Little Wind

by Raberba girl

Aqua & Terra, working as partners on a school project, find a strange child who may or may not be an alien. In any case, little Ventus grows REALLY fast, and now it seems like he's become the target of otherworldly attackers...

4. Thirteen Gates

Little Wind, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic by Raberba girl

Chapter 4 - Thirteen Gates

A/N: One of the things I dislike most about this fic is the rushed relationship development, so I apologize about that.

o.o.o

"Just keep going. It's okay if the scenes go on one by one."

o.o.o

Ven managed to hide away a few Potions before they left. He knew they were desperately going to need them.

The path leading from Faerie to the mortal realm ran through thirteen gates. As they made their approach toward the first, Ven abruptly stopped, pulling Terra and Aqua back. "Some of them are going to be harder than they look," he warned. "The first one is Nothingness. You have to hold on, you have to remember. Aqua, Terra, I love you, I love both of you so much. If you forget me...I'll be destroyed. You have to remember."

Aqua hugged him. "We'd never forget you, Ven," Terra assured him. "We're closer than anything. We'll be fine."

They held hands as they entered the void. Then there was nothing.

o.o.o

Black.

...

Wait. Something about that. Black. It was a color. It described something.

...What?

The being thought about this for a long time. Place. Yes. This was a place, and it was black.

The being shifted, and abruptly remembered Movement.

If...if one was to make a movement, there had to be something to move. What was moving?

The being could not figure this out for a while, so it focused on the black place again. If it was black, as opposed to something else...what was the something else?

...White. No, light. This place was dark, and had no light.

'Ahhh, something is wrong here,' the being thought. It realized that it wished for light, instead of this dark. 'How do I find light?'

"Aqua!"

The being was startled and overwhelmed, its body convulsing from the effect of too many strange concepts being introduced to it all at once. Sound, voice, name, body. 'Help me, help me, help me, it's too much, I'm going to break...'

"Aqua! Please, remember!"

Aqua, Aqua, Aqua, why was that so important... 'Help me!' Name. Ah, it had been naming things just now - black and dark and light. Aqua was its name. 'I...am. I am Aqua.' Then, hesitantly, 'I have a body...I have ears to hear them call my name...who are 'they,' I wonder?'

"Aqua...please...please don't forget..."

Others. There were other beings. It was not alone, there were others...and just like it craved light, it also wished to be with these others.

'If they are...then they have names. What are their names?'

"Please remember!"

V...Ventus. Terra. Yes, Ventus and Terra. Two of them. Two of them whom it - she - loved very much. 'Love- Ahh, it hurts...'

The concept of love was too much, too much; but the despite the pain, it was a good thing, a desperately good thing, and it - she - knew there was something so very important to be done because of it.

"Aqua!"

'I know what my body looks like now. I have to move these feet forward. One step. Another.'

"Yes! Oh, thank you!"

"That's it, Aqua, keep going! Take another step!"

She wondered if she could move faster than this, could rush to the ones she wanted to be with so badly. 'More...faster...'

"Aqua!"

o.o.o

Aqua burst out of the gateway, stumbling into Terra's arms. "Good job, sweetheart," he murmured to her.

"Aqua!" Ven flung his arms around her. "You didn't move for so long, I thought you had forgotten, I thought you were going to be stuck there forever..."

"Ven," she whispered, hugging him back.

Terra turned to the second gate, groaning. "Man, if that was the first one, what are the rest gonna be like?"

"Some are worse than others," Ven said unhappily. "But any of them can take you down if you're not careful."

They held hands going into this one, too.

Then nearly let go, both from the shock of it and because Aqua's scream startled them all.

"It's okay!" Ven shouted. "Don't let go of my hand!"

"We're upside down," Terra yelled, his breath coming too quickly, "we're friggin' upside-down. Again."

"Help," Aqua whimpered. "Ven..."

"Calm down, calm down," he said frantically, because he knew he would lose them if they panicked. "We have to move together. We can't-"

Terra let out another yell and suddenly vanished, re-appearing sideways below them.

"Terra!" Ven cried.

"Terra!" Aqua shrieked. She moved toward him.

"Aqua, no!"

She was suddenly hanging in the middle of the gate, looking like she was about to throw up at the sight of her arm ending abruptly at the elbow, her hand reaching out of nowhere several meters away.

"Breathe!" Ven shouted at them. "Breathe slow!" because he could tell they were both hyperventilating.

Terra soon had himself under control, but Aqua's eyes were still wild, and Ven could tell that she was about to faint from lack of oxygen. In desperation, he began to sing. "Quietly, stand in the exit way, and, in the pitch-black, take the light..." He watched anxiously until she had calmed down, her breathing back to normal. They were both looking at him now, their eyes wide and frightened and trusting.

Ven took a deep breath. "We got separated, so we might have to make it on our own now, but it's okay, we can do it. Aqua, your hand is fine, it's still attached to you, it's just...well..." He could not figure out how to explain it. "Pull it back close to you, slowly."

Very carefully, her expression tight, Aqua drew in her arm until it was resting along the length of her body, whole again. She sighed in relief.

"Terra, you ended up there by going left, didn't you?"

"Yeah, though I have no idea how I ended up on the right side...or sideways...gah, this is freaky."

"See what happens if you take one small step to the ri- no, up."

"What? Which up?" Terra did have a point - the top of his head was not facing the sky.

"The opposite direction from the ground," Ven clarified. "Step up, carefully."

Terra did so, and ended up upside-down next to Ven again. He immediately reached out to seize the boy's hand, then yelled as he abruptly flipped over, so that he was right side up but hanging in midair. "This is so stupid!"

They made their way, step by painstaking step, across the gateway. Ven made a few mistakes which set them back, though once Aqua had gotten over her panic, she seemed to be pretty good at figuring out which directions to go. She was the first one to cross the threshold and drop abruptly to the ground where gravity was finally working properly again. Eventually, the boys managed to join her, and they all just stood there and held each other for a long time, recovering.

