If anyone ever played Heavy Rains, this fic is inspired by a moment of the game - read footnotes for more :o

The dreams are back.

Ventus wakes up with a start, his head hurting. He's in his bed, safe in the Land of Departure. Home. But where was he, a minute ago?

He didn't have nightmares in a very long time. Not this kind of nightmare. But they are slowly coming back, haunting every moment his eyes are closed. He doesn't want to sleep anymore. Not ever again. He hates these dreams. Chirithy says he's just remembering things, but he's not so sure. Sometimes, the dreams are just too real.

Tonight, he dreamt he was standing in a corridor, his keyblade in hand. Staring at a door, clutching his weapon. And he was full of anger and hate. He just stood there for a moment, and then he woke up.

The dreams are always like that. He remembers having them even before, before the Land of Departure, before Xehanort. When he was a Dandelion. And even before that.

They are always really similar. It is the middle of the night, and he is standing in a room, in a corridor, outside. He is alone. He is always alone. He doesn't remember how he got here, and he doesn't even know why he came here either. He's just here, feeling angry, sad, empty. Sometimes feeling thrilled. His heart beats loud and fast in his chest, and he's sometimes even exhausted, but he cannot remember what he did to feel that way.

Sometimes, the dream is very silent. Sometimes, he can hear voices in the distances. People crying, screaming, begging. Their voices echo on the walls, through the streets. Why are these people screaming? Why are they scared? He isn't scared. Perhaps he should be, though. After all, he is alone in a place he doesn't know. But in his dreams, he is never scared.

Safely tucked under his blanket, he remembers very vividly one dream, one he had long ago. He isn't scared in his dreams, but thinking about them terrifies him. This dream is different. There is someone else in this dream.

He cannot remember their face, but he remembers the place. He was in a warehouse, and it wasn't even night this time. There he was, as usual, standing there, with a grin on his face, and a blade in his hand. The other person was hugging their Chirithy. They were walking away from him, very slowly. He stood in the shadows, and he watched in silence. They disappeared. He was all alone again. All that was left was a notebook on the floor. He picked it up carefully, stared at it. I will finally become someone, he whispered at the book.

He shakes his head, trying to forget about this. About the warehouse. About the streets. About the hallways. About Aqua's door. About all these places he dreams of and wakes up scared even though he doesn't know why. These are just nightmares, they mean nothing, and they aren't real. He repeats that to himself, again and again. He reaches out for the blue notebook on his nightstand, and he presses it against his heart. They aren't real. Master Ava placed this book next to him while he was asleep, all these years ago. She chose him, and she placed the notebook for him to see when he woke up. That's how he became a leader. She chose him. She chose him.

He repeats these words, over and over. But the more he repeats them, the less true they sound.

In Heavy Rains, there's a child going missing, and his father gets some weird absences sometimes, and ends up wondering if he's actually the one who hurt his kid (whether he is or not, that I will not tell... just like whether Ven did these things or not... *stares at Nomura*)

Twentieth Century Fo- chapter will be "You Mean the World to me!" (and you do!)