"I'll get out of here, Aqua," Terra said to himself. He held his orange wayfinder tightly in his palm. "For you, I will."
"Terra! Hurry up!"
The sound of Ven's voice broke Terra's train of thought, and as he looked and saw the boy a considerate distance away from him, Terra put the wayfinder away and ran to catch up with Ven and King Mickey.
"Hey, Mickey, I have a question," said Ven.
"What is it?" Mickey asked.
"Don't you have armor like Terra and I have to protect yourself from the Darkness?" asked Ven. "If we're going to be here for a while, you might get into danger of the Darkness overtaking your—"
"Aw, thanks for your concern Ven," said Mickey, interrupting him, "but I've got nothing to fear about the Darkness taking over my heart! Because, you see, before I went to find you, Master Yen Sid cast a magic spell on me that would protect me from the Darkness wherever I go!"
"That's smart," said Terra. Then he sighed. "So, Your Majesty, tell us exactly how we're going to get out of here if our Keyblades alone won't help us escape?"
"Well," replied Mickey, "Like I said before, there is always a way to the Door to Light. We just gotta let our hearts lead us to it!"
"How do we do that?" asked Ven.
But before Mickey could reply, small grotesque dark forms rose from the ground and surrounded Terra, Ven, and Mickey.
Mickey gasped in surprise. "Oh no!" he shouted. "Heartless!" Mickey's Keyblade appeared in his hands in a brief flash of flight. "Come on, fellas!" he said to Terra and Ven. "We got some fighting to do!"
Mickey ran off, his Keyblade raised high in the air, to defeat their shadowed foes. Terra and Ven followed suit, summoning their own Keyblades.
…
Axel was on his way to the Gray Area when he encountered Naminé along the way. He was turning around a corner, but failed to see Naminé behind it coming towards him from the opposite direction. He only saw her when it was too late, and the two of them collided together. Naminé, who had been carrying a rather large stack of papers, tumbled unceremoniously to the floor as she crashed into Axel, sending paper sheets flying in all directions. Axel's landing was just as bumpy.
"Ow … what the …?" Axel winced as a brief pain passed through his palms and knees. After he recovered from the collision, he picked himself off from the floor.
"Naminé?"
Naminé got up to her knees. "Oh, it's you Axel." She looked at him in embarrassment. "I didn't see you, sorry." After getting up to her feet, Naminé started to pick up all the papers that she had been carrying earlier from the floor.
"Here, let me help you," Axel offered as he started helping her retrieve the fallen papers.
Naminé opened her mouth to protest but shut it closed quickly after she saw Axel shoot an adamant look at her. "Thank you," she said quietly after Axel had finished picking up his share of the fallen papers.
"No need to thank me," said Axel as he handed over to her the paper pile he was holding in his hands. "What are you doing with this stuff anyway? These are old mission reports."
"Saïx asked me to help him clear out some old stuff from his desk," Naminé explained as she and Axel walked down the hallway together, side by side.
The redhead stifled a laugh. "Shouldn't he be doing this by himself?"
Naminé shrugged. "I just do what I'm asked to do without questioning it."
"Hey look, he's just misusing you. The next time this happens, you just tell me about it and I'll give Saïx a nice little talking to, ok?"
"He'll torch you if you do that, Axel," Naminé said warningly.
"Actually, I believe I'm the torching expert in this castle."
They laughed together afterwards.
But then, the mirth on Naminé's face faded, replaced by a gravity that made Axel curious. "Saïx hasn't been particularly … approachable lately," Naminé comment.
"He never is," Axel pointed out. "But what makes you say that?"
"His mood, his behavior, the way he's been treating others lately," Naminé listed, "something's amiss, Axel."
"Hmm …" Axel scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"I'm not imagining it," Naminé added. "Xion has noticed it too, so I know it's not just me."
"I believe you," said Axel. "I'll try to see what I can dig up about Saïx, and get him talking."
Naminé smiled gratefully at the redhead. "Thank you, Axel. I don't know if I can take any more of his increased hostility another minute."
Axel grinned kindly at her. "Do you ever think of taking a day off for yourself?"
