"Um...so where are you from, Aqua?" asked Tanith, impatient to start a conversation. I did not know how much time had passed since we first meet, but I would guess about a couple of days.

"Land of Departure. Well, I was born on another world, but I don't have any vivid memories of it." Confusion spread across her face. The girl must have not known there were other worlds, so I guessed I could tell her. Even if it would be breaking a code, I thought I could bend the rules a little bit. "There are other worlds besides your own."

"Figures, that would explain all the strange people always walking about. Oh wait, I'm from Radiant Garden!" I remembered that place, and it was beautiful, decorated with the finest of details. Tanith looked alike to that little girl named Kairi, the girl with all that light. Then the memory of me fighting with Terra possessed sprang into my mind. "But...then I figured out this man named Xehanort stole the identity of our beloved leader, Ansem, and he vanished me down here."

"Wait Xehanort!" I yelled worrisome. "How did he...look like? Was he young? About his late teens, early twenties?" Did I not save Terra at all? If that was the case, my sacrifice was truly futile.

"Yes, he looked like he was in his twenties," answered she.

"Dammit! How exactly did you come across that information anyways?" I held back tears. My mind pondered about how long I was down here, searching and fighting those shadow creatures just for something like that to happen.

"I don't want to talk about it." Our conversation was then cut short by a couple of the bigger shadows popping up from the ground, and then they lunged at Tanith and I. "Heartless…why does it have to be the neo-shadows?"

"Heartless?" While I was attacking one of them, the other scratched my left arm, making it bled a little.

"Cure!" Tanith immediately casted a spell to make my wound close up. There was a little blood on my sleeve, but that was about it. When that was over, I effectively disposed of the two heartless by using deep freeze again.

"You know magic?" I questioned.

"I really just know how to cast cure. It's nothing special."

"Really? Well, I'm a mage. If you want to, I can teach you how to use fire, thunder, and ice. I'm not the best in the worlds though." I thought teaching her something could take my mind off of me failing Terra. He might have been the one that turned to darkness, but I could have done more to save his damned soul. "It's not that hard to do."

"But...let's just do it in a place we know is safe because I don't want to be attacked again," Tanith responded. When she looked around, Tanith then pointed at something. "Wait, if your weapon is a key, then can it open up that chest?"

"I didn't notice that one, but, yes, it can."

"Benefits of being born with great vision." Tanith's smile was certainly reassuring. It felt great to be finally be with somebody, and she seemed to actually be quite helpful.

"Guess everybody has their weaknesses and strengths," whispered I. Following her finger's direction, I walked up to the chest and opened it. Inside, there was a small potion. "How do these get here anyways?"

"Because the Realm of Darkness wants them to be?"

"I doubt that's why, but it's the closest thing that we got." With that out of the way, both of us kept walking. I gave Tanith the potion just in case we got separated.

"So, what exactly do you know about Xehanort?" she asked, moments later.

"Tanith, I don't really...it's hard to talk about." Once again, I was fighting off tears, and I still kept them from falling down my face.

"It's okay. We don't have to tell each other everything, for we just meet. I mean, I did refuse to tell you how exactly I got that information."

"I can just say that he ruined my life," I said. Images of both Ventus and Terra being controlled kept flowing back in my mind. Their glowing yellow eyes haunted me.

"You know, I think Xehanort destroyed Radiant Garden, but that's just a theory. If he did, he already vanished me here at that time." The redhead looked down on the floor and then the sky. That was when tears of white came from the purple clouds on top of our heads. It was actually snowing. "Want to play in it?"

"Seriously?"

"Come on, I promise that it'll be fun!" Tanith must have had a mood swing or something, but it did actually look fun. I have seen snow in the Realm of Darkness before this, but all I could think about was Ventus really wanting to go to Christmas Town. Every winter that young boy would annoy Master Eraqus by repeating the same request over and over again until our Master promised to take him on his sixteenth birthday. That never happened.

"You know this is the Realm of Darkness, right?" After that, Tanith grabbed onto my hand and forced me down on the ground. The snow felt soft but not cold.

"It's different from the snow where we come from," informed Tanith. "You're wearing summer clothing, so I figured you probably were scared of freezing your ass off."

"But...this is the Realm of Darkness. I thought you were the one that wanted to be safe, and this is clearly not the time to be playing around."

"Don't be so serious all the time, Aqua! Learn how to enjoy yourself every once in a while," she responded. Her green eyes looked at me. "Or I'll force you."

"You're being silly."

"It's called being relaxed and taking a breather. Unlike you, I actually want to live till I'm old and not die by over stressing myself." By acting like this, Tanith reminded of Ventus. I still had to fulfill my promise to him, but I need to find a way out of here first. "You know what, after this we can both go to the Dark Margin! That's probably the safest place here. The only thing is that I've no idea where to find it."

"The Dark Margin?" I wondered.

"It's supposed to be this beach, and it's probably the edge of the Realm of Darkness," Tanith answered. "I really want to go there because of those things."

"You're a little bit weird." I then recalled that I met that robbed figure on the beach, and that man told me about Sora. He left me there before I could ask him anything else. "I think I've been there."

"Then, Aqua, why didn't you stay?"

"I didn't know it was the edge of the world, so I left to find the way out," I replied. "All I want to do is get out of here and keep my end of a promise."

"You know, I suck at keeping promises. I promised my little bro that I would look after him, and now I'm here, wandering around this endless hell."

"What's your brother's name?"

"Lea, I remember he really wanted to be one of Ansem's guards like his best friend Isa. His smile was so cute and adorkable! If he was here, I would squeeze him and say that you're all grown up. Well, hopefully he's grown up, and I guess I'm rambling, right?"

"He reminds me of Ventus. I guess Ventus is kinda my little brother, but we're not really related by blood." We were still sitting on the snow. With one of my hands, I took out my Wayfinder.

"Wow, did you make that? It's so pretty!" remarked Tanith.

"It's really nothing that special. You know, I made this charm for the three of us, Ventus, Terra, and I, and it keeps us together at heart. Friendship is really powerful." Not wanting to lose it, I put my Wayfinder back. It being with me always relived my hope.

"I wished I could've made that for Lea and Isa. Isa wouldn't be that thrilled, but he would wear it for Lea's sake. When we get out of here, promise me that you would teach me how to make those."

"Okay, it's not really that hard to do anyways, and I can teach you magic at the same time. Learning fire would make this easier for you." We both nodded our heads in agreement.

"You've the same color of hair as Isa, you. Well, it's slightly different, but it's still blue."

"Oh really, that's good to know," commented I.