[Kingdom Hearts AU] Someone to Watch Out for You

Hazed by Abbott & Costello

When Mickey returned, now recognized as a Keyblade Master despite his failure to help Terra and Aqua, he and Minnie spent a very long time in the library that afternoon. Ventus had spent the last few days acting as Queen Minnie's page. To suddenly not be at her side felt incredibly foreign. Only making matters worse were direct orders from both royal figures that he had to stay away from the library- a whole 30 feet in either direction. It was there that Ventus learned about the captain of the guard and court magician. Goofy and Donald were curt but apologetic about their roles in keeping Ven away- almost like watching a comedy bit.

"Oh my..." Minnie remarked after Mickey had told the sad fate of Aqua, and the unknown status of Terra. "To think, if Ventus had left when he first intended to..."

Mickey gave her a grave nod.

"Yen Sid and I were talkin' about it," the king told her, "And we both agreed that if Ven wants to live here, then we should let him. But we shouldn't tell him what happened to his friends, or else he might do something risky."

The idea made the queen recoil.

"I... I don't know if I agree with that..."

Mickey looked over his queen. He'd be the first to admit that he'd spent a lot of time away from her, but even he could see that below the obvious, there was conflict in Minnie.

"But...?" Mickey ventured to ask, knowing that she had more to say.

Minnie wrung her hands inside themselves as she admitted, "But he's been a good help. A lot of people really like him. You never would have guessed that he was a stranger less than a week ago. It's really sweet."

Mickey hung his head in thought. In a way, he didn't agree with it either. Ventus deserved to know what happened to his friends. At the same time, Yen Sid didn't know where Vanitas went after a very serious fight with Aqua. Mickey had just barely saved Aqua from the final blow. Not that it had done much good, apparently...

"Let's do this instead," Mickey offered, "If he asks, we'll tell him. Otherwise, not a peep. We'll still make sure he remembers them, of course, but we can't ruin his good memories."

Minnie still didn't like this compromise, however, it was better than nothing. She placed a hand over her heart before sighing, "I hope we can find his friends."

"So do I, Minnie." Mickey admitted. "So do I."

. . .

Meanwhile, out in the training yard, Ventus was getting to know Donald and Goofy for the first time.

"It's been awhile since the guard's had a new recruit, hyuck!" Goofy approved. He even gave Ven a hearty pat on the back, something the boy wasn't quite expecting. The strength of it was the most shocking part.

Donald circled around Ventus to get a good look of him. Once he finished, he crossed his arms and stuck his bill up in the air with disgust.

"Doesn't look like much."

"Hey!" Ven proclaimed, thoroughly insulted at the impression.

"Don'cha mind Donald," Goofy then told Ven, "He's just jealous."

"I am not!" the duck squawked. "Just look at this kid! Well, I just bet he couldn't fight himself out of a wet paper bag!"

"Wanna bet?" Ven challenged. There was no way that he was going to be talked down to by an anthropomorphic duck.

"Yeah!" Donald hollered right back. "Let's see what you're made of!"

With a flourish, Donald called out his magic staff. He gave Ven a smug grin as he deftly spun the staff in the air. It was an official call to action. Ven simply gave him a smart smirk back. As Ven went into his battle stance, he called his Keyblade forward in a single motion. He spun the weapon, just to make sure Donald saw it, as he bounced on his toes in anticipation. Master Eraqus had frequently told his pupils that they should never use their Keyblade in anything other than protective combat. This, Ven found, was more like a sparring practice than using it to hurt Donald directly, so he felt he could justify it. Besides, that duck needed to be knocked down a few pegs. It wouldn't hurt. Much.