Smile Again

Summary: I would give anything to see you smile again. It was a simple gesture that brought us together. And today, it finally broke us.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or any of that good stuff.

A/N: Okay, I caved. I was going to stop writing for a bit, but there just simply isn't enough Vanitas x Xion love around fanfiction. As an author I must contribute! So, here is my new story dedicated to my new OTP!

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There was only about an hour or two left of class, but I grew tired of waiting. I slipped out of the classroom quietly as to not be a distraction to my friend who was teaching. Once out, I took a deep breath as if I was held prisoner for a very long time.

In reality, I was just inhaling all the nostalgia that surrounded me. I roamed the familiar hallways. Each step I took felt like I was traveling back in time. Back to when the walls seemed to tower over me. Back to when I was naïve and thought I knew all there was to know about me.

I stopped in front of the west wing music room. I opened the large white doors and entered. To my pleasure, it was empty. Of course, back then it was always empty.

It looked as if the room had been untouched after all these years I've been away. As if it had been frozen in time completely. The main focal point was the ebony, grand piano that stood near the center of the room.

I walked over to it and sat down at the bench. I revealed the small white and black keys and stared at them as if they were a treasure. My hands stroked over them gently. Pressing lightly on one key, a small note could be heard.

"Play for me."

I stopped myself from pressing another note and closed the piano. I looked out of the large window from where I sat. The scenery of the garden from here still looked beautiful after all these years. Had I really stepped back in time? Back to when playing the piano felt less like a job. Back to when it was a magical feeling every time I hit those chords precisely.

"One more song."

Back to when I would play for you.

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7 years earlier

I trudged to the gym teacher's office. When I got there, no one was around. A note was on the computer monitor.

"Out for a run and grabbing some food. Got questions? Tough luck!"

I sighed as I sat down in the chair. That was my sister for you. And here I was, hoping to have someone to vent to. Of course, it usually had a routine about it. I would vent about how much I hated this school. Then after, I would realize it was all her fault and blame it on her. Then she would proceed to kick me out of her office claiming I would be late for class, when in reality I still had half an hour.

Well even if she wasn't here, it was a nice place to get away from all those kids with their noses up in the air.

That was the norm at Radiant Academy. My sister had gotten a job here as a PE teacher. It's not like she was super amazing or would put out star athletes into the real world. No, it's because she was the only one who would actually take the job.

I had learned from her that PE female coaches here always seemed to quit. Something about the students being lazy. Or in my opinion they believed themselves to be far superior to something as daunting as picking up a ball and throwing it.

A lot of girls in my first year ended up failing because they didn't take Yuffie seriously. It amused me a little bit that many of my classmates would groan about having to dress out, while I got to go off to an easy elective class.

I twirled in her chair as if that would make her magically appear. I also wanted to blame my parents for me being here as well.

Because no one really wanted the job of handling high maintenance girls, the school offered an extra benefit if someone took the job. A house nearby the school. Actually it was more like a mansion considering it was about the size of four, two story houses. But to the rich folks around here, it was a house…maybe a really big apartment. But to me and my sister, it was a mansion.

Yuffie felt it was too big for one person when she went to go see it, and managed to encourage our parents to let me attend school here. They thought it was a good idea. Until they saw the price. So what did they do? They made me apply for the scholarship.

I'm not rich, so surely I must make up for it in academics right? Nope! I'm just an average student. But, because everyone could afford the tuition to the academy, the scholarship was left untouched. Making me the only person who ever actually applied for it. I even nearly failed on purpose to get out of going to the school.

I crossed my arms in my chair. Just thinking about the situation made me mad. But…once I got accepted, nothing could really change my parents…or Yuffie's mind. I was going. For all four years. And here I was. In my second year. Still dreading the entire thing.

The silver lining of Radiant Academy was the music program. I felt ever since I got here, my piano playing skills had increased drastically…not to toot my own horn or anything. So…I guess this place wasn't entirely that bad. There I said it.

