Ventus nodded his head absently at Sora continued talking. He honestly didn't know what the boy was saying. He was just staring at his hands.

Alive.

Awake.

He was awake and alive.

Awake.

Alive.

"We're here!" Sora's cheery voice stirred Ventus to look up.

Ven blinked "Y-Yen Sid's-"

"Tower! Yep!" Sora replied as he hopped off his seat. Sora held out his hand, halfway out of the Highwind with one foot on the grass and the other still in the ship "You wanna breathe in fresh air and feel real grass beneath your feet again?" Ventus felt himself grinning and tearing up as he accepted Sora's hand and quietly and carefully stepped onto the ground.

The grass was so... soft. Softer than he remembered. He took a few steps on his own, then began running around with giddy laughter. He whirled around and held his arms out to the wind on his skin, then fell back into that utterly cloud-like grass. There was a rush that left his head dizzy. He smiled at the sky, then lightly waved at it. "Hello sky... hello grass..." he whispered, voice strained with tears of joy. He closed his eyes and just sat there, listening to the heartbeats around him and the twinkling of stars in the sky, continuing to let his tears fall. He laughed quietly "It's great to be back."

Sora let Ven sit there a moment before he walked over and bowed over Ven "Hey, don't cha wanna meet everybody inside? They really wanna meet you."

Ven smiled a little- the same quirked one Sora used "Sure, why not?"

Sora helped Ventus up "Well, There's gonna be some new faces and maybe old ones-"

"Terra?! Aqua?!" Ventus blurted without thought.

Sora's grin faded. He then shrugged a little "Maybe."

Worry suddenly chased away Ven's air of bliss. He then followed Sora up the many winding stairs of the tower, slightly numbed. Terra and Aqua were okay, right? They were okay... They had to be, he didn't sacrifice himself for nothing-

"Hey guys! Got someone you might wanna meet!" Sora pushed the doors aside and held out a hand with a grin "Say hello to Ventus!"

"C-call me Ven." Ventus muttered a little, suddenly feeling a major spotlight trained on him. He saw a girl with bright red hair look over and smile at him, then leave. The two boys in the corner were chatting- one silver haired and tall and the other... Ventus found himself staring. No way. No he didn't-

Ven's exact twin turned around with his lighthearted and bored gaze fading to a sour look. He then glared at Sora "Bud, you got five seconds to explain."

Sora held up his hands "Hey! Don't ask me!"

Ventus once again spoke without thought "B-but we look the same-"

"And that's what I'm asking!" The twin snapped. He began walking over "Do you realize I have been through-"

The silver haired boy held him back "Roxas, calm down. You get irrational when you're angry."

The twin- apparently Roxas -took a deep breath. He then brushed the hand on his shoulder off and walked right up to Ventus. Ven knew the eyes were his- or at least had their origin with him -but boy were they... disconcerting with how piercing and unemotional they were. Especially considering a few seconds earlier this other him was borderline yelling with anger. Ventus leaned back as Roxas leaned in.

Roxas then backed away "Speak. Loud. So I can hear you."

Ventus complied instantly, trying to sound less intimidated than he was "H-hello to you, too."

Roxas took a deep breath again, then left the room with the doors slamming behind him. Ventus stared at the doors. He then frowned. Well, so much for making friends-

"I wouldn't put much thought on that." Ventus turned back around to see the girl again. She smiled apologetically "Roxas has been through a lot." Ventus smiled back, then blinked when the girl held out a green mass of yarn "I made this for you!" Ventus accepted the gift, finding that it was a handmade sweater in varying shades of green. "Sorry, I had to go off of Riku's measurements because Roxas didn't want to get measured and Sora was off waking you up." She continued while twirling her hair.

Ventus smiled "Nah, it's great." He then noticed how big it would be on him, and very casually wrapped the sleeves around his waist and tied them up "Nothin' a small wash won't shrink."

The girl giggled, then gasped "Oh! I didn't tell you my name!" She held out her hand "I'm Kairi."

Ven shook it "Nice to know you, Kairi."

"And I'm Riku, if you haven't caught on." Ven turned to see the only unnamed person in the room smiling at him. Riku then turned to Kairi "Didn't know ugly sweaters were your thing."

