A loud thud amongst the darkness. The brief silence that had followed it was broken however as Aqua coughed violently and tried to inhale at the same time. Her arms shook as she clumsily rose to her knees, and her keyblade that had fallen to her side vanished.
Steadily her lungs recovered air and she managed to finally breath in and out normally, attempting to slow down her beating heart.
"Calm down." She muttered to herself.
Though it wasn´t often she encountered it, the swarm of heartless was a strong foe that always left her injured and breathless. Her shoulders still ached after being tossed around too often, and though Cure prevented her of suffering any serious injuries, breaking her ribs mid fight was not a pleasant experience.
What wouldn´t she give to just lie down on the ground and fall asleep. But as tempting as it sounded Aqua couldn´t afford to let her guard down, not even for a second.
"What are you doing here?"
Snapping her head up Aqua gasped and was back on her feet at the sudden appearance of the familiar voice. Her legs staggered backwards, and was close to falling back to her knees at seeing the figure of Ventus standing in front of her.
"What are you doing here?" Ventus repeated, though his voice showed no sign of concern.
"Ven." Aqua whispered in desbelief.
"You lied to me Aqua. You promised you'd go back to wake me up. Instead I find you here wasting your time."
"Ven that's not it!" Aqua interjected desperate. "I've been trying to find a way out of here to go help you! It's not what you think!"
Ventus closed his eyes with a huff.
"You have to believe me." Aqua murmured.
All this time all she'd only wanted was to escape and wake up Ventus; it's the only thing that had been on her mind, and what had kept her going despite all the obstacles.
"It doesn't matter." Ventus spat bitterly as he slowly made his way towards her. "At this point you can't do anything anymore."
Aqua felt her body go cold.
"Ven?"
"It's too late."
Ventus opened his hand to summon his keyblade, and Aqua gasped horrified as Void Gear appeared into his palm.
"Because you weren´t there…"
Aqua slowly walked backwards as Ventus got closer to her and a grim frown settled on his features.
"Because you abandoned me he got to me first!"
In a blink Ventus' blue eyes turned yellow, and before Aqua could do anything Void Gear was already in the air ready to strike her down.
A silent gasp escaped her lips as Aqua opened her eyes and sat up. Her pupils dilated as they settled on the darkness surrounding her and darted around trying to take in her surroundings. The cushion beneath her body, the door across her, the curtains by her left and the warm figure by her right that was calmly sleeping.
Aqua closed her eyes and placed her hand on her chest.
"It was only a dream." She whispered.
Though reality had sunk in Aqua could feel sweat run down her face, how her heartbeat still didn't manage to calm down, and a brief shiver run from her shoulders down her spine.
"Just a dream." She repeated shakily.
Aqua breathed in and out slowly, trying to settle down. But as she breathed out her shoulders still shook, and her heart wouldn´t simmer down.
Though it was only a dream the fear she was feeling in that moment was real. That same fear that threatened to eat her from the inside when she was trapped in that place, fear of never escaping, of being swallowed by the darkness, of never seeing the sunlight again, and of never seeing Terra and Ventus.
In a desperate attempt of regaining control over herself Aqua closed her eyes, concentrating in the gente quietness of the room.
'Keep it together. Getting this shaken won´t do any good.' She berated herself inwardly.
"Is everything okay?"
Shifting his body to look in her direction and groggily opening his eyes Ventus yawned awake.
"I-It's nothing…" Aqua half smiled, avoiding Ventus´ eyes. "Go back to sleep."
Ventus took a moment to notice her body language. Her fake smile told him she didn't want to bother him, but the subtle shaking of her body, the drops of sweat running down her forehead and the utter fear in her eyes said something was very wrong.
With a preoccupied frown Ven sat up and tried to make eye contact with her.
"Did you have a bad dream?"
Aqua grimaced, unable to straight out deny it.
"I'm fine." She insisted, placing a hand over his chest as if to keep him away. "I'm already calming down."
"Aqua, why do you feel like you have to do everything on your own?" Ventus whispered.
