Warning: OOCness possibly ahead. Also abuse to the sky.

Spoilers: For DDD and Birth by Sleep

Italics = Vanitas speaking

Bold = Ventus speaking

Awakening of the Hearts

"Ugh!" A brunette was thrown back by a vicious attack and sent rolling along the ground as his keyblade skittered away from him.

"Come on, Sora! You're making it too easy!" Sora tilted his head up to look at his grinning silver haired friend and grit his teeth in response. He reached out for the keyblade and stabbed it into the ground to help him stand. Yen Sid's tower loomed over them and he could feel Kairi's eyes on him from the stairs. He slowly put himself back into position and waited for an attack. "Are you going to hold your blade like that?" Sora swore inwardly and glanced down to realize he was holding the keyblade behind him. Quickly switching it back he fell back into a crouch like what others were familiar with him doing.

The battle stance no longer felt familiar to him though.

"Sora, are you alright? You look exhausted and not just because I'm kicking your butt over here."

"I thought we came out here to train, Riku, not socialize like ladies!" Sora bit out and he immediately clamped his mouth shut as soon as the words were out. Those weren't his right? In front of him, Riku's eyes darkened. "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean—" He didn't get a chance to finish his apology as a winged blade was lashing out at his face. The brunette's eyes widened and he quickly jumped back, blade whipping up to clash with his opposition.

"What's your problem?" Riku's face was right in his and Sora felt his will break at the look in his eyes. Was that what he looked like when he was trying to bring Riku back from darkness? Was he already falling into it like Vanitas had said?

Maybe he was already there.

Sora didn't respond and instead shoved hard against him to send Riku stumbling back. No, no, no! He wouldn't—couldn't—tell Riku about it. Not even Kairi. If they knew about Vanitas… about Ventus… about his own heart… They would try and save him. According to that vision he had been shown that was what sealed their fate. He had avoided going back to it by staying awake. Training, eating, drawing, anything to not go back to that pitch black nightmare.

"Fine, if you won't tell us…" Sora's body stiffened as he felt magic curl around him, green dust being sprinkled above him. "At least get some sleep." The brunette spun around sluggishly to see Kairi standing behind him, her flowery blade raised. It seemed she had also been practicing. There was worry in her eyes and he felt something gnaw at his heart seeing it.

"We're worried about you, Sora…" she said quietly as she lowered her blade. He could now feel the effects of the spell and his eyes widened as he realized what it was.

"No…" He turned to face Riku only to fall to his knees, the silver haired teen's arms coming up to snag him under his armpits. "Y-you can't let me sleep!" Sora screeched at him, hands sluggishly coming up to grab at Riku's clothing. He saw Riku's eyes widen and could have sworn there was a speck of fear but he pushed it aside as his own fear clawed at his heart. "I d-don't want to see him again! D-don't let me sleep!"

"Him? Who are you talking about Sora?" Sora's mouth opened to respond but the sleep spell was dragging him down and everything began to blur. His fingers released their grip on his friend and Riku's yells sounded muffled in his ears.

"Welcome back, little shadow."

"You tried to run from me?!" Sora cried out as a boot kicked him hard in the gut, sending him skidding across the dark floor. Tendrils shot out as he tried to rise and wrapped around his wrists to slam him back down with a pained grunt. "I gave you truth and what do you do?" Sora whimpered at the golden eyes that glowed above him, trying to cower away from him but the darkness kept him anchored in place. "You hide away! Like a coward."

"I won't let y-you hurt my friends!" Sora shouted at him, wincing at the pain the action caused. A boot met his face, cracking his head back with such a force that blood splattered the ground. Vanitas reached down to tangle a hand in his mop of hair, dragging him up to stare into his dimming blue orbs.

"You act as if you have a choice in the matter, little shadow." Vanitas snarled. Whips of darkness had followed Sora to wrap about his throat and now the brunette clawed at them as they choked the life out of him. Blood dripped from his nose and bruises were already forming to suggest it may have been broken. "Your destiny was written by Master Xehanort long ago and that will not change." Spikes suddenly appeared within the ropes around Sora's neck and the boy gave a gurgled cough as they dug into his flesh. "I don't mind breaking your body, little shadow. I quite enjoy it really. I hadn't planned on it since I desired a healthy vessel but if you insist on fighting against me," The spikes stabbed deeper and trickles of blood began sliding down his skin. "I will break what remains of your heart."

