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A/N: A Christmas gift for R.girl! :D I hope you like it! (Modern AU)
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Vanitas looked a bit uncomfortable now. “My world view won’t change just because I hung a bunch of ornaments from so
“Come along, dear; don’t be shy.”
The boy, hardly twelve years old, could not possibly be seen as shy. He practically radiated arrogance and was always overtly confident, despite his somewhat gangly appearance. His dark hair hung about his face in drooping spikes, clinging to his head a bit from the steadily falling rain.
“We have a boy about your age; I’m certain you two will get along,” the woman—not his mother, blissfully – went on brightly, happiness sparkling in her brown eyes.
He grunted in reply, wiping rain out of his eyes.
“There’s his brother and sister, too, but they’re both a bit ol—”
“Okay,” he cut in deliberately, forcing what was not so much a smile but a smirk.
Her bright expression faltered a bit and she stopped—much to his displeasure, as it meant longer in that awful rain. “You needn’t worry; they all know you’re coming.”
“I’m not worried,” he almost said, biting it back at the last second as he remembered he was supposed to ‘Behave, play nice, show them the real boy hidden underneath that cold shell’. He had laughed in their faces at that last one.
Instead, he ground out with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, “I trust you.” The boy almost laughed, it was such a lie. He didn’t trustanyone, let alone a family he had never met.
The woman didn’t look entirely convinced, but nodded, pushing him forward a bit as they walked on.
He didn’t pay much attention to their house, not particularly caring what it looked like so long as it got him out of the rain. If it was summer, he might not have minded as much, but it was late December and nearly cold enoughto snow; suffice to say, it was freezing, even through his coat.
She closed the door quietly behind them, locking it with a click. She led him into a room thatsseemed to be some kind of study, holding a finger to her lips to warn him to be quiet. There was a man at the desk, blue hair falling around his shoulders. The woman moved over to him silently, reaching over to tap him just as he looked up at her.
“An admirable effort, Jasmine,” the man greeted her impassively, only the faintest traces of amusement in his gold eyes.
Jasmine smiled, laughing a bit. “One of these days I will manage to sneak up on you.”
The corners of the man’s mouth twitched in what might have been the beginning of a smile. “I have full confidence in you.” He glanced over at the boy, a blue eyebrow rising in question. “Is this him?”
At his wife’s nod, he stood up. “I see. I am Saïx; it’s a pleasure to meet you, Vanitas.” Saïx offered a hand to the boy, though Vanitas remained rooted to his spot near the door. After a few moments, Saïx lowered his hand, his fingertips brushing against the papers on the desk.
Silence reigned in the room, until Jasmine finally suggested. “Maybe you’d like to meet the other children? They were about to decorate our Christmas tree when I left; if they’ve started, you could help.”
Vanitas started to say something, but opted to roll his eyes towards the ceiling as Jasmine took him out of the study and into a festively decorated room. The three children Jasmine had mentioned earlier—two teenagers and a boy about Vanitas’s height –were struggling to get a string of lights around the tree.
“Aqua, Terra!” Jasmine called. The older girl and boy glanced over at her, Aqua’s left hand wrapped in the string of lights and Terra pausing in an argument with their younger brother. Said brother looked over as well, curiosity in his blue eyes.
“Is that Vanitas?” The boy whispered to his sister, his voice drifting a bit in the room.
Aqua looked to their mother expectantly.
Jasmine pushed him forward gently, nodding. “I’m sure he would like to help you all.”
The siblings exchanged glances, and Terra gestured for the boy to come over. Vanitas resisted the urge to roll his eyes again, begrudgingly walking over to them as Jasmine went into a different room.
Aside from the lights, there was a large box containing assorted ornaments on the floor nearby. Vanitas peered inside it, his eyes flickering between the colorful patters and designs. He was a bit startled when he heard Terra’s voice.
“Do you want to give us a hand here?”
Vanitas glanced up at him, the older boy trying to wind the lights around the tree’s top from the stepladder. He didn’t reply right away, just watching Terra for a bit. Finally, he muttered a quiet “fine” and took to helping the youngest wrap them around the bottom of the tree.
In Vanitas’s opinion, it took far too long to finish decorating, especially with the siblings talking, talking, and talking around him the entire time. The boy—Ventus, apparently—had tried to talk to him more than once, and the older two certainly had attempted to include him as well, but he had barely replied.
I think it looks all right,” Aqua murmured after they were finished, squinting at the lit-up tree.
Ventus nodded in agreement. “Definitely.” He glanced at Vanitas. “What do—?”
“It looks fine,” Vanitas cut him off, adding sarcastically, “Yay teamwork.”
“It’s done now,” Terra pointed out to him. “That has to mean something to you.”
“I don’t have to work on it anymore? What else would it mean?”
Ventus looked at the boy in confusion. “We did it together,” he said, as if the answer should have been obvious.
“…And? So what?”
“That doesn’t mean anything to you?” Terra asked, folding up the stepladder as he spoke.
Vanitas shrugged. “Not really.”
“Why not?”
“Why would it?” Vanitas countered. “What’s so special about it?”
It was Aqua who answered. “It’s easier to accomplish things together, instead of alone.”
“Don’t you know that?” Ventus asked him, tilting his head a bit.
Vanitas laughed, almost bitterly. “I don’t bother with that ‘Power of Friendship’ junk.”
“You didn’t,” Terra corrected.
“What?”
“You didn’t bother with it,” he clarified. “What about now?”
Vanitas looked a bit uncomfortable now. “My world view won’t change just because I hung a bunch of ornaments from some stupid tree.”
“It’s not the tree, Van,” Ventus argued. “It’s that we mean something to each other—or will mean something to each other.
“It’s Vanitas.”
“Give it a chance.” Terra smiled at him. “It won’t hurt.”
Vanitas cringed a bit at that, but replied smoothly in a way that did not at all give away his discomfort, “Sure it won’t; I’ll be sure to remember that when I see some bully smacking the other kids around because their friendliness was annoying.”
“It’s not annoying,” Aqua insisted. “You just have to open up to it.”
“Besides, being alone’s not any fun.” Ventus grinned.
“Oh, yeah? And it’s all sunshine and roses with friends?” Vanitas challenged.
“Not all the time, but the times it is make up for it.”
Vanitas scoffed, though he could feel a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “So I should ‘come to the Light side’? Is that what you’re saying?”
Terra nodded, leaning against the wall. “Exactly.”
“Heh. Shouldn’t be so surprised."me stupid tree.”
“It’s not the tree, Van,” Ventus argued. “It’s that we mean something to each other—or will mean something to each other.
“It’s Vanitas.”
“Give it a chance.” Terra smiled at him. “It won’t hurt.”
Vanitas cringed a bit at that, but replied smoothly in a way that did not at all give away his discomfort, “Sure it won’t; I’ll be sure to remember that when I see some bully smacking the other kids around because their friendliness was annoying.”
“It’s not annoying,” Aqua insisted. “You just have to open up to it.”
“Besides, being alone’s not any fun.” Ventus grinned.
“Oh, yeah? And it’s all sunshine and roses with friends?” Vanitas challenged.
“Not all the time, but the times it is make up for it.”
Vanitas scoffed, though he could feel a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “So I should ‘come to the Light side’? Is that what you’re saying?”
Terra nodded, leaning against the wall. “Exactly.”
“Heh. Shouldn’t be so surprised."
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A/N: I think Vanitas is in foster care at this point, but Saïx and Jasmine adopt him later on.
And yes, that is a Star Wars reference you see there.