Le me last week : lol I only post about Kairi this is Kaivember
Le me this week : *posts a fic unrelated to Kairi*

yea I'm dumb.

Anyway, here's a brand new one shot, that, I hope, you will like!

It had been a while since Aqua last visited Neverland, but she found the place to be pretty similar to what she remembered. You could hear the mermaids singing, the drums from the Indian village and even see an occasional fairy sparkle in the sky. She smiled, nostalgic. One day, the three of them would come back here, fly high in the skies, and tell marvelous stories to the Lost Boys. But for now, it was only her, and she had been sent to check if everything was alright. She slowly made her way to the jungle clearing, where the hideout was. She wondered if they'd still remember her after all this time. Or if they grew up, she realised with a hinge of sadness.

The clearing was empty. She remembered fighting Unversed there. Something moved in the bushes behind her ; keyblade in hand, she turned around, ready to attack - but it was just a bird, who chirped before flying away. She chuckled, relaxing.

"I guess I'm a bit nervous, after all… But it's okay. I didn't meet any Heartless. Not the slightest Unversed. He isn't there." Saying these words out loud gave her the courage she was looking for. She took a deep breathe in, and knocked at the hideout door.

"Hello? Anybody here?"

She heard some voices inside. "Who was that?" "Tootles, go and see." "I think it was a girl." "A girl?!" "WENDY?!" Then all of a sudden, she heard some people running, and the door was slammed open. Six cheerful faces appeared, but all darkened as they saw her.

"It's not Wendy."

"I want Wendy back."

"Where is Wendy?"

Aqua gave an apologetic smile, sorry not to be that Wendy they were expecting. Only Peter smiled at her.

"Hey, look, it's Aqua! What are you doing here?"

Aqua felt a surge of relief through her body. "You remember me." She wasn't expecting to be so happy about this - but so many things had changed, she was glad to at least find some stability.

"Of course we do! You know, every day here is quite the same, so of course we remember anything unusual. Did you find your friends, Terra and Ven?"

"Oh, I… It's a bit complicated. But I know where they are."

"Amazing! Come over with them some day, we'll all have fun together!"

Aqua chuckled. "Will do. I'm sure they will love coming back."

She looked around, then back at the kids who, save Peter, all looked sad. "What's going on, though? I came here to check if everything was fine. Is anything wrong?"

"A bad guy came!" Screamed one of the twins.

"And he took Wendy away!" cried his brother.

"Wendy? Who is Wendy?" Aqua asked, frowning.

"She's our mo- our friend." Slightly, the fox, said, staring at his feet. "She came to play, and then he showed up and took her away."

Aqua tensed, but tried to chase away her dark thoughts. "He? Captain Hook, you mean?"

"Ha! I wish!" Peter said, kicking a stone. "Had it been Hook, Wendy would be back with us already. But it wasn't him."

"Do you know who, then?" Aqua had to keep her voice steady, and it took a lot of concentration.

"I don't know his name, but I think you know him. I saw you both fight, one day. The boy with the black helmet."

And there it was. The moment she had feared so much, the moment she had hoped would never happen. She associated this world with two memories. The first one was a happy one: The first time she saw a fairy, swam in a lagoon, met Peter and the Lost Boys. The second one, however, was much less pleasant : Terra's keyblade destroyed, her defeat… and Vanitas. Oh, of course she knew he was alive, she had been warned. But she still had hoped their paths would never cross again. She wanted to be as far away as possible from him. She knew she shouldn't, but she somehow feared him, maybe even more than Master Xehanort. The Old Master was cold, cruel, but at least she knew she could explain why he was that way: he wanted to destroy the world, to bring Light to its end. She couldn't understand Vanitas's motives. He always fought her in a very desperate, angry way, as if it was his last chance to defeat her. He fought as he had nothing to lose, and that's what terrified Aqua the most - how do you stop someone like that?

"Aqua, are you alright? Aqua!"

The world was spinning, and she realised she had sit on the ground - did she fall? But Peter's voice brought her back to reality. She needed to focus. Someone was in danger. Someone needed help.