Kairi turned to him, putting her hands on her hips and bending over "Well you would if you would wear yours!"

Riku turned pink "W-well it's never really-" He sighed and covered his face when he saw that Kairi's look wouldn't change.

Ventus laughed, causing Kairi to stand back up in surprise. She then laughed herself "Wow! I didn't know that Roxas's laugh could sound so genuine!" She then blinked and awkwardly messed with her hair "I-I mean that-"

"I know what you meant, don't worry." Ventus said. He then looked around "Hey, um, are... Terra and Aqua here?"

Riku suddenly seemed to pale a shade. Kairi looked at him "Okay, hold on, you aren't up to speed?"

Ven's expression fell "What, is... something going on?"

Kairi looked around "Sora, you were supposed to explain this to him!"

Ventus frowned even deeper "Explain what-"

Sora appeared "Well pardon me for looking for Donald and Goofy, Kairi." He then shrugged at Ventus "Sorry, I thought they were here-"

"Sora we have bigger problems right now!" Kairi snapped at him. She then rolled her eyes at Sora's small questioning look and added "They left to help King Mickey and Yen Sid."

Ventus was starting to feel numb; how much had changed without him? "King Mickey?"

Sora nodded "Yeah, don't you remember? He said he was a friend of yours-"

"Mickey's a king?!" Ventus asked.

Sora then blinked, and looked at the ceiling "Oh yeah you have been asleep awhile... Heh, he doesn't like mentioning he's a king anyways-"

"Sora did you seriously not tell him about WHY we woke him up now?" Riku walked over to Sora, definitely using the advantage of the height difference between them.

Ventus looked at both of them "It was... It was to wake me up do you realize I've been asleep for over ten years?!"

Sora pointed to Ven with a look at Riku that said "Kiddo has a point." Riku sighed.

Ventus then looked at all three of them "Just tell me-"

"Well," Sora cut him off "I think we should wait a bit-"

Kairi cut in on him "Sora, we're gonna tell him we have to-"

"With how recently he's woken up I think not." Sora protested. He shifted on his feet and wrapped his arms in front of him "I just figured Ven needs time to recuperate."

"I'm just fine." Ventus snapped at him "Now what is going o-"

"Xehanort." Riku began explaining.

Ventus's eyes widened. His skin crawled. He knew that name. He knew the monster behind it. He then turned to Riku, the light in his expression gone and a death glare in its place "He's. Dead." Ventus clenched his fist "He's gotta be dead by now he was too old back then-"

"He's alive and he's split himself into thirteen Seekers of Darkness." Riku continued flatly. Ven's glare reminded him of Roxas on a bad day and was not daunting to him at all "We need to get Seven Lights to combat that or he's going to go after the Princesses of Heart to make-"

Ventus's glare vanished instantly. "The X-Blade." he uttered in a terrified whisper.

Riku nodded. "And I presume you were 'The broken boy, who failed to be the blade'." he noted, quoting Xehanort on the matter.

Ventus almost leaped back. He was trembling, eyes wide. No. No he was still going after the X-Blade he wasn't-

Kairi reached her hand to him "Are you-"

Ventus slapped it away "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Sora held up his hands while Riku and Kairi backed away "Hey! Calm down Ven!"

Ventus backed up until he felt the door behind him. It was gonna happen. It happened before. He was going to have to face himself again. Face himself as the monster he was. He didn't hear what they were telling him, and hurled open the door and ran down the steps. No. No, he didn't want to do this again! He didn't want to go through this hell again! Once was more than enough! Why did they wake him up now?! They were just putting them all in danger! Ven felt himself crying; most of all, Terra and Aqua were gone. He was facing this alone.

He tripped and painfully landed on the grass outside. A metallic taste in his mouth and pain from his tongue told he accidentally bit it. He sat up, digging his fingers into the ground while he gently went to work on fixing himself up. Shortly after he curled up, sobbing.

Destiny was never left to chance and he knew exactly what fate had in store for him.

ugh Ventus feels fhdjslkhfavdjncmx I just want Ventus to have to deal with his proto X-Blade status in KH3 okay hjflsdnvmcx.