."

The expression on Sora's face jerked a heart string. Vanitas hated it when people looked at him like that; a pitiful, worried, sad expression. His mother used to do it, and now Sora was doing an impressive imitation of it. "I know you are," the ebony-haired man mumbled.

Uneasily, the brunet went on, aware that he was treading on a delicate subject. "There are some programs that can help you, I'm sure..." Sora stopped when Vanitas' hand grasped his wrist in a vice-like grip and pried his fingers off. His amber eyes narrowed dangerously, and for a rare moment in his life, Sora was helpless.

In his long association with the supernatural, Sora had faced many kinds of monsters, but there was something in half-brother that he had never encountered before. Something evil and parasitic with long, barbed, curved claws, and a wretched, clever mouth. It sunk its hooks so deeply inside the ebony-haired man it started to become almost indistinguishable. When pleased, it purred and tickled Vanitas' brain. When angered, it whispered sweetly into its host's ear, cajoling him to raise his fist to defend it. When frightened, it latched its terrible claws around the twenty-three-year-old's spine, heart, and brain, daring anyone to try and remove it. The merciless thing would rip out everything it could reach, screaming and laughing.

Sora didn't know what to do.

In reality, it was only several seconds, but it seemed that centuries had gone by with Vanitas's hand nearly welded to the brunet's wrist. Then, finally, the ebony-haired man dropped his gaze and Sora felt the earth turning again. Carefully, Vanitas uncurled his fingers and released him. Without another word, the twenty-three-year-old turned to leave.

After regaining control over himself, Sora placed a hand over his previously unnoticed racing heart and carefully steadied his breath. The circulating air was welcomed in his petrified lungs and did wonders for his heart rate. There was a sound of the front door opening and the brunet realized that Vanitas was leaving. He raced downstairs just as his half-brother was about to exit. Despite whatever lurked inside him, Vanitas was still his brother and the mortician's son didn't want to lose him.

"Vanitas! I..." Sora started, but he found himself at a lost for words. "I apologize. I won't pry anymore. Please don't leave."

The ebony-haired man didn't look him in the eye, but he raised his hand and ruffled the brunet's hair in a comforting gesture. "No, I'm sorry, Sora. Didn't mean to scared you, but I..." Vanitas paused. "...don't ask me that again, okay? I don't want... to hear it from you, too."

Watching game shows with Vanitas was one of the most entertaining things Sora loved to do. If he was bored and compelled enough, Vanitas would offhandedly make a point to state the answers before the candidate could. Sora enjoyed watching him fire off answers as easily as one would breathe. The brunette greatly admired his half-brother's massive intellect, even if the man never really utilized it.

"This cooking fuel is produced by heating wood without oxygen," the announcer stated.

"What is charcoal?" Vanitas said around a mouthful of sour-cream-and-onion chip sandwich.

"What is charcoal?" the contestant replied, unsure.

DING DING DING! The cheery victory noises sounded.

"This antidepressant is most often referred to by snide shrinks as 'Slo—"

The ebony-haired man snorted. "What is Valium?"

"—Mo.'"

"What is Valium," echoed the contestant.

DING DING DING!

"This explosive jelly—"

"What is napalm?" Vanitas said.

" —is combined with gasoline to make incendiary bombs."

"Um... uh..." the contestant stammered. "That's... What is napalm!"

DING DING DING!

"A kite-flying linonophobic would fear this."

"What is string?" the ebony-haired man said, sipping his milk. "Hey, Sora, do you have any more chocolate milk?"

"Is it... what is a... string?" the candidate asked nervously.

DING DING DING!

"Not that I recall, Vanitas," the mortician's son replied.

"This word is the third longest word in the English dictionary."

"What is pneumono ultra microscopic silico volcanico niosis*?" the twenty-three-year-old stated, finishing the last bit of his sandwich. "Mm... I love sour-cream-and-onion flavored chips."

Meanwhile, the contestant was at a completely loss.

BUZZ!

"Time's up!" The announcer said. "The answer is: What is pneumono ultra microscopic silico volcanico niosis?"

Sora walked into his room to find Vanitas sitting on his coffin, the brunet's laptop on his lap.

"Vanitas, what are you doing?" Sora asked.

"Reading your email," Vanitas answered simply with a grin.

"What?" The brunet's eyes widened.

