I don't own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix/Disney.

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I kept referring to a ring last chapter when I meant to refer to the bracelet Vanitas gave Aqua in a previous chapter. No idea how I got those two mixed up in my mind.

Anyways, now that that's cleared up, here's the next chapter in which Vanitas hijacked the prompt and decided to show how messed up he is.

Never Again

It was a moonless night.

There was some festival tonight, and occasionally, a flash of red light would pass through the windows. Laughter and joy rang out outside, and he was separate from it all by four walls – which suited him perfectly, thank you very much. The happiness, the racket, it irritated him and he needed to stay in control right now.

Although, he reflected, that didn't seem to be much help either.

It was a scene that evoked déjà vu: he loomed above Aqua while she slept, a foot on either side of her hips. If he dropped his hand just a little, Void Gear would touch her collarbone. Taking a deep breath, he raised his keyblade high, tip pointed at her heart.

He may have held it there for ten minutes.

He closed his eyes. He had some idea, from prior experience, how this was going to go. Sure enough, Aqua stirred and he immediately teleported outside, wary of her waking up to him. Outside, he snarled, punching a wall with all his strength. It ended like this every single time.

He was a being born of negativity, a heart of pure darkness. He didn't feel weaknesses such as mercy and affection. Why, then, was he so weak?

"Do you think I enjoy this? Being the father of all these . . . things?"

He laughed humourlessly. Who ever thought his own words would come back to haunt him? It hadn't been false, what he said, but he hadn't really believed it either. Now, he was starting to see how true it was, and it was all her fault.

Nearby, a few unversed appeared. Lately, they'd only shown up at night.

"Damn it, Aqua!" He wanted to hurt something, to tear it into itty-bitty pieces. It was only a shame he couldn't transfer those emotions to the root of the problem.

So he attacked himself instead.

The unversed were alive, which meant they felt the need for self-preservation, particularly if their master told them to feel that way. They fought back, clawing and biting, ripping through his suit and drawing blood. He sliced through them in return, stiffening as the pain of their deaths rolled through him and spawned others. He screamed, his swings growing more and more frenzied and . . .

He was blasted against a wall, and a blue barrier separated him from his creations. The unversed bared their teeth and hissed at the intruder, but they were him, and so he knew they wouldn't attack.

"Vanitas!"

He silently cursed. Usually, he made sure he was far away from her before he did this. Aqua ran up to him, staring in horror. She didn't allow him to speak, to make excuses, and wrapped her arms around his neck, mindful of his injuries. Tired, hurt, Vanitas didn't resist, instead going limp.

This was why he failed night after night. Aqua was different; Aqua understood. Once she was gone, he would never again have someone like her.