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Shiro would twitch an eyebrow, but said nothing as Roveth actually stepped up, frowning at Aqua's outbursts about Vanitas "i'm sure outside of probably the normal residents of this tavern and Kairi, everyone here has had a bad encounter with Vanitas. this is fact. however!" he would state, before moving right next to Vanitas, and then at least release part of his control on his own darkness, letting it seep out "is he any different from me right now? hmm? i know most of us here are capable of sensing signatures and darkness, please tell me if you sense anything different." he'd say with an annoyed stance "honestly, i think the fact that whatever happened to Vanitas the last time he battled Crystal has honestly cleared him of a lot of things, possibly even some sort of influence Xehanort had over him that even Vanitas didn't know about. most importantly, it has also eased if not removed the pain his soul was in due to the fact of the Unversed, that may have also been another large part of his anger problems and insanity." he'd state, while Shiro spoke up, now having been thinking on Vanitas's words "a couple of years ago... but the only thing that'd be major that happened around that time was..." Roveth nodded, crossing his arms "Crystal and Shiro's emergence at Destiny Islands, where Roxas was reborn, paving the path for Xion and Namine to be reborn as well." he said, looking to Ven and Vanitas "if anything.. i wouldn't be surprised if Lady Cosmos did this because Vanitas deserved a second chance to make things right, only Xehanort probably found him and got ahold of him before anything good could happen and well, that's why we've had to fight Vanitas multiple times as well." he stated, while frowning a bit as Shiro spoke up "either way, while he has done bad things in the past, from what i can tell, even if he's confused about his feelings.. i think he wants to at least try to make up for what he's done." he'd honestly say, while putting a hand on Roveth's shoulder, with Roveth reaching up to said hand with a nod "we're not asking you to immediately force yourselves to be buddy buddy or anything like that... Shiro and i both know it takes time for trust to build, especially if people have been hostile to you before now. just give him a chance to try and build that trust."


Axel of course would be kinda working hard in getting the gear set up for transport while Demyx fetched everyone, hence why it was taking so long for the two to show up and all as he hummed along in gathering gear and the likes.

Roveth would nod with a grave look on his face "that he did, after experimenting on Shiro a few times before to artificially grow his already strong darkness, between that and Sephiroth's doing of the same, micro heartless constantly within Shiro's body causing him constant pain whenever he used any of his abilities, it did give me quite a bit of a sentience of itself, and i'm not the kind of person to take orders from -anyone- who has caused my light pain, or at the time i told him not so politely to go screw himself... i don't work with anyone who has a typical villain stance of taking over the multiverse and will take away my freedom." he said calmly enough, while nodding to Ven lightly, frowning lightly "yeah, he was looking to make that so called χ-Blade, because for some reason he saw potential in Shiro." he said, shrugging, not realizing what -was- buried within Shiro's own soul as it is while Shiro looked to his hand, and summoned Ancient into it to look it over with a thoughtful hum a bit gently.

Kailah smiled bright when Tifa walked in, happy to see her back, especially with Cloud in tow, but her smile faded, and she quietly put her violin back in it's case, a worried look on her face as the outbursts occurred regarding the new boy (who looked remarkably like Sora), being addressed as Vanitas. She bit her lip, feeling a little out of place as the keyblade wielders summoned their weapons against him. She was only slightly relieved when things seemed to be resolved, although she still almost slunk back behind the bar near where Leon stood. A bit more relief across her features when it seemed they were accepting the new person- needless to say, she was confused, but accepted the situation as was per usual nowadays for her.

Tifa, on the other hand, let the kids handle things- if anything, she felt Shiro and Crystal could keep things under control... although she would be ready if anything were to happen inside of her tavern. She was relived when Vanitas was accepted- at least enough. She did take note of the newcomers, but had her priorities right now.

Her mind was on other things- like getting Cloud upstairs so he could rest. After waiting until things were mildly settled, she noticed Cloud zoning in and out, nodded to Leon, and practically carried him upstairs. Once there, Tifa laid him on the bed frowning, and sat on the edge next to him.