I got up from Yuffie's chair. I didn't think she was ever going to show up. I looked at the clock. I had only wasted fifteen minutes here. How depressing. I slowly made my way out of her office and back into the hallways.

During lunch time, usually the student diner was packed. Sometimes there were students in the basketball courts or at the student lounge. Yeah, we have a lounge. I generally avoided these areas. But, the classrooms and libraries weren't exactly the places to escape to either. I didn't like dealing with the teachers either. And I think they felt the same way about me.

I don't know what compelled me to explore the west wing of the school. Probably out of curiosity. I never had a class there. And I doubt I would, considering there weren't any music classes in the area.

The layout of the west wing was exactly the same as the east wing of the entire school. Talk about lack of creativity. I wonder what classes they held over here though. I suppose the west wing specialized more in academics because I knew the east wing was meant for performing art students. The south wing was general classes and the north wing was administration.

In other words, the school was just too big for its own good. I was about to head back until something from the window caught my eye. I went back and stood in front of it. My eyes widened. I had no idea the school had a garden.

Outside the window was a large stretch of grass covered with a variety of flowers. "I wonder…how far it goes." I said to no one. I followed the windows on the walls admiring the different variety of floral. Occasionally a fountain would appear in my view.

I was so fascinated that I came to an abrupt stop when I noticed I was staring at a door rather than beautiful scenery through a window. "I guess the tour stops here."

I started to turn back but I kept looking at the door. Part of me was probably wishing it would disappear. Somehow I made a U-turn and found myself back again. I took a hold of the handle. "Oh please, oh please don't let this be a busy classroom." I silently prayed to myself before twisting it. I made the tiniest crack and took a peek. Of course…it was too small to see anything.

I opened it a bit further. No class…in fact it wasn't even a classroom at all. I opened the door further. The room standing before looked more like it belonged to a household rather than a school.

My eyes quickly averted to the main focal point of the room. An ebony grand piano. I had forgotten completely the reason why I entered the room as soon as I saw it. My feet, out of their own accord, walked me over to the bench and gravity did its job on me as I slowly sat down on the bench.

I removed the fall that covered the keys. The piano looked like as if it had been untouched. Bought just be kept in its pristine condition. I touched a key ever so lightly as if any harder than that, it would break.

The warning bell rang and I broke out of my daze. Five minutes left of lunch. I placed the fall back and looked around quickly. I noticed a window with maroon cushions on a window seat. The rest of the garden could be seen from this room.

I exited the room and closed the door behind me. I hoped that this room was rarely occupied. It would be a perfect daily get away at school. I rushed off to class with a hopeful smile on my face. Okay, maybe Radiant Academy had two silver linings.

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Days passed and I would visit the small piano room every day. And to my delight, it was always empty. After lunch I would dash over there and read a book in the window seat or sometimes nap. It was cathartic.

A week had passed since I found the room and it had become a routine to eat my lunch as fast as possible. Usually, I would dart straight there while still chewing on my last bite. Today, I took a small detour.

I figured I could still get to the room even if I walked by the basketball courts. Usually I avoided the area because it was another hot spot for the students of Radiant Academy to hang out. But this week was the beginning of basketball tryouts. It meant hewould be there.

My eyes darted around the courts until I found him. He had made a basket just as I spotted him. Blond spiked hair and bright blue eyes. He had a smile that could make any girl melt...not that I was or anything. I shook my head and then decided to carry on to my destination.

Of course it would've gone more smoothly if I hadn't run into someone as soon as I turned around.

"Just going to sit there and not say anything huh?" A familiar voice teased me for falling to the ground.

I looked up to see kind blue eyes stare back at me. "Hello to you too, Aqua. I see that you're back." I got up with the help of my friend. Aqua was a fourth year student. She was, and still is, a part of student council when I had first met her. Back then, I believed her kind motherly act was a persona she kept for appearances sake. But, from time to time whenever she saw me in the hallways and would greet me with a smile and would ask how I'm doing. She was just genuinely like that.

