Cloud had…well, it wasn't really a promise or anything…it was more like his own morality that held him up to this. That and what the damned keyblade wield—Er, Sora. Sora. Sora had said to him once upon on a time. 'Good guy,' sure. That in no way had any effect on how Cloud handled himself. It had no effect on how the blond thought. It had no effect whatsoever as to why Cloud Strife was here, fighting a flurry of whatever these were. Heartless, Nobodies, what where these called now? Augh, no matter.

From where he was now, he could see Aqua. It was as if she was thrown into a state of suspended animation. She was there, being held in place by he knew not who, but he didn't really care for it either. All he knew was that he was driven to get her. Save her from whatever it was that held her. This darkness.

To get there quicker, Cloud was using a combination of jumping combined with the force of his favorite type of magic—fire. Sure, he knew more, but it honestly felt like a hassle to him to bother casting something else. Fire was all he needed. Though, secretly, the blond had been spending a quite a bit of time practising his magicks, especially after having an argument of sorts over what magicks were indeed stronger with the water knight.

Landing on the ledge that Aqua was being held captive on, Cloud looked around. It was as if his enemies just disappeared. It made him nervous and more than unsettled. "You're not making a habit of playing damsel in distress just to get my attention, are you?" Mako-eyes focused on the girl; he knew not if she could even hear him in her forced sleep. It was probably all for the best, though. The joke probably came at the wrong time, but well, everything about the blond was wrong at times. He moved forward towards this darkness—a thing that he essentially feared more than…well, yes. Sheathing the busterblade, he reached forward, hands moving the creeping darkness out of her face before beginning to grip at whatever he could, in an attempt to get her head out.

The darkness fell from her in what seemed like clumps, soundless clumps as they hit the ground, disappearing almost on contact.

What seemed ages later, Cloud had gotten rid of any darkness that surrounded her, and it was as if that's all she really needed: a bit of help. She woke up to reveal her blue eyes, and that was soon followed by a confused expression followed by a reddening of her face.

"I really should start charging you for all these rescue missions I have to go on whenever you get in trouble…" Cloud sighed, looking out towards the distance.

"Chargin—"Aqua frowned. "How could you charge me, of all people?"

Cloud shrugged. "I think it'd be a lucrative business, actually. I mean, in this case, I could've charged Sora. He was the one that told me to come and help you." His gaze moved to her and focused itself.

"Sora?"

A nod. "For such a kid, he's got a really stupid point of view that I hate."

Aqua didn't even know what face to make at hearing that.

"I hate him for that, because everything he says feels true to me."

The Knight remained silent, not really sure as to what Cloud was even saying.

"Anyway," Cloud then continued before she could even ask a thing, "let's go. I have to charge Sora a hefty amount for using Strife's services." He turned away from her, though a ghost of a smile was apparent.

Another joke, obviously at a bad timing, came in the form of Aqua's voice. "You know, I think you've got this situation all wrong," she started, still in her spot, sitting on the ground. "I think you're the one who wants to keep seein—"

"I'm leaving," Cloud cut her off, taking a running leap from the ledge.

"H-hey! Wait!" Aqua bolted from her spot and towards the edge. "Cloud, wait, I was only kidding! You can't just leave me here alone!"

"Leaving!" He called out, blond already straddling his motorcycle, hands helping it kickstart to life.