Hey, It's me. This is a remake of an older story, which was one of my favorite stories of all time. I'm really enjoying doing this, but I don't own the characters! R&R appreciated. Thank you.

Aqua sat down and dangled her legs off the edge of the dark pathway. She doubted that the road ever lead to light, but she still followed it after all these years. The bends that seemed to flow away into oblivion had become visible to her, and she saw that the path continued on for miles ahead.

As her thoughts gradually filled her mind, her eyes slowly closed, no doubt to another sleepless night.

An unusual sound roused Aqua from her rest. She flipped up fully onto the road, arms in a defensive stance, as a black-cloaked figure emerge from a dark corridor. Aqua was alarmed; the coat was very similar to the one Master Xehanort had worn. Without thinking, Aqua rushed the person and slammed her forearm into his neck. The stranger fell, but when he came close to the ground, he caught himself and pushed off one hand onto his feet.

He was obviously very strong to survive a blow like that and still stand strongly. Aqua growled and charged again, this time throwing her entire weight into the stranger's torso. They both went down, and Aqua, being on top, heard the man coughing and struggling to breathe, the wind knocked from him. She crawled over him and, on hands and knees, gingerly removed the hood from his face.

And the face behind it was all too familiar.

"Terra?"

The man gasped in a breath and looked at Aqua through golden eyes. He tried to speak, but only coughed violently.

"Terra..." Aqua smiled and gently hugged him, being careful not to crush him beneath her weight. He felt cold, and his breathing was slowly becoming normal, loud in her ear.

"Aqua..." His voice was deep and musical.

Aqua, teary-eyed, helped her newfound friend stand up. "It's been so long..."

"Since when?"

Aqua's bittersweet smile faltered for a moment, but only a moment. "Since we parted ways," she said to keep it simple. "Don't act like you don't remember."

"There's nothing to pretend," her friend said, his brows furrowing sadly. "I know your name, but, I don't know you."

"Of course you know me," Aqua protested, grasping desperately to that last shred of hope. "We were Keyblade warriors together."

"I don't have a Keyblade," the silvernette said with longing subtly present in his voice. "I never did."

"Drop the act," Aqua ordered, voice wavering. "You're not fooling anyone."

"I'm not acting."

Aqua felt tears well up in her eyes, making vision blurry. "I've walked so far... I was gonna... I forgot what I was gonna say!" She collapsed to her knees and sobbed, burying her face in her hands. The first friend in however long, and he can't even remember her!

Dimly, she heard fabric shifting as her friend kneeled beside her and felt his firm, gloved hand on her back. "Aqua, please, don't cry like that," he whispered soothingly. "A Keyblade master shouldn't cry like that."

Aqua sniffed and looked up into the caring eyes of the man. "Y-You know that I'm a Keyblade master?" she asked in a voice raw from crying.

The man nodded and averted his eyes. "I...know who you are, but I don't know why." It was his turn to help her up.

Aqua took advantage of this moment and tugged the zipper of his jacket roughly down. Underneath was the same outfit, but no armor or red straps. The bottoms of his hamakas were tucked into black boots.

The man removed her hand from his chest and re-zipped the coat. "Why would you do that?" he asked firmly, hand still closed around hers.

"Those are Terra's clothes," Aqua said incredulously. "Do I need any more proof?"

Her friend frowned. "Those can't be his clothes." He sighed. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay here any longer." He began to back away from her, his hand letting go, hesitating, then finally releasing her. He turned away and briskly walked off.

Aqua knew it was dark out and this wasn't remotely similar, but all that went through her mind was that day in the Radiant Garden, watching Terra walk away from her, never to be the same again.

"Wait!" she shouted, and ran after him. He stopped and turned towards her as she ran closer and all but crashed into him. He was prepared for it this time, so he didn't fall, just took a step back to stabilize himself.

"I can't stay here any longer," Aqua cried, looking up at his surprised face. "I need to see the worlds again! If you're not Terra, I want to go look for him!"

The man's eyes lit up. "I can do that for you." He held out his hands and a dark corridor opened.

Aqua smiled. "Thank you, Terra."

"Xemnas," the silvernette corrected her.

"Xemnas."

They both walked into the corridor together.

Aqua was used to the darkness by now, but the corridor was another thing entirely. After about ten steps in, she gasped and stopped when a sharp pain went through her chest. A freezing sense of terror dripped through her. The silence was eerie and dark, and she could almost hear the cackling voices of monsters in the corner of her mind. She could feel their cold claws running up and down her back, and she feared they would grab her and drag her into a nightmare far worse than the one she just escaped.

But then Xemnas opened his coat and brought one side around her. All feelings of darkness disappeared. She stood up, pressing herself against his flank, and walked with him. She later learned that corridors of darkness corrupt hearts.

