A/N: Alright so, it's been 3 years since I last updated this and I honestly thought I wouldn't continue, yet somehow a part of me wanted to keep going. So I decided to finish the story. I have another 3 chapters written in advance that I will slowly upload. All I want to say is I'm sorry to all the followers of the story for not updating, and that if you're reading this, thank you, you're the best.


It's been two months since Aqua lost the baby, and the doctor told us it's safe to try again, yet Aqua has not showed a lot of interest. It's understandable really, she must still be upset and I can't blame her, but we won't achieve anything if we don't try. Somehow I feel like I need to talk with her, I know she's holding something back.

Aqua has been coming with me to patrol as well, and ever since there's been more activity than usual, not that I'm complaining but it is quite the drastic change. At least we get to spend more time together.

Mid July, and I wake up from another restless night, as always the sun was ahead of me already up and shining. I've been getting more worried over Aqua, she's been acting so serious and unusually quiet lately, but whenever I ask she keeps giving me an excuse. Maybe she needs some time alone.

"Morning" I heard her mutter from the other side of the bed.

Surprised she was awake I turned around and gave her a smile. "Hey, had a good sleep?"

She shrugged and sat up, stretching her arms. "I guess so yeah. Are we gonna patrol further to the mansion today? Since well, we didn't have time yesterday". Ah yeah, so many heartless have been popping up that I barely have time to go all around Twilight Town, and we've been dividing sectors throughout the days.

"I was actually thinking of letting you stay home and relax. You've been acting weird lately and I want to make sure you're okay." I said with a worried frown.

"That's real sweet of you, but I really like getting some fresh air." She said with a genuine smile.

Not entirely convinced I heaved a sigh of defeat. "Alright." I had a bad feeling about this. The mansion is usually the most dangerous place of my routine, and with the quantity of heartless appearing recently, the last thing I want to do is endanger Aqua. And yeah, I know she can defend herself, heck she spent 10 years in the Realm of Darkness and returned, but she just seems so distracted I fear she might be taken off guard.

Not much to my surprise, on our way to the mansion we faced more heartless, and it took us more time than expected. When we got to the mansion it was probably 3 hours before sunset, so we needed to do this quickly.

"Here's the plan, we'll separate and take the mansion in halves to finish quicker. If one of us gets in danger we'll use the D-Link to let the other know. Best case scenario that won't be necessary, worst case scenario the one in danger leaves the battle and tries to find the other one. Got it?"

Aqua nodded summoning her keyblade. "Right, I'll take the second floor." And with that, we stepped inside.

The mansion had gotten messier over the years, there were still some barricaded doors that would take at least 3 people to take down, dust and chunks of garbage were all over the place, and the windows were the only things that provided any light. If it gets dark and we're still in here, we won't be able to see anything at all.

I watched as Aqua walked up the stairs and made her way to the left side before I entered another room.


Aqua´s POV

It had been very little times I came to this mansion, but I still remember this beautiful white room. That is how I remember it anyway; right now it looked so unattended and abandoned. Sheets of paper with blurred drawings scattered all over the floor, dirty furniture and dark corners that the light could not reach were all that was left of the room.

Keyblade in hand and ready, I carefully stepped in, assessing my surroundings. Something wasn't right.

I looked around the room a few times, looking under the table and around chairs but saw nothing, yet for some reason I still had this chilly sensation running up my spine. I was walking back to the door, and stopped just to look one more time, when I suddenly heard something moving above me.

Confused, I looked up at the ceiling and gasped at seeing the ceiling tainted all in black with the big yellow eyes of Neoshadows staring down and jumping on me.

As fast as I could I cast a barrier around me and jumped on the table, seeing in shock how the Neoshadows started getting closer to me. "Where they… waiting for me?" Doesn't matter, this is nothing to when I was in the Realm of Darkness.

"Firaga Burst!"


Ven's POV

Well, it only took me half an hour to clear the first floor, and I actually had no problems, no casualties, it was pretty calm. I think I'll go help Aqua to finish faster, though I'm hoping she's doing fine since she's not used the D-Link.