The brunette gasped for air and his fingers bled as they still tried to free him from the spiked darkness. "I-I do-don't… ca-care," Sora breathed out, forcing his eyes to narrow at his doppelgänger. Vanitas's eyes burned gold with fury and his hand tightened its grip on his hair.

"I hate you Ventus. You and that blasted self-sacrificing heart of yours!" He roared at him and he felt the darkness tremble around him. "This time, I'll rip it out!" His hand tore itself free from of his chocolate locks and reared back with fingers splayed as if to do just that. "I'd like to see you come back from that!" Sora's eyes clenched shut as his arm shot forward.

"Enough!" The darkness exploded in light and he could have sworn the tendrils around him screamed as they dissolved. He dropped to his knees and put a hand against his throat as he dragged air into his lungs. As the light began to fade he could see a young man standing above him, a bronze keyblade that he had never seen held in front of his chest. Vanitas's hand had slammed into it and now the black haired male sneered at this newcomer.

"I thought we agreed that his heart was yours to do whatever with while his body was mine, Ventus." Sora started at that name and blinked at the keyblade wielder. He looked like Roxas… yet there was something different about him. A softness around the edges his Nobody never had and a shoulder plate adorning his arm.

"I didn't agree to anything!" Ventus bit back and pushed the dark piece of him away. Vanitas stumbled backwards yet the darkness behind him leaped up to steady his back. Light glowed around Ventus and the darkness around them writhed at its warmth, attempting to get closer only to be burned and pull back.

"Oh didn't you? After all you didn't try and stop your heart from eating away at this boy's now did you? You wanted to see your friends so bad you let him be your sacrifice."

"I didn't know!" The blond cried and Sora could see his light falter around him as he switched his keyblade behind him in a nervous stance. "I would never—"

"Never try to do anything and everything to protect your friends? Oh but you wanted to protect them so badly, see them again that your entire heart ached with it. So you set about that task by using this boy's body to do so. I think it's a fair trade then that I get to have it for my turn."

"I won't let you hurt anyone else!" Ventus growled as Vanitas's form disappeared into the black. He stepped further away from Sora in the process.

"Oh but really, Ventus… Who is hurting who?" Both Sora and Ventus turned around at the voice and the brunette shrunk back to see a wave of dark keyblades come flying towards him.

"Sora, wake up!" The brunette spun back towards Ventus's cry to see the blond's hand outstretched towards him. Armor came rushing at him, locking around his form the minute it made contact with him. There was a blinding light and someone in the distance screamed with agonized rage.

When his eyes opened he immediately cried out at the brightness and put an arm over his face. Being so used to the suffocating darkness only to be thrown into blinding light was more than disconcerting.

"Sora?" The brunette slowly moved his arm away as a shadow came across him. Above him Roxas looked down on him with concern. No. Not Roxas. Ventus. The name still felt odd on his tongue. He groaned and fingered his throat only to find no blemishes there at all. He sat up suddenly and caused Ventus to go stumbling back.

"What? How—"

"This is your heart, Sora." Ventus's voice brought him out of his thoughts as the blond knelt beside him. "I tried the best I could to repair the hurt the darkness caused. But…" Ventus faltered and Sora reached up to touch at his nose only to hiss in pain as agony shot across the bone. "I couldn't fix it all," he murmured with a sideways look.

"I-it's fine," Sora muttered as he blinked tears away. He couldn't have warned him? "What happened?" He gazed around and saw it was the complete opposite of being with Vanitas. Light was everywhere and pulsed with a warm glow.

"I tried to wake you up," Ventus began. "Vanitas was attacking you in your mind and it took me awhile to get to you. Really I wasn't sure if I could, I haven't ever left your heart since I came here I don't think. When Vanitas attacked I thought by encasing you in my armor it would send you back to awareness but instead…" He gestured to the white room. "It brought you here to your heart."

"Are you sure it's mine?" The words came out before he could stop them and he regretted them the second they spilled forth. Ventus's shoulders curved inwards and he shifted his eyes down to the floor.