Gently Ventus took hold of Aqua's wrist and pulled away her hand from his chest, slightly scooting closer to her.
Aqua sighed frustrated.
"This is not the first time Ven, and they don't come to me as often. Shouldn't I be strong enough to deal with them on my own?"
"We are a team now, we do everything together." Ventus stated firmly, placing his hand over Aqua's left hand to gingerly stroke the gold ring on her finger. "Let me help you."
Aqua looked down at her hands quietly.
"Do it for me."
Aqua's gaze finally met Ventus', but her eyes were filled with uncertainty.
"Or at least, do it for her."
When she felt Ven's hand abandon her own to caress her belly Aqua finally sighed in defeat. She closed the distance between their bodies and let herself be embraced in Ven's arms.
Once secured against Ven's chest Aqua could feel her heartbeat calm down and synchronize with the heart that was beating against her back. The cold sensation slowly left her limbs, and the warm feeling of relief grew in her chest. She closed her eyes and breathed relaxed.
"It was one of those again." Aqua began. "Back in that place."
Though it had been years since Aqua escaped from the Realm of Darkness the nightmares didn't entirely stop. During the first weeks there wasn't a single night where she'd get a decent sleep, but even after that period of her life had long since ended Aqua hadn't completely recovered.
The nightmares would come every once in a while, even if it wasn't often. Sometimes she was being swallowed by the darkness, sometimes the heartless consumed the last drop of her light, and sometimes Terra or Ventus would appear in the worst of ways.
"And… and you were there."
Ventus frowned against her hair, slightly tightening his hold on her.
Aqua looked distantly at the ceiling.
"I think the worst part of it all is that feels too real." She murmured softly. "It feels like I'm really there, still looking for a way out."
Ventus softly pressed his lips against the back of Aqua's neck, not saying anything until Aqua said everything she needed to say.
"Will I be having these nightmares for the rest of life?" Aqua uttered shyly, not entirely sure if she wanted to know the answer.
"I don´t know." Ventus replied quietly. It it were up to him he'd do anything to make them stop, but as things were now there was absolutely nothing he could do about it, all he could do was be there to comfort her.
Though not entirely relieved Aqua was satisfied with just calming down. Slowly she got out of Ventus' arms and laid back down on the bed, noticing how the blond remained seated with a helpless and frustrated expression on his face.
Aqua smiled in sympathy.
"This is why I didn't want to tell you. You're angry you can't do anything about it."
"You'd be too in my place." Ventus grumbled.
Urging him to go back to sleep Aqua tugged on the sleeve of his shirt, until Ventus complied begrudgingly with a pout.
"Just don't think too much about it." Aqua said tiredly.
Ignoring her words Ventus closed his eyes in concentration, looking as determined as ever. There was no way he'd be able to go back to sleep as if nothing happened.
"Just go back to sleep." Aqua insisted.
Ven opened his eyes to meet hers, confusing Aqua when a sincere smile formed on his face.
"Aqua, I may not be able to go into your dreams to fight off the nightmares, but I'll always be here when you wake up. I'm real, and I'm here with you right now." Not taking his eyes off hers Ventus reached out to take Aqua´s hand in his. "That was a very long time ago, what matters is where we are today."
Aqua felt her cheeks grow warm and her heart skip a beat as Ventus kept talking. The honesty in his voice and the glimmering of his eyes somehow were lifting a weight off her shoulders.
"When you wake up I'll always be here for you, and you'll be here with me." Softening his eyes Ventus' other hand approached Aqua's womb to hold it gently against his palm. "And she'll be here too."
A smile adorned her lips as she chuckled.
"You're right. Thank you."
As sleep slowly took hold of them both once again, Ventus made sure to stay awake until Aqua gave in to slumber, finally satisfied at seeing the peaceful smile adorning her face.
For a version with pictures go check it out at starcharmfunzies dot tumblr dot com / post / 156293370823 / nightmares-of-a-distant-past-venqua-oneshot
Thanks for reading!