There were only two left now; Aqua and Riku.

She decided fairly quickly to go to Aqua first. The other girl's stress level had been steadily rising since everyone arrived, and Kairi would have felt awful making her wait a moment longer for her rescue.

It reminded her too much of how she'd felt on Destiny Islands while the others were gone. Frantic, helpless.

Aqua's heart was a bit farther away than the others, and even from this distance, Kairi could feel her tension. The discomfort tasted metallic on her tongue and it made her more wary of her surroundings than she would have been otherwise.

The longer she floated along, the longer she was alone with her thoughts, and the more relieved she was to see a flash of blue hair appear as the glow of the young Master's heart got closer.

Kairi decided to call out to her, let her know she was approaching earlier than she had with the others. "Master Aqua!"

Aqua flinched, and her head whipped towards Kairi's direction.

She smiled, and Kairi could feel the tension on Aqua's shoulders fade away at the sight of a friendly face (or any face), but after this brief moment of relief, the Master seemed to go on the defensive again, albeit involuntarily. "Kairi?"

Kairi tentatively came a bit closer. "Yes, it's me. I'm here to help you?" The sentence came out like a question, and Kairi cringed at herself. "I've been helping the others find the way out."

Aqua nodded wordlessly. Her face sunk.

"Um... are you alright, M...Master Aqua?"

"What?" She blinked, frowned, and then smiled a fake smile. "Oh, yes! It's just..."

Kairi noticed Aqua's uneasiness rise again. She hadn't known the Master for long, but the way her jaw was tight and her eyes darted around made it obvious how she felt.

And then Kairi connected the dots. Of course Master Aqua would feel this way here. Ten years in the Realm of Darkness meant that a shapeless black void wasn't exactly going to be your happy place.

Kairi had to do something.

With a deep breath in, she extended her hand towards Aqua's, giving a reassuring smile. "I can guide you by the hand, if that'll help you stay grounded."

Aqua raised her eyebrows, taken off guard just a bit, but then she returned the smile.

It took Aqua a moment to reply, but she had steadied her breathing significantly by then, and she seemed a lot less wary than when Kairi had approached her. Her words came slowly and deliberately. "That's really kind of you. Thank you."

Kairi clasped Aqua's hand and nodded. She began their route, leading the woman slightly behind her, and then beside her as she caught up.

Kairi offered, "If it helps, this isn't really darkness. It's black all around, and there's no light, but it's not a dark place." The Princess tried to glow just a bit brighter, tried to share a bit of her heart's light with the Master's, so that her words wouldn't ring hollow.

Aqua nodded. Her state was improving steadily. "I can tell. It just... it looks similar, yeah? Brings up some memories I don't want to revisit just yet."

"Yeah, of course."

Kairi decided to change the subject. She had a million questions for Aqua about the Realm of Darkness: how big it was, what kind of monsters were there, what kind of places. She had an endless fascination for the place, especially since her heart was supposedly immune to the Realm's poison.

But those questions could wait. Aqua needed to be distracted.

So, instead, Kairi asked the first thing that came to her mind: "Is it hard becoming a master?"

"Huh?" Aqua blinked. "Oh. Not any harder than any other life path, I suppose. It just depends on the person. Why do you ask?"

"I think I want to be one. Someday." She sighed. "Eventually."

Aqua's smile could be heard through her voice, a welcome change from its previous skepticism and guardedness, and she gave a supportive squeeze to Kairi's hand. "That's amazing!"

Kairi shrugged. "I guess, but I'm always gonna be behind the others." She felt more thoughts spilling out, and she was powerless to stop them now that the thought process had started. "Even Axel has combat experience, even though he was a Nobody at the time. Before I started my training, I had next to nothing. Even Sora and Riku would play-spar on our island."

Aqua tilted her head. "And?"

"I didn't."

"So?"

"I think I'm just... I think that it's intimidating. You have to be REALLY good to be a master, right?"

"Yes, but there's nothing wrong with getting a late start." Aqua's voice took on a motherly tone. "I've seen you fight, Kairi. You're a little inexperienced right now, sure, but you're AMAZING with what you've learned, and your style reminds me a lot of Terra's. Pure, concentrated power."

The corners of Kairi's mouth turned up. "You think so?"

"Of course! Maybe once we rescue him and everything has calmed down, I can get him to help hone your technique."

"Thanks, Aqua. That... that means a lot to me."

And it truly did. Hearing such praise from such a skilled Keyblade wielder, on top of being able to bring able to bring that same wielder back from the verge of a shutdown, was making Kairi's chest swell with confidence and newfound certainty.

They were nearing the exit point, and Kairi stopped, halting Aqua as well.

Kairi gave her directions, pointing in the direction she needed to float to get back, and explaining that she couldn't go any further. Aqua nodded and looked towards the direction Kairi pointed. Then, the two smiled at each other in farewell, and pulled each other into a friendly hug.

Aqua patted Kairi's back. "Thank you for leading me out. You have the makings of a master, Kairi. I mean that" She pulled back and held her hands over her own heart. "You have a strong, kind heart, and I can tell that in due time, you're going to flourish."

Kairi nodded, trying not to let her own smile grow too big. Her hands found her heart, as well. "See you soon, Master Aqua. I'm going to find the others. It's just Riku and Sora, now."

"Don't worry, you'll find them."

"Of course."

Aqua drifted in the direction of life, and Kairi watched her go.