"Oh, look! You've got a new email from Riku! AWW…" the older half-brother clasped his hands together in front of him in a over-done show of mock excitement. Sora practically pounced on Vanitas as he scrambled for his laptop.

"Vanitas!" the brunet protested, arms flailing. But the twenty-three-year-old kept him at bay with his foot.

"Aw, he says he had a dream about you! Oh, how precious!" Vanitas smirked down at him, reveling in the joys of being an older brother. "I bet it was a wet one! How shall I write back to him, Sora?"

"Vanitas, cut it out! Give it back!" Sora cried, losing all composure at the embarrassment of it all.

"Okay, then! Dear Riku," Vanitas began as he opened a new message and started to type furiously. "How 'bout… I come… over there…"

"Stop! Don't be so mean!" The brunet dove for his laptop but Vanitas ducked out of the way. Sora felt the world spin and the next thing he knew he was face-down on his floor with Vanitas sitting on top of him and the ebony-haired man's foot on the back of his neck to keep him in place. Vanitas continued to speak what he was writing,

"…and show you… how hot… and sweaty..."

"No!" Sora protested uselessly.

"…the real thing… can get. Question mark. Winking smiley aaaaaaand… Send!"

"VANITAS!!"

"Come on, Sora, it was just a joke!" Vanitas said. He glanced over at Sora, who was blatantly sulking in his passenger seat, arms crossed, lips pouty, the works. The brunet refused to look at him. His cinammon hair was a mess, partially because he struggled a bit as Vanitas manhandled him into his car for some Vanitas-Is-Sorry-For-Being-A-Bastard ice cream.

"Shouldn't you be happy that I didn't really send it?" the ebony-haired man asked.

Sora silently angled his body away from his half-brother.

It was one of the few times Vanitas felt incredibly guilty. Everything he had done to create a rather healthy relationship with his half-brother was now in jeopardy. One bit of him argued that Sora was over-reacting, but his conscience resiliently claimed that the ebony-haired man had taken his joke too far simply by preying on the sexual insecurities of a teenager.

Vanitas sighed and faced Sora. "I'm sorry," he said as sincerely as he could. "I shouldn't have read your email and pretended to send an embarrassing email to your boyfriend. It was low, childish and a total violation of privacy. I'll never do it again. Sora, please forgive me."

The brunet did not move, did not even speak, and the silence was almost maddening. Finally, Sora opened his door and slid out of the vehicle. After taking several steps towards the Ice Cream Shoppe he glanced over his shoulder, still too angry to ask it but his facial expression was enough to convey the message:

'I thought you said you were going to get me ice cream?'

Vanitas smiled in relief and got out of the car. Sora didn't have to say it either, but he knew it he was forgiven.

Quistis, Vanitas' friend, roommate, co-worker and (on numerous occasions) conscience, stopped by the Leonhart household almost as much as Vanitas did. Though, mostly it was to drag the ebony-haired man back to the Badlands because he had been shirking his duties for too long.

"I'm sorry he's so much trouble…" Sora said with a sigh.

"Oh, there's no need to apologize," Quistis said, smiling. "I've been taking care of this knucklehead since freshman year at high school."

Meanwhile, Vanitas struggled in her headlock. Quistis was as strong as she was judicious, and she knew how to handle Vanitas and looked out for him, which greatly decreased Sora's anxiety.

"Qu, I can't breathe!" the twenty-three-year-old choked. "Maybe you should… I dunno… loosen up."

"Vanitas, that trick won't work on me," the light-haired girl said, looking more annoyed than concerned. Vanitas sighed heavily and ceased all attempts to escape, resigning himself to his fate.

"Happy birthday, bro!" Vanitas announced happily as he stepped into the Leonhart household, a chocolate cake in hand.

Sora beamed as he let his brother in. "Thank you, Vanitas," he said, taking the cake.

"And in celebration of my cute half-brother's birthday, I've brought this!" Vanitas fished out a small Ziploc bag full of off-white powder from his jacket. Sora thought it was sugar at first. "Crystal meth! It's amazing! You have to try some—"

All of a sudden, Leon burst from the wall, wood flying in all directions and his expression livid. His foot connected with Vanitas' cheek in a loud, resounding crack, sending the ebony-haired man flying into the staircase.

"Dad!" Sora shouted in protest as he raced to Vanitas' side.