"What's the next one, Ven?" Terra asked tightly.

Ven smiled. "A lot easier, I think. Just hold on to me. It's the fourth gate we'll need to worry about."

As soon as they stepped into the third gate, they were struck by a gust of wind so hard that they were nearly thrown off their feet. Aqua cried out and Terra cursed explosively when they saw six tornado funnels heading straight for them.

Ventus held up his hands. The howling wind died down to a playful breeze, and one of the funnels slowed, wobbled, and then gradually dissipated. The other tornadoes slowed down, but continued their ominous advance.

"Stop!" Ven called out in a loud voice. The five tornadoes halted, but then thickened and darkened. "No," Ven commanded. "You are not to come any closer. Go to sleep." Another funnel thinned and wobbled, but two of the others showed no reaction, and the two at the forefront slowly began to advance again.

"Ven?" Terra said nervously.

Ven raised his hands higher. "I, Wind Master Ventus, command you to stop!" The wobbly funnel vanished completely, and the two that had stopped now seemed to bow. However, one of the remaining funnels jumped about erratically as if agitated, and the foremost tornado suddenly expanded and descended upon them in a mass of whirling wind, no longer deadly but still frightening to be trapped within.

Terra and Aqua clung tight to Ven, desperate to stay anchored, blinded by their hair whipping uncontrollably over their faces. Ven was shouting something, but they could not hear what he was saying, the words were drowned in the howling wind.

The gale suddenly dispersed, its remains drifting around them like a sigh. The agitated tornado whipped into a thick black column, thunder and lightning crashing from within its depths.

"I didn't kill him," Ven said indignantly. "You heard our agreement. Come on. Me and my friends just want to get past. Is that too much to give?"

More thunder.

"They're human! They can't do that, I have to walk with them."

Thunder.

"All I'm asking you to do is just settle down, be gentle, and not try to stop us as we move past. Can you do that? Please?"

There was a pause. Then, all three remaining tornadoes suddenly merged, expanded, and thinned, so that the entire gatefield was full of a strong but not overpowering wind.

"Come on," Ven called to his friends, "before the wind sprites change their minds. Don't run, but keep it steady."

They made it out of the third gate, looking ridiculous with their hair whipped into bizarre styles. They found themselves laughing shakily, not in actual amusement but glad to have something to break the tension. Aqua somehow produced a comb and used it to tame her own locks, then ran it through Ven's hair until he stopped looking like a crazy trick-or-treater. Terra did not object when she pulled him down into her reach and combed his hair as well, so that most of it pointed down again rather than up.

They all looked at each other, linked arms, and headed into the fourth gate.

An intense cold struck them like a blow, and they could see nothing through the sudden fall of snow.

"Run!" Ven shouted. "Before we freeze to death!"

They made it halfway through the gatefield. Then Ven stumbled, knocking Aqua off balance. Terra hauled them both back upright and then continued on, though noticeably more slowly.

Ven could not feel his own skin, and yet it seemed to burn like fire. When he tried prodding himself under the edge of his sleeve, it took him far too long to remember how to move his arm, and then the flesh where he had touched stung viciously, even though he had not been able to feel an iota of pressure from his finger. He also noticed that he had turned a very alarming shade of blue. "We have to," he gasped, "hurry..." Then he stumbled again, dragging Aqua down with him; Terra tripped over them and crashed to his knees, swaying.

Ven closed his eyes and fell asleep almost at once. Aqua stirred feebly, but could not even sit up. Terra tried to move. He stayed stubbornly upright, and knew that he would be able to resist falling down for a while, but he could not get himself to move upward, no matter how hard he tried. "Come on, body, work," he cursed himself. The words came out in an unintelligible mumble; his lips felt thick and swollen.

Aqua managed to get her hand up to her chest. She tried to remember how it had felt when Ven had pulled out her heart to form the Keyblade. "Please," she whispered, "help us." After a long moment, her chest started to feel warm, and light began to glow beneath her palm. White sparkles started to gather sluggishly, then there was a determined flash, and she was holding her heart-blade. Its metal immediately began to grow cold from the freezing air, seeming to burn her hand; she knew that she would not be able to hold onto it for long. "Warmth!" she cried. "Heat!"

In her mind, a voice seemed to whisper to her. "Raging Fire."

Aqua tried to draw breath into her lungs. It was so cold that she felt like her insides were burning. "R-Raging...Fire!"

Three columns of flame erupted around them. Terra gave a startled yell, and Ven opened his eyes, blinking around in confusion.

"Come on," Aqua said urgently. Unfolding her cramped body, she seized the boys' hands, and they all fought clumsily to get to their feet. They began to move forward again, protected by the fiery shield.

Then the fire died.

Frosty wind stung their flesh, bringing waves of pain at the sudden, extreme change.

"Again, Aqua!" Ven cried frantically, but the spell did not work when she called on it a second time. "Another one, another one, try a different one..." He waved his arm restlessly, apparently trying to remember. "M-Mega...Megaflare!"

"Megaflare!" Aqua shouted. The entire gatefield erupted in fire. She thought she could hear distant screaming.

"RUN!" Ven thundered. "It won't last long!"

All three of them hurtled for the threshold, somehow immune to the heat of Aqua's spell, though they were all consumed with pain from their traumatized flesh, once frozen and now so suddenly thawed. For a moment, their hair was soaking wet as the snow on them melted; then the last of the water evaporated, and it began to get uncomfortably warm.

The spell's effects vanished. For a second, there was nothing. Then, just as the blizzard howled back to life, just as the snow sprites began to scream vengeance, the three travelers were out, all of them shaking so hard from shock that it was difficult to keep their footing.

