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Who: Ventus, Lingering Sentiment (Terra), Sora, Aqua
What: Awakening.
When: A few days before the Radiant Garden log begins.
Where: Yen Sid's Tower
Status: In Progress
Notes: BIRTH BY SLEEP SPOILERS

In a small room, connected to a hallway looping out from one of the winding stairways of Yen Sid's tower, a sleeping figure lay still. If one didn't know any better, they would believe that he was just resting; a young boy, taking a pleasant nap.

A 'nap' that had lasted for fourteen years. A 'nap' from which he would not, could not awaken - not until a missing piece was restored.

But the piece was close. The body knew that it's Heart was near, felt connections to it's resting place all around. Sometimes, it reacted accordingly - a hand would twitch, an eye would flicker. But still he said and did nothing. He wasn't there, not really. Not yet. He was still resting quietly, cloaked in the safety of another's heart.

He didn't need to be, though. Not anymore.

Ventus was ready to awaken.

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Sora could almost feel Ven's Heart inside his own, tugging at his Heart, wanting to be set free. But Sora had no idea how to free the heart, nothing short of stabbing himself with a Keyblade again. Sora didn't want to do that again.

Sora sat on the edge of the bed, when something unexpected happened.

Hey, Sora?

The familiar voice echoed distantly inside Sora's mind, seeming to come from nowhere at all; certainly not from the boy it belonged to, who hadn't moved since the Keyblade Master had entered. Had anyone else walked by at that moment, they would have heard nothing.

But it wasn't just the boy's imagination. Far from it.

Can you hear me?

There was another echo; louder, more forceful. There was only one place it could have come from - and, if Sora were to close his eyes, he would find himself there, on a stained glass platform, where Ven was waiting for him.

"Yeah, I can hear you."

Sora also found himself on the familiar stained glass platform, he walked towards the shorter boy and smiled at him.

Ven smiled, too, and looked around a few times, taking a few steps forward. It felt strange, after all this time, to look at something and understand it, and to move his own feet instead of just watching, uncomprehending as time passed somewhere beyond the light. They weren't his real feet, or eyes - he knew that - but all the same, it was nice.

He felt sure, now that he was ready. He could stand on his own.

But he couldn't go yet. There was still something he had to do.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it sure has"

It was nice being able to talk to Ven, rather than just having him be some vague, easily missed feeling in the back of his Heart.

"Are you ready to wake up?"

"Yeah." he replied, nodding once. He was calm and steady, sure of his words. "I think so."

For a few moments, Ven didn't say anything else. In all honesty, he wasn't sure what exactly to say, or what to do. The only thing he could do was move by instinct. To follow his heart.

That had always worked for him before, right?

"But first, there's something that I need to say." He walked closer, until there were only a few feet between him and Sora.

"That's good, I--" Sora cut himself off as Ven walked closer, and he cocked his head to the one side.

"Oh, really? like what?"

"Sora..."

Suddenly, a bright light covered the stained glass. Somewhere beyond it, smaller lights began to float away, trailing up and outward as they headed somewhere beyond the void.

Soon, the light would vanish, and the scene would fade entirely. But first, a few whispered words were spoken, somewhere off in the distance.

Thanks. For everything.

---

The first thing to move was a hand. Slowly it was lifted, and still heavy eyes blinked. The boy rubbed a single eye once, slowly, before stopping again.

You don't have to thank me, Ven

Back in the tower, Sora nearly jumped off the bed as he saw Ven stir. He watched closely to make sure everything was gonna be okay. Though he would have to do something eventually, like tell someone, or something. Sora was a little to excited about this to be thinking straight.

Moving was a process. He had been still for so long that his limbs felt stiff and unnaturally heavy...no, physical movement itself felt strange. Ven saw no reason to rush, either.

He blinked a few more times, letting the light filter into his eyes. Still, he didn't notice Sora - not yet. Slowly he moved his arms, using the bed to push himself into a sitting position. That felt better for sure. He had been laying down for way too long.

Carefully he stretched, yawning before he relaxed again, looking around the room.

Aqua had just returned from combing The World That Never Was in search of Terra's body. It had been a failure, with only Heartless and Nobodies inhabiting the dilapidated world, but she'd had to check. But she had no more leads, so it was time to return to Master Yen Sid's tower to check up on her friends.

First was Terra, kneeling just outside of Ven's room. He was as well as he could be, considering what had happened. He wasn't much more responsive than he'd been before she had left, but that was okay. He was still there, somehow, and that was what mattered.

Her smile fell a little as she started to open Ven's door, though. It was unsettling that he hadn't woken up yet, so long after he'd been taken from Castle Oblivion. It worried her. But she found herself stopping in surprise when she saw Sora sitting by his side, and Ven himself sitting up in the bed, looking around.

He was awake.

Ven was awake!

Aqua shook herself out of her shock and turned to call Terra into the room. A moment later, she rushed to the bed and fell to her knees, hugging Ven as tightly as she could. "Don't ever make me worry like that again," she said softly. "We missed you, Ven."

Aqua could always manage to rouse the Sentiment out of his state of unresponsiveness. It was Aqua, he knew he was important to him, even if he didn't know how, just like that boy that was sleeping in the other room.

When she called to him, he stood up to see what she wanted, only to see her hugging the boy who was awake now? A flood of strong, unfamiliar feelings hit the Sentiment, feelings that he wanted to express, but just couldn't, he had no eyes to cry with, and no voice to cheer with. But it didn't matter, Ven was awake. The Sentiment joined Aqua in hugging the boy, because it was the only way he could express what he was feeling.

Ven's half-dazed staring was interrupted by by the sight of a figure walking into his room, from somewhere on the edge of his vision. He whipped his head around, though his mouth didn't move nearly as fast. A barely-whispered muttering of "...Aqua?" was all that escaped before she was there, hugging him. Not a moment later, there was the feeling of cold metal on his shoulder. A glance to his other side told him who it was; Terra, still in his armor. Why was he...?

That didn't matter. At least his friends were safe.

They were all okay. They were together. Nothing else mattered.

Everything could be normal again, right?

"Hey, you aren't the only one." he said. "I missed you guys, too."

Sora's swift exit went completely unnoticed. Aqua was just too tied up in her friends right now - and who could blame her? Ven was awake, at last.

"Oh, Ven," she murmured, reluctantly pulling away to frown at him. "You're going to have to start training again soon, Ven. You've been sleeping for so long, do you even remember how to summon your Keyblade? And we still have a lot to do, too." Her happiness broke through a second later, and she cracked a smile. "I'm..." She shook her head, gesturing at herself and Terra. "We're glad that you're okay."