"Oh!" Naminé exclaimed. "Well … it's really not something I'd ever consider …"
"I think you should," Axel proposed. "Take a day off, both you and Xion. You two deserve it.
"I don't know what I'd do with my free time."
"Do whatever you want with it. Like, why not draw? I've always enjoyed those pretty pictures you make in your sketchbook. I especially like that one of me in Twilight Town that you drew a while back …"
"It would be nice to take a day off," Naminé commented. "But Lord Xemnas and Saïx would never approve."
Axel scratched his head. "Ooh, you got a point there," he admitted. "I think I've got a shot at persuading Saïx. Xemnas, however, that's a whole 'nother story."
"I wish he weren't so cruel, Axel. And I still think it's awful that he's holding Aqua here against her will."
"She kind of chose to stay on her own volition, Naminé."
"I know," the girl said. "But Aqua … she doesn't deserve to be trapped here in the Realm Between. She should be free, as she is meant to be."
"No, you're right …" Axel said hesitantly. "But again, I'd be a Dusk by now if she didn't sacrifice her freedom. Aqua's a real hero."
"And that's why she deserves to be free, or at least, be given the choice to leave."
Axel lapsed into momentary silence.
"Axel?"
The redhead looked at the teenager in acknowledgement. "Yeah?"
"What do you think it's like, having a heart so full of light like Aqua's?"
Axel shrugged. "I dunno. But I figure … it must be a very nice thing to have, if the Light is something that resonates strongly with you."
"Do you think we'll have hearts like that someday?"
"Maybe, but we've got to wait for Kingdom Hearts to be completed first before that happens."
"I see … I hope Kingdom Hearts appears in the sky soon."
Axel nodded. "I hope so too."
…
Aqua did not see Xemnas for some time, but she knew he was likely busy and thus could not see her. In the meantime, her wounds healed nicely with Vexen's care and attention. With a few days her cuts closed up completely, leaving new pink flesh growing where the skin had been sliced during the attack. Her recovery meant she could move around more freely once again, and help Naminé and Xion around the castle.
She had been in The World That Never Was for almost a month now, if not, a little under. But to Aqua, it seemed like only a short time had passed. In that amount of time though, however short or long it was, she noticed something – she had changed.
She certainly wasn't the proud, naïve, sheltered girl she used to be when she had first arrived at The World That Never Was. Living among the Organization members, and trying to survive, had transformed her. In a way, she was now less of a girl and more of a woman – a woman who realized that the life she had lived at the Land of Departure was a blessing back when it was hers to have. That didn't mean, however, that she did not miss it, because oh, she did. She missed Ven and Master Eraqus. She missed the castle, the mountains, the gentle lofty wind, the sunlight, the sun, the white clouds, the sunrise and sunset, the deep blue night sky filled with bright twinkling stars, the glow of the moon, the meteor showers. She missed visiting the town at the foot of the mountains, walking through the scenic outdoor landscapes, she missed having her lessons with Eraqus. These were all things, Aqua realized, that she had, whether she had actually done it or not, taken for granted back then. From her humbling experiences of living amid the shadows of night and darkness, she knew better now that these were things to be cherished. She too knew now there was more to Darkness than wickedness and evil. And she too knew now, more than anything else that her life was so fragile, and that it always had been. Living in the Land of Departure made her so naïve to the fact that at any moment, her life could be ended by some dark force or foe. And certainly, the attack she had survived taught her that she had to be vigilant even more than she had before if she were to survive in The World That Never Was.
And then there was Xemnas. Xemnas, who she still, to a certain extent, was intimidated by, who still knew how to make her feel awkward, vulnerable, small, and uncomfortable, but at the same time, safe, curious, anything but alone, appreciated, and – dare she say it? – happy.