Ven handed them some strange potions, which were difficult to drink without spilling, their lips were so numb and their hands shaking so badly. Yet, as soon as the liquid flowed down their throats, a healing warmth began to spread through them. Aqua took a deep breath and looked down at herself - her skin now looked like skin again, rather than some kind of horrible blotchy inorganic substance, and she felt sturdier and more energized.

"Four down, nine to go," Terra said glumly.

"Eight," Ven sighed. "The thirteenth gate is mine, it won't cause us trouble."

They grasped hands and plunged into the barren fifth gatefield. At first, nothing happened, though Terra and Aqua needed no prompt to run as Ven was doing. Soon enough, the earth began to shake beneath them, and then cracks began forming in the ground.

"Watch it!" Terra shouted, yanking them all hard to the left just in time to prevent Aqua from falling into a crevice that had opened up almost right under her feet.

"In front of us!" Ven cried. The ground seemed to buckle before them, then heaved up in what seemed to be a solid wall of rock. They hurried around it, but the gatefield was now roiling around them, caving and surging perilously at an increased pace. Aqua's hand was yanked out of Ven's; Terra seized Ven under one arm and dove after Aqua, grabbing her around the waist as she stumbled.

He charged forward again, and was nearly thrown down by a chunk of earth surfacing nearby. "Wind!" Ven shouted. A strong gust whipped up, steadying their footing. Terra made determinedly for the border of the gatefield, dragging the other two with him. The earth practically roared, and the shaking grew unbearable. They were blasted aside and nearly crushed against a boulder.

"I've had enough!" Terra thundered. Pressing his hand to his chest, he practically tore out his heart-blade in a fury. It shone in his grip, pulsing as it drew power from the gatefield itself.

"Terra," Ven whispered, hope dawning in his expression. "Terra! Earth! This arena is yours!"

Terra nodded, having already somehow sensed this. He raised his Keyblade high, feeling power coursing through him, and somehow knew the words to say. "Geo Impact!" he shouted, leaping high and bringing his weapon crashing down on the earth. The rocks that exploded outward were of his own making this time, and the gatefield settled, still rolling warily. "Let us pass," Terra growled. "Go to sleep and let us pass."

They felt as if they were being watched, but no longer were they hindered as they shakily got to their feet and made their way to the edge of the gate. Once they were safe, Aqua fell to her knees to regain her breath, and Ven wrapped his arms around himself, pressing hard to try to still his trembling.

Terra was gazing down at the Keyblade in wonder. "Why didn't it hurt this time? When you were using it, I thought I was gonna die, but just now, it was like...like it was a part of me, like I was meant to use it."

"Only you are the true wielder of your own heart's blade," Ven said softly. "Not me, or anybody else. The Keyblades know that, and they rebel if they're misused. Terra...I'm sorry."

Terra smiled at him, flipping the Keyblade in a nonchalant manner and then dropping it. He scrambled to pick it up again, slightly pink in the face. "I told you, Ven, I'd give you whatever you needed to win. You're free now, you know? I'm proud to have been part of that."

Ven smiled back.

"What's the next one?" Aqua asked, getting to her feet.

Ven took her hand again, then glanced out at the shimmering sixth gate before them. "That one...it scares me," he whispered. "Illusion. A little like the first gate, but...worse. At least, for me."

"Worse than the first gate?"

Apprehension was heavy on all three of them, but in the end, there was nothing for it but to forge ahead.

o.o.o

'Shouldn't something have happened by now?' They were walking, walking, and suddenly Ven realized that they had been walking for hours. 'No! That can't be right, none of the gatefields are that big.'

He looked up at Terra and Aqua, but they seemed all right, just a little tense. "Terra? Aqua? Are you guys doing okay?"

"We're fine," the older boy snapped.

"You don't have to talk to us like we're little kids," Aqua huffed.

Ven hung his head, stung. "Sorry. I was just...worried about you." Neither of them responded. He squeezed their hands, and suddenly Aqua pulled her hand out of his.

"Ugh, stop that! My fingers are all red." She held up her hand and inspected it with a frown. "Oh, gross, my nail polish is starting to flake off. I want to get home already."

"It's all right, Aqua," Terra said soothingly. "We'll be there soon. Of course, it'd be easier without this little dead weight around, but, hey, slow and steady, right?"

Ven blinked. "Did you...just call me dead weight?"

Terra gave him an annoyed look, pulling his hand free as he did so. "Why, you got a better description?"

Ven felt cold. "I...I didn't ask for you to come save me, you know."

"Yeah, and was that ever a mistake," Terra groaned, running a hand through his hair. "Kid, you've been nothing but trouble ever since you showed up."

"Well...well, I'm sorry. I'll just...leave...when we get through the gates...then." Ven could feel himself choking up. He had nowhere to go if Terra and Aqua abandoned him.

"You're not crying, are you?" Aqua said in disgust. "Don't be such a baby, you've had way too much coddling already."

"What is your problem?" Ven shouted. "You're acting like I put you through all this on purpose, that I forced you to be here!"

"Well, isn't that what happened, Ventus?"

He looked back at Terra again- Well, it wasn't Terra, it was Vanitas.

The dark fae smiled, golden eyes gleaming like a tiger's. "You think that Aqua and Terra just took you in and fixed all your problems out of the goodness of their weak little hearts, right?"

"They-"

"What an idiot."

Ven turned, startled, to find Sora on his other side where he thought Aqua had been. Their twin faces regarded him with disgust.

"Terra and Aqua are human," Sora reminded him. "There's nothing in their hearts but desperation and depravity."

"But, they...they helped me-"

"Lots of other people helped you, too," Vanitas reminded him cruelly. "The flame-haired guy who's being Dusked right now because of you..."

"Your old Master who tried to defend you from the king, and got exiled for it," Sora added, ticking off names on his fingers.

"Your own mother who now wishes she'd never given birth to you..."