Acquaintances became friends...and well you know the drill. This year she had become president, so I felt like I saw less and less of her.

She smiled at me and patted my head. "Missed me?"

I grumbled at her doting mother act. Sometimes she went too far with that. But I looked up at her and smiled and nodded to her question. Aqua really was the only person I could talk to here, besides my sister. But like I said, the time we got to was far and few between.

"So, my offer still stands. I can talk to Ventus for you if you would like." She pointed to the boy at the basketball court I had seen earlier.

I nearly pounced on her arm. "Don't point! And my answer still stands. Don't do anything!" I said frowning. And of course, Aqua could be such a girl sometimes. Always trying to see if she could pair me up with that boy Ventus. Like I wanted her to...

"You're staring again." She pointed out with a small teasing tone.

I snapped out of my daze and my face felt hot. "Oh please. Like you don't get this way around that football guy. What was his name again?" I said turning the tables.

She looked up at the sky. "I have no idea who you're talking about," she lied.

"Oh come on now. Don't be like that. You like him a lot. He's tall, has a bit of tan. Captain of the team. Dark brown hair. Is kind of best friends with Ventus...what was his name again?" I asked out loud to myself.

Aqua sighed. "You know very well his name is Terra."

"So you do like him?" I tricked her. I laughed at her red face. "Okay, okay I'll stop. So how was the trip? You used it as a way to get closer to him right?"

"Oh please. I was too busy trying to keep the schedule intact. For the most part the seniors thought it was fun...I think." She shrugged. "Too bad it was a senior only trip. You would've loved Destiny Islands. It was beautiful."

"Sounds fun. Although I doubt even if I could go, I would've been able to afford it." I noticed she had a stack of paper in her hands and decided not to keep her lingering. "Anyway, it seems like you're busy so I'll let you go."

She remembered the work she had to do and smiled meekly. "Oh I almost forgot. Thanks Xion. And sorry we couldn't talk much longer. Enjoy the rest of lunch!" She waved and then left.

I waved back. "You too...especially since you're so busy." I took another glance at the basketball court and then shook my head. I probably shouldn't linger around either. I hustled back to the piano room.

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Going into the room, I was excited to actually test out the grand piano to its fullest. Before when I had visited I had just press simple notes. I worried that people would hear the noise and investigate the room. Luckily I borrowed my sister's radio and played music and went outside. To my luck, the room was soundproof.

It seemed like ever since I found this room, I had had nothing but good luck.

I walked over to the bench, lifted the fall and sat down. I placed my hands on the keys and started to play the first song that came to my mind. It was the first song I had ever memorized. I felt at ease with this piano and before I knew it, my eyes were closed as I hit each note precisely.

I shifted my feet to hit the pedals when needed. My arms made small movements to reach the keys further out. I had become immersed in the music. In my head, I saw myself performing at a concert hall. And when I hit the last note of the song, people would applaud.

I smiled to myself at the sound of clapping. Funny. I thought I pictured an audience, not just one. Wait. Did I hear…actual clapping?

My eyes opened to see a guy standing in front of the closed doors of the room. He was clapping. Our eyes met. He had bright gold colored eyes. Spikey hair. Longer than Ventus's with a charcoal color to it.

How long had he been standing there? Was I that distracted for him to get in without me noticing? The clapping sound had stopped and I didn't know what to say.

He seemed to though. "Now then, who the hell are you?"

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A/N: Okay, short introduction chapter I know! If you guys like it, I'll continue and make a longer chapter! Also, you can check my deviant art account (on my ff profile) for small previews of each chapter. Of course they can change once it is posted on here. And I'll post up other goodies about the story on my blog (also on my ff profile) from time to time. Thanks for reading and drop a review!