I don't own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix/Disney.
Vacation
"I really need a vacation," Aqua muttered.
It had been about a week or so since Master Xehanort had come to live with them, and she had gotten maybe about ten hours' worth of sleep in that time. In other words, she was pretty much a zombie at the moment, and it had gotten so obvious that Master Eraqus had shooed her away from training a few minutes ago.
The Master had expected that she would return to her bed and rest, but she knew better. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Master Xehanort, saw that cruel little smirk. And then the nightmares – the pain –started. It was terrifying how much of a hold they had on her, because before, she didn't even remember the old Master.
Right?
It's him. This is happening because of him. That much she could agree with. None of these nightmares had hounded her until he showed up. But the key question was why. Why was she having such an adverse reaction to his presence?
Sometimes, she wondered if these nightmares were really repressed memories.
But in the same breath she thought that, she would shake it off. Possibilities and questions danced around in her head, making her already groggy mind even dizzier. If she had once trained under Master Xehanort, she didn't think she would completely forget about such a major time in her life. Plus, Master Eraqus would have mentioned it to her before. Unless it had been a traumatic experience for her, but in that case, he wouldn't have invited Master Xehanort here.
She stumbled as her mind attempted to sleep, only to wake up a second later. Head throbbing, eyes stinging, she took a second to compose herself. She was going to pass out sooner or later; that she could easily predict.
"This is going to kill me," she grumbled.
Then do something about it.
The thought was otherwise clear in her murky brain, and she gripped it tight, wondering. Maybe she could find a spell that guarded against nightmares or . . .
That's not what I meant.
"Then how . . ."
She blinked. What? Since when was she in the forest? She looked around, spying a flicker of something purple that dissipated into nothing.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, she stiffened. She turned, ducking behind a tree in the same beat, her eyes locking on the form of Master Xehanort. He was at the bottom of the slope she stood upon, standing on the edge of a drop as he scanned the trees below.
You could take care of things. Right now.
"I can't . . ."
You can. And it would be so easy.
"I . . ."
You want to sleep, don't you? Just sleep.
The thought drifted through her mind, carrying drowsiness with it. It settled over her mind like a dark cloud, and her eyes half-closed.
Her keyblade appeared and in her state, she didn't notice the small purple flame that accompanied it.
Do it.