"That girl with the black hair, what was her name?"

"Stop it!" Ven put his hands over his ears, as if that would block their voices. "They all chose to help me, I didn't force any of them-"

"Didn't bat your pretty blue eyes at them?"

"Didn't wobble your lip and cry like a little kid?"

"Didn't put on any cutesy glamour to charm them?"

"Didn't convince each and every single one of them that your needs were more important than their safety?"

Ven was breathing hard. "I...I didn't mean...I didn't want-"

"Yes, because what you want is so important," Sora said snidely.

His legs felt so weak, he could not keep standing. Ven fell slowly to his knees, feeling like he had been kicked in the stomach. "I'm such a worthless person," he realized in a whisper.

"Yeah. You should go die," Vanitas suggested.

"It's not so bad, you know," Sora added, sounding almost friendly now that Ven's confidence was shattered. "You just kind of fall, and poof! You're gone. No more pain."

"Want me to do it for you?" Vanitas offered. A sword appeared in his hand.

Ven blinked slowly. "Sora...you're dead."

"Yeah. Soon, you're gonna be, too."

"You're both dead," Ven went on. "Both of you are."

Vanitas seized his hair, raising the tip of the blade to his throat.

"Why am I...talking to you, when you're dead...?"

"Dunno. Don't care." Vanitas made to run him through.

Ven knocked the blade away, slicing open his hands but earning a sudden clarity. "I'm not dead yet. I shouldn't be seeing you. I was... What was I doing before you showed up?"

"Don't think too much, Ven," Sora suggested. "It'll hurt your tiny little brain." He went to hold Ven's arms behind his back.

"I was with Aqua and Terra," Ven remembered.

Vanitas raised the sword again.

"We were in...the gate-" Ven gasped. "We're in the Gate of Illusion! You're not real!"

"Shut up!" they both shouted. Vanitas thrust the sword toward his throat.

"You're nothing but mist!" Ven shouted back at them. "You don't exist!" The blade pierced him, feeling like nothing more than a breeze kissing his skin. The apparitions dissolved, and Ven fought to get back to his feet.

"Ven!"

"Ven, please!"

He knew those voices, recognized the relief and desperation in them. "Terra! Aqua!" he shouted.

Someone else appeared before him - Axel, emerald eyes accusing. "You got me killed, you know that? After all I did for you."

"Shut up," Ven snarled. "You're as fake as the rest of them." He tore straight through the illusion, relieved when it broke up into wisps of wind. He kept running, ignoring every single one of them: Eraqus's reproach, Xion's cries of grief, his mother's wails of regret. None of them were real, none of them were the truth.

He burst out into the light.

o.o.o

Aqua seized him at once, before he even registered that he had passed safely through the gate. "Oh, Ven," she sobbed, "I thought we lost you..."

"Hey, kid, don't scare us like that again, eh?" Terra laughed, ruffling his hair. "You got stuck like Aqua did back in the Nothing gate, I thought you weren't gonna make it."

"You don't hate me?" He knew it was a stupid question, but he had to ask. The nightmare had seemed too real.

"Of course not, Ven," Terra said firmly.

"We love you, we always will," Aqua added, still hugging him fiercely.

"Yeah, I mean...heh, why do you think we'd stick our necks out for you like this if we didn't like you?"

Ven struggled out of her hold. "Aqua, Terra...I'm sorry. I-I think I might have...I didn't mean to, but sometimes I can't control my glamour, and..." It was hard to admit it, but he forced himself to. "Sometimes, when I'm scared, I...charm people. Into liking me. Into wanting to protect me." He checked to make sure, and realized, to his horror, that he was doing it right that moment. He released them both at once, waiting tensely for their reactions.

Terra blinked. "Huh...that's weird."

"What's weird?" Ven demanded.

Terra laughed sheepishly. "Look, no homo, you're like my little brother, but it's like you suddenly went from really cute to, I dunno, normal."

Aqua affectionately brushed a lock of Ven's hair out of his face. "I'm not sure what just happened, but I think I know what he means. I'm sorry for treating you like a child, Ventus."

He blinked at them, confused. "What?"

Terra clapped him on the shoulder as he headed for the next gate. "Number Seven can't be any worse than the others, right? Let's get this over with already."

"Wait, do you guys still not hate me?"

"Are you trying to make us?" Aqua huffed, putting her arm around his shoulders in a quick hug and then steering him after Terra.

"Well, no, but..."

o.o.o

The seventh gatefield seemed completely empty, just a lonely moon glowing over a barren landscape. All three of them were tense as they walked, waiting for some attack, but nothing came.

Ven felt itchy. He kept reaching up restlessly to scratch his neck and shoulders, getting extremely irritated when he could not reach a spot between his shoulder blades. "Aqua, could you get that for me?"

"Get what for you?" she snapped.

"The ITCH!" he practically yelled in her face. "I can't reach it and it's driving me crazy!"

"You're not the only one who's itchy!" she yelled back, fingers digging into her own shoulder as if she was trying to draw blood.

"It hurts!" Ven howled, wanting to smash something. "Terra!"

"Shut up! Your voice hurts my ears!" Terra bellowed, louder than both of them combined.

Desperate and furious, Ven dropped and shoved himself along the ground, trying the soothe the irritation in the small of his back.

"Gah, I feel like I'm tied up," Terra snarled, ripping off his shirt and hurling it away.

Aqua's eyes gleamed. She flung herself at Terra did something...rather inappropriate to him.

"Oh, GROSS!" Ven yelled. "That was disgusting, don't ever- AAAHHH!" Terra had seized Aqua in his arms and now appeared to be eating her face. In between outraged screams, she was gnawing right back. "STOP IT!" Ven screeched in revulsion, flinging handfuls of dust at them because there was nothing else at hand.

Both of them whirled in unison and pounced, tearing into him like starving wolves.