"You really need to stop getting yourself hurt," she sighed, "Or at least try to tell me the next time you decide to up and chase Sephiroth. You know I'd go with you." A pause, "I think it's obvious that I'd try to find you anyway."

Axel and Demyx weren't the only ones who emerged from the Corridor of Darkness, of course, as they were soon followed by Isa, Riku, and Namine. Isa was helping to cart in more of the karaoke stuff, namely the television monitor they were going to be using to display the lyrics while everyone was singing. Riku was notably empty ended, but he had a very good reason for not assisting with carrying any delicate equipment as he glanced to Namine. "You should probably stand back," he warned as he braced himself for Sora's inevitable greeting.

"RIKU!!!" Sora moved from his chair to tackling Riku onto the floor in the span of a single leap. By that point the Corridor of Darkness had closed behind the group as Isa joined Axel and Demyx in hooking up the karaoke machine. Kairi couldn't help smiling to see how genuinely happy Sora was to be reunited with Riku.

"There's never a dull moment with any of you kids around," Leon commented from behind the bar. He was glad that they seemed to have the situation under control although he was still a bit wary of the boy called Vanitas who had been brought in by Shiro. The fact that Crystal was sticking up for him was probably enough of a reason to just let the whole thing go, but being as Leon was head of security for the restoration committee he couldn't afford to be too careful even if it did turn out to be nothing to worry about. He glanced over at Kailah. "It's going to be busy tonight. Think you can manage to keep up?"

"Relax Shiro," Roxas spoke up as Shiro seemed to wilt in the presence of all the karaoke equipment. "It's not like you'll be the only one singing."

"You have got to be kidding me," Leon's expression darkened although he kept his voice lowered so that none of the guests beyond the counter would hear him although Kailah would undoubtedly take notice of his change in tone. "He sings too?"

"What's the matter Leon?" Yuffie had ducked behind the bar when it looked like there was possibly going to be a fight in the tavern so he eavesdropping range was somewhat limited. She peeked over the edge of the bar and then rose to her full height as she stared between Sora, still on top of Riku, and Vanitas still being comforted by Ven. "So, does this mean we're having a twins convention?" Yuffie began howling with laughter all over again.

"Is this establishment always so noisy?" Isa inquired as he sat down at the bar once he had finished with his share of helping to unpack and hookup the karaoke equipment.

Vanitas finally managed to get all that crying out of his system and pulled himself away from Ventus, although he still looked fairly embarrassed by the whole thing. Sora also finally pulled himself off of Riku and helped his friend to get back on his feet, still grinning like an absolute idiot now that they were back together again.

"Now then, if you're going to be staying with us, I think the first thing we're going to have to do is get you some new clothes," Ventus pointed out as he looked Vanitas over again. "That weird darkness body armor isn't exactly subtle."

"Oh yeah, well you're one to talk," Vanitas retorted still trying to regain his composure in his own way, namely by being rude and snarky. "I mean seriously, Ventus, who exactly dressed you like that? You look ridiculous."

"What, this?" Ventus glanced down at himself entirely unfazed. "I think this outfit makes me look cool."

"It really doesn't," Vanitas persisted. "You look like a dork." He did glance down at himself though with a contemplative expression. "I guess you have a bit of a point though. In order to blend in I should probably try to dress like a regular person."

"This is really happening," Aqua watched in considerable surprise, still totally baffled by what she was witnessing at the moment. "How exactly is this happening?"

"I suppose it might be more divine intervention from Lady Cosmos," Isa suggested as he watched quietly from his spot by the bar. "Not that those children seem to truly rely on such divine intervention, but there's no mistake that the Goddess of Light has been watching over them."

"Okay Ven, we'll take it from here," Kairi had grabbed Crystal and Xion from their seats to bring them over. "It will probably take a few more minutes for the guys to get all that karaoke equipment setup. You should relax and try to get better acquainted with the others. Let us worry about making Vanitas look presentable."

"Wait a second, how exactly am I being roped into this?" Crystal protested in confusion. "I'm pretty sure I have the worst fashion sense out of all of us."

"Because it's more fun if we all go together," Xion was already on board with the idea.