"Vanitas, you promised you wouldn't!" Leon ranted, stalking to the ruined staircase.

The ebony-haired man extracted himself from the mess, dusting off his shoulder with a scowl on his face. "Oh, don't get your panties in a knot, Leon!" he said. "He's eighteen! Trying new things is part of growing up, you old coot!"

"How in the world is trying high-addictive, illegal substances supposed to be part of growing up?!"

"Vanitas, I don't think this is a good idea…" Sora said.

"Nonsense!" Vanitas said, keeping his younger half-brother in tow.

"But I can drink when I'm twenty-one. It's only three years away."

The ebony-haired glanced backwards at him with a confused expression. "Why wait 'til your twenty one when you can drink alcohol now thanks to yours truly?"

"Dad's not going to like this…"

"That's why he's never going to know!" Vanitas hauled him to the front of a very long line and waved at the bouncer, who waved in return and unhooked the thick rope to let them continue. Sora glanced at his half-brother, amazed.

"It's all about connections, bro," the ebony-haired man explained with a grin. "So, what do you want to drink?"

"Um, I'm not sure. I've never done this before." Sora looked around. The club was loud, the lights bright and the people crammed so far into his personal space Sora feared he was going to get lost in this sea of bodies. But Vanitas held his wrist tightly, never relinquishing his hold.

"All right, I'll get us started." Vanitas signaled the bartender and called out a drink name. The older half-brother beckoned Sora to sit on the stool and the brunet did so.

A few minutes later a couple bottles were slid to them and Vanitas held his up. "Cheers!" he said.

Sora did the same, staring at the glass in apprehension. "I'm supposed to drink it quickly, yes?" he asked.

"Mm-hm…" Vanitas said as he impressively chugged half of his drink down in one go.

Giving the bottle one last look, the brunet raised it to his lips and drank. He shuddered at the initial, distinct taste of alcohol, and then suddenly it was replaced by this… very smooth blueberry flavor. It was rather pleasant. Sora licked his lips when he finished the glass.

"Good, huh?" Vanitas asked, grinning.

The younger half-brother nodded in response. "What is it?"

"Smirnoff. It's flavored vodka. Ooh! There's this other drink I think you'll like..." The ebony-haired man turned to order another drink and struck up a conversation with the bartender. Sora listened attentively as they talk about alcoholic beverages and something about special spoons and absinthe. He hardly noticed another man slip into the barstool next to him. He was blond, with a tattoo on one side of his face that was too dark for Sora to see clearly.

"Hey," the man said. "What's your name, cutie?" he asked.

Sora leaned away from him. "I don't think I wish to tell you," the brunet said.

"Aw, don't be like that," the blond man purred as he moved closer to Sora, his hand sliding onto the brunet's hip. "Why don't you let me buy you a drink?"

Sora was about to protest when he felt the man's hand suddenly squeeze his backside. The brunet glared at him and raised his hand to retaliate when suddenly Vanitas' hand shot forward and snapped the man's wrist. The agonized cry pierced through the nonsensical chatter of the club. As a follow-up, Vanitas decked the man in the face so hard he was sent spinning as he fell backwards.

"Hands off my brother, you freak!" the ebony-haired man shouted, stalking in front of Sora. The mortician's son had never seen the normally relaxed Vanitas so enraged.

The blond was on his feet in a second. "What the hell's your problem?!" he shouted.

The bystanders watched the tense scene with a cautious excitement. The man charged at Vanitas. The twenty-three-year-old was ready for him. Vanitas dodged a punch aimed for his left cheekbone and then executed a beautiful judo throw, tossing the blond onto a table at the far end of the club.

"You just totally got schooled, Dickless!" Vanitas shouted, victorious. A scattered chuckle rose from the crowd.

Two men stepped from the crowd behind Vanitas, apparently the blond's friends. As one of the lackeys lunged for his half-brother, Sora snatched up a nearby drink and threw it. The glass hit its mark, shattering at the man's shoulder. A bit of alcohol splashed into the man's eyes, forcing him to stop and try and rub out the irritant. The noise brought Vanitas' attention behind him. He tossed a brief glance at Sora and smirked. The ebony-haired man turned his body sideways and crouched into a fighting position, ready to take on the new adversaries when suddenly two policemen burst into the club. Before Sora could even blink Vanitas was at his side.

"We have to go!" he said. "They're gonna throw me in the pen if they get me this time!"