"OW! Ow, friggin'-" Ven expelled a stream of profanity, kicking at them desperately. It hurt. "STOP IT!"

Terra growled and punched him. Aqua shrieked and plowed vengefully into Terra. They rolled about until he ended up straddling her, his hands squeezed around her throat. Her eyes were wild, and had...changed color. They were gold. Terra's were, too.

"That's important," Ven said to himself, staring. "That's really important. I don't know why. Gah, I want to kill them." He could do that with Keyblades. He ran forward and reached out.

The two of them screamed bloody murder as he extracted their hearts again, and then Terra began to whirl crazily, howling at the sky like a grieving wolf. Aqua staggered to her feet, knocked Terra over, and began hitting him as hard as she could.

Ven was shaking. The weapons in his hands glowed, and a new clarity of thought was beginning to circulate through his hazy brain. 'We're in the seventh gate,' he remembered. Horror began to cloud out the rage. 'If we don't get out of here soon, we'll kill each other.' "Aqua!" he shouted. "Terra!"

Her teeth were closed on his neck, as if she was trying to pierce his jugular. He was clawing desperately at her back, so hard that her shirt was actually tearing.

"Stop it!"

They could not hear him. Ven drew in a deep, shaky breath. "What do I do, what do I...?" He had an idea.

He approached cautiously, caking himself with as much attraction glamour as he could. "Aqua," he cooed. "Terra. Look at me."

They slowly stilled, their golden eyes fixed on him.

"Hey," he said persuasively, "you wanna come with me? You wanna come along with me so we can play somewhere nicer?"

They scrambled apart and crawled toward him eagerly, like he was a tasty-looking treat. "Eep...guys, don't eat me." He skipped back out of their reach. "Come on, come on," he coaxed, trying to keep away from their swiping hands. "Almost there, keep going..."

o.o.o

Their eyes faded back to normal colors once they were free. Ven plopped to the ground with a sigh of relief and released both the Keyblades and the glamour, sweating from exertion. For a while, he just sat there trying to assess the damage, rubbing ruefully at the bite marks on his arms. Then he realized that neither of his companions had yet spoken, and he looked up in alarm.

Terra stood grimacing into the distance, bare-chested and red-faced, hugging his arms around himself as if he was cold. Aqua was staring at her feet with her hands clamped over her mouth, her cheeks crimson.

"Are you guys okay?" Ven called. Terra winced. Aqua gasped and looked up, her eyes filling with tears.

"Oh, Ven!" She ran to him and knelt, taking his arms gently in her hands. "I...I hurt you...Ven, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," he mumbled. "The seventh gate tries to make you crazy. Really, I'm okay. Watching you licking Terra like that was way worse."

She gave a little shriek of mortification and seized him, hiding her face against his shoulder. Ven looked at Terra, who made a noise like "Gah!" and turned his own face away.

"Terra," Aqua moaned into Ven's sleeve, "I am so, so, so, so sorry..."

"I'm the one who should be saying that," Terra ground out. "I tried to kill you. Aqua, ask me to do anything to make it up to you and then tell me to move to another country, I totally deserve it. You too, Ven. Ugh, I should just go drown myself..."

"No," Aqua wailed, "no, it wasn't your fault, I don't know what came over me, I'm so embarrassed I want to crawl into a hole and never come out again..."

"Guys, I told you, it was the gate," Ven insisted. "None of us were in our right minds. We're just lucky we made it out of there without tearing each other to bits."

Terra peeped out from behind his bangs and gave Ven a very small smile. "Nice going, by the way. You saved us again."

"I don't know how we would have been able to make it through all these gates alone," Ven said softly. "I'm...I'm really glad that you guys are with me." Aqua hugged him, her face still hidden.

"You know, Aqua...I really don't mind what you did," Terra mumbled. "I'm...well, you already know I l-like you, so...I mean, not that I'm gonna try anything because of it, I know you weren't thinking straight, but...uh, I didn't mind."

"But I do!" she wailed.

"Would it make it better if you guys started dating?" Ven suggested.

"Nooooo!" Then, immediately, "Yeeessss! But not right now! Oh, I can't believe I did that! Ohhhhh, why did I do that?"

"You were kissing him back when he started making out with you. I think you actually like Terra," Ven mused.

"Nooooo!"

Oddly enough, recovering from the embarrassment of the seventh gate took longer than recovering from the physical damage caused by all the previous ones. Eventually, however, they all got to their feet and wearily agreed to continue. Ven firmly took Aqua's and Terra's hands and clasped them together. Terra coughed to hide his feelings and Aqua still refused to look at either of them, but she did not pull away.

o.o.o.o.o

The eighth gate was a solid field of wild flames. The three of them stared at it in dismay.

Ven, however, had doubts about it actually being that difficult. He looked around. He smiled a little, and let out a quiet sigh of relief. The Vanitas and Sora from the sixth gate might have been illusions, but there was no way of telling if everything they said had been lies or not.

"Guys." He gently let go of Aqua's hand and stepped back. "I need you to go through this gate without me."

Their heads whipped around to stare at him. "What?"

"No way!"

"Please trust me," he said firmly. "I'll catch up to you on the other side, I promise."

"But, Ven-"

"Please, Aqua. I really need you two to go together ahead of me."

There was a long pause. Then Terra gently tipped her chin up until she was looking into his face for the first time since they had crossed the threshold of the seventh gate. Her cheeks flooded with color again, but her eyes did not leave his. He smiled, then leaned forward and laid a soft kiss on her cheek, near the corner of her mouth. "It will be all right," he whispered.

She nodded, and tightened her grip on his hand.

"You'll need to run," Ven said. "Whatever happens, run. Whatever happens, okay? Good or bad. Don't stop running."

"Ven-"

"Scream a lot, too. Scream as hard as you can, even if you think you don't have to." Xehanort may or may not be spying, but Ven did not want to take any chances.