"It sounds interesting," Namine was in total agreement too.

"Fine, you win," Crystal gave a defeated sigh before being dragged out the door by the rest of the girls with Vanitas awkwardly accompanying them with possibly even greater confusion.

"They move fast if you're not careful," Riku chuckled in amusement. "But I doubt they'll do anything too bad to him."

"Honestly, I feel more sorry for whatever they intend to do to Crystal," Roxas pointed out.


Upstairs, meanwhile, Cloud was slipping in and out of consciousness so he wasn't really listening as Tifa spoke to him. The sound of her voice was comforting though and eventually, he did manage to actually fall asleep with his breathing becoming more steady and regular.

"Hey! Stop that!" Roxas protested as he made a disgruntled face at Axel and immediately worked to fix his hair back into the proper shape after Axel messed it up by ruffling it. "At least with Ven it actually makes sense why people might mix us up. Mixing me up with Sora is way more ridiculous."

"Besides, Crystal seems to like how you look just fine," Riku commented with his patented smirk. "So I guess in a way you were lucky you inherited Ven's good looks instead of being identical to Sora."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Sora snapped at him rather comically as Riku merely continued to smirk at him.

Roxas, on the other hand, simply sighed disdainfully at Riku's obvious attempt to rile him up again. "Seriously, was that really the best you could come up with?"

"Well, it was worth a shot," Riku shrugged. He then swooped around to grab Sora in a headlock. "Not that it isn't hilarious how easy it is to get you all worked up. You've got me and Kairi so what exactly are you so worried about?"

"But you literally just said that Ven and Roxas are better looking than me!" Sora continued to protest as he attempted to squirm free from Riku's grasp.

Riku snorted with a laugh. "Well Sora, I didn't realize that my opinion on that was so important to you. Come on, we're best friends so you know you'll always be my favorite."

"You mean it?" Sora might very well have been blushing when he gave Riku a rather pointed pouting face as he finally stopped squirming. Riku very immediately dropped him onto the floor.

"Yes, now stop worrying about it!" Riku stated firmly as he casually went to sit back down in his chair.

Sora picked himself up off the floor and looked away from Riku for the moment toward the area being setup with the karaoke machine. "Well, I guess if Shiro and Roxas are both going to be singing, maybe I should try it too."

Ventus was struggling very hard not to laugh at the whole exchange between Sora and Riku at the moment. He wasn't really sure about the singing thing, but he definitely wanted to show off some of his dance moves to try to make Aqua feel better.

Leon, meanwhile, had furrowed his brow into an even deeper frown when Roveth mentioned that Roxas could not only sing, but that he was apparently pretty good at it because he didn't like where that was headed with regards to Crystal because he knew it was going to be a major distraction with how uncomfortable watching them was going to make him. He tried to relax a little as he glanced to Shiro's argument with Apocalypse while Roveth carried on with singing praises about Shiro's singing ability.

"It doesn't seem like he really wants to sing," Leon pointed out with an almost amused expression. "Are you sure he's really that amazing?"


Clothes shopping for Vanitas proved to be relatively easy because he was being fairly cooperative about it and in practically no time at all the they already had a handful of outfits picked out for him. They didn't have to get too carried away because he could always come back to the stores in town to pick out more later, but it was at least enough to get him started for about a week or so, during which time he would probably be learning how to do laundry and the like while remaining at 7th Heaven. For the moment he had settled on wearing black denim jeans, a dark red button-up shirt he had very intentionally buttoned up so that it was off by one so that it was purposefully uneven, spiked leather armbands, leather biker gloves, and red Converse shoes. Vanitas thought he looked cool and the girls let him get away with it because he was still so new to this whole fashion thing anyway.

Meanwhile, Crystal was subjected to her own special kind of torture as Xion, Kairi, and Namine insisted on having her try on dresses. When she objected initially they backed her into a corner by reminding Crystal that Roxas was going to need some cheering up after all the confusion being caused by being in proximity to Ventus. After that Crystal agreed to go along with it, but she was pretty sure the other girls were just using that as an excuse to get her to dress up. They eventually settled on a little black dress with silver trim and a small amount of fishnet around the bottom with matching black and silver hair clips, black fingerless gloves, and sequined flip-flop sandals. Crystal felt pretty awkward about it because the dress seemed kind of too short for her liking, but the rest of the girls insisted she looked cute. Which, while it was likely true, Crystal's misgivings about the ensemble seemed to be reflected by Leon's bewildered expression when they returned to 7th Heaven not long after.

