I AM WEAK. I see a mere trailer and BOOM fanfiction. And I'm not even sorry about it. This is a tiny oneshot set up in a KHIII like universe. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Well you obviously know by now that I don't own much, especially not KH. And even less KHIII that isn't even out by now.
Run. Run run run. Faster. Before they catch you.
"You, stop right there!"
They can't send me back. I'm not going back. Come on, legs, faster!
"This is a code red. I repeat, this is a code red. Someone escaped from the door. I repeat, someone escaped from the -"
Aqua quickly slammed the door shut behind her. She was beyond tired. Her body hurt, her head spun, her heart was about to explode. She was on the verge of crying. And yet, she was on the verge of laughing. Terra, Ven, I made it. I'm out.
She heard some noise behind the door. She was out, but not quite free yet.
She wondered if the creature she had hit was okay.
She took refuge between two huge wooden boxes. She was too tired to keep moving. She was out of breathe, nauseous, and the adrenaline rush was gone. She needed some rest.
Curled into a ball, she thought of the events from the last… ten minutes?
She had been in the Realm of Darkness. That old friend of hers. And suddenly, a door that had not been here before opened in the middle of nowhere, and a ray of light blinded her. A strange creature had opened that door, and mumbled something about not being a child's room and about a door that must be broken. Realising the creature (it definitely wasn't human) was about to close that door, a door to freedom, she had rushed towards the door. It tried to stop her, and she knocked it out without really thinking. And since then, she had ran and ran in this place (was it a factory? There were countless doors on the walls), trying to escape from all the creatures who tried to stop her.
All she could think about was that they would send her back, and that panicked her.
She had no idea how long she had spent in the Realm of Darkness, but she wasn't ready to spend a single second longer in there. She would hide between these boxes for as long as it would take for them to forget her.
She could feel she wouldn't last much longer conscious, anyway. She had had a rough day in the Realm of Darkness, and somehow being back to the Realm of Light made her conscious of pains she didn't have back there. Hunger and thirst, mostly. Strangely enough, her body had no real needs in the Darkness, which was a good point given how little food she found there. But now, her stomach felt desperately empty and her throat desperately dry, and her head was spinning a lot.
She heard some screeching noises, and she looked up. She regretted it.
Heartless. So many of them, swarming all over. How was that possible? She feared to understand what it meant.
What if she had never escaped? What if this was just all a messed up dream, or darkness toying with her mind? Did she really think she could escape that easily? A door, opening up in the middle of nowhere? Get real, Aqua. I'm still stuck in there. There is no way out.
She started laughing. A nervous breakdown, as the Heartless swarmed towards her. She had no weapon. No strength. And to be honest, at that point, she had no motivation whatsoever to fight anyway. Guess I'll die. Dying with the hope that at least, she had been free for a few minutes. And even if that was just a dream, dying in a place that didn't look like the Realm of Darkness sounded better than anything.
She closed her eyes, ready for the monsters to jump on her, all claws out. Instead, all she heard was a voice yelling "Out of my way!"
She opened her eyes, and saw what she first thought was a boy in the middle of the room. But after a second look, it looked like a boy, but it wasn't human. If she had to compare it to anything she knew… A cat, perhaps. A mix between a cat, a human, and probably something else. Something dissolved from his hand before she could see it, but she at least recognized the way it disappeared – that person had a keyblade.
"Who's there?" It looked towards her. She was well hidden in the shadow – how ironic – but it probably saw her, as it walked towards her.
Was it – she felt it would be more sensitive to call it him – was he working here? Would he send her back to where she came from? She started shivering. With the exhaustion, she was hypersensitive, and she felt tears prickling her eyes.
Don't send me back don't send me back don't send me back
"Send you back? Back where?"
Had she spoken out loud? It would be no surprise. She couldn't even look at him. She had buried her faces in her arms, shaking like a leaf.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
He pushed one of the boxes, revealing her to the light… and froze. After a minute of complete silence, she finally looked up at him. He was staring at her and it was as if he'd seen a ghost.
"You are… Aqua?"
He knew her? How could it be? Who was he? He had a keyblade, and he knew her. That made a very short list of persons. She crossed out Ventus and Terra straight away. Hesitantly, she tried a name.
"Could you be… Sora?"
Something changed on his face. Relief? Stress? She wasn't an expert at non human facial expressions.
"Are you telling me you don't… Oh, right. The furry face. Sure."
"So it's really you? You are Sora? Are you here to save me?"
He kneeled next to her, and she realised she had been crying. For a while, probably. It was only now that he was all blurry that she noticed.
"How did you end up here?"
"I was in the Realm of Darkness, when a door suddenly opened, leading me here… This isn't a dream, is it? This is real?"
He scoffed. "As real as it can be. To think that this place would be the best way to get someone out… That was unexpected."
There was a silence. Aqua's heart was beating so fast she could barely hear anything else. Could Sora hear it too? Was he really here to save her, or was it just a coincidence?