'This time?' Sora wondered for a brief moment.

Vanitas practically dragged his younger half-brother after him as he weaved expertly through the crowd. But before they sprinted out the back door Vanitas took time to look over his shoulder and shout one last taunt,

"You'll never catch me alive, assholes!"

One complicated route back to the '67 Impala later, Vanitas was driving Sora home.

"So, uh…" Vanitas leaned back into the driver's seat, glancing at Sora briefly, "...you're not gonna tell Leon about this, are you?"

"No," Sora shook his head. "Dad would be furious. And he'd probably kill you."

"Oh, death is nothing…" the ebony-haired man gave a sheepish grin. "I'm more afraid of what Leon's gonna to do me before I die."

"That makes sense," Sora agreed. He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly as he let his body slide down the seat. "Vanitas?"

"Uh-huh?"

"I had fun. We should do this again."

Vanitas laughed. "Yeah, but we're gonna have to go to a different bar. They've probably banned us from that one."

Vanitas spun and spun and spun andspunandspun until he couldn't spin anymore, laughing until he nearly choked. Not that he would mind because drowning in this fantastic sea of colors sounded like a pretty rad way to go down. He didn't even know how he got here. The ebony-haired man tried to think but the thoughts were just too wiggly and they wouldn't stay still. Naughty little things... Let's see... There had been music and laughter and a party and there had been people and there was a blissful amount of drugs. How did that song go again?

"Red and mellow," Vanitas sang, slurred, "and green and sandy and ice cream—"[2]

No wait, that didn't sound right. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. That couldn't be words. Maybe he should spin again. He really liked spinning. Maybe that would help—help with what? Ice cream, dream, nothing as they seem and what do you deem worthy?

"And ruby and oliver and violence and fawn..."

Where was he going again? He remembered he rode the bus at one point, but then he got kicked out of the bus for some reason he didn't know but he remembered the bus-driver-guy yelling at him about something like a meanie so Vanitas started to walk but he forgot where he was going and kept walking. And... there were more drugs, and Vanitas probably had sex somewhere some time ago but he couldn't really remember anymore but he recalled it felt amazing even if he wasn't entirely sure who he was fucking or who was fucking him and that's all right. Everything was all right because everything was amazing, beautiful, gorgeous-porous. Vanitas grasped he had wanted to go somewhere at one point. Somewhere important to him.

"And brownies and star and mary and jane and hazel and..." [3]

He recognized the street signs... sorta... but there wasn't enough there to spark an actual connection. The letters and numbers kept changing, twirling and whirling in a way he almost envied. For a moment, the ebony-haired man thought of asking the street sign to sort itself out and tell him, but street signs were never really much help, the bastards. There was no one else on the street either. What time was it anyway...?

"And cream and crimson and bloody and rose—Oh, I love roses!" Vanitas jumped into the air and into the stratosphere, aroundandaroundandaroundwego into the sky until he effortlessly leaped over the moon and blew a kiss to the sun on the other side of the earth.

"The only thing to do is jump OH-VER the moooooon!" [4] As he floated back into the ground, the twenty-three-year-old howled with laughter for no particular reason except maybe to piss off the street signs. They had started to converge and now they've brought the lamp posts into their group, whisperinggossipingsobbing about the things they've seen and heard that Vanitas never really liked. The lamp posts talked about the most horrible things. And they always scared away the colors and glared down on him, fixating their blindingly bright light like some sort of critical eye and they stared and stared and stared and for some reason Vanitas always heard his mother starting to speak inside his head, nagging and nagging.

Vanitas, eat your greens. Clean your room. Settle down. Don't do that. Are you doing drugs again? What did I tell you about that? Please, come home right now. I'm worried about you. Why are you like this? Do you think your father—

The twenty-three-year-old found that his feet had started running without telling his brain. Good job, feet. They've always been so helpful. Vanitas ran until he found himself in darkness once again and he felt safe. The river of colors had started to swirl and bend again again, wrapping around him almost lovingly. In thanks, Vanitas sang to the waves of colors.

"Clean and clear and pure and rare and... and..." [5]

But seriously, though, just what was it with this street? There was something...

Oh well.

"And purple and gold and pink and orange and BLUE!"

His shin bumped against something and Vanitas stumbled. Someone caught him.

"Vanitas?" The voice sounded familiar.