"What?"

"Ven, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Please trust me," he whispered. After a moment, Aqua leaned over to hug him, and Terra shot him a brave smile. Then the two of them shared a look and flung themselves into the fire.

Ven watched them go, nodded in satisfaction, then turned toward the approaching figure. "Axel...I'm really glad to see you."

"Oh, are you?" the fire sprite said dryly.

"I...I thought you might have been Dusked."

"Hmph. Xehanort can't get rid of me that easily. I'm too useful, for one thing."

Ven smiled sadly. "Axel?"

"What."

"Thank you. For everything."

Axel looked away, tousling his own hair restlessly. "Aw, now don't get all sappy."

"Maybe...you can come back with us?"

"Dream on," Axel snorted. "Live in the humans' ugly iron-and-concrete prison world? I don't think so."

"Okay. Maybe I'll see you sometimes, though. When you're on missions or something."

"Yeah, probably."

"...Okay." There seemed to be nothing left to say. Ven nodded, then turned and headed for the gate.

"Oi, Ven!"

He paused and turned back, grinning a little.

Axel seemed fidgety and uncomfortable, looking everywhere but at him. "Hey, I'm...I'm glad you're not dead."

"...I'm glad that you're glad I'm not dead." The guilt about Sora's sacrifice was still strong.

Axel glanced at him, finally offering a small smile. "Thanks. For everything. It's because of you I'm still here and not lying somewhere in the Gravelands."

Ven nodded. "Guess we're even, then."

"Nah, you still owe me. I won't quit bugging you 'til you pay up."

"Good. Because I'd be sad if I never saw you again."

"I told you, no sappy stuff," Axel grumbled.

Ven laughed, then turned away again and plunged into the eighth gate. The whole way across, he covered his head with his arms and screamed as if in direst agony, though in truth, his main problem was trying to elude the fire nymphs who kept reaching for him. He had to get Aqua and Terra home, he shouldn't waste time on dancing.

He felt breathless and relieved by the time he got to the other side and Aqua glomped him. "You're all right!"

"Of course I'm all right, I told you I would be."

"What was the deal with that gate?" Terra started to ask in confusion. "You told us to scream our heads off, but it didn't even-"

Ven glared, putting a finger to his lips. Luckily, Terra got the hint. "Pretty wild gate, huh," Ven murmured.

"Uh...yeah, I guess so?"

They began to approach the ninth gate, but then Ven paused. "Can you guys dance?"

"Huh?"

"You don't have to dance good, but it helps if you can."

"What are you talking about?"

"You need to sing, too."

"Ven, what does dancing and singing have to do with the giant lake that's rolling around in there?"

"Just a hunch. If it works, it'll be way easier."

They entered the gate. The energetic mass of water paused, then surged straight toward them. "Get ready to swim!" Terra called. He and Aqua gripped each other's hands tightly and held their breaths.

Ven began to boogie, shouting out at the top of his surprisingly tuneful voice. "Faster and faster, fast it goes! Playing the sitar with my toes. Hutalahey, hutalahey, hutalahey, oh, oheyoh! I like my sitar! I like my sitar! I play the sitar, sitar, wherever I go! Oheyoh!"

Terra and Aqua stared at him as if he had gone absolutely bonkers.

"You, too!" Ven yelled. "Hurry! The funnier, the better!"

Terra looked at the towering wave, which had come to a complete halt and was now curled down at the top, as if studying Ven curiously. Then Terra swallowed and began to sing the first thing that came to his mind. "I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world. Life in plastic - it's fantastic! You can brush my hair, undre-" His face flooded with color as he remembered the seventh gate. "Gah, I can't do this!"

"Sing, Terra," Ven demanded. Then, realizing that he himself had stopped singing and the wave was getting restless, "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!"

Terra groaned. "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

"Fighting evil by moonlight," Aqua tried, since anxiety had made her forget every single other song she knew except the birthday song...which, actually, probably would have been a better choice. "Winning love by daylight. Never running from a real fight-"

Terra was staring at her. "Sailor Moon?" he said in disbelief.

"SpongeBob SquarePants?" she shot back.

"...Touché."

"I don't want another pretty face, I don't want just anyone to hold." Ven waved his arms at them impatiently. "I don't want my love to go to waste, I want you and your beautiful soul."

"Estuans interius ira vehementi - Sephiroth!"

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."

The wave came crashing down on top of them.

Aqua screamed, before she realized that she was being glomped rather than drowned. Water nymphs whirled around them in droves, laughingly dragging them into crazy dances.

"Ven?" Terra called nervously, trying to fend off a couple of giggling sprites who seemed to be attempting to feel him up. It was difficult, since his hands passed right through them, though theirs were gelatinously solid.

"Play nice," Ven called back. He jerked back from a nymph who tried to kiss him, and she squeezed his throat gently, but insistently. He gulped and tried to sing again. "Gosh, it disturbs me to see you, Gaston, looking so down in the dumps..." She laughed and wrapped him in a very wet hug.

The entire sea of sprites acted enchanted with all three travelers, though they seemed to be particularly in love with Aqua. She nearly drowned several times as they swarmed over her. Terra and Ven fought their way over and dragged her along, half dancing and half swimming. By the time they made it out of the gate, they were hoarse, soaked to the skin, and exhausted, so they spent a while resting together before steeling themselves for the next ordeal.

"What's this one?" Terra asked tiredly.

"Time," was the dull reply. "This one could end pretty badly, though we won't know for sure 'til we get home..."

Yet it turned out to be completely different than what he was expecting.

The tenth gate was completely black, until they stepped into it. Then the entire field was suddenly illuminated, the ground shifted, and they looked down to find that the whole place had been covered by a pattern of squares. "It...almost looks like...Command Board," Terra said hesitantly.