"That boy. Vanitas. Did he say anything as he took Wendy away? Any hint on where he could have taken her?"

"He said something weird," one of the Twins said. "He said it was time to go home. Is she back in London?"

"But he didn't fly! You can't go to London if you don't fly, silly!" his brother said. "Instead, he threw her on his shoulder, and he made a big black thing appear with a whoosh! And once he walked into it, whoosh again, the black thing disappeared!"

"Aqua," Peter frowned, suddenly looking much older, "do you know where she could be?"

"Give me a minute to think."

Why would Vanitas kidnap Wendy? Aqua knew the name of the Seven Princesses of Heart - Wendy wasn't one of them. She was of no interest to Xehanort. It just made no sense to her. Should she tell the others about it? She had no time for that. Any second wasted would endanger Wendy's life. But why would he kidnap her?

She knew she wasn't focusing on the right thing. The why had to wait. What mattered was the Where.

"He said Home, huh…"

Home? It could be Fort Nort, as the others called the place. But, unable to forget about the why, Aqua couldn't help but feel that Wendy had no value for Xehanort. When visiting a world where someone with a strong light lived, Keyblade Masters could feel such Light. And there was nothing out of the ordinary in this world. Every child bore some Light in them, but nothing powerful. And no trace of someone with an incredible Light either.

She turned her Keyblade into a Glider, and summoned her armour.

"Aqua?"

"Listen, I will find her. I promise. I won't come back until she's safe. Until then… Take care."

She took off, hoping her intuitions were right. If they were not, she might just have sentenced Wendy to a lot of suffering.

The Glider was fast, but Aqua would have liked it to be faster. There was a long road, even with the Lanes Between. How long had it been? She didn't even ask when Wendy had been taken away. Had it been hours? Days? Longer? The Lost Kids had no notion of time. Aque knew the feeling all too well. She wished she did not.

At last, at last, the world she was looking for appeared. She wished once again she could go any faster. She couldn't. All she could do was watch the world grow closer and closer, all too slowly.

When the time came to land, her back was sore, all of her muscles contracted. Let me be right. Please let me be right. She decided to keep the armour as a protection, but she took the helmet off. If Wendy was there, the last thing she needed to see was someone else with a helmet.

Aqua finally allowed herself to look around. Home, he said… This place was the only one that came to her mind. The one she didn't want to go back to. The Keyblade Graveyard. She had lost a lot here. How much more would she lose, before finding again?

She explored the place as quietly as she could. She didn't want anyone to know she was there. So when she heard the metallic sound of an armour, she hurried to leave this spot, before whoever wore that armour noticed her. Vanitas had no armour. She didn't expect Wendy to wear one. Which meant she wasn't looking for that mysterious person and was better far away from them.

And then, suddenly, she could feel it. Some Light. As expected, it wasn't a particularly strong one - just the one from a regular child. Aqua carefully came closer - there was a cage, in the middle of nowhere, and a young girl sitting inside it. She didn't look scared. She looked bored. And there was no one else in sight. After checking that there was indeed no one else, Aqua came out of her hiding spot, walking towards the girl.

"Are you Wendy?"

The girl jumped, looking at Aqua. Aqua quickly showed her empty palms. "I mean no harm. Peter Pan sent me. My name is Aqua."

"Peter sent you? Oh, thank Lord! I've been stuck in this cage for hours. I want to go home."

"That's what I'm here for," Aqua smiled. "Are you hurt? Did Vanitas… Did the man who kidnap you hurt you in any way?"

Wendy shook her head. "Not really. He threw me into this cage, then he kept asking me what was so special about me. I said I wouldn't answer to someone with such terrible manners. That made him very angry, and he hit the bars with that very strange stick he was holding. I told him that wasn't the correct way to speak to someone. He said he had to go, but that I'd better find an explanation as to what was so special about me when he came back, or he'd hurt me a lot." Wendy frowned. "He wasn't serious, though, was he? Nobody would hurt a child."

"Let's not find out. Here, let me set you free." But as Aqua summoned her Keyblade, Wendy gasped, taking a step back.

"I don't think I will let you do that."