"Huh? Wuzzat?"

"It's me. Sora." The brunet held him fast as he allowed the twenty-three-year-old to find his balance. It took several moments for Vanitas to gather enough brainpower to answer back.

"Oh!" he said. "Hey! Hey, Sora!" He grinned. "What are you doing in Badlands?"

His younger half-brother looked puzzled. "Badlands? Vanitas, you're in Twilight Town."

"Uhhh... No. Nope, I don't think so." The ebony-haired man shook his head.

"Quistis called me," Sora said. "She said you've been missing for a few days. Are you all right? Where have you been, Vanitas?"

"To the moon and back, bro, [6]" the older half-brother said dreamily.

A soft, half-tired, half-relieved sigh passed through the brunet's lips. "Come on, Vanitas. Let's go home."

Sora began to lead him back into the street and Vanitas resisted for a moment, hesitant to return under the glaring eyes of the lamps. But Sora held him close at his side, an arm wrapped around his waist and one of the ebony-haired man's arm was thrown around his neck for further support. Vanitas shut his eyes, suddenly realizing that his feet were aching.

"Hey, Sora," Vanitas began, "do you know that song? The one about the colors?"

Vanitas yanked on Gougie's tail playfully. The black cat meowed loudly in response, but the ebony-haired man only laughed and tugged harder.

"Vanitas, you enjoy tormenting my cat far too much," Sora said, looking up from his book with a frown.

"What are you talking about? Given what you and Leon do to cats, I'm practically a saint!" Vanitas pulled on Gougie's tail hard, enough to lift the cat's lower half from the floor. Gougie was furious, whining at the top of her little cat lungs. Vanitas smirked down at the furry animal.

"The cats we use are normally dead," Sora argued.

"You're still desecrating their poor kitty remains." The twenty-three-year-old yanked on Gougie's tail again.

"MMRRRRRROWWW!"

At last, Gougie could take no more abuse. She whipped around and swiped at Vanitas' face.

"OH FUCK!" Vanitas yelped, released the poor cat and fell backwards with his hands clutching his face. "Ow! Fuck! Shit! I think she got my eyes, the furry bitch! Owowow!" The ebony-haired man curled onto his side in agony and continued to curse and damn Gougie to the fiery pits of Hades.

Deciding that he should be concerned for his half-brother's vision, Sora clapped his book shut, set it aside, and then moved to examine Vanitas' eyes.

"You can't say you don't deserve that after messing with a cat named 'Gougie,'" the brunet said.

Meanwhile, the black cat was daintily licking her paw, looking immensely pleased with herself.

Since Vanitas came and went at his own fancy ("went" here taking on a more… unwilling meaning) it was natural that sometimes Leon was the only one who would answer the door. The mortician tolerated Vanitas for Sora's sake, showed courtesy when needed, but he never really liked the ebony-haired man and his discontent was obvious.

Leon had taken it upon himself to watch Vanitas' every move whenever Sora wasn't present. It was proper judgment on the mortician's part, Vanitas had to admit, and that was the only reason he endured the occasional, uncomfortable feeling of Leon hovering over him.

"I heard you're dating someone," Vanitas said suddenly for the pure sake of breaking the maddening stillness. He kicked his legs idly on the couch and looked over at Leon, who was sitting next to him, stiff as a statue.

"Yes," came the simple answer.

"A doctor?"

"Yes."

"Is he nice?"

"Yes."

"What's his name?"

It took Leon several moments to reply, like he was weighing the consequences of giving Vanitas his boyfriend's name. "…Cloud."

"Hm. Fluffy name for a dude. Let me guess, you're on the bottom, right?" The ebony-haired man grinned.

"No."

The short answers were irritating. Vanitas slouched in his seat. He asked a more open-ended question.

"How's everything going? With him, I mean."

"Well enough," Leon responded.

"Does he know about all the evil, witchcraft and general death-y atmosphere that surrounds you?"

"No. And I intend to keep it that way."

Vanitas let himself sink lower in the couch, preparing to meet the inevitable silence. If Leon didn't want to talk to him, so be it. He just wished the brunet would at least allow him to take a gram of benzo. Or better yet if Leon could swallow the pill himself. God knew the man needed to relax.

"How's Eva?" Leon queried suddenly.

The question threw Vanitas off. Leon was never interested in his family. Sure, he sent a trivial holiday card or two of respect, but never anything too serious. They were never close.