They reached the other end of the corridor and stepped out onto a wide, flat area below the castle Aqua had seen from the Radiant Garden. It was different, though, with many twisted copper towers of pipe and machinery constructed into it.

Xemnas removed his coat from around her and zipped it up. "This way." He led her through a series of hallways to a private study, where a picture of someone resembling Xemnas, but with straighter, white hair hung on the wall. He pulled a switch down and an entire wall disappeared, much to Aqua's surprise, revealing a cold, grey steel hallway.

"Come."

Aqua continued to follow Xemnas to a glass catwalk overlooking an enormous chasm filled with large, empty-glass tubes and machinery that continued farther than her eyes could see. "What is it?" she asked incredulously.

"The Heartless Manufactory," Xemnas said grimly. "My fellow apprentices and I constructed it ourselves." He proceeded to an antechamber with glass windows.

Aqua, not expecting more of an answer, went in after him, seeing a dusty metal counter lining the windows overlooking the Manufactory, on which a large computer was mounted. On the opposite wall was a large, circular device with many half-circles making it up. "What's that?" Aqua asked with a little unease.

"Matter-to-Data Converter," Xemnas told her. "If you don't want that, don't touch the keyboard after me."

Aqua nodded and waited patiently as Xemnas inserted a disk and typed some things into the computer. After a moment, there was a resounding click and a door on the far side of the room slid open with a hiss.

Before Aqua could say anything, Xemnas eagerly grabbed her wrist and led her quickly down a flight of stairs to the Manufactory floor. A passage was open at the bottom.

Aqua tore her hand with some effort from Xemnas' grip before he could proceed down the spiral staircase there. "I want you to tell me what's going on," she said.

Xemnas nodded. "This is very important for you to see," he said. "I can't exactly explain why, but, just follow me." He gestured to her, and they both went the tedious walk down the stairway to a metal door chained shut. Xemnas put his hand on a protruding panel and the door rose with the mechanical whine of a motor. Others doors similarly rigged opened as well, and they proceeded down the long hall to an ornate white door.

"We're here," Xemnas whispered, then pushed it open.

Aqua found herself standing in a round monochrome room decorated with lines, chains and unusual symbols. The atmosphere had an odd quality that made it even quieter than it could possibly have been, and Aqua felt that if she spoke, she would have no voice. There was a throne in the very center, and parallel to it was a chained platform holding two extraordinary things; Aqua's armor and Keyblade, Rainstorm.

"My god," Aqua whispered and ran over to her possessions, which seemed oddly out of place here. She held the Keyblade just to hold it, and she ran her hands along the armor, blessing it and saying many joyful things. Blissful tears ran down her things as she reclaimed these lost necessities, and when she was done, she turned to Xemnas, smiling broadly.

Xemnas smirked. "You're welcome." He stood straight. "I thought I'd return it."

"So you know why you have this?" Aqua asked, hoping for another wonderful miracle.

"I apologize, but no," the silvernette muttered. He suddenly grabbed his head in one hand and groaned. The other hand joined it's brother there and Xemnas fell to his knees, moaning in pain.

Aqua ran over to him, concerned by this display of pain, but he was already on the floor by the time she got there.

xxx

He is fighting a monster in a blue courtyard with - and -, sliding nimbly under the blasts of energy fired by it. He touches -'s hand as he goes past - and smiles reassuringly as he strikes down another piece. Skidding to a halt, he powers up another attack and feels the fire of courage explode through his veins as he works with them to bring down this monster.

He is watching himself fight -, watching with hope that his other self will use the latent powers in his heart to win. This power will weaken him, make him easier to claim and use. He is sure that this will be the case, because - is a very strong fighter, and - won't give up until -'s been critically wounded. And he will have to give in sooner or later.

xxx

Xemnas slowly opened his eyes at the sound of someone calling to him from far away...no, close nearby. He blinked once, twice to focus his vision and looked up at the pleasant face now filled with worry.

"Xemnas!" Aqua said. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Xemnas said.

"What happened?"

"Images," Xemnas muttered. "They come to me here, when I sleep. They never come in waking." He sat up and rubbed the right side of his face, around his eye, beneath the back of his jaw. "Images of...people. Places." He sighed and stood with Aqua. "We should go now." He opened a dark corridor.

Aqua refused to go in. "I can travel myself now," she explained. "And, I need to take care of something."

Xemnas nodded. "Go on. I'm sure we'll cross paths again."

Aqua didn't move, just looked sadly over at him. "Xemnas, one thing before you go." When he didn't move, she approached. "Remember me."

Xemnas found himself smirking at her. "How could I forget you, Aqua?" And then he frowned in regret. He didn't remember her. He quickly turned away from her and dashed through the corridor.