Aqua gritted her teeth, turning around. There he was. Even though the temperature was really high in this world, he was now wearing a black leather coat on top of his dark suit. Aqua hoped the heat was killing him.

"Looks like someone doesn't know when to stay dead."

"Right back at you," she replied, glaring at him.

"So nice of you to come and visit. Missed the place? Missed me?"

All the fear she had felt at the thought of meeting him was gone, replaced by anger. Anger is an open door to Darkness, she repeated in her mind, trying to calm down. "I wouldn't have expected you to rebel." Her voice was a hiss. So much for calming down.

"Rebel? What do you mean?" But if anything, he sounded more surprised about her noticing, than by the meaning of her words. She looked around.

"I don't see your Master around, Vanitas. And neither did she." Aqua showed Wendy. Wendy didn't explicitly told her that, but it was safe to assume so. Hopefully. "So what's your plan? Why is she important to you?"

"She's not," he coldly answered. "Not to me."

"Then whom to?"

"Fight me, and I'll tell you… If you win, that is." She could almost hear his smirk. But if his voice sounded relaxed, his body said otherwise, shaking with what she guessed was anger. She looked at Wendy, who once again didn't look very scared. Not a Princess of Heart, but as brave as one, Aqua thought, amused, thinking of Kairi.

"Not here. I don't want her to get hurt."

"Oh, don't worry, Aqua, once I've finally erased you from this world, she'll get hurt anyway." Yet, he followed as she moved somewhere that would be safer for Wendy.

This was Aqua's first serious fight since she came back. Was she nervous? She was beyond that. But with Wendy's safety on the line, she also knew she couldn't fail.

And Vanitas attacked.

She could tell he had gotten better since their last fight. He was leaving a lot less openings, he was faster, dodged more often. Luckily, she had had a few years of practise herself, and their strength were matching once again. He was stronger. She was smarter. He fought based on his instincts. She fought based on her experience. Her armour protected her from some severe injuries, while his helmet protected his eyes from the sand flying around, sometimes blinding Aqua.

Their blades clashed and every blow reverberated in her arm painfully, but she couldn't afford to lose.

So instead, she won.

After what felt like an eternity, Vanitas collapsed, out of breathe. She quickly put her foot on his wrist so that he couldn't summon his weapon again, putting her own on his chest.

"Now we had a deal. Talk."

Vanitas started by a word that would have cost Ventus a week of chores and an endless lecture.

"I just don't get it." He finally groaned.

"What don't you get?"

"Her. You're like her, I guess. And I don't understand."

"What is it that you don't understand and you can't ask Xehanort?"

He snorted. "The list of things I'd rather die than asking him is quite long."

Aqua was starting to lose patience. "Tell me now what you meant when you told Wendy she was special. She's not a Princess of Heart. If anything, she's just a normal little girl. Why would she interest you?"

He turned his head, as if he was averting her gaze. "It's the way these other kids treat her." He was mumbling, his voice low. "They aren't related to her in any way, and yet, they still treat her as a… I don't understand why."

"Treat her as a what?" But as she asked, Aqua remembered one of the kids' words. "She's our mo- our friend." There was no way she was right. Something in her reasoning was flawed. It had to. "As a mother?"

"... Yeah."

No way. She misheard. He didn't agree. He couldn't have agreed.

"Ventus treated you the same way. Why? What's so special? It's not like he knew you for that long. Friendship I understand. I despise, but I understand. But they kept saying she was a mom to them. I wanted to understand."

"Vanitas. If I let you go, will you fight again? Will you run away? Or do you accept to sit quietly while we talk? This isn't comfortable for me and I doubt it is for you."

"Why would you trust me anyway?"

"I don't, but you kidnapped someone just to get answers. I might provide you these answers. I hope your curiosity is stronger than your will to kill me."

"...Fine."

Aqua stepped back, sitting on the dusty ground. She kept her keyblade close. He did nothing to summon his, and sat up, his arms crossed.

"Do you remember your own mother?" Did he even have one? She had no idea.

"I don't. Not much. I guess we had one, but… I wouldn't even recognize her if I saw a picture." Aqua noted the we, but didn't mention it. It would be a story for another time. She sighed.