"Mom's fine," Vanitas replied. "Healthy as ever. Still trying to get me to one of those drug addicts anonymous meetings, or whatever they're called."

"You should go—" Leon started to say but the twenty-three-year-old cut him off.

"I don't want to," Vanitas snapped.

"You have a—"

"I already know I have a problem. And I don't want help." The ebony-haired man shot him a dark glare, warning him not to push the subject.

Leon decided to back down from the potential argument. Sora was due home soon and he didn't want his son to arrive in the middle of all that tension.

"She wrote to me once that she moved out of the Badlands," Leon said.

Vanitas took the turn in the conversation with grateful enthusiasm. "Yeah, she moved to the Destiny Islands a few years back, into a nice, little house by the sea. Mom likes it there. She's been nagging me to move in with her." The ebony-haired man sighed.

"I'm sure the sunshine and surf will do you some good," the mortician said.

Vanitas snorted. "Leon, did you not listen to me? She wants me to move in with her. I love her, but I'm twenty-three-years-old, for God's sake! Besides, mere water can melt me, you know that." He smirked.

And then Vanitas was treated to the rare sight of Leon trying very hard not to smile, a feat the twenty-three-year-old had been trying to accomplish for as long as he had known him.

"I suppose you're right," the brunet said, turning away. But Vanitas could see his cheeks rising.

The ebony-haired man straightened his back, happy with himself.

"Sora, I'm boooooooored…" Vanitas whined. He was lying on his stomach on the brunet's floor, his chin resting on his folded arms. "Let's go see a movie! A gory one with a sexy Asian in it!"

"I apologize, Vanitas, but this assignment's due Monday," Sora said.

"Then do it Sunday! Or better yet, Sunday night! It's Friday! Normal people go out on Friday night!"

The brunet gave him a wry smile. "Some of us don't procrastinate like you."

"I hate English…" the ebony-haired man muttered. "Whooptie-diddly-doo! I can write grammatically correct sentences and I can interpret poetry at the drop of a hat! No one cares!"

"As soon as I finish this last page we can go out."

Vanitas lifted his head. "So… you're saying the sooner you finish the sooner we can leave?"

"Yes." Sora scanned down the last page of George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant.

The ebony-haired man sat up and glanced at his half-brother's homework, his amber eyes fixating on the last question Sora needed to do. "The story is ironic because even though Britain is supposedly ruling over Burma, Orwell, who symbolizes Britain with is uniform and gun, is being pushed to kill a now-harmless, innocent-looking elephant by the Burmese people." Vanitas yawned. "How's that?"

"How did you…? You've read this story before?" Sora asked as he began to copy Vanitas' interpretation word-for-word.

"Once, yeah," the twenty-three-year-old said with a lazy wave of his hand and glanced at a half-completed question. "Like, a million years ago. Oh, and the sea of 'yellow faces'" he gestured with his fingers to mimic quotations, "causes Orwell to shoot the elephant. Yeah, actually use quotations. English teachers totally go crazy for that shit. And the story takes place in nineteen-twenties, not nineteen-thirties. Ready to go to the movies now?"

"Goddammit, you shitty, blond ghost! Gimme back my phone!" Vanitas shouted as he leaped for his cell phone, which was floating several feet above him. He raced up the steps, following the device into the hallway.

Vanitas did not possess the supernatural sight Sora did since both his parents were normal humans, much to Ventus' glee who had the time of his undead life exploiting the ebony-haired man's disability. He tripped Vanitas every chance he got and often levitated the twenty-three-year-old's personal items out of reach just for the fun of it.

"You are so lucky you aren't corporeal, you infernal menace!" The ebony-haired man jumped his highest yet, missing his portable device by mere inches. "You know I might just kill myself so I can kick your spiritual ass!"

"Vanitas, what are you doing?" Sora asked as he climbed up the staircase and peeked into the hallway.

"Getting… my cell… from your sadistic… ghost…!" Vanitas huffed in-between leaps.

Ventus, though the ebony-haired man couldn't hear him, was laughing.

"Would you like me to ask him to give it back to you?" Sora asked.

"No, I... can do this... myself! Dammit!" The twenty-three-year-old cursed as his finger barely grazed the smooth plastic of his phone. The ghost flew down the stairs with Vanitas following after him.

