Vanitas had never been the curious type. He wasn't one to ask many questions, and he if he stumbled upon something he didn't understand, he would usually just walk away and ignore it.

But she was a mystery he really wanted to solve.

"So you came back once more," he said with a blank voice. He had been sent out to explore this place called Disney Town. He didn't like it much, too much noise, too many bright colours, it felt like living in the middle of a rainbow. Not really his aesthetic. He was close to the race circuit when he heard the familiar heels on the ground, and even without turning back, he knew what he would see.

She was there, a keyblade in hand, a smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes. She looked so empty.

"I came to fight you," she said cheerfully, and even that sounded fake.

"I know. It's the fourth time this month. Don't you have anything better to do with your life?"

"The X-Blade is my only goal, you know that." She sighed, jumping to attack - something really predictable that he dodged by a step sidewards.

"I don't get you." This time, he had to summon his own weapon to protect himself as she dashed towards him. "I really don't. Why would you even want this?"

"You wouldn't understand. You have no idea what it's like to have only half a heart. You don't know what it feels like to live without Darkness."

That much was true. He didn't know that much about her, if only that she was the product of some experiment from her master, Eraqus. He tried to suppress Darkness from her heart, to make her a pure Princess of Light. Whatever happened to the Darkness he extracted, nobody knew. But while she was only pure Light now, she still wasn't a Princess. She wasn't a chosen one. And for some reasons, she kept on picking fight with Vanitas any time she'd meet him, talking some nonsense about the X-Blade.

"What could be wrong with being only Light, though?" he asked as her blade grazed his cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood. "Isn't Light the good side of the heart? Why would you want the bad side of it?"

"You wouldn't understand," she repeated, attacking again with a smile.

Vanitas had never been the curious type. He never cared about not understanding things. But the more she said he wouldn't understand, the more eager he was to understand.

"Try me," he scoffed, jumping back. He couldn't really fight back, worried he'd initiate the forging process.

"I want to be complete. The X-Blade will grant my wish." She slashed again, and this time she hurt his arm. He winced. "But I need someone with a lot of Darkness for that."

"Me."

"You. Ventus."

Surprised, he let his guard down for a second, and paid the price for it. Her cold fingers were around his throat now, and her empty blue eyes were locked on his golden ones. Her grip grew tighter, and the world started spinning around him. He could feel the magic wearing thin as he was about to pass out, and even without seeing his reflection, he knew what it looked like on the outside: his dark hair turning back to blonde, the gold from his eyes fading into a beautiful shade of blue. She let go of him with a joyless chuckle, and he choked on the ground for a second.

"See, I'm not the only one craving for Darkness, am I?"

"I don't crave for Darkness," he said, catching his breath. "But I can't deny what's here either."

He used to be a regular kid, going with the name Ventus. A wonder of balance, with the exact same amount of Light and Darkness, the purest heart there was. But as time flew, Darkness started to take more and more place in his heart, eating the Light, ruining the balance. He didn't feel like the pure boy with big blue eyes and golden locks anymore, and he used magic to alter his outlooks based on how he felt like, going as far as changing his name. But this was a story only he knew, so how could she…?

"Did you know I never cried?" she asked, pointing her weapon at him. "Did you know I never am angry? I am unable to be scared. Not once in my life have I been able to even frown. I barely even feel pain."

"Should I feel sorry for you?" he cackled, sarcastic. "Because that sounds like quite the perfect life you have here."

"I cannot understand when people are sad. I cannot find the words to cheer them up because I cannot relate to what they're going through." She tried to attack again, and he rolled to the side, feeling the throbbing pain of his wounds. "So they stopped talking to me. Because I can only feel positivity, they left me behind. And even then, I couldn't even feel loneliness. Don't you get it? I just want to be human, Vanitas. I want to have some friends I can cry with, I want to be angry at them, I want to feel sorry I hurt them. A life with no negativity isn't a real life. I want my whole heart back. And for this to happen, I need the X-Blade. That's what my Master promised me."

She spinned, about to hit him with her keyblade, but he was ready this time. Their weapons clashed, and with a swift kick on her wrist, she let go of hers. Vanitas felt sick of her protestations, but the Light in his heart, Ventus, was moved by her words, and he let that side of him do the talking.

"There's another way. You don't have to forge anything, Aqua. You don't even have to fight."

"What do you mean?"

He smiled at her, Ventus's pure smile, instead of Vanitas's smirk, and took her hand.

"A heart can change." That, he knew well. "It grows, it breaks, it grows back and stronger. Just because you don't have Darkness right now doesn't mean you won't ever have some. My Master said the X-Blade would endanger everything, but there are other ways. I know a lot about Negativity. Let me show you. Let me teach you how to be human." The tips of his hair darkened, the colour spreading to his roots. The blue from the morning sky turned back to the gold of dawn in his eyes. The innocent smile turned into a cruel smirk.

"If that's what you wish, I'll show you anguish."

She started shaking, her eyes smiling for the first time since he met her. "I would like that very much."

He chuckled, still holding her hand. "That's the craziest thing I've ever done in my life, but sure. Let's drag you down in misery. You will hate every second of it."

She nodded with the brightest smile he'd ever seen. "I'll look forward to it."

Since I'm a little late because of exams, I will post 2 chapters in a row - and the 3rd one might be posted either later today, or tomorrow morning.

Next theme is Merged!