"I thought you were supposed to be taking him shopping," Leon finally managed to speak while gesturing to Vanitas.

"Believe me, this wasn't my idea," Crystal looked meaningfully at the other three girls who were doing their best to play innocent. Leon wasn't the only staring, however, and Crystal couldn't help blushing when she finally had the presence of mind to face Roxas.

Naturally, Roxas was blushing too because while he had expected the girls might try something he wasn't expecting them to convince Crystal to return wearing a dress. He averted his gaze slightly, trying very hard not to make the situation any more awkward than it had to be. "Well, it does look good on you," he commented awkwardly while trying to ignore the way Leon decided to glare at him. He was beginning to wonder if Leon was ever going to stop freaking out at them like this.

"See, told you he'd like it," Xion smiled encouragingly and helped to make sure Crystal and Roxas would have seats next to each other by the karaoke machine for when Roxas started singing later after they let Shiro do his first song of the evening.

"You've got to be kidding me," Leon muttered once again beneath his breath for what probably wasn't going to be the last time this evening.

Ventus was totally oblivious to what was going on with that whole situation because he was busy looking Vanitas over. He was both surprised and impressed to see him looking so normal. Sure, Vanitas looked like a punk, but the look really suited him.

"He cleans up nicely doesn't he?" Namine mentioned with some amusement.

"Yeah, I guess he must have been in good hands," Ventus admitted with a thoughtful smile.

"Come on, isn't the karaoke machine hooked up yet?" Sora was growing increasingly impatient as Kairi sat down next to him and Riku where they were still waiting for the show to begin.

Kailah was watching Leon gradually getting more and more agitated, and actually laughed when Crystal walked in wearing the dress. Otherwise she was people watching, trying to get the feel of everyone there- it WAS only her second time meeting most of them again. Before she let herself get too carried away in the antics, she prepared glasses of strawberry iced tea- enough for everyone, especially if they were going to be singing and/or cheering. Working in bars back in her own world had her on auto-pilot for the drinks, and set them on a tray. She smiled a bit when she overheard the conversation between Demyx and Axel, setting theirs down first.

"And from the strumming of that sitar, I'd say you're the friend that he got my instrument from. Thank you for that, I'm Kailah. Maybe we should play together some time so you can see just how good I am," she smiled and winked at Demyx while Axel got after him for the joke, shaking her head before handing out the rest, addressing Crystal as well.

"You look really cute by the way!" a look to Leon and back to Crystal with a grin, "Roxas already told you, you look good, but you look REALLY good."

She then passed out the rest with a small hello to the few she hadn't met before, making small talk with the others "it's great to see you again" and such, before setting the extra glasses with the group, and personally handing the last one to Aqua.

"I made it earlier today. I hope you like it, and if there's anything else you want, just tell me or Leon," she half whispered with a small laugh, "Although I think he's too busy watching Crystal and Roxas from the looks of it."

It was then that Tifa, after watching Cloud all the while as he slept, walked downstairs, putting on a tired smile and met Aqua and Kailah at the bar.

"Welcome to 7th Heaven. I'm Tifa. Sorry I couldn't be down here sooner, but I'm sure there will be plenty of time to get you situated."

Roveth's voice announced that everything was ready, and as Kailah settled behind the bar, getting comfortable leaning on her elbows, watching Shiro with the mics, Tifa sat next to Aqua.

"Things are never really dull around here with that group. If Kailah and Leon haven't already told you, think of this as a place to call home if you need one. I'm sure there's a lot you've gone through. I can see it in your eyes." She set a hand on her arm gently, "If you need to talk, we're here, if you need to rest, you can do that too." Tifa's eyes followed Aqua's eyes every now and then looking at the Roxas lookalike, and at Vanitas, "We all make sure everyone is safe here. Everyone."