"Say, Sora… I have a request. I hope you won't find it inappropriate or anything, but..."
"What is it?"
"Do you think I could… Hug you? It's just been so long since I've even touched anyone else… Forget that, we've barely met, you must think I'm -"
She was interrupted by his arms around her. Without a single hesitation, she replicated the embrace, remembering how warm it felt both on the outside and on the inside. She was crying already, but now she was crying louder. Letting years of solitude leave her body. He rocked her quietly, not saying a word, his hand sometimes rubbing her back. How long did they stay like this? She couldn't tell. Perhaps five minutes. Probably longer.
"You can't stay here." He finally whispered after her sobbing stopped. "If the other guys from the Organization learn that, they'll… You have to leave this place."
Aqua froze in his arms. "Where are you going to take me? Are you sending me back to.."
"I'm not taking you back there, Aqua. I think you've stayed long enough. I'm taking you to safety. Don't worry. I shouldn't say this, but… trust me."
He carefully slid an arm under her legs, lifting her up and carrying her. She was relieved, as she doubted her legs could have carried her anymore. She wrapped her hands around his neck, putting her head against hist chest, listening to his heart beat.
"Thank you for everything. For giving me hope. For being here today. I will never forget that day."
She felt his arms squeeze her a little bit, as he chuckled. "It might be best if you forget about it, though. You'll soon be very disappointed."
Finally giving in to the oblivion, Aqua had no time to think about his words.
She opened her eyes to many more eyes staring at her. Eight eyes, which was startling given there were five persons standing here staring at her.
"You're awake!" One of the persons said – his cat-like shape was familiar, although somehow different. "How are you feeling?"
"Can you speak?"
"What's your name?"
"Okay, okay, everyone, give her some room." Commanded a gigantic blue creature, looking at her with kindness. "She just woke up. We are already too many here. Can I get you anything? Something to eat, to drink?"
Her stomach answered for her, rumbling loudly. The creature laughed. "Got it. Come on, Mike, let's get her something to munch."
A green one-eyed round-shaped creature left the room after him, leaving her with the cat-like, and what looked like a… duck and a dog? They did look strange, though.
"Where am I?" she finally asked, looking around. She was sitting in a comfy bed, in what looked like a child's bedroom. She was confused.
"Oh, this is Boo's bedroom. Sulley told us someone he didn't know had brought you to him, saying you needed rest and safety, and to call us. I don't know who that was, though. A friend of yours?"
She smiled. "Sora."
"Yes?" He looked surprised, and so did she. "His name. It was Sora."
He frowned. "No offence, but… I'm Sora. Are you sure this was his name?"
"You are… Sora?"
He grinned at her and materialised a Keyblade in his hand. "I am! And there are Donald and Goofy. What's your name?"
"I'm Master Aqua." A silence followed her name. Sora dissolved his weapon, his eyes not leaving her. He raised an hesitant hand towards her, but finally dropped his arm before touching her. Something gleamed in his fur – was it a tear?
"Yes. Of course. Of course you are Aqua. I needed to confirm it, but… he knew."
"Is everything alright?" She asked, worried about his sudden change of mood. He patted his cheeks and forced a smile back.
"Sorry, yeah, all is good! I'm so happy we finally get to meet again, Aqua! We've been looking for you for so long, I never expected we'd find you here! Sorry for the strange looks, we'll turn back to our actual forms once we leave that world. Oh, I can't wait for you to meet everyone! I'd love to hear your story, but I think it can wait a bit. I suggest that for now, you rest and get better, and you will talk once you feel better! What do you say?"
She chuckled. "You're really sweet. You remind me of Ventus."
He smiled back at her, as if he understood how big of a compliment it was.
"But what about that other guy, the one who brought her to Sulley?" Asked Goofy. "Who could he be?"
"You're thinking too much about it, Goofy!" dismissed Donald. "It was probably just a Monster working here who found her unconscious. Don't overthink it!"
Aqua smiled, remembering how familiar the other boy had sounded. How similar to Sora he had looked. How bright his golden eyes were shimmering. How warm his black coat had felt against her skin. How kind he had been to her.
"Aqua? What's the matter?" asked Sora, seeing her suddenly laugh.
She shook her head. Her theory made no sense. If he was who she thought he was, he would have no reason to help her. To save her. To hug her. Yet, it felt like she had found an unexpected ally.
I think now is a good time to give the context of how I thought of it! See, I like to think about stupid situations. And about stupid stuff Vanitas could do. And I came up with that stupid thing: What if Vanitas opened a random door in Monstropolis, door opening to the RoD and Aqua, and he just slams the door close? That made me laugh a lot and I tried to make a fic about it... That turned incredibly different x'D
Also this is 100% OOC but we all need some fluff in our lives. I had written a Version 1 that was a bit less OOC but also much less fluffy and less interesting!
Now, should we tell Riku and Mickey they are looking for someone who isn't there anymore, or should we let them wait a bit longer because they are annoying...? Yeah, they're definitely annoying.