Sora turned to head back into the dining room as well when he saw a small cluster of a dust-gray powder wrapped neatly in plastic. The brunet lifted the small package to eye level to inspect it. It probably fell out of Vanitas' pocket in all that jumping. Deeming it an illegal substance, Sora slipped the drugs into his pocket to destroy them later.

Vanitas tried exceptionally hard not be stoned, high, or drunk when he visited Sora, but sometimes the man's integrity slipped. The brunet had to admit that, given his half-brother's drug habits, it was a miracle he was drug-free 90% of the times he visited.

Sora always ensured that his door was open for Vanitas, despite what state of mind he was in. He had phoned Quistis the first few times his half-brother stumbled into his house blown out of his mind, and she had coached him on what to do, and what to expect, things like that. By the time December rolled by, Sora was very knowledgeable on how to care for the ebony-haired man on whatever he took.

"Hey, Sora!" Vanitas said, swaying back and forth. He collapsed onto Sora in a heap of giggles.

"Good afternoon, Vanitas," the brunet said. He immediately caught the scent of marijuana on his half-brother's clothes. "What kind did you take this time?"

"I don't remember!" the ebony-haired man said, raising his arms cheerfully.

Sora sighed as he took Vanitas' hand and hauled him inside. "When did you find the time to smoke marijuana on the drive here?" he asked.

"Um…. There was kinda like this traffic jam…" the twenty-three-year-old began, gesturing wildly with his free hand, "…and I remembered that there was a bundle of my stash there and all I kept thinking about was how lonely it looked… so I…" he laughed hysterically. "…I smoked it!"

"Sit here," the brunet said firmly as he took Vanitas to the couch.

"Huh? Why?" the older half-brother asked but he sat down anyway.

"You look tired, you should sit." Sora learned from Quistis and personal experience to explain things in short, succinct sentences.

"Okay," Vanitas gave in easily. The brunet turned on the TV and placed the remote in his half-brother's hands.

"I'm going to get food. I'll be back." Food and television was usually the protocol for a weed-influenced Vanitas.

"Oh… Okay!" the twenty-three-year-old said cheerfully.

Sora quickly came back with an unopened package of vanilla Oreos. Vanitas was prone to paranoia in his current state so he tried not to seem suspicious.

"Oh my God, I fucking love these things…" Vanitas said breezily as he tore open the package and chowed down.

"What brings you to Twilight Town today, Vanitas?" Sora asked cordially as he sat down next to his half-brother.

"Mm. Quistis was trying to make me pay my half for rent so I…" he trailed off as he focused on a spot on the wall.

Sora snapped his fingers. "Vanitas?"

"Huh? What?" Vanitas blinked at him, looking like a lost little boy.

"You were saying about Quistis and rent?"

"Oh… Oh, right! Yeah, she wanted to make me pay, so I ran." He smiled like he had just orchestrated the greatest getaway in all the worlds.

"Quistis is going to be very angry."

"Yeah…." Vanitas dropped his head on Sora's shoulder and giggled. "She's cute when she's angry." He nuzzled the brunet's arm and sighed. The ebony-haired man watched the TV for some time but he wasn't as cheerful as he usually was on drugs.

"Vanitas? Are you okay?" Sora asked.

"M'fine…" Vanitas mumbled, curling next to Sora. It wasn't odd for him to want close contact in this state, but the fact that he was rather glum alerted the brunet. The ebony-haired man had even stopped eating Oreos, which he never did during a trip. In his chemically-induced high, Vanitas could consume Oreos like one would consume oxygen, which was why Sora kept a hefty bulk of them in his house.

"You seem sad," the mortician's son turned to him. "Do you want to eat something else?"

"No, no…" Vanitas shook his head. He sighed heavily again. "Sora, am I good brother?" he asked suddenly.

"Of course you are, Vanitas," Sora said honestly. Sure, the ebony-haired man had several deep-rooted issues, but he cared for Sora and loved to spend time with him, which was all the brunet could ever ask for in a sibling.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really, really?"

"Well, you could do with a bit less drugs." Sora gave a small smile. "But I like you the way you are, Vanitas. You're more interesting."

The ebony-haired man gave a weak grin in return. "Dad made me promise to take care of you, but you're taking care of me."

"Dad told you to look after me?"

"Mm-hmmm…" Vanitas drew his legs in, leaning his whole weight on Sora. "He said… that's what big brothers do. I don't do that… I'm a terrible brother."

