To: All Heroes

[makingfriends]

[Unlike his usual writing style, this letter is short, simple, and to the point.]

For anyone who looked through their files in the lab, how accurate were they? Did any of the details seem wrong to you? Maybe even made up? Even slightly?

I'm not asking for details on what was in yours. I just want to know if your information seemed right.

Ventus

[He's already talked about it some, all while remaining equally vague, but... he wants to be sure. Lacking as many memories as he does, he has no way of confirming or denouncing most of what he read -- and that's what scares him.]


[Action - for AU!Yuna]

[Not long after, Ven decides he needs some more time to himself -- real time to himself, not just retreated to his room in a house full of people, even if they are his good friends. It's sunset by the time he makes it to his secret viewing spot high up on the side of Aqures Castle, and he settles there on the overhang to watch the last light of the sun fade over the city.

Once again, he's dressed in his Time Mage clothes -- that black coat, the one Ira attributed to some "Organization;" Ven asked Rae to give them to him again, but was quick to ditch her shortly after. He's not in the mood to be patient with her well-intended lectures, and she'd freak out if she knew about this spot of his, even if he is fully recovered.

As for why he's wearing the coat... he's not even sure. Some small, desperate way of trying to feel closer to Terra, maybe -- it's the only lead he has left. That and snippets of a thorough report on his life, much of which he refuses to go back and read. -- even as his thoughts are wracked with uncertainty, guilt, and apology towards Aqua.

How accurate was his file? He wants to write it all off as a lie, but he can't. He could confirm that parts of it were accurate, far too accurate, and so trying to pick and choose what he accepts as truth isn't as easy as he wants it to be.]

Heh... [It's a flat sound, lacking both humor and cheer.] I keep telling myself I want answers... but every time I get them, I just...

[He looks down between his knees at the drop in front of him -- stories high -- and sighs.]

The Master was right. I really didn't belong outside yet.

[And we're right back to square one.]

Comments

[silencesfate]

My assigned Moogle, Kharon, he really wants me to lock mine. He hasn't explained why. But if I had to guess it's one of those "ignorance is bliss" situations. A lot of people seem unhappy.

With how uneventful my life is, I can't fathom why he'd be alarmed. I haven't given it a look.

-- Minato Arisato

[makingfriends]

Minato,

So you're not worried? Even though there might be something important you forgot about?

Ventus

[silencesfate]

There's really not a lot of important things I've been through, so no, I'm not worried.

Have a lot of people gotten upset at what their files had in them?

-- Minato Arisato

[neverfirstclass]

I only peeked at mine before I closed it but it matches what I remember and what I was told. Honestly, I've had enough of people knowing my own future and I don't want to know it anymore. I'm tired of living in its shadow and being told it's inevitable.

-Cloud

[Being in Aqures Tosf and knowing there was nothing they could do was bad enough. He still wants to believe his own future, and Sephiroth's, can be changed.]

[makingfriends]

Cloud,

So it went into your future, too?

[Ven's didn't. It stopped at the point that he was brought here -- twelve years after he went to sleep -- but then, he hasn't met anyone from his life who comes from his future, so... maybe there is no future for him, not on file, until he goes back to make it. Something like that.]

But all the things in your past were accurate? You're sure?

Ventus

[neverfirstclass]

Ventus

There was a bit? Mostly I think it was speculation based on the others. It's complicated. Like I said, I tried not to look.

Anyway, there's not much in my past to tell. It's my future that has a lot going on. But it did have the details right, even that Turk I met.

Cloud

[mcduck]

[ The letter in the envelope is tiny-- As if someone had forced the Moogle to write it all on a tiny piece so as to save paper.]

I can say the files are very accurate. I've found things in this computer that only I should have known. [Said things may or may not include the code to open his money bin.] I would recommend getting it locked as soon as you can.

[makingfriends]

[This letter takes a little longer than usual to come back -- because Ven's been wracking his brain trying to remember where he heard that name before. It's familiar, but not the creepy-nagging-deja-vu familiar, like Riku's name, Sephiroth, and a few other things were. Huh...

...Well, anyway. In the meantime,]

Thanks, I did. There were just some things I'm not sure about, so I guess I was hop wondering if she got some of it wrong.

So nothing was off? Even a little?

Ventus

[mcduck]

I suppose there were some things wrong. Her files called me "greedy," "miserly," "cranky," "old," "cheap," and "stingy." These are common misconception among idiots in my homeworld, so I paid no attention to them. [Or so he says.]

[whereishe]

[Yuna got his letter and instead of responding she went in search of her friend. She hasn't read her future but she knows of the horrors of her own file. She doesn't know what Ven read but she can tell how it's affected him. She doesn't want him to just reject it, it's part of him.

Her hands skillfully move across the handholds that Ven had shown her that day after the game. She slips once, just enough to hear Ven's verbal contimplation. She lifts herself up with a smile.]

Found you.

[She lifts herself completely over the edge, settling next to him without a comment. Yuna is back to clothes she's used to after equipping gunner once more.]

I'm sorry if you wanted to be alone... [She pauses trying to think of what to say, her gaze locked on the sunset.]

I think you belong Ven.

[makingfriends]

[As wrapped up as he is in his thoughts, Ven's utterly unaware of an approaching presence until Yuna pops up over the edge -- which makes him jump, but fortunately nowhere near enough to risk falling.]

Yuna!

[For a moment he's entirely surprised -- but no, of course, she's the one person who knows about this spot, isn't she?

He doesn't object to either her presence or the way she sits beside him; he doesn't answer right away, either, returning his troubled stare to the skyline. It means a lot that she would say that, and he wants to believe it -- he did believe it, does believe it still, the part of him that's resigned to playing a role in fate, but... That doesn't change that he could have done some things differently. Better.]