Axel of course had calmed down once Roveth mentioned the Karaoke Machine was ready as Demyx had rubbed his throat, but hearing Sora try to Cheer on a rapidly paling Shiro, and riku -clearly not helping matters Axel would just roll his eyes and look to Shiro with amusement "Oi, Shiro... don't tell me Auron didn't make you spineless when it came to anything other than battle!" of course, Shiro would death-glare in Axel's direction at that stab at Auron's training, of course, what the other's didn't know the better as he took a deep breath and gulped. Axel just shook his head a bit while chuckling a bit in particular.

Roveth of course would at least laugh at axel's comments and all, but he did walk over to his Light half and whispered something in his ear, which made Shiro blink, and blink again, before raising an eyebrow at his dark half, apparently whatever was said was actually getting Shiro distracted on the fact that he was about to give people first impressions of his voice, but he did just shrug it off and turned away from Roveth and begun looking through the songs, if he was going first then fine. Roveth of course moved to take a seat himself near aqua, chuckling a bit "Leon's a bit strung up because he sees Crystal as a little sister or maybe even adopted daughter, what with his old man aura he constantly projects." he said, elaborating on things while looking to Leon with a largely amused face in general before continuing "so he's clearly not comfortable with those two dating despite the fact he knows good and well Shiro approves of Roxas if Shiro hasn't shown anything less than full support of them together." he said while leaning back in his chair a bit lightly.

Shiro of course had narrowed his eyes at the selections, sure he could play it safe and sing a couple of songs he's already sung before, but of course once more a song actually stood out as if saying 'sing me!' to him, and once he got a closer look at it, he'd mentally wince, seeing it was another female voiced song and all. either way he'd clear his throat a bit as he proceeded to set that song to play, before turning to the crowd who begun paying attention to Shiro as he closed his eyes, with the music starting up and sounding quite melodious, he would focus a bit, and swallowed... only for his Adams apple to at least pull itself in once more as he got ready "I look upon the Door of recollection... and i listened to the distant whisper, as it lead me through my Soul's labrynth... Along the path of a single speck of light..." he would continue singing, adding in some slight dancing movements as he got into the music now, clearly he's had much more experience than just the few times now with how at ease he's used to singing despite the fact he hates doing it. "Passing through, pain is an Innocent Trick... i want to believe that i am not Alone." of course, he would spin the mic in his hand a moment as if it was a baton before catching it again and continued "This is a wandering Paradise~ with the wings that dye my heart white, if they some how reach your very eyes... smile and embrace me in your arms, i will know the meaning of my birth~ Looking at each other... it Begins, a Destiny Legend~" of course he'd give off a soft smile and a wink of course just cause he's being a cheeky one now while he was in the groove of things "Turning back to look in a wasteland of Grief, it gave of whisper of the fragrance of hope~ it won't disappear, even if it's a fleeting dream... i want to feel that warmth~!" he then would start getting more active in his dancing, but it wasn't getting thankfully over the top or anything like that "leading me, your holding me beloved, is an Endless Chain... i want to be tied, overcoming my fate!" he woudl of course headbop a moment or two as he continued "Shoot off the ancient Paradox~! it dies all red in the opening within the darkness... if you can allow me to think of you, then gently kiss me on the lips~ my teardrops melt, the rain screams, this is the Last Inferno, surely...~" he then would close his eyes, seeming to dance and time his steps to both the music and his head "Through the Darkness, Call me in the Last Inferno~! the promised Crescent Wind awakens, this oath i made.. now becomes a legend~!" he said, fully getting into the swing of things, even as the music was working to wind down slowly "this is a wandering paradise... with the wings that dye my heart white~, if they somehow reach your eyes.... smile and embrace me in your arms~ i will know the meaning of my birth... looking at each other.... it begins... a Destiny Legend~!" he finished off with the music continuing to play in the background as he danced to it up until the end, where he actually posed almost too cutely for his own good, clearly leaving a certain sitar player blue in the face once more and mentally cursing at Shiro's insane singing voice, and how refined it sounded now.