Ventus heard them speaking at the door, but he didn't respond. In Demyx's absence, and despite the despair that had stolen the strength from his limbs, he'd managed to pull the sleeping Vanitas's head into his lap.
At first, he kept looking down at his brother, at his face. Peaceful in slumber--as peaceful as he'd ever seen it. It didn't seem right. It wasn't right, for the sleep that held Vanitas in its grasp was not natural. And that was Ventus's fault.
Ven knew that when Vanitas woke, his pain would begin all over again...
After a while, he stopped looking down at Van's face. He just sat in vacant silence, one hand supporting Van's head, the other stroking steadily, slowly, through his other half's unruly hair.
Dull blue eyes looked up at Demyx, Ienzo and Lea as they entered, lingering languidly on each in turn. His gaze shifted to the potted jasmine plant...odd. Why had they...? Oh, that's right; he remembered Ienzo saying something about that, just before he left, just before Sora's body...
The last few hours had become a blur. Everything had become a blur.
Everything except the echo of Demyx's words...which was why Ven's gaze didn't linger long on the water mage. The secret that Demyx had shared with him...Ven couldn't abide the shame. Everything he'd said to Demyx, and then learning that about him...
He had no idea what he was supposed to do.
He'd sat in Demyx's arms in silence in the backyard, having no response, his will to die cowed by the water mage. All he could do was what Demyx had told him to do: grieve.
Ventus didn't really know how to, if he were to be honest with himself. He should have grieved for Master Eraqus. He should have grieved for ending his own life, for ending Vanitas's. He should have grieved the loss of his home. He should have grieved for Aqua, for her losses and pain. He should have grieved for Terra, but for the life of him, could not even accept that Terra might never return the way he was.
He never had. He'd never let himself break down before, had simply kept everything inside, kept a smile on his face for the sake of those around him. He'd never realized what it did to him, staying inside. Staying quiet.
He didn't know how to grieve, but right then, he didn't know how to do anything else. Maybe the sight of him, so pale and drawn and tear-streaked and sickly-looking, would scare Lea, would scare his mom, would scare Roxas and Xion and Riku and Kairi, but...he had nothing for them. No answers, and nothing to give.
There were no answers in that house that night. After Ienzo and Lea departed, after Demyx carried Van and then Ven away, Riku stayed where he'd been at the end, standing in the corner, staring down at the pillows where Sora's body had been, his mind awhirl. Scenario after scenario played behind his aquamarine eyes as he tried desperately to puzzle through what could have caused this...but even his sharp mind had nothing. He could see it on the faces of Roxas and Xion, too, and even on Grace's face, so stricken by the loss of her son--her first, and youngest.
Kairi didn't know what to make of it, either. But she was less focused on trying to figure out why...and more focused on trying to cope. Silent tears streaked down her face, their continuous stream making permanent tracks on her cheeks.
Riku saw Demyx at the door, and knew it was time for him to leave the silent room. Those who remained needed to remain, he knew.
Kairi saw Riku's eyes meet Demyx's, and understood. Riku was needed elsewhere. She moved out from behind the bed to let him pass, and once he did, she resumed her place on the edge of the bed, sitting in the same spot she had been at the moment of Sora's passing. Even though her sister was with her, even though Grace, Xion and Roxas were with her, she felt alone with her thoughts, with her grief. She didn't try to hide it, didn't try to deny it or shove it away. She knew it needed to play out, and she let it, sitting very still in silence.
Riku did not let his play out--he knew he couldn't, not yet. He slipped out the bedroom door and closed it behind him, then looked to Demyx. His keen ears caught the clink of bottles coming from the kitchen--someone was rummaging--and a murmur of voices from the living room. He didn't speak, just turned his calm, questioning gaze to Demyx, asking silently for an update.