"Mine was a very nice person. She kept smiling all the time, even when things were wrong. She would check under my bed for monsters. She would let me help with the garden. She would play hide and seek with me and pretend she couldn't find me, even when I was just standing behind a curtain."

"Wow, you were a dumb kid."

"And then, I lost her." Aqua said, ignoring him. "I lost my whole family, my house, my life, because of Darkness. Master Eraqus found me and saved me. He gave me a new place to call home, and soon enough, Terra joined us. We were orphans, but Master Eraqus loved us like a father would have. He wasn't our biological father, and yet he did his best, and to this day, I can proudly say that I am not only the daughter of a proud carpenter, but also the daughter of a Keyblade Master."

Vanitas didn't say anything. She smiled softly, remembering her childhood with the Master and Terra.

"And then Ven joined us. He was lost, he was alone, just as we used to be. Just as the Lost Boys in Neverland. We would spend time with him. We would listen to him, care about him, worry about him. We would sometimes get angry at him if he did something dangerous, but we would always forgive him. We would try to teach him what was right and what was wrong. No matter what, we just wanted to protect him. You want to know why these kids call Wendy their mother? She cares about them. And at the end of the day, she will always welcome them with a smile and open arms. A mother isn't always the woman who gave birth to you. A mother is someone who will love and care about you no matter what. If you want to know, the same goes about a father."

He was still silent. Was he processing her words? Did he fall asleep? She wished she could see his face, because his posture wasn't telling her much.

"Send her back."

"Excuse me?"

"That girl. Take her and leave."

Aqua stood up, wary. He didn't move. She offered him a smile. "Vanitas. We are not friends, and I don't know if we'll ever get along. But I hope that one day, you will find someone like this, caring about you. Maybe that's all you need."

She dusted her clothes, nodded once and left. He was sitting very still. He didn't attack, even when she was turning her back on him. He was probably still sitting when she found Wendy.

"You're back! You won! Is he…"

Aqua softly smiled. "He will not bother you again, I hope. I think he had what he wanted. I'm sorry you got involved. Let's get you out of there." As she said this, the cage dissolved into nothing, leaving Wendy standing unguarded.

"Oh, thank you so much! You know, I miss my family a lot. And all the boys. Are they alright?" Aqua chuckled. She missed her family too. She missed her boys too. He was right. Wendy and her were a lot alike. "How are we going? Can you use these weird ways like he does?"

Aqua realised she couldn't take Wendy on her Glider. It wasn't meant for two people - she tried before, and it lead her to a decade of solitude. What should she do? Call the others so that they'd come with the Gummi Ship? That was the only viable option, but that might take a while.

"I guess you do!" She frowned, not understanding what Wendy meant - but when she looked behind her, a Corridor of Darkness had been opened. This could be a trap, she thought. Was he spying on them? But she couldn't see the point of a trap. He had them both trapped here anyway. She decided, knowing how foolish he was, to trust him. Hoping she wasn't wrong.

"Let's go, then. Your friends are waiting." She smiled at Wendy. "Actually, give me a minute."

She rummaged through her magic pouch - it was bigger on the inside - taking out a bottle, a paper and a pen. She quickly wrote something and left the bottle and the note on the ground, where it was hard to miss them. "Let's go now!"

They both entered the corridor, which really led them to Neverland. Aqua thought it might be best not to mention to anyone what happened - were Xehanort aware of this, things could end terribly.

As the corridor closed, Vanitas came closer.

The bottle was an Elixir. He read the note. One day, you will find this person who will care about you. Take this to heal your wounds - thank you for letting her go and never hurting her. Kidnapping people is bad, though, so please don't do it again.

Trying to teach him right from wrong, caring about his wounds, huh?

Inside his helmet, he laughed.

And, somehow, in his chest, a spark of hope was born.

Fin

At first in my mind I wanted to develop a bit more the beginning of a friendship between Van and Aqua, but in order to do that and not me extremely overly OOC it would have taken several chapters, which I didn't want. The global idea was "I want Vanitas to question what family through Wendy and have Aqua step in".

Hope you enjoyed, and see you next week for something else :D