Thanks for clicking on this fanfic! I really did love the storyline of Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, and it just tore me a part when the three of them ended up like they did… SO I came up with this!

Note: possible SPOILER ALERT and this is NOT supposed to be accurate to the game; obviously since it's a fanfic :P (it might start out that way, but it will soon change)

Enjoy; hope you like it :)

...

"So dark, so cold, so alone. How long have I been here? Too many days to count. I miss them; I miss Ventus, and I miss Terra. Why did things have to turn out this way? "

Aqua continued to follow the coastline. It seemed to have no end and no beginning, the sounds of waves crashing filled her ears, but they were hollow and the sounds of the water brought her no comfort like they used to. She closed her eyes and remembered when the three of them used to stare out at the water, all of them laughing and planning their futures together. A dream that had been long forgotten.

She missed the sun; not even moonlight was able to reach these dark shores she was stranded on. And the only inhabitants of the Dark Realm consisted of the Heartless, Shadows, Neoshados and Darkballs. Hardly good company to keep; she wouldn't have minded them as much if she still had her armor with her. Or at least her keyblade… but like her old dream, they were both long gone.

They were one of the many prices she had to pay in order to save what was left of her dear friend.

So with only the clothes on her back she was completely defenseless; and the darkness as her only shield. Anymore of this and she would soon go mad. She couldn't tell how long she had been walking, but she could feel a presence following her. As time passed she could feel the dark presence rapidly increasing.

Finally she spun around and was face with several Heartless. Each at least forty feet tall; she was no match. As they began to close in she almost felt a sense of relief wash over her. She felt more calm than she had ever been when she had first arrived in the Dark Realm.

"This is it, Terra, Ventus… "

With the first giant Heartless closing in she closed her eyes and braced herself for the blow; but it never came. A burst of bright light suddenly appeared between Aqua and the rest of the giant Heartless. Through her closed eyelids she could sense the light; slowly she reopened her eyes and gawked in shock. She could feel a warmth radiating from the light, almost inviting her in. She tentatively raised one of her hands to reach forward and touch it, but before she could do so the light rapidly expanded and its force blew both Aqua and the Heartless away; leaving her unconscious.

…

She awoke with the back of her head pounding. She looked around to see nothing but the usual rock and sand that bordered the dark waves. Nothing seemed any different; but what had that bright light been? As she began to sit up she felt something lightly slide off her lap; it was a large dark cloak. Much too large for her, it clearly belonged to someone else. Aqua quickly turned her head from side to side to see if she could catch a glimpse of another figure, but no one was there. She looked quizzically back at the black cloak.

Slowly she stood up once her headache had subsided and decided to look for the owner of the cloak. After gently folding it she set off towards the west. It had barely been ten minutes when a human figure appeared in the distance. Aqua stopped walking and waited curiously for the figure to come close so she could get a better look. But with so much darkness only his silhouette was visible. As the figure came even closer his eyes seemed to be glowing; amber in color.

Now only a few feet away from Aqua he stopped. Judging by his shape it was easy to deduce that the cloak was his. Aqua shyly took a couple steps forward and held the folded cloak before her.

"This is yours right?"

He said nothing still. So she continued.

"Thank you for lending it to me."

Another pause filled the air before he finally reached out and took back the cloak; quickly draping it back over his broad shoulders and zipping it up.

"Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Aqua asked.

There was no sign that he had heard her until he crossed his arms and allowed for himself to sit down on a nearby boulder; Aqua followed his actions.

"It's a long story; and an unimportant one."

Aqua felt mildly disappointed by his reply, but quickly brushed it off. At least it was someone to talk to.

"So… how did you find me?"

"With that blinding light, it was hard to miss. It saved you though, didn't it?"

Aqua slowly nodded. "But I don't know why?"

The man remained silent for a while longer before speaking again.

"It came from a keyblade."

Aqua's eyes widened with shock. "Are you sure?!"

The man nodded gruffly.

"Terra…" she said in barely a whisper as a smile to appear on her lips.

The man noticed the change in her voice and cleared his throat.

"A friend of yours I presume?"

She nodded, a warmth quickly spreading throughout her body; she wasn't completely alone after all, Terra's spirit was still alive somewhere.

"What happened to this friend of yours?" the man asked.

Aqua was surprised he asked, he didn't seem like the type who enjoyed conversing.

"It's a long story… but to put it shortly… he was dear friend that was swallowed by an evil darkness, and his pure soul was locked away." she finished with a hint of sadness in her voice.

The man sighed. "What's your name?"

"It's Aqua. And yours? If you don't mind me asking."

The man hesitated before finally replying. "Ansem."

No one spoke for a while after that. It was an unlikely encounter, and of all places.

"I wonder what all has happened since I've been away…" Aqua absentmindedly spoke out loud.

Ansem let out another sigh.

"Eleven years have passed. And Sora has triumphed against the powers of darkness twice…. I'm sure he'll save you and your friend too."

Hearing this Aqua felt hope again, but so many more questions filled her head; and it took almost all of her self-control to contain herself from everything spilling out at once.

"Who's Sora?"

Their conversation went on in length, Aqua didn't know how much time had passed since she had fallen into the Dark Realm.

Suddenly out of no where a hoard of Heartless and Shadows appeared, surrounding them.

"Why didn't I feel their presence?" Aqua asked, still shocked.

She turned to look back at Ansem who had readied himself before a mid-size Heartless.

"Aim for their weak spot."

She watched as he shot his hand through the center of the Heartless and it slowly evaporated before him.

Following his lead she was able to take down several at a time.

Once no Heartless or Shadows remained they both allowed for themselves to collapse onto the soft, dark sand.

Heaving a large sigh Aqua sat up and bent her legs to support her arms.

"That felt strangely refreshing." she said cautiously.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ansem slowly nod, causing her to smile slightly.

"Chaos in the other worlds has affected even this one and the dark creatures that preside here became agitated."

"What does that mean-"

But before anyone could say anything else the waves began to grow abnormally large. Aqua and Ansem slowly backed away from the water.

Right as it looked like the largest wave was about to crash down on top of them it froze in midair. Aqua focused her eyes on a shadow appearing amongst the largest of waves.

A young boy was suddenly thrown through the shadowed portal and onto the shoreline. The waves abruptly settled down and resumed their usual calm demeanor as the boy hit the sand with a thud.

Aqua quickly ran towards the boy to see if he was alright. But as she approached him her heart began to pound.

Once she finally reached him she knelt down besides him and slowly turned him over onto his back and rested his head on her lap. As soon as she saw his face clearly she felt her heart skip a beat and throat nearly ran dry. Ever so gently she ran her fingers through the boys golden blond hair.

"Ventus…?" Aqua said in barely a whisper.

...

Thanks so much for reading! Hope you like it! I had a lot of fun writing this, and plenty more to come; this was actually partly inspired by a work of fan art on a separate website :D Sorry for any silly grammar or spelling errors that slipped by me! I typed this pretty fast and was eager to put it up :)

Reviews are always appreciated! SO do you think it's Ventus? ;)