"That's not true, Vanitas. You taught me how to drive, remember? And that time you took me to the club, too. And all those times you helped me with my homework."

Vanitas still looked rather distressed. "Quistis said I was a bad older brother."

"Quistis did?"

The elder nodded slowly.

Sora thought for a moment. It wasn't like Quistis to strike a tender topic. Something must have provoked her. "Were you arguing about something?"

"Yeah."

"About what?"

"The rent. I think."

Ah, now that made sense.

"She was probably just angry," the mortician's son reasoned. "She didn't mean it."

Vanitas seemed comforted by his words. He buried his face into Sora's form and spoke no more. After several minutes, the brunet realized that he had fallen asleep… and that he had to go to the bathroom.

"Vanitas?" Sora began, meaning to ask his half-brother to release him so that he could rush to the toilet, but Vanitas only sighed contently in response and tightened his grip on the brunet's arm. The mortician's son had never seen him look so young, lost, and vulnerable. He didn't have the heart to wake him.

"You're the best big brother anyone could ever ask for," he whispered.

*pneumono ultra microscopic silico volcanico niosis. This is really one word. I had to separate it like this so the stupid document reader could show it.

[1] ...black, 1967 Impala. For all you who aren't Supernatural fans, this is the car that Dean Winchester drives.

[2] "Red and mellow [..] and green and sandy and ice cream—" These lyrics and others like it that contain colors are (more or less) from a song from a play called Joseph's Amazing Technicolored Coat (which I don't own.) Vanitas continuously sings the lyrics incorrectly, adding, cutting and pasting colors and words.

[3] "And brownies and star and mary and jane and hazel and..." Keeping consistent with the tune of Joseph's Amazing Technicolored Coat, Vanitas is referring to drugs, which hints at what he had been taking. "Brownies" refer to hash brownies, which are brownies with weed in them. "Star" refers to LSD blotter acid in a star-shaped design. "Mary" and "Jane" together make mary jane and refer to another term form marijuana. "hazel" is street-talk for heroin, according to the internet. Yeah, I was looking up street slang for drugs to write this part.

[4] "The only thing to do it jump OH-VER the moooooon!" From the song, Over the Moon, from the play/movie, Rent (which I also do not own.)

[5]"Clean and clear and pure and rare and... and..." From the song Zydrate Anatomy in Repo! The Genetic Opera (which I do not own also.)

[6] "To the moon and back." Not sure if this is original, but I first heard this line in the movie, Black Swan. Which is a BADASS MOVIE. You should all watch it. GO.

A bit more about Vanitas: I honestly consider him my most complicated character. I love how I characterized him. Vanitas loves Sora a lot, there's no mistake about that. But it's obvious that he's got some deep-rooted problems with addiction, which comes from two things Vanitas can't stand: being bored and thinking hard. Drugs are an easy escape from those two things. (I also hope I wrote addiction part well and I'm sorry if I didn't. I've never seen addiction personally.) But the craving for drugs runs deep inside Vanitas, more deeply than his love for Sora, and I hope from that part I wrote while Vanitas was totally tripping on drugs shows you that his addiction DOES torment him at times. But Vanitas can't get out of it. In that way, he's a very sad character.

AND THAT'S IT, you guys. This story's done. I thank everyone who stuck by this story even after I finished the Epilogue chapter. You guys are awesome and I am very grateful to all of you. I adore this story, and you have no idea how much joy I feel when you tell me the same thing because I poured a lot of what I loved into this like my freakish personality, my love for the dark arts, mysteries, monsters, drugs, and young, pure passion.

Thank you so much, copycat-capycot for betaing. Seriously, I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough. :) I hope you'll continue to be my grammar police for as long as I write fanfiction! Hahaha.

Thank you everyone who was scared when Riku was scared, who freaked out when Sora smiled one of his scary smiles, who cheered when Sora and Riku first kissed, who giggled when Leon first met Cloud, who giggled when Sora first met Sephiroth, who tolerated my completely OOC'd Vanitas, who felt sad when they watched Riku leave for Neverland, and who celebrated when Riku wrote that he was coming back. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. (It sounds like I'm going to die or something tomorrow and never write fanfiction again, but I'm not. Hahaha.)

—Rock on, you guys.

|Corrosive Moon|