It was almost hard for her to imagine that this man was more than the hostile, cold, ruthless man she had met less than a month ago. True, nothing had changed the fact that she was his hostage, his captive, his prisoner, and that he was her captor who was incapable of feeling anything. But she knew he was more than what she thought he had been at first. Now, when she looked into his eyes and gazed into his handsome face, she saw a man who, in her eyes, simply wanted to be whole, who struggled to understand why Light and Darkness spurned him, who sought to overcome being seen as an affront to nature or a mistake that should have never happened, a man who yearned to be accepted by the World that rejected him. He was a man who was hostile, dangerous, manipulative, ruthless, cruel, controlling, calculating, and cold when he chose to be, yet still knew how to be gentle, soft, generous, and lenient towards those who earned his respect. Aqua wasn't sure if she could call him kind, for his capacity to be cruel and lethal was something she had not forgotten, but, he certainly knew how to show traces of it.
She still couldn't bring herself to hate him as she initially once had. How could she now? He had rescued her from certain death, he had spared her life when he could have chosen not to, and, of all things, he treated her with courtesy and decency instead of making her suffer and anguish in her captivity, and he never gave her a hard time about the things that made her different – the things that the prim and proper folk of the Land of Departure were compelled to scoff at, to gossip over, to disapprove, to look down upon, to make her feel inferior against her consent for and label her as a misfit. Unlike them, Xemnas commended and embraced those qualities she possessed that made her unconventional and stand out. He respected her for them. Heck, perhaps he even liked her for them. She could do anything but hate him.
She could like him.
And she did like him.
But she knew that to like this man was something that she herself could never ever approve of from the depths of her heart and soul.
Yes, he deserved to be recognized and treated as a person even though he was a Nobody, Yes, he deserved to be whole, to have a heart, to be cherished and valued, and to really, truly, finally exist in the way that she did. But nothing could ever change the reality that she simply could not be attracted to and pursue a man who could not reciprocate what she felt for him. It just simply did not make sense. But she did, knowing how deadly and poisonous to her heart and soul it was.
She wanted to feel how she felt for him. She wanted to desire him and be ok with it. But she shook her head, knowing how inappropriate it was to.
"What should I do?" she asked her wayfinder one day as she held it in her palm, as if it was a source of wisdom and comfort for her. Maybe Kingdom Hearts knew what she should do, but Kingdom Hearts couldn't help her now. She was alone in this regard.
…
"Show me the girl."
Although pleased that he was gradually gaining her trust better than he had expected and that his plan was working, Xemnas found himself increasingly preoccupied with thoughts of the bluenette. He already knew that this shouldn't be happening to him, and that he, against his better judgement, shouldn't be engaging in such mental activities. And yet, he did.
But the reality that he felt something towards Aqua was all too confusing for him. He didn't understand completely why what was happening to him was happening. After all, he didn't have a heart – none of this should be happening.
His mind began to recall the knowledge he had attained from his days as a human curious about what it was that made a female so special. In the last recent days, he had reflected over and over again on what he had learned from those books, and in doing so, he arrived at the same conclusion every single time – and it baffled him to no end. And that conclusion, he finally admitted, was that no matter how absurd it was and how much he knew it shouldn't be happening, a deep, burning desire and need for the bluenette was festering inside of him and disorienting him in more ways than he thought was even possible.
When his crystal ball showed him Aqua that evening, it was in the midst of a moment that caught him off guard and paralyzed him with fascination and ravenous want. The bluenette was in the middle of preparing to retire that night, and sat upon her four poster bed clad in nothing but her thin linen nightdress the color of snow, running a comb through her soft cobalt locks. But that was not all. It was a subtlety that only sharp eyes would notice, but the dress itself was faintly sheer, and as Aqua combed through her hair by candlelight, Xemnas could see the darkened shape of the curves and contours of the body that lay beneath her dress, which also fell a few inches off her shoulders and bore a fairly generous amount uncovered flesh for the Lord Superior to see.
While she certainly was not stark naked, Xemnas knew better than to look upon her in such a state. But he could not help it. Her beauty was too great that not even fabric could hide it away from Xemnas' wandering, curious eyes, which trembled and blazed with deep fascination as they roamed the bluenette's uncovered skin and the shapely curves of her body, allowing the Organization leader to sate the burgeoning want for her that was burning within him.
But more than Aqua's comely features, what drew the Nobody leader to her and captivated him, was what he could not see with eyes alone: her heart. There was a light and beauty in the bluenette's heart that each were both so lovely, pure, good, sweet, kind, compassionate, endearing, and radiant that, if he had his way, Xemnas would have claimed it himself and offered it up to his Kingdom Hearts. But no, Kingdom Hearts would never have this heart - this heart would remain untouched and with its rightful owner, never to be stolen away.