Wiping the sweat from my forehead I made my way back to the main hall but then… the vibe of my D-Link being used ran through my body, and my heart sank in my stomach. "Aqua!"


Aqua's POV

I was tired, desperate and cornered.

Just like last time, no matter how many NeoShadows I slayed more and more appeared. I tried getting to the door but they cornered me away from it, and I'm only left with the windows. I could jump off the window but… this is the second floor and I could end up hurt.

I looked from the window to the Neoshadows, what should I do? If Ven comes in time and opens the door I might be able to escape but what if he gets hurt?

I gasped when a Neoshadow jumped at me, I slashed it in midair as fast I could and moved further away from the mass of heartless. I'm left with no choice, I can barely cast magic now. Before the window was crowded as well, I ran and jumped out throwing my keyblade it in the air to see it transform to my rider.

With as much precision as I could I landed clumsily on it, and with little control over it because of the jump I un-summoned it before crashing on the ground. I rolled a few meters on the ground until I skidded to a halt. Ouch, my arm hurts…

Lifting my body with my arms I sat up and searched for any injuries. I had a couple of scrapes on my arms, felt some bruises on my torso, and probably had some dirt on my face. I sighed in relief, and took a moment to regain my breath. I looked back at the window I just jumped from, and widened my eyes in horror to see the mass of heartless starting to flood out. "N-no way…"

I stood up as fast as I could, wincing a little when I moved my shoulder and summoned my keyblade again.


Ven's POV

Aqua please be okay!

"Aqua!" I ran as fast as I could to the second floor, opened the door where she had gone off to and jumped back at seeing a huge mass of NeoShadows stacked inside. "What the…"

Standing back in a safe position I raised my keyblade up in the air and gathered as much faith as I could in my heart. Pillars of light beamed out and spread all over, the hallway, room, and even outside the window.

I closed my eyes until I no longer felt the warmth of the light, and sighed content at seeing everything was heartless-free. "Aqua?" I stepped in the room looking for my wife but was shocked when I saw her nowhere.

What.. no way, no way, they couldn't have taken…

Panicked I looked all around the room, until I spotted the open window, and hurriedly peeked outside. I felt how a weight left my chest at seeing all the way outside the mansion Aqua sitting on the grass, looking really tired. "Aqua!"

She looked back at me and smiled in apology while gently waving.

"Oh Aqua, I had a bad feeling about this from the very beginning. But I'm glad you're okay." I mumbled with a sad smile. Now what was left is to see she was okay.


"Does it hurt much?"

"No it's fine, just a bruise don't worry." Aqua assured while I helped her stand up. She looked away in guilt and sighed sadly. "I'm sorry I made you worry Ven, if it wasn't for you who knows what would have happened."

I took her chin in my hand and forced her to look back at me. "I'll always protect you, as long as I'm here." Her eyes softened. "I'm just glad you're okay. Let's go home."

She finally smiled and nodded.

After what happened today, I don't know how but we somehow managed to make love that night. Maybe because the worry I went through got me all touchy feely, and I wanted to be with her as much as possible. Who knows.

I still told her it was out of the question to go patrolling with me tomorrow. I couldn't endure that again, putting her in danger just like that. Aqua was against it at first but I convinced her in the end, and promised me she'd try to not get into any more battles for a while, not at least until she recovered.

"I want you to relax tomorrow, have the day just for yourself. These past few days have been quite… eventful, and I want you to take a break from it. I doubt being stressed from the constant fighting is helpful if we want to conceive a child." I told Aqua as we laid together in bed, cuddled against each other under the sheets.

"Won't you need any help?" She asked groggily, at the verge of sleep.

I started to stroke her hair, trying to coo her further to sleep. "It's alright, I've been doing this for years, I can handle it. My priority right now is that you are okay."

There was no reply, and soon enough I felt Aqua's calm breathing beside me.

If after tomorrow I don't see any more heartless, we can finally go pay Terra that surprise visit.