I don't know. [It's not an argument; he sounds genuinely unsure.] I just... I made a lot of mistakes. If I'd listened and done what I was supposed to, maybe I...

[He's quiet for a moment. He's still not sure whether he wants to go into it, but... Yuna's one of those he's most comfortable with at this point, and if she sought him out, she's probably guessed what this is about. Plus, she knows Aqua. That makes her more entitled to know about what's been bothering him the most.]

...I'm... I'm missing a lot of my memories. It's never been a big deal, but... Jessie's file -- it filled a lot of 'em in.

[no1]

[ It's not a topic he wishes to elaborate upon in detail, so the letter is brief, too. ]

Ventus,

I was not aware of the majority of the information my file entailed, and I have no proof to claim it was indeed true.

-- Ace

[makingfriends]

Ace,

Were they things you'd forgotten about? Or maybe things that happened around you, but you didn't know happened in the first place?

Ventus

[Also vague, but... it's hard to go into without going into it completely, and "I just learned that I was physically possessed by my evil other half while I was also battling him in my head and apparently he used my body to beat up two of my friends so yeah I'd really like to know if that's accurate" is going one or two or maybe fifty steps too far. All things considered. Not currently fond of the idea of discussing his extreme amnesia, either.]

[needsteaplz]

Ventus,

Strangely enough, a lot of information the file about me was true. I didn't find much regarding my future but its details about my past are too accurate for my liking. I don't feel comfortable sharing it this way and would rather bring those up on my terms.

Are you alright from reading your file though? If you don't want to talk about it over letters, I'll be home tonight.

-Saori

[makingfriends]

[There's a half-hour delay to this response, because Ven had to think on it. Does he want to talk about it? Maybe, maybe not. He's having a hard time reading himself right now, which is weird. He's not sure what he wants -- besides his best friends, and a chance to clarify and apologize where needed. But at present, that's out of the question.]

Saori,

Yeah, I'm OK. There was just some stuff in mine that I didn't know about. I'm not even sure if it's true, but if everyone's saying theirs was right, I guess it has to be.

I don't know if there's much to talk about, but I'll think about it. Thanks.

I'll see you tonight.

Ven

[He won't be home until a little while after dark, but he won't try to avoid her when he does get back.]

[damn_juicebox]

Ventus,

I hope you are well since our last meeting. From what I can judge, the details of my file were accurate, and eerily extensive. Was this not the case for you?

~Rukia

[She's not that upset about her own file. But there's someone else's she wishes she hadn't read.]

[makingfriends]

Rukia,

I'm not sure. I didn't see anything that was definitely wrong, but there was a lot in there that I don't remember. Or I guess you could say that I'm not even sure if it happened in the first place?

Sorry if that doesn't make much sense. It's complicated.

Ventus

[tacticallyminded]

I didn't care to look. It seemed unnerving, to find out what my fate could be. But I glanced at the bottom. It confirmed one of my favorite foods.

Reasonably accurate, I would venture. How bothersome!

- Robin

[makingfriends]

[sdfjskl Robin]

Robin,

"Unnerving" is right, I guess. A few people said theirs went into their future, but mine didn't. It went up to when I came to Crystallis. Do you know if that was the case for anyone else?

Ventus

[kensatsu]

[ This was quite troublesome, to say the least. He's not very keen on sharing the details of what his files disclosed, so he keeps the letter vague. ]

Ventus,

I've thoroughly checked for any possible errors in the files, but they were accurate. Frighteningly so, in fact. If there is anything you do not wish others to know, I suggest you lock them as soon as possible.

~ Miles Edgeworth.

[makingfriends]

[Had they met in-person first, Ven would have noted the age difference and would address Edgeworth more properly, surely; but when it comes to letters, he's in the habit of using first names since that's what he's given. Oh well??]

Miles,

Thanks. I made sure to lock mine when I was there.

This might be kind of hard to explain, but out of curiosity, was there anything in there that you couldn't be totally sure about? Maybe it wasn't exactly wrong, but something you just don't remember?

Ventus

[acceptedoblivion]

From what I can remember, it is. There were some things that I don't remember, but it all fits too well from what I do know.

Then again I'm used to only remembering lies, so I'm not the best person to ask.

Want to

Let me know if

I'll be home eventually if you need anything.

-Ira

[makingfriends]

[And that pretty much describes Ven's perception of it -- using the context around the blanks to guess what's accurate and what isn't. Unfortunately for him, it all fits too well to be untrue.

Still--]

No, that helps. Thanks. I think I know just what you mean.

I'm going out, so I might not be back for a while. Don't wait up.

Ven

[After writing that, he doesn't check his mail again. And sure enough, it'll be dark by the time he does return. Alone, but he caught Rae long enough to change back into his everyday clothes -- minus the Master symbol usually found on his chest, as he took it off this morning and left it, along with his Keyblade, in the corner of his room. Were Terra, Aqua, or Eraqus here, they probably could have read into that simple gesture more deeply than anything else Ven could have done or said.

For now, he's in no rush to retrieve it, but will make his way to the kitchen to go over his thoughts there -- his old ones, but the new ones in the wake of his meetings with Yuna and Rukia, too. He may be there a while.]

[unyieldingspirit]

It had the names of my family. [Her father, her mother, her sister, half-siblings, aunts, uncles… all of their group, pretty much. It's frightening, and she doesn't like that- but there's no one here she can be angry at. It shows, though, in the way she scores her letters into the paper.] It was accurate enough.

K'pandolu

[makingfriends]

[The brevity of that response, ironically enough, says a lot -- even if Ven doesn't understand why that in itself would be an issue.]

It really sounds like they didn't leave anything out.

[And that's what worries him.]

Are you OK?

Ventus