Dusks, he cursed in his interior voice, she was beautiful. Why was she so beautiful? He'd never met anyone who was just as beautiful inside as she was on the outside. It was another quality of Aqua's that Xemnas could add to the list of qualities that made her so different from most girls he had encountered, another difference about her that made her unorthodoxly lovely.
But once again, this altogether continued to baffle him that he no longer knew what to do with himself. There were two possible paths he could technically take. The first: he could sate his desire and allow the bluenette to drive him weak and mad with want by her charms and heart. And the second: he could muster every ounce of self-control and discipline in his nonexistent self to resist her and all the things that captivated him and drew him to her and to desire her, as he knew he ought to. Still, he knew not which of these two paths he should take, for either way, he'd be left unsatisfied and still as confused as he was now.
This was all too complicated.
…
Ven let out a shout as he leapt towards a Shadow and took it out with a swipe of his Keyblade. The creature disappeared into smoke as the Wayward Wind's teeth tore through its body. His foe defeated, Ven smiled with a sense of accomplishment.
"Ven! Behind you!"
Terra's raised voice made Ven swiftly look over his shoulder, and he came face to face with an abnormally large Gigas Shadow.
"Argh!"
The Gigas Shadow jumped on Ven, pinning him onto the ground.
"Get off!" yelled the boy. But it was no use. The Heartless was way too heavy.
Just as Ven thought he was done for, from the corner of his eyes, he saw Terra running towards him, his Earthshaker raised and ready to strike.
"Oh no you don't!" Terra said as he swung his Keyblade around and thrust it into the Gigas Shadow's side with deadly force.
Feeling the weight of the Gigas Shadow disappear as it turned into dark smoke, Ven pulled himself up to his feet.
"Thanks Terra," said Ven. "For a moment I thought I was a goner."
"Don't worry, I've got your back," Terra replied.
Ven smiled. "And I got yours." And then: "Where's Mickey?"
Terra turned around. King Mickey was walking towards the two boys with a relieved smile on his face.
"Nice teamwork fellas! Your master taught you well!" said Mickey as he put away his Keyblade. "But I gotta warn you though—now that we're in the Realm of Darkness, expect to do a lot of fighting! There are Heartless lurking everywhere in here!"
Terra and Ven cast worried looks at each other. They didn't seem too thrilled at the prospect of constantly having to defend themselves from the Heartless at all times.
"Aw man!" said Ven as he rubbed his head wearily with his hand.
"Your Majesty," said Terra to Mickey, "Before the Heartless came, you were about to say something about how we can let our hearts lead us to the Door to Light. Do you remember what you were going to say?"
"Oh, of course!" said Mickey. "To find the Door to Light, you just need to find the light in your hearts. once you find it, the Door to Light will reveal itself to you!"
"How do we find the light in our hearts?" asked Ven.
"I'm afraid I can't answer that question for ya," said Mickey. "You need to find out whatever will power the light in your heart and make it shine!"
Terra sighed. "Looks like we'll have to search for more than just a door out of here, then."
"Don't worry," said Mickey. "I have faith in you two that you'll find out whatever it is that makes the light in your heart shine!"
"Thanks, Mickey," said Ven appreciatively. "So, where to now?"
"We keep on walking," Mickey answered. "We'll need to find a nice peaceful place to rest for the night where the Heartless won't be likely to attack us. Come on!"
Terra and Ven followed him.
A/N: So, what do you think? I don't have much to say except that this chapter provides more opportunities to see what Terra, Ven, and Mickey, are up to. My decision to have them use the light in their hearts to get them out of the Realm of Darkness is supposed to be just like how Sora and Riku get out of the Realm of Darkness in the ending of KHII.
Again, as always, I absolutely love hearing what my readers have to say about the story so far and find it so helpful and encouraging as I continue to write, so please, I welcome and would love to hear from you! Also again, if you like the story and want to receive updates, please favorite and follow! Thank you! (:
-gt²