"I never meant for this to happen, Sora. You… you saved me." Sora felt his own eyes widen as Ventus looked back up at him and water glistened in his blue gaze. "When I thought I was gone you let me in and gave me shelter. I was so grateful for that. I… I never knew that I was hurting you. I was sleeping it felt like. Sometimes I would be aware of certain things, like images that weren't my memories stirring my heart and maybe at times like that I felt awake. But not really. I don't know how to explain it. Please trust me though!" He reached out to grab at Sora's hands and the brunette started at the warmth that flooded them. "If I had known what was happening I would have forced my heart out of yours the second I knew! I wanted to pay you back someday for helping me! But I… I…" His head dropped and his fingers loosened their hold on his own. "I did this to you…" Water fell from his eyes and splashed onto their intertwined hands below. "I'm so sorry, Sora…"

His heart broke.

Or was it Ventus's heart that ached and he merely thought it was his own? Sora quickly shoved that thought away and tightened his fingers around Ventus's hands. He was Sora and no one else. Everything was his own. He had to believe that with every fiber in him or he would surely lose his sanity.

"I'm going to wake you up, Ventus." The blond's head snapped up so fast Sora flinched in sympathy however it seemed to not affect the keyblade wielder in the slightest.

"Y-you're going to wake me up…? After everything?" Sora nodded his head determinedly.

"You deserve to be free and I want you to find your friends again. I know that if I lost Riku and Kairi…" Sora trailed off as the crimson-drenched scene of his friends came to his mind's eye. "I'd do anything to get them back." He smiled warmly at the blond and forced the image of them away. "Just… you have to promise me something, ok?" Ventus nodded and bit his lip as Sora spoke. "Wh—If," he changed his wording quickly. "If Vanitas takes control of my body I need you to kill me."

"W-what? I would never agr—"

"You have to!" Sora interrupted. His hands clenched tightly around Ventus's and he could feel his own eyes fill with tears. "I don't want him to hurt my friends and I've tried so hard to keep him away… I haven't slept in at least four days!" His words came out half-choked and he lowered his head as he continued. "All I can see is my friends… and they're dying all because they want to save me and it's not me anymore! I-I couldn't live with myself if I let that happen… B-but…" He forced himself to meet the blond's gaze. "You have to come back. You're one of the Guardians of Light and they need you. More than they need me…" he whispered.

"Sora…"

"Please, Ventus just promise me. Promise me you won't let Vanitas hurt them!" Sora begged. Tears were falling from his eyes now but he didn't care. He couldn't bear to think about what would happen if Vanitas was right and he couldn't hold him back. If his heart really was in tatters and Vanitas easily took control… if that scene came to be…

He wouldn't be the cause of his friends' demise. If he had to end his own life then so be it. Yet he needed Ventus to agree to it as well in the case he didn't have the strength to do it himself.

"Ok." Sora's thoughts snapped back to the present at Ventus's quiet agreement. "But that's not going to happen!" The blond swore and he stared at Sora with a grim determination. "You saved me twice, Sora. I will repay that to you. I'll save you from Vanitas. I promise. Then we can fight Xehanort together." The brunette's eyes widen but his lips suddenly tilted upwards in a watery smile, salty drops still coursing down his cheeks.

"Thank you, Ventus. Thank you…" He cried then and allowed the younger boy to wrap arms around him as he clung to his clothing. Even though he smiled deep in what remained of his heart he knew.

His destiny had been written for him long ago by all those around him and it didn't end happily for him, but for everyone else.

A/N: Confession time. I meant for this to be a one-shot and forgot to put completed. When all of you reviewed though saying you wanted a continuation I tried to oblige. This will be in three pieces, this being the second one. I hope it met your expectations and if it didn't, well I tried. I feel I may have made these characters OOC so I apologize if it feels that way.

If you are confused as to where all of them are, they are in Sora's sleeping conscious. Ventus resides in his heart while Vanitas creeps in his mind. Roxas is also in Sora's heart but does not appear as he does not particularly pertain to this story. That and I feel that while Roxas has accepted Sora as his other he would not jump at the chance to protect him. If only to be freed himself. So this chapter is the middle of both Vanita's 'territory' and Ventus's in Sora's mind and heart.

The third chapter will be last chapter and I hope it will tie everything together. I found a job now so I have no guarantee as to when it will be posted. But I promise I'll make it! Thank you for all your support! Makes me feel happy inside~

Until we meet again~

- Zehava