Ven swallowed. "I think it is. Be careful, though. This won't be the fun version."

Something bounced up to them; Aqua gave a little shriek before she realized that it was just a die: a large one, with their school's crest on the side with the number one.

"Who wants to go first?" Ven asked. "I can, if you want," he added quickly, not wanting to look like he was avoiding danger.

"Unless Aqua wants the first roll for some reason, then I'll do it," Terra asserted.

"You can go," she murmured.

He took a deep breath and rolled the die.

At first, it seemed normal enough, until they realized that they were playing for health instead of GP. The first time Terra landed on a Damage Panel, he yelled as if it had burned him. Any time one of them landed on another's panel, some of their wounds actually transferred - Ven's bite marks ended up on Aqua's arms, the scratches on Aqua's back moved to Terra's, Terra's bruises were divided up among the other two... They helped each other as much as possible, trying not to steal the prize cube or buy too many panels, opting instead to get as much GP as they could from the checkpoints.

"Does anyone know what the goal is?" Aqua called raggedly at one point.

"Not really," Ven whimpered, wiping sweat from his brow. "Just that it'll probably be a multiple of 3, 7, or 13."

"Is it making anyone else nervous that the Start Panel is way at the beginning of the gate?" Terra said uneasily.

"There will be a way through...there always is," Ven said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself.

Aqua won first, at which point she was offered a choice of two portals. "Any suggestions, Ven?" she called nervously.

"Unfortunately, no...I think it's pure luck."

She swallowed and chose the portal on the right, which transported her to the far end of the gatefield.

"All right, Aqua!" Terra cheered in relief as she stepped free. "Man, do I even want to know what would have happened if she'd picked the wrong door?"

"Probably not," Ven said.

They found out, however, when Ven won second place and chose wrong. His time was rewound so that he was forced to begin the game again, this time with a damage penalty. Terra made up a lot of interesting profanity when they figured out what had happened. "It's okay, Terra," Ven said tiredly. "At least I don't remember playing the first time, so it won't be as frustrating for me..."

By the time her boys had joined her at the end of the tenth gate, Aqua hugged them both for a long time. "How many more?" she whispered.

"Two...just two...if we can just hold on through two more gates..."

o.o.o.o.o

"Well, at least it's pretty," Aqua commented.

"The prettiest ones are probably the most dangerous. Let's hold hands again," Ven said apprehensively. "Don't look at anything, make sure nothing's sneaking up on you..."

It was a wonderland of flowers, huge beautiful blossoms and tiny delicate fronds. Aqua admired one particularly vivid orange bloom until Terra suddenly yanked her back just in time. A cloud of noxious gas burst forth, and Ven, who had been caught in it briefly before stumbling free, coughed violently. Terra snatched him up just before a thorny vine curled around the boy's ankle.

"Can we run?" Aqua whimpered.

"We won't be able to see what's coming if we run. We'll walk quickly," Terra reasoned.

They continued on, trying not to look at any of the bright colors, and simultaneously trying to keep an eye out. Terra brushed restlessly at an itch on his arm and was startled when he suddenly could not pull away.

"Terra!" Aqua cried, jerking him aside just as more globs of sticky sap came dripping down from a patch of flowers that had twined into the branches of a tree.

"I can't get my hand off my arm!"

By the time Aqua had summoned her Keyblade and figured out how to produce enough water to get Terra unstuck, Ven's efforts to fend off the creeping vines were flagging. Their feet were ensnared, and tendrils had wrapped around their arms and were reaching for their necks as well.

"Haah!" Aqua drove her Keyblade down, snapping the vines, which gushed sticky red sap like blood. Terra tore free on brute strength and reached to release Ven with his bare hands.

"I want to run now," Ven pleaded.

They linked hands again and plunged headlong into the jungle. They made it almost to the border before a monstrous figure reared up in their path, a huge plant with an enormous fanged mouth, and what seemed like hundreds of little goggling eyes.

"Any chance we can reason with it?" Terra said dryly.

"No," Ven whispered. "It's only sentient enough to want to kill us."

"I'll try using fire," Aqua decided.

"Yeah, that's pretty much its only weakn-"

Aqua screamed as the nightmare plant suddenly spit a foul-smelling stream of liquid, hitting her straight in the eyes. "I can't see!" she screamed. "I can't see! Get it off! Please, Terra, get it off, it's burning me!"

Ven was frantic. Fire, fire, needed fire, no way to start one, no magic, completely empty of everything except light and wind, he had nothing-

"You can borrow mine if you want, Roxas," Axel whispered into his mind. "I can't help you directly, and it's not like they won't know anyway, but at least they won't be able to trace it if you steal it from me."

Ven nearly sobbed in relief, babbling the ritual words without a trace of hesitation. "Axel, I owe you, I am in your debt-"

"Yeah, whatever. Just shut up and take it."

Even if he were dying, Ven could never have dreamed of doing such a thing without permission, but now he reached out and drew upon the other fae's power, temporarily draining it. "I command you, Reno, to submit your magic to my control." He raised his hands. Streams of flame burst out of them, flaring against the surface of the monster. Even then, it took a minute for the tough green skin to ignite, but when it finally did, the plant writhed and screeched, its tentacles flailing wildly.

"Run for it!" Ven shouted. He dashed for the border, Terra carrying Aqua and running right behind him.

Once free, they laid her on the ground and tried to clear her eyes, but the stuff had hardened and she was still screaming in pain. Ven looked at his friend in desperation. "Terra...your Keyblade, you don't know any water spells for it, do you?" After a few tries, they gave up in frustration. Terra, as a human, could only perform spells that his Keyblade specialized in, since he had no magic of his own and did not have a propensity to it like Aqua did.

"Maybe... Terra, it's gonna hurt again if you let me, but - can I try?"

Terra immediately handed over his heart's blade and then tried not to make a sound as Ven drew upon its power.

Even when they finally managed to flush out her eyes and stop the acid from damaging her, Aqua stared sightlessly and began to cry, though she tried hard not to. "I still can't see. Am I...going to be blind forever?"

"I think it's temporary," Ven said shakily. "And I can give you my last Potion, that might help a little." He tried splitting the contents of the bottle between both of his friends, but Terra insisted that they give it all to Aqua. After drinking it, she said dispiritedly that her vision was not completely black anymore, but she still looked like a wreck.

"I'll carry her," Terra decided.

"You can't," Aqua murmured. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine. Here, see if you can climb onto my back."

The twelfth gate was a nightmare. Battered as they were, they had to stay alert and nimble. The gatefield's skies were black and pouring rain, and only a brief flash warned them whenever a bolt of lightning was about to strike. Ven, swift and agile, took to shoving the others out of the way as he dodged in the opposite direction. Terra was immensely grateful for this, since his reflexes were not quite as quick, especially since he was bearing Aqua's weight. It was a long, harrowing, painful trek before they managed to tumble out on the other side, where the older two collapsed and lay as if dead.

After they had rested for a while, Ven ventured fearfully, "Guys? Do you think you can make it a few more steps, just to the next gatefield?"

"It'll kill us," Terra sighed. "I don't know if I have enough strength left for another one."

Aqua simply whimpered and curled up.

"The thirteenth gate is mine," Ven coaxed. "For all practical purposes, we're done. Please...rest a little, then see if you can get up again. It's just a few more steps, I promise."

The final gatefield was full of light too bright to see anything, yet it was not painful. It felt soothing to their ravaged bodies, and all their pain and fear and anxiety seemed to melt away. They emerged on the other side feeling cleansed and whole.

"I like that gate best," Aqua decided, making the boys laugh.

A winged figure swooped down at them. For a second, Ven's heart leaped as he thought that it might be Sora, alive after all, but the Guardian was a girl with red hair and an infectious laugh. "You made it! Oh, I'm so proud of you!" she cried happily. She hugged Ven and then Aqua, and grinned at Terra, who self-consciously crossed his arms over his bare chest before she giggled and made a loose white shirt appear for him out of nowhere.

Another Guardian approached as well. "Good work."

"It's you!" Terra exclaimed, recognizing the winged young man from his vision in the Unseelie court.

"You know them, Terra?" Aqua said in surprise.

"They're Sora's partners," Ven whispered, his head drooping in shame. He fell to his knees.

"Now, don't do that," Kairi scolded. "Sora only did what any of us might do. He's your Guardian, after all."

"He's never coming back," Ven murmured. "All because of me."

"Hmph. I refuse to believe he's gone for good," Kairi huffed. "After all, his heart is still alive. Even if it takes a thousand years, I know I'll see him again."

"It won't be nearly that long," Riku pointed out. "Ven's pretty much mortal now, and Sora's heart will probably be released when Ven dies."

"You don't have to say it like that, you meanie!" she exclaimed.

"It's okay," Ven said. "I was hoping it would be like that."

"Who are you, anyway?" Aqua asked.

"I'm Kairi! Now that Riku's taken Terra and Sora has Ven, can I be your Guardian, Aqua?"

"I...well...what does that mean?"

"We're bound to the worlds," Riku explained, "and to people with great influence on them. We guide, protect, and maintain. Not all of us are cooperative, but Sora and Kairi and I all fight for the Light. Just because we're forced to be good doesn't mean we should try not to be."

"So does that mean you're good guys?" Terra wondered.

Riku grinned. "More or less."

Kairi elbowed him. "Of course we are." She smiled at Aqua. "Please let me be your Guardian. You wound up your fate with Terra's and Ven's, which means I'd get to stay with Riku a little longer. And with Sora, or what remains of him," she added in a slightly more subdued voice.

"All right," Aqua agreed hesitantly.

"Yay! Thank you! Now, before Baldinort over there tries to cheat yet again..." She kissed Aqua on the forehead, then each of the boys. "There. The seal of your trials."

"Xehanort went too far trying to kill you," Riku explained. "He failed, and now all three of you are more of a threat to him than ever."

"Henceforth," Kairi declared ceremonially, "Ventus is forever free from all fey courts unless he willingly and whole-heartedly swears allegiance again, and the three of you, by successfully conquering the thirteen gates, have free access to and from Faerie forever. You can even eat their food now," she added, much less ceremonially. "You should try Lexaeus's sweets sometime, they are so good."

"We are never coming to Faerie again," Aqua said decisively.

"Yeah, I think I've had my fill of all magical crazy people, except this one," Terra agreed, clapping Ven on the shoulder. "And you two, of course. Thanks for everything."

"Thank you, for catching Ven - and then for keeping him even though he turned out to be so much trouble," Riku said. "If Eraqus had gotten hold of him, or if he'd been sacrificed as teind, this world would have been destroyed."

"What?"

"Really?"

"You're an important person, Little Wind," Kairi told him warmly. "Keep Sora's heart safe, okay?"

Ven laid his hand over his chest and nodded. "I will."

To be concluded...

Author's Notes: I'm not happy with this chapter, especially the end...

MOST FUN GATES TO WRITE! Nine and - Seven. *sweatdrop* Seven was ridiculous and horrible, but it still makes me laugh.

Gate 9's quotes were from: "My Sitar" by Dr. Bombay (Demyx's fanon theme song ^_^), "Barbie Girl" by Aqua (the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group, not the KH character, ha ha), "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" by Duke Ellington, the SpongeBob SquarePants television show's theme song, the theme song for DiC's English dub of the Sailor Moon anime, "Beautiful Soul" by Jesse McCartney (couldn't resist :p), "One-Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII, the traditional American birthday song, and "Gaston" from Disney